Dan Fairview [Fairview - Victoria Sidewell

Copyright 2018 by Dan Fairview

All rights reserved.

If theres a book that you want to read, but it hasnt been written yet, then you must write it.

Toni Morrison

About the Author

Dan Fairview is an author of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

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Victoria Sidewell

A day in the life

Dan Fairview

Introduction

This story takes place in my book Finding Purpose.

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V ictoria sat at her desk. She rubbed her eyes and stood, extended her arms into the air and stretched. She shook the blood back into her hands and feet. Coffee sounded good, so she made a fresh pot.

She went back to her desk to continue going over Ashtons criminal records.

So far she hadn't found much. He had a few minor things like traffic violations and disturbing the peace, and even a possession charge.

Her assistant Dan poked his head into her office. That coffee smells good.

Help yourself.

Dan grabbed his cup and filled it. Making any headway?

A little. I did fid out one interesting thing.

Dan pulled up a chair. Whats that?

Taylor was with Ashton during one of his arrests.

Are you talking about our local drug lord Dick Taylor?

Alleged drug lord, Victoria corrected.

Dan smiled. Right.

Anyway, when I get my hands on his council records, I bet Ill find that Ashton helped Taylor with his government contracts.

Are they going to let you see them?

I hope so. I requested them but havent heard back yet. You know how they are, theyll probably give me the runaround.

Probably. Dan took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair. If you could nail Taylor, they would probably give you your own seat on the council.

Victoria smiled and wondered what it would be like to be a council member with the power to make policy. She liked the idea.

Victoria got up and poured her cooling cup of coffee out and poured a fresh one.

She took a drink but was still used to the cool one and burnt her lip. Some of it dribbled on her uniform.

She tried to swipe it away before it sank into the blue fabric but was too late, so she sat the cup on the edge of the desk and Dan went to get a damp cloth to perform damage control.

As she scrubbed at the stain, her holo display informed her of an incoming message.

The message was a refusal of her request to see Ashtons council records.

It aggravated her but it was unexpected. She determined to try again. If that didnt work, she wasnt above bending the rules a little.

Victoria stared at her holo display, infuriated. She was looking at the third refusal for access to Ashtons files.

She didnt agree with the practice of closing a persons personal information just because they became a council member. A public officials business should remain public, she thought.

The council wanted her to investigate Ashton's death, but were tying her hands by not giving her access to his files. She couldn't decide if they were trying to hide something or if this was just more of their usual bureaucratic bull.

She let her thoughts drift to her morning swim, in an effort to calm herself. She thought of the warm temperature of the water and the taste of salty brine. She longed for the rush of endorphins as she exerted herself, not unlike a junkie would long for his next fix, she thought.

Swimming was something she tried to do every day, it kept her in shape and helped focused her mind. She wished she could stop what she was doing and go for another swim now.

She lost herself in thought for a few moments, but it didn't last. She needed access to those files.

She took another sip of her coffee, then walked over to refresh it.

Her assistant Dan, came into the room. "You still at it boss?"

Yeah. You would think that if someone was asking you to investigate something, they would help out."

Dan moved his lanky frame into a position where he could see her display. Anything I can help you with?"

"Not unless you know how to hack into the council's records."

"Person might get in trouble for something like that."

She smiled. I would sure appreciate it if you would give it a try."

Victoria skills on a computer were rudimentary at best. One of the reasons she chose Dan as her assistant, was his proficiency in computers.

Well., he said, "I can try but I'm not used to these new holographic interfaces yet.

I didn't see anything wrong with the old ones," she said, "when something works why fix it?"

Dan laughed. "Sometimes I think they just get bored, and come up with new stuff." He sat down and fiddled with the controls for a few moments then said, "I think I got it.

She moved over beside him so she could get a clear view of the image.

Rows of information appeared, and she started to get excited. Then a huge pop up screen appeared saying in bold letters, unauthorized access.

A message appeared with the Hishu Council identification header.

That can't be good." She said.

Victoria stood at her terminal, staring at the pop up message on her holo screen. Maybe she could talk her way out of this.

She told Dan to step aside so he wouldn't be in the video feed, then touched the message to accept the call.

This is Victoria Sidewell, how my I help you?"

"This is Sergeant Debbie Desmond, from Council security. I'm showing an unauthorized access alert from your terminal. Would you care to explain?"

"I must've hit a wrong button. Sorry. I'm not used to these new interfaces.

"Uh huh. Well, try to be a little more careful. Have a good day."

The call ended.

Victoria looked at Dan, who still had that nervous look on his face.

"I don't think she believed me," she said.

Dan let out a long breath he had been holding. "Sorry. I'm not used to these new interfaces. What we need is one of the old ones.

"It's ok. Don't you still have one laying around? "

"No. I should've hid one away, but I didn't. They took all the old ones with them.

Victoria waived away the holographic display, and sat down into her chair with a thump.

She sometimes wondered why she put up with this job. The bureaucratic process of the Hishu Council was hard to bear sometimes.

She tried to look on the bright side. At least it wasn't like the casino directors and their violent code. She did admire the efficiency of how they got things done though.