Sharon Green - Chains Released

“That’s right, you can’t lie about there being no one else, not when I saw the others at the base,” Tain said with a satisfied nod as Coleson limped through an effort to excuse what he’d done. “You had your choice of three other agents to use, but you were so eager to play your private game that you forgot about everything else. Now you can take your new assignment and shove it up your ass.”

“No, don’t do this,” Coleson said almost desperately after standing up and putting his hand out with the resignation clutched in it. “You know you’re the best agent I have, and I don’t want to lose you! Tain, be reasonable!”

“Goodbye, Coleson, and have a lousy life,” Tain said before turning and walking toward the door. Coleson kept trying to call her back, but she hadn’t been joking about leaving. They both knew she would have no trouble finding the same kind of work elsewhere, but first she was going to take a small vacation. There were things that needed to be thought about and then forgotten, and she would manage the forgetting. Even if it took a little while…

Jake walked into headquarters, more grimly determined than he’d been in quite a while. It had seemed like an eternity of being worried out of his mind before he and Tandro and Ennie had been able to leave for the base on horses supplied by Gordi, and then the trip had felt like an extension of that eternity. Not until he learned that Tain had made it back herself was Jake able to rest for a little while, not to mention sleep. But when he woke up he was angry rather than worried, and that anger had been growing.

“Agent Killen,” Coleson’s secretary said when he saw Jake, the man’s expression uncertain. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Coleson isn’t available right now. If you’d like to make an appointment I’d be glad to—Agent Killen!”

By that time Jake was already at the door to Coleson’s office, and a moment later he was through the door. Coleson sat stiffly behind his desk, staring at a monitor screen that Jake couldn’t see. When Jake walked in Coleson didn’t look up immediately, but when he did look up his expression lacked the smarmy charm that Jake usually had trouble stomaching.

“How could you say that that girl did an adequate job on her first assignment?” Coleson demanded, which told Jake that the man had been reading the report Jake had filed. “It was her fault that she and Tain were enslaved, and that’s a truth no one can get around!”

“What Ennie did was an accident, due mainly to her lack of proper training,” Jake answered mildly, enjoying Coleson’s agitation.

“Once she had some experience to call on, she did rather well.”

“But she brought a native of Oliven back with her!” Coleson shouted, then he seemed to regain control of himself. “She brought a native back with her, and that simply isn’t done,” Coleson continued more calmly.

“It’s going to be my painful duty to tell her that the man has to be sent back at once.”

“It would be premature to start enjoying that idea,” Jake advised when he saw the vicious gleam in Coleson’s eyes. “Ennie has already checked with her lawyers, and they’ve told her that Tandro isn’t a criminal so he can go anywhere he pleases. Besides, she’s about to hand in her resignation, citing inadequate departmental leadership as the reason for breaking her contract. You were the one who let her go out without adequate training, you know.”

“My skirts are clean on that one,” Coleson responded, that smarmy look beginning to come back as he relaxed into his chair. “Her uncle, who is a director, don’t forget, told me to put the girl to work at once. If she wasn’t adequately trained it wasn’t my fault.”

“Of course it was,” Jake countered, showing his own version of a smile. “You’re supposed to be in charge of this department, and if someone gives you an improper order it’s your place to say so and refuse to comply. A

challenged order would have been brought before the board if it wasn’t withdrawn, and only then would your hands have been clean. As it is it’s perfectly clear that you were playing politics, which the head of this department isn’t supposed to do. I hear there’s going to be an investigation made, and if you’re found culpable you’ll be gone so fast your imprint in that chair will still be visible.“

Coleson had gone pale listening to Jake, and his left hand turned to a fist on the arm of his chair. The man was finally starting to understand the ramifications of what he’d done, a circumstance that couldn’t have pleased Jake more. “But warning you to be ready to file for unemployment isn’t the reason I’m here,” Jake continued, drawing Coleson’s angry gaze. “I was told Tain Halliday stopped by to see you when she got back, and I want to know where she went.”

“Where Halliday went is no longer my concern,” Coleson returned, his manner suddenly even stiffer than it had been. “She came by to resign, and since I accepted her resignation I don’t care if she went straight to hell. My suggestion would be that you go and look for her there.”

“She quit?” Jake demanded, feeling as if he’d been hit hard in his middle. “How could you let her do that?”

“I decided that this department would be much better off without her, and I do still run this place,” Coleson answered, the man’s snottiness returning visibly. “With that point in mind, Killen, you can expect your next assignment in a couple or three days. And don’t even think about quitting yourself. You have no basis for a breach of contract, and if you walk out anyway I’ll have you enjoined from working anywhere else. Now get out of my office.”

Jake stared at Coleson for a moment, that close to quitting anyway, but cutting his own throat would accomplish nothing.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not quitting,” Jake said, showing a smile again. “I want to be right here when they kick you out on your ass. That’s a show I’d be willing to pay money to see.”

When Coleson’s lips peeled back from his teeth to show a silent snarl, Jake turned and walked out of the office leaving the door open behind him. He very much felt like snarling himself, but held back on the urge until he was out of the office entirely.

“Well?” Ennie asked as soon as Jake came out into the corridor, Tandro’s expression almost as intense as hers. “Did you find out where Tain is?”

“Coleson refused to talk about Tain except to tell me that she quit,” Jake answered, frustration beginning to fill him. “Since we already know she isn’t at her apartment or with any of her friends, I don’t know where the hell she is.”

“Can we help you look for her, my friend?” Tandro asked, the calm in his voice acting as an aid to settle Jake down. “I don’t know how much help I would be, but Ennie knows her way around almost as well as you do.”

“I appreciate the offer, but you two have your own plans to take care of,” Jake said with a sincere smile. Ennie meant to take the training she’d missed from a private source, and Tandro would do the same. Then the two were going back to Oliven to help Gordi abolish slavery, an end they were both determined to accomplish.

“Do you think you’ll find her if you search?” Ennie asked, sympathy clear in her eyes. “If you need professional help, I’d be more than willing to hire some private detectives.” “If I decide I need the help I’ll let you know,” Jake assured her, then they all left the headquarters building in silence. Once outside they separated, Tandro and Ennie on their way back to her house, Jake to his own apartment. Tandro had looked uncomfortable in the clothes Ennie had bought for him, but Jake knew the man would get used to wearing more than a body cloth. Most planets weren’t as warm as Oliven…