Bart said, “We will get fried if her hair gets parted, too.”
“Yes. All I can say is, Meyer thinks this is worth doing, and has something planned. We’re not doing this for us, or Highland, this is for the Company.”
Elke walked through the door at that moment, and said, “They pay us well. I am not sure they pay us well enough.”
“Did you catch the rest?”
“Yes, Jason had a channel open to me. I will comply, as always, under protest, as always.”
“Please. I don’t know what the endplan is, but we have to make it work. I get the impression it’s a test of loyalty and discipline. That means more government contracts.”
Aramis flared his eyebrows. He said nothing. Jason glanced at him, looked at Alex, and spoke.
“On the one hand, government money is as good as anyone’s. On the other hand, they abused us the first time, did nothing to help in the interim, and clearly want us as a splatter guard this time. Miss Caron was aggravating to deal with, but she had good cause, and her money is freely given, with better behavior. The whole point of being a mercenary is not being tied to one master, especially a government.”
“Then feel free to go independent,” he snapped. Alex understood Jason’s position. He also understood his own frustration. “This is us, and the Company, versus them. Choose your side.”
“Oh, I’m here,” Jason assured him. “I will back you all the way. I don’t know that I have enough bleach wipes to get the politician shit off, though.”
“Yeah. We’re in this together, remember.”
Elke said, “I will do what it takes for my team. The rest is just money.”
“That’s all we’re asking.”
Shaman asked, “Is there any clarification on JessieM?”
Alex sighed. “Yes, we cover her, too. A bill will be presented later. Then the lawyers will argue it. I gather Meyer is trying for leverage back against BuState. We’re all looking for position.”
“What is her status?”
“She’s ‘also protected.’ Highland is primary. JessieM is secondary. She should be covered when possible, brought along when possible, reported and documented if needed. She is not disposable but she is expendable if Highland is in danger. In other words, she cannot be collateralized, but she can be triaged.” He sighed. “Now I have to report my discussion with Highland and get an official guidance on that. In the meantime, we’re carrying nonlethal weapons, but do not use them except against close, direct threats. We will respond to indirect weapons with evacuation and cover. Use distraction and pain first, disablement second. Only if there’s a mob like we had on Salin do we use lethal force, when it’s obvious we had no choice.”
Aramis was the first to respond. “Understood.” He seemed relieved to have clear guidance.
“Roger,” Jason agreed. The rest nodded and confirmed the order.
Jason continued, “I’m going to check over the nonlethal stuff, and prep additional gear. Aramis, can you assist?”
“Yes.”
Alex nodded, waved and went to compose a draft. He wondered if drinking heavily would help, though he couldn’t do so.
Just then his phone beeped.
“Marlow.”
“Alex, Captain Das.”
“What can I do for you, Captain?”
“I must relay some bad news.”
Alex sighed. “Go ahead.”
“Ms. Highland requested military escort for her transport. That request has been categorically denied.”
“I see. She won’t like that at all. I can’t say I’m thrilled with it myself.”
“I understand. Can you guarantee Ms. Highland will not mention her campaign in her appearances?”
“What? No, she generally mentions it every time.”
“Yes, which makes her ‘candidate’ Highland. ‘Minister’ Highland is an official representative of the government, and can have as much escort as we can spare. ‘Candidate’ Highland must provide her own support. She’s certainly in violation of BuState regulations, too, but that’s not an issue we have jurisdiction over. We cannot, however, allow a candidate to make use of our taxpayer resources.”
“I completely understand. That’s most unfortunate.”
“We’ll be letting her know, of course. I wanted to make sure you could plan accordingly.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
It was Bart who brought up the next issue. “News,” he said. “Churp from JessieM.”
He let it scroll on his glasses, then scrolled it again.
Then he sighed. He talked to his phone.
“Cady, are you free? Priority Three.”
“Sure, I’ll be right there.”
Turning to the others he said, “I’ll use the armory for this discussion.”
Jason said, “Go ahead, boss, I’ll clean later.”
Cady arrived at once, looking unbothered but concerned. She knew most of what had happened. He motioned her back into the room.
As soon as she closed the door he said, “I need to give you a status update. This is official, but personal.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, JessieM put the word out that you’re trans. It’s no one’s business, but that’s the business she’s in. And Highland likes having ‘diversity’ to point to politically.”
Cady looked confused rather than offended. “Are you saying I’m here because I’m trans?”
“No, you’re here because you do damned good facilities. The principal wants you here because you’re trans.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Well, I don’t like that, but I don’t have much choice unless I want to leave, which defeats my moral purposes and affects the mission.”
Alex said, “Yeah. Sorry you’re getting caught up in it.”
She looked a bit wistful as she said, “It’s something we get from time to time even in modern societies. I expected trouble from the locals here if word got out. I had hoped our principal would be diplomatically savvy.”
“She is, and she sees a benefit back home, among her potential voters.”
Cady sighed. “Yes, the opposite of what works here. I could offer a comment on that.”
Alex said, “It’s been made.”
She nodded. “Well, I’ll do the best I can.”
“The locals know now, of course.”
“I understand.” She looked sad. This couldn’t be a new event, and had to be tiresome and irritating. “It doesn’t affect what I do, unless you’d like me to leave to preserve order.”
Yes, this had to be a tender subject for her.
“That’s very professional of you. No. Even if it would help, I’d say no. You’re not an interchangeable unit. You’re our best facilities expert. They’ll just have to deal with it.”
“So will I.”
“Yeah, that’s the part I don’t like.”
She shrugged. “As I said, it’s an old story. I’ll manage. Thanks for the update.”
“I think we both favor a free media,” he said. “I know there’s no real privacy. But some things shouldn’t be dug out and promoted. No one should care about our names, backgrounds, locations.”
“Except the enemy. We’re not allowed to say that, though.”
“There is no enemy. They’re just misunderstood. Anyway, that’s the brief, I’m back on duty.” He started for the door.
Cady said, “I have a standard statement I can give her if she asks. You know why I transitioned, yes?”
He halted. “I never asked. It’s not my business.”
“Well, we need to work together and it’s come up, so it’s your business now. Genetic irregularity. XXY chromosomes, and at puberty I seemed to lean more toward female both mentally and physiologically. So they finished with modern science what nature got half-assed.”
“Got it.”
Truth be told, he found it uncomfortable, even if it was a fairly straightforward process anymore. She did good work, though, and there was no reason for personal details to be public.
In her quarters and well away from any military or contractors, Highland let out a tight sigh and asked Jessie, “Okay, give me the bad news on the numbers.”
“Actually, it’s not bad.”
“Really?”
“It’s polling well. Large numbers of rural and wealthy urban demographics support it being a legitimate return of fire.”