Do Unto Others: Chapter Nine

    Alex thought he’d enjoy this after action review.  He held good cards and Bryan was indebted to him.

    After the thanks and grins and all around ice cracking, he got to the point fast.

    “One of the positive things, if there is such, is that it’s helping the claim with the government to allow us heavier weapons.”

    “Obviously I support safety, and the best tools for the job,” Prescot said.  “However, there’s also a PR issue and a personal moral issue.  I can’t have anyone killed, no matter how richly they deserve it, by my daughter’s security detail.”

    “That complicates things for us, sir.”

    “I’m aware of that and I’m sorry,” he said firmly.  “I hired you in part based on the expertise and dedication you showed evacuating President Bishwanath.  However, there was a lot of bad PR over injuries, death and property damage.”

    “Yes, sir, though that was a war zone with different rules of engagement.  Obviously, the streets of Greater London are not the place for that, though we have a shooting and a kidnapping at this point.  The best weapons available act as a deterrent prior to any threat, and can serve to de-escalate a situation in progress.  In worst case, selective, very selective fire can end an event before it gets out of hand.”

    “I trust your expertise, Mr. Marlow.  I do find de-escalating a situation with the presence of firearms and explosives to be an ironic statement.”

    “I know it sounds that way, sir.  It is proven, though.  Jason Vaughn is probably one of the ten best combat shooters alive, and even at target shooting is Olympic quality.  More importantly, he’s very unlikely to shoot unless the situation is beyond salvageable by any other means.  Likewise, Bart Weil has a decade more experience up close in civilian quarters than the rest of us.  I trust them both completely.”

    “If it’s that unlikely they’ll use them, I’d rather just suggest that they are armed and let that serve as the threat.  What do you think?”

    Alex hesitated.  He’d almost talked himself into a corner.

    “Sir, the problem with a threat is that if you do have to carry it out, you have to carry it out.  At that point, things get bad.  They’re worse if you’ve only provoked it.”

    “When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”

    Hah, got him, Alex thought.

    “Conversely, sir, when you have a nail, you can bang at it all day with a screwdriver, a shoe or your hand and get nothing except hurt.  Whereas one good blow with the hammer makes the problem go away for good.”  Well, until the next time, but we won’t say that.

    Prescot nodded slowly.

    “I see your point,” he said.  “Very well, I’ll authorise firearms and police stunners at my end.  We’ll have the lawyers and your people argue with the government.  But I must reiterate that their use be absolute last resort, and I’d much prefer any attackers be left alive. I can more readily absorb the cost of legal action than the bad PR of shooting someone.”

    And that, Alex thought, was the real age old justification for weapon control.

    He moved on.

    “Has Ewan offered anything else?”

    “He says it was all private blackmail and threats, and I believe him.  They went after his daughter, and forced him into doing it.  She was recovered, unhurt.  I’ve never seen him so remorseful.  The only lead he offers is that they were true to their word.  Neither girl was hurt.  Someone who tried to hurt Caron was shot by their own people.  He was promised a cut of the ransom, which was apparently only to be a few million.  I might even have paid it.”

    “While that’s not a good idea, sir, we at least don’t have to discuss that option now.  I am going to have to suggest all the security be ours.  Your brother can stick with Ex Ek outside this house and in his own matters.  We must lock this place down.”

    “I agree, and I already told him so.  He concurred and didn’t object.”

    “Good.”

    “Agent Marlow, I apologize for holding back, and I’ll try to do less of it.  I do have long term PR concerns for our development, and personal issues with violence, but I will give you much greater credence.  I wish I’d done so before this.”

    “Thank you, sir.  We’re quite happy to continue the contract and we’ll give it our best.”

    He hoped the man took that very diplomatic hint that they could pack up and leave.  He wasn’t the only man with stupid amounts of wealth who would pay them.

