Kingdom of the Blind

by David Bishop

  Kara smiled. "The Justice Department is not the only agency with a research and development division. The Bludd Group has obtained a revolutionary new force shield that can withstand direct hits by almost all the weapons currently deployed by the Judges. They won't lay a gauntlet on us."

  "Terrif," the juve replied. He had examined the hoverpod's exterior in detail before climbing inside but could find no evidence of a defence system. Ryan questioned Kara about it while Fincher was prepping the vehicle. "I still don't see how this tin can will withstand the Judges' fire power. It just looks like a normal hoverpod to me, no special-"

  Kara rested a finger against Ryan's lips, stilling his voice. "Leave the thinking to us. Would Jesus let me fly in this if there was any danger?"

  "Ready to go," Fincher reported from the hoverpod's cockpit.

  "Good." Kara let her hand slide down Ryan's chest towards his crotch. "Blake, could you make sure the others are ready too? I need to go over the flight plan with Fincher before we're airborne."

  "No problem," Ryan replied with some difficulty. "Back in a minute."

  Hershey was waiting in the central negotiating chamber to welcome the delegates. Giant escorted the five visitors into the circular room where pleasantries and small gifts were exchanged. Once the formalities were over, the Chief Judge signalled for Giant to come forward. "This Judge will be your personal liaison for the remainder of the day. If there's anything you need, anything at all, just ask Giant."

  Smirnoff was nursing the side of his head, his face pale and perspiring. "The hair of the dog would be most welcome," he muttered.

  Hershey smiled thinly. "We are only too happy to continue offering you the benefits of full diplomatic immunity. However, we must also ask you to respect our Laws, just as we are respecting your privacy. As requested, all the delegates have been assigned their own rooms on this level of the building, each with a secure, direct comms line to your superiors. I personally guarantee these lines cannot be intercepted, traced or accessed by anyone but yourselves. Judge Giant will now show you to these private rooms. The negotiations will begin here in twenty minutes' time, at precisely midday."

  Dredd was prowling the exclusion zone like a caged animal, poised for action. Cordoning off twenty blocks in all directions from the Grand Hall of Justice was a massive job, causing chaos on surrounding skedways and overzooms. Creating a no-fly zone in the sky was even harder to police, with dozens of flying Manta-tanks and heavily armoured H-wagons forming an aerial blockade. Dredd kept his helmet radio active at all times, listening to the reports flooding in from units spread around the vast perimeter.

  "Dredd to PSU, any word on movement from the Bludd Group's known strongholds?"

  "Nothing yet," a voice replied. The Public Surveillance Unit had an almost limitless squadron of spy-in-the-sky cameras stationed around the city, along with access to every security system and surveillance database. There were black spots, holes in the network where perps could hide or disappear temporarily, but anyone moving through the Big Meg never avoided the PSU's gaze for long.

  Dredd remembered the last sighting of Ryan had been when he entered Bludd's penthouse. "What about Emil Jannings Block? Anything there?"

  "Nothing as yet. Closest we've got are two hoverpods that exited a nearby parking building within the last hour."

  "Where are they now?"

  "Hold on-" While PSU systems gathered the necessary data, another voice broke into the transmission.

  "Manta-tank Delta Two-Seven to Dredd. We've got movement up here."

  "Dredd responding. What is it?"

  "Something coming directly towards us, ignoring all the warning beacons to divert."

  "Any ID yet?" All flying vehicles were required to carry a transponder, so the city's computerised air traffic control system could monitor what was happening in the sky. Accidents were remarkably rare, thanks to an automatic override that prevented hoverpods and other aerial transports from colliding.

  "Just coming through now..."

  "PSU to Dredd. Those two hoverpods, they've just split up. Both were heading towards the exclusion zone, but one has altered course to go around."

  "Dredd to PSU, what about the other hoverpod?"

  "Still heading straight for your position. Both have got some sort of shielding device, we can't tell if they are manned or not. Could be set to autopilot or attempting a suicide run."

  "Manta-tank Delta Two-Seven to Dredd. Got that ID you wanted. The hoverpod is registered to Red Inc, a division of the Bludd Group."

