“Uh . . . Millen . . . this is David Ostell again. Uh . . . I didn’t say before, but the Nazar brothers and half of the men here took off following the Cherkoff men as soon as they passed by. I don’t think either of them had comms, and I don’t know where they are right now.”
“Shit,” said Millen, looking at me. “Can’t fault them for enthusiasm, but they’ll have to work on following orders.”
“Well, we haven’t heard firing in that direction, so maybe they haven’t caught up or are keeping their distance.”
My theories went to shit as soon as I voiced them. Satoro Street, the route of the eastern Cherkoff group, was only four blocks away, and two new rifle shots were followed by a barrage of other fire. We listened.
“First two must have been our people,” I said. “Hopefully, they hid themselves once the Cherkoff men fired back.”
I agreed with Millen. We would need people like the Nazars, as long as they started following plans.
“They’re on their own,” said Millen. “Since we’re out of contact with them, we need to be satisfied with the current outcome.
“Aleyna,” Millen called to Aleyna Hamdan at the northern position, “looks like Cherkoff’s men are pulling back. Bring your people to . . . ”
He stopped and looked at me. “What’s the cross street left of Alda’s?”
“Priscilla.”
“Aleyna, are you there?” Millen comm’d.
“I’m here.”
“Bring your people to the top of Priscilla at Main Street. I don’t think we need you, but let’s get your people closer to where the action has already happened.”
“We’re all relieved here that the news sounds good,” said Hamdan. “I’ll be honest and say I’m not displeased to have sat this out, but we’ll hustle down and I’ll comm when we’re there.”
Millen keyed Ostell again. “Keep the rest of your group at the hospital. People will be bringing in wounded, and they might include Cherkoff’s men. We’ll need someone to stay watching them, in case the rest of us are needed elsewhere.”
Millen then comm’d the entire group. “To all of you, Everett and I will scout toward the hovercraft to confirm whether they leave Justice or do something else.”
Millen received confirmations and signed off.
“Okay, Everett, you and I will work our way south toward the hovercraft. We don’t want to get into any more fights, so if we come on any of Cherkoff’s men, we’ll back off and keep to the plan of letting them go. And we sure don’t want to get in range of that 30-millimeter chain gun. So how’s the chest? Are you good to go?”
It hurt like hell, and every breath was labored, but I had an attack of macho bullshit and wasn’t going to admit I couldn’t keep up with Millen with his gimpy knee.
“No problem. Point the way, Marshal.”
I didn’t know whether Millen was serious about being cautious or took pity on me despite my assertion. We moved as if every shop were a potential ambush site. We were still two blocks away when the whine of the hovercraft fans started, wound up to a roar, and slowly faded, as the large craft left the area. When we got to an open field south of the roadblock, depressed low vegetation testified to where the hovercraft had settled. There was also no sign of any wheeled vehicles. On site, however, were the Nazar brothers and six other men.
“We killed one of them, Millen,” boasted Jason Nazar, slapping his brother on the back. However, Jules Nazar didn’t look as pleased and nodded in agreement when Millar lit into Jason for not following the plan.
“But we killed one of Cherkoff’s men,” protested Jason.
“And could have gotten yourselves killed,” admonished Millen. “Plus, by being out of contact, we had no way to coordinate with you. We could have stumbled on you and shot each other. I appreciate your willingness to fight, but if you can’t stick to what’s planned and stay in contact, then we’ll be better off without you.”
I thought Millen was being too tough on them. There were worse things than volunteers who were too aggressive—such as no volunteers at all. In this case, we’d gone from worry about no help to worry about controlling them. I preferred the second case.
To placate Jason, I took him aside and told him he’d done okay, given the circumstances, though Millen was right to be concerned about staying in communication. To keep Jason busy, I tasked him and the rest of men to stay at the Main and Bond roadblock, in case we were wrong and Cherkoff returned. He was also to check on the two guys manning the picket position farther south.
