Your Life Is Forfeit: A Space Opera Adventure Legal Thriller (Judge, Jury, & Executioner Book 4)

by Craig Martelle

  But it had to be done, because criminals had put a price on Vered’s head, and no one was good with that.

  Red’s hand hovered over the button to open the hatch. He nodded toward the Magistrate, who took out her neutron pulse weapon nicknamed Reaper and stood ready to secure the ship after the two were outside.

  Explosions continued to buffet the ship. The gravitic shields were functioning, but while sitting on the ground, they didn’t provide optimal protection.

  “Sounds nasty out there,” Rivka said unnecessarily.

  “We’ll stop that bullshit as soon as Lindy is in the suit.”

  Red mashed the button, and the hatch opened and dropped the stairs to the ground. He headed out first and instantly started yelling, “Get the fuck back!” He fired his railgun into the air. “Get back!” A few more rounds and he was heading toward the ground with Lindy close behind.

  Rivka closed the hatch and ran to the bridge, where Chaz was monitoring the situation outside the ship. Red was holding back those taking cover under the ship while Lindy started to climb to the top where the suit had been secured. After a growl and a feint, he jumped to the handholds and pulled himself up.

  Lindy released the main clamps, which exposed the rear access. It was like the zipper on a full-body suit. There wasn’t much room inside, so she had to worm her way through the opening, breathing a sigh of relief once she was able to power up the suit and close it around her. Red kneeled nearby and fired at random targets to give Lindy the time she needed to run through the start-up sequence. “Point of order,” she told the suit. “We need a way to power up the suit and do all this remotely.”

  “I will see what I can do to make that happen,” Erasmus replied through her internal speakers.

  “You can hear me?”

  “I think you already know the answer.”

  “Am I linked to anyone else?”

  “No. I tapped in as soon as you powered up the system. Use your internal comm chip so everyone can hear you. You’ll be leading, since the groups fighting do not have sufficiently advanced weapons to cause much damage to the suit.”

  “I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or not. ‘Much damage’ seems relative. On the other hand, maybe there is hope that these factions aren’t fighting a war that would destroy their planet.”

  She continued through the start-up sequence. When all the lights were green, she unbolted the last restraints and stood up.

  What do you say we stop being targets? Lindy asked.

  Maybe you can send a rocket to say ‘Hi!’ to that mortar. He’s pissing me off, Red replied.

  Lindy accessed the heads-up display, the HUD, and selected one of the four rockets mounted over her shoulder. She dialed in the mortar’s position, which the suit had automatically calculated based on the trajectory of the incoming fire. With a whoosh, the rocket was away.

  Moments later, a massive explosion signaled the end of the attack on the ship.

  Lindy lifted Red, took two steps, and jumped. She laughed as they fell, activating the micro-rockets on the bottom of her boots to slow her descent right before they hit the ground. Those hiding under the ship jumped back to avoid getting crushed.

  Open the hatch. The coast is clear.

  Erasmus uploaded a map to Lindy’s HUD.

  Red stomped his foot and yelled, “Get away from here!” The Ledonians, a humanoid species covered in short brown fur, waved their weapons at him and chattered something his chip couldn’t translate. “Don’t make me kill you.”

  He fired a single projectile from his railgun, and the hypervelocity crack as it passed between them made them scream and hold their heads in pain. He shouted and menaced them until they ran off.

  Rivka and Jay joined Red and Lindy, taking stock of the area around the ship. Quiet had returned.

  “Spooky,” Jay commented. “Big cities are supposed to be noisy.”

  Rivka accessed her datapad.

  Red was instantly miffed. “You couldn’t have done that inside the ship?”

  She ignored him, knowing that he was right. “Ankh,” she started, “this changes the dynamic. I’m assuming the main government building is ground zero in one way or another. Where will we find the information?”

  I suggest you go to the National Data Center, which is four kilometers north-northeast. I’ve sent the directions to Lindy as well.

  Taking the lead and moving out, Lindy declared. Stay behind me.

