Sanctioned

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Molly considered her statement. “Yes. I think you’re right,” she said, smiling contentedly. She flipped her holoscreen closed and sat back down where she had been working. “Right, let’s see if we can get that 78% to over 90%…”

  Senate House, Spire, Conference Room

  It was mid-morning the next day, and Garet had managed to peel himself away from the hub of activity happening in the main conference room where he had met with the AG the previous afternoon.

  He pulled up his holo and called Molly. The call connected.

  “Molly. Hi. Yeah, it’s me. Everything is okay.” He paused, listening in his auditory implant. He nodded. “Yes, we’ve got the ruling you need. The AG is on board, and we’ve just agreed by a majority to support it. It all goes official next month, but we’ve more than enough support to make it a fait accompli.”

  Garet glanced back through the half-open door he’d just come out of, and watched the other senators and decision-makers for the city work through the fine details. There was little disagreement on what needed to happen; the only friction they were working through was how to best get it done.

  And that was the kind of friction they were all happy with.

  Joel stood in the opposite corner of the room, carefully watching everything that was going on. He caught Garet’s eye and gave him a discreet thumbs up. Garet nodded, smiling, then stepped away from the doorway again.

  Garet answered Molly’s question. “Yes; within about six months, the law about needing private insurance will be repealed, effectively undoing the system of financial slavery.”

  He smiled, hearing how pleased she was at the result. Then he continued. “We have enough commitment to ensure that there will be government-supported health provisions. We have one or two key players we still need to bring on board, but this is more than enough to undo the primary care level of Jessica’s empire.”

  He winced, hearing Molly squeal with delight on the other end of the call. Quickly he grappled with the holo to attenuate the volume. He was glad he did. It went on for a little while.

  “Okay. I should get back in there, then. Talk later.” They said their goodbyes, and he ended the call before stepping back in the room.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Gaitune-67, Hangar deck

  It was late morning and the team had already been up for hours, prepping for the final takedown of The Syndicate. Spirits were high as the team assembled on the hanger for their final pep talk and briefing.

  Pieter and Brock stood around, feeling a little out of place— as even Maya seemed to have suited up into something combat-comfortable.

  Sean, Crash, and Jack were obviously ops-ready, with their body armor and flight gear outlining and accentuating all the places a warrior would like to look big, or trim.

  Molly was the last to arrive, presumably having just come from a talk with the General. Her face was serious, and her hair pulled roughly back against her head. As she approached, the team hushed; sensing intuitively that this was big leagues, as well as potentially life-and-death, now they had got through all the research and prep.

  Sean stepped over to her and handed her the wooden stick that she’d started carrying on missions. “I dunno how much use this is against the guns that fire bullets and rays,” he told her, “but I’ve seen you use this thing… and you’re pretty lethal with it. I thought you might like to take it with you - just in case.” Molly looked up at him, noticing a genuine respect and caring in his eyes. For the first time ever, she saw him as a protector— not just a warrior. She shook the thought from her head, calling herself stupid for such a silly observation. Her appreciation was evident, though. “Sean… thank you,” she told him softly, if not a little awkwardly.

  He touched her shoulder, careful not to let his hand linger too long in front of the others - in case they misinterpreted it. “I just figured without Joel here to support you, it… well. You know.” He stepped back to where he had been standing with the others, and let her start the briefing.

  Molly nodded to him in thanks, and then looked to the whole team assembled. “As you mostly already know, Detective Chaakwa was very helpful yesterday. She helped us to not just find the likely location, but to get a 92% confirmation on where Andus is right now.” She pulled up her holo and stretched the screen to make it big enough for the small group to all see.

  Oz, show us the footage, please?

  Molly continued, talking over the video clip. “Traffic cams clocked him two blocks from this location. We’re pretty sure he’s here. Maya, you know what to do with this one. Take Pieter and Brock, and let’s make Andus’s worst nightmare come true.” Molly and Maya exchanged knowing smiles.

  “Wo-oooooooooah!” interrupted Brock. “We ain’t combat ready!” he protested, his whole body involved in the conversation.

  Maya chuckled and put a hand on his forearm as she stood next to him. “It’s okay,” she tried to assure him.

  Molly grinned at him. “Don’t worry, Brock. Maya’s got the game plan. You don’t need to be combat-anything. In fact, you boys just need to look pretty. Maya’s got this handled.”

  Brock turned and checked out Maya head to toe, then back to front.

  Maya chuckled again. “What you doin’?” she asked, trying to see what he might be looking at on her body.

