Read Online America's Galactic Foreign Legion - Book 23 - Bandits by Walter Knight - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Walter Knight
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confidently, having gone down this route before. It's a slippery slope. “Come out. Do it now!”
“Just as I thought!” replied Cactus-Claw. “You're all bluster. You have no warrant, only the word of the human pestilence Foreign Legion!”
“We should bomb them from space,” I suggested. “One hit from the the T. Roosevelt Space Weapons Platform, poof, they're gone!”
“He raises some valid points,” advised the spider commander. “I can't just allow citizens of the Empire to be accosted by the Legion. The Emperor has decreed compliance to the rule of law and due process. Do you have an arrest warrant, or am I to merely trust your word?”
“I have a treaty signed by your Emperor that allows pursuit and execution of bandits across the DMZ.”
“Is that how you deal with Arthropodan citizens? Summary execution?”
“Yes, and so do you. Besides, drone images show there's also scorpions in that building. That makes them all enemy combatants.”
“Scorpions?” exclaimed the spider commander. “That changes everything. Damn the collateral damage and jailhouse lawyers. We don't even have to drop leaflets warning them to get out of the house. As soon as I get a judge to sign off on an airstrike, they're all dead.”
* * * * *
A spider judge arrived carrying a shot gun in one claw and a search warrant in the other. “You were right to get a warrant,” advised the spider judge, firing a blast at a scorpion in the window. “The law is nothing to be messed with, especially when those godless scorpions are involved.”
“I want to take them alive,” I said, remembering Private Crack. “We're missing a legionnaire hostage.”
“Oh, hell no,” replied the spider judge, climbing atop an armored car turret to man the 50 cal machine gun. He fired a full burst into the building. “Come out, you pimples on the ass of galactic society. There is no escaping justice on my watch!”
“My lawyer says I have a right to privacy and a right to be secure in my home!” shouted Cactus-Claw, ducking behind the stone wall. “I'm filing an accountability complaint against you with the Bar Association.”
“Good luck with that, you scumbag!” replied the spider judge, sensing this Cactus-Claw was a real trouble maker. “You don't own that house, so you don't have rights to be secure!”
“I have squatter's rights!” said Cactus-Claw triumphantly, waving his communications pad. “Look it up!”
“Shit,” grumbled the spider judge, pondering legal quaundries. “My search warrant trumps your squatter's rights. Surrender, or I'll find you in contempt of court, a capital offense!”
“My scorpion friends say they're just tourists lost on a hike. They won't surrender without guarantees for their safety.”
“Okay, the godless scorpions can go!” I shouted, getting into it. “But you and your gang will face American justice!”
“Let the scorpions go?” asked the spider judge, pulling me aside for a judicial conference. “Trespass is a serious matter in the Empire, especially for scorpions. It's the law, written somewhere. Aiding and abetting scorpion trespass is just as bad. It sets a bad precedent the Court cannot in good conscience allow.”
“We'll kill as many scorpions as we can catch,” I promised, turning to the bandits. “Do we have a deal? Come out now, or there will be no mercy. I want hostage negotiator Harold Crack returned, too. We leave no legionnaire behind.”
“Ask your pet spiders about the ghost-in-a-jar!” replied Crazy-Sting. “Cactus-Claw sold him to the spider commander!”
Cable
“Just as I thought!” replied Cactus-Claw. “You're all bluster. You have no warrant, only the word of the human pestilence Foreign Legion!”
“We should bomb them from space,” I suggested. “One hit from the the T. Roosevelt Space Weapons Platform, poof, they're gone!”
“He raises some valid points,” advised the spider commander. “I can't just allow citizens of the Empire to be accosted by the Legion. The Emperor has decreed compliance to the rule of law and due process. Do you have an arrest warrant, or am I to merely trust your word?”
“I have a treaty signed by your Emperor that allows pursuit and execution of bandits across the DMZ.”
“Is that how you deal with Arthropodan citizens? Summary execution?”
“Yes, and so do you. Besides, drone images show there's also scorpions in that building. That makes them all enemy combatants.”
“Scorpions?” exclaimed the spider commander. “That changes everything. Damn the collateral damage and jailhouse lawyers. We don't even have to drop leaflets warning them to get out of the house. As soon as I get a judge to sign off on an airstrike, they're all dead.”
* * * * *
A spider judge arrived carrying a shot gun in one claw and a search warrant in the other. “You were right to get a warrant,” advised the spider judge, firing a blast at a scorpion in the window. “The law is nothing to be messed with, especially when those godless scorpions are involved.”
“I want to take them alive,” I said, remembering Private Crack. “We're missing a legionnaire hostage.”
“Oh, hell no,” replied the spider judge, climbing atop an armored car turret to man the 50 cal machine gun. He fired a full burst into the building. “Come out, you pimples on the ass of galactic society. There is no escaping justice on my watch!”
“My lawyer says I have a right to privacy and a right to be secure in my home!” shouted Cactus-Claw, ducking behind the stone wall. “I'm filing an accountability complaint against you with the Bar Association.”
“Good luck with that, you scumbag!” replied the spider judge, sensing this Cactus-Claw was a real trouble maker. “You don't own that house, so you don't have rights to be secure!”
“I have squatter's rights!” said Cactus-Claw triumphantly, waving his communications pad. “Look it up!”
“Shit,” grumbled the spider judge, pondering legal quaundries. “My search warrant trumps your squatter's rights. Surrender, or I'll find you in contempt of court, a capital offense!”
“My scorpion friends say they're just tourists lost on a hike. They won't surrender without guarantees for their safety.”
“Okay, the godless scorpions can go!” I shouted, getting into it. “But you and your gang will face American justice!”
“Let the scorpions go?” asked the spider judge, pulling me aside for a judicial conference. “Trespass is a serious matter in the Empire, especially for scorpions. It's the law, written somewhere. Aiding and abetting scorpion trespass is just as bad. It sets a bad precedent the Court cannot in good conscience allow.”
“We'll kill as many scorpions as we can catch,” I promised, turning to the bandits. “Do we have a deal? Come out now, or there will be no mercy. I want hostage negotiator Harold Crack returned, too. We leave no legionnaire behind.”
“Ask your pet spiders about the ghost-in-a-jar!” replied Crazy-Sting. “Cactus-Claw sold him to the spider commander!”
Cable
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