Here is the second chapter. I decide to post it simultaneously along with Chapter One so that everyone can get a feel of what is going on. R&R, please!


House of Cards


Chapter Two – Five Feet, Seven Inches

Location: Section Eight Headquarters, Haven City, The Lower Elements

Holly Short was sweating. Hard. Her tiny fingers massaged the keys on the controller, and every muscle in her body twitched at a sight only she could see. A soft squeaking sound was heard, and then a metallic voice announced over the computer's speakers, "Mission over, Captain Short. You saved 733 civilians."

Holly pulled off the visual helmet to see a grinning Foaly. "How was it?" he asked excitedly. "Good enough?"

"So good it was scarily real at times. Good work, old friend. You'll make Vinyaya proud." Holly smiled though her matted hair. After spending nearly an hour and a half in the beta version of Foaly's new training simulator, she was exhausted. The night before had been strenuous, what with some of the ceilings in Haven City collapsing, and Holly had had to coordinate with the LEP, partly because Vinyaya felt that Holly needed to learn some diplomatic skills, and partly because Section Eight was neck-deep in what was really going on behind the scenes.

"So, they found another hole today," Foaly quipped as he put away the simulator's equipment – a controller, helmet, and console. Very old fashioned, but it worked fine, and it was, after all, only an early model.

"What? Where now?" Holly collapsed on the plush sofa Foaly had placed in his 'office'. She plucked a towel from her bag and began wiping her face with it.

"Sharjah, according to a news feed I was watching a few hours ago. Pretty reporter, though. Don't tell Caballine I said that."

Holly scowled. "Get serious, Foaly. It's getting worse, and we haven't been able to locate any information about this at all. Whoever's behind it has been pretty careful by now."

"Like Adeline Doogan." Foaly recalled the grisly murder of one of Haven City's most reclusive inhabitants. Adeline had long been suspected of Goblin Triad dealings, but nobody had ever managed to put the blame on her. The night she had been discovered in her upscale Upper Mount house, she had been seen arguing with Gilligan Mort, another suspected dealer, outside a fancy restaurant in the city. A neighbour had noticed the blood oozing out of Doogan's front door and called the police in body was in her living room – and her head was a couple of metres away.

"We don't really know if she was going to spill the beans on the holes."

"I agree. The whole thing is full of more holes than the Swiss cheese sitting in front of Jerry right now."

"Are you watching cartoons?" Unbeknownst to the mud men, Tom & Jerry was quite a hit in Haven City and Atlantis.

"Someone has to keep a level head, Holly, and it's not you."

Suddenly Holly's communicator beeped, and at the same time Foaly's screen turned red to indicate an incoming video call. Holly shut off her bleeping communicator, and turned to the screen, where Commander Vinyaya's face shone in all its glory.

"Holly, you have to get down to the LEPrecon interrogation rooms, ASAP. Foaly, I want you to dig up surveillance from Candol Street for yesterday. We've got a hell of a problem today, and it's too big to be moved."

"How big, Commander?" Foaly asked, his interest piqued.

"About five feet, seven inches." The screen went blank.

"Five feet what?" Holly screamed at the screen, but it was too late. She had her orders.


"Commander! Commander!" Vinyaya stopped in her tracks, and turned around to see a frantic Holly Short running up to her. "What did you mean by 'five feet, seven inches'?" Holly asked, her eyebrows raised. "It sounds like a height measurement."

"Unfortunately, that's what it is," Vinyaya said grimly, and she turned to a door beside her. The hallway was dimly lit, with paint cracks running down the wall. It gave the interrogated the illusion of a hard and somber place, which is exactly the atmosphere the interrogators needed to squeeze the truth out.

Vinyaya and Holly walked into a soundproof observation room, not unlike the ones used by police above ground. A one-way mirror showed the interrogation room, and in the corner of the observation room, a technical expert stood by to record the proceedings. However, as they turned to the mirror, Vinyaya looked not towards the interrogation room, but toward Holly Short's face.

Holly's jaw fell open.

Sitting in the interrogation room was an olive-skinned, slightly plump female human.

Her hands had a multitude of gashes, and her eyes were puffy. A dark bruise could be easily seen on her left cheek, and her clothes were torn in places. Strangely enough, she was wearing black pants and a black tee-shirt. She was obviously feeling cramped in the tiny room, and Holly gulped as the full meaning of Vinyaya's words sunk in.

"She was found on Candol Street in the morning. She was unconscious and badly beaten, as you can see. Tied to a lamppost," Vinyaya noted sadly. The girl looked as though she was in shock. "We treated her at the hospital down the road, then waited for her to regain consciousness. She hasn't hyperventilated about our existence yet."

"Who is going to talk to her?"

"You are, Holly. Hear what she has to say. Ask her everything. We fear this might have something to do with the situation…above ground."

"You think she fell through a hole? But none of them lead to Haven City!"

"She was tied to a lamppost, Holly! She might not have fallen through a hole, but someone down here caught hold of her and banged her up pretty badly. Whoever it was not smart, though. Candol Street gets pretty busy by eight, and I've never seen a criminal who ties his hostage up in public."

"I don't think I should do this, Commander." Holly turned towards the broken looking girl again. "Maybe we should just mind-wipe her and send her back to wherever she comes from."

"And lose any valuable information she might have? Not a chance. Interrogation first, mind-wipe later." Vinyaya motioned towards the girl. "Get in there, Holly. Get what you can out of her. This is no time for feelings."

Holly silently nodded, her heart swelling for the girl she was about to poke and prod. She left the observation room and walked into the interrogation room slowly. The girl looked up at the newcomer with a jolt, as though she had been struck with a bolt of electricity.

This is not going to be pretty, Holly mused.


Our dear old Arty will appear either in the next chapter, or in the one after that. He's there, and he's coming, so be patient!

Renata Swift