If they could be released, then the situation really had improved drastically. Noriko looked around blearily as she stumbled for their van. As she watched, Sam and Teddy were also pulled away and sent toward the medics. More vans and ambulances were arriving to help, but it was more like stabilization and cleanup now. The hard part, the emergency surges, were all gone.
She felt like crying in relief.
The medics gave them a quick once over, ordered them to rest and drink lots of liquids, then shooed them away. Noriko retreated to the van only to find that Banderas was already there, propped up in the doorway as was his wont, with Charlotte collapsed on the van floor.
Noriko meant for a greeting, but what came out of her mouth was, “How long were we at it?”
“An hour and a half by my reckoning.” Banderas gave them both a thumbs up. “Good work, both of you. I got another call from L.A. dispatch. The crisis is averted. They haven’t gotten the city back up to its normal sea depth, but they’re no longer sinking, which I consider good enough for the moment.”
So did she. Beyond relieved, she crawled into the van and plopped onto the bench. Then she toppled straight to the side, not caring that she wound up in a half-contorted position.
“Cap, I gotta tell you, another scene like this and I’ll start demanding hazard pay.” Cameron was only half-joking.
“This is not normal,” Banderas assured him darkly. “In fact, it’s so abnormal that I feel sorry for both of you coming on when you did. Six months ago we were so peaceful that we were actually playing games half the shift because there was nothing to do.”
They had said in her welcome packet that Tehachapi was a very quiet place. Noriko just hadn’t believed it after that first week. “So who’s doing this?”
“Not sure,” Banderas admitted. There was a slight smile on his face that spoke of feral intentions. “But that man Hodges that you two caught earlier today? Some of the things he was saying suggests that he might know something about this. I think I’ll have a little chat with him tomorrow about it.”
“Don’t do it without us,” Cameron requested. “This is one interrogation I don’t want to miss.”
27th Merlin
Mercy (or at least their captain) had more compassion on the two newest members of Pathmaker, as they were able to attend the last day of trial this time without a test interfering. Noriko hadn’t been sure of the dress code for court, but everyone else was wearing their GF uniforms, so that’s what she wore as well. It turned out to be the right choice as every GF member that wasn’t on duty was in attendance. Half the courtroom was a sea of red because of that.
Hodges’s cool did not return after that first interview and he had basically crumpled under the cross-interrogation of the prosecuting attorney. He had admitted to being paid to tamper with the fail safes, along with Wesson and Landers, but he was adamant that it was not corporate sabotage. “They” had asked him to do it, and so he had.
No matter what he was threatened with, however, he wouldn’t name his employer. Whatever or whoever they were, they scared him more than jail time could.
Noriko had watched him carefully, as had everyone else in the room, and he had been terrified up there. Also terribly alone, as no one would come in and speak for him even as a character witness. Wesson and Landers were slightly better off as it was Hodges that had paid them and acted as messenger boy. They were clueless as to who it was that wanted the test cell destroyed, they had assumed what everyone else had—it was some corporation or rival company that wanted the engine destroyed. To hear that they were part of some conspiracy group with its own agenda had been a complete shock to them.
Cameron fidgeted on the bench beside her. “What is taking so long?”
“The jury has only been out ten minutes,” she drawled, poking idly at her phone.
“What’s there to deliberate?” he grumbled, more to himself than to her. “All three of them were basically oozing guilt.”
That part was very true.
“What are you doing?” he asked, leaning over her shoulder.
“Refreshing my email.”
“For what?” As soon as the question was out of his mouth he went, “Ahhh. Test results come out today. I forgot.”
Noriko bent a look at him. “You forgot. Seriously?”
“What? I was more interested in how the trial would go.”
Why was this uncaring man her partner again? “Aren’t you the tiniest bit worried about your test scores?”
“Naw, I passed, that’s all I care about.”
She decided on the spot that if he got anything above a C, she would murder him. Just for his attitude alone.
The jury filed back in, and the court room went abruptly silent. It took a few minutes for all dozen members to be seated, and then the judge turned to them and asked, “Jury, have you reached a verdict?”
The jury foreman stood. “We have, your honor. We judge all three defendants guilty on all accounts.”
Noriko let out a breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding. The evidence had been good, but some of it was circumstantial, and they only had Hodges’ confession to even prove he was part of the whole debacle.
“Let the defendants rise.” The judge waited for all three men to stand before intoning, “Lance Hodges, you have been charged with the purposeful destruction of government property, resisting arrest, conspiracy to cause explosions, and multiple cases of aggravated assault. For all of these you have been found guilty and will be punished to the full extent of the law. This court sentences you to twenty-five years without parole.”
