"The Second Bomb"

[Joe Manning 0]

The shuttlecraft touched down at an intersection of streets near the northern edge of the Latinum District. Workers who'd been unwinding at the District's famous drinking dens were now huddled along the sidewalks observing the scene of the recent firefight. Guardian Lawmen kept the bystanders off the northward street, where paramedics were tending to several bodies lying prone around a GCX armored vehicle.

 

Marshall Savoy followed two Lawmen off the shuttle, and another trailed behind her, guarding the rear even though the battle in the street had subsided. One of the Guardians surveying the scene ran over to meet the Marshall. He was wearing plain clothes with a simple leather vest, the signature outfit of a Sheriff-rank Guardian. Each of the city's districts was managed by a Sheriff answerable to Marshall Savoy, and the Latinum District was one of the tougher assignments.

 

"Sheriff Bailey, report," the Marshall ordered as the officers all met on the north street.

 

"Two hostiles down, Ma'am," Bailey motioned to two of the bodies at either side of the GCX. At the front of the vehicle, a Guardian Lawman was keeping a third assailant on his knees at gunpoint. "The driver was wounded, but not badly. We have him in custody. We lost two of ours ... "

 

Savoy frowned and looked from the captive Rainmaker to the GCX. "The bomb?" she asked.

 

Bailey nodded and lead Savoy's team to the back of the vehicle. "I'm not comfortable with you being out in the open like this, Ma'am."

 

"I'm sure your men are capable of protecting me, Sheriff. I was on my way to Medical One anyway when the firefight was reported." Savoy looked into the open cargo hold at the back of the GCX. A mechanical springboard mechanism took up the entire breadth of the hold. Atop it was a duranium container filled with an elaborate crisscross of wiring, isochips, and optical access nodes. Three vials in one corner of the container contained a clear fluid.

 

"We're still waiting for the demo expert to arrive," Bailey noted. "But we've taken some preliminary scans. There are radioactive materials contained within the vials."

 

Savoy gave the Sheriff an incredulous look. "This can't be a fission bomb ... "

 

"No Ma'am," Bailey shook his head. "The core is a conventional explosive, designed to spread the radioactive material over a large area. Judging by the size, I'd estimate a four or five block radius." He pointed up the street. "The vehicle was en route to the Freedom District when we intercepted it."

 

"Ten minutes after the hour and there hasn't been another attack," Savoy said. "This had to be their next move. Excellent work, Sheriff. You and all your men."

 

The Marshall circled around the GCX, toward the vehicle's captive driver. He was a human, a young human, not much older than a teenager. A blood-soaked first-aid bandage was wrapped around his upper arm. His face showed both pain and defiance as he looked up bitterly at the Guardian Marshall. Savoy gazed down at the Rainmaker very aware of the crowd of bystanders -- the people whom Minos was trying to influence into rioting. She raised her voice loud enough for all of them to hear. "Your mission failed, son. Do you know why? It was thanks to information that was extracted from a recent captive. With every hour that passes, we take more of your people into custody, and the ones we have become more willing to talk. Just like them, -you- will tell us everything we want to know about your associates. With your help and theirs, willingly offered or not, we will prevent further attacks."

 

The young Rainmaker just gave her the same cold hateful look that interrogators at the central precinct would work hard to wipe off his face. There was more, though. A look of self-assuredness, like the boy believed he still held all the cards, even with a Guardian rifle pointed at his head and his plan to bomb the Freedom District stopped cold. Did Minos' followers really believe so strongly in him? Savoy shook her head with a mixed look of contempt and pity. "Take him back to Precinct," she ordered to her men. "I'll proceed to Medical One with the paramedics."