fire and brimstone

7/30/2019 Fire and Brimstone

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Judge Dredd

Fire and Brimstone

2001 Martin Luscombe


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Judge Dredd - Fire and Brimstone

1

Prologue

A cold wind blew down the deserted street. It swept dust across the cracked concrete and

toyed with an old plastic cup, rolling it around as if trying to read the faded writing. It

gave up and a short gust kicked the cup into the open, which caught the attention of a

small rat-like creature that scampered over a pile of rubble to investigate.

The rat sniffed at the cup and then paused, looking up over the plaza to the east. Once

the square had been constantly packed with people, travelling from one vast city-block to

another. Now the towering skyscrapers had been reduced to hills of rockcrete debris.

Steel girders reached out from each pile broken, bent and twisted. People hadnt lived

here for a long time.

The rat was about to return to the cup when it heard the sound again a quiet hissing,

high up in the sky. The sound came from a dot that dropped rapidly, revealing itself to be

a small shuttlecraft. The rat scarpered as the shuttlecraft pulled up sharply and gingerly

landed in the ruins of Mega-City Two.

After a few moments the door opened and a woman, wearing a heavy-duty radiation

cloak and carrying a small pistol, cautiously stepped out.

Katrina Dawson looked around, orientating herself. It had been eight years since she

had last been here and it had looked very different then. Although rebuilding had started

on the west side of the city, this area was still a radioactive hell. The familiar skyline of

towers and domes had gone there was just rubble and debris as far as the eye could see.

The power that could create such destruction was awe-inspiring but also terrifying.

Her heart tightened when she recognised Enbury Hall. Shielded from the nuclear

shock wave by the hundred-storey mountain of Charles Wilson block, the small ten-

storey building had survived almost intact. However one of the four towers on top of the

Stilton complex had fallen onto it, crushing the top couple of floors and now large cracks


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covered the walls, giving the impression that the whole thing could collapse at any

moment.

As Katrina crossed the plaza towards it, the only sound was the steady clicking of her

radiation meter, which merely added to the eerie sense of desolation. She fingered her

pistol anxiously; afraid of what she would find in her old home. But she had to come

she had to see with her own eyes what they had done.

A door was leaning across the doorway like a last minute barricade. Katrina pulled it

aside and turned on her flashlight. She took two steps into the foyer and stopped as a

sickening odour filtered through her face mask. She directed the beam of light forwards

and clenched her teeth at the sight. There were the remains of three dead bodies on the

floor, all heavily decomposed. Two had been walking or running towards the stairs when

they were fried by radiation. The third was behind them, possibly following them. This

one was missing its right arm, which appeared to have been severed with a sharp blade,

revealing the bone and muscles, which were now as black and shrivelled as the rest of the

body.

Katrina glanced around the room but she couldnt see the missing arm. If the stump

was black and burnt then the arm must have been cut off before the bomb hit. He must

have walked in here, following the other two, with a severed arm bones exposed and

flesh hanging raggedly. A horrible thought went through Katrinas mind . . . he had been

a zombie.

Zombie.

It was unbelievable. Ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as that day, eight years ago on

holiday in Mega-City One, when Katrina watched the corny horror movie being shown on

every news channel in the city. Reporters running down streets shouting into the camera

as hordes of undead battled with Mega-City One judges. It was like something from a

kids story an evil necromagus called Sabbat had come from another dimension with the

power to animate every dead body on the planet. He ordered them to destroy all the

living creatures in every city in every country it was a world war. The only way to stop

them was to blow them apart but there were so many billions and billions. They

overran the cities by sheer force of numbers they were in every street, in every block,

and each victim they claimed was a new recruit for their army. The human race came

close to extinction that day.


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Now that Sabbat was safely disposed of, there was no danger of the zombie coming to

life but Katrina gave it a wide breath as she crossed the foyer to the stairs.

She climbed carefully. On the third floor landing she saw another body. It had two

chunks of flesh bitten out of it. The chunks, both blackened and burnt, had been spat out

onto the floor beside the body. The body must have been eaten by a creature a long time

after the bomb exploded, perhaps quite recently . . .

She reached the fifth floor and walked along the corridor. It was dark and the paint on

the walls had patches of black bubbles, but she remembered skipping along here on her

way home from school. She swallowed for the first time since entering the building and

tried to shut out the acrid burnt smell.

Katrina arrived at her parents apartment and tried the door. It was locked. She shot

out the lock but the door still wouldnt open it was barricaded on the other side. She put

her shoulder to the door and pushed. There was a grinding sound as the old dresser

moved back and the door opened wide enough for her to squeeze through. She paused for

a moment and then entered.

The large window on the opposite side of the room had been blown inwards and years

of radioactive wind and rain had made everything grimy and streaked black.

The sofa had been pulled out into the centre of the room, burnt to a blackened husk.

The vidscreen had melted and the small table in front of it was scorched. Katrina

swallowed again as she noticed something lying on the floor behind the sofa. It looked

like a leg.

Katrinas knees were trembling as she walked round to the rear of the sofa and then

she fell to her knees, choking with grief. The bodies of her mother and father were lying

on the floor, black and decomposing. She gripped her face mask with both hands as tearsran down her cheeks. It was worse than she was expecting, worse than the bodies

downstairs. The rain had washed away the burnt flakes of skin, staining the carpet with

black ash. Some bacteria had digested parts of the muscles, exposing dirty yellow bone.

One of the heads it was impossible to tell who was who had fallen apart, the jaw lying

at right angles to the skull, the empty eye sockets staring into space.

It took two minutes for her to stop hyperventilating and to blink away the tears. She

looked up at the ceiling and breathed deeply.


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Eventually she composed herself sufficiently to take another look at the scene and

saw her fathers antique semi-automatic rifle lying beside one of the bodies. Buying that

gun was the only illegal thing that he had ever done. He had bought it back in 2107 when

the Hendersons, who lived five doors down the hall, had been killed by a roving gang.

Then Katrina realised the dresser, the sofa and the position of the bodies and the

gun. Her parents had barricaded themselves in. They were waiting for the zombies to

attack, and then theyd shoot them to bits. They werent worried. They were prepared.

There was only one zombie in the whole block anyway. They werent in danger. They

were winning!

But Mega-City One Mega-City One just saw the worst reports, just heard the people

radioing for help. They thought Mega-City Two was gone. Overrun. They didnt

know that most of the people were fine they were just staying in their apartments and

they were fine. But Mega-City One decided, the judges of Mega-City One decided, that

they were gone. Unsalvageable. They decided to cut their losses. They decided to

nuke the entire city. And not just Mega-City Two. They nuked South-Am City, and

Brasilia, and Djakarta, and Sino-City One. They murdered two billion innocent people

families, friends, communities, entire cultures wiped out at the press of a button.

Katrinas fists were clenched so hard that her nails were drawing blood.

They would pay.


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Chapter 1

Walter Hibble felt cool. Mauve Slapduster kneepads, Emphatically Yes jeans and a

Chopper style surf jacket with ribbed shoulder pads. Way cool.

Hey look Mister Coool!

Walter stopped dead in his tracks. Suddenly he didnt feel cool any more he felt

very very stupid. He knew he was taking a risk coming through this short cut. He hadhoped that the juve gangs would think he was all right now and let him pass, or maybe

theyd just be indoors watching the vid.

Stupid, real stupid.

Two juves jumped down from an overhanging ledge and looked him over critically.

Hey, one said, nice jacket Id like one like that.

Oh, Drokk, said Walter, backing away. His legs turned to jello and he fell to theground.

Hes not giving us his jacket, the other one said sarcastically, drawing a long sharp

knife. We may have to persuade him.

Oh, Grud, pleaded Walter as he desperately tried to pull off his jacket. Here, here,

he said but his arm had got caught and he couldnt get the jacket off. He pulled

frantically, terror in his eyes, as the first teenager also drew a knife and closed in, smiling.

But then a figure riding a large bike rounded the corner and stopped about thirty feet

away. A granite voice boomed out, Try persuading me, creeps!

One of the juves looked up from Walter and dropped his knife as he recognised the

uniform a huge padded eagle on one shoulder, a large yellow shoulder pad on the other.

The black uniform, the gold badge with the name DREDD embossed on it and the

helmet with its eye slits swept back like the eyes of a predatory eagle the symbol of the

law.

