Kingdom of the Blind

by David Bishop

  "That's what your master wanted, isn't it? Bludd sent you to hunt me down and kill me, didn't he?" Dredd demanded.

  "Yes, yes!" Di cried, beginning to sob with terror.

  "Why? Why do all of this? What's his real aim?"

  "I don't know!" Di shouted, fear making her voice hysterical. "Now let me go, you drokker! Let me-"

  Then the mo-pad fell.

  Tattoo Sue was still driving her speedster down the long spiral offramp to City Bottom when she saw the mo-pad begin its last journey. The purple vehicle accelerated as it fell, the weight of the engine pulling the mo-pad backwards. The bounty hunter thought she could see Di clinging to the front, screaming as the ground got closer. Then the mo-pad was hidden from view, obscured by the three-storey shanty huts erected across the abandoned sector.

  Sue felt the impact before she heard it, the mighty vibration rippling through her vehicle. Then came the sound: metal and mayhem, death and destruction, violent and vicious. A fireball of flame billowed into the air, followed by clouds of ominous black smoke.

  "Touchdown," Sue said with a smile. Her eyes slid to the speedster's onboard computer screen. Despite the sudden impact Dredd's homing signal was still transmitting. The drokker must have survived somehow, but not for long, the bounty hunter thought. She floored the accelerator, determined to reach the crash site in time to claim her kill.

  "Control to all units! Reports coming in of an explosion on City Bottom. Fires are spreading from the source. Expect heavy casualties. Nearest Sector Houses to send all available units. Scramble emergency service crews and Med-Judges."

  Tattoo Sue reached the crash site first, abandoning her speedster nearby and advancing to the scene by foot, a pistol clutched in each hand. Ramshackle homes made of scavenged cardboard were ablaze, the fires leaping from building to building. The fuel tank must have exploded when the mo-pad hit the ground, Sue decided. She could hear the screams of City Bottom dwellers from inside burning hovels but chose to ignore them. Let the Judges save this scum.

  Approaching sirens meant help was only a few minutes away for the locals and hindrance just as close for Sue. She began running towards the centre of the carnage, covering her mouth and nose to block out the acrid smoke and fumes. The bounty hunter burst through the surrounding ring of burning shanty homes to find what remained of the mo-pad.

  The purple vehicle was just a metal carcass. The back end had plunged into the ground, the engine burying itself. The chassis had exploded when the fuel tank blew, a scorch mark burnt into the ground around the fractured remains. The only section still intact was the driver's compartment, held in place by white foam that seemed to have filled the interior.

  Protruding from the compartment were some of Di's remains. Her legs were locked inside the white substance but they ended just above the knees, the rest of her torn away by the force of the impact. Sue took a step towards the mo-pad and stepped in something soft and wet. She looked down with a crawling horror of realisation, knowing before seeing what the thing beneath her feet was. Di's torso and head were smeared across the ground like paste. Grud only knew what had happened to her arms.

  Sue had witnessed some horrors in her time but this was too much. She stumbled to one side and vomited up the contents of her stomach, retching over and over until there was nothing left to expel. Once the gut-wrenching spasms had subsided, she wiped the moisture from her chin and opened her eyes again, careful to avoid seeing again what was left of Di.

  The homing signal for Dredd was still active. The bounty hunter checked the handheld scanner several times but it remained steadfast in its readings - Dredd was a few metres away, directly in front of her. The Judge was alive and entombed inside the mo-pad. Holstering one pistol in her left boot, Sue approached the wreckage carefully, keeping the scanner in one hand and a pistol in the other. She reached towards the white foam and was surprised to find it was rock hard on the outside. But after a few taps the white substance began to collapse inwards, bubbling away to nothing.

