The Interrogation of Simon Graham, Part 1

[Joe Manning 0]

1638 hours -- Systems Enterprises is bombed. A blast at a Latinum District skyscraper visible to almost the entire city makes for a good statement. Minos broadcasts his first proclamation a short time later. On the surface, it's a good show -- puts the fear of future attacks into people's hearts. We know better. LaHaye was there; so were the SE techs analyzing the comm transmissions. This attack had purpose.

 

1729 hours -- We intercept a GCX loaded with a radiological bomb en route to Freedom District. Two passengers, presumably Rainmakers, fire on our Lawmen and are killed. The driver, a teenage boy, is wounded and arrested. Seems like a victory, but our analysts have doubts now ...

 

1832 hours -- Nerve gas release at Sunrise District platform H-7. Moderate casualties. Another form to Minos' terror, good sexy way to fuel increasingly panicky citizens' imaginations. But wait, there's more. We've since learned that LaHaye and his associates had a safehouse ... on platform H-7 in the Sunrise District. We can be almost certain that the attack had an ulterior motive, likely clearing the platform so Minos' operatives could search the safehouse. Again, an attack with a purpose that was not immediately apparent. Noticing a pattern here, Marshall?

 

0016 hours -- Central Precinct is hit, bombed from within. Very little has been salvaged from interior surveillance; exterior surveillance shows nothing suspicious. This was an inside job. Our forensics people have gone over the bomb site at least six times; they can account for every Guardian and prisoner who was inside the building ... except the teenage boy arrested at 1729 hours. You reported that you had suspicions about the boy, did you not? Perhaps Minos meant for the boy to be arrested. That's speculation on my part, but it would give the 1729 bombing attempt a purpose, which would fit the aforementioned pattern. The purpose of this attack was clear -- the devastation of our central command center and our available resources, not to mention the deaths of several of Minos' operatives in our custody, effectively silencing them. But who knows. Maybe there was a purpose to this that we're not seeing yet?

 

0130 hours -- Same nerve gas is released within the labs at Medical One. An attempt to take out more of our personnel and to further demoralize the guild. Again, that's on the surface. LaHaye was being treated at Medical One; he disappeared during the attack and is still unaccounted for. Again, surveillance was spotty at best, providing no answers. Inside job, and a good one. Minos' people showed very little sloppiness last night, their inability to get Minos off the planet notwithstanding ...

 

That was the last attack. The threat of sabotaging the radiation shields came next. By this point, the city was rioting, cultivating the atmosphere Minos was no doubt aiming for. What else was Minos aiming for? Every analyst I'm consulting agrees that there was more going on last night than met the eye. While each attack seemed intended to increase uncertainty and unrest within the city's populace (and Minos' proclamations suggested nothing else), we believe that each attack was another stage in an ongoing plan that had an overarching purpose. What was that purpose? We're unsure. Getting Minos off-world, most likely. But how? Minos is in our custody now. Maybe you can find out.

 

The Marshall nodded to the guards flanking the door. One of them tapped a control panel beside the door. Savoy pressed her thumb to the panel's scanner. She waited several seconds while two Lawmen at separate stations on the surface, watching live surveillance feeds of the interrogation rooms, entered their confirmation to release the door's locks. The security countermeasures in this bunker were extensive, and they reached from the entrance all the way to Simon's doorstep.

 

The room was a small featureless cube with a single spotlight shining down on the center. There, Simon Graham was slumped over a small table panting. His arm was strapped to his chair and connected by various cables and tubes to a bulky tower of machinery beside the table. Every interrogation technique, physical and psychotropic, that was known to the specialist the Guardians had brought in was being employed. He had not yielded any information; he'd been trained specifically to resist torture. Redera was being far more forthcoming with information. Unfortunately, Redera had little information to give; Minos was extremely careful about isolating his Rainmakers from one another and giving them only the information they needed to know.

 

What Savoy needed was a Vulcan. The Guardians had not encountered a technique yet that was capable of resisting a mindmeld. Constable La'nok had been killed in the Central Precinct bombing, however, and it would be at least a week before Guardian Command could send another Vulcan to Tranquility. Calling in a civilian was an extremely unappealing last resort; she would call upon it only if Simon were near death.

 

Simon looked up as the Marshall walked through the door. His left eye was swollen and he sported a long gash extending across his chin. He was sweating and he had a drowsy look his his good eye. Still, he smiled as Savoy approached with the two guards. "The good Marshall Amanda Savoy. A paragon among her peers, it is said. Invulnerable to corruption, above the reproach of her superiors, a tireless champion of unwavering justice. Mistress of long knives and potent hallucinogens."

 

Savoy strode right up to the table and crossed her arms. She grinned right back down at Simon. "I suppose you believe your beloved Federation would not employ techniques such as these to extract information from a suspect, Simon? I've heard of far worse atrocities committed in their name."

 

"I intended no such comparison, my dear Marshall." Simon looked around, as if regarding phantoms that only he could see. "On the contrary, I admire your drive, your willingness to do whatever must be done to achieve an objective. Your ploy at the port was especially admirable, using a rogue Guardian to aid the uniformed Qob crew's escape; a convincing illusion is always an effective means to achieve an objective, even if you must turn your own people against one another to maintain it. I am sure you wonder sometimes ... had you the same drive five years ago, would your daughter still be alive today?"

