by David Bishop
"I understand you have barricaded yourselves inside."
"That was for our own safety. Two humans set fire to Robert Hatch; my broodling saw it in their minds. Hundreds of our own kind died in that fire but no more will die this night."
"If you let us in, we can protect you," Temple offered.
Nyon heard Lleccas gasp behind him. She was watching the con-apt's tri-D set, a luxury their previous home had not afforded them. Nyon looked at the images being broadcast. The same human who had threatened him earlier was appearing on the tri-D now, proudly holding up the severed head of Keno.
Nyon flew into a rage, hurling objects at the tri-D until it exploded. Lleccas tried to comfort him but Nyon pushed her away. Instead he returned to the open window and screamed at the H-Wagon about what he had just seen. "No human sets foot on this floor while we still have life!" Nyon vowed.
"You are being foolish!" Temple retorted. "What if there is another fire?"
"Then we will burn and it will be on your conscience, human!" Nyon pulled the window shut and locked it. He found Lleccas standing beside him, sadness and regret in her eyes. Neither of them noticed Misch watching them from the doorway of her room.
"They killed Keno, butchered her," Nyon snarled, his face risen with anger and sorrow. "What have those monsters done to her brood?"
Misch closed the door quietly and realised Kasey was standing nearby. "I thought you were asleep," the R'qeen girl whispered.
"Loud voices outside woke me. What did they say?"
"The humans want to search the top floor again." Her voice trailed off.
"For me?" Kasey asked. "Then I must go back."
"You can't."
"I know my mom will hit me again, but that's-"
"No, I mean you can't go back, even if you wanted to. My father has barricaded us all in on the top floor. We're stuck here."
"Oh," Kasey said.
Misch gave her a hug. They needed each other more than ever now.
Temple retreated into the belly of the H-Wagon, unsure what to do next. They could try and storm the top floor, but that would not be easy. If the aliens were holding the girl hostage, she would certainly be dead before Judges could rescue her and that would turn the block into a war-zone. Anti-alien hysteria could spread and engulf the sector, perhaps the entire city. No, he would not be responsible for starting that. If the aliens would not budge, perhaps the human residents could be persuaded to take a step back.
The Deputy Sector Chief called Control on his helmet radio. "Get me in contact with the leader of Oswald Mosley Citi-Def. I don't care how you do it, but I need to talk to them right away!"
Conchita returned to her con-apt to find Billy-Bob and his cronies from the 76-100 team holding an impromptu news conference, using the hovercam to film each other. "What the drokk are you doing?" she demanded. "Where's Riff?"
"In your bathroom, puking his guts out," Billy-Bob said with a smile. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Working with the other team leaders to develop a strategy for reclaiming the top floor - a meeting you should have been at!"
He held up Keno's severed head. "Yeah? Well, while you were busy talking, we were taking action. Got us a count of four so far, including this one."
"Get that out of my sight," Conchita warned. "I lead the Citi-Def squad, not you, and I decide when we take action. Is that clear?"
Billy-Bob winked at his team members. "Well, I'm not so sure about that anymore. Seems to me that we've just-" His next words were cut off by a sharp intake of breath as Conchita grabbed his testicles in her right fist and began squeezing them together.
"Now, you were saying?" she asked, smiling sweetly.
"Nothing..." Billy-Bob gasped. "I wasn't saying nothing."
"That's better. Now, who's in charge of this Citi-Def squad?" She gave his testicles a violent twist, enticing a shriek of pain from him.
"Y-you are!"
"And don't you forget it, drokker!" she growled in his ear. Conchita abruptly released Billy-Bob and stepped clear as he collapsed to the floor, whimpering in pain. "Anybody else want to challenge my authority?" The rest of the 76-100 team quickly denied any such ambitions. "Good. Now get the drokk out of my con-apt and take this rat-weasel with you."
They were all gone when Riff emerged from the bathroom, still wiping his mouth clean. "Conchita, you're back - thank Grud! Those goons that were in here before..."
