GALACTIC MARSHAL
BY Hilltopper

CHAPTER 6

We had walked a little ways into the mine when there was a loud noise and we were suddenly thrown to the ground. Rocks and dust poured over us. I looked up in time to see a very large beam falling toward me. I tried to roll away but it landed on my legs trapping me. Then, the lights went out.

“Linda, are you OK?”

“I think so, just covered with debris. How about you?”

“I’m OK except a beam has landed on my legs. I can’t move.”

“Shit! Let me find a flashlight.”

A few minutes later, I saw a stream of light swing towards me.

“Oh my, that is way too heavy for me to lift. Damn! I guess we are trapped. As far as I know, there are no other entrances.”

By this time, Mary was screaming into my ear. I ignored her for the moment.

“Don’t worry everything will be OK.”

“How can you say that. No one knows we are here. I can’t believe this mine caved in.”

“Oh, someone knows we are her alright. The mine did not cave in, the entrance was blown up. I guess you were right about my life.”

“This is one time I wish I was wrong. OK, what now? You seem to know something that I don’t.”

“Well, I guess it’s confession time for me now. But before I say anything about that, I want you to know that I feel we are real good friends and I will never willingly do anything to hurt you.”

“That sounds ominous. OK, confess.”

I hesitated and then sighed.

“I am working with the capital police. I was sent here to find and arrest a fugitive. Her name is Sandra Sterling.”

I’m glad I could not see Linda’s face right now. This had to be a shock.

“You’re a cop?”

“Yes and I have a transceiver behind my ear. Mary Brown knows where we are and will be getting us out soon.”

“I can’t believe this. There is no way you are a cop. Why are you lying to me? Are you trying to give me hope of a rescue? No, I can see you are telling the truth. I guess this means Detective Brown can hear everything we say.”

“Yes”

“Shit! I confided in you!”

“Look, what you did in the fight was to save my life. You did not commit any crime. As far as wanting to leave this planet, I don’t see a problem with that since you are not from here. What you might have done somewhere else should have no bearing on it.”

“Do you really mean that? What about this Detective Brown?”

“She is listening and doesn’t see a problem either.”

Mary squawked into my ear.

“Jonnie, I never said that. What is going on here?”

“Linda, you are my friend. I would not be alive if it wasn’t for you. We will get out of this and you will be OK.”

“I want to believe you. This doesn’t sound like the Gina I thought I knew.”

“I am sorry about that. Being under cover usually means acting a part. But, when I met you, I was not acting. I was as scared as I seemed. You quickly became my rock.”

Mary was once again in my ear.

“OK Jonnie, I get the picture. You can not talk. We have checked out the mine entrance. It is a mess. We are going to bring in some heavy equipment. Just hold on, it will be a while.”

I told Linda that help was on the way but would take a bit. We held hands and mostly made small talk. My legs were really starting to hurt.

“You know, Gina, Karen is going to be upset if you don’t come back. It looked to me like she has a thing for you.”

“I am afraid so. I have never really had a girl friend. My story about an abusive partner was just that; a cover story. A lot of what’s happened the last few days has thrown me for a loop.”

We started hearing noises. They became louder and then, suddenly, something broke through throwing light into the mine. A head poked into the hole.

“Is everyone OK?”

“We’re fine but Gina here is trapped by a large beam on her legs.”

The face looked puzzled.

“We will have this opening enlarged enough to get through in a few minutes. Just hang in there.”

She was right. Within 15 minutes, enough debris had been cleared away to allow several of Mary’s team to get into the mine. One of them walked up to Linda.

“Where’s Marshal Harper?”

“Who?”

She looked down and saw me lying under the beam.

“Oh, there you are. We will get that beam off you in a second, Marshal.”

I looked at Linda. Her eyes were wide and her face showed recognition and shock. I motioned with my head for her to get out. She left quickly without saying a word.

