‘Nothing more than usual with those flatheads,’ said Daphne. ‘I’m looking for real suggestions, people.’
The rep from the Tokyo office stood up and bowed to his host. ‘Please, Ms Gilchrist-san. How much does Taggart know about our current situation?’
Apart from Junsuke Sato, Daphne didn’t respect any of the reps. In Osaka, she had learned how to do business the Japanese way. She admired their no-nonsense approach to work and traditional views of home life, even if she didn’t gain the respect of being a woman in power there.
‘Konnichiwa, Sato-san,’ she responded with a brief, but respectful bow. ‘Other than the basics, nothing. Shaw, care to elaborate?’
‘He still thinks he’s on a fact-finding mission. He knows very little about the Indigenes or where they came from. As you instructed, I fed him the false background files.’
‘Good. Taggart will be back on Earth in two weeks. We will speak to him then. He’s scheduled on the next passenger ship which departs Exilon 5 tomorrow.’
Sato looked concerned. ‘What about his wife? Is that affecting his judgement? What does he know about what happened to her?’
‘He still thinks the Indigenes killed her and I don’t plan on correcting that. Right now, he’s more useful to me fighting against them than with them.’
‘Is he a risk?’ said Sato.
Daphne shook her head. ‘He is manageable. Shaw will see to that.’
‘But what if he finds out about her?’
She laughed. ‘I really don’t see how that’s possible, Sato-san. He doesn’t have access to that information and I’m certainly not about to tell him, are you?’
Sato shook his head and sat down.
The Bangladesh rep spoke again. ‘What exactly do the Indigenes know about us?’
‘Very little, if Taggart’s files are anything to go by. Although the revelation about what we are must have come as a shock.’
‘Have the files been processed yet?’ said the San Francisco rep.
‘Brett?’
‘Not yet,’ said Suzanne. ‘We’re sending them down to our high-level storage facility on Level Five. They will be processed later on this afternoon.’
‘Brief me straight away when that’s done,’ said Daphne.
‘I am worried because we do not know what information the Indigenes have on us,’ said Sato. ‘Do we at least know what their plans are?’
‘No, we don’t. But I can assure you of this much. We are putting in place proper measures to make sure no harm comes to us. From what I understand, the meeting with the boy was innocuous enough. I don’t think they will act on their new findings, at least not straight away. I’m still looking for suggestions from the table.’
None were put forward.
‘If nobody has anything more to say, we’ll have to break up until we’ve given this situation some more thought. I’m disappointed that we haven’t come up with at least one idea.’ Daphne moved to stand up.
‘On a related matter,’ said Suzanne, ‘we are short of people in Level Five. We’ve lost two because of illness in the past week and we haven’t been able to replace them yet. With the extra work coming our way, we’ll need an extra body to pick up the slack.’
‘Investigate the pair,’ said Daphne. ‘If they are lying, you know what you have to do. I will not tolerate any security breaches from Level Five.’ She snapped her fingers. ‘Who do you have as replacement?’
‘I have some options available in Document Control and Storage,’ said Suzanne. ‘But the specific person I am recommending is Laura O’Halloran.’
‘What can you tell me about her?’
‘Three years on the job. No social life outside work. Lives alone. Only child. Has a mother that she doesn’t visit. Father is dead. Volunteers for extra shifts when they arise.’
‘Sounds like the perfect candidate. Inform her of the promotion, effective immediately, and make her swear to all-out confidentiality. The last thing we need is for the human population to get wind of an alien race occupying their saviour planet. Deighton and the board members need the transfer to Exilon 5 to go ahead as planned.’
Suzanne nodded and headed for the door.
Daphne stepped outside with her. ‘Make sure her clearance is restricted. I don’t want her getting access to Level Eight information unless I give the order. Taggart’s files should be clean enough. Need-to-know only. Got it?’
Suzanne nodded. ‘Understood.’
‘Is she going to be a problem?’
