by S. H. Jucha
“What if the principals aren’t in residence, Major?” Miguel asked.
“Once we serve the warrant I expect them to arrive shortly, Sergeant. You and I’ll wait inside the front door for them.”
“Do you expect trouble from anyone in the household?” Cecilia asked.
“I can’t say, Corporal. That’s why I want you to work in pairs. If you’re confronted, remain calm, be polite, and comm me with your location. Either Sergeant Rodriguez or I will remove your impediment, one way or the other.”
Miguel nodded his understanding of Liam’s implied message. They would search every inch of the house, whether the governor or the household liked it or not.
The El car began its descent precisely on time, and Liam leaned back in his seat to think through the possible issues he would encounter. He would have preferred a larger force, but it would have taken longer to organize. At this moment, time was his friend. Hours from now, it might well become his enemy.
When the El car transited the dome’s airlock, Liam sent a message to the car manager that his team would exit first. As the El touched its landing pad, the manager announced to the passengers that they should briefly remain seated. It was an unnecessary message. None of the passengers had any intention of getting in front of the security team. However, recognizing that they had comm unit service within the domes, they busily called family, friends, and associates.
Liam gritted his teeth when he realized they had no control over communication within the domes. It reminded him of the manner in which Pyre had developed into separate fiefdoms. It wasn’t the way it was supposed to be, but Earth was a long distance away and unable to raise an objection.
At the bottom of the car’s landing ramp, Liam paused. It hit him that this was his first trip downside. “Who’s been downside before?” he asked quietly. When everyone shook their head in negation, he muttered, “Oh, for the love of Pyre.”
“Major, my duty station is the tech department,” Cecilia said. “Lieutenant Devon told me to assist. I haven’t been downside, but I’m familiar with their tech.”
“Thank goodness,” Liam replied. “Lead on, Corporal.”
Cecilia hurried toward a line of e-trans vehicles, where passengers were unloading to catch the El’s next ascent. Liam kept pace beside her. “I would suggest you and two others in this first vehicle, Captain.”
“Don’t be so polite, Corporal,” Liam replied. “Tell us what to do.”
“Yes, sir. Sit behind the console. You two,” Liam ordered, pointing at two of the privates, “join the captain.”
“We’ve got the next car,” Miguel said, indicating to the last officer with a wave of his fingers that she should join him.
“Save the console seat for me, Sergeant,” Cecilia called out. She accessed her comm unit for the priority override codes, which would allow their e-trans cars to supersede all other vehicles transiting through the domes’ airlocks. She leaned in front of the major and quietly said, “Priority access, tango, kilo, echo, one, seven, three, oscar.”
“Priority override accepted,” the car’s computer replied. “Please state destination.”
“Governor’s residence in a two-car entourage.”
“Please code the second car,” the computer requested.
Cecilia eyed the number emblazoned on the front of the e-trans vehicle the sergeant sat in and repeated the number for the computer.
“Ready,” the computer replied.
“Initiate,” Cecilia replied. She stepped back to allow the major’s car to make a sharp turn and proceed at speed toward the dome’s airlock. The second car whisked past her and she jumped in, banging her knee.
“Well done, Corporal, except for that part of injuring yourself,” Miguel commented drily.
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Cecilia replied, rubbing her knee.
“What made you study downsider tech to the point that you could program priority codes?” Miguel asked.
“Lieutenant Higgins’ orders, Sergeant. He said that you never knew when things like this might be needed.”
“Interesting,” Miguel replied. “And how long ago was this?”
“About a year and a half, Sergeant.”
Approaching the first airlock, the captain’s e-trans computer communicated its priority code and transports on both sides of the airlock were halted. Their cars zipped to the front of the line and through the open gate on their side. As soon as their cars were inside, the gate behind them closed and the opposite gate opened. Then they were quickly on their way. Transport vehicles in front of them slowed and pulled to the side, and they flew past.
“You wouldn’t think these little things could move this fast,” Miguel said, grasping a safety bar on the side of the vehicle.
“Amazing, aren’t they?” Cecilia replied. “I have to admit though, that I never checked into whether they’ve ever had accidents. I mean accidents that resulted in loss of life.” She kept a straight face, but the officer in the back seat snickered.
“Funny, Corporal,” Miguel growled, keeping a firm grip on the safety bar.
The e-trans vehicles made excellent time, navigating the domes and airlocks to the governor’s residence, and they arrived seconds after Markos and Giorgio exited their vehicle in front of the house.
When Markos spotted the security team, which he expected, having been alerted to their coming, he glanced at Giorgio and tossed his head toward the house. On the way from a meeting, which they had hurriedly abandoned, Markos had told Giorgio to get the women out of the house by the residence’s garden entrance and have the household staff straighten up their rooms. What he couldn’t understand was how the security team had arrived so quickly. He was sure that Giorgio and he had another fifteen minutes.
“Governor, halt,” Liam called, leaping from his car.
“Major Finian, this is quite unusual, isn’t it? Descending downside without an invitation or an announcement?” Markos replied, as if Liam was making a social call.
