“By a vote of three to two we have agreed to reduce your charge from ‘unjust killing without the intent to kill’ to ‘dereliction of duty’.” The judge said. “Do you accept this change?”
“Yes sir.”
“In all my years as a Peace Officer and defending the public, I have never come across an action as craven and foolhardy as yours. Charging into the crowd without proper support from additional squads. No attempt to call for reinforcements. Then discharging a side arm into unarmed protesters.”
The judge paused for a moment, shaking his head. Another judge motioned for attention. He had spent the last four decades as a Peace Officer, Hammond recalled. Mostly in administration. He had clawed his way to the top of the profession because his brother-in-law was a senator.
“The riot should never have been allowed to form. The crowd should have been dispersed once it got beyond a reasonable size. We should not allow people the right to speak freely in such a manner in public.”
Hammond ground his teeth. That’s the right to free assembly and free speech dismissed in one breath by one who is supposed to be protecting it.
“We have taken into account your actions during the recent war.” The Chief said. “We believe the stress and the nightmares you have been experiencing perhaps account for your actions in part. As such we have decided to be lenient in your sentencing.”
Hammond held his breath. He was still staring at the wall at the back of the judge’s chambers. He felt a little shaken when he realised that they had unsealed the psychiatric report. He had only opened up to the doctor on the assurances that everything he had said would remain confidential. Perhaps his trust in the system was naive.
“You will be reduced to half-pay for the remainder of the year and your pay will be redistributed. The monies will be given to the families of the man you callously shot and the people killed from the subsequent stampede. Alternatively you have the opportunity to resign in dishonour.”
The Chief paused for a moment to allow Hammond to respond. As it was not posed as a question Hammond remained silent. He would not give them the satisfaction of using him as a scapegoat for this situation. Yes he had made mistakes, but there was a lack of sufficient Peace Officers and they were poorly trained. It was not fair to pin that on him.
“You will be confined to barracks until we have a suitable position to offer you that we feel is appropriate to your abilities.”
The chief nodded to someone behind Hammond. It was the Superintendent. The only person that Hammond actually looked up to. He stepped in front of Hammond and started to remove the medals and commendations from Hammond’s uniform.
Hammond wanted to say something but the Superintendent shook his head slightly. This was not the time. There was a look of sympathy in his eyes as he stepped back from Hammond.
“About turn. Dismissed”
Hammond kept his head high as he left the chamber.
*
“I don’t care how you try to phrase it Leyland, I have never been so humiliated in my life.”
Simmons sat on a large, wing-backed chair holding a drink in his hand. They had left the parliament buildings after the meeting with the council. After several hours of fruitless discussions, his proposal to build hotels and habitats on asteroids had been dismissed. The asteroids were in a stable orbit and had previously been settled by explorers from the planet Jewel. Since the war against Jewel had ended, the asteroids should no longer be considered contested. But the council had used this flimsy excuse to refuse to consider any additional building or expansion in the asteroid field.
“I will put some feelers out sir.” Leyland said. “Perhaps your bribes were not sufficient to sway the vote.”
“We had followed the correct process and paid off the right people. I just don’t understand it.”
Simmons slammed the glass of whiskey on the coffee table. Some of the precious liquid splashed on the clear surface.
“Sir, if you consider it for a moment, the situation was too slick.” Leyland said. “The politicians you had bribed said all the right things, made the correct arguments, but the remaining politicians were united against you. I suspect that there is someone actively working against your interests.”
“Why would they do that?” Simmons asked.
“Perhaps they have the same plan as you.” Leyland said. “The asteroids are too far from the sun to be useful for growing food even for existing micro-lense technology. As a holiday destination or home, they would be too expensive. It is cheaper to mine asteroids closer to us. The only conceivable use for the asteroids is our plans to build a hotel or habitat and use them to leverage debt.”
“But whoever tried to do that must have considerable resources behind them to play such a game.” Simmons said. “Could it be that the consortium have finally decided to make a move?”
“Possibly not.” Leyland said. “If they have, then this is a very clumsy first step for them to take. The council has thrown a roadblock in our way. It is not insurmountable. They would know that you would immediately try to find a way around it which would force their hand. We may just have been unlucky.”
“What options do we have now?” Simmons asked.
“We can continue following the usual process sir.” Leyland said. “Make political contributions to the heads of committees and influence their votes.”
“You don’t feel that would be the best option?”
