Last Chance: Myn and Lara - pt. 15


Brisk military strides carried Myn Donos, clad in his borrowed uniform, to the waiting room of the Corellian Security Agency's Internal Investigations department. The room was empty of visitors, as he expected, having chosen a less than busy time for his initial appointment.

A thin older man came out of his office and glanced over the appointments screen, before meeting Myn's eyes. "Officer Jidone?" he asked, even as he opened the gate between them. "I'm Eryll." His voice was a surprisingly deep baritone. "Please, come in."

"Thank you, Sir." That was an old military habit coming into play: if you don't know what rank someone is, assume they are higher up than you. "I appreciate you taking the time to see me on such short notice." He followed Eryll into a nearby, enclosed office.

"It's of no import, Officer," the other man said, closing his office door behind him. He activated the soundproof field as he slid behind his desk, and then nodded for Myn to take the seat opposite. "First I need to review your background. It's a mere formality; I hope you understand."

"Certainly," Myn replied, his real feelings of trepidation hidden behind a well-practiced, emotionless mask. The interrogation was short and relatively simple: who he was, his assignment on Centrepoint station, and a couple of trick questions designed to catch a non-Corellian infiltrator, which Myn saw through with ease. He felt he'd passed the test admirably; now on to the reason for his making the appointment.

"I'm here on leave, as I said," he began, "But I've been unable to meet up with my friend. While I've been waiting I have been frequenting one of her favourite tapcafs in the Spaceport sector, (she has a short-haul freighter). Right from the minute I walked in I was treated far differently than I expected, and it soon became clear why. The citizens and proprietors of that sector of Coronet have a very negative opinion of the uniform, Sir. It was not hard to find out why, as soon as they realised I wasn't part of what's been happening there." Myn drew in a determined breath, but before he could continue, he was interrupted.

"If you are about to insinuate that there is corruption among officers patrolling the Spaceport precinct, you have to know how serious we take these sort of accusations." Eryll's thin face was very stern as he met Myn's eyes. "Allegations of incorrect procedures are one thing, Officer Jidone, and I know Centrepoint's procedures differ markedly from Coronet City's. I hope you aren't wasting my time with some issue blown out of proportion."

Myn was momentarily taken aback by the vehemence of the Investigator's words, but he saw the ease with which the man sat back in his seat. He realised without conscious thought that this too was a test. "I assure you, Sir, Centrepoint's policies on strong-arming of citizens, extortion, and protection rackets are likely the same as Coronet City's." He allowed his anger some rein in his voice, that citizens should face such corruption and abuse of power in those sworn to serve them. "In the two days since my arrival, I have managed to document no less than sixteen victims of this abuse of power, and I am sure, given time and resources, many more would be uncovered." He retrieved his datapad from his thigh pocket. "I have here a list of specifics, including offenders, victims, dates and amounts…"

He looked up from his task, only to meet the wide smile of the Investigator. "I was told you were a firebrand, Jidone, but I confess you surprise me." He reached out a hand to take the datapad, and gave it a quick scan, his eyebrow raising in admiration at the sheer amount of evidence Myn had gathered. "This is good work you've done, Officer."

"Thank you, Sir." Myn hid his consternation and surprise well, both in his voice tone and his facial expression. "So, this news does not come as any surprise to you, Sir?"

"No, certainly not!" Eryll reassured him with that same broad smile. "This sort of thing crops up often enough: we're quite familiar with the procedure." He glanced once more over the datapad, and then laid it down on the desk between them. "You've done some solid work, here, Jidone, and I'll be quite glad to make a copy of your notes and send them along to the Investigators who are looking into this case already. While I'm sure they have quite a lot of your data already, perhaps your unique perspective will be of some use in the ongoing investigation."

Myn nodded, and the Chief Investigator made a copy of the pertinent files on the datapad. "I'm sure you understand how it is. We want to catch them as much as you do, but this is still in the evidence-gathering stages. We need to take more time and follow all the procedures in place, if we are to nail down a solid case against the offenders."

Again, Myn nodded, but he couldn't help but feel a slump to his shoulders as he realised he likely wouldn't be able to see this case through to its logical conclusion. For all that he had hoped to stop the corrupt actions from occurring, there was very little he could do at this point.

"Now, don't take it so hard, Jidone. You did good work. I'll make sure to send in a commendation for your efforts, as soon as the investigation proceeds to the arrest phase." The Chief Investigator patted Myn consolingly on the shoulder. "We're already on the case, Officer, and you may have given us the research leads we required. I, for one, really appreciate your assistance, but-" he paused and gave Myn a serious look as he opened the door, and belatedly shut off the soundproofing field, "I have to ask you to step aside now: you may be interfering with our continued gathering of evidence."

Myn met the man's eyes, but saw only an earnest expression on his lean face. "Yes, Sir. I understand."

"Career cops like you, you have a hard time learning to take it easy and let someone else do the piloting. But you are on leave, Jidone. Why don't you make the most of it?"

"Yes, Sir," Myn replied, feeling as though there was little else he could say. "Thank you." He turned briskly and marched away, determined not to give up on helping those he'd offered to assist with this ugly problem.

Determination fueling his strides, Myn strode back down the corridor to his quarters. These people deserve answers, he thought, I promised to help get those answers, and stop this abuse of power.

~*~


part 16

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