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CHAPTER FIVE



Jonas thought he possessed a more flexible mind than most. He prided himself on his talent for spotting opportunities where others only saw insurmountable problems, but even so, Hinnerkopf and Andover-Chen’s proposal had caught him completely by surprise!

It was, in a word, audacious. They had proposed nothing less than a permanent research base in the transverse, situated at the midpoint between the Admin and SysGov universes. A joint research base called Providence, to be designed, built, and crewed by a mixed team from both superpowers.

It was incredible. Inspirational! He would have never come up with it on his own, and admitting that blind spot made him a touch jealous. The Providence Project had his full, enthusiastic support.

Unfortunately, it was at risk of suffering a slow death in the womb.

“I understand your enthusiasm, Doctor Hinnerkopf,” said Commissioner Klaus-Wilhelm von Schröder from the Gordian Division side of the conference table, sitting amidst his senior staff. Across from him sat Csaba Shigeki and his senior staff, including Jonas. It was an impressive, almost terrifying concentration of power and authority. These were people who commanded enough time ships and chronometric weapons to rend whole universes apart—and who had on one occasion.

“I can see the merits in such a collaborative work,” Schröder continued, “but we must also root our decisions in reality. Neither of our organizations has fully recovered from the losses suffered during the Dynasty Crisis. Rebuilding our force strength remains a high priority for both of us. Furthermore, a joint design team strikes me as impractical. There are fundamental technical differences—as well as carefully guarded technological secrets—that would prevent experts from collaborating successfully.”

“I would agree with you, Commissioner, under normal circumstances,” Katja Hinnerkopf replied carefully, standing at the head of the room with an abstract slide from the presentation hovering behind her. “Which is why Doctor Andover-Chen and I believe a technological exchange is a necessary core component of the Providence Project.”

“Which techs, specifically?”

“Sir,” Andover-Chen spoke up. “That would be Admin impeller tech in exchange for SysGov artificial gravity.”

The room fell silent as the magnitude of this proposal sank in.

Jonas leaned back in his seat, his face carefully passive, but on the inside he wanted to cheer on the two scientists. This was brilliant! Both sides lusted after what they didn’t have, what the other side did better. Admin time drives were faster and quieter than SysGov models despite SysGov’s superior exotic matter production methods, and the Admin was still decades away from their first functional counter-grav units. If a price was to be paid to enlist both sides in the Providence Project, these were the coins to use!

This was a bargain where both SysGov and the Admin could obtain what they wanted most, where everyone would step away from the table a winner. He loved where this was going! It was so beautiful, it almost brought a tear to his jaded eyes.

Bravo, Katja! Bravo! I’d clap, but I don’t want to make a spectacle of myself.

“I’d like to point out,” Csaba Shigeki said after the lengthy silence, “that any agreement we come to here will require ratification by higher levels of our governments.”

“Undoubtedly, sir,” Hinnerkopf agreed. “That said, I’m sure our recommendations will carry a certain amount of…weight, shall we say?”

An alert blinked in Jonas’ virtual sight, and he expanded the message. It was a conference call request from Vesna Tyrel, which meant he would normally drop everything and answer it, but…

I’m in a meeting, he texted back. Can I call you later?

If you must, but I’d prefer we deal with this now, Vesna texted. It’s potentially time sensitive and involves one of your citizens.

All right. Let me see what I can do.

He reached over and placed a hand on his father’s shoulder. Their PINs interfaced, and they entered a closed-circuit chat.

“Yes?” Shigeki asked. His lips didn’t move and no words came from his mouth, but Jonas’ senses saw and heard both happen through their linked PINs.

“I’ve got an important call I need to answer. Mind proposing a break so I can take it?”

“Fine by me. I could use a breather.”

Jonas removed his hand, and the senior Shigeki leaned forward.

“Everyone, we’ve been at this for a while. Before we dig any further into the particulars of the proposal, how about we take a fifteen-minute refresher? Any objections?”

“None here,” Schröder said. “I was about to suggest the same.”

“Good. Then I’ll see everyone back here in fifteen.”

Chairs shuffled, and staff members rose from both sides of the table. Jonas engaged a privacy filter and opened the call request. An abstraction of Tyrel’s office materialized around him, with him seated in front of her desk.