Judge! Run for it!


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Both boys ran down the street and the Judge gunned his bike after them. As he passed

Walter, still lying on the street, he barked, Stay here.

The juves split up one running straight on down the street, and the other running up

an entrance ramp into a city-block.

Judge Dredd swiftly caught up with the one running straight on, kicking him in the

back and sending him sprawling to the ground. The juve scrambled to his feet to find

himself looking into the barrel of Dredds gun.

Dredd tossed him a pair of handcuffs and pointed to a metal post by the roadside with

a number of rings welded to it.

Cuff yourself to that holding post and wait to be picked up.

The juve did what he was told and Dredd spun his bike round and raced after the other

one. As he hit the entrance ramp he activated his throat mike to Justice Central; Control

Dredd. Two tappers at the corner of Jefferson and Lincoln. Two years each.

Roger Dredd. A H-wagon is on its way.

At the top of the ramp was a large oval hall. It was part of a mall with shops along

both sides and corridors leading further into the building. In the centre was a raised oval

pool with two fountains one at each end. It was busy with about a thousand people

strolling around, too closely packed to manoeuvre a bike through.

Dredd scanned the crowd and saw the juve at the far end of the hall, running towards

a small unmarked door. Dredd couldnt get to him in time and the boy was running in

between people, which blocked a clear shot at him.

Dredd came to a halt in an empty space and switched on his targeting computer. The

two bike cannons mounted on either side of the front wheel swivelled upwards andsuddenly blasted sixty rounds of ammunition in half a second. The people nearby

screamed and dived to the floor but the bullets passed over their heads, across the hall,

and shattered one of the chains suspending a large sign saying, Welcome to East Side

Mall. The sign, about twelve feet high and fifty feet long, swung down and smashed into

the ground just in front of the juve, blocking his route to the small door. The boy skidded

to a halt, looked behind him and sprinted to his left, running around the pool towards a

large corridor leading off from one side of the hall.


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Dredd headed his bike straight towards the pool and turned the throttle on hard. The

bike accelerated like a rocket and hit the five steps up to the pool at forty km/h. Dredd

punched the turbo boost button and the bike leapt into the air.

He burst through the spray of one of the fountains, landed on the other side of the pool

and skidded to a halt in front of the fleeing juve.

Dredd got off the bike and the teenager nervously drew his knife. Dredd walked up to

him and punched him hard in the jaw. There was the crack of breaking bone and the juve

fell to the floor, unconscious.

Two minutes later Dredd was back at the holding post, where a large Justice Department

hover-wagon was waiting for him.

Resisting arrest make it three years, Dredd said, thrusting the juve, now semi-

conscious, towards the two H-wagon judges. The juve stumbled and grabbed the

shoulder of one of the judges, his eyes streaming with tears of pain.

e bruk mu daw.

Yeah, he does that a lot, the judge replied, pushing the juve no less roughly into the

back of the wagon.

Dredd turned his bike around and rode off. The second H-wagon judge walked

towards the cab, saying, Lets go, but the first replied, You dont know Dredd do you?

We havent got the victim yet.

Walter was walking rapidly home, two blocks from the site of the mugging, when Dredd

caught up with him.

Hey! I told you to stay back there!

Oh, judge! Thank you so much. I thought I was a goner

What the drokk do you think youre doing? Walking through a neighbourhood like

this wearing fancy clothes and creds almost hanging out of your pocket youre asking to

be mugged! Come here.

Dredd arrived back at the H-wagon with Walter sitting behind him on his bike.


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Enticement to mug two months.

The H-wagon judges exchanged glances before pushing Walter into the wagon.

The two juves watched Walter intently as he nervously sat down between them. As

the door closed he gulped and smiled weakly at their battered and rather angry faces . . .


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Chapter 2

Mega-City One was a huge metropolis. Home for 400 million people, it stretched for

1,300 km along the eastern seaboard of America. Full of skyscrapers a mile high, the city

was surrounded by a massive wall, separating the citizens from the polluted Black

Atlantic on one side and the radioactive Cursed Earth on the other. There was massive

overcrowding and 89% unemployment. Life was harsh, most were miserable, but at least

they always had warm days and clear skies, thanks to the citys weather control system.

Mega-City Ones weather control station hovered high above the city. It was shaped

like a wheel with four spokes and a central hub. The hub was four stories high and

contained the main control room, eating area, stores and emergency escape pods, and the

power generator and engine that kept it flying. The four spokes were just corridors that

lead to the rim which contained crew quarters, storage rooms, two shuttle bays, various

weather instruments and eight docking pylons. These pylons were used to service and

repair some of the 30,000 atmosphere modulators that watched over the city.

The modulators were covered in air samplers, pressure gauges, wind tachometers and

other complex weather instruments. They also contained the infrared heat rays, cloud

seeding crystals and powered nitrogen sprayers which created thermals to divert

approaching depressions, formed clouds to dispel riots and even produced an annual snow

shower at Christmas.

The modulators were unmanned but the station required a team of scientists to operateit. This was not the original station that was destroyed when a citizen went crazy and

crashed it into a city block few years before. As a precaution the station now also had a

small group of judges stationed on it.

It was a dead end job, usually assigned as a punishment or to injured judges until they

were fit enough to return to the streets. Kyle Jackson was one of the latter his leg had

been shattered a week ago when a bomb had been hidden on his bike and blew up

underneath him. Now his leg had been rebuilt, half flesh and half metal but it was still

numb and as stiff as a board. Until he had recovered some mobility he worked in the


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shuttle bay, inspecting the supply vehicles for bombs, suspicious cargo or groups of gun-

wielding terrorists.

Hah, he thought. I wish. Anything to liven up this tedious assignment.

The radar screen showed the approaching supply shuttle come into docking range.

His computer had already verified its authorisation code, so he pushed the button that

opened the shuttle bay doors. Then he lifted his injured leg off the computer console,

stood up and hobbled over to the doors.

He stood beside the door as the shuttle glided past him and settled gently onto the

floor. The rear door opened but no one stepped out. The interior was in darkness and

Jackson moved closer to peer inside. He was just able to see two dark shapes when a

burst of red laser light shot out of the gloom and straight through his forehead. A young

man leant round the door and shot out the surveillance camera almost without looking.

Instantly, four well built men with laser pistols jumped out of the shuttle and scanned

the room. Satisfied that there was no one else in the bay, one of them gave a thumbs up

sign into the shuttle and Katrina came forward, holding a laser pistol across her chest.

She stepped down out of the shuttle and led the four men to the door of the bay, followed

by another older and less muscular man who jumped out of the shuttle carrying a plastic

box the size and shape of a small suitcase.

The last two members of the team, a man and a young girl of about seventeen, came

out dressed in spacesuits with jet-packs on their backs. They were each pulling a

hovering anti-grav platform containing a wall-mountable missile launcher loaded with

four missiles. When they had got the platforms fully out of the shuttle, they pushed them

out of the main door of the shuttle bay, turned on their jet-packs and flew out after them.

Beyond the door, Katrinas team had a choice of three directions straight on led tothe central hub of the wheel and the corridor running left and right curved round to form

the rim. Without hesitation Katrina, Carl, Matt and the older man, Alec, ran straight on;

Dexter went left and Tony went right.

Frost looked at the five cards in his hand. A jack, a ten, a three and two sixes. Rubbish.

Across the table Harris put down the pack he had just dealt from and picked up his cards.


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A smile spread across his fat middle-aged face as he sorted them into order. Frost got up

from his chair and threw his cards on the table in disgust.

Fifteen years of training for this? Sitting on our butts, nursemaiding a couple of

scientists and a big floating hunk of metal.

Hey, Harris replied, cool off.

Were not even supposed to be gambling I could arrest you for this.

Were not gambling were just playing cards. Now sit down and play.

Judges are supposed to be out catching criminals, not getting fat and drunk on synthi-

hol, Frost said, indicating Harriss wide girth.

Boy they were right to send you up here. You really need to cool down. And for

your information I was on the street busting heads while you were still in your test-tube.

Ive done my fair share of risking my neck to save some little scum who would probably

knife me as soon as I turned my back

Harris turned his head as the door opened and Katrina stepped in.

Sorry not interrupting anything am I? she asked.

