“I wouldn’t worry too much about Chairman Darius if I were you,” the agent interrupted, “Right now, I’m asking you: what is the nature of the project that you lead?”
“…We’re working on a new, ship-worthy fusion reactor.” Aster replied hesitantly.
“Incorporating xenotech?”
“No!”
“Is there a J.E. Co. facility on Loki?” the senior agent abruptly changed tack.
“Yes.” Aster confirmed, “It’s a small R&D lab.”
“How small and what was its purpose?”
“A couple of hundred staff were stationed there to carry out experiments which couldn’t be safely conducted here on Asgard.” Aster explained.
“To your knowledge, did any of these experiments involve xenotechnology?”
“Of course not!”
“How do you know?” the senior agent pressed, unconvinced.
“What do you mean ‘how do I know’?”
“I mean exactly that: how do you know that your colleagues at the Loki facility were not conducting experiments involving xenotechnology?”
“Ok, suppose I give you two cups of coffee,” Aster explained, doing her irritated best to sound patient, “one made from hydroponically-grown, hand-ground coffee beans, the other synthesised in a lab. How would you know which was which?”
“Ok, how would I know?”
“You wouldn’t, because both are cups of fucking coffee.” Aster said in exasperation, “there’s no way to tell which process was used to make the cup of coffee because both would taste exactly the same. Unless you can prove that there’s a single scrap of xenotech anywhere in this building, you’re wasting your time.”
“Have you or anyone in your team ever visited the Loki facility?” the agent asked.
“No I haven’t, Dr Lawrence Kane is the one with liaison responsibilities.”
“‘Liaison responsibilities’?” the agent cocked an eyebrow.
“He’s the one who visits the facility regularly to liaise with the on-site researchers.”
“How frequently?”
“You’re the almighty DNI, for Terra’s sake,” Aster’s impatience was boiling over again, “can’t you just access the records to find all of this out?”
“We can, and we did.” The agent replied, “and, funny thing, there’s no record of a facility of any kind registered on Loki.”
Aster’s irritation evaporated into incredulity.
“What…what do you mean?” Aster asked, hesitant to find out.
“You just told me that Dr Kane was ‘liaising’ with the staff of an R&D facility,” the agent repeated, “a facility which, apparently, doesn’t exist. So either our records are woefully out-of-date, or you just revealed the existence of an illegal research facility.”
The agent paused to let that information sink in. Aster had no answer.
“I…I…” Aster’s voice began to falter.
“You…you…” the agent replied in a vaguely mocking tone, “You of course had no idea that your employer would break the law and lie to its own staff. Although, given that you’re the project-lead, it’s a little hard to believe that you or your staff could be left so completely in the dark about a ‘small’ R&D lab with several hundred staff.”
“Ok, fuck you.” Aster exclaimed, rising from her seat as her patience finally ran out, “I’m going to make a call.”
“To a legal advocate?” the agent raised a hand to stop Aster from leaving.
“Actually, to someone a lot more senior than you are.” Aster retorted, swatting the senior agent’s hand away from her chest.
“Oh, you mean the man who put that lovely ring on your finger.”
Aster froze up.
“I saw the shared surname in your file,” the senior agent continued, “and his file is off limits to pretty much everyone except the Masterminds. I mention that because a family connection to the DNI would make any charges against you more serious, not less.”
“Do you get off on this whole routine?”
“If you’re asking me if I enjoy putting corporates in their places,” the agent answered with a smirk, “we all do. If you found an alien doomsday weapon, you’d auction it off to the highest bidder without a second thought. Profit over people, now and always.”
“‘Corporates’ funded most of the civil research and space exploration over the past 500 years, and they still do.” Aster shot back defensively.
“That’s awfully high praise from a colonial.” the agent retorted.
Aster’s eye began to twitch. This DNI bitch had just crossed a very sensitive line.
“I hear some of the corporates really sucked the life out of a lot of their ‘investments’.” the agent remarked with barely suppressed smugness, “I’m curious, how did someone who grew up at the mercy of the corporates end up working for them?”
Aster swung her fist at the DNI agent as she lunged forward. The agent deftly caught Aster’s wrist and twisted it behind her back, pinning her face-down on the couch.
“Relax, sweetheart.” The agent said as she straddled Aster’s back.
She pressed Aster’s wrist firmly against her back with one hand whilst holding her head down with the other, then spoke into her comm. piece.
“Did you get all of that?” she asked the person on the other end.
“You fucking government pig!” Aster snarled.
“Understood,” the agent said, ignoring Aster, “I’ll let her go.”
The senior agent leapt off the couch, releasing Aster’s wrist in the same motion.
“What the fuck was that about?!” Aster demanded, climbing off the couch.
“Physio-Behavioural Analysis,” the agent explained calmly, “it’s the most effective, non-invasive field-interrogation technique we have.”
“So all of that was just to bait me into a response?” Aster demanded.
“Pretty much.” Came the nonchalant reply, “You can re-join the others now.”
Visibly fuming, Aster stormed out of the office.
She was still fuming as she returned to the break room. What business did that DNI bitch have taunting her about her colonial background? Like it wasn’t bad enough being threatened with career-ending criminal charges.
Even so, she had nepotistically tried to invoke her high-ranking husband as some sort of trump-card, like the DNI didn’t already know everything about her. Amidst the anger and confusion, it occurred to her that she had potentially put his credibility on the line, a short-sighted and selfish thing to do.
The DNI agents directed her back to the break room where they still had her colleagues under guard, surrounding them like a holding pen made of black body armour.
“Did they put you through the PBA questioning as well?” Felix asked.
Still fuming with residual anger, Aster brushed him away without an answer.
“I’m guessing yes.” His expression revealing that he too had been put through the process, “look, the thing works by pushing your buttons and reading your responses to see if you’re lying or hiding something. If you were in trouble, you’d know it by now.”
“I don’t care, Felix.” Aster hissed back.
Felix let the issue go, giving her a few moments to cool down.
“Did you secure all the data?” Aster whispered, her anger giving way to a clearer head.
“Yes.” Felix whispered back, “All the project data and research notes were backed up to one of the offsite servers. Even the DNI can’t touch it.”
“Good.” Aster replied, breathing a little easier, “If I’d known the DNI was going to raid the building, I would have taken the whole day off.”
“And leave us to face the music alone?” Felix asked, miffed.
“That’s my prerogative as your boss.” Aster replied jokingly.
They chuckled, covering their mouths to smother the sound.
“Is something funny?” one of the DNI agents demanded sternly.
“Nothing.” Aster replied, stiffening up.
She and Felix waited until the agent had moved on before continuing their conversation.