  Which was what Red usually said, but he was under no illusion regarding his own survivability compared to the mech. The rhythmic thumping of the mech suit as Lindy walked gave him comfort. The impact tremors represented power.

  Rivka held out her hand and snapped her fingers, but no one reacted. “Give me the other railgun!”

  Red shrugged. “I don’t have it.”

  “Don’t tell me...” Rivka looked at the top of Peacekeeper.

  “We left it inside.”

  “Whew. That’s right. Lindy disarmed before you went outside.”

  “You okay, Magistrate?” Red asked without looking at her. He studied both sides of their route, finding that he had to jog to keep up. Jay ran behind the mech, while Red and Rivka ran side by side behind her.

  “Just bothered. How could the Federation not know the planet had devolved into a civil war?”

  “No idea. But I bet Tod Mackestray had something to do with it.”

  “You hate that guy. I’m not sure I’d give him all the credit. For people to do this, the fuel has to already be there. He may have provided the spark, but it was already smoldering.”

  “Who’s responsible?” Red wondered, “the fuel, or the one who starts the fire?”

  “I hope we become enlightened, or we’re running eight clicks for no reason.”

  “Running. Dammit! Ankh wins the pool.”

  Barricade up ahead, Lindy reported. It’s manned, and they have rifles.

  Her words arrived a millisecond before the first cracks echoed down the empty roadway. Bullets whistled past, and one tinged off the armored suit. Lindy raised her oversized railgun. Light ‘em up? she asked.

  Scare them only, Rivka ordered.

  Lindy fired at the sides of the barricade, shredding it and sending shrapnel flying. The screams of the injured filled the silence once her fire stopped.

  Sorry about that.

  “I bet they’re plenty scared,” Red suggested.

  They proved him wrong by firing everything they had. Red grabbed the Magistrate and pulled her to the ground, covering her body with his.

  Light ‘em up, Rivka passed over her internal comm chip. Jay crawled toward them and worked her way next to Rivka. Red lay across them both.

  Lindy braced herself and walked the railgun fire from one side of the barricade to the other. Then she did it again, quicker the second time. She started running, picking up speed quickly, and sprinted through the wreckage, sliding to a stop on the other side. Her optics and sensors picked up two living among the twenty-five Ledonians, and they were injured. She found them huddled together, moaning with pain and barely conscious.

  All clear, she reported. Lindy wondered if she’d grown heartless. Using the argument of “they fired first” was meaningless because they couldn’t hurt her, not with their primitive weaponry.

  The other three joined her, but she hesitated.

  “It sucks,” Rivka said softly. “We didn’t start this, but if we can end it, we will. I know that’s not quite the Magistrate’s role, but it’s what we do for all humanity. We will bring death and destruction the likes of which they’ve never imagined, or they can stop fighting and start talking.”

  The thunder of a heavy weapon arrived a millisecond after the shell hit Lindy in her mechanized chest, throwing her over Red’s head to land in an unmoving heap. He shouted his war cry and unleashed a steady stream from his railgun at a tank that appeared at the next corner. Rivka hit him with a shoulder block as the second shot screamed past.

  She dialed R
eaper to eleven and activated it as she aimed at the tank. The tank’s barrel adjusted its aim, and Rivka and Red rolled out of the way as the high-velocity round slammed into the ground where they’d just been.

  “Run!” Rivka yelled without looking back at the mech.

  Lindy? Red ventured as he dodged, looking for cover.

  “Dammit! Too far away,” Rivka growled when the neutron pulse weapon failed to kill the people inside the tank.

  “Too far?” Jay shouted. “We need to help Lindy!”

  Before Rivka could move, a blur rushed by, ripping Reaper from her hand and racing down the street. Jay ran past the tank, pointing the weapon at it before skidding to a stop and retracing her steps. She zigzagged as she ran, but the tank stopped moving, the barrel frozen where it had last aimed.

  Red raced to Lindy, kneeling over her and trying to see through the reflective face shield. Lindy’s eyelids fluttered, and Red’s heart started beating again.

