Gunfight on the Alpha Centauri Express (Nick Walker, U.F. Marshal Book 5)

by John Bowers

  Crayne nodded and retreated to her chair. Bridge picked up the Q and A.

  “When you listen to what the Chairman has to say, you will begin to understand his strategy. He goes on at great length about the evils of capitalism and the ‘wealthiest one percent’. He’s already appealing to the poor and downtrodden, but at this point his message hasn’t reached the general public yet. Based on his activities on Terra, his terror attacks will alert the public that he’s out there, and people will begin to ask questions like, ‘Who is this guy, what does he want, and what does he have to say?’.

  “Once he reaches that point, he will launch a massive propaganda initiative, and that’s when the shit will really fly. Give him a year to indoctrinate anyone who will listen, and we’ll start seeing demonstrations, riots, and god knows what else. It will become a nightmare that I don’t even want to think about.

  “Obviously, our primary mission right now is to catch this guy and shut him down.”

  Nick spoke up again.

  “Catching him is one thing, but we can’t curtail his message, can we? He has freedom of speech rights.”

  “We’re not going to violate anybody’s freedom of speech. But if we can catch him and put him on trial, anyone with a brain will realize that someone who would use terror tactics to get his message out probably doesn’t have a message worth listening to.”

  “How does yesterday’s attack tie in?”

  Bridge shifted gears.

  “That’s a good question. We’re still not a hundred percent sure that it’s the same organization, but the similarities are striking. First of all, these people are anti-Federation. The target was this building, the seat of Federation power on Alpha 2. The first people to be killed were Federation employees, including a couple of cops and a whole room full of office staff. Survivors claim that, just before he opened fire, the gunman shouted something that sounded like ‘Power to the people’, and then he started blazing away.”

  Bridge indicated the holo-screen behind him.

  “You saw the weapon the Chairman was holding—the gunman had two weapons exactly like it. He emptied them both before he tried to make his getaway. We still don’t have an accurate body count, because at least fifty people were taken to emergency rooms, but the last number I heard before we started this meeting was twenty-four confirmed dead.”

  Another marshal spoke up.

  “How did the stupid fuck think he was gonna get away?”

  “After he ran, he dropped the weapons and was carrying only an automatic pistol. He made it down to the mezzanine level before security cops caught up with him, and he still damn near got away. He killed six people in the attempt.

  “ACBI is all over it, of course, but it’s our problem too. We’re going to be working in concert with them to try and lasso this thing, along with every other law enforcement agency on the planet. We have no idea yet where the Chairman might be located or how many followers he has. Yesterday’s attack is the first time we’ve even seen a suspect, and now that we have a body we may have something to work with. Hopefully, once we ID the shooter, we can trace him backward and get a handle on these bastards.”

  Chapter 4

  Wednesday, April 26, 0445 (CC)

  Trimmer Springs – Alpha Centauri 2

  Nick Walker kicked his boots up onto the corner of his desk and crossed his ankles. U.F. Marshal Trainee Nathan Green sat in another chair a few feet away. As Nick shut off the video player Nathan shook his head in wonder.

  “What a load of crap!” he breathed. “I’ve never heard anything like that. Have you?”

  “I don’t think so. I’ve heard people piss and moan about the rich, but this takes the cake.”

  “Who is this guy? Does anybody know?”

  Nick shook his head. “He calls himself the Chairman, and apparently he’s been active on Terra for several years, but just recently he started exporting his…excrement…to other worlds. Marshal Bridge said there have been attacks on Mars and now Alpha 2. And this guy isn’t doing it alone, he has an organization. Trouble is, nobody knows who or how many there are.”

  “What about the guy you killed?”

  “When I left Lucaston last night they still didn’t have a positive ID on him. Even when they get one, they probably won’t release any details until they can track him back and find out who he associated with.”

  “So what are we supposed to do?”

  “Be alert. Pay attention to strangers. A small town like Trimmer Springs may not become a target, but we can’t count on that.” Nick glanced up. “How much longer are you going to be in town?”

