trouble, even if she wasn’t
exactly bubbling over with friendliness. I’d seen how the Security Force
dealt with their people when orders weren’t followed. So I focused my
attention on the short black pony tail at the back of her head and stayed on
her heels.
We
reached a door on the other side of the room, at roughly the fifty yard line
and she opened it. I followed her down a short hallway that opened into a
small lobby with three doors against the far wall. She headed for the door
immediately in front of us.
“Sergeant
Leonardo,” she said, saluting as she faced the sergeant at the small desk in
the anteroom behind the door. “Trooper Martinez. I have Mr. Welles for the
Deputy AG.”
“Thank
you, Martinez,” he said.
She
nodded to him, then turned and left the room. She never gave me a
glance.
“Is
it my breath?” I asked the sergeant.
He
smiled. “Don’t take it personally. Martinez is on punishment duty. Her
regular assignment is outside perimeter security and a deer got inside the
first fence. Set off the sensors, there was a security alert. Pissed off a
lot of people.”
“Including
Mr. Bain?”
He
shook his head. “No. The general was more concerned that the animal was able
to breach the first perimeter fence. He viewed the incident as an
opportunity to reevaluate and tighten security.”
“Then
why is she on punishment duty?”
“That
was her platoon lieutenant’s decision,” he said. “General Bain doesn’t
second guess his officers.” He pointed at the couch against the wall.
“Please have a seat while I let the general know you’re here.”
I
sat down as he picked up one of the phones on his desk. “Mr. Welles is here,
sir.” He listened for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”
He
hung up the phone. “The general is ready for you.” He paused. “I have to
ask, are you armed?”
I
nodded.
“Please
place your weapon on my desk. It’s just policy. I don’t think the general
cares one way or another, but that’s why I have to care.”
“Not
a problem,” I said. I stood, walked to his desk and pulled the Glock from my
belt. “I’ll get this back when I leave, right?”
“Certainly,”
he said. He took the pistol and put it into his desk drawer. “You can go in
now.”
Bain’s
office was standard government issue. Government-issue steel desk, two
government issue steel chairs in front of it. Even the small cot against one
wall looked like something I’d seen twenty years ago when I was in the army.
It was nothing like the office in his home, with its ceiling-to-floor
bookshelves and large marble-topped desk.
The
compact, coffee-skinned man with the steel-gray crewcut behind the desk was
the same, though he wore an unmarked blue jumpsuit instead of the suit he’d
worn the two times I’d met with him. Bain had one of his ever-present
cheroots in his mouth and studied me through the cloud of smoke. He’d called
the cigars his only remaining vice.
“Sit
down, Mr. Welles.”
I
dropped into one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Nice to see you again,
Mr. Bain.”
“I
doubt that,” he said curtly. “Brenner is an acceptable trainee?”
“Yeah,
he’s doing real well. Picking it up very fast.” I paused. “If you leave him
for a couple of months, I might actually be able to get some good work out
of him.”
“Those
people are there for training, Mr. Welles, not so you can get good work out
of them.”
“The
success of the agency is dependant on our ability to service a human and
vampire clientele,” I said. “It’s hard to take night cases when the
investigator isn’t fully trained. And every time they start getting to that
level, you pull them out and replace them.”
“For
the moment, I require trained investigators, or even semi-trained
investigators. That situation will change in time, and you’ll see more
stability in the personnel I send. Until then, you’ll
exactly bubbling over with friendliness. I’d seen how the Security Force
dealt with their people when orders weren’t followed. So I focused my
attention on the short black pony tail at the back of her head and stayed on
her heels.
We
reached a door on the other side of the room, at roughly the fifty yard line
and she opened it. I followed her down a short hallway that opened into a
small lobby with three doors against the far wall. She headed for the door
immediately in front of us.
“Sergeant
Leonardo,” she said, saluting as she faced the sergeant at the small desk in
the anteroom behind the door. “Trooper Martinez. I have Mr. Welles for the
Deputy AG.”
“Thank
you, Martinez,” he said.
She
nodded to him, then turned and left the room. She never gave me a
glance.
“Is
it my breath?” I asked the sergeant.
He
smiled. “Don’t take it personally. Martinez is on punishment duty. Her
regular assignment is outside perimeter security and a deer got inside the
first fence. Set off the sensors, there was a security alert. Pissed off a
lot of people.”
“Including
Mr. Bain?”
He
shook his head. “No. The general was more concerned that the animal was able
to breach the first perimeter fence. He viewed the incident as an
opportunity to reevaluate and tighten security.”
“Then
why is she on punishment duty?”
“That
was her platoon lieutenant’s decision,” he said. “General Bain doesn’t
second guess his officers.” He pointed at the couch against the wall.
“Please have a seat while I let the general know you’re here.”
I
sat down as he picked up one of the phones on his desk. “Mr. Welles is here,
sir.” He listened for a moment, then nodded and said, “Yes, sir.”
He
hung up the phone. “The general is ready for you.” He paused. “I have to
ask, are you armed?”
I
nodded.
“Please
place your weapon on my desk. It’s just policy. I don’t think the general
cares one way or another, but that’s why I have to care.”
“Not
a problem,” I said. I stood, walked to his desk and pulled the Glock from my
belt. “I’ll get this back when I leave, right?”
“Certainly,”
he said. He took the pistol and put it into his desk drawer. “You can go in
now.”
Bain’s
office was standard government issue. Government-issue steel desk, two
government issue steel chairs in front of it. Even the small cot against one
wall looked like something I’d seen twenty years ago when I was in the army.
It was nothing like the office in his home, with its ceiling-to-floor
bookshelves and large marble-topped desk.
The
compact, coffee-skinned man with the steel-gray crewcut behind the desk was
the same, though he wore an unmarked blue jumpsuit instead of the suit he’d
worn the two times I’d met with him. Bain had one of his ever-present
cheroots in his mouth and studied me through the cloud of smoke. He’d called
the cigars his only remaining vice.
“Sit
down, Mr. Welles.”
I
dropped into one of the chairs in front of the desk. “Nice to see you again,
Mr. Bain.”
“I
doubt that,” he said curtly. “Brenner is an acceptable trainee?”
“Yeah,
he’s doing real well. Picking it up very fast.” I paused. “If you leave him
for a couple of months, I might actually be able to get some good work out
of him.”
“Those
people are there for training, Mr. Welles, not so you can get good work out
of them.”
“The
success of the agency is dependant on our ability to service a human and
vampire clientele,” I said. “It’s hard to take night cases when the
investigator isn’t fully trained. And every time they start getting to that
level, you pull them out and replace them.”
“For
the moment, I require trained investigators, or even semi-trained
investigators. That situation will change in time, and you’ll see more
stability in the personnel I send. Until then, you’ll