Jack agreed with Hax about the minister. Once they had him, they could search for

  connections to the rest of the conspiracy. And the Enterprise reported they had another

  prisoner.

  The way they were going, the brig would be full before they were done with this.

  Josie came into the lounge as he was about to call to ask what was going on. She nodded

  at the assemblage before walking to the bar and ordering herself some tea.

  “Illheim, or Minister Shov?,” Jack asked. He felt Josie would take Illheim because the

  idea he might have set people on her sisters would spark her temper.

  “Do you even have to ask?,” she said. “I need you to do me a favor after this is over.”

  “What kind of favor?,” said Jack. He wasn’t averse to lending a hand, but he also

  wanted to be lazy at some point after hours of activity.

  “I want you to look at the old guy who lives across the street from the Hole in the Wall,”

  said Josie. “It looks like he is going to die soon, and I feel like we should try to give

  him a couple more years.”

  “I can do that,” said Jack. He grinned to hide his thoughts. He wanted to ask about the

  concern but decided that would be the wrong move. “How long do you think he’s got?”

  “He could die any second,” said Josie. “I am hoping he will hold on until we get this

  done.”

  “All right,” said Jack. “I will take Russ and talk to this Shov. I guess I can drop you off

  to talk to Illheim on the way back north.”

  “I got it,” said Josie. “I could actually bring Illheim here now that I know who I want.

  I think going down where he is will scare him enough to give us something.”

  “I will go with you,” said Rickard.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Josie.

  “It has to be done,” said Rickard. He glanced at the assemblage. “No one else can arrest

  a prince of the realm. Anything less will be a legal snarl.”

  “Case and I will go with you,” said Budd. He sipped at his cup. “We’ll protect the king

  in case of trouble.”

  “Don’t worry, Jo-jo,” said Jack. “What prince can stand up to you?”

  “All right,” said Josie. “We’ll talk to him and see what he gives us. Ready to go?”

  “Yes,” said Rickard. “The faster we deal with this, the better it will be for the realm,

  and for our neighbors.”

  “We’re going to need a bird to locate Shov before you go,” said Jack.

  “Some day,” said Josie. “You are going to need to figure out how to make your own

  spirit guides.”

  “Why?,” said Jack. “I will always have you around to do it for me.”

  “Not the way you are going,” said Josie. She frowned at his grinning cheerfulness. “All

  right. Enterprise, I’m going to send out a seeker. Keep an eye on where it goes.”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine.

  “Can you give us a view of the site?,” asked Worldy.

  “Sure,” said Jack. “Enterprise, when Captain Russ and I commence the operation, please

  show the action here on the screen. I will activate my phone so Mister Warner can let

  you guys hear everything too.”

  “All right,” said Worldy. “We need a free admission if you can get it out of him. That

  will help us in court.”

  “Captain Russ,” said General Haslet. “Do not allow anything to happen to you. You

  are a key member of my staff. I would rather send in a platoon of forces, but since I

  can’t, I expect you to come back in one piece.”

  “Don’t worry, General,” said Jack. “She is safe as houses with me. And Mister Warner

  will be able to set things on fire in case we run into something I don’t think I can handle

  on my own.”

  “Sure,” said Mister Warner. “Let’s go with that.”

  “Enterprise, take us up to the border,” said Jack. “We’ll drop the bird for you to follow

  while we’re in transit.”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine.

  The sky outside the lounge shifted as the ship turned and headed up toward Shemmaria.

  Jack idly wondered what his miles plan would have been like with all of the traveling

  they were doing on the spacecraft.

  Josie switched bodies and sent out her birds. She and her escorts vanished a few seconds

  later. He hoped she didn’t do anything out of line with the king present as her witness.

  He could see her turning Illheim inside out for even thinking about touching the girls.

  He knew he was considering the same for Elaine.

  “On station,” reported the Enterprise.

  “Ready, Russ?,” asked Jack.

  “I do have one question,” said Hax. “Why Captain Russ?”

  “Captain Russ might have to cut some people down, and I trust her to do that,” said

  Jack. “If there are problems with her testimony, I already have places picked out she can

  go if she needs to leave the military, and Josie thinks she is okay.”

  “Josie thinks I am okay?,” said Russ.

  “Sure,” said Jack. “And the kids like you well enough since you and Aviras have buried

  the hatchet.”

  “I was a little out of line,” said Russ. “He was right to be angry.”

  “It happens,” said Jack. “Let’s go and talk to this Shov and see if we can get him to

  admit that he tried to cause a conflict for money.”

  “If he does admit anything, you will have to take him alive if you can,” said Worldy.

  “Any records you can find will have to go to Mister Glunt to be acted on.”

