Chapter 16

Earth

 

Inside his private Nottingham apartment, Bill Taggart connected a small signal disruption device to the Light Box hardware unit on his main wall and was suddenly reminded of the first time he’d gone to Laura’s apartment and exceeded her visitor quota. It had triggered a visit from the security officers, and if Laura hadn’t played along so well, the officers might not have bought his excuse so easily. Their kiss hadn’t been planned—but seemed to fool the officers, and him, well enough.

She’d already filled him in on her idea to get young Callum Preston to manipulate the ESC’s sentient programme. Bill idly wondered if the boy had any experience in building devices. Ever since the creation of sentient programmes, many people had assumed their programming was simple and harmless, but the sentients’ ability to learn was extensive and quite sophisticated and they now had a range of behavioural responses that were as diverse as a human being’s. Bill made a mental note to quiz Callum about sentient manipulation.

When the disruption device was finally in place, Bill looked up and air-punched in a code that corresponded with digits on the Light Box screen. While he waited for Laura to answer, he loosened his tie and took a few gulps of coffee from his mug.

Her face filled the screen. ‘Hi,’ she said urgently but quietly.

Bill frowned as he studied the space behind her. ‘Where are you?’

Laura looked over her shoulder. ‘I’m in the cleaning closet on Level Four. One of the bloody roving cameras caught me on Level Two.’

‘Are you sure that’s safe?’

‘As safe as I’m going to get. I’ve never seen them use the closet. What scares me more is what the camera said to me: “We know what you’ve been up to. We will be watching you even closer from now on.”’—Laura imitated the camera’s tinny voice—‘That’s why I’m in here, shaking like a leaf.’

‘I’ve heard them say something similar to other people. You know how seriously they take their jobs,’ he said, trying to reassure her.

Laura nodded. ‘Yeah, maybe you’re right,’ she said. ‘But even its tone of voice changed, like there was suddenly a real person speaking to me.’

‘Well maybe you should stay out of this.’

‘No!’ Laura said quickly, then added more quietly, ‘Forget what I just said. Everything’s fine. I need to do this.’

Bill pursed his lips. ‘Just to be on the safe side, let’s keep this brief. Tell me you’ve found our pilot.’

She hesitated and looked as if she was listening out for something. ‘I have. There was one name on the list that stood out from the rest,’ she whispered. ‘Jenny Waterson. I have her private communication code if you want to call her.’

‘Tell me about her first,’ Bill said. He watched Laura tap on her screen and tuck a stray lock of hair behind her right ear. Some information popped up in a neat little box in one corner of his screen.

‘Okay, Jenny Waterson. A pilot for twenty years,’ she read. ‘Worked for Calypso Couriers, a World Government subsidiary company. WG terminated her contract about eleven weeks ago. Strangely, her termination coincided with Stephen’s appearance.’

Bill studied the small window of information. ‘Says here she’s a Grade Four pilot. What was the reason for her termination?’

‘According to records, she stole a spacecraft.’

‘Stole?’

‘Yeah. She wasn’t scheduled to depart, but she left with one passenger on board.’

‘Her name doesn’t ring a bell,’ Bill said, rubbing his chin. ‘So you think she’s our pilot?’

‘Better than the other candidates. They’ve all received some form of severance pay. Probably signed a document too. I wouldn’t bet on them giving up their severance to help us out.’

‘But no severance for Jenny?’

Laura shook her head. ‘Not a penny. They’ve even gone so far as to blackball her from working with every other flight company. Her permanent record states that she struggles with authority and is likely to repeat her attempts at insubordination.’

‘Perfect.’

Laura suddenly looked up wide-eyed. ‘Bill, I have to go. I’ll call you again at lunch.’

‘Send me her private communication code before you disconnect’—but Laura was gone. Then an electronic note appeared at the bottom of his screen; it contained the communication code.

