Sanctioned

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Joel took a second to process what she was telling him. Maya looked up at him, waiting for his response. A moment later, he slapped his thigh hard with a crack, and exploded in laughter.

  “That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all week!” he guffawed, almost uncontrollably.

  Maya looked shocked and slipped sideways across the benchseat away from him, to better take in what was happening. Stunned, she watched him try to get control of himself.

  “Molly… is… well…” Maya could see he was crying with laughter. Tears streamed down his face faster than he could wipe them away.

  “I’m sorry. But it’s just…” He creased up in another fit of laughter, trying desperately to catch his breath.

  A moment later, Maya found herself snickering along with him; amused mostly at his amusement.

  Eventually, they managed to settle down. Joel sighed. “Phew. Wow. Okay,” he started. “Lemme explain what probably happened.”

  Maya grinned. “Yes… Please do!” she demanded playfully, feeling a lot more comfortable than she had several minutes before.

  Joel glanced back at her briefly. “Okay, so Molly has been working on her team management skills, and one of the tasks she had was to talk to a few team members about what motivates them.”

  Maya tilted her head a little. “Right…” she said slowly, following his explanation.

  Joel bobbed his head, reached out to the handrail, and turned to look at her a little more. “Right. So I think what happened was she was trying to talk with you about that… and because she’s a little socially awkward sometimes-”

  Maya nodded. “Ahhhh, I see.” Maya raised her chin in understanding.

  “Yeah.” Joel was quiet for a moment, glad the explanation was easy for her to comprehend.

  Maya giggled, and flushed a little. “Well. Great. I mean, that’s a relief. I just… I didn’t know what to do.”

  Joel smiled. “Yeah, you don’t need to worry about Molly. She’d be very clear, almost clinical, about anything like that. And I suspect she wouldn’t be propositioning team members.”

  Maya slumped back into the seat. “Good to know,” she nodded.

  The pod approached Estaria, and started the descent.

  Joel noticed and changed the subject. “Okay, we should probably talk about what we’re going to tell your old boss…”

  Maya frowned, and became serious. “Yes. This, perhaps, isn’t going to be quite so straight forward,” she sighed.

  Newstainment Offices, Downtown Spire

  It was early evening as the pod descended into Spire to deposit Joel and Maya on top of the Newstainment parking lot. From there, they made their way through to reception and, after signing in, were directed up to Maya’s old office.

  Striding through the corridors, they found most offices were fairly quiet. Not deserted, because, well, the news industry had a certain work ethic; but quieter than in the middle of the day. Maya hoped that this would at least mean that Bob wasn’t going to be tied up in meetings.

  They headed through the final corridor and into the open plan newsroom. Sweeping past the cubicles, Maya scanned the office for anyone she might want to say something to. Like “goodbye”. Or “stay in touch”. Or something…

  She’d only been away a few weeks, but already the place felt alien to her.

  They rounded the pillar and had a clear view of Bob’s office. He was alone.

  Good, thought Maya. That will make this easier. Straight in and out.

  She and Joel jogged up the steps to his office. Bob sensed the movement, and looked up from his holo. When he saw Maya, he looked surprised and stood up straight away.

  She hesitated at the glass door, and then pushed it open. Joel held it open above her head and helped her push through.

  Bob came around his desk to greet her. “Maya. You just disappeared. How’s your grandmother?” He grasped her by both shoulders, not entirely knowing if she was okay or not.

  Maya shook her head. “Sorry, Bob. I just had to tell you that so you wouldn’t worry.”

  Bob had suspected as much, and nodded, concerned. He looked up at the stranger with her. Maya noticed and turned to Joel. “This is Joel. He and his team have been looking after me.”

  Joel stuck out his hand, and Bob took it. It took a split second, but as the new information sank in, Bob’s handshake became more vigorous. “Thank you. Thank you for keeping her safe,” he told Joel.

  Joel made the right noises, and Bob’s attention went back to Maya. “So you’re okay? You’ve not been hurt?”

  Maya shook her head. “I’m fine. I got caught up in something, though, and I think you’re in danger, too. That’s why we’re here.”

  Bob ushered them to sit down. “So you’re not here to come back to work?” His eye twinkled a little, though his face was serious. Maya couldn’t tell if he really meant to push her to come back to work, so she assumed it was just his way of parsing the information that he was having to take on board.