Miguel spotted Giorgio walking toward the house, and he leapt clear of his car and raced after him. “Giorgio Sestos, you’re ordered to halt,”
“I’ll just be a moment, Sergeant,” Giorgio replied over his shoulder, as he kept walking.
Miguel ran to place himself directly in Giorgio’s path. “No, you won’t, sir. You’ll stay where you stand and await the major’s pleasure,” Miguel said forcefully, placing his hand on the head of his shock stick. He saw Giorgio’s eyes travel down his arm and take in the message. Then Miguel watched Giorgio deflate, and he thought, That’s acceptance of guilt.
“Major, you’ve no right —” Markos started, but that was as far as he got.
“My warrant,” Liam said, holding his comm unit in front of the governor’s face. “I have the right to search your residence and the grounds for Helena Garmenti. Corporal, proceed.”
Markos took the comm unit and scrolled through the details, recognizing it was properly issued by the Review Board at the request of the commandant. His face screwed up in a grimace. “Might we wait inside, Major?”
“Certainly, Governor,” replied Liam, gesturing toward the front door.
Cecilia led the three officers into the house, divided them into pairs, a man and a woman in each pair, and directed their search on the first level. The residence was completely foreign to her and the officers. It didn’t resemble the logical, organized, and repetitive layout of the JOS. Nonetheless, they checked behind every door, often finding a closet or a storage room.
When Cecilia and her team circled back to the front of the house, where the major and the sergeant waited with Markos and Giorgio, she shook her head briefly at Liam and accessed the lift to the second floor. They conducted another thorough search of that floor’s premises.
One of the household staff, who stood aside as Cecilia passed, cut her eyes to the left. The corporal didn’t assign it any significance, but when they passed the woman on the way to the lift, the woman repeated her action, and Cecil
ia’s brow furrowed.
The third floor, the residence’s upper level, received the same attention from the team as the first two floors without success.
Standing at the third-floor lift, one of the officers, Bowden, said, “Corporal, does it strike you as strange how quickly the search went on this floor?”
“It does,” Cecilia acknowledged. “You two,” she said pointing to the other team, “stay here. Bowden, you’re with me.”
Cecilia took the lift down to the first floor. “Bowden, out the front. I want to know if the third floor extends as far out as the other two floors. Hustle.” She jogged down the main hallway, out the back door, and onto an expansive patio. She stepped out and gazed upward. The third floor was even with the first two.
A noise captured Cecilia’s attention. A groundskeeper gave her a salute of fingers to his brow, and she hurried back inside. Bowden was waiting for her at the lift. “Same?” she asked.
“Same,” Bowden replied.
“Imagine that? Back to the third floor,” Cecelia ordered. But, in the lift, she chose the second floor.
“What’s up, Corporal,” Bowden asked, when he saw the change in destination.
“I just realized the staff has been trying to direct us.”
“How so?”
“A woman on the second floor cut her eyes twice toward the rear of the house, and the groundskeeper gave me a weird salute. He tucked his small finger under his thumb and touched three fingers to his brow.”
“You’re thinking we have to get to the third floor from the second floor, but not via the lift?”
“That’s my guess.”
Exiting the lift on the second floor, Cecilia walked toward the rear of the house. A window looked out on the beautifully kept grounds. She took a moment to admire the expanse of green, something she’d never seen before. It seemed exotic and unsettling at the same time.
“Look here, Corporal,” Bowden requested. He was kneeling to the right of the window, looking at the floor. “There’s the hint of a track under this section of the wall.
Cecilia stepped back. The sides of the wall opposite the window were identical. Decorated as they were, it was difficult to ascertain if any section of the wall was designed to move. She accessed her comm unit. “Major, I’m convinced there’s a rear part of the third floor, which we can’t access. However, on the second floor, there might be a hidden passageway.”
“Governor, you can either give us access or we can tear our way through every door, wall, or floor, if necessary, until we’ve searched the entire house,” Liam said.
“Those rooms on the third floor were the private chambers of my wife, Major. They were sealed after her death and haven’t been opened since. I’m sure you can respect that.”
“My apologies to the memory of your wife, Governor Andropov,” Liam replied sincerely, “but there will be no exceptions. What will it be?”
Markos sighed, and, to Liam, it seemed the very life of the man drained out of him in that one breath. “May I?” Markos asked, gesturing toward Liam’s device. Once he had the comm unit, Markos said, “Corporal, go to the last doorway on your left, as you face the rear of the building. Rotate the plate of the actuator one hundred and eighty degrees clockwise. Then hit the button.”
Cecilia followed the governor’s direction, and Bowden and she watched a section of the wall at the rear of the building slide away. The two of them hurried to enter a lit stairwell, and they made their way to the third floor. There was nothing to stop them from entering a short corridor.
Liam reached for his comm unit, but Markos held a finger up to forestall him. “Are you on the third floor, Corporal?” Markos asked.
“Yes.”
“Second door on your right, Corporal. Reach above the top frame at its center. You’ll feel a small latch. Flick it to the left,” Markos said, and then handed the comm unit back.
