shoulder "or get out and go foment riot and rebellion."
Harlan couldn't help himself. He laughed and took a drink before he
-left to do some fomenting.
\ No newline at end of file
+left to do some fomenting.
+
+==== Mellie: Detective, Resistance Operative ====
+
+Mellie probably wouldn’t have phrased how she was doing as ‘well’. She
+was running scared, every day, every minute. Someone would call her
+out. She knew it.
+
+Meanwhile, she had dug up some important information, but no one had
+contacted her to transfer it to the Boss. She now knew the identity of
+the mole in the detective squad and he was likely to find out that she
+knew at any moment. She had tricked him. It was just a matter of time
+before he figured out that he’d been had. And her life expectancy
+would decrease exponentially at that point.
+
+She had been sheltering in the bathroom, but she really needed to get
+back to the squad room and keep an eye on Tommi Roper, Detective
+second class and spy for the pirates.
+
+When she walked in the squad room, a couple of the guys looked up, saw
+her, and went back to their work. Five men were grouped around Behan’s
+desk and seemed to be arguing vigorously. She could hear the raised
+voices but didn’t understand the words. As she approached, the voices
+fell silent and the men stared at her.
+
+“What’s going on?” she asked.
+
+There was silence for a while, then Alex Biggers spoke up. “Roper here
+thinks you’re a spy for the pirates. He says he’s seen you close to
+both the Big House and the Presidential Palace, like you were
+delivering messages or somethin.’”
+
+Roper stepped forward and squared his shoulders. “I saw you walking up
+to the presidential palace yesterday. It was dark, but I know it was
+you.”
+
+Her gaze didn’t waver. She thought Now or never.
+
+"And why were you there after dark? Exactly what time did this
+'sighting' take place?"
+
+Roper sneered. "I was on a stakeout. Watching for any unusual
+activity. And it was just about 20:15"
+
+She nods. "20:15. Well, at that time I was having dinner with Lt.
+Marks."
+
+Eyebrows went up. Even Behan gave her a look.
+
+"And his delightful wife, Celia. Lt. Marks thought that Celia and I
+would get along well. He was right. I think I will enjoy knowing
+Celia."
+
+Behan grinned. The rest looked mildly embarrassed. Roper looked
+unhappy. "Well. I said it was dark. Musta been somebody who looked
+like you."
+
+Mellie smiled. "Actually, Roper, I've been wanting to talk to you. You
+weren't on any stakeout last night. You were meeting with O'Hara, one
+of the group leaders in State Security. He reports directly to the
+President. In fact, I'll bet he wanted you to join with Caspenski, the
+Syndicate goon who wants to take over from Cassidy. You work for the
+Syndicate, too, don't you, Roper? And you report everything to the
+pirates."
+
+The group around them had grown. There were a dozen men and a couple
+of women listening now. The uproar that followed Mellie's words
+brought in another crowd.
+
+Mellie raised her hand and the noise quieted down. "You're double
+crossing everybody, aren't you, Roper? You're a spy for the pirates.
+So everything you hear, everything you see, even everything you
+suspect, goes right back to the bastards who have this planet under
+their thumbs. Just how much are you getting paid, you traitor?" Her
+voice had risen to a shout.
+
+Roper swung a fist at her, but she dodged and grabbed his arm, pinning
+him over the desk. "You're not even a good cop."
+
+Roper yelled "You're a liar! You can't prove any of that."
+
+Smiling a predator's smile, Mellie pulled out a disc, the size of a
+contact lens, and inserted it into Behan's computer. A vid came up.
+Roper was walking toward a dark shape standing near a hoverlight on a
+rainy street. The figure turned as Roper came near and the light
+played across his face. Every cop gasped. They all knew that face.
+Dietr, head of state security for the pirates. The two men walked a
+little way together, then stopped and talked. Something exchanged
+hands. Dietr slapped Roper on the shoulder and Roper turned and walked
+away. The vid stopped.
+
+Mellie looked around at her colleagues. "Santorini will want to talk
+to him." She pulled the disc and handed it in a container to Biggers.
+
+Everyone looked at Roper. He spread his hands. "I was playing him. I
+wanted to get some info from him and go to the Resistance with it.
+C'mon guys. You got to believe me. I was born here. This is my home. I
+love Agalder. She's lying. She created that tape." His voice rose as
+five cops hustled him out of the squad room.
+
+Behan hadn't moved during the incident. Now he looked at Mellie. "Good
+work, Detective."
+
+The stunned audience, consisting of cops and clerks broke free of
+their shock and started talking all at once. Behan leaned toward
+Mellie. "Good work." he repeated. "But you painted a target on your
+back. Be careful."
+
+She nodded and headed out the door. She needed to see Santorini.
\ No newline at end of file
projects / universe.git / commitdiff