“C’mon in here,” Stone said, gesturing to the office he shared with Peabody, “and let’s get you up to speed on things.”
“…So it sounds like everything’s going well with the division, then,” Ashton said, when the two assistant leads were finished briefing him.
“Yup,” Stone agreed. “Thanks in large measure to that classified VR channel you set up for us to contact you. Damn, pal, you know your stuff.”
“He does,” Peabody agreed. “I still can’t believe he managed to do what he did – go undercover for an operation, and still ensure we had help with the Investigations division.”
“How’s the new guy coming along?” Ashton asked then, letting the corners of his lips quirk just a little at the compliment. “You know, the one from Nagoya, in Honshu sector?”
“You mean Richard Honda?” Peabody asked.
“That’s him. I need to learn his name.”
“He’s been doing great,” Stone said. “He came to us an Investigator, Level 1, and in the time you’ve been gone, he’s already nearly to Level 3.”
“He’s one of the sharpest knives in our drawer,” Peabody agreed, “and we’ve been thinking about sending him over to ICPD so Mott can train him in disguise. He’s good with that shit.”
“Do it,” Ashton decreed.
“Done,” Stone said.
The next day, Carter called a live meeting of the Investigative and Special Teams divisions in an auditorium one floor down. Much to everyone’s surprise, ICPD Detective Callista Ames was also there.
“Okay, guys,” he said. “I wanted to make sure everyone who works with him is in on this, as well as a special person in his life.” He gestured to Walton. “Dominick Ashton, would you please come forward?”
A startled Ashton rose and moved to the front of the big room.
“Um, right here, Lee,” he said. “What do you need?”
“It isn’t what I need, but what I can do for you, Field and Investigative Lead Detective Ashton,” Carter said. “I see you obeyed my request to wear your dress uniform today.”
“Yes, sir,” Ashton said with a grin. “As a good friend of mine once said, when the Director tells you to do something, you do it.”
“Good man. Ladies and Gentlemen,” Carter continued, turning to the audience, “Detective Ashton, here, did a very brave thing. He went undercover as a defense engineer for two years and allowed himself to be recruited by a spy network from Annalia. This meant that, not only could the Department of Defense feed the Annalians false information without their awareness, it enabled us to track down all of the members of the infiltrated network and capture, try, and execute them.” Carter paused, and looked out over the gathered divisions. “This put him at significant risk, for if he had been caught, there is no doubt but that the Annalian spies would have seen to it he was assassinated, execution-style.”
Carter turned back to Ashton. “Detective Ashton, step forward, please.”
Ashton did so.
“ICPD Detective Ames, if you please.”
Callista Ames moved to stand before Ashton, where she produced a medal on a short ribbon – white, with a wide central red stripe and two narrow blue stripes flanking it – and pinned it to the chest of his tunic.
“This is the Gold Shield award. When a member of the IPD steps forward to place him-or herself in danger in order to protect other members of this, or any other, police department from a conspiracy anywhere in the Empire, they are eligible for the Gold Shield. This is only the second time it has been awarded, and while Detective Ashton certainly protected all of us here, he also did a lot more, in that he essentially protected the entire Empire. For what it’s worth, I know that there is scuttlebutt in the Palace about an additional award for that effort, so this medal might not end up alone on his uniform. Congratulations, Detective Ashton,” he added, as a beaming, proud Ames stepped back, to reveal the medal hanging below and to the left of the IPD Throne pin on Ashton’s tunic, where Carter had instructed her to place it.
The room erupted in riotous applause and raucous cheers, as Ashton flushed, then smiled.
The espionage case meeting the next day was in VR around midmorning, and included The Team, Ashton’s Gang, Ashton, Carter, Peterson, Quan, Daggert, Mercer, and around half a dozen other Imperial Guardsmen, plus several of the IPD’s Forensics team.
