Donnie scooted in closer, and Fergie smelled the fury and the fear, saw the light of the wolf in Donnie’s eyes.
“I work for people up there you don’t want to piss off. Guys that can do stuff to you you don’t even want to think about.” Donnie paused to let that sink in. “You ever heard of Jimmy Eyes? You ever heard of him?”
“I heard of him,” Fergie said.
Donnie showed him a nasty grin. “Yeah, I thought you maybe did.”
“What I heard is he’s out, he’s not in. He got in off the shuttle a couple of days back.”
Donnie blinked. “Where the hell you hear that?”
“Dinner last night. Before the Judges picked me up. It was a setup is what it was, I wasn’t doing anything at all. All I was doing was coming out of Jimmy’s house.”
“You was—huh?”
“Coming out of Jimmy’s house.” Fergie grinned. “You don’t get it, do you? You stupid groon, I’m Jimmy’s brother. I’m Fergie Eyes.”
Donnie went white. “No, you ain’t either.”
“You want Fergie Eyes’ boots? You want his mucking socks?”
“Hey, forget it, okay?” Donnie shook his head and scuttled off like a crab who wasn’t wearing shoes or socks. “I don’t want nothing, man!”
“Right,” Fergie said. “Go straight to hell, man.”
FOURTEEN
“When the Judge Hunters came for you, Joseph. What did you say to them?”
“I think they probably told you what I said to them, sir.”
“I’m not asking them, Judge Dredd. I’m asking you.”
“I told them to go straight to hell, sir.”
“Joseph, Joseph…” Chief Justice Fargo ran a hand across his face, as if the gesture might relieve the great weight that seemed forever to drag him down.
The cell was scarcely large enough for one man. Dredd sat straight on the edge of the steel shelf that served prisoners for a bed. Manacles bound his hands behind his back, and another set held his legs.
The sight of this sent a jolt straight to Fargo’s heart. Even in his worst nightmares, he had never imagined something like this. Anyone else, perhaps—things could happen, things could go wrong—even among a body of men and women like the Judges. But not Dredd, not Joseph Dredd.
“I have to ask you this,” Fargo said. “I ask it as Chief Justice, not as a friend.”
“And I’ll be glad to answer it, sir. I’m innocent. I have not committed any crime.”
Fargo looked at his hands. “I have to tell you this. The Council is said to have irrefutable proof against you. That’s the reason this is not merely an inquiry. This is a full Tribunal, Joseph. I don’t have to tell you what that means.”
“No, sir. I understand. And with all due respect, sir, you shouldn’t be here. You’re a member of the Court. The Articles—”
“Damn the Articles, Joseph! If I choose to come here as your friend, then I will!”
Dredd was startled by the fury, the sorrow in Fargo’s eyes. He wanted to look away, but he couldn’t do that. He could not dishonor the man like that.
“I’m sorry,” Fargo said, “I had to ask. I don’t believe the evidence, whatever it is, but I had to face you myself.”
“Yes, sir. I know that. And I’m grateful to you, sir.”
“Is there… anything you need, Joseph? Anything I can do?”
Dredd shook his head. “How could this happen, Judge? Something like this. I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know. I’ve thought of nothing else since they informed me. I’ll use every resource at my command to find out, and get to the truth of this. You know I’ll do that. I will fight for you, Joseph.”
“I know that, sir.”
Chief Justice Fargo stepped to Dredd’s side and squeezed his shoulder.. “We’ll see this through. We’ll get it over and done.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll do that, sir.”
Dredd stood when Fargo left the cell. He looked at the bare, white walls. Something was growing at the edge of his mind and he couldn’t say what it might be. It was something different, something he had never felt before. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it at all. He didn’t want it in his head anymore.
When it finally broke through, it came in upon him like a rush of cold, dark water. He closed his eyes and a cry stuck in his throat. He saw the unfamiliar feeling for what it was. He was alone. He had experienced that terrible emotion once before, when he had to weigh friendship against his vow to uphold the Law. He had tried to sweep that from his mind, to put it aside as best he could. And now it was happening once more. Now he knew the awful feeling of loneliness again.
The screen flickered, brightened. The video suddenly focused on a hallway, a closed door. Digital numbers raced across the bottom of the image, blinking the time and the day. For a few seconds there was nothing. Then, a dark figure appeared, a figure in the unmistakable black armor of a Judge. The Judge drew his Lawgiver and pressed the button inset in the door. The door opened. Light from the room flooded the hall.
“What is it? What do you—”
Vardis Hammond’s face was stricken with fear.
“Dredd! No, please—!”
A quick flare of light in the Judge’s hand, a nearly-imperceptible sound. Hammond doubled over and fell. The Judge stepped over his body, walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
Judge Hershey drew in a breath and held it. Beside her, Dredd stared at the screen, unable to believe what he was seeing.
A low murmur swept through the Council Chamber. A full Tribunal was a rare occasion, and seating had been brought in to accommodate the crowd. Every off-duty Judge in Mega-City was on hand, and every Cadet from the Academy. Members of the media, who were seldom allowed in the Hall of Justice itself, let alone this chamber, had been alloted a special section today.
Judge Dredd stood on a raised dias before the table of Judges. Chief Justice Fargo sat in the center chair. Beside him were Judges Esposito, Silver, and Griffin. Judge McGruder, acting as Prosecutor, stood to Dredd’s left. Judge Hershey stood to his right. Fargo had expressed his concern when Dredd announced that he had chosen a Street Judge as his Counsel for Defense.
“I trust her,” Dredd had said simply, and that was that.
“Before we continue, I would like to make a personal statement,” McGruder said. “I have observed your career from the outset, Judge Dredd, and I have the highest regard for you. Nevertheless, you understand that it is my duty to prosecute this case to the best of my ability.”
“I would expect no less, sir,” Dredd said.
Fargo leaned forward. “The Court shares Judge McGruder’s sentiments. Proceed, please.”
McGruder nodded and faced the table of Judges. “The video you have just seen is prima facie evidence that the Defendant is guilty as charged. Mark it People’s Exhibit number—”
“Objection, Your Honor!” Hershey boldly stepped forward. “The video we have just seen is inadmissable as evidence. I ask that it be rejected as People’s Evidence.”
McGruder stared. “What? It is perfectly clear that—”
“If I may be allowed to explain, Your Honor?”
Judge Fargo nodded. “Please do, Counselor.”
Hershey gave Dredd a furtive glance. She had known McGruder had strong evidence, but she hadn’t seen the video before. The sight of that dark figure gunning Hammond down in cold blood, then watching a Judge walk into the apartment to murder Hammond’s wife… She hoped her emotions wouldn’t betray her, that none of the Judges had been watching her at that particular moment.