by Kal Spriggs
I could only just make out a mutter of conversation outside. A moment later, a form filled the doorway. Whoever it was, he turned on a flashlight. The shadow looked big, maybe big enough to be one of the armed goons. Whoever it was, I didn't hesitate. I put my eye to the rear sight of the rifle, already centered on the doorway. The training with Karmazin came back to me and my breathing slowed as I calmly squeezed the trigger.
The shot sounded loud, far louder than I had expected. The rifle kicked back with more force too, hard enough to make me shift my weight onto my right hand. I couldn't hold back a whimper, but I heard a shout from outside.
“She's got a gun!” someone shouted from outside.
“One of you idiots must have left one unattended,” Tony's father snapped. “Tony, talk to her, reason with her.”
A moment later, I heard Tony, it sounded like he was right outside. “Jiden, it's me.” He sounded nervous. So would I, if someone was shooting at me. Oh, I thought, wait, they already have. I heard the sound of muttered conversation, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
“Look, Jiden, this is all a misunderstanding, okay?”
“Why did you shoot at me, then?” I asked, even as I worked the bolt of the rifle. It was hard to do one handed, harder still since I had to keep it aimed at the doorway. I tried not to think about the man I had shot at, if he was alive or dead. I felt sick to my stomach... but mostly I felt angry. This was all their fault. They had kidnapped me. They had betrayed our world. I was just a kid!
“That was an accident,” Tony said. “One of my father's men, he wasn't very smart, he didn't realize you are my friend. We are friends, right Jiden?”
“That's what I thought,” I bit out. My head felt heavy and my left hand trembled a bit. I wasn't sure how long I could hold them off. Surely someone had seen this, would call the Enforcers?
“We are, Jiden. In fact, I think of you as more than a friend, you know that, right?” I could hear the charm in his voice, could practically picture his confident smile. Yet that didn't match with any of this. There was only one possible answer. It was all an act, everything. Tony had never cared anything for me, his father hadn't either. They'd seen me as a tool, a pawn to be manipulated, either to get to my parents or as some part of our family's feud that I still didn't fully understand. I didn't matter to them. Tony was lying to me, again, and all he had ever done was lie to me.
“If you come in here, I will kill you,” I said, angry beyond words.
“You don't mean that,” Tony said in a friendly tone. Why is he even trying? It wasn't like they could cover this up or smooth things over... so why bother? There was only one way into this room and I had it covered... didn't I?
The skimmer, I thought, just as I heard it creak above me. I rolled onto my back, swinging the barrel of the rifle around with my good hand. Only two meters away, I saw a shadowy figure appear in the cockpit, a pistol in his hand. I didn't have time to really aim, I just fired.
The figure fell and landed in a silent heap on the concrete floor. “Take that!” I shouted as I desperately worked the bolt one-handed.
Tony didn't respond. I heard the voice of his father and then footsteps as they withdrew a bit. A moment later, I heard sirens.
When the Enforcers finally arrived, I allowed myself to break into tears.
***
“Tell me again where you got the rifle,” Enforcer Malawi said. He hadn't looked up from his notepad during the entire interview. For that matter, his partner, Enforcer Smith, hadn't looked me in the eye either. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be, I knew, yet I didn’t know how it had all gone wrong.
“I found it after the crash,” I repeated dully, even as I cradled my right arm against my chest. The Emergency Medical Technician had sprayed it with something to dull the pain and put it in a temporary foam splint, but she had told me it would only last long enough to get to the hospital. I wasn't at the hospital, though, I was at the Enforcer Barracks. They hadn't taken me to the hospital and they'd practically had to carry me to the interrogation room.
“Did you at any time use recreational drugs or alcohol during the events of the evening?” Enforcer Malawi asked, for the third or fourth time.
