by Chris Hechtl
The reporter blinked all four eyestalks in surprise. She gave him a cheery smile and then hefted her bag. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to do a bit more shopping and attending to my own battles with the cash register. Good day,” she said, bobbing a nod and then leaving. Her retinue who had been waiting on the sidelines swarmed in behind her to cut off the reporter and his production team.
“And there you have it,” the reporter said, turning to the camera. “Back to you in the studio, Bob, V'm'll,” he said.
@
Omar saw his mother's statement and fumed in anger over her talking to media with such contempt for him. She made certain to tell everyone that she had written her son out of her will. His face darkened in further rage.
“Bitch,” he hissed in anger.
He realized as he flipped through the media channels that the entire media had turned against him. “Damn them. Damn them all. I'm still here though. I'm not moving a centimeter so they can all frack off!” he snarled, clenching the remote and then throwing it at the vid screen hard enough for the remote to shatter.
Chapter 48
“You two damn well better make this work,” Omar growled as he towered over the cringing techs. He knew he was getting desperate, but he had to find a way to turn things around to his side. Getting something damning was therefore vital.
“All we need is a good view and the right circumstance. Get him to say the right phrases and especially in the right order, sir, and we can edit what we want together. It may not stand up to much scrutiny though.”
“It'd damn well better,” Omar growled. “I'm paying enough for this.”
“The best way to do this is to catch him off balance. When he's sleepy or ill-prepared, he'll be vulnerable. Keep him off balance and he'll crack, sir,” the female tech said.
“Very well. We'll get this damn thing sorted out tonight,” the admiral growled. “You two get everything you need. Set up every camera angle; make sure you've got the right microphones. I don't want any screwups. He'll know it's a setup eventually.”
“So, we may not have a second shot. Understood, sir. We'll get it done.”
“You'd damn well better.”
@
Horatio was surprised when he was woken in the middle of the night and told to get dressed. He was secured in travel chains and then escorted to a conference room. He was chained to the desk and had to wait. He wasn't certain what was going on; there was no court scheduled for the following day.
His confusion ended when a familiar bluff male human came to the door's window and then yanked the door open. The door slammed behind him as Admiral Childress strode into the room. “Okay, this farce has gone on long enough.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Horatio drawled, sitting back.
“Can't you see what you are doing?” Omar snarled. “We're in a civil war situation! For the good of the service, you need to accept the plea so we can all move on! It is your duty to end this before more people get killed!”
Horatio studied the other man for a long moment. “Did it ever occur to you to do the same?” He shook his head as the admiral turned red. “I see not. You still don't get it. You want me to stand-down for the good of the service, but you won't. You who were ordered to do so. You pressure me to do my duty, yet you ignore your own. Funny that,” he said dryly as he sat back.
“Damn you! Damn you to hell!” Omar snarled as he began to pace. “There is no reasoning with you, is there? I can enter the plea deal for you. Hell, I can do a full confession.”
“And you can do that without me.”
Omar stopped and glared at him. “I can have you shot. I can call the guard, tell them you are trying to escape and they'll shoot you.”
“Will they?” Horatio spread his hands apart as far as the cuffs would allow. “I'm not stopping you. Of course,” he smiled, “everything you are saying and doing is going on record.”
Omar glared at him. “So?”
“So, I think you are just making your situation worse. The smart move here would be to stand-down. Do your duty, resign, the same for Draken. That will end the civil war, and as you said, people will stop dying.”
“And that's what you want. Our star system torn apart. Our people killing each other,” Omar accused. There was an ugly gleam in his eyes, one that made Horatio wary.
Horatio instantly realized that the other man might be recording him. He searched with his implants until he found the hidden recording devices. He snorted as he sent a signal with his implants to overload the recording software and upload his own record. From there, the file went through the network and out to the major media outlets. A secondary script opened the channel to a live feed. “You are a piece of work. What, you think by recording us, and then what, doing an edit job will make you come out on top?” He shook his head. “Admiral, end this.”
“I can and I will but on my terms.”
“You've stacked the deck in the courtroom, rigged the trial, but that's not enough, is it?”
“You will confess,” the admiral said, staring him down, “one way or another. I'll have your attorney accept the plea without you in court if I have to go that route. We'll announce it to the public. That will undermine the rebels, and you'll fall all over yourself for mercy from the court.”
“And what? You think I'd break? A quick firing squad and it's over? No martyrdom, just you in charge? I don't think so. No.”
“You'll do what's right, damn you!” the other man suddenly bellowed, eyes bulging, fists on the table as he leaned in, trying to physically intimidate Horatio.
Horatio stared at him. The tableau lasted a few minutes before Omar realized Horatio's cool intense gaze wasn't going to waver. “Gods be damn you!”
Horatio shook his head as the other man flung the door open and stormed out.
“Yeah,” he sighed as a guard came in. “So? What's the verdict? Are you supposed to shoot me now or are we done?”