Frost reached for his gun, but Katrinas was already aimed. She blew a hole straight

through Frosts chest, as Carl and Matt simultaneously fired at Harris.

As she crossed the room, Katrina looked down at Frosts dead body and asked, Who

said this was a dull assignment?

Judge Neil Drake stepped through the door from his sleeping quarters onto the rim

corridor still yawning. He brushed his hand through his hair and in doing so tilted his

head to one side. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the barrel of a gun emerge from the

third doorway along the corridor. Trained reflexes took over and he leapt back into the

room before the terrorist holding the gun could see him. Suddenly wide awake, Drake

assessed the situation, calculating possibilities of what had occurred, how many other

judges were likely to be left alive, and his best plan of action. He picked up his boot

knife from his chair and positioned himself behind the door.

He waited for a full two minutes, muscles coiled like a panther but as still as a statue,until the door slid open. The terrorist paused outside for a moment and then rolled


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Alec put his box on the desk and opened it it was a laptop computer. It was already

switched on and a window was open at the top of the screen, which was displaying

Current time: September 12 12:14:27

Program Nemesis activated 26:14 hours ago.

Status: Green

Alec attached a cable from the laptop to a socket on the side of the centre monitor. In

a second window at the bottom of the screen there was a simple > prompt. Alec typed

Take Over and hit Return. A new window opened over the top of the other two with the

title Program: Take Over. At the top the words

Code Breaker:

appeared, followed by a ten digit number which changed faster than the eye could

follow. After 3 seconds the number stopped, and the next line down displayed

Searching for security virus . . .

Another second and the computer printed

Found . . . and deactivated.

Trojan Horse security virus installed.

Hidden command channel established.

Security breached.

Station network isolated.

Weather Congress locked out.

Communication lines jammed.

Program Take Over complete 100% success.

Exit.

The window closed and the prompt reappeared. Alec then typed Hello, and another

window opened.

Handshaking protocol established.

Full System Initialisation:


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All five monitors went blank for a moment and then were suddenly filled with pages

of system messages as a hundred sub-programs were reset and initialised. The computer

banks along the side walls whirred as their hard disks were accessed.

After thirty seconds the four side monitors restarted their statistic displays and the

centre monitor summarised the initialisation

Level 1 computer diagnostic 100%.

All station systems operational.

Tracking stations on-line.

All instruments calibrated.

Data verified instruments recording accurately.

All atmosphere modulators operational and responding.

Alecs laptop computer now displayed

Initialisation complete 100% operational.

Station height set to 20000 m.

The room swayed as the stations jets kicked in to lift the station well above the

clouds.

Station radar and targeting system activated.

Station missiles operational and responding.

Program Hello complete 100% success.

Exit.

Finally, Alec typed Fire and Brimstone. He looked at Katrina who was watchinghim carefully. She nodded slightly and he pressed Return.

Everyones eyes turned to the viewscreen, where all hell broke loose.


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Chapter 3

Atmosphere modulators 25382, 24326 and 24548 converged on Pulman Plaza. Each ten

metres high, the modulators swept downwards and baked the rockcrete with powerful

beams of infrared. Within moments the temperature was over 30 degrees and a strong

thermal of hot air rose into the sky. One of the modulators broke off, rose high above the

buildings and sprayed the air with freezing powdered nitrogen and particles of

hygroscopic salt. The rising hot air hit this layer and cooled rapidly, giving up its

invisible water vapour which condensed onto the salt, forming millions of tiny water

droplets. These droplets were buffeted by the air currents, colliding and merging,

growing larger. For a while they fell, only to be pushed back upwards by the increasingly

powerful thermals. Within five minutes a thick black cloud had formed above the plaza.

The modulator above the cloud switched on its infrared beam and gently heated one

side. This created a small low pressure area, which generated a light breeze moving from

the surrounding area of higher pressure. The beam moved, slowly marking out a wide

circle and the breeze followed it, swirling round and round.

Meanwhile the other two modulators stayed below the cloud pouring on the heat,

intensifying the thermal. It was now rising at ten metres per second and it was lifting

leaves and litter off the ground.

The thermal rose through the centre of the cloud and through the centre of the circle

of wind, which began to spiral downwards creating a funnel.

Now that the crcumstances had been created, Nature took over, strengthening the

thermal, spinning the tunnel of wind faster and lower.

The vortex emerged from the bottom of the cloud, twisting randomly, feeling its way

down to the ground. There was a sinister hissing sound that grew louder and louder,

accompanied by flashes of lightning.

The modulators moved onto their next targets as the fully fledged tornado hit the

ground and the hissing suddenly became the roar of a thousand freight trains.


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In the plaza people were screaming and running but the tornado bore down on them

and plucked them off the ground, flinging their bodies out of its path like rag dolls.

A hover car came too close and was hit by a bolt of lightning carrying a hundred

million volts. Its controls seized and it fell into the huge vortex. Winds of over seven

hundred kilometres per hour blasted the paint off the sides and twisted the metal chassis

into a corkscrew. It fell into the centre of the maelstrom and for a moment, like the eye of

a hurricane, the winds eased off. But the thermal was stronger than ever, lifting the car

up, spinning it end over end and narrowly missing the bursts of lightning that jumped

from one wall to the other. The car touched the opposite boundary and was instantly

flung outwards. It hurtled across the plaza and plowed into the side of a building,

exploding on contact.

The tornado crossed the plaza and approached Lara Croft Block. The thunderous

wind beat against the walls but without much effect. It threw lampposts and garbage

grinders at the windows and swept the screaming sunbathers off the roof, but it could not

damage the two metre thick rockcrete walls.

It came closer, touching the block with its twisting body. Then the eastern face of the

block was in its eye. Due to the intense thermals and suction in the centre of the tornado,

the pressure outside the riot-proof windows was hundreds of millibars lower than the

pressure inside. Suddenly, two hundred windows cracked and burst outwards, providing

the tornado with tons of broken glass with which to spray across the plaza and slash the

bodies of even more victims.

The blocks residents were sucked out and torn limb from limb. The tornado moved

on and the trailing wall of wind reached into the block, got a good grip, and ripped the

block to shreds.

Come on Hawkins, get your act together! Go under him! No, under him, uuurrgh . . .

Joe Smythe sighed and held his hands up in disgust as Jerry Hawkins lost possession once

again.

Dad, can we go to the Boing dome after this? Ervine asked, looking up from his

computer screen.


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No you know how your mother worries about that stuff. And put that away this

is supposed to be your treat.

I didnt want to come to an Aeroball match its much better on tri-D anyway.

Pass it to Gummerman! Hes in the clear! Oh, Jovus Drokk! They should replace

the whole lot of you with robots.

Ervine went back to his games computer but he was getting bored of the game, so he

turned it off and looked around him. They were at the away teams end but because of

the power of the players jet-packs the pitch was over three hundred metres long and they

couldnt really see what was happening at the other goalmouth. Unfortunately for the

Sector 54 Redskins, and his father, thats where most of the action was taking place.

There were the vid-screens of course, but that was just like watching it at home, without

the comfortable armchair or the remote control.

Then Ervine looked up at the huge glass roof covering the stadium and saw an

unusual sight.

Dad, is that a cloud?

Where? Oh, yeah. You dont see many of those nowadays.

Why is it all black? Wow, its getting bigger.

In fact the cloud was growing exponentially, stretching up to twelve and then fourteen

kilometres in height. It seemed to be forming right above the stadium and soon blocked

out most of the sunlight coming through the roof. Everyone was looking up, even the

players stopped to watch it grow.

And then it started to hail.

The noise was deafening as thousands of tiny balls of ice bounced off the glass.

Everyone watched transfixed until cracks began to spread across the transparent dome.

People exchanged glances with their neighbours and those nearest the exits edged closer

to the doors.

Then a larger hailstone hit one of the cracks and punched out a jagged shard about

two feet across. One of the Redskins just managed to get out of its way as it fell to the

ground and shattered into a hundred pieces.


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The referee sounded the end of game horn and ushered the players towards the

entrance tunnel, but it was too late. The hailstones became heavier and smashed out

about fifty panes from all over the roof. One large triangular piece plummeted

downwards like an arrow and hit Jerry Hawkins in the back. The point burst through his

chest, spraying blood below him. He twisted in mid-air, writhing in pain. His jetpack cut

out and he fell onto the screaming crowds below.

