Galactic Axia Adventure 1: Escape to Destiny (16 page)

“Now git off my property,” Agnes said, her voice hard and flat. The driver reached down nervously and fumbled with the starter before getting the ground car to start. The blue car and the red one behind it backed out onto the road, Agnes’ sights unwavering on the driver. When they roared off down the road away from the farm, she lowered the gun and clicked it on the safety.

 Picking up the spent brass, Agnes walked back inside and stood her rifle beside the door where she could get to it easily. She glanced at the clock and wondered where Robert could be. She knew he was fixing that back fence but the commotion up front should have brought him running.

 Looking out the back door, she scanned the fields for her husband. Not seeing him, she went back inside, picked up her rifle, and ran down the back steps toward the barn, the gun cocked and ready.

Not far from the Hassel farm, the pair of cars skidded to a stop on the loose gravel road and picked up three men who had been hiding in the brush. “Did you get 'im?” asked the driver of the blue car.

“Yeah, we got the old fool good,” answered one of the men as he reloaded his pistol from an ammo pouch on his belt. His breath came in short, rapid breaths, caused by the exertion of running across the open field.

“Well, that old lady gave us trouble up front and just missed me,” the driver said through a wicked grin framed by crooked teeth.

“You’re lucky,” said another. “You should'a seen the fence post she blasted!” A couple of the others had a good laugh at this. The driver grumbled something and threw the ground car into gear. Gravel sprayed as both vehicles sped down the lane and back toward town.

∞∞∞

Not long after the attack, the siren of a hover-ambulance wailed along the country road. It pulled into the Hassel farm and settled down near the back porch. The medics bailed out and ran toward the barn. Agnes met them, and together they entered the structure. Within minutes, they emerged carrying a litter between them. They loaded it into the ambulance, helped Agnes into the back, and shut the door. Siren screaming, they raced toward town and the emergency team waiting at the hospital.

∞∞∞

The insistent ringing of the phone woke Jake and Sherry. He fumbled for the instrument and sleepily answered it. What he heard caused him to sit straight up in bed. Sherry, alerted by her husband’s sudden motion, sat up, and at Jake’s insistence picked up the extension in the adjoining room.

“Okay, now repeat it again for Sherry,” she heard Jake say to whoever was on the line. Then she heard Agnes’ voice.

“I wanted to call and tell you that Robert has been attacked and shot. He’s unconscious but will recover.”

“Any idea who did this?” Sherry asked.

“As I was telling Jake,” Agnes continued, “at the same time he was shot, I was having trouble with some drunks in the front yard. We think they might be friends of Delmar’s brother, Dorn.”

“How is Robert now?” asked Jake.

“They still have him in surgery to repair damage from the gunshot,” Agnes said. Jake could hear Agnes’ voice break just a little.
Probably just these old transmitters
, he thought. “He was lucky. The bullet hit one of the reinforcing plates in his thigh and deflected away from the artery.”

“Did Robert say anything?” Sherry asked.

“No. He was unconscious when I found him in the barn, and was still out when they took him into surgery. The emergency room doctor said someone roughed him up pretty bad. He has a concussion and some broken ribs.”

“Do you want us to come?” Jake asked, Sherry echoing his question.

“You might have to,” Agnes answered. “The doctors aren’t sure how long he may remain unconscious or in the hospital. The next hearing is tomorrow, which can be postponed for ten days. But if Robert can’t be there, I don’t know what we’ll do.”

“We’re on our way,” Jake said. “You take care and contact the liaison officer at Jasper Station. He’ll be able to help you until we get there, which should be seven or eight days.”

“Okay,” replied Agnes, her voice breaking a little.

Jake and Sherry could hear a commotion over the phone. “Listen, I’ve got to go,” Agnes said. “The doctors need to talk to me about Robert.”

“Goodbye,” said Jake and Sherry together. “And Agnes?”

“Yes Jake?”

“Our prayers.”

After hanging up the phone, Sherry returned to the bedroom and dressed. While she went down the hall to Delmar’s room, Jake made a call to his ministerial assistant to have him cover the temple services. Then he put a call through to the liaison officer at the space field. While he waited for the second call to connect, Jake considered his options and knew what he had to do—reactivate his reserve trooper status.