  “I think we will be able to get you something,” said Jack. “I don’t know if it will be a

  full confession, but once we start talking I hope to have something fall out you can use.”

  “Anything is better than nothing at this point,” said Glunt.

  “Enterprise, beam me and Russ down to a spot close to where the bird is so we can look

  everything over before we go in,” said Jack.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Affirmative,” said the machine.

  Jack blinked away the stolen time. He took a moment to look around. He didn’t see

  anyone looking his way. The Enterprise had put him down at the base of a wall outside

  of a compound of houses. He heard people moving around, and some kind of dog. He

  nodded at that.

  Russ appeared beside him. He supposed the ship had sent him first in case of trouble,

  and then sent her. Maybe she had seen a moving guard, and decided to wait to send the

  captain down.

  “All right,” whispered Jack. “I’m going to call Mister Warner and give you the phone.

  Then I am going to check the position of the guards, and get us through the wall.”

  “Why do I have to carry the artifact?,” asked Russ.

  “Because the signal will bounce every time I have to call on a power,” said Jack. “That’s

  also why the coms don’t work. When I am doing something, they don’t exist. Hopefully,

  if I changed when I was carrying someone, they wouldn’t be sent where the devices go.”

  Russ thought about it for a second, then asked, “Why?”

  “Because they would cease to exist, and I have no idea if they would just miss time like

  we do when we transport, or if they are harmed in some way objects aren’t,” said Jack.

  “And I don’t want to risk killing someone by accident if I don’t have to.”

  “Understandable,” said Russ.

  Jack grinned as he pulled out his phone. He opened it and pressed the buttons to call

  Mister Warner.

  “We’re here,” said Mister Warner.

  “Enterprise?,” asked Jack.

  “Acknowledged,” said the machine.

  “Show us on the lounge screen as we work,” said Jack. “Captain Russ is going to be in

  charge of the communications while we operate. Be ready to cover us with phasers if

  we need assistance.”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine. “Phasers are coming online.”

  He handed the phone to Russ.

  “Just put it in a pocket, and let it work,” said Jack. “All right. Let’s get started with a

  lookaround.”

  He changed into the Vision. He looked through the wall. He frowned.

  “There are two pairs of guards walking around the wall with dogs, sentries in towers at

  the corners of the wall, a roaming patrol through the big house with staffing moving

  around, a couple of guys in an office in the front of the house, a couple of kids in the

  back of the house with some woman,” said Jack. “Say fifteen guys to get through if we

  try to force our way through.”

  “How do you want to do this?,” said Russ. “Are we fighting our way through?”

  “No,” said Jack. “We’re going to fly over the lawn, and enter through a window on the

  second floor. Then I can drop us into the office from above.”

  “I’m ready,” said Russ.

  “All right,” said Jack. He changed bodies to allow Gravity to carry them over the wall.

  A quick flight dropped them on a ledge outside Jack’s targeted window. He got them

  through the window with Doorman. He let his personas go to recharge his watch for a

  moment. “Give me a second and then we’ll see about getting the rest of it done.”

  “Understood,” said Russ. She went to the door and listened. “We’ve seem clear for the

  moment.”

  Jack watched his watch count up. He would need to check with the Vision before he

  used Doorman to get through the floor. Then they needed to hold the office from the

  guards after they were in.

  “Get ready,” said Jack.

  Russ nodded. She had her hand on her sword’s hilt. If she had to fight, she was ready.

  The watch dinged. Jack grinned. It was time to go.

  He checked the room below with the Vision. He nodded at the two men going over their

  papers, sorting through their future plans. He saw two other guards outside the door.

  “We’re going,” said Jack. He changed to Doorman. He gestured for Russ to join him.

  “There is a secretary at another desk to our right. Target is behind us. Which one do you

  want?”

  “I will take Shov,” said Russ. “I know him.”

  “All right,” said Jack. “Opening the floor.”

  Russ fell though a patch of darkness. Jack fell down behind her, changing as he dropped

  to the first floor. He grabbed the secretary and threw him to the floor. That got him

  enough time to call on the Trapster and glue the man to the wood surface.

  He turned and Russ had her target against the wall with her blade at his neck.

  “Jack,” said Russ. “This is Minister Cabe Shov. Minister, we have been ordered to arrest

  you under suspicion of treason and aiding a foreign agent to harm the nation.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” said Shov. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Sit down,” said Jack. He waved to the chair at the desk. “Hands on the desktop. You

  don’t want to lose a hand by accident.”

  Russ stepped away to let Shov do that. She kept her sword at his neck as he moved.

  “Now,” said Jack. “Your name came up in an investigation spurred by an unsuccessful

  false flag attack on the border. Now we don’t have enough to convict you of

  involvement so you don’t have to worry about a life in prison. On the other hand, my

  associate who luckily for you is handling another part of this loves turning people into

  targets with missing pieces in them. She is going to be done in a few minutes, and she

  will be here after that. And then you will be taken apart piece by piece.”

