Christmas in Montora (The Chronicles of Montora Book 4) Page 6

  “Major, you will get medical care for the wounded. Do not let them speak to anyone. Round up the rest of this group and dump them on Parkland.”

  Parkland was the other major continent on Hepplewhite.

  “Yes, Margrave.”

  “Instruct your people not to talk about this incredible screw-up. Get whatever information you can from the prisoners so their families can follow later if they desire. I want at least five-hundred miles separation from Hercules Jones' group. You will then present yourself in my office.”

  “Of course, Margrave.”

  “Let's go, Alex.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Franklin's office at the keep had no windows, so other than artificial lighting, only the ambient light from the doorway intruded into the office. Signe walked in and passed her hand over the sensor to bring up the lights. Franklin sat behind his desk, staring into space.

  "Darling, what are you doing in here?"

  Franklin looked uncomprehendingly at her for a few moments before shaking himself into awareness.

  "We killed a bunch of people this morning, Signe. I don't know what I am going to do."

  "What are you talking about?"

  “That group of people Alex spotted down on the river? I took Martin's team out to run them off. I'm glad I didn't let you go. It got ugly, Signe; really ugly. We ended up opening fire on them. I thought the killing had ended, Signe. I'm a murderer."

  She walked across the room and put her arms around his shoulders.

  "That sounds horrible. It was self-defense?"

  "We could have stopped them, Signe. We just started shooting."

  He put his head down on his arms on the desk with a sob.

  "Darling, you've got to pull yourself together," she said. "It sounds like you were doing what you had to do."

  "You don't understand. People are dead because of me."

  Signe straightened and gazed at her husband for a few moments, then quietly walked out of the room. She stepped into the small cubicle occupied by Gerard Blakely.

  "Gerry, what happened out there this morning.?"

  He looked up at her, frightened.

  "I don't know Margravina. It was after the Margrave left here with the quick response team. The Margrave came back with Master Alex. He said something awful had happened.

  "Gerry, call Father Riggs. We need him up here right now."

  "Of course, Margravina."

  Signe walked further down the hallway to the Guard Captain's office. Nesmith was holding his comm unit to his ear.

  "That's right, Mr. Voss, I need both your shuttles today, if possible. I need them on the pad here at the village, and it needs to be kept as quiet as the grave."

  He paused, listening.

  "Right, the Margrave will cover the costs...."

  He listened some more.

  "... no, he's not available right now. He's trying to deal with a situation, okay?"

  Then, "Okay, I'll have somebody to meet the shuttles when they get here. This needs to be kept confidential. Uh-huh. Thanks, Mr. Voss. I know this was short notice."

  Alex looked up at Signe as he closed up his hand comm. "Did you talk to Franklin?"

  "Alex, whatever happened out there?"

  "It was very bad, Margravina, things went out of control. Somebody primed that mob because they weren't interested in backing down. They charged us, and Major Boodles opened fire. That broke them, but all Franklin could see were the bodies."

  "Where's Martin?" Signe asked.

  "The major is cleaning up the mess. We're going to drop the survivors on Parkland. I'm trying to line up the necessary lift so we can send the families out too - at least those who want to go."

  "I've got the Father coming up to talk to Franklin," she said. "Are you alright, Alex?"

  He shrugged. "I don't know. Well, yes, I do. It was bad, but we did what needed to be done. That's not to say I won't have nightmares. But, if the major hadn't opened fire, they would have certainly killed us. I've never seen anything like it."

  "I need to go back to be with Franklin. Please keep me informed on what is going on."

  "Of course, Ma'am."

  Signe walked back towards Franklin's office and slipped into the cubicle she used. She dropped into the chair and opened a comm link.

  In Cambridge, Glenn Foxworth smiled warmly as he saw the name on the incoming call.

  "Good Morning, Light of my Life."

  "Daddy, I need you to come up here. Right now."

  "Why? What's wrong?"

  "You just need to get here quickly. I can't say more over the comm link."