“No,” I said. “I was hit by a stunner in my apartment. I've told you, I found out that Tony Champion and his father were selling military property illegally–”
“We'll get to that unfounded accusation later,” Enforcer Smith snapped. “First, let’s talk about why you shot two employees of Champion Enterprises after stealing a weapon and vehicle, recklessly crashing it and ramming another vehicle in the process...”
My jaw dropped as he accused me. “Excuse me? I'm the victim here!”
“Tony Champion says that you showed up at his apartment, severely intoxicated and possibly under the influence of drugs,” Enforcer Malawi said. “He says that when you tried to seduce him, you became violent, threatened him with a knife, and then when his father tried to intervene, you stole his vehicle.”
“None of that's true!” I said, “I would never... I've never done drugs, I've never drank!”
“Well, we have several credible witnesses,” Enforcer Smith smirked. “Now how about you stop spinning this childish yarn and tell us the truth. If you make a deal now, we can keep all this on your juvenile record. It would all go away when you turn sixteen, you could start over. Otherwise, well, you could be tried as an adult for kidnapping, assault, reckless endangerment... even murder if one of those two men don't make it.”
I sat back, my eyes wide in shock. This had to be a nightmare. How could they believe Tony and his father? Didn't they see the evidence, hadn't they even looked at the building that they had held me in? Had either of them even looked at the military-grade skimmers, probably stolen from some other warehouse?
Yet as I looked at their faces, I saw that they didn't care. A corporate conspiracy was too far-fetched, too crazy for them to consider. They had fit the details of the case to what they wanted to see... a crazy girl who'd gotten drunk and caused mayhem, her victims being a wealthy, respected businessman and his son. The Enforcers were supposed to impose the law… but these two just wanted to wrap this up and go home.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet with my left hand. I fumbled at it until I slipped the data chip out from behind my ID card. “Look,” I said, “I have proof. Proof of all of it. Just please, you've got to believe me.”
Enforcer Malawi stuck out his hand and I started to pass it over, when the door opened. A trim, lean man stood in the doorway. “Enforcer, stop right there. Miss Armstrong, do not give him anything or say any more.”
Both Enforcers looked over, their faces angry, “Who are you?”
“I am Mario Laplaca, chief attorney to Leo Champion... and I've been appointed as Miss Armstrong's legal counsel,"” the lawyer said with a tight smile.
“Wait, Champion just provided a lawyer to the girl who attacked his son and grandson?” Enforcer Smith asked with an expression of shock.
“You are a little behind the news, gentlemen. Now, while you two gentlemen have been grilling an innocent young woman for the past two hours, one in desperate need of medical attention, I might add, Planetary Militia inspectors have already uncovered a conspiracy backed by the same man who accused her of assault. In fact, it appears that Miss Armstrong is something of a hero, if not for her, it would have gone unnoticed... possibly due to gross incompetence of the Enforcers.”
Both Smith and Malawi looked rather green. “But... we didn't know about any of this!”
“Again, probably because of gross incompetence,” Mario Laplaca said. He turned to me, “Now, then, Miss Armstrong, I have an ambulance waiting outside for you, do you think you can make it there with my help?”
I nodded and he came over to help me to my feet. I had to lean heavily on him, my right leg still didn't want to work. Laplaca and I stepped into the hallway and then he and I made it out into the street. A cluster of reporter
s awaited us and I heard him mutter, “Smile and wave, you're the hero of the hour.” Camera drones hovered over us and a babble of voices hit me hard enough that I swayed on my feet.
I managed a half-hearted wave and a smile and then the lawyer passed me off to a doctor. I heard shouted questions, but Mario only said, “Miss Armstrong is in need of medical attention, I assure you, she will give a public statement when she feels better.”
The doctor helped me into the back of the ambulance and she and an EMT pulled the doors closed and got me laid back on the gurney. As the ambulance pulled out, I finally gave in to my exhaustion. The last thing I heard before I passed out was the doctor's voice.
