Internal Affairs. The most despised, under-funded department in Code Enforcement. Most public stations have at least one IA officer. Moons and large habitats tend to have task forces of two to six. Ganymede has three. Given the sizable population of the moon, it might imply a few things. It might imply that there aren't many cops at all, and so no need of much internal policing. It might also imply that Internal Affairs isn't a priority to local command.

In this case, both are true. It doesn't help that the quality of the staff is lackluster. It consists of the notoriously gruff and impolitic Sergeant Stevens, the famously lazy Lieutenant Briggs, and secretly ecoterrorist Corporal Wong. Needless to say, Ganymede's Internal Affairs hasn't functioned very well recently. Of course, now that Wong has transferred to Ursa Miner, she's been replaced. By Lieutenant Alex Wells, who happens to run the department now.

And how did this unlikely team root out the tangled conspiracy that led Captain Jessica Clearfield to break her oath? What tales could be told of their detailed investigations, of their hijinks in the depths of this vice-peddling moon, of the sheer dedication and cleverness needed to unravel this mystery? Well, it was all pretty straightforward, since most of the leads were provided by ping, directly from Captain Cartwright. Still, the team's perspective on events was much more objective than Melody's, and they did do good work.

While, of course, offering their opinion on current events as observed in real-time. A bit of running color commentary. That's because Lieutenant Briggs is highly augmented, frequently playing holo-games in the privacy of his own brain. Even while on duty, I'm sad to say. Still, he rejected command of IA, so it falls to Alex Wells. And after much cajoling, Alex managed to light a fire under Briggs by threatening to report him for gaming on duty. Now, the augmentation is being used professionally.

Instead of climbing the leaderboards, Briggs climbs through various substrates and virts on the patchwork exonet systems. The man's augmentation replaces an entire eye, appearing much like a geodesic sphere. Lt. Briggs links to numerous eyebots and camera systems across the moon, projecting several on the wall of his quarters. Of the two-dozen camera holos on the wall, the three men are focused on the one displaying Mel. They silently observe her sneaking out of Alex's quarters, stun-stick in hand.

"Nice of her to leave the tagged sniffer for you," Briggs says, nodding his augmented head. He leans against the wall, hands in his pockets, dressed in plain civilian clothing.

"She was returning a gesture," Alex says with a hint of smile. "And maybe betting on me, too," he adds, observing her heading.

The broad-chested, uniformed Sergeant crosses his arms, his mustached face frowning. "Why not just tell her? Give her the choice as a CI?"

"It wouldn't work," Alex replies, shaking his head. His eyes are still glued to the image-feed. "Not if the Gaian's still have a synth that could read it off her."

The augment tilts his head, scratching his unkempt dark hair. "What does 'Ambrose' mean, by the way?"

"He was a colleague of ours," Alex says, touching the helix around his skull. "A synth who specialized in infiltration; our 'man on the inside'. She's telling me her role, and to play along and collate data. Watch."

In D-Space, a kaleidoscopic virt swirls with colored shapes, with whisps and arcs of frayed code drifting absently throughout. Without ceremony, two Code Enforcement Lieutenants appear, dropping into D-space and releasing a dozen 'sniffers' to bound through the substrate. The shaggy blonde with a helical implant scans the gates, while the thin, dark-haired man with an artificial eye parses code fed from the hunter-killers.

"We got an alert from that virt?" Calls the gruff voice of Stevens from the meatspace channel.

"Yeah, it's the one she visited," Briggs calls back, highlighting sections of code and sending return data to his sniffers. "After dropping the incognito filter, it looks like she didn't bother covering her trail," he adds, tapping his fingers impatiently.

"See these parallel sequences? I'd bet the tagged portion of code was from part of a networked mind," Alex says, a grin appearing on his avatar. "She must had loaded it into a sniffer to mark them."

There's a grunt on the meatspace channel. "Smart," the Sergeant concedes. "She tagged their synth while under attack?"