"I got rid of them," she replied. "I've been talking with the-"
The reporter pressed a hand to his earpiece. "Hold it, I'm getting a message from Channel 27. Have you got a vidphone here?"
Conchita grimaced. "No, I smashed it earlier, Why?"
"Seems the Justice Department want to talk to you. Also my news editor has a message for you from someone called Stummers?"
"Stammers?" she suggested.
"Could be. He's got something you want. After that, the message is just gibberish, a bunch of numbers and letters all jumbled together."
Conchita was perplexed. "Something I want?" she wondered, before her eyes widened. "The code. That must be the override code! What is it?"
Riff relayed the rest of the message to her. "What about the Justice Department? My news editor says a Judge called Temple still wants to talk."
"They can wait. I've got more important things to do right now." Conchita strode purposely from her con-apt. Riff and his hovercam followed.
Dredd and Washington were still in position outside Oswald Mosley, looking up at the H-Wagon. It had hung in the air for several minutes without changing position or taking any visible action. "For Grud's sake, what is Temple doing up there?" Dredd growled.
"He hasn't been out from behind a desk in years," Washington said. "I don't know why the chief sent him to sort this mess out. We should be inside now, rounding up the ring leaders and imposing discipline before the rest of the block wakes and things get out of hand."
They were interrupted by a high-pitched screeching from above, then the sound of Temple clearing his throat. "Testing, testing, one, two, testing."
"What the drokk is he doing?" Washington wondered. "He'll wake up the whole block if he uses the H-Wagon's public address system!"
"I think that's the idea," Dredd replied, scowling with dismay.
"This is a message for all residents of Oswald Mosley Block. My name is Patrick Temple and I am Deputy Chief of Sector 87. As of now your block is being placed under curfew. No citizen may enter or leave the building without permission of the Justice Department. Furthermore, no resident may leave his or her con-apt without permission until the curfew is lifted. That is all!"
After another ear-piercing squeal of static the speakers shut down again. Washington and Dredd exchanged an unhappy look. "The precogs predicted there'd be a riot and Temple has just ensured that prophecy comes true," Washington said. "Now the stomm really hits the fan."
In the basement of Oswald Mosley, Conchita punched the code supplied by Stammers into a keypad. The reinforced steel and rockcrete door to the armoury swung open, revealing a vast array of weapons and ammunition stored inside. Conchita turned to the other Citi-Def squad members crowding the basement. "I want only six people in the armoury at a time. There's no need to fight each other for the best weapons, there's plenty for everybody. All of you take a gas mask. The Judges have already used stumm against us once tonight, they'll probably try it again."
Riff was standing near her, his hovercam capturing every moment. As the squad members began raiding the armoury's contents, he pulled Conchita aside for a quick interview. "Ms Maguire, you're the leader of Oswald Mosley Citi-Def. Why have you raided the block's cache of weapons, in clear breach of Justice Department guidelines?"
She stared directly into hovercam. "We no longer recognise the authority of the Justice Department. It was not willing to intervene and save my daughter from the alien scum on the top floor of our block. But one Judge, a true patriot, was ready to break the rules and give us the code for this armoury.
Now, armed and ready, we will take the Law into our own hands!"
In the garage at Sector House 87, Brady was watching the live Channel 27 transmission from Oswald Mosley. What Judge would be foolish enough to give the armoury code to those trigger-happy kooks? His thoughts were interrupted by a call from outside the sector house. "Brady, I need your help again," Dredd said. "PSU has been monitoring a broadcast-"
"About Oswald Mosley Citi-Def getting the judicial code for the armoury? I was wondering when you'd call," the Tek-Judge replied. "I'll start a trace on all incoming calls and messages to that block."
"If a Judge did send that code to Maguire, it's doubtful they did it directly," Dredd suggested. "Try to identify any third parties who could have helped."
"I'll contact Channel 27, see if they have been passing on messages via their reporter inside," Brady offered. "But what if they refuse to help?"
"Remind them they live in Mega-City One, where freedom of the press is a privilege, not a right. They give you full cooperation or I'll extract it from them personally - with my daystick."
