The next morning Bleak showed up at the general’s staff head-quarters. Oldroyd’s SIMPA held clearances allowing him into the generals’ inner sanctum. No one asked where he’d been or what he’d been doing, not even the major’s closest aides. He sat at his station and went through some of the routine communications that were waiting for Oldroyd. One personal one was from his sister, except it wasn’t. He did have a sister and any checks, which would have been done, would confirm every single detail. It wasn’t coded as such, that would be too risky. Certain words in a specific order would indicate where he was to make a drop. There was no when, it was whenever he could legitimately be there. Oldroyd didn’t know how it worked. In all the time he had been spying he had only met one person, on two occasions. First when he’d been recruited and then when he’d threatened to stop. He’d been left in no doubt that stopping was not an option. He knew nothing about the man he considered to be his controller or the extended organisation. That was Bleak’s challenge.
The following evening Bleak headed into Metrakis and down to the lower levels which provided the kinds of entertainment service men were looking for on a night out. Garish light leaked out of bars and clubs bathing the passers-by, giving the streets and people an alien feel. Signs floated in the air promising a variety of distractions from the innocent to the less so. A potent mix of smells, some pleasant, some not, competed for attention as Bleak walked. He watched groups of men, women, and men and women, smiling, laughing, holding onto each other with an unconscious familiarity, some already intoxicated. It was a world he had little experience of as did Oldroyd it seemed.
In the correct street he purchased a noodle dish from the third vendor at the south end for a few credits. He sat at one of the battered seats and ate out of the disposable container as if he was in no hurry. When finished he wiped his mouth on the small towel provided and shoved that into the pot which he scrunched up, now with a small data cube inside and deposited it in the trash collector. What happened to it after that, how they retrieved it, he had no idea. And as for the cube itself it was useless to anyone except its intended recipient. He didn’t even know if that was the man he’d met. If anyone else tried to access the data or tamper with it in any way all they would find was a collection of personal holo’s and comms and one or two items that would be enough to get his knuckles wrapped by Niias, but not serious enough to land him in any real trouble.
Bleak was certain he wasn’t being trailed, but just in case he followed Oldroyd’s usual pattern and headed down the street to a favourite haunt. Inside, light played on swirling vapours above his head making the scene dance before his eyes as he navigated his way across the room and around the mainly all male groups. He ordered a beer and then sat on a stool with his back to the bar looking up at two girls dancing in grav cages, trying to entice clientele up to join them. The undulating colours that fell across their bodies had an almost hypnotic quality, which Bleak presumed was the intention. Any that took up the offer would be charged three times the price of a drink at the bar for the privilege of the girl’s company. Bleak guessed similar scenes had been played out for many thousands of years in similar places throughout the human galaxy. He ordered a second beer.
The next night Bleak went through the exact same routine, just five minutes later. It seemed Oldroyd was a bit of a loner and for anyone who might be watching this was what passed for relaxation. However, for his contact this was code that something was wrong. As he sat again facing away from the bar a man stood next to him ordering a drink.
‘In fifteen minutes go to the ‘Starscraper’ club. The bar.’
The man took his beer and headed back into the gloom, Bleak didn’t see where. Twenty minutes later Bleak was sipping another beer in the ‘Starscraper.’ He didn’t see the man this time.
‘The Six Moons, thirty minutes.’ Then thirty-five minutes later in the six moons; ‘Go to the toilets. On your way out the third booth on the left.’ This time Bleak looked around but he didn’t spot the man. He was good.
From the outside of the booth the arrangement of the lighting and shadows hid the occupants. Bleak slid into a seat. ‘I wasn’t being followed.’
‘We know you weren’t, now,’ the man from the bar said. There were two of them. It seemed they were taking him seriously. The second man reached across and grabbed Bleak’s hand placing it on a pad. He showed the results to the first man who nodded. Bleak’s SIMPA bleeped with annoyance at the forced intrusion.
‘Satisfied?’ Bleak asked.
The first man ignored the question. ‘So what makes you think they’re onto you? I thought you’d just come back from a special assignment for the old man himself.’
‘They’re not onto me, but they’re suspicious. The assignment was contrived, it didn’t feel real. I think it was a test.’
‘Did you pass?’
‘What does it matter?’
The second man leaned forward. ‘Perhaps you’re being paranoid?’
Bleak shook his head. ‘I want out before they have chance to confirm any suspicions. And why would you take the risk?’
The first man shrugged. ‘Perhaps we just leave you. It might be the safest thing to do. So they know they’ve had a spy. We’re no worse off and you can’t point the finger at anything.’
‘Except you two?’
‘And do you think we haven’t thought of that?’
Bleak smiled. ‘I have something.’
‘What?’
‘The plans for Niias’s next big offensive.’
The first man laughed. ‘Yeah, right.’ But Bleak could see a flicker of doubt in his eyes as he glanced at the second man.
The second man spoke. ‘So how did you get hold of them if they’re onto you?’
‘I’ve had them for a while.’
The man frowned and an edge crept into his voice. ‘And you haven’t passed them on?’
It was Bleak’s turn to laugh. ‘Oh, just like that. Don’t take me for an idiot. You think I don’t know the potential value of something like that?’
The first man sipped at his beer, then pursed his lips in thought. He shook his head and pointed a finger at Bleak. ‘You know what, I’m not sure I believe you.’
‘Well you’ll never know if you don’t get me out, will you? Are you prepared to take that risk?’
‘Perhaps we’ll just take them from you.’
Bleak laughed again. ‘An empty threat. You know the hardware you put in here.’ Bleak tapped his head. ‘You try to tamper with it and it’s as if it was never there.’
The first man looked across at the second man, then back at Bleak. ‘The Starscraper, tomorrow. And we’ll be watching you all the way.’
‘So, they bought it?’ Niias said
Bleak shrugged. ‘It would appear so.’
Niias smiled. ‘Well you go along with them. We’ll do the rest.’
‘Just don’t underestimate them, general,’ Bleak said as the general was walking out of the room.
General Niias turned in the door way, his nose wrinkled as if he’d caught a whiff of something unpleasant. ‘And what would you know?’
‘Only everything you’ve had put in my head,’ Bleak said as the door closed.