Author: Colum Byron
Title: Relative Revenge
Word Count: 3838
Email: columnmn@yahoo.com.au

2035,
Australian Supreme Court.


'No'� no, please you can't. I'm innocent'� you have to believe me.'�

Standing high in his podium, the Supreme Judge glared down at Luke. With his voice full of spite, he said, 'The crimes committed were acts of pure malevolence.'�

Flanked by guards at either side, Luke could do nothing but plead. 'Please, I was set up'� will you listen to me? I couldn't do those things. I wasn't there.'�

Dismissing Luke's pleas, the Judge addressed the huge crowd, paying particular attention to the video cameras filming his every word. 'The evidence has been read, testimonies have been given from eye witnesses. Even the closest friends of the accused have refused to speak on his behalf.'�

The Judge looked down on Luke like he was a piece of filth. 'On the last murder, DNA evidence was found'�.'�

'It was planted,'� Luke tried cutting in, but the Judge yelled over him.

'Luke Rollins, control yourself or I will order you gagged.'� Blood surged to the face of the Judge as he roared at Luke. 'I will not have you interrupting my court again.'�

'I didn't do those things, I couldn't'� I'm innocent.'�

'You are a trained military officer so act like it.'� The Judge turned his attention back to the cameras. 'During his last vicious murder, an anonymous call alerted police. However using his extensive military knowledge he escaped, killing another two police officers in the process.'�

Luke couldn't control himself. 'You've read my training manifest. I was never trained in high speed pursuits. I couldn't have lost the Police in that chase'�'�

'Gag him now!'� the Judge yelled at the two guards.

The two guards viciously stuffed a ball-gag in Luke's mouth, wrapping the straps around his head.

As if nothing happened, the Judge took an envelope from the bench of Jurors. The second he opened it, his grin spread from ear to ear. He pronounced over the courtroom, 'I am glad to say this verdict is not surprising. For the cold-blooded murder of forty-six people, the jury of your peers finds you guilty. For the murder of two Police officers in the line of duty, the jury of your peers finds you guilty. In the vicious murder of the suspects girlfriend, the jury of your peers finds you guilty.'�

Luke could feel the world closing in around him. The thoughts pounded inside his head, no, no, no'� please don't.

Luke could feel the old wounds being reopened. The first murder had been his girlfriend. The night before she died they had the biggest fight, the biggest their three years together. She admitted to Luke she'd been having an affair. They fought like crazy for almost four hours but she refused to tell Luke who the other man was. They'd both stormed off to bed refusing to speak to each other.

Rolling over the next morning Luke felt calm ' the anger had passed ' curiously he felt something wet beneath him. Opening his eyes he saw blood splattered everywhere. Then he saw his girlfriend, dead ' still lying in bed next to him. Her beautiful face cut beyond recognition and the knife left sticking out of her heart. He still couldn't remember what happened. The police couldn't find any forced entry or evidence somebody had even been inside his house.

Luke had never told the Police about the cheating, so they simply couldn't find a motive.

'For the unlawful use of Military knowledge, the Jury finds you guilty. The Jury has authorised me to deal out the harshest method of punishment we possess. I am inclined to agree'�.'�

The courtroom burst into applause. Cheering and cat-calls echoed throughout the old building. The Judge paused for a moment then continued, 'For your blatant lack of remorse and refusal to admit your guilt, I invoke the strongest penalty possible, one unseen in this country for over fifteen years.

'With the full authorisation of the Australian Government, I sentence you to Death by Relative Retaliation.'�

The hundreds in the crowd roared with utter delight.

Luke was on the verge of panic. His bottom lip shook. He tried muttering something, but with the gag, he couldn't understand himself. Luke's hands started to shake beneath the hard electronic cuffs.

He remembered watching the first and only enforcement of Relative Retaliation on television. The TV crews eventually refused to record the proceedings because it was so horrific.

Before they stopped filming, the helpless prisoner had been skinned, major arteries heat-sealed to limit bleeding, with blood intravenously pumped into him. Hourly reports given by white-faced reporters continued for over three weeks. During those weeks the prisoner barely stopped screaming once. Well, until they cut out his voice box.

Luke's useless lawyer had told him the text book definition of Relative Retaliation, which simplified meant the relatives of the victims were allowed to kill the prisoner. Allowed to kill the prisoner in any way imaginable, they could beat him senseless, stone him to death, torture him or even skin him alive. No relative affected by the crimes would ever be held liable for their actions.

