TBntG-3 Chpt 55

=The Bull and the Genie=
==Chapter 55 - Book III - The Clan Invasion==
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==Headaches and Bombshells==
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===Dealing with terrible Textbooks===
The sound of the angry crowd was audible even in the interrogation room. Katherine, Takashi Sato, and Jake were interviewing a man.
 
"So… you have assisted families in clearing their names…" Sato said. "How interesting, the way you have profited from them…"
 
"I—I merely do what needs to be done." 
 
"Uh-huh," Katherine said. "Smart plan, sort of. You extort heirlooms and valuable items from families, in return for not having a mob show up, and then you were trading them to some logistics officers, in return for first pick on the relief shipments, which you then sold back, in return for deeds to property. She smiled. "Sort of smart, because the relief is a short term affair, but having deeds to property, even if it's wrecked now… well, that could become… very valuable." 
 
"You have no… proof. I was merely assisting families."
 
"And the ones who refused, turned out to have people thinking they were BDS supporters." Katherine shook her head. "And the logistics officers are singing like a little birdy, so they go back to earth and be tried under UMC code, instead of just being sent back to the Federated Commonwealth, which does have a death penalty. 
 
"But it is just their word," he said. 
 
"You are right," Takashi said. "And we cannot convict you based on that."
 
The man relaxed, and Katherine smiled. "So we're going to release you."
 
"You are?"
 
"Yes. Right out the front door." Almost as if on cue, the sound of the crowd got louder.
 
"Who…"
 
"Why is there a crowd? Well, I'm told it's to greet you. We didn't want people to think you were being disappeared, after all, so we let them know."
 
The man's formerly confident face went gelid. "I—they will tear me appart!"
 
"Why would they do that? You have merely been helping them."
 
"I—I was extorting them!" he shouted. "I confess!" 
 
"I don't know, Colonel," Jake said. "That sounds like a confession under duress. I think we don't have any choice. After all, it's a verbal confession, and like he said, it's just his wor—"
 
"I have records!" the man shouted. "Contacts, not just here, but in other cities and even off world! I can show you?" Katherine didn't say anything, just got up and walked to the door. "Please!" 
 
She stopped and turned around. "Please? You're not giving me much…" 
 
"What do you want?"
 
"Why for you to give us all this information, and then wear a wire, so that when you talk to your friends, we can bring them in as well… and in return, I'm told that Magistracy prison conditions are actually pretty nice, and far, far away from anyone who might want to look you up." 
 
"I…" He flinched as the crowd grew louder. "How big are they?"
 
"Not big, but don't worry, as long as you stay honest with us, we'll keep you safe." 
 
Katherine left, along with the two others. They turned the corner down a corridor that was next to the interrogation rooms. "Finished, Ma'am?"
 
"Yes," Katherine said to the private standing by the speakers from which recorded mob sounds were emerging. "Turn it down over the next few minutes so we can 'disperse' the crowd." She turned to Jake and Takashi. "We'll coordinate with JAG on this, but the moment we can, I want a full press announcement about this. Stress that you never know if someone's lying to you, so instead of mobs, leave it to the cops."
 
"And the logistics officers?" Takashi asked. 
 
"Full press, and that includes their role in it. If people want, we can also allow some representatives to attend their trial." Katherine pressed her fingers to her nose. "Christ, they almost blew up the entire district to buy a second home."
 
"Ton of C-bills in it," Jake said. "Some of those heirlooms were valued at a few hundred thousand."
 
"I know, and we get to try and get them back to the victims, except for the swords, since officially those are 'evidence of militancy among the combine.'" 
 
"At least for now, we're just holding them and not melting them down." Jake said. 
 
"That will… help," Takashi said. "But for many swords are treasures, handed down from father to son."
 
"I know." Katherine said. At least we have the beginning of a local police. She still had to handle felonies, but they'd vetted enough local judges to set up a system to handle the minor stuff—and incidentally didn't give the local press juicy photos of guys in battlearmor chasing a kid for snatching some food. 
 
At least this issue is over, she thought as she entered the main HQ, as Takashi and Jake left to talk about other stuff, politely ignoring the fact that right now there was stuff on the HQ that Takashi wasn't allowed to see. 
 
"Ma'am!" Katherine stopped to see one of the civil assistance officers come running up to her. On the one hand, at least they were getting help that didn't include having to use Rommel tanks, on the other hand, the girl looked like she was barely out of high school. 
 
"Yes, Ms. Tims?" 
 
