Chapter 1


It was not very clear who surprised each other the most. One of the main reasons was that both women played their cards very closely and did not react at all. The fact that the Governor of Lake Houston, Helen Crass, had a breakfast set out was not exactly what Commander Barbara Reilly was been expecting. By the same token, the fact that Barbara was actually dressed as Commander Reilly, of the Colonial Rangers, was not exactly what Helen had expected.

Helen actually acted impressed as she studied Barbara’s neatly pressed uniform, a white shirt topped off by rank insignias, black pants with a red stripe up each leg, and the golden badge that had obviously been recently polished to a high sheen. The reality of what Helen thought was very different from what she showed. The uniform only led Helen to feel pity for this woman. It was a symbol of exactly how far Barbara’s agency had fallen. It was almost a ghost of the past glory days when being a Colonial Ranger actually meant something.

If the Governor was being deceptive then she had nothing on Barbara. The Commander graciously accepted the invitation to sit down but, Barbara could easily see that this was only a ploy. She had known Helen for a very long time and had not trusted the woman even before she went into politics. The fact that Helen had kissed the ass of nearly every Earthly ambassador, that would turn a cheek for her lips, meant nothing to Barbara. It was also a fact that Barbara had seen the woman do a lot of dirtier things, long before she got this job in the palace.

What Barbara did say was, “well you honor me by taking so much time out of your busy schedule. I like what I saw of the remodeling on the way in.”

Helen acted graciously and replied, “why thank you Barbara. How is Shannon doing? Did I hear it correctly? Did she have, a most recent, unfortunate incident with some criminals?”

Barbara felt like slapping the woman sideways but, she smiled. She told Helen, “thank you for your concern Helen. She is doing very well at the moment.”

“That’s so good to hear,” Helen did not finish actually vocalizing her thought which was something along the lines of, “you lying whore.” Instead, Helen placed her napkin and then suggested that they eat before the food actually got cold. Then she small talked for a while before Helen brought up, “I read your most recent budget request.”

Barbara did not bother looking up from her plate as she said, “I had a feeling that you had.”

Helen put down her fork and, in a thoughtful pose, she came off with an unexpected suggestion, “or maybe I should be taking this up with your new Chief Agent, Barton. I’m so sorry if I missed the protocol here. I’m just not used to you having a department head live this long.”

Barbara looked at the knife that was sitting beside her plate and wanted to grunt in frustration. The bad part was that she was not sure which reason she wanted to grunt over. Was it because the knife was of the butter kind and not sharp enough to cut out Helen’s vocal cords? Maybe it was more at just the mention of Barton’s name? Either way, all Helen really did was reply, “he’s indisposed this morning.”

“Well,” Helen continued, “I suppose we will work that out later. That is,” she took a moment to really study Barbara. Helen did not want to miss this moment, “if it’s not a moot point by now.”

Now it was Barbara’s turn to put down her eating utensil. She studied Helen who was obviously returning the favor. Barbara finally just asked, “and what is that supposed to mean?”

The little smirk sat just above a very deep seated satisfaction on Helen’s face. She picked up her juice, took a small sip, and then properly returned it to it’s place on the table. She then said, “well Barbara, you are the one who is always complaining to this office about not having a proper budget.”

Barbara fought back the scowl she wanted to make when she said, “you’re selling off one of my boats, aren’t you?” When Helen did not react, Barbara then asked with a bite to her voice, “one of my choppers?”

Helen pleasantly went on, “actually, the Colonial Government has recently had an offer on your station’s property. You are, after all, sitting on some prime beach front even if it is on the north shore.”

Barbara realized that Helen had just won. The governor had managed to make Barbara drop her civility. Barbara was also hoping that her last statement was only supposed to do that, “and how are we supposed to operate with just Valley Station? Where are we going dock our boats at? You’d be cutting us out of any operations here in the Arch.”

“Actually,” Helen replied with even more pleasantry, “that point did come up when we considered the negotiations for this offer. Finally we decided that the best thing to do for everyone is just go ahead and disband the agency altogether.”
When Barbara, who was obviously angry, did not reply to that, Helen savored the moment before replying, “let’s face it Barbara. The city is quite capable of handling law enforcement now. Hardly anyone uses your search and rescue services any longer. We now have IFOR here to ensure military protection. You, yourself, have pointed out that your agency is under funded and, to be quite honest, it’s because we just can’t afford the Rangers any longer.”

What did Barbara say to that? She knew what she wanted to say. The city police were either corrupt or incompetent. It was also true that while everyone in the Arch might use contractors for towing and rescue, that was saying nothing about the people up in Valley. They still needed the Rangers. As settled as this planet seemed down here, up there it was easy to understand that this was an alien world. As for military protection? Who was going to protect the colony from IFOR and that band of German thugs they called the Wehrmacht?

Then there was the last remaining point and it burned Barbara up worse than all of the others put together. This woman was blowing wads of cash on remodeling a building that did not need it in the first place! She had the nerve to cut funding to nearly every government agency just so she could play interior decorator! On top of all that, what had she even managed to accomplish in the last six years? From all that Barbara had seen it was hardly anything at all!

What Barbara did say was, “when we start surrendering our own traditions, Helen, then that’s the day when all the big countries have us. That’s the day when we really loose any say in how we run our own planet. The Rangers have been protecting the citizens of this colony since the first settlers got here. To just throw away that is throwing away our heritage.”

Helen acted sympathetic, “and to a point I agree. Don’t worry about your own job Barbara. You can even ware that uniform into the office every day, if you like. In fact, that might not be such a bad idea when I make you my new public safety advisor.”
Barbara just looked at the woman with an astonished glare. Helen actually snickered, “what? Did you think I was going to just toss you out on your ear? Your family has a very distinguished history in our colony. It is fully my intention that this continue. Your name still carries a certain amount of weight in some circles and I think you can do a lot more good for the citizenry from this palace instead of that run down old building you call a station.”

Still Barbara did not reply so Helen decided to also point out, “and what about your little girl? I might add that your pay would substantially increase. You could actually afford to send her to school, off world if you wanted. After that, wouldn’t you like to see Shannon go to a real college, maybe even Harvard or Yale? Of course, it could be any school back on Earth. I’m an Aggie myself you realize so…”

“I can’t believe you,” Barbara said in a dead serious tone. Then she leaned a little forward and practically demanded, “who’s the buyer, Helen?”

That wiped the smile off the woman’s face. Helen adjusted her weight in her seat and then politely replied, “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss the particulars of the offer.”

Barbara did her best to maintain her composure as she stomped out of the palace. She felt like every eye she passed was looking right into her very soul and mind. She felt naked. If there was one thing that her father had always drilled into her head, it was that you never let them see you cry. That somehow also seemed to apply to laughing, smiling, scowling, and any other emotional response you could name.

As Barbara reflected on that she realized that the biggest sensation she was feeling right now was nothing more than just plain old guilt. The biggest reason for that was she had not stood up and told Helen to go to hell. In fact, Barbara had not even told the woman, “no.” Barbara had simply not given an answer of any kind to the offer. As much as Barbara wanted too, what Helen had said about Shannon hit home. It was not so much the school thing as the simple fact that the Arch, their home, was no longer a safe place to live.

That thought kept ringing in Barbara’s ears as she reached her car. Just as she unlocked the door her phone went off. She wanted to growl at whoever was calling her right now but, when she saw the name on her screen, she became uneasy. She also became somewhat light headed, nervous, and just plain scared. When she answered, Barbara did her best to sound pleasant, “why is it I’m not surprised that this is you.”