"There are only two acceptable options. Liquidate the girl and her Mentor, or have them voluntarily surrender their temporal processors through surgical extraction. In either case the alien dies." First Councilor Celestine said from the verdant plains of her estate. "You can do it remotely, then send in a team of "gunslingers" to verify and mop up. I want it to be clean and tidy, Dag!" And then she added with a visible sigh of regret, "I know she was your primary lover, and an honored, loyal citizen. But the risks are substantial to the harmony of the status quo. Siobhan Metalahwaggon is too tempting a morsel to be allowed to be at large; neither here or anywhere along the Timeline. I trust your oath to the Guardian Counsel is undiminished." Dag smiled and said, "They will submit or die, First Councilor."
Either way it was a death sentence for Dag's lover and her apprentice. Surgically removing temporal processors in adulthood meant spending the remainder of one's days in a vegetative state. The vast neural connections surrounding temporal processors were too complicated to sever without jepordy to the patient.. Cognitive functions could not survive extraction procedures. Besides, Matsuka would never submit to that option. But what choice did she have? What choice did any of them have?
No one dified the Families and survived. Obedience to their will was absolute. As a member of the Guardian Council, Dag's first responsibility was to protect and defend the regime. All threats identified by the Families no matter how insignificant were dealt with swiftly and decisively.
The balance of power between the First Families relied upon transparency and equality. Advantages were shared equally, and threats were perceived as dangers to the common good. To allow Siobhan to live, even in exile somewhere along the Timeline was to administer an ancestral poison pill. The power of the ruling clans could be snuffed out clearing the way for some other family to rule. That prospect was the essence of anarchy. And given the peculiarities of Timeline dynamics removing certainty from the art of lineage development thrust the mind to the brink of sanity. No there had to be a third way!
What if a convincing ruse made it appear that Siobhan, and Matsuka were killed, and there was credible physical evidence that could hold up to scrutiny. Then, Matsuka and Siobhan could escape to a safe house down the Timeline. He had heard whisperings about a handful of controversial figures who melted into anonymous obscurity somewhere in Time. As for the alien... she would be taken into custody; interrogated by counterinsurgency drones and dissected for the benefit of science. No dodging Timeline Assassins for his woman. No looking over his shoulder for the rest of his professional career. It also meant never seeing Matsuka again! But at least he could console himself with the knowledge that somewhere, somewhen Matsuka was alive and thriving. That was an outcome worth risking everything.
