Chapter 1.5 - In which Lieutenant Robards sympathizes

Calder

Month 9, Day 27, Sunday 4:30 p.m.

Standing beside Copper Alma at the window, Calder took a sip of plain black tea as he watched young Mr. Irving walk through the station’s gates, wearing his now-dry clothing but still hunching against the bite of the cold. The boy looked both ways, twice, before stepping past the gates and hurrying down the sidewalk. Calder recognized the paranoia, often seen in those who had experienced an event traumatic enough to make them realize the world around them wore only the illusion of safety, which could be broken at any time.

Calder was surprised at how mature and even likable Mr. Irving was, once they had gotten past their misunderstanding. A little bit of a high-speed chatter-mouth under stress, and still with all the gawky awkwardness Calder remembered from his own youth, but he had a good head on his shoulders.

As the boy disappeared, Alma turned to Calder. “Do we believe him, Lieutenant?” she asked.

“Yes,” Calder said, because nothing more was necessary. He had a drop of prognos blood in his ancestry, far enough back and so diluted that there were no visible signs, but he liked to think it made him more perceptive. Even if it didn’t quite help him understand other people, he could spot and catalogue their involuntary responses, and over time and with enough data, use them to parse the meaning behind, or sometimes even contradicting, their words.

That, along with training and practice interrogating suspects, made him quite adept at spotting lies. Mr. Irving had been nervous, but had shown no signs of falsehood, despite the absurdity of his story.

Calder had initially thought that coming down hard on the child would be for his own good, but he had not been without sympathy. Calder understood the urge to take justice into his own hands, to right wrongs, and the inability to look away when something wrong was happening right in front of him. It was why he had become a copper, and why he was doing everything in his power to rise up within the institution. Lieutenant now, but hopefully soon, Captain, and with enough power to ensure justice was dealt with an even hand.

But Calder had been wrong. Mr. Irving was sensible to the point of, perhaps, cowardice.

“Did you notice how he was so nonchalant toward his injuries?” Alma asked, a familiar tone in her voice, a false lightness covering up suspicion.

“He only had a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing that would warrant distraught behavior.”

“Yes, perhaps for you or I. But he’s a child.”

“Boys are trained to be tough.”

Alma’s eyes narrowed. “I, too, was trained to be tough.” After a few moments of silence where Calder tried to figure out a response that wouldn’t increase the signs of anger she was displaying, she sighed, her shoulders sagging. “I just don’t like it.”

His colleague, also one of the few he would consider a friend, was too overprotective, wanting to save every slightly sad child and sick animal she had ever met. Calder decided to change the subject. “Do you wish to accompany me on my debrief with Captain Hay, since you were present for the interview?”

Copper Alma didn’t quite suppress her grimace. “No, thank you. I’m sure you can handle it alone, Lieutenant, and I have other pressing tasks.” Perhaps to avoid any questions about what those tasks might be, she hurried off toward her desk.

Calder finished his tea and turned toward Captain Hay’s office. The man was far from the worst superior that Calder had ever worked under. He might be harsh, but he was fair. Perhaps in excess, without any room for sympathy or grace. Even Calder, often accused of being cold, harsh, and unfeeling, understood the relevance of nuance.

And so, Calder respected his captain’s rank, but felt the man himself was very poorly suited for the job. But Calder worked within the rules, obeyed commands, and was not the kind to talk about his superior behind their back. Even if only because it endangered his prospects of getting a promotion.

Author Note: I quite like Calder for some reason. He's just the wrong flavor of perceptive, and ambitious in quite a different way than someone like Siobhan. A rule-abider.