by C. R. Daems
"It’s as I suspected. Judging from your vague responses, none of you know what you would do until you get to Halo—typical dragons, unpredictable. Although Sapir is not only vague but arrogant…" he said and all heads turned towards me like I carried a sign with the reason on it. "And that’s been apparent from her previous assignments."
Realizing my mouth was hanging open, I closed it wondering if it had something to do with tradition and duty, or complaints I was unaware of. It didn’t matter. I did what seemed right at the time, and although I wished I had been smarter, I had done the best I could.
"And that attitude is in large part responsible for our growing reputation as the Black Guard rather than the Jax Guard. Each time she has in one way or another asserted the Black Guard was in command. At Lanzhou she forced her client to stay with her detail against his will. In Malova she killed the Prince’s personal body guards and had him agree her detail was in charge. In New Keif she ignored the Colonel in charge and chose to conduct her own independent operation. And on Faithful she convinced the client to defer to her approach."
"How do you get away with that, Sapir?" Tzadox asked. Before I could decide how to answer, Wexler interrupted.
"She tells them she can’t protect them otherwise, in which case she will leave. I’m not sure if the committee would like us leaving, but it’s been a very effective approach." Wexler snorted. "That, by the way, is her approach for this assignment—the Black Guard is exclusively in charge of prison, transportation, and trial security."
"I like it," Dorbin said, smiling at me.
"Me too," Hada and Tzadox said simultaneously.
"I’m afraid each of you will eventually come to the same conclusion as our nonstandard contracts evolve. Sapir’s assignments and her unorthodox approach to tradition and duty dictate that response. It’s now her style. And if we are going to adopt it as the Black Guard’s standard, it’s something better done up front. So Captain Sapir, the assignment is yours. Meet with me tomorrow morning, and we will discuss the details."
* * *
"How did it go?" Hada asked when I exited Wexler’s office building. I shrugged.
"We reworked the contract. It now states explicitly that the Black Guard is in sole command of Gasparo’s security, including all guards assigned to protect the prison, transportation, court house and other structures he’s in," I said. The session had been intense. Wexler had insisted on going over each of my assignments, questioned each of my decisions, and grilled me on the client responses before revising the contract. I could tell it wasn’t the way he would have approached this contract and he was not sold on my approach, but he had acquiesced based on my past results and wanted to ensure I had everything I needed to succeed. I wouldn’t doubt he secretly hoped the HTA would refuse to agree with our terms and end what he considered a nightmare contract.
"I don’t envy you, Rivka. There seems to be more at stake than normal."
"For Commander Wexler. To me, it’s just another assignment—keep the client alive without getting any of my team killed."
"You’re right, Dragon Sapir. Commander Wexler has his responsibilities, and we have ours. Worrying about his, or our client’s, will only distract us from doing ours."
* * *
Lost in my thoughts as I was, the shuttle to the War Horse seemed to take only minutes. On board, a lieutenant I didn’t recognize from last time met me and escorted me to Colonel Wolfson’s office. The colonel stood as I entered, and I bowed. His bulldog face looked the same as when I first met him on my trip to Lanzhou. He smiled and waved me to his sidebar.
"Help yourself, Captain Sapir. I hear your name mentioned a lot lately, linked with the term ’Black Guard’ and ’piffling ten to one odds.’" He laughed. "If you have time, I’d like you and your lieutenant to join me and my staff for dinner tomorrow night. I’ve heard rumors, actually several versions, of the events at New Keif and Faithful, but I’d like to hear what really happened. It sounded exciting."
"Like all history, I guess. Much more exciting in the telling than in the doing," I said, my mind flashing back to the dying and killing.
"Yes, an exciting tale over a couple of drinks," Wolfson nodded sagely. "Not so exciting at the time, when friends and comrades are dying around you."
"And they are following your orders," I said with mixed emotions. I felt painfully responsible for each death because they occurred following my orders, yet I hoped my differentiating tradition from duty saved lives that a more traditional approach wouldn’t have.
* * * *
The dinner felt like a Jax family get-together. Captain Drezner and his two lieutenants where there along with Lieutenant Elijah. We shared our experiences at New Keif and Faithful and had a lengthy discussion around tradition and duty. Like Wexler, Wolfson was uncomfortable separating them.
"I’ve always felt separating the two bordered on cowardliness, like you were more concerned about yourself than the contract. Yet, you and your team have a deadly reputation, the black now referring to ’lethal’ rather than your uniforms. A reputation well earned, I may add," Wolfson said, raising his glass to Elijah and me. "But it scares me to think of other commanders trying to separate the two. As I’m sure Commander Wexler has told you, if you separate the two and fail, the worlds will see you as a coward, and you will pay the price."
* * *
To my surprise, Colonel Wolfson met me at the shuttles as we prepared to leave for Halo. "Watch your back, Sapir. Half the Alliance thinks Gasparo is a blood-thirsty pirate who should be hung, but the other half thinks him a hero who should be set free. That’s why he has managed to survive for so long, although he has been on Halo’s most wanted list for over ten years. They only caught him by accident. He had gone alone to negotiate a contract, and while he was planet-side, two HTA cruisers showed up on a routine patrol. They attacked his cruiser, which wasn’t ready for combat with most of the crew in town, and captured him when he returned on his shuttle, unaware his cruiser was under HTA navy control."
