Chewing Rocks (21 page)
Authors: Alan Black
The last few days
of the flight to Ceres none of the men met her eyes as she stood in the hatchway watching Hunter tend to the buckets. She was sure her treatment of the pirates was not good princess behavior, but it would have to do for now.
When the
Arizona City docks were close enough to pick up on active visual scan, she noticed all but one of the Whyte Mining Dock berthing ramps were filled. The Sedona’s usual spot was the only open space in the normally near empty dock areas. Sno tapped her locator beacon data-board. It showed the Winkin and the Blinkin in slips next to the Queene Mining ship. Also, every ship Whyte Mining owned was in dock or parked in near space.
Sno
did not broadcast any specific comms; she just sent the usual ship-to-shore docking comms. She also refused to respond to any of the dozens of calls vying for her attention. In her rush to get back to Ceres, she had almost caught up to the Winkin, Blinkin, and the captured Queene Mining ship.
M
ost of the comm chatter Sno overheard was about the pirated Queene Mining ship. Savage and Lee had just docked. Sheriff Bob was already banging on their main hatchway, calling for their surrender of the ship. But the two miners had locked themselves in and refused to come out.
Sheriff Bob
was appealing to Dad to help. Dad’s response was clear and broadcast on a wide open frequency stating the miner’s claim was between them and Queene Mines. He stated he did not own the ship. The miners were contracted to him, but they were not direct employees. He did not have any connection to Queene Mines so there was not anything he could do.
Sno slid
the Sedona into her usual berth and clamped it down tight. She went to the main hatch and opened it to a smiling Sheriff Bob.
Sno watched the smile disappear to wherever lost smiles go.
She said, “Bob, any bets on the speed of my shotgun versus the one third gravity of Ceres?”
“Look, Sno-” Sheriff Bob started.
“No,” Sno interrupted, but she spoke loud enough for everyone on the docks to hear. “Miss Whyte, if you please.”
“What?” Bob stammered.
“I think our relationship has reached a point where you should call me Miss Whyte.”
Some of Bob’s confidence seemed to be returning
. He said, “Look, Miss Whyte. Just put the shotgun down and no one will get hurt.”
“Too late, Bob. People have already been hurt.”
“I mean, no more people need to get hurt.” Bob gestured behind him. “You are not the only one with a gun. Without looking, I can confidently say my deputies have you covered with guns of their own, so you just put your shotgun down.”
“Well, Bob
,” Sno replied. “I can see and you are right. I see half a dozen barrels pointed my way and a few things come to mind. I can see your nephew Randy with a pistol pointed at…well, I can’t tell where it is aimed.”
She looked pointedly at the young man. “Randy, who
in the hell are you planning on shooting? Put that old thing down you idiot before you shoot yourself.”
Randy looked confused, but lowered the weapon.
Sno said to Bob, “Not much better. Randy’s pistol is pointed at the deck. Bob, did you think to check to see what kind of ammo loads your deputies are using? No? I can see by your look that you didn’t. The city shields are a bit thicker around the docks, but not enough to stop a solid bullet from that old slug thrower Randy is carrying. Punching holes through to vacuum might be a better result than shooting the thing off in a crowd. Any shot that doesn’t punch holes through to vacuum should ricochet half a dozen times and still hit someone it wasn’t intended to hit.”
Before Bob could respond,
Sno continued “Don’t look now, but your deputies aren’t the only ones armed in this crowd. Mind you, I am not saying who is pointing guns at whom, but I have friends in this crowd, Bob. You are on my docks after all. This could really get messy.”
Sno was indeed surprised
to see not just her Dad but Vittie standing next to her father with a pistol pointing at a deputy. She looked uncomfortable, but she was there. Sno also saw every crewman who worked for her father. Each man was armed and looked as if they were ready to begin blasting away at the drop of a hat. She also saw Brandy Johnson and her brother Norm both standing in very confident shooting stances with pistols unwaveringly pointed at nearby sheriff’s deputies.