Cecilia grunted, as she stretched to the top of the door. Throwing the tiny metal protrusion, she found produced the soft snick of a lock unlatching. She stepped through the doorway, and a young girl in the middle of the room froze and stared at her in confusion. “I’m Corporal Lindstrom of JOS Security. We’re looking for Helena Garmenti,” Cecilia announced.
The girl’s face twisted in anger, and Cecilia felt unreasoning dark hatred flood her thoughts. It was anguish, pain, and dread rolled into one, and she staggered backwards from the attack. Bowden caught her, but it was obvious that he was suffering from the same onslaught.
“Sasha, no!” Helena screamed, rushing to embrace her daughter. “They’re not here to hurt us. They’re here to help.”
The ugly sensation disappeared from Cecilia and Bowden’s minds, but they were dry retching from the attack. Helena came toward them and reached out her hands, but the security team pulled away.
“Please. Let me help. My daughter couldn’t know who you were. These rooms have been her entire life since the day she was born,” Helena entreated.
The plea of a mother allowed Cecilia to stand still when Helena reached out and grasped her hands. The corporal felt pleasure and gratefulness. It was soothing, and it erased the lingering dark sensations.
“Better?” Helena asked, and Cecilia nodded and smiled her thanks.
When Helena approached the other officer, he pulled away.
“Trust me, Bowden, you want this,” Cecilia said.
Acquiescing to the woman’s administrations, Bowden remarked afterwards, “That helped. Thanks.”
“I take it you’re Helena Garmenti,” Cecilia said.
“Yes, Corporal Lindstrom,” Helena replied, reading Cecilia’s name on her uniform. “And this is my daughter, Sasha,” she said, stepping back and throwing a protective arm around her daughter’s shoulders.
“Please gather your personal things, Helena. You’ll be escorted to the station,” Cecilia directed. “I’ll have additional officers up here in a moment to help you pack.”
“Are we being arrested?” Helena asked.
“No, certainly not,” Cecilia replied, holding up her hands to forestall Sasha’s reactions. The girl’s face started to twist with hostility.
“You and your daughter are being freed, Helena,” explained Cecilia. “I’m so sorry it took this long to discover what happened to you.”
“What about my sister?” Sasha demanded.
“She’s missing,” Bowden replied.
Cecilia could have kicked her subordinate. His answer obviously frustrated the young girl, and that was the last thing they needed.
“Let me correct that, Sasha,” Cecilia said gently. “Your sister made it to the JOS, the station. We believe she found help and has been in hiding since then.”
Sasha stared at the woman for a prolonged moment. She turned to her mother. “That one,” she said, pointing to Cecilia, “believes what she’s saying.”
“Good to know, Sasha,” Helena said, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “Why don’t you go to your room and pack what you wish to keep.”
Sasha disappeared into her bedroom and the living space filled behind her with delightful happiness.
Helena approached Cecilia, wringing her hands. “You’ve seen Sasha’s powers. She’s a willful, young girl who’s been terribly tortured by her imprisonment. Aurelia constantly soothed her, but since she’s been gone, Sasha has become almost uncontrollable. You must be careful with what you say.”
“We can always trank her,” Bowden volunteered.
“Private, step outside and call the other team up here. Meet them in the corridor and stay there.” Cecilia ground out.
“Did he mean that?” Helena asked.
“I hope it won’t come to that, Helena. If we can get her to the JOS without incident, I understand Harbour is waiting to meet you both.”
Helena’s hands clapped together and came to her lips. Tears of joy ran rivulets down her face, and Cecilia folded the woman into her arms, while she sobbed.
“Corporal, report,” the major said over Cec
ilia’s comm unit, which broke the women apart. Helena hurried to Sasha’s room, and Cecilia answered her comm.
“Major, we have Helena Garmenti and her daughter, Sasha, and are preparing them for transport. When you have secured your individuals, we need to speak privately.”
“Understood, Corporal,” Liam replied, exchanging glances with Miguel.
Cecilia heard voices in the hallway and stepped outside. “Who’s a parent?” she asked.
Officer Nunez raised a hand. “I have a little girl. She’s nine.”
“Perfect,” Cecilia replied. “Here’s the situation. You’ve probably already heard from Bowden that we found Helena and her daughter, Sasha. What he might not have told you is that Sasha is a powerful, untrained empath with anger issues. Bowden and I have already had a dose of her displeasure, thanks to his ill-considered response.”
Bowden started to object to the corporal’s statement, but thought better of it.
“Here’s how this is going to work,” Cecilia continued. “We’re going to help the women pack up their belongings and load out the boxes or what-have-you to the front porch. When Sasha is in earshot of any of us, only Nunez and I will speak. Is that clear?”
Cecilia waited until she had her team’s agreement on her directives.
“Nunez, we treat her like any other young girl. No better and no worse. She needs to understand the world of normal adults. I’ll ask Helena to stay close to her daughter. Okay, let’s go.”
Cecilia’s team was able to pack, bag, box, or wrap in bed clothing everything the women wanted to take, and carry it down to the porch.
At one point, Sasha picked up a coverlet full of her things and marched to the door. Cecilia was across the room and caught off guard. Nunez stepped in her path. “Could I help you with that?” he asked gently.
“No, I want to carry this one myself,” Sasha stated forcefully.
