Marylin's Situation Escalates

As Marylin continued to protest her innocence, one of the guards moved away to speak on his radio. The other guard stayed with her, and over her own voice and the general airport hubbub she caught only a few words. The voice on the other end of the radio was crackly and unclear, but she heard various brief snippets. Suspect. Female. Device. Response. Emergency. Team.

‘What is going to happen?’ Marylin asked when the guard returned. ‘Are you arresting me?’

‘There is a response team en-route,’ he replied. ‘They will take it from here.’ He refused to be drawn any further so Marylin could do nothing except stand there, arms restrained behind her, watching the other passengers hurry about their business. Of course, the sight of somebody handcuffed and detained in full view of everybody was of interest to many travellers, but most tried to watch covertly, moving on quickly for fear of being dragged into whatever this situation was.

Finally, Marylin saw this ‘response team’ arrive. Dressed in what looked like black body armour and with helmets with visors covering their faces, they looked like something from a science fiction thriller. Their outfits were terrifying, and Marylin was reminded of some kind of robot army as they marched in their heavy black boots toward her. There were only five of them, comprised of four men and one woman, but they clearly weren’t to be trifled with.

The guard who had radioed for assistance met the woman and one of the robots, the three of them talking briefly out of earshot while the other three stood nearby. Then the response team took over, and the original two guards stayed to watch. This whole diorama was clearly a source of much interest and entertainment for the hundreds of travellers milling around.

The woman approached Marylin and raised her visor. She was actually quite pretty, with a slim, delicate face, although any softness was belied by her hard eyes.

‘Madam, I believe you have been made aware of why we are here. We don’t want to cause you any unnecessary delays, but security is of course paramount. When we are made aware of anything which may be suspicious, we have to investigate. And that’s all this is, currently. An investigation. Let us do our jobs, and you’ll be on your way in no time. Attempt to interfere or obstruct us, and this will take much longer. Do you understand what I’m saying?’

She did seem to make sense. Marylin had no intention of causing trouble, she just wanted to catch her flight.

‘I haven’t done anything,’ she said quietly.

The woman seemed irritated by this. ‘Nonetheless,’ she said, ‘you were identified as a risk by one of our dogs, and our operatives found further cause for suspicion. My job is to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that there are no risks to the airport, the flight, and the personnel. If you present a risk, I’m going to find it. If you don’t, I’m going to be out of your hair very quickly.’

She paused, letting her words sink in. ‘So I have to ask you: do I have your permission to do my job? Do I have your permission to take all necessary steps to confirm that you present no risk?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Marylin agreed. ‘Do what you need to do, you’ll see I’m innocent.’

‘Very good,’ the woman said. She turned to the team of armoured soldiers. ‘Consent received. Proceed.’

Marylin found herself suddenly surrounded, one man behind her, one on each side, and the last man and the woman in front of her. ‘In position,’ all four men confirmed.

‘Okay,’ said the woman, watching the suspect carefully. ‘Remain still please, madam. Commence the search of her upper body.’ She glanced at the soldier behind Marylin. ‘Proceed with cutting off her clothes.’