His Devious Rule

A man in his early thirties entered the dimly lit secret monitoring room with a  grim expression. His sharp eyes skimmed over the screens of the monitors before falling on the two men who stood up at his arrival. 

The man was wearing a white uniform, the shoulder straps of the shirt had a golden rank braid on the dark blue epaulets. There were miniature colorful ribbons and a metallic name band on his chest mentioning the man's name. 

Berwick Thomas.

The vice-captain of P-S-R Ship. The vice-captain is the head of the deck department, including the medical department, and reports directly to the captain of the ship. He is the second in command. In the event the captain is not medically fit for command or is incapacitated, he shall assume command of the ship.

Although he was an incharge of the medical department, he doesn't interfere with the guests on the ship. Hence he had chosen to let the manager handle the guests' issue asking the manager to report to him later. 

Little did he know his bit of ignorance considering them as guests' issue would bring the dagger at his neck. He got the responsibility of finding out who is manipulating the network and he was the one who was behind those manipulations.

Either he has to bring a scapegoat, keep his vice-captain post unstained or prove the complaint of the technician as a misunderstanding. He also mulled about different aspects but those weren't feasible due to other officers in the investigation team.

Receiving the call from his team, he went to look for them, "What's wrong?" Unlike how he spoke with other staff or captain, his voice was laced with annoyance.

"Ahh… Sir, you should watch this." The jacketed man pointed to the screen and replayed the part where they found the loop.

"They are the newly boarded couple." The plaid shirt man started to explain the situation. Before he could continue more, Berwick Thomas growled again, "It's them again." He ground his teeth while containing his anger.

The plaid shirt man glanced at his workmate and sighed, without understanding what Berwick meant. They weren't in a position to ask him so they chose a wise option. 'Minding their work.'

The plaid shirt man continued about Anya and Alvin after taking a breath. This was a critical issue so they weren't taking it lightly. "The couple was sitting on the bathroom floor for a long time. We found it suspicious and looked carefully."

Berwick suddenly turned to the plaid shirt who almost choked on his words. Controlling his emotions, the plaid shirt man continued, "A-a video clip was repeating continuously. Then it started playing normally."

Berwick's expression was dark. This couple was placing him in trouble again and again. He was yet to solve one issue, they brought him another one. "How is that possible?" He hissed in annoyance.

The two younger men looked at each other before the jacket man voiced the possibility, "It could be done by hacking or something is wrong with the camera. If it's the first case, then the hacker will be aware of the secret network and cameras in all guest rooms." There was fear underneath his tone.

Obviously, the two men were afraid of getting caught or the Vice-captain might make them a scapegoat. Who would like to get punished?

The jacketed man added in contemplation, "We still haven't noticed any problem in a different room excluding this." He tried to avoid Berwick from lashing out at them.

Berwick clenched his teeth and glared at the screen. In the live video, Anya was sleeping on the bed and Alvin had dozed off in a sitting position. Though Berwick wasn't certain, he couldn't help but think that the problems were arousing after the arrival of Alvin and Anya.

Even if he wanted, he couldn't barge inside their room as whatever they are doing isn't only illegal but also secret. So when could they inspect their room?

The dinner time. The couple will definitely go out. 

But Berwick will have to answer the security department if they question his actions for entering the guest's room in their absence. 

He could ask his team to mask the camera and sneak inside but, the security department men started patrolling in each passageway so they will notice if there is any problem.

'Argh…' Berwick stopped himself from thinking like a fool, He didn't want to link the coincidences. First, he chose to find out if the camera had any problem or the couple was suspicious. Then he could take action accordingly.

"You…" Berwick looked at the plaid shirt man, "Stay here and watch their cabin activities. Anything odd, report to me immediately. Keep their activities on record."

Berwick then turned to the other man, "Wear the staff uniform and meet me at my office in twenty minutes." Berwick was going to pretend as the cleaner found the couple suspicious if the investigation team questions. He will just use a convincing lie to enter inside the couple's room.

