Return to Oz (The Falken Chronicles Book 3) Read online

  Return to Oz

  By Piers Platt

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  Chapter 1

  The boat lurched over the crest of another wave, tipping forward and sliding down into the trough with a splash of spray. In the stern, Weaver shook his head, clearing the seawater from his eyes. His grip on the sheet was slipping – the frayed rope cut his hand as it slid through his aching fingers. He wrapped it around his hand again, wincing as he struggled to keep the sail under control. Another vicious gust of wind caught the sail, and it snapped in protest over Weaver’s head, cracking like a whip.

  Weaver scanned the horizon with a worried eye. Ahead of him, the clouds were thick and the ocean was choppy, but behind him, a solid mass of dark gray storm clouds loomed. Below them, a sheer curtain of rain blacked out the horizon. As he glanced over his shoulder at them, a single bolt of lightning connected the sky with the ocean, lighting up the onrushing storm wall. A small wave slapped the side of the boat, forcing Weaver to look forward again – the wave had dumped several more inches of water into the hull. Weaver dropped the tiller for a moment, took hold of his last remaining basket, and bailed one-handed, dumping as much water as he dared to, before dropping the basket again and grabbing the tiller. He pushed the rudder over, pointing the boat’s bow at the next wave.

  At the wave’s crest, he stood for a brief moment, risking a half-crouch on exhausted, unsteady legs to scan the horizon again. White-crested waves surrounded the boat in all directions – Weaver could see no sign of land. In the far distance, a brief break in the clouds showed a hint of orange light. Weaver squinted at it, momentarily confused, before recognizing it as Oz’s sun. For a moment, the storm seemed to lessen, and then the bright orange sliver set fully, dipping below the horizon. Thunder rumbled behind him. Weaver sat and glanced back again – the storm was gaining on him fast. He pulled in the sheet again, hoping to coax some extra speed out of the sail.

  The brunt of the storm hit with a suddenness that shocked him. One moment the air was clear, and the next, the boat was being lashed with wind and rain, and the waves around him now towered over him. In the darkness, Weaver could barely make out the faded sail above him, and the only hint he had of the tossing waves was the feeling in his stomach as the boat’s bow rose to meet them, and then dropped precipitously as they passed under him. Bilge water sloshed past his ankles, now – the hull had taken on more water, either from the rain or the bigger waves. Weaver tried bailing again, but it seemed to have no impact on the water in the boat. Then, out of the darkness ahead of him, a new wave appeared – impossibly steep, its foamy top breaking over the mast and sail, engulfing the boat.

  Weaver cried out in fear, and reached instinctively for the photo album wedged underneath his seat. It slipped through his fingers, and then the wave snatched him from the boat in a torrent of roaring water, and he felt himself pulled under with irresistible force. He held his breath as he tumbled, fighting against the surging currents that threatened to tug him deeper down into the ocean. Weaver kicked hard, but he had lost track of which way he was facing. Then, through the water above him, another strike of lightning illuminated the sky – the bolt slammed into the ship’s mast, snapping it in half. The ship’s faded red-and-white sail burst, tearing itself to shreds in the gale, and the hull tipped under another the assault of another massive wave. For a moment, the boat balanced, precariously, above Weaver. Then it came crashing down into the water on top of him.

  Chapter 2

  “Captain Muir,” the prosecutor said. “Please tell the court what happened next.”

  At the front of the courtroom, Muir sat up straighter in the wooden witness’ chair. “After we landed on Olympus, Mr. Auresh handcuffed me and Talus to the railing in the docking tube, and then went down into the research center with Mr. Cadellium. I didn’t see them again until it was all over.”

  Falken, sitting next to Vina at the back of the court, watched as the prosecutor strolled over to the jury box and leaned against it. The small courtroom was packed with spectators – many, like him, were seated not in the wooden benches of the audience section, but in folding chairs lining the green-painted walls. But despite the crowded room, the audience was hushed and quiet, watching the drama unfold with breath held.

