And with that, Mercer rose and escorted Dr. Martin out of the room.
Five minutes later, the ICPD street officers were back, uncuffing Williams from the chair, returning the leg irons and handcuffs to him, and escorting him back to his cell in the lockup.
The Other Conspirators
No word came down from Emperor Trajan after Williams’ interrogation, save one: “Continue.”
The rest of the conspirators’ interrogations went very similarly. All found themselves without counsel, all were shocked to discover they were being tried in the High Court, and all resisted interrogation. Several fought the drugs the entire time; it did not go well for them, and in the end, they all talked, though none went as far as a certain spotter on Ashton’s first High Court case had gone.
“Who was running the meeting, Officer Holland?”
“Captain Bradly.”
“Who assisted him?”
“Lieutenant Carr.”
“Officer Lowe, who did you think was running the meeting?”
“Captain Bradly.”
“Who was his assistant?”
“Lieutenant Carr.”
“Who ran the meeting, Officer Wang?”
“Ted, no doubt.”
“That would be Theodore Bradly?”
“Yes.”
“Was he assisted by anyone?”
“Yes.”
“Who was his assistant?”
“Bill Carr.”
“That would be Lieutenant William Carr?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Seeger, who did you feel was in charge?”
“That would have to be Captain Bradly, though Lieutenant Carr helped.”
“Officer Warner, who was in charge of the plan to kill Director Carter and the others?”
“Captain Bradly, sir.”
“Was he assisted by anyone?”
“Lieutenant Carr.”
As one of the leaders of the conspiracy, it was Carr’s turn next. He got the same treatment as the rest of the conspirators, but reacted far worse.
“Get the hell away from me!” Carr snarled, as soon as Mercer entered the room. “You’ll get nothing from me! Where the hell is my lawyer?”
“You are being tried under the auspices of the Throne, Mr. Carr. This is the High Court. You are accountable to Emperor Trajan alone, and he is accountable to no one. He will decide your fate, based on the information you provide him, and he will have that information. There is no counsel, and no appeal.”
“The hell you say! I know my rights! I’m not saying a damn word until you get my lawyer in here!”
“That will not be happening. Resistance to providing the Emperor with answers will be considered treason, and grounds for execution. If you refuse to cooperate, the answers will be drugged out of you. We will use successively stronger drugs until we get the answers the Emperor requires, regardless of the consequences to your person. Possible repercussions include insanity and death. If you die in the process, it will be considered the fulfilment of the execution. Do you understand?”
“That’s illegal!”
“In the lower courts, yes. In the High Court, no. Do you understand?”
“You and your bastard Emperor can go to hell!”
“Do. You. Understand?”
“Yeah, you damn bastard son of a bitch cock-sucking scum, I understand! I understand you and your damned Emperor are a couple of spineless pricks, along with all the rest of the ‘Emperor’s’ toadies, including Carter! You can do whatever you damn like! You still won’t get anything outta me!”
“Oh, I think we will, though you may not like it. Very well. Dr. Martin? I require your assistance to facilitate this interrogation, please.”
Moments later a middle-aged man in a dark suit with a small black bag entered the room, along with two Imperial Guardsmen. The guards held down Carr while Martin withdrew a pulse injector and loaded it with a specific ampoule displaying a bright yellow label marker, then injected it into Carr’s arm. Carr began to curse violently, struggling fiercely to free himself, but the guards held him fast… barely. Unfortunately, that also meant that he was not staying in firm contact with the chair, and his vitals telemetry was intermittent at best.
Within seconds, and summoned by Mercer in VR, several ICPD officers entered with additional hand and leg cuffs, specifically designed for resistant suspects, and ensured Carr’s arms and legs were firmly strapped to, and in contact with, the chair. Once he was secured, the police officers departed swiftly, and the Imperial Guardsmen moved to the corners behind Mercer, to provide backup in case matters went badly.
Carr snarled, then spat across the table at Mercer. The sputum fell short, landing on the tabletop.
“That’s for your damn bitch emperor!” he growled. “I’ve had stronger than this shit at the dentist’s office!”
“Very well, then,” Mercer said, remaining calm – which seemed only to anger Carr worse. “Doctor, a step up, if you please. Mr. Carr is tougher than this.”
Martin replaced the yellow-marked ampoule with another which had a neon orange marker on its label. He injected this one into Carr’s neck.
“Oh dear God!” Carr cried, as he felt the drug hit; his heart began to hammer against his ribcage as it kicked in, and he felt a panic attack looming. “No no no no! I want my lawyer, dammit! I know my rights! This is all illegal! What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Get away from me! You’re torturing me!”
In the observation room, along with Lieutenant Cox, who monitored the telemetry from the chair depicting Carr’s vital signs, Nick Ashton sat, alongside Lee Carter, Maia Peterson, and Callista Ames. When Carr began to fight, Ashton leaned forward.
“Be prepared, guys,” he murmured.
“For what?” Ames wondered, as Carter and Peterson both quirked questioning eyebrows.
“This isn’t gonna go well,” Ashton explained, “and it isn’t gonna be pretty, especially at the end.”
“Oh shit,” Peterson grumbled under her breath. “You’re talking about that interrogation that went bad on the Medved murder case, aren’t you? The one that you and Stefan sat in on?”
“Yeah,” Ashton confirmed. “Don’t, um, don’t look at his eyes, and don’t do the usual investigator thing of trying to put yourself in his mindset. It won’t go well