"That's a roj, Dredd. I'll get back to you."
Ken Amidou was the first Citi-Def squad member to emerge from the armoury. While his colleagues were selecting bat-glider suits and body armour, Amidou was content just to grab a gas mask and a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher. The portly citizen shoved three missiles into the belt of his camouflage trousers, hitching the elasticised waistband up above his ample belly. "Let's see how the Judges like a taste of their own medicine," he muttered.
A quick trip in the turbolift took Amidou back to his con-apt on the seventy-third floor. Once inside he ripped the seal off the rocket launcher and began reading the simple instructions printed on its side: PLACE MISSILE INSIDE LAUNCHER - TAKE AIM - PULL TRIGGER - BOOM! It all seemed simple enough. Amidou plucked one of the missiles from his belt and dropped it into the launcher's long barrel. It fit snugly inside, clicking into place.
The Citi-Def member carried the launcher to his living room window and looked out. Yes, the H-Wagon was still hovering outside, but it had moved sideways. To get a better shot Amidou needed to fire from the bedroom. He marched into the next room and clambered over the bed, startling his obese wife, Gerta.
"Ken! Where are you going with that thing?"
"Just a little target practice, my beloved," Amidou replied soothingly. "You go back to sleep, nothing to be alarmed about."
"Nothing to be alarmed about? It's five in the morning!"
"Hush now, sweetness. I've got a job to do." He pushed open the window and pointed the rocket launcher out into the cool early morning air.
"Come back to bed," Gerta urged. "I'll give you a job to do."
"Not just now, dear." Amidou closed one eye and took aim, sighting down the barrel at the bulky profile of the H-Wagon. He closed his finger around the trigger, ready to pull. "Be with you in a minute..." Amidou pulled the trigger. The missile flew out of the launcher and through the opposite wall of the bedroom. It continued through five more walls before exploding in a con-apt on the far side of the block, incinerating the residents of 737.
Amidou opened both his eyes again and looked out of the window. The H-Wagon was still intact, no damage visible on it in the blue light of near dawn. "Strange. I followed all the instructions - that should have worked." A podgy finger tapped him on the shoulder. Amidou turned in time to see the fist his unhappy wife threw at him, but not soon enough to avoid it. He sunk to the floor, quite unconscious from the mighty blow.
Gerta picked up the rocket launcher and took one of the remaining missiles. "You want a job done properly, get a woman to do it," she said, slotting the rocket into place. Making sure she had the arrows labelled AIM THIS WAY facing out the window, Gerta got a bead on the H-Wagon and closed her finger around the trigger.
"What do you mean, you don't know what caused that explosion?" Temple demanded. "A con-apt inside Oswald Mosley just got incinerated and I want to know why!" He was shouting at three Tek-Judges manning consoles inside the H-Wagon, but his words were lost among many others on various channels.
"Temple, this is Dredd," a familiar voice shouted into helmet radios. "What the drokk are you doing? Did you just open fire on Oswald Mosley?"
"Dredd, this is Temple. No, we did not open fire! Now get off this line-"
"Sir, I think you ought to see this," one of the Tek-Judges interrupted.
"Will you be quiet?" the Deputy Sector Chief demanded. "I am trying to maintain discipline here and I will not be interrupted."
"But sir, there's a woman on the seventy-third floor. She seems to be-"
"I don't care what she seems to be doing. I only want to know what caused that explosion!" Temple replied.
"Looks like a missile went off inside one of the con-apts, origin unknown," another Tek-Judge shouted. "No heat trail leading into the building."
"Well, that's something," Temple said. "We don't want another block getting involved with this. We've got enough problems-"
"Sir, this woman: she's got a rocket launcher. She's about to fire at us!"
"What?" That got Temple's attention. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Control, this is Temple. We are under attack fr-"
But his next words were never uttered. The rocket punched a hole through one of the H-Wagon's windows and exploded inside the cabin, killing everyone inside almost instantly. The fireball blew out the windows, spraying glasseen and other shrapnel across five blocks nearby. Its engines destroyed, the H-Wagon began to fall from the sky.
