At least it would mean that there are news about her warrant, she hopes, walking back into her office, leaving the door open. "Wonder what I did." she mumbles to herself, but James could hear it and looks up to her questioningly. "Andrews is downstairs and probably on his way up. Seems like he's got a problem with something I did." she shrugs.
"Tom?" James mutters, looking caught off guard. "Uh.." jolting out of a moment of thought, he looks up to Marie and before she can comment, he gets up, grabs the few things he had brought with him, as well as the cup and puts the latter away into the sink. "I've got to go." he says, clipped, smiling sheepishly. "I'll be talking with you on your flight to the station. If you're going, that is. If not, I'll see you in my office." he babbles, getting ready to leave as quick as he can.
Marie watches him move about, perplexed, speechless, but only for a moment. "What is wrong with you?" she finally manages. While she rarely had to work with the man, Marie knows Judge Thomas Andrews to be a calm, rational person and even if cross with someone, still adamant about fairness. So, what ever she did, he wouldn't be getting on James' case at all. If anything, she expects he would rush into her office, anger in his entire posture, spot James, politely greet him and only then explode in her face, but never without good reason.
At any rate, James would have no reason to run away from him, which he clearly seems to be doing. She steps in his path, just as he's about to head for the door. He stops, but doesn't look her in the eyes. Scrutinizing him, she waits for him to look at her and realizes what might be happening. "All right," she sighs "what did you bet this time?" She remembers hearing about how the two bet rather frequently, mostly over harmless things, so she doesn't worry now.
"Oh nothing." he says and Marie waits a moment if there is any more coming. Sighing again, she is surprised that he doesn't deny it flat out. "Just..." he looks away again. "You know. Nothing to worry about." and steps around her, heading out this time. "I'll contact you. Good luck." he shouts, without looking back. Marie is left staring and shaking her head. Just a moment later, she can hear him exclaim, clipped and surprised "Oh! Good Morning." without receiving an answer she can make out, or seemingly any at all. The rising murmur around the office outside told her that it isn't the Judge, however.
Added to that, it can't be Judge Andrews if James greets and gets away from the person so easily, so she turns to look out from her door. Just as she steps into the arch of the door, she almost bumps into Mu, who is about to step into her office. "Hey!" she greets, surprised. On impulse, before realizing what she's doing, Marie grabs Mu's arm and pulls the other woman into her office, whispering "What are you thinking! Running around...like..." Drifting off from starting a hushed tirade when she notices that what she expected wasn't there. "Oh." Obviously Mu had changed back before coming to the station, now wearing a clean business suit, looking just like the woman she first met only days ago. Well, not exactly like it... Marie feels her cheeks warm quickly.
"I am well enough to transform back and appear in public." Mu explains as if she read Marie's mind, smiling warmly and thus making Marie feel even more embarrassed.
Of course she wouldn't run around like that... Marie's mind provides, unhelpfully. Aloud, she says curt, but subdued "Sure. Of course." It surprises her how used she got to seeing the woman in her altered state in such a short time, expecting it to just be that way all the time. You forgot that she's been a normal woman the first time you heard about her? Since forgetting details isn't something she usually does, it annoys her slightly, so she straightens up and motions for Mu to sit at her desk, getting herself back together.
Turning away from Mu and the amused, bewildered stare, complete with raised eyebrow, that follows her on her path back to her office chair. Sitting down and looking at the other woman, still standing in the doorway, Marie notices the thermos flask that she carries. "What brings you here?" she asks, eying the flask, before she looks back up again.
"I was thinking it should be about time that you would get to know where your investigation will lead next." Mu moves from her spot hear the door to sit down in the chair that James had occupied until a few moments ago. She sets the flask on the table and leans back in the chair. Her long, black hair, bound into a thick, intricately woven pony-tail, falls over the backrest. How did she get that twisted and fastened? Marie wonders, but is distracted from that important question when Mu continues "And that, if you are to be on your way soon, I would want to be leaving with you."