The crowd was in a state of total panic now. Joe Smythe grabbed his son by the collar

and pushed him towards the exit.

Keep your head down and stay close to me! Joe took Ervines computer screen and

held it above his own head and leant over his son to shield him as much as possible.

Glass was now falling everywhere as the whole roof shattered and collapsed. Hailstones

five centimetres across fell like bullets, punching and bruising everyone.

People were climbing over each other in their fight to get to the exits. The scene at

the exits was even worse many of them had become blocked with the excessive number

of people trying to fit through at the same time. Joe could see the huge mound of people

at the nearest exit. Then he suddenly shielded Ervines eyes and looked away as a

massive sheet of glass, fifty feet across, crashed down on them. He looked back and saw

that the mound was now streaked with red and a couple of those on the top fell down to

be trampled by those underneath.

Joe walked into Ervine, who stumbled and fell, cutting his hand on a piece of glass.

Ow! It hurts Daddy! Help me. Ervine started crying and Joe looked around him

desperately. At the front of the stands there was a fence with ledge sticking out from it.

Everyone else was going in the opposite direction, but Joe picked up Ervine and flattened

himself against the fence. The ledge was only twenty centimetres wide but by pressing

up against it, his head was protected from the hailstorm.

They stayed there for fifteen minutes, watching strangers collapse in agony, hearing

bones crack from the ferocious battering and seeing the hailstones melt into water and

wash rivers of blood down the steps.

Eventually the storm eased off and died away. Joe tried to stand but his knee spasmed

in pain. It had been unprotected from the hail and was probably broken. He tried again,

favouring his other leg and got to his feet. With one hand holding onto a seat and the


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other around Ervines shoulders he hobbled up the steps. Ervines hand was still bleeding

but he had stopped crying, numbed by the devastation surrounding them.

Come on, said Joe. Weve got to get you to a doctor. He looked up into the sky,

for the moment clear and sunny again, and asked What the hell is going on in Weather

Control?

In Weather Control, all the terrorists were watching the main viewscreen which showed

total chaos all over the city. Swirling cloud formations indicated thunderstorms,

tornadoes and sandstorms blowing in from the deserts to the west every force of nature

was smashing the man-made abominations of the city. Initially, the disasters were

carefully selected and positioned to cause the most damage and devastation, but soon the

hundreds of individual weather systems would interact, causing unpredictable chaos that

no-one would be able to stop. The longer they held out, the better.

Its amazing. Its actually working. Carl exclaimed. Katrina smiled slightly a

smile of sweet revenge.

After a moment she turned to Alec and asked How far is Nemesis?

Its 1,800 kilometres off the coast of Africa and its still growing.

Good. This lot will keep them busy until its much too late.

Then Dexter ran into the room.

Tonys dead. I found him in Drakes room and there was no sign of Drake.

Damn, Katrina said. He must still be alive. OK, Carl, Matt and Dexter hunt him

down. But stick together. And start off at the shuttlebay, Jennifer and Pete should have

been back by now.

The three terrorists picked up their weapons and ran down the stairs, leaving just

Katrina and Alec in the control room.

Katrina sat down, putting her pistol in her lap, and switched on the news channel.

Now we wait.


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Weather Congress was the ground base for the citys Weather Control division. The main

computer and atmosphere modulator repair facilities were on the airborne station; this

was not much more than the public front. It contained a monitor control room, a backup

computer system, an exhibition centre and offices for bureaucrats and some photogenic

tri-D weathermen. But the fact of the matter was that the weather control system pretty

much ran itself, much to the disappointment of its current director, Miles Quinn, who was

fascinated by weather systems and often wished that he had more to do. During the last

twenty minutes, however, he had suddenly become very busy indeed.

Sir, we have another tornado report sector 240. Its happening all over the city.

Drokk, this is worse than the heat wave of 09. What the hell is happening up there?

Quinn was in the monitor control room, watching a huge viewscreen similar to the one in

the airborne station. It was being updated by three technicians inputting reports into their

computer consoles. A fourth technician was trying to contact the station.

Still no answer. Im getting the handshaking signal but there is nothing else getting

through, either to the computer or to the operators. I can only assume that theyve had a

system wide failure up there.

No, I dont buy it. With a system wide crash, a few modulators would have gone

haywire, but not this many. Something is going on

Director, the receptionist interrupted. There is a visitor for you.

Im kind of busy right now, Quinn began, turning towards the doorway, but stopped

when he recognised the black uniform. Ahh, Judge Dredd.

Dredd entered the control room, dripping wet, his boots squelching as he walked.

Care to explain what is going on out there, citizen?

Quinn paused for a moment, watching a drop of water run down the lawmans cheek

and hang off the end of his chiselled chin.

We dont know, said Quinn.

Not the best start, he thought.

We got the first phone calls about twenty-five minutes ago. A couple of reports of a

tornado in sector 22. At first we dismissed it the data that we were receiving from the

modulators, via the station, showed a normal, sunny September afternoon. But then we


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received more reports from all over the city and we started to input them onto the map.

We are still receiving clearly incorrect data from the modulators and we cant contact the

station, either the computer or the people.

Can you override the stations computer?

Yes, in case of total system failure.

Then do it.

Quinn nodded to the technician trying to communicate with the station. The

technician closed down the current window that he was working in, and opened up

another one on the computer screen in front of him. He typed a number of commands and

passwords on the keyboard, waited for a moment and, when nothing happened, he tried

again. Still nothing.

We may have a problem, he said, opening up a third window.

What are you doing now? Dredd asked.

Trying the backdoor route. The normal comms line is for every day traffic. This one

is for programmers access it bypasses the normal interface. He typed some more

commands but was left staring at a blank screen. Resignedly, he turned to Dredd.

Were locked out. This isnt a system failure. Someone is up there and theyre doing

this deliberately.

Quinn, well aware of the potential power of weather control, sat down into the nearest

chair and said, Oh, Grud.

Youre watching Channel 99 City-wide with Pride. We have just received news of

another weather disaster and are now taking you live to Mike Campbell who is on the

scene.

Thank you, Sarah. I am in Sector 268 and I have to shout because, as you can see,

we are experiencing a freak blizzard. It started quite suddenly about thirty minutes ago. I

have been talking to some of the people who watched it form and a number of them claim

to have seen Weather Controls atmosphere modulators in the distance, but whether they

were creating it or trying to dispel it is still unknown. The wind is bitingly cold here and

the snowdrift behind me is six feet deep. And this isnt the worst of it. Just two streets


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down the gale is so bad that visibility is completely blocked and it was deemed too

dangerous to film there. Already, at least 26 people have been admitted to hospital for

frostbite and there have been three vehicle crashes. And its likely to get worse before it

gets better. Who knows how many people are buried beneath these huge snowdrifts,

which cover approximately ten square kilometres? Im no weather expert but this could

go on for hours, spreading across the whole sector. I advise people to stay inside, turn up

the heating and get a good window seat you wont see anything like this again.

Thanks Mike. As yet there has been no official statement from Weather Control. In

the last few minutes Judges have cordoned off Weather Congress, Weather Controls

ground base, and refused press admittance. We will keep you updated as things progress.

Meanwhile, here are some messages.

Alec Kimble was still sitting in the central chair of the weather station control room,

staring blankly at the computer reports scrolling past on the monitor. He breathed deeply

and looked over to where Katrina was watching the news. He recognised the blizzard as

program 157 and dispassionately recalled that the reporter was right it would continue

for about two and a half hours.

His eyes broke away and looked around the room. It was all hauntingly familiar. The

size and the shape of the room was roughly the same, there was the same number of desks

in approximately the same positions. His eyes roamed the room and then, however much

he tried to avoid it, settled on a large screen on the left hand wall, showing a view of the

city below. He stared at the screen, unable to look away.

He felt the blood shrink away from his skin and a single bead of sweat roll down his

forehead. In his minds eye the room blurred and shifted, and he was sitting in the control

room of Mega-City Twos weather control station exactly eight years and two months

ago. The reports of the zombie infestation were overwhelming rainstorms and

snowstorms hadnt stopped them so the staff of the weather control station had decided to

sit it out and leave it to the citi-def forces and the judges. They had been out of

communication for about two days now but assumed that the good guys were winning.

