Quaranteam – Book Two (Ch. 01)

December 10 ^th, 2020

Whatever Andy expected his first visit to the military base at the heart of New Eden was going to be like, being brought in with his hands cuffed together wasn’t it. To some extent, he understood the reasoning behind it, but he still felt like the entire thing was an overreaction.

“You okay, hon?” Niko asked him, having not left his side the entire time. Lexi hadn’t been allowed on the base, but as a member of the Air Force, they couldn’t justify denying Niko the rights to escort her fiancée onto the base for what they were calling his ‘executive review.’

“It’s fine,” he told her, as they were shuffled down a hall, two women Security Forces officers in front of them, one on either side of them, and three of them in the back, none of them part of Linda’s Girls, which didn’t make Andy feel any better.

“It’s ridiculous is what it is,” Niko growled. “They’re treating you like you’re Hannibal Lecter or something…”

“Cannibalism’s not really my taste,” Andy joked, trying to keep his spirits up. He couldn’t really get much of a look at the base itself, what with the sea of bodies all swamped around them. “But yes, the handcuffs do seem a bit much.”

“You’re getting the same level of scrutiny as every other man involved in this mess,” the woman in charge, a gruff Captain with the last name of Nash. “We’re being thorough and we’re not letting any of you fuck it up. This whole thing has been fubar in spectacular fashion, and while this didn’t use to be my circus or my monkey, but I’ve been put in charge of security for the complex until Captain Hayes has either been permanently removed or exonerated and reinstated to the position.”

“She’ll be cleared and put back in charge,” Andy said confidently. “Say what you like about Linda, her loyalties have never been in question.”

“It’s not a question of if she’s loyal,” one of the guards said, “but who she’s more loyal to, this country or her soon-to-be husband.”

“Stow it, Reynolds,” Nash said to her. “Ours is not to question why and all that…”

It had been over half a year since the start of the plague, and just three weeks since the Covington household had taken their patriarch, Arthur Covington the 4^th, hostage. Andy had expected the situation to be solved quickly, but instead it had been a tense three weeks, with supplies being delivered, demands being negotiated and solutions being worked out. Andy had thought it impossible that Covington himself wouldn’t be released by now, but apparently the situation was far more complex than anyone had anticipated, and had only been complicated by the additional scrutiny Andy had brought down onto the base.

When he’d been interviewed by Katie Couric for 60 Minutes, she’d thought she’d captured him in a gotcha moment when it came to talking about the infamous poker games that Covington had been holding, one of which Andy had attended, purely as part of a rescue effort for some of Niko’s friends. When Andy had been completely candid about the game, his role in it and how there were some people at the base who’d manipulated the pairing system, a top-to-bottom investigation of the entire base was put into place by the female senators who’d heard all about it, instead of Ms. Couric airing Andy’s allegations publicly.

Considering how slowly the government moved involving most things, he’d been incredibly surprised by how fast they’d moved regarding this one particular thing. He supposed that the hostage situation with Covington had figured into it, as had Covington’s sizable fortune, and that both Congress and the President wanted to get everything under control quickly and quietly, especially before any of it leaked to the press, something it seemed like the women who’d taken Covington hostage were more than happy to acquiesce to, as long as they felt like progress was being made.

The investigation of the base itself had just started a few days ago, but Andy’s good friend Phil had gone mostly dark since then, with Linda assuring them it was part of the whole process and that things would work themselves out in the end. Many of the women in Andy’s house had been interviewed by members of the investigating team, generally at Rook Manor, which had put Andy somewhat at ease.

All of that had been before someone had come to Rook Manor to drag Andy away in handcuffs, naturally.

He hadn’t even had warnings that it was coming – just a large military transport truck driving up and onto his property with several women armed to the teeth came to take him away. They hadn’t even phoned ahead and had opened the gate to his estate without anyone in Team Rook opening it, which made Andy wonder if the Air Force had some sort of override access to all the gate systems within New Eden. He wasn’t entirely certain of the legality of that, but as of late, legality had been a pretty flexible concept in the walled colony.

