Over the radio, Ramini’s voice said, “Got ’im. Keep moving, Dredd. Armoured vehicles coming in.”
Twin explosions from the far side of the town lit up the night sky and shook the ground, but right now Dredd wasn’t in a position to investigate.
Further along the street, he saw O’Donnell lying in wait for an approaching hoverskid; the craft was completely enclosed in armour-plating, with only a few thin horizontal slots to allow the crew to see and shoot. O’Donnell fired two shots at the hoverskid and ducked back into the shadows. On the opposite side of the street, Dredd saw Travis and Eloise Crow hiding beneath a building’s raised porch. As the hoverskid turned toward O’Donnell, they darted out—Travis was carrying a thick blanket over his shoulder. They both jumped onto the rear of the craft, then Travis scrambled onto its roof and quickly draped the blanket over the slots in the cockpit’s armour, while Eloise jammed the muzzle of her gun into a gun-slot in the side and emptied the entire clip.
Eloise and Travis jumped clear as the hoverskid careened out of control, crashing into the side of an old wooden house. They ran back toward Dredd and O’Donnell.
“Could do with a few more like you two,” Dredd told them. “Go with O’Donnell, check out those explosions.”
As the trio darted away, running past the crashed hoverskid, Dredd went in the opposite direction. Into his radio, he said, “Montag? Status.”
“Still here, Dredd. Esteban’s on his way—I’m providing cover.”
“Good. Watch your ammo and keep me posted.”
As he approached the plaza, Dredd saw a group of four Earthers, on foot, racing toward O’Donnell’s shuttle.
A quick volley of shots from the guards on the rooftops changed the Earthers’ minds: most of them scattered, but one dove for cover beneath an old, out-of-commission digger. From that vantage point, the Earther would be well-placed to take aim at the guards on the roof.
Another heat-seeker would be of little use here: from this angle, the Earther was shielded by one of the digger’s oversized wheels. But that also meant that the Earther couldn’t see him. Dredd ran full-pelt toward the rusting vehicle. At the last second, he threw himself forward and landed in a face-down skid that took him past the wheel and face-to-face with the shocked-looking Earther.
“What—?” the Earther began.
“Good news,” Dredd told him. “You’re the one who gets to live.” He grabbed the young man by the throat and jerked his arm up, smashing the Earther’s head hard against the underside of the digger, then did it a second time, just to be sure.
Ten
DREDD HEARD BRIAN O’Donnell groan, and turned to see the deputy roll onto his side, clutching his head with bandaged hands.
“I’m never drinking again,” O’Donnell said. He winced as he swung his legs off the bed and sat up, then saw Dredd. “Oh yeah, now I remember.” He looked around the room, then sighed. “Dredd, what are you doing in my house?”
“Doc Featherman assessed your wounds, concluded you weren’t seriously hurt. Minor lacerations and contusions.”
“I see.” He looked down at his hands. “I have no idea how that happened.”
“One of the Earthers had an old pre-war grenade,” Dredd said. “You got caught in the blast.”
“I don’t remember... We were running toward the DuFours building when...” He shuddered. “Oh crap. Why am I not dead?”
“Travis Crow pushed you—and his wife—out of the way. He was wounded, but Doc Featherman patched him up. Eloise is unhurt, aside from a few scratches.”
O’Donnell stood up, wavered a little. “Feel like I’ve been head-butting a bucket of bricks... Any other injuries?”
“Yes,” Dredd said. “Three fatalities. Lulu McCulloch, Sam Meenan, Oleg Schreyer. Some minor injuries. We’re also low on ammunition. Scavenged what we could from the raiders, but it wasn’t much.”
“Oleg...? Grud, no... I’ve known him since we were kids—I’m the one who introduced him to his husband.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, O’Donnell, but this is not the time for grief. We have to shore up the defences and get to training the rest of your people. Most of them are practically useless. McCulloch and Schreyer died because they didn’t have the wits to stick to their cover. They—”
Dredd blocked the first punch easily, dodged the second, and caught the man’s wrists before he could throw a third.