Alec slowly got up from his seat, his hand held in front of him, holding a coffee cup

from eight years ago and

No, please no.


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walked towards the screen.

Alec? Are you all right? Katrinas voice fell on deaf ears as Alec reached the

screen. He was sweating profusely now and his eyes were wide open and darting about

as if a helpless spirit was trapped inside an unresponsive body.

No, I cant face this. No.

He looked down at the elegant city blocks of Mega-City Two. He could see

Katherine Stevens block in the distance and thought of little Laura, playing in the park

with her friends. His mind was filled with happy thoughts

NOOOOO!

and then the first missile hit. Time slowed down to a thousandth of its normal

speed. The nuclear fireball grew so slowly, his coffee cup took a month to fall to the

ground, as more fireballs blossomed outwards, not just below him but all over the city.

The fireballs grew, overlapped and mixed until the whole city was burning like the sun,

and blast waves travelling at a thousand miles per hour ripped the city to shreds.

NNNOOOOOO! NNNOOOOO!

NNOOO!

Alec! Strong, warm hands grabbed his shoulders, shaking him but his mind

continued to scream. A palm slapped him hard across his face and his eyes slowly

focused on Katrina.

Katrina held his shoulders and stared at him, eyes blinking back her tears, mouth

slightly open as if desperate to say something, but unable to find the words. Alec stared

back for a long two minutes, then swallowed unsteadily and held up his hand.

Katrina let go and he moved back to his console. He took a deep breath, sat down and

started to read the latest reports on the disasters.

Dredd arrived at the spaceport at 1:15 p.m. He parked his bike in the Judges bay and

walked quickly and purposefully out to the pad. Parked on the pad was a small but

heavily armed H-wagon. Beside it a young female judge waited, standing to attention

with her helmet held under her arm. As Dredd approached he studied her black skin

with shoulder length hair tied back behind her head. She was young, about twenty years


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old, only two years out of the Academy. She had a small body that was not as fit and

supple as it should have been, and she was nervous. Nervous as hell.

Amanda Gleason reporting for duty, sir.

So youre the expert on the weather control station?

I was stationed there for three months sir.

Why?

My partner was killed. I became hesitant and a liability to the department, so I was

assigned to the weather control station until I came to terms with her death and could

return to the streets.

Quoted straight out of her psychologists report, Dredd thought.

And did you?

Gleason paused for a moment. No, sir. It wasnt working and two weeks ago I was

taken into the psycho ward for psychoanalysis.

Dredd already knew this but he wanted her to know that he knew. He didnt agree

with psychoanalysis, preferring to just keep them too busy to think about their personal

problems. Well, I need someone who knows the layout and defences of that station.

Think youre up to it?

Yes, sir.

Good. You can drive, he said as he stepped into the H-wagon.

They stayed low, flying between buildings, to avoid detection until they were almost

underneath the weather station, and then flew straight up at maximum speed. The ascent

still took a few minutes, as the station was now twenty kilometres above the ground.

They burst through a thin layer of cloud and could see the wheel shaped station

floating at the edge of space. As Gleason brought the H-wagon into a hovering position

five hundred metres from the station she checked a read-out and told Dredd, An infrared

laser has just locked onto us. Weve been targeted.

Dredd replied, OK. Lets go.


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The scene in the control room was now very tense and alert. Two of the terrorists had

returned and now waited as Katrina studied a tactical display of Dredds ship, which gave

readings on ranges, heat-signatures and possible weaknesses in its armour. She was

looking for weapon charging or laser emissions indicating a target lock but at the moment

it was just sitting there.

Alec turned from his console and said Theyre hailing us.

Put them on.

One of the viewscreens showing a plan of the besieged city switched to the face of

Judge Dredd.

This is Judge Dredd. Your actions have already caused the deaths of over one

thousand citizens. Surrender now and you will avoid a lot of bloodshed.

You wont attack us, Katrina replied. You need this station to disperse the weather

systems we have created.

Dredd gave no sign that he had heard her and continued, We could simply blow you

out of the sky. The station has no offensive capabilities.

Thats OK. Weve bought our own.

She pressed a button on the console in front of her and two missiles streaked away

from the station and impacted against Dredds ship. On the viewscreen Dredds face

burst into static as his ship exploded into thousands of spinning, burning fragments which

billowed outwards and then slowly fell towards the city far below.


27/105


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Chapter 4

Yes! shouted Matt, punching the air. The Judge is down! He held up his hand, which

Dexter high-fived enthusiastically.

Youve killed Judge Dredd, said Alec, more cautiously. Theyre going to send

everything theyve got at us now.

Hmmm, maybe, Katrina replied, but that seemed too easy . . .

The shock wave from the explosion hit the two hovering figures and sent them hurtling

towards the side of the station. Both were dressed in black spacesuits, invisible against

the background of space, with silent stealth jet-packs. They hit the metal wall quite hard

but both managed to hold on. Gleason quickly dodged a large chunk of debris, which

crushed her previous handhold, and looked down at the plummeting, burning fragments.

Looks like the recording worked, she said.

Less radio chatter, replied Dredd. Where are those maintenance hatches?

Gleason pointed up to the right and they carefully climbed round the rim of the station

using various pipes, rough panel edges and tracks for maintenance robots as handholds.

Gleason slipped a few times, but Dredds grip was firm and secure. They eventually

arrived at a small automatic hatch designed to let robots enter and leave the station to

perform repairs on the stations own sensors or on the atmosphere modulators, which

could be docked at the station.

If they are not expecting us, it should be unlocked, Gleason said, as she pressed a

button beside the hatch. It slid open.

So far, so good, she thought. Just dont muck it up now.

They climbed through into a small space between the outer and inner walls of the

station. It was pitch black but their torches revealed a maze of wiring, power conduits, air

conditioning units and more tracks for maintenance robots.


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Dredd kicked an air vent and they dropped into the corridor below.

Dredd pressed a button on the side of his helmet to open the face plate and switched

off the suit-to-suit radio.

Where are we? he asked, drawing his Lawgiver from his boot holster.

Outer rim, just by the main shuttle bay, Gleason replied, copying Dredds actions.

The door is just round that bend, she added moving towards it. Then she stopped and

turned back to Dredd. Er, unless you want to check out something else first . . .

Thats fine. But Ill lead.

Gleason glanced down at the floor and then fell in behind Dredd as he approached the

door.

The door was open, allowing a clear view of the bay. The main bay doors on the

opposite side were now closed. In front of them was a body covered respectfully with a

grey cloth. To the left was Judge Jacksons body, left where he fell.

Dredd and Gleason edged into the room and round the back of the shuttle, where they

found the body of Judge Drake, lying on the floor of the shuttle, his Lawgiver still held in

his blood soaked hand.

Gleason knelt down next to the body and touched his shoulder.

Oh, Neil . . . she whispered sadly.

Dredd went over to the covered body and drew back the cloth. The body was a

teenage girl, shot twice in the chest.

At least they werent all caught napping. Drake did some of our work for us, said

Dredd. But we need to know how many of them are left and where they are positioned.

How long would it take to circle the outer rim?

Only about ten minutes, being careful.

OK. As we still have surprise on our side lets see if we can take out a few stragglers

first.

A short distance along the corridor an open doorway led into a small room, not much

more than an alcove, which served as a maintenance area for the modulator/scanner array


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and manoeuvring thrusters positioned below it. There were four of these areas, spread out

equally around the outer rim, at mid points between the main shuttle bay, the technicians

quarters, the secondary shuttle bay and the judges quarters. At this one, a figure was

crouched down, arming a block of explosives. He shifted his weight and winced in pain,

clutching at a bandage round his thigh. Drake had hit more than one terrorist.

He completed the arming sequence and a red light lit up on the detonator. He very

carefully slid it out of sight behind a bulkhead. The explosive was perfectly safe he

could have played Aeroball with it and it wouldnt explode but twenty kilograms of

TK-7 high explosive deserved some respect.

With some difficulty he got to his feet but then froze as the hairs on the back of his

neck stood on end. He couldnt be sure that he had heard anything, but he had felt

something just at the edge of his awareness. Without breathing he drew his pistol with

one hand and pulled out his hand-held radio with the other, and edged towards the open

doorway.