  Nathan stood up and stretched.

  “My birthday is July 27, and I can’t get my badge until then. Unless they pull me out of here and ship me somewhere else, that gives me three more months.”

  “Good. You can help me keep an eye out. We should plan to meet the maglev every day, for starters. Anybody gets off that we don’t recognize, we keep an eye on them.”

  Nathan glanced at his watch.

  “I think we’re too late. The afternoon train should have arrived twenty minutes ago.”

  Nick grinned. “Starting tomorrow, then.”

  “Maybe we should wander over to the station anyway, just in case.”

  “Maybe you’re right.” Nick swung his boots off the desk and got to his feet, picked up his hat, and placed it on his head. “Then we can head on home for supper. I think Suzanne and Kristina are fixing something special for us.”

  Nathan laughed. “I swear, if I stay married to that girl, I’m gonna gain a hundred pounds before I’m thirty. She’s a fantastic cook.”

  “I know what you mean. She got it from her mom.”

  They pushed open the front door of the U.F. Marshal’s office and stepped onto the sidewalk…and stopped. A middle-aged couple was walking toward them, a man and a woman. Both wore expensive business suits, and the sight of them widened Nick’s eyes.

  “Speaking of strangers,” he said quietly.

  The newcomers spotted Nick as they approached. The man smiled and offered his hand. The woman appeared a bit more reserved.

  “Marshal Walker! How are you? It’s been a while.”

  “Yes it has.” Nick shook his hand, then the woman’s. “Why don’t you come inside my office. I hope you didn’t travel all the way here just to see me?”

  Nick held the door as the pair stepped inside. He followed, with a puzzled Nathan bringing up the rear.

  “As a matter of fact,” said Gary Fraites, “we did. Come to see you, that is. Did we catch you at a bad time?”

  “No. Actually we were just heading to the train station to see if any suspicious characters had come to town.”

  Fraites laughed. The woman glanced about the office, looking uncomfortable. They both looked at Nathan.

  “Gary Fraites, Geraldine Gabbard, this is my assistant, Nathan Green.”

  “Nice to meet you both.” Nathan shook hands and stepped back.

  Nick gestured to a row of chairs near the wall.

  “Take a seat. Can I get you something to drink? I can make some coffee…”

  “Not for me, thanks.” Fraites glanced at Gabbard, who shook her head.

  “I’m fine.”

  The visitors sat and Nick leaned back against his desk. It was an awkward moment. Nick turned to Nathan.

  “When I was posted to Ceres, Mr. Fraites ran the prosecutor’s office, and Ms. Gabbard ran the Public Defender’s office.” He faced his guests. “So what brings you both to Trimmer Springs? I didn’t think you missed me that much.”

  Fraites smiled, but his eyes turned serious. He glanced at Gabbard, then faced Nick directly.

  “Something has come up, Nick. You would have been notified in a day or two, but this time I felt you should hear it directly from someone you know.”

  Nick frowned. “Did somebody die?”

  “Uh, well—not exactly, no. But—”

  “Am I fired? Under indictment?”


  Fraites looked startled for a second, then glanced at Gabbard again.

  “Well, no, you’re not indicted…”

  “Not yet,” Gabbard said.

  Nick felt a chill wash over him.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Looking almost embarrassed, Fraites reached into his briefcase and withdrew a document. He handed it over without a word. Nick stared at it for thirty seconds, trying to decipher the legalese. His pulse increased with every word he read.

  “Jesus Christ!” he whispered. “Is this for real?”

  “I’m afraid it is. But it’s not an indictment, it’s just a hearing. You don’t even have to be present if you don’t want to.”

  Nick looked at Geraldine Gabbard.

  “What was it you said? ‘Not yet’?”

  She nodded, looking somewhat distressed.

  “It’s a fishing trip,” she told him. “The whole purpose of the hearing is to gather information. The special prosecutor is hoping to uncover an indictable offense. That’s why I said ‘yet’, because an indictment could follow if things don’t go well.”

