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  "A medical technician?" repeated Kontarsky. "From where?"

  "The Luna Grand Hall of Justice. It's a standard operating procedure-"

  "What was his name?" snapped Dredd, although he knew the answer already.

  "An Indo-Citter, I think... Mac-something..."

  "Maktoh." Kontarsky said the word with a frown. "Sanjeev Maktoh."

  "Yeah, that's the guy."

  Down in the isolation chamber, Dredd's teeth bared in an angry snarl. "We're being played for chumps!" He advanced on the prisoner, drawing his daystick from where the baton rested on his belt-loop. "Get up!" he ordered.

  Moonie blinked at him. "Oh, oh, oh. Sorry Judge Dredd. Sorry. Ha ha."

  "That act is getting real old and my patience is just about through. Stand up, creep and let's see what you're really made of!" Dredd's hand darted forward and hauled Moonie off the bunk, knocking aside the servo-droid in a clatter of utensils.

  "Don't touch me!" the old man shouted, a vicious light flaring in his eyes. Moonie raised claw-like hands to defend himself, but Dredd deflected them with the daystick.

  "Not this time, pal!"

  The prisoner lunged, his big spherical head bobbing on his skinny neck like a bouncing beach ball. Dredd's daystick connected with Moonie's temple and there was a cracking sound, like ice breaking.

  Watching on the monitor, Kontarsky's stomach turned over. For a moment, she was sure that Dredd had caved in the criminal's skull. Moonie then shook himself like a wet dog and a palm-sized piece of bony matter clattered to the floor.

  "You've done it now!" the prisoner shrieked in a shrill, high voice. "You've damaged me!"

  Moonie turned to face Dredd and there, through the rent torn in his scalp, the Judge could see delicate electronics and mechanical workings. "An android. I knew it!" He snatched at the duplicate's throat. "Where's the real Moonie?"

  "Gone gone gone!" the robot chimed in a singsong voice. "Free, free, free! Mister Moonie is going to be back on top, you'll see! He'll have his revenge! He'll have the Moon, Moon, Moon!"

  Dredd shoved the droid to the floor and left it there, chattering and babbling away to itself. Behind him, the hatchway irised open to admit Kontarsky and Lee, who nervously scanned the air with a bio-sensor.

  "Not a trace of disease contaminants anywhere!" he said. "The Robo-Doc must have been reprogrammed to give false readings."

  Acrid smoke issued from the android and it let out a thin screech. With a flash of seared plastic it deflated, melting into a pool of unidentifiable wreckage. "If this machine has been standing in for the criminal Moonie, then how long has it been here?" asked Kontarsky.

  Lee's face was pale. "I... I don't know. Like I said, most of the prison's systems are automated. Whoever swapped this robot for the real man must have been able to bypass our security hardware."

  The Sov-Judge shook her head, taking in the enormity of it. "Dredd, do you realise what that means? Moonie could have been free for months, or even years!"

  Dredd nudged the molten remains of the robot's head with his boot, the frozen rictus of the android's sick grin staring back up at him from the floor. "We can worry about how and where he escaped later. All I want to know is where Moonie is now."

  The frail man in the hoverchair sipped from a glass of water and looked up as his assistant approached him. "What is it now, Sellers? Cheer up, boy, you look like a moon-cow with chronic gas."

  "Sir, there's been a development you should know about," said the thin man. "The decoy? The android at Farside prison?"

  The old man made a dismissive gestured. "Yes, yes, what of it?"

  "It's been discovered, sir. Dredd was there."

  "Show me."

  Sellers handed over a data pad and thumbed a button. A few moments of footage shot through tiny cameras inside the eyes of the duplicate played. The blurry form of a Judge's helmet filled the picture. Dredd's voice emerged from the pad's speaker. "An android. I knew it! Where's the real Moonie?"

  The frail little man laughed softly to himself. "Where?" he said to the air, his face splitting in a feral grin. "Why, I'm right here, Dredd. And soon I'll be exactly where I'm supposed to be... with the Moon in my hands!"

