First Lieutenant Fawn Tyrell Hamilton had contacted her earlier in the day and sent her a lot of information on Tracey Spears. It had not taken Courtney long to work out what the information was saying, even without the analysis the ASF had done and Fawn had provided. Courtney had invited the lieutenant to come to the school to ‘assist with the arrest.’ It was something of a formality; given what Tracey was being accused of, the ASF could have stepped in and made the arrest themselves, even with the arrangement the school had regarding law enforcement on campus. However, that was not done when it could be avoided, and it had always been avoided to date.
Together, they walked to the building’s elevator and rode it up to the second floor, then they made their way toward Tracey Spears’ apartment.
‘You didn’t say how you got involved with this case,’ Courtney said as they walked.
‘Anonymous informant,’ Fawn lied. ‘They suggested that Tracey Spears Cook might be worth looking at and… Well, you saw what we found when we looked.’
‘Yeah. I don’t have the authority to do that kind of digging.’
‘No, but we do. Uh, you weren’t the anonymous informant, were you?’
‘Me? No, I didn’t suspect Tracey of–’ Courtney stopped herself. ‘Maybe I should have suspected her. How the Hell did the assassin miss on that first attempt?’
‘Because she wasn’t trying to hit. Make Tracey seem like the first victim, or attempted victim, and suspicion points somewhere else. It’s like that old trope of hiding a single murder in a serial case. It’s a cliché because it’s actually a pretty good tactic.’
‘Huh. Didn’t fool someone. We’re here.’ Reaching out, Courtney pressed the buzzer beside a door.
The door opened a few seconds later and an annoyed Tracey Spears became a bemused Tracey Spears in a matter of seconds. ‘Courtney? And an ASF officer…’
‘First Lieutenant Fawn Tyrell Hamilton,’ Fawn said.
‘Okay…’ Maybe Tracey was expecting something else in an ASF officer. Fawn was not a tall woman, only a centimetre taller than Nava and seven shorter than Courtney. She looked like what you’d get if you took a cute girl and put her through strength training. She was a little too wide in the hip and muscular for modern aesthetics to call her beautiful, but she had a pretty face with moderately large green eyes, full lips, and a cute nose. Her hair was kept short in case she had to put a helmet over it, and it was a sort of plum or magenta shade which was quite distinctive. Of course, she was dressed in ASF uniform, not school uniform, which marked her as different. This was essentially the same design as the uniform both students were wearing, but black where they were blue. Like Courtney’s dress, Fawn’s had gold trim; this was why the SSF uniform had gold trim. Fawn’s boots were flat rather than heeled and came up to her knees, and her leggings were solid black, not fishnet. It was not a uniform meant for combat; the ASF wore entirely different outfits in battle.
‘Can we come in, Tracey?’ Courtney asked.
‘Why?’
Courtney stared at her. ‘Do you really want to do this in the corridor?’
Tracey backed up into the room. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I guess you’d better come in.’
Courtney waited for the door to close behind her and Fawn before she continued. ‘Tracey Spears Cook, you are under arrest for the crimes of conspiring to commit terrorist acts and conspiracy with a terrorist organisation as defined under–’
‘Don’t be stupid! I’ve committed no such crimes.’
‘Tracey, I’m no analyst, but even I could see the money trail you left behind. We have several quite incriminating emails too. Things might go easier for you if you tell us where the assassin is.’
‘That’s ridiculous. How would I have the slightest clue…’ Tracey trailed off in the face of Courtney’s glare. ‘I’m saying nothing else without a lawyer present.’
Courtney turned to Fawn. ‘She’s all yours, First Lieutenant. Where are you taking her? Just in case I need to talk to her again.’
‘You have my contact details,’ Fawn replied as she stepped forward with handcuffs in her hands. ‘You’ll need to call me to get access. We’ll be keeping her in a secure, orbital holding facility.’
Courtney frowned. ‘You think she’s a flight risk?’
‘Oh no. It’s not to stop her getting out. It’s to stop someone else getting in. The Redwings don’t like loose ends and they tend to have an unsubtle attitude to eliminating them.’ Fawn gave Tracey a bright smile. ‘Don’t worry. I have an armed transport waiting to get you out of here and then it’ll be straight up to orbit. There’s almost no chance that they’ll kill you before we can get you to trial.’ There was a very slight emphasis on ‘almost’ which Tracey clearly noticed. Courtney had a feeling that Tracey would be singing her heart out before she was on the way to space.
‘Was becoming student president that important to you, Tracey?’ Courtney asked.
Tracey seemed to consider the question for a couple of seconds while her wrists were locked together behind her back. ‘Yes. It’s the most important thing in the world.’
Courtney shook her head. ‘Please, First Lieutenant, take her away.’
‘My pleasure,’ Fawn replied. ‘Oh, we have so much to talk about…’
235/3/5.
After a week-long break which had been anything but restful, school was back in session. However, lessons were over for the day and Nava was standing beside the door in the student council’s HQ, watching the first full meeting of the new council. They had got the basics out of the way and now Courtney was explaining the matter of Tracey Spears’ arrest.
‘It seems that the plan the Redwings were working to was to get Tracey elected as student council president,’ she said. She sounded weary, as though the