  Nothing better to do on Harrison’s, I guess, Falken thought. This is the best entertainment they’ve had in months.

  “Who did you see next?” the prosecutor asked Muir.

  Muir pointed at Shep, who sat at the front of the courtroom next to Cadellium and Auresh. “He came up into the tube, carrying a gun. I recognized him as one of the passengers we had ferried to the Ecolympus several days before. He shot Talus, but I closed the hatch on him before he could shoot me.”

  “Is that how the accused got that head injury?”

  Muir nodded. “Yeah, the hatch knocked him down, and he hit his head on the deck.”

  “You were able to free yourself at that point, and assist the others, down in the research center. Tell us what happened after you took off.”

  “I flew up to the aerie first, to pick up Falken and Vina – Ms. Weaver,” she said.

  “The ‘aerie’ is …?” the prosecutor asked.

  “Oh, sorry, that’s where the dragons roost. At the top of the mountain. We picked Falken and Vina up, and then headed for orbit ourselves. By that point, the Starfarer had already boosted up into orbit, and I had lost track of them. But as soon as we were through the drone patrol screen, they were on our tail.”

  “They ambushed you?”

  “Right. They fired at us.”

  The prosecutor gestured to a vidscreen across the room. “I’m entering into the record several more exhibits. The first is an inspection report of the vessel Starfarer, filed by Commander Jiyake of the CGS Extremis, following the events on Olympus.”

  On the screen, Falken saw a detailed document, and then several photos taken of the interior of the Starfarer, showing missiles in racks, and the breech of a cannon.

  “Her inspection found several illegal modifications to the Starfarer, namely the addition of port and starboard missile bays, and a heavy cannon turret disguised to look like an auxiliary refueling probe. One of the missiles had been fired – at the Adrenaline Junkies – and the cannon magazine was found to be half empty. Several shells of the same caliber were found embedded in the hull plating of the Liberty Belle. In other words, members of the jury, the forensic evidence supports that Mr. Auresh’s ship was illegally armed, and he had used those weapons in a manner consistent with the testimony of Captains Hylie and Muir. Namely, to attack their ships.”

  He turned to Muir. “Thank you, Captain.”

  The judge turned to the defense attorney, a harried-looking man with gray hair and a large bald patch. “Defense?”

  “No questions,” the attorney said.

  He hasn’t argued a single point, Falken thought. Although I’m not sure what he could argue.

  “Prosecution would like to call our next witness,” the prosecutor said. “Mr. Sirio Falken.”

  Falken stood up.

  Vina smiled nervously at him. “Good luck,” she whispered.

  Falken nodded. “I’ll find you afterwards.”

  As Muir stepped down from the witness stand, Falken made his way up the middle aisle of the courtroom. Auresh and Cadellium turned to look at him as he approached – Auresh’s arm was still in a sling, broken by Falken during their fi
ght on the Starfarer. Falken’s own shoulder still ached from time to time – the cut on his shoulder from the dragon’s claws was still healing as well.

  Well, it’s only been … what? Five days since we crashed?

  As he drew closer to Auresh and Cadellium, neither man’s expression changed, but Falken could sense their hostility. Shep faced straight ahead, ignoring him, but as Falken passed the table where they sat, Shep jumped to his feet, reaching across his attorney, lunging for Falken.

  “You killed my brother, you son of a bitch!”

  Falken stepped back in surprise, ducking away from Shep’s grasping hands. Shep’s attorney grabbed his client by the shirt, struggling to hold him back, and a bailiff arrived a moment later.

  “Order!” the judge yelled.

  Shep tried to shrug off the bailiff. “Let go of me!”

  “Are you done?” the bailiff asked.

  “I’ll be done when I fucking kill him,” Shep said, pointing at Falken.