“All right, people, excellent job,” Daggert said. “I got word first thing this morning from the VR Group, that last batch of fake plans that Conrad sent out before she was taken into custody were sent to the same distribution as all the rest, and those, in turn, forwarded as anticipated. The Emperor has agreed that for this, and all future espionage attempts that we thwart, if we present his secretary with the names and proof positive, he will sign the death warrants. We have the spy and are interrogating her in the High Court. We will look for her handler, any others in the ring on Sintar, and follow the passage of the fake plans offworld. Each group will, in turn, be interrogated by the Guard in the High Court, and if confirmed as part of the espionage, will be executed.”
“As per usual,” Ashton observed.
“Where does the plans trail lead?” Carter wondered.
“I was about to ask the same thing, Lee,” Peterson confessed.
“According to our VR people, to the Annalia embassy on Carolina,” Daggert said.
“And thence to Annalia, I assume,” Peabody noted. “And probably shared with the Democracy of Planets.”
“Almost certainly, to both,” Daggert agreed. “But there isn’t a great deal we can do there, at least not openly. Not right now.”
“Can we handle the embassy situation?” Quan asked.
“We can,” Daggert confirmed. “When things started to heat up a couple of years back, we – ‘we’ being the Imperial Guard and His Majesty – put plans in place for dealing with spy rings embedded in foreign embassies. We may well need the IPD of that sector to assist, or even run the operation, but we know what to do.”
“I’ll ping Freya Jotun, and introduce the two of you, this afternoon,” Carter offered. “She’s head of the IPD in that sector. She’s a good one. She’ll work with you.”
“Excellent.”
“So IPD New Headquarters is pretty much finished with the case, except for some mop-up work?” Ashton asked.
“Unless something goes wrong, yes,” Daggert affirmed.
That night, after sending Paul off to bed with the help of Cally’s parents, Nick and Cally retired a bit early. Alexandre and Linda Ames retired to their own condo with smiles, careful to close the doors connecting Paul’s bedroom with the rest of his parents’ condo, leaving the door to their own bedroom open.
“Well, lover-boy,” Cally said, once she and Nick had climbed into bed, “it looks like you’re free for the foreseeable future.”
“It looks like that, yes,” Nick agreed with a grin. “Did you tell your nanites to switch off the birth control?”
“I did.”
“Then let’s get busy.”
He tackled her, taking her down to the mattress, where he planted a deep kiss on her that left her breathless.
“Oh damn, is this gonna be fun,” she decreed.
Complications
Cally was some four months into her second pregnancy – this one was a girl, and they’d decided to name her Leya Elaine Ashton, after Nick’s mother’s name, and Cally’s mother’s middle name – when General Daggert contacted the ‘spy case team’ once more.
“I’m not really sure how it happened,” he noted once everyone was assembled in the VR conference room once more, “but it seems that there was a misdirection on the files transfers at Carolina. The person we picked up in the Annalia embassy as receiving the files not only shows nothing came through the inbox, but the lie detector chair confirms he has no idea what we’re talking about. He’s innocent.”
“Damn,” Carter cursed. “But that means…”
“That the real spymaster knows we know,” Peterson
said. “And probably knows we rounded up their spy ring here on Sintar.”
“Right. Which further means,” Daggert continued, “they’ll be setting up to try again. So instead of cleaning their clocks, we set ourselves up for an inevitable second, and more subtle, attempt.”
“Shit,” Ashton grumbled.
“What if we took the fight to them?” Peabody wondered.
“How the hell would we do that?” Stone asked.
“Same way we did it for Conrad,” Peabody said. “Get somebody undercover at Carolina, preferably in the embassy.”
“Have we got anybody on site that we can do that with?” Stone wondered, and both men looked at Carter and Ashton. Ashton shrugged and turned to Carter.
“You have a better feel for the sector departments,” he noted.
Carter pondered for a long moment, then checked out in VR for several minutes.
