Judge, Jury, & Executioner Boxed Set

by Craig Martelle

  “Then don’t. At this rate, Magistrate Rivka Anoa, I think you will exceed my wildest expectations.”

  “Thanks for taking my call, High Chancellor. You’d better not keep your Yollin waiting.”

  “As soon as I inform him that the appeal is denied, he’ll have about ten minutes before he is executed. I do not relish the call.”

  Rivka didn’t know what to say to comfort the man, so she asked a question. “Is the universe better off without this individual in it?”

  “This criminal should never breathe free air again, if that’s what you mean. Removing him as a burden? There are no long-term incarcerations where he is.”

  Rivka nodded. “Keep the peace, High Chancellor, for all of us.” Chaz cut the link. “Keep the peace while complying with the law as much as practicable. That’s direction I can embrace, even if I have to zombie every single person who Mandolin ever worked with. Chaz, please bring up my gunfighter game and pick up where we left off.”

  “You are about to enter Tombstone, Magistrate,” Chaz said before restoring the game on the front screen of the bridge.

  “There’s a new sheriff in town, asswipes. You better run for cover,” she droned as she entered the game’s three-dimensional virtual reality.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Coins, death ray, pistol, datapad. I think I have everything.” Rivka smirked as she looked at her bodyguard.

  “Sounds like you forgot one thing, Magistrate. The desire to excel. Never leave home without it, I always say.”

  Lindy and Jay were staying aboard this time. Rivka didn’t want to worry about them, so she could concentrate on the contractors, get access for Ankh, get the information she needed, and get out.

  Nefas knew about her and had already ordered her death once. She expected it was a standing order for anyone who did business with him. She wanted to find more predicate crimes, but owing to her conversation with the High Chancellor, she wasn’t so wrapped around the axle about finding at least two that were ordered by an enterprise. She had hard proof that Nefas had ordered her murder. That was all she needed to cut the head off the snake, although in court, he would claim that the voice wasn’t his and that there must have been a different Nefas.

  Erasmus still hadn’t found a direct link between Breedin Company and Mandolin. Rivka guessed they’d need a lucky break to make that connection—a break like a broken head. I’ll beat a confession out of them! She laughed at her own joke. She figured the contractors would know less about Mandolin than what she could find publicly.

  But she’d look into the contractors with her goal of keeping the peace, protecting the innocent while punishing the guilty.

  It sounded more like a mandate than a legal drama.

  Because it is, she thought. It’s a reckoning.

  “Credit for your thoughts, Magistrate?” Red asked, but quickly shook his head. “Never mind, not my place. You know the drill: I go in first, stay behind me, and keep your head on a swivel. Don’t stand still if you don’t have to.”

  The hatch opened, and Red walked out into the bright sunshine. The limousine was waiting, with the same driver they’d had before.

  “I heard you needed a lift?” he yelled, peering out of the vehicle’s sunroof.

  “Red, would you just shoot me now?”

  “How about if I shoot him and we take his car?” Red whispered over his shoulder.

  “We don’t know where we’re going,” she admitted.

  “How about some earplugs, then?”

  “Hey! Aren’t the two hotties coming? I could use some company while I’m waiting.”

  “Red,” Rivka whispered.

  “I know, I know—shoot you. No can do, Magistrate. Somedays the job is harder than other days.”

  “I think I’d rather play chicken with another freighter than put up with this idiot for ten more seconds.”

  “Hey!” Red called as they closed on the vehicle. He smiled broadly and motioned for the driver to lean close. When he was within arm’s reach, Red grabbed him by the throat and half-dragged him through the opening in the roof. “You’re annoying the Magistrate, which annoys me. Shut your fucking pie hole and do your job. There’ll be a big tip if we don’t have to hear your voice again.”

  The humanoid nodded as well as he could with Red’s massive hand wrapped most of the way around his neck. The Magistrate got in, and Red let go. The man coughed a few times, looked appropriately cowed, and climbed into the driver’s seat. The privacy screen activated before Red closed the door behind him.

