jail.” Roderick said as he locked the old man in his cell.
“What is Mr. Montgomery doing here?” Jerry asked.
“Do you care to tell him, Sir, or should I?” Roderick asked the old man who was now sitting on the cot and trying to calm down.
“I want to speak to my lawyer!” Montgomery snapped back.
“Well, that’s your right. We’ve got other matters to take care of.” Roderick said as he turned to the Sheriff, “Jerry, I need you and two of your deputies.”
“What’s going on?” the Sheriff asked as he hopped out of his chair.
Roderick grinned. “We need to make three more arrests.”
Roderick, the sheriff and two of his deputies took four horses from the stables and rode them out of town. When told how far out they had to go, the Sheriff insisted on going by horseback because he was too old to be strolling that far out of town by foot. Roderick understood and didn’t mind taking a horse. It was something he’s had to do more than once whenever visiting the town that looked down on any mode of tech transport. Roderick had always wanted to learn how to ride, so visiting this colony helped him learn the right way, which was useful whenever he had to use horses to track down an outlaw with the Sheriff.
“Your riding skills have improved.” The Sheriff noticed.
“I’ve had lots of practice,” Roderick said as he rode with the three men towards the location where the unmarked ship was. It only took the better part of ten minutes to ride towards the spot where the unmarked vessel was located. There were two men watching the spacecraft, waiting for the men who were on Mrs. Wilson’s land.
The Sheriff turned to face Roderick. “What do you suggest we do?”
“I prefer we act in a way that doesn’t result in us having to shot anyone,” Roderick answered.
“I’m all ears.” Jerry informed him.
Roderick pulled out a small sphere from his pocket which wasn’t any larger than a tennis ball. “I know you don’t like these things, but we’re out of town and they’re used to bring peaceful ends to what could potentially be a shoot out.”
“What the hell is that?” Jerry asked.
“It’s a short range, EMP charge.” Roderick answered. He tossed the sphere when the two men’s backs were turned. The ball landed softly on the ground and rolled until it was underneath the spacecraft.
“Nice toss.” One of the deputies commented.
“Thanks,” Roderick replied as he tapped the back of his ear. “Activate.”
The two men realized something was wrong when the ship lost all power and went offline. That was when Roderick, the Sheriff and his two deputies came riding over the hill and down towards the two men who were taken completely by surprise. They tried to draw their weapons only to find out that they were also affected by the small device.
“Throw up your hands,” the Sheriff called out, “You’re both under arrest.”
“On what charge?” one of the men called out.
“How about flying an unmarked spacecraft,” Roderick answered, strolling up on his horse. “That’s a big no no with the Rocket Patrol.”
One of the men tried to grab a metal pipe, but Roderick was too quick as he drew his blaster and floored him with a stun shot. Rather than risk anything, he turned the weapon on his friend and floored him with a stun shot as well.
“Nice shot,” Jerry called out.
“Thanks,” Roderick said, watching the others. “Have your men watch these jokers while we find out what their friends are doing on Mrs. Wilson’s land.”
“Sounds good to me,” The Sheriff replied as he nodded to his deputies, “Secure the prisoners and we’ll be back soon.”
”Yes Sir,” one of the deputies replied as he hopped off his horse and proceeded to cuff both men’s hands behind their backs.
“Let’s get the rest of them,” The Sheriff growled as he kicked his horse in the ribs and charged back up the hill.
It only took a few moments to ride towards the section of land where Roderick’s ship told him they were prospecting. When Roderick and the Sheriff arrived on the scene, it was evident that they were doing more than just looking around. The dismounted their horses and tied them up to a tree before slowly crawling closer to have a look.
“They’re actually digging for something.” Jerry observed.
“What’s down there?” Roderick asked.
“How the hell should I know?” The sheriff replied.
“I am not detecting any minerals below them, Commander.”
“I’ve got this feeling they’re not looking for anything that was naturally in there,” Roderick thought as he reigned in his steed. “I think they’re looking for something that was buried there.”