After it, Berwick left the secret room and went to his office room.

—---

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ship, the law minister at the age of fifties, sat on the couch looking at five men who were anxious and panicked. "I didn't understand what you all said. Why don't you take a seat, drink water, and relax first?"

The five men looked at each other and did as asked. They fetched the water by themselves and tried to calm down. A person voluntarily and briefed everything that they watched on the laptop. Then another person interrupted and started uttering out in nervousness.

"Mr. Wright, that girl is saying we all will be imprisoned. Something called sexual abuse, assault, stalking, ganging up, attacking, carrying a knife… Argh… She said a lot against our sons. She said she will sue us if we try to clear the evidence or bribe…" He glanced at other men and added, "Didn't we always do that? Nobody asked us anything so far."

The other men added their opinion one after the other, with a high expectation that the old man who had practiced law before, could conclude to them as that girl was bluffing and made them a fool

Baffled, the old man looked at the five. He coughed to clear his throat and voiced, "Whatever that girl said is cent percent accurate. Your sons could approximately be punished for 7-11 years of imprisonment, a few millions of compensation for the psychological strain to the couple."

The men paled in their position as if their souls left their bodies. Their last hope vanished just like that.

Then the old man's face darkened, "Nobody complained against you so far because they didn't dare to go against you. Do you think Collins couldn't?" 

A political party always contains good, bad, and greedy people. A good leader is one who chooses the best among the worst. Hence Bernard's team was well balanced.

The men's back stiffened hearing the old man start scolding them. They knew the old man wouldn't leave them off-hook so easily but they had no choice other than to ask him.

The old man continued to educate the men, "Quit your bad habit of spoiling your sons when they do such things. That girl was capable and escaped, what if your daughters were in such a position? Have you thought of it?"

The two gasped in shock by hearing the instance and the other three controlled themselves from rolling their eyes while thinking as the old man was lecturing them as soon as he got the chance.

The old man could read expressions easily with his experience. Changing some people is impossible, he could only try. "Nevermind, if you don't want this to escalate, go to Young Master Collins and his wife. Apologize to them, beg them. Or else forget about your career in politics."

The old man paused when he saw them enraging. He could guess they were going to argue as they will threaten Bernard by saying they will take back their support and that will shake the presidency of Bernard. Hence the old man sneered, "Do you think Bernard cares about the presidential seat instead of his daughter-in-law?" He laughed mockingly.

The men's expression slowly changed. Even if they pull Bernard off, if the public knows the reason, they will support Bernard even more. What about them? The public will thrash them. Looking at the long-term career and benefits, they slowly succumbed and decided to apologize to Alvin and Anya.

A man stood up and confessed, "I better apologize to the couple. I will drag my stupid son make him beg."

When the rest heard the son's part, they thought they should make their sons beg for mercy. "We will do as you said, Mr. Wright." The same words echoed in the cabin. 

The old man hoped Bernard didn't have to worry about these people among a sea of different issues. He stopped them before leaving, "Don't harass the couple near their room. Speak to them when they come out for dinner or drinks."

The men knew Bernard and Wright were political friends so the old man will first think of Collins before them. They awkwardly laughed and agreed to do as the old man said.

Once the men left, the old man crossed his legs. He looked out of the bay window and watched the dusky rays of the sun. The sun was closing to the west, ready to take a dip in the ocean. The view was breathtaking, however, his focus was elsewhere.

'Didn't Bernard say Linus was busy planning out a campaign?'

'Why did Bernard send Linus on the cruise?'

'When did Linus get married?'

'Didn't Linus just return to the country?'

To avoid the harsh sun, he had his lunch in the room so he missed seeing the couple. He checked the time, there was just an hour left for sunset and dinner would start right at that time. 

'I should meet them at the sunset deck.'

Unaware of the developments, the duo were still sleeping.