  “Is that a threat?,” said Shov.

  “Nope,” said Jack. “I’m no good at threats at all. People look at me and go ‘this guy

  wouldn’t hurt a fly.’ I don’t know why. What I am telling you is the more dangerous

  member of my partnership is going to arrive at this mansion, and everyone here will die

  unless you tell me what you know about the border with Grecious and the attack on the

  forts there. We have a lot of it pieced together already, and that’s how we know your

  consortium is involved and you are sitting on the board when you are not supposed to

  be sitting on the board. An explanation of how you fit in would be great.”

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Shov. “I’m forbidden from sitting with

  any business as long as I am an administrator.”

  “Do you have your seal?,” asked Russ.

  “Jasek has it so he can finish the reports to send in to Central tomorrow,” Shov said. He

  waved at the man glued to the floor behind the other desk.

  “Does he sign your name on documents?,” asked Jack.

  “Sometimes,” said Shov. “Not only do I go over the Interior Works projects for Central,

  I have to manage this land for my family, and some of the surrounding land as part of

  my responsibilities.”

  “I need a second,” said Jack. “Do you mind if I look into your memory?”

  “Why would you want to do that?,” asked Shov.

  “Someone signed your name on the paperwork forming a consortium with Prince

  Illheim,” said Russ. “Then they sent it to the Tax Administration, and Land Rights.”

  “Do I have the permission?,” said Jack. “If I can clear you, you don’t have to go to

  prison, or be hung in front of your kids. Don’t you think it’s worth that?”

  “Go ahead,” said Shov. He almost waved a hand, but then felt the blade at his neck and

  decided not to move.

  Jack pulled on Professor X. Russ and Shov looked wide-eyed at his form. He supposed

  the mutant mental giant wasn’t as human looking as Patrick Stewart. He touched the

  minister’s mind with his own and searched for any record of what they wanted. He

  found a lot of lesser crimes, but nothing to join him with what they were looking to

  solve.

  He turned his attention to the secretary. A quick rifling laid out the whole scheme for

  him. He shook his head, wondering why it was so heavy all of sudden. He spoke out

  loud so that the people in the lounge could hear what he had found.

  He let the form go.

  “Congratulations,” said Jack. He grinned at the terrified administrator. “You are

  officially cleared of any wrongdoing. I would suggest that you stop cheating on your

  wife, but that isn’t an actionable offense yet. Also you might want to go to Central and

  have your name taken off the paperwork so you are not visited by more official law

  enforcement.”

  “Jasek forged the tax documents,” said Russ. She pulled her sword away from the

  bureaucrat’s neck.

  “He’s hip deep in all of this,” said Jack. “We’re taking him. If there is a problem,

  Minister Shov, tell whomever that he shouldn’t have tried to start a war over some

  rocks. I will also be glad to have my partner speak with them.”

  Shov glanced at Russ. She shook her head as she put her sword away.

  “The Ear Ripper is covered in blood and rage,” said Russ. “You are incredibly lucky she

  didn’t come to talk to you herself.”

  “She’s right,” said Jack. He frowned at the glue cocoon he had placed around the

  secretary. “How do we get him out of here?”

  “You covered him with this slime, and you don’t know how to get rid of it?,” asked

  Russ.

  “Sure, I do,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “I have just the thing.”

  He changed forms to a blank gray slate. He put his hand on the glue. In a second, the

  wrapping had flowed into his hand and vanished. He nodded as he left just enough to

  make sure the prisoner couldn’t use his hands to try to make an escape. He let the

  persona go.

  “Enterprise?,” Jack said into his com. “Three to beam up.”

  “Affirmative,” said the machine. It wrapped the three in a cloud of blue and took them

  away from an amazed minister. They appeared on the pad in Transporter Room One.

  “Let me take this guy down to the brig and put him in an empty cell,” said Jack. “You

  can head to the lounge and then we’ll see what Josie has done.”

  “The mind reader form is hideous,” said Russ. “Can you change it?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Jack. He hefted his prisoner to his feet. A sullen expression

  thanked him for his help. “I’ll have to think about it. We have our guy, and now we can

  move on to the next step.”

  “This has been a thing for me,” said Russ. “I don’t think I have ever seen anything so

  complicated.”

  “I think we have a handle on it now,” said Jack. “Just leave my phone with Mister

  Warner. I’ll get it back from him when I come up to the lounge.”

  “I will,” said Russ.

  “Remember Major Russ,” said Jack. “As your associates get promoted, so will you.”

  She shook her head as she headed for the lounge.