Chương 73

The papers did not arrive until after nine. They spent the intervening hours in the old faculty lounge, waiting for decisions made elsewhere. Coffee was refilled twice. An adjutant came through from time to time with updates. The aircraft was delayed, then the delay was lifted. The line to Orlando was established, then interrupted. The Collective office handling Jennifer's release agreed in principle but still required the documents.

Wainwright's recommendation that the three of them leave remained in force, and their refusal remained on record. Constantine called again that evening, this time with an update rather than another argument. He had already set the necessary offices in motion, and he sounded angry that they still needed time. The Orlando consulate had processed Jennifer Hargrove's emergency grant of citizenship. The Consul General had signed the grant. Her identity packet and travel papers were on their way.

He had also spoken directly with the First Consul of the Collective. Harvey Hawks had done everything he could at the central level. Florida still held custody, and the transfer could not proceed until the state verified the papers. Constantine again ordered Louis, Angelique, and Gladice to take the transport. They refused again. After that, no one spoke much. Even Gladice went quiet. There was nothing left to argue about. They had said they would stay, so they waited.

The knock came at last, the door opened, and an adjutant stepped inside with a gray document pouch in both hands. A dark-haired man in a plain civilian suit stood behind her. He wore a small Dominion flag pin on his lapel.

"Mr. Collins," the adjutant said.

"Miss Bourbon. Sergeant Simington. The documentation has been received and accepted for review. Miss Hargrove is ready to be seen." Louis was already on his feet. The man stepped forward and held out the pouch.

"Good evening, Mr. Collins. I am Deputy Consul Reyes," he said.

"The Consul General sends his regards. The packet contains the grant instrument, identity confirmation, temporary travel documents, and the oath text. You are designated as witness and receiving representative for the mission." Louis took the pouch. The seal had already been cut. Reyes lowered his voice.

"Director Clark has agreed to release her, provided she takes the oath in his presence and the transfer is entered into the record." Louis nodded.

"Understood." They were taken to a former guidance office at the end of a side corridor off the gym. A folding table and four chairs filled most of the room. Three flags stood behind the table: the Free State Collective in the center, Florida to the right, and the Dominion of the Pacific to the left. The Dominion flag had been clipped to a temporary stand and weighted with a crate of radio batteries. Jennifer sat between two Collective officers. Her hair had been brushed back but had fallen loose again.

Her clothes were wrinkled from hours in the chair. There were dark shadows under her eyes, and her shoulders had rounded forward. She held the edge of the chair with both hands and looked up slowly when the door opened. When she saw Louis, her fingers loosened around the chair. Her shoulders dropped, and she breathed out. Angelique entered behind him and stood to one side. Gladice stopped near the door. With everyone in place, it looked like a small ceremony, though no one called it one.

Director Clark looked at the document pouch in Louis's hand.

"Mr. Collins," he said, "for the record, the Free State Collective has received emergency papers identifying Jennifer E. Hargrove as newly recognized under Dominion protection. Before release, we require personal acknowledgment from the subject and receipt of oath under your mission's delegated authority. You understand?"

"I do," he said. The captain nodded once.

"Proceed." Louis opened the pouch. The first sheet bore the seal of the Orlando Consular Office and three signatures in different inks. The second was the emergency grant. The third, clipped behind it, was the oath. He looked at Jennifer. She looked back at him. He moved to the table and stood across from her with the documents in one hand. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. For a moment, Louis noticed only Jennifer, the documents, and the three flags behind her.

He set the first sheet down before the FSC officers, then kept the oath in his hand.

"Jennifer," he said. She swallowed.

"Yes."

"Stand." She stood. The chair legs scraped across the floor. Director Clark folded his hands over the file and waited. The captain held her pen above the signature line. Louis read from the page. The formal words made his voice sound unfamiliar.

"State your full name." Jennifer took a breath.

"Jennifer Elizabeth Hargrove." For a moment, Louis thought of the house she had left and of Theodore Hargrove, whose orders still moved soldiers across state lines. Then he read the next line.

"Do you freely renounce all claim of protection from the Holy States of Dixie and submit yourself to the protection of the Dominion of the Pacific?" Jennifer's expression tightened at the question. She answered anyway.

"I do." Louis went on.