  Brock clapped his hands once. “Girl, I’m just looking to see how many weapons you’s packing!”

  Maya grinned. “I don’t need any. You’ll see why…”

  Brock stood mostly still again, muttering quietly to Pieter who stood on the other side of Maya. “We’s dead. We both is dead!” he warned him, now mostly playing, but clearly still a little concerned by the latest plan.

  Molly shook her head, smiling. She continued the briefing. “Meanwhile, Jessica’s empire is crumbling,” she announced. “Yesterday, the board voted to offload 164 of the subsidiaries. This means that within a few hours, the announcements will have all been made, and the share price of her company will plummet uncontrollably. Her empire will be destroyed.”

  There was a mini round of applause in the team. Molly appreciated their enthusiasm for the conquests that were more than just blowing shit up. She was in task mode, though, so she skipped really enjoying the experience, and continued on with the briefing. “Crash and I will deliver the news to Jessica, and explain exactly why this fate has befallen her,” she told them.

  “Sean and Jack,” she said, looking over in their direction and tapping her stick against the side of her leg, barely feeling it through her knee-high combat boots, “you’re cleared by the General to use the Mini Empress to take out Mac’s desert safe house.

  “Oz,” she told the rest of the group, “has tracked Mac to a safe house in the desert, which has powered up. The General agreed that you need a ship to deal with that one; the pods just aren’t built to go up against anti-aircraft guns. Plus, I understand you’ll both enjoy blowing the fuck out of something,” she added, turning back to Sean and Jack with a glint in her eye.

  “You got that right, boss,” smirked Sean, flexing his pecs underneath his folded arms.

  Jack stood next to him, looking just as battle-ready; and maybe even a little battle-hungry, from the look in her eye. Sean glanced down at her and put out his hand for a high-five. She slapped his hand hard, forcing him to shake it out and mouth “oww,” mostly for the amusement of the rest of the team.

  Molly wasn’t done with that part of the op, though. “Be careful,” she warned. “From what we know of this guy, he is weapon-savvy, and a former arms dealer. There is no doubt he’ll have some nasty shit stashed away somewhere, and where better to keep it than out in the desert? You’re flying into a war zone. Don’t think of it as just one guy with a gun.”

  Sean and Jack had both sobered up with their playing, and nodded solemnly.

  “Okay, folks,” Molly said, bringing their attention back to her briefing. “One last thing. Joel and Paige are still at the Senate House with Garet. It’s thanks t
o their hard work that we’re able to do this takedown in good conscience, and leave the planet much better off than before.” She paused, looking around the team. There was a sudden air of respect and almost pride in what they were about to achieve.

  “Let’s keep them in the loop,” she continued, “and make sure we bring them home safe when all this is all done. Joel has full jurisdiction to make a decision on what happens with Garet when we’re through. They’ve been working closely, and we think Garet has indeed thrown his chips in with us; but Joel has the final decision on that one… just so we’re all clear.”

  There were nods and “yes ma’am”s that reverberated around the hangar deck.

  “Okay, let’s move,” she told them, clapping her hands the way Joel does to indicate they were dismissed to get going.

  With that, the team members scrambled into their respective pods. Jack and Sean strode across to a different area of the hangar; they needed to collect their new toy: a small, light-weight, fast-moving, safe-house-bombing version of the gate-enabled Empress that drew everyone’s eye whenever they would step into the hangar.

  Andus safe house, Spire, Vættaborgir and Hellisgata

  Maya hopped deftly out of her pod into the alley. She turned to see Brock and Pieter following suit, looking slightly nervous. Maya pulled out her weapon, and switched it on as the pod disappeared up into the air.

  She looked at the two guys, who nodded and started following her. She could sense their hesitation, but had done every little piece of preparation she could think of for this op. Besides, she’d been in dicier situations before now, and had never had the comfort of a weapon. She held the grip tighter, hoping to her ancestors she wasn’t going to need it.

  She approached the door and saw that it indeed had a retinal scanner to grant access. Rather than stepping up to it, she pulled up her holo and typed to Oz. A moment later, the door popped open, allowing her to step inside.

  The boys followed her through.

  As she moved into the dark, dank passageway, she tried to hold her breath against the dust and the smell.

  “Not the pleasantest of safe houses he could have chosen,” she commented, trying to put the boys at ease.

  Pieter grunted. Brock stayed quiet, allowing Pieter to go ahead of him.

  Maya kept walking down the passage, her wits on edge now that she was here, as the realization dawned on her that a bit of paper in her jacket pocket probably wasn’t going to do much against some heavy with a gun.

