Wyatt Earp , Cargo Bay
The five flew into the cargo bay, touching down slowly so the SIs hanging off Red and Lindy could step gently to the deck. Chaz and Dennicron hurried away with LRE-17’s complete database in their possession.
“C, set course for Tyrosint Station, best possible speed. We’re going to deposit our three prisoners in their brig for future processing. I guess I should deal with them now so I don’t have their disposition pending. Maybe Delegor had something going for them with the expeditious nature of their judicial code. Dennicron, Red, Joseph, Petricia, and Cole, meet me in the conference room, and let’s see what we have.”
Rivka strolled out to find Tyler waiting for her in the corridor. He carried Floyd.
“Look at my beefy supremeness,” Rivka quipped, leaning over the wombat for a kiss.
The doctor’s face turned solemn. “Do they need medical help over there?”
“I don’t think so.” Rivka hadn’t asked. “C,” she called to the overhead, “get me Lieutenant Edwin.”
“Magistrate, you miss me already,” the warrior joked. “Ship is secure, twenty-four are in cold storage, one casualty in the medical bay, and six coming out of their bloodless stupor.”
“Casualty?” Rivka wondered.
“We found him after you guys left. Looks like someone in a suit pummeled him.”
“That guy. Yeah. That was us. Do you need any additional medical assistance? We have a doctor on board Wyatt Earp .”
“It wouldn’t hurt. We have the nurse that you left for us. She’s cooperating, but she was part of that crew.”
“C, new orders. Dock us with LRE-17 so Doctor Toofakre can review the patients, and where’s Sahved? I haven’t seen him in a dog’s age.”
Clevarious replied. “He is still guarding Ankh, the last order he received from Lindy.”
“Tell him he’s an investigator again and get his ass to the airlock to collect statements from the victims in the med bay. We need more information.”
“Docking with the freighter, roger,” the SI confirmed, spooling down the Gate drive since they were mere seconds from going through and reappearing at Tyrosint Station.
“Thank you. Patients first. We’ll catch our bad guys soon enough,” Rivka allowed. Tyler stuffed Floyd into her arms.
Whee! the wombat cheered. Tyler went for his gear, and Rivka retired to the conference room to get statements before judging the three prisoners currently stashed in the ship’s small brig.
Rivka stroked Floyd’s fur.
Hungry, the little girl cried.
“I’m sure you are, but we have to wait a little bit before we can eat. We’ve got this thing to do.”
Groenwyn!
“Let’s not bother her.”
“You called, Mistress Fluffy Butt?” Groenwyn spoke through the conference room’s open door.
Hungry, Floyd repeated.
“Do you want to go back to LRE-17 with Tyler and check on the patients? I would appreciate your gentle touch to help them past the trauma.”
Groenwyn nodded but still took Floyd from Rivka’s arms.
“Make her walk to get food. If we carry her to meals, she’ll outgrow her ability to stay on this ship because she won’t fit through the corridors.”
Boo. Floyd made a face as Groenwyn put her down. She scampered in the direction of the galley.
“I’ll get Floyd a few leaves of lettuce and then meet Tyler in the cargo bay.”
“Airlock. We’re linking up. No need to jump across the void.”
“Better,” Groenwyn agreed.
Red and Lindy appeared. “I’d like one of you guys to go with Tyler and Groenwyn onboard LRE-17 to make sure the patients are stable for recovery. But first, I’ll need statements about our captives.”
Red spoke. “That Furlorian female is the one I saw leading Cole away. And then Cole was gone, and so was she.”
“I like the short and fact-based version. You didn’t see anything else?”
“After they got in front of us, a smoke bomb dropped behind them, blocking our view. Coincidence? I think not, but you’re the judge. That’s your department.”
“Cole. Thanks for joining us. How’s your little baby?”
“She’s cute as a button,” Cole said in a tired voice. He hadn’t recovered from his bloodletting, and he had not gotten used to sleeping in less than two-hour chunks.
“Name?”
“We don’t have one yet. Still thinking.”
“Leave it to Cole to put off ‘til tomorrow something that should have been done yesterday.”
“Kiss my ass, you oversized, under-brained, bow-legged, big-necked, no-load!”
Red snapped his eyes to Lindy. She shook her head. He looked back at Cole. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to be insulted or impressed, but I’ll take the latter. You can come through in the clutch. What are you going to call number three?”
“Number three?”
