Car doors slammed. Police officers arrived with non-lethal weapons like stun guns. Officer Boulson bounded out of his vehicle with Bavaria. Screeches from the radio shrieked in the officer’s ear. Bavaria sniffed around as they walked. Boulson put on his face shield and helmet. His bulletproof vest made his chest puff forward. He met up with Officer Lanksy. 

“We know it’s ACA,” Lansky announced. “The wire says it’s a peaceful protest, but we weren’t called out here with the Wagon to just sit here whistling with our thumbs twiddling,” Lansky reminded. 

“Where’s the chief?” Boulson asked.

“She’s down there talking to one of the organizers, if you can call them that,” Lanksy replied with a wry grin. With his vest on, his muscles seemed even larger. Screams and yells turned into a chant which rose up from the crowd. “Capable! Capable!” The demonstrators swelled and swayed in unison.

“It’s definitely ACA,” Lansky stated, removing his ear piece and placing on his helmet. He journeyed to the front of the line. Boulson followed. Other officers held the line. They both found the Wagon which carried lethal instruments. These deadly tools included pistols, shot guns, and rifles. Two snipers perched on the tops of roofs about five hundred yards away. Both officers had prepared to use the tools of death, but only in the event that the protesters grew violent.

They reported to Chief Keywell whose face looked like stone. It held within it a certain gravitas and her light eyes reflected in the lights of the squad cars.

“Alright,” she intoned. “We’ve got about three hundred people just outside the ivory gates. They’re seemingly unarmed and peaceful. As long as we hold fast, we can just tell them to disperse. They’re not on Smartystan soil, so they can speak as freely as possible. They’re not private property,” Chief Keywell explained. 

“Chief, what are the odds of this thing getting out of hand?” Boulson asked.

She shrugged. “It all comes down to the way we handle our business. We open fire 

 there is a need to do so. That’s protocol.”

Boulson and Lansky looked at one another. They both breathed in sharply.

The Active Denial System (ADS) proved to be useless as the gathering wore heat resistant shields. Did they come prepared for more firepower? wondered Lansky. He placed his ear piece back in his ear. Chief Keywell motioned for the two sergeants to go to the front. With intrepidity, they both marched forward. 

“The way this is shaping up, it looks like we’re going to have a time,” Boulson admitted. The clanking of the gates provoked some of the other officers. Rankled by the restlessness of the crowd, they could see a sea of humanity bristling. The tense atmosphere shifted as day turned to night. None of them backed away from the entrance to the city-nation-state. They brought up their shields and waited for further commands from the chief of police. Somewhere, she had brought out a bullhorn. 

“Listen, now. You will all return to your own dwelling places and end this action. We are not going to allow this kind of ruckus to continue. If you do not disperse, we will be emboldened to use force.” Just as she said this, Lansky moved slightly closer to the chief. He saw a flash of silver. A gun.

His movements swift, he jumped in front of the chief and pushed her down as the shot rang out of the pistol. Chief Keywell had been grazed in the chest, but her vest stopped any serious wound. The officers marched to the Wagon and retrieved the pieces to restore the piece. This action proved to be fruitful for the police, as the crowd rolled around screaming and retreated to their original positions.

Lansky helped the police chief to her feet. 

“Goddamn,” Dalana gasped. “I appreciate it, Holder. That could’ve gone left.” She held her side where a bruise started to form. Boulson and Bavaria ran to where Lansky and Chief Keywell had remained. Other officers helped to shield the chief from further danger. They marched her out of harm’s way and proceeded to the ambulance on site.

In her brain chip, she monitored the place where she had been struck. With no serious wounds to report, she was ushered away to the hospital for further check-up.

“Jesus, Holder. How’d you know….” Boulson started but then remembered the flash of the metal in the moonlight and the artificial lights abounding the area. “I don’t know if I could’ve done that,” Boulson admitted.

“Don’t worry. Dalana’s safe. That’s all that matters.” Bavaria barked. The crowd had dissipated so severely that not another shot had been fired. The police, still, trained their weapons on the fraction of the people that milled about, trying desperately to enter the land of the Smartys.

It was that mix that unnerved Lansky. He felt it to be a mark against himself that he couldn’t keep his boss from complete harm. This notion bore heavily on his soul. He dusted himself off and noted that he had been hit himself. Lansky’s hand gushed blood from his abdomen. The round entered and exited his belly.

“I’m fine. Get those other guys to the station and get that Wagon the hell out of here,” Lansky ordered Boulson. Without hesitation, Boulson took up the call from his fellow sergeant. 

“C’mon, girl,” Boulson spoke and Bavaria sprinted to the other cops. There may have been a handful of rioters who had lingered. Through all the chaos, Lansky didn’t even feel the pain. The round had just produced a flesh wound. No traces of the projectile remained in his body. Nevertheless, he found his way to the ambulance where the Chief had been administered aid.

“I never thanked you for saving my life back there,” Chief Keywell mentioned. She felt a slight ache in her chest. She winced. “Thank you, Holder.”

“It’s nothing, ma’am. We’re just out here trying to stop the baddies.”

She looked down at his wound. “Your stomach….” The synths addressed her as much as they attended to him.

“It went in and out like that,” he replied.

“If we’re going to have a police force, we’re going to need to operate…” another wave of discomfort coursed through her. “We’re going to need more intelligence. That’s your job, Holder.”