  Maya and Joel sat in the chairs in front of Bob’s desk. These were visitor chairs.

  Staff normally stood - on account of it making their exit from his office faster when they were dismissed.

  Joel glanced at Maya, and decided to step in. “Mr. August, we’re here because we believe you’re in danger.”

  Bob looked nonplussed. He waved his hand. “I’m always in danger - if I’m doing my job right,” he added.

  Joel nodded in agreement. “Perhaps. But this is different. And Maya is involved.” Joel’s tone was respectful and commanding at the same time.

  Bob sat back in his chair, some of his bravado fading away. “I’m listening,” he told the former space-marine.

  Joel realized something, and stopped talking. He tapped two fingers to his ear.

  Bob took a second to realize, and then suddenly started getting up, nodding.

  Joel stood up with him.

  Maya looked at them, wondering what was going on. Bob reached for his atmosjacket off the back of his chair. “Well, it sounds like this is something best discussed over a drink.”

  Joel bobbed his head. “You don’t hear any arguments from me. Where did you have in mind?”

  Maya caught on, and got up, too.

  Bob had his jacket on, and was opening his office door for his visitors. “Quaint little place across the street. Shall we?”

  Maya grinned at the cunningness, not believing for one second they were actually going to show up at O’Neil’s across the street. “Yes. Good thinking, boss.”

  She led the way out of the office, closely followed by Bob and Joel.

  ***

  The three of them arrived in the abandoned parking lot that Bob used on occasion to meet sources who were especially sensitive about being seen with him.

  The place was ideal, as it had two entrances; both of which were blocks from where the actual meeting place was. No one watching from outside could possibly track where they were going.

  “We shouldn’t be heard here,” Bob told them.

  Joel looked around him. “How about followed?” he asked.

  Bob shook his head. “Too convoluted; plus you need key card access to get here from the street. No way they could have followed us.”

  Maya looked around. “This place is creepy,” she grimaced, wrapping her arms around her as if she were cold, rather than just creeped out.

  Bob grinned. “Which just adds to the clandestine feel when you’re meeting sources,” he winked. “Whistleblowers love it,” he told her, tapping the side of his nose; still teaching her.

  He turned his attention back to Joel. “Okay. So what’s going down?” he asked.

  Over the next twenty minutes, the three of them stood talking in hushed tones, their voices drowned out by the sounds of water pipes and ventilation units from the restaurants above.

  When they were almost done, Joel made his final suggestion. “We should have this wrapped up by tomorrow, but we don’t know what the fallout might be from
their lackeys.” He looked seriously at Bob. “You’re a good man. You don’t need to get caught up in this. Get out of town for a few weeks, and let this cool off. You’ll be able to return when it settles.”

  Bob opened his mouth to argue, but then realized he’d had this very same discussion more times than he could count. Normally he was on the other side of the conversation, though. Sometimes he had been right, and the person didn’t heed his warning. Sometimes he’d been wrong. But given the decision matrix, and the number of times he’d wished he hadn’t been right, he knew the smart thing to do was to take Joel’s advice.

  He yielded, and nodded affably. “You’re right. I’ll have someone fill in for me, and I’ll stay off-grid for a little while.” He looked at Joel with genuine gratitude and respect. Then he turned to Maya. “I suppose this means you’ll be heading off-world indefinitely, then?” he asked.

  Maya nodded sadly. “Yes. I think I have things to do, being a part of this team.”

  Bob nodded his understanding, and looked down at his feet. Maya touched his arm gently. “You’ve been an incredible mentor to me Bob,” she told him.

  He looked up and met her eyes.

  She smiled, her eyes still sad. “Thank you. For everything. I wouldn’t be who I am today without your support.”

  Joel could see a tear forming in Bob’s eye. He turned and walked a few paces away, letting the two have their moment. He kept one eye on their surroundings, and the other on the two, making sure they were safe.

  Eventually they had said everything they needed to, and Bob led them back through his secret entrance in the back of another car park. He left them on the street as he headed back to his office to wrap things up.

  ***

  Maya was quiet on the ride back to the base.

  Joel spoke to her gently as they both watched the starscape whizzing past their window. “It’s always hard moving on. You won’t be lonely, though. You’ve got a team who have got your back now, and you’re going to help a lot of good people in this new life.”

