Dirty Mirror

by R S Penney

  Chapter 14

  Larani watched people scurrying about the Prep Room like ants gathering crumbs for…whatever it was ants did with crumbs. Eat them, she supposed. She had never been all that interested in insects.

  Large enough to host a banquet with windows along the back wall that looked out on a city under the night sky, the Prep Room was mostly empty floor space with several computer consoles forming a ring in the middle of the floor. Monitors on the three other walls displayed news updates and incoming reports from the teams she had dispatched to protect the city's infrastructure.

  Her stomach was in knots, but she managed not to show it. A good Keeper knew when and how to keep tight control of their emotions.

  Dressed in black slacks and a white, short-sleeved blouse, Larani stood with her back to the windows. Everyone seemed to be ignoring her, but appearances were often deceiving; in reality, they were hurrying to fetch information she had requested.

  Craning her neck, Larani squinted at a holographic display. “Show me that last bit again,” she said in crisp, cool tones, Always maintain your composure. “The report about the raid on the power plant.”

  The hologram that hovered over the ring of consoles rippled out of existence, and when it reappeared, it displayed white text on a blue background. A team of four Keepers assisted twenty-five police officers in apprehending eight terrorists who had attacked the geothermal plant in the city's eastern quarter. Her people had managed to apprehend the perpetrators before they set off a bomb.

  Larani closed her eyes, breathing out a sigh of relief. “All right,” she said, nodding once. “What's the status of the food distribution systems? Are any processing plants still being threatened by these cowardly…”

  She didn't want to finish that sentence.

  Agent Robert Caldwell – one of several Keepers who had transferred from Earth this past year – looked up from his station with a curious expression. “Ma'am,” he said. “We just received the strangest report.”

  “Define 'strange,' Agent Caldwell.”

  The man shut his eyes, sucking in a deep breath. “The message came from Cadet Carlson, ma'am,” he explained. “It seems she and her father managed to save the food processing centre in the Vaundren Heights neighbourhood.”

  Turning his head so that he wouldn't have to look at her, he cleared his throat with some force. “Police arrived on scene to find Cadet Carlson and her father guarding three terrorists while three more were unconscious.”

  “It seems praise is in order,” Larani mumbled.

  A young woman with long brown hair that framed an angelic face looked up to fix her blue eyes on Larani. “We still have a situation at the water purification plant,” she said. “We haven't got an exact count on the number of hostiles there. Police have identified at least six, but they're wearing masks and they seem to be holed up in one of the inspection centres.”

  “What's the situation at Farm 21?”

  “Stabilized, ma'am.”

  Pressing her nose into the palm of one hand, Larani massaged her eyelids. “Have Soras, Calivan and Lenai reinforce our people at the water treatment plant.”

  At the sound of his dearest friend's name, Jack Hunter came out of his hiding place in the corner. The young man wore a tense expression, and it was clear he wanted to rush out the door so that he could fight at Anna's side. He said nothing, of course. Larani had already chastised him for his sulkiness in private. Jack didn't like being forced to handle the logistics; he wanted to be out there, on the front lines with his fellow Keepers.

  Unfortunately, that wasn't his job.

  Being the personal attache to the Head of the Justice Keepers came with certain responsibilities; she needed him at her side, or she soon would in any event. Coordinating their efforts was the easy part of her job.

  The hard part would come soon enough.

  It went on like that for another hour: people giving her reports, her responding by redirecting her officers to this crime-scene or that one. It felt very much like a war. And that was a problem because she had never fancied herself a general.

  Finally, it was over.

  They'd lost another vertical farm, and there was minor damage to a solar field on the outskirts of the city, but otherwise, Denabria had come through this unscathed. The residents of certain neighbourhoods were being warned not to drink their tap water until city engineers could determine what – if anything – had been done to the water treatment plant. Luckily, there were emergency protocols in place in the event that something like this happened. Other treatment plants were shipping large bottles of water to distribution centres in the affected neighbourhoods.

  Now, the hard part would begin.

  “Hunter,” Larani said. “You're with me.”

  The young man fell in step beside her, frowning intently down at the floor. “If you don't mind my asking,” he began cautiously. “Where are we going.”

  Larani walked with her head held high, her eyes focused dead ahead. “Many of our best agents will be crawling into their beds for some much-deserved rest,” she said. “Our work, however, is just beginning.”

  Large double doors split apart to reveal a corridor with soft blue walls. They would have to make their way down to the garage; the Keepers kept a fleet of cars at the ready in case of an emergency.

  Larani strode through the corridor at a brisk pace, closing her eyes as she tried to put the stress out of her mind. “Jena began teaching you about politics,” she went on. “I intend to continue those lessons.”

  At her side, Jack blushed and turned his head to stare at the wall. “I think that Jena found me to be a terrible student,” he muttered. “You may want someone else with you for…whatever it is you're planning.”

  “On the contrary,” Larani countered. “She often spoke of your keen mind. You have an ability to read people, Jack, and a talent for spotting discrepancies between someone's words and their actions. That's why you're here instead of fighting alongside your fellow Justice Keepers.”