  "Mister Moonie, uh, sir," said his assistant. "How do you wish to proceed?"

  "Our operative is in place, yes?"

  "He returned from Union Station this morning."

  "Then proceed as planned."

  "Sir, respectfully I feel I must go on the record and protest this decision in the strongest terms."

  Tex turned sharply and threw down the Judge-Marshal's Rad-Cape of Office, crossing the distance to Che in a few quick steps. "Oh, you do, huh? Grud damn it, man, protestin' about what I do seems like all you're good for these days!"

  Che kept his face neutral and stood his ground. "You asked my for my opinion, sir. I'm giving it to you."

  Tex made a negative noise and picked up the cape again, straightening it over his broad shoulders. Che used the opportunity to take a look at the monitor screen set up in the corner of the anteroom. The display showed a view of the area outside, the broad fan of steps leading into the Grand Hall of Justice, where public announcements and important press conferences were held - just as one was to be given today.

  "There is no need for this sort of display, Marshal. The public media office could have simply set something up to broadcast on the city-wide communications net."

  Tex picked up his favourite hat and absently flicked a piece of lint from the brim. "Oh yeah? With them Moon-U hackers cuttin' into every signal whenever they want? What kinda message would it send if all o' Luna-1 thinks I'm broadcastin' from a safe little bunker somewhere, cowerin' behind a desk?" He spoke the last words with venom. "No, Che, we gotta step up to this, do it out in the open and show no fear." He donned the hat and straightened his badge. "That's the frontier way. Things are going straight to hell out there and we gotta show that the Judges mean business."

  "I know that but we are less than forty-eight hours away from the annual Apocalypse War holiday. Could it not at least wait until after that? Or at least, you could consider using a force field or a las-screen."

  "Damn it, man, why are you doggin' me on this?"

  Che's lips thinned to a hard line. He knew that Tex would not be swayed. "Because I am your deputy, Judge-Marshal and it is my duty to point out alternatives to you."

  Tex gave him a tight nod. "And that you have and respectfully, you can shove 'em."

  "Yes, sir."

  The Chief Judge of Luna-1 straightened and walked purposefully out of the anteroom and into the glare of the camera drones and spotlights. "Any word on Dredd?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.

  "Nothing. We have been unable to locate him or the Sov-Judge Kontarsky within the city limits. However, a hopper shuttle was launched a few hours ago from one of the outer docks at the spaceport. Dredd's ident code was used."

  Tex smothered a growl. "Don't that beat all? That's Joe all over - he's like a damn pit-bull. Tell him to let go and he'll still hang on there and bite all the way down to the bone."

  "What are your orders for when he returns?"

  Tex stepped up to the podium. "I'll deal with him when the time comes."

  The Judge-Marshal looked over the wide plaza that stretched out between the front of the Justice Central to the south and the Luna Academy of Law to the north. A milling throng of people were gathered there, easily a thousand citizens. Most of them were quiet, but there were a fair number brandishing placards and banners. There was a seventy-thirty mix of slogans visible, leaning in favour of mottoes about Moon-U, Luna Liberty and Judges Out! vying with a sprinkling of pro-government demonstrators. Voices were raised and there were some angry words being thrown around, but mercifully violence had not broken out. That might have had something to do with the rank of Judges wielding daysticks and STUP-guns spread out in a thin black line along the bottom of the stairs.

  Tex gave the careful nod and smile to the audience that had
become his trademark. "My fellow citizens of Luna-1, I thank you for your time and attention tonight. I have called this public address to answer some of the concerns that have been risin' to the fore here in our good city over the past few months..."

  Foster stood at J'aele's side in the Grand Hall's overt media control centre, a dozen floors above the steps where Tex was speaking. A live feed from each of the hovercams recording him was displayed on a large wallscreen, each shot fixing Tex carefully under the powerful, clean light of the floods. All of Luna-1's media were present in some form, from Tri-D channels like LCTV and IPN to newsfax services like the Luna Module and SeleNet.

  "You know, when I watch him talk I realise why he's done this job for so long," said Foster.

  "And why is that?" J'aele asked, glancing at a console.