  She was going to have to Maya Johnstone her way through this.

  With that thought, she took a deep breath, her shoulders went back, and she grew an inch and a half in height. She even noticed a muttering from the boys behind her. Striding down the corridor now, she was alert but relaxed, energetically daring anyone to defy her.

  The group found their way into the open area, with the elevators to the right and a little counter ahead of them. It looked unmanned.

  “Hello?” Maya called out.

  There was movement behind the counter, in the little room that visitors couldn’t see into from this side.

  Brock pulled out his pistol, and Pieter tried to do the same.

  The scrawny Ogg attendant appeared from the little room, and peered over the counter. “Greetings. Are you here for Mr. Andus?” he asked politely.

  Maya did a double-take, and lowered her gun. “Yes. Yes we are. How did you-”

  The Ogg’s face suddenly scrunched up in aggression, and a moment later he was pulling a gun on the trio.

  BAM BAM, he shot over the counter.

  Maya returned fire before running out of the way. Brock dove the same way, and Pieter jumped back into the dark passageway, out of sight.

  There were more gunshots through the counter. Maya scrambled to sit up on the floor, and, in one movement, had swivelled around and was returning fire in the direction of the sound. A split second later, the little Ogg had appeared around the side of the counter, and not only was he exposed himself, but he had a clean shot on both Maya and Brock.

  Brock cowered, and then panicked and aimed his weapon at the Ogg, getting three rounds off. None of them seemed to connect, because the Ogg was still standing.

  Maya became aware of an alarm sounding. “We’re your new bosses, you idiot!” she screamed at the Ogg.

  The gunshots kept happening. Maya couldn’t tell which direction they were coming from, but a second later she could see that the Ogg was convulsing on the floor. She looked over to the right, and saw that Pieter had managed to stun him.

  The shooting stopped, but the elevator doors opened, and two heavies emerged. Both Estarian. Each built like the side of a space truck.

  They stepped out, saw the attendant on the floor, and pulled their weapons.

  Maya put her hand up. “Wait!” she screamed. She scrambled for her holo. “Let me show you! We’re your new bosses. You answer to us, now.”

  The first Estarian pointed at her with his gun, but signalled for her to pull up her holo. His partner grunted at them. “We answer to no one but Mr. Andus,” he told them.

  Maya shook her head. “You work for WBA Security, right?”

  The Estarian nodded.

  “Yeah,” she pulled up a holoscreen on the paperwork, “we own them. You work for us, now.” She started scrambling to her feet, as dignified as she could.

  Once on her feet, she indicated to the Ogg. “So does he.” She waved her gun up towards the rest of the building, which housed a hotel and various restaurants. “So does everyone in the hotel.”

  And then she pointed her gun at the elevator. “And everyone down there.”

  The two Estarians looked at her in disbelief. The vocal one shook his head. “Wait here a minute,” he told her, and started pulling up his holo. He walked through to the passageway to make a call. The other lowered his weapon.

  Pieter joined them properly in the foyer, and helped Brock to his feet. “Motherfucker!” he exclaimed, his face pale, and hands shaking. He whispered to Pieter. “Man, I’m getting my ass down to that range when we get back. No more Mr. I-can’t-fire-a-gun crap,” he swore.

  Maya shifted on the spot, running through plan B and plan C in her head, praying she wasn’t going to need them.

  The tough came back in and seemed strangely amiable. Almost pleasant. “It’s okay, Derek. It’s true,” he told the other Estarian. “They are the new owners.”

  Derek looked at him, his mouth hanging open. “Just like that?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “Just like that,” his friend agreed.

  Derek turned and looked at the Ogg. “What about him?” he asked. The other Estarian looked down at him, almost without sympathy. “Suppose we should get him a doctor,” he commented.

  Maya saw her chance. “That would be a sensible idea. But first, I’d like you,” she said, pointing at the Estarian who had made the call, “to take us down to Mr. Andus. He no longer owns the building, so he needs to vacate it.”

  The Estarian looked shocked again, but quickly came to terms with the logic. A new thought seemed to cross his face. “Errr, so what does this mean for us?” he asked. “I mean, are our jobs safe?”

  Maya shook her head in amazement. “I’m not sure. But if you cooperate, I’ll be sure to put in a good word with the decision-makers we bring in.”

  The Estarian nodded vigorously. “Right. Okay. So, erm. As you know, that’s Derek. I’m Mo…” he hit the elevator button. “I’ll take you down to Mr. Andus now.” He looked over at his colleague. “Derek, get a doctor in for that guy, will you?”