Resurrection - Chapter 8
It's time for the real confrontation, and the outcome might be a surprise. It certainly was to some folks.
Chapter 8
Dawn brought a new day, some mild hangovers, and the hope that their plan would succeed. Skye and Jemma did a little rehearsing, largely to ensure the Jemma felt comfortable in her role. Skye, on the other hand, was more than prepared to simply wing it, although she knew that without the ability to gain some actual measurements the evidence wouldn’t be conclusive.
Very carefully she loaded all the documents she had hacked onto three tablets and then collected a few other things she wanted to take with her. As she and Jemma hopped into the back seat, Trip and Phil took the front. Melinda was staying with the plane, mainly because the airfield was unsecure, but also because Trip, being Black, would blend in better with the crowd of protesters. None of them expected trouble, but they assumed the worst regardless, each of them armed with an icer and the fervent hopes they would have no need to use it.
“You two all ready?” Phil asked as Trip drove into the parking lot just across the street from City Hall.
“Yup, we’re good to go,” Skye replied, getting a nod and a smile from Jemma. In keeping with their clandestine mission, the SHIELD logos on the vehicle were covered with magnetic signs, proclaiming Bob’s Auto Supply. The phone number, including a local area code and prefix, would, if dialed, connect the caller to a Septic Tank Pumping Service. Phil somehow thought that was both humorous and appropriate, though he hadn’t elaborated just why.
Skye glanced across at the gathering in front of City Hall. It was much larger than the day before, with more signs and chanting. She could see Susan standing off to one side, talking intently with several others. “Let’s go.”
Susan looked up as Skye approached, and her look seemed both welcoming and apprehensive. “Hello again,” she said, reaching out to shake hands. These are the other leaders. This is Steven Jarman, Dennis Wilson, and Clarence Dennison.”
“This is my friend Jemma. She’s here visiting from England. So…would you like to see what we’ve found?”
Susan looked at her friends. “Is this illegal?”
Skye smiled. “Well, I suspect if you simply ask them for the information they’d likely refuse to share it, but otherwise...well...let’s just say they would prefer others not know about these things.”
Susan looked at her friends, and Steven spoke up. “Why don’t we see what she’s got, and then we’ll decide.”
Skye nodded. “Here,” she said, taking a tablet from her case and handing it to Susan. “We’ll cycle through them and you can see them here,” she added, moving Susan’s hands to the sides of the tablet. “Jemma, you’ll want to follow along,” she added, handing her another tablet. Then she pulled out her own.
“The hearing is today, right?” Susan nodded. “Well, here’s what we’ve found.” She began to step through the various documents, watching as the others observed over Susan’s shoulders while the parade of pages marched by. “Now, this next group is more interesting I think, since these are the people who will be making the actual decision.”
It took nearly ten minutes to show them all, but Jemma had signaled twice that she had enough data much earlier. Skye continued, simply because she wanted to fulfill her second objective. It was clear that Susan and the others were both impressed and distressed by what they were learning, but Skye sensed they weren’t ready to use the information. Unrelated to the needs of SHIELD, she decided to jump in.
“Isn’t that Commissioner Blackmun?” she asked, pointing to a man in a suit who was slowly working his way towards the door. Susan nodded. Skye took a couple of steps, placing herself directly in his path.
“Commissioner, how are you today?” she said sweetly.
“I’m fine, thank you,” he responded.
“I...think it’s only fair to let you know something.”
“Oh? What is that?”
“Well, later today, during the public testimony, we’re going to ask you to explain why your company just signed a 6 million dollar contract with Three Channels. I think the timing of that is going to seem questionable. Really questionable.” She stopped, turned to Susan and smiled, and then turned back. “You have a great day, Commissioner Blackmun.”
The man had turned an un-Godly shade of white, and appeared to be quite ready to collapse. Skye just smiled, and then turned back to face Susan and her associates. “See, it’s really quite easy. Nothing remotely illegal. Now, who’s next?”
In the minutes that followed, Phil and Trip listened as she confronted two other Commissioners with evidence they’d been bribed. In neither case did she show them any documents, but she suggested they were available if things went the wrong way. Then the team from Three Channels arrived, and things got really interesting.
“We thought it would be fair to simply ask you to withdraw your application,” she said when she finally got their attention.
The lead man, a senior vice president of the company, spoke up as he grinned. “And exactly why would we do that? We’ve invested a lot of money to make this new mine a success, and it will provide almost 300 new jobs. There are a lot of people here who need the employment we are offering.”