"From what I can tell," Alex says, seeing several alerts bloom in response to the tags.

"Not bad," Briggs calls with a whistle, letting the hunter-killers follow the quarry's trail. "And she paired them to the tags she left in your quarters?"

"To identify both the virt and the AI to Codes," Alex says, nodding as he logs the data.

"Nice of her to leave of a trail of breadcrumbs," the portly, un-augmented Sergeant says from meatspace. "That AI is gonna track it all over their home virts. You two keep hunting in D-space, I'll start on the warrants," he says, before closing out the channel.

"Why'd she tag the synth, though?" Briggs asks, turning to the blonde officer. "I thought she wasn't aware we're tailing her?"

Even in D-space, the avatar's lips quirk up. "I said I didn't tell her anything or leave any messages. I didn't say she's an oxide-huffing moron. She knows me too well."

The tall, dark haired gamer sighs, a hand on his hip. "She better not botch this."

"She can't spill what she doesn't know," Alex points out, giving him a frown. "She's going off intuition, and I can't imagine a synth could read someone in granular enough detail to see their subconscious. Besides, I trust her."

That trust doesn't stop them from watching her further progress, of course. After visiting the surgeon, a small janitorial chassis leaves the surgical suite. The trio observe its course to the maintenance levels, paying a bit more attention when her destination becomes obvious. The fact that she's heading to a bar isn't especially interesting. The fact that it's a synth bar is. Even so, that's not what the three officers are focused on, as they watch a wash-bucket trundle past the entrance for the second time.

The blocky Sergeant growls, jowls quivering he shakes his head. "What the damn hell is she doing?"

"I mean, trying to find Rosetta, clearly," Alex replies, giving a frown.

"She's making contact with the local synths?" The tall, dark-haired Lieutenant rolls his one flesh eye and puts a hand under his chin. "Want odds that Remembrandt gets mixed up in this?"

"The synths won't get involved in human politics, at least directly," Alex responds, his frown deepening as he peers closer at the image. "They'll stay in the background."

"She keeps passing the door," the Sergeant observes as she trundles back the other way. "Is she trying to shake a tail?"

The three men tilt their heads in unison as the PI whirls her chassis in place. Finally, Briggs slaps his forehead. "Oh, by Saturn's taint, she can't see the sign!" He laughs, tapping his synthetic eye. "She didn't open the camera beyond the visual spectrum!"

"This is just sad," grunts Stevens, scratching his beard-stubble. "She was your partner?"

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"She's been through a lot lately," Alex admits, covering his face with one hand and shaking his head. "She was just shot."

"Does she have a concussion?" Briggs exclaims, raising both hands as she passes it again. "The door's right there!"

"It's like she's expecting a billboard." The blocky Sergeant sits down, sighing. "She does know it's a synth bar, right?"

There's no reply from Alex, and Briggs finally stands, walking to the door. "To hell with this. I'm not in uniform; I'm going to let her off the hook."

After sparing Mel further humiliation, the three are in good humor. After the Gaian mercenaries raid a brothel in the vice district, they aren't. Bodies on the ground tend to sober a room. In much grimmer mood, the three officer's prep for a response on the League's home turf. Sniffers and Biters are parked in adjacent virts, warrants to seize substrate approved, and forensics is standing by. As the Chimera approaches, the three finish girding their loins.

"So, the Captain from Ursa Miner is coming here?" Briggs asks, scrolling through a list of his sanitizing packets and filters. He also seems to be scrolling from a few digital malware-based weapons of uncertain legality.

"Captain Ashton Cartwright," Alex says with a nod, slamming a powerpack into his pistol. "And yes, he's bringing the holo-squid."

The tall, dark-haired Lieutenant turns and gives the blonde a hard stare. "And you're certain there's no real squid? I mean, I heard whispers on the exonet. They say it's why they nuked Europa-"

"That's the point," Alex snaps, tossing Clearfield's original power-pack on the table for emphasis. "It's a shield, for the ship and Cartwright, to keep them from being fired upon. It only works if the Gaian's find the theory plausible. Besides," he adds, glaring at the other Lieutenant, "if there were a squid, why would they actually bring it with them, where it could be taken?"

