Garth Gets a Free Pass

Si Reywin waited patiently for her call to be patched through to head office. In the back of the ambulance, the stupid Offworlder was wailing miserably in pain. She had to admit, the compound fracture looked very painful. A chime sounded, and Reywin looked to her proteus. “Sa.”

“You needed to speak with me, Si Reywin?”

“Yes.” The field agent sent the holographic recordings of Garth N’Chalez along with the forensic report on Tury Firnkle’s body. “This man has just joined the Contestants at Hotel Hospitalis. He’s not registered with the Contest yet.”

“We know about him.” The sa on the other end replied. “For the time being, he is a non-issue.”

“Sa?” Reywin didn’t understand. “I have a funny feeling about this one, sa. There’s something in his eyes that tells me he’s trouble. I think we should monitor him closer. I’d like for one of my te…” “Your concerns are duly noted and the situation is well in hand. Sa N’Chalez isn’t something you need to concern yourself with at this time, Si Reywin. Unless otherwise notified, the surveillance on this particular Offworlder will be passive only: random relay shots, Hotel cameras, in-Arena spEyes, that sort of thing. Are we clear?”

“Are you seriously telling me that we’re going to let an Offworlder loose in the city?” The sharp doubt drew a concerned look from her partner, who wasn’t doing a very thorough job of tending to Gorris’ wounds. Reywin realized she was on the edge of losing her job from the shift in her supervisor’s body language, so chose her words with more care. “This … this is a bad time for Offworlders, sa. The number of protests from certain … groups … has increased dramatically since we started shipping the Contestants in. Someone might decide to take direct action against this N’Chalez person.”

The unspoken blame, of course, lay at the feet of Chairwoman Doans and her overly enthusiastic parlaying with Trinityspace representatives. Many of the old guard politicians and their staunch Latelian supporters looked very poorly on the taint of Offworlders.

“Judging from the man’s records, I would say that he’s more than able to protect himself.” The finality in his tone brooked no further arguments from Reywin. “As I said, if he decides to wander away from the group, let him. If he gets into trouble, monitor the situation, but do nothing to assist him. End of discussion.”

Reywin ended the comm-link with a curse.

“Things just got very complicated, didn’t they, Rey?” Her partner asked from the back seat.

“Yes, Bolobo, they have.” Reywin made the necessary arrangements on her proteus. The agents monitoring the hotel signaled their acknowledgments and that was that. Garth N’Chalez was off the grid in practically every meaning of the phrase; he could go where he wanted, when he wanted. Nothing short of engaging in a direct coup against the government or something equally outrageous would catch the eye of the ever-present security systems. He would be logged and tracked, of course, but unless he did something wrong …

Bolobo drew his gun and shot Gorris twice in the head, finally tired of listening to the man’s pathetic whining. “Want to see if we can access the information Branch has on this guy?”

“Only if you can get it without getting in trouble.” Reywin caught her partner’s eye through the rearview mirror. “We’re going to follow our orders, but I really do think we need to know why this man’s been taken off his leash.”