  “Ow,” Lindy mouthed.

  Ankh. What can you tell about the suit’s systems? Rivka asked.

  Multiple failures. Rerouting systems and recalculating optimal power application to minimize impact from the damage.

  Life signs? Rivka followed.

  She’ll be fine. Some broken bones. Well, a lot of broken bones, but they’re already healing. That’s the power of multiple trips through the Pod-doc, which has made her bulky enough to withstand this amount of damage.

  Don’t let her hear you say that, Red warned.

  It applies. I don’t see the problem.

  The problem is that Bulky Woman will kick your ass.

  “What did you call me?” a mumbled voice projected through the suit’s external speakers.

  Ankh, I swear I’m going to tape you to the ceiling. Red smiled as he tried to lift Lindy’s head, but he couldn’t because the mech suit was too dense.

  Terry Henry Walton had a dog taped to his face. It can’t be any worse than that, although it would be most undeserved. I think you should probably continue to the data center. This city is unstable. Someone is pounding on the ship’s hatch. Standby. There. A mindful jolt of electricity through the outer hull has sent them running for cover. Their hair seems to be smoking. Stop. Drop. Roll. Okay. No taping me to any ceilings or walls. I’m too busy for such childish nonsense.

  Ankh. Can you use any of the ship’s sensors to give us a tactical picture? I’d like to avoid what we just went through. I don’t want to kill anyone else if I don’t have to, Rivka requested.

  The information is on your datapad and on Lindy’s display whenever she’s conscious enough to see it.

  Chapter Seven

  “Sometimes, Ankh, you can be such an ass,” Red muttered under his breath.

  Lindy groaned as she sat up. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a comet.”

  “Close,” Rivka said softly. “We hear you have a few broken bones in there.”

  That sounds wonderful compared to how I feel. The good old days, when we laughed at a few broken bones. I miss them.

  “Sounds like you’re on the mend.” Red gently caressed the side of the mech’s helmet as if Lindy could feel it. They couldn’t see her expression behind the reflective setting, but she was smiling.

  I’m going to stand up. I guess lying around out here isn’t something we want to do too much of.

  Red finally looked away and scanned the surroundings. Jay was standing to the side, watching for any movement.

  Rivka joined her. Lindy stood and worked out the kinks as her nanocytes repaired the damage to her body. The suit was horribly dented, but the round hadn’t penetrated. They didn’t want to find out if they could survive such an injury even though they were told they would. No one had been willing to test it.

  Lindy took a few tentative steps, followed by a few more. She systematically worked through the flashing lights on the HUD until they turned green.

  The suit’s structure is compromised. It says it can’t withstand another impact in the same area.

  “Sounds like you need a shield. Let’s find you a healthy chunk of steel,” Red said and stalked toward the barricade. The mech pounded the pavement after him.

  Rivka joined Jay. “Thanks for saving our asses.”

  “What good is a gift if you don’t use it?” Jay softly kicked debris from the barricade.

  “I’m glad you’re on my team. Your wisdom belies your youth. There are times when I don’t want to touch people because I don’t want to know. Then there are times when we’re hunting a perp, like now, and I want to grab everyone and shake them until they tell me where he is.”

  “You’re not very intimidating.” Jay avoided looking at the bits and pieces of bodies scattered across the ground before them. The screech of tearing metal shocked their senses.

  Red stumbled away, his hands locked firmly over his ears as Lindy used the mech’s power to bend a metal sheet in half and then in fourths. She twisted one side to create a handle and hoisted the piece in front of her chest. This will have to do, she said.

  Rivka turned back to Jay. “I think I’m intimidating,” she replied defensively.

  “Red is intimidating. Once you break out your Magistrate creds and start beating the perps, others sit up and take notice.”

  “Creds and beatings, huh?” Rivka shook her head. “The things I have to do to earn respect. Looks like it’s time to go. Next stop? I hope it’s the data center. We don’t need any more of this crap.”