  "Drokk!"

  "It's the same vehicle PSU just mentioned. It's headed directly towards the exclusion zone. Should be visible to you any second now..."

  Dredd began searching the skyline. Twenty years ago the eyes had been ripped from his head by a vicious enemy. Fortunately, Med-Division was able to implant bionic replacements, restoring the Judge's vision and even enhancing his ocular range. In the distance he could see the approaching hoverpod, unswerving in its course, relentless in its approach.

  "Dredd to all units on the exclusion zone, this is it! We've got an incoming black hoverpod with a Bludd Group ident and there's another circling round the perimeter. If either vehicle gets within three blocks of our cordon you have my permission to take them out. Use all necessary force!"

  Giant was monitoring the radio chatter from Dredd's position while escorting the delegates to their private chambers. The sparsely furnished spaces had blank walls except for floor-to-ceiling windows that offered spectacular views across the Big Meg. The Judge was ushering Chang into her room when Dredd gave the shoot-to-kill order. Giant strode to the window and looked out to the east, trying to see what was happening in the distance.

  "Is something the matter?" the Sino-Cit delegate asked politely.

  "No, nothing." Giant moved to the desk and showed Chang how to activate the comms line to her superiors. "We have scrambled your link to stop it being hacked from outside the building. Once you add your own encryption codes, any transmissions to or from this terminal will be secure."

  "We are most grateful for your assistance," she said, bowing slightly. "If you will excuse us now."

  "Of course." Giant retreated to the door. "Negotiations begin in a few minutes. If you need anything-"

  "Representative Chang will be there. Now, we require privacy."

  The Judge departed, closing the door after him. Chang activated the comms line and clipped a tiny encryption lock to the side of the unit. After a few moments the screen came alive with a flurry of Chinese symbols. For the first time since arriving in Mega-City One, Chang relaxed. She was about to switch off the unit when a line of English text appeared on screen: WE HAVE TO TALK.

  Ryan was getting nervous, sweat soaking his armpits and the small of his back. Fincher was piloting the hoverpod straight at the exclusion zone, whistling a happy tune. Kara appeared just as unconcerned by the formidable line of Manta-tanks and judicial H-wagons waiting for them in the sky ahead. "Isn't now a good time to activate the force shield?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

  Kara shrugged and looked at the pilot. "What do you think, Fincher?"

  He smiled gleefully. "No need. We can make it past those drokkers!"

  Ryan was not convinced. He looked out the rear window of the hoverpod. "Hey! Where did the others go?"

  Kara reached into the juve's mind. We're the diversion, remember? They'll penetrate the exclusion zone from another angle.

  Fincher kept the hoverpod heading directly at the Justice Department blockade.

  "This is quite a step up for you, isn't it Sonny Jim? Mr Bludd's showing a lot of trust including you in the strike team for such an important mission."

  "I won't let him down," Ryan vowed. "He took me in after I was expelled from the Academy. I owe Jesus Bludd everything."

  Even your life?

  Even that, Ryan thought. He could feel Kara probing at his psychic defences, each parry followed by a feint and then another thrust deeper into his min
d. The juve erected the image of a brick wall in his thoughts, stretching to infinity in all directions. The bald psyker did her best to breach it but soon relented, apparently satisfied.

  "Very well," Kara announced. "Fincher, you know what to do next."

  The pilot began to accelerate, the hoverpod screaming towards the edge of the exclusion zone. Ryan was slammed back into his seat by the sudden burst of speed, the breath jarred from his body. He gripped the edges of the chair, his knuckles white from the strain.

  "Here it comes!" Dredd shouted. "Remember what I said, once that 'pod gets within three blocks, I want it taken out. Stand by..."

  In the main negotiating room, Hershey looked around the room impatiently. All the delegates were present except for Chang. The Chief Judge frowned and snapped her fingers, summoning Giant to her side. "Where is she?"

  "I don't know, ma'am. I'll just go and-"

  "Please begging your pardons," a quiet but firm voice interrupted. "A thousand apologies for my lateness. It shall not happen again." The Sino-Cit representative was hurrying into the circular chamber, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She took her place beside the other delegates.

