Anthony DeCosmo - Empire

“And what do you hear these days, Ray?”

“Seems our boss has a decision to make, doesn’t it? He sure does.”

This time Evan shook his head, adding a slight bite to his lip and down cast eyes for the perfect expression of remorse.

Roos grinned. “That’s pretty good. You can almost sell that.”

Evan snapped, “Sell what?”

“Sell the idea that you’re all broken up about this. About how unfortunate it is. I have to tip my hat to you, Mr. Godfrey. You are a piece of work. Yes you are. That’s why I like you so much.”

“It is, well, it is quite dreadful,” Evan stymied. Roos’ ability to see through his act knocked him off balance.

“Dreadful for Stone, sure,” Roos laid it out. “But for you it’s a win-win situation, isn’t it? Yes it is. A win-win.”

Again, Roos showed an uncanny knack for cutting through his charades, putting Evan on the defensive.

“Oh, come on now,” Roos said. “Are you testing me? Yes you are, aren’t you? You want to see if Ray here has got an eye for this sort of thing. Okay, I’ll play. Stop me when I stumble down the wrong path.”

The sedan followed the lakeside road. The driver showed no interest in the conversation, meaning he was either deaf or he had earned Ray Roos’ trust.

“Stone has to decide, send in the troops to New Winnabow or don’t. If he sends them in you’ve got the Emperor sending humans to kill other humans. I wonder how that will sit with the people. Pictures of bombed-out villagers would make for a nice front page story, wouldn’t it? Of course, that’s assuming the troops follow those orders. General Shepherd, he might not take to shooting up a village. He might just tell Stone to shove it. I suppose you never know. Point is, if he sends the troops in Stone will end up looking like a real honest-to-goodness Emperor; a real nasty one. That weakens his support.”

Evan chuckled dismissively. “He’s not going to send any troops in there. Even he isn’t that cold-blooded. Why, the political fall out would be enormous. He’ll pull back and the war will be on hold for a couple of months. That’s the way I’d bet.”

“Now that’s just as good,” Roos unnerved Godfrey even more by showing a firm grasp of the situation and the potential outcomes. “Because if little New Winnabow can stand up to mighty Trevor Stone, then anyone can. I’m sure people in those farming villages will remember New Winnabow the next time their crops are divided up and sent out of town. Maybe they’ll just say ‘no’ and tell Trev to stick it. Why just about every little ‘burgh that has a gripe will see it as their chance to break away. Might end up in a civil war, but no matter what happens my guess is that a certain suave politician might be able to smooth things over. Probably by promising elections or representation or something fancy like that. What do you think?”

Evan sat silent, his eyes locked on Roos, his mouth clamped tight. Roos winked.

When he did finally speak, Evan’s lips barely parted. “I suppose that if something like that were to happen then, yes, someone with good negotiating skills could fix it. But that’s all speculation.”

“Of course it is, right? Sure,” Roos smiled fully. “Either way, I don’t see how you could lose. Might even carve out a nice chunk of political clout-might even call it power-for yourself. That is, hypothetically speaking.”

Evan turned his attention to the side window as the Mercedes passed a convoy of trucks, civilian and military.

“It’s not about me,” Evan told him. “The Emperor sent me down there to do a job. Honestly, I failed. It’s as simple as that.”

“Oh wait, I figured out one way you could lose.”

No reply. Evan kept his eyes staring outside, but as Roos spoke his head slowly turned, his jaw drooping in the slightest.

“You could have lost if those folks down there gave in and decided to let the army march through. Then everyone would have been happy, especially your buddy, Trevor. Good for him, but not really good for you. No pieces to pick up. Still, that’s water under the bridge, I suppose. But hold the phone, you still could end up behind the eight-ball, Mr. Godfrey. If the big guy ever finds out how you played this whole thing, well, then, he might just lop your head off for that.”

Godfrey snapped. “How dare you! We’ve been friends, Ray, but now you’ve gone too far. I had a job to do and I did my best…to…” Roos greeted the outburst with a series of laughs, sapping Evan’s false fire as he realized he had been set up, that his righteous indignation had been exactly what Roos trawled for.

“Just as I thought. Thanks for clearing that up,” Ray said. “You made damn sure those folks weren’t going to let the army parade on through. I’ll bet you had a tear in your eye when you told Trevor how bad you felt about that.”

Evan’s face turned red and he murmured, “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you have no proof of anything. If you’re trying to blackmail me or something-”

“Oh, now, are you worrying about me? Little old me?” Roos acted insulted. “Mr. Godfrey, haven’t you realized that I’ve chosen which horse to back? Sure you have. That’s why we get along so well.”

“I see.”

“No, not really. So far you’ve just seen me as a guy with the inside scoop. Someone to give you juicy stories for your paper in exchange for a small favor or two. But I’m thinking that maybe there’s a lot more we could be doing.”

Evan did not reply. He eyed Roos as if studying a dangerous puzzle.

“Do you know how I got in to Internal Security? I’ll tell you this, Mr. Godfrey; I was not a law enforcement officer in the old days, nope. I’m good with guns, that’s one reason. Good with knives, too. They taught me that in the army, before the discharge and all. I had a tough time playing by the rules. My personal opinion in those days was that rules were the long way around for suckers; I preferred short cuts. I got to the places I wanted to be by working the angles, sort of out-thinking the other guy. A lot like a politician, Mr. Godfrey. In fact, I’ll bet, a lot like you.”

“I believe in rules, Ray. It’s not really civilization without structure. But, of course, you have to know the rules and use them to your advantage. That’s just the way of life. But if you get caught breaking the rules, well, that’s what prisons are for.”

“I concede your point there, yep. And I know exactly what you mean. You could say I have first-hand experience. So that got me thinking. Here we are in a brand new world and all those old rules have been blown away. Along comes Trevor Stone, and he’s building everything back up.”

“That he is, Ray. That he is. For better or worse.”

“I like to plan ahead, Mr. Godfrey. I can see a time where things will calm down. This war isn’t going to last forever, at least I sure hope not. We’ve got enough people here to start new, why risk it all by pushing and pushing? I’m not sure Stone knows when to stop.”

Godfrey nodded, cautiously, and answered, “I’m of the same mind. Why is it our job to save the world? We need to take care of our own.”

“Exactly. Of course, I’m more worried about taking care of my own. To be honest, I’m glad everything changed. The invasion, well, it sort of gave me a second chance. You might even say it released me. Better yet, I feel like I’m in on the ground floor of things. Like I said, I mainly didn’t like playing by the rules, unless I’m one of the gang writing those rules. If you see my point.”

“Yes, well, that creates certain opportunities, of course. We can put it back together, Ray. Maybe not exact, but better. That’s what I’m all about.”

“I’m thinking I can help you put things back together, Mr. Godfrey. Better this time; particularly in my own personal case, you understand.”