“You don’t understand!” the one behind the barricade claimed.
“Help me understand how this is better.” Rivka walked slowly toward him. “And don’t tell me to benji myself again. You will demonstrate an adult level of decorum. The return to peace starts right here.”
“Ha!” The Ledonian made a theatric display of his skepticism.
“Lindy, please bring that one over here, and Red, bring this one.”
Lindy closed on the doorway and without a word, grabbed the Ledonian by the back of the head and dragged him into the hallway. Red strolled to the barricade, smiled, nodded, and reached over to grab the rebellious leader by the shirt, dragging him over the top of the barricade.
“Duct tape their wrists together, facing each other. And tape their knees so they can’t kick.” Jay removed a roll of tape from her small pack, and Red and Lindy made quick work of the Ledonians. They looked like hobbled dance partners until one tried to bite the other’s face. The chicken-peck attacks stopped when Red put tape over both their mouths.
“How do we deal with emotional volcanoes?” Rivka asked.
Jay sighed. “We can’t. Until such time as they are willing to talk, there’s nothing we can do. And yes, this is me, someone who believes a hug will get people through the worst of times. If the rest of them are like these two groups, their entire way of life is doomed,” Jay said ominously.
“But for the winners,” Rivka intoned in the voice she used when rendering a legal opinion. “The losers shall fear for their lives. Until then, battles will rage like the fires stoked from within. If you can’t control your anger, then you deserve what you bring down on your own heads. I cannot judge you more harshly than the crimes you will commit upon each other. That being said, I need to know where the data storage is. It was removed from the basement. Where did they take it?”
Rivka took the taped combatants by the arms and tried to see into their minds. “Where did they take the data storage?” she demanded. Neither one knew. “Dammit!”
She pushed away from them and tried to contact Ankh.
“I might be able to help,” a voice said from beyond the barrier.
“Traitor!” someone shouted. There was a scuffle. Jay ran at the barrier and jumped over it in less than a single heartbeat. The scuffle turned into trees felled before a tornado. The Ledonian who had spoken remained standing, while the others were on the floor, groaning in pain.
“Come with me,” Jay told him. He tiptoed past the others, unsure of what had happened. Together, they climbed over the barricade. Rivka thanked her with a nod.
“How can you help?”
“I saw the trucks loading.”
Rivka intently studied the Ledonian’s features but was hard-pressed to see any difference between this one and the others. She thought they looked alike, and couldn’t get that impression out of her head. “Do you know where they went?”
“They were government trucks. The government retreated to the main building and erected a massive barricade. I think the data storage equipment would be in there.”
“How sure are you?”
The Ledonian shrugged. The group holed up in the room started yelling at him.
“Shut up!” Rivka pointed at them. Lindy grabbed one by the collar and shook him before tossing him back into the others.
“Zip it,” she growled.
“You better come with us,” Rivka told him.
“Hello?” a voice said from the datapad.
“Ankh! I’ve been trying to get you. The equipment was in a side room in the basement, but it’s been removed. We think it may be in the main government building.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Ankh remarked.
“Since when?” Rivka shot back. “It would have been nice to know that there was some uncertainty in your certainty.”
“No matter,” Ankh replied. “Go to the main government building and install one of my devices near the equipment. Leave the rest to me.”
The Crenellian’s face disappeared as the screen went blank.
“Time to go?” Jay asked, wanting to put the anger of the second-floor standoff behind her.
“Thanks for taking care of that. Using your superpower for good.” Rivka turned to the Ledonian. “I hope you aren’t afraid of running, because I think you’d better come with us. Running is one thing we do a lot of. Maybe you can show us the way.”
“It’s on the other side of town,” he said, brightening with the words. “Thank you. I don’t think I could have stayed here.”
“Leave them taped together,” Rivka said. She pumped her fist and headed toward the stairs. Red waved at Lindy to get in front while he stayed behind to make sure the locals didn’t try to follow.
A bottle flew from the doorway and hit Red in the chest. He leveled his railgun, but they weren’t intimidated. A second item, a strange piece of metal, flew at him. He easily dodged it, then aimed high and sent a string of hypervelocity darts through the wall above the doorway. When the Ledonians screamed and ran for cover, Red dashed away to join the others.
“You didn’t?” Rivka asked him.
“Nah,” Red replied. “The little fuckers started throwing shit at me, so I sent them a message, without hurting them. Well, maybe their eardrums are blown, but besides that… They shouldn’t have thrown things. Don’t bring a rock to a gunfight.”
“Usually there’s some semblance of common sense, but I didn’t see it in either of those two. They were completely embroiled in rage. It was searing,” she shared.
When they were outside, Lindy reactivated the mech suit and climbed in. Once upright and combat capable, she started leading the way and then stopped.
Ankh, give me a map, please, Lindy requested.
The map appeared on her HUD and she looked down on the Ledonian, who watched in awe. She activated her external speakers. “I’m taking this road for about three kilometers, turning left and following that road for six kilometers, then turning at a park. Our goal will be on the right. Does that sound correct?”
