“But little excitement, I guess. Police and enforcement aren’t present in big numbers?”
“There are very few police and security forces, but regulation enforcement has the largest number of government employees.”
“If I read that correctly, the most powerful group of individuals on Capstan died in a single accident.”
“That’s what all the reports, both public and private, say,” Erasmus replied.
“And our boy is there right now as far as you know?”
“Pandora Express arrived, entered the atmosphere to land on the planet, and has not left, as far as orbital control is concerned.”
“No ships called Pandora something have departed?”
“Orbital control matches departures with arrivals. A foreign vessel like Pandora Express would not be able to change names on Capstan.”
“Well then...” Rivka stopped pacing. “Red! Can you come in here?”
The big man had been waiting outside the bridge and immediately darkened the hatchway.
“Looks like Tod Mackestray is on Capstan somewhere. Unfortunately, we can’t find where he landed his tiny ship. He could have put it just about anywhere.”
“We’ll be able to find the ship,” Erasmus replied confidently. “I’m not concerned about that. Maybe it would be better to flush him out and then use our weaponry to eliminate him?”
Rivka stopped pacing and hung her head. “I can’t do that. I know he’s done bad things based on the testimony of the people I’ve talked to, but none of that has risen to capital crime status. I can’t execute him without being sure. We have to find him on the ground and arrest him. Then I need to question him, to include questioning his AI to gather more evidence for the case against him. I’ll need you for that.”
“I look forward to the challenge. My stepfather Plato had to match minds with Ten, the evil AI who was attempting to expand into Federation space using human slaves, the Harborians. Between Plato, Ankh, and Ted, they bested him, destroying him both physically and digitally. It was a glorious victory. I am proud to be one of Plato’s stepchildren.”
“I want to kick his ass,” Red admitted. “That fucker put a price on my head, so I’ll be more than happy to secure him for you, Magistrate.”
Rivka pursed her lips and puffed out her cheeks. “Just don’t kill him. Your word.”
“My word, I won’t kill him. For your information, Blokites are extremely hard to kill in hand-to-hand combat. They may not be fast or overly strong, but they are genetically predisposed to surviving impacts, probably due to their mountain-dwelling upbringing. They can ram heads with a goat and be okay.”
“Good to know.” Rivka shrugged since she didn’t care about butting heads with goats. She made a mental note to look up what that meant. “Do you have a picture of him we can use?”
Red laughed and shook his head. “I doubt there are any pictures of him or K’Twillis. They are slippery eels, maneuvering through the system anonymously and unobserved.”
“Speaking of K’Twillis, any more information on potential whereabouts?”
“None at all. Those two are ghosts until we have the right tidbits. We have to look at the vastness of the sky to find one or two stars that are blocked out because that’s where they are hiding. For Tod Mackestray, we were able to narrow where we looked until we found the void in which he hides. For K’Twillis, we are still searching the entirety of an endless universe,” Erasmus pontificated.
Rivka winked at Red. “But you are Erasmus, an artificial intelligence like no other. With Ankh, I have no doubt that you will shrink the universe in a way where K’Twillis will stand out like a moon reflecting the sun’s light.”
“You are too kind, Magistrate,” Erasmus replied.
Jay! Floyd cried again. Rivka laughed and shook her head.
“The mood has definitely lightened,” the Magistrate said in relief. Hamlet yowled long and low from the bridge. “Except for you, fuzzy kitty.”
Jay was tossing a small ball that Floyd ran after, her claws scraping on the hard surface of the deck except where it was rubberized, which was where she picked up speed.
“I love her!” Jay said, her face glowing.
Rivka blinked away a tear. The old Jay was coming back to them. Rivka hadn’t noticed how much she had missed the happy-go-lucky teen. She missed seeing Jayita painting on the wall.
“What’s next in your mural?” Rivka asked.
“Floyd has to get her place in the picture, so she’s next. I think I’ll put her right there.” Jay pointed to a spot on the wall where each of the Magistrate’s team was represented, including Hamlet. “And then the worlds we’ve seen. I need to capture them.”
“’Capturing Capstan.’ Sounds like the next hit pop song.”
“We need more music,” Jay exclaimed. Floyd bounced around with joy before climbing into one of the recliners and falling asleep, snoring within seconds.
“That was interesting,” Rivka said.
“Too much excitement,” Jay said in a hushed voice, smiling at the wombat as if she were her baby.
Rivka twirled her finger in the air. “We need to talk about our next steps.”
“I’ll get Lindy,” Red said.
“You just want to see her in the shower.”
“That doesn’t make me a bad person.” Red waved Rivka away as he headed for the ship’s bathroom.
Ankh, we need to talk about our plan of engagement now that we’ve arrived at Capstan, Rivka passed using the internal comm chip.
Erasmus is already engaged. Do you still need me? I’m busy.
You are a member of my team, and this is an important meeting. You have to admit that I don’t hold many meetings, so when I do, I need you to attend. Rivka waited patiently. She wasn’t arguing with Ankh. He was always certain that what he was working on was more important than anything anyone else was doing.
