In The Beginning by Gail Daley (top 100 books of all time checklist .TXT) 📕

"No. I agree with you and I think you and I might just be able to help each other out with this. Come up to my office where we can talk privately. There won’t be anyone around this early."

As they left, neither of them noticed the expression of the tall woman who had started toward their table. She wore a Lieutenant’s uniform. Her white-blond hair, cut short in a style favored by the military, framed striking, well-cut features. Just now, her red, bow shaped lips set in an angry scowl.

Once in her office, Katherine pulled up the virtual screen and pointed to a line of code. "You see this? This shows where the children’s records were altered to show van Doyle as a relative. It’s not the only time he’s done it either. There’s a record of alterations of children’s records going back to before the wars. The only recent changes though are to these five records. Timon’s two boys and these three girls. I spoke to the oldest girl the last time I went out there. Her name is Juliette. When I congratulated her on finding a relative, she was the one who clued me in on what was about to happen. She is a very clever little girl. I promised her I would help her."

"Help her? How?" Zack questioned.

"There are only two ways to remove a child from that Placement Center. They can be adopted, which we already tried and were turned down, or they can be claimed by a relative. It doesn’t have to be a close relative either. How would you feel about gaining two nephews and three girl cousins?"

"And when they find out you’ve altered the coding to show I’m related to them? I assume that’s what you are talking about."

Katherine laughed. "Well, it is, but nothing as crude as what I just showed you. I assure you that I am a much better programmer than whoever designed this package. What’s more I can make their changes so obvious no one could miss them."

He sat frowning at her. "Are you that good?"

"Yes, I’m that good. I may as well confess to you I was planning to do this anyway, but I planned to use the name of a clan member killed in action. The program has already been dropped in the database. All I need to do is substitute your name for his and activate the code."

"Lady, you are piece of work," he said, half admiringly, half horrified. "Let’s go for it."

"Wonderful! Meet me in front of the gate at 1400 hours. We have a meeting with the City Mayor to discuss this issue this afternoon. Wear your uniform so you look heroic, and leave the talking to me. A live hero showing up in person is always harder to ignore than a dead one anyway," she added.

Zack shook his head. "I hope I won't regret this," he remarked.

Gestuv Yance, The City Mayor, was short, round, and already going bald. He was overwhelmed to be rubbing shoulders with a member of the royal family of another planet, and thrilled to be invited to the Planetary Governor’s Ball given in honor of the exalted visitors from Vensoog and numerous other visiting dignitaries. It was obvious dreams of advancement and influence danced in his head. Zack watched with hidden amusement as Katherine not quite flirted with the Mayor. Today, she had dressed to impress; the outfit clung lovingly to her, and Mayor Yance was so busy trying to see through her transparent blouse and not get caught doing it, he signed and sealed the custody papers without even reading them.

The robocar that met them outside the Mayor’s office was built to carry at least ten passengers. Somehow, Zack was unsurprised to hear Katherine give the address of the Child Placement Center. Obviously, she had been prepared to move quickly.

"You had this plan already ready to go," didn’t you," he remarked. "I’m impressed".

"The administrator is gone this afternoon," she explained, "It’s his regular mid-week appointment in the city. That assistant of his is too used to rolling over for authority figures. I plan for us to have those children safe with us before he returns from his afternoon sex appointment."

"And just how, may I ask, do you know he will be gone?" Zack inquired skeptically.

She shrugged. "Juliette seems to know everything that goes on in that place. I had quite a conversation with her when I saw her last week."

She took out her com. "There is one more call we need to make. I want to let Commander Veratos know we are going to remove the children. She’s in charge of the IPP task force on human trafficking here on Fenris. She contacted me when I put through a query about van Doyle."

Zack was gaining considerable respect for Katherine’s preparations. The entire operation was handled like a military campaign. Grouter's Administrative assistant sputtered in distress when they collected the children, but Zack and Katherine were in and out of the facility, accompanied by five children, luggage and personal possessions inside of fifteen minutes.

As their car pulled away, Zack noticed that a bright red robocar pulled into the compound they had just left. "That’s van Doyle’s bus," Juliette warned. "He’ll be having a fit when he finds us gone."

Her voice was quiet, but Zack could read the underlying tension in it. She was a thin child, with bright green eyes and a shock of brilliantly red hair. Zack judged her age to be around twelve years old. Katherine patted her hand. "Don’t worry about that." She handed Juliette a copy of the papers signed by the mayor, which Juliette scanned with every appearance of comprehension. Maybe she was older than twelve. It was hard for him to judge girl children’s ages unless they had entered puberty.

"Meet your new Uncle, "Katherine nodded to the boys, "and your third cousin girls, Zack Jackson. He now has custody of you five and as an accepted immigrant to Vensoog, he may take his family