Read Online Justice by S.J. Bryant - Free Book Online

received
a buzz, though probably not the kind he was looking for. The
journalists had last been seen putting on suits, before they headed
out to investigate the surface of Drigoon and solve the mystery of
the missing mechanics. All they did was create more mystery when
they never returned.
    All of this
went through Nova’s head as she crept deeper into the forest. There
were so many foreign plants. While her heart raced, she couldn’t
help but enjoy the coloured foliage and many flowers, shining blue
and purple. Some of them glowed with bioluminescence. Others
followed their progress through the trees; their flowers moving to
face her as she walked past. Those were the worst. They sent a
shiver down her spine as if she was being watched, which she
supposed she kind of was.
    “ Damned creepy place,” Jack said.
    “ Yeah, although if we survive we could probably write a book
about it and retire rich.”
    “ Ha! Yes I suppose that’s one option.”
    They walked on
in silence, scanning the ground and the trees for any sign of
movement. As they got deeper into the forest and away from the
complex, less sunlight filtered through the trees until they were
left in a deep gloom. Mushrooms sprouted at the base of the trees
and left powder scattered on the ground around them. The tiny
spores lifted up into the air with the motion of their passing,
floating away on the breeze to land some distance away and start a
new collection of mushrooms.
    “ How monitored is the intercom?” Jack said
suddenly.
    Nova glanced
back at him, not that she could make out any of his features behind
the reflective helmet. “Not at all. Cal made some adjustments.
They’re only linked to each other and then we’ve got our personal
communicators to connect back with the ship.”
    “ Good,” Jack said. “I wanted to resume our conversation about
Aart.”
    “ I know, I know, he’s a fool and I should shut him up,” Nova
said, snapping a passing twig.
    They’d come to
a particularly thick region of forest. The tracks disappeared
through a wall of foliage but no matter how hard Nova pushed
against it she couldn’t make her way through. She pulled a long
knife from her belt and hacked away at the vines and branches that
blocked their path. She cursed whoever they were following because
their tracks barely changed; it was as if they’d walked straight
through the wall of trees.
    “ That’s not what I was going to say,” Jack said as he too
pulled out his knife and worked away at the green wall. “I had to
keep up appearances in there. You know the Confederacy has eyes and
ears everywhere.”
    “ Oh,” Nova said, her eyebrows furrowing as she hacked and
slashed with her knife.
    “ He’s right, Nova. Things in the Inner Galaxies are out of
control. The Confederacy has gone mad with power. I see a lot more
of it during my personal security jobs, but it’s all hushed up.
They block communication; change stories; kill anyone who won’t
follow their instructions. From what I’ve managed to put together,
it’s a powder keg.”
    “ But why? Where’s the conflict coming from?” Nova
asked.
    “ Well, firstly you’ve got people like Aart. They’re ordinary
people from the Outer Galaxies and the Resources District and they
want fair treatment. They’re sick of being bullied by the
Confederacy’s lackeys. Normal peaceful methods haven’t worked so
they’re rioting. There are more people like Aart than you would
guess, each of them gathering their own little forces.”
    “ But it’s useless. Small divided armies would never make any
difference to the Confederacy,” Nova said.
    “ I know that, but there’s more.” Jack lowered his voice as if
that would stop anyone hearing their conversation. “Some of the
higher ups in Quadrant Two? You know, the people who really run the
Resources District? There are rumours that they’ve gone mad;
insane.”
    “ That’s ridiculous. That would just be stories started by the
rioters; people like