The barrel of Saitoh’s new gun glowed from the heat of the discharged rounds. He frowned, looking at the simulation score, finding no comfort in the accuracy rating.
“Commander Watanabe is going to need to program a new simulator that is a better representation of the speed that we were up against yesterday,” he said in a matter of fact tone as he walked over to the SIMUL console, comparing the speed of the simulation with the impossibly rapid movement of a certain red haired waiter from the day before and finding it contemptibly lacking. (How can I expect to teach my officers how to target objects that can’t be visually tracked?) While he and a few other members of the force were able, somehow, to find and focus on emotional signatures, most officers lacked the strange talent and had to rely on human senses that were becoming obsolete. “You met her, I think? At the café ?”
When Takagi nodded, Saitoh added, “Karen is an exceptional officer and a trustworthy individual.” There was in his mind, no higher praise. “In light of recent events, she has offered to assist you in securing acceptable home security and communication systems. I would advise you to take her up on her offer and refrain from sending / receiving any sensitive information from your home until you’re absolutely sure that everything is secure.”
This was another part of his offer of protection, a component that Watanabe herself had volunteered for, claiming that she owed Takagi a favor for saving his sorry hide the day before. It was the way his squad operated, each member looking out for each other. Watanabe handled cyber security, he oversaw physical training and weapons procurement, Hondo led the effort to protect family members of high visibility / undercover employees while Yamaguchi, a tender hearted young woman who also happened to be a ridiculously adept sniper, was tasked with providing first line support and assistance to the families when they all failed and an officer was killed or maimed in the line of duty. It was a decidedly non-formal arrangement, but it kept people alive and had resulted in Saitoh’s squadron having the lowest mortality rates for five years running.
(Karen knows that I….) he snuck a glance over at Takagi. She was looking down at her burn bandages, her expression unreadable in the low light of the firing range. He looked at her little hands, her fingers that were still burned and painful. It made his heart ache to know that she’d already suffered harm on his behalf. (…she knows that I care for the woman and am determined to keep her safe at all costs) He inwardly smirked, wondering how Karen would react if she knew the true depth of his feelings where the prosecuting attorney was concerned. (Hell, she’d never let Takagi out of her sight…)
Saitoh wisely didn’t mention that if he had his way, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight either. Leaving her to fend for herself went contrary to his instincts and going contrary to his instincts had always proven to be a very bad idea.
(Idiot – what else can be done at this point in time?)
While the idea of picking her up over his shoulder and squirreling her away in a safe location until he was able to hunt down and destroy anyone who intended her harm held an undeniable degree of appeal, it was also impractical, illegal and would probably scare the pants of the poor woman.
For an instant, an image of the lovely woman sans trousers, wearing nothing more than a smile and some of that elusive perfume popped into his head. Saitoh inwardly smacked himself (twice for good measure) and forced the rather creative but inappropriate visual image back down where it belonged, thankful that his shooting partner wasn’t a mind reader. (Apparently I’ll be taking a cold shower this evening…) he thought as he punched in a retrieval command and carefully studied the ballistics report on Takagi’s simulation.
no subject
“Commander Watanabe is going to need to program a new simulator that is a better representation of the speed that we were up against yesterday,” he said in a matter of fact tone as he walked over to the SIMUL console, comparing the speed of the simulation with the impossibly rapid movement of a certain red haired waiter from the day before and finding it contemptibly lacking. (How can I expect to teach my officers how to target objects that can’t be visually tracked?) While he and a few other members of the force were able, somehow, to find and focus on emotional signatures, most officers lacked the strange talent and had to rely on human senses that were becoming obsolete. “You met her, I think? At the café ?”
When Takagi nodded, Saitoh added, “Karen is an exceptional officer and a trustworthy individual.” There was in his mind, no higher praise. “In light of recent events, she has offered to assist you in securing acceptable home security and communication systems. I would advise you to take her up on her offer and refrain from sending / receiving any sensitive information from your home until you’re absolutely sure that everything is secure.”
This was another part of his offer of protection, a component that Watanabe herself had volunteered for, claiming that she owed Takagi a favor for saving his sorry hide the day before. It was the way his squad operated, each member looking out for each other. Watanabe handled cyber security, he oversaw physical training and weapons procurement, Hondo led the effort to protect family members of high visibility / undercover employees while
Yamaguchi, a tender hearted young woman who also happened to be a ridiculously adept sniper, was tasked with providing first line support and assistance to the families when they all failed and an officer was killed or maimed in the line of duty. It was a decidedly non-formal arrangement, but it kept people alive and had resulted in Saitoh’s squadron having the lowest mortality rates for five years running.
(Karen knows that I….) he snuck a glance over at Takagi. She was looking down at her burn bandages, her expression unreadable in the low light of the firing range. He looked at her little hands, her fingers that were still burned and painful. It made his heart ache to know that she’d already suffered harm on his behalf. (…she knows that I care for the woman and am determined to keep her safe at all costs) He inwardly smirked, wondering how Karen would react if she knew the true depth of his feelings where the prosecuting attorney was concerned. (Hell, she’d never let Takagi out of her sight…)
Saitoh wisely didn’t mention that if he had his way, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight either. Leaving her to fend for herself went contrary to his instincts and going contrary to his instincts had always proven to be a very bad idea.
(Idiot – what else can be done at this point in time?)
While the idea of picking her up over his shoulder and squirreling her away in a safe location until he was able to hunt down and destroy anyone who intended her harm held an undeniable degree of appeal, it was also impractical, illegal and would probably scare the pants of the poor woman.
For an instant, an image of the lovely woman sans trousers, wearing nothing more than a smile and some of that elusive perfume popped into his head. Saitoh inwardly smacked himself (twice for good measure) and forced the rather creative but inappropriate visual image back down where it belonged, thankful that his shooting partner wasn’t a mind reader. (Apparently I’ll be taking a cold shower this evening…) he thought as he punched in a retrieval command and carefully studied the ballistics report on Takagi’s simulation.