Prelude The Pit (short story)

Prelude The Pit was, as the name suggested, a prelude to The Pit by Neil Penswick. It did not appear in the published novel.

Summary
On the human colony world of Nicaea, Major John Carlson of the Justice Police investigates the murder of a teenage boy. The boy is retrieved from the water in a pit and shows signs of drug use. With his dying breath he says, "I am Legion."

Thanks to all the drug crime on Nicaea, it takes several days before Carlson learns the identity of the boy. He visits the boy's mother and stepfather and learns that the boy, in a drug-induced rage, gave drugs to his sister, who is now in hospital, insane from the drugs and not likely to recover. When the boy gave her the drugs, the stepfather killed him "by accident", though Carlson isn't so sure it was an accident.

Characters

 * Major John Carlson
 * General Kopyion
 * Manuel Beart
 * Stepfather
 * Mother

Continuity
to be added