“You heartless son of a bitch!” O’Donnell yelled at him, struggling. “They were my friends!”
Dredd pushed him back down onto the couch. “Schreyer took a gas-powered harpoon through the neck. He and McCulloch were supposed to watch out for each other. Because Schreyer was careless, they both died.” After a moment, Dredd added, “If it’s any consolation, the harpoon severed his carotid artery and his spinal cord. He was dead within seconds.”
“Shut up! Drokk you and your consolations, Dredd. If you’d let me run the defences, they’d all still be alive!”
Dredd resisted the urge to immediately correct O’Donnell. At the Academy, they’d been trained to deal with hysterical citizens. Often it was best to let them boil the fury out of their system. They’d calm down soon enough. Forcing the truth on them rarely helped; it only added fuel to their rage.
And the truth was that O’Donnell’s idea to wait until the Earthers had split into two groups wouldn’t have worked. This raid had been almost twice as large as the previous one, and the Earthers had been better armed. By being the first to open fire, the defenders had managed to scare off some of the Earthers, and unsettle the rest. Their plan of attack had been shot to pieces before they could get it off the ground.
Next time, Ezekiel wasn’t going to be so lucky.
“Have you spoken to Fellegara?” O’Donnell asked.
“Schreyer’s husband? Yes. He was distraught.”
“All their deaths are on your hands, Dredd. You Judges had to do it your way, didn’t you?”
“We can argue about this later. Right now, we have to prepare for tonight’s attack. I want you working with us, O’Donnell, not against us. Understood? Your alternative is to spend the night in one of your own cells.”
“They won’t attack tonight. They’ll need time to regroup. Couple of days at least. How many got away?”
“None of them. I sent Esteban out to track the stragglers; after the attack, we took your shuttle and hunted them down. We left one alive here in town. He’s scared, just a kid, but he says that his group was just the vanguard. There’s a lot of groups out there, from all over the Cursed Earth, and they’re gathering. They’ll hit us tonight, tomorrow night at the latest.”
“How many are we talking about?”
“Kid says there’s more than he can count. Could be hundreds.”
O’Donnell pushed himself to his feet. “We need back-up, from the city.”
“Ramini took the shuttle up over the death-belt. She was only able to get a partial message through... There’s a rad-storm building between here and the city, and it’s going to be big. The western sectors have got their hands full trying to prepare for that—they can’t spare anyone.” Dredd moved toward the door. “Much as you want to sit here and wallow, we can’t allow that.”
“I want to talk to that Earther. And I’m still in charge of security around here. I’m not going to forget what you’ve done.”
CHIEF JUDGE GOODMAN looked up as SJS Judge Gillen entered his office. He shut down his terminal, and leaned back in his chair. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m bringing charges against Judge Joseph Dredd.”
Goodman watched her carefully. He’d been expecting this a few months ago, but recently all SJS interest in Joe Dredd seemed to have dissipated. “You don’t need my permission for that.”
“I’m not asking for it, Chief Judge. Just letting you know as a courtesy. I know you’ve taken a personal interest in the clones. You considered yourself something of a mentor to both Joe and Rico... Which is why Rico’s betrayal hit yo
u so hard.”
“Indeed?”
“And now Joe. Both of them corrupt. A one hundred per cent failure rate. My guess is that’s the end of the cloning programme.”
“Hmm... A tip, Gillen, from one professional to another. Try not to sound quite so smug when you’re delivering news like that.”
“You don’t seem concerned.”
“I’ll wait to see the evidence before I believe that Joe is guilty of anything. Unlike the SJS, we don’t start with an assumption of guilt and then go hunting for the proof to back it up. Well, not always. So what evidence do you have?”
“Joe threatened and intimidated a young woman with whom Rico had had a physical relationship. Several members of her family were present.”
“And you can prove this beyond a reasonable doubt?”
