"Grabbed By the Law"

[Joe Manning 0]

Joe looked down at the throngs below the Guardian speeder, some rushing toward the port bridge, others looting stores and inns. With the countdown to doomsday nearly ended, there were not likely to be many people asleep in their beds in this deep of the night. Joe vaguely remembered his role in starting the riot at the port bridge. That one small spark was now lost in the wave of hysteria now sweeping over the entire city. The riot at the bridge had been fated to happen eventually; it just would have taken longer. Joe tried to comfort himself with that thought as the reality of his arrest sunk in. He'd authorized a lot of crimes this night, and while the Marshall's worst suspicions were unfounded, he was in plenty hot water for good reason.

 

"Word is they're grabbing what essential supplies they can and retreating to the utility tunnels," Marshall Savoy, seated beside him, pointed out. "A pointless effort. If the planet were irradiated, they would not survive down there long."

 

"And you're just going to leave the blockade in place? Let it happen?" Joe asked, even knowing that the blockade remaining in place was his only way out of this legal mess. Everything depended on Troy, Pher, and Shane now.

 

"My inclination is not to let this planet burn just to keep Minos here," Savoy answered. "I doubt the Taurus Brothers are so inclined either ... but who knows what moves them? In any event, there are serious doubts that Minos is capable sabotaging the shield network. It stinks of the last desperate gambit of a trapped man and a feat beyond even his capabilities. If his bluff is revealed, he will have nothing left to terrorize these people with."

 

"But if he's not bluffing," Joe said. "And if he's just desperate enough to kill everyone on the planet to ensure his escape, you would sentence them all to die?"

 

"Guardian affairs are not your concern, Manning." Savoy replied firmly. "And I find your right to judge questionable considering the overwhelming evidence that your crew has been aiding the Rainmakers."

 

"Nonsense. I've told you already. I sent Nickles to Duke Redding's hotel to take back the raider bounty that was stolen from us. I don't know why your people showed up at the hotel or why Nickles felt the need to run from them ... but you know full well that where Duke is involved, Chris and I tend to push the law to the back seat. As for Pher, I sent her to hunt down Redera since there was ... 'overwhelming evidence' ... that she had designs on stealing my ship. Designs I now think you knew about ... "

 

"And Jerald LaHaye, Manning?" Savoy asked, an angry, impatient tone to her voice. "You still haven't explained what he was doing with your Orion huntress at the bank."

 

"I told you ... " Joe raised his shackled hands to rub his temples. "I don't know anyone by that name. I normally leave Pher to her own means on a job. If she had reason to believe that this 'LaHaye' person was the key to reaching the Deltan -- and apparently she was right -- she would have done whatever it took to gain his cooperation. It was unfortunate for us that your people happened to be hunting the Deltan as well."

 

"And where are they? We believe LaHaye has information that could lead us to Minos. The Deltan is highly suspected of being a Rainmaker collaborator, possibly one linked very closely to Minos. Where is the Orion? What has she done with them?!"

 

Joe kept his expression blank, trying to conceal that he possessed knowledge of the whereabouts of Pher, Redera, the unfortunate LaHaye, and LaHaye's information. "I don't know where they are. And guessing what Pher has done with Redera would only serve to incriminate Pher, so I wouldn't comment if I did know."

 

"Mm hmm." Savoy replied as the speeder began descending to the small landing pad beside Port Station 5. The speeder holding Dash and Duff moved up beside it. "We'll see just how much you and your crew are and aren't willing to comment on."