***
Chapter Twenty-Five: It Is All My Fault
“...investigators are still combing through the data provided by the two interns, Theodore Meeks and Jiden Armstrong. Right now, it looks as if employees of Champion Enterprises, including family scion Isaac Champion and his son, Tony Champion, were involved in a massive smuggling operation which stole weapons and military parts from the Planetary Militia's strategic reserve and sold them to parties unknown.”
I closed out the news feed on my datapad and sat back. I was going a little stir crazy, cooped up the hospital, but the doctors still hadn't let me go home yet, even though the quick healing had me in better shape. My parents had visited almost every day and I'd had several reporters come to question me, but I couldn't say much, since I'd been told that the investigation was pending and they didn't want too much information out in the news. Right now I just wanted out of the hospital.
I heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” I said. The doctors and nurses normally didn't wait, they just knocked and entered, one smooth motion.
It was Mario Laplaca, I saw. He came in and pulled a chair up, “Miss Armstrong, glad to see you are feeling better.” He didn't sit in the chair, I saw, he just stood next to it. “I hope that I've provided you with acceptable services?”
I just nodded. The lawyer seemed to have an almost implacable nature, nothing anyone did seemed to even slow him down. He'd helped me through the investigator's interviews, asking questions that helped me to remember details that I hadn't even realized I knew. Far from covering up any crimes, he had helped the investigators key in on aspects they hadn't thought to look into... and in ways that were almost certain to make Champion Enterprises look even worse, I feared.
“My employer wished a few minutes of your time, if that would be agreeable,” he said.
I nodded, wondering if this would be one of the senior executives or another lawyer.
To my shock, the tall, blonde-haired man who walked in was instantly identifiable. Leo Champion, the founder and CEO of Champion Enterprises gave me an amiable smile and took the chair that Mario Laplaca had pulled out for him. “Good Morning, Jiden. I can call you Jiden, right?”
I just nodded, too stunned to speak.
“Now,” Leo Champion said, “I wanted to extend my sincere apologies, not only for the actions of my son and grandson, but for the fact that I wasn't aware of what they were doing. I've been... distracted with another project for the past few years and I've allowed my children and executives to take over more of the day to day operations.”
He sat back and his blue eyes went to the hospital window, though I didn't think he saw the city outside. “That's a mistake that I'm going to be paying for, but it is one I'm about to fix as well.”
I shook my head, “Sir, what your son did, it wasn't really your fault.”
“But it is,” Leo Champion said with a shake of his head. “For many reasons. It was my company, he was my son, and I was the one whose business he used towards his own ends.”
I wanted to argue. Leo Champion was the driving force behind bringing modern technology to our world. His company had energized the economy and brought about modernization. We wouldn't be where we were without him. I didn't know how to say all of that, though, much less the facts that he had sent his lawyer to save me from interrogation by the Enforcers or that he had turned over all his company files to aid in the investigation of his son and grandson.
“This scandal, I'm afraid, is only the leading edge of this sandstorm. My own people have discovered bribery, corruption, and embezzling at a number of levels, within several departments. On top of whatever fines we pay for this, there will be others, probably civil lawsuits as it becomes clear how deep the rot went. Half the employees who don't end up in jail after Mister Laplaca turns over the evidence we've collected will end up being fired for allowing it all to happen. I'm afraid Champion Enterprises' next few years will be rocky. Whatever it takes, though,” Champion said, “I'll make it right.” His gaze came back to me and he gave me a friendly smile. “Seeing as it was you that tipped me off to I owe you quite a bit, which is why I wanted to come and give you the news first.”
I frowned in confusion, “What news?”
“I'm discontinuing the Internship Program, pending an internal investigation. Most of the interns will be either sent home or will be transferred into equivalent courses at nearby colleges... with one exception.”
My head spun, the internship program was gone? What was I going to do? “Who would that be?” I asked absently, even as I tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life now.
