Mayer Alan Brenner - Spell of Intrigue

The jailer scowled, spit off into the corner with pinpoint aim undoubtedly seasoned through long practice, and produced the traditional ring of keys from his belt. Unlocking the gate on the left with a shrill creak and hoisting a lantern from its peg just inside the entrance, he led the way off into the gloom. Groot found his nose wrinkling involuntarily. For someone who bathed unfashionably often, every day if he could, such an unwashed stench was not encouraging, not to mention its dominant component aroma that indicated a total lack of concern for sanitation. Sanitation was one of the obsessions of the ancients that Max and Shaa both ardently admired and Groot had joined them as a full-fledged disciple. Well , he thought, perhaps this will be the worst they intend to do to me.

The sergeant and his troopers saw Groot securely installed alone in a small cell of perhaps three long strides in each direction before removing the chains and bonds from his arms. The new chain around his ankle, when fastened to an eyebolt in the floor, barely let him reach the intimidatingly thick wood door. Eelmon was still out there in the hall, though, and no one had made a move to imprison him as well, so one of Groot’s major worries, that he would be held incommunicado in an unmarked cell with the records of his incarceration unaccountably missing, seemed to be provisionally relieved. The sergeant led his men off, hurriedly now, probably to report in to his officers or to whomever had drafted his mysterious orders, leaving the jailer to inspect the contents of the carpetbag under Eelmon ‘s supervision. Although they were in the hall out of Groot’s direct sight, he did hear the gentle clink of coins changing hands; Eelmon had clearly understood Groot’s message about the importance of giving the jailer a generous payoff, even (or especially) in the face of the sergeant’s express instructions to the contrary. After a moment, the jailer entered with the carpetbag and set it on the rush-strewn floor within easy reach. “Here you are, yer lordship,” he said deferentially. “I’ll be getting you the bench and candles shortly.” He touched his forelock and backed out.

How much did Eelmon pay this fellow ? Groot wondered. Whatever it was, Groot had no doubt that the money would be a prudent investment in his future. Who knew, perhaps it might even help insure that he would have a future. Groot settled back against the wall with his legs stretched out in front of him. When the candle arrived, he would take a closer look at the chains. In the brief glimpses he’d gotten in the light from the jailer’s lantern. the links had appeared old and thick and were covered with a flaky veneer of rust. The lock on the ankle shackle had also seemed to present possibilities, Whether trying to escape was a good idea, of course, was an entirely different matter.

When the candle and bench came, they were accompanied not only by the jailer but by Julio and the lawyer, Snee. The jailer left them alone with the cell door propped open and went out to lurk in the hall. Julio and Snee arranged themselves on the bench across the cell from Groot. “To what do you attribute this incarceration, Meester Groot?” the lawyer said in a rush, eager to get the first word in.

“I had hoped that was what you were planning to tell me , “ Groot said, “Why don’t we edge backward a step or two first? What is going on out there? On the way to this place, my route passed the dock on Green Canal - all my facilities there were apparently being placed under guard.”

“This is true,” Julio told him. “All the Haalsen Traders assets that are a matter of official record are now under impound. From reports at the various scenes and from the single seizure I succeeded in witnessing myself, at the storehouse on Pike Street and Old Mill, the operations were conducted quickly, in a businesslike manner, but with some level of confusion on the part of the troops involved. Nevertheless, it is clear that most if not all of these forces were drawn from the Communal Police supplemented by the civic defense militia, acting under instructions supposedly issued by the Council. This was a coordinated effort to seal all buildings, intern all assets, and stop all business operations. Since the police were a bit ragged in their execution of this attack, as I said before, it’s uncertain how well planned this all was -”

“Obviously it was planned well enough,” said Groot. “But by whom? And why? And - no, but first, was anyone hurt?”

“None of our people were significantly injured, as far as I’ve been able to find out, although there were a few stevedores roughed up, a few smashed doors, the temporary standoffs you’d expect when no one on either side is quite sure of what is actually happening.” Julio hesitated. “If I might venture a conclusion, I would say that violence or even intimidation through violence does not seem to have been the goal, just confiscation of property. No one else was arrested beside you, yourself.”

“One thing to consider is that someone may be sending you a message,” commented Snee.

“A message may be part of it,” Julio said, “but my opinion is that sending a message is not the most significant point here. “

“There is clearly more than that going on,” agreed Groot. “You don’t send a businessman a message by shutting down his whole business. When you’ve already tried to exterminate someone, what do you have left to say to them, and who is even left to hear the message? You haven’t left yourself any room to maneuver, either. What more can you do to escalate? If you’re sending messages, you build up to the scorching of earth, you don’t start there. The way you describe it, this certainly sounds like the imposition of barren wasteland to me. What more can they do now?”

“You are still in good health, I presume?” asked Snee.

“Is that just an oblique suggestion, or do you know something I don’t?”

Snee ran a well-manicured hand through his thinning light-brown hair, brushing it carefully back along his temples. “Ah, well,” he temporized.

Groot shifted his legs, explicitly rattling the chain. “That is not an answer, and that is certainly not the kind of thing I’m paying you for. So you tell me straight, lawyer, what’s happening here? On what charge am I being held?”

“I don’t know,” Snee said reluctantly.

“I beg your pardon?” said Groot. This was not the response he had expected. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“No official paperwork has been registered. I have my apprentices pursuing the matter even as we sit here, but so far nothing has come to light.”

“Please explain something to me,” said Groot. “I am incarcerated in an official civic facility, am I not? For this to be the case, a charge does have to be filed, doesn’t it? Do we have a rule of law, or don’t we?”

“It’s not that simple,” said the lawyer in a rather professorial tone. “You’re an intelligent man, you know how things work, so don’t act so surprised. In the law, there are usually quite a number of ways to get around inconveniences. If a declaration of martial law has been made, or let us say a state of emergency or a state of civil siege, various guarantees of due process can be suspended. Beyond that, it is possible for the Council to act peremptorily, or even for individual Councillors to move unilaterally on their own if certain extreme contingencies arise.”

“I didn’t know that,” said Groot. “Why don’t I know that? I’m on the Council.”

“These things are on the books,” Snee said. “They’re obscure, but if you know where to look what you will find makes for quite intriguing reading.”

“What ‘extreme contingencies’ are we talking about here?”