  “Thank you,” Rivka said softly. The tires spun on the pavement as the car accelerated away from the spacedrome. “Why don’t they have hovercars?”

  “Because of drivers like him?” Red ventured, looking out the windows as they flew at breakneck speed through the outskirts of the sprawling metropolis. They skipped around two major gambling establishments and headed for a large modern high-rise without the gaudiness of flashing lights. The vehicle slid to a stop, nearly throwing Rivka and Red from their seats. Red opened the door, and with a look kept the driver in his seat.

  Red assumed the lead, leaving Rivka to climb out and close the door. She followed him into the lobby. A large desk with a receptionist stood in the middle. On one side of her was a scanning entryway. On the other, the exit turnstile.

  Rivka approached the desk. “I’m Magistrate Rivka Anoa, and I have an appointment with K’Trapton.”

  The receptionist checked her computer. “Please pass through the scanner and proceed to the thirteenth floor.”

  “You know thirteen floors is unlucky,” Rivka offered.

  “Why?” the humanoid asked.

  Rivka didn’t have an answer, so she settled for shaking her head. She walked through the scanner. It beeped, buzzed, and lights flashed. Red followed her through with the same result. An automated door slammed down before them, and security guards materialized and spoke through the opening. “Please hand over your weapons. They will be confiscated for violation of the no-weapons barrier.”

  “A Federation Magistrate rates armed security at all times, comparable with any head of state. I refer you to Federation Laws, Appendix D, Chapter Seven, Section 1. Let me through, or I will charge you with unlawful detention and execute you one by one,” Rivka bluffed. She didn’t think there was a section related to Magistrates in Federation law. Before she became one, she had only heard of the judge types who were informally referred to as Magistrates.

  “Five. Four…” She counted down. Red removed something from his vest that looked like chewing gum. “Three…”

  “Fire in the hole!” Red called as he stepped away from the door.

  “Two…”

  The door slid open. Two red-faced guards stood at the end blocking her way, confused as to what to do.

  “Get out of my way,” Rivka ordered. The guards remained. “Kill that one.” Rivka pointed to the humanoid on the left.

  Both guards dove to the side. Rivka walked past them without looking down. She reached the elevator, punched the button, and when the door opened, she selected the thirteenth floor. As the doors closed, a supervisor had already arrived and was berating the two guards. She couldn’t guess if it was for doing their jobs or not doing their jobs.

  “What did you put on the door?”

  “Chewing gum.”

  “You don’t have any malleable explosive?”

  “No, but I need to, as we just found out. Look at how much we’ve learned on this visit already!” Red exclaimed.

  “Amazing, isn’t it?”

  Red stood in front of the doors to block the view in case there was a welcoming committee, which he fully expected after the way they’d forced their way through Security.

  The doors opened, and two security guards stood there with their weapons trained on the opening Red filled. He stepped forward just enough to block the doors. “Well, gentlemen, what’s it going to be?”

  “Your weapons,” one of the guards demanded.


  “What the hell is with your gun grab? The Magistrate is a much more important target than anyone in this building. You do know that she has full authority to judge a person and execute them on the spot?”

  “Your weapons,” the guard repeated.

  “Go fuck yourself,” Red suggested. The guard with his hand out pulled it back and stepped forward to shove his pistol into Red’s face. Without breaking eye contact, Red shot his hand upward to grab the pistol and twist it viciously from the guard’s grip. Red used it to smash the guard in the face, catching him by his shirt before he fell backward.

  Red kept the stricken guard between him and the other one with his weapon still aimed where it was before. “Are you going to shoot your buddy? In the back?”

  The guard tried to move around his partner. Red shoved the first guard into the second, following him and seizing the second humanoid’s pistol. “All clear, Magistrate,” Red declared.

