Judas Unchained

“I’m coming right back,” Vic said. “I will be on the arrest team when we track that piece of shit down.”

“Okay.” Alic wasn’t going to argue in public, but there was no way he was going to allow Vic any part of the case. Right now his priority was to get the big man out of the way.

He finally turned to Paula, and smiled like a prosecuting lawyer. “Would you care to brief me now, please.”

“Certainly.” She thanked the precinct captain, who walked off with Marhol. It was just the Paris office team who were left in a group.

“Tarlo is a traitor,” she said flatly.

“I really hope you can prove that.”

She glanced meaningfully around the reception area and through the huge glass doors at the scene outside. Alic reddened slightly, but held his ground.

“I’ve been running elimination entrapment operations on both Tarlo and Renne,” Paula said.

“Me?” Renne yelped.

“Of course,” Paula replied urbanely. “Our observation was both visual and electronic. As soon as Tarlo was informed that Renne had Bernadette Halgarth under observation he called her. We intercepted that call. When we moved in to arrest him, he fought back and managed to elude us. His armament wetwiring is not registered. Next time we will field a more appropriate arrest squad.”

Alic knew what the answer was, but he had to ask, just for the record. “Who do you believe Tarlo has been working for?”

“The Starflyer.”

“Goddamnit. The Admiral doesn’t accept the Starflyer is real.”

“Don’t worry,” Paula said, with more sympathy than Alic was expecting, “he will have to acknowledge that Tarlo was a traitor. Your conduct has not been compromised; Tarlo dates back over two decades in the Paris office. Your priority now is to launch a review of his cases to see which have been compromised.”

“Right.” Alic didn’t want to think how much work that was going to involve, nor where he was going to get the resources. Another navy intelligence office would probably have to be brought in, and they would put everyone at Paris under review, himself included. “Why was Bernadette under observation?” he asked Renne. “I thought we agreed that aspect of the case was closed.”

“Christabel Halgarth placed her and Victor under observation as a favor to me,” Paula said before Renne could answer. Judging from Renne’s expression, she hadn’t known that.

“So, Bernadette is working for the Starflyer?” Alic said.

“It would appear so. In which case we must assume Victor is also an agent. I’ve informed Christabel about this incident. She will close the net around Victor if he hasn’t already gone dark.”

“And Isabella?” Renne asked.

“Her involvement is even more likely,” Paula said. “You made a good call on that investigation. I’d say the Doi shotgun was Starflyer disinformation intended to discredit the Guardians.”

“All right,” Alic said; he just wanted to draw a line under the botched arrest. At least that was Paula’s responsibility. “What is your recommendation? What do we do next?”

“Obviously taking Tarlo into custody is my principal priority. CST security officers at the Tridelta station will be reviewing every passenger for us. I’ve deployed an armed squad there already. Other than that, the ongoing cases must be kept open.”

“Are you going to arrest Bernadette?” Jim Nwan asked.

“Yes,” Paula said. “But it’s a question of timing.”

“Now we know the Starflyer agents are weapons wetwired, we need to gather a lot more firepower, surely?” John King said.

“I already have more Senate Security combat squads on the way,” Paula said. “But right now, Bernadette is the only Starflyer agent whose whereabouts we are certain of. She cannot be allowed to escape.”

“How long until your reinforcements arrive?” Alic asked.

“Fifteen minutes.”

“Okay then, let’s go.”

Paula shifted her helmet to her other arm. “No. She knows her cover has been blown; she also knows that we are observing her and we have armed squads in Tridelta.”

“So?”

“So, why didn’t she try and break the observation as soon as Tarlo was exposed?”

Alic sagged, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “She’s waiting for something.”

“Exactly.”

“But the longer she waits, the stronger we can box her in. She must know that.”

“Yes. So whatever she is here for must be very important to the Starflyer. She will try to break our observation, either by force or stealth. We need to let her think she has succeeded; that way she will lead us to whatever she is here for.”

“You can have whatever resources you need from the Paris office,” Alic said.

“I’d like to keep Renne’s team on her for continuity,” Paula said. “Can you give me someone to replace Vic?”

“Sure.” He turned to John King. “That’s you.”

“Yessir,” John said.

“That’s useful,” Paula said. “We’ve got the Paris team, Halgarth Security, and Senate Security. If she can elude all three of us, then frankly we deserve to lose her.”

“What about the meeting with the Agent?” Jim Nwan asked. “It’s set up and ready.”