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Valentine flushed. Those poor people. This was how business was carried out in the Kurian Zone. Some combination of an office and a title with a bit of power, looking for his taste of sugar on the transactions crossing his desk.
He and Patel exchanged a look. Patel worked his jaw as though he wanted to spit.
"You'll have it in a week," the man called Courage said. Valentine suspected it was a first name.
"To show you two just how good I take care of you, I'll give you the provisional without waiting." Valentine heard a couple of resounding thumps on the desk as Petrie stamped paperwork. The couple left, the man holding a file folio as tightly as he did his wife.
Valentine and Patel stood up to enter, but Petrie was right behind the couple. He took his keys out and stuck them in the lock.
"Missed your chance," the marshal said. "I'm going to lunch."
Valentine extracted a bill. "I'm in a hurry. How about I buy you lunch in exchange for fifteen minutes of your valuable time."
"You got it, militia." The bill disappeared so smoothly Valentine thought Petrie an amateur magician. He held the door open and they entered his office.
The cat crouched, peering under a bookcase. Valentine suspected a mouse down there.
Maybe more than one. Enough crumbs and bits of paper-wrapped sandwich littered the desk and sat in the unemptied wastebasket to feed a family of mice.
A file cabinet with PENDING stenciled on it had another overflowing box of paperwork atop it marked "priority pending."
"What can I do for a militia major and a Wolf, by the looks of it?" Petrie asked.
"I'm going to need some paperwork processed quickly. I want to do some recruiting among the probations. About a hundred."
"A hundred?" Petrie ejaculated, showing more animation that he had all morning.
"Probations? You mean, let them loose?"
"No, just released to Southern Command, through me."
"That would take months."
"You want to do this the easy way or the hard way, Petrie?" Valentine asked.
Petrie tested his newly shaven chin. "Meaning what?"
"Meaning you can say 'Anything for the Cause' and get off your duff. Figure out a way to get ISO sign-off on the men I want. Pick up the phone and talk to whoever you need to talk to in order to get them cleared to join the Command."
"What's the easy way?" Petrie asked.
"That was the easy way," Valentine said.
"I'm late for lunch," Petrie said.
"He wants the hard way," Patel sighed.
Valentine stood up and opened the door for him. "Go to lunch, Petrie. Make it a big one.
By the time you get back, Sergeant Major Patel and I will have sworn out a warrant for your arrest. We both heard you extort a civilian on a Southern Command base. For five hundred dollars, to be exact. In case you don't know military law, that's a very big no-no."
Petrie looked around his office as if to see where they were hiding when they overhead the conversation.
"Lose your appetite?" Valentine said. He shut the door again and turned to address Petrie.
"You might think that being OSI, you're not subject to military law, but the people you've been juicing are certainly protected by it. You'll spend at least a night in the cells, probably more, as it'll take a bit of time to get you counsel. With our sworn statements, JAG
investigators will be here tomorrow. I'll tell them to be sure to bring a good accountant to see just how your paperwork balances up for this little corner of ISO. I wonder why you don't have a clerk to help you with some of these files, Petrie. Or do you? Existing only on paper, maybe? In any case, maybe the jaggers can't prosecute, but they can tie up your case in a beautiful ribbon and present it to the circuit court."