  "The man has integrity. Honesty just comes off him in waves. He's nobody's fool and he's tough with it, but you get the sense he'll give you a fair shake. Every city should be so lucky to have a man like Tex in charge." Foster looked away. "It's funny. I heard he never even wanted the job of Judge-Marshal in the first place."

  "That is correct," J'aele said, his attention elsewhere, "but those who seek power are usually the ones who are least suited to have it."

  "True enough," Foster nodded at the console readout. "You got a problem there?"

  "No, not at all and that worries me," the Tek-Judge replied, indicating the screen. "Because of the importance of this public address, Tek-Division has brought in all its counter-intrusion specialists to make sure the broadcasts are not interrupted-"

  "You don't want those Moon-U punks breaking into the transmission?"

  "Exactly. But we're monitoring all available wavebands across the comm-net and there's nothing going on out there. Not a single pirate signal or attack program in sight."

  Foster shrugged. "Maybe you scared them off..."

  J'aele shook his head. "I think not, Judge Foster. The jackals do not stay in their den when a meal is within their reach. Moon-U are simply choosing not to disrupt this broadcast."

  "Isn't that a good thing?"

  "No. Mark my words, Foster, they're planning something. I have a very bad feeling about this."

  Tex knew that the crowd were hooked now and while he was sure that there were plenty of folks out there who hated what he stood for, he knew that they were at least listening to him. "Luna-1 is a proud city. We're a nation-state of folks from all over the Earth and just as much as we're part of our home planet, we're also independent. We're Selenites, Lunarians, whatever name you choose, many of us Moon-born and Moon-bred. Some folks out there are sayin' we ain't free, that the Judges are keeping you prisoner. Well, that there is a lie and I'm here tonight to tell you that Luna-1 is the freest damn city off Earth!"

  A soft murmur of agreement moved through the crowd and Tex smiled a little to hear it. Any disquiet that Che's earlier comments might have brought up in him faded as he watched the strength of his words influencing the citizens. "There's folks out there who are screamin' for free elections, but we already got those. My name's been on that ballot time after time and you good people have always voted me back in to office, 'cos you know I'll do right by you. Now these same folks think I'm a tired old cowboy, long in the tooth and slow in the brain, but let me tell you this - I'm sharp enough to know that Luna-1 ain't gonna rip itself apart on the say-so of some cartoon goofball!"

  Tex flashed a grin as a ripple of laughter crossed the plaza, before his expression hardened. "I'm gonna keep this city safe. It's my life's work. And no amount of rumours and half-truths are gonna get in the way of that." He tapped his badge. "This here means Marshal and that means I'm the law-"

  At that moment, something high on the upper floors of the Luna Academy building glittered brightly and caught Tex's attention. The Chief Judge had a fraction of a second to register the vibrant crimson flash before a high-energy collimated laser beam lanced through his chest, the crack of superheated oxygen breaking the night air a moment later. The powerful bolt of coherent light melted through the middle of his badge and tore through skin and bone to flash burn his heart into cinders. Judge-Marshal Tex tumbled away from the podium, trailing a thin pink stream of vaporised blood. He was dead before he hit the lunacrete steps.

  Shock and terror broke through the crowd like a wave and the panicked citizens surged in all directions, the line of Judges distending under their weight. Che was the first to the body and the sight of the ruined corpse of his old friend and commander made his guts knot with anger and sorrow. "Seal off the plaza!" he bellowed. "Now!"

  In the media centre there was a stunned silence until J'aele snapped out an order to one of the camera operators. "The Academy - the shot came from the Academy! Get a hovercam up there!"

  Several of the views that had been trained on Tex now swooped giddily around and flickered over the crowd, catching blink-fast images of fighting, screaming, hysterical people. Then the Justice Department's training facility filled the sub-screens as the flying camera drones closed in on it.

  Foster spotted the gunman first. "There! Unit six, upper quadrant! Send men over there right now!"

