“Oh, there were a few shuttles and such like left, I think,” Daggert said. “But no. We knocked back their military capacity significantly. But there can be no doubt now – we are at war, lady and gentlemen.”
“What does that mean for us, specifically, as law enforcement?” Peterson asked.
“It means,” Daggert told her, “that in addition to your usual crime, the espionage is going to ramp up even harder. It sucks, I know, but there it is. If you get any word about someone spying, or passing information, or the like, bring it to me at once, and start gathering evidence. I had a little conference this morning with Emperor Trajan, Empress Amanda, and Consul Saaret, and we worked out a specific protocol. If we can bring significant evidence to the table of espionage and/or treason, we are free to interrogate using High Court protocols, and if the interrogation proves the charges, the Throne will automatically convict. Alternatively, we can hold them in a special facility that’s being put up now, well outside Imperial City, until such time as we can bring them to trial en masse.” He shrugged. “I suspect we will be doing a bit of both, actually.”
“Mmph,” Carter grunted. “So much for speedy trials.”
“They haven’t been speedy in the regular courts in decades, Lee, and you know it,” Peterson shot back. “Probably not in our lifetimes! Between the corruption that trickled down from the Imperial Council, complete with payoffs, and the scramble to reconstitute almost the entire law enforcement and judiciary, we were only just getting up to some sort of decent speed. And now we’re at war.”
“Yes, and that war may well come here, at some point,” Daggert pointed out, “as the head of the beast, so to speak. Cut off the head, and the beast dies.”
“Oh shit,” Ashton said, paling. “They wouldn’t just attack the Empire as a whole, would they? You think they’d come for Imperial City?”
“We do,” Daggert said, emphasizing the pronoun.
“‘We’ being you, the Emperor, the Empress, the Consul... who else?” a grim Carter asked.
“Admiral Leicester, Admiral Cernik, General Kraus...”
“Shit,” Ashton whispered, biting his lip.
“Worried about the kids, Nick?” Carter wondered.
“Um, yeah, Lee. Sorry. I just...”
“The threat isn’t imminent, Nick,” Daggert soothed, opting for familiarity with the younger man to ease his fears. “Do you have somewhere to send the wife and kids if things get bad?”
“Possibly, sir,” Ashton began.
“It’s ‘Brian’ right now, Nick. This got personal. Talk to me.”
“Okay, Brian. Um, Cally probably wouldn’t go, though I could try to convince her; she works for the ICPD and would prob’ly be right in there with me. But her parents live – well, we have adjacent condos, and they’re connected, so they sorta live with us and do child care when we’re working. And they used to live on the far side of the continent...”
“Ah. So you could send your children with them, back to where they used to live.”
“Probably. Depending on how much advance warning I can get, I might even be able to send everybody to my aunt and uncle on Flanders. Can I talk to them about it? My family, I mean? To sorta plan, just in case?”
“Given that the news media is already talking about the outbreak of hostilities, if you can couch it as ‘a just in case plan,’ it would be good...” Daggert suggested.
“I can do that, no problem.”
“Then yes, I think that would be acceptable. I might even discuss with the Emperor and Empress about sending their twins along with. I don’t know what they’d think, and they may well say no – I already know Emperor Trajan would refuse to budge, himself – but given the nature of my job, it’s a definite option.”
“And I’m sure we’d be more than happy to accommodate, Brian. Parents are parents, after all.”
“Very good, then.” Daggert smiled. “Which also means that I can provide you with a few additional amenities, such as advance warning, and a special emergency shuttle to evacuate. For that matter, I know your assistant lead has a wife and child, and I’m sure they could be loaded aboard, as well. We take care of our people, Nick. I swear to you, we do. I swear to you that I do. As best I can.”
Ashton opened his mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. Carter laid a hand on his shoulder.
“I think he means to say, ‘Thank you,’ but it’s stuck,” Carter told Daggert, who smiled, even as Ashton nodded.
“You’re very welcome. But let me recommend that you do not send them anywhere for the time being,” Daggert added. “At least, not until we get a better feel for how this just-started war is going to play out.”
“Oh. So our son’s summertime visit to my aunt and uncle on Flanders is out.”
“I would recommend postponing it, yes.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Cal when we talk about the other plan.”
“Good. All right, that’s all I had, except a question or two,” Daggert said. “What’s the latest on the Vigilante Patriot?”
“Another death a couple days ago,” Carter said, giving Ashton a chance to recover his voice. “Apparently it was the handler for the woman that was killed a couple days before that.”
“Damn,” Daggert cursed. “And still no indication of who is doing it?”
“N- uhm,” Ashton cleared his throat and worked on shifting mental gears, “Not yet, sir. We thought we had a lead with some fibers that likely came from the Vigilante’s clothing, but the lab seems to have misplaced them. They went missing.”
“Internal lab?”
“No,” Carter said, “we were farming it out, given the nature of the analysis of the fibers.”
“Mmph,” Daggert grunted. “Part of me says, ‘Let ‘er rip, Vigilante,’ and part of me says, ‘We need to know who’s who.’”
“Never mind the law,” Carter added.
“Of course.