“We’ve psi-scanned every member of the family. Their memories corroborate each other and are all the evidence we need.”
“You’re certain that it was Joe and not Rico who made the threats?”
“Rico was on-duty elsewhere at the time of the incident. That’s been verified by other Judges. Joe’s location is unknown. We were able to determine the exact time of the incident from the Tri-D channel playing in their apartment when Joe arrived. So it could only have been him. It’s not enough to send Dredd to Titan, but it’ll put him in an iso-cube for a ten-stretch at least.”
Goodman stood up from his desk, and walked toward the window. He stared out at the city, conscious that this was something he did every time he was perturbed. “You happy now, Gillen? You’ve spent months trying to pin something on him. This has to be a banner day for you.” He sighed. “But like I said, you don’t need my permission. You’re here for a different reason. Other than to rub it in my face, that is. What do you want?”
“I’ll have eight SJS Judges with me, and I want a squad of twenty-five senior Judges, seven fully-armed H-Wagons and full satellite support. I want the sky over the city empty when I bring him back, and the major streets closed off. I will need the full cooperation of every department.”
Goodman laughed. “You want to shut down a city of eight hundred million people...? He’s not a monster, Gillen. Judge Dredd is just one man.”
“He has Ramini and Montag on his side. Even if they don’t aid him, Sector Chief Benzon says it’s unlikely they’ll help apprehend him. Besides, have you seen Dredd in action?”
The Chief Judge considered that. “Good point. But if I were a betting man I’d lay good odds that he’s not going to resist.”
“So you’ll pass the word on to your departments?”
“I will. When do you intend to make the arrest?”
“As soon as the current rad-storm between the city and Ezekiel dissipates. We’ll split into four teams, move in on his location from all sides.”
“Good luck with that. And do remember to have the cameras on all vehicles serviced, and make sure they record absolutely everything, because it’s going to be entertaining watching you trying to justify this action to your superiors. Also, you might want to have a word with Accounts. Get an estimate of the cost of the entire operation.” He turned back to face her. “Or... We could save all that time and money by employing a much simpler approach.”
“Which is?”
“Contact him, tell him he’s under arrest, and ask him to return to the city.”
“That’s ridiculous, Chief. He’d never comply with that.”
“You really don’t know Joe Dredd at all, do you?”
Eleven
DREDD AND O’DONNELL met Alfonsa Hanenberger on the streets of Ezekiel. As before, she was accompanied by her entourage of advisors and bodyguards.
“Mister O’Donnell...” Hanenberger said, nodding toward him. “We heard the commotion last night.”
Dredd said, “We need to begin evacuation. The entire town. And your mercenaries are going to help.” He glanced at Hanenberger’s bodyguards. “Even these two.”
The woman scoffed. “All because one dumb Earther told you a fairytale about his people gathering for an assault? No.”
“It wasn’t a request. Your mercs will help, or they’ll turn all of their weapons, ammunition and equipment over to us.”
“Then you don’t comprehend the meaning of the word ‘mercenary,’ Judge. They are soldiers for hire. Do you understand the concept? If you want them to work, you have to pay them. But since I’m already paying them, you’d have to double or triple my rate to persuade them to work for you instead. I don’t see that happening.” She turned back to O’Donnell. “We are safe here, you assured me of that many times. Were you wrong?”
O’Donnell glowered for a moment, then said, “No. We’re safe. But we’re only safe because we take the appropriate precautions. If we become complacent, we’ll die.”
“The Earthers are savages, O’Donnell. Really little more than animals. Most of them can barely string a sentence together, let alone organise some sort of mass-march on our town.”
“Talk to the prisoner yourself,” Dredd said. “You’ll find he’s intelligent and literate. And desperate. Underestimating the enemy shows remarkable short-sightedness on your part. If you want us to defend this town, you’ll let us do it our way.”
“Your way got three good people killed,” Hanenberger said. “Perhaps life is disposable in Mega-City One, but not here in my town.”