"Do you swear loyalty to the Dominion of the Pacific, obedience to its leadership, and to answer truthfully in all matters concerning your status and protection?" This time she answered more quickly, though more quietly.

"I do." Distant artillery sounded again, and a low concussion passed through the walls. Louis kept his eyes on Jennifer as he spoke the final line.

"Then," he said, "by emergency authority vested in this mission and delegated to me for this purpose, your oath is received. Your status is recognized. You now stand under the protection of the Dominion of the Pacific." Jennifer closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was still pale and exhausted. Director Clark signed. The captain signed after him. She turned the file toward Reyes. He signed as witness and slid the signed pages into the pouch. Louis folded the oath sheet and returned it to the pouch.

His hand shook as he did so. He had been standing rigidly. When he relaxed, his shoulders ached. The captain said, "Miss Hargrove, you are released into mission custody. The Collective retains the right to future inquiry through diplomatic channels." Gladice snorted at that. Jennifer did not answer the captain. She looked only at Louis. He stepped around the table and held out his hand. She stared at it for a moment, then took it. Her hand was colder than he expected and trembling against his.

He held it and spoke quietly.

"Come on." The chair scraped again as Jennifer stepped away from it. Her knees buckled. Angelique reached her and took her other arm. Gladice moved to her other side. The Collective captain watched and said nothing. A heavier blast sounded to the north. The room jolted, and dust fell from the ceiling. Jennifer flinched. Angelique tightened her grip and steadied her.

"What was that?" Jennifer asked.

"Artillery," Gladice said. An adjutant entered with two armed escorts and a field jacket over one arm.

"Mr. Collins, you and your party are going to the airport now. Move." He handed the jacket to Jennifer. She put it on. The sleeves were too long. She rolled them back, but they slipped down again.

"Transport is moving," the adjutant said.

"The road to the airfield may be exposed. We have an escort ready. Stay low and stay inside the vehicle until you reach the tarmac." As they left, a quartermaster clerk hurried over with Louis's M1911, Angelique's knife, and Jennifer's valise. The weapons had been released under the transfer authorization. At the side exit, two soldiers were waiting with four sets of body armor and ballistic helmets. They helped the group into the vests and tightened the straps. Jennifer's had to be pulled tight at both sides.

Louis fastened his chin strap while keeping one hand on his cane. They followed the soldiers through the sandbagged passage to the motor pool, where three armored vehicles waited under the floodlights. Gunners stood behind the shields of the roof-mounted turrets. A medic loaded a trauma kit into one vehicle. Beside him, another soldier checked the ammunition belt on a mounted gun. The rear door of the middle vehicle stood open. Its driver and vehicle commander were already in front, with the gunner above them.

Four individual seats filled the rear compartment. A Florida sergeant waved the group toward it.

"Move. Middle vehicle." Jennifer climbed in first and took one of the seats farthest from the door. She pulled the jacket around herself and held the valise on her knees. Angelique sat beside her. Gladice climbed in next. A long weapon case was secured to the bulkhead behind her seat. Louis came last. His injured leg caught on the step. An officer grabbed the back of his vest and pushed him inside, then slammed the armored door. The convoy moved at once.

The lead armored vehicle left the motor pool and turned east through a gate lined with concrete barriers and raised steel roadblocks. Their vehicle followed, with the third behind them. Once they cleared the gate, a police cruiser pulled in ahead of the convoy with its lights flashing and siren sounding. Through the narrow armored glass, Louis saw civilian cars packed with people and luggage move onto the shoulders.

At the intersections, Collective police officers and soldiers held back traffic and waved the convoy through. The armored vehicle struck the ruts hard enough to throw them against their seats. Jennifer gripped the side strap with both hands and kept her eyes fixed ahead. Angelique braced one boot against a floor rail and one hand against the steel wall. Louis glanced at Gladice. She gave him a brief nod, then looked outside. Supply trucks and ambulances filled the road between the civilian vehicles.

A tracked recovery vehicle towed the burned wreck of an armored carrier south. Two AH-1Z Vipers flew overhead and continued north toward the front. Another blast sounded ahead of them, and the armored glass rattled. The police cruiser kept its siren on, and the convoy continued through the next intersection without slowing.