Meeting with the narc cops

                                    

                                          
Simon
                          
The meeting was an away fixture, held at the Narcotics Division office, attended by Simon and Coombs for TechVetting, the boss of the two narc cops serving as a one-man home team.
                          
The Narc boss was speaking: "You've had my guys for more than a week now. I'm not seeing much sign of progress here, no payback on my investment."
                          
"Investment? They haven't done anything yet," observed Simon.
                          
"There are overheads. Even nothing costs something. When am I going to see some indication that this is not just a make-work scheme for a department on the down and out?"
                          
"What are you talking about?" Coombs's growl rumbled across the meeting room like a minor seismic event. "We've made plenty of progress. You tell him, Simon."
                          
"We're working on the link between the new tech and the drug manufacturers. Intelligence gathering. Your boys are soldiers, so there's not much for them to do just yet. But their time will come."
                          
"What about this scuffle I heard about the other day?"
                          
Simon shrugged. "Our analyst got jumped on her way back from talking to people at the university who are suspected of being involved. That wouldn't happen, would it? Not unless we're on to something?"
                          
The Narc boss looked doubtful.
                          
"It's not clear," said Simon, "how much the Yakuza suspect about what we are up to, but they have clearly noticed we are up to something."
                          
Simon observed the look that passed between Coombs and the Narc boss. Some telepathic exchange Simon clearly hadn't yet racked up sufficient years of service to interpret.
                          
"Tell the man," said Coombs.
                          
Simon looked confused. "Tell him what?"
                          
"Something real, for fuck's sake. Forget this 'intelligence gathering' bullshit. Suspect this and notice that. Give him something that will justify his keeping his men assigned."
                          
"But ..."
                          
"If you've got something, that is," said the Narc boss. "If this isn't all some fantasy. Because I'm doing what I can to help here, but I'm not about to let my own department get dragged into the same swamp."
                          
Simon held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "Okay. I get it." He paused for a moment's consternation, looking askance at Coombs but getting no response. "Well to begin with, we've identified the assailant as a known associate."
                          
"For fuck's sake," the Narc boss exploded. "You mean, you've tracked down some low-level mope?"
                          
Simon held up a hand again, this time to silence the interjection. "And we've identified a third party. A computer hacker who's somehow connected both to the tech people at the university and the Yakuza. Connected how exactly is not yet clear, but the scuffle, as you called it, was somehow related to this man. There's good reason to believe he's a link to higher value targets. That's what I meant by being at the intelligence gathering phase."
                          
"You're saying you have a possible informant?"
                          
"We've found someone who could be a rich source of evidence, someone not tied by allegiance to the syndicate, whose testimony could be bought in return for protection. Surely that's worth pursuing?"
                          
"Do my boys know about this?"
                          
"No need as yet. The individual in question is a cyberactivist – that's pretty solidly on TechVetting turf, right? Your men will be brought up to speed as soon as we have something more solid to go on. 'Till then they are free to get on with other work."
                          
"You good with this?" asked Coombs.
                          
The Narc boss didn't answer immediately, continued to stare at Simon with a suspicious gaze. Eventually he grunted something and nodded his head. The meeting was over.