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I hurried away from the mine as fast as my legs would carry me. My head was spinning. Not only was Gina a cop but, as it turns out, a male marshal. I am still having trouble believing it. She was all feminine when we were together. There is no way she could fake that. On top of that, I all but told her that I was the Sandra she was sent to arrest. Yet, she seems totally disinclined to do it. Could it be she really is my friend? But she isn’t a she but a stinking marshal. God, this is too much. I reached the Midnight End and went to Karen’s room.

“Well, Linda, are you ready to go? Did you convince Gina to go too?”

“Detective Brown has Gina.”

“What? How did this happen?”

“We went into a mine and someone blew up the entrance. I guess Brown must have been watching because her team rescued us. She took Gina away but I sneaked out.”

“This makes no sense. Why would she arrest Gina? Surely, it isn’t because of that fight.”

“I don’t know. Gina was trapped under a beam and had some injuries. Maybe she was just taking her to medical.”

“OK, she will be in the capital then. We will take the jump jet to my warehouse. Hopefully, we can locate Gina.”

Karen looked wistfully away. God, this is a nightmare.

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The beam was lifted off of me as Linda slipped out. The pain, thankfully, kept me from thinking further about her. Mary came through a few minutes later with a stretcher.

“Can’t you stay out of trouble?”

“Apparently not.”

A medic was looking at my legs.

“It doesn’t look too bad. I don’t think any bones are broken. Your right knee is a mess though. Does it hurt anywhere else?”

“Just my lower back.”

“OK, let’s get you on the stretcher and out of here.”

I was taken to the hovercraft and we drove to the command post. We went inside and I lay down on a cot. Mary sat down beside me.

“Well, Jonnie, I guess this blows your cover. What happened to Linda? She was gone when I got into the mine.”

“Yeah, that could be a problem. She heard one of your team call me Marshal Harper.”

“Shit! We might as well close this down then. We will never find Sandra now. I’ll go to your room at the boarding house and get your things. Just rest, as soon as I get back, we will get you to medical in the capital.”

The medic had given me a pain shot so, after Mary left, thankfully, I drifted off.

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I left Jonnie and headed toward her rooming house. I wasn’t sure what to think about Linda. I know she and Jonnie have become good friends but the revelation could change things. Plus, I couldn’t figure out why she wanted to leave Fledora so fast. I mean, I sure had no reason to arrest her. I wonder what she is afraid of. I arrived and went up to Jonnie’s room. With her things packed, I had a thought and checked Linda’s room. Sure enough, her things were gone. But what I found in a drawer shocked me. There was no doubt about it. Linda and Sandra was the same person. I grabbed Jonnie’s suitcase and headed back to the command post.

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I woke up as Mary sat down beside me.

“Jonnie, we have another bigger problem. I found evidence that Linda is Sandra Sterling. Also, a report came in as I arrived stating that a jump jet left the airport a little bit ago. I suspect that Sandra is on it.”

“Oh, Mary, I am so sorry. I figured it out yesterday but I didn’t want to admit it. Damn it! I have never had a good friend before. Linda has become special to me. I just could not arrest her.”

I broke down completely. Mary came over to me and held me close.

“It’s OK, Jonnie. This whole assignment has been so hard on you. I want you to know that I consider myself to be your friend. We will work it out.”

I finally calmed down.

“Thank you. I too think of you as a friend. I just didn’t know if you could feel that way about me considering what you know.”

“All I know is that you are a wonderful person that I would like to get to know better. Let’s get you to medical and we can decide what to do later.”

I was loaded on the hovercraft and we went to the capital. I was given another pain shot so I slept the whole way. Upon arriving at medical, I was taken directly to a treatment room. The abrasions were treated and the knee scanned for damage. The transceiver was also removed.

“Marshal Harper, your right knee is severely strained. We will put a brace on it but you need to stay off of it as much as possible. Your back is OK; just muscle spasms.”

Mary walked in with a drawn face.

“I just talked with the council. That jump jet landed beside a warehouse Karen owns near the space port. We think the plan is to smuggle Sandra aboard a cargo ship tonight. We have some people watching her hanger.”

“Hmmm, OK, I want to be there.”