A short time later, a military flitter, a low-level sky cab, settled down outside their home and Jake, Sherry, and Delmar got in. Racing only a few hundred feet above the city streets, it was soon at the space field and parked near a fast cruiser painted Axia black. The three ran up the ramp and the hatch closed.

The sub-lieutenant on duty greeted them. “Welcome aboard, Major Sender, Mrs. Sender, Mr. Eagleman. Let me show you to your quarters.” They followed the man down the passageway as the ship lifted off the pad and accelerated into the night.

∞∞∞

The presiding judge gaveled the hearing to order at nine a.m. and motioned the parties forward. He noted that while the social agency had two lawyers, the petitioning party had only an old woman flanked by two troopers.

The judge was perplexed by this and asked, “Where is the petitioner, Mr. Robert Hassel?”

“He is currently in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound and a concussion and remains unconscious, Your Honor,” one of the troopers, a lieutenant, answered. “Mr. Hassel was the victim of an attack at his farm.”

Agnes was amazed to see the original regional director, Prudence Hornbeck, sitting with the two agency lawyers. Agnes asked how this was possible and discovered that the director’s job was secured by appointment, and that she had resumed her position after a short probationary period.

“Do you intend to withdraw the petition?” asked one of the lawyers representing the social agency.

“No, we do not,” replied the lieutenant. “We petition the court to grant a ten-day extension of these proceedings until either Mr. Hassel is able to represent the petition, or his role is assigned to another competent party.”

“This is most unusual!” protested one of the agency attorneys. “I move that we proceed as scheduled.”

The judge thought for a moment. He didn’t care for lawyers who tried to run his court for him.

“Overruled,” replied the judge. “I hereby grant the petitioner a ten day extension on these hearings pending appointment of a substitute petitioner. However, these hearings will proceed as scheduled ten days hence whether or not the substitute has been qualified.”

The judge motioned for the lead attorney for the social agency to approach the bench. “I will decide what is and what is not unusual during these proceedings, not you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, your honor,” cowed the lawyer.

Banging his gavel again, the judge added, “Case postponed.” The court clerk announced the next case on the docket and Agnes and the two troopers left the courtroom.

“Will Jake be here in time?” Agnes asked the lieutenant. “The doctors said Robert is now in a mild coma and they aren’t sure when he’ll come out of it.”

“I understand that Major Sender, his wife, and Mr. Eagleman are already enroute,” he answered. “They should make it with a day to spare.”

“I hope so,” Agnes said. “I can’t stand those hotshot lawyers.”

“Don’t worry,” the other trooper said. “Everything is being done as quickly as possible.”

“Agnes?” the lieutenant asked, “do you want to go home or back to the hospital?”

“I want to be with Robert but I probably should go out to the farm to take care of the chores,” she answered.

“Don’t worry about the farm, ma’am,” said the other trooper. “Several of the men have volunteered to take care of it for you so you can stay at the hospital with your husband.”

“Thank you.” Agnes said wearily.

The troopers escorted Agnes to their waiting ground car. As they drove away from the courthouse, the lieutenant considered the mess that had developed and determined to put a call through to Mike Azor as soon as he could get back to the office.

∞∞∞

Mike was relaxing in his cabin with a good book aboard a regular transport ship when the intercom buzzed.

“Yes, what is it?” he said into the wall unit.

“We have a priority message for you, sir,” the comm trooper reported.

“On my way.” He lay down the book and shrugged into his uniform jacket. Winding his way through the passageways to the comm center, he was soon there.

“Here’s your message,” the comm trooper said, handing an envelope to Mike. Mike thumb-printed the register and then opened his message.

Scanning the slip of paper, Mike noted that it had come from the liaison lieutenant back on Erdinata. “I need to speak to the captain immediately.”

“I thought you might,” the trooper replied. “I signaled the captain and she’s waiting for you on the bridge.”

Leaving the comm center, Mike went forward to the bridge. The captain looked up from where she was consulting with another crewmember.

“Trooper Thomas notified me that you were on your way,” she said. “What can I do for you?”