‘Not if I tell Chuck to drive the message home.’
The man who worked in booth ten on the Level Five was a strange fellow but he would keep Laura O’Halloran clean.
Daphne nodded. ‘Good. As soon as she’s settled and you have them ready, give her Taggart’s files for processing.’
‘Are you sure?’ said Suzanne. ‘She has no experience at this level. We have twenty-two other operators at your command, all with ample experience.’
‘It’s exactly for that reason that she’s getting them. If anything should go wrong, she’ll be easier to control.’
17
Laura looked up when Suzanne Brett burst into Document Control and Storage, followed closely by the overseer for Level Four. Work ground to an immediate halt.
‘Carry on with your work,’ said Brett.
‘Yes, carry on everyone.’ The overseer mimicked Suzanne’s order, irritated by her presence.
Laura stared at her screen, trying to look busy. She could hear Brett’s uniform swishing between her legs. Why was she here? Who was she here for? Laura had only met Suzanne Brett once before, back when she had first started work. She hadn’t warmed to the woman’s chilly desk-side manner and her black hair and thin lips only added to her icy demeanour. But Laura was smart enough to know not to piss her off. All the women who occupied the top positions were generally considered to be hardasses.
She continued to study the screen. The swishing sounds abated. She tensed up.
A finger tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped with fright. She turned and flushed red at the realisation Brett was there for her. The room fell silent. Brett’s cold eyes bored into her while the overseer hovered uneasily in the background.
‘Laura O’Halloran?’
‘Yes?’
‘You are being relocated as a matter of priority. Get your things.’
‘What? Where?’ She glanced at her overseer who indicated it was time to go. She stood up and gathered together her meagre possessions. ‘Where am I going?’
Brett took the lead. The overseer walked behind Laura as they guided her towards the exit. Panic grew inside her. Was this good or bad?
The curiosity on her colleagues’ faces was clear. Janine mimicked a call sign and mouthed ‘later’. No doubt Janine would be talking about her as soon as she left.
When would “later” even be? She didn’t know.
Brett led her to the turbo lift and called it.
‘Where are you taking me? Have I done something wrong?’
The lift arrived and Brett entered first. Her overseer shoved Laura inside.
‘Thanks for your help, Phil,’ said Brett. ‘I’ll take it from here.’ She placed a hand on the overseer’s chest and prevented him from following. As the doors closed, she retracted her arm and left him on the other side. The doors remained open long enough for Laura to see him mouth the word ‘bitch’.
‘One floor down,’ said Brett.
Laura presumed it was a command for the lift. Her heart raced when she realised where she was going.
‘Why?’
‘Hold out your right thumb.’
Laura complied and Brett jabbed her with a sharp instrument. Laura winced, but didn’t pull away her thumb as her security chip access was upgraded.
The lift doors opened. ‘That will give you access to Level Five,’ said Brett. ‘But before I can take you there, you need to come with me.’
They stepped out into an unremarkable corridor. If it
hadn’t been for the number five flashing like a beacon in the turbo lift, Laura wouldn’t have known what floor she was on; the grey walls and carpet gave no clues. Brett ushered her into a small room two doors down from the lift where she was greeted by a stern, seated man wearing the familiar purple uniform of the Level Five workers. The uniform was adorned with almost as many accolades as Brett’s. Clearly, he was somebody important in the ESC.
‘Please, take a seat.’ He pointed to the chair. A musky scent wafted in her direction.
She sat down and looked around her. The door sucked shut. Brett remained inside the room, standing in one corner.
The purple-clad man thrust a DPad at her. ‘Read this out loud, so I know you understand it.’
Laura shakily read the full text of the document.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
You are entering into an area which contains highly sensitive documentation.
You are not permitted to discuss the information you see with anyone.
You must only divulge information to an employee who is of a higher rank than you.
If you do anything that is in direct violation of this agreement, you will be severely reprimanded.
Place your security chip at the bottom of the screen if you comply with this agreement.
