Battlecruiser Alamo: Not One Step Back (Battlecruiser Alamo Series Book 5) by Richard Tongue

Author:Richard Tongue [Tongue, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2014-02-24T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

 The prisoners were flanked by a full squad of espatiers on the hangar bay; Zebrova had opted to take no chances, and Marshall certainly couldn’t fault her for that decision. The prisoners wore expressions ranging from terror to defiance, and Latham looked the most nervous at all. He could easily sympathize with that; she was responsible for their fate, and he walked over to her.

 “What’s going to happen to us?” she said, sneering slightly at his approach.

 “My recommendations are all in my report; certainly there is evidence enough to convict you all of a wide series of charges. Naturally it will all come down to a judge and jury, but you will be tried in a Triplanetary court.”

 “You aren’t turning us over to the UN?”

 “Not given where you committed your crimes, no. I suspect that they’ll try and get you extradited, but I doubt any Triplanetary judge will pay very much attention to that. My suspicion is that – if you plead guilty – you’ll end up with sentences of around three or four years each, with good behavior.”

 She sighed, “Then we end up back with the indents again. They’ll be waiting when we’re released.”

 Frowning, Marshall asked, “What will they do to you?”

 “The usual practice for a contract violation is to add four years for every year you missed. That’ll probably give me about twenty, thirty more years.”

 Shaking his head, he replied, “Apply for political asylum. I’ll sign my name to it when the time comes. Besides, a lot can happen in three years.”

 The technicians had finished servicing the transfer shuttle, and the espatiers gestured at the prisoners to step on board; each of them grabbed the single holdall that they had been permitted to take with them – after a thorough search, naturally – and filed slowly through the airlock, all of them lingering in the hangar bay. Latham paused at the airlock, taking a last look around, and Marshall waved at her as she stepped inside, then stepped away as the shuttle dropped down into the elevator airlock.

 He stepped into the deck officer’s office – thinking for about the hundredth time that he probably should get one of those at some point – and contacted the Demeter, waiting for a moment for the duty communications technician to make the connection. The face of Captain Jennings appeared on the screen, smiling.

 “My sensor tech tells me the shuttle has just left Alamo.”

 “That’s right, they should be with you in about ten minutes. You’ve got all the paperwork?”

 “All signed, sealed and approved; you have a very conscientious Operations staffer there.”

 “Good. Fleet will pay for the transfer, naturally, and probably a decent enough rate. I’m sure your money boys back home will be able to drive a good, hard bargain.”

 “Not for me to say, but between you and me I’d have no objection to doing this one for free. Seems like the least we can do after you ran in to our rescue.”

 “That’s all part of the service, Captain. When are you heading back?”

 “Tomorrow, probably.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.