 

Without hesitating, Savoy uncrossed her arms and struck Simon across the face with the back of her hand. His head lurched around and he nearly fell out of the chair. The two guards stepped forward to hold Savoy back, but she waved them off. Her gaze bore through Simon like molten steel. "Mention my family again, Graham, and I will supervise the rest of your interrogation personally."

 

Simon's head rolled around and a stream of blood trickled from his lip. "Oh, Marshall ... you disappoint me. Far too impulsive of you. Far too barbaric. I did not mean to offend. I hoped only to illustrate a point ... that you and I have something in common."

 

"We have nothing in common." Savoy crossed her arms again, and the guards backed off.

 

"Yes, you must think I am incapable of the love that a parent can have for a child. I fit the image of the uncaring monster perfectly, do I not?" Simon lifted his head and regarded Savoy with eyes that seemed distant. "It would surprise you to know that I, too, have a daughter. I care for her deeply, and if she were to meet the same fate as your daughter ... it would not give me the drive that such tragedy has given you. It would only poison and destroy my spirit. It is for her sake, not mine, that I am willing to make a deal with you."

 

"Has no one informed you, Simon? This is not a negotiation. You are in no position whatsoever to bargain."

 

"I beg to differ, dear Marshall," Simon said. "In my absence, my followers will scatter, disorganized, for a time. They will be quite vulnerable, quite easy to track and apprehend, during this time. But before long, one of the Disciples will step into the power vacuum and provide the guiding hand that will allow the Adherents to regroup and relocate to more secure locations. Business will go on as usual. A new name, a new legend, will replace that of 'Minos,' and, ultimately, very little will have changed due to your recent achievements."

 

"And you are willing to prevent this from happening?"

 

"For my daughter's sake, yes." Simon nodded slowly. "Her existence is by no means common knowledge ... but a few of the Disciples are aware of her. Now that I am in Guardian custody ... it is only a matter of time before they seek to use her to keep me silent ... just as your daughter was used against you. And If I begin giving you information about my associates, her life will surely be forfeit. Know that I offer you three terms for my willing cooperation. They are all quite reasonable. Reasonable enough that it would be simply pointless and excessive to go on torturing me for information you will not get out of me."

 

"I'm not the one to authorize any such agreement," Savoy replied. "But I will listen to your terms. This should be entertaining, at the least."

 

Simon laughed softly. He tried to fix his gaze on Savoy, but appeared to be having trouble focusing on her figure. "My first term is simple. My daughter and I did not have the ... closest relationship. I can assure you that she is not aware of my involvement with the Rainmakers. She has no knowledge of the group or of any of my associates. It would trouble me greatly if I were to give you her location only to have this warm VIP treatment bestowed upon her. The only information you are interested in is the information I possess. I want your guarantee that she will not be interrogated."

 

"Sounds fair enough," Savoy shrugged. "Assuming we were to find no reason to believe you are lying about her involvement in the cult."

 

"You will find no reason," Simon said. "My second term ... I want her protected, not just from the tender loving care of your interrogators, but also from my associates. I want her moved to the most secure and well-concealed location that the Guardians preside over. I would suggest, given recent events, that your central headquarters on Tranquility would be quite an unsuitable location. I want her kept out of the sight of my associates at all times, shielded from any attempts on her life, and her needs provided for fully. I want the duration of this care to be indefinite."

 

"You may be asking for a great deal," Savoy said. "But I imagine that giving her the same security blanket our Grand Marshalls enjoy would not be impossible. Your third term?"

 

Simon's gaze finally locked on Savoy's face. A small smile appeared to touch his lips during the long silence that hung between them. "My daughter ... she is not a trusting sort. If the Guardians were to appear at her home to forcibly whisk her away, she would no doubt prove resistant. To say nothing of what she will think when said Guardians began telling her all the juicy details about her terrorist overlord father. I do not wish to inflict such a traumatizing wake-up call upon her.

 

"My third term, Marshall Savoy, is also quite simple. I want a comm channel opened to her for a mere few minutes so that I may speak to her myself and explain what must happen and why."

 

"Out of the question," Savoy said sternly. A pity ... this -had- seemed too good to be true.

 

"I do not see why, Marshall Savoy," Simon replied calmly. "It is but a simple phone call ... like they used to allow prisoners even during the days when crude interrogation techniques were considered acceptable. I would give you the comm address; you could check it out yourself first. I could not stop you from listening in on the conversation, of course. You could take whatever measures you wish to ensure that I do not use this phone call for some dubious purpose. I simply wish to speak to my daughter one last time ... explain to her that I am sorry that she must be dragged into all of this ... and let her know that this must be done because I cannot bear the thought that my position could result in harm being brought to her. You can understand that, can you not?"

 

Savoy found her expression softening in spite of herself. "I highly doubt that this arrangement is going to fly. But these are the terms you've given, and I am not going to withhold them from the people in a position to accept or reject them. I will pass your request along to the Taurus Brothers."

 

Savoy turned and strode out of the interrogation room with the two guards. Simon's head fell to the side and his eyes closed slowly. He whispered softly, "Yes ... you do that ... "