[The Gunslingers, Book II, Chapter 10] [On the Run] Captain Fox faced the Squadron Commanders and slammed his fist on the console; none of them had ever seen the Captain truly angry before. “Does someone want to explain to me how a group of kids in an unarmed food ship out-maneuvered and escaped from three Squadrons of Battle Darts?” Fox shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. The Squadron Commanders stared forward trying hard not to make eye contact. Their Squadron pilots were right outside the door lined up against the wall listening, and none of the Commanders wanted to be singled out and embarrassed in front of their men. “You’re the senior Commander,” Fox pointed at the man on the right, the Commander winced slightly. “Sir, there were other ships in the way,” the Commander tried to keep his voice steady. “The Pyran ships were confusing the situation, and the Gunslinger ships kept getting in the way, and we don’t know who the civilian ship was.” “Sir,” the Commander standing on the left decided to throw his support to senior Commander. “That Sheriff’s ship was causing the most confusion; it really looked like the Sheriff was purposely blocking us.” Fox approached the Commander and stood inches from the man’s face. “One Sheriff from a backwater dust-ball of a planet blocked three Dart Squadrons?” Fox shouted loud enough to be heard by the pilots in the hall. “Sir, that wasn’t just any kid, that was Colton Cyness. He defeated an entire Destroyer Drop Battalion last year.” “Exactly Sir, it was Colton Cyness,” said the youngest of the three Commanders. “I heard he is half-demon and during the Drop Team attack, the rounds went right through him without even touching him.” “I heard he caught a missile in his hand and threw it back, killed the Drop Commander before he even had a chance to fire a second round.” “Some of the men say he can turn into a wolf and stands seven feet tall from paw to hackles.” “I heard he can see and talk to the dead in the land of the ancestors.” Fox held his hand up to stop the men’s foolish talk and turned to look for the Communications Tech trying to hide behind the briefing board. “Did you find out who Tyler is?” asked Fox. The Com-Tech stepped into view, it was best not to hide once the Captain turned his attention to you. “He’s a Daraian Sparrow and was a Merit on a team with Dustin BlackJack. They lost their original Gunslinger during The Long Walk and spent six months in a Gunslinger prison. Dustin was released and became a Merit for Colton Cyness replacing Austin Bennet. There are no records of what happened to Tyler until just now when he showed up with the Cyness Minor Sheriff.” “And who is the Cyness Sheriff?” asked Fox. “The records are classified, Sir, I don’t know.” “Nothing is classified from me,” said Fox. “I’m sorry, Sir, the records were sealed with an unknown Imperial Code, I can’t unlock it.” “Anything else?” asked Fox. “Well… umm.. my cousin on the Tangona Battle Carrier told me when Dustin BlackJack was released from the prison, he was thrown out into the desert to die, and it was Colton Cyness that found him.” “That rumor sounds reasonable,” Fox admitted. “And then Colton Cyness bit him on the neck and turned him into a wolf and that he has an entire army of wolves hiding in the desert.” Fox looked at the ceiling and closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The ridiculous legends growing up around that boy was getting annoying. But then again, there was a declaration of war from Cyness Minor sitting on his desk in the wardroom. Was it possible Colton was raising an army? “Send a message to the Rai Battle Carrier to head to Cyness Minor, I want that planet annexed into the Empire immediately; full ground invasion authorized, and secure the Gunslinger Headquarters. I’m done playing games.” Fox turned his attention to the sealed record, it had to be one of his cousins behind it, perhaps the Sheriff was an under-cover Gunslinger. But… no, why would he have helped Colton? Was the Sheriff and his deputy Colton’s men? His cousins were over-stepping their authority more and more and it was time to bring them home. After two-hundred years they would fight him on it, but it was time to reign in his cousins and add Cyness Minor to the Empire. “Hold up…” Fox whispered to himself. “Tyler and Dustin were on a team together and went to prison together… very clever boys. Dustin told Tyler to go to hell.” Fox laughed and dismissed the Squadron Commanders. Of course, they wouldn’t betray each other; the boys had been talking in code. Very clever boys. Go to Hell Tyler. Fox headed for the Bridge of the Battle Carrier. Hell… Hell Prison on Demonia. Colton was headed to Demonia. *** Hunter sat in the Captain’s chair with his feet propped up on the body of the Captain. The only remaining crew member sat in front of Hunter in the pilot’s chair, the man was visibly shaking. “Please… I have a daughter…” the pilot