"Guard rules one through ten, Colonel, trust no one," I said, bowed, and prepared to enter the shuttle. He laughed good-naturedly and returned to the bow. The shuttle gave me a good view of Halo, a modern city with hundreds of giant finger-like buildings reaching into the low hanging clouds, many with skimmer-taxi pads. Our shuttles were directed to a landing area at a military installation. When I exited, a silver-haired, broad-shouldered man dressed in the white uniform of the Halo Special Security forces met me. Judging by his epaulets, he was a senior colonel. His eyes evaluated me as he approached.
"Captain Sapir?" he asked, pausing. When I nodded, he continued. "I’m Colonel Rickard, your interface with our special security personnel… and subject to your orders," he said without emotion, but it was obvious it took considerable control.
"I assure you, Colonel Rickard, I do not want to direct your troops. I’m sure you are more than competent at fulfilling your responsibilities. I would appreciate your input as to how the Black Guard deployment will impact your duties. After we resolve those issues, I shouldn’t be involved with your troops. Even if there is an assassination or escape attempt, I shouldn’t need to be involved with your troops. But in the rare event that I need to give your troops an order, they must know it is to be obeyed as if it came from you. If a tsunami hits, you and I know only one person can be in charge; otherwise, no one is in charge and chaos will result."
"That sounds more reasonable than the contract wording." The tension in his face relaxed a little.
"I’m afraid the words had to be unambiguous, otherwise someone might have felt it could be negotiated later. Our priority, like yours, is to protect Captain Gasparo until the trial is over, but I want to be able to do that with the minimum loss of life—your people and mine. Avoiding misunderstanding is partially the reason for the condition we are in charge. If someone feels that they don’t have to conform and gets in the way of us doing our duty, they become the enemy regardless of the uniform they are we
aring. The Guard doesn’t take chances with our client’s lives. We don’t play games or give warnings or repeat ourselves."
"You do have a rather… lethal reputation, but it’s the reason important people hire you and why you are known as the Black Guard," Rickard said in acknowledgement. "Come, Captain Sapir, let’s go introduce you to the High Justice of Halo’s Supreme Tribunal.
The Colonel had a dark blue limo waiting. "I hope you don’t mind a ground vehicle?" Rickard said as the driver opened the car door. When I shook my head, he continued. "The tribunal building doesn’t have a skimmer pad, and my car will drop us at the entrance."
For the first few minutes after leaving the military installation we traveled through lightly populated rural areas. Not too long afterward, large housing complexes with ten to fifteen story buildings began to appear. As we entered the city proper, the buildings were a mixture of old and new. The older buildings with brick or stone facing were under thirty stories; the newer tended to be metal and glass, and were double and triple their size. The Tribunal building was surrounded by new buildings and looked somewhat out of place, like an old-Earth, two-story, twentieth-century building made with red brick and a dark-gray roof with a steep pitch. The building, set back from the road about a hundred meters, had seven archways which led into an open-air courtyard, and it had an eight-story bell tower attached to the left side. The limo entered the security gate and drove around to the rear of the building.
"This part of the building is reserved for security. We have cameras that monitor the entire building, weapons, reserve personnel in case of trouble, and a place for people coming and going during shift changes," Rickard said as he slid a plastic card through a reader which brought up his picture and rank on the guard monitor. Then he proceeded through the scanner.
"Corporal, turn off the scanner for Captain Sapir. She has enough weapons hanging on her to set off every alarm in the building." He laughed. The guard nodded, and a second later waved me through. "We will have to work out something for you and your team, since I doubt you are going to remove your weapons for a scan or want to carry a security card.
"Facial recognition software perhaps," I suggested. After a short pause he nodded and led me over to a large blueprint hanging on the wall.
"This is a floor plan of the building. The arches open onto a courtyard that runs the length of the building. In the center is the entrance to the foyer. To the left are three courtrooms and a waiting area; straight ahead a staircase to the second floor; and to the right a hallway which has administrative offices on both sides and leads to this area.
"On the second floor, to the left of the staircase a waiting area and the three main courtrooms. Farther to the left and secured by a guarded door is a short hallway that leads to a conference room dedicated to the magistrates. The magistrates’ three offices are on the left side, and their staff’s offices on the right. At the end of the hallway are stairs leading down to this area." He looked to me. When I nodded without questions, he led me up the stairs to the second floor and down a long hallway with pale marble floors and bare beige walls. He stopped at the third door on the left, engraved with the name, Davide Ulises - High Magistrate, Halo Supreme Tribunal, and knocked.
"Sir, it’s Colonel Rickard."
"Come," a curt baritone voice said. When we entered, a man around my height with a soft, square shaped body, long brown hair pulled back and bound in a knotted tail, and inquiring eyes, stood.
"Magistrate Ulises, I’d like to introduce Captain Sapir of the Black Guard," he said as he closed the door behind us. Ulises smiled as he walked around his modern wood and steel desk and extended his hand.
