13. This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Mateo curled up under the extra blanket, in that perfect happy medium between awake and asleep. He’d slept deeply for a while, and would again soon, he could feel it. He felt irrationally hopeful, like the tea had melted something. It was dumb, he knew, but the idea of not having to push back anymore was a big temptation. He dozed off again before he could think it through.

He was drifting on the edge of REM when somebody flipped on the light.

“Augh! Kevin, I SWEAR I’m getting another roommate if you—“

Then he looked up, squinting, and remembered where he was. Was it ten hours already? He guessed it was, or maybe a little less. Regardless, the sneaker soldiers were back.

“Ok, ok, I’m getting up,” he said hastily, reaching for his shoes. He guessed he was quick enough, because they let him.

He felt lighter, though, as he walked blind down the hall between the sneaker soldiers, half-resolved to tell the good cop the whole thing and make it his problem. Also he might get to sit down again, which would be neat.

It was somebody new, though, a guy he’d never seen before, with another younger stranger in civilian clothes off to the side.

He stood on his mark like Monocle demanded, not wanting to push it. If this guy wanted something different he’d say so. He looked pissed already, pissed and scared, which was worse. The civilian guy looked worried but stayed back. They’d apparently been arguing but had shut up when the sneaker guys brought Mateo in.

“I’m done faffing around,” the new guy said, shooting to his feet. “The truth, now.”

Mateo started to talk, glancing around. Like the sneaker guys were gonna help him with a handy answer like a game show audience, yeah right.

“Sir, I already —“

“You already lied. You lie and lie while my country hangs in the balance! How many civilians have you killed here with your bombs even without a ground invasion yet?”

What the hell, Mateo’s mind asked. No clue, he told it.

The new guy came around the desk and Mateo took a step back. “Sir, I’ve never killed anybody in my life. I’m an HVAC repairman, not some kind of soldier—“

“Yes. Yes, you’re exactly right. You’re not a soldier, you’re a filthy spy from a filthy tyranny, and you’re not owed the honorable treatment due a soldier.”

Mateo’s head snapped back and he saw an explosion of black and green light. It wasn’t until his vision cleared that the pain, politely waiting its turn, arrived. Blood trickled down from his lip, he had time to notice, before the new guy grabbed him by the prison jacket and slammed him into the wall, fist pulled back.

The civilian hurried around the desk.

“Richard! Have you gone mad?” He tried to tug the guy back, and to Mateo’s amazement, the sneaker guys moved to help him. Richard stepped back, before the soldiers reached him, letting go. The sneaker guys settled for grabbing Mateo instead, but didn’t hit him.

“Gone sane! It’s about time someone did! We could be overrun in a matter of months by an army that slaughters women and children, and we’ll let them, because we’re too sanctimonious to do more than wrap their spies in cotton wool! Look at those devices he was carrying that you and your technicians can’t begin to figure out! The enemy is up to something new and we’re keeping this bastard as an honored guest. Let me give him a taste of his own medicine, we’ll see how long he holds out when it’s happening to him.”

The civilian was shaking like he was about to fly off the handle, and he and Richard looked about ready to start punching each other.

Then the civilian (?) got a grip.

“Gentlemen,” he said coldly to the sneaker guys. “Take the detainee back to his cell. And tell Tineye that the War Office representative struck a prisoner.”

Mateo could hear, as the sack and then the door started to block the sound, the maybe-civilian yelling “— are you absolutely demented? Tineye is going to kill you! He’s going to flay you alive! If you’ve ruined this information source with your damn know-it-all —“

“—don’t come crying to me when a whole squad of the enemy has your sister and you could have stopped—“

The door clicked shut behind him and the voices cut off.

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