  Nick handed the paper back to Fraites, but he waved it away.

  “That’s your copy. Nick, I’m sorry as hell about this whole thing—”

  “Wait a minute! Aren’t you the U.F. Attorney in Lucaston?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t approve this action. I actually vetoed it, but one of my prosecutors went over my head to a judge and got a court order. My hands are tied.”

  Nick stood silent, his mind reeling. Nathan reached for the document and Nick gave it to him. Nick looked at his visitors again.

  “Is that it? Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

  “No.” Geraldine Gabbard sat forward on the edge of her chair. “I came to offer you representation. I know that you and I haven’t always seen eye to eye, but this is bullshit of the deepest variety.”

  Nick barked a short laugh. “You want to represent me? You don’t even like me.”

  “Nick, it was never personal. I thought you knew that. I was upset over losing Misery Allen, and for a while I blamed you for that, but it was irrational and I was out of line. Once we got past that, I think our professional relationship was pretty good, don’t you?”

  Nick glared at her, but finally nodded.

  “Yeah. I guess it was.”

  “Then let me help you. You’re going to need a lawyer for this and I think you could do a lot worse.”

  Fraites chimed in. “She knows you, Nick. She knows your history and your character. Better to have Gerry than some stranger who doesn’t know anything about you and could give a shit less.”

  Nick shrugged and spread his hands.

  “Okay, fine. How much is this going to cost me?”

  “If you mean money, then not a dime. The U.F. Marshal Service will be billed for your legal defense. My office already has a contract with them for other services, so they won’t blink an eye.”

  Nathan stepped forward and placed the document on the desk.

  “Do I get to testify?” he asked. “I’ve known Nick for three years and we’ve worked a couple of cases together. I was present when he killed most of those people and every one of them was justified.”

  Gabbard studied him with interest.

  “Absolutely! I need you in my office tomorrow morning. I want to know everything you know.”

  Friday, April 28, 0445 (CC)

  14th Floor, Morgan Olsen Building – Lucaston, Alpha Centauri 2

  “I don’t even know where most of those people are,” Nick Walker told his attorney. “And even if we can find them, how many of them are willing to travel to Alpha 2?”

  He was sitting in Geraldine Gabbard’s private office in another skytower across the river from the Federation Building. Nathan Green had been there the day before and now it was Nick’s turn.

  “We’ll track them down,” Gabbard replied. “If they’re willing and able to make the trip, the Federation will pay their expenses; failing that, we can depose them holographically.”

  “Is that admissible?”

  “In a criminal action, no, but this isn’t a criminal case. This is a hearing only, and if the special prosecutor wants to examine our witnesses he can damn well conduct his own deposition.” She smiled grimly. “Assuming, of course, he even knows about them. I already have a short list of potential witnesses for their side, although I’m sure it isn’t complete.”

  “Really?” Nick leaned forward. “Who are they?”

  “Glad you asked.” Gabbard spun around and tapped up a computer list. “I need you to tell me who some of them are and what they might say.”

  Nick stared at the list with narrowed eyes. Some of the names he expected, but others were a surprise.

  “Willard Kline. Roy Blake. David Tarpington. Monica Maynard. Turd Murdoch—are you shitting me?”

  “Stay on track.”

  “John Colwell. Fred Ferguson. Marshal Milligan. Russ Murray. Sandy Beech. Henry Farrington? Really?” Nick shook his head. “Milo Zima. Drusilla Downing. Maggie Downing. Nicodemus Downing. Antiochus Groening… Jesus Christ, is this guy nuts? Over half these people will defend me, and most of the others are doing time. Does he even know what he’s doing?” Nick waved a hand. “How does he even know about them?”

  “He read your reports. It’s like I said the other day, he’s on a fishing trip. He has no idea what they’re going to say, but he’s hoping he can find enough people who hate you to make his case. And since he’s delusional, he probably thinks the public at large holds the same opinion of you that he does.”