“You,” Leo Champion said. “I'd like to offer you a job, Jiden. I've allowed myself to be told nice things by people who cared more about keeping me happy than they did about doing their jobs right. The only person who raised any flags that something was wrong was an intern on her first full day of work.” I didn't miss the frustration in his voice. He shook his head. “The attention to detail that you showed, the strength of character you possess to do something about it, that's exactly what I need right now. I'd like to start you off as my personal aide. In five years, you'd be running your own department. In ten, if you performed, I might have you running a significant part of the company.”
My jaw dropped and I stared at him, much as anyone would at an insane person.
“I know,” he said, “it's a lot to take in...”
“Are you crazy?” I asked, too overcome by shock to consider the fact that I'd just called the richest man on the planet crazy. “I just cost your company millions of dollars–”
“Oh, far more than that,” Leo Champion smiled. “Probably hundreds of millions, when you take into account the drop in stock price. On the other hand, we'll come back from this and it is healthy for an organization to chop out the dead wood every now and again.” I couldn't come up with an answer to that. He had cheerfully spoken about what would be the end for almost any other company on Century... he almost seemed to view it as a possibility.
“Well,” he said as he rose from his chair, “it's an important decision, so I don't expect your answer today. However, I'd like to hear back from you soon, since admission dates for other schools are already past, we're trying to transfer all our interns into schools that have already started. With your interests in engineering, I think we looked at BYU and Nelsons, right Mario?”
His lawyer nodded, “Yes, sir.”
“Right, so, let me know when you've made your decision,” Leo Champion waved a hand as he reached the door. “Mario will give you my personal number.”
With that, he was gone.
I looked at the lawyer, “Was that... is he really like that?”
He gave me a tight smile, “Mister Champion does things in his own particular fashion. Now, miss, I've transferred my contact data as well as Mister Champion's personal number to your datapad. I'd also like to note that we have covered your entire hospital bill, so if you receive any bills from them, forward them on to me and I'll deal with them.” He turned and went to the door, where he paused. “Oh, and Miss Armstrong, might I say that it was a pleasure working with you?”
Before I could respond, he too was gone.
***
“So,” my mom said as she unpacked several sets of clothing, “your father and I talked with yo
ur grandmother.”
"Oh?" I asked, even as I cringed at what she had picked out. While it would be great to be out of the hospital gown and fully dressed, I wanted a pair of slacks and a button up shirt or something equally adult and professional. I did not want to look like somebody's little sister out on holiday from school.
At least the reporters have mostly forgotten about me, I thought with relief. The very idea that I'd appear on television in a dress made me want to cringe again. Still, at least it wasn't a hospital gown, so there was that.
“Well,” my mom said as she helped me out of bed and then passed me articles of clothing as I dressed, “she says that she talked to the dean there at Roger's, and they have room in her program.”
I had mostly tuned her out as I pulled the dress on over my head and contemplated myself in the hospital room's tiny mirror. Karmazin and Ashiri were going to meet me later today. My mom had agreed to give me a little time before I flew home to see them, anyway. While the hospital had repaired my injuries, I hadn’t been allowed to leave, mostly because of the psychologist. I was gaunt, out of shape, and pale from being inside for the past month. My hair was a wreck. Why that mattered so much to me, I wasn't sure.
“...so she thinks you could start mid-semester, if you can catch up on your introductory classes, and Roger's will even accept some of the Prep School classes, so you won't be too far behind others in the program,” my mom continued.
“What?” I asked as some of what she had said penetrated my brain.
“Grandma Effy pulled some strings, so you can attend classes at Roger's University in their Archaeological Program. Your father and I heard the internship program was discontinued. We know they offered you a position in Nelson’s University as compensation, your father and I thought you'd want to get away from Duncan City. Besides, Roger's University is only an hour flight from Black Mesa, and if you're in Grandma Effy's archaeology program, you could do projects at home, get credit for helping out. I mean you practically know as much as half the professors that teach on her staff, just from being exposed to it all through your childhood...”