Millen decided we should go to the hospital to see how Landa and Mary Chingelit were. I wasn’t in the mood to walk the eight blocks, so we took a car that had been used as part of the Main and Bond roadblock. It was one of the last vehicles added and hadn’t been disabled. When we got to the hospital, we learned that Landa had taken a small caliber round through the fleshy outer part of a thigh and was ambulatory with a limp. Elena Landa, dripping tears, provided whatever assistance he needed.
Chingelit had been DOA at the hospital. Two Cherkoff wounded had been brought in—one from our Wakefield’s encounter and the other abandoned by the survivors of the western group of Cherkoff’s men. Both would survive.
Mayor Bossev and Judge Felzoni were talking with Dr. Gebran when we arrived.
“That makes seven prisoners, either here or in the cells at the marshal’s office,” said Bossev. “We need to decide what to do with them.”
“Put them on the first dirigible out of Justice,” I said, “with the warning that they’ll be shot on sight if they ever return.”
“Some of them must have committed severe crimes,” protested Ostell. “We can’t just let them go.”
“Everett’s right,” said Millen. “We’ve got bigger issues. Those seven are only a distraction. Everything has to focus on getting rid of Cherkoff. Judge Felzoni, would we need another trial to make it legal to banish them from Justice on pain of death?”
Felzoni stroked his chin whiskers. “Well . . . I suppose carrying and using firearms within Justice is sufficient evidence of violating the ordinance against carrying firearms. With a statement of those facts from the recognized law enforcers—that means you, Millen, and Cole—I could reasonably find them guilty and declare them a danger to the community. A statement of support from Mayor Bossev would strengthen the ruling.”
“I thought we were going to change that ordinance,” Bossev said.
“Well, I never actually got around to it,” said Millen. “In fact, we were handing out firearms to anyone who wanted one.”
“Irrelevant,” I said. “It was still technically in effect, so we need the mayor’s declaration.”
“I so state whatever Omar wanted me to say,” said Bossev.
“And I state they were apprehended carrying and discharging weapons inside Justice,” said Millen.
“How about the three we brought in for robbing the Starsumal shipments?” I added. “They were outside Justice.”
“Hmmm,” mumbled Felzoni. “Since they are known associates of the other four, and based on the previous behavior of Cherkoff’s men, it’s a reasonable extrapolation that had they not been in cells, they would have been with the armed men coming into Justice today. I’ll consider them a potential danger to the community, and, with the marshal’s agreement, I’ll rule that they are to remove themselves from Justice, or we’ll bring them up on robbery charges.”
“Manuel Ormega at the transport depot says a dirigible is due two days from now and is scheduled for departure the same afternoon,” said David Ostell.” He had gotten on his comm as soon as exile via dirigible was mentioned.
“There you go,” said Millen. “Problem solved.”
“Millen, you said something about a woman being killed in the sporting goods shop—you’re sure she’s dead?” asked Ostell. “Kind of middle-aged, wears heavy boots and leggings under a dress?”
Millen hadn’t inspected her that closely. I had. He looked at me. I nodded.
; “Yes,” said Millen, “she was dead, and that sounds like her.”
“Oh, no!” exclaimed Alda Nakasomi, who had just appeared. “Not Mary Isfanalli! Why did they kill her?”
“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” I explained. “I heard one of the men say she surprised them, and they shot from reflex.”
“Damn it. Mary was a crusty lady,” said Bossev. “I’ll bet she barked at them for breaking into her shop. She might even have brandished the old pistol she owned.”
“I didn’t see a pistol,” I said, “but we didn’t do a search. We were focused on the other Cherkoff men.” I looked at Dr. Gebran. “Can you arrange to see to her, Doctor? Anyone who does it can look for the pistol, not that it makes much difference.”
“Mary’s got two sons working on the ranches Cherkoff doesn’t control,” said Ashraf. “I’ll get word to them. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble recruiting them to help against Cherkoff.”
