Neal Barrett - Judge Dredd

“Joseph Dredd, do you stand ready to answer for your crimes?”

“Rico—”

“Dredd!” Rico shook his weapon in Dredd’s face. “I hereby judge you, Joseph Dredd. To the charge of betraying your best friend… Guilty. To the charge of betraying your own flesh… Guilty. And finally, to the charge of being human, when we could have been… gods! Guilty!”

Rico’s eyes went wide. “The sentence is… death!”

Rico squeezed the trigger.

Click.

“All lethal rounds exhausted… Select …”

“No!”

Dredd let out a breath. Rico had forgotten. The madness had overwhelmed him, clouded his reason, shattered his mind like the crystal columns below.

“Damn you, fire!” Rico’s hands shook. He stared at the Lawgiver, as if the weapon, too, had betrayed him.

“All lethal rounds exhausted… Select …”

“Fire—FIRE!”

Dredd moved. His right hand struck out, a short sweep to Rico’s jaw. He forced the fingers of his left hand over the weapon’s grip, clamping down on Rico’s hand.

Rico looked at him. “Joseph… ?”

“DNA accepted,” the gun-voice whirred. “Select …”

“Signal flare!” said Dredd.

Dredd fought against Rico’s grip, wrenched the weapon up, away from them both. The night turned red. The flare singed Rico’s face and rocketed into the night.

Rico cried out, stumbling blindly away from Dredd. One foot found the edge of the roof, the other stepped into empty space.

“Rico!”

Rico flailed his arms, fell away. Dredd lunged for him, caught him by the wrist. Rico hung there, blinked up at Dredd with blind eyes.

“You saved me, Joseph? Why did you do that?”

The rain whipped down in a fury, the cold drops hard as stones.

“I’ll get you out of here. Hang on. You don’t have to die, Rico.”

Rico smiled. “All right, Joseph. I won’t.”

He brought his free hand up quickly, grabbed Dredd’s wrist and forced his hand free.

“Life sentence, Joseph. Works fine for me.”

Rico slid free.

“No!”

Dredd watched him turn slowly, his arms spread wide, watched him grow smaller, disappear in the dark veil of rain. His face was still there.

His face. My face…

He knew he was alone once more… hollow, nothing inside. Rico had taken it all away once, now he had taken it again.

Dredd was aware of the presence, the feeling of another person near. He looked up, saw Ilsa Hayden, the rain-soaked dress clinging to her slender form, the dark hair plastered against her cheeks. She held the Remington an inch from his head, showed him a gentle smile, drew her lips together, let them part like a lover’s tender kiss.

Usa’s head disappeared. A red mist hung in the air for a moment, then swept away in the driving rain. Ilsa’s body folded, slid to the edge of the roof, and followed Rico down.

Dredd turned. Hershey stood in the lift, a Lawgiver clutched in her hand. Behind her, Fergie sagged against the wall. His face was pale. A strip of Hershey’s uniform was wrapped tightly around his chest.

Dredd looked at Hershey. He shook his head at Fergie.

“You’re alive,” Dredd said simply.

“What did you think I’d do, die or something? Right when you and me were just getting to be good friends?”

“We are not friends, Ferguson. We know each other, we… Okay, we’re acquaintances. I’ll go as far as that.”

“Right. Close enough. How about that—other stuff?”

“I said it once. Don’t ask me again.”

“Honestly, Dredd…” Hershey said.

“All right. I’m dropping all charges. Do whatever you want. You’re free.”

Fergie laughed. Laughing hurt, but what the hell?

“I knew that,” he said. “What are friends for?”

They were waiting in the street.

Hundreds of them—Street Judges, Cadets, Judge Hunters. Dredd couldn’t guess where they’d come from, how they’d gotten the news so quickly.

The street was jammed with Lawmasters, blue, white, and green lights flashing into the night. The storm had moved off to the south, leaving the air clean and clear. Dredd walked out of the doorway and into the street. Hershey stood beside him, Fergie held up between them. Mediks hurried over to take him, easing him gently to a stretcher. He had passed out in the lift, but there was still a smile on his face.

An okay smile, Dredd thought. The guy was maybe all right, maybe just a —He caught himself, tried to think about anything else.

The two Judge Hunters walked toward him, stiff, proud, their faces devoid of any emotion at all.

Dredd drew in a breath.

“Easy,” Hershey said.

The two Hunters parted. A third man stepped between them. He was taller than the other two, a darkhaired man in his forties. Dredd recognized him at once. He wore the white braid of Chief Judge Hunter across his chest.

The man stopped in front of Dredd. “I’m Judge Lackard.” He nodded curtly at Hershey. “You’re Joseph Dredd… ?”

“Yes, sir. Am I under arrest or what?”

Lackard looked at him a long moment. “That won’t be necessary. We… Central broadcast the Janus plans in the clear. After Griffin’s death. Everyone knows what happened in there. We, ah, owe you a debt of gratitude, Judge Dredd.”

Not Joseph Dredd this time. Judge Dredd…

Dredd looked out at the crowd, the men and women he respected, the Law, the only life he knew.

“We have to reorganize the Council,” Lackard said. “We’d like you to consider the position of Chief Justice.”

“Thank you. I’m honored.” Dredd nodded to his right. “I recommend Judge Hershey, sir.”

The Judge Hunter nodded. “Would you consider it, Judge Hershey?”

Hershey looked astonished. “I—are you sure?”

“Don’t be dumb, Hershey,” Dredd said. “It’s a good career move.”

“Let me think about it, sir,” Hershey said.

Dredd looked pained. “Don’t think, Hershey. Do it. Haven’t I taught you anything?”

Dredd turned and walked away. He spotted a Lawmaster standing ready and headed for it. Hershey followed him, stepped in his path.

“That’s it, huh? A near-death experience and no goodbye.”

“Hershey.”

“What?”

“Good-bye.”

Hershey grinned. “You’re hopeless, Dredd. Totally hopeless.” She touched the back of his neck, drew him close and kissed him full on the mouth, before he could pull away.

“That’s a Code Two-One-Two,” Dredd said. “Illegal Physical Contact with a Judge.”

“No. That’s a One-Three-Seven. You, impersonating a groon, Dredd. You’re human. You don’t have to fake it, friend.”

Dredd threw his leg over the saddle of the Lawmaster. He looked at Hershey and grinned. “Typical behavior, Hershey. I knew you’d say that.”

“Yeah? You think you know everything, Dredd. You don’t. There’s a hell of a lot of stuff you don’t know.”

Dredd thought about that. Decided she was right. He gripped the control bar of the Lawmaster, let the engine whine up to a roar, a thunder of raw power that trembled off the walls of Red Quad, and drowned every sound in Dredd’s world…

In Judge Hershey’s second year as Chief Justice, the Lady Liberty—or Statue of Liberty as it was known in the Way Back When—was ordered completely restored, and placed in a prominent position in the plaza across from the Hall of Justice.

While the Council felt this statue did not entirely reflect Mega-City’s current standards of Justice, it was the majority opinion—under the leadership of Chief Justice Hershey—that the presence of the Lady Liberty underscored the need for reforms in several areas of criminal and civil law.