  Satisfied at last, Hershey sent Giant to close the doors and stand guard outside. As he left the room, the noise of twelve chimes was being piped around the Grand Hall of Justice's intercom system, announcing the noon hour. The negotiations had begun...

  The hoverpod was only six blocks away from the exclusion zone now. It would be upon the boundary within seconds. Kara held up a finger as a signal for Fincher. "On my command..."

  Dredd glanced left and right, checking everyone was ready, bellowing a final order at them all. "Stand by..."

  "Now!" Kara shouted. Fincher twisted the steering controls sideways, sending the hoverpod into an abrupt left turn. Ryan was flung out of his chair, and slammed up against a side wall before sliding to the floor.

  "Hold your fire!" Dredd commanded. The oncoming hoverpod had suddenly veered off, just before reaching the exclusion zone. Perhaps the occupants had realised a direct attack would be suicidal at best. But how had they known just when to turn away? Dredd felt a shadow leaving his thoughts as though someone had been hiding inside his mind, but it was a passing sensation so he soon forgot about it. "PSU! Report!"

  "The hoverpod jagged away at the last moment. It's heading south, skirting round the edge of the exclusion zone. Seems to be following the same path as the other vehicle we've been watching, towards Ed Wood Underpass."

  "All units on the exclusion zone, maintain readiness! The attack from the east could have been a diversion. Stand by for further orders!"

  "PSU to Dredd, we've lost them. Both hoverpods went into the underpass but neither of them have come out!"

  "Stomm." Dredd cursed under his breath before ordering a dozen helmets to investigate Ed Wood. "Find those hoverpods and whoever was inside them. There's more to this than meets the eye."

  Ryan jumped out of the hoverpod to find the rest of the strike team waiting for him, concealed in the shadows of the underpass. "What's going on? I thought we were supposed to be-"

  "Attacking the Grand Hall of Justice?" Tattoo Sue interjected, noisily cracking her knuckles. "That would be suicidal, don't you think?"

  "But Kara said the force shield would protect us," the juve protested.

  "You shouldn't believe everything people tell you," Angry Sanderson sneered while cleaning his nails with the point of a stiletto.

  Di smiled with the beautiful side of her face. "I'm not surprised the poor boy got expelled from the Academy - far too trusting for his own good. He'd never make it as a Judge on the streets."

  Ryan frowned, not understanding what was going on. "But I thought-"

  I know what you thought, Kara replied telepathically. I've known every dirty little thing that's crossed your mind since you entered the penthouse; since you picked Jesus's pocket at the Dustbuster. Did you honestly believe those psi barriers could protect your mind from me?

  "Please, I don't know what you're-"

  No more lies, Blake, no more deceptions. I know what you are, why you are here. You tried to infiltrate the Bludd Group. You tipped off the Judges about our attack. But all of this, it was just a diversion. You and I, we're just pawns in a much larger game, pieces to be sacrificed for a greater goal.

  "No, you don't understand," Ryan cried.

  Kara smiled at him and shook her head. "Fincher?"

  "Right 'ere." The last member of the strike team emerged from the shadows and clamped a powerful hand across the undercover cadet's mouth and nose, blocking Ryan's breathing. While the juve's body thrashed about, Fincher's other hand reached towards Ryan's neck with a laser blade.

  "Time to remove this piece from the game," Kara commanded. "Goodbye, Ryan. At least your death will be mercifully brief. Many more will suffer far worse than you soon."

  Two hours later the Judges abandoned their search of Ed Wood Underpass. The burnt out wrecks of the hoverpods had been towed away for inspection by the forensic scientists at Tek-Division, but a preliminary sweep offered little hope of finding anything meaningful. Each vehicle was incinerated with a fast burning phosphor grenade, scorching out the interior at incredibly high temperatures, searing away any trace of evidence left behind.

  Infrared sensors showed remnants from the body heat of half a dozen humans who had gathered beside the hoverpods.

