| From: | Paul J. Adam ShadowTK@********.demon.co.uk |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Internal Security |
| Date: | Wed, 11 Oct 2000 17:01:48 +0100 |
>>>>>[For the record.
+++++begin video
General Ernang strides down the corridor of the detention block,
listening to Colonel McNally who's walking alongside.
"So, what _exactly_ happened?" he asks. "And how badly compromised are
we?"
"Well, at around 0200 hours this morning, Matrix security noticed
something odd going on around our standard data core. The watchman
played it by the book, and reported to central command. Central
despatched two deckers to investigate a bit more thoroughly. They
reported everything was quiet. However Samuels - the man who first
spotted it - was about to go off duty, and spent the next two hours
going through the audit logs with a fine tooth comb. And found
something."
"Really? Good man." replies the General. They come to a locked door,
with two fully armed sentries, who open the door with alacrity. Ernang
barely breaks stride ducking through the doorway.
"And, then what?" he continues.
"Well, we managed to trace one of the traces - there were four of them -
back to a residential house in Tacoma, Seattle. And, as per your
Standing Order 14.3, sir, I dispatched a standard covert assault team to
determine the nature of the threat. They were there in less than half an
hour." McNally wavers for a second. "It was a boy, sir. Fifteen years
old."
"And we have him in custody, yes? Good. What about his family?"
"There was a slight problem with them, sir. The assault team were in
high-threat-response mode. The parents woke up, and well... the standing
orders are explicit about preventing compromise."
Ernang shakes his head tightly. "Damn. Both of them?"
"Yes, sir, both KIA at the scene." McNally pauses. "And the boy's
sister. Eight years old. Shot and wounded in the incident. Terminated
per SO14.3, as a potentially hazardous witness."
Ernang grimaces. "Poor girl. Well, it's done now, and it's no good
crying over it. Our mission is more important than a few collateral
casualties. The squad leader - what was his name?"
McNally replies instantly. "Simmons, sir. First Lieutenant Stuart
Simmons".
"Well, get him to your office instantly. And ask him to explain how he
botched a covert assault enough to wake up the parents, for Chrissakes.
Civilian casualties may be tolerable, but sloppy procedure is *not*."
"Very good, sir." replies McNally, neutrally.
"Media? Police?"
"The usual noise. Family slain, son missing. The police are still
brushing doughnut crumbs off their faces and trying to get their lardy
hoops in gear. No sign of any compromise beyond the remains of the
situation." McNally reels off. "We're planning to make it gang-related,
something the son was into..."
"Good thinking. At least that worked. I'm not happy, Colonel, not happy
at all. They shouldn't have got in, and they certainly shouldn't have
gotten away!" They come to a halt outside a cell. The soldier outside
(black-clad, black-visored, holding a polished HK227 across his chest)
snaps off a crisp salute that Ernang ignores, and then opens the door
for the superior officer. There, huddled up on the bunk is a skinny boy,
shivering, snot-nosed and red-eyed.
Ernang pauses, and asks, sotto voce "What's his name? And, does he know
about his parents?" McNally shakes his head, and, taking a datapad from
his pocket, locates the child's name for his commanding officer.
Ernang reenters the cell and sits down on the bunk, next to the quietly
sobbing child.
"Hello, William. Are you okay? Don't worry, no-one's going to hurt you.
We just need to ask you a few questions, all right?" Ernang reaches out
behind him and snaps his fingers. McNally passes him an olive drab
standard issue hankerchief, that Ernang passes to the boy to wipe the
mucus and tears from his face.
"The thing is, Billy - I can call you Billy, yes?" The child nods
hesitantly in reply. "Well, the thing is, you could be in a lot of
trouble. Now, I know you're a whizkid decker, yeah? 'Shining Knight'?
Pretty hot stuff huh?" The general smiles and winks at Billy, who
manages a small smile of pride back, through the tears. "Well, we really
need to know who you were working for?"
The smile vanishes from Billy's face and he whispers "no...no...I can't
tell...I promised."
Ernang interrupts him. "Billy, you have to understand. I'm a General in
the UCAS Army. I had to send a Delta Force strike team to come get you,
to save your life! You annoyed some pretty powerful people, and they're
angry. We only just got to you in time. I want to help you, and I want
to help your friends, but I can't protect them until I know who they
are. And I *do* want to take care of them. I mean, you're safe, aren't
you?"
The boy looks torn, and terrified, and confused, "But... the soldiers...
they came and..."
"We had to get you out of there *fast* before the Bad Guys arrived. We
didn't have time to be polite. They'd have killed you. Probably would
have killed your whole family - don't worry, Billy, we took care of your
family too! - but you were asking some dangerous questions that could
make some folks really, really angry. It's lucky for us we found you
when we did." Ernang's sincerity is absolute. It's suddenly clear,
watching him mix half-truths, evasions and deceit into such a smoothly
palatable cocktail, exactly how he might have slithered his way to flag
rank, and worrying to ponder how much further he'll go...
"You promise you won't hurt them?"
"We'll take care of them just the same as we're taking care of you and
your family, Billy, don't worry. Just tell us who you were working
with."
The boy's eyes, which were threatening to dissolve into another flood of
tears, light up with hope at the chance of getting our of his dilemma.
"R-r-r-really? You p-p-promise?"
Ernang reaches over and pats the kid on the shoulder. "Promise."
The kid sighs and whispers a name. "M-m-minnie Descabiere. The gangster
woman."
Ernang smiles, a cold grim smile, and rises to his feet. "Thank you,
Billy." The boy looks up, his face suddenly a frozen mask of shock and
horror before the General raises his sidearm and fires four shots,
almost point-blank.
He stands and turns on his heel, leaving Billy's corpse sprawled on the
cell's floor amidst a drifting cloud of blue smoke and a spreading pool
of dark blood. Wheeling left out of the cell, marching down the
corridor, he's joined by McNally who easily falls into step with him.
"What do we do with the body, sir? Use it or disappear it?"
"Vanish him thoroughly. Maybe let his deck be found, with some nasty
drek on it. Pin it on a corporation. Preferably an Amerind outfit."
Ernang keeps a fast pace through the corridors. "I don't know what he
was talking about."
"Who, sir? The boy?"
"Colonel Lynch. He laughed at me, told me I'd never looked someone in
the eyes as I killed them. Bulldrek. What was he making such a big deal
about?" Ernang shrugs. "It's easy. Point and shoot. No problem. Now we
just have to work out how to deal with Dona Descabiere."
McNally chuckles. "We have a contingency plan prepared, General. I think
you'll like it."
+++++end video
A hard choice, but a necessary one. "Wisdom and goodness to the vile
seem vile", as Shakespeare put it.]<<<<<
-- BGen T Ernang <16:58:54/10-11-61>
Commanding Officer
Fast Response Action Group