He was usually right.
Fine.
The little victories, Rivka thought. She would have sat down, but Floyd was sleeping in her chair. The other recliner was empty, but humans are creatures of habit. She didn’t contemplate sitting in the other, because that was Red’s seat. She opted for leaning against the counter that separated the small galley from the rest of Peacekeeper’s main space.
Ankh appeared right before Red and Lindy, and the three entered together. Red took his recliner and Lindy climbed into his lap. Ankh stood with his thin arms crossed. Jay sat at the table in a chair not far from the sleeping wombat.
“Chaz, show us the general information from Capstan, including customs and things for visitors to be wary of.”
The ship’s AI ran through a boring series of slides, delivering the narrative in a monotone. Ankh turned to leave.
“That’s enough, Chaz. Thanks. Erasmus, show us the information on the upcoming election. Any changes or twists to projections?”
Erasmus ran through the three main races, highlighting that nothing unexpected had happened. The only twist was the accident that killed the remaining members of the licensing board.
“You said ‘remaining members of the board.’ Did something happen before the accident?”
“Yes,” Erasmus replied. “The chairman of the board had an unexpected heart attack and died.”
“Timeline for that event, please,” Rivka requested.
“Mackestray was still on Leed’s Planet at that time.”
“He hires people to do the wet work,” Red stated, pointing to himself. “He didn’t need to be here.”
“But what does he get from nuking the board? They may run the show on Capstan, but trying to influence that many at one time seems odd.”
“I don’t know. He destroyed people without killing them.” Red scowled and looked at the deck.
“I think we’re missing something,” Jay offered.
“I don’t see any causal links. I believe Jayita is right. We’re missing something. I shall re-evaluate all the data,” Erasmus said.
“Where’s that leave us, Magistrate?” Lindy asked.
“Without a lead. You know what we do when we don’t have any leads?”
“We scare some up!” Jay declared.
“Let’s meet with the three challengers first. They have the most to gain from Mackestray’s influence.”
“They have the most to lose, too, once they join the Blokite’s brothel.” Red sneered.
“A vote for Bandersnatch is a vote for progress!” The message blared from massive speakers hanging on the front of the building.
“No laughing,” Rivka warned the others before leaning through the cab’s window and talking to the driver. “If you would wait, please, we won’t be long.”
“Meter’s running,” he replied, smiling and kicking back with his hands behind his head.
“As I would expect.” She followed Red as he hurried through the front doors to get away from the noise. Jay rushed in after him with her hands over her ears. Rivka and Lindy were slower. “Don’t stay out here. I don’t need you to be driven insane.”
“I don’t want to go mad, so that works for me. I’ll wait inside the front door. I hope they aren’t grinding eardrums the same way indoors.”
Rivka winced. “Only one way to find out.”
The heavy doors and windows protected them. They both breathed a sigh of relief, taking deep breaths as if the air were fresher.
Rivka strolled up to someone who looked important. “I’m the Magistrate and I need to see the candidate, please. I believe I have an appointment.”
“I’m afraid not,” the female said. “Because he’s not here. He has a rally on the other side of the planet.”
Rivka pulled out her datapad and tapped to the confirmation message from the candidate’s office. She showed it.
“There must have been some kind of mistake. That communication doesn’t change the fact that he’s not here,” the Capstanian replied. Nearly indistinguishable from a human except for the lack of ears, the female stood her ground.
“No problem at all,” Rivka smiled and extended her hand. When the female took it, Rivka followed up. “Are you sure he’s not here?”
In her mind was a picture of him in his office and her wondering if he’d been seen.
Using her nano-modified strength, Rivka started to squeeze the woman’s hand. “Why are you lying to me?”
“You’re hurting me!” the Capstanian cried, trying to free herself. She was beginning to panic, and her mind became a jumble of thoughts from which Rivka could see nothing substantial.
The Magistrate let go. “We’ll be going in the back now and meeting with the candidate. Lindy, hold her.”
Lindy towered over the Capstanian, grabbing her collar and lifting until she was standing on her tiptoes.
“You can let her loose once we are in the company of Bandersnatch. He doesn’t have a woman back there, does he?” Rivka asked, remembering the unpleasant scene with the Reman mayor. “We won’t be long.”
Chapter Fourteen
K’Twillis looked into the pit, remaining close to the foliage, away from the edge. His leafy non-sentient brethren made him feel at home, while the torn world before him reminded him that he didn’t care about the planet. It was something to be exploited.
Nothing more.
If the people departed, the flora would reclaim the land and save it from itself. Maybe the residents of Capstan would leave this part of their world, but they probably wouldn’t. K’Twillis would be long gone by then, riding with the prize of a full freighter of exotics, the sunlights of a hydroponic section keeping him fed and spry.
The freighter was half-full already. They were getting close.
“My compliments, Billister,” the Aborginian said through his strange microphone. “Production is back on track.”