“You can count on many of the farms to stand up, too, after this,” said Aleyna Hamdan. “Serena Daouk joined us today, but she still had major qualms. Mary’s death and the fight today will push her over any reservations. She and I will work on the other farms, and you can count on more support. I’ll also stop at Hossam Abboud’s place. The other ranchers listen to him. He’s hinted before that he’d stand up to Cherkoff if he thought we had a chance. I can’t say for sure, but we might get more support there.”
“And not just the farmers and ranchers,” said Bossev. “When the shooting started, I began getting comm calls from dozens of Justice citizens. I didn’t have time to lay it all out, but I suggest we get back to as many as possible right away while there’s enthusiasm.”
“I’ll help with that,” said Millen, looking at me. “Can you take twenty or so armed people and check the blocks where there was fighting? There’s always a chance we’ve missed a dead or wounded Cherkoff man or even one that doesn’t know the fighting is over. Also, make another check on the Nazars and the picket position, and be sure the two men can continue manning it.”
My chest was hurting worse than ever. All I wanted was a drink and to lie down, but Bossev was right about recruiting while the citizens had a degree of euphoria. Not resisting men like Cherkoff could become an ingrained habit, and sunrise the next day might find fewer souls willing to stand up.
Since I was already at the hospital, I had them check me out. Quick scans by the medical staff showed nothing broken or seriously damaged but confirmed I’d have two nice bruises from the two bullet hits on my Dynaplex suit. A nurse gave me painkillers and some drugs whose names I couldn’t pronounce. She said they would prevent swelling that would inhibit movements and would give an energy boost, but not too much. I was satisfied. In the FSES, they might have given us cocktails that would make some of us think we were super-soldiers—something that could get us killed if we ignored the value of prudence.
Millen got some of the same meds for his knee. Both of us would be fully mobile for the next twenty-four hours.
I suspected our day wasn’t over.
CHAPTER 19
My suspicion was confirmed when, two hours later, I returned from supervising the search for Cherkoff’s remaining men. We didn’t find any, dead, wounded, or hiding. I’d kept contact with Millen and found him and Bossev in the mayor’s office, hunched over the same Justice map now spread out again on the table. Scattered around the map were page-sized photographs.
“The mayor and I are talking about the next move,” Millen said. “We knocked Cherkoff back, and this is the time to finish him before he does something smarter than this morning or pulls in more help from outside Justice. The mayor believes we can round up enough people to move on him. Cherkoff has taken over five ranches, with the biggest one serving as his headquarters. These old photos are satellite images from when Justice was being established. The mayor was giving me a history and geography lesson. Somebody ought to write a book about the early days of this area. There’s also some records of the main ranch in town records. Cherkoff purged a lot of them but didn’t do a thorough job. I think we have enough information to make plans.”
Getting into another firefight wasn’t high on my priority list at the moment. Today had been thrilling enough, and my chest throbbed, though not as bad as before. I also didn’t seem to mind what little pain there was, due to one of the drugs they’d given me at the hospital. Yet Millen was right. When you had an enemy back on his heels—though I supposed the appropriate colloquialism for Millen was “back on his cowboy boots”—you didn’t give him time to recover, unless your own condition prevented it. My condition wasn’t incapacitating, so that wasn’t my main concern. But who was going hunting for Cherkoff and his men? I felt that I’d done my duty to the citizens of Justice, and it was time for them to step up.
“Any idea how many men he has left?” I asked.
“We can only get a rough estimate,” Millen said. “Making some guesses, we came up with an estimate of sixty-five, some of whom work the ranches and wouldn’t be counted on to fight for Cherkoff. Say, fifty to fifty-five men who would fight. He lost nineteen dead and wounded today, so give Cherkoff a total of thirty-one to thirty-six fighters left.”
“Gimme a break!” I exclaimed. “I’m hoping you know what a bullshit estimate that is.” Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed.
“Regardless, there’s really no other option,’ Millen said. “We need to act now.”