“I’m not smitten to wait and find out,” The Sheriff said as he dres his gun and walked out from beyond their cover. “Hands up!”
While it was evident that the two men were surprised, they had come prepared as they both pulled out disruptors and fired at the Sheriff. Both of them had missed but the second shot knocked the lawman down and sent him crashing to the ground. Roderick came charging up behind him to assist but one of the two remaining thugs grabbed the sheriff and held the disruptor to his head. “I want you to drop your blaster and surrender, or the old man gets it.”
Roderick did as he was told, dropping the blaster to the ground. “Relax Sheriff, it’s going to be all right.”
“Now kick it over here!” the thug called out.
Roderick was about to kick it but instead he grabbed another ball from his belt and tossed it into the middle of the area where the thugs were. At first they all thought it was a grenade based on how it looked, but it wasn’t. It was another short range EMP and while people were busy trying to find cover the charge went off, disabling all their disruptors. Roderick’s blaster however was not affected, nor was his link to Red. Both were made with tech that was immune to all forms of EMP charges Roderick picked his blaster back up and immediately fired it at the thugs, knocking two off their feet and to the ground. The third that was holding the sheriff charged at Roderick and was able to tackle the Commander before he got a third shot off. The two of them rolled on the ground and wrestled for the only working pistol there, but finally Roderick got the best of him and used the butt of his gun to pistol whip the man into unconsciousness. The forth man was also near Roderick and was carrying a large rock over his head, ready to hurl it at the Ranger.
It was this point where a shot rang out. The man standing there with his rock dropped the boulder to the ground as he began to bleed from the hole that just opened in his chest cavity. Roderick turned around to see where the shot had come from. Standing there with her young daughter was Mrs. Wilson, who was holding a shotgun. She pumped the barrel and looked around.
“These men are trespassing on my land,” she informed them, “I have every right to shoot them.”
Roderick smiled as he stood up. “Yes, you do. It’s also legal to shoot someone if you do so in assistance of an officer of the law. So what you did was perfectly legal, even if this turd doesn’t make it.”
The Sheriff who was unharmed got back to his feet and used the cuffs he had on him to immobilize the other three thugs who were only stunned. He tipped his hat in Mrs. Wilson’s direction. “Thanks for your help, Mrs. Wilson.”
“I came as soon as I heard someone was over here doing something.” Mrs. Wilson said, looking over at Roderick. “This is the second time you’ve helped us out.”
“I think you helped us this time too,” Roderick said, walking over to the where the men were excavating, “What on Jupiter’s moon are they digging for down there?”
“Scanners indicate that it’s a small metallic object, Commander.”
Mrs. Wilson walked over to the hole as well. “The reason why my husband bought this ground was to search for relics from the species that used to live here. A single artefact could be sold for tens of thousands of credits on the open market.”
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br /> Roderick paused for a moment as he listened to Red give him more readings of the soil. “There are at least three four items about five feet deeper from this hole. If you keep digging after we go, you should have more than enough to fund further digs.”
“How do you know that?” Mrs. Wilson asked.
“I can’t tell you,” Roderick answered, “But it’s true.”
“Thanks for your help,” Emma called out, running with a big hug.
“You’re welcome,” Roderick said, turning to face the Sheriff. “We’ll take these guys back to the jail and I’ll have a transport come down and take them to Capital City on Earth Colony Vega to stand trial.”
“Good,” The Sheriff said, sighing, “Cause it’s getting rather crowded in there.”
“I know,” Roderick said, as he picked two men up off the ground. “Let’s get moving... it’s a long walk back to town!”
It took the Sheriff and Roderick the better part of an hour to walk the prisoners back to town. With the ship the prisoners flew in on disabled by the EMP grenade, Roderick was very confident that they never had a chance to call for help which meant the ordeal was over. While riding back into town, Roderick ordered his ship to contact Rocket Patrol Command, known to officers of the patrol as the RPC, to send a ship to pick up multiple prisoners. The sun was moving behind the main planet so to avoid people getting upset by a ship land in or near their town. There was a small patch of land behind the Sheriff’s house, and that was used to land a