Senshi Sabers
Chapter 37
"Hello, everyone," Michiru smiled sweetly as the green haired woman entered the living room.
"Yo!" Haruka waved, the boyish looking lady waving slightly.
"Welcome, take a seat we'll start the briefing once everyone arrives," Ami said, the slightly older woman dressed in one of her sexy business suits.
Or at least sexy to Rei. Then again her girlfriend could be wearing a paper sack and it'd be hot. And didn't that make a pleasant mental image...
Minako smirked as Rei got that dreamy look on her face. The woman was practically a open book. At least she and Makoto tried to maintain a business-like manner at work. Mostly. Well, she DID sit in Mako's lap last meeting, so maybe she wasn't one to talk.
Speaking of Makoto the tall martial artist as the last to arrive, hurrying in just before the meeting was to start. "Sorry," she said, "traffic snarl-up. A rogue bio-boomer crashed a courier car."
"ADP caught it?" Ami asked.
"They were on scene, yeah," Makoto nodded.
Ami clearly seemed to be making a mental note of it, nodding slightly. "All right, first order of business: we've received payment for that truck business a week ago, and Rei and Haruka were both paid electronically."
"And much appreciated, as it helps keep Michiru to the lifestyle she's accustomed to," Haruka deadpanned.
"My hero!" Michiru hugged her.
Rei bit back a chuckle at that. "Yeah, thanks," she agreed.
"And everyone else has received their stand by funds," Ami continued.
Makoto felt a twinge of guilt at that, being the only one to really draw standby funds. Worse, she had ALSO helped Setsuna on a job last week, so... more money for her.
"Any news on the hack at Infinity?" Minako asked curiously.
"We're cross checking a lot of data," Ami said mildly. "It HAS let me confirm a few cases where I thought someone was dirty, but couldn't prove it, which helps."
"Like...?" Rei wondered.
Ami gave her girlfriend a amused look. "I KNOW several mid-level employees at Tokyo Broadcasting killed Infinity related stories," she said. "I can now prove they were bribed, which might be useful to us in the future."
'Blackmail,' Makoto thought. It was a grim business, but then again so was the situation they were in...
"In other news, no updates on what Nine is up to," Ami noted. "She's been quiet for nearly a week now, which frankly worries me."
"Or we're not seeing what she's up to," Minako pointed out.
"Which is even more worrying," Ami agreed.
"Infiltrating," Michiru realized.
"It's quite likely, yes," Ami nodded her agreement. "The ADP doesn't yet have a technology to easily detect them. I'm working with Starlight to try to develop SOMETHING, but it's still in the prototype stage," she shrugged.
"So until then, we'll only know they're out there when they actually decide to reveal themselves," Rei sighed.
"Pretty much," Ami conceded.
They back and forthed a bit on how they might try to track down the bio-boomers, but nothing terribly useful came up. Tho the idea of putting Hotaru Tomoe out as bait had been entertaining.
"We've also been asked to provide added security for our old friend Madigan," Ami noted dryly. "Seiya Kou is moving her to a more secure facility, after receiving threats from Nine, or at least someone claiming to be Nine."
"We're taking the job, of course," Haruka noted. As Ami nodded she asked her, "Why did you say, claiming?"
"It's a bit obvious for her," Ami said with a shrug. "Though it's possibly a tactic to draw Madigan out from cover."
"Or to distract us while her forces do something else," Rei observed.
"Or it could be a stunt by someone who's dicking with Seiya," Minako pointed out.
Makoto laughed. "We should probably not over think it TOO much?" she suggested.
Ami nodded, "You're right, of course. The planned move is in three days, so we'll review what our positions and strategy will be tomorrow..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Tsukino! Grab your partner and get in here!" the chief called, then retreated to her office.
Usagi and Naru hurried in, the tall blonde shutting the door behind them. "Yeah, boss?" she drawled calmly.
"We've received a anonymous tip that the rogue bio-boomers are going to hit Starlight," Haruna told them.
"Anything from Starlight?" Naru asked thoughtfully.
"Of course not," Haruna grumped, "Seiya likes to keep her secrets."
"His," Usagi corrected absentmindedly.
Haruna gave the other officer a look.
Usagi met her gaze calmly as she continued, "Seiya likes to be called him."
"HIS secrets then," Haruna conceded grumpily.
Naru occasionally wished Usagi wouldn't be quite so nice. Still... Changing the subject she asked, "So what do we do?"
"We can't, officially, go onto their property without permission," Haruna conceded, "but I want police on the ground nearby the Starlight labs and the hotel they're keeping Madigan."
Usagi made a face. "I have a... source, in Starlight. She says they're moving Madigan in two days," she revealed.
Naru blinked, "The timing of our getting that tip is a hell of a coincidence."
"Either way, we can't ignore it," Haruna said. "I'll assign several beat officers for you to supervise. Get to it."
"Right," both Usagi and Naru saluted then hurried back to their desks.
"Source at Starlight?" Naru murmured quietly once they were back at their desks.
"I know someone over in their security department. She gets a little loose lipped when she drinks too much," Usagi admitted.
"You dog," Naru snickered.
"I'm a perfect gentleman, I'll have you know," Usagi protested.
"Yeah, yeah," Naru sniffed, then both got to work organizing the officers the Chief has assigned them for Madigan-watching duty...
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Seiya Kou had been born with a androgynous sort of beauty, and would have been good looking as a man or woman. Despite being born biologically female he had always seen himself as a man, and had for most of his life lived as one.
"Loni!" he smiled charmingly as his afternoon appointment arrived, "It's good to see you. How's the hand?"
"Better, sir," Loni Lenai smiled back a bit shyly. Her broken fingers were in a special, high durability cast that let her function, sort of.
"Sorry to have to call you in on your leave," Seiya apologized in a gentlemanly way.
"No, it's fine," Loni smiled back.
Seiya sat back as he asked, "Did things go all right?"
"I met officer Tsukino as usual, we shared some beers and I fed her the data," Loni reported. She smiled slightly, "I think she took it hook, line and sinker."
"Good!" Seiya smiled. "Thank you."
Hesitantly Loni asked, "Why did I need to let Usagi think I leaked the information? Couldn't we just... tell the ADP directly?"
Seiya grinned, "Where's the fun in that?"
"Sir!" Loni scolded him.
Seiya just smiled, clearly enjoying getting his security aggravated. "If the ADP thinks they are putting one over on me, they'll come out in greater force trying to catch me at something," he explained. He shrugged, "While if we told them our plans they're more likely to send the minimum officers needed."
Loni had to concede the point as she muttered, "That's messed up."
"That's life," Seiya agreed. "Anyway," he continued, "let me apologize again for interrupting your medical leave."
"It's fine, sir. Really," Loni reassured him, and with that she was off.
Seiya sat back with a sigh. Paperwork awaited... thank goodness most of it was computerized. Still was aggravating, tho.
The comm chimed and her secretary Unazuki Furuhata spoke, "Ami Mizuno is on the line for you, sir."
"Put her through," Seiya smiled then sat back casually, "Ah, Ami-chan! Have you finally decided to give up your illegal lab and come work for me?"
Ami snorted. "Not if you were the last man on earth," she shot back cheerfully.
"Oh, you wound me...," Seiya laughed. Then they got down to business...
To be continued...