Frontier justice by Lia Faile

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Frontier Justice, Part 6
by Lia Faile

Morgan spent the next hour working with his prize. When he was ready, he cautiously poked his head out the tent flap and looked about for signs of anyone, especially Danziger. Satisfied that no one was in the vicinity, he headed first to the mess tent and then to the supply tent where Jaxsom was being housed and watched over by Walman.

"Hey, Morgan. What are you doing up? It's not your shift tonight."

"Oh, I know. I couldn't sleep and thought you might like a cup of coffee." Morgan answered jovially as he held up the thermos. "Have a seat and I'll pour."

Walman was surprised. Morgan was hardly the thoughtful type but Bess' ordeal may have made him more appreciative of his fellow castaways. "Gee, that's really nice of you, Morgan." He looked away to set his magpro down against the tent wall. A glint of silver flashed in the corner of his eye but he wasn't able to react in time. Morgan's action was completely unexpected so Morgan was easily able to knock out the younger and burlier Walman with the thermos. Morgan whispered an unheard apology to the unconscious man. Then he picked up the magpro and stepped inside the supply tent.

He stood for a moment and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darker interior of the tent. When he could finally see, he found Jaxsom propped up against a crate. Morgan jumped but then he noticed that the man was asleep. His head was tilted back, he mouth slightly agape and a rumbling snore emanated from him. Taking a deep breath and a moment to screw his courage up, Morgan pulled the neck restraint he'd taken from the Transrover out of his pocket. Moving quickly, he stepped forward and slipped it around Jaxsom's neck. The feel of the cold metal on his neck and the sound of it snapping shut woke the convict.

"Hells bells! Can't a fella catch a snooze around here?" As he spoke, his lashed hands moved up to his neck. "Hey! What's the idea putting me in a yoke?" He glared menacingly at Morgan. "I got out of it once, don't ya think I can do it twice?"

"N-not with your hands tied and not while I have this." Morgan held up the control device in a slightly shaking hand. "N-now get up."

Jaxsom smiled at the obviously nervous and frightened man before him. "How can I get up with my feet tied, hm?"

Morgan carefully edged closer and worked on untying the cords that held his feet. When he was nearly done, Jaxsom attempted to jump Morgan like he had Julia. Only Morgan's fear driven reflexes were quicker than Julia's genetically enhanced ones. "Charge!" He squeaked into the control device and Jaxsom let out a strangled cry and fell backwards to the floor. Once the pain had stopped spasming through his body, he looked up at Morgan with murder in his eyes. "Yer dead." He whispered coldly.

Morgan took a deep breath and silently hoped Jaxsom was wrong. Then he motioned with the magpro for his prisoner to precede him out of the tent. Eying the restraint control, he complied. Walman was starting to stir when they emerged from the supply tent. Before Morgan could think of what to do, Jaxsom pulled back his leg and kicked the young man in the head knocking him out far more soundly than Morgan had earlier.

"Why did you do that?" Morgan asked.

Jaxsom turned to face his new warden. "Because the odds are in my favor of me being able to get that controller from you when we're away from here. Then I'm going to bash out your brains with the butt of that gun."

Morgan tried to swallow but found that he couldn't. Doubt about his plan began to seep into his mind. He shook it off. He'd come too far to go back now. He'd have to see it to the end and hope he didn't screw it up. Silently the two men walked out of camp.

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The sunbeam found access into the tent through the crack of the entrance and woke Bess. She stretched and reached her hand up to her cheek. The pain and swelling were gone. That meant the scratches and bruises were too. She rolled over to ask Morgan to confirm this for her, only to find that he wasn't beside her. She sat up and drowsily scanned the interior of the small yet tidy tent taking a mental inventory. Her eyes stopped at the upturned crate that served as Morgan's desk. His VR gear was gone. Bess sleepily concluded that he'd probably gone off to practice his drums before breakfast. She pushed off the covers and did a quick wash up and changed out of her night clothes. She was perched on the edge of the cot lacing her scuffed boots when someone shook the tent flap.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Dr....Julia. Can I talk to you a moment?"

Bess sighed. She didn't want to talk to Julia. It took a lot of energy to stay mad at someone and Bess was getting worn out from it. "All right." She relented but her tone conveyed her less than thrilled mood.

Julia entered the tent and stood awkwardly before Bess. She hated one on one social interactions. She felt much more comfortable relating to people in a doctor/patient scenario. She was in control in those situations. Now she wished she'd worn her diaglove and used the excuse of checking up on the progress of Bess' healing to explain her visit.

"Where's Morgan? I'd hope to catch both of you together."

"Off practicing his drums."

"Oh." She paused and carried on an internal debate. Should she continue or wait until she had them both together? Catching Bess' impatient gaze, Julia decided she'd be better able to do this without Morgan's derisive commentary. "Well, I know I apologized to the entire group but I wanted to apologize to you and Morgan personally for my actions last week."

That wasn't anywhere's near what Bess had expected to come out of Julia's mouth. Bess watched Julia from the corner of her large eyes. "So you're not here to try to get me to change my mind about Jaxsom?"