  I've heard about this stomm, the bounty hunter thought. New safety device fitted to large vehicles. A computer-controlled system senses danger just before impact and floods the driver's compartment with riot foam. It surrounds the occupants, enabling them to breathe but protecting them from the smash. Afterwards the foam evaporates, freeing whoever is inside. Sue checked, realising too late what that meant. Freeing whoever is-

  Dredd burst from the mo-pad, using Di's severed arms as a club to smash the pistol from Sue's hand. While she scurried after the weapon Dredd clambered out of the wreckage, tossing aside the unwanted limbs and pulling the tranq gun from his boot holster. He shot a drug-tipped dart into the bounty hunter's outstretched hand before Sue could retrieve her pistol. She cried out, clutching the numbed hand to her chest. "Don't shoot me!" she said.

  The Judge wiped the last of the foam from his visor. "Why not? You were ready to shoot me."

  "That was business. Please, I don't want to die," she begged.

  Dredd shook his head in disgust. "Your kind sickens me. You'll kill for money but plead for your own life like a whimpering child."

  Sue kept up the pretence, all the while easing her good hand towards the other pistol hidden in the boot farthest from Dredd. "Please, I can help you. I know what Bludd has got planned! All of this, it's just a diversion!"

  "Tell me more."

  The bounty hunter looked over her shoulder fearfully, all too aware Judges would be on the scene within minutes. "Alright, but not here. I'll trade what I know for safe passage out of Mega-City One."

  "Why should I cut a deal with scum like you?"

  "My life is worthless once Bludd knows I've betrayed him. Trust me, when you hear what he's going to do to this city, it's worth making the deal."

  Dredd kept his tranq gun trained on the tattooed woman, the sounds of sirens drawing ever closer. "Kick the pistol over to me," he commanded. Sue did as she was told, palming the weapon from her boot. As Dredd crouched to pick up the pistol the bounty hunter took aim at the Judge.

  "Die you drokker!" she screamed, pulling the trigger.

  Dredd threw himself sideways and fired back with his tranq gun.

  Both shooters went down and stayed down.

  The Chief Judge looked round the faces of her senior staff. The Council of Five's members were assembled, each with their individual reports on recent activity. Shenker had arrived in a hoverchair, still recovering from the debilitating shock of what happened at Joe Chill. Hershey had not given them advance warning of what was to be discussed, but none of those present needed psi powers to guess the main item on the agenda.

  "Jesus Bludd," the Chief Judge began, "is trying to ransom this city for one hundred billion credits. Unless we transfer that sum to an untraceable offworld account of his choosing before midnight, he will do to the entire city what he did to Joe Chill a few hours ago. Bludd is calling at eleven with the account number. Reactions?"

  Ramos was first to speak. A veteran street Judge, he was on the council with Hollister to represent the department's rank and file, the men and women who had to enforce the Law every day. "We can't give in to blackmail or extortion. I'd rather see the city burn than have it capitulate to the likes of Bludd."

  Hollister was quick to reinforce that attitude. "Give in to one such threat, no matter how powerful, and you abdicate all responsibility for control of this city. We're worth more than that! We've got to find the drokker and stop him."

  "Easier said than done," was Hershey's dry response. "Niles?"

  "Like several key divisions of the department, the PSU was badly hit by side effects of the weapon that destroyed Joe Chill. Only now are we beginning to put together the pieces of what happened. Earlier today Bludd had an exhibit stolen from the Dustbuster. It proved to be a fully functional command and control system for firing orbital weapons left over from the twentieth century. The energy beam that crippled Psi-Division and took out our network was one such weapon. Fortunately for us, research i
n the archives suggests this weapon, though very powerful, requires several hours to be recharged."

  "Thank grud for that," Shenker whispered.

  "That explains why Bludd has not used it again, so far," Niles added. "But it's only a matter of time before he does. We believe Justice Seven has located the orbital platform where the energy pulse originated. Scattergood and her crew intend to destroy the platform by midnight. That's the good news..."

  "And the bad news?" Hershey asked.

  Niles grimaced. "Most records from the twentieth century were destroyed by the Great Atom War of 2070. But from what my analysts have uncovered, there were dozens of weapons of mass destruction in orbit. Many of those will have fallen from the sky and burnt up during re-entry since, but not all."