Skye was truly on a roll now, having shed her SHIELD persona for the more radical Skye of her Rising Tide days. “Well, since you asked, allow me to explain. We’ve already talked to the Commissioners that you’ve paid off. All three of them seem quite concerned that we might make their deals public. But, there are some other things that we can mention, and will mention. Things that deal with the company more than the application.”
“We will talk about the emails where you and somebody named Jeff talked about how much you had to pay the Mine Safety Inspector to make him stop documenting the problems at the Drift Creek mine. Those were just a few weeks before that collapse that killed 5 miners and injured a bunch more.” She nodded. “Yeah, we’ll talk about that since your application cites your stellar safety record.”
“We also want to mention the strange and untimely death of Kenneth Boxer, just after he submitted a report that would have exposed your illegal chemical discharge into the Scuppernong River. I’m thinking you’d really prefer people not know about that.”
“Now you wait a minute, young lady,” the company lawyer said, but Skye cut him off.
“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t want that discussed, but there’s one final thing. See, we know that Three Channels is just a mining company. But we also know that the company is owned by Global Resources, something I’m sure you know well. We also know that Global Resources is just front company. It took a bit of looking, but we found that it’s actually owned...lock, stock, and barrel, by some company named Davis Industries.”
“The funny part of all of this is that Davis Industries is just another front company. It doesn’t exist either. It’s just a post office box in Dubai. That seemed strange until we finally found out that Davis Industries is owned by Quinn World Wide. Since Quinn has been exposed as a creature supporting the recent attempt by Hydra to destroy SHIELD, I suspect you’d really prefer that your company’s ties to Quinn weren’t public knowledge.”
“Two weeks ago, Quinn World Wide was officially added to the government’s list of terrorist organizations, and that means all of their assets have been, or will be, frozen. So, even if you receive permission for this mine you won’t be allowed to spend a dime creating it.”
“Now, you have a choice. If you proceed…if you walk into that hearing today and present your case, we will present ours.” She turned her tablet screen so he could see it, and although he couldn’t read the documents that were electronically stacked up in an array of windows, he didn’t doubt she actually had the things she claimed to have. “We’ll be in there, just as certainly as we are out here.”
Skye turned to face Susan, speaking more quietly. “I’m sorry I…I hijacked your protest. I know you weren’t certain if you wanted to use the things I found. I just...I just couldn’t stand here when those people walked by here. I’m sorry if that...was wrong.”
Susan and her friends were stunned. Their first assessment was incomplete. Although they believed everything Skye had told them, they certainly had not anticipated either the interaction she had initiated nor the apparent results of her presentation. “We,” she said, looking around at her friends, “...I...I don’t know how to thank you.”
Skye smiled. “Not a problem. I’m hoping the problem will go away.” She pointed to the tablet. “You can keep that. It’s loaded with all the documents I dug up,” she added, reaching into her jacket pocket. “Here,” she said, handing over a flash drive, “this has all the same files…in case…in case something happens to the first copies.”
Skye motioned to the City Hall. “What gets said here is up to you. I don’t even know if there will be a hearing. I suspect that somebody is going to ask for a continuance, and it will likely be easily granted. Maybe they’ll ask to amend their application.” She turned to Jemma. “We have what we needed, right?”
Jemma smiled. “Oh, yes. I’ve certainly learned a lot. I don’t know if it works the same way in the UK, but I think I’ve got some good ideas for the future.”
Those were the key words Skye needed to hear. “Well, I guess we’ll be off.”
“You’re not staying?” Susan asked, surprised that Skye was so anxious to go.”
“No, I think we’ve accomplished what we wanted to do. There are other people…and other issues that endanger the world still out there. I discovered some things about a prostitution ring in Memphis, so we’re going to see if we can expose them,” she said, shaking her head. “There are hundreds of girls who have been enslaved, and this ring looks pretty big.”
“It was nice meeting you,” Jemma offered, shaking Susan’s hand and nodding at the rest of the group. After a couple more relatively meaningless platitudes Skye and Jemma said good-bye, pleasantly surprised that no one seemed to be interested in following them.
* * * * *
“Jemma?”
“Nothing. Not a squeak. She’s more normal than almost anyone I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a single blip.”
“Skye?”
“She’s normal. I felt nothing at all. Coul…Phil, she’s clean. We should let her be.”
“Anybody disagree?” The entire team said nothing. “Okay, then we write her off the list. Let’s get in the air and find the next one.” Then he turned to face Skye. “Nice job, Skye. Thanks for taking the lead.”
to be continue….