“No sir. These bribes will need to be even larger than usual and still offer no guarantee that they will work. We would run the risk of a senator developing a conscience. An alternative is blackmail. I know of a consultancy which specialises in blackmail. For enough money they would be willing to place a senator in a compromising position. Again this is prone to backfiring and we would have even less control over the whole process.”
“What would you suggest Leyland?”
“The specific objection of the council is against building on the asteroids because, and this is important, the asteroids are currently contested land, contested by the planet Jewel.” Leyland said. “If we journey to Jewel, we can get an agreement from the planetary council that the asteroids are no longer contested. With this agreement we could overcome any further objections.”
“Although the war with Jewel is over, there is no love lost between us and them.” Simmons said. “No cruise ship or space liner would be willing to chance the trip, especially with the upsurge in piracy.”
“Instead of travelling to Jewel by space liner, we could rent our own spaceship, find a captain and crew, and travel there in disguise.” Leyland said. “This would be a cheaper option than the last and would mean that we would retain control of the process. Do you wish for me to organise this sir?”
At Simmons’s nod, Leyland left the room. Simmons stared into the glass of whiskey in his hand. He had hoped to never again venture into space after the last time. With a little luck, this would be a more pleasant voyage.
He was not very optimistic.
Chapter Three
“Roger Stone, there is a visitor to see you.”
The Peace Officer stood at the entrance to the cell, anonymous behind the darkened visor of his helmet. Stone quirked an eyebrow at David Rawlins then stood and crossed to the Peace Officer.
“Is it my sister?” Stone asked.
The Peace Officer stood to one side allowing the prisoner to precede him. The cell door slid noiselessly closed behind them as they crossed the corridor to a set of interview rooms. The Peace Officer cuffed a restraint on one of Stone’s wrists.
“Try not to make a sudden movement with your arm, or the restraint will activate.” The Peace Officer said. He opened the door for Stone and allowed him to enter alone.
There was a table in the centre of the drab room with two chairs, one of which was occupied. Although the man was dressed in a formal suit, he was not an advocate or social worker. Confused, Stone glanced back at the Peace Officer but the door had already closed.
&n
bsp; “Have a seat.” The man offered.
He was studying Stone with an unexpected intensity. Long sculptured fingers stroked the bare chin of an effeminate face.
Stone shrugged and sat down.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Mike Leyland, I am a consultant working for Opaque Cat Consultancy. We are a large multi-planetary organisation which is dedicated to surpassing our competitors at providing exceptional customer experience while continuing to diversify our core services.”
“Congratulations.” Stone said. “That was perhaps the most vacuous sentence I have heard since my ex-wife informed the divorce court that she thought it was unfair to expect a spaceship captain to constantly travel. What do you want with me?”
“My employer has tasked me with gathering a captain and a crew and making a passage to the planet Jewel. We have a need to conduct some highly confidential negotiations on the planet and need to make the trip there as quickly and quietly as possible. I have already hired a freighter. I need a crew.”
“And you choose me.”
“The one and only Captain Roger Stone.” Leyland said. “Your reputation at arriving at your destination regardless of the slings and arrows of cruel and barbaric misfortunes has placed you at the top of the list of captains I wish to command the ship. Your current misfortune has occurred at a very fortuitous moment. A very hefty bribe has allowed me to speak to you alone.”
“What’s in it for me?” Stone asked.
“It is a condition of your parole that you do community service in a position appropriate to your training otherwise you will be exiled.” Leyland said. “I can offer you such a position.”
“I have some conditions.” Stone said. “Rawlins is my engineer, he comes with me.”
“Agreed.”
“We will both get paid for this at standard union rates, plus bonus if we get attacked by pirates.”
“Community service is supposed to be unpaid work.” Leyland said. “Getting paid for working defeats the purpose.”
“We both get paid.” Stone insisted. “Additionally, any crew members that are also on community service are to get paid as well. People work harder if they’re paid.”
Leyland shrugged, the money wasn’t his.
“Agreed.”
“Our community service is for five years.” Stone said. “You set it up so that, after this job, we will be in a position to continue to charter the freighter. Otherwise, we are back where we started.”
Leyland nodded. It made sense and would be easy to implement. He stood up and held out his hand.
“That’s agreed.”
“One last thing.” Stone said. He was still sitting back in his chair staring up at the consultant. “Perhaps the most important. Once we leave the space dock in this freighter I am in charge. I am the captain. I will get you to the destination you desire, but I will do it my way. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
The two men shook hands.
Stone flexed his fingers. Leyland was a lot stronger than he looked.