“Just doing my job, sir.” Billister stood apart from his boss. He refused to get too close, because he had enemies, too. It wouldn’t do for an irate husband to harm the Aborginian while shooting at the security chief.
“It’s more than that. Masterful work with the board. They never discovered that it wasn’t an accident.”
“It was an accident. They were on a train headed down the wrong tracks by trying to cross you. It didn’t turn out well for them.”
“I like when my team is better than their team—which is always, because I like to win.”
“Losers think winners are lucky,” Billister remarked. “Winners make their own luck.”
“Winners are playing to win.” K’Twillis shifted to get more sun while remaining close to a bush and a tree. “I like you, Billister. This is the third planet we’ve been on together. You get things done. The rest of that rabble will remain here when we move on. They have come up short of my expectations.”
“I couldn’t agree more. With more time up front, I can hire better people who require less training.” Billister waited, but K’Twillis didn’t respond. “That was not meant as a criticism, sir,” he apologized. “I offer it as an option for a future project. A little more time and a lot less hassle.”
“I had very little hassle.” The microphone failed to translate emotion, but Billister suspected the Aborginian had taken it the wrong way.
“My apologies. I shall carry out your will in whatever time I am given.”
K’Twillis’ leafy body shook as if he were laughing. He didn’t raise the microphone to articulate his position.
“I see eight days remaining. Then we leave.”
“The foreman is planning for fourteen more days of work.”
“Exactly,” K’Twillis replied cryptically. “Tell no one.”
Rivka knocked politely and then tried to open the door. It was locked, so she nodded to Red. He took one step and slammed into it with a huge shoulder. The door burst open. Bandersnatch sat behind a desk, buried in papers and tablets.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded before taking a good look at the group that had forced their way into his office. He didn’t recognize the logo on the collar of Rivka’s Magistrate jacket, but he knew the power of railguns.
“I’m Magistrate Rivka Anoa, and we had an appointment that your lackey tried to chase me away from. That tells me you’ve got something to hide. As Premier for Capstan, you would be your planet’s representative to the Federation. Is this how you intend to treat us?”
“Today was always a down day in the office. If I had made an appointment, I would have kept it, but I don’t see anything on my schedule.” He leaned forward as if making a profound point to an awed nation.
“Most politicians are smooth liars.” Rivka strolled around his desk to get within arm’s reach. “Tell me, have you heard of an individual named Tod Mackestray?” She patted the back of his hand in a friendly manner. Images strobed into her mind.
“I don’t know anyone by that name. It doesn’t sound Capstanian. Is she an alien?” From what Rivka could tell from the snippets of thought, Bandersnatch was telling the truth.
“He’s a Blokite. Impossible to miss. Sells influence. I thought you might be a prime customer.”
“I have a good chance to win!” he claimed.
Rivka raised her eyebrows as she sat on his desk and looked down on him.
“It’s a slim chance,” he conceded.
“How far behind are you in the polls?”
“Seven percent. No one has ever come back from a margin greater than five this close to the election.” He threw his hands up in frustration before pointing at his desk. “There’s nothing here that will help me get over that last hurdle. I know I can do a better job for the people, but I just can’t convince them.”
Rivka touched his arm. He believed what he was saying. She wondered if he was psychotic. Selfless service in government. She bit her lip to keep from snorting.
“I appreciate your time, Mister Bandersnatch. Ping me if you hear from Tod Mackestray. He’s an intergalactic criminal. He’s here on Capstan, and I aim to catch him.” She turned toward the door. “Red, get the
cab and bring it up front.”
The taxi with the Blokite had to wait for another cab to finish loading. He was taken by a trio of striking women climbing in. The last sported military clothing and carried a railgun. He liked everything he saw and was in need of a new chief of security. He made to get out, but the door was locked.
“Need to pay first,” the driver said, smacking his lips.
“Wait for me. I’ll need a ride when I finish. Let me out!” Mackestray kept pulling at the handle, but it wouldn’t give. He groaned as the woman closed the door behind her. The cab raced into traffic and disappeared. “Now look what you’ve done.”
Mackestray tapped his credit chip against the payment device.
“You want me to wait?”
“That was what I said.” The Blokite glared.
“Two hours pre-paid, then. Tap the chip again.”
After the new charge registered, the driver put the vehicle in park. “I’ll be here when you come out.”
The door unlocked and Mackestray was finally able to open it and escape. He stood on his tiptoes but couldn’t see where the other cab had gone. He slammed the door and headed through the noise of blaring megaphones. “How do these people live like this?” he grumbled.
Inside, he found a severe-looking Capstanian female. She smiled and nodded when she saw him. “He’s in the back,” she told him.
He walked by with barely a glance to acknowledge her.
When he reached the office, he stopped to take in the broken door. He slowly pushed it open, wondering if he’d find a dead body inside. Bandersnatch was behind his desk. He turned pale when the Blokite entered. Mackestray shut the door as best he could before taking a seat on the couch against the wall.
Judge, Jury, & Executioner Boxed Set Page 69