“That is not necessary. We can handle this.”

“Yeah, but it’s my job.”

“OK, as soon as you get released, we will join the team.”

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After the jump jet landed, Karen and I went into her warehouse.

“Linda, I’m going to try to find out what happened to Gina. Just hang loose. We will get you on that cargo ship just before it leaves. It is automated, so no one will be inspecting it.”

Karen left and I thought to myself, ‘She is bound to find out who Gina really is. This is going to be bad. She can definitely hold a grudge.’ A little bit later Karen came back with a puzzled face.

“The only person taken to medical from Basteria was a wounded police officer. By the description, it has to be Gina. That can only mean one thing, she was working under cover. I can’t believe I was so blind. This has to be Mary Brown’s doing. Damn! I will get even with that bitch if it’s the last thing I do. Right now, though, we must get you out of here.”

Karen took me to a tunnel leading from the warehouse.

“This leads directly to my hanger. When you get there, enter this code into the ship’s door. Once inside, get into the pod that you’ll see there and everything else will be automatic. You have been a good friend and I will take care of you.”

“Thank you, Karen. I’ll see you on Broadskye.”

I entered the tunnel and headed for the ship.

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Mary and I left medical and joined her team at the space port. She turned to the team leader.

“So, any activity?”

“Nothing. No one has come any where near the building. The cargo ship is scheduled to lift off in an hour.”

“Shit! I was sure Sandra would try to get on the ship.”

I spoke up.

“I am going to slip into the hanger and look around. I’ll holler if I see anything.”

“OK, be careful. I know you like Sandra but she is dangerous.”

“Sure, be back in a few.”

I entered the hanger by a side door. The ship was smaller than I thought it would be; maybe 30 feet long. I was walking around to the far wall when I saw Linda come out from behind some barrels. She looked up at me in surprise.

“Hey Gina or should I say Marshal Harper. Are you planning to arrest me now?”

Her tone was bitter. I couldn’t blame her.

“Oh, Linda, this has gone to hell. There is no way I can arrest you. We are friends. Yes, my job here is to find Sandra and arrest her and, yes, I know that is you. What are we to do?”

Her look softened and she smiled.

“You sure can get yourself into some tough spots. Just turn the other way and I will get on the ship.”

“It won’t work. Detective Brown and her team are outside. They won’t let this ship leave. She figured out that you are Sandra.”

“I guess this is it then!”

“No, there has to be away out. By the way, how did you get in here without them seeing you?”

She pointed behind her.

“There is a tunnel leading to one of Karen’s warehouses. Speaking of Karen, she knows you are an under cover cop but not who you really are. Frankly, I still can’t believe you are the great Marshal Harper.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel much like him either to be honest. I really enjoyed our walks together. I will miss being with you.”

“You mean that don’t you?”

“Yes! The way I see it, the only way the search for you will be stopped is if it is believed you are dead. How about this? You go back down that tunnel. I will blow up this ship and say I saw you get on it. The report will state that you are dead. Tell Karen I am sorry for fooling her. She helped me through a tough situation and I am grateful. I am sure she will be able to find another way for you to escape especially with no one looking for you.”

“I can’t believe you would do this for me. The Marshal Harper I heard about always got his man.”

I looked at her sadly.

“Unfortunately, he no longer exists. Now get out of here.”

She smiled, said “We will meet again.” then went into the tunnel. Some of the barrels near the tunnel contained flammable liquids. I rolled them under the ship and started a fire next to them. I backed away and shot into one. A huge fire erupted. I ran out of the hanger and yelled for everyone to get back. A few moments later, it blew. Mary looked at me.

“What the hell happened in there?”

“I saw Sandra getting into that ship and told her to stop. She fired and hit some flammable barrels. She closed the hatch and I ran. You know the rest.”

“So, Sandra is dead.”

“No doubt about it.”

“Yeah, no one could survive that. OK team, let’s get out. There is nothing else for us to do here.”

I looked back at the burning hanger. The tears were real. I had forsaken everything I stood for on this mission. Heaven help me!