“Ah, Jonas.” Tyrel smiled at him. “That was quick. Hope I’m not interrupting anything too important.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Jonas returned the smile. “We were just discussing whether or not we should build a joint DTI–Gordian base in the transverse.”

Tyrel blinked as the words sank in. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Took me by surprise, too.”

“You think we’ll do it?”

“Hard to say,” Jonas replied honestly.

Despite the heavier overlap between Gordian Division and the DTI, Jonas found himself working with Tyrel quite often as part of his efforts to improve relations between the two superpowers. And while their working relationship had started out on the icy side, it’d warmed considerably over the past three months.

He’d been a frequent visitor to her office, both physically and in the abstract, though he really wished she’d take down that damned eyeball on her curio shelf. The creepy thing followed him around the room! He’d mentioned the ghastly organ to her once, but for some reason, his revulsion to the eyeball had pleased her.

“There are a lot of issues to sort out between here and there,” Jonas continued. “Anyway, you’ve got me for the next fifteen minutes.”

“Right.” Tyrel copied a case file over to him, and he opened it. “There’s been an incident at the Weltall Tournament. One of your citizens received a threatening message of unknown origin.”

“Elena Sako…” Jonas skimmed the documentation. “What sort of message?”

“It was a printed copy of her own severed head along with the phrase ‘leave or die’ written in blood.”

“Damn!” Jonas cringed. “What a way to welcome a guest.”

“My thoughts exactly. I think we can both agree an Admin citizen receiving threats while in SysGov is a situation that must be handled with care, given the potential for missteps of a…diplomatic nature.”

“Yes, thank you for bringing this to me. I assume your division will look into this.”

“Actually, that’s what I need to talk to you about,” Tyrel said. “State troopers are already on site, but they’re being denied access to the victim and her room.”

“Denied? By whom?”

“Her DTI security detail.”

“Oh.”

Shit, Jonas thought.

In hindsight, he should have seen this coming. DTI agents were, on average, a self-reliant sort because few in the Admin had the necessary skill set to work in such a specialized environment. They were used to getting the job done themselves, and so when foreign cops of an unknown quality came up and said they would handle a threat against someone under the agents’ protection, Jonas could understand if those same agents got a little…touchy.

“I was hoping you could help me out with this,” Tyrel added.

“Yes, certainly.” Jonas sat up a little straighter. “I can talk to the security detail’s team leader and stress the need for cooperation. However, any investigation will need a point of command. Someone to take the lead. Otherwise, our people will be stepping all over each other, and we won’t get anything done.” He looked up at her. “Any thoughts on how you’d like us to proceed?”

“A few.” Tyrel summoned a personnel profile. “May I present Senior Detective Matthew Graves. You’re familiar with Sherlock Holmes, I take it?”

“Of course. Those stories were written before our timelines diverged.”

“Then let me be blunt. Graves is better.”

“Indeed?”

“It’s safe to say you’ll find no better detective in the entire solar system. Perhaps even in both our solar systems.”

“That’s quite a claim.” Jonas flashed a half-smile at her. “We have some very talented investigators ourselves, you know.”

“Perhaps, but I can have Graves on Luna in less than two hours.”

“Hmm.” Jonas stroked his chin.

“Thoughts?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure he’s quite capable, but I’m not sold on the idea.”

“You would prefer someone from the DTI to take the lead instead?”

“That’s right,” Jonas confessed, “though perhaps not for the reasons you’re thinking. If your man Graves failed and Sako was murdered, SysPol would be blamed for the failure, whether fairly or not, which could have repercussions for the Million Handshake Initiative and beyond.”

“Unlikely.”

“But not impossible.” He held up a finger. “However, if the investigation is headed by the DTI, and we fail to protect our own citizen, well”—he shrugged—“that’s our own fault. SysPol would be blameless.”

“You’re looking for ways to keep political fallout to a minimum, should the worst happen.”

“Always.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I have doubts about handing the reins over to a DTI agent. My detectives are far better equipped to lead an investigation on SysGov soil. Your agents would need too much time to get up to speed.”

“True, but…” Jonas trailed off, and his brow creased as a thought occurred to him. Was the perfect compromise already on its way?

“Something on your mind?” Tyrel asked.

“One moment.” He opened his mail archive, then performed a quick search until he found the RSVPs. He checked the dates and nodded. Yes, sure enough, both of them were about to arrive at the Crimson Flower.