They're going to do that to me'�

Luke thought for a moment about the protestors he'd seen picketing against the punishment. They were yelling and calling it barbaric, saying that it should never be considered. However they were massively outnumbered. Everybody knew one simple fact kept it alive. Since its first and only enforcement: premeditated murder had almost become a thing of the past. The punishment worked, and worked well.

Well until Luke's girlfriend was murdered. Less than a week later, a spree of cold blooded murders left police speechless. When this murderer entered a house, everybody died and the killer left without a trace.

This went on for over three years. Luke guessed it was out of frustration, or lack of evidence that the Police framed him.

They knew his military training, abilities to think ahead and his connection to the first murder. They never admitted it of course.

Luke's eyes glanced over the crowd, his fear threatening to consume. There were over two hundred relatives; there were cousins, brothers, sisters and parents. They were all calling for blood, yelling at him, threatening him.

'Guards, attach the ankle bracelet, then remove the gag.'�

Luke watched helplessly as the guards attached an ankle bracelet. The bracelet was basically a tracker, equipped with several anti-tamper devices. First, if he touched the device it'd give him a nasty shock. If he touched it twice, the shock could knock him unconscious. If for some reason the bracelet fell off, or was broken, it would explode instantly.

Each and every relative had been given a device which tracked Luke's bracelet. At every second they'd all know exactly where he was, at every second. They knew his vital signs. If he was hiding they could even emit a short burst of electricity.

Grinning wildly at him the guards took off the gag.

Luke tried struggling but he couldn't fight them off. His legs were chained to the ground, his arms chained to the bench. They knew his abilities well, they weren't taking any chances. Luke burst out, 'No'�no, please don't. They'll kill me.'�

The Judge stared down at Luke. 'That's the idea. However, I'm not unfair. I'll give you a fifteen second head start, starting'� now.'�

The automatic features inside the cuffs unlocked. The cuffs dropped to the ground ' Luke was free ' then he felt the weight of the bracelet; not so free.

Luke didn't wait, he turned and ran.

The Judge's laughing voice followed him. 'This court is adjourned. Happy hunting.'�

13'�

12'�

Standing outside the courtroom Luke could hear people smashing against the door inside the public viewing area. He charged outside the massive court, running between massive pillars, bounding down stairs towards the street below.

9'�

8'�

Luke spotted his exit. A hover-capable vehicle stopped at the bottom of the steps, its occupants innocently taking files from the back. He charged towards them. The only thing that mattered was staying alive. He had to stay alive.

Wham'�

Luke smashed the driver in the head. Ripping him by the collar he dragged the driver out and then glared at the passengers, 'Out.'�

One of the passengers shot Luke an evil grin and hesitated, stalling for time. 'Get out!'� Luke growled, yanking the man by the shirtsleeve and shoving him out of his way.

4'�

The electronic engine whirred to life, lifting the vehicle off the ground. Luke hurriedly engaged the autopilot, not worried about the destination, as long as it wasn't here.

3'�

Luke knew he needed to disable the speed-inhibitor and the cut-off switch; otherwise the car would send an emergency message to the police. From his classified military training, he knew where to look and quickly leaned under the dash. However the second his head went underneath, his eyes widened in utter fear. Instead of looking for the compartment, he spotted something else. Something terrible.


2'�

A nano mine'a nano-technology controlled mine'was probably the most devastating piece of small-arms weaponry the military possessed. Some of the murdered families must have been military, or have very strong links. These things weren't cheap.

1'�

Someone had hooked up an electronic ignition, most likely waiting inside the courtroom, counting down the seconds until they could legally detonate it. Luke's hands raced to disarm the device before the relatives armed it'�

0'�

Game on.

A red light flashed. Nanos were charging. Everything was about to get very bad. Luke jumped up so hard his head smashed against the bottom of the dash, but he didn't get a chance to cringe. Not taking the time to open the window ' his fist flew towards it, crumpling the glass in a single shot. Grabbing hold of the roof he ripped himself out of the window and pulled himself onto the roof.

Then he looked down almost falling from the shock. The autopilot had sent him straight up, hovering almost a hundred meters above the courthouse.

People were charging out of the courthouse, charging towards parked vehicles, vehicles which contained all sorts of weaponry. However a much larger section was standing at the steps, simply looking up at him.

Somebody on the ground smiled, holding a detonator. With Luke on top of the vehicle, the nano-mine opened'trillions of microscopic nano-bots exploded from their casing.

Luke remembered when the nano-mines first come out. They were described as the new age Claymores, only much more powerful. Instead of hundreds of ball bearings, these devices contained trillions of nano-bots. Passing through solid material, these nano-bot would explode.