*
James Rivan sat on the floor nursing his jaw.
That idiot Tyler Hart had started an argument with one of the other prisoners about how all wealth should be shared, that corrupt politicians should be arrested and the dangers of artificial intelligence to society at large. The prisoner had objected rather violently.
Hart was uninjured. Rivan had managed to drag the idiot out of range of the opening punch of the discussion. Rivan did not manage to duck the second punch, a left hook. He was lucky that the contender had retired to his side of the prison cell to the disappointment of the other prisoners.
“The first recourse to violence is always an expression of weakness.” Tyler Hart said. “Made by the weak who cannot express themselves. Made by those, the unheard, who have not learnt the value of discourse and live in the margins of society. To them I say I forgive you and wish to turn the other cheek.”
Rivan reached up and dragged Hart to the floor beside him.
“It was me that he hit, you fool.” Rivan said. “Say one more word and I’ll hit you myself.”
At that moment the cell door opened. The Peace Officer gave a cursory glance around before allowing Roger Stone to enter. Stone crossed the cell and sat next to the engineer sitting on the bench.
“I’ve had an offer to get out of here.” Stone said.
Rivan had to strain slightly to hear.
“I’m to captain a spaceship, a quick cruise across to the planet Jewel and back for a businessman. Not only would we get out of here but we will be paid the normal rate. We still need a crew and I made it a condition that I would only accept if you agreed to the position of First Engineer in charge of the engines. Are you interested?”
“Normal rates?” Rawlins said. “Was he not aware that community service is unpaid?”
“He was but he was desperate.” Stone said. “It might be the only offer we get to do community service.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. If he’s that desperate, it might be dangerous.”
“It will be just like old times.” Stone said. “The freedom and tranquillity of space with some honest money for once. Are you in?”
Rawlins looked around at the other occupants in the cell. Most were sitting on the floor, downcast and dispirited. They were the dregs of society. He nodded and stood.
“Let me introduce you to our new employer, he is waiting outside.” Stone said.
They walked towards the door which opened as they approached. Rawlins left the cell.
“Captain.” Rivan called. He stood, jerking Hart to his feet. “A moment of your time Captain, if you will.”
Stone stopped and raised an inquiring eyebrow.
“I happened to overhear your conversation.” Rivan said. “My name’s James Rivan and this is Tyler Hart. We are both experienced crew who have come on hard times. If you give us a chance, we would be a valuable asset to you in your new ship.”
He held his breath hoping that the Captain would not see through his lie. Stone paused for a moment then shrugged.
“Let me get back to you on that.” Stone said.
“What are you doing?” Tyler said as the cell door closed behind Stone.
“Saving us both from exile.” Rivan said. “What better job than working on a cruise ship with Captain Stone. You heard him, they need all types of crew positions. How hard is it to work as a purser or head steward?”
“What if they assign us to engineering or piloting the ship?”
“It’s easy, just fake it until you make it, I say.” Rivan said.
*
Lieutenant Hammond answered the door.
As he was confined to quarters and was only allowed to leave it to use the bathroom, he was very surprised to hear a quiet knock. A tall well dressed man stood at the entrance to his room.
“Lieutenant Nicholas Hammond? My name is Mike Leyland and I have a job for you.”
Hammond accepted a folded piece of paper. It was a set of orders instructing him that he was being placed under the command of Mike Leyland of Opaque Cat Consultancy as liaison officer. He placed the orders in his pocket.
“Walk with me.” Leyland said.
“Yes sir.” Hammond said. He grabbed his service cap and tucked it under his arm. He was wearing his undress uniform and the hat was required headdress while he was in the barracks.
They walked through the empty corridors and stepped out into the cold sunshine. Hammond secured the service cap on his head.
“My employer has asked me to obtain passage on-board ship to the planet Jewel.” Leyland said. “The trip is likely to last several weeks. A week to the destination, a couple of weeks there and the return trip. I am currently building a crew and need the appropriate security to staff the ship. I want you to command the security detail.”
“How many men will I be commanding?” Hammond asked.
“There has been a reported upswing in pirate activity since the cess
ation of hostilities between us and the planet Jewel.” Leyland said. “Additionally you will be required to provide security for my employer Mr Simmons while he is on the planet. I have asked for and been granted the service of twenty Peace Officers to assist us in this venture. You will command those two squads. If you need more, I can certainly arrange for further resources.”
Piece of Nicias: A Sci-Fi Novel Page 3