2 of 4 planned writing exercise, YES DESPITE THE FACT I AM SEVERAL MONTHS LATE ON THIS.
Special thanks to Kybernetes Moros for his proof reading and savvy european ways.
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Karnath heard a clicking sound followed by the soft hum of the air conditioner starting up. He examined the data pad he was working on and sighed. The Gallentean laid his silver stylus and data pad down on his desk, and leaned back into his cushiony synthetic leather chair.
Noon already and I am still not any closer. Maybe I shouldn't be doing over time on this after all, he thought to himself as he rubbed his eyes.
Then again, every day is a work day for a P-, A beeping sound from his desk interrupted his thinking, drawing his attention to a flashing yellow button on the intercom link. Karnath sat up straight, took a moment to compose himself, and answered.
"Karnath speaking."
"Sir, there is a civilian visitor here to see you. Ah, a representative from a trading corporation." The voice of the building's entrance desk intern informed him. Idly, Karnath tried to remember what their name was.
"Do they have an appointment?" He asked.
"No, sir."
The Gallentean considered why a trader representative would want to speak with him. It was the week end; technically he wasn't there as far as the public was concerned. It was odd, but his schedule was clear - he could spare the time to see what they wanted.
"He says he has business with you, sir."
"Send him up, then." He ordered gruffly and closed the intercom link. His inner investigator instincts ticked away in his head, assessing the scarce information he had about this visitor.
I am the Planetary Police Commissioner. The only reason a trader would want to see me directly would be ... matters on a planetary scale. Customs complaint, perhaps? We've been rather tight since those Capsuleers started their business here. He passed the waiting time for his guest musing on what their motives could possibly be.
A gentle hiss drew Karnath's attention to the door to his office. A Jin-mei man in a neat black business suit was standing there with a demure smile on his face. It took a moment for Karnath to realize why he hadn't entered.
"Please, come in! Make yourself at home." He stood up as he gestured for them to enter, a crafted smile on his face. The Jin-mei entered at that, the office door automatically closing behind him quietly. He bowed half-way as he spoke,
"Thank you for receiving me despite your busy schedule." The tone was authoritative, Karnath noted, similar to most Jin-mei businessmen he encountered. The Gallentean returned the bow awkwardly, failing to recall the proper etiquette. With their formalities over, Karnath returned to his seat and his visitor took the central chair on the opposite side of his desk.
"Now, how can I be of service to you, Mister ..." He trailed off politely, cueing the visitor to introduce himself.
"Ah, how rude of me," He reached into the front pocket of his suit and pulled out a small paper business card. He offered it blank side up to Karnath, keeping the same demure smile.
Paper? Karnath wondered as he flipped the card over from its blank side. An icy feeling crawled through his veins as he stared at the Black Eagles logo on the card.
It was a routine, while not personally familiar, he was aware of in excruciating detail. First, they would exchange pleasantries, and the Black Eagle agent would offer up their cover story. As they talked, he would verify the code written underneath the logo within his administrative console. Karnath would get the confirmation signal, and at that point he was to turn off all monitoring devices in his offices. That's when the niceties stopped.
"My name for this meeting is Raserei, Planetary Police Commissioner." The Black Eagle agent informed Karnath once the room was free of surveillance.
"I bet it is -" the Jin-mei frowned slightly at Karnath's tone, "- now to what do I owe this meeting?"
"This meeting, Commissioner, is in regards to a rather disturbing report that landed on my desk. You are, I hope, aware of the Federation Navy's interception of a Caldari State Capsuleer Blockade Runner a week ago?" Raserei's smile was gone, and the true nature of the Black Eagles agent was beginning to show. What little traces of mirth existed in Karnath evaporated as he steeled himself to deal with the man.
"Indeed," Karnath agreed, "I specifically ordered the Federation Navy to release it."
"I trust you will explain why you did so, as I have no doubt you aren't so disconnected in this backwater to not know of the war."
Authoritative, formal, follows traditions... The Gallentean mentally checked off. He straightened himself up, making a show of fixing his suit before resting his elbows on his desk and folding his hands together.
"That squid ship had cargo that was vital to an on going investigation on this planet, sir." Raserei cocked an eye brow at that. When he didn't say anything, Karnath took it as a sign to explain everything.
Bait for me, perhaps ...
"A year ago there was a sharp increase in missing person's and kidnapping reports. I've worked on this world for a solid three decades, Agent, and the numbers showed something was wrong. Curves like that don't spike up for any reason, so I had a team assembled and a quiet investigation launched." He took an unnecessary moment to pause, disguising it as a sigh.
"The demands for ransoms didn't increase, so these were not abductions for profiteering. The people didn't have political or religious common ground, but there some things. Young, healthy, able bodied, and in case of the women - quite attractive. You understand why they might have been disappearing, I hope." The barb was a far cry from subtle, but it was a gesture to make his stance clear, not to play word games.