With trillions of them working as one, nothing stood a chance. Still standing on the roof Luke watched as the nano-bots destroyed everything. He had less than a second. He jumped.

It took two seconds for the mine to obliterate anything in its path.

Luckily knowing the nano-mine was a directional weapon. When Luke jumped forward everything behind him ripped apart and dropped. Suddenly the bonnet lurched to the side, making Luke lose his footing. He fell again.

Luke threw out his arms to catch something, anything. At the very last second he snagged something, a hood ornament.

In an instant he felt the weak ornament bending under his weight. Almost ripping the ornament off the engine went wild. When disabled from the rest of the car it'd normally power down, or hover stationary.

It didn't do either. Probably tampered with again. With no navigational controls, the bonnet started zigzagging, circling out of control.

Scrambling around for a better handhold, he spotted one ' a safety rail.

Suddenly the bonnet shot down at unbelievable speeds, snapping the ornament, leaving Luke floating in the air. He didn't float for long, gravity caught up very quickly. He watched the wild bonnet zoom off into the distance, leaving him with a very fast fall to the ground.

Luke felt wind pelting his face he watched below as many people'people who hated him a passion'cheered for his quick death.

Wham!

Impact. Hard. Very hard. The cheering stopped instantly.

Luke didn't hit the ground. Another car had intercepted him, its occupants wanting to give Luke a slow and very painful death. Lying flat on the roof of their vehicle, Luke could feel a massive bruise forming. He didn't get to rest for long'with people climbing out the window'all trying badly to point rifles at him.

Instinctively, he slid across the smooth roof, his feet flying towards a rifle.

Luke slammed into the weapon, knocking it back, and then continued to slide from the roof. The owner of the rifle poked his head out a second before Luke rammed into him. Luke grabbed the rifle, and using his full weight ripped the weapon free'then fell'arms reaching out, snagging onto the lower safety railing usually used to walk around the car in an emergency.

Dangling from one arm, Luke pulled the trigger on the advanced weapon.

The rifle purred as almost a hundred bullets were ripped down the barrel by several hundred extremely powerful magnets. Luke sprayed the interior, hearing short screams from inside. Pulling himself up and throwing open the door, he ripped out the closest dead body, letting it drop to the ground.

Despite the 100 meter distance between them, Luke could still hear the roar of displeasure. He climbed inside then looked at the ankle bracelet, racking his mind for ideas to get rid of it'�

Whack'�

Ripping Luke from his thought, he felt something ram him from behind. Luke throttled up the hover-vehicle making it shot from 0 to 300Km/H in less then a second. However with the speed inhibitors, it didn't budge over.

Luckily his pursuers were in the same boat. Luke plotted the course straight ahead. He had a little head start. If he kept the course straight, kept the power on full, they couldn't catch him'�

'Oh no.'� Luke saw on his rear-vision monitor a person carrying an ancient device, FIM-92A Stinger, Luke groaned, 'Why isn't that in a junk yard?'�

Obsolete, out-of-date, but still in perfect working order the weapon; and it could also go much faster than 300Km/H.

Swerving hard to avoid the stinger's guidance computers locking onto him, Luke watched in horror as massive flames erupted from the back, propelling the rocket forward.

Luke stopped swerving immediately. Engaging autopilot he ducked under the dash. Please no nanos, please no'�.

Luke breathed silent relief. It was safe ' his hands fumbled around, trying to find a rough patch. He felt everywhere; something had to be rough'�

'Come on, where is it?'� Luke yelled at the dash.

The rocket gained fast. Luke searched even faster.

His hands ran over every surface'until finally'he found the rough section. He slammed his hand against it, opening the casing, revealing tiny computer touchpad. Luke tapped the exact code ' only the rocket exploded at that very second.

Luke had learnt about Stinger rockets when he was a kid. They exploded a meter from its target, spraying it with deadly superheated shrapnel. Luke heard the high-explosive warhead detonate, just as the hover-vehicle'unrestrained by the inhibitor'exploded off its mark. Luke ripped the steering to the side. The turn was tight, extremely tight and the g-forces were enough to make Luke see spots. Unfortunately the superheated shrapnel didn't miss.

The vehicle made a small turn as the engines powered up. It wasn't quick enough, the shrapnel pounded the rear of the vehicle. Luke could hear windows exploding around him and spun to see then rear of the car ripped clean off.

But without a clean shot to the engine these cars could power through anything.

Luke slammed his foot against the accelerator. In a blur the vehicle passed the sound barrier. Luke kept the power down while plotting a new course. He needed to find some equipment. This ankle bracelet needed to go.