  As the car emerged from the parking garage, Jack was surprised to see a deep blue sky through the windshield. The nearby buildings stood like shadows against the dawn's early light. Had that much time passed? He'd been cooped up inside the Prep Room with next to nothing to do, forced to sit and listen to reports while other people put their lives on the line. It left him feeling antsy. And now the night was over. He could feel Summer's fatigue as well as his own.

  Chewing on his lip, Jack looked down into his lap. “So,” he began, deep creases forming in his brow. “Are you gonna tell me where we're going?”

  Sitting on his left with her hands folded neatly in her lap, Larani stared through the windshield with a blank expression. “Have you followed any Leyrian news outlets?” she asked. “What do you know about Jeral Dusep?”

  “Not much,” Jack admitted. “The few things I've heard make him sound about as bad as Earth's most vocal right-wing extremists.”

  Larani hunched up her shoulders, a shiver passing through her. She sat back in her seat and let out a breath. “That would be an accurate statement,” she muttered. “The man is fiercely nationalistic.”

  “I thought Leyrians were above such things.”

  A quick glance over his shoulder revealed Larani staring at him with dark eyes that could drill holes through stone. “Society shapes us, yes,” she said. “But even in the most miserable conditions, there will always be saints who share what meager possessions they have with others.”

  Her mouth twisted for a moment, and she shook her head with a sigh. “And even in a world that some would call paradise,” she went on. “There will always be people who enjoy trampling on those less fortunate than themselves.”

  They were driving down a nearly empty road with dark skyscrapers on either side. Several blocks away, there was another car coming toward them, but other than that, he saw no one. The sky was growing brighter.

  Leaning back in his seat with hands folded behind his head, Jack
stared off into the distance. “So, we're going to meet this Dusep?” he said. “I take it we should expect one of his standard speeches? Immigrants-bad, Leyria for Leyrians?”

  “Something like that.”

  It left him feeling anxious.

  As an immigrant to this world, he could very easily find himself the target of any hate Dusep stirred up. The law said that he had become a Leyrian citizen the instant he became a Justice Keeper – it was a reward for his service and dedication – but he didn't trust laws. Laws could be rewritten on a whim. Laws were nothing but ink on paper and had little to no effect on what people actually did.

  Jack shut his eyes, heaving out a rasping breath. “So, what's your play?” he asked. “You want me to read this guy and tell you if he's lying? Because I might be a star in the interrogation room, but I've never analyzed a politician.”

  “I want you to tell me anything you find pertinent,” Larani said. “Maybe some of it will be useful, maybe not.”

  It was a quick drive to the Hall of Council, an older building with two wings, both three stories high. The dome-shaped roof in the centre had a balcony that overlooked the front entrance. Jack half expected to see a flag rippling in the crisp morning wind, but of course, Leyrians didn't use flags.

  In fact, he remembered Anna having some trouble trying to wrap her head around the concept. A piece of coloured cloth to designate one's nationality. What purpose could that serve? Jack had asked her what Leyrians did to differentiate different factions on a battlefield – and he had braced himself for some sanctimonious answer about Leyrians not participating in war – but Anna told him that soldiers had always known who to kill by their uniforms.

  It turned out that Council was already in an emergency session when he and Larani stepped through the door. A holographic usher appeared to direct them to the third floor where they could observe the deliberations. This was a closed session, but Keepers had a right to sit in on all Council Meetings.

  The upper floor gave them a good view of the councilors arguing down below. Less than half had made it this meeting – most weren't even in the city – and there were many empty seats in the semicircular rows along the far wall.

  The Prime Council stood with her back to Jack and Larani, golden staff in hand as she tried to restore some semblance of order to a meeting that had gotten out of hand. At least five people in the Green Party were shouting at the Blues.

  Sarona Vason banged her staff down on the floor tiles.

  That silenced everyone.

  “Order!” the Prime Council said, pointing her staff toward several Greens who had risen from their seats, “We will have order in this session. Councilor Dusep, please finish your arguments.”

  That was when Jack noticed a man in a blue coat standing on the other side of the room. Short – at least by Jack's standards – and slim, this guy had a handsome face of bronze skin and black hair that he wore slicked back. “Thank you, Prime Council,” he said. “I maintain that any motion to upgrade the automated security systems at key points of city infrastructure must include lethal force as an option.”

  “Your thoughts?” Larani whispered.

  Jack was sitting with his arms crossed, frowning into his lap. “Typical strong-man behaviour,” he answered. “Demand harsh measures, and never mind whether your 'tough on crime' stance does anything to make people safer.”

  One of the Reds stood up: a woman in black pants and a crimson jacket who threw a harsh glare in Dusep's direction. With curly gray hair and a few wrinkles on her face, she reminded Jack of his grandmother. “Drones that use lethal force have proven to be a liability in the past.”

  Dusep twisted his face into an expression that made Jack think he was about to vomit. “Oh yes,” he said. “I've heard these arguments before, and the fact remains that the current security systems were obviously not a deterrent.”