Laura wondered what reprimand they were talking about. She would ask at the inevitable induction programme later.
Her mind wouldn’t let go of something. This was all happening too fast. She wasn’t scheduled for promotion for another two years and hadn’t heard of anyone being fast-tracked.
Still, if it increased her chances of getting on the transfer list for Exilon 5, and away from Earth, then she had to take a leap of faith.
Laura placed her right thumb on the marker and accepted her new role on Level Five.
18
A low murmur ran around the Gathering Room, the meeting place for the Central Council and the Indigene representatives. The room was located in the southwest section of District Three. Constructed out of omicron rock, its natural sound-insulating properties kept the discussion private. Stephen had expected this reaction from the representatives.
Pierre and Elise, the Central Council elders, stood on a raised platform alongside him. Each district had elders that presided over them. Pierre and Elise, both one hundred and twenty years old, were the eldest serving council members among them and in charge of District Three. Their faces were a picture of calm.
The room was filled to capacity with fifty representatives. From his elevated position, Stephen noted the concern on the Indigenes’ faces as he relayed the information from the child, Ben Watson.
His heart raced, aggravated by terror and confusion as he recited the information the boy had told him. The atmosphere shifted when he revealed that the Surface Creatures were human.
Stephen looked down at the sea of faces and found Anton. He snatched his eyes away from the shocked look on Anton’s face and focused on the group as a whole, trying not to single out anyone in particular.
‘Please. Everybody needs to calm down,’ said Pierre, as the agitation increased.
Elise leaned in closer to her husband and whispered something. Elise was an empath and could read the emotions in a room. Questions soon hit the raised platform.
‘What does this mean for us?’
‘What are we going to do now?’
‘What will happen to us if they discover our districts?’
Pierre fanned his hands. ‘Please, we aren’t going to help matters by panicking. We will arrive at a solution together, I promise you. Right now, we aren’t in any immediate danger and I urge you all to calm down.’
Elise added. ‘We have an advantage. They don’t know what we are so they won’t be looking for us straight away. That gives us time to discuss a strategy.’
‘Stephen,’ whispered Pierre. ‘Elise and I need to speak with you and Anton privately. I will ask Leon to join us.’
Stephen knew what Pierre was going to suggest: for the first time, Central Council would decide without the consensus of the representative group. Indigenes in other districts could be drip-fed the information. By deciding alone, Pierre would prevent vigilante behaviour from growing.
Pierre addressed the room again. ‘I urge you not to act alone or divulge the information to the others until we’ve come up with a collective strategy. We need to protect ourselves. Currently, we have the upper hand.’ The group agreed. ‘I assure you that we will consult all representatives throughout this challenging process.’
A deliberate lie.
Fifteen minutes later, Pierre and Elise gathered in Council Chambers along with Anton, Stephen and Leon. The large rectangular space contained a bookcase filled with Indigene and human literature that divided the room in half. Behind the bookcase was a bed that Pierre sometimes used when he was working late. Stephen stood motionless beside Elise, while Anton paced anxiously across the room. Leon, a long-time friend of the elders and Anton’s father, projected an image of calm and stood with his hands interlocked behind his back.
They discussed the other information that Stephen had deliberately held back from the representatives.
‘What do they call it?’ said Leon.
‘Earth.’
‘And this is the human’s home planet, where they originate from?’
‘As I understand it,’ said Stephen.
‘And why have they come here to destroy us?’
‘I’m sorry, Leon. I don’t know that much. The child was helpful but equally naïve about the way of the world.’
‘We shouldn’t make any hasty decisions today,’ said Pierre. ‘We need to understand their motives. It may be our only defence to learn as much as we can about them before they discover what we are.’
‘Well, where better to learn about them than their home planet?’ said Anton. ‘I say we go now!’
‘Easy, Anton.’ Elise placed a gentle hand on his arm. She looked into his eyes. ‘We’ll probably need to discuss this a little more.’ Anton relaxed in her gaze.
