I almost laughed. The guy was just like the old me—half-asleep until the start of the mission, then deep in the shit for the duration.
“This is Mike Mitchell.” The Commander’s tone was dry. He was obviously irritated at his earlier praise being undercut by reality. “Mitchell, these are the Section 3 agents you’ll be working with.”
Mike glanced over in our direction as he sat down but didn’t really look. That was a rookie move. You always read the room, no matter where you are. Gabe would have been on his case about it.
“I’m Amy Caplan,” said Capanelli. “I’m the commanding officer, and this is Victor Veidt, deputy officer.” She indicated Vincenzo Veraldi.
“Nice to meet you,” muttered the Arbiter, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. I wanted to think I’d been a better rookie than this guy. He was obviously inexperienced, and he didn’t even seem to know it.
Another door opened, and Li Fei walked in. The Senior Arbiter had a wolfish face, intense and focused. He scanned the room as he entered, his eyes fixed on each of us for a moment before jumping to the next. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought I saw his expression change when he saw my face.
“Reporting for duty, sir.”
“Be seated, Li. This is that Section 3 team. Their commander is Amy Caplan here.”
Li Fei reached out and shook Capanelli’s hand, and they exchanged pleasantries.
Once everyone was seated, the Commander began his briefing. “The ship we’re here to search is docked on Llyr station, orbiting Europa. Llyr station is a private-owned colony, so be aware that anyone there is a possible threat and we have no local law enforcement support. Once Sector Command gives the all-clear, we’ll be going in. Agent Caplan, do you think you could fill us in on what exactly we’re searching for?”
“Certainly.” Andrea sent an image to the briefing screen, a detailed map of the ship we were going to be searching. “This is the target, a civilian ship registered as the Havisham. We’re looking for evidence of a sophisticated human trafficking operation sourcing children from the Jovian system, primarily Ganymede.”
“Cavadora kids?” asked Mike Mitchell. He looked mildly disgusted. I was disappointed in him at that, although it didn’t surprise me. The Cavadora are the most despised ethnic minority in the entire solar system, and many otherwise reasonable people buy into the prejudice.
“That makes sense.” Li Fei nodded. “Those kids will be perceived as…unworthy of sympathy. But why would a major industrialist be involved in human trafficking in the first place? Is he a pervert?”
Andrea shook her head. “We don’t believe that’s the reason, although we can’t rule it out yet. We do have some evidence of Kote meeting with other suspects aboard the Havisham, so we’re hoping to seize video and other material evidence that can establish what they were talking to each other about and when.”
“Copy that. I take it you’ll be seizing the evidence you need, and we’ll be conducting any arrests?”
“Yes, although we don’t know for sure yet that any arrests are going to happen. You’re basically here for jurisdictional cover. Sorry about that.”
Mike groaned quietly, but Li shrugged. “You’re working the system. I get it.”
It was a strange conversation for me to witness. As an Arbiter, I’d been on the other side of exactly the same interaction. I’d heard Gabriel Anderson questioning the Section 3 agents, finding out what we were expecting and what the likely charges were. It had simply never occurred to me at the time that they might not be Section 3 agents in the first place.
“We’ll go in this airlock here.” Andrea marked the airlock on her own map with a white circle, and it showed up on the briefing screen. “Agent Veidt will lead a team of three of my people to secure the dock and block the exit. The rest of us will enter the vessel with your team and conduct the search.”
“Who has authority to determine arrest?” asked Li Fei.
“You do. We’re there solely to collect information, but if you see anything that warrants detainment, it’s up to you to make that call.”
I wondered why she was giving the Arbiters so much leeway, but both of them perked up when they were told arresting authority would be theirs rather than ours. “Hey, that’s great,” Mike Mitchell offered.
“It’s appreciated,” Li Fei added. “In many of these cases, the Intelligence team still wants to make the arrest decisions. They basically just tell us who to pick up. It creates undue interagency friction.”
“That’s perfectly understandable, and that’s why we wanted to do things differently this time.”
“Good enough for me.” For a supposed firebrand, Li Fei was being pretty damn accommodating. He glanced in my direction again, but his eyes were unreadable.
“Commander, do we have an ETA on that warrant check?” Andrea asked. “I’d hate to miss our opportunity. The target could spook at any moment and run off.”
“I’ll go check,” he said. “Wait here, I’ll go make a call.”
The Commander left the room, and Li Fei turned his gaze on Andrea. “Why don’t we take the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better? Introduce the members of your team?”
“Of course,” she replied. “This is agent Victor Veidt. He’s my second in command on this mission.”
She sent me a dataspike message while Vincenzo Veraldi shook Li Fei’s hand.
Maintain NOC, Tycho.
Andrea was reminding me to focus on my non-official cover. I was a little insulted, but the fact was I needed to hear it. I’d already convinced myself the Senior Arbiter already knew exactly who I was and was only biding his time. Of course, there was nothing he could do legally. Section 9 had erased all charges against me before I even joined the unit, but he might have some extrajudicial idea in mind.
“This is agent Robin Sendrig.” Andrea indicated Raven Sommer, who reached forward to shake the Arbiter’s hand. I realized that there had to have been coordination between Section 3 and Section 9 at the highest levels, otherwise we could never get away with using them for cover like this. If anyone ever decided to follow up on this mission, the Section 3 databases would still have to include a Robin Sendrig, along with the rest of us.
“This is Alex Jax.” Andrew Jones, of course. I wondered why I was the only person whose code name didn’t have the same initials as his real name.
“Nice to meet you.” Andrew’s voice was smooth, but it had the same hint of mockery it always did. “I’ve always had the highest respect for members of the Arbiter Force.”
“Oh? And why is that?” asked Li Fei.
“The quality of your training,” was Andrew’s reply. When I’d first met him, virtually all of his comments had been aimed at the inferior quality of Arbiter training. It was all I could do not to punch him out back then. His personality was just that obnoxious. Ever since, I’d gone back and forth on how I felt about the guy.
“Thank you, I do appreciate that,” Li replied.
“This is Ted Yoxley,” Andrea said. Thomas Young looked up with a startled expression, as if it surprised him to hear that name spoken aloud. I actually saw him mouth the word who, but he had recovered by the time Li Fei stuck his hand out for a shake. He muttered something no one could hear, then sat back in his chair.