"Now, Councillor, to business. First thing I want an update on is the Helfort project."
"Yes, sir. As you know, the deadline runs out in under two weeks. Colonel Hartspring and a snatch squad are on their way to Scobie's World now in case he shows up early."
"Any sign of him?"
"No, not yet. The last report we had put him onboard the heavy cruiser Redwood in orbit around Nyleth. We've deployed additional squads on all the systems operating commercial passenger services to Scobie's. If he so much as shows his face on any of them, we'll have him. You can depend on it."
"Good. What about that woman of his?"
"Lieutenant Cheung? Still in J-5209, sir. She's been kept in the dark, obviously, so she has no idea of the world of pain she's about to enter."
"Pretty young thing," Polk said, eyes casting about with feigned indifference.
"She is, sir. Very."
"I don't see any need for us to honor our promise to Helfort, do you, Councillor?"
"To leave her alone, sir? I don't think we promised that, ever."
"So much the better. I'll be at Mount Clear next weekend. I want her removed from that camp of hers and taken there. I think a few days with the young lady will do me a power of good, don't you?"
"Yes, sir. I'll get onto it tomorrow."
"Good. You do that. By the way, Councillor, if I find even so much as a single bruise on her, I'll have every one of the escort party shot. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," de Mel replied, his face a mask.
"Right, next matter. The deplorable state of DocSec's operational security." Polk threw his hands up in a theatrical display of frustration. "Really, Councillor, enough is enough," he said. "It seems the people we were after in last week's sweeps knew about the operations before the DocSec troopers involved did. This cannot go on."
De Mel shifted in his seat. "Ah, yes, Chief Councillor. Operational security inside DocSec is a problem, I admit."
"A problem?" Polk barked, sudden anger flooding across his face in a red tide. "I think it's more than that. It's getting out of hand. So what are you going to do about it?"
"Are doing, sir-what we are doing."
"Don't play games with me, Councillor!" Polk snapped.
"I don't mean to, sir. What I'm saying is that we are already addressing the problem. Section 40, our existing counterintelligence unit, is not up to the job, so the director-general has established a new unit, Section 99. I think you'll find they will get the results Section 40 has failed to."
"I expect them to and very, very soon, and you can tell the director-general that from me. Now, desertion."
De Mel blinked, a puzzled look on his face. "Desertion?"
"Yes, Councillor, DocSec's desertion rate. It's on the agenda."
"Oh, ah, yes. DocSec… desertion," de Mel said, flustered by the change of topic. "Let me see… Yes, up marginally last month, though there was a significant increase in the proportion of experienced NCOs deserting. It seems the remedial steps we've been taking have yet to have any effect."
"Why not stop DocSec personnel from taking leave on Scobie's World altogether?" Polk said. "That would kill the problem stone dead."
"Yes, Chief Councillor, it would kill the problem stone dead, but that would do nothing to improve morale. DocSec troopers are like everyone else. They like to take their holidays on Scobie's, so-"
"Listen, Councillor. I want something done about this. We cannot afford to lose people at the rate we are."
"True, Chief Councillor, but there's a reason. We don't get our hands on many deserters, but those poor bast… um, those we do get our hands on all tell us the same story. DocSec troopers have… how can I put it? DocSec troopers have to use a certain amount of force in the line of duty"-that had to be the understatement of the century, Polk thought-"and that they can live with. When the intensity of operations gets too high, when the level of force they have to use to get the job done is too high, they start to burn out, and when they do, desertion becomes a very attractive way out."
"Oh, for Kraa's sake, Councillor," Polk snapped. "Force! Is that what you call it? Animal brutality is what I call it, and that's what DocSec is all about. Always has been. Why do you think so many psychopaths end up in DocSec? Anyway, it's never been a problem before, so why now?"
De Mel squirmed in his seat openly, shifting his weight from side to side and back again. "Why now?" he said.
"Yes, Councillor. Why is it a problem now?"
"I think that… um… well, you know what the situation-"
"Spit it out," Polk barked.
"Yes, sir." De Mel took a deep breath. "It seems the Nationalists' political warfare cadres have moved beyond simply suborning DocSec members into providing information. Now they're actively encouraging desertions, telling people how easy it is, giving them advice on how to do it, which systems will take them, no questions asked. They've even established cells on Scobie's to give the deserters off-world identities. Money as well, it seems."
"I did not know that, Councillor de Mel." Polk's eyes narrowed to an angry squint. "When was I to be briefed?"
"Soon, sir. I just wanted to be sure of the facts."
"I don't like surprises, Councillor. You should know that by now."
"I do, sir."
"I hope so. How bad is the DocSec problem?"
"Bad, sir." De Mel's face had gone a nasty shade of gray. "We think the Nationalists may have penetrated the citizen identity knowledge base."
Polk sat bolt upright. "They what?" he shouted, voice a near scream, lips spittle-flecked, cheeks blood-red with anger. "How? When were you going to brief me on that little gem? DocSec cannot operate if people can wander around protected by false identities. You know that! By Kraa's holy blood, Councillor, I am beginning to wonder what else you're not telling me. What else, Councillor de Mel, what else?"
De Mel had cringed backward as Polk's rage poured over him, hands out and palms up, as if begging for mercy. "Nothing else, Chief Councillor, nothing. I swear it. We're just not sure yet. That's why I was holding back."
Polk forced himself back into his chair. He said nothing until the fury ran its course. "I want to know these things sooner rather than later, Councillor," he said, his voice still ragged. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir. I've already told the head of Section 99 that ensuring the citizen identity knowledge base's security is his highest priority."
"Kraa's blood!" Polk said with a shake of his head. "The Nationalists never give up, do they? Now listen. DocSec needs to be fixed. This government will only survive for so long as they are out there crushing all traces of heretic support. The moment they can't do that, the mob will be at our throats. That, Councillor, would not be good for either of us. Do I make myself clear?"
"You do, sir."
"Right, I want two things: Section 99's confirmation that the security of the citizen identity knowledge base has not been compromised and a plan to reduce DocSec's desertion problem to more manageable levels. A plan that will work, mind you, not one of your 'more in hope than expectation' snow jobs. And if that means sending the death squads to Scobie's to clean out a few Nationalists, then so be it."
"Yes, sir."
"Next, the riots in the Ronsonvale Island and Dechaineux gulags."