Five seconds later Gleason walked into view. She sensed him and spun round but saw

that his gun was already aimed at her and froze.

The terrorist activated his radio and said, Kat. Its Pete. Weve been boarded.

His finger squeezed on the trigger but before the bullet could leave the barrel, Judge

Dredd came into view and blew a hole straight through his heart. The terrorist fell

backwards, his shot ricocheting off the ceiling.

Damn! said Katrina as she picked up her radio. Carl, youve got ten seconds. Move

it. She let go of the transmit button and added, This is happening sooner than I

expected. Alec, lets lock this place up.

Dredd turned to Gleason with an icy stare.

Get it together Gleason. I dont expect to be your bodyguard up here.

Gleason glanced down at the floor again.

Sorry.


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Then they heard the sound of someone running from in front of them. Instantly they

were running at full pelt towards the sound. Dredd, who was in front, just caught the

sight of a terrorist turning into one of the spoke corridors leading to the central hub.

They reached the intersection to see a heavy metal door slam down half way along the

corridor. Dredd fired twice the first shot ricocheted under the door but missed the

terrorist on the other side, the second bounced off the door and smashed the ceiling light.

Dredd came to a halt in front of the door, pounding it with his fist.

Drokk! Gleason, how do we open this door?

We cant. Its the anti-terrorist system. Everything outside the central hub is

completely locked out.

Damn.

Carl appeared at the doorway to the control room breathing heavily.

Theyre locked out.

Good, Katrina replied. We should be able to hold them for another hour or so, then

were getting out of here. How are the systems interacting?

Alec checked one of the monitors in front of him and said, Pretty good. We have

total chaos breakdown in sectors 21, 167, 178 and right over sectors 202 to 205.

Anything could happen in there but its likely to be destructive. Most are mixing as

expected. Some have cancelled each other out but thats to be expected too. Another

hour and theyll definitely be self-perpetuating.

And Nemesis?

Alec clicked open a window on his portable computer, and checked the read-outs.

Still going strong. E.T.A. 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.

Good, very good.

It wont work, said Gleason, now sitting at the computer console in the main shuttle

bay.

Try it and well see, replied Dredd.


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Gleason logged into the computer and tried to access the security system. A message

appeared on the screen Insufficient security clearance.

I told you. I had sufficient clearance three months ago. She typed some more

commands into the computer and added, Theyve altered my clearance level. Now Im

only level one, the same as the civilian weather technicians that work here. I can access

the basic systems, but I cant open those doors.

Can you program the modulators to restore the weather to normal?

Probably, if I knew how. I left all that stuff to the experts.

Gleason sat back in her chair and mulled over the problem.

Cant we just fire a couple of high explosive shells at them?

Theyre blast doors, replied Dredd, specifically designed to stop that sort of thing.

Great, so now were stuck here.

Dredd switched on his helmet mike. Control, its Dredd. Control? No response.

Its part of the anti-terrorist system. It jams all high frequency transmissions.

So now were stuck here, agreed Dredd.

Ten minutes later, Gleason was still sitting at the computer console, thoughtfully

exploring the parts of the system that she could access. Dredd was searching the shuttle

to see if he could find anything useful. He came out empty-handed and walked over to

Gleason.

Anything? he asked.

Well, I was thinking we may not be able to get into the security system directly, but

there might be some other way in, through the systems that I can access. I just wish I was

better with computers.

Its not my strong point. What systems can you access?

Maintenance robots, basic environmental controls heating, lighting and humidity,

atmosphere simulation routines, supply re-ordering . . .

Manoeuvring jets?


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Nope. Hang on . . . She was currently looking at a schematic of the station on the

screen. The lighting circuit is the same pattern as the main power grid. It must pull the

power for the lights from the main grid.

So?

That means they are effectively the same system. If I close down the lighting

system, the main power will switch off too.

But will that open the doors? said Dredd.

Hmm, no. She thought for a moment and then smiled. But if they want to continue

to send commands to the modulators, they will have to turn it back on manually, which

will reset and initialise all the systems, including the anti-terrorist defences!

You sure?

Gleason shrugged her shoulders. In theory.

Do it.

Gleason typed at the keyboard and accessed the lighting controls. She went to the

maintenance section and examined the read-outs.

Its possible to shut down parts of the circuit in order to replace the lights. And

heres a warning saying that it will shut down that section of the power grid too. Lets

see what will happen if I say that every light on the station needs replacing.

She typed some more commands and looked up at the ceiling. A second passed and

then suddenly the room was in darkness.

Katrina was sipping a cup of synthi-caf when the lights switched off, the computer

screens went blank and the constant hum of the air circulation system died away. There

was a deathly silence for a moment before the emergency lights switched on, bathing the

room in a dim red glow.

What happened?

They shut down the power grid, replied Alec.

How the hell did they do that? You said they didnt have access to the main

systems.


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They dont. Dont panic though. The anti-terrorist doors are still closed and the

flight system is on a separate circuit we wont fall out of the sky.

But all the computers are down. What will happen to the modulators?

They will complete their last instructions and then wait for new ones.

Will the escape pods still work? asked Carl.

Yes, but if we leave without destroying the modulators they will be able to use them

to fix the weather systems. He turned back to Katrina. We need to switch the power

back on. There should be a manual override in the generator room at the base of the hub.

OK. Dexter and Matt go downstairs and turn it back on.

Dexter and Matt climbed down the stairs from the control room to the eating area directly

below, and down again to the storage area. This was were the two escape pods were

situated and Dexter paused to check the control panel by the door.

Yeah, its still got power. We can get out of here. You know, this job is just getting

worse and worse. The sooner we leave the better.

Im so sorry if our technique isnt up to your professional expectations. But some of

us are doing this for a reason. Come on.

They went down another set of stairs and arrived at the generator room. This was

where the power cells for the whole station and main engine for the stabiliser jets were

housed. Most of the actual equipment was behind large bulkheads that vibrated and

hummed. The four six-foot high power cells were basically large batteries in which

complex chemical reactions occurred and released exorbitant amounts of electricity for

this relatively small station. Matt went over to them and put his ear against the metal

cases.

Only one of them is humming. I assume thats the one powering the jets. There

should be some sort of switch on them like a circuit breaker or something.

Dexter joined Matt in examining the power cells. He flipped open a panel on one of

them to reveal a couple of blank read-outs, a dim green light and a large red switch.

This it?


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Looks good. Lets flip it and see.

Dexter pushed the switch and the read-outs came to life, displaying the output power

level. The case began to hum, and the main lights flickered back on.

Dredd and Gleason were crouching beside one of the anti-terrorist doors in the dim light

of the emergency system, waiting patiently and silently. Then the main light above them

flickered into life. Gleason glanced at Dredd but he was watching the door. After a

second they heard the hiss of a pneumatic press being released and the door rose up into

the ceiling.

Gleason smiled at Dredd and said, Am I good or am I good?

Dredd glanced at her and the corners of his permanent sneer raised just a fraction.

Yes, excellent.

I dont believe it, Gleason thought. He actually smiled at me.

Katrina jumped up from her seat, watching the surveillance cameras coming back on.

Hell, the doors are opening!

Alec looked up from the screen in front of him and said, The whole system is

resetting!

Katrina grabbed her gun from the desk and unclipped her radio from her belt.

Damn, we havent got time.

Alec paused for a moment and said I only need a few seconds . . .

Katrina stopped and looked at him, realising what he was suggesting. She rested a

hand on his shoulder and said OK. Do it.

Alec turned towards the computer screen as Katrina and Carl ran towards the stairs.

Katrina spoke into her radio, saying Dexter, Matt. The doors are opening. Get up here.

We need to buy Alec some time.


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Dredd reached the eating area and dived down behind the solid table, while Gleason

stayed by the doorway, flattening herself against the wall. Katrina appeared at the top of

the stairs, shooting wildly. Without losing his cover, Dredd fired a couple of ricochet

bullets at the opposite wall. The bullets bounced off and headed towards Katrina, but she

had ducked behind a metal screen.

Dredd shouted Cover me, as he dived out into the open. Gleason twisted into view,

firing an intense barrage of bullets at the top of the stairs. Katrina backed off as Dredd

rolled to the bottom of the stairs and fired. Luckily she had retreated to the other side and

was out of sight. Instantly Dredd flipped his Lawgiver to heat-seeker and fired again

before his roll took him to the safety of a computer bank.