  “Thank you. We’ll return your weapons when we depart. Understand that threatening a Magistrate is a felony. If you want to spend your lives on Jhiordaan, you’ll continue breaking the law. Unless we can find a good pain amplifier on this planet, and then we could administer the appropriate punishment right here. Is there one? I’ve heard that there isn’t a police force, which may be why you’ve grown so brazen. Maybe I need to have an amplifier installed on the ship. For emergency use only, of course. What do you think, Red?”

  “I try not to, Magistrate.”

  “Fair enough.” She grabbed the first person who wasn’t one of the guards. “Where is the head contractor’s office?”

  The small man didn’t give an answer, but his mind flashed a picture of the door right behind him.

  “Thank you.” She let go and casually strolled to the door, knocked once, and walked in. The human in the midst of holoscreens didn’t bother to stand.

  Rivka waited while Red secured the door behind her. He put the guards’ pistols on a small stand near the entrance and leaned against the door jamb.

  “Looks like someone has a modern computer system,” Rivka said to herself. “Mister K’Trapton?’

  He remained embroiled within his holoscreens. Rivka walked behind his desk and shut them down. They retracted, and the man blinked himself into the moment. “Who are you?”

  “The Magistrate,” she said, hiking a cheek onto his desk to sit in front of him. “And you’re the contractor.”

  “One of many,” he clarified.

  “But I’m here to see you. I need to know about the planet’s supply contract. Specifically, why did you change from the Bad Company to Breedin or whoever you’re using now?”

  She grabbed his arm and pulled him close. He tried to shrug her off, but her grip was like steel.

  “Our contracts are confidential,” he insisted. “Who we use as a supplier is simply business. Best quality at the lowest cost with the timeliest deliveries. Period.”

  Images flashed through the man’s mind of Nefas and the female who had accompanied him. She couldn’t grasp what was done, only that they had been there working the deal.

  “What did he threaten you with if you didn’t take the contract? What did he bribe you with?”

  Each question elicited a different response.

  She pushed the contractor away. “You’re complicit too. Bribery. Nefas bought you.” Rivka sneered.

  “He did not!” the man protested.

  “What do you get by signing an exclusive deal?”

  “That’s none of your business.” K’Trapton tried to puff out his chest. Rivka punched him in the sternum, and his bravado disappeared.

  “Let’s see.” Rivka tapped on her datapad. Did you get what you needed? she sent to Ankh.

  Yes. We have it all, he answered.

  “Thank you. We’ll be leaving now, and on our way out of the system, we will stop and board all Breedin freighters to look for contraband.”

  The man snickered. She grabbed his arm again.

  “I’m sorry, I guess the shell company for this planet is called ‘Solaric.’ Any of their subcontracted freighters will be stopped and boarded. Their manifests will be missing a certain percentage of what they’re carrying, which is a Federation crime—transporting undeclared cargo for sale. As the recipient of such goods, you are also complicit.”

  “But…but, we don’t answer to the Federation!” he stammered.

  “How’s that? You must know that S’Korr is in the Federation.” She smiled and leaned close to whisper in his ear. “Jhiordaan for you and everyone out there. Your guards for threatening me. Your people for helping you. When your actions put them all on the prison planet, I expect the short remainder of your life will be spent in a great deal of pain.”

  K’Trapton hunched over, buried his face in his hands, and started to sob. Rivka turned to Red. He gave her a thumbs-up before putting his ear to the door and nodding. No one out there.

  “I can make you a deal. Magistrates have that authority. Come clean, and testify against Nefas,” Rivka offered.

  “Fine. What do you want me to say?”

  Rivka groaned. “That’s not how it works, dumbass. You tell me what you know, and I ask questions to clarify. Then I take what I can use. Now, talk.”

  K’Trapton mumbled through a litany of contract details that bored the snot out of Rivka, but she had her datapad record it all. She perked up when she realized he was giving her the blueprint to Mandolin’s shell game. Nefas had instructed K’Trapton on how to do it. She tapped out a message to Ankh. Are you getting all this?

  Yes. Erasmus is refining the search parameters based on this new information.