Briggs cocks his head, then nods. "Fair. They'd sell it somewhere else, where the heat isn't on."

"Why's the captain coming alone?" the Sergeant complains again, sliding a pack into his own weapon with a grimace. "He should pack a strike force in that shuttle and send them out guns blazing. Or let us bust in as back-up and jump 'em from behind."

Alex grunts. "He's trying to take Clearfield in alive, and personally."

The Sergeant barks a laugh. "He wants the glory, huh?"

"No, he wants it as quiet as possible," Alex says, glancing towards him. "In any event, this internal affairs investigation gets a lot dicier without his testimony. We need Cartwright to back our claims about the Gaian agents in Third Precinct." Alex turns back to Briggs again, meeting his eye. "Besides, he's a captain, so he takes the heat if this goes sideways. Would you rather sit for the depositions under the deadly use of force protocols, Lieutenant? Or let him do it?"

A cool silence passes before Briggs rolls his organic eye. "Alright, we play it his way. Less digitalwork for me."

The three officers manage to wrap up the Internal Affairs investigation without any major discrepancies. The fact that Clearfield was killed is unfortunate, and not just for her. Still, no tears are shed for the late Captain among the IA department; the fallout will dog them for years. Yet victory is theirs, and to the victors go the very modest spoils.

Lieutenant Briggs leans back in his chair, kicking his legs up. "So, Wells, I hear you're being made acting Captain, and permanent head of Internal Affairs."

"Apparently. Though with a staff of three, it's not exactly a full department." The blonde man sniffs, nodding with a tight smile. "I'm hoping to change that."

"Congrats," the Sergeant grunts, filling out his report on an actual hand-tablet. "Anyone on your shortlist?"

"Actually, I got a recommendation," He answers, tapping the helix and grinning. "I just heard; Corporal Lightbender is beaming in from Europa."

"Beaming in?" The older man grunts and glowers at him. "Sounds like an AI with no chassis, then."

"Yes, I spoke with her briefly by ping; she's eager for the assignment," Alex adds with a shrug. "Apparently, there's local chasses available that don't cost a proverbial arm or leg, and she's reserved one already. Besides, Cartwright says she's a whizz with digitalwork. She'll help us chip away at the backlog, and she'll be able to patrol the local virts easily," he points out, to a nod from the Sergeant. "And from the subtext, I got the sense that he wants to keep an eye on the local synths."

Briggs sighs and sits up, kicking his feet impatiently. "So, which are you keeping in IA, me or Stevens?"

"Actually, Cartwright says in need of officers with bodies, and you both impressed me. if you're willing, you and Stevens are transferring to Ursa Miner," the blonde replies, watching both men's eyes widen. "Besides," he adds with a wave of the hand, "I have to trade for Lightbender."

"Hell, yeah I'm willing!" The Sergeant leaps to his feet, grinning. "I could god-damn kiss you, son!"

The blonde chuckles, holding up his hands. "Easy. Cartwright's runs his precinct by procedure, and Ursa Miner's a gas station; it'll probably be more tedious than glamorous."

"Ganymede's glamorous," the Sergeant insists, smile obvious even under the bushy moustache. "And dangerous. And expensive! To hell with glamorous, let me live above the damned ice. I want to see the fucking stars! I'm getting the hell outta here and fuck the rum!"

Briggs sits up too, furrowing his brow. "Wait, who's the third then?"

"I'm making another trade with Cartwright," Alex says softly, leaning forward. "Just between us? It's Wong."

Briggs' mouth falls open, his one eye bulging. "The fuck! She should be in prison!"

Stevens growls and stamps a heavy foot. "Is that a goddamned joke, son?"

