The Courier Ch. 14

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Kim's plans to sit down with her client and calmly explain what was going to happen to her went awry the moment the three women entered the Spokeswoman's office. It turned out that Tiffany had gone into labor and it was unlikely she could be safely moved to a hospital. Fortunately the Central Police Station had a staff of doctors and nurses, so medical help was just two flights of stairs away. As a doctor and several assistants came into the front office, Kim and Cecilia moved a recovery table into the center of the room and tossed a sheet over it. The medical staff quickly took over and lifted the naked criminal onto the table. The Prime Minister's second grandson was destined to be born on the third floor of the Central Police Station, in the very office where he had worked when he was a Spokesman himself.

Kim called Vladik to let him know that his wife was giving birth in her office, then turned to Cecilia and Maria Elena to dismiss them. There wasn't any point in having them stay because the room was barely large enough for the medical staff, let alone any witnesses. Cecilia was not too concerned about Tiffany's safety; after all, the child was her second and the medical staff helping her was comparable to what she would have had in the hospital. She would stay out of the way and congratulate her the next day. Kim would remain in the office and comfort her, because Vladik was too far away to make it time to actually see the baby being born.

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It was late afternoon when Cecilia and Maria Elena exited the Central Police Station onto the Central Plaza. With Kim occupied with her assistant, it was up to Cecilia to break the news about the Colombian's pending transfer of custody. She decided that it would be best if they walked back to the university so they could talk. They would be walking for about an hour, which would give her enough time to fully explain what Maria Elena could expect.

Cecilia was not a subtle or tactful person, so she simply told Maria Elena what was going to happen the following week. At first Maria Elena simply thought that she no longer would be working at the university, but Cecilia corrected her:

"No. You're not just changing your job. Your custodianship is being changed. The Ministry of Justice won't have any control over you at all. Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna won't be your custodian anymore because she can only be the custodian of a criminal who's assigned to the Ministry. You're going to be handed over to the Royal Family. They'll be your new owners, so my guess is that your custodian is gonna be the Grand Duchess."

"But I thought that...my Spokeswoman said...the Danubian government owns me."

"They do, but if the Royals want a criminal, it's a custom that the Ministry of Justice hands 'em over. They have a special arrangement that's a tradition. If they want you, they can take ownership of you at any time."

"But...I don't want to go there...to that house..."

"So? Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna doesn't want you to go there either. She's very upset, but right now there's nothing she can do about it."

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Tiffany's second son was born after a relatively short labor, which confirmed the decision of the doctor to have her deliver in Kim's office instead of transporting her to a hospital. However, as soon as it was clear that she and the baby were in good health, the medical staff moved both of them to the infirmary, for subsequent transportation to a nearby clinic. Vladik arrived on the scene, which allowed Kim to excuse herself and deal with her newest problem, the pending transfer of Criminal # 101025 to the Royal Family.

Kim did not think she could prevent the transfer from happening, given that she had such short notice. It already was Friday afternoon and the transfer would take place on Monday morning. However, the Spokeswoman decided to file an official petition to have the transfer reversed, which would work its way up through her supervisor to the Minister of Justice. It was possible that the Prime Minister himself would get involved, given that the Grand Duchess was his daughter and Criminal # 101025 was the lover of his brother.

Kim cringed at the thought of involving the Prime Minister in a dispute between his brother and his daughter over the custody of a criminal, because the prospects of the affair blowing up into a public scandal were daunting. To file a petition was a very grave decision for her own future as well. There was a possibility that officially confronting the wishes of the Royal Family would cost her career. However, she felt that she had no choice, because she had taken an oath to pursue the interests of her clients to the best of her ability. If she failed to uphold her oath, she would be dishonored, and to be dishonored was much worse than to be unemployed. She felt that it was very clear that it was in Maria Elena's best interest to remain with Victor Dukov and continue her life working at the university.

Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna would do everything she could to have custody of Criminal # 101025 returned to the Ministry of Justice. She was determined that her stay with the Royal Family would be as brief as possible. She had heard stories about some very improper behavior going on at the Royal Residence...and knowing Anyia, she suspected that the stories were true.