Michael Williamson - When Diplomacy Fails…

Those were a serious point of contention. Any drone was a potential bomb. Neither Ripple Creek nor BuState Security approved of them, or wanted to allow them. It was simply impossible to ascertain safety on them. However, media was a practical necessity, and a matter of Charter Freedoms. Instead, these were owned by BuState itself, controlled by one of Cady’s team, and the feed available to any news outlet. There was always a legal challenge demanding individual access, and it always failed, and the media always tried anyway.

Alex’s professional paranoia didn’t even like these. He had no direct control over them, so they were a potential threat, given the status of the principal.

In this case, they were safe. This time. They filled in around her.

He heard Jason in his earbuds. “Arriving, twenty.” He saw the vehicle and acknowledged.

“Roger.” Then, “Ma’am, our transport is over to the left.”

“I see it. I’m ready when you are.” It was nice having a principal experienced with security details. It simplified some things.

The ARPAC pulled up at the edge of the apron. It would have been legal and simple to roll all the way in, but Highland had insisted on a walk for visibility. Cameras continued to hover far back. So, theoretically, could snipers.

With a whine of power takeoff, the ramp lowered smoothly, and Jason stood there waiting, along with Cady and two of her men.

“Welcome to Mtali,” Jason said as they approached. He smiled and seemed very glad to be together with his friends and teammates again.

“Ma’am, Jason Vaughn is our technical specialist, crosstrained as a paramedic.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said with little emotion.

“Jace Cady is Agent in Charge of the Facilities Security team,” he said, and introduced the tall Asian woman.

Highland paid attention now.

“Oh, Ms. Cady. So very good to meet you at last.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“I appreciate the opportunity you offer, to work with you.”

“Thank you.”

The effusive commentary had to be political, but unless… no, that had to be it. Highland knew Cady was trans, and wanted the political points, but wasn’t going to say so, because any mention of trans status was rude and gauche. It would be funny watching her try to juggle the conflicting issues if it didn’t make him ill to watch his friend being treated like a pawn over a very personal issue.

He stopped musing when he heard the rattle of machine gun fire. Long burst. Mid caliber.

There was nothing wrong with Highland’s reflexes. She took two leaping steps in the general direction of the vehicle and dove behind a portable shield set for that purpose. Only he’d not imagined it would actually be needed.

That’s why they pay us, and why we do that, he thought. Elke and Bart were closest, dove down with her, and readied to sprint up the ramp on either side of her.

He pointed and shouted, “Contact left!”

Jason shouted, “Suppression. I need some kind of suppression!” Elke didn’t have any explosives, no one had anything but light arms, and someone with a machine gun had them pinned.

Then as fast as it had started, the hostiles disappeared.

That was good, since they were alive and apparently unhurt. Just out of view, Shaman patted Highland down, and he knew that from the surprised yelp everyone made the first time that happened. It was bad, because they had no idea who the threat had been, and it was probable that others would follow.

Aramis made it into the ARPAC in two leaps, braced feet on either side of the turret station, yanked and slammed the charging handle on the cannon, and opened fire in methodical but rapid shots.

Highland started screaming.

“Stop! Stop shooting! Get down, you militaristic asshole!”

Aramis turned and stared, but didn’t let go of the weapon.

“They’re gone, and I don’t want any bad press. Get down!”

Aramis glanced at Alex, who nodded. He shrugged and climbed down.

Highland lowered her voice, but not her intensity. “The whole point of a rating event is lost if someone gets hurt.”

There were two ways to interpret that, but Alex keyed on the proper words, then replayed it again, both mentally and via his recorder, to be sure that’s what was actually said. It was too surreal to anger him now, though he knew it would shortly. In the meantime, he wanted to triple check.

“Ma’am, please clarify for me. That attack was a fake, set to help with your image?”

“It’s more than that,” she said. “It’s about presentation. Poise and confidence are critical to any race, or to any presentation. I needed to start this off on the right foot.”

“Yes, ma’am, but I need to know about these things.” He hadn’t heard any cracks pass by, so either it hadn’t been aimed this way, or they’d been blanks.

“I didn’t know if you were trained enough as actors to be believable. It works better if it’s unstaged.”

Yes, this was a waking nightmare. “It doesn’t really, ma’am. We can act appropriately, and without warning, our default appropriate response could have gotten someone shot. That won’t help your ratings.”

“It depends on whom, and that’s what my publicists are for. That was just a show with some blanks. They’re not even real guns.”

Well, this mission had hit the bottom of the shaft in a hurry, and was now starting to dig.

“Ma’am, let me reiterate that we are trained, contracted and expected to use lethal force if necessary. That’s based on our threat assessment. I strongly caution against these kind of displays. There will be enough legitimate threats.”

“Yes, but presentation is critical. I’d rather not be attacked, but if so, I of course plan to develop the event to demonstrate my core competencies.”

Alex thought that “exploit” fit better than “develop.”

He said, “Elke and Jason are both very skilled with cameras, for intel and promotional purposes. I am quite willing to make their footage available after it has been examined for tactical purposes.”

Highland considered a moment, and replied, “Very well. I suppose I can arrange for Jessie to take charge of that if and when it happens.”

“Thank you for your understanding. That will help us a lot.” He’d also make very sure that footage was edited to blur anything intel-worthy in the background. Jessie appeared to have little restraint on what she loaded.

Highland continued, “You have to understand, part of the reason I was sent here was to lower my visibility during this stage of the campaign. This is a remote area, none of the key geographies care if these peasants kill each other, and I need to be able to maintain visibility, and boost my ratings.”

“I can see that, ma’am, and we’ll do what we can to assist. Please keep us in the loop. We’re here for you.” Within reason. This bitch would actually stage a battle for vid ratings. Unbelievable.

Alex understood the pressure she faced. He was not, however, going to assist with her campaign, even if it would make protecting her easier. There were some things even a pig wouldn’t do. He did need to learn about this, though, and work with it. That’s why he was getting paid more than most top surgeons.

It didn’t seem like much of a deal. After all, that was probably why they’d nixed Elke’s explosives.

At least they had an armored vehicle for transit. Clearly now, Highland wanted that for its imposing presence and the implication of great danger. However, this at least worked in their favor for protection purposes.

There were cutouts in the contract to separate them from a client who refused to cooperate sufficiently. The problem was, those criteria were vague, though he had the final say, and their job was to protect the bitch, not play rules lawyer, there would be repercussions if they did so. Why this type of client? Because they paid a lot of money, which is what it came down to.