Tales Of The Rocket Patrol

Chapter 3

     Roderick woke up around seven that morning. He could have slept in if he wanted to but for some reason, his body was used to waking up that early everyday no matter what planet or moon he was on. He hooped out of bed, splashed some water in his face from the sink and cleaned himself up. As a neutral arbitrator for the territory, Roderick dressed himself in something a little more formal, just to give people the impression that the Rocket Patrol was taking the people's grievances very seriously. When he came down the stairs, Magg pie was eager to offer him something for breakfast.

     "I'm not too hungry right now Mags." Roderick said as he came down. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath and sighed as a pleasant aroma filled his nostrils. "Are those biscuits?"

     "Yes they are." Mags said with a smile.

     Roderick smiled back. "Can I grab a few and take them to the hearings?"

     "Of course you can, Ben." Mags said as she went back to grab a few fresh biscuits for him. She tossed them into a paper bag and rolled the top of the bag up so the steam wouldn't escape. She happily handed the bag over to the commander.

     "Thanks Mags." Roderick said as he took the bag from her. For a moment he felt like a small kid that was being handed his lunch before taking off for school. He left the saloon and started to stroll down the street towards the courthouse where he would preside over local disputes that couldn't be resolved by the local magistrate. The Rocket Patrol agreed to do this as the people trusted them to be an honest, unbiased judge on the matters. While Roderick found the process to be boring, he understood it was necessary process to keep the piece in this small but very productive off world colony. While walking towards the courthouse, Roderick almost bumped into someone who was running out from around the corner. It was Emma, the little girl he had saved from the Sabre Lion the night before.

     "Whoa there, little one." Roderick said as he grabbed her arm. "Is everything all right?"

     "Yeah." Emma replied. "I'm just going to a friends place to play."

     "All right." Roderick said as he looked down at her. Seeing her in direct daylight, Emma looked different from the previous night. She looked under nourished. He held up the small bag that Mags gave her. "Biscuit? Mags just made'em."

     Emma looked in the bag and grabbed a biscuit. As she took a deep bite, Roderick could see the stream rising from it. "Thank you." She said to him after finishing the first bite.

     Roderick shook the bag again. "Take one for your friend too." He watched as she happily took another. He knew they would both be eaten before she even got to her friend's house if she was going there at all. "I'll be at the courthouse all day and after that I'll be at Jethro's Saloon. Drop by if you need anything. Alright?"

     "Yes Sir." Emma answered before finally running off.

     When Roderick finally arrived to the courthouse, he could tell it was going to be a long day as there were close to a hundred people standing outside. They were lined up and ready to plead their case. Roderick was well aware that not everyone was going to like the decisions he was going to make that day, but his goal was to be fair and consistent. His goal was to make unbiased decisions to keep the peace and settle disputes, never showing favorites and recusing himself whenever there was a conflicts of interests. He made it clear to Mags to never bring up a case because he would never hear it so she was not to ever put him in that position. She had no problem respecting that request. There was no way Roderick was going to be able to hear everyone's case today, but he would try to do as many as possible. It usually took three or four days to hear everyone's case, which is why his visits usually lasted a week. Today's crowd looked a little bigger than usual, but people were eager to be first. Usually the line would shorten when people realized they wouldn't he heard today or if one case lasted a while and took up a good chunk of Roderick's time.