“Okay,” I said, “assuming you’re right, we don’t have a lot of time to get organized.”
“That’s why we’ll split up. I’ll work with Bossev and Ashraf on recruiting here in Justice. You go find Aleyna Hamdan before she leaves for her farm. Ask her to gather the farmers she thinks most likely to commit to join us for a meeting tomorrow morning.”
By mid-afternoon, Millen and I turned the recruiting effort over to Ashraf, Bossev, and Landa, while we pored over maps and satellite images of the area.
“Well, Everett, how do you see the situation?”
“If you’re asking for a sophisticated tactical plan with this group, I doubt we can go beyond ‘Grab your clubs and rocks and go bash the other tribe.’”
“Now, now, amigo. It’s not that bad.”
“Oh, no? How would that be so much different from ‘You mob of twenty townspeople, go shoot from the left; you fifteen to twenty farmers and ranchers, do the same from the right; and everybody else follow Millen and me, while we figure out what we’re going to do.’”
Millen wasn’t fazed by my sarcasm. “Okay, let’s just pretend you were planning an operation with your FSES unit. Assume you had only small arms, the same as your opponent, though there might be a surprise now and then.”
He used his finger to point at a position on a map.
“Suppose your opponent was concentrated right here around this cluster of buildings at the main ranch. Given the terrain, how would you go about succeeding in the objective of neutralizing this opponent?”
I looked at him with an expression I hoped he interpreted as “Gimme a break!”
“Humor me.”
I sighed. He wasn’t going anywhere until I played along. Plus, a little voice whispered in my ear that we didn’t have any other options.
I looked at the map and the terrain features and tried to pretend our forces wouldn’t shoot one another or get themselves killed.
“Well, since we don’t have any intel on the objective, except these maps and photos, before we strike we have to recon. We have to see exactly where Cherkoff’s men are positioned. I expect he’ll bring everyone he’s got from smaller ranches to his headquarters. Don’t be surprised if there are a few townspeople who line up with him, and we might not know who they will be. For example, Bossev mentioned he hasn’t seen the ex-marshal around town since we arrived. Where else would he be, except at Cherkoff’s?
“However, this concentration at his main ranch is only an assumption at this point. You, me, and maybe some others need to get
out there before it gets dark and send the drone up, if we can get it working again. Hell, the only photos we have are old, so we don’t know what’s changed at the ranch or how he might position his men.
“Assuming when we check again with the drone tomorrow morning that Cherkoff’s men are still where we find them today, we can make more definite plans before we commit our forces. Until then, we can’t be sure that Cherkoff won’t hit the Justice or families outside town while we’re at his ranch. We’re not going to hold this alliance together if Cherkoff has families as hostages, so we need to keep them boxed in.
“It’s simple. We’ll surround the ranch and set up like for a siege. After that, I’m afraid it’s going to be simple but hard. Assuming we have enough men, we’ll surround the ranch complex on the three sides with vegetation cover. Everyone will either need to have enough cover or dig in. The open side will have to be blocked farther out, probably at the junction with the road. That’s so they can’t force their way out by using vehicles to crash through.
“One of us should be at the intersection of the road to the ranch—the other one of us should be in the center of the three other sides to try and keep some control over them. Then it’s simply a matter of shooting the hell out of the ranch and waiting them out. If it comes to a direct assault, it would have to be at night, and we’d need a better sense of the men we have to work with. Is there any chance Cherkoff, either by himself or with some of his men, might just head into the unsettled country and disappear?”
Millen didn’t look happy at the question. “That’s a possibility I haven’t raised with the locals. There’s no information that he has transportation that would get him to Trondheim, which is the closest place large enough to have roads or rails connecting to the rest of Astrild. Another distasteful unknown is what we’ve already mentioned. What if other elements on Astrild come to his aid? There have been hints of this, but again, nothing confirmed. In that case, all bets may be off.”
A Tangled Road to Justice Page 25
