2075 - General Lin's Personal Quarters
As Harlow looked on, General Lin walked over to the desk on the far side of the room, pulled a few loose sheets of paper from the top, then crossed back to where Harlow sat and shoved them in his direction.
“Read that,” he said.
Harlow straightened the disorganized pile and read the first few lines, and as he skimmed the page, his frown deepened.
“What is this?” he asked, glancing back up.
Lin shrugged. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Harlow flipped the page over. “These documents allege that General Frederick Gray wasn’t killed in combat, as previously believed. It was an act of sabotage carried out by his own men.” He turned another page and scowled. “Why is my name in here?”
“Because you were complicit,” General Lin replied. “At least, that’s what any reasonable person would conclude upon seeing the evidence presented here. You received your promotion just a few months later, despite being absurdly under-qualified and having a criminal record, to boot.” His smile returned. “That’s a bit too convenient, don’t you think?”
Harlow scowled. “You know I had nothing to do with this. If that assertion is true—which I doubt—I wasn’t even aware of it.”
“Good luck convincing investigators,” Lin replied. “They’ll probably be contacting you very soon, because Headquarters is going to be receiving a copy of this from an anonymous source.”
Harlow shrugged. “You think they won’t recognize fabricated evidence when they see it? Look, you’ve even forged my signature.” He held up one of the pages. “Is that all you’ve got against me? Manufactured lies?”
“It’s not a lie,” Lin replied. “It’s simply an allegation—a sound theory which begs looking into.” He paused for a second. “I wouldn’t expect much sympathy from the Council, though. Richard Gray was recalled back to service thanks to that incident. He lost his retirement years and his son that day. If he believes you to be responsible... well, as they say, hell hath no fury. And I doubt Howard will be full of compassion, either. As you probably know, he and Fred weren’t merely colleagues; they had a close personal friendship spanning decades. They were practically family; Howard even spent holidays at their home. He may have been willing to give you the benefit of the doubt in the past, but if he thinks you murdered his best friend?”
He leaned forward and gestured toward the page. “And there, at the bottom—there’s more. Not only did you supposedly take part in an assassination, it appears you agreed to quite a few back-door negotiations as well. You’ve been vocally opposed to this conflict for the majority of your career, but it seems that was all for show since you privately negotiated several agreements, all of which benefited you tremendously. We even looked up your travel records. We’ve got alibis for each one.” He leaned closer, and that grin took on a wicked aspect. “We’ve done our due diligence. Nobody will suspect this is fabricated.”
Harlow met his eyes, and his frown deepened. “Richard Gray was bereaved enough when his son died, and now you want him to believe he was murdered? To open an old wound like that, all so you can spread a lie? And what about Fred’s daughter? It was bad enough losing her father, and even worse that so much attention was focused on it. Do you want to drag her into yet another scandal, and such a public one at that?”
Lin shrugged. “You make a good point. Richard may be elderly, but if he believes you responsible, he won’t waste time with legal proceedings; he’s liable to storm up to your office and throttle you with his bare hands. And Fred’s daughter... what better evidence against you than a grief-stricken teenager crying on the stand when she’s called as a witness? Explaining what you took from her? Fred was in his prime. He’d led an exceptional career, he was well-loved, and he had a family. And now, they’ll think you killed him. How will that look, as a mark against our promising young chief of staff?” He leaned forward and held Harlow’s gaze. “They won’t just be angry with you—they’ll hate you. Prison will look like a vacation compared to the form of justice they’re going to demand.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
A long silence followed, until that self-satisfied smile crept across Lin’s face once more.
“There’s enough incriminating material in here to send you to prison for half a century,” he said. “If you admit to it, they might be willing to negotiate—take off a decade or two—but either way, you won’t be getting out of there for a very long time. And as warden, I’ll be watching you very closely.”
Harlow lowered the stack of papers, then tossed it to the floor with a frustrated gesture. “They’ll never believe it.”