  Maya glanced up at him, and then back out of the window. “I know. It will be fine,” she agreed.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Gaitune-67, Safe house, Molly’s conference room

  Joel and Sean were deep in conversation as they made their way into the conference room for the meeting of Molly’s “generals,” as she called them. This was the inner circle she was developing, the next tier of leaders for her expanding team.

  Joel allowed Sean to step through the doorway first. “So, are your reflexes enhanced, too, then?” he asked Sean.

  Sean grinned a toothy smile and turned, walking backward around the table for a few paces. “That is need-to-know, mate,” he told him.

  Joel didn’t miss a beat. “And lemme guess. I don’t need to know.” His voice was tinged with resignation as he followed Sean around to a couple of empty seats.

  Sean slapped Joel on the arm. “You’re getting it,” he told him, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

  Maya and Molly were already sitting at the table, chatting idly as each worked on their holos.

  Molly looked up at the group when Sean sat down next to her. “Okay, let’s get started,” she said.

  She glanced over at Sean. “You have some intel?” she prompted.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “I was in touch with Garet through our secret server, and it seems that The Syndicate have a meeting tomorrow. We have a location, too.”

  Joel breathed deeply, looking a little uncomfortable. “How do we feel about his intel?” he asked, catching Molly’s eye and then glancing at Sean.

  Molly shook her head. “You mean, do we trust Garet?”

  Joel nodded. Sean looked down at his own hands clasped in front of him.

  Joel tilted his head to one side. “I dunno. If it wasn’t our only option, I’d be recommending that we don’t touch his intel.” He sucked air through his teeth. “But, at this point, we’re running short on options.”

  Molly nodded softly and made a note on her holo to remind her to think if there were any other options. Then she glanced at Sean. “Sean?” she asked. “You’ve been working with him all this time. Thoughts?”

  Sean started speaking, still looking at his hands. “When I was assigned to him, it was as his… handler, as it were.” He looked up, trying to judge Molly’s reaction. Molly didn’t bat an eyelid. He continued. “My interactions with him were brief, and sometimes I was relaying the General’s orders to him. Sometimes, though, he was making a request of me, mostly for protection or getting messages to the General… But I never could tell if he was just playing both sides.”

  Molly hung her head, processing what she had just heard. Sean seemed to have said what he needed to. Or at least, all he was ready to divulge at this point.

  Molly looked sideways to their new investigator before looking back at the table to listen intently. “Maya?”

  Maya sat back, and took a breath. “I’m also in two minds about it. On the one hand, I don’t think I trust him; but on the other hand, given our time constraints, and the risks we and the General population face if we leave them in power as we move forward, I can’t in good conscience vote to do nothing.”

  She pulled her mouth to one side. “Though, like Joel said, all other things being equal, it would be good to not have to rely on his intel. I just don’t think we have that luxury.”

  Molly was still looking at the table. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a Gemini,” Molly commented. “Either way, we’ll have to reevaluate our relationship with Garet going forward. He’s potentially a weak link.”

  She shook her head, looking a little defeated. “But it sounds like this is a risk we’re going to have to take. Let’s just look at how we mitigate that risk.”

  She looked to Joel. “Want to talk us through some scenarios, based on the intel Garet has supplied? The first scenario assumes his intel is accurate. Then we want to look at variables assuming it’s a trap, or that he’s tipped off one or all members, and anything else we can think of.”

  Joel sat up and shifted in his chair. “Sure. It’s a bitch, though,” he glanced at Sean, briefly before continuing. “The meeting is taking place at the Senate House.”

  Maya’s mouth dropped open.

  Joel noticed but kept talking. “This just means that we’ll be dropping in with the pods in the center of the city, probably with the most well-protected airspace.”

  Maya started to say something, but Joel held up a hand. “It’s okay. We can do it. Oz and Crash are able to hold air traffic control at bay. They have a plan. But that’s just obstacle number one. We then need to get into the building, with government security and staff. Plus, they’ll have their own personal guards. Let me show you how this will work, though.”

  The meeting ran for several hours, with various breakout times for the necessary research, and conferencing with individual team members. Maya even raised the questions of how soon they might find another opportunity to take them down, and what the odds were of being able to get to them in a less risky environment. Sean assured them that this was going to be both a long time and unlikely.