Justice (21 page)

“
Nova Tabryn. Born an orphan on Tabryn, lived in a small
orphanage for the first decade of your life. Took up mech fighting
and was the youngest person ever to win in The Pits of Tabryn. Left
Tabryn at the age of eighteen; retrieved a Confederacy Decoder and
was immediately accepted into The Jagged Maw; fastest promotion
from runaway to Maw ever. You’ve defeated entire lecheon covens and
won the latest space-race. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the right one,”
Jimmy said with a grin.

Nova’s frown
grew deeper. She placed her glass back onto the bar where it
created a circle of condensation. “Where did you get all that?”

“
The Cloud,” Jimmy said, waving his hand.

“
What do you mean ‘the Cloud’?”

“
I love the space-races. Always have. I always look up the
winners; try to learn everything I can about them, but you were
something else.”

“
Look, kid, I’m really flattered that you stalked me but that
stops now.”

“
I didn’t stalk you, and I’m not a kid,” Jimmy said, glancing
at her. “That stuff is written in your winner’s bio for the
race.”

“
What?”

Jimmy
shrugged. “I guess the guys at The Jagged Maw put it up. It’s not
like I had to go digging for it.”

Nova smacked
her palm to her forehead. “Why did they have to put all that up
there? I don’t want everyone knowing my work.”

“
It’s okay; I don’t think many people look at those
bios.”

Nova took a
long sip of her drink. Out of the corner of her eye she watched
Jimmy. He was still bent over his glass with his shoulders
hunched.

“
So, what? You met your idol and I’m nothing like you
imagined?”

“
No.” Jimmy sighed again and shook his head. “I had just hoped
to follow in your footsteps you know? I thought if I left Grod that
I could do something great and join The Jagged Maw just like
you.”

“
You thought acting as security for a planet opening ceremony
would get you into the Maw?” Nova asked, eyebrows
raised.

“
No,” Jimmy said. “I went to Ausrot before this
job.”

“
You did what?” Nova said, her mouth dropping open. Ausrot was
one of the meanest planets in the Outer Galaxies. It was
practically the gang headquarters for every major crime group.
She’d never been there but she’d heard stories. Supposedly, if you
landed there and didn’t have the right password they killed you on
sight. There were supposed to be more than a million unmarked
graves on Ausrot.

“
Figured if I brought down one of the major bosses, then that
would get me in. Or if I managed to convince them to take me on,”
Jimmy said, shrugging again, not so much non-committal as utterly
defeated.

“
Stupid,” Nova said.

The corner of
Jimmy’s mouth lifted. “And I suppose going into a lecheon coven
with no backup was filled with intelligence?”

“
That’s different,” Nova said. “I can look after
myself.”

“
It might surprise you to know that I can too.”

“
Oh yeah? So how’d your trip to Ausrot go?”

“
I managed to escape with my life because I gave the people
who captured me my ship and every cent that I had,” Jimmy
said.

“
You were lucky they didn’t take your money and kill you.
That’s their usual method.”

“
I know. It was stupid. But that’s why I came to work this
job. I need the money.”

“
Welcome to the life of a bounty hunter,” Nova said. She
swallowed the last mouthful of her drink and signalled the barman
for a second.

“
I’ve wanted to join The Jagged Maw for as long as I can
remember.”

“
Oh come on, I’m sure you lived in a very nice house up until
the last couple of months,” Nova said. Jimmy didn’t strike her as
having grown up on the streets.

Jimmy
shrugged. “I’m not as easy to peg as you think. Let’s just say I’ve
dreamed of The Jagged Maw for a long time. And now I don’t know
that I’ll ever be able to qualify for entry. I just wish I could do
something spectacular.”

Nova was quiet
as she stared into the black bubbling depths of her new drink.
Jimmy finished his glass and held his head in his hands.

“
You don’t have to do something stupid to get into the Maw,”
Nova said. “You just have to be good at something.”