No one quite dared to openly cheer, but every person in the room made their own version of a happy noise. Hodges seemed too numb at this point, as he didn’t even react, just stood there with his head hanging.
“James Wesson and Henry Landers, you are also charged with the purposeful destruction of government property, conspiracy to cause explosions, and multiple cases of aggravated assault. The additional charges from the Gældorcræft Forces of failure to enforce safety codes, failure to protect ley lines protected under governmental regulations, and the violation of preserving the civilian laws you are sworn to uphold are also laid against you. For all of these you have been found guilty and are hereby sentenced to life in prison without parole.”
Wesson let out a strangled cry and dropped his head into his hands. Landers kept shaking his head over and over, but no sound emerged.
Noriko watched their reactions and wondered: had they really thought they could get by with it? They’d sworn something as sacred as the Hippocratic Oath when entering the Force, had they forgotten that? Because of what they could do, the damage they could inflict, they were held to a much higher standard than any civilian worker would be. Had they chosen to ignore that in their greed?
“The Case of State v. Wesson, Landers, and Hodges is now dismissed.” The judge hit the sound block with her wooden gavel and stood.
The bailiff called out, “All rise.”
Everyone promptly did just that, but they ignored the judge as she retreated back into her chambers. They were too busy rehashing the event to each other.
Noriko found it far too noisy in the room and so was one of the first to escape out into the hall. Finding it narrow and also full of people, she retreated further outside and onto the front steps. Cameron was right behind her.
“Oh hey. Our test results are in.”
Immediately she put her holoshades on. “Email, open. Message from Proctor Center, open.” Her eyes scanned the results and she let out a little happy dance. Straight A’s, as expected of herself.
“Sweet,” Cameron whistled.
That tone. That tone suggested she might have to murder him. Slowly pivoting about, she asked suspiciously, “What did you get?”
“A’s. You?”
“Why does a person who doesn’t care about his grades get A’s?”
“Naw, I care,” he assured her.
That was exactly the same tone he used whe
n he was answering a question honestly but also trying to rile her up at the same time. Not able to take it anymore, she hopped up, hooked an elbow behind his neck, and started rubbing at his head vigorously.
“Ouch, hey, Spidey, quit!” He laughed and squirmed and managed to win free after about five seconds. “What was that for?”
“Because you irritate me,” she shot back.
Cameron shook his head, laughter lingering on his face as he headed down the short stair to the sidewalk. “Haru’s right, you’re prickly on the strangest things.”
Wait, what? “Haru? When did Haru say that?”
“Oh, we’re texting buddies. Have been for a while.”
Why was he saying that in such a nonchalant way?! How in the world had he even gotten her brother’s number to begin with? Noriko wanted to ask, dearly wanted to ask, but she could tell that Cameron was teasing and just waiting for her to pounce on him to strangle answers out of his cryptic little throat. And she was loath to give him that satisfaction.
Since the beginning of their partnership, Noriko had been constantly thrown off-balance by him, not sure how to respond to Cameron. Even as she was laughing at his silly jokes, she was groaning at the same time. This was a beautiful opportunity to get a little revenge for feeling constantly off center. “You know, the captain told me the first day you arrived that if I didn’t like you, he’d reassign you to someone else.”
Cameron tripped over thin air. “He did?!”
“It wasn’t the only time he said it, either.” Seeing that Cameron actually was worried about this, she let him squirm for a full three seconds before admitting, “But I did decide to tell him that I wasn’t interested in changing partners. So I guess I’ve already passed the point of no return on becoming crazy.”
There was a smile on his face, but worry still in his eyes. “Glad to hear you want to stick with me, but you need to tell the cap, right? Soon?”
“And close all my escape routes?” Tsking him, she skipped ahead.
“Spiiiiidey!” he whined, stretching out his long legs and easily catching up with her. “Don’t be mean.”
Teasing her work partner was quite fun, really. Why hadn’t she tried this earlier? Teasing was the only way to survive with a jokester like Cameron, that was obvious, and she was ashamed of herself for not trying it sooner. “It’s alright, Cam, I’ll tell him,” she soothed.
“Soon,” Cameron demanded.
Now he definitely wasn’t teasing. Her heart warmed when she realized he really, truly didn’t want to have any partner other than her. Pivoting about, she walked backwards for a few feet, a grin on her face. “Soon,” she agreed easily.
“I don’t trust that smirk you’re wearing. Today, Spidey.”
“But we’re only a few hours away from end of shift, I might not be able to catch him today,” she protested innocently.
“Emails. Texts. Phone calls. Pick one.”
He really wasn’t going to let go of this, was he? “Shouldn’t something like this be said in person?”
