“Commissioner,” the secretary addressed Paul Matthis. “He’ll see you now.”

Paul adjusted his uniform a tad nervously. He’d been summoned to the Mayor’s office at very short notice – barely enough to grab his good suit, straighten up, and then race across town for an in-person meeting.

Behind his desk, Mayor Aldiss remained seated as Paul stepped into the room. Unlike their last few meetings, where the Mayor had stood up and shaken hands.

Not a good sign.

“Commissioner,” Morgan Aldiss began. “I trust you can infer what this is about.”

Matthis nodded, his nervousness under tight control. “The newscast by Belessar.”

“Newscast, eh? That’s not what most are calling it.” The Mayor glanced at his computer screen. “Countdown to Showdown. Deadly Duo to Duel. News channels tend to be quite – dramatic – in their description of events.” Aldiss fixed his gaze on the Commissioner. “Events that will lead to, at minimum, the total destruction of a piece of city property.”

Matthis swallowed. “Sir…”

“And that’s not even counting,” Aldiss continued, “the risks of a spillover. Suppose Agni’s and Belessar’s duel spirals out of control. Like Rawalpindi, Agni lets loose a wide range of fires – and burns down half the city. Do you have a plan to prevent that?”

“We’re coordinating with the fire department. The area around Brahampton will be cordoned off – nobody allowed in or out.”

“Writing off a stadium that cost nearly twenty million to build?”

“Sir, my men aren’t in a position to stop Belessar, much less Agni.”

Aldiss’ gaze bored into the Commissioner’s eyes. “After the exposure of the Grunters’ trafficking operations, when Commissioner Wade had to resign. There were three other department chiefs senior to you. I skipped over them and nominated you. Remind me why?”

“We spoke about how critical it was to prevent the proliferation of inventech weapons and armour.”

“The Feds may have jurisdiction over ultras, but city police can – and do – prevent normal citizens from getting their hands on inventech. How’s that mission going, by the way?”

“The gangs are mostly disarmed, and apart from a few people equipped by Belessar, most of the inventech weapons have been taken off the streets.”

“A few people equipped by Belessar.” Aldiss’ tone was humourless. “You may remember, Matthis, that I ran on a platform of weapons control. And that we’ve been trying to get regulations passed limiting the sale of laser rifles and other advanced weapons passed for years, now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You may recall the Inventech Weapons Control Bill was sent to the state legislature a few months ago? A bill which, I may remind you, was drafted based on the feedback from multiple police departments across the state – yours amongst them?”

“I do, sir. We’ve been looking forward to its passage.”

“Well, you can forget about that. The Governor spoke to me today – the bill is dead in the water.”

Matthis rocked back in shock. “Sir – why?”

“Because it would make the women who picked up laser rifles to take down the Grunters criminals.” The Mayor’s gaze bored into Matthis. “Political suicide, the Governor called it. And so the efforts of six months of lobbying, buildup, and midnight oil burnt by thousands of supporters – go down the drain.

“Inventech weapons are a threat to the rule of law in general, Matthis. Which is why Florida was picked, by patriots with a passion for true democracy, as a test case – to see if we can claw back some of the more egregious immunities given to ultrahumans. To see if we can prove to the ultras that they are not entirely above the law.” Aldiss leaned back in his chair. “All ruined, because your department couldn’t keep a bunch of witnesses under control.”

“Sir – the base is federal jurisdiction.”

“So are ultrahuman crimes, and I thought the whole point of your approach was that these things should change.” Aldiss steepled his hands. “Remind me again – how many people did the Tanisport PD arrest and detain after the station attack?”

Matthis swallowed. “Nine.”

“And how many were convicted?”

An old pain flared up in Paul’s memory – a pain he’d though long buried. “One.”

“One conviction. Patrolwoman Clarisse Harper. For the crime of shooting a bystander. And while she’s serving a nine-year sentence, the Federal courts declined to prosecute Grumman’s associates. And you still felt the need to respect Federal jurisdiction…”

“I can’t very well snoop on a military base, sir.”

“Sure you can’t. Did you ask the Army what they were doing with your witnesses?”

Matthis flinched. “The military liaison indicated that they would be attending therapy sessions with psychologists.”

“Therapy.” Aldiss’ tone was flat.

“The Army major said that there were specialists with a background in POW counselling and PTSD. It was to be done off-the-books so that – well, so that the defence counsel couldn’t request access to the records or use them to discredit the testimony of the survivors.”

“And you – and your department – accepted that excuse.” Aldiss waved a hand to forestall the Commissioner’s protests. “Never mind, it’s too late for that. With Agni in the city, support for private ownership of inventech weapons is higher than ever. Despite the fact that a laser rifle isn’t going to make your average armchair marksman a match for an ultra. Right now, we’re sitting on a tinderbox until Agni leaves, and maybe for years after that.”

“Sir, we’re doing what we can to restrict the damage.”

“Have you tried to dissuade Belessar from the entire thing? Asked him to reconsider, maybe move the fight elsewhere – somewhere there’s less of a chance of a city being burnt down?”

“We don’t have a way to contact him, sir, and – well – the military has indicated they won’t be trying to push him into anything he doesn’t want.”

“Despite the fact that Agni could burn down the city?”

“DURABLE said that if she wanted to do it, she’d have done so already. They’re also willing to write off the stadium if it takes Agni out.”

“They’re not answerable to the voters of Tanisport, I am. Try to talk him down, Commissioner – your job may very well depend on it. And for God’s sake make sure no journalists flood the stadium – the last thing we want is a bigger body count.”