  When he finished, his face was pale, but he looked relieved.

  “Thanks. I’ll let you know if we still wish to prosecute you for your self-dealing and other crimes against the people and businesses of S’Korr. I’m not so sure the likes of K’Leptus will forgive you for stealing from him. Same with all the other business owners.”

  “We had a deal! You can’t tell any of them. Nefas! He’s evil. Go after Nefas!”

  “Please recount the details of our deal,” Rivka demanded. The man stammered and stuttered before falling silent. “That’s right. The details are now for me to determine. I believe you that Nefas is behind this, but we’re two for two in officials who fell over themselves to support him. If he is evil then so are you, Mister K’Trapton. Have a nice day.”

  Red opened the door and made sure the way was clear for Rivka to follow.

  “Your hardware is in there,” he told the two guards, who stood as soon Red left the room. Rivka punched the button on the elevator, and the two climbed in.

  “We better be ready, just in case the wiener-smacker grew a spine and called for reinforcements,” Rivka said.

  “I couldn’t have said it better myself.” Red pulled his shotgun and checked the load to make sure that the first was buckshot and the second and third were slugs.

  “Why do you carry that relic?”

  “It’s effective,” Red replied. Rivka dangled her neutron-pulse weapon. “So is this, without the collateral damage.”

  “It goes to eleven,” Red said as he faced the door.

  “I’ll set it for five, but I’m ready to go all the way.”

  The door opened, and Red growled. Rivka couldn’t see beyond his huge frame. “Get out of our way,” he said, leveling his shotgun. He pushed his way forward and angled his body so Rivka could continue to the turnstiles and out of the building. With her head held high and her Magistrate’s jacket pulled up tight to her chin, she marched quickly through and outside. Red was right behind her.

  When they arrived on the street, the limousine was nowhere to be seen. There were no vehicles.

  “Scumbags,” Rivka said. “Do you remember the way to the house, Red?”

  “I think so. We better go. We’re sitting ducks out here.”

  “Ducks. And you carry a shotgun! That’s a good one, Red.” Rivka chuckled as they started to run toward the bright l
ights of the nearest gambling establishment.

  Red cracked a smile at the same time a rifle’s report echoed between the buildings. Rivka was thrown forward in a spray of blood. Red turned and fired indiscriminately. He hauled the Magistrate to her feet with one arm, supporting her as he wedged her between his body and the wall. He grunted at the impact of a bullet against his body armor right below his neck.

  “We have to get out of here.” Red tried to enter the first doorway they came to, but it was locked. A shotgun slug broke the lock, and he dragged Rivka inside. A bullet slammed into the wall where his head had just been.

  “Magistrate!” Red pleaded. Her eyes fluttered before she started to blink. Her vision cleared, and she focused on her bodyguard.

  “I guess that makes us even,” she told him. The wound on her chest was already starting to close, owing to her nanocytes. He helped her stand. She pulled her weapons and held one in each hand. He went to the back door but didn’t open it.

  “They’ll be waiting for us outside the back door. We need to make a break for it out the front.”

  “They’re probably out front, too.”

  “I’m sure,” Red conceded.

  Rivka accessed her datapad. “Ankh, we need close air support.”

  “You need what?”

  “We’re under fire, and it seems like they have an army. We have just us.”

  “I see where you are. It is too narrow to set the ship down in there. You’ll need to move at least another five hundred meters to the main road. There is an opening in front of Big Butt’s Big Bets.”

  “You want us to run to a place called Big Butt’s?”

  “If you want to be picked up, yes.”

  Red nodded. “I want you to be picked up, and me, too. We don’t have the weaponry to face people with high-powered rifles. Since there are no police on this planet, only individual corporate security, our asses are hanging out in the wind. For the record, I don’t like my ass hanging out in the wind.”

  “I’m with you there. I’m feeling a lot better, but still not full speed. What do you think? A minute to run five hundred meters?”

  “That will be one hellaciously long minute,” Red suggested.