"I'm here about him too." Julia nodded as she approached the cot and sat down on it next to Bess. "But first I want to show you something." She reached into the pocket of her navy blue jacket and drew forth a swatch of reddish fabric.

Bess took it gently from her fingers and examined it. "This looks like a piece of Morgan's jacket. The one that he was wearing when..."

"When I attacked him." Julia finished, a pained expression pulling her features taut. "I kept it and I look at it at least once a day."

Bess' curiosity overrode her hostility. "Why?"

"As a reminder. And as a penance." She forced herself to meet Bess' inquisitive stare. "I did some terrible, terrible things. And there's no excuse for them. If True hadn't discovered me talking to Reilly and if you hadn't believed her, who knows what I might have done." Julia cast her eyes down in shame. "I saw my dark side and it frightened me." Julia shook her head and closed her eyes. "It frightened me so much. I don't ever want to see that part of myself again. So everyday, I look at that scrap of Morgan's coat to remind myself of what I did in hopes that I won't ever cross that line again."

Bess' gaze traveled from the bit of cloth to the woman sitting next to her and back again. She shuddered as all the anger and hate she'd been carrying around like a baby nursing on her soul inexplicably vanished. She looked at the remorseful Julia and couldn't imagine not ever forgiving her. Hadn't Bess always been taught to forgive people?

A memory of her father reading to the family from the Bible and giving life to the words of God with his rich baritone echoed in her heart. 'Be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.' She wondered if her father would be ashamed of her now. When Grandpa and Uncle Jake had been killed in the miners revolt of '78. Daddy hadn't sought revenge. He'd prayed for the souls of his father and brother and for the people responsible for their deaths. He'd even prayed for momma's killer.

"Bess, I thought all night about what to do and I finally decided that the safety of the group overrides any medical oaths I took. You're right, this isn't the Stations. The rules are different here. I-I don't think I could bring myself to give him a lethal injection and I don't have the equipment to do a behavioral modification. But I could perform a leukotomy."

"Leukotomy?"

"An old 20th century surgical procedure more commonly referred to as a frontal lobotomy. Parts of the brain are severed or removed all together. It doesn't require cybernetic implants or neural chips. It's very imprecise but usually renders the subject non-aggressive. Only he would have to remain with us since it would leave him unable to care for himself but he wouldn't be a threat to anyone. I'd be willing to do this for you."

"No."

Julia thought Bess meant that she would only be satisfied with Jaxsom's death. "Bess, please! This could tear the group apart. Don't force people to chose between their consciences and you."

"I mean no, I don't want you to go against your medical ethics for me." Bess laid her hand lightly on Julia's shoulder and rushed to reassure her. "Julia, you and everyone here are my friends--my family. We've all done things that we aren't proud of in our lives. We need to learn to see beyond those things to the real person that lies underneath the circumstances of each other's lives." She dropped her hands into her lap and stared once more at the bit of fabric she held. "That's what Yale was trying to tell me but I was being too pigheaded and prideful."

Julia was both stunned and moved by Bess' speech. The Earth woman had a style that was elegant in its simplicity that Julia found admirable. Bess may lack the benefit of all Julia's academic background but she had a pragmatic, reverent approach towards life that served her better than anything Julia had learned in stacks of vidtexts. "You don't plan to insist on Jaxsom's execution then?"

Bess shook her head. "No. I'll abide and honor whatever Devon and the others decide. I shouldn't be using emotional blackmail to make my friends do something they are morally opposed to, if I'm the friend I claim to be."

"It's still going to be difficult figuring out what to do with him." Julia grew thoughtful. "I suppose I could pump him full of enough sedatives to keep him down for a day or two. Hopefully, when he comes around he'll have too big of a hangover to attempt to track us."

"Yeah, that's a good possibility. We could maybe even cover or muddy our tracks so he couldn't follow us if he did try." Bess suddenly became aware of the lateness of the morning. "Oh no! Poor Eben!" She cried as she jumped to her feet. "I was suppose to help her prepare the morning meal!"

Julia stood up too. "Don't worry. No one was expecting you to get up early and fix breakfast after what you'd been through yesterday. Alonzo is helping Eben."

Bess blinked and gave Julia a hesitant look. "Alonzo? Does he know anything about cooking?" She inquired.

Julia smiled. "I guess we'll find out shortly."

"Hmm...what are the odds that a man can look that good *and* cook too?" Bess teased as she wrapped Julia's arm in hers and lead her out the tent.

Julia stopped after a few feet. "Wait. The bit of fabric."

"You don't need that anymore. I forgive you and now you have to forgive yourself." Bess dropped the scrap of material and the wind caught it up and carried it away. Julia watched it disappear from sight and felt the knots in her stomach loosen. "What about Morgan?" She asked almost wistfully.

"Don't worry about Morgan." Bess assured her as she propelled Julia towards the mess tent. "He does whatever I tell him to do. The trick is to make him think that he thought of the idea all by himself."

"You know Bess, you'd make a great politician." Julia quipped laughingly.

"All women are by nature, Julia. We've always had to be."

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END--Frontier Justice part 6 of 7 by Lia Faile

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