“That’s the number on her Singularity passport. You got yourself a dual citizen right there. Number one is, of course, and I say this in all humility, Vered the Mighty.”
“’In all humility,’” Cole repeated. “Alana. Clodagh is thinking it over. You know, my name is Alant, but all you weirdos just call me Cole.”
“Even Clodagh calls you Cole!” Red blurted.
“Still,” the man countered before pointing aft where the brig was located. “The Furlorian. She’s smooth and had one purpose: get me to where the others could zap me with a stunner. I was ready for it and they still hit me with increasingly powerful charges, but I remembered the first four.”
Rivka stared at the table as she processed Cole’s report. “Elbinar didn’t see any of it coming. He was smitten by the little vixen. You said she had one purpose. How did you know that?”
He looked around to make sure Clodagh wasn’t nearby. “The first night, a nice admin specialist wanted a piece of this.” He stood back and modeled his physique. Red made gagging noises before kissing Lindy goodbye as she headed off to join Tyler and Groenwyn. “But the Furlorian, she was singularly focused on me leaving with her based on a promise of bliss. She didn’t want to talk or hang out. Maybe she learned that she didn’t need to invest that time to get her target into a vulnerable position.”
Rivka nodded. “Anything else?”
He shook his head.
“Go back to being a parent now. Alana sounds like a great name. Good luck bringing your better half on board with it. Red, do you want to bring the Furlorians? Do you need backup?”
“I could use someone with a stunner, although I’m going to hit them with an area stun before I step into the brig to retrieve them.”
“Take Chaz and Dennicron. If anyone is faster than the Furlorians, it’s you three.”
“I’m not bow-legged,” Red noted.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why in the fuck did you ever think I would care about that?” Rivka dismissed him with a wave and started tapping her datapad.
A short while later, scrabbling and scratching signaled that the Furlorians were on their way. Red had both of them by the scruffs of their necks while Chaz and Dennicron followed closely, slapping at limbs that sought purchase to drag Red anywhere but the conference room. Once inside, they closed the door behind them. Red continued to hold their prisoners.
“I’d put them down, but they’ll start climbing the walls or hide under the table. I’d rather not have to catch them again.”
“I’m Magistrate Rivka Anoa. I’m here to judge your crimes and deliver the punishment.”
“We’ve done nothing wrong.”
“This is more than just a difference of opinion. While on Federation property, you have to comply with Federation law. That means you don’t get to take someone against their will and put them into a coma while you steal their blood. That’s the series of crimes that you’ll be judged for.”
“We didn’t take anyone’s blood,” the female countered.
“Maybe not, but you delivered Private Cole to a ship in space where such things were happening. Even if you didn’t know when you kidnapped him, once you became aware and did nothing to stop it, you became complicit in the related crime. I am not only going to charge you and convict you of kidnapping Elbinar, Cole, Petricia, and Joseph, I am also going to charge you with theft, transportation of stolen goods, and destruction of government property, specifically the lights and systems onboard Station Eleven.”
“Destruction of government property? That wasn’t us.”
“I believe you. The security contractor was a plant. It was them. You’re not guilty of destruction, but I find you guilty of all other charges and specifications.”
“Wait! We didn’t steal anything either.”
“Once their blood was taken and sold, it became stolen property, and you are complicit in the sequential crime. But you may argue that one can only be punished once for a single act even though that act broke numerous laws, and you would be correct. However, the theft and sale of the blood is a separate crime, distinct in its merits and unique in the opportunity for sentencing. I can also charge you with crimes against sentience, which carries a penalty up to and including death.”
“Wait!” the male Furlorian cried. “I didn’t do any of it. It was her. I wasn’t even there.”
“We have eyewitnesses who saw both of you and two others load Private Elbinar into a ship.”
“You couldn’t have seen me!” the male blurted.
“How would you know that?” Rivka asked.
“Shut up, asshole,” the female said.
“You don’t need to say anything. You’re guilty. Both of you. Twenty years each, sentences to be served consecutively, which means you are going to be confined on Jhiordaan for the rest of your natural days. I’m not going to give you the opportunity to say anything because I don’t care what you have to say unless you’re willing to roll over on whoever was paying you. I can cut your sentence in half with good information that unravels the rest of the blood trade organization.”
“And serve all sentences concurrently,” the female said.
“So you do understand a little of the law. You should also be acutely aware that you are on the wrong side of it. I’ll tell you, maybe. It would take a hundred-year conviction to ten years. I’m not sure I’m willing to do that because you violated good people with full intention for them to be in comas for the rest of their lives. I’m not good with that.”