stammered. Hunter ignored the shaking man and thought about the chase to catch Colton Cyness. He had not expected to find a fleet of Gunslingers, the Empire, and the Pyran Air Force in orbit chasing his bounties. The Captain became immediately suspicious and Hunter was tired of listening to the man anyway, he killed everyone except the pilot in front of him. Hunter considered the transmissions he had monitored, the Sheriff’s deputy had tried to arrest Colton Cyness… no, not Colton, he had said Jack. Something wasn’t right with this, the Sheriff and the Deputy had led him all over the Empire trying to throw him off Colton’s trail. But then the deputy had tried to arrest him, and the one called Jack had told the deputy to go to hell. Why did you tell your friend to go to hell? `Think Hunter, think, it’s in front of you. Go to hell. Hunter laughed. No, not go to hell, go to Hell. “Make course for Demonia,” Hunter ordered the pilot. The pilot made no move to obey and only shook more violently. Hunter leaned forward until his head was next to the pilot and whispered in his ear. “You are already dead, when I have no further use for you, you will die,” said Hunter. “Did you see how the Captain screamed before I let him die?” The man nodded his head and tried to look at Hunter out of the corner of his eye. The things this man had done to the Captain had been horrifying. “I will make you a deal,” said Hunter. “If you behave and obey, when I no longer have a use for you, I will kill you quickly and without pain. You will never see it come. Are we clear?” The pilot looked at the photograph of his daughter tucked under the edge of the console. He knew he would never see her again. He set the course and pushed the ship into light speed. *** “Is everyone okay?” shouted Colt. Garth was floating in the middle of a cloud of strawberry and chocolate syrup; Toran had lost the battle to save the canister of chocolate. “If Toran licks me I’m punching him,” Garth said keeping an eye on the First Deputy. “How are you doing, Ben?” asked Colt as he pushed off and sailed back to where Ben was still clinging to a soda canister. “I want to go home,” Ben said with a wild eyed expression. “You’ll get used to it,” Toran encouraged and tried catching stray potato chips in his mouth. “Wow, you guys made a mess back here,” Jack joined the group in the floating mix of food products. “Who’s flying?” asked Garth. “Autopilot,” said Jack. “Don’t worry, we got a long time before we get there.” “Hey Jack,” Colt laid his hand on the small Daraian’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry about Tyler.” Jack gave Colt a wry grin and tipped his head slightly, “why?” “I heard what he said, and what you had to say back, it’s like everyone has betrayed us and are out to get us,” said Colt. “What happened?” asked Toran. “Tyler was here, with Tanner,” explained Colt. “Tyler tried to arrest Jack and then Jack told him to go to hell.” “Oh man, I’m sorry, betrayal of a brother is the worst crime,” said Garth. Jack started laughing and rolled over in the weightless environment several times, obviously enjoying a joke only he knew. “Am I missing something?” asked Colt. “You’re handling this rather well.” “Tyler didn’t betray me,” said Jack grabbing a donut out of the air and popping it in his mouth. “mmph munffph mmph.” “Could you try saying that again when you get done chewing,” said Toran. “Tyler wasn’t trying to arrest me,” said Jack. “He was telling me what planet to go to and I told him where I would meet him at on the planet.” Colt and Garth looked confused but Toran understood it almost immediately. “Oh Jack, you should have talked with us,” said Toran. “That won’t work, it’s too obvious. Everyone will figure it out as fast as I did.” “I haven’t figured it… oh wait… yes I have,” said Colt. “Yea, even I got it,” said Garth. “Jack, they will all figure out we’re headed for Demonia,” said Toran. “Huh? Why the heck would Tyler and I go there?” asked Jack. “You told Tyler to go to hell,” said Colt. “Hell is a place, it’s the Hell Maximum Security Prison on Demonia.” “Never been,” said Jack confused. “Go to hell means the place me and Tyler spent six months trying to stay alive on an orange a day split between us. That place was hell, we’ll meet in front of our rock where I hid our Gunslingers revolver and belt.” “Oh my gosh, Jack, you are brilliant,” said Toran. “Everyone will look for us on Demonia, how did you ever think of that.” “We are going to investigate the crime, right?” asked Jack. “It happened in Sanon Town, seems to me that would be the place to start.” Jack started collecting the floating donuts together and putting them in a sack. “He’s right, somebody must have seen something,” said Colt. “How long will it take to get there?” “Well, I think we better save all this food,” said Jack. “In this ship, it’s going to take two months, but we get a break half-way, Rounu Major is right in the middle.” *** “What do