Justice Read Online Free Page B

and
his eyes ran over the room.
    “ Human mostly. But it was massive. You have no idea. And it
was rabid; unstoppable almost.”
    “ Could it have evolved on an outer planet like
Zeaton?”
    “ No way. That place is pretty much a wasteland now, but even
when it was populated, humans were the biggest predator. Plus, this
thing was man-made; no doubt.”
    “ Someone put it there?”
    “ Confederacy. The trail of damage led straight out of their
ship,” said Nova.
    “ What were the Confederacy doing there?” Jack asked. “And on
the same point, what were you doing there?”
    Nova gave him
a stern look before gazing back down at her drink. “We weren’t
there for a job.”
    “ Why the hell else would you go?” Jack asked, leaning in
closer.
    Nova looked up
and stared around the room. Everyone was involved in their own
private conversations.
    “ Aart’s got crazy ideas. He thought there might be evidence
there.”
    “ Evidence of what?”
    “ Whatever the Confederacy is up to, and maybe how to stop
them,” Nova whispered. She trusted Jack with her life but the rest
of the people on Drigoon could be Confederacy spies for all she
knew.
    “ What?” Jack hissed and sat back in his chair. His eyes
whirled around the room and the colour drained from his face.
“Nova, are you crazy? You could be dropped into a black hole just
for thinking about saying that.”
    “ I know,” Nova said. “And I’ve told him that a hundred times
but he won’t listen. And you know I can’t just let him wander in on
his own.”
    “ He’s obviously lost his mind. You should definitely let him
wander in on his own,” Jack said. He took a hearty swig of his
drink. It seemed to calm his nerves somewhat.
    “ You don’t know the half of it,” Nova said, taking her own
sip.
    “ Did you find anything?”
    “ No, that thing found us first. We had to run for our
lives.”
    “ Do you think someone put it there to scare you
off?”
    “ I don’t think it was intentional,” Nova said. “There were a
lot of Confederacy bodies mixed in with the others.”
    “ Idiots.”
    “ Tell me about it,” Nova said, her voice dry.
    “ Then tell Aart to pull his head in,” Jack said. “The
Confederacy has been especially on edge lately. They’ll sooner kill
him then listen to what he’s got to say.”
    “ I’ve told him that a hundred times,” said Nova, with a
sigh.
    Jack took a
long swallow. “You know there are a few of the big names here.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Yep. The one with the red suit is Goffredo. He runs all the
trade in and out of the Inner Galaxy.”
    “ Wow. What’s he doing all the way out here? Surely he could
retire to Haven whenever he wanted?”
    “ Yeah, I believe he’s here to support Geron. Word is they’ve
become pretty close.”
    “ Good for Geron.”
    “ You bet. I can only imagine the type of house Goffredo lives
in. The woman drinking the tall glass of neon blue is Zorka. She
owns half of the Pleasure District and a few moons in the Inner
Galaxy. The one over in the corner watching everyone is Tibor. He’s
Chief Secretary of the Human Confederacy. He knows pretty much
everything there is to know about the Confederacy.”
    “ If he’s a chief, what the hell is he doing out here on a
backwater planet? Doesn’t he have minions for that?”
    “ Ah, but that’s how he got so much power. He just sits and
listens, learns everybody’s secrets and then uses them to get what
he wants. You can’t hire minions for that.”
    Nova swallowed
and burned the man’s image to her memory. A man holding secrets
could often be more dangerous than a man with a gun.
    “ Yep, and there’s a heap more in here who are worth more than
you and I ever will be. I guess the rich and famous want to get in
on this booming terra-forming business.”
    “ And how do you, a lowly bounty hunter, come to know all these
people?” Nova asked, finishing her drink and pushing it onto the
bar.
    “ One of the benefits of being in