AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The massive warehouse room had three walls of shelving units as well as a full wall of metal carcasses armed with drills and hammers that looked like they had once been mining robots but had long since been shut down.
The sheriff had stepped into an old exo-suit for unloading and claimed he didn’t need any help. But Kian was pretty sure the man would be grateful for an extra pair of hands. Those suits were powerful but unwieldy.
“I’m good,” the sheriff barked out. “Go back to your sled.”
He actually did seem to be doing a nice job with the boxes. He must have done plenty of stocking like this on previous runs.
“You’re great in that suit,” Kian told him, approaching.
The sheriff slid in front of the wall-sized shelving unit, as if to block Kian from seeing what he was doing. But of course, that was silly. Even in the bot suit, he wasn’t the size of a warehouse wall.
Kian scanned the shelf and then moved closer, unable to believe what he was seeing.
The entire wall was covered in identical boxes. Each one had a label that read:
* * *
INTERGALACTIC AID:
This box contains food rations donated by the government of Ulfgard and the Ulfgard Mining Concern in support of our friends, the valiant mine workers of Sigg-3.
* * *
A stickerbelow the writing added another statement:
* * *
Tampering with intergalactic aid is a criminal offense punishable by a sentence of no less than ten years in an intergalactic work unit, and a sliding scale fine starting at 10,000 credits.
* * *
“Gods, Barr,”Kian practically growled. “Really?”
Kian wanted to believe there was some reasonable explanation for what he was seeing, but he was at a loss to think of one that didn’t make him very angry.
“I’m the local sheriff,” Barr said lightly. “It’s my duty to collect these packages.”
“It’s also your job to distribute them,” Kian said sternly. “But there are far more here than just what we brought today.”
“This is why the convoy was under attack,” Bill said quietly, joining Kian in front of the wall of aid. “The people know the sheriff is taking the aid rations and reselling them to the general store. And he also knows that none of the miners can afford to buy them.”
The deputy strode in, a look of horror on his furry face as he took in what was happening.
Cloud-on-the-Mountaintop was beside him for a second but sprinted from the room as soon as he saw what was on the shelves.
“People are starving,” Hank said quietly. “Including our own families. It’s why we took the job with Miss Kinsley, even after we found out we’d have to accompany the sheriff.”
Fury boiled up in Kian’s chest, and for a moment, the whole warehouse seemed to fade out as his heartbeat grew louder and the blood pulsed in his ears.
“Put those boxes back on the sleds and take them to the community now,”he roared at the sheriff.
Normally, a man like the sheriff would have cringed from an angry Invicta warrior. Most sane people would.
But the criminal lawman only laughed. He obviously felt safe in his loading suit.
He had no idea that Kian was about to tear it off him with his bare hands.
He strode for the man, but before he could get a single blow in, the sheriff lifted his arm and began tapping a code into the keypad there.