 

 

Twenty minutes later Bill had successfully hacked into Jenny Waterson’s Light Box. He found her sitting on the sofa with a chess board hovering in front of her. She looked a little too relaxed in her All Day Comfort leisure suit, a range of clothing made especially for the virtual reality addict market. Her apartment was messy, but she clearly preferred to spend her time exercising her brain than worrying about housework. He quietly observed her through her Light Box as she played chess with her avatar. She had unkempt brown hair and her face was smooth and pale. According to her file she was seventy-five, but looked no older than her mid fifties. The Glamour genetic package had worked well but her current hairstyle didn’t complement the rest of the work she’d had done. Bill glanced briefly at the photo on the DPad, in which she had cropped platinum hair and a smile.

‘Check,’ the avatar shrilled.

Jenny slapped her hands over her ears, then studied the move.

‘You haven’t beaten me yet,’ she said, flicking her fingers over the virtual pieces that dangled in mid-air. The queen instantly changed position. ‘Queen takes your knight.’

‘This is futile, Jenny. You can’t beat me. I am a sentient programme—or have you forgotten?’

‘Well, why are we bothering to play then?’

‘Because you insisted on trying to beat me at least once. Don’t you remember?’

‘Yes, I do,’ Jenny replied, distracted. She studied the board for a moment.

Bill zoomed in for a closer look. If the avatar tried to move the bishop to block her, she could be in trouble. Her king and queen were already behind enemy lines. She could use her queen to inflict damage on her opponent’s pieces.

‘I have you, and this time you’re going down,’ Jenny said, smiling confidently.

The avatar rolled its eyes. ‘Sure. You have me right where you want me.’

‘I can see your next move.’

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘Yep.’ Jenny ignored her avatar’s attempts to confuse her and kept her eyes locked on the game, waiting for the counter move.

‘Are you absolutely sure?’ the avatar teased.

‘Oh, stop stalling and just get on with it,’ Jenny replied, wearily.

‘If you say so.’

The avatar moved its bishop to block her king. ‘Check.’

‘Ahaaa, you see, I saw that one coming!’ Jenny squealed. She moved her queen to take the bishop. ‘Check for you, too!’ The virtual piece flew off the board and disappeared. ‘Is that all you’ve got for me?’

The avatar yawned for effect and cracked its knuckles. ‘Watch this.’ The knight took a step backwards before leapfrogging over her king to settle in a position beside it. ‘Check maaatey.’

‘That’s illegal!’ Jenny banged the table in frustration and knocked the virtual pieces to the floor.

‘No it’s not. Look in the rule book if you don’t believe me.’

‘Damn your programme to hell. I hate this game. And I hate you for being so arrogant about winning.’

‘I told you, you’re always going to lose when you play against a sentient programme. Want to try again?’

‘No,’ Jenny said sulkily, then added, ‘Something different—a card game. And do me a favour—turn off your predictability parameters. I want a fair go this time.’

‘As you wish, ma’am.’

‘Trying to press my buttons, I see,’ Jenny said, shaking her head. ‘No more playing fair.’

An hour later, Jenny had lost her enthusiasm for cards, as well as her twentieth game in a row. Bill, slouched in his chair at home, yawned and rubbed his eyes.

‘That’s enough,’ Jenny finally announced.

‘So soon?’ the avatar asked.

‘I’ve got other things to do.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like clean up this apartment for one. It’s a pigsty.’

‘Jenny, someone is trying to connect,’ her avatar suddenly said, its tone more serious. ‘I can see a signature.’

Bill sat bolt upright in his seat. The signal disrupter was beginning to lose its effectiveness. Jenny’s eyes narrowed as she studied the Light Box screen. She was staring straight at him. His heart pounded in his chest.

Her expression didn’t change. ‘There’s no one there,’ she said.

The avatar moved in for a closer look and started pointing something out to her. Panic and fear caught hold of Bill and he logged himself out of her Light Box.

 

 

A half hour later, he connected with Jenny again, this time using the proper method. Laura listened in from her end, escaping during her lunch break to sit in the cleaning closet.

The connection rang and rang. Eventually, Jenny answered. ‘Hello?’ she said cautiously. ‘Why are you calling me from an unidentified number?’

‘I apologise for the anonymity. My name’s Bill Taggart. I’m an investigator working for the World Government.’