  The hovercam could see little; it was unlit on the office level where the sniper had fired from and the drone's low-light lenses were insufficient to show anything but gross shapes and shadows. The figure, clad in a dark outfit with bulky shoulder padding, was sprinting for a null-grav drop tube and it turned as the hovercam closed in. Foster got the impression of a pistol in the killer's hand and then with a flash, the drone's live feed became a rain of static.

  "Replay!" J'aele barked. "Freeze that last frame!"

  One of the other Tek-Judges did as he was asked, halting the video feed at the exact instant before the assassin destroyed the drone. The picture was blurry and dim, but the clothing the gunman wore was distinct, even in the gloom.

  It was the uniform of a Mega-City One Judge.

  In the hours after Tex's murder, the panic at Justice Plaza turned into a crisis that soon expanded far beyond the death of one man. Che's orders and a poorly considered command given later by a watch commander led to the use of neutralising stumm gas and riot foam on the people who had gathered to hear the Judge-Marshal speak. Under the glare of all Luna-1's media, a few Judges were injured and dozens of citizens were killed in the deadly crush of bodies; every bloody incident and moment captured and broadcast across the city.

  As the solar shutters across the dome interiors began to fan open to announce the lunar dawn, the last of the bodies trapped in the hardened foam were being cut free. Parked medi-flyers and emergency porta-domes were serving as field hospitals for those people too badly crushed to be moved and Judges of every stripe were everywhere, combing the plaza with serious and careful intent.

  Tex's body had been one of the first things to be removed, but the brown smear of his blood, heat-dried by the laser bolt, was still there, a dark streak across the centre of the Grand Hall's stairs. Che stood to one side of the podium, which had miraculously survived the events of the night untouched. The Mex-City Judge was fixated on the upper floors of the Law Academy, watching the L-Wagon floating outside the room where the gunman had hid.

  Foster and J'aele approached, gingerly giving the bloodstain the widest possible berth. "Reporting as ordered," the Brit-Cit officer announced.

  Che nodded. "Quick thinking with the camera drone." His voice was flat and toneless. "Good work. What's the word from the other sector houses?"

  The two men hesitated.

  "Spit it out!" Che snapped. "I gave you an order!"

  "It is bad, sir," J'aele began. "Multiple demonstrations across the city were taking place during the speech and the majority of them lit off into full scale riots the moment Tex was killed. Pro-justice and anti-government activists clashed. There have been a lot of deaths."

  Che closed his eyes, as if the words were causing him physical pain. "Containment?"

  "Ongoing," added Foster. "Riot units are in deployment in all
nine territories and a curfew is in effect in most sectors. Manta prowl tanks and pat-wagons have been mobilised." The Judge paused. "The... the Moon-U broadcasts have begun again, city-wide."

  Che gave J'aele a withering look. "Your division's performance has been pathetic, J'aele! Can you do nothing to block these chattering fools?"

  The Simba City Judge looked uncomfortable. "They are not common hackers, sir. The Moon-U signals are using military-grade encryption technology... It is far beyond the capacity of the equipment possessed by the Luna Justice Department."

  The Deputy Judge-Marshal made a spitting sound. "Our systems are so out of date it's a wonder we can still keep air in here!" He thumped one fist against the podium. "Damn them!"

  "The pirate transmissions are inciting disorder in a dozen places. They're claiming that Tex's killer was Judge Dredd, sir and they're denouncing you as the instigator."

  Neither Foster nor J'aele had any grasp of Che's native language and so they were spared the full impact of the string of invective he let out in response. His swarthy complexion flushed crimson with barely restrained fury. "This will not stand!" he growled. "I want you both to join the crime scene investigation team in the Academy building and evaluate the situation there! Get back to me with a preliminary report in fifteen minutes."

  J'aele and Foster said nothing and acknowledged the command with nods.

  The twenty-eighth floor of the Luna-1 Law Academy was primarily devoted to offices handling conscription and evaluation. By day it was busy with servo-droids, Judge-Tutors and a small staff of civilian specialists, but during the evening it was silent and inactive. Visitors to floor twenty-eight were typically parents looking to induct their children into the fifteen-year program that would turn them into Judges, but tonight someone else had entered by stealth with a plan for murder.