  The Chief Judge looked into the eyes of her senior staff as she continued what Niles had been saying. "We're talking atomic, biological and chemical weapons, the sort of stomm outlawed by global treaties after 2071. Some of it is still up there, waiting to be fired, and Bludd's got his finger on the trigger."

  "Where is he?" Buell demanded.

  "Offworld," Niles said. "We believe he has shifted operations to an orbital HQ outside our jurisdiction, taking the command and control system with him."

  "Outside our jurisdiction or not, can't we take out Bludd's HQ?" Hollister asked. "One or two well placed missiles, or a crack team of insurgent Judges? We can deal with the consequences later."

  The Chief Judge sighed heavily. "Niles?"

  "Unfortunately, Bludd's HQ has stealth capabilities, making it next to impossible for us to locate it. Even if we were willing to breach international law to destroy the threat from Bludd, we have to find him first."

  "I find it ominous this perp has evacuated himself from the Big Meg," McTighe from Tek-Division said. "To me that indicates he plans a strike against our city, whether or not we pay this ransom." Others around the council table nodded. Hershey waited until everyone fell silent before speaking.

  "The Justice Department will not surrender its control of Mega-City One to blackmail. No money will be paid. We must trust Justice Seven is able to find and destroy these orbiting weapons. Meanwhile we shall develop a response for Bludd's demands, a stalling tactic until his orbiting HQ can be located." The Chief Judge folded her arms. "We face a difficult few hours ahead. The city needs us to be at our best. It's up to you to make sure that happens within each of your divisions. Dismissed."

  The Judges rose from their seats and began filing out of the chamber, but Hershey remained in her chair. Niles hung back to speak with the Chief Judge. "Permission to speak off the record?" he asked.

  "Granted."

  "You look tired. When was the last time you ate or slept?"

  "I can't remember," Hershey admitted.

  "What you said applies just as much to yourself. The city needs all its Judges at their best tonight, you more than any of us. Grab something to eat and take five minutes on a sleep machine. You've got time before Bludd calls."

  The Chief Judge sighed. "You know what happens if we make it through the night? Come nine tomorrow morning I have to resume negotiations about the treaty with our five honoured guests."

  "It's the right thing to do," Niles said. "Global extradition would make a significant difference to our ability to pursue perps like Bludd. Nothing good ever came easy, Hershey."

  "You're right," she admitted. "I'm going to give Giant a call, make sure the delegates are behaving themselves. We don't need a repeat of last night's activities, not with everything else that's going on."

  "It's all quiet," Giant said via his helmet radio when the Chief Judge called. "The delegates took meals in their private quarters about eight and most have turned in for the night. Some of them must have learned their lesson yesterday."

  "Even Smirnoff?" Hershey asked, surprise in her voice.

  "The last of the great synthi-vodka drinkers seems to be taking it easy for once. Guess you can only drink non-stop for so many days before it finally catches up with you."

  "Alright. Let me know if anything untoward happens, Giant."

  "Yes, ma'am." The street Judge hesitated before raising something that had been bothering him. "Excuse me for asking, but will Dredd be returning to help supervise security for the delegates? He's been gone for some hours. I don't listen to gossip usually, but I've heard whispers he's disappeared and is being considered a rogue Judge."

  "You're right, Giant, you shouldn't listen to gossip. Dredd is receiving treatment from Med-Judges at City Bottom. Hershey out."

  Giant looked at Eaglestone and Jenkins. All three Judges were sat on their Lawmasters outside the safe house where Warner was being kept. "Hear that, Eaglestone? I told you Dredd would never go rogue. That's two graveyard shifts you owe me."

  Med-Judge Karter was wrapping a fresh rapi-heal pad around Dredd's latest wound when the street Judge came round. "Don't move yet, I haven't finished," she warned. "You can't expect these injuries to heal if you don't give rapi-heal time to do its job, Dredd."

  "What happened?"