“That’s the long way,” the Ledonian replied. “We can take a few side streets, and it’ll be a bit shorter.”
“We don’t care if it’s a little longer. We prefer more open space where we can maneuver. Do you know if there are any roadblocks out here?” Rivka asked.
“I don’t.” He pointed toward the data storage facility. “I was stuck in there.”
“Maybe we can hear your story, but for now, we have evidence to collect.”
“Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to break through a military barricade and attack a well-defended position in order to secretly emplace an electronic coin thing,” Red droned.
“It’s a case, and we’re collecting evidence.”
“It’s a combat mission. All four—five if you count him—” Red tipped his chin toward the Ledonian, “are going to duke it out with the government.”
“Maybe they’re willing to talk,” Rivka suggested, wrinkling her nose at the unpersuasive sound of it.
“Just like those in there.” Red didn’t need to say the words. It was what they were all thinking.
“Lindy, get hold of Ankh and tell him to fire up the ship in case we need air support.”
Roger, Lindy replied over their internal comm before switching to the suit’s more robust comm system.
A few seconds later, she gave the thumbs up, hoisted the suit’s oversized railgun in one armored hand, and lifted the shield in the other. She started walking at first, and the errant jerking was less than before as the suit continued to compensate. Lindy loped easily along the street, pounding heavily with the mech’s armored feet. Rivka and Jay had the Ledonian between them as they supported him. Red filled the position of tail-end Charlie, watching for anyone coming from behind as well as possible ambushes from the sides. Lindy powered forward.
The group ran through ruined roadblocks and the desolation of a city in distress. The deserted streets echoed with their passin
g.
We’re getting close, Magistrate, Lindy reported.
Slow to a walk, if you would. Let’s gather our wits and maybe conduct a fly-by of the building and its defenses, Rivka replied. They looked at Jay.
“With great ability comes great responsibility,” Red told her.
She chuckled briefly. “And I was worried that I hadn’t been contributing sufficiently to the team.” She pointed in the direction they’d been going and the mech nodded, confirming by pointing the railgun.
“I’ll be right back.” And Jay was gone.
Rivka pulled a water bladder from her small pack and handed it to the Ledonian. He was panting heavily, chest heaving as he tried to draw in more air. He took the water and drank it all. The Magistrate fought against rolling her eyes. Red passed his over, and Rivka took a drink. He downed the rest before checking his railgun, scrubbing at it with a small rag he kept handy for the sole purpose of keeping his weapons clean.
Jay appeared before the group. “He was right. It’s a fortress.”
“Blazer is ready,” Red declared.
Rivka tapped her datapad. “Ankh. We need Peacekeeper to open the door for us.”
“Because the mission requires air support?” Red raised his eyebrows in challenge.
“Because the case requires evidence,” Rivka countered.
“Mission.”
“Case.”
“I hope that one day I get to live in your world. We’re running our asses off and shooting at stuff that shoots back. We’re preparing to attack a fortress. That sure sounds like a mission to me, but if you want to maintain your legal fairytale, it’s your call.”
“You used to have fewer opinions regarding the legal side of my job. I like the new Red. First food bar when we get back on Peacekeeper is on me.”
“I feel like I missed something.”
“Nothing at all. Jay, can you draw us a map of what’s up there?”
They squatted around a patch of dirt while Lindy faced away, using the camera in the back of the suit to watch what was going on while still maintaining vigil.
Jay outlined a rectangular building, adding small squares at each corner and then an outer line. “They have a barricade of wire with vehicles with weapons, including tanks. The corner buildings are blockhouses with machinegun-type things on top. There are a lot of people, behind cover, roving and watching. There are also dead bodies out front. It looks like a group approached and the defenders didn’t like it.”
“They left the bodies?” Rivka wondered aloud.
Red shook his head. “Doesn’t sound like they’re very happy about all this.”
“The anger. Red, would you be so kind as to plan our tactics? I want the evidence, and if Tod Mackestray was the catalyst who turned these people into this, I’ll have his head on a platter.”
“I think the volcano was ready to blow. A few choice words wouldn’t be enough to send them raging if they weren’t already mad.”
“Are you arguing to exonerate your old boss?”
Red vigorously shook his head.
“But I agree. Something else was going on here, but once the fuel was lit, we lost the ability to talk to them.”
“What’s your goal, Magistrate?”
“I want the data but don’t want to kill anyone to get it.”
Red looked at the diagram drawn in the dirt before taking in his assets. Lindy with the mech suit. Rivka who he was contracted to protect. And Jay.
The Ledonian was restless. “What’s up?” Rivka asked.
“I don’t live far from here,” he answered.
“You can leave anytime you want. You probably don’t want to be a part of what’s coming. Go on. Once the shooting stops, come on back and see what there is to see.”
He nodded and headed out the door.
Red sat back and closed his eyes. “Stay frosty, people. I need to think.”
Chapter Nine
K’Twillis shambled along with a small contingent of hired muscle. They fanned out to the sides in perpetual flex, barely swinging their arms. Billister walked in front, casually twirling a small pipe. In the small of his back, he carried a blaster in case the pipe wasn’t enough.