“I know. I know. I’m glad we were able to come this far by reason. In anticipation of something happening like this, we all did good police work, nonetheless.”

“Some did more….” Chief Keywell responded as a salve soothed her.

A synth then washed and disinfected Lansky’s own wound. She applied medicine of aloe and an agent that helped to heal his wound.

are going to eat this up,” Dalana observed. “‘Sergeant saves the police chief’s life during a fight,’” she mapped out the headline in front of her. 

“I would welcome the attention based on my own pride, but the real honor is in preserving you, Chief.”

“Let’s not get mired down in sentiments, though. We have to work. We have to prove to the Smartystanians that they are safe. We already signed up for this. It’s for the folks that…will never put on a uniform and guard a post.”

“What we must do is defend the individual rights of the people we raised a hand to protect. While the United States government will provide us with aid in case of an even bigger event than this, there’s no telling whether they will be there in time.”

“Yes, we were prepared. It’s all in the training. I couldn’t just let some miscreant take you out of here. We’ve got citizens to consider, like you said,” Lansky replied.

“They're counting…on people like you to be out there literally on the front lines to safeguard them from all hurt, harm, or hazard,” Chief Keywell retorted.

“We’re the first line of defense against foreign invaders….” Lansky closed his eyes but did not cry or whimper.

“Go ahead and let it out,” Dalana encouraged.

“No, no. It’s not that I’m not in pain. I am. I acknowledge it and am processing it. The synth gave me some good drugs, too. I’ll be alright. What’s most important is the queen on the board.”

“And who are you? The bishop? The rook? The knight? Are you trying to be king?”

“I’m but a pawn.” They shared a much needed laugh through anguish. It felt freeing and like a breeze of comforting winds swept through the vehicle. Synths closed the doors and rushed the sergeant and the chief to Mary Eliza Mahoney Hospital. 

There they saw the other officers waiting for them to arrive. Cheers and applause greeted them. They knew they had to keep going despite the circumstances. 

Lansky’s abdomen healed in just a matter of hours. A slight scar remained but he saw release and had been cleared by the medical staff. He stood by Chief Keywell. She looked up at him and smiled.

“You don’t have to be here. They’re taking great care of me,” she suggested.

“I want to be here. You experienced a trauma that no top cop should ever face. I don’t give a damn about the vest. You’re right. Things really could’ve gone left.”

“But they didn’t. Some call it ‘divine intervention.’ I call it damn good policing.”

Lansky looked at her with a sense of awe and comprehension. He was like Bavaria, he didn’t speak but he understood. The other officers looked at their smartwatches and checked the news which had reported on the entire situation throughout the whole time. No injuries other than Dalana and Holder had been reported. None on the opposing side, included. 

“It could’ve gotten out of control rather quickly. I mean it,” she repeated. The drugs appeared to be taking their effect. She scanned her brain chip to see the status of her force. Because no one else got hurt, there seemed to be an ease in her mind.  To tackle this behemoth known as the Average Capabilities Association (ACA), she would only be tasked with fending off the intruders to this land. Of course, there would be trickles of people escaping into the city, but giant waves of folks could be imminent. She turned in her bed to increase the drugs into her system. A tiny smirk streaked across her face. 

“This feels so good,” Chief Keywell gasped and chuckled silently.

With a hand wrapped in bandages, Lansky waved to Chief Dalana Keywell.

“Are you giving me an order?” She asked slyly.

“I’m just looking out for your own selfishness.”

Lansky walked out of the hospital room and met up with Boulson. Bavaria remained in the squad car.

“Is she alright? Is she going to be okay?” Boulson asked.

“What makes you think any differently? You have to remember Dalana comes from Old Delaware. Her time on the streets of Wilmington conditioned her to be tough.”

Boulson looked down and then up again. “If we can just make it to the point of knowing when these things will happen, because they’re going to happen….”

“We’ll be more than prepared to handle anyone who threatens the safety and well-being of the inhabitants of this grand location. We’re cops. We are the first police force in history dedicated to rational planning, individual protection, and capitalist gain. We have that mark of distinction going for us,” Lanksy explained.

Boulson nodded in agreement. “I think Bavaria and I are going to be doing paperwork when they pin an award on your chest.”

“I’m in it for the awards. That’s not my aim, though. It's work. The fact that I did my job, although not fully, will permit me slumber. I will have to take in the idea that we almost lost our chief and it would’ve been my fault. I couldn’t have let that happen.”

Lansky and Boulson walked out into the dawn. Boulson shot a glance at one of the bandages under his partner's shirt.

“I’ll drive. It looks like that still needs time to heal,” Boulson referenced.

“I appreciate it, but I’m just going to let the both of us use the autonomous system on this ride.” Lansky winked and put on his safety belt. 

Chintan Jani

Smartystan

The Ivory Gates

Car doors slammed. Police officers arrived with non-lethal weapons like stun guns. Officer Boulson bounded out of his vehicle with Bavaria. Screeches from the radio shrieked in the officer’s ear. Bavaria sniffed around as they walked. Boulson put on his face shield and helmet. His bulletproof vest made his chest puff forward. He met up with Officer Lanksy. 



Smartystan

The Ivory Gates

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Businesswoman Chapter 318

Smartystan

The Ivory Gates

This is an Exclusive Story for supporters of .css-13w9qce-Text{display:inline-block;color:var(--text-accent);}Skyler Saunders

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Skyler Saunders

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Businesswoman Chapter 318

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