Wrong response. Cameron lunged forward, catching her around the waist so that he could snatch her phone off her wrist. With his prey caught, he double tapped the screen to wake it up. “Here. I’ll text him for you.”
Noriko struggled in vain to get her phone back, but of course he was not only taller than her by several inches, his arms were ridiculously long. With him holding it high above his head, she had no chance of reaching it, even if she did hop up. “Cameron. Give that back!”
“Almost done,” he assured her cheerfully.
That was what she was afraid of. Alright, time to fight dirty. Switching tactics, she startled tickling his ribs. Cameron immediately doubled over, squirming and trying to get away from her. Not that it worked. She’d survived five siblings: she knew how to win a tickle fight. In no time, she had Cameron on the ground and was able to put a knee into his stomach, grab his arm, and wrestle her phone free of his reach. “Ha!” she crowed in victory.
“Too late,” Cameron panted, flat on his back and not minding a bit that she was literally sitting on top of him. “Already sent.”
“You rat,” she growled, pulling up the messenger app and hoping that she could rescind the message. No luck, it was already delivered. Snapping it back onto her wrist, she glared down at him. “Harmony Cameron Powers, you have the patience of a water flea.”
“I had a feeling,” Banderas said from nearby, “That it wasn’t you who sent me that message, Noriko.”
Scrambling upwards, she landed an elbow in Cameron’s chest, making him go “Oomph.” Not stopping, she got to her feet and whirled around, finding her captain just in front of their designated van. The rest of their team waited behind him, badly hiding their amusement at the situation. Clearing her throat, Noriko belatedly realized that tickling Cameron into submission in front of one of the main doors of a courthouse might have been a bad call.
Not fazed at all by the embarrassment of the situation, Cameron rolled to his feet in a smooth motion. “It’s okay, sir, she meant every word. She was just a little shy about telling you.”
Banderas arched his brows in a noncommittal manner. “That right.”
“What I said was,” Noriko punctuated this by poking Cameron hard in the ribs, “that it was more appropriate to tell you in person. Sir.”
“Now that I believe.” Their captain’s unreadable expression eased into a more gentle smile. “So, Noriko, do you feel like you’re alright where you are?”
She gave him a thumbs up. “I’ve found his tickle spots. I’m good.”
Cameron didn’t seem the least bit worried about this. In fact, he started laughing. Squinting at him, she asked suspiciously, “Are you a masochist?”
“Nope. There’s only one thing in the world I’m scared of.” He gave her an impish grin.
Oh this was going to be good. Noriko waved him on. “Let’s hear it. What’s that?”
“That I’ll get put in Slytherin.”
Despite herself, she choked on a laugh. Banderas, she saw, rolled his eyes to the heavens as if to ask how he’d gotten stuck with this idiot. She assured him, “He’s crazy, but I finally have a handle on his particular brand of craziness. No worries, Cap.”
“Glad to hear it.” Shaking his head, Banderas did the safe thing and went to a different topic. “I’ve decided to have the two of you retested.”
Cameron pointed toward himself. “Us? Why?”
“I saw you handle 80 KMs for nearly two hours straight and you’re asking me that question?” Banderas gave him an exasperated look, the same one that parents reserved for their children when they asked a stupid question. “You’re getting retested, you and Noriko; there is absolutely no way under the sun that you’re Level 4. I do not believe it.”
Noriko had rather hoped that she could ignore tests for another two months until finals, but if her captain was insisting, then she only had one response. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Banderas gestured them to the van. “Load up, people. We’re done for the day.”
About the Author
Over thirty years ago, in the hills of Tennessee, a nice, unsuspecting young couple had their first child. Their home has since then been slowly turned into a library as their daughter consistently brought books home over the years.
No one was surprised when she grew up, went to college, and got her Bachelor's in English. Despite the fact that she has a degree, and looks like a mature young woman, she's never grown out of her love for dragons, fairies and other fantastical creatures. With school done, she's ready to start her career, hopefully by blending two of her loves: books and fantasy.
Her website can be found here: http://www.honorraconteur.com.
Table of Contents
1st Merlin
2nd Merlin
3rd Merlin
4th Merlin
5th Merlin
6th Merlin
7th Merlin
8th Merlin
9th Merlin
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10th Merlin
11th Merlin
12th Merlin
13th Merlin
14th Merlin
15th Merlin
16th Merlin
17th Merlin
18th Merlin
19th Merlin
20th Merlin
21st Merlin
22nd Merlin
23rd Merlin
24th Merlin
25th Merlin
26th Merlin
27th Merlin
Call to Quarters (A Gaeldorcraeft Forces Novel Book 1) Page 25