The male was looking for anything to lighten his sentence. He started to sing. “We were paid by Moniken Gravenhole after getting our targets from her and to her. One-quarter up front and the rest upon delivery.”
Rivka looked at Chaz, who nodded almost imperceptibly.
“How did she pay you?” Rivka asked.
“Credit transfer to our hidden account.”
“I’m going to need that number.” Rivka smiled pleasantly. The female became frantic, kicking and trying to claw. Red body-slammed her into the table before holding her up once more. “You won’t be able to use that money, and we’ll find it anyway as we’ll backtrack your whereabouts until we come across the account. Then I’ll issue a warrant, and we’ll take it all. Right now, I only want to use it to backtrack the payment.”
“Fine,” the male conceded, then recited the memorized number. Between Clevarious, Chaz, and Dennicron, Rivka had no need to write anything down. She knew they would be digging into the system to find the trail within seconds.
“A password would save us time,” Dennicron said. He gave it to her. The SIs continued their search. “Got it.”
Chaz and Dennicron looked at each other, beaming. Rivka rolled her finger. Dennicron bowed her head to Chaz.
He brought up the holoscreen over the conference table. “Payment received from Moniken Gravenhole, who doesn’t exist, and her shell company, Graven Enterprises, which also exists only on paper. They were formed by Graveyard Industries, another shell corporation that is owned by another corporation that is not a shell. Korantall United.”
“As in, owned by Koranta Delaveen,” Rivka posited.
“Sister of the ambassador and second wife of one Ambassador Bik Tia Nor.”
“The ambassadors keep their knobby paws clean. Top cover and ground cover.” Rivka looked at the Furlorians. The male looked back, hope in his big cat eyes. “Sentences to serve concurrently. Ten years for both of you.”
He exhaled hard and turned to his sister. She was not as enamored of a ten-year sentence as he was. “Life down to ten years. Our contacts will be long gone by the time we get out,” the male said.
Rivka agreed. “I will dismantle that organization in such a way that the pieces will never be able to reassemble. You have a warrior who is still head over heels in love with you. I’m putting you in the brig on Tyrosint with further transfer to work-release on the planet. They need good workers, and it’s completely voluntary, but I expect your race prefers open spaces so you can run and feel free.”
“Isn’t that a bit racist?” the male asked.
“Is my presumption incorrect?”
“No. Outside under a sun and a blue sky sounds pretty good right about now. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Magistrate. We were looking at taking our riches and going to Verdance, an agricultural planet. All the while, we were ignoring the people we were hurting. I’ll serve my time. I deserve it. My sister went along with me because I’m the big brother. That’s how it is with our people. Maybe she can serve a lesser sentence.”
“If I had put you in Jhiordaan, you wouldn’t be the same because they would break you. After Tyrosint, maybe you’ll be better. Return to the brig. We’ll deliver you to the station before the day ends. Ten years. Both of you.”
The male thanked Rivka while the female glared. Rivka stared back until the Furlorian blinked, her spirit finally surrendering to the consequences of her decisions.
“Bring me that doctor.”
“With pleasure.” Red, Chaz, and Dennicron returned the Furlorians to the brig and yanked the doctor out of the room. He tried to fall down, refusing to walk. Red picked him up by the back of his pants and propelled him forward, slamming his head into the door to the conference room to open it. He thrust the man inside and propped him up. “He was a bit uncooperative, Magistrate.”
“Do you not care how much time you’ll serve?”
“I’m just a doctor.”
“You’re a criminal. Certified bottom feeder. You tried to take people’s lives, and that is a crime against sentience. Give me your hand.”
Red shoved the doctor’s hand forward. Rivka took it before he could snatch it back. “Why were you stealing blood?”
The man looked frantically for a way out. Panic. He was caught. Deny!
“I’m just a doctor. I do what I’m told.”
“Give us your bank information to confirm you get normal pay for normal doctor duties.”
“No…” He shook his head, looking for a way out, but in his mind, he contemplated his account number and the bank. Rivka recited it aloud.
“Hey! That’s my account number.”
“Lucky guess,” Rivka replied and let go of the man’s hand. She knew exactly what they were going to find. A massive deposit, about a year’s worth of a doctor’s normal salary as a hiring bonus.
Chaz replied. “Fifty thousand credits paid by Graven Enterprises.”