  Foxworth paused and thought quickly. "Let me go find your mother. We can be there within the hour."

  "Don't bring Mommy. Come alone."

  Foxworth felt like a black hole had opened in his gut. The strength went out of his legs.

  "I'm on my way, Signe."

  Signe walked back to the Margrave's office and met Riggs as he walked through the keep.

  "Father, you need to talk to Franklin," she said in a whisper.

  "What happened?"

  "Franklin took Martin's team out this morning to run off some squatters and things got out of hand. Alex said a bunch of people got killed. Franklin is not taking it well."

  Riggs shook his head. "I'm glad you called, Signe. Let me go talk to him."

  He slipped into the room. Franklin had turned off the lights again. Riggs closed the door and waved the lights on again.

  "I'd rather keep them off if you please," Franklin said as he raised his head. "Oh, it's you, Father. I guess you can come on in. I don't know who else I can talk to."

  Riggs moved across the room and slipped into a chair across from Franklin. "Tell me what happened."

  "Alex came in this morning and told me we had a group of prospectors panning in the river below the village. You heard about that fellow from Woods Crossing we put on the road gang because of that? Anyway, it was a whole bunch of people this time. I called out Martin Boodles' quick response team. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I knew I couldn't let it stand. If we didn’t stop it, we would be overrun by prospectors."

  "What started the confrontation?" Riggs asked.

  "Alex and I went out and told them they needed to pack up and leave. They got belligerent and tried to attack us. Martin opened fire."

  "He opened fire?" Riggs asked. "Was there a real threat?"

  Franklin sat in his chair with tears running down his face. "Oh, yes. It seemed like there were a hundred of them. Martin's force numbered twenty. They would have killed us."

  "It sounds like an unfortunate event, Franklin, but there was little choice."

  "But I am supposed to protect my people, Trace, not kill them. I should never have let things get out of hand like that. I keep replaying everything in my mind. The surprised looks on the faces of those men when the bullets hit. They weren't expecting to die today."

  "Nobody expects to die when they do, Franklin," Riggs said. "It looks to me like they fully expected to beat the living tar out of you and Martin's people. It was self-defense."

  "I know that," Franklin said. "But people still died. And Martin was awfully quick to open fire."

  "What are you doing next, Franklin?"

  He shook his head. "I don't know, Father. Well, yes, I do. We're dumping the uninjured people on Parkland. As we can identify them, we're going to get their families out there too. The wounded, we'll treat, but keep them out of sight."

  "That means you're trying to hide what happened?"

  "Absolutely. What happened was bad enough. I want to control the information flow."

  "You seem to be thinking clearly, Franklin," Riggs said.

  "I'm not stupid, Trace! The fact I just killed a bunch of people is tearing me up, but I've still got to deal with it. We're going to keep a lid on it. Those people weren't acting like a normal group of prospectors."

  "Some of those miners can get pretty aggressive," Riggs said.

&n
bsp; "I know, but that usually doesn't include taking on a military group. These guys were primed to explode."

  "You're getting your head together then?"

  Franklin snorted. "Yeah, Father. This was the most unpleasant morning of my life, and that's saying something. But I'm not going to throw myself off the allure or anything."

  "Then let's do this," Riggs said. He pulled a folio Bible out of his pocket and paged through it. "Let me read this passage from the Psalms, and then we can pray."

  Signe was standing in the hall when Riggs came out.

  "He's getting a handle on it, Signe," he said.

  "I thought he was coming apart on me," she said.

  "He was in shock. He's going to have a miserable day, but he is functioning again. I prayed with him. Would you like me to sit down with you?"

  "Thanks, Father, but I'm doing okay. I've been praying ever since I found out."

  "Okay. I guess I don't need to talk about this then, right?"

  "That’s right, Father. We need to keep it quiet. I'm not sure I agree with that, but that's what Franklin wants."

  "Please call me again, if something comes up," he said. "That's what I'm here for."

