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Easton’s assistant and I stood off to the side while our bosses had their dispute. He and I looked at each other and mutually shrugged. A small fraternity of underlings with stubborn bosses.
“I’m not turning over my Taser. I can call your prime minister if you like,” Stratt said.
“Sure,” said Easton. “She’ll tell you the same thing I’m about to tell you now: We don’t let weapons anywhere near those animals in there. Even my own guards only have batons. There are some rules we don’t change. I’m fully aware of your authority, but it has limits. You’re not magical.”
“Mr. E—”
“Torch!” Easton said, holding out his hand.
His assistant handed over a small flashlight. He clicked it on. “Please open your mouth wide, Ms. Stratt. I need to check for contraband.”
Whoa boy. I stepped forward before this got any worse. “I’ll go first!” I opened my mouth wide.
Easton shined the light into my mouth and looked this way and that. “You’re clear.”
Stratt just glared at him.
He held the flashlight at the ready. “I can get a female guard in here and order a much more thorough search if you like.”
For a few seconds, she did nothing. Then she pulled her Taser from its holster and handed it over.
She must have been tired. I’d never seen her give up on a power trip before. Though, I also hadn’t seen her get into a useless peeing contest before either. She had a lot of authority and wasn’t afraid to flex when needed, but she usually wasn’t one to argue when a simple solution was present.
Soon, guards escorted Stratt and me through the cold, gray walls of the prison.
“What the heck is wrong with you?” I said.
“I don’t like little dictators in their little kingdoms,” she said. “Drives me crazy.”
“You can bend a little once in a while.”
“I’m out of patience and the world is out of time.”
I held up a finger. “No, no, no! You can’t just use ‘I’m saving the world’ as an excuse every time you’re a jerk.”
She thought it over. “Yeah, okay. You may have a point.”
We followed the guards down a long corridor to the Maximum Security Unit.
“Maximum security seems like overkill,” she said.
“Seven people died,” I reminded her. “Because of him.”
“It was accidental.”
“It was criminal negligence. He deserves what he got.”
The guards led us around a corner. We followed along. The whole place was a maze.
“Why bring me here at all?”
“Science.”
“As always.” I sighed. “Can’t say I like this.”
“Noted.”
We entered a stark room containing a single metal table. On one side sat a prisoner in a bright-orange jumpsuit. A balding man in his late forties, maybe early fifties. He was handcuffed to the table. He didn’t look anything like a threat.