Katrina cried out as the heat-seeker round homed in on her and bit into her leg. She

rolled across the top of the stairwell, firing a machine gun at the computer bank, which

burst into flames.

Gleason caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and shouted Dredd! as the

lift behind him opened. Carl, the terrorist inside, had, just for a split second, a clear shot

at Dredds back as Dredd brought his gun round. The terrorist aimed, but Gleason was

faster, rolling into the room and blasting at the lift, blowing three holes in the terrorists

chest.

Dexter and Matt were sprinting up the lowest set of steps to the store room, machine guns

at the ready.

What did she mean we have to buy Alec some time? asked Dexter but then he

realised. Oh, Drokk! Hes going to blow it.

They heard the gunfire above and took cover at the bottom of the stairs leading to the

eating area. There was a pause in the firing and Matt started towards the stairs

whispering, Come on.

And commit suicide? No way. Im just a mercenary remember? Im getting out of

here while I still can.

Dexter ran to one of the escape pods and opened the door. Matt turned back to the

stairwell but was thrown backwards as the Judges bullets punched through his head.


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Drokk! whispered Dexter and hurriedly closed the airlock door behind him. A

second later the pod blew its explosive bolts and jettisoned away from the station.

Gleason took one step down the stairs and scanned the storage room with her gun.

Satisfied that there was no one there, she retreated to the eating area telling Dredd, Its

clear.

Dredd was crouching behind the table again. Katrina hadnt re-appeared at the top the

stairs but she was still alive.

Dredd said, Armour piercing to Gleason and set his Lawgiver to the same. Gleason

only had a few general-purpose rounds left in her magazine, so took it out, substituting a

different one from her belt pouch.

They fired at the ceiling on both sides of the stairwell. The bullets sliced through the

metal bulkheads and cut into the human body hiding behind them. As Katrina screamed

the Judges rushed up the stairs and rolled onto the floor of the control room. They were

pointing in opposite directions, covering each others backs. Gleason faced towards

Katrinas groaning and bloody body and finished her off with two sharp armour-piercing

rounds, which sliced through her head like an arrow through paper. Dredd saw Alec andfired at him, slicing off slivers of flesh and riddling the computer behind him with bullets.

The computer burst into flames and Alec fell to the floor. He painfully propped

himself up on one elbow and then rolled onto his back.

Youre too late, he gasped. Ive set the self-destruct program running. It will tell

all the modulators to crash into the nearest building and then blow this station to kingdom

come.

Dredd glanced at the main computer screen. It was full of acknowledgement

messages from the modulators, scrolling off the screen faster than the eye could read

them. Thousands of modulators had received their new orders in the split second that

Dredd had been watching the screen. With a total of thirty thousand modulators over the

city, they only had a couple of seconds left.

Dredds eyes frantically scanned the room and then rested on the ceiling. Pulling his

space-suit helmet visor down he told Gleason, Gleason, put your helmet on and fire a


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high-explosive round at the ceiling on 3. Gleason instantly copied him, setting her

Lawgiver to high-explosive bullets.

1, 2, 3.

They fired simultaneously and the two bullets exploded violently. The fireball blew

downwards but then the hull was breached and the force of the explosion was sucked out

into the near vacuum outside the station. The ceiling was ripped open and peeled back as

the air of the room and everything in it was sucked upwards. Dredd and Gleason were

lifted off their feet and rammed through the hole, Gleason smashing the back of her head

on its ragged edge.

They were thrown clear of the station just as the last acknowledgements were

received and the explosives detonated, ripping the entire station asunder, shattering it into

a million jagged pieces, and lighting up the sky with an irradiant ball of fire and burning

metal.


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Chapter 5

Dexter could feel the shock waves of the explosion in the escape pod. A few fragments

of metal streamed past him. Using the pods just before the station exploded had been part

of the original plan the escape pods would not be detected amongst the shower of

debris. No one would pursue them and they could walk away scot-free. It was a good

plan, but they had underestimated the judges. He hadnt shared the others crusade but he

had no love for Mega-City One, and they had paid well he would miss them.

The escape pod had small manoeuvring jets and he flew it down to the private airstrip

at the rear of the Sector 324 international airport where Katrina had stored her

shuttlecraft. The group was going to use it to fly to Sino-City Two, on the site of old

China, but Dexter could tell as he landed that there was a problem. A nearby city-block

had collapsed onto the hangar.

He ran over to the pile of grey rubble, which was flecked with patches of colour

remnants of furniture, clothing and human bodies. There was a middle-aged woman

searching the ruins, tears running down her face. Dexter pushed her out of his way and

pulled at the deformed hangar door. He wrenched it open only to discover that the

shuttlecraft had been completely destroyed, crushed under a large girder. He swore

loudly and recovered his suitcase from the wreckage before storming off towards the

main terminal of the airport.

Gleason was taken to the hospital with a fractured skull, and Dredd went back to Weather

Congress to discuss the situation with Quinn.

Will the systems die out without any weather control? asked Dredd.

Yes, eventually, said Quinn. However, its complete chaos out there. There are

hundreds of separate weather systems all interacting. The results will be very

unpredictable. We were really hoping that youd recover the weather station. Without

the modulators we cant even see what is going on, let alone predict how long it will last.


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Whats your best guess?

Four or five days, maybe a week. But it could get a lot worse before it gets any

better.

Any ideas?

Well, we have backup computers here. Really we just need modulators. Thousands

of them, replied Quinn.

Can we get them from other cities?

Its unlikely that they would have that many spare. Maybe we could get a few

hundred, but there is no guarantee that they will work with our systems.

Ill get someone at Control to get onto it.

However, I was thinking we have contracts with a couple of factories to build new

modulators. They dont produce very many but with your influence we could get

hundreds of factories all over the city to make them. It would still take a few days to get

a sufficient number but we could at least reduce some of the effects and save some lives.

A justifiable appropriation of resources for the safety of the city, said Dredd. Get

some manufacturing blueprints and I will get authorisation from the Chief Judge.

Melvin Ogg was a slob. He had spent the last two years sat in front of his tri-D set and

saw no reason to get up now. His whole family lived in this one room the kids, Plunkett

and Cheebar, played with their toys on the floor and his wife, Ollie was quite happy just

to dust and cook the food that was delivered to their door each morning. As far as Melvin

was concerned, life on Welfare was good.

Normally he would spend all afternoon watching soap operas but today the news was

particularly interesting. By the looks of things, the whole city was falling apart. Even the

local stations had a cool tornado that was winding its way through the neighbourhood,

which competed well with the huge snowstorm on the national channels.

There was some commotion outside in the corridor but Melvin didnt pay it any

attention as he switched back to Sector Five Spy Your local eye in the sky. The

camera was tracking the tornado along a wide street. Melvin frowned in concentration;

there was something strangely familiar about it.


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Ollie, come look at this.

Ollie stopped dusting a sparkling doorknob and looked at the tri-D.

Oh, thats our block!

Oh, yeah. I thought I recognised it. Melvin turned up the volume to compensate for

the wind that had started blowing outside the window. Hey, kids our blocks on tri-D!

Cool! exclaimed Plunkett, putting down his toy robot.

The whole family watched entranced as the commentators described the action.

There were some screams and a crashing sound from down the corridor and Melvin

turned towards the door.

Hey, keep it down out there dont they know that were on the news?

On the tri-D set, the holographic tornado tore into the block, blowing out windows

and tearing off chucks of masonry.

Cool special effects, said Plunkett as he watched the tornado move round to the

opposite side of the building.

Suddenly the outside wall was ripped outwards, taking most of the ceiling and the

apartment above with it. For a second, hurricane winds screamed across the room,

deafening everyone and throwing rubble against the walls. But then the tornado moved

on and wind died down. Ollie looked around the room and checked that everyone was

still there and unhurt.

Wow, said Melvin.

Cheebar crawled over to the gaping hole and looked out across the city.

Mummy, whats that? she asked, pointing to a small ball floating about two hundred

metres away.

Grud, its a camera! Melvin replied and turned back to the tri-D. Sure enough he

could see the destroyed section of wall on the holographic projection.