    “The last item is we need more followup.  The kidnapping was very professional, but several holes were left.  When it failed and Caron escaped, they knew we were nearby and just ran on foot in several directions.  We have no leads.  Nothing in the building was traceable.  Very, very professional, except that they couldn’t hang onto her.”

    “I understand.  You think it was intended to be a scare.”

    “Not necessarily.  It could be meant as a scare or acquisition of funds, a probe of our abilities, or all three.  Very tactical, which again, is professional.  Not big enough or long enough to bring the entire government down, just a major nuisance that might yield them assets and did yield them intel.  We’ll need to watch that.”

    Alex would.  That was twice now something had gone that way.  That was a pattern.

    Caron stormed into her father’s office, brushing off that African doctor turned bodyguard.  He followed her, but stopped at the door.  She pushed on in.  Her father’s own guard sat in the corner, looked her over, and stood carefully.  Truly, the bastards didn’t trust anyone.  She pointedly ignored him and turned to her father.

    “Tad, what’s going on with Ewan and his family?”

    He looked up from his three screens.

    “Are you asking what or why?”

    “Why!  Dammit!  It’s cruel!”

    “Yes it is.  I discussed it with the lawyers and with our security agents, and—“

    “Fuck the security agents!” she shouted.  “Those mercenary arseholes act as if everyone on the planet has a personal vendetta against me!”

    “Apparently enough do that Ewan was persuaded to violate three generations of trust, help kidnap you, and he mentioned something about attempted rape.”  Her father looked rather angry, which said something.

    She flushed in scorching anger and violation.  Dammit, no one needed to know about that.

    “He was not part of that,” she said.

    “No, and he was very apologetic.  At the same time, enough leverage made him break.  I’m truly sorry to have done what I did, but there must be a lesson that hurting us carries a penalty.”

    “But they’ll starve.  Tad, our retainers are better paid than most barristers.  They had their house, salaries, use of the facilities and lands…”

    “Yes, and now they have nothing, are blacklisted, and can only get menial jobs.  I realize that Leslie and the children are going to be hurt.  But, Merch, he helped people who wanted to hurt you, badly.  If we don’t respond, it will happen again.”

    “So have him imprisoned.  Don’t hurt the family.”

    “Enough money will make prison an acceptable exchange for quite a few people on this planet.  The only viable response was completely economic.  They’ve gone from very upper middle class with upper class perks, to poverty-stricken wretches.” 

    He put his hands carefully on the desk and breathed a slow, deep breath.  “Caron, I played with Ewan and his father when growing up.  He was my friend for forty-eight years, but he helped kidnap my daughter.  If he’d come to me, I’d have readily thrown a billion marks at the problem to prevent it, but he didn’t believe I would, or that I could be trusted, so he went along with a series of felonies and betrayed my trust.  He can’t be my friend.  He can’t be a trusted employee.  The word is out that hurting us will get the instigator destroyed.  I’m very sorry it came to that, but it means the rest of our employees are safer, and we.”

    She wanted it not to be true.  Most people thought money was a good thing.  If they had it, they’d realize what a curse it really was.

    “I know that look, Caron,” he said.  “Don’t even think of making a personal or anonymous donation.  I generally don’t track your finances, but I will if you even consider that.  I want your word.”

    She closed her eyes and sighed.  It was as much punishment for her as for Ewan and Leslie and Connor and Adam and Wynn and Andra.

    “I promise.  I’ll let my friends starve in the gutter before I’ll betray my family.”  She tried desperately not to tear up, but did anyway.

    He looked very sad.  “I hate that it came to this, girl.  I really, really hate it.  If you get any workable ideas, I want to hear them.”

    “You already know what I think,” she said, turned, and stormed out. 

    He wanted a hug.  Her friends wanted a roof over their head.  He could suffer. 

    Bart and Elke were at the bottom of the stairs as she swept down.

    “Take me to my apartment, please,” she said in her best regal tone.

    They read her well enough not to offer any conversation.