Gunfight on the Alpha Centauri Express (Nick Walker, U.F. Marshal Book 5) Read online

  Fraites stared at the assistant U.F. Attorney for long seconds, then turned to the woman, who hadn’t said a word.

  “What about you, Vic?”

  Victoria Cross lifted her chin and gazed at him, her expression neutral.

  “This is Brian’s baby, not mine.”

  “I’m asking your opinion.”

  Godney interjected.

  “I think Vic needs to recuse herself. Conflict of interest. She was involved with Walker at one time.”

  Fraites’ eyebrows tilted. He gazed at the blonde with a little smile.

  “Really?”

  Victoria Cross flushed and shook her head.

  “Years ago. I haven’t seen him since.”

  “What’s your opinion of Brian’s proposal?”

  She glanced sidelong at her colleague, who glared back as if daring her to oppose him. She turned her blue eyes on Fraites.

  “If I may be blunt? It’s ridiculous. Walker killed a lot of people, but according to the reports I’ve seen—”

  “Which Walker wrote!” Godney pointed out.

  “—everyone he ever killed was trying to kill him or someone else. I wasn’t there, of course—” She turned to glare at Godney. “—and neither was Brian—but it looks to me like Walker was just doing his job.”

  “Too aggressively, perhaps?”

  “Maybe. How could I know? How could anyone know? When you try to scrub slime off the bottom of a sewer, maybe you need an extra-strength cleaner. That’s what Walker is up against, you know. That’s what all of law enforcement is up against.”

  “Then how come nobody else kills people as often as Walker?” Godney demanded.

  “Maybe they should!” she shot back. “Have you ever thought about that? Maybe the worlds would be safer.”

  Godney snorted.

  “Oh, please!”

  Fraites held up a hand for quiet and stared at them for a long moment. He stirred in his chair.

  “I was running the prosecutor’s office on Ceres when Walker first got there. I was away at a conference when everything went down, so I didn’t see it, but I did deal with the aftermath. Yes, people were killed, but I can also tell you he shut down a criminal enterprise that some of us suspected but hadn’t done anything about. He cleaned up that rock and got justice for a lot of people. From the reports I’ve read, he did the same thing on Sirius, though in the end none of it mattered very much. But the point is, he tried, and he did rescue a number of children from slavery.”

  “It’s a trolling expedition,” Victoria said. “Brian wants to put a man on trial based on nothing and see what shakes loose.”

  “Based on evidence!” Godney shouted. “Look at these reports!”

  “It’s practically entrapment! You’ve got nothing!”

  He sneered. “You still have the hots for him, don’t you?”

  “Fuck you, Brian! Whether I do or don’t is none of your damn business. I would say the same thing about anybody you wanted to harass this way.”

  Fraites puffed his cheeks.

  “Brian, if you feel so strongly about this, why don’t you pack up your evidence and carry it down to the U.F. Marshal’s office? Lay it on them and let them investigate.”

  “Sir, you’re much too generous with them. They’ll just bury it. You know how they work—they cling together like assholes in a pod.”

  Fraites raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know assholes came in a pod.”

  “Walker killed one of their own, and they did exactly zip about it! What does that tell you?”

  “It tells me that maybe they thought the killing was justified.”

  “It’s a network of like minds. They protect each other. But if we force their hand, hold a hearing in a Federation court, they’ll have to investigate. They won’t have a choice.”

  Fraites turned to Victoria.

  “Vic, you’re the senior assistant here. If I green-light this, are you prepared to run with it?”

  “No.”

  “You can order her!” Godney said.

  “Then I’ll recuse myself, as you suggested.” She threw him a hateful glare.

  “If her heart isn’t in it,” Fraites said, “it would be a waste of time and money. In any case, I don’t think there’s anything here. Why spin our jets if we can’t win?”

  Sensing defeat, Godney leaned forward.