  But the footsteps only led a few metres away before disappearing again, no doubt into another vehicle or vehicles that had been waiting in the underpass. The only other evidence discovered at the scene was a splash of blood in a gutter. Again, laboratory analysis was needed to confirm findings made on the spot, but there had been an unconfirmed DNA match already made. The blood belonged to Blake Ryan, a former cadet expelled from the Academy of Law four months earlier.

  Dredd discussed the findings with Giant during a mid-afternoon break in the negotiations. The exclusion zone remained in place but nobody else had attempted to breach its boundary. Dredd relinquished command of the perimeter and rode to the Grand Hall of Justice on his Lawmaster, meeting Giant outside the main entrance.

  "So Ryan's dead?"

  "Probably," Dredd admitted. "Looks like the two hoverpods met a third vehicle in the underpass. Our man was either killed or wounded there and the body transported away, along with all the other passengers."

  "Do you think Bludd might keep Ryan alive as a hostage?"

  The senior Judge shook his head. "All our Wally Squad operatives were killed, their bodies dumped within hours. We can expect Ryan's corpse to surface before sundown. He's been undercover for four months - all Justice Department codes and encryption systems have been routinely updated or changed twice since then. Unfortunately for Ryan, he is of little or no use to Bludd, except as a trophy." Dredd glanced at the Grand Hall's upper levels. "How are the negotiations going?"

  "Hard to say. Warner is making a lot of noise but is still supporting Hershey. Belgrano is arguing over every point being raised-"

  "No surprise there," Dredd said. "Cuidad Barranquilla is the most popular hiding place on the planet for fugitives from the Law. Banana City Judges gather half their annual budget from bribes and back-handers. Hell will freeze over before Belgrano agrees to sign anything freely."

  Giant nodded. "Bruce looks like he'd rather be anywhere else and Smirnoff was asleep for half the first session. Hershey could call a vote now and Ivan wouldn't have a clue which way to go."

  "What about Chang?"

  "Watching and waiting. We know she got a call on her comms line just before the opening ceremony, but the Sino-Cit encryption systems are resisting all efforts to break them. No telling which way Chang will lean."

  "Keep your wits about you," Dredd said. "We still don't know-"

  He was interrupted by a message from Control. "Dredd, there's a robot courier at the exclusion zone perimeter with a package for you. Tek-Judges have scan-alysed it, nothing mechanical or suspicious showing up. There's a
voice-activated lock. Droid says the package will only open for your voice, after you say the words 'Open sesame'."

  "Patch me through to the Tek-Judge nearest the package," Dredd replied.

  Within seconds another voice could be heard via helmet radio. "Tek-Judge Brison to Dredd, you wanted to speak with me?"

  "Take off your helmet and place it next to the package. Once you've retreated to a safe distance, I'll deactivate the locking mechanism remotely with my voice. Understand?"

  "Yes, sir. Taking off my helmet now." Dredd could hear Brison placing the helmet down before hurrying away. "Ready when you are!" Brison shouted.

  "This is the voice of Judge Dredd. Open sesame!"

  After a long silence the lock could be heard springing open. Footsteps approached the package. After a gasp of horror, the helmet was picked up and Brison spoke into its radio mic. "Sir, I think you'd better come over here."

  "What is it, Brison? What's inside the package?"

  "I think you'd better see this for yourself. It's..." Brison broke off, his words replaced with a retching sound. "Oh grud, that smell! It's like... Sorry, sir, I think I'm going to be-" The Tek-Judge stopped talking, but the noise of someone vomiting repeatedly was all too audible.

  Dredd gunned his motorcycle into life and nodded grimly to Giant before accelerating away towards the exclusion zone's perimeter.

  Brison was still recovering when Dredd arrived, the fresh-faced Tek wiping the last remnants of vomit from his chin. Med-Judges were already gathered around the package; a black plastic cube. Nearby the delivery droid was being interrogated by street Judges, protesting its ignorance. "Hey, I just carry parcels from place to place. Somebody gives me a delivery and I deliver it!"

  Dredd screeched to a halt nearby and dismounted from his Lawmaster, striding briskly towards the package. "Get out of my way!" he barked at the Med-Judges. They hastily stepped aside, clearing a path. Dredd stopped over the container and looked down, his mouth curling downwards.