Gerta smiled in satisfaction as the rocket penetrated the H-Wagon. As she bent down to remonstrate with her husband, she missed the fireball blossoming outwards from the exploding vehicle towards their con-apt. "See? All you had to do was point this thing the right way and you-"
Her next words were lost as the flames scorched the skin from her flesh, then the flesh from her bones, and then Gerta Amidou and her husband were no more.
Dredd and Washington were right underneath the H-Wagon when it was hit. Washington stared at the spectacle, mesmerised by the fireball exploding outwards from the vehicle overhead. "Sweet Jovus..."
Dredd gunned his Lawmaster into life. "Come on, Washington - we've got to move!" But the other Judge remained where she was, transfixed.
"But it's... it's impossible..." she whispered.
Dredd leaned across and activated the engine on Washington's bike before yelling at her. "We've got to move! Go!" He tore away, the tyres on his motorcycle squealing in protest. The noise finally jolted Washington into life and she accelerated after him, just clearing the deserted skedway before the burning remains rained down upon her.
A fresh explosion tore the H-Wagon apart as it hit the ground, fragments flying out in all directions. A shard of metal sliced through the rear tyre of Washington's Lawmaster, sending the bike careering out from under her. The Judge skidded along the ground at high speed before slamming headfirst into a rockcrete wall with a sickening thud. Dredd slammed on his brakes and ran back to Washington with a med-kit, the scene lit brighter than day as the ammunition inside the crashed H-Wagon exploded. But Washington's helmet had cracked open like an egg, a crimson pool forming beneath her.
"Dredd to Control, all hell's just broken loose at Oswald Mosley. We lost the H-Wagon and everyone inside. Looked like it was hit by a rocket fired from inside the block. The vehicle has crashed in front of the building, killing another badge on the ground in the process. I'm the only Judge left alive on the scene! I need everything - Meds, Teks and back-up - and I need it now!"
"Roj that, Dredd. Units already on their way!"
He looked at the carnage around him. "Send more," Dredd growled. "And tell Sector Chief Caine I'm assuming control of this crime scene. If she wants to argue with me about it, she'll have to come down here herself. Dredd out!"
The detonation on the seventy-third floor of Oswald Mosley had woken most people inside the building, as the shockwave had sent shudders throughout the structure. The exp
losion that incinerated the H-Wagon woke up the rest of the residents. Those on the eastern side of the block hurried to their windows in time to see the Justice Department vehicle slowly tumble downwards, turning end over end as it fell to the deserted skedway below. Few who witnessed this terrible spectacle would forget the image of the burning H-Wagon's descent.
On the top floor Misch and Kasey ran out into the central room of the con-apt, terrified by what they were witnessing. Lleccas embraced her broodling while Nyon stared in dismay at the human child. "Who is this?" he demanded.
"Kasey," Misch said. "I hid her when the men came."
Nyon sunk to the floor, his head in his hands. "Oh no..."
"She's my friend," Misch explained. "Her broodmother hurts her. I could feel how unhappy Kasey was, so I told her to come up here."
Lleccas put her broodling down. "Do you realise what you've done? We told the humans she was not here. Your broodfather has..." Her voice trailed off, as she realised the enormity of what they faced. "We cannot go back now. Even if we wanted to, we cannot send her back. And if we did, it would just prove the humans were right and we were liars."
Misch began crying, her unhappiness setting Kasey off too, even though the human girl had understood nothing of the R'qeen words. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Misch sobbed, her emotions overwhelming her words. "I'm sorry."
Lleccas embraced her daughter and then drew Kasey to her as well. "It's all right, it will be all right," the broodmother said soothingly.
Nyon looked up at her from the floor. "Will it?"
Riff was still in the basement with Conchita as the last weapons were removed from the armoury, so he didn't see the H-Wagon get hit. A slight tremor ran through the building's superstructure as the vehicle exploded but it was little more than a twitch.
