The Slide
Chapter 6: Inquiry & Interrogations
Inquiry
The Magistrate put Tem and Farha under house arrest, pending further investigation. They were barred from the upcoming Satellite Group. It was rumored that some satellite systems that had been dormant for years had been re-activated, specifically X-Ray tech and a spectrometer.
Farha and Tem were crushed by this new information and their lack of access to it.
The Magistrate personally interviewed Alexis Petroff and presumptuously decided to post him to the most dangerous outpost of what was unofficially named “No-man’s-land” or the 3 miles leading up to the inner buffer zones of the Slide. He would remain there until the General decided what to do with him.
“So, I am being punished, then, sir?” Alexis asked.
“No, son, you are being tested. It’s temporary. Dismissed.
“Wait. Wait,” the Magistrate raised his voice, gesturing dramatically with his index finger. Alexis turned. “You will leave in the morning. You are not to see Farha Izem or make any communication with her until the General is done with his inquiry. If the General needs to interrogate you, then you will be summoned.
“I will personally let you know if you can see Farha or not. Is that clear?”
“Yes, your Honor.” Alexis exited.
Interrogations
Lieutenant Commander Petroff, Farha Izem, and Lieutenant Tem Aulclair-Izem were rigorously questioned by General Bayard’s top officers or by the General — personally. These “sessions” bordered on interrogations by military standards. Tem would later call them “tier-one interrogations”.
General Bayard badgered Alexis with questions, repeating some in different ways.
The General (G): “Did you know about the interactions of the sacred metals?” Alexis: “Only through scuttlebutt, sir.”
G: “Did you know about the interactions of the sacred metals in advance of their seismic reactions?” Alexis: “No sir.”
G: “How were you involved with the theft of the sacred metals? Where are they now?” Alexis: “They were stolen? I was unaware of their theft, so I had nothing to do with that, sir.”
G: “We know that you are involved with the theft of the sacred metals. Where are they now?” Alexis repeated himself with consistent denials.
He was demoted to lieutenant, stripped of the Commander rank, and moved to a rotation between Mid-base and Base Zero. Base Zero was under constant attack by marauders and lightning discharges from within the Slide. He was told nothing of the “why” of his demotion, though he knew they had to blame someone.
Guilt by association, he thought.
The General questioned Farha with the same questions: G: “Did you know about the interactions of the sacred metals in advance of their seismic reactions?” Farha: “Yes and No.
“Do you take me for an ignorant fool? Don’t answer that. Apologies, General Bayard.
“I surmised that the scared metals interacted with one another based on my conversations with Monsieur Romanoff. I did not know they would produce seismic activity, but since I had studied them in-advance I should have known. And I deeply regret not having anticipated it.
“But it was some of the military laborers and not the geomancy craftsmen who, I believe, were responsible for incorrectly juxtaposing the metals with one another in adverse ways. And although I did not see direct evidence of this by military personnel, the geomancy craftsman were nowhere near the sacred metals when they were placed in the stone structure on the dates in question. May look at my notes to see which dates General Bayard?”
Bayard shook his head — No.
G: “We know that you are involved with the theft of the sacred metals. Where are they now?” Farha: “No, you don’t know that. If you did, you would not be making that statement for two reasons. It’s clear that you have no direct evidence of that action on my part or I would be under arrest and clearly I am not. I guess your lowly military people have no substantial reasoning power.
“Presenting the accusation now means you are desperate and think you can intimidate me with your word games and, um, ridiculous authority. I’m not in your stupid military.”
G: “You forget, young woman, that I have complete jurisdiction over this matter. Over your lover, Lieutenant Petroff, and over your uncle.”
Farha shrugged and yawned.
Farha was questioned for eight hours with one break for water. The General lasted for two hours of badgering her, complaining to his team that “she gave me a headache.”
The team concluded that — according to blood work and scans (from Réparatrice Première stay) along with her resistance to questions and her abilities to obscure truth through deflection and fragmented tangential language that they could not use interrogation to extract information from her.
General Bayard was convinced that Lieutenant Aulclair-Izem was the “weak-link” between Farha and Lieutenant Petroff.
Lieutenant Tem Aulclair-Izem was fiercely drilled by three men, including General Bayard, for two days. Bayard discussed the “weak-link” problem with his second-in-command:
“It’s very clear that he will protect his niece at all costs,” the General said flatly. “So… Protocol Zed?”
“The final field tests have yet to be finished,” the officer stated.
“Then this will increase the data sample,” the General was set in his decision.
“How are we to administer the medication?”
“According to the trial’s specifications,” the General waved the folder in the air before plopping it on the desk, “we may be able to erase his memory of getting the shot along with the rest.”
“I think use of the gas is better mixed with a small amount of sleeping-agent.”
“Explain further. Convince me if you can.” They continued their discussion.
The General finally agreed that the gas should be used that night, before the fullness of Protocol Zed Process was released on the Lieutenant the following morning.
Thanks for reading and for your supportive comments. Part One of The Slide will be completed soon.
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