“Then take a good look around,” Dredd said. “Commit the town to memory, because if that kid is telling the truth, memories will be all that’s left of Ezekiel. Now I’m telling you to prepare to evacuate or I will hold you responsible for the consequences.”
One of Hanenberger’s advisors leaned close to her and whispered something that Dredd couldn’t hear. The woman smiled and nodded. “Judge Dredd, outside the walls of your city, you have no legal standing. You’re not even the most senior Judge here. You can issue orders, but we’re under no obligation to comply.”
“For everyone else here, that’s true,” Dredd said. “But you are a citizen of Mega-City One. You’ll do what I say if you ever want to return to the city.”
The woman barked a short, harsh laugh. “I will not. Now, you go about your business defending—”
“You brought us in to protect the people of this town, that’s what I’m going to do. You all follow my orders and there’s a chance we’ll survive. I told you about the rad-storm between here and the city. In the few minutes before she lost contact with the Justice Department, they told Judge Ramini that their satellites had picked up another storm, and it’s a lot bigger. If the two storms meet, we are going to be trapped right in the middle. If we begin evacuating right now, we might make it.”
Hanenberger regarded him silently for a moment. “No. We’ve survived the worst weather the Cursed Earth can throw at us... And so have the Earthers. If we leave, we’re putting down a welcome mat for them. Then when we return, getting them out is going to be damn near impossible. They’d take over the mine, and that would be the end of this town.”
“You’re making a mistake, Hanenberger.”
“My town, my mistake to make. You don’t understand, Judge. You’re a city-boy right down to the bone, but the people here are made of tougher stuff. You expect them to abandon everything they’ve worked for? Then you’re a fool.”
“WE HAVE ALMOST five hundred reluctant people to evacuate,” O’Donnell told Dredd and Ramini. “It’s not possible.”
They were on the roof of the town’s highest building, using binoculars to scan the horizon. Overhead, the sky was clear, but to the east, a kilometre above ground, a wide death-belt was slowly approaching. Dredd watched the slowly-tumbling rocks for a few moments. Sand, dust and other small particles tended to get whipped away from the death-belts by strong winds, but whatever strange, gravity-nullifying force kept the belt in the air seemed to hold on to larger objects.
“The shuttle can carry ten, at a push,” O’Donnell said. “Fourteen four-wheeled vehicles, maybe sixty more. Even if we can persu
ade everyone to leave, that means evacuation will take at least seven trips just for the people and another three for the supplies they’ll need. And we don’t even know where we’re going. There’s no way we can make it to the city through the rad-storm, and even if we could, they wouldn’t let most of us in.”
“What about the trucks that transport the iridium to the processing plant?” Ramini asked. “They could carry everyone.”
“They could, if they were here, and if Hanenberger allowed us to use them. Last I heard the trucks are just outside the city, waiting out the rad-storm.”
“So you’re saying that it can’t be done?” Dredd asked.
“No, I’m repeating that it can’t be done! We’d die out there. We’ve a better chance of survival if we stay. Lot of the homes here have basements, should be enough room for everyone.”
Ramini said, “If the storm hits as hard as the experts in Mega-City One are predicting, there won’t be any basements under the homes. There’ll be tombs.”
It was early afternoon, two hours since Dredd’s confrontation with Hanenberger. On the southern side of the town, the diggers were carving a wide, deep trench across the town’s entire south side, piling the excavated dirt high just inside the trench to create a barricade. Some of the Earthers’ wrecked vehicles had been dragged into position behind the barricade to provide cover against any Earthers who succeeded in scrambling over it.
Esteban swiftly climbed up onto the roof. “We’ve got about half the town still refusing to leave. What are the chances that the storm will keep the raiders away?”
O’Donnell said, “Could be that they’re coming because of the storm. They know we’ll have to take shelter, that’ll give them a free run of the town.” To the Judges, he said, “They’re better equipped to deal with it than we are. Most of them are muties already.”
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