The Final Battle Read Online Free Page A

sentence?” he asked.
    “I think they will.”
    “Let them. President Diouf will never allow it.”
    François Hammel threw his hands up in frustration. “How can you know that?” he snapped. “Things have changed since you were last back home. The Hammers have your people running scared, and even Diouf has her limits.”
    “I’ve met the woman, François. I can trust her with my life. I don’t think the death sentence will be a problem.”
    “Your call,” Hammel said with a disbelieving shake of his head.
    “Any luck tracking down Lieutenant Sedova? Was she kidnapped too?”
    “There is no sign of her here on Jamuda. The Feds are only interested in you. Anyway, that’s it for now, so I’ll see you … let me think … yes, tomorrow afternoon,” Hammel said. He pushed his chair back and climbed to his feet. “That’ll give me time to talk to the people at Justice. I need to see how they feel about handing a man over to the people who had him kidnapped.”
    Unable to sleep, Michael lay awake long into the night. If the young lawyer from the public defender’s office was right, he was headed for a Fed court. The thought of the fear-fueled storm that would break over his head the minute he stepped onto Fed soil terrified him. He’d had a taste of what lay ahead after the Battle of Devastation Reef. What Giorgio Pantini from World News and his fellow gutterscum from the trashpress had in store for him would make that unhappy time pale into insignificance.
    Not that the trashpress was the problem. Staying alive was the problem, and he had trouble seeing how he’d do that.
    If he escaped extradition, he would end up dead. Jamuda might be a neutral system, but that would not stop the Hammers from coming after him. By now, it would be no secret where he was being held. He had seen the news reports; the Hammers would have seen it too.
    If he was extradited, he’d be tried in a Fed court, found guilty, sentenced to death, and, if his faith in President Diouf was misplaced, executed. And even if he escaped the death penalty, he’d be jailed for the rest of his life.
    “Oh, crap,” he said under his breath. “I am screwed.”
    Monday, May 6, 2402, UD
Kovak Remand Center, city of Kovak, planet of Jamuda
    “How are you today?”
    “Bored shitless,” Michael replied. “You guys have the worst holovids.”
    François Hammel smiled. “True enough,” he said. The smile vanished. “I have news, and not good news, I’m afraid.”
    “Add it to all the rest,” Michael muttered. “Come on; tell me.”
    Hammel pushed a piece of paper across the table at Michael. “This is a warrant for your arrest pending a formal extradition request from the government of the Hammer of Kraa Worlds.”
    A hand reached into Michael’s chest and squeezed his heart hard. “Fuck,” he whispered; his head dropped into his hands. “The Hammers never give up.” He looked up at his lawyer. “Same old bullshit. The charges, I mean.”
    “Let me see. On December 17, 2399, Universal Date, in the town of Barkersville, Commitment Planet, Hammer of Kraa Worlds, you murdered Detective Sergeant Kalkov, Commitment Planetary Police Service, and Trooper Askali, Hammer of Kraa Doctrinal Security Service, both in the course of their duties.”
    “Like I said,” Michael muttered, “the same old bullshit.”
    “Maybe, but this—” Hammel poked the piece of paper. “—means the Feds will have to wait to get their hands on you. I know, I know,” he said, putting up a hand to preempt Michael’s response. “It’s crap, but the court needs to agree that it’s crap before it gets thrown out.”
    “Which it will, right?”
    “Jamuda has never extradited anyone to the Hammer of Kraa, because it is a well-established fact that they use torture as a matter of routine …”
    “Tell me about it,” Michael said.
    “… but even the Hammers are entitled to due legal process, and that will add to the time it all takes. We’ll go through the