Space Lawyer (25 page)

Sparks appeared suddenly at the
Flash's
port. "There's a ship coming in fast," he cried. "I picked up blasting rockets on my detector."

Kerry jumped. "It's too early for the Patrol," he exclaimed. "It's someone else—perhaps the pirates, recovered from their fright. Everyone into the
Flash;
prepare for a fast take-off."

But it was too late. Even as they rushed for the ship, a craft came whooshing down in a thunder of rockets, leveled off and glided to a halt.

Kerry's gun came out; so did Jem's. Then Kerry cried: "That isn't the pirate ship. Hold it, Jem!"

Sally's clear voice came to them from the
Flash.
"It's a racer! Good heavens, it's the
Deimos
—Clem Borden's champion!"

Two men came running out of the sleek little ship even before it bad stopped rolling.

One of them—short, thin, with a halo of flying white hair—shouted: "Sally!"

"Dad!"

They met halfway in a great clinch. "Thank God! Thank God!" said old Simeon over and over again.

The other man, in full uniform of a regional Patrol Commander, walked more sedately over to Kerry. He disregarded the weapon in the latter's band.

"Kerry Dale?"

Kerry pushed his weapon back into the belt. He smiled slightly. "The same," he said. "And you're Commander Matthews of the Space Patrol."

"Quite right, young man. You are under arrest."

"Arrest?" Kerry's eyebrows lifted. "On what charges?"

"First, kidnapping; the kidnapping of Miss Kenton."

Old Simeon came hurtling over. His eyes blazed, his hair flared, be danced around the young man in a rage. "'That's right, dingburn ye for a dimscullion, Dale. I expected almost anything else of ye, but not this. You forced my daughter along on this blamefoozled, scarumharum trip o' yours!"

But Sally was right behind him, her eyes blazing with equal rage. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard even
you
say, dad. Kerry kidnap me? Why, I chased
him
—and got him, too," she ended triumphantly.

"Hmm!" said the Commander somewhat thoughtfully. "That
does
seem to dispose of the kidnapping charge, Mr. Kenton, doesn't it?"

"Har-rumph!" Old Simeon stared keenly at his daughter, stroked his chin whiskers. "Well—that is—my own flesh an' blood calling me a liar—har-rumph—" Then he swung and shouted joyously at Kerry: "But we got ye on the other charge, ain’t we, Matthews?"

“Yes of course." The Commander cleared his throat. "You are charged, Mr. Dale," he said formally, "with wilfully disobeying the order of the Interplanetary Commission which forbade all landing at, on or in the planetary body known temporarily as Comet X, except in such manner and under such conditions therein made and provided. You will therefore come with me quietly to Ganymede."

Old Kenton did a little jig. "That'll teach ye, you young snapper-dipper," be crowed, "to tangle with Simeon Kenton. I told ye I'd get the better of ye, if it took to singdom rum—I mean kingdom come. And let me tell you something else, Kerry Dale. The Commission sent me authority to act as their agent in taking over this here comet—with a percentage of the take, of course.
Now
will ye admit I put one over on ye?"

The crew of the
Flash
crowded round, looking glum. Jem was positively sick. Sally flared at her respected progenitor:

"Dad, I'm ashamed of you. You wouldn't put Kerry in jail, would you?"

"Well, har-rumph, not if he admits he's licked."

They all stared then at Kerry.

That young man seemed completely calm. "I'm sorry to have to disabuse your revered father, Sally," he addressed himself solely to the girl. "In fact, as be so elegantly put it,
he's
the one who's been licked again." He shook his head sadly. "If he persists in his illusion, I'll have to order him off my property."

Old Simeon choked, glared. "Order
me
off!" he screamed.

"Matthews, do your duty!"

The Commander said sternly: "You're making it hard for yourself, Dale. You're adding a charge of resisting arrest to your other offenses."

Kerry grinned. "There is no resistance, where there is no authority to arrest. I can quote you—"

"You don't have to," retorted the Commander impatiently.

"I know all that. But I possess ample authority, by virtue of—"

"The Interplanetary Commission? They have no jurisdiction on Comet X."

"Eh, what's that?"

"By this time, Peter Wilson of the Pleasure Dome Observatory must have fully calculated the orbit of the body known as Comet X.”