"We have our preliminary textbooks, that we wrote with help from some of the approved local educators, and I wonder if you have time to approve them…"
 
Oh shit, those. The Combine textbooks were very heavy on "everyone shall bow." And half their examples involved things like… well. Using math to explain why one warrior was worth ten of the unproductives… 
 
"Ms. Tims, I don't have time to read every book. I've examined several, and had my subordinates look at them, but in this case, I'll trust you. And you should trust yourself. You don't need to ask me to micromanage you."
 
"It's just that we thought we could use one set of books and…"
 
And the Combine isn't some tiny nation. Every world had its own way of doing things its own dialects, that the Combine had never been able to root out. Which meant that everyone had to try and take the general orders from the Occupational Command and turn them into something useful.
 
And there were so many Goddamn decisions to make. Katherine sat down in her office and promptly people started showing up.
 
Request to fully eliminate the curfew: Denied, at least until the local police could handle regular crime at night. 
 
Request from… Right, of course it's from home, the probably figure I'll be favorable to them. She hit denied on the demand that they eliminate the various state Buddhist temples. They weren't gonna get money from the government any more, but every directive coming out emphasized the need to let them know that the UMC was serious about no religious persecution. 
 
Request to reopen airspace for civilian traffic… Provisionally accepted, pending deployment of security teams to vet the aircraft…
 
Reminding soldiers that technically the "Age of consent" here was 14, but the UMC legal code had it at 18. 
 
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===A Long Distant Phone Call===
A good chunk of them were essentially reinterpreting directives from high command, to make it work with the locals, but even so, Katherine wasn't finished until late in the evening—and that's when her com station beeped out.
 
"Colonel, this is Adept Gulley, I have a real time HPG com from Tharkad. It is your mother and father."
 
Mom and Dad? Well, it wasn't her worst case. Katherine dreaded the day she'd get a com informing her that the Fox's final battle was over.
 
<<"Katherine," her father said, looking way to fragile for Katherine's ease of mind. "I've heard good things about you.">>
 
"Other than me losing the war of paperwork?" She asked. "I thought running a regiment was difficult."
 
<<He laughed. "So did I and I had the same reaction when I inherited." He paused and patted Mom's hand, thinking of something else for a moment.>> 
 
<<"Katherine," Melissa said. "I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you and Victor to… visit.">>
 
"Visit? Mom, I'm running…" Katherine flapped her hands. "I'm buried!" 
 
<<"We asked General Cheng. You're doing well, very well, and she thinks you could be spared for a little while.">>
 
Katherine frowned. "What's the issue?"
 
<<"The Clans. We're negotiating their withdrawal, but there may be issues with nailing down the exact terms, one that need people both the Clans and our own citizens trust.">>
 
"They trust you, Dad."
 
<<"You're right. But I and your mother won't be running the Federated Commonwealth for much longer." He glanced at the side, and Katherine followed his gaze to her own readouts, confirming that everything was encrypted. "I can no longer carry the weight of the throne—not and give the people what they deserve.">>
 
<<"And half measures aren't good measures," Melissa told her daughter. "I'll step down at the same time, leaving the throne to…">>
 
"Victor."
 
<<"Right." Her father raised his eyebrows. "Common sense?">>
 
"You've read it?"
 
<<"Yes. There's a lot in there and we're not blind. You've changed. Greatly in the last several years. For the better.">> 
 
"Getting shot at…"
 
<<"Oh, the fighting part is easy. No, I'm speaking about your change—after all, when you were a teen, you did embody some of the bad parts of the nobility you speak on so much now.">>
 
Well, he is known as the Fox, Katherine thought. "Basic has a way of changing that." 
 
<<"But," Melissa said. "We need to talk, about where things are going. You and Victor may butt heads now and then…">> 
 
"That's a certainty," Katherine said. "But if you're worried…" She shook her head. "I'm sitting in the ruins of a nation that decided a civil war was the best way to handle things. I'd never do that to my own people and Victor… Well, he's reasonable, even if he's wrong a lot of the time."
 
<<"And you're right?" Hanse asked, a smile on his face.>> 
 
"I am a leader par excellence, and the proof is in the fact that it's been positively years since any Taurian soldier of mine has ambushed me in the halls with holy water." 
 
Hanse laughed. 
 
Later, Katherine stared at her desk. God, I'm going to have to have a meeting tomorrow, and get everyone set up, and I hope this won't take too long, but… What was he wanting me for? Secure coms had a bad habit of not being secure, so it was plain that Mom and Dad hadn't said everything… so what was a bigger potential bombshell than Hanse and Melissa stepping down and leaving Victor the biggest nation in human history?
 
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Book 3 - 55