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    Judgment
    Judgment
    Judgment
    Ebook109 pages1 hour

    Judgment

    By Richard Johnson

    ()

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    About this ebook

    When a Homeland Security jet carrying suspects across the country crashes, the survivors find themselves in a place unknown and different.
    Their only help is not what he first appears to be and their actions may very well influence the survival of not only themselves but of their loves ones as well.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRichard Johnson
    Release dateDec 4, 2012
    ISBN9781301766482
    Judgment

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      Book preview

      Judgment - Richard Johnson

      JUDGMENT

      By Richard Johnson

      Published by Richard (Rick) Johnson (Desert Dragon Productions) at Smashwords.

      Copyright December 2011 Richard Johnson

      ISBN 9781301766482

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Chapter 1- Destiny

      Chapter 2- The Crash

      Chapter 3- First Contact

      Chapter 4- Salvage the Mission

      Chapter 5- Sex Under the Stars

      Chapter 6- The Rest house

      Chapter 7- Semantics?

      Chapter 8- Political Truths

      Chapter 9- It’s Not Cheating

      Chapter 10- Apologies

      Chapter 11- More Explanations

      Chapter 12- Rescue of the Cops

      Chapter 13- The Geneva Convention

      Chapter 14- Betrayal

      Chapter 15- Desertion & Conclusion

      Glossary

      About the Author

      JUDGMENT

      By Rick Johnson

      Chapter I- Destiny

      I was sitting under a tree trying to work my way through Musashi’s _Book of Five Rings_ when the call came in. I was struggling with the original Japanese for although I spoke the language fluently, my literary abilities in that language left much to be desired and I resisted the urge to flip the book over to the Bergstrom Translation which most people felt was the definitive translation of the classic. My Beloved was playing in the stream with the Falanxes while our Rabbucks grazed, but I was now on duty. She and I had been lovers for five years and I, in my passion, wanted to marry her but both our Clans forbade the marriage for I was only 24 and wouldn’t be legal to marry until next year. At that time, I could petition to court her. She always laughed at that thought for she was more than twice my age and had mellowed a bit with experience and would tell me that we had centuries before us so why rush? If I did this job well, my reputation would be made and I could name my price and my price would be Jarissah!

      We both saw the thing appear in the sky, long and silver, hard wings arching back as it bellowed smoke as it fell. I didn’t need to smell the stink to know that it was polluting the air and ground with unburned oil. But the thing slowed and then crashed in the distance, the sound reaching our ears a moment later, black smoke billowing into the sky, then fading as the world cleaned Herself.

      Jarissah came to me, naked and took my hand, her tail caressing my cheek as I reciprocated. Then, sighing, we walked over to a termite mound that had been recently attacked by a vorton and so was more concerned with survival than defense, so if we were careful to not damage the mound further, we could climb it safely.

      The mound was rock-hard mud nearly two spans high but rough enough to climb easily and soon we were on the summit, the heat of the rock baking our bare feet. I pulled my anopticon and looked into the distance, then handed the device to My Beloved. The craft was broken but barely burning, parts scattered across the plains. There were survivors but they were still hidden or unconscious so the hour or more it would take me to reach them would give them a chance to calm down and ready themselves.

      It’s time, she whispered.

      Yes, I replied, suddenly scared. I had been trained for this, my father was a Speaker for six sets of three terms. I chose a related path and went into International Law, always assisting others but this was my first solo assignment.

      We climbed down from the mound and saddled our rabbucks in silence then she leaned to me, kissed me and asked, Please be careful. Those kind are dangerous and scared and fear makes them even more dangerous. Come back to me alive and well.

      I held her tight and promised to do my best then we separated, she to return to the town, I to my destiny.

      Chapter II- The Crash

      The aircraft came down hard, but not as hard as expected for a jet that had blown its only remaining engine. They all should be dead but miracles happen and although the flight crew was dead, most of the passengers and prisoners were still alive and mostly well save some bruises, a concussion and a couple broken arms and ribs.

      Special Agent Marsh dragged the injured from the wreckage to a bushy rock, forcing the less-injured to help. We have to get away from the aircraft before the fuel tanks explode, he insisted. First his men, then the dead and finally the prisoners. Hell, they were better off dead anyway but his job was to get them back for interrogation and trial. With a good confession, there wouldn’t even be a trial, just a very long prison term. That was the nice thing about the American Judicial system, the civilians thought everyone got a fair trial but a fair trial set too many people free. A few threats of extreme punishment and overly long sentence often led to a confession which led to a plea-bargain and that guaranteed prison without all the mess of a trial and lawyers who were more concerned with ‘civil rights’ over national security. Civil Rights was what got America into the mess it is in. Send them all to prison because everyone is guilty of something and when the Internment Camps President Bush was building were finished, there would be room enough for them all.

      Laying there, the wreckage stripped, Special Agent Marsh looked over his charges. Two men, three women and the three female prisoners, still handcuffed. Their assets consisted of two UZIs with four magazines of 9mm, eight 9mm handguns, 120 rounds of ammo and whatever food and water they had brought aboard when they boarded, which wasn’t enough. If they stretched it, they had food and water for maybe… today. And this desert didn’t look like there was any food or water nearby.

      It didn’t look good. Do you think they got the Mayday? Agent Collins asked. She was new but showed promise. She followed orders and never questioned authority.

      Probably. We should look around and see if there is any water to be had.

      The bush looked strange, the leaves were green but the edges red. Waxy, he broke one and chewed then spat the acrid mass to the ground. One of the prisoners screamed and drawing his UZI, Special Agent Marsh and the rest went on guard.

      A snake crawled by on its ten legs. The diamond-back pattern showing easily in the sun but fading as it sought the mottled shade. Special Agent Marsh started at the thing then blew it away with a half dozen rounds, the

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