“In all honesty, Your Majesty, I’m afraid I flatly don’t know yet,” Carter admitted. “We had just gotten the obvious conspirators taken into custody, the first round of weeding performed, I tagged up with my inner circle, and sat down at my desk… and got your summons…”
“Ah, I see,” Dunham said with a wry smile. “You haven’t had a chance to catch your breath yet, let alone think about what wants doing next.”
“Exactly, Sire. I’m sorry, but as you say, there are only so many hours in a day…”
“No need to be sorry, Director Carter. You and I are both just human, after all. And things are moving fast. Let us call the meeting done for now. Go back to your office, get a cup of coffee, sit down and relax for, oh, ten or fifteen minutes – longer if you need it – and simply see what floats to the top. If I can provide for any of your needs at this time, simply pop me a message. You’ll find I may not answer it directly, depending upon need and urgency, but I’m very good at delegating to the right people to get the job done.”
Dunham grinned, and Carter returned it.
Then Dunham dropped the channel, and Carter found himself back in his own office. He took a long, deep breath and let it out, staring absently at the back of the door to his office.
Then he promptly rose and headed for the break room and the coffeemaker.
Some orders were easy to obey.
Interrogation
By the time any of the other conspirators were due to be interrogated, Demetrius had finished the interrogation of ‘Enforcer’ Hennig. The day after the interrogation was complete, a document came down under Imperial cover containing the Emperor’s verdict, declaring Hennig guilty on all counts, but specifying life in prison as his sentence. Whether parole was possible or not would be determined by the Emperor at a later date, and might be marginally influenced by Hennig’s behavior in prison.
Hennig was downcast, but at least, his lawyer pointed out, he was alive. And if he behaved himself, he might see the outside of a prison, one day. It was more, Attorney Chase suspected, than Hennig’s erstwhile employers would ever see.
Since he was responsible for bringing in Hennig and Brandt to the conspiracy, Officer Hunter Williams was the first of the IPD personnel to be interrogated. His lawyer, notified of the arrest before Williams had been removed from the temporary headquarters building, showed up at the time scheduled for his interrogation.
“May I help you, sir?” the police officer on guard outside the interrogation facility asked.
“Yes, I’m Richard Thompson, Officer Williams’ counsel. Please let me into the interrogation room.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Thompson, I can’t do that, and you won’t be needed,” the guard said.
“What?! I beg your pardon, officer, I most certainly will be needed! I intend to be with my client while he is being questioned.”
“No, sir, you won’t,” the guard replied. “It’s a matter for the Throne now.”
Thompson paled.
“H-high court?” he murmured.
“The highest, yes, sir.”
“Oh damn,” Thompson cursed quietly. “May I at least watch the proceedings?”
“No, sir. Only the interrogators, the doctor, and the Emperor will be watching that. There will be video available for viewing after the Emperor has rendered judgement, but not before.”
“What do I do, then?”
“Go home.”
Williams had been kept in an ICPD lockup, with the rest of the conspirators, and was now led from the cell in which he found himself, out of the lockup, past a police guard and down a blank corridor, to a door between two uniformed guards… except they weren’t wearing police uniforms. These guys are wearing an Imperial Marines uniform, he decided, with some sort of fancy braided folderol on the shoulder. What the hell? Who the blazes are they, and why are they even here?
His police escorts took him through the door. Within the room, there was a table and two chairs. The chair on the far side of the table was bolted to the floor. He was taken to this chair, seated in it, then his wrists and ankles were cuffed tightly to the chair. This ensured that his arms and legs stayed in firm contact with the arms and legs of the chair.
Oh shit, he realized. This is a lie detector chair. This could get bad. Really bad.
He sat for long moments after the two police officers departed, wondering in what situation he found himself, and whether there was any serious hope of bluffing or conning his way through it. Then a voice came over a speaker in the corner.
“Officer Williams, there are a few videos we’d like you to see before we begin. You will see that a VR channel has been opened to you. Please enter it and watch the videos. Notify us aloud when you are finished.”
Williams, curious, entered the VR channel and began to view the videos.
Damn, damn, damn, he thought as he watched, becoming furiously angry. Those idiots Brandt and Hennig walked right into a trap. That bastard Carter had it set up and recorded the whole damn thing. How the hell did Carter even find out about us?! Well, but those suck-up bastards can’t tie it back to us, can’t tie it back to me. There’s that, at least.
And then he saw the video of Hennig’s interrogation, which had been given in this same lie detector chair, in which Hennig named the members of the conspiracy, specifying Williams by name, as well as several others.
Shit, he thought, growing anxious. Well, maybe my attorney can get me off on some sort of technicality.
When it was over, Williams raised his head.
“I’m done,” he called.
The door opened and a man dressed in the same Imperial Marines uniform with the
