Excerpt: Until the Day Dawn

The blue collar offices in Tarma Silver were pretty much the same as they were everywhere. There was a main waiting room with a few offices on duty behind a large desk. Different people sat or stood unhappily around the waiting room, hoping for whoever was being questioned or held to be released. The blond stayed at the desk, and motioned the two men around her on. They led Luvas through the double doors to the left of the desk into a maze of smaller rooms. Down at the end of the main hallway were the holding cells. Thankfully Luvas had never gone through those doors. They walked her into a small room, dimly lit, with a long table and two chairs. They told her to take a seat and left.
There was nothing interesting to look at. Just gray walls, a slightly dirty marbled floor, and a low hanging light that was flickering slightly. She hoped they kept their word and didn't keep her long. Considering how angry Andi was they probably wouldn't. Random questioning was one thing, angering a First was another. Most low level blue collars didn't like to bother anyone that high up. She was actually surprised they didn't send someone higher up. Not that her rank increased working for a First, but usually they sent higher authorities to smooth things over. Most Firsts would have been even more offended than Andi was having only a blue collar talk to him.
Finally the door slid open, and the blond blue collar strolled in and took the seat across from Luvas. Her eyes were a sharp green that seemed lit up even in the darkness of the room. She had long, manicured nails, and nearly flawless skin that was a creamy shade of brown. Luvas wasn't entirely surprised at when the woman introduced herself.
"I'm Annualba Justice. I just have a few simple questions for you. This shouldn't take very long, and we can get you back to your job."
Luvas nodded. The woman's words were kind, but her voice held a strange tone, like she was trying to sound bored, but was very eager to get every last bit of information from Luvas's mind, even if she had to crush her mind to get at it.
"When did you being guiding cars for Thenandiel First?"
"Last night."
"So it was you who ate with them at the Red Room?"
"Yes." Thankfully, Luvas shut up like a clam when she was nervous. She heard about those who ran their mouths insensibly when interrogated. But whenever she was nervous, or confronted, she could only spit out one word answers. The look she was getting from Annualba told her the justice wasn't happy about it. She was dressed in a blue robe, now, and clacking her nails on the table.
"Was there anything unusual about the evening?"
Luvas shrugged. Plenty, she thought. I was the only collared worker there. "Yes." Annualba waited. "Some one complained to the First."
"Complained?"
"Yes. About his platform, or something."
"Yes, well, he is a bit unique. Did you know him?"
"No."
"It was not another worker?" Annualba didn't seem convinced.
"A green shirt's not really a worker." Luvas argued.
"Do you believe in the Daystar?"
Luvas went silent. Why the sudden obsession with the Daystar? It was something Luvas had forgotten about almost as soon as she had given up singing. She had never heard anyone else in the city even mention the thing before. She met Annualba's gaze calmly and kept her mouth shut.
Annualba growled low in her throat, Luvas guessed because she knew she wasn't supposed to be asking questions about beliefs. Not even of workers. So she couldn't force Luvas to answer, if even she had been trying to trick her into spilling what she thought of the whole situation.
"What did he look like?"
Luvas thought a moment. "He was not very tall. Maybe a little over my height. He had light hair, brown eyes, A bit thick."
"No marks or tattoos?"
"No." She pressed her memory. He hadn't looked up at him much. She preferred studying the red tablecloth. But she had noticed his sleeve when his hand had been resting on the table. "He did have an award for serving in the Venta Collapse."
Annualba's eyebrows raised. "You're certain?"
"It was a red band with black diamonds on his cuff. I'm sure of it." She hadn't thought about it at the time, and at the moment she was glad she hadn't. Things had been awkward enough hearing some one from her own class chide an old friend. But knowing he had been through the Venta cleanup, probably working not far from Andi, as he had volunteered to go too, would have made her stomach churn. Venta was the oldest city in Khons, the first built by the engineers who had designed the first geothermal generator powered cities. After the first century, parts of it slowly became condemned as it would have been far to expensive to enact the many safety measures that had been written since it was built, though it was still the only place many of the lowest class of service workers could afford to live.
When the tremors had come, it was also the first place to fall apart. Most of it collapsed, killing thousands of people, and becoming the longest cleanup the green shirts had ever seen. Many of them gave their lives saving others from the rubble, and thousands of volunteers had pitched in. The blue collars had stepped in also, trying to avert the looting that went rampant after the initial collapse. They also became much more serious about upholding the condemning laws, making sure no one entered off limits tunnels or cities again. She tried hard to picture an idea or political platform that could divide two men who had worked together through such a thing. She couldn't believe something like belief in the Daystar would be enough to throw aside that kind of courage and determination.
