Justice by S.J. Bryant Page B

Of course,” said Nova. “Our list of suspects is just as long
as ever because we can’t assume they were missing for
hours.”
    “ Exactly,” said Cal.
    “ Great.” Nova snatched the antigravs from her bag. “I think
we’ve taken all we can from here. I’ll cart them both back and
we’ll continue our investigations there. I want to get the hell out
of this damned forest.”
    She attached
the antigravs to the robot and hauled Geron’s remains on top of its
body. The metal lumps whirred into life, lifting the robot, and
Geron, a few inches from the ground. She threw the rope around the
robots arms and recreated her simple harness, slipping her arms
through the loops. The soft tug of the bodies sent a new shot of
pain through her injured shoulder, but she gritted her teeth and
kept moving.
    “ You’re going to have to skirt around,” Cal said into her ear.
“Thanks to the low oxygen levels, the fire you started is burning
out, but you’ll have to go around it.”
    “ No problem,” said Nova.
    She adjusted
her course. It would mean she’d take longer to get back to the
dome, but after all the strain of getting to the President, a part
of her didn’t want to go back. It was all very well to trek through
a plant-riddled jungle to find a body, but trying to solve a murder
investigation with the likes of Zorka on board was another thing
entirely. The last thing Nova felt like doing was hanging up her
holster and talking to those closest to the President.
    If only there
was a way to solve the investigation using brute force. Of course,
she was fairly certain she could get the truth out of most of the
complex if she was left to her own devices, but no doubt the
Confederacy would have some problems with her methods.
    Thoughts of
the Confederacy made her stomach clench. Jack’s words still haunted
her mind, running in circles like a broken record. If what he said
was true, and she didn’t doubt it, then she and Aart had a much
bigger problem than they’d initially thought.
    She glanced
over her shoulder at the President. Had he participated in
cannibalistic rituals? If he had, then he probably deserved his
fate in the end. She tried to reconcile the polite and charismatic
man she’d seen talking at the ceremony with a cannibalistic savage.
It was impossible, and yet he wouldn’t be the first one. It was
even harder to try and reconcile that image with the dead corpse
dragging along behind her.
    It took her
the rest of the day to get Geron’s body within sight of the
complex. By then the sun was setting and the trees cast long
shadows. The jungle grew dark and if she had taken even half an
hour longer, she was sure she’d have been plunged into total
darkness. The trip back had been relatively uneventful. Either the
plants had decided she wasn’t worth the effort and slunk back into
the darkness of the trees, or they were avoiding the fire.
    “ Thank goodness,” said Jimmy when the airlock opened and Nova
stepped in.
    “ Not quite,” she said, gesturing to the corpse dragging along
behind her.
    “ Oh my –” Jimmy clapped a hand over his mouth, turning away
from the body. He gagged and his body convulsed, colour dropping
away from his face.
    “ Why don’t you take five?” Nova asked kindly.
    Jimmy nodded,
not daring to speak as he hurried away from the President’s
remains.
    “ I guess that solves one question,” Cal said, hovering to
Nova’s side.
    “ Yep. We need to get the medbot in here right away. Try to
keep it on the quiet.”
    “ Affirmative. Also the fire choked out about an hour ago, it
won’t reach anywhere near the complex,” said Cal.
    “ Good. That’s one less thing to worry about.”
    Cal hovered
over to the nearest complex-wide communication booth and spoke with
the local medbot. He had only just backed away from the booth when
the barricaded door burst open. The silent shipping bay was
suddenly filled with shouting and stomping feet.
    “ Jimmy! Five minutes is up,” Nova