  The defense attorney held his hands up. “Your honor, how am I supposed to defend this?” he asked. “They won’t talk to me, the only time they say anything, it’s to threaten to kill a witness. What am I supposed to do here?”

  “Control them, as best you can,” the judge said. “We may be a backwater way station, but this is still a courthouse, not a beer hall. Let’s try to maintain some decorum.”

  Shep sat down again, still glaring at Falken. Falken was sworn in, and took his seat on the witness stand.

  Last time I was giving evidence in a courtroom, I was the one on trial, he thought.

  “Mr. Falken, will you state your name and occupation, for the record?” the prosecutor asked.

  “Sirio Falken. Until recently, I was the primary tracker and guide for Ecolympus, a dragon safari company.”

  “In your opinion, what caused the Ecolympus to crash?”

  “Some type of explosive was hidden in our aft cargo compartment,” Falken said. “I inspected the hull briefly after we crashed, and found a hole that punctured both engines and the hull itself. From what I could tell, the blast came from the storage hold.”

  “And what was in the hold?” the prosecutor asked.

  “Supplies, mostly. Expendable stuff like food, toilet paper.”

  “Not stuff that would have spontaneously exploded.”

  “No,” Falken agreed.

  “So how did a bomb get in there?” the prosecutor asked.

  “We took delivery of a pallet of goods from the Liberty Belle when they brought us our final group of guests,” Falken said. “I believe someone hid a bomb inside that pallet.”

  “Objection,” the defense attorney said, half-heartedly. “Conjecture.”

  “Sustained,” the judge agreed. “Stick with what you know, please, Mr. Falken.”

  “Let me ask it a different way,” the prosecutor offered. “Were the Durkin brothers – Shep and Kuda – on board the Liberty Belle before it docked with the Ecolympus?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would Mr. Durkin or his brother have had access to the pallet while it was still on board the Liberty Belle?” the prosecutor asked.

  “Sure,” Falken said.

  “Thank you,” the prosecutor told him. “So the bomb went off—”

  “Objection,” the defense attorney said, again. “I’ve seen no evidence of a bomb.”

  “An explosion occurred,” the prosecutor said, before the judge could admonish him, “and the Ecolympus crashed shortly afterwards. You then managed to get the survivors to the research center. You were waiting for the Liberty Belle to arrive, to take everyone back here. What happened next?”

  “Shep and Kuda – the Durkin brothers – took us hostage,” Falken said. “They pulled guns on us, and told us that they intended to capture several dragons, and steal the research center’s data.”

  “And when the Liberty Belle and the Starfarer landed, did Mr. Auresh or Mr. Cadellium say anything to you, when they came into the research center?”

  “They repeated that same plan, yes,” Falken said. “It was clear they were all working together.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Falken.” The prosecutor nodded at Falken, and took his seat behind his desk.

  The defense attorney stood up. “Mr. Falken, are you some kind of explosives expert?”

  “No,” Falken said.

  “Has an explosives expert examined the wreck of the Ecolympus?”

  “No,” Falken admitted.

  “So we don’t really know what caused the Ecolympus to crash. Now, Captain Muir has claimed that my client – Mr. Durkin – shot her pilot, Mr. Talus. Did you see that happen?”

  “I heard it,” Falken said.

  “But you didn’t see it. Did you see any of the three accused men kill anyone?”

  “No,” Falken said. “But they threatened to kill us, on more than one occasion. Including just now.”

  The defense attorney opened his mouth to speak, and then shook his head in chagrin. “Thank you, we’re all well aware. No further questions.”

  * * *

  The courthouse on Harrison’s Waypoint was tucked behind a corner of the space station’s administrative offices, across from the main police station. Falken walked out of the entrance and into the station’s corridor, which stretched for several hundred yards in either direction, and was dotted with pedestrians moving between various shops and offices. Overhead, clear roof tiles gave a view out into deep space. Across the walkway, he saw Vina standing with Detective Adnan, Captain Muir, and Commander Jiyake. Vina waved at him. Falken crossed over to the group and exhaled loudly.