“As you know, I just received a priority message,” Mike began. “It concerns the reason Our Lady sent me out here in the first place. It looks as if I need to reinstitute the Imperial Directive and return to Erdinata as fast as possible.”

“I thought that might be the case,” the captain replied. “I had my second lay in the new heading in preparation for such an event.”

“How soon can we get there?”

“Running in the low red zone on the throttle all the way will get us there in about nine or ten days,” she answered. “She’s an old boat, so we don’t have the speed of the newer ships.”

“Well, we better do it. Time is of the essence,” Mike said. “With your permission, I need to send several messages to the parties involved, as well as to Our Lady.”

“Tell the comm trooper to give it priority status.”

“Thank you, captain.”

As he turned toward the comm cabin, he heard the captain issue orders for a course and speed change. Entering the comm center, Mike felt a vibration in the deck as the ship strained forward with everything she had.

Chapter Twelve

The trio watched the cruiser touch down on the designated landing pad. The hatch opened. The ramp extended and the captain came out first according to safety protocol. Signaling to those in the ship, the captain stepped aside and waited while guards were posted. Then came the passengers, who together with the ship captain approached the waiting trio.

One of the passengers broke away from the group and ran to the woman waiting with the two troopers and picked her up in a long, embracing hug. He didn’t know why but Mrs. Hassel had somehow become the mother he’d lost so long ago. His love for her and Mr. Hassel ran deeper than for any other human beings in his life, including his brother.

Jake and Sherry took turns hugging Agnes and she introduced them to the lieutenant. They expressed their concerns about Robert’s health and asked if he’d improved since their last communique.

“I know you’re all anxious to visit but unfortunately we have a hearing tomorrow and had better be ready,” the liaison lieutenant said, motioning for them to the parking garage where they’d left the ground car.

“I received your brief on the ship on the way in,” Jake said. “I still feel like something is missing. Could you please bring all of us up to date?”

“Certainly,” said the lieutenant. “With the permission of Agnes, I have temporarily assumed the role of petitioner so she can be with Robert.”

“How’s he doing?” asked Delmar.

“When I left there an hour ago, there’d been no change,” Agnes said. “He’s stable and recovering from his injuries, but he’s still in a mild coma.”

“Have they caught whoever attacked him?” Sherry asked.

“Not yet,” answered the other trooper with Agnes. “They have no real leads, except the suspicions of Agnes. They found no evidence beyond the bullet in Robert’s leg. Efforts to match the ballistics of the bullet with any known weapon have been fruitless. We suspect the attack on Robert and the confrontation with Agnes at the front of the house are related, but can’t prove anything. What would be ideal would be Robert’s testimony or identification of his attacker, but he’s still comatose.”

“What about the hearing?” Jake asked.

“It convenes at nine a.m. tomorrow, sir,” the lieutenant answered. “The guardianship issue is up for review with a petition by Robert to have it changed. By law, there can be no change without the death of the judge or the original guardian. The social agency is flexing its muscles again and has two lawyers presenting their case. How Robert ever got the court to consider his petition is beyond me. Normally, it would be rejected by the court since it doesn’t challenge the current law.”

“What about the references Robert made to the Imperial Directive that Mike Azor enforced?”

“Unless that’s reactivated by Mike or the empress, we haven’t a leg to stand on,” the lieutenant answered. “I sent a message to Mike and he’s returning as soon as he can. The best estimate is tomorrow evening, which may be too late.”

“Then we’ll just have to wing it tomorrow,” Jake said. “I have an idea that may stall things but I have to make some calls tonight before I’ll know if it’ll work.”

Arriving at the hospital, they were ushered into Robert’s room. It unnerved Delmar to see Mr. Hassel lying there without response. Agnes slipped an arm around Delmar and they stood holding each other for several minutes. Jake and Sherry left the room to let them have some privacy.

Later, Agnes and Delmar joined the Senders in the waiting room and the four continued on to the Hassel farm. As they passed his old home, Delmar saw that his brother was having a party of some sort. It disappointed the boy but did not surprise him to see how badly the farm had deteriorated since he had run away so long ago.