  "Thank you for coming so quickly, Father," she said.

  Moments after he left, Glenn Foxworth walked into the keep.

  "I got here as quickly as I could, Signe. What's going on?"

  "Glenn?" Franklin called from his office. "What are you doing here?"

  Foxworth stepped into Franklin's office. "My daughter called me in a panic and told me I needed to be here right now. What happened?"

  "Signe, come on in, too. Close the door."

  Once the three were in the room, Franklin waved them into the chairs.

  "I'm glad you're here, Glenn. We have a situation, and I am going to need help staying on top of it."

  Foxworth nodded. "And when I had my prayer and Bible reading this morning, I thanked the Lord for such a peaceful morning."

  "I guess it was peaceful in Cambridge, anyway," Franklin said. "Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for up here."

  Franklin sketched out the morning's events to the governor of Hepplewhite.

  "Somebody primed them and lit the fuse," Glenn said. "People don't normally act that way."

  "Once I started thinking again, that occurred to me also," Franklin said.

  "Can you keep a lid on things?" Glenn asked.

  "So far. Boodles' people will keep quiet. Besides Alex and Riggs, the only people who know about it are in this room."

  "So now you'll have to kill me," Glenn said. "Sorry. Bad joke."

  "I have to talk to Martin," Franklin said. "He was awfully quick to open fire."

  "You said there was a drone up?" Glenn asked.

  "I assume so. Something or somebody quickly took out the guy with the rifle."

  "I think we should look at the video from the drone, then. The other thing we need to do is figure out who set this up."

  "Right," Signe said. "Groups of people just don't suddenly decide to up and challenge armed troops."

  Franklin rubbed his hands together. "I had thought that if we kept it quiet, whoever set this up would have to leak it somewhere. Then we could unravel it."

  "You know what it looks like?" Glenn said suddenly. "Somebody is going to tell the Navy that there was a massacre here, and we'll have a full-scale investigation on our hands."

  "It was a massacre!" Franklin said. "There's no other way I can describe it."

  "But can't you see what's happening?" Foxworth asked. "The logical end-game is to throw you out of here, Franklin."

  "Would the Navy do that, Daddy?" Signe asked.

  "If things got nasty enough, they would. There have been several recent incidents on other planets, and people are yelling for the navy to do something. I don't know if Willard Krause could keep a lid on it or not."

  "I can't believe somebody would be so cold-blooded as to set something like that up," Signe said.

  "Believe it," Foxworth responded. "There are some animals out there. I've met them."

  "Maybe we could preempt things and bring in Admiral Krause first," Signe suggested.

  "I would want to think about that carefully," Franklin said. "Dad had to do some things when he was here that are best not mentioned. They were legal, but necessarily extreme. If we get an investigation going here, we may not be able to control where it goes."

  "Oh," she said.

  "Oh, is right, Sweetie," Glenn said. "Franklin, I'm just sorry you are getting stuck with this. I think it would be better if I got back to Cambridge. If something pops up over there, I can hopefully understand what's happening and take measures.

  "That makes sense, Glenn. I can control things here. Thanks for coming."

  Foxworth pulled himself to his feet with a groan. "Yeah, Franklin. We're family now. But, I'm glad to do it, anyway."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Signe and Franklin met Major Boodles when he returned to the village that afternoon. It was a very weary man who trudged into the Margrave's office in the keep.

  "Thanks for coming in, Martin," Franklin said.

  "I could hardly refuse, Margrave," Boodles said. "I just want to let you know that what happened this morning is entirely my responsibility."

  "I think we could make a pretty strong argument that it was my responsibility," Franklin said. "I am the Margrave, and I was there, you know. I do not intend to shift blame."

  "Begging your pardon, Franklin, but you were pretty hot this morning."

  Franklin shook his head. "I was. I've had the day to settle down and think about things. I was convinced that you had jumped the gun when you opened fire. Your Lieutenant Spillman sent me the video from the drone. When I reviewed that I understood you had made the correct call. This is one of those times when we really benefit from your experience."