“
I’m not good at anything,” Jimmy said. “Except following
instructions and I don’t think that will quite cut it.”

“
Never underestimate the value of being able to follow,” Nova
said with a small smile. “But there must be something else. You
just have to find something you can do better than anybody
else.”

Jimmy snorted.
“It’s settled then, I’ll never make it into the Maw.”

“
Nova, mission complete,” Cal said into her brain
chip.

Nova sculled
the rest of her drink and turned to Jimmy. “Thank you for saving my
life today,” she said, clapping her hand down onto his shoulder. He
nodded at her and turned to his drink with the same dejected
expression.

Nova walked
into the large meeting room with a solemn expression. She was
pleased to see that everyone else was already there.

Meaghan sat as
far away from everyone else as she could. Her eyes were wide and
red and kept flicking from face to face. Her clothes which had been
pristine only a few hours ago were rumpled and hung out of
place.

In another
corner, Dustin and Piero sat side by side. They watched the rest of
the room with a kind of grim humour, as if they were enjoying the
macabre show going on around them. Dustin wore the same clothes he
had had on two days ago and the rings around his eyes suggested he
hadn’t slept at all. Piero looked similarly exhausted, although at
least he had had the forethought to put on a new shirt.

Leon sat
cross-legged in a seat close to the door. His eyes were still
red-rimmed and he clutched a silk handkerchief. He sniffled as Nova
walked in.

She wasn’t
surprised to see that Bruce had decided to stand at the back of the
room, rather than take a seat among the others.

Finally her
eyes passed over Rosemary, who sat alone. Her eyes were wide and
almost as red as Meaghan’s. Her tiny frame sat hunched back in the
chair. It was obvious she was trying to remain invisible even
though everyone in the room had taken note of her and were asking
themselves the same question. Who was she? All except Meaghan, who
refused to even glance in Rosemary’s direction.

“
Thank you all for coming,” Nova said as she stepped into the
centre of the ring of chairs. “It is a sad event that brings us to
this point, but we must live on.” Cal floated in behind her and
hovered by the door.

“
As an external point of security, I have carried out an
investigation into the death of Geron Feders as an impartial third
party.”

Bruce snorted
at Nova’s last words.

Nova glared at
him. He looked down at the dark purple carpet on which he
stood.

“
In my investigation I uncovered many skeletons, but there is
only one guilty party. For this crime at least. Piero,” Nova said,
swinging her body to face the man. At the sound of his name, all
blood drained from his face and his eyes opened wide.

“
Piero, you had every reason to kill Geron and to want him
dead. He stole your business from you and made a mockery of your
hard work. I also have the feeling that it would not be the first
time you’ve killed a man.” Nova’s eyes gazed unwavering at Piero.
“But you didn’t do it.”

Piero let out
a sigh of relief. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with
the sleeve of his shirt. His shoulders relaxed and he sat deeper
into his chair.

“
Dustin,” Nova turned so that she faced the dark haired youth.
“You have a documented history of violence, gang affiliations and
all other manner of unpleasantness.”

Nova’s eyes
bored into Dustin, but unlike Piero, the boy didn’t flinch. In fact
he barely batted an eyelid.

“
Unfortunately, Dustin, cases like yours are just too common.
You didn’t kill your father, but I can guarantee that unless you
change your life and your friends, it won’t be long before you do
kill someone.” Nova’s words seemed lost on Dustin whose only
response was a bare shrug before he went back to studying his own
fingernails.

“
Leon,” Nova said. The thin man jumped at his name. His wide
eyes gazed at Nova like an animal trapped unawares by bright
lights.

“
Y-yes,” he managed to stammer.

Everyone else
stared at Geron’s personal assistant with mixtures of shock and
disbelief.

“
Geron never really appreciated you, did he?” Nova
asked.

Leon’s eyes
darted about the room before returning to Nova. “H-he was a great
man.”

Leon’s evasive
response made the onlooker’s eyes open wider.