  “Mr. Fraites, there’s a principle at stake here! Violence begets violence, everybody knows that. What kind of message do we send if we condone rogue lawmen who kill people without compunction?”

  Fraites laughed. “How do you know Walker kills without compunction? Have you asked him?”

  “I don’t have to! His record speaks for itself. In the war, he killed fifty-one men in a single day!”

  “You’re holding his war record against him now?”

  “No, sir, but don’t you see? The war desensitized him. Killing means nothing to him! He killed that kid yesterday without blinking an eye.”

  “That ‘kid’ fired four shots at him, point blank!”

  “That’s right, and Walker didn’t even flinch. What does that tell you?”

  “He’s braver than any other man I know,” Victoria Cross muttered.

  “What does it tell you?” Fraites asked Godney.

  “Human life means nothing to him, not even his own.”

  “If you haven’t talked to him, you can’t possibly know that.”

  “Then make him submit to a psychiatric evaluation.”

  “Based on what? He was doing his job. When people tried to kill him, he killed them back. Jesus Christ, Brian—”

  Brian Godney stood abruptly, his back rigid. He glared down at Fraites from his full five feet four inches.

  “I didn’t want to do this, sir…” He dropped a folder on Fraites’ desk.

  “What’s this?”

  “A court order. I was hoping you would cooperate with me on this, throw the resources of this office behind it. But I anticipated you might take this stance, and I’ve already laid my case in front of a judge.”

  Fraites stared at him as if he were mad.

  “You did what!”

  Godney nodded. “The Honorable Carlos Moore has reviewed the evidence and appointed me as special prosecutor.”

  Fraites sagged as if he’d been punched. “You made an end run around me?”

  He opened the folder and read the court order, his face flushing crimson. He glared up at Godney.

  “You’re fired, Brian.”

  Brian Godney smiled.

  “Sorry, sir, but you can’t do that. It’s right there in the court order. You don’t have to cooperate personally, but you are ordered to provide me with whatever assistance I require.” He glanced sideways. “And I require Victoria Cross as co-counsel.”

  “I thought you wanted her recused.”

  “Only as lead prosecutor. But she’s a professional. If you order her to work with me, I’m confident she’ll do her job in spite of her personal feelings.”

  After Godney took his leave, Fraites leaned back in his chair and gazed at the blonde with a weary sigh.

  “What the fuck just happened here, Vic?”

  “Idiocracy run rampant.”

  “The little bastard went over my head.”

  “Can’t you go over his?”

  “If it was anybody but Judge Moore, yes. But Chubs is a maverick. He probably thinks all this is funny.”

  “What are you going to do? Why can’t you fire Brian?”

  “The court order protects him until this case is over. But after that, I own his skinny ass.”

  “Gary, this whole thing is such bullshit!”

  “I know. But for the moment all we can do is roll with it. Are you up to it? Can you set your personal feelings aside long enough to work with Godney?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Why would I even want to?”

  “Well, for one thing, you’ll have eyes-on access to anything he uncovers or anything he tries to pull. Yo
u may be Walker’s best defense against him.”

  She frowned as if the idea were too revolutionary to even consider.

  “You want me to subvert Brian’s case?”

  “No, of course not. That would be unethical. But you can make sure he follows the rules, that he doesn’t pull anything shady. Frankly, I’m surprised Godney even wants you.”

  “He’s such a fool.”

  “No matter what he says, I’m not about to order you to work with him. But what about it? Think you can do it?”

  She stared at him for a long moment, her eyes glazing.

  “I will, but on one condition—I can bail out at any time. I will not be a party to a lynching, and I will not condone even a hint of prosecutorial misconduct.”

  Fraites smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  He reached for a stylus and signed the document assigning her to the case, then sat back.

  “You and Walker were in a romantic relationship?”

  She hesitated, as if she didn’t want to answer. Finally she nodded.

  “Yes, but it only lasted a few months. I met him in boot camp, in the Star Marines.”

  “You were in the Star Marines?” Fraites was surprised.