***

During his army days he'd made many good friends, but none as close as Cam. They'd been through everything together. They'd been through every a war together, they'd even pursued the same girls.

Luke had gone first to Cam for friendship after his girlfriend's death. Strangely enough he'd refused to speak at Luke's side. Almost as if he was ashamed of his friend's actions.

However Luke knew about an obsession he had. He collected military weapons and gadgets. Or more precisely stole the weapons and gadgets. Luke had never told anybody about this; he simply turned a blind eye.

After Luke had been booted from the army he'd lost contact with Cam.

***

Luke jumped from the vehicle running full steam towards the underground bunker. Luckily the booby-traps hadn't changed. Luke disabled them with ease. Then he looked around the first room revealing a massive variety of weaponry; old, new, some of the things here never officially existed.

He ran through a few rooms until he came to Cam's electronic supplies. First things first. Knowing exactly where everything was, he pulled out a signal disrupter. Flicking it on he kept searching, looking for some way to take off the bracelet. Feeling hope for the first time today, Luke found Cam's mini-EMP (Electro-Magnetic-Pulse). He'd probably built it himself; it was extremely useful for disabling electronic locks, disrupting cameras, even disabling modern rifles.

Luke powered it up aiming towards the ankle bracelet. The lights around it went dead and the magnetic locks holding it on fell apart. However it didn't fall off his leg, Making very sure it was still within the effects of the mini-EMP. He reached down. Now all he had to do'�

'So the mass murderer returns.'� Cam's harsh voice boomed from behind.

Luke breathed, 'Buddy, it's good to hear your voice. The crap's really been hitting the fan.'�

'Yeah I guessed that.'�

Luke turned to look at his friend ' who had a rifle pointed directly at him. Luke held up his hands. 'Buddy, you know me, I didn't do it. I couldn't.'�

Cam replied calmly, 'Yeah I know. It's not in your nature.'�

Luke didn't lower his hands, 'Then why have you got a gun pointed at me?'�

'Cause you're a fugitive.'� Cam sounded very proud of himself.

'But you know I didn't do it. What are you doing?'�

'Oh Luke. You were always smarter than that. Is it so hard to figure out?'�

Luke felt his guts turning, 'Please tell me you didn't.'�

Cam didn't answer, 'You know, after you left the Army everything was different. It wasn't fun anymore.'�

'It was never fun.'� Luke's thoughts flew towards his girlfriend.

In a sudden snap of temper Cam roared, 'It was always fun. Don't you remember the feeling inside when you snuck up behind somebody and ran you're knife along their neck? Felt the blood run down your hands. Don't you remember the power you felt? When we killed, we were gods.'�

Luke could feel the fury building inside himself. 'We weren't gods, we'� we were following orders. I've still got nightmares about the things I did.'�

'You're lying. You were a god. You're just afraid to admit it, afraid to feel the power.'�

'Did you kill Josie, you pathetic'�?'�

'Well I had to didn't I? She was threatening to tell you'� tell you I was sleeping with her. So I snuck in and drugged you, then killed her. The feeling was amazing. I'd always loved killing but this felt so much better. Naturally I had to do it again.'�

Luke could feel his fists clenching, 'So you killed innocent people?'�

Cam roared, 'Yes, and it felt good. I showed them I was a god. But the cops started to get close so I had to'�'�

Luke growled, 'You're no god.'�

'You're lying!'� Cam roared, 'I am a god, and I'll prove it.'�

Cam aimed between Luke's eyes, his finger reaching for the trigger.

At the moment death meant nothing to him. Luke screamed at his closest friend, 'I'm taking you with me, I'll kill'�'�

Luke kicked forward. The bracelet flew from his leg soaring towards his traitorous friend. Knowing what was about to happen, Luke dived behind a table. The very second the bracelet left the mini-EMP zone, it activated'�

Cam opened up the weapon, spitting bullets towards Luke's diving body'�ignoring the bracelet.

It detected the lack of a leg and detonated almost instantaneously, within a foot from the mad-man. It ignited hot, and furious, consuming everything within two meters and created a crater in the floor, vaporising every inch of Cam's body.

Luke stumbled backwards. His mind racing refusing to believe what happened. Cam killed those people. He killed them all and helped frame Luke.

Stepping through the smoking crater, he stumbled out the front door and looked at his stolen vehicle. Over the horizon, twenty vehicles soared in his direction.

Without a second thought, he ran'� not for the vehicle but for the closest hiding places he could find. They'd find the vehicle, then the crater. Naturally the relatives would assume he killed himself trying to take the bracelet off.

Watching people charge into the bunker Luke thought, What the hell am I going to do now?

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