  “Maybe they do, but these people…”

  “I know a lot of these people, too, the ones from Ceres; but you need to tell me about the others. And we need to add them to our own list.”

  “Well, for starters, you can slip about half of these over to my side, maybe more than half. This is bullshit.”

  “No it isn’t.” Gabbard smiled. “This is actually wonderful. Godney is doing most of our work for us. If he’s stupid enough to put people on the stand who don’t want to testify against you, that works in our favor. They will be reluctant witnesses for him, and we get to cross-examine them. The more witnesses he has like that, the weaker his case looks.

  “Now, who can you think of that isn’t on his list? Someone who might help us?”

  Nick puffed his cheeks as he thought about it.

  “Who do you have so far?”

  “I’ve got you, Nathan Green, Suzanne Norgaard, and Kristina Norgaard-Green for starters, but I may not use them.”

  “Why not?”

  “They’re too obvious. Godney will spend days getting ready for them, and the smartest thing I can probably do is not call them to testify. Then, if he wants their testimony badly enough, he’ll have to call them himself.”

  “So we haven’t gained anything.”

  She shook her head. “Godney will try to trip them up, make them testify to things they don’t want to talk about. That opens the door for me on cross, because then I can let them say everything he doesn’t want them to say…and he can’t do a thing about it.”

  “Okay…”

  “Give me some names.”

  Nick massaged his eyes for a moment.

  “Luther Nelson, U.F. Marshal, retired. Dr. Alice Taylor, of Kline Corners. Marshal John Colwell of…wait a minute, he’s on the other list, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, Godney already has him. Who else?”

  “You might try Senator Gil Prater of Centauri Springs; I worked on a case for him just a few weeks ago.”

  “I read about that one. Who else?”

  “Virgil Bullard, Centauri Springs PD; Chief Jerry Dwyer of Trimmer Springs…and Goldie Jarvis of Binary Flats.”

  Gabbard nodded and made notes. She glanced at a report on her desk.

  “What about Chief Sheehan, of Centauri Springs PD?”

  Nick sighed. “You can ask him, but I think Godney will snatch him up. Sheehan doesn
’t like me at all.”

  “Okay, I’ll put him down for rigorous cross. Anyone else?”

  Nick raised his eyebrows. “Well…if you can find them, look for Dennis Childers and his girlfriend. Her name is Grace Cheatum. They might put in a good word for me.”

  Gabbard picked up the report and flipped a page.

  “I see them. Weren’t they suspects in your recent investigation?”

  “They were, but I cleared them. I actually cut them a break…” He puffed his cheeks again. “Shit, Godney will use that against me, won’t he?”

  “He’ll try. But if I remember your report correctly, you saved their lives in that canyon, so that should carry some serious weight.”

  Gabbard made some notes and then turned to Nick with a satisfied expression.

  “I think we’re done for today, Marshal. You may as well go on home for the weekend; I’ll try to locate these witnesses and then I’ll call you. Maybe we can meet the middle of next week.”

  Nick nodded and stood up, reaching for his hat.

  “Ms. Gabbard, I don’t know what to say. Thanks for doing this.”

  She smiled. “No thanks necessary. This is what I do.”

  Her desk comm buzzed and she answered it.

  “You have a call from the U.F. Attorney’s office, Ms. Gabbard.”

  “Which one is it?”

  “Mr. Godney’s assistant. Victoria Cross.”

  “Thank you, Joan. Ask her to hold for one minute, please.”

  Gabbard pressed the mute button and looked up.

  Nick Walker’s face had turned pale as death. He stared at her as if she had just peed on the carpet.

  “Nick? What’s wrong?”

  Nick tried to speak, but had to swallow first.

  “Did she say…Victoria Cross?”

  “Yes. She’s an assistant U.F. Attorney. She works for Mr. Fraites.”

  He blinked, barely able to breathe.

  “Slender, blond, blue eyes, about my age?”

  “Yes…”

  “Former Star Marine?”

  “I think so, yes. Before joining the U.F. Attorney’s office she was a military trial lawyer for the Judge Advocate General.”