“Of course they will. Conviction will be trivial if there are enough witnesses willing to testify against you—and I guarantee there will be.” Lin’s smile widened. “Imagine that—the story of a young, naive commander who was swayed by private interests to do their bidding, morality be damned, so he could retire into a life of luxury, even going so far as to murder a fellow officer. That’ll be a lesson for the history books, I’m sure. And what better story than a years-long cover-up? Opposing privatization at every opportunity, only to turn around and accept those same deals under the table?” He leaned back and crossed his legs. “I’ll make it so convincing, even Howard will believe it. Everyone in your inner circle has advised you to leave at some point, but you refused, and I’d give them a reason why.”
Harlow stared straight ahead. “Your threats don’t frighten me.”
“Good, because I’m going through with it. I suggest you take the deal and agree to the ongoing campaigns with a provision for future partnerships, just as Anders wants. Otherwise, this is being leaked tomorrow morning.”
Harlow took a deep breath, but remained silent.
“Choose wisely,” Lin said. He regarded him with that malevolent smile, then reached for the glass and took another long sip.
The silence continued.
Lin shrugged as he set the glass down. “You know, I really don’t want to ruin your life. It’s more of a headache for me than it is for you. I’d prefer to resolve this amicably.” He glanced at Harlow again. “You know what you want to do, don’t you?”
Harlow could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his sense of intuition flared again.
“I do,” he said.
“What’ll it be, then?”
Harlow paused, then put on that stone-faced expression and prayed Lin would be a poor judge of intent this time.
“I’ll never agree to this, and I won’t take part in such schemes, but there’s a third option,” he said. “What if I simply disappear? I don’t want your money, and I want no part of this deal. I’d simply go. There would be no formal resignation, no court martial, and no scandal. I’d just walk out that door, and you’d never see me again.”
Lin shrugged. “You can do that if you want, but I’m still releasing this. You see, I don’t trust you, and I don’t think you’d actually do that. You’d find some way to jeopardize this from afar, which is why I need to protect myself. So if that’s your choice, I suggest you say your goodbyes and leave quickly, then get as far away as you can, because by tomorrow you’ll be a wanted man. And if they capture you,” he smiled, “we’ll be seeing each other again very soon.”
After a long, ponderous silence, Harlow nodded. “Make no mistake—one of us has to go. There’s no room for your abuses of power, and I’ll never tolerate it.” He let out a forced sigh, then glanced at the scattered papers on the floor. “Unfortunately, though, it seems I should be the one to leave. I’ll do everything within my power to oppose these measures, but I can’t do it from here.”
Lin searched his face, but Harlow gave him nothing. Several seconds passed this way, until Lin finally leaned back and drained the last of his wine.
“Coward,” he said as he lowered the glass once more. “Don’t get me wrong, I much prefer it this way, but I thought you’d put up a fight, at least.” He set the empty glass aside, and that self-satisfied grin returned. “I’ll even give you a generous head start. You’ve got eight hours before this is leaked. I suggest you be gone long before then, though, because everyone at Headquarters is going to wake up to this news.”
Harlow stared back. Lin was toying with him, he knew—taunting him with threats and fragile promises.
He nodded. “I’ll be returning to my quarters, then, to get my things in order.”
“Be sure to take the boyfriend,” Lin replied. “We wouldn’t want anything to happen to him, now, would we?”
Harlow paused for a moment. “Am I going to try to leave, only to find that our travel clearance has been revoked?”
Lin smiled again. “That wouldn’t be any fun, now, would it?”
Harlow met his eyes and nearly flinched at the depth of hatred within.
“I’ve got no interest in playing your games,” he said. “You agreed to give us the opportunity to leave, and I’d appreciate it if you’d grant us safe passage, at the very least.”
Lin shrugged. “I won’t stop you. But after eight hours, someone else might, and I guarantee that whatever happens next will be very entertaining to watch.” He nodded at the door. “I suggest you go. You’ve exhausted my patience, and you’re burning up what little time you have.”
Harlow closed his eyes and remained still for a moment. Then he took a deep breath, nodded, rose from his seat, and left without another word.
He entered the hall with a defeated expression, keeping his head bowed as he passed the guards and retrieved his jacket. What they didn’t see, though, was that the moment he was out of sight, that steeled demeanor returned, followed by a robust assuredness in his step.
He didn’t return to his quarters. Instead, he entered the elevator and selected the Atrium as his destination.