Since safety wasn’t an issue, no fence surrounded the work area. No signs marked the dangerous areas, whether to walk or drive. Great vehicles maneuvered with precision by experienced drivers. Dead and wrecked vehicles were pushed aside. K’Twillis never made a subsequent payment on any of the equipment.
He was always gone by then. He figured the companies would reclaim what was theirs, refurbish it, and put it back into service. Or not. He didn’t care either way.
There was a small shack where the mine foreman worked under a false name so he wouldn’t be jailed for the shortcuts he was promoting and the resulting injuries.
Only two deaths so far, but those had been buried both figuratively and literally. In the far end of the pit, a hundred tons of tailings, the waste stone after processing, marked their final resting place. No one would dig that up. And those who knew would be eliminated when the operation wrapped up. All the foreman had to do was give the Aborginian their names, and it would be taken care of.
Billister was first into the shack. The foreman jumped but remained in his chair. “You’re behind,” the security man accused.
“Not by much. We can recover on night shift!” the foreman claimed.
A shadow darkened the doorway but didn’t enter the shack. K’Twillis didn’t want to get stuck inside the small building.
His microphone helped project his voice. “The original schedule is no longer viable. With the impending turmoil on the council, we have to be finished and gone within two months. You need to pick up the pace. Hire more workers.”
“It’s not the workers, it’s the equipment. We’ve rented everything that was available.”
“Then steal what you need.”
The foreman had no idea how to go about doing that. He held up his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
“I thought you were the one who would get things done if the restrictions were removed? We did that, and yet you don’t get things done. Are you all talk?”
“No!” the man cried.
“Put your hands on the desk,” Billister ordered. The foreman shook his head and started to slide his chair backward. One of Billister’s men strolled around the desk and wrapped a thick arm under the foreman’s throat and forced one hand onto the desk. Billister raised the pipe, and the foreman screamed.
The pipe slammed into the desk a finger’s breadth from the quivering hand.
“Next time, we break every bone in your body,” Billister promised.
“I’ve removed all restrictions,” K’Twillis said. “So why are you in here and not out there?” He pointed with a leafy arm.
“On my way,” the foreman replied. He tried to stand, but the security man held him in his chair.
“Do you understand how important this is to me?”
“Yes,” was all the foreman was able to say.
“Billister and his team of production specialists are going to remain on site until the job is finished.” K’Twillis fluttered his leaves in a motion that meant nothing to the humans and humanoids. The Aborginian shuffled away.
The thug holding the foreman lifted him from his chair and threw him over the desk. Papers and rock samples followed him to the floor. He brushed himself off, stood, and apologized profusely as he headed for the door. He stopped and looked at the muscle waiting outside.
Billister grunted. “The last thing you want is for him to return, so what do you say we do a little management by walking around? Let’s get the lay of the land and start motivating the good people in the pit to do what he’s fucking paying them to do!
“It’s a big pit, and there are a fuckload of workers, so I brought some additional efficiency experts with me.”
The foreman turned back to Billister. “I know who I climbed into bed with. If those lazy bastards aren’t getting i
t done, they deserve whatever’s coming to them—me included. It’s a lot of work, but fuck, man, it’s good money, and we aren’t bothered by regulations or inspectors. Follow me, gentlemen.”
“I like your new attitude,” Billister stated.
“It’s usually not the problem that needs to be solved, but the attitude about the problem. I’m sorry I needed to be reminded of that.”
Billister waved for the others to follow them as they stepped onto an angled path along the side of the pit, leading down to where engines droned and whined as they fought against the rock to free the desired ore.
“Margaret, play some violin music,” Tod Mackestray told his ship’s AI. He continued to lean back and search the media web for opportunities for when his work on Amberstrom came to a close. The news swarm had taken Tip Nel down in a matter of days. Fil Pol was installed as the interim Chairman amid the call for new elections.
The Blokite had no intention of overplaying his hand. He’d earned a cool million and a half from the six-planet conglomerate in the Gridlow Expanse, but it was time to move on. He was looking forward to the next challenge.
“Margaret, how close are we to our target number?”
“Seven million credits,” she replied.
“Just a few more gigs and we can wrap things up. Then what will we do, Margaret?”
“Whatever we want, Tod. Fifty million credits is the magic number where you will never have to raise a finger again. You will live in the comfort and style that you deserve.”
“I like the way you talk, Margaret. What do you think of the planet called Capstan? There seems to be some turmoil at the highest levels of government, but are they high enough?”
“You have always been surprised at what people will pay to acquire positions of lower power because they see those as leverage to climb higher.”
“I used to be surprised by the lust for power, but my entire business is based on it. You are correct that people will pay a half million for a low-level board position, but they want the one seat at the top of the pyramid. All of them. I think I’ll raise my prices. Three and a half million to rule the entire planet. When are Capstan’s presidential elections?”
Judge, Jury, & Executioner Boxed Set Page 65