you think is happening?” asked Cora watching out the window of the cabin. The students had been confined to their cabins but Cora and West snuck over to Dukes to discuss the events following the escape. “I don’t know,” replied Duke. “I saw a group of Gunslingers arrive and the Marshall went with them.” “Whatever is happening it can’t be good,” said West. “I don’t mind the break,” said Gideon, Dukes First Deputy. “We’ve been non-stop since the Long Swim.” “Something is happening,” said Cora motioned the others over to the window. The others rushed over to the window in time to see a convoy of ship’s landing; at least two dozen ships were coming in and landing on the beach. “Why the beach?” asked West. The backdoor banged open and Wesley came sliding in the room out of breath and panting hard. “You won’t believe this,” panted Wesley. “Take a breath,” said Duke. “Those ships, they are splitting us up, because of what happened in the Dining Hall, I over-heard them say we are too dangerous together.” “Duke, what do we do?” asked Cora. “If they split us up we won’t be able to help Colt.” “That’s why they are doing it,” said Duke. “I should have seen it coming.” “I’ve had enough of this,” West headed for the back door. “They falsely accused and tried Colt and put him in prison, and now they want make sure we can’t help clear his name. I’m going to get my team and take one of the Darts and leave.” “Where are you going to go?” asked Cora. “Colt will go to the only place he can, his planet. I’ll go there and wait for him and we will clear his name together,” said West. “I’m getting my team and coming with you, I’ll meet you at the airfield,” said Cora. “I’m coming too,” said Duke. Wesley followed suit and by the time they reached the airfield the word had spread and a mass exodus of students rushed to their Dart Ships. Several instructors tried to stop the students but there were too many and they prudently stepped out of the way. Three hundred Dart Ships lifted off and headed for Cyness Minor. The Marshall sat on the deck of the lead ship that had been intended to move the students to different camps, but the students reacted too quickly and took matters into their own hands. “You have to do something,” the Gunslinger Councilman shouted at the Marshall. “Stop them, they can’t do that, it’s treason.” “I do believe you and the rest of the Council relieved me as the Gunslinger General. I’ll be in my cabin reading, this day was long in coming, I warned you and now you’ve lost the army we spent two-hundred years building.” “We haven’t lost anything, those are just 2nd year students, we still have eighty-thousand Gunslingers spread around the twenty-seven worlds.” “Really? Do you? Those eighty-thousand Gunslingers, how many of them are the mothers, fathers, uncles, brothers, sisters, and many other related connections, friends of friends, and cousins of cousins of these three-hundred children that you just trampled on?” The Gunslinger General walked down the ramp of the ship and across the now abandoned campus. *** “This is it.” Wes looked at the old brick building, the windows were broke out, or more likely shot out if the bullet holes riddled up and down the building was any indicator. A sign with the faded words ‘Justice of the Peace’ was propped up against the side of the building. This was exactly the kind of assignment Wes had always dreamed of, if only his team could be here to enjoy it with him. “Come on kid, let’s see if the inside looks any better,” said Wes. “Kid? I think I’m the same age as you,” replied the boy. “I survived two years of intense physical, academic, and psychological testing before being chosen as a Merit, and then a year of eighteen-hour days of the most brutal training known to any Marshal Order,” said Wes. “My name’s Nicholas.” “How about Nick,” Wes stepped up on the concrete slab that served as the front porch of his office. “Nicholas is a mouthful to say.” “Okay, but not kid,” said Nick. “Fair‘nuff,” said Wes. Wes pushed the door open and entered the office, the lights didn’t seem to be working and the interior was a mess… and standing behind the counter that stretched across the front of the office separating the public area from the office area was Urai. “Where have you been?” asked Wes. “I’m… uh…” Urai dropped his head. “Am I fired?” “Can you at least handle the administrative tasks of a Justice of the Peace Office?” asked Wes. “You know, marriages, fishing licenses, zoning permits, vender permits, and whatever else might come up?” “I can do that,” said Urai. “Okay, you got the job,” agreed Wes. “This is Nick, he’s my new deputy, put him on the payroll and find a place for him to sleep in here.” “In here?” asked Urai. “Yep, Nick, your first and most important job while you’re training is to guard this building, I won’t tolerate any more vandalism to it, and find a brush, bucket, and some soap and start clean - inside and out.” “When do I get a gun?” asked