"Slavers." Raserei said simply, looking a little too neutral about the idea for Karnath's tastes. He nodded anyway.
"Yes. Not Amarrians, though. They don't discriminate, or try to be as subtle as these ones. Once we realized the people might be getting exported off the planet, we found the trail immediately. The Caldari shipping company in this constellation is being used as a front: their management wasn't even aware they had people out here when I contacted them."
"And what did they do?"
Karnath made a vague and meaningless gesture with his hands before folding them back together.
"They did some internal affairs work and sent me a healthy chunk of logs on their activity. This kind of bad business would tank their whole corporation, and they're very eager to work with us to get to the bottom of it. Throw in some Federal Intelligence Agency handiwork and I have a pretty good idea of their activities from here to the border of Federation space." Raserei finally showed interest when the Gallentean was finished speaking, steepling his fingers together as he eyed the Planetary Police Commissioner.
"You've certainly gone beyond the call of duty for a case of rogue Slavers. Your collaboration with the Caldari aside, why go to these lengths beyond your planet?" The Jin-mei asked him.
"Problems like this don't go away if you bust a warehouse and slap cuffs, Agent. Once they're off my planet, someone else has to hunt them down. Our work, this work-" He grabbed his data pad and waved it a little for emphasis, "- will give that someone else what they need."
Raserei looked at him strangely at that, and Karnath couldn't decipher the queer feeling he was getting from it.
"You didn't answer my question, Commissioner. Yes, someone else will handle this problem after your planet is fixed -- but why did you go to such lengths?"
You're here to play for keeps, then. Fine. The thought caused Karnath to scowl menacingly, and Raserei's surprise showed in his eye brows perking up.
"Have you ever done grunt work, Agent? Not your black ops whisk people away in the dead of night crap. Have you ever gone in with a police unit, busted some drug dealer's stash or a warehouse full of crooked scum?" The Gallentean stared at the Black Eagle agent intently, but he didn't respond for several long seconds.
"Of course."
"Then perhaps," Karnath began, "You might understand my position. Just over ten years ago, I busted a case like this. People were getting kidnapped by some local planetary cartel and sold into slavery. It took months of research and careful working, but we had them under wraps. I was on the team that got sent in to clean up the last major facility." His voice was getting heated, he knew, but the more he thought about it the more he remembered. The more he remembered, the more Karnath felt the hatred in his heart.
"Hundreds of rooms, with dozens of people scattered about them. Not just slaves for labor, but sex. Men and women of all sorts coerced or drugged into letting depraved people have their way with them. Each room a different and more heinous showing of debauchery. Each room, the more broken we found them. Do you know what I saw in the last few rooms, Agent?"
He didn't wait for a response.
"The people in there, the men and the women, they weren't alive. Their bodies worked, but when I looked into their eyes -" He paused himself to take in a steadying breath, "There wasn't anything there. Dead, empty eyes. Just staring at me, repeating the same obscene things they had been broken into. Do you know what it was like to see that, Agent?"
Raserei had the decency to appear uncomfortable, shifting about in his seat and making a show of preparing himself.
"I ... cannot say, personally."
The Planetary Police Commissioner sat back in his chair at that.
"Then you need to look at the reports. Look at the photos of the people, and look into their eyes. That emptiness there is because somewhere in this depraved cluster, some twisted individual wants that. They want people like that! For money, for their own thrills, what ever inhuman reason their disgusting minds pick out." Karnath gestured to the data pad on his desk, but Raserei made no motion to pick it up.
"That transport has a plant on it, and I'm hoping it will get straight to the heart of this little corruption. It's out there, somewhere, far beyond my planet. Someone else will have to do it, and I'll do my best to help them. The Caldari are helping me track them on their side, and I'm getting ready to crush them here on this world. That's why that Caldari State Blockade Runner you are so worried about was cleared on my authority."
The culmination of Karnath's tirade left him exhausted. He let himself slouch into his chair and gently rubbed his forehead as he became acutely aware of how hot he was. The silence in his office was a welcome reprieve until the Black Eagle agent spoke.
"I admit, I did find it strange why such a highly regarded serviceman of the public would so blatantly let an enemy of the Federation free passage." The Gallentean eyed Raserei as he spoke, noting how he seemed pleased with himself.
What?, Karnath wondered.
"Surely you understand I did my own investigation into you before I bothered with this meeting, Commissioner. This behavior was entirely atypical for you, but the reasoning eluded me until now." Karnath snorted at that.
"Regardless," Raserei pressed on, "It cannot be overlooked that you have grossly violated both your duties to the Federation and the limitations of your office."
The audacity of the statement sideswiped Karnath.
"And how have I violated my duties to the Federation, exactly?" He asked, not even bothering to disguise the disbelief in his voice.