"Yeah, about that.." Marie sighs out. "It seems we'll be getting to know what's going to happen in a few minutes." Pointing at the office door, she asks "You may have noticed two people arguing downstairs?"
"No, I did not." Mu looks at Marie questioningly. "In fact, the lobby was rather empty, aside from the officer manning the front desk and an older man, standing, what I believe is at attention, seeming to wait."
That makes Marie wince. He's got the Commander stand and wait for him? "Oh bloody..." she clears her throat "Well, that's just great." and gets up to tidy up a little, picking up a few stray personal things lying around and stuffs them in a drawer of her desk. "Still, there's one silver lining." she stops moving around and looks back to Mu "I am certain Judge Andrews isn't in on it, letting anyone in on it or letting himself get pressured into inaction." Marie notices Mu's reaction to the name, but before she can ask about it, the quiet outside of her office lets the sound of the door into the officers' workspace open and shut precede the person entering into her own office. Should've opened the blinds...
A short moment of waiting in near silence later, the tall figure of Judge Thomas Andrews appears in the door frame. "Good morning." he greets, casually, into the room. A smile on his lips, that widens when he spots Mu getting up from her seat. "How nice to see you, Miss Lunastra." The man's behavior, a total opposite from what Davis said only minutes before, sends a shiver down Marie's spine. She chalks up this initial calm as the same behavior she'd expected towards James, now that he's personally greeting Mu.
"It has been a long time. How nice to see that you are well." the other woman shakes hands with the man.
"You two know each other?" Marie asks, rather tentatively, unsure what to expect to happen now.
"Yes." the two answer at the same time and Andrews motions for Mu to continue. "He attended a few negotiations that I made with my company along the years. As legal aid, he did save us from some of the smaller back doors our business partners may have used."
There was a lot less crime in City, especially compared to the last Megacities on earth, and even quite a few settlements on other planets now. Some of those are so bad that military presence, in the form of whole bases are built, manned and maintained. Thought they are, of course, limited to strategic planets, so both support for the war effort, as well as keeping civilians in check could be done. That left a handful of settlements that don't have such supervision, which are now turned into criminal paradises.
There is little that can be done for those places, since people with a lot of influence, and more importantly money had high interest in the areas. So much money, in fact, that they had their own, if comparably small, armies to guard them. They haven't been much of a problem to the general public, nor to any of the settlements so far, though, so, for now, they are left alone.
Marie and Judge Andrews have little to do with problems of that magnitude, though, so they settle for those that arise in City. Of which there aren't too many remaining, so that the services of a judge weren't required that often. That means they – there are about a dozen for the entirety of Home – have to earn their living in other wise on the side and acting as legal aid is one of those things they could do. This also meant that the people working as judges are under strict control, thus far guaranteeing their integrity, and were free to choose other lines of work, for example if they were offered better pay.
With all the time the woman had had on hand, Marie can't exactly imagine that the woman wouldn't have been able to make herself her own legal aid, but before she keeps in mind to ask about the necessity of involving a third party, Andrews himself explains it. "Though she says it like that, it wasn't her I worked for." he grins a her. "I was always on the other side, working for the ones she made deals with. I don't know how she did it, but, without breaking any rules, she managed to get just enough information from me that she could find and close any loopholes herself." he shrugs and, grinning wider, asks Lunastra "Still don't have a legal aid of your own, then?"
Apparently satisfied with the simple shake of the woman's head, Andrews' eyes fix on Marie's. Here it comes. her mind provides, but gets disappointed. He still remains calm, takes a small stack of papers from his pouch and puts them on the desk next to Marie. "I can't sign these."
On closer inspection, she can see that the paper on top of the pile is her request for a warrant. And it is signed. At a loss, the only thing she can think of to ask is a simple "Sir?"
I apologize again for the long delays. I hope I'll get my sh.. together. Next updates a lot sooner, I promise.
