"As Dawning Approaches"

[Joe Manning 0]

Attention, citizens of Tranquility City! Attention, please!

 

We are pleased to inform you that the terrorist overlord named 'Minos' has been apprehended. He is presently in Guardian custody. One of his top lieutenants is also in our custody, and most of his cell within the city has been scattered. The Rainmakers no longer pose a threat to Tranquility City. We must urge you to return to your homes or hotels. The ports will be re-opened within the next 38 hours, at such time as traffic in and out of the city may be facilitated in a smooth manner.

 

Please disperse and clear the streets of the city. Minos has been apprehended.

 

 

Marshall Savoy waited at the bottom of Qob's cargo ramp, beside the opened side hatch of a GCX armored car. Several Guardian air-speeders circled the landing pad, their occupants alert for any attempts to attack the transfer site. Such attempts were not likely; despite the Guardians' diminished resources, port security had done a commendable job of keeping out intruders the entire night. Still, this was Minos and these were the Rainmakers; a ship uncloaking in the atmosphere and firing on the transfer site would not shock Savoy.

 

Lawman Sergeant Kravitz came down the ramp first, held up by two of his men. He looked terrible, like a man who'd been shot in the leg yet still kept himself on his feet doing his duty. A splint and some painkillers would have been the only treatment he needed; the job was too important. Savoy felt a trace of guilt; just a half hour ago, every Guardian in the city had believed that Kravitz was a Rainmaker collaborator, a ruse meant to reinforce the illusion of a break-in at the port. Kravitz would receive an official commendation, Savoy would make sure of it. She allowed herself a nod and a grab of his shoulder as he passed her at the bottom of the ramp. "Good work, Sergeant."

 

Four Lawmen, two of them Sergeants, escorted the next passenger. For all of the pomp that surrounded Minos, for all the fanatical devotion that the Rainmakers heaped on him until the man became a myth, Simon Graham was not an impressive looking figure. He was 5'7", light of build, with brown hair neatly combed (she might guess) to cover a bald spot, and round eye-glasses. Intelligence had always painted two pictures of Minos -- the technological wizard who could set up untraceable information networks or hack into any computer system, and the organizer whose charm and force of will had turned a band of pro-Federation terrorists into a quasi-religious cult. This man being brought before the Marshall looked far more like the former.

 

Now the task of cracking the man behind Minos would begin. The Guardians were already digging around at the Quantum Trinities office complex, investigating their activities and the history of Simon Graham's business. The company's other board members all insisted that they had no knowledge of any wrongdoing on Graham's part, nor were they complicit in any Rainmaker activities. The Guardians would make that determination themselves. The ODRI that had been taken off Simon would be a help (if it could be decrypted), and search teams were already preparing to enter the bunker from which Simon and his pet Deltan had emerged.

 

The Guardian escorts stopped at the bottom of the ramp, where Simon turned his head to lock his gaze on Savoy. Even given his present circumstances, he had the gall to smile. "I might have known that Amanda Savoy would have a hand in this."

 

Savoy kept the fury bottled up. The part of her that allowed base emotions to rule her actions had died a long time ago. But thinking back on all the things this man had been responsible for this night -- the bombing of an office building, the destruction of Central Precinct and the deaths of almost every Guardian within, the release of a toxic gas into a residential platform -- stirred some of the demons. "In time, Mr. Graham, you will not find this situation so amusing. You are going to talk, help us take down your own cult. We are going to do whatever is necessary to ensure that you do."

 

Simon offered no noteworthy reaction. His expression turned neutral and he turned his head, looking ahead to the GCX. The Guardians ushered him into the armored vehicle, which would protect all of its occupants from any surprises delivered by the Rainmakers in the city. They would be taken to a secure underground bunker which the Guardians were in the process of converting to a substitute Central Precinct.

 

Central Precinct would be rebuilt, of course -- maintaining a strong visible presence to the people of Tranquility City, in spite of any attacks, was still a priority. On top of that, the aftermath of the rioting would need to be dealt with. Minos had driven a lot of people, not just Qob's crew, to commit crimes this night, and Savoy guessed that the indiscretions of Manning and Pher would not be the last overlooked. Investigations would cover the entire city to determine how the attacks had been executed and if there were still any leaks to be plugged; Simon's forced cooperation would aid those efforts a great deal.

 

Though the night had ended with success, the chaos that had taken place would be keeping the city's Guardians busy for a long time to come ...