“What if,” Jonas began delicately, “we could each have what we want?”

He presented the RSVPs to her.

“Detective Cho and Agent Cantrell?” Tyrel asked doubtfully. “But they’re all the way out at Saturn.”

“Actually, they’re not. They’re about to land on Luna. I arranged their flights myself.”

“They are?” Tyrel shook her head in bewilderment. “You arranged this? Don’t tell me you somehow predicted the need for joint law enforcement at this event!”

“Vesna, please!” Jonas chuckled. “As much as I appreciate it when you assume I’m playing seven-dimensional chess and thinking twelve moves ahead of everyone else”—he gestured to the RSVPs—“this is nothing more than a happy coincidence. I invited them to the tournament because I thought it’d be good PR.” He leaned back. “So, what do you think?”

“I don’t know. I can see how Cantrell’s position in the DTI would help, but that still leaves Cho out of the loop.”

“A problem with an obvious solution,” Jonas said. “We can give the detective temporary authority as a DTI investigator, much the same way your division granted Cantrell junior detective status.”

“That…could work,” Tyrel said guardedly.

“What do you think?”

“Well, I’m somewhat hesitant to assign a case this high profile to a detective with Cho’s level of experience, but I’ll admit this feels like a workable solution. Plus, he’s the only detective I have with experience working with Admin personnel.” She nodded after a thoughtful pause. “All right. I’m on board with this. We’ll do it your way.”

“Excellent. I’ll make sure Cho is granted the necessary authority. And, if you don’t mind, I’ll also dispatch Pathfinder-Prime to Luna as well.”

“What for?”

“To bolster the size of the security detail at the tournament. I want to make it clear SysPol is allowing us to do everything we can to protect our own citizens, and this is an obvious, visible way to show that cooperation. Also, with most of our senior staff over here for meetings this week, the one chronoport under my command is redundant. At least for the short term. Might as well put it to work.”

“Good idea.”

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if I can take care of this before the meeting starts up again.”

“Go ahead. And Jonas? Thanks.”

“Any time.”

He closed out the call. The abstraction of Tyrel’s office vanished, and the reality of the executive conference room reappeared to his senses. Most of the seats around the table were still empty, but the one person he needed to speak with had returned.

“Hey, Kloss,” Jonas called out with a wry smile.

Under-Director of Espionage Dahvid Kloss turned to face him. His unruly dark hair and wrinkled clothes gave the impression of someone who’d overslept in his uniform and had to rush into work the next morning without so much as combing his hair, but the intense concentration in his dark eyes told a very different story.

“Yes?” Kloss asked.

“I need a favor.”

“No.”

“Oh, come on! You don’t even know what I’m after!”

“I don’t need to. There’s this thing called ‘past experience’ I can rely on.”

“This time might be different.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“Come on, Kloss. It’s important.”

“Fine.” Kloss rose with a huff, walked over, and dropped into the seat next to Jonas. “What do you need?”

Jonas put a hand on his shoulder, and their PINs integrated.

“I need you to make a SysPol detective one of your investigators.”

“Oh, is that all?” Kloss shook his head. “No.”

“Come on. I’m being serious here.”

“So am I. I can’t make a foreign citizen an investigator! Why would you even suggest such a thing?”

“Because there’s a situation brewing over on Luna, and I’m confident this will defuse it.”

Jonas did his best to rapidly summarize the problem. It took less than a minute.

“Okay, I can see why you want this,” Kloss admitted, “but I can’t make just anyone an investigator. Those posts come with strict requirements, and even if he wasn’t a foreigner, this Cho person doesn’t have enough experience at the DTI. Any experience even!”

“Then make up a new rank.” Jonas swirled his hand through the air. “Name it, I don’t know, a ‘probationary junior investigator’ or something. Doesn’t matter what it’s called. Just so long as it grants him the legal authority to question Admin citizens and the like.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It is, and you know it.”

“Do you have any idea how many rules I need to bend to pull this off?”

“Not really, and I honestly don’t care. What I do need is for you to suck it up and make us a new rank so I can give it to Cho. Someone is threatening to kill one of our citizens over here, and we need to make sure the situation is handled properly. You got that?”

Kloss disconnected from the closed-circuit chat and ran rough fingers back through his hair.

“Well?” Jonas pressed.

Kloss let out a long, frustrated sigh.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”


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Framed