The squad of female soldiers brought him into an elevator, several floors downward, then back out again, taking him down a singular hallway before bringing him into a large room he felt fitting for the sort of tribunal he was expecting. He was actually dressed up for the occasion, having been getting ready for a date when the soldiers had taken him away.

At one end of the room behind an elevated desk were three women, one in military attire behind a plaque which read “3-star Lt. General Bonner” in the center,” and then one in a business suit behind a plaque which read “Engle” to the General’s left, and one in much more casual attire behind a plaque which read “Giancola” on the General’s right. All three looked to be in their early to mid 50s, and each of them looked incredibly tired.

“Remember baby,” Niko whispered to him. “Just be honest and you, and this should all be fine.”

“Lieutenant Redwolf,” the General said, a scolding tone to her voice. “We have allowed you to be here to ensure the safety of your household’s male figure, but do not think that give you the option to address this council.”

“Ma’am,” Niko responded, moving to sit in a chair behind where Andy was sat at.

He was placed at one of two tables, an empty chair to the left of him, glancing over to the right, where a pair of women in business suits were dressed, briefcases in front of them. The soldiers did, however, remove the handcuffs from him, although they were only stationed a few feet away and they were very much still armed.

“Don’t I get an attorney?” Andy asked.

“This isn’t a trial, Mr. Rook,” the General said. “It’s a military review of sorts, and we’re currently holding it to determine who is and is not an enemy combatant. To determine if you are functioning as a rogue operator working to establish interests counter to those of the United States of America or not. We’re going to review your actions of the last six months and see if you’ve engaged in behavior that violates the law of war. Assuming you are who you say you are, and that you only did the things you have previously said that you did, no further escalation should be necessary. But if it comes out that you were engaged in manipulation or disruption of the system, or the laws of the land, then we will determine if you are going to be considered an enemy combatant, or just a civilian in violation of unlawful behavior. Should we determine the latter, you will be detained by local law enforcement until such time as you are able to be given legal counsel and then tried before a jury of your peers.”

“General, I know you wanted me to remain silent, but is this being conducted under Article 31 and should Mr. Rook have the proceeding explained to him?” Niko asked.

“It’s an informal process, Lieutenant, and if we get to anything that has immediate repercussions, we will, of course, assign Mr. Rook counsel, be that a civilian attorney or someone from trial defense services,” the General responded.

“I know this all seems rather frightening, Mr. Rook,” the woman named Giancola said to him. “But I assure you, it’s all on the up and up, and we’re just as eager as you are to be past all of this.”

“Assuming you are who you say you are, Mr. Rook,” the other woman, Engle, said to him. “I’m not entirely convinced you aren’t somehow tied to a foreign interest that is attempting to manipulate our response to the DuoHalo Virus.”

“Jesus, Maddy, don’t start in with this again…”

“And you are?” Andy asked.

“Representative Madeline Engle, from the great state of Idaho,” she replied proudly.

“Well then, Representative Engle,” Andy chuckled, shaking his head a little. “Let me be the first to say that I’m not entirely convinced of your intentions either, and we can move on from there.”

From the moment they’d relocated Andy from the tiny little condo owned by his friend to the new mansion he’d been given in New Eden, Andy had entirely been prepared for some kind of reckoning and accountability. It felt like maybe that moment had come.

After the other woman introduced herself – she was Senator Caroline Giancola from Kansas – they moved into having Andy relate his version of the last six months or so to the tribunal. It was a long and winding story, but Andy did his best to relay all the information he had now, even at points in the story before he might have had it, starting with his friend Phil Marcos getting a few strings pulled to get Andy high in the priority list, as well as redirecting him to live within the walls of New Eden.

Andy knew Phil hadn’t technically done anything wrong, but that the tribunal might have found concerns with the spirit of Phil’s actions. Andy did, however, make a point to call out how as far as he knew, Phil had never stepped outside of the things he was allowed to do at any point, and that in many ways, Phil was acting similarly to thousands of others in the system – trying to take care of his family and friends. Was it abusing his position and privilege? Perhaps, but he hadn’t set down any of the rules he’d used to keep Andy and his family safe.