“No,” he said. “I just contacted my sector chief in Carolina, and he says there’s not much way to pull anybody in that they wouldn’t recognize from the local IPD.” He shook his head. “Apparently the Annalian embassy is prone to throwing noisy parties with plenty of alcohol, so…”
“Aha,” ICPD Chief Quan said, in a knowing tone. “They know all the local cops on sight. The hard way.”
“Right.”
“I guess we need to send somebody,” Mercer said. “Shit. I’d volunteer, but I was in the Emperor’s coronation, and my image has been all over the Empire…”
“Well, our three best, most experienced acting sorts, among IPD and ICPD combined, are Adrian, Cally, and Nick,” Peterson pointed out.
“Yeah, but Adrian is busy working with our new up-and-coming almost-detective, Rick Honda,” Stone noted. “And Rick is using him to help on an active case.”
“How serious?” Carter wondered.
“Pretty serious,” Peabody noted. “Enough where, if he didn’t have Adrian there, one of us would have been with him. He’s trying to lure a serial rapist-slash-killer into the light. Think a modern Jack the Ripper.”
“Ugh, that one,” Carter said, pulling a face. “No, we don’t wanna mess with that pairing right now. If we tip off the killer, we’re back to square one on the case.”
Ashton and Ames exchanged worried glances.
“Well, that leaves Nick or Cally,” Peterson said, matter-of-fact. “Or both.”
“Um,” Ames began, then threw a pleading glance at Ashton.
“It’s kind of a bad time, guys,” Ashton explained then. “See, we hadn’t said anything yet, but…”
“Leya Elaine Ashton will be along in about four, four and a half, more months,” Ames finished for him. “I’m just starting to have to adapt my clothes for the baby bump.”
The room erupted in happy congratulations.
“Well, that lets them out,” Peterson said with a shrug. “Maybe we can wait a few months?”
“Let me see what I can determine,” Daggert said with a nod.
But it turned out, they couldn’t.
“…Because it looks like it was the ambassador himself that was the actual recipient,” Daggert told them. “So he was able to make it look like one of his underlings. Evidently he had a setup like we do in the Palace, where if a staffer dies, we get notification – it’s how we knew about Vasilisa Medved’s death quicker than the IPD a few years back, Detective Ashton, Detective Peabody, and beat you there – and when we executed Ms. Conrad, he knew she was dead, and the nanite system reported how she died. So he knew we were on to him right away. He’s already left Carolina, en route to Annalia in the embassy’s private spacecraft, along with about half a dozen of his staff… meaning the rest of the ring.”
“Shit,” Peterson cursed. “They got away.”
“Not necessarily, Maia,” Carter said. “Oh, they got away from us, but probably not from justice, not in the long run. I can’t think the Autarch will be happy with them, once he finds out that all of those plans the ambassador and his espionage ring stole from us are fake. Especially if they share them with the Democracy of Planets first, and make him look a laughing stock.”
“HAH! Good point,” Peterson barked a laugh.
“Well, it’s worse, though,” Daggert said. “See, they must have planned for this, because his replacement is already on the way, complete with a new staff. So now we don’t know where the ball will be coming from.”
“And need someone on site to find out,” Gorski sighed.
“Yes. As soon as we can get someone there. Preferably before the new ambassador arrives, so we can maybe get our mole entrenched before he gets there.”
Everyone turned to look at Ashton. Ames bit her lip and paled almost white. Ashton drew a deep breath, threw Ames an apologetic glance, and sighed.
“All right. But if I miss the birth of my baby girl, you all owe me. Big time.”
“Done,” Daggert and Carter said simultaneously.
Later that day, Ashton called Peabody into his office and closed the door. “Have a seat, Win,” he said, resuming his chair behind the desk.
“Hey, Nick,” Peabody said. “What’s up?”
“How are Emily and little Anna?”
“They’re doing great, Nick!” Peabody declared, fairly lighting up. “Anna is growing like a water-weed, and Emily’s almost got her next book out! I couldn’t ask for a better home life.”
“That’s great, Win. I’m really happy for you.”
