"You're going to need a co-pilot."
Dredd turned to face Kontarsky as she approached. She had a slight smile on her face at her own joke. "I've got one," he replied. "No solar flares to worry about this time." Dredd noted that she still wore her East-Meg uniform, although the badge that clasped her rad-cape was now the Luna-1 sigil. "I thought you'd be at the Grand Hall getting sworn in."
She shrugged. "I may not yet officially be Judge-Marshal, but I still have some influence. They can wait for me." Kontarsky studied him for a moment. "You have saved my life with this act, do you know that?" She tapped the badge. "After killing Kommisar Ivanov, my life as a Sov citizen is over. I would have returned home to infamy and shame... If I were lucky. More likely, I would have been cashiered and then found dead in some filthy vodkarama."
Dredd paused by the airlock. "I haven't done you any favours, Kontarsky. Luna-1 is in chaos right now and you'll need all your strength to hold it together."
She took a step closer and her cool seemed to crack. "I have to know: wh-why me?" she stammered.
"Lots of reasons. Because you're capable. Because you know the Moon and the law. Because you can't go home again." He gave her a nod of respect. "But mostly because you're a good Judge."
The Russian accepted this with a flash of her green eyes and she snapped into a brisk salute, all trace of her irresolute moment vanishing like vapour. "It has been an honour to serve with you, Judge Dredd."
Dredd returned the gesture. "And you, Judge-Marshal Kontarsky."
She retreated to the lip of the pad as the Interceptor's main drive powered up and, with a rumble of thrust, the Shadow leapt from the pad and shot through the glowing seal-field, receding into a glowing dot that merged with the starry night sky.
Dredd felt the pressure of the G-force push him back into his chair as the ship tore free of the Moon's feeble gravity and angled to face the Earth. He glanced across as the pilot's hands danced over the throttle controls.
"Can this thing go any faster?"
The pilot blinked at him. "Uh, well, yeah. But that's not usually-"
Dredd studied the blue planet beneath him. The dark smudge of Mega-City One was just visible through the clouds, lights emerging from the day-night terminator like a swarm of distant embers. "Every second I waste up here, some perp is walking free down on my streets." He looked away. "Floor it. I got work to do."
The Interceptor's fusion engine surged and, like a falling meteor, Justice came blazing its way back toward Mega-City One.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Swallow has previously written the 2000AD Presents audio dramas Judge Dredd: Dreddline and Judge Dredd: Jihad, and he has also worked on a number of books, including the Sundowners quartet of "steampunk" Westerns (Ghost Town, Underworld, Iron Dragon and Showdown) as well as short fiction for the Silent Night anthology and Inferno! magazine and The Butterfly Effect novelisation for Black Flame. His non-fiction includes Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher and guides to genre television and animation. Swallow's other credits include writing for Star Trek: Voyager and a number of videogame scripts. He lives in London, and is currently working on his next book.
The Big Meg Glossary
Antarctic City: Abundant in minerals, the Antarctic Territories are governed by six global powers.
Apocalypse War: Attempted invasion of Mega-City One by East Meg in 2014. Most of the population and the city were destroyed.
Banana City: A violent and corrupt city in Latin America.
Black Atlantic: An apt description of the Atlantic Ocean whose waters are so heavily polluted that it is incredibly toxic and lethal to humans.
Block: Giant skyscrapers that make up most of Mega-City One. The inhabitants of blocks are known as blockers. Sometimes the pressures of living in such cramped high-rise conditions lead to block mania, which may spark a war.
Boing: An aerosol sprayed substance that forms a rubber bubble around its user.
Bouncer-Mek: A large and imposing robot mainly used for bouncer roles.
Brit-Cit: British counterpart of Mega-City One.
Catch Wagon: A vehicle designed for the collection of criminals.
Control: The nerve centre of Mega-City One, relaying information to Judges on the streets.
Daystick: The Judge's favoured truncheon.
Futsie: "Future shock"; a mental breakdown of epic proportions, which causes some of The Big Meg's citizens to become irrationally violent.
Glasseen: Futuristic variation of glass.
Grud: (By Grud! Jovus Grud!) By God! Jesus Christ! Other derivatives include Sweet Jovus (Sweet Jesus) and Sweet Jovus Son of Grud.
Iso-Cube: The standard imprisonment for criminals, a huge block full of very small isolation cubes.
Juve: A young criminal often aged twenty years-old or younger.
H-Wagon: Justice Department hover vehicle that can shift large amounts of man and firepower.
Hovercam: A small and compact video camera with the ability to hover.
Lawgiver: The weapon of choice for the Judge, an automatic multi-shell gun whose ammunition ranges from armour piercing to ricochet rounds.
Lawmaster: The Judge's computer-controlled motorbike. Extremely powerful, intelligent and heavily armed.
Luna-1: In 2061, the three American Mega-Cites united to populate a one-million square mile base on the Moon.
L-Wagon: A Luna version of the Mega-City H-Wagon.
Pedway: A pedestrian-only pathway as other pedways are mechanised.
Perp: A Judge's term for a criminal/perpetrator.
Rad-lands: Old name for the Cursed Earth, a vast, radioactive wasteland.
Simba-City: After the nuclear destruction during the Apocalypse War, South Africa has been shattered and mostly uninhabitable. The major cities are Umur (Libya), New Jerusalem (North-east Ethipoa) and Simba-City (Cameroon).
SJS: The Special Judicial Squad act as the Judge's police; they seek out corruption and crime within the Law with extreme prejudice.
Skedway: A minor roadway; smaller than a megway but larger than an overzoom.
STUP-gun: A highly effective and powerful firearm that shoots streams of highly charged particles in microsecond pulses.
Synthi-caf: A refreshing drink that is similar to banned coffee, it has now deemed illegal due to its highly addictive properties and has been replaced by various forms of synthi-synthi-caf.
Tek-Judge: A technical and engineering specialist whose skills range from advanced forensic analysis to the repairing of vehicles, weapons, etc.
Titan: A small moon orbiting Saturn, used as a dedicated maximum-security prison for Mega-City One's most dangerous criminals.
Tri-D: Also known as holovision; there are over 312 channels in Mega-City One.
Umpty Candy: A sweet: hyper-addictive and illegal candy.
Extract
Other titles
Indicia
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Author Biography
Glossary
Eclipse Page 25
