To The Stars

“Can I help your honor?”

“Yes. Has this vehicle been searched yet?”

“No, sir.”

“Then open the other door. I’m coming up.”

Jan climbed the ladder and swung in through the open door. The driver, beefy and middle-aged, roughly dressed and wearing a cloth cap, was all alone. Jan slammed the door shut, turned back to the man and drew the pistol.

“Do you know what this is?”

“Yes your honor, I know, yes I do.”

The man was stammering with fear, staring wide-eyed at the muzzle of the pistol. Jan could not afford to feel sorry for him.

“Good. Then do exactly as I say. Drive through the gate as you always do. Say nothing. I shall be on the floor and will kill you if you so much as open your mouth. Do you believe that?”

“Yes, I do! I certainly do…”

“Start driving.”

The turbine whined under the hood as they started forward. They moved for awhile, they must be close, then the driver touched the brakes. Jan pushed the gun up between the driver’s legs and hoped that the raw fear in the man’s face could not be seen by the guards below. A voice said something indistinct and the driver took a sheaf of papers from the door pocket and passed them down. And waited. Jan could see the sweat streaming down his face to drip from his double chin. He did not move the gun.

The papers were handed back and the driver let them drop from his fingers to the floor as he kicked the truck into gear and rolled it forward. They drove for less than a minute before a loud voice sounded in Jan’s ears, overriding the murmurs of all the others.

“Emergency. An officer has been killed, a sub-lieutenant. His uniform is missing. All patrols, all units, check in with your commanders. All gates sealed at once.”

They were just that little bit too late.

Six

The truck was out of sight of the gate, but still on the main road, passing now through a dark and deserted warehouse area illuminated only by wide-spaced street lights.

“Turn at the next corner,” Jan ordered. There was a good chance that pursuit might be close behind them. “And again at the next corner. Stop.”

The air brakes hissed and the truck shuddered to a halt. They were in a back street, a hundred meters from the nearest light. Perfect.

“What time is it?” Jan asked.

The driver hesitated, then glanced at his watch. “Three… in the morning He stammered.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Don’t worry.” He tried to reassure the frightened man; he also did not lower his gun. What time is dawn?”

“About six.”

Three hours of darkness then. Not very much time. But it was all he had. Another, even more important question. “Where are we?”

“Dinkstown. All warehouses. No one lives here.”

“Not that. The base back there. What’s its name?”

The driver gaped at Jan as though he had lost his mind, but finally answered. “Mojave, your honor. The space center. In the Mojave desert…”

“That’s enough.” Jan had decided on the next step. It was dangerous, but he needed transportation. And everything was dangerous now. Take your clothes off.”

“Please, no, I don’t want to be killed… !”

“Stop it! I said you wouldn’t be hurt. What’s your name?”

“Millard, your honor. Eddie Millard.”

“Here’s what I’m going to do, Eddie. I’m going to take your clothes and this truck and tie you up. I’m not going to injure you. When they find you, or you get loose, just tell them everything that happened. You won’t get in any trouble…”

“No? I’m in that trouble now.” There was despair as well as anger in the man’s voice. “Might as well be dead. I’m out of a job, the least of it. On the welfare. Police will talk to me. Might be better off dead!”

He shouted the last words hysterically and reached over to clutch at Jan in the seat next to him. He was very strong. Jan had no recourse. The gun caught the driver in the forehead, then a second time when he still kept struggling. Eddie Millard Sighed deeply and slumped, unconscious. What he had said was true, Jan realized as he struggled to strip off the man’s clothes. One more victim. Are we all victims? There wasn’t enough time now to think about things like that.

As he pushed the heavy man from the cab, lowering him as best he could to the roadway, Jan began to shake. Too much had happened, too quickly. He had murdered too many men. It was a brutal galaxy and he was turning into another one of the brutes. No! He wouldn’t accept that. The means never justified the ends — but he had been fighting solely in self-defense. From the time he had sacrificed his comfortable position here on Earth, there had been no turning back. When he had discovered that he had been one of the captors in a police state he had made a decision. Personally, he had lost a lot. But there were others who believed as he did — and the galaxy-wide rebellion had been the result. It was war now, and he was a soldier. For the moment it had to be just that simple. Recriminations would come after victory. And the revolutionaries would triumph, had to triumph. He dared consider no other outcome.