Alex glances calmly between them. "Wong is coming on-board as a CI. Cartwright is prepping her," he explains, to very ambivalent expressions. "I'm officially approving her for local operations. We're going to rope up any remaining Gaians and infiltrate the Luddite bands. With luck, we'll springboard over and make headway on Callisto."

"She was with the League," the taller Lieutenant scoffs, shaking his head. "How can you trust her?"

"Because we hold all the cards," Alex replies, shrugging. "The League is finished, and she knows it. She was staring down a long prison sentence, so she did the smart thing. She pled out and cut a deal. She compromised, and now she has the chance to do some good."

"She is compromised, you mean," Stevens spits, looking the younger man up and down. "You're reserving a spot on the team and in the budget, huh? I hope this doesn't bite you in the ass, Lieutenant."

Lieutenant Wells gives him a brittle smile. "Thank you, Sergeant. I hope you both enjoy Europa."

"Well, I know I will," Briggs laughs, standing and walking to the door. Before he leaves, he glances back and narrows his eye. "Maybe I'll try some calamari while I'm there."

Of course, transfers don't just happen. Orders have to be written, applications approved, and digitalwork filed with Luna HQ. Add in the reports over the dock and brothel shootouts, on top off the normal digitalwork? It shouldn't be a surprise that the blonde Lieutenant is still working into the early hours of the morning. It's why he's not particularly perturbed to receive a ping at the late hour. Even if the ping is from the Chimera, and not from Melody Cruz.

Alex cautiously reaches up to tap his augment and accept the ping.

"Hi. Am I, uh, speaking with Lieutenant Wells?"

Ah, she has a temp augment. She can't see me. "You can call me Alex. And it's a pleasure to meet you. I presume this is Ms. Sparrow? Or should I call you Captain?"

"Just Sparrow, please," the voice says, tight with tension. "Um, so, I know we haven't met, but I'm not sure if you know..." She trails off, taking a breath. "Ah, me and Melody are... well, we've been together. Are together. Like, romantically."

"I'm aware, Sparrow," Alex says softly.

"Sorry, right, of course. I'm not pinging you to, ah, flex or something. I wanted to say thank you. For everything you did for Melody. For helping her when she really needed it, and when I wasn't there for her. Especially since... well, me and my choices gave you plenty of reason not to trust her."

Alex blinks a few times, sitting up. "Well, I did it for her, but you're welcome. And I can tell you're special to her if she lets you call her Melody."

There's a pause. "I mean, it's her name."

The blonde smiles fondly. "To me, she's always been Mel. 'A melody is a tune you hum'. She never liked it; said it feels too soft."

"Hah, Melody is many things, but soft isn't one of them."

Alex chuckles, grin turning wry. "Not in the least, but sometimes she bottles things up. How is she?"

"Holding up well enough. Doing better. How about you?"

He blinks again, surprised. "I was barely hurt. She had it worse. Tasers aren't pleasant, but nothing to cry about."

"I meant, you know, seeing Mel so suddenly after so much time. And her not reacting very well."

"Oh. Yeah. That's..." Alex takes a deep breath and lets it out through his nose, some tension leaving his shoulders. "Honestly, I've been trying not to think about that. Or let it get to me. I forgave her."

"You can still feel hurt, you know. You can forgive someone and be upset."

The smile grows sad. "Thanks, I know. Really, thank you for asking, Sparrow."

"Of course. You're important to Melody. And she's important to me. So, like, via the transitive property… if you get what I'm saying."

"I can see why she was drawn to you," he replies, smirking. "Emotionally aware, and a sense of humor? Mel doesn't stand a chance."

"Hah! Well, you must be a pretty good cop: you've got me pegged," she says with a laugh that barely sounds forced. "And Alex, if Melody doesn't ping you within the week, you should ping her first."

His eyes widen. "Uh, thank you. I'll keep that in mind," he says, leaning back in his chair. "For the record, are you trying to give her closure? Or me?"

There's a genuine, almost musical laugh in reply. "Can't it be both?"

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.