“
A secret part of you wanted him dead,” Nova said.

“
What are you suggesting?!” Leon’s paralysis gave way to
indignation and he rose to his feet.

“
Hush.” Nova waved her hand. “You loved Geron too much to kill
him, of course.”

Nova’s gaze
roamed about the room, resting on each up-turned face in turn.

“
But of course, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Nova
quoted the old-Earth saying as her eyes moved between Rosemary and
Meaghan.

Rosemary wept
into her hands, while Meaghan glared back at Nova, her chin jutted
forward and her eyes defiant.

“
I have no doubt, Meaghan, that you wanted Geron dead.” Nova
stared at the bitter woman. “He cheated on you and had every reason
to cut you out of his will.”

Nova allowed
her words to sink in before she continued. "But… you were with
Bruce the whole time. You didn’t have a chance to kill him. That
leaves the other woman in his life.”

“
You bitch!” Meaghan yelled, lunging across the room at
Rosemary. Rosemary lifted her tear stained eyes and rested her cool
gaze on Meaghan’s face.

Nova nodded to
Bruce. For once he did as directed and grabbed hold of Meaghan
before her claws could sink into Rosemary’s eyeballs.

“
Rosemary. You waited outside of your room when the power went
out, knowing that Geron would be there at any moment. You had the
Cypris ready in hand; you’ve probably been growing it for some time
now. You knew full well what it could do and how to handle it from
your childhood on Pillion. When you saw him approaching in the dark
you hurled the creature at him and then organised for his body to
disappear.”

Everyone in
the room stared at Rosemary with open mouths. Some of them had
never even seen the woman before, let alone knew her significance
to Geron.

“
That’s all just assumption, but I found this in Rosemary’s
room,” Nova said, holding up a small data disk. “All of the
security feeds were destroyed, but it looks like she made a copy.
Maybe you wanted to get caught? Why don’t we all watch it
together?”

Rosemary’s
eyes widened. She shook her head in silent horror.

Nova inserted
the disk into Cal’s side. The labourbot projected a large screen
onto one side of the room. The metal wall provided a nice backdrop
for the images. The video flickered to life. It showed the view of
a corridor from one of the many security cameras. It started out
bright but after a few moments the lights flickered and then turned
off. The corridor plunged into darkness and only the faintest of
emergency lights lit the scene. After the lights went out a female
figure entered the picture. Rosemary.

Rosemary
crouched in a dark corner and the jar in her hands reflected the
dim glow of the emergency lights. Her eyes glinted as they roved
about the corridor. This part of the complex looked just like every
other, silver corridors with metal doors leading off to either
side. The audio feed was quiet except for the distant noise of
running feet and voices.

Footsteps got
closer. The steady beat thumped on the metal floor. Rosemary
crouched lower into her corner. One hand loosened the lid of the
jar. A new shadow moved into view of the camera, and strode to the
door next to Rosemary.

She waited
until the very last minute and then without warning she jumped out
of the corner and tossed the jar towards the other shadow. She
moved back as fast as she could.

The glass jar
sailed through the air and shattered against Geron’s chest. It
broke so easily that it had probably been pre-weakened. As soon as
the glass fell apart the creature inside leapt out and clutched
onto Geron’s shirt with its insectoid legs. It held tight and
leaned backwards.

Nova tensed,
she knew what was coming. The other people in the room were fixed
on the screen as the horrific scene played out before them. They
probably didn’t need to watch Geron die, it wasn’t vital to the
investigation, but perhaps the shock of it would help snap them
into reality as opposed to letting them continue to float around in
their individual dreamlands.

The Cypris
plant leaned backwards and then thrust forwards. The long vine
extended out of its bulbous body and jabbed into Geron’s neck.

Geron grunted
and clutched his throat. His knees collapsed and he fell to the
ground in a heap. The Cypris plant remained attached to him
throughout the fall. After that it retracted its deadly weapon and
turned to the other person, Rosemary.