Autumn Belfontaine had been a little surprised when she got the text from Brenda Redmond, asking for a private meeting. In particular, there was something odd about the insistence that the meeting be private, not in the newsroom, not in either of their module lounges, but somewhere they would not be overheard.
It had taken a little thought to find a place where it would definitely be just the two of them. Shepardsport wasn’t as crowded as it had been right after the Expulsions, but pressurized volume was still at a premium. But she’d finally located a place where they could both speak in confidence.
When Brenda arrived, it was very clear that she was holding her professional face on by force of will. Whatever she wanted to talk about, it had obviously shaken her, even if she was determined not to let it show.
No wonder she was so insistent about a private meeting, especially considering all the problems we’ve been having with rumors.
Autumn was glad she’d brought some snacks, mostly comfort food, so she could offer Brenda something to nibble while they talked. Back when she was still doing radio news reporting dirtside, she’d met more than a few sources at a coffee shop specifically so they could talk over food.
Except Brenda wasn’t all that much in the mood for food. She took one cookie, almost as if she felt obligated to accept a token amount, and immediately launched straight into what she needed to say.
“Drew and I were texting. I’d asked him a few days ago if he could look into some of the rumors I’d been hearing. He’s able to plug into some military grapevines I wouldn’t have access to, and apparently some of them go all the way to some interesting places.”
With that, she described attacks on trucks going to grocery stores in Chicago, apparently by gangbangers. The first attempt had succeeded, but it had alarmed the company enough they’d issued their drivers weapons — Autumn tried to remember what kind of gun control laws Chicago had, since so much had changed since the Energy Wars, when continual terrorist attacks had led many municipalities to decide an armed populace might well be their best defense — and the second attempt had resulted in a firefight. All of which was news to her, and Chicago had definitely been on her list of cities to monitor.
Even if Brenda’s sources were right and the cone of silence was opsec for some kind of Illinois National Guard action against the gangs of the worst neighborhoods in the Windy City, having to delay while they got the proper authorizations was not a good sign. How many people in the proper line of command would have to be out of commission for such an action to get no response when it so clearly called for an overwhelming one?
“You were definitely right to come to me in private.” Autumn looked around the tiny room, glad it had been available at this odd hour. “This is not something we want to go spreading around. In fact, right now I’m torn between keep this under our hats until thing sort out and we’d better take this to someone with authority right away, and quite honestly I’m not sure whether I’d rather take it to Security or straight to command.”
Brenda moistened her lips. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Because I’m not sure who would be the most likely to actually listen, especially since everything I have is hearsay, and I’m not completely sure whether I want to mention that Drew told me, since I sure don’t want to drag him into something that could get him in trouble.”
“Absolutely. Even if we are all members of the Shepard lineage, whether by birth or by marriage, there’s still a limit to how far family can go to cover for each other. But one thing I can do is put out some feelers. I do know some people from my college radio days who are working in the Chicago market. Even if they can’t report on it yet, they may be able to let me know whether there’s any substance to some rumors I’m getting.”
“That’s probably wise at this point. If you can get it through the news grapevine, we don’t have to expose the military one.”
“In which case, there’s not much point of talking any further, especially when both of us have things we need to get done.”