  "Where do you want me to start?" Karter assessed the battered and bloody body beside her. Every wound, every contusion told its own story. "You were shot just above the waist but luckily for you, the bullet went straight through. Took a chunk of flesh but missed the vital organs, which is why we can still have this conversation. If it had nicked the spleen you'd have bled out before we got here. Your helmet took the full force of the other round, but the impact still knocked you out. A few inches down and left, you'd be a dead hero instead of just having what I imagine is a raging headache."

  "Who shot me?"

  "You don't remember?" That worried Karter. The head injury might be worse than it first looked, perhaps a serious concussion. She jerked a thumb towards the corpse lying close to Dredd's feet. "Your illustrated woman friend was the culprit. I'm guessing you two fired at the same time."

  Tattoo Sue was sprawled out on the blackened ground beside the mo-pad's remains. The end of a tranq dart was protruding from her left eye socket, the rest of the dart embedded inside her skull. Karter spared a glance for the dead perp. "Never seen someone killed that way before, a remarkable shot."

  "Lucky," Dredd muttered. "Just lucky." He glanced around the crash site. Emergency crews had put out the fires while Tek-Judges were examining the scene for clues to what had happened. Big arc lamps lit the area, throwing bleak shadows across the night. "How long have I been unconscious?"

  "Less than an hour. It's not quite eleven..."

  Karter realised Dredd was no longer listening to her. He reached a hand to the side of his helmet where a translucent plastic disc was visible. "Yes, I understand," he said tersely.

  The Med-Judge was confused. "You understand what?"

  "I'll make it," Dredd continued.

  "Make what? Dredd, what are you talking about?"

  But the street Judge ignored her, his expression changing to a grimace as he turned to look at Karter. "Very well."

  "Dredd, are you getting messages on your helmet radio? I didn't hear anything from Control just then-"

  Her words were cut out abruptly when Dredd grabbed her throat. Karter couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, the grip around her windpipe tightening by the moment. She flailed at Dredd with her fists, but his pressure just increased. He leaned closer to her and whispered a question.

  "Which way to the Grand Hall of Justice?"

  Karter's eyes slid sideways, to the north.

  "I will continue squeezing until you pass out," Dredd said. "Stay down until after midnight - it will be better for both of us."

  The Med-Judge nodded with the last of her strength. Already the blackness was closing in round her.

  TEN

  Scattergood was proud of her crew. Justice Seven's operational effectiveness was back to ninety-two per cent of normal, just a few hours after being crippled. Now the orbital platform was closing in on its quarry, the ancient satellite that had launched such a devastating blow a
gainst the Big Meg. Scattergood was surprised when she got her first good look at the source of their troubles.

  "Grud on a greenie! How is that still in the sky?" she wondered out loud.

  The satellite was an antique by anyone's reckoning. More than a hundred years old, its metal surface was pitted and scarred from decades of impacts by space debris. Some words were visible on the side of the cylindrical device: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA SW-1701D. Grissom was already investigating this in what remained of the pre-Great Atom War archives.

  "Launched covertly in the 1990s. Part of an initiative known as Star Wars," he explained. "Designed as a way of blowing intercontinental missiles out of the sky before they could deliver their payload. Proved ineffective for that but was used as an offensive weapon against ground-based targets in 2017 with some success. Officially decommissioned in 2057 as part of an orbital weapons disarmament programme by the old United States."

  "Like drokk it was," Scattergood muttered darkly. "How long before it's capable of firing again?"

  "The weapon is solar powered. It takes four to six hours to recharge."

  "And how long since Joe Chill was summarily demolished?"

  "Just under four hours," Grissom replied. "Analysis suggests energy levels are almost fully restored. It could be fired again at any time."

  "Very well," Scattergood said. "Lock our weapons on that satellite and blow it out of the sky!" A long, awkward silence followed. Justice Seven's commander looked round her crew. "Give me the bad news."

  Everyone else turned to Grissom. "In order to restore propulsion and manoeuvring earlier, I had to scavenge a bypass circuit from elsewhere..."

  "And you took it from our defence systems?"