  A man in red leaped to his feet, this one tall and broad-shouldered with dark skin and a gray beard. “The threat of force as a deterrent is rarely an effective policy,” he said. “It's been researched quite thoroughly in papers by-”

  “Hundred-year-old sociology experiments do not concern me,” Dusep shot back. “Academics can make whatever claims they like, but simple common sense will tell you that the kind of people who would try to poison a city's water supply will only respond to one thing.

  “Consider your hypothesis, Councilor,” the man went on. “There is no poverty to be alleviated; these Sons of Savard are not destroying critical pieces of city infrastructure as an act of rebellion against an oppressive economic order. In fact, they wish to create the very conditions that many soft-minded politicians credit as being the root cause of crime. It should be obvious to you that a firm hand is needed.”

  Hard as it was to admit, Jack found himself agreeing with part of that. Not the plan to employ drones that use lethal force – that was ludicrous – but the man did have a point about poverty not being the root of this. So, why destroy the infrastructure that ensured everyone had access to basic living essentials?

  Well, the answer was simple.

  It was typical Social Darwinism and nothing more. To hear Anna speak about her world, you might have thought that Leyrians had shed such idiotic ideas like a layer of dead skin. But as Larani said, there would always be some folks who wanted others to have less. Not even so that they could have more but just because they liked the idea of there being an underclass.

  Jack sat forward with his elbow on his knee, resting his chin on the knuckles of his fist. “It's funny,” he said, eyebrows rising. “Normally a guy like Dusep would be telling anyone who'd listen about how much he loves the Sons of Savard.”

  Puckering her lips, Larani blew out a breath. “The man loves power more than anything else,” she whispered. “And these terrorists are giving him the perfect excuse to accumulate it and then use it like a club.”

  “How does a guy like that become a councilor?”

  “Power draws a certain type of individual,” Larani murmured. “People like Dusep know how to say the right things and make the right gestures until they're comfortable. And when they do let their true colours show, most people think they couldn't possibly mean what they're saying.”

  “So, how come you weren't fooled?”

  Glancing over her shoulder, Larani scowled at him. A heavy sigh exploded from her lungs. “Because I read a lot of history, Agent Hunter,” she replied. “And I recognize these patterns when I see them.”

  Covering his mouth with two fingers, Jack shut his eyes. “Does Dusep know?” he muttered. “That you suspect his motivations for joining the Council aren't as pure as they should be, I mean.”

  “He knows I'm no ally.”

  Down below, the deliberations were coming to an end as Dusep took his seat again and someone from the Red Party began reviewing the morning's proceedings. Resource allocation algorithms had come up with half a dozen heavy-duty fabrication units along with a generous supply of copper, gold and dura-plastic to upgrade the security systems at power plants and food distribution centres. Council approved those measures.

  The plan as laid out by the Prime Council's Planetary Security Team specified new biometric sensors on all systems and an increase in the number of security drones at each location. The engineers who worked on those systems would be trained in new InfoSec protocols. Hopefully, that would make a difference.

  “Come,” Larani said.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To do the one thing that anyone in a leadership position dreads,” she answered. “We're going to take the blame.”

  The double doors to Sarona Vason's office were shut, giving Larani a chance to study the polished wooden finish and the ornate, gold door-handles. This building had been rebuilt several times, but architects endeavoured to preserve as much of the original design as possible. It was one of the few remaining vestiges from that period of Leyrian history.

  She waited patiently in a hallway with an arch-shaped vaulte
d ceiling and paintings on its cream-coloured walls. Really, it didn't bother her. She was tired and aching for just a few hours of sleep, but she was in no hurry to listen to a sternly-worded lecture about how her Keepers should have prevented this catastrophe.

  Jack was at her side with his arms folded, his face as red as the setting sun. “You didn't tell me that I'd be meeting the Prime Council,” he whispered. “God help me, I feel so under dressed.”

  Clamping a hand over her mouth, Larani shut her eyes and trembled as she laughed. “Relax,” she told him. “You have an excuse for being somewhat unpresentable in light of the fact that you spent an entire night coordinating the defense of this city.”

  “Well…That's good then.”

  Larani clasped her hands together behind her back, smiling down at herself. “But it pleases me to see that you've begun to notice such things,” she said. “Perhaps we'll make a model Keeper out of you yet.”

  “Heh,” Jack grunted. “Don't count on it.”

  The door swung inward to reveal Sarona Vason standing there in white robes that went all the way down to her black boots. A tall woman with a leathery face of dark skin and silver hair that she wore up in a ponytail, she took one look at them and then jerked her head toward her desk. “Come on in then.”

  The woman turned gracefully, turning her back on both of them and striding across her office. “I'd imagine we have a lot to talk about,” she went on. “It's not every day that someone threatens the Capitol itself.”

  The office was a simple room with blue carpets and white walls with bookshelves along them. A wooden desk – oriented to face the wall on her left – was littered with at least six SmartGlass tablets. It seemed Sarona had been monitoring the situation.

  The Prime Council stood in the daylight that came in through a narrow, rectangular window, gazing out at the courtyard. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one present.