Julie was about to leave the office at the end of the day when a message came through from Kirra Morgan, the leader of the Reds. She might have dismissed it, if it hadn’t been for the title of the message: You Didn’t Get This From Me.
There was nothing inside it other than an attachment labelled Mah Chynna, the name of the asteroid controller from CrediCor. It appeared to be a list of financial transactions from Chynna’s personal account and dated from the months before the asteroid crash. Intrigued, Julie scrolled through the numbers and paused at four large payments into Chynna’s account, made once a month from an unnamed account number. It could have an innocent explanation, of course. They could be payments from a relative, the result of a divorce settlement or an inheritance paying out in bits. But the timing of the payments made them look suspicious and the fact that the Reds were the ones who had forwarded the details motivated Julie to look deeper.
If she could trace the account the money came from, she might be able to find out who paid Chynna. Julie looked up the transaction numbers and confirmed the money had come from Earth. However, that hardly narrowed it down because almost everyone on the planet was paid via financial institutions on Earth. After that, it was a dead end. She had hoped they would be linked to an account belonging to a person or a corporation, but she couldn’t even work out what bank had been used to process the transactions. She needed Kareem to look at it. He was good at that sort of thing.
Dashing out of her office into the communal space on her floor of UNMI headquarters to find him, she was surprised to see a lot of empty desks and chairs. The usual hubbub of people chatting and working was gone and, without people, it seemed a cold and uninviting place. It was later in the day than she had realized.
One person remained, hunched over a computer screen. It was Alejandro, one of UNMI’s more gifted terraforming specialists. He must have heard Julie come out of her office because he looked up from his work and nodded an acknowledgement.
“Alej, is Kareem still here?” she asked.
“No, you just missed him.”
“Unlike Kareem to leave on time.”
Alej nodded. “Yeah.”
She stood in the office for a moment, wondering what to do. She decided to call him. But Kareem didn’t answer, so she left a message.
“Alej,” she ventured. “I don’t suppose you happen to know if Kareem went home, do you?”
It wouldn’t the first time she had stopped off at his place after work. Usually to discuss UNMI business, but not always. Sometimes, they sat and chatted for ages. There wasn’t a great deal else to do on Mars in the evenings, after all.
“Actually,” said Alejandro. “He had a reservation at Chef McCormack.”
“Lucky him!” said Julie.
“That’s what we all said. He kept going on about it all day, making everyone jealous.”
“I bet. Thanks, Alej.”
“See you tomorrow,” he said.
Julie headed down the stairs, thinking about Chef McCormack. She hadn’t been there in a long time. She obviously had enough credits to afford it, but was always looking for that special occasion to justify the expense. Kareem, she knew, was less fussy about that sort of thing. He was very much a “live for the now” person.
McCormack’s was only a ten minute walk from UNMI. She could easily make a detour on the way home. Maybe even splash out for a meal. With renewed excitement, she picked up her pace and headed for the restaurant.
She found it was already half full of diners, despite being early evening. The restaurant was a bijou place, designed to be the exact replica of the sort of establishment someone in one of the wealthier cities on Earth might walk into. Chef McCormack prided itself at being exclusive and seating a maximum of twenty people. But that was partly because of the availability of luxury food which it had to fight to secure ahead of an increasing number of other restaurants on Mars.
The smell which greeted her when she stepped inside was incredible. Julie could almost taste the aroma of cooking meat which hung in the air. Real meat with a juicy, earthy smell which wakened her stomach and told it to prepare for food. It was a very primitive response and must have been the same for her human ancestors seated around a fire with the prize of the day’s hunt roasting in the flames.
All of which contrasted with the design of the restaurant which was the height of sophistication from floor to ceiling. It was dimly lit with yellowish lights to resemble the glow of candles. The walls were decorated with a hand painted floral design which wove itself like a vine around the framed pictures hanging on every surface. They showed an eclectic mix of scenes of Mars, mostly of historic moments like the first human landing, Earth landscapes and the smiling faces of famous people. The floor, although made from the standard compressed brick of Martian soil, had been polished to have a reddish sheen which looked supremely elegant, while also being easy to slip on for someone not wearing the right shoes.
As her eyes became used to the dim light, Julie saw Kareem sitting on his own at the back of the restaurant. Which meant she had no qualms about disturbing him. She passed by the other tables and diners to reach him, with her shoes tip-tapping on the shiny floor as she walked.
Kareem looked up from his glass of water. “Julie!” he said with surprise.
“Alej said you would be here. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by. I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer.”
Slightly concerned, he put down his glass. “Is there a problem?”
“No, no problem. But I was so excited that I couldn’t wait until morning to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Julie sat on the chair opposite Kareem and leant over the table. “I’ve just been sent the financial records of Mah Chynna, the asteroid controller for CrediCor.”
“Who sent them?”
“It doesn’t matter who sent them. It’s what’s in them that matters.” Julie pulled up the attachment on her WristTab and sent it over to Kareem. “Look.”
Kareem consulted his own WristTab. “What am I looking at?”
“Several large deposits in the months leading up to the asteroid crash.”
Kareem sucked in air between his teeth. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah.” Julie watched as Kareem read through the financial report and understood what he was seeing.
“You think someone paid her to crash the asteroid into Noctis Labyrinthus? That’s a stretch, don’t you think?” Kareem looked up at her.
“Is it? You know the lengths some of the corporations are prepared to go to. We need to do some digging to find out for sure, but that’s what it looks like to me.”
“So who paid her?” asked Kareem.
The sound of approaching shoes on the shiny restaurant floor made Julie turn. She expected to see one of the staff in restaurant uniform, but it was in fact a woman in a flattering blue dress which plunged low at the neck and pulled in tight at her slim waist. She had sleek, black hair which hung down to her shoulders and deep brown eyes with pupils which had grown large in the dim light.
“Julie, this is Areesha,” said Kareem, lowering his WristTab and looking up at the woman. “Areesha, this is Julie, my boss.”
“Oh.” Suddenly embarrassed, Julie got up from where she was sitting. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were expecting company.”
Areesha, who had seemed somewhat put out by finding someone else sitting in what was evidently supposed to be her seat, changed her expression to a respectful smile. “Pleased to meet you,” she said.
“Likewise.” Julie shot a reprimanding look across to Kareem. “You should have told me you were expecting company.”
“You didn’t exactly give me the chance,” he said.
“Sorry. I was too excited. I didn’t think.”
“Excited about what?” said Areesha.
“Work,” said Kareem.
Areesha seemed intrigued. “Something exciting’s going on at UNMI?”
“Not really.” Kareem glanced across to Julie. “Areesha is employed by Inventrix. We promised we wouldn’t talk to each other about work.”
“Glad to hear it.” Julie took a respectful step away from the couple as Areesha sat down in the seat she had just vacated. “I should probably go and let you have your meal in peace.”
“We can talk about that thing in the office in the morning,” said Kareem, tapping at his WristTab.
“Yes, see you in the morning. Nice to meet you, Areesha.”
Feeling herself go red, Julie turned to make her escape and came face to face with a member of staff who had come up behind her in soft-soled, near-silent shoes. She muttered an apology, sidestepped him, and rushed out into the street.
She felt a complete idiot. She hadn’t stopped to consider that Kareem had a life outside of UNMI and he might have had a reason not to answer when she called. Not everyone was like her, devoting most of her waking hours to her job.
Sometimes she wished she could be a bit more like other people.