  “Glad that’s over,” he said.

  “You did well,” Adnan told him, patting him on the shoulder.

  “What happens now?” Vina asked.

  “They go to jail,” Jiyake said, snorting.

  “Pretty much,” Adnan agreed. “This is all a formality, given the massive amount of evidence against them. That’s why the judge is permitting an accelerated trial, and trying all three of them at once. The defense goes tomorrow, but I doubt he has more than a half day’s worth of arguments to make. Then jury deliberations, which will be quick. They’ll be sentenced by the end of the week.”

  “I didn’t realize trials could move so fast,” Vina said.

  Mine was pretty fast, too, Falken thought. The Justice Department doesn’t mess around.

  “The faster they’re off my station, the better,” Jiyake said. “Good riddance.”

  “You think they’ll get life?” Falken asked.

  Adnan nodded. “For kidnapping and attempted murder, on top of all the miscellaneous charges? Absolutely. Auresh and Cadellium will probably get a shot at parole, many years from now. But Shep’s a repeat offender. He’s gone for good.”

  “I always wondered where they send them,” Jiyake mused.

  “Search me,” the detective told her. “I just make the arrests. After that … it’s all very hush-hush.”

  “Mm. Well, I’ve got a ship to put back together,” Jiyake said.

  “I hear that,” Muir replied. “And Talus is still in recovery, the slacker. Left me all the hard work on my own.”

  “I can loan you a couple crew if you need it …?” Jiyake offered.

  “No,” Muir waved her away. “I appreciate it, Commander. But I’d rather do it myself.”

  “Then I guess this is goodbye,” Vina said, smiling sadly.

  “Take care, everyone,” Muir said. “See you around the station.”

  They shook hands, awkwardly. Then Adnan headed into the police station, while Jiyake and Muir caught a transit tube toward the station’s dry docks. Vina and Falken watched them go.

  “When does your transport leave for Earth?” Falken asked.

  “Tomorrow,” Vina said.

  “Feel like grabbing something to eat?” Falken asked.

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “We should talk.”

  Chapter 3

  They chose a sushi restaurant, riding an elevator dow
n into a dining room inside a wide glass bubble that hung, suspended, from the underside of the station. Falken held Vina’s stool for her to sit, then sat down next to her at the rectangular bar in the restaurant’s center. Two chefs stood in the middle of the bar, preparing the sushi, while below them, the glass floor gave a view of the space traffic below the station. Vina watched as a tug zoomed past, heading for one of the docking arms.

  “I haven’t had sushi in years,” she said.

  “Greban tried doing a sushi meal once, back on the Ecolympus,” Falken said, smiling at the memory. “But they shipped us the wrong kind of rice, and it kept falling apart on him. So it ended up being fried rice with poached fish, or something like that.”

  “I’m sure it was still good,” Vina said. “Those donuts he made that first morning were amazing.”

  “Yeah, it was delicious, as always,” Falken said. He cleared his throat, picking at a seam in the wooden bar top with a fingernail. “I miss him,” he said, after a time. “He made me a part owner in the tour company. I didn’t even know it, I just found out because the insurance company left me a message, asking me whether I want the claim money in one lump sum, or applied to the purchase of a new ship.”

  Vina gave a low whistle. “That was generous of him.”

  Falken nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Do you think you’ll go back?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” Falken said. “Hylie heard that Colonial Wildlife is going to shut down tour operations for the rest of the year, maybe longer. She thinks they might keep Olympus closed permanently. So I might not have a choice. But even if I could go back, I don’t know if I would. It was a great job, but … it would feel different now.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Vina asked.

  “Good question,” Falken said.

  One of the chefs wandered over, and they placed their orders, pointing at the life-like plastic versions of the menu items in the glass display case in front of them.

  “… can we talk about my dad?” Vina asked, after the chef had left.