"Yes, he has."

"And found, as I did, that its orbit is a true parabola. Therefore, Comet X is
not
a member of the Solar System. Let me quote from the Interplanetary Charter, Article One, Section Two. 'The jurisdiction of the aforesaid Commission shall extend to all members of the Solar System and its component bodies, planets, moons, satellites, asteroids, meteors, comets, flotsam and jetsam; and the space surrounding them.' But Comet X is
not
a member or body of the Solar System. It came from another System, or perhaps another Universe."

"I knowed it! I knowed it!" chortled Jem. "Leave it ta Kerry Dale ta think up some doodad!"

The Commander was flabbergasted, and showed it. Then he rallied and said triumphantly. "Ah, Mr. Dale. You forgot one little item which you quoted. The Commission has jurisdiction of
the space surrounding.
And Comet X is now in that space."

Kerry smiled. "Of the space, yes," he admitted; "but not of the body. Let me put it this way. Comet X is a stranger to this System, temporarily passing through. It carries its own law with it, except insofar as it interferes with the rights or possessions of the citizens of the state through which it passes. So far, you must admit, Comet X has not done so."

"But—"

"Let me continue. Earth lawyers from the beginning of Earth law—which is the fundamental basis for Planetary Law —have recognized the status of such alien objects as Comet X; objects that
never
legally belonged to a citizen of the state or the state itself. The Roman legists called them
res nullius—
things which have not or which never had a legal owner. Read the great Pandects of Justinian for the pertinent clauses. They unanimously agreed that such
res nullius
belonged to its first possessor. And
I'm
that first possessor. If you will take the trouble to glance at the indicia of possession which I have engraved on the surface over there, you will note that I have taken this as my property with all due formality."

The Commander said doubtfully: "I know nothing of your Roman law. That was over two thousand years ago. They must have changed it since."

"Not at all. In fact, during the sixteenth century, Pope Julius II, in the famous Bull
Inter ceterae
tried to do just that. He sought to divide all the territories still undiscovered in what was then called the New World of America between Spain and Portugal. Immediately every legal writer of fame rose in sharp protest. I refer you to the writings of Grotius, Puffendorf and Vattel. England also denied that the Pope had any jurisdiction. In the end the Pope's successors backed down; so did Spain and Portugal. The old Roman rule continued in effect."

Jem called out in high glee. "I don't understand a word you're saying, Kerry; but give it to 'em!"

Matthews was frankly beyond his depth. "I'm afraid I'll have to let the lawyers of the Commission decide this . . . er . . . matter."

Old Simeon was beside himself. "And in the meantime," he yelled, "young Dale will've taken everything out of value here; and the comet'll be the hell an' gone out of the System. Get him off it while your dingswizzled lawyers 're arguing."

The Commander turned to Kerry. "Will you come with me voluntarily to Ganymede, Mr. Dale?"

"No. You'd have to use force. And force," Kerry added significantly, "might lead to—shall I say—difficulties?" Matthews shook his head. "I won't attempt force; not until my authority is cleared. Come on, Mr. Kenton. We'd better be going."

"Will you come with us, Sally?" old Simeon asked his daughter grumpily.

She smiled affectionately at him. "How can I, dad? I'm a partner—a minor partner, that is, along with Jem and the crew —in Kerry's find. You wouldn't want me to give up my claim, would you?"

"That settles it!" shouted Kenton. "My own blood an' flesh turns against me."

"You're welcome to stay, too, Mr. Kenton," said Kerry courteously. "I might even give you some small . . . uh . . . share, if you'll help us dig this stuff. I might tell you, for your private information, it's pure energy."

"Soncarn your impudence!" the old man shouted. He stalked angrily toward the
Deimos.
"Come on, Matthews! I'll fight him through every court. I'll—“

He was almost to the port, where Clem Borden was amusedly watching the scene. Then he swung suddenly back. "By the great born spoon of Pluto, I'll stay if only to keep an eye on ye until Matthews gets an opinion from the Commission. How much of a share will you give me, young man?"

Kerry kept his face straight. "One-twentieth of everything we take out from now on."

"Har-rumph! That's little enough."

