Galactic Judge: A Military Scifi Thriller (The Galactic Law Series Book 2) by J.N. Chaney & James S. Aaron

Author:J.N. Chaney & James S. Aaron [Chaney, J.N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2020-02-15T16:00:00+00:00

22

We found four more crew members in the galley drinking beer. They didn’t want to surrender either, and the gun fire drew the remaining two from the command deck. The fire fight was short and bloody in the confined space.

Afterward, Kiren was visibly shaken. She hung her rifle from her suit’s harness and let her hands fall to her sides, looking away from the bodies in the corridor as we made our way to the command deck.

“You all right?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You wonder why I offer them surrender? It’s so this doesn’t make me feel as bad.”

She nodded stiffly.

In the command center, I settled into the captain’s seat and stretched my neck to each side. Now we had an armada to worry about.

“Ellie,” I said. “Can you control this ship?”

“The onboard AI is resisting my control, Deputy Walker. I am using every law enforcement override available. I will update as soon as I can. In the meantime, I have locked him out of the ship’s major systems. You will be able to fly manually and set a flight plan.”

“How about our happy friends out there trying to get info from Kallaver?” I asked.

Fratley laughed. “For now, they think he is still caught up in the card game. Apparently he shot someone for interrupting a game once, so that excuse seems to be working.”

I glanced at Kiren over at the comms console. She was caught up in some encrypted conversation with Carthage Mining. Her voice was low and insistent. I couldn’t make out the words, but her expression got darker the longer the conversation stretched.

“So we can’t change course anyway,” I said. “We move, the other ships are going to want to know why. I guess that means we sit here until the rest of the department comes back.”

I didn’t like the idea of just sitting anywhere. There had to be a way to use Kallaver’s death to our advantage against the fleet surrounding Taurus. The sooner this problem was cleared, the sooner we could get back to Rivas to help the Sarkonians there.

“It appears one of the lead ships from Tactical Division is returning to the area,” Ellie announced.

“What’s the status of the fleet?” I asked, leaning forward eagerly.

“Checking now,” Ellie said.

Kiren had paused her tense conversation. She glanced at me as we both waited for the news.

“Fleet status is optimal,” Ellie said. “No damage reported. The explosion caused extensive local damage to vigilantes who had arrived to assist Kallaver, but no deputies were harmed. Sheriff Nagel is en route back to the system.”

“You sent them our status?” I asked.

“Just finished,” Ellie said.

A comms request lit my internal network. I responded. “This is Walker.”

“Hot damn, Walker,” Sergeant Keldon said in my ear. “Am I reading this correctly that you’re transmitting from the Inherent Vice?”

I grinned. “That’s right, Sarge.”

“You tricky bastard. Where’s Kallaver?”

“Sheriff’s Justice,” I said.

There was a pause, then Keldon continued, sounding more somber. “I guess we can expect a fight as soon as word of that gets out.”

“You picking up the blockade?”

“I see it.

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