Deadman Switch by Timothy Zahn Read Free Book Online Page A

not? As long as the Solitaire ring mines are operating as profitably as they are, they have to keep finding people to die.”
    â€œHold it right there,” Randon growled. “If you’re suggesting the Patri are putting pressure on the judiciary— and that the judiciary is knuckling under to that pressure—then you’re skating dangerously close to slander and possibly even treason.”
    Schock and I exchanged glances. “It’s not a matter of slander, Mr. Kelsey-Ramos,” I said. “Any reasonable person has to acknowledge the pressure exists. The Patri have to keep up the supply of zombis, and they have to do it against a long history of public inertia against death penalty overuse.”
    â€œAnd it’s going to get even worse,” Schock murmured. “As soon as they get that fourth Rockhound 606 into full-stream operation out there, they’re going to outstrip the licensed transport capability again. Either the Patri will have to up the numbers even more—which means more zombis—or else find a variation of Mjollnir drive that can handle bigger freighters.”
    I nodded agreement. “As I said, the pressure exists. The only question is whether the Patri and the judiciary are yielding to that pressure.”
    For a minute the room was silent. A brief and almost undetectable shift in the pseudogravity told me the Bellwether had altered course again. Dimly, I wondered what would happen if rigor mortis paralyzed the body at the helm before the ten-hour trip through the Cloud could be completed. Though presumably after seventy years Dr. DeMont and the other high priests of this sacrifice had found a way around that particular problem.
    â€œWell,” Randon broke the silence at last. “I suppose there’s no harm in taking a look into this.” He seemed to brace himself as he looked up at me. “Unfortunately, as far as Paquin’s particular case goes …” He shrugged uncomfortably.
    I looked him straight in the eye. “Mr. Kelsey-Ramos, she’s innocent.”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not. Either way, what do you expect me to do about it?”
    â€œGrant her a stay of execution, of course, until her story can be checked. It’s the only thing you can do.”
    The instant I said it I knew I’d made a mistake. Abruptly, Randon’s sympathetic interest tarnished as he perceived himself being pressed too hard by a subordinate. Lord Kelsey-Ramos would have understood my insistence as merely an excess of strong feeling; Randon was still too young to risk even the appearance of weakness, certainly not in the presence of a third party. “May I remind you,” he bit out, “that if I do that the Bellwether winds up trapped in Solitaire system?”
    â€œWe could send a message out on another ship,” I pointed out doggedly. Backing out now would do nothing but give Randon’s emotional opposition time to solidify. I had no choice but to keep pressing him, to keep his thoughts and feelings fluid until I could find a formula that would allow him to save face while still keeping Calandra alive. “A courier ship could make the trip to Outbound and back in, what, twelve days?”
    â€œCloser to ten,” Schock offered.
    â€œOkay; ten days,” I said. “We could request the full transcript of Calandra’s trial and have the whole thing reviewed before you were planning on leaving Solitaire anyway.”
    â€œExcept that there may not be any couriers heading for Outbound right at the moment,” Randon countered. “And the judiciary on Outbound is under no obligation to release their records to us, anyway.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œAnd,” he cut me off, “suppose you’re right? Suppose we do find something that warrants a new trial?”
    â€œWell, then—” I stopped in midsentence.
    Randon nodded grimly. “Right. If we decide to take her back to