"It's as much as the others are getting; and they've been with me right from the beginning."

"Ha! Hum! It's a deal. But remember," Kenton yelled suddenly, "if you get licked in the courts, the deal's off."

"I'll remember."

"I'm glad to see," said Sally approvingly, "that your business instinct hasn't deserted you, dad."

"That's right," chuckled her esteemed progenitor. "Between us we'll have a tenth, eh, Sally?"

"Why, dad," she exclaimed reproachfully. "I'll have plenty of uses for
my
share."

Simeon appealed to the heavens for support. "To think that I raised a Venusian viper in my bosom!"

The Commander was saying to Kerry: "You know, we caught the pirate craft. And they've implicated Jericho Foote. We've got him, too."

"It's about time the System was rid of that scum," Kerry assented heartily.

The Commander frowned. "One thing, though. We did not get the leader of the gang. They called him the Boss."

Kerry smiled. "I almost forgot .You'll find him, Commander, with a few of his men, lying dead in a crater five miles from here. His name, by the way, was Pyotra."

Matthews started violently. "Are you sure?" he exclaimed. "We've been searching for that fellow for years now. He's listed as the Number One Enemy of the System."

"Quite sure."

"I'll pick them up." Matthews swung on board, leaned out again. "Oh, Dale! If the legal lights back you up, I'll recommend that you get all the help you need to mine that stuff before it gets out of the System."

"Thanks! I intended in any event to donate most of it for public use. It's energy pure and inexhaustible."

Unfortunately, as an ancient poet once put it: "The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley."

No one had ever seen a live mouse for several hundred years; but the dictum still held good for men.

CHAPTER 16

THREE CUBES of energy were already on board ship. They were sweating and toiling halfway through a fourth, when two messages came winging through space to the
Flash.
The first was most heartening.

"Have placed matter of jurisdiction covering Comet X before Interplanetary Commission," radioed Mathews. "Their lawyers agree with your statement of the law. Work ships and crews standing by at Ganymede, Planets, Mars, Earth and Venus to assist you in mining energy. The Commission declared vote of thanks for your offer of public donation."

Old Simeon pricked up his ears. "Eh, you ain’t gone and given
my
share to the Commission, Dale?"

"I offered only what was mine to offer, Mr. Kenton," said Kerry with the utmost gravity. "I've reserved fourteen-twentieths for myself; out of that I intend to give to the public ten parts, and keep four for myself."

"Hah! There you see, Sally," cried her father. "I told you this young fellow was no business man."

"Hush your tongue!" retorted his daughter affectionately. "If you don't stop maligning yourself, I'll tell everyone what you've been handing out anonymously."

He glared at her. "Don't you dare—" be commenced. Then the second message came through.

"Peter Wilson has just made new observations on course of Comet X. Jupiter's gravity has pulled it from parabolic orbit. Instead of moving round sun and out of System, it will fall squarely on that planet. Consequences are incalculable. Warning to all on Comet X. Get off at once, before crash. Ganymede and other Jovian satellites alerted for possible evacuation—Matthews."

They were all gathered around Sparks as the message came through. For a moment there was a deathly silence. Then old Simeon rasped out:

"It's a trick; a dirty trick! They're trying to make us abandon here, so they can grab possession, and make a contest of it!"

But Kerry was staring out of the observation port up at the heavens. "It's not a trick, Mr. Kenton," he said quietly. "I've been wondering for the last few hours. Look above. The enveloping cloud is shredding fast. That means it's being pulled away by a superior gravity. And there—look—you can see Jupiter itself now."

All eyes focused on the mighty planet. Its disk hung to one side like an immense bulbous eye, winking and glaring balefully through the shreds and tatters of the streaming clouds.

"How much time have we got?" asked Sally.

"It's hard to say under these conditions," said Kerry. "We'd have to get above the envelope to take accurate observations. And by then it may be too late." Grimly be rapped out orders. "Bob, Migs, get every bit of equipment into the hold. Jem, get the ship ready to take off the moment I tell you. Sparks, keep that screen wide for any other messages."

For the next hour there was furious activity. Old Simeon kept staring at the lake of bubbling energy, and wailing: "Billions o' dollar’s worth o' stuff going to pot!"