  "I will never forget this morning," Boodles said. "I couldn't believe that a group of people was getting ready to go up against an armed troop."

  "Well, much as the loss of life bothered me, you stopped it before it really got started. If we had held off in an attempt to avoid action, it would have been far worse." Franklin continued. "You recognized this. I didn't. Thank you for your quick action. I apologize for climbing all over you."

  "I wish I could be appropriately grateful for your comments, Franklin, but all I feel is guilt."

  "I do too," Franklin said. "I was pretty torn up this morning."

  Both men looked down soberly.

  "If the two of you are done doing the guilt trip, can we move on to the purpose of the meeting?" Signe asked. Her eyes were flashing.

  Franklin looked up and grinned at Boodles. "My wife doesn't like it when I indulge in these pity parties. I get it from my Dad."

  "Your dad is really good at it," Boodles said.

  Franklin chuckled. "It's not really funny, but Dad can stretch them into weeks. I usually snap out of it in a couple of hours. Plus, Signe is notably not tolerant of such behavior."

  "Wives are good for that. My wife had a short fuse when I tried stuff like that," Boodles said.

  "Since the meeting has been forcibly brought to order," Franklin said, grinning at Signe, "tell me what's going on, Martin."

  Boodles nodded. "Most important things first. As neither of us knew at the time, my Lieutenant Spillman had a drone in the air over our little contretemps. Not only did she eliminate a critical threat with the rifleman, but she also discovered another player."

  Franklin leaned forward. "Do tell."

  "We spotted another individual in the woods. A couple of my people were able to pick him up. He had a video pickup and was recording the event."

  Franklin whistled. "That confirms what a couple of us were thinking - that this wasn't an accidental confrontation."

  "Exactly," Boodles said. "We have him in the brig up at the camp, by the way. Once we review things, then we will need to decide what to do with him."

  "This changes the complexion of thi
ngs," Signe said.

  "Indeed. My people have reviewed the video take, as have you. These people were obviously primed for an event. I'm not even sure they even intended to do any mining."

  "They weren't," Franklin said. "Alex has been watching Aaron Goldsmith pan in the river and concluded these guys had no idea what they were doing. It was a sham."

  "That tells us something too," Boodles said. "They had carefully prepared weapons camouflaged as tools. They were ready to go."

  "And your quick reaction stopped them, and I think it was the sheer shock. They obviously didn't think you would pull the trigger," Franklin said.

  "Can we get back on track?" Signe asked.

  "Right," Boodles, said. "Sorry, Signe. First item is the disposition of these people. The uninjured we have dumped in Parkland. There is an unnamed bay on the southeast side of the continent. It's sheltered and has a small river flowing into it. There's tillable ground all around it."

  "Sounds good, Martin."

  "Yes. Well, as part of the interview process we hoped to identify the families of these people and give them the opportunity to join their mates - like we did with Hercules Jones."

  "And how did that go?" Franklin asked.

  "Not well. Nobody would give us their names and where they were from."

  Franklin ran his hands through his hair. "A good strategy on their part, for the short term anyway. But it also shows they were well organized."

  Signe said. "This sounds worse and worse."

  "We have the wounded in the infirmary at the camp," Boodles continued.

  "What was the butcher's bill?" Franklin asked.

  "Ten killed outright. We lost two more. Three are expected to recover."

  "One of the regiment got hit right off the bat, Martin. What happened there?"

  Boodles snorted. "Sergeant Inge Happner. She caught the bullet in her shoulder, but the ballistic cloth stopped it. Knocked her down and she missed the action. She was mad as heck too."

  Franklin grinned broadly. "Is she the one who looks like a two-armed Woogie?"

  "Franklin!" Signe yelled.

  "The one and only," Boodles replied. "Her nickname in the unit is Popeye."

  Franklin laughed loudly. "I'm glad she's on our side, Martin. So, she wasn't injured?"