“Then… why aren’t you smiling?”
“Oh,” Ashton said, waving a hand and offering a slight smile. “I’m sorry. I’m…” he broke off. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Cally, little Paul, and the baby on the way… when you’re not even gonna be here, maybe, when Leya is born.”
“Well, it’s a little worse than that,” Ashton murmured. “I’m going into enemy territory, Win. I’m a cop, not a secret agent. But we don’t have secret agents, at least outside the military, and I’m decent at it, so I’m drafted. And… it’s entirely possible I might not come back.”
“Shit. I… hadn’t thought of it quite like that.”
“So… I need to ask a favor.”
“Ask away.”
“If anything happens to me, I already know you and Pete will take good care of the Gang, because you have been for the last two years,” Ashton said, “but I’m worried about Cally and the kids. I…” He broke off again. “Look, if something happens to me, I’m depending on you to take care of Cally and the kids. If… if you’re okay with that. If Emily will be okay with that.”
“I’m okay with it, and Emily will be fine with it,” Peabody said. “I swear, if I’m needed, I will look out for ‘em, Nick. But I don’t want you going into this case with that in the forefront of your mind, or even in the back of it. You need to have a positive outlook, or your subconscious will ensure it happens,” he said earnestly. “I’ve been around the block enough to have seen that in action. Swear to me.”
“Swear what?”
“Swear to me that you’re going to trust us to look out for things here, and let it go, not focus on it. Just focus on getting your mission accomplished, and getting the hell off of Carolina as fast as you can. In one piece, and safe.”
Ashton stared at Peabody for a long moment, seeing the sincerity in the other man’s face. Finally he nodded.
“Okay, Win. Yes, I swear I will do just that, to the best of my ability.”
“Good. Don’t worry about anything else.”
“I’ll try.”
That night was an emotional uproar in the Ashton household. Cally was distraught, crying most of the night; her parents were almost as upset. Confused, little Paul ran around the apartment, unsure whether to play or cry or scream in fear at his mother’s unusual emotions, and therefore alternating between the three, causing even more ruckus whenever he began screaming.
“Honey, what would you have me do differently?” Nick finally asked Cally, after her parents took Paul off to their condo so that the couple could
talk without worrying their son.
“You could send Adrian instead,” Cally sobbed into his chest, as they sat on the couch and he held her.
“No, I can’t,” Nick murmured. “Listen to me, Cal. You know about the killer that the media are calling the ‘New Ripper.’”
“Yeah… but you could do that one just as well, if not better!”
“Maybe I could and maybe I couldn’t. The point is, I’m not on that case right now. And Adrian and Rich have dug into it. Adrian thinks they may be within days, certainly no more than a couple of weeks, from closing the net – I talked to him today, so that’s straight from him. If I go in there and start rearranging things now, yanking Adrian and replacing him – even if his replacement is me – I could screw everything up, even tip off the Ripper. And then all their hard work for the last two months is ruined, and we’d have to start all over again. With who knows how many more people violated and murdered in the meantime, while we’re struggling to regain all that lost ground.” He tucked his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to look into it. “I know you better than to think that’s what you want.”
“N-no,” she whispered, meeting his eyes, those golden-brown eyes she adored. “That’s not what I want. But I don’t want you to go, either! You might not come back!”
“You know that’s true every time either of us goes out on a case, Cal,” he told her. “Why is this any different?”
“Because you’re gonna be so far away! If anything happens, there’s nothing I can do!”
“We’re only a heartbeat away from that, here on Sintar,” he pointed out. “Any criminal can take either of us out at any time. And if you’re across the street, or across the galaxy, and someone takes me out, it makes no difference, Cal – you wouldn’t be able to get to me fast enough to make a difference.”
She buried her face in his chest again.
“You have to go.” It was a statement.
“You know I do. What choice do I have? Where will it lead if Annalia gets the plans for the new ships?”
EMPIRE: Imperial Detective Page 25