"And that was all? He simply lodged his complaint and left?"
"Yes." Luvas wondered where this was going. Surely they had security images - in a place as high profile as the Red Room, cameras were assumed - why were they pressing her for imformation over a green shirt whose name and credit information was probably on record at the restaurant?
"There was nothing . . . exchanged?"
"Exchanged?"
Annualba stood up and turned away from the table. She sighed loudly, crossed her arms, and for a moment Luvas thought she was trying to control her temper. "I was fairly sure you weren't involved in this. You've had no contact with him for years, and only just recently entered his employ. But there is some doubt as to whether you could have missed something going on right in front of you. We've decided to show you something." The door slid open and a blue collar strode it with a small viewscreen. Apprently Annualba had motioned to him when she'd turned away. He handed her the screen and left again without a word. "This is the security record from the Red Room last night."
Annualba flipped the screen on and set it down in front of Luvas. She saw the back of her own head, Yeri's face, and Andi's profile, sitting at a red table. The image was a bit wavy, too much red to capture correctly, but it was surprisingly close up. The green shirt stuck out clearly against the red background, and began his rant against Andi, setting his hand on the table, and then spinning around to leave.
"Did you see it?" Annualba asked, as the green shirt walked out of the frame. Yeri put his hand on the table, and then into his pocket.
"I didn't see anything."
Annualba slid her finger along the screen to back up the record to just before the green shirt left. Then she spread her fingers apart to zoom up on the table where his hand was set. "Watch closely." When the green shirt turned away there was a small object on the table, not much larger than a pill. As she watched her own eyes follow the green shirt, Yeri's hand slipped up, picked up the object and slid it into his pocket.
"What was that?" Luvas tried to peer closer at the screen but Annualba pulled it away.
"We were hoping you would be able to tell us that. Obviously though you haven't noticed a thing."
"Obviously," Luvas muttered. Didn't notice that her long time friend had suddenly lost his mind, and the kind old gentlemen he was partnered with was sneaking information from his enemies. Or something like that. There was too much jumping on her at once. She couldn't make any sense out of it.
Annualba pocketed the viewscreen and sat down again, leaning toward Luvas on her elbows. "Listen, we know you're clean. You have the best driving record in Tarma. This is the first time you've shown up as connected to anyone we have been watching. So I'm going to give you some advice." Annualba's green eyes grew sharper, and Luvas was briefly reminded of a singing teacher she had had as a child, trying to drill into her mind what would happen if she didn't get her breathing right. "There have been several assassination threats, and at least three actual attempts. All of the suspects can be traced back to connections in Rintha, all of them starting their activity only after the election of this new First, all of them made possible by having a First elected from the lower classes and becoming less rigid on the rules of conduct."
Luvas looked away. There it was. They couldn't trust anyone in office but one of their own. She should have known it would come to that sooner or later. She shut down again, turned her head away, clenched her jaw shut, folded her arms.
Annualba leaned back and switched gears. Luvas wondered what the woman's real personality was. She seemed to completely change her entire person depending on what she wanted from Luvas. "These are just the facts about what we've been seeing. We have no reason to believe the First is involved in the threats, after all, he's been receiving threats himself. And I have sworn to uphold the law, and I will, to the letter." There it was, a specific gleam. A true Justice, Luvas thought. "Which is why I'm asking for your help."
Slowly Luvas turned her eyes back to Annualba, wondering what she was going to ask for.
"Just keep your eyes open," she said, almost as much a warning as a request. "You are in a position to be in their confidence. They may not be willing to trust us, but they will trust you. Keep your eyes open, and if you see something shady, I trust you will do what's right."
Or you'll pry it out of me anyway, Luvas thought. She hoped she was keeping her face bland and uncommitted. She wasn't sure what she would do if she found out that Andi was involved in something illegal, even something against those foolish conduct codes. The thought that he could do something like that had never crossed her mind. Nor was the thought that an obvious blue blood like Yeri would be involved or behind anything of the kind. Though she doubted she would have any qualms turning him in, flirting or not. Apparently niether of them was sure of her either, since niether had let her in on any of their secret procedings. There didn't seem to be much chance that they would either, considering how often she was being questioned. It would be safer to leave her out of things.
"Your free to go," Annualba annouched abruptly standing so the chair grated on the floor. Luvas stood and let herself be escorted out of the station.