They let the children go. One of children gave the press a different story. Said the insurgents had only asked for a small ransom and the release of three political prisoners. And that the hostages were killed when the government attacked. The government said the kid was a liar. A sympathizer.

That kid was Heather.

“Lou, just because I opposed the regime, and fought for due process for people who opposed it by other means, doesn’t mean I agree with all the actions taken. Especially not after things started getting really crazy.”

“You represented murderers, Donny.”

“Including the President. The violence started on your side, Lou. Or maybe you forgot about the first roundups. Right now I’m sitting in Dallas two blocks from where the vigilantes strung up those kids in Dealey Plaza. But I’m not here to talk about the past—I’m calling to see if I can help make sure it doesn’t happen again. Because I just heard about Heather. I can’t believe they took her. Especially since, last I heard, she was on their side.”

Donny listened for the reaction.

Some people whispered that Heather was in on what went down. That she had helped the guerrillas access the camp, told them where they could find the people they wanted. Donny didn’t buy it. Especially now.

“Heather is her own woman,” said Lou. “But she’s not a terrorist. And they’re not going to get away with it this time.”

“And that’s why I want to help,” said Donny. “I know I can get them to release her.”

Heather had been arrested for contempt of court, for failing to pay a default judgment the courts of the breakaway regime in New Orleans had awarded against her family’s holdings. That case was based on charges arising out of her family’s three generations of crimes against the planet, things that had not been crimes until the insurgents took New Orleans as the liberated territory they won in the war and made their own new laws. The family, like the other companies that had been sued in that court, denied its jurisdiction and refused to even show up. The result was damages in an amount not even that family could afford to pay. Damages that were more like reparations. And now if they didn’t pay, Heather would pay. Maybe with her life.

“You piece of shit,” said Lou. “You’re in on this fucking shakedown, aren’t you?”

“No, Lou. I told you, I don’t work for those people anymore. They fired me. But I know them. I understand them. I even helped them set up this new court. They will listen to me.”

Lou groaned. It was the sound of someone who really wants to end the conversation, wishes it had never begun, but now knows it can’t stop.

“We already have this covered, Donny.”