“I don't know what you are talking about,” the guard muttered as he undid the chain connecting Horatio to the table. He grabbed Horatio's right bicep and hauled him to his feet. “Come on.”
“I take it he's not coming back?”
“Count your blessings,” the guard said with a shake of his head as they walked out.
“Yeah,” Horatio murmured.
@
“Well?” Omar demanded of the female audio video tech as her fingers flew over the keyboard. He crossed his arms. “Did you get enough?” he growled his tone clear that the answer had better be yes.
“We've got plenty of samples of his voice. The camera angles were good, but he didn't give you everything what you wanted.” She shook her head as she examined the feed. “What the devil?” she demanded as the recording switched to one from the prisoner's point of view. “What just happened?”
“What is going on?” Admiral Childress demanded, leaning over her shoulder. She pointed helplessly to the image.
The tech next to her swore. “Sir, he got into the system. Somehow, he uploaded his own view of what just happened,” the tech said as Admiral Childress turned on him.
“Admiral,” the warden said as he opened the door. He'd been woken up by a confused call from the guard commander on duty. He was still half dressed and not happy about what was going on in his own prison. Just the gist he'd gotten from the commander told him things had gone from bad to worse. The media outside were going nuts, flooding the communications systems with demands for answers.
“Not now,” the admiral snarled as he stared at the tech. “What did you just say?”
“Admiral, what is going on here?” the warden said insistently.
“I said, not now,” the admiral growled, eyeing the other man as the techs worked at their keyboards.
“Sir, you just broadcast an interrogation of Horatio Logan. It's gone viral, and it's now taking over every media outlet,” the warden pressed, grabbing his arm.
Omar shook the hand of
f, still intent on the video feed confusion before that caught up with him. When it did, he turned in surprise. “What did you just say?” he demanded, staring at the other man as another person came into the room.
“Sir, Admiral Draken wants to know what is going on. And Captain Prescott just called; she's being swamped. Warden, we're getting calls from the media, including inquiries on the status of Admiral Logan,” the guard commander said.
“What is going on here?!?” Omar bellowed as a tech swore.
“He got into our system through the wireless feed. Son of a … he's broadcasting everything now!” the tech said, opening a window to show Horatio walking with a guard back to his cell.
“Shut that the hell down! What the hell, I'm surrounded by incompetent idiots!” Omar raged as he stormed out.
The warden stared at him and then shook his head slowly.
“I think our ass is grass,” the female tech murmured, scared. “How did he do that?” she demanded, aghast at the implications for both herself and the star system. He had to have gotten access somehow or had help. Whoever had done it had gone through a series of networks in order to get their video feed; they'd jumped it from their private Wi-Fi to the prison's system and then bypassed the firewalls …
“What do you mean our? You were the one who was supposed to be watching the network feed. Why didn't you catch the switch?” her partner accused.
“Me? Oh, so this is my fault?” she demanded as the warden shook his head. He left them to bicker as he walked out.
“What a frackin' day,” he muttered as the commander held up a phone. “And it hasn't even officially started yet! The answer is no comment. Period,” he said, waving the phone away.
@
Admiral Draken got the call from the switchboard and groaned when he turned the news on. He saw the replay of the video and groaned even louder. He switched it off, flipped over, and buried himself under the pillow. When the phone went off again, he angrily grabbed it blindly with one hand and threw it against the wall.
“Stupid!” he said over and over again for a long time.
Chapter 49
“He's coming apart. That was his stupidest move yet. That totally blew up in his face,” the Veraxin president said, signaling first-degree disbelief.
“I know. He's losing his grip and it's scary. What can we do to stop him? Obviously, we can't stand up to him directly …,” his chief of staff chittered.
“I think we can. He's pushed things, and yes, he could push it to a full take over, but I think the Marines aren't in his corner. If he does try to take over the government, more of his followers will break with him,” President K'k'R'll stated.
“So, what do you want to do, sir?” Mister Koitz asked carefully.
“I'm considering pardoning Horatio to stop them. That'll spike their guns.”
“You can't do that, sir,” the attorney general stated with a shake of his head.
“Why the hell not? He's the president!” Sven Sema said with a hand wave to indicate the Veraxin. He knew things were getting bad if Childress was that blatant and sloppy with an assassination attempt. Why the man didn't just order Horatio thrown out an airlock or shot he didn't know.
“Yes, he is. But he's a star system president. There are rules. First, it's a federal, not local case. You don't have jurisdiction, sir, sorry,” the AG said, addressing his statement directly to the president. That made Sven's shoulders slump in defeat. “Second, he has yet to be convicted of a crime. You can't pardon someone until they've been convicted.”
“But we can give him transactional immunity, right?” Sven asked hopefully. “Like if he was called to testify before Congress?”
“If it were up to us, yes. Unfortunately, no. See my first point,” Mister Koitz said patiently, turning to the in-house counsel who nodded in grim agreement.
Sven frowned, then nodded slowly. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Mister Koitz replied with a slow exhale of breath. “It sucks.”
