Justice in Space
by obohobo
Chapter 1. The capture
Four RH500's left Spacestation Molly and headed for earth covering the thousand
miles in few minutes and hovered about eight miles above their destinations. It
was 11 p.m. on a warm Saturday evening in May and in the four cities, Liverpool,
Brixham, Birmingham, and Bradford, there was always trouble around that time on
a Saturday. Violence, drugs, muggings had now become a fact of life, not just in
these four areas but in most towns in England. Restrictive legislation brought
in by do-gooders both in Great Britain and the European Community had limited
police powers so much, they were fighting a losing battle. Even when arrests
were made the courts rarely gave more than a token sentence. Police morale was
at an all time low. Why put themselves at risk when any arrest might lead to
accusations of malpractice, suspension and dismissal? It was easier and safer to
ignore the violent element and to patrol peaceful urban areas.
******
Ralph Hanley, early in his career, discovered a way of reducing domestic waste
into its component molecules, electrons and protons by using a complex version
of a microwave oven. However, when several environmental groups heard of it,
they accused him of using nuclear power and generating nuclear emissions. None
of which was true but the situation, hyped up by the press and media, fuelled
large demonstrations and protest marches. To avoid further problems of this
nature, he kept future research to himself and just a few of his loyal
laboratory workers. Between them they found a way of isolating the component
molecules and manipulating them into materials that had many properties not
found in the natural product or if they were, the natural material would be very
expensive. They found they could make gold, platinum and diamonds that were
indistinguishable from the natural material and sales from these and other man
made materials financed further research.
During the combining it was found the material could be forced through a
flexible, computer controlled slit to produce sheet material of any shape or
form and any degree of hardness or softness. Anything from aircraft panels to
soft furnishings.
But Ralph considered his greatest breakthrough came when isolating protons. He
found when they were combined with an odd number of electrons, a considerable
amount of energy was produced and it only required a very small electrical input
to keep the energy re-creating itself. Soon the team were producing small,
silent engines of great power but incredibly small size. A disused World War II
airfield was purchased and used first to test proton powered cars and then
aircraft. In turn this led to the production of spacecraft only dreamed of by
the scientists at NASA. They had speeds in space of mach 100 or more but were
completely silent. In the earth's atmosphere speeds were necessarily lower but
even so, the craft could encircle the earth at a height of six miles in two
hours. Moreover, they could fly extremely slowly and hover with the only noise
being the sound of the air passing over the deltoid wings.
When environmental groups started nosing at the airfield, Ralph Hanley decided
to move to where no one could see his work. He built two large space craft and
set off for the now defunct multinational spacestation. It would provide
temporary accommodation while he built his own. First he encased the whole of
station in a much larger structure and when that was complete, used the space
craft as tugs to move the station to a position further into space where it
could orbit the earth without coming under too intense scrutiny. A year later,
the space station now called Molly after his late wife, was fully equipped and
the old multinational station dismantled from inside it. The orbit was again
changed so it was largely centred over Great Britain. Observation cameras with
multi channel digital computer enhancement, produced crystal clear pictures of
any part of country and recorded it on his version of DVD disks which held
several thousand times more information. He also sent out spacecraft with
similar camera recording equipment and used them to spy on various parts of the
world. However, his main interest was in England. That is where he was born.
That is where he lived until he moved into the Molly Spacestation. Now at the
age of 72, he was semi-retired. His son James, (Ralph never shortened it to
Jim), carried on where his father left off. Ralph though, was still a strong
force in the organisation. He held strong convictions about the lack of
discipline in his country and abhorred the way the do-gooders and
environmentalists seemed to control what the government could do. He abhorred
the way the police had to pussy-foot around and not be able to touch known
criminals. He abhorred the way some children could get away with a life of crime
without any punishment because they were considered juveniles and therefore not
legally responsible for their actions. Ralph was determined to swing the
pendulum back the other way. His body might not be as active as it was a few
years earlier but his mind was still clear and very sharp. His son, held similar
views and had inherited his father's brain, which at 32, was still combined with
good physical shape.
Ralph's dislike for do-gooders and the justice system was turned to hatred by
the events that surrounded the death of his wife.
She had dropped James at his school and was driving to the lab when she
remembered leaving some documents by her bedside. Ralph had been working all
that night on his latest brainchild so she had read the documents in bed and had
forgotten to return them to her briefcase. As she walked into the utility room
she was confronted by three men obviously intent on burgling the house. One made
a move towards her so she grabbed a broom with the idea of defending herself.
Unfortunately she didn't notice his companion move behind her, pick up a full
wine bottle and hit her on the head. Molly never regained consciousness.
Even at that time, Ralph had set up a video camera system which caught the men
on tape as they both entered and left the house. The police recognised them and
quickly had them under arrest. At their trial a smart lawyer argued that Molly
had ferociously attacked them with a broom and they had feared for their lives.
The unfortunate tap on the head was only meant to calm her down and protect
themselves. They were each sentenced to three months for attempted burglary. The
paltry sentence understandably enraged Ralph who thereafter took every
opportunity to condemn the justice system and those who promoted leniency for
criminals.
*******
Each RH500 hovered above their appointed town and watched on the monitors until
an incident took place, then dropped at an amazing speed to under a hundred feet
above the ground. It let down an air chute tube through which two humans dressed
in metallic blue overall suits, and six robots descended. Of course the sudden
appearance of the space craft startled those below but the trouble makers had
already been selected and there was no time to run away. The humans immediately
used silent stun guns to immobilise them and the robots carried the unconscious
criminals back to the air tube. In seconds, the spacecraft were returning to the
station. Those folk remaining at the scene would hardly believe it had happened.
Something out of X files? Or a dream.