Chapter 8
Dawn brought a new day, some mild hangovers, and the hope that their plan would succeed. Skye and Jemma did a little rehearsing, largely to ensure the Jemma felt comfortable in her role. Skye, on the other hand, was more than prepared to simply wing it, although she knew that without the ability to gain some actual measurements the evidence wouldn’t be conclusive.
Very carefully she loaded all the documents she had hacked onto three tablets and then collected a few other things she wanted to take with her. As she and Jemma hopped into the back seat, Trip and Phil took the front. Melinda was staying with the plane, mainly because the airfield was unsecure, but also because Trip, being Black, would blend in better with the crowd of protesters. None of them expected trouble, but they assumed the worst regardless, each of them armed with an icer and the fervent hopes they would have no need to use it.
“You two all ready?” Phil asked as Trip drove into the parking lot just across the street from City Hall.
“Yup, we’re good to go,” Skye replied, getting a nod and a smile from Jemma. In keeping with their clandestine mission, the SHIELD logos on the vehicle were covered with magnetic signs, proclaiming Bob’s Auto Supply. The phone number, including a local area code and prefix, would, if dialed, connect the caller to a Septic Tank Pumping Service. Phil somehow thought that was both humorous and appropriate, though he hadn’t elaborated just why.
Skye glanced across at the gathering in front of City Hall. It was much larger than the day before, with more signs and chanting. She could see Susan standing off to one side, talking intently with several others. “Let’s go.”
Susan looked up as Skye approached, and her look seemed both welcoming and apprehensive. “Hello again,” she said, reaching out to shake hands. These are the other leaders. This is Steven Jarman, Dennis Wilson, and Clarence Dennison.”
“This is my friend Jemma. She’s here visiting from England. So…would you like to see what we’ve found?”
Susan looked at her friends. “Is this illegal?”
Skye smiled. “Well, I suspect if you simply ask them for the information they’d likely refuse to share it, but otherwise...well...let’s just say they would prefer others not know about these things.”
Susan looked at her friends, and Steven spoke up. “Why don’t we see what she’s got, and then we’ll decide.”
Skye nodded. “Here,” she said, taking a tablet from her case and handing it to Susan. “We’ll cycle through them and you can see them here,” she added, moving Susan’s hands to the sides of the tablet. “Jemma, you’ll want to follow along,” she added, handing her another tablet. Then she pulled out her own.
“The hearing is today, right?” Susan nodded. “Well, here’s what we’ve found.” She began to step through the various documents, watching as the others observed over Susan’s shoulders while the parade of pages marched by. “Now, this next group is more interesting I think, since these are the people who will be making the actual decision.”
It took nearly ten minutes to show them all, but Jemma had signaled twice that she had enough data much earlier. Skye continued, simply because she wanted to fulfill her second objective. It was clear that Susan and the others were both impressed and distressed by what they were learning, but Skye sensed they weren’t ready to use the information. Unrelated to the needs of SHIELD, she decided to jump in.
“Isn’t that Commissioner Blackmun?” she asked, pointing to a man in a suit who was slowly working his way towards the door. Susan nodded. Skye took a couple of steps, placing herself directly in his path.
“Commissioner, how are you today?” she said sweetly.
“I’m fine, thank you,” he responded.
“I...think it’s only fair to let you know something.”
“Oh? What is that?”
“Well, later today, during the public testimony, we’re going to ask you to explain why your company just signed a 6 million dollar contract with Three Channels. I think the timing of that is going to seem questionable. Really questionable.” She stopped, turned to Susan and smiled, and then turned back. “You have a great day, Commissioner Blackmun.”
The man had turned an un-Godly shade of white, and appeared to be quite ready to collapse. Skye just smiled, and then turned back to face Susan and her associates. “See, it’s really quite easy. Nothing remotely illegal. Now, who’s next?”
In the minutes that followed, Phil and Trip listened as she confronted two other Commissioners with evidence they’d been bribed. In neither case did she show them any documents, but she suggested they were available if things went the wrong way. Then the team from Three Channels arrived, and things got really interesting.
“We thought it would be fair to simply ask you to withdraw your application,” she said when she finally got their attention.
The lead man, a senior vice president of the company, spoke up as he grinned. “And exactly why would we do that? We’ve invested a lot of money to make this new mine a success, and it will provide almost 300 new jobs. There are a lot of people here who need the employment we are offering.”
