“Exactly,” Carter said, grinning.
“And the two of you act as if...” Mori broke off. “Forgive me. You just seem more like a family than supervisors.”
“In a way, we are,” Peterson averred. “Nick’s parents died in a house fire before he moved to Sintar, and he started off working for the, uh, the ‘old’ IPD, only he’s not the sort, so things got...”
“Damn hairy,” Carter tag-teamed the explanation. “I looked out for him as best I could until matters came to a head, then I arranged to send him to Maia, here, to work with the ICPD, and I got the hell outta Dodge.”
“So then I was looking out for him,” Peterson jumped back in, “because while he was in a different org chart, he was still in the same city. Meanwhile, Cally came to work for us, and they hit it off... and Lee and I finally had a chance to be together…”
“Aha. And happily ever after came about,” Mori said. “For the two of you, as well as them.”
“Yup,” Carter agreed. “So... yeah, we’ve kind of informally adopted Nick. And with him married to Cally, I guess it does seem like a family of sorts.”
“Meanwhile,” Peterson said, glancing at Ross with a smile, “most of the rest of my investigators formed up as The Team, which are kind of like Nick’s younger siblings... with maybe an uncle or two thrown in.”
“And some of us are real brats,” Ross chuckled, and the others laughed.
“Some days,” Peterson noted.
“That’s funny,” Mori said, grinning. “Director Carter, do you have anything like that in the IPD’s New Headquarters?”
“Well, it’s not quite so much family, ish,” Carter said. “But Nick Ashton heads my investigative division these days, and they’ve declared themselves to be ‘Ashton’s Gang,’ sort of like how the ICPD’s ‘The Team’ likewise coalesced around him while he was there. He has real leadership charisma going.”
“Sounds like it,” Mori agreed. “Well, I think we’ve solved your little concern?”
“Perfectly,” Carter said. “Thank you.”
“Good. You know how to reach me if anything similar comes up, right?”
“You don’t mind?” Carter asked.
“Not at all,” Mori said. “It’s what I’m here for. And I have several coworkers that can help out, too.”
“Excellent,” Carter decreed. “Thank you very much.”
“Until next time, then,” Mori said, and dropped out of the channel.
To: DetCAmes
From: DirLCarter
Subj: Links
Cally, you can contact your husband for a safe private VR meeting in channel 6425. It’s a secure channel that’s been reserved for you two, and is private and can’t be detected. Give him time to get the info, first, though. It’ll take a few hours to days before he gets notice of it. I gather he’s deep undercover now.
~Lee
To: DirLCarter
From: DetCAmes
Subj: Re: Links
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
~Cally
To: Carolina InfoDumpPlease
From: DirLCarter
Subj: Links
Please notify requesting parties of the following:
One can contact family for a VR meeting in secure channel 6425.
Either or both can contact me in secure channel 7524.
~L.C.
To: DirLCarter
From: Carolina InfoDumpPlease
Subj: Re: Links
Thank you for your response. We have complied. Requesting party sends gratitude.
~C.I.D.P.
“You did what?!” Ashton said, when he got home the next day. “And... and they set up...?”
“Yup,” Honda confirmed. “They didn’t think of setting something up until after you left, so when I got here and realized the situation, I pinged the contact Director Carter gave me and got some wheels turning. We can even contact him directly now, if we need to. And the InfoDumpPlease channel is being monitored around the clock, in case we need immediate backup.”
“Oh dear God,” Ashton breathed, fervent. “Rick, thank you so very much.”
“Hey, you’re someone the whole division looks up to, Nick. It wasn’t a lot, when you get down to it. Given everything you do for the rest of us? Hell, it wasn’t a big deal at all.”
“It is, to me.” Ashton gave the other man a grateful male hug. “Almost everyone I care about in the universe is back there, and I’ve been completely out of touch. What the hell is InfoDumpPlease, though?”
“Take the initials and rearrange ‘em.”
Ashton thought for long moments. “Oh. Not I-D-P… it’s I-P-D. Imperial Police Department.”
“Right. The message address goes straight to Planetary Lead Freya Jotun’s office.”
“Okay, that works. Wow. That’s… helpful.”
“Yeah. Well, you go into your bedroom and have a good long talk with your wife, while I get dinner started.”
“I’ll wash up after.”
“Deal.”
Nick dropped into channel 6425 and pinged the only other being with that channel connection.
Moments later, the avatar of a very pregnant honey-blonde woman appeared in it.
“NICK!” she all but screamed, and her avatar flung itself at his.
He caught her and kissed her, wishing deeply that their avatars were more real. He could ‘feel’ the sensations, but it wasn’t quite the same, somehow. But it is still a thousand percent better, he decided, than not being able to see Cal, not being able to hold Cal, at all.
“Oh, I’ve missed you, Cal,” he breathed, holding her close. “So bad.”
“Me too,” she replied, tucking her face into the side of his neck. “This... I’m so thankful for this.”
“Yeah, so am I,” he murmured. “How’s Paul?”
“He’s good. Your aunt and uncle offered to take him for the summer, so after the baby comes, we’ll probably pack him off. Dad has a good friend who does a lot of travel with his own son, who’s offered to shepherd Paul through it. Just-turned-four is a little young for interstellar travel on his own.”
“Ah. And yes, it is. Well, that sounds promising. He’ll get some additional experiences, and it’ll give us a chance to settle in with the new