  The blown barricade stood as a stark reminder of what they were up against. There was no way to know if they’d run across more. They had always counted on Ankh’s ability to penetrate systems, but this was different. This was primitive warfare that left no digital fingerprints.

  “If Tod Mackestray was in any way responsible for this, his life is forfeit,” Rivka declared as she started to jog after the mech, which was moving with renewed purpose.

  Lindy manhandled the oversized railgun with one mechanized arm while she held the ad hoc shield in the other. She walked quickly but with a slight jerk as the servos compensated for the changed weight distribution and the suit’s damaged components.

  “I can run ahead and see if there are any more obstructions or defenders,” Jay offered. Rivka pulled out her datapad as she loped behind the mech. The route was clearly displayed.

  “The suit has sensors,” Red interrupted.

  “That were housed in the chest plate. This suit has no functioning sensors,” Lindy replied through the suit’s external speakers.

  “Be right back,” Jay told them.

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  In a flash, Jay was gone.

  “That is some crazy shit,” Rivka mumbled.

  “I could use a little of that.” Red sauntered up.

  “Ankh said it was a trade-off. Speed or bulk. You want to be the skinny guy so I can kick sand in your face just so you can run fast?”

  “I was never the skinny guy,” Red answered. “Alas, us bulky people will be left behind as the world gets faster.”

  “Ankh won the pool,” Rivka countered Red’s jibe.

  “That shall forever chap my ass.” Red watched the rooftops and balconies as they jogged between buildings that should have been bustling with activity, down roads that should have been packed with vehicles and people. “Can we call this a mission?”

  “We’re here to collect evidence for our case against Mackestray. Can’t have outsiders doing crap like this.”

  “I don’t mind shooting legitimate bad guys, but I don’t know what these fuckers are fighting about. Have we chosen a side by shooting up a checkpoint and destroying a mortar?”

  “Probably. The fact that they both shot at us first won’t matter. I expect we’ll end up fighting them all until we fly out of here.” Rivka’s voice trailed off, and she clenched her jaw as she ran.

  “You want to end this war, don’t you?” Red asked.

  Jay reappeared next to the Magistrate. The way ahead is clear as long as we
make one detour off the main street. At the next block, take a hard right into the alley. Loop around behind the building, up two blocks, and then back onto this road, she passed over their internal comm so Lindy would hear, too.

  Roger, Lindy replied.

  “I want the war to end,” Rivka answered Red’s question. “If we have the chance, we’ll end it, but we’re here to find out where Mackestray went.”

  Lindy started walking away and soon sped up. She followed Jay’s instructions as the group ran in silence, keeping their thoughts to themselves. After ten minutes of a quick pace, they arrived at the building that Erasmus had told them was the data center.

  “The quiet is creepy as hell,” Rivka said.

  I don’t think the mech will fit through the door, Lindy guessed.

  Red was torn. He wanted to stay outside with her, but his first duty was to protect the Magistrate.

  Hide the suit outside and join us. We don’t know how long we’ll be in there, Red suggested.

  “Sounds good,” Rivka agreed, nodding to the mirrored surface of the mech’s helmet visor. Lindy moved to an alcove and parked the mech. The back unzipped, and she climbed out.

  “Safed out?” Red asked, using the military term for rendering a system inoperable.

  “It won’t activate for anyone but us,” she replied. Red ran a hand across her ribs.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Getting better each minute. Without the Pod-doc I’d be dead, wouldn’t I?”

  “Without having gone through the Pod-doc, you wouldn’t be here at all. We are better for you being with us,” Rivka stated. She gripped the former waitress’ arm. “And with you keeping him in line, the rest of us can do our jobs.”

  Lindy chuckled. “Fair enough. Maybe we should get out of the open?”

  “De-creepify our situation,” Jay answered.

  “If I only had a railgun,” Rivka sang. Red shook his head on his way through the door. Lindy blocked Rivka’s body with her own even though she wore no armor. They quickly followed Red inside to find no sounds and nothing to indicate anyone was there.