Skye was truly on a roll now, having shed her SHIELD persona for the more radical Skye of her Rising Tide days. “Well, since you asked, allow me to explain. We’ve already talked to the Commissioners that you’ve paid off. All three of them seem quite concerned that we might make their deals public. But, there are some other things that we can mention, and will mention. Things that deal with the company more than the application.”
“We will talk about the emails where you and somebody named Jeff talked about how much you had to pay the Mine Safety Inspector to make him stop documenting the problems at the Drift Creek mine. Those were just a few weeks before that collapse that killed 5 miners and injured a bunch more.” She nodded. “Yeah, we’ll talk about that since your application cites your stellar safety record.”
“We also want to mention the strange and untimely death of Kenneth Boxer, just after he submitted a report that would have exposed your illegal chemical discharge into the Scuppernong River. I’m thinking you’d really prefer people not know about that.”
“Now you wait a minute, young lady,” the company lawyer said, but Skye cut him off.
“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t want that discussed, but there’s one final thing. See, we know that Three Channels is just a mining company. But we also know that the company is owned by Global Resources, something I’m sure you know well. We also know that Global Resources is just front company. It took a bit of looking, but we found that it’s actually owned...lock, stock, and barrel, by some company named Davis Industries.”
“The funny part of all of this is that Davis Industries is just another front company. It doesn’t exist either. It’s just a post office box in Dubai. That seemed strange until we finally found out that Davis Industries is owned by Quinn World Wide. Since Quinn has been exposed as a creature supporting the recent attempt by Hydra to destroy SHIELD, I suspect you’d really prefer that your company’s ties to Quinn weren’t public knowledge.”
“Two weeks ago, Quinn World Wide was officially added to the government’s list of terrorist organizations, and that means all of their assets have been, or will be, frozen. So, even if you receive permission for this mine you won’t be allowed to spend a dime creating it.”
“Now, you have a choice. If you proceed…if you walk into that hearing today and present your case, we will present ours.” She turned her tablet screen so he could see it, and although he couldn’t read the documents that were electronically stacked up in an array of windows, he didn’t doubt she actually had the things she claimed to have. “We’ll be in there, just as certainly as we are out here.”
Skye turned to face Susan, speaking more quietly. “I’m sorry I…I hijacked your protest. I know you weren’t certain if you wanted to use the things I found. I just...I just couldn’t stand here when those people walked by here. I’m sorry if that...was wrong.”
Susan and her friends were stunned. Their first assessment was incomplete. Although they believed everything Skye had told them, they certainly had not anticipated either the interaction she had initiated nor the apparent results of her presentation. “We,” she said, looking around at her friends, “...I...I don’t know how to thank you.”
Skye smiled. “Not a problem. I’m hoping the problem will go away.” She pointed to the tablet. “You can keep that. It’s loaded with all the documents I dug up,” she added, reaching into her jacket pocket. “Here,” she said, handing over a flash drive, “this has all the same files…in case…in case something happens to the first copies.”
Skye motioned to the City Hall. “What gets said here is up to you. I don’t even know if there will be a hearing. I suspect that somebody is going to ask for a continuance, and it will likely be easily granted. Maybe they’ll ask to amend their application.” She turned to Jemma. “We have what we needed, right?”
Jemma smiled. “Oh, yes. I’ve certainly learned a lot. I don’t know if it works the same way in the UK, but I think I’ve got some good ideas for the future.”
Those were the key words Skye needed to hear. “Well, I guess we’ll be off.”
“You’re not staying?” Susan asked, surprised that Skye was so anxious to go.”
“No, I think we’ve accomplished what we wanted to do. There are other people…and other issues that endanger the world still out there. I discovered some things about a prostitution ring in Memphis, so we’re going to see if we can expose them,” she said, shaking her head. “There are hundreds of girls who have been enslaved, and this ring looks pretty big.”
“It was nice meeting you,” Jemma offered, shaking Susan’s hand and nodding at the rest of the group. After a couple more relatively meaningless platitudes Skye and Jemma said good-bye, pleasantly surprised that no one seemed to be interested in following them.
* * * * *
“Jemma?”
“Nothing. Not a squeak. She’s more normal than almost anyone I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a single blip.”
“Skye?”
“She’s normal. I felt nothing at all. Coul…Phil, she’s clean. We should let her be.”
“Anybody disagree?” The entire team said nothing. “Okay, then we write her off the list. Let’s get in the air and find the next one.” Then he turned to face Skye. “Nice job, Skye. Thanks for taking the lead.”
to be continue….