You Have Been Judged by Craig Martelle & Michael Anderle

Author:Craig Martelle & Michael Anderle [Martelle, Craig & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2018-06-24T16:00:00+00:00

The EI moved the ship away from the docking port and flew it into space.

“Chaz, take us out of the main shipping lanes and hold station,” Rivka requested.

“Of course. May I ask why?”

“You can always ask, but I may not always answer, so please don’t take offense.”

“I can’t take offense. I don’t have emotions as you understand them.”

“I want to finalize some things with my crew before we Gate to Pretaria. You are so efficient that once we start the process, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes. I’m not ready to be there that quickly, so let’s hold up until we are.”

“Thank you, Magistrate.”

Rivka looked at the speaker from which Chaz projected his voice and shook her head. EI, my ass. He is as smart and as sentient as I am. I’ll play along, though. I wonder if EIs get lower pay than AIs?

“All hands on deck!” Rivka called. Red had checked the ship thoroughly to ensure there were no stowaways, as well as no traps. He kept a wary eye on Jay.

Red cradled his hand oddly, and Rivka nodded toward it. He uncovered it to reveal three parallel razor-thin lines from which blood seeped.

“What happened to you?”

“I fucking hate cats.”

“It looks like Hamlet doesn’t like you much, either.”

“You leave him alone!” Jay called as she put the finishing touches on a character in her mural.

“That’s taking shape nicely, Jay. What do you call it?”

“I call it the ‘doesn’t-have-a-name mural,’” she replied, setting her palette aside and heading for the sink to wash out her brush. “Until it does.”

Rivka sat in one of the recliners, which conformed to her body automatically. She sighed. “I could get used to this.”

Red was running the food dispenser. “You just ate!” Rivka exclaimed.

“I don’t eat like I want to when I’m on the clock, no matter how much you tell me to.” He studied the food as microwaves heated it. Jay glanced furtively in his direction before making a face at the concoction getting nuked.

“Fair enough.” Rivka accessed her datapad. “We are going to arbitrate a trade dispute. No kidding, that’s what we got for a job, but as with all jobs, we’re going to do the very best we can to be fair to all parties within the confines of the law. These two worlds are on the brink of war, which would be disastrous to both. The Federation likes having access to their space, so a war would put a crimp in Federation trade. They want this resolved peacefully, but they weren’t willing to commit the Force de Guerre or the Bad Company. I guess Magistrates come cheap.”

Rivka continued to scroll through the case file, then transferred part of the data to the mess deck’s viewscreen.

“Here is a graphic of the two worlds. They are in an identical orbit, but separated one-hundred and eighty degrees. They are both hot and dry, being equidistant from the same sun. The people are descended from a common ancestor, but those on each planet have evolved some unique traits.

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