Golly, Murray, said the voice of one of the commentators. Did you see that?

Ripped a huge section right out of the wall.

I sure did, Frank. the other reporter replied. I certainly wouldnt want to be in that

block right now.


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Excited beyond belief, Melvin jumped up out of his seat for the first time in years and

began waving frantically out of the space where the window had been.

Hey, Frank, it could be my imagination but is there someone still alive in there?

Hang on, lets get a close-up of that. Youre right Murray, and hes waving at us!

Melvin was jumping up and down and waving manically, with his head turned to one

side so he could see his own holographic image, clearly recognisable on the tri-D. The

others came to the edge and started waving too, shielding their eyes from the blasting

wind.

What a dork-wit, Murray.

He sure is, Frank. Complete spug-heads, the whole lot of them.

The tornado was still raging only a few hundred metres away. It touched the next

block and tore out a few large pieces, but this block was much bigger and blocked the

tornados path. Unable to continue, the tornado was reflected back towards the Oggs.

They should really get out of there, Frank.

Youre not kidding. Theyll be goners for sure. Get back from the edge! Can you

hear me? Get further into the block!

But Melvin wasnt listening. He was too busy raising his arm and showing the rest of

the family that his tri-D image was raising his arm too. He probably wouldnt have been

able to hear the commentators voices over the roar of the wind anyway.

The tornado closed in again and the camera had to back away to avoid being

destroyed, much to the displeasure of the family who desperately beckoned it back.

The tornado filled the frame of the camera and ripped into the block again. The

whole side of the block collapsed, sliding down like an avalanche. When the dust cloud

had thinned sufficiently to see, there was nothing left of the Oggs apartment, or any of

the apartments within three floors of them.

What a way to go, Frank. Watched by twenty million people.

Actually, Murray, Ive just heard that that piece of personal tragedy raised our

current viewing figures to twenty three million.


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Thats great, Frank. Im sure that the station will send some compensation to the

relatives to thank them. But now, back to Sue in the studio.

When Dexter entered, the main airport concourse was in chaos. Thousands of people

were packed into this relatively small space. The atmosphere was tense. Everyone was

scared some were queuing quietly, hugging their family close to them, others were

shouting and shoving, and at least two areas were in open riot. No flight details were

displayed on the huge screens along the far wall, just the words All tickets sold out.

Please go home.

Dexter realised that he wasnt going to get a seat by queuing patiently, and forced his

way to the check-in desks of Your Way airlines. They tried to compete with the bigger

airlines by advertising that they were the only airline with no robotic staff A real smile

to put you on Your Way.

A real fear of death to put me on my way, thought Dexter, as he pulled out his gun.

But when he reached the front of the line he was greeted by a metallic gaze.

Hey, whats with the robots? Where are the human staff?

Im sorry sir, replied the robot in an artificial cheerful voice. All the human

employees of Your Way airlines left on the first available flight. Its just us robots left

now.

I didnt think Your Way had any robots.

The robot smiled even wider. We dont sir. We are on loan from Mega-Wide for the

duration of this present crisis.

Dexter frowned in frustration and then held the gun up to the robots head.Whatever. Now you are going to give me a ticket to get out of here.

Im sorry sir. All the tickets for the next two months have already been sold. The

next available flight is six a.m. on November the twentieth, to Uranium City.

No, I want one for today. Cancel someone elses ticket and give me theirs, or Ill

blow your brains out.

I do not have any brains, sir. And anyway, someone with a bigger gun has just

hijacked the last plane.


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Dexter looked out onto the runways and saw the only plane with the Your Way logo

taxiing out of its hangar, half an hour early. There were only four or five planes in sight

and all of them were preparing to take off.

Arrrgh! screamed Dexter and shot the robot through the head. A second robot at the

next desk turned to him and said Sir, destroying property of Mega-Wide airlines is a

serious criminal offence. Please drop your weapon and wait for the authorities to arrive.

In reply Dexter blew a hole through its chest plate. A third robot turned to face him

and he shot that one too. He flipped the gun onto automatic and sprayed bullets all along

the check-in desk, leaving all five Your Way robots as shattered piles of scrap metal.

The crowd cowered back as he swung the gun round and stormed out of the airport.

Three hours later, Ken Walker frowned at the computer screen in front of him.

Oh, great. Now SW16 is playing up as well. Tom, after youve finished there, swing

it round to the South West sector will you? Number 16 just died on us.

Roger that Control, Tom replied over the radio, the hum of his submersibles

propellers clearly audible in the background.

Walker typed some commands onto the keyboard, trying to get some response from

wave sensor number SW16.

In fact, wave sensor was a bit of a misnomer. Here at the bottom of the Atlantic

Ocean, very few surface waves could be detected. However, the array of sensors did keep

tabs on many different deep sea currents, keeping track of variations in pressure, density,

temperature and pollution. Unlike the atmosphere modulators of Mega-City One, these

sensors could not alter the local conditions. They just monitored what was going on,mainly for the safety of the tourists who would come to Atlantis to drive around in a

rented submersible. Atlantis was the main stop off point of the Atlantic Tunnel; a

transparent tube laid across the ocean floor containing a ten lane highway that connected

Mega-City One to Brit-Cit. Atlantis was a huge dome half way along, packed full of

restaurants, sea-life exhibits and souvenir shops.

Walker was just starting to get somewhere with SW16, when a warning beep sounded

from a second console. Sighing, he slid his chair across the control room to the otherscreen. He read the warning message quizzically and viewed the data that had been


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coming in from the appropriate sensor. The data had suddenly stopped, the connection

cut with no warning. Then more alerts appeared on the screen and Walkers eyes

widened in shock.

He punched the radio button and said, Tom, get back inside, right now!

He then rapidly tapped in a number on the radio keypad. There was a ringing sound

and a voice answered, Yes?

Mr Watts, if you have any tourists outside, get them back immediately! Something

really big is coming this way.

Tom, not being one to argue with his boss, dutifully turned the submersible back towards

the dome. He was wondering what sort of emergency could have got Ken all flustered

like that when the submersible was hit with the force of a two-ton sledgehammer. The

submersible rolled over and over as it was carried along with the massive pressure wave

which was breaking the wave sensors in half. Tom desperately tried to regain control as

he was propelled towards the dome at an incredible speed. He was spun upside down and

then smashed into the glass wall.

His cockpit shattered, the incredible pressure crushing his body instantly. The impact

had created a large crack in the wall of the dome. As the wave passed, the sea water was

pressed against the crack. Like a fork of lightning the crack grew. It spread sideways and

down into the thick glass. The people on the other side were already running when the

first tiny squirt of water broke through. Then with an almighty crash the glass spilt

asunder, a thousand gallons of water blasting through the hole in seconds. Large sections

of the wall fell in; the gap was now fifty feet across. Cold salty water thundered into the

room beyond, ploughing into the people, knocking them off their feet and drowning themin moments.

The wave passed by but the water continued to pour in, filling each corridor and

plunging down the next. Emergency doors slammed into place and eventually contained

the disaster but the water had already flooded over a tenth of the dome and killed almost

five thousand people.


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As soon as Dredd heard about the Atlantis disaster, he returned to the Weather Congress.

When he entered the control room, it was in chaos. About a dozen people were studying

their computer screens and shouting out reports as they came in. Quinn was at the main

terminal trying to build up an overall picture and figure out what had happened.

Ninety five percent of sensors are now inoperable.

Pressure gradient at sensor N15 was 1025 mb per second.

Quinn added the information to an image of the Atlantis complex, surrounded by

spots of data positioned at the last known co-ordinates of the sensors. The velocity has

to be at least thirty metres per second, he muttered, and with a depth of 3,400 metres...

He tapped some numbers into a small calculator on his desk. No, that cant be right.

Someone else shouted, Casualties are estimated at over four thousand.

I dont want casualties, Quinn replied. Get me wave velocities.

Location of sensor SE2 confirmed at 167464 by 353292.

Yes, thats the one I want.

Divers are recovering its data banks now . . . direction of wave front was 284

degrees, and speed is confirmed at 39.3 metres per second.

Grud.

What is it? asked Dredd.

Quinn twisted round in his chair, noticing Dredd for the first time.

Oh, Dredd. I dont know what it is, but we could be in big trouble.

Another technician suggested

fire and brimstone

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