"You have been collaborating with enemies of the Federation during a time of war. I doubt you are wholly aware, but the Blockade Runner your plant was on was stopped again just at the border of Federation space. Do you know what was on it?"
"Not exactly." Karnath said evasively.
"Caldari Navy Special Forces, in addition to the ill-gotten slaves and other miscellaneous things." Raserei remarked with a disapproving tone.
"Your overzealous pursuit nearly allowed for enemy covert operatives to return to their homelands, after doing who knows what kind of damage to Federal infrastructure. Did you really think the Caldari were helping you to catch slavers?" The Jin-mei asked, although if it was an honest question Karnath was too shocked to answer it.
"This alone has given the Black Eagles enough reason in the past to have people 'whisked away in the dead of night'. Fortunately for you, I am not part of the Black Eagles." Raserei said with an amused look on his face as Karnath stared at him as if he had grown a second head
What?
"What?" Karnath remarked dumbly. The Jin-mei smiled at that and let out a short laugh.
"I apologize. That was rude of me. I am not part of the Black Eagles, although they are investigating you. I am part of an entirely different organization. One that has had an extremely keen interest in the slaver group you have been working on tracking so vigorously." Karnath shot forward at that, stiffly leaning his elbows onto his desk.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked Raserei, even as the thought of hitting one of the silent alarms around his desk passed through his mind.
No. Hear it out. Hear it out; I'm already in deep water.
"My name is Raserei, and I am here to see if you would like to join my organization." The Jin-mei said, smiling openly.
"Why?" Karnath asked, baffled.
"You have shown a tenacity for justice we've rarely seen elsewhere. You went well beyond the expectations and limitations of your office, pursuing a most heinously evil group across the stars as best you could. You acknowledged you wouldn't be able to pursue them, but you would do everything you could to make sure those who could are equipped. You are everything every upstanding citizen of the law should be, and you will be destroyed by the Federation for it." Raserei transitioned from admiration to a more dire tone of voice as he spoke.
"The Black Eagles are coming. They will not overlook your blunder for nearly allowing Caldari Navy Special Forces to slip out of Federation space. You will be a non-person in their eyes, and you will disappear. You are wise enough to know this, I think."
Karnath's mouth felt dry as an indescribable wave of emotion surged through him.
"Is that it then? Join you, some unknown, or disappear under the eagle's wings?" The Planetary Police Commissioner tried to say it sarcastically, but he couldn't muster any sarcasm under the weight of the situation.
Raserei shrugged.
"Yes, exactly. I am offering you a chance to join us, so that you might continue your work - better than before, even." The Jin-Mei stood up at that, an action that startled Karnath.
"My card, if you read it again." He said, gesturing towards the desk with one hand and fixing his suit with the other. Karnath looked down at his desk at the business card and saw that it had changed. The Black Eagles logo and code were gone. It had been replaced by a strange blue circle, cut in half, with a triangle above it. Another code was beneath it, one he had no idea about.
How did it change? It's just paper?
"That is a phone number to a temporary office we have on this world. It'll be gone by this time tomorrow, so don't be concerned about trying to find it. If you want to learn more about us, the operator there will help fill you in." Raserei said, folding his hands together behind his lower back.
Karnath tried to speak, but the Jin-mei cut him off as he began walking towards the office's door.
"We have one operation we are doing in two days, Planetary Police Commissioner. After that, we are leaving this system and your world to pursue our mission. The Black Eagles will find you in approximately the same time. All I am doing here is giving you a choice, the decision is yours. I know your work would be most appreciated with my organization, but I understand how hard today's sudden revelations must be." He informed Karnath gravely as he stopped just short of the door's automatic sensor.
Raserei looked over his shoulder to the Gallentean.
"It has been a pleasure to have met you. I believe you understand, given that the monitoring devices were turned off, you will not be able to lawfully stop me from leaving this building. Short of something that might attract Black Eagle attention, of course." Karnath frowned when that vexing smile was on Raserei's face again.
"Of course." Karnath agreed simply, and with that the man left.
The unsettling quiet of his office let the hum of the air conditioner reach his ears again. Slowly, he sat back in his chair, staring at the paper business card on his desk. He didn't know how long he stayed like that, but when he moved to sit up straight he was stiff.
That haunting memory was there in his mind, the same dead gazes of those unfortunate men and women he rescued a decade ago. The more he thought about them, the more the path that lay before him was revealed. Karnath knew what he had to do. It'd take work to verify everything Raserei said, to make sure he was making the right choice, but his gut told him it'd all be true.
I took a vow to serve the people, to protect them and safeguard them. I pledged to help them, to aid them and those in need. I would be the one to fight the monsters in the dark, so that others wouldn't have to.
He reached towards the intercom and set to work.
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Topic: Too Human: The Gallente (Read 978 times)