The Political Indiscretion of Lady Bondar

April 22


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I received a letter today. It arrived through channels.

It was not addressed to me.

Dated some sixteen months ago, it was private correspondence from the Lady Brazen Bondar of House Bondar, to Joan al Jofar, the Chief Magistrate of Al Raqis. The date on the letter, December 26, puts it three days before my arrival on Al Raqis that month.

That this letter found its way into my hands is a testimony to the dedication and hard work of our civil servants ....and to the value of patience in the field of investigation.

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Chief Magistrate al Jofar:

I have pondered over and over whether to send this message to you, however, time may now be of the essence and I fear you you must be given some information about a situation that is developing.

As you know Faith Industries has recently arrived on al-Raqis through the person of Commander William Faith. I do not want to assume anything about your knowledge of Faith, so I will share the following:

William Faith, an Alliance officer, was undercover for a time with the rebels and was known as Teetopwillie, where he ran a trading company on Shadow. The company was called TTW. In the undercover role, he married Brooke Rhea, the woman who came to see you yesterday. In reality, she was already married to another Alliance operative, who had "disappeared" or was believed dead. In fact, the husband was not dead but was somehow connected to Necronum (sic) and Commander Justine Morrow. [Magistrate, I apologize as I know this tale may sound fantastical..but this is the information you need to have]. Faith was undercover to discover who, among the rebel groups was responsible for blowing up the ship his family was traveling on. The entire family (wife and children perished).

I have it on good authority that at the wedding between Faith/Tee and Brooke, Brooke's husband showed up. Faith, fearing his cover would be blown shot him, and havoc ensued. From that time, Brooke has taken over TTW with the individual named Dex, who claims to be a botanist. It is suspected he is actually the father of the child she is carrying [again, my apologies Magistrate for what appears to be idle gossip. In fact all can be corroborated].

The pressing issue is that I have recently learned of a plot involving the former Shadow residents, including Brooke and some of her henchmen. It has come to my attention that they are planning to come to al-Raqis and capture Commander Faith. Putting aside my personal interests, which are well known, there are many reasons why such a plan would be disruptive to al-Raqis: 1) it would bring far too much Alliance attention to us; 2) it would cast dispersion on your ability to govern al-Raqis; 3) it would deprive al-Raqis of the power and prestige that Faith Industries can bring; and 4) will create a lawless environment in our streets.

It has also occurred to me, that there are many questions over the validity of Faith's actions in light of what happened to his family. Since the Rebels do not respect the legal administration of the Alliance, if they catch him, they may execute him without trial. It may be, in the event that capture occurs, you can offer yourself as a neutral judicial authority to be the arbiter of whether Faith's actions could be excused or not. A fairly handled trial would increase your reputation and prestige in the area, and...help ensure you control the fate of al-Raqis.

In closing...the presence of Brooke Rhea troubled me and compelled me to come forward with this information.

With greatest respect.

Lady Brazen Bondar

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Of course, the irony is that Faith's presence alone, as a war criminal at large, was reason enough for increasing the Alliance presence in the area.

I am not saying that Lady Bondar was wrong. If Brooke had indeed taken the law into her own hands here on Al Raqis, it would also have merited investigation.

I'm just saying we were coming either way.