“You’re dirty,” Rivka announced.
“I didn’t know they were bad! I did nothing wrong,” he pleaded in a whining voice.
“Putting healthy people into comas so you can take their blood is good doctoring?”
“They were volunteers on a deep-space study!” he declared hopefully.
“We both know that isn’t true since Private Elbinar was brought to you already in a coma. I don’t know about the others, but I only need to know for sure about Elbinar. Unlawful detention, theft, and the worst charge, crime against sentience. I’m suspending your license to practice and notifying the medical board with a recommendation to revoke it. They can take their time since you’ll be on Jhiordaan, serving twenty years for theft of blood and an additional thirty-five years for crime against sentience. To serve sequentially. That’s more than fifty years, Doctor. I’m confiscating your ill-gotten gains. Congratulations. You’re broke, without a license, and ready to spend the next half of your life in prison.”
“That sucks,” he managed to say.
“Is that the best you have? You’re lucky I don’t toss you out an airlock. You are a despicable creature. If I never see you again, that will be too soon.” Rivka raised her chin. Red took her meaning and yanked the doctor backward and dragged him down the corridor to toss him into the brig.
“We have the documentation sorted and money transferred from both accounts into the Magistrates’ holding account,” Chaz reported. “We’ve submitted the accounting data to the High Chancellor’s office.”
Rivka acknowledged the quick work. She pointed to the hologrid area above the table, and Chaz projected the financial reports.
Tyler, how much longer? I’m itching to catch some big-time scumbags.
On our way back because they had everything under control. This nurse is good.
“Lieutenant Edwin, Rivka here. The nurse in the medical bay is free to go, free to move on. She helped us and is a victim in this, just like the six people getting pumped dry.”
“One person,” the lieutenant’s voice projected over the room’s speakers. “The other five are complaining that they have contracts to donate their blood at the price of keeping them out of sight for ten years and building their cash pile.”
“That’s one of the most fucked-up things I’ve ever heard,” Rivka replied.
“Can they sign away their blood and life like that?” the lieutenant asked.
Rivka had been thinking about it and didn’t like the answer. “They can. One victim and five who were misled and taken for a ride. Turn them loose to go their own way. I think Tyrosint is looking for more agro workers. They’d be off the grid down there. Sell it, Edwin. They get to live while officially hiding. If I need to put them into witness protection, I can sign an order for that, too, but they have to comply with the law. If they break the law, they lose their support.”
“Maybe it’d be best if you talked with them. I’m not very good at making civilians feel comfortable. Maybe your guy, the tall, lanky, and weird one?”
“You can do this, Lieutenant. Welcome to being an officer. Put your best foot forward and save their lives. It’s what the Bad Company is good at. Tell Elbinar the Furlorian will be on Tyrosint and then on work-release on the planet in case he wishes to pursue an ill-advised relationship.”
Edwin laughed loud and long. “Those are the only relationships we pursue, Magistrate. It was a pleasure working with you. Next time, try not to leave us any dead bodies. Bad Company out.”
Rivka looked at the financials, and the numbers reminded her. “Come clean, you knuckleheads. Did you certify running?”
“Yes. Running to the bay after the security-bot ambush,” Chaz said.
“But no blood, which is odd on a case to dismantle the blood trade. Arrest, swearing?”
“You bagged the Ambassador first, and during that arrest, there was a planetwide carpet-bombing of profanity.”
“There was not. You were there!”
“I was, but my story is better.”
“These are real people betting real money. Don’t make shit up.” Rivka pointed the finger of shame at Red and brushed it.
“You only went on a tirade after the trial.”
“I was pretty mad.”
“That’s when we’ll call it, Magistrate, but I think you’ll get to arrest the ambassador again, along with the Foromme ambassador and his sister.”
“I like that. Let’s pack ‘em and stack ‘em, then rack ‘em and jack ‘em. C, get us out of here as soon as everyone’s on board. First stop, the station, then Foromme and one Koranta Delaveen.”
“What if she fights back?” Red wondered.
“They always fight back, but not for very long.” She winked at him. “I’m catching a shower. Chaz, transmit the holding order for those three. The doctor is awaiting prison transport, and the Furlorians are assigned to Tyrosint’s brig until further notice with work-release to the planet at the head of station’s discretion. The five who were under contract are now under my protection and to be sent to the planet under fake identities to work agricultural support. And Chaz, find me Koranta Delaveen.”