"A pleasure, Captain Sapir. I’ve heard many rumors about the Black Guard. Like our current prisoner—both praise and condemnation," he said then gave a short laugh when I didn’t extend my hand. "And that you don’t shake hands or bow lower than you can without losing eye contact."
"Paranoia based on thousands of assignments over hundreds of years, Magistrate Ulises," I said and gave a shallow bow.
"Understandable. You are strangers on foreign soil protecting people who are under a real or highly probable threat. So, tell me how you are different from Colonel Rickard’s very excellent troops. They would give their lives to guard Captain Gasparo, have had extensive training, and are experienced at guarding our prisoners, offices, and courtrooms."
"Think of the Jax military as a manufacturing plant. The raw material comes into the plant at age six…" I paused to let their minds come to grips with the concept. "Half of that material is diverted to the navy. The remaining material is filtered again, and again with most going to the army and commandos. What’s left goes to the Guard, although some is returned to the commandos. By age eighteen, when the lowest ranked person qualifies for the Guard, he or she has already had twelve years’ training."
"That does explain a lot," Rickard said, nodding. "I thought the two years mandatory training my troops received was extensive."
"For another thing, Colonel Rickard’s troops will defer to you and the others you guard and go out of their way to accommodate you. The Guard won’t. Our concern for our contract’s safety comes before anything else."
"And if that’s unacceptable?" Ulises asked, with a hint of amusement.
"We leave. What would be the point of staying if it’s impossible to protect our client?" I asked.
"That does explain a lot of the rumors, which did sound exaggerated. What can we expect, Captain?"
"I’d like to get you, senior security and administrative personnel, and the magistrates in a room with my detail. I’ve come with two seven-man teams headed by senior sergeants and a lieutenant as my second in command. Colonel Rickard and I will work out our deployment at the prison, but the personnel in this building need to understand what our presence means" I said.
Ulises nodded. "I couldn’t imagine how the Guard could differ so much from Colonel Rickard’s security forces as to justify your cost. Your explanation helps me to understand the differences, and if the rumors are true, why you are referred to as the Black Guard."
* * *
An hour later, Rickard had gathered the senior members of his security forces, the three magistrates, and their senior staff along with my detail into the second floor conference room reserved for the magistrates. Two men and a woman in red robes entered with Magistrate Ulises and approached Rickard and me.
"Magistrate Maull, Heflin, may I introduce Captain Sapir of the Black Guard." Maull was a short, chubby, gray-haired woman with sparkling eyes set in a round face. Heflin was also over weight, but tall with an angular face with penetrating eyes.
"Judging from the rumors, the Black Guard should be on trial here," Heflin said.
"As you are most aware, whether an action is criminal or not depends on many factors. More often than not based on who is in power," I said. "And, like today, we are hired by those in power."
Maull laughed. "A valid point, Martin. Captain Gasparo’s problems are caused by that exact dilemma—those he helped are not those in power." She held up her hand to stop Helfin from continuing the argument. I took that as my cue.
"If you will all please take seats," I said, and walked to the front of the room.
A security guard lieutenant remained standing while I waited for the room to quiet. When everyone had been seated, he spoke. "Colonel Rickard has indicated the Black Guard is in charge—"
"Yes, that is true and the reason I wanted to speak to the senior people who are likely to come in contact with us. We are not here to interrupt your normal routines. You know your responsibilities and those responsibilities have little if anything to do with us. We are here to guard Captain Gasparo while he is being tried. So unless your current role interferes with our responsibility, nothing will change. However, if your current role does interfere with our responsibility, then you will need to pass the fact that the Black Guard are in command on to your personnel." I surveyed the room noting the various reactions on
individual faces. Except for a few faces with narrowed eyes, everyone looked satisfied with that explanation. "However, in the event of an assassination or escape attempt, the Guard is in command and any orders they give must be obeyed immediately."
"What if we don’t?" a distinguished man in a grey suit asked.
"You could be killed, either by the assassins because you ignored our directions or by the Black Guard because you were in the way. Commands given in those circumstances will be given only once and are not open for debate or thought." Now just about every human emotion was written on the faces in front of me. "Although we are not here to protect you, our orders in the event of a firefight or a pending one will be designed to keep you as safe as possible under the circumstances."
After the senior staff were dismissed, my team and I spent the next hour with Rickard, his two lieutenants, and the magistrates, discussing schedules, duties, transportation to and from the prison, and the courtroom.
"Our security will ensure only authorized persons are in the courtroom and no one has a weapon, so why do you need to be there?" Heflin asked.
"You hired us because you believe the threat is not only real but inevitable. I would be negligent if I made assumptions on when, where, how, or the number involved. In fact, your courtroom is far less secure than the prison and a more likely place for assassinations or escape attempts to occur."
"How can you protect everyone in the courtroom?" Maull asked.
"We can’t and won’t try," I said, resisting a snort of amusement. "The Black Guard was hired to protect the prisoner Gasparo. Any protection to the participants of the proceedings must be the responsibility of your security forces."