Nick. “I didn’t get my first gun until after six months of brutal training,” said Wes. “Don’t think you’ll get one either until you’ve earned it, same as any other Merit.” Nick didn’t look happy about the arrangement, this was going to be hard work and nobody had ever forced him to really work before. “What if I don’t want to,” asked Nick. “You haven’t taken the oath yet,” Wes’ face turned dark and his eyes empty and dead. “Until you take the oath, you can leave any time you want, just don’t come back. After the oath, if you try to leave I’ll track you down and terminate you.” Nick swallowed and stared into those dead eyes, he wondered what a full-grown Gunslinger must be like. “I think I want to be a Gunslinger,” said Nick. The light came back into Wes’ eyes and he smiled pleasantly. Nick had never met anyone like this, the Gunslinger was fearless and… and… something he couldn’t put his finger on. “Well, then, better get to scrubbin,” said Wes. “What do we call you?” asked Nick. “Gunslinger Cain,” replied Wes thinking about the title, it was the correct one to use in this situation; at the Gunslinger Academy his title would be Merit, and if he was with his Gunslinger on assignment he would be Deputy, but on an assignment alone, he represented his Gunslinger and using the title of Gunslinger was correct. Wes looked at Urai; the man looked like a badly thawed fish. “Judge Cietan is in your office,” said Urai. Wes looked cross at the man; Urai should have told him the boss was in when he first walked in the door. Urai pointed at a door on the far side of the office. The Judge was sitting at the chair behind what Wes assumed was his desk. He didn’t really care about that, a desk didn’t make the man; Wes sat down on one of the chairs intended for visitors. “You’ve made quite the impression, Gunslinger,” said Judge Cietan reading a report. The Judge looked up after several moments of silence. “They are calling you the Angel of Death?” “You hired a Gunslinger,” said Wes casually. “If you want to change your mind I won’t resist and will go peacefully, but as long as I’m the Justice of the Peace I will do it the Gunslinger way.” The Judge rubbed his brow and put the report down he was reading. “We have laws, and procedures,” said the Judge. “You can’t just shoot suspects and handcuff people to the back of a moving bus.” “Justifiable use of Force, Imperial Statute 889.99, law enforcement officer is immune from prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of lethal force when threatened use of deadly intent is reasonably expected.” “That could justify the shooting, but how do you explain handcuffing an unconscious suspect to a moving bus,” asked the Judge. “Marshal Charter signed by Emperor Sajan Temojen I, Imperial Year 427, Summary Execution authorized at sole discretion of The Black Guard to maintain the Emperor’s Peace.” “You are not The Black Guard,” corrected Judge Cietan. “Emperor Tarin amended The Black Guard Marshal Charter in Imperial Year 5124 to include The Gunslinger Marshal Order.” “You are using a forty-six hundred year old law?” asked the Judge incredulously. Wes really didn’t care what the Judge thought, this was the way the Gunslinger Order worked and he was starting to get angry, he hadn’t asked to be their Justice of the Peace. “This is how I will do it, your Honor,” said Wes. “Let me do my job and I’ll fix your city, or send me to the prison island.” “Your friends have escaped, they stole a food ship and made it off the planet,” said the Judge. Wes grinned, so Jack made it. But now he was alone and trapped on this world doing a job he didn’t want. “I don’t want to be here, your Honor,” said Wes. “But I’ll do the job until our names are cleared, then I’m leaving.” “I intended for you to complete your law degree,” said the Judge. “I won’t be here long enough for that,” said Wes. “If you will excuse me, your Honor, I’m going to go throw Boss Needle off the Needle Tower now.” The Judge had little doubt with Colton Cyness’ reputation that he may very well succeed in clearing their names. He watched the angry young Gunslinger walk out of the building. The young man was justified being angry, but he was misplacing his anger. The Judge had expected that, it was natural that the boy would not see that the Gunslingers had betrayed him and if not for the Pyrans, he would be dead. He needed to find a way to show the boy that he could be so much more here than just someone’s deputy. The boy had a destiny here, if only he could see it. *** Raen stood behind Moeth and watched the Vid-News of the escape from Pyra. Colton had been found and was on the move. “I want to know where he is going,” said Moeth. “One of our Raven teams will get him,” replied Raen. “That’s not good enough, I want him.” “You’re carrying an egg, you can’t go anywhere right now,” Raen reminded her. “No, but you can,” said Moeth. “Go find him.” “You get Gar to let me go and I’ll get a team together.”