Sno winked at Johnson and mouthed “Thank you.”
Johnson winked back, but her face was set as stone. Norm, however, blushed a bright red.
Sno
continued looking around. She saw Larry from Wright L&S. “Hey, Larry?”
“Yeah, Princess
, I hear you,” Larry called back.
“How much would it
cost to clean these docks if someone starts shooting?”
“Enough that Wright L&S would stay out of red ink for a couple of years
, since some of these folks drink so much they leak toxic sludge. But then, I certainly intend to be involved in making the mess so should give you a discount as my old revolver will punch a few holes in Randy no matter where he is pointing that pistol.”
Randy’s gun clattered to the deck. Some of the other deputies did
not know where to point their guns, but were bravely trying to cover everyone at once. Voices started to rise.
Sno leaned in and tapped the shotgun’s barrel against Bob’s nose. “And Bob, even if your deputies start shooting, I am sure I can trigger this puppy at least twice before I go down. Wanna bet
on two instead of three?”
Willem shouted over the increasingly loud chatter. “Okay, quiet down.
Everyone take a breath.”
He continued, “
Bob, you are off base here. If you have warrants to serve, you give them to Abramsohn and Sons Investigations. They are employed by Whyte Mining. They are bonded and required to serve any legitimate warrants.”
Sno said, “What about it, Bob? You got warrants on me?”
Bob nodded.
Sno said, “Speak up, Bob.”
Sheriff Bob replied, “Yes. I have warrants here for you and some others.”
Sno eased back and lowered the shotgun barrel, but she still kept it pointed at the sheriff. She nodded at the crowd, “Dad’s right. Everybody ease up.” She looked at Sheriff Bob, “Okay, before I submit
, I have the right to know who filed the complaints and the nature of the warrants.”
Bob looked relieved, but still had difficulty keeping his eyes off Sno’s shotgun. “Well, I have
two warrants on you filed by me for disturbing the peace, one on these docks and one at Mario’s. I have a warrant on you filed by proxy from Queene Mines for conspiracy to commit theft of a space craft and a second warrant for actual theft of a space craft. I have warrants for theft of a space craft for the men you have on board your ship. Plus I have a warrant signed by Evelyn Queene for the return of her mining ship number…” He started to reach into a pocket to grab the warrants.
Sno waggled the end of her shotgun. “The number isn’t necessary, Bob. Everyone on this dock knows which ship you are talking about.
Wait a minute; you said a couple of those warrants against me were signed by proxy? What the hell does that mean? You can’t sign a warrant by proxy.”
A small, balding man stepped forward. “
Miss Whyte, I am Mister Abramsohn. I am employed by Whyte Mining Corporation for investigations and security on these docks. Sheriff, may I see those warrants?” Sheriff Bob carefully reached into his pocket to pull out the warrants. He did not hand them over to Abramsohn.
Abramsohn turned to Sno. “Miss Whyte,
I am sorry to contradict you, but there is a clause in our bylaws that allows for a proxy to sign a warrant if the original complainant is temporarily unavailable or incapacitated and the warrant is deemed necessary to keep the perpetrator from running before the original complainant can enforce their rights.”
Sheriff Bob nodded, “See,
proxy warrants are completely legal.”
Abramsohn turned to the Sheriff, “Damn, Bob
, that isn’t what I said.” He snatched the warrants from the Sheriff’s hand. “Okay. The original complainant on these proxy warrants is Evelyn Queene and they are signed by proxy by some guy named Wallace.”
Sheriff Bob nodded. “That is correct.”
Sno said, “It still doesn’t sound legal.”
Abramsohn said, “You are correct, Miss Whyte. I don’t believe these warrants signed by proxy are legal.” He turned to the
Sherriff, “Bob, is Evelyn Queene on Ceres?”
“You know she is.”
Abramsohn replied. “Yes, Bob. I know she is here. Is she incapacitated in some serious manner precluding her from testifying to her own warrants?”