‘Anton might have a point though,’ said Pierre. ‘We have no clue about what the humans are up to. We know that they were watching Stephen and the child. They’re already familiar with our physiology and how it differs from theirs. This latest meeting will only feed their curiosity.’
‘I’m curious to know why they are watching at all,’ said Leon. ‘Apart from Anton, we can all remember the day when the explosions happened. We know that their species can’t be trusted.’
Yes, Stephen remembered watching the explosions with his parents from the safety of the tunnels, as two-thirds of the Indigenes on the surface were destroyed. ‘I have the strongest reason to hate them,’ said Stephen. ‘I wish I could say for certain that they are all the same. It would be easier to believe that. But something tells me to think otherwise.’
Pierre’s eyes brightened. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I couldn’t sense any malice from the child, only curiosity. But then there’s the other thing. They kill innocents so easily.’
‘Stephen, your senses rarely let you down. Why not trust them?’ said Pierre.
Stephen caught something light in the elder’s words, almost as if he was willing him to go with his gut instinct. ‘Why are you so eager to push me towards accepting them?’
‘I’m not asking or telling you to do that, only that there may be other reasons behind their actions that we haven’t yet considered.’
He held his elder’s gaze. ‘Like what?’
Pierre gave nothing away in his appearance but rushed his explanation. ‘Nothing specific. Let’s consider all options. How would you feel about going to Earth to find out more about them?’
‘It can only help. We need the upper hand if we are to decide how we will move forward.’
Anton smiled and paced the room again.
Elise looked uneasy. ‘I don’t have a good feeling about this. It’s too dangerous.’
‘I’m sorry, wife,’ s
aid Pierre. ‘But I agree with Stephen. We have to be proactive. It feels as if we’re being backed into a corner. The humans call some of us “Shadow People”. We know those particular Indigenes among us are dangerous and uncontrollable. If we do nothing, we will only feed that vigilante outlet. We are no longer safe. Stephen and Anton must go.’
‘You want to risk the lives of our best two?’ said Elise.
‘It’s because they are the best that I’m considering this. It will work.’
‘I agree with Pierre. We don’t have a choice.’ Leon gripped Anton’s shoulder. ‘Stephen, Anton, are you up to the task?’
Stephen glanced at his grinning friend and nodded. ‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Good. A passenger ship is scheduled to leave orbit tomorrow. Presumably, it’s destined for their home planet,’ said Pierre.
‘At least send a back-up group with them, Pierre.’ Elise turned to Leon. ‘This is madness, allowing them to go alone. They won’t be able to protect each other if something happens.’
‘I understand your concerns,’ said Pierre, ‘but if we send too many, they’ll be noticed.’
Leon spoke to Anton telepathically. Anton responded with a nod. ‘They’ll be fine, Elise. They know how to look after themselves.’
‘How can you let your only son go so easily?’ said Elise.
‘Amelia and I raised our son to think for himself. I will not tell him what he can and cannot do.’
‘Stephen, Anton, what do you two think?’ said Pierre.
‘It will be safer if we do this alone,’ said Stephen. ‘There’ll be less chance of them noticing us. If they do detect us, they might just think it’s a solo mission, rather than an organised attack on humans.’
‘Anton?’
‘I say we give these humans something to think about.’
‘This is not an attack,’ said Pierre. ‘You are going there to add to the information we already know about their species. But more important than that, you will be depending on each other for survival, so rational thinking is called for. Is that clear?’
Anton nodded.
Stephen observed Anton closely—there were many intelligent Indigenes but none with his friend’s ability to create and adapt technology. He was by far the youngest of their technological protégés and many of their kind publicly acknowledged his talents. He had, after all, invented the air filtration device, which changed the way their race hunted. Anton buzzed with enthusiasm; the difficulty lay in curbing it. But in a life or death situation such as this, there was no other Indigene he wanted watching his back.