  “Yes, sir. I used the service to pay for law school; I worked in the JAG’s office.”

  “You worked for the JAG and you went to boot camp?”

  She nodded. “Everyone in the Marines has to go through boot camp, even noncombatants. The theory is that everyone has to be ready to fight, even though it isn’t true.”

  “I didn’t know that. I’m impressed. What kind of man is Walker, really?”

  “I’m sure he’s changed some since I knew him—people always do—but the Nick Walker I knew is about as genuine as anyone I’ve ever met. What you see is pretty much what you get.”

  Chapter 3

  53rd Floor, Federation Building – Lucaston, Alpha Centauri 2

  Security was tight the day after the shootings. Local sheriff deputies, ACBI agents, and U.F. Marshals, as well as Federation Building Security, were highly visible in the lobby and near all entries to the building. Electronic scanners had been set up to detect weapons carried by any who entered; the scanners concentrated on chemical detection to sniff out gunpowder and a variety of explosives. Other scanners looked for geometric patterns under clothing or in briefcases that might be weapons. It was all done without the subjects knowing they were being scanned.

  Nick wore his guns into the building and had to stop for an identification check, but as an officer of the law, was allowed to pass.

  The briefing room was located on the 53rd floor. It was big enough to hold a hundred people, but only about twenty were present. Nick Walker took a chair in the back of the room and set his space bag down beside him. The meeting had been rescheduled due to the terror attack the day before, and he still felt a little queasy.

  He only recognized three or four people in the room. Most of them were U.F. Marshals who held down offices in various cities around the planet; the man in the charcoal grey business suit was Marshal Robert Bridge, the top lawman on the planet. Nick knew him by reputation and had met him on a couple of occasions. His reputation was solid.

  The man who stopped beside his chair was also familiar. He smiled and offered his hand, which Nick shook.

  “Glad to see you in one piece, Walker,” said U.F. Marshal Harry Chiang. “When you went missing down on the Isthmus I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again.”

  Nick grinned and shrugged. “All in a day’s work.”

  “Is Nathan Green doing okay? I heard he picked up a couple of cracked ribs.”

  “He’s doing fine. He thinks he’s indestructible. He wanted to come on this trip but I talked him out of it. Well, his wife did, actually. She has a lot more power over him than I do.”

  Chiang laughed. “Wives always do. They’re the ones who really run the universe, and if they ever figure that out, we’re all in a pile of trouble.”

  He slapped Nick on the shoulder and stepped back.

  “Maybe we can have lunch later. Right now I have to go pretend I know what this meeting is all about.”

  Chiang turned back to the front of the room and joined Bridge as the meeting came to order. Nick rubbed his face with both hands to get the blood flow evened out and tried to pay attention. Starting with the shootout in the lobby, yesterday had been an endless nightmare. After the smoke and bodies were cleared, he had spent the rest of the day being interviewed by the Alpha Centauri Bureau of Investigation, who had asked some of the most inane questions he could ever have imagined. He’d only fired one round, yet the ACBI seemed more interested in him than the suspect.

  It almost made him wish he was posted to a remote outpost again.

  “Thank you all for coming,” Marshal Bridge said in a clear voice as the marshals settled into silence. “I apologize for the events of yesterday, but in one respect it may serve our purpose here today, because what happened is exactly what this meeting was called to discuss.

  “The Federation is facing a new threat. Actually it’s a very old threat, as you will learn shortly, but this incarnation is of great concern to everyone in law enforcement on every world that flies the Federation flag. And now it’s come to Alpha Centauri.”

  Bridge turned to face a broad holo-vid screen behind him that covered half the wall. He thumbed a remote in his hand and the screen sprang to life. A shadowy figure stood in a dark room facing a camera; the sound was muted but he appeared to be making some kind of statement. A hood covered his face with holes only for the eyes, which were in shadow. He was holding a cheap automatic weapon that looked like it might fly apart if he pulled the trigger, and bandoleers over each shoulder were studded with bullets. Behind him a large red flag hung vertically on the wall, featuring a yellow hammer and sickle in one corner.