“Third, Admiral Logan would never accept a pardon. He is on the side of right,” Spencer, the in-house counsel said slowly. “If he did accept the pardon, it would be an admission of guilt and Childress wins. He won't tolerate it,” the Neodog stated flatly.
“I know that, you know that, hell, everyone does except Childress and his people,” Sven growled.
“But he's still going to get shot for it anyway,” Mister Koitz stated.
“Hopefully not, but it might still happen,” the president said. “What bothers me the most is we're completely helpless to do a damn thing about it.”
“If we come out against Childress, he could very well perform a coup'de'tat, sir. It's what we've feared and what his supporters have threatened. That's why we've sat on the sidelines for so long.”
“So, all we can do is just sit here and hope and pray someone else acts to take Childress and Draken out. I don't like that. We need another way.”
“Unfortunately, we don't have one.”
“What if one of them left navy property? If they were out in the open …,” Sven suggested.
“Are you seriously suggesting what you are … don't even think it!” the AG said in exasperation.
“I meant we could arrest him. Take one or both of them out of play and their supporters will fall apart like a house of cards I bet,” Sven said. “I'm not sure how we could do it …,” he frowned and then looked at the AG.
“I'm sure I can find something. But it wouldn't stick. Besides, as I pointed out, both officers are federal. We have no jurisdiction. If they commit a crime here, we're supposed to hand over jurisdiction to them or the federal court.”
“And the federal courts are in Antigua.”
“Right. And anything they do here that we could charge them with would go to Admiral Shren, which means exactly nowhere,” Mister Koitz stated.
“So, that's out in other words. Any other bright-ass ideas that does not tempt the man with the guns to do anything else rash and stupid?”
@
Reba Childress met the other members of the cabal and wasn't shy about opening the meeting with a pithy comment about the state of things. “Oh my god, what an idiot!” she snarled as she flopped down into her chair.
“Yeah.” Jules said quietly. There was no question as to who she was referring to. He bit back pointing out whose son it was. Tact was in dire order he reminded himself, especially with her in that foul of a mood.
“I cannot believe that is my son. I taught him better than that! My gods in heaven and hell, what was he thinking?” Reba demanded, head in her hands.
“That's just it; I don't think he is. He's just reacting. I am wondering if it is the regen therapies now. I don't know enough to guess,” Admiral Amir rumbled.
“I doubt it. After all, Logan and others have had the same therapies and look how they turned out,” Reba said with a shake of her head.
“Has he always been like this?” Admiral Amir asked, and then frowned when Reba turned a gimlet eye on him.
“He is …,” she sputtered and stopped herself with a severe scowl. “Spoiled. Stupid … Arrogant …,” she shook herself.
The admiral pursed his lips, fighting the urge to point out who he was related to. It wasn't polite … or safe he realized. Besides, she was doing enough as it was. He could see her lips sputtering curses. Reba was in a foul enough mood as it was; he didn't need or want her to target her ire on him since he was conveniently in her reach. “What do we do?” he asked carefully instead.
“We're done distancing ourselves from him. Pull all support. I want our people hands-off as of now. If you want to keep ….” She stopped and shook her head. “It is up to you. But I'm done and washing my hands of this. I'm going to be cleaning up his mess for years. I'm quite frankly tired of such things.”
“You and me both,” Jules replied tiredly. Heads nodded around the room. “What about the agenda?”
“We'll figure out a compromise. For the moment, he's got everyt
hing tied up in knots. My bottom line has gotten hammered,” Reba growled. The others grimaced as well. They hadn't realized the shear scope of the can of worms they had opened. Stalling progress had turned into no progress. Their production facilities were shuttered since the navy couldn't come up with the funds to build new equipment that they didn't need.
It was all obsolete, and they couldn't justify building it. “We're going to have to try a different tactic. We're going to have to take over the effort to modernize the fleet. We can work out charges to retool our industry to support that,” Reba said.
“That could take years,” Admiral Amir murmured.
“Some progress is better than none at all. This is killing the economy, and our shareholders are near revolt. I'm struggling to hang on to what I've got. I can't paper over any more cracks; the damn cracks are getting torn open like gaping wounds by my damn son,” Reba said, still seething. “So, if you can't beat them, join them.”
“That'll be an interesting reversal,” Jules said with a nod.
“Right. And maybe, just maybe, once we get moving the public will side with us and we can slow the progress to something we can tolerate,” Admiral Open Eyes stated.
Heads nodded around the room. “At the moment, that's the best I think any of us can hope for,” Admiral Amir murmured.
@
Ingrid ran a frustrated hand through her curly red hair. She looked over to Sven. “There isn't anything we can do?”
“No. Based on what we've seen, Childress's supporters are leaving him in droves, which is making him increasingly desperate. Desperate men do very stupid things. Things we'll all regret, if we survive the experience.”
“Lovely,” Ingrid muttered. “I can't believe he's tried to kill Horatio …”
“Believe it. What gets a lot of people is how inept he has become. He used to be better than this.”