Sheriff Bob looked nervous. “Um
...no, I don’t guess so. Well okay, no. Last I saw she was fine. But, I do have these other warrants I signed against Sno, I mean, Miss Whyte. They are legitimate.”
Abramsohn replied, “Yes, they appear to be and I will enforce them to the letter of the law.”
Sno replied, “The hell you will.”
Abramsohn replied calmly, “I certainly the hell will. You have already paid me to do so.” He held up a hand to stall her response. “
It is just as certain that I will enforce these warrants I have for your signature.”
Sno smiled, “Really? Cool!” She glanced up at her
dad and saw him nod. She put her shotgun on the deck and called out. “Anyone got a pen? Okay, Mister Abramsohn, what have you got?” She saw Sheriff Bob turn and start to walk away. She said, “No, Bob. You stay right here.”
Abramsohn nodded. “I agree
, Bob. It would be best if you stay here, but it might be prudent to get your deputies off these docks. Miss Whyte may have put her shotgun down, but we still have a very deadly situation if someone even mistakenly lets a shot fly. Don’t you agree?”
Sheriff Bob nodded. “Okay. I will stick around to make sure these warrants are enforced, because some of them are good, right?”
Abramsohn nodded.
Sheriff Bob continued, “
If you will excuse me I will ask my men to back off.”
Sno looked at the stack of warrants Abramsohn held. “That is quite a stack.”
“Yeah, my father always said if you can’t beat them with logic then baffle them with bullshit.”
Sno said, “Your father?”
The man smiled. “Abramsohn and Sons Investigations: I am part of the son portion.”
Sno nodded, “And these unsigned warrants are bullshit?”
Abramsohn continued smiling. “Some of these are and some of these aren’t. They are all worthless unless you sign them and unless you are willing to back up your signature.” The man glanced at the shotgun on the deck. “I presume the famed Miss Whyte will not hesitate to protect her interests?”
Sno smiled back, “Damn skippy,
Mister Abrahmsohn’s son. I am ready, able and very, very willing.”
Abramsohn said, “Alright then, Miss Whyte. Sign these as I give them to you: th
is set of warrants is for the each of the four men you are holding on Sedona. They are for the assault in Mario’s, the assault in space, kidnapping, false imprisonment, verbal battery, stalking with intent to harm, theft of water and air in space, enforced non-consenting nudity, sexual harassment, leering, ogling and general mopery.”
“
No piracy charges?”
“
Not against you.” Abramsohn continued. “These are just for your signature. I have a full stack of such warrants against these four men to be signed by your miner friends as soon as we can get them out. Those warrants do include piracy charges. However, I will warn you for full disclosure I must advise these pirates they can file warrants against you for false imprisonment and other such charges, since they have been in your care.”
Sno smiled, “Good. Let ‘em sign. But the
y’re earthers; you let them know the consequences of signing against anyone here on Ceres.”
“Of course, n
ow I also have warrants for signature against Evelyn Queene and her assistant Wallace for attempted murder, sabotage of the Sedona and conspiracy to commit murder. There are other charges in here that are really bullshit, but these three we can make stick.”
Sno signed each warrant as handed to her. “I am ready to drag her
earther ass down to the commons now and teach her the meaning of Arizona City justice.”
Sno was startle
d to hear her dad at her shoulder, “Easy, Princess. We will let Mister Abramsohn handle this in a good, calculated order. Remember, you have a lot of friends on Ceres who might get hurt if we tussle with Queene Mines without a clear cut legal resolution.”
Sno nodded, “I get it, Dad. Princess behavior.
Abramsohn’s son, you and your deputies may have access to Sedona. Be careful with Hunter. He isn’t too bright, but he isn’t a bad guy. And watch out for McNally, he has some pretty severe damage to his kneecaps. And I have one more warrant that I want signed.”
Abramsohn nodded. “Fair enough. I think I got a blank one available just in case.”