  The overall effect of the video was comical, but Marshal Bridge wasn’t smiling.

  “This man is our number one suspect. We don’t know his name yet but he refers to himself as the ‘Chairman’. We believe he is responsible for at least three terror attacks on Alpha Centauri 2 in the past two months, but before that he—or someone like him—has been doing the same thing on Terra.”

  Bridge thumbed his remote and the picture changed. Now Nick saw what looked like a street in a small town with a raging fire in the middle of the block. Police and paramedics dotted the scene and bodies littered the ground.

  “This incident took place eleven days ago in St. Joseph, a small town outside Camarrell. Nine people died and thirty others were injured when a parked hovercar exploded at street level in a busy shopping district. Less than an hour after the explosion, the video you just saw was received by the U.F. Marshal’s office.”

  Bridge thumbed the remote three more times, holding briefly on other scenes that were similar in nature.

  “These attacks took place in other cities around the planet, all within the last two months; details will be in the handouts you’ll receive before we’re done. In each case, a video of the same person was received by the local jurisdictions. One of these might have been of a different origin—we’re still looking into that—but the Chairman is claiming the credit.”

  Bridge turned off the video screen and faced his audience.

  “In a nutshell, Alpha 2 is now dealing with a terror organization. As I said, they’ve been around for a while, especially on Terra, and there have been a couple of attacks on Mars, but now they’re here. So far the body count has reached forty-four dead and about two hundred injured…not counting yesterday. We haven’t received a video yet about yesterday’s attack, but we expect it soon.”

  Hands shot up. Bridge wasn’t finished with his lecture, but paused to take the questions.

  “Is someone trying to start the war up again?”

  “Do we know who these people are? Is it the cult coalition again?”

  Bridge shook his head. “No and no. So far we have no reason to believe this has anything
to do with the power struggle that was prevalent before the war. And the religious cults that drove that revolution have been quiet for several years.” He pointed in Nick’s direction. “Marshal Walker has been keeping an eye on them and he can tell you more about it later, if you still have questions.

  “What we’re dealing with here is much bigger than just Alpha 2. This has been happening on Terra for three or four years now, so it’s not about control of this planet. It’s about control of the entire Federation.”

  Bridge paused for a moment, then heaved a sigh.

  “We don’t know how big this organization is, but we do know what they want. They call themselves ARMO.”

  75th Floor, Federation Building – Lucaston, Alpha Centauri 2

  Gary Fraites gazed out the window of his corner office with satisfaction. Having an office with a view on Alpha Centauri 2, after spending several years as head prosecutor on Ceres, was like finally being born after years inside a womb. Ceres was completely underground—dark, crowded, smelly, and dangerous. It hadn’t been a job he wanted, but it was a job that needed doing. His superiors had promised him a reward if he took the position and stuck it out, and they had delivered. Alpha 2 was a new, beautiful world, wide open for settlement, and he was in the best ground-floor position he could ever hope to be.

  Of course, the office and the view were perqs, nothing more. Working in any occupation, including the law, had its drawbacks. No matter where one worked or how grandiose the title, one still had to deal with human beings, and that was always a challenge.

  Fraites’ desk comm chimed and he answered it.

  “Judge Moore to see you, sir.”

  “Send him in.”

  Case in point. Judge Carlos Moore had a reputation as a renegade. Not in a negative sense, exactly—he wasn’t a man who skirted the law or played favorites; his cases were rarely appealed and never reversed—but he was unorthodox, to say the least. Moore was prone to making speeches in his courtroom, sometimes reducing defendants, witnesses, or even counsel to tears…and his decisions sometimes sent colleagues scrambling to the law library to figure out if he had finally gone over the edge. In one edition of the Alpha 2 Law Review, he had been named the most unprofessional judge in the planet’s history, but also the most effective.