Jenny’s expression brightened considerably. ‘Here to offer me a job? I knew it wouldn’t take you long.’

Bill hid his surprise. How could she know the reason he was calling? A new panic gripped him until he realised his mistake. ‘I’m sorry. No, I’m not calling to offer you your job back.’

Jenny’s face fell and there was a sadness in her eyes that seemed to age her.

‘Well, what do you want then?’ she snapped.

‘I have a proposition for you,’ Bill said.

She laughed without humour. ‘The last time I spoke to a government employee, they were giving me my marching orders. What makes you think I’ll want to talk to you?’

‘First of all, you should know that I’ve placed a disrupter on this call so it can’t be traced. I’m not calling you on behalf of the World Government.’

Jenny looked at Bill closely. ‘I can’t imagine what you might want from me, Mr Taggart,’ she said slowly.

Bill nodded. ‘I can understand that. Is it fair to say that you don’t have a high opinion of the government?’

‘I guess,’ Jenny said, shrugging.

Bill leaned in closer. ‘Well, what would you say if I asked for your help with something illegal that would really piss them off?’

‘I would say you’re full of crap,’ Jenny scoffed. ‘Nobody goes against them and gets away with it.’

‘What if I told you that there’s a whole bunch of shit going on behind closed doors that the public has no idea about? What if I said that your assistance would go a long way to help right some wrongs? Would that change your mind?’

‘Excuse me, Mr Taggart—’

‘Please—call me Bill.’

‘All right … Bill. You must have mistaken me for someone who was born yesterday. I don’t know who you are or what your game is, but I smell a large rat. If you’re assuming that I’ve hit rock bottom and that you can somehow use my grievances with the government to discredit me further, you’re sadly mistaken.’

‘You misunderstand me. I’m not looking to discredit you in any way,’ Bill said. ‘I’m contacting you because I believe that what they did to you was a mistake. I know you were dismissed for stealing a craft out of HJA nearly three months ago. I’m sure you had good reason for that.’

Jenny became angry. ‘I didn’t steal anything! I was forced to take it. If you’d done your homework, then you’d have known there was a stowaway on board.’

‘A stowaway?’ Bill said, remembering Laura’s observation—that Jenny had lost her job around the time Stephen had appeared.

‘Yeah, some strange-looking man forced me to activate the force field around the craft, while his friend was being chased all over the place. I had no choice but to take him where he wanted to go. It was either that or—’

‘Did the man threaten you?’ Bill asked, a little surprised. He couldn’t imagine Stephen being aggressive.

‘Just verbally. Not physically.’ Jenny’s shoulders relaxed as she recounted the incident. ‘He just seemed too scared to be some raving lunatic—and I’ve transported my fair share of lunatics over the years.’

Bill raised an eyebrow.

‘I used to transport prisoners before I got into courier services,’ Jenny explained. ‘When it comes down to it, I find that desperate men tend to do desperate things. Wouldn’t you agree, Bill?’

Bill noted the sarcasm. ‘So, you were the pilot who took the man to Sydney?’

‘Yes, I was—although I don’t remember telling you where I took him.’

‘I have your file, Ms Waterson. I also have some knowledge of the incident you’re referring to.’

Jenny became wary again. ‘Who are you?’

‘I told you, I’m a World Government investigator. What was your stowaway’s name?’

‘I don’t remember. Why does that matter?’

‘Ms Waterson— ‘

Jenny put a hand up. ‘If you want to continue this conversation, please refer to me as Captain. I’m still an accomplished Grade Four pilot, work or no work.’

‘My apologies, Captain’—Bill bowed his head respectfully at the screen—‘You see the man you shuttled to Sydney that day was looking for me. He’s a product—and an innocent victim—of the World Government. He’s part of their dirty little secret.’

‘That’s where I know you from!’ Jenny said, snapping her fingers.

‘Excuse me?’

‘He was asking for you when he kidnapped me. I didn’t make the connection until now.’ Jenny frowned. ‘So who was he? And why did he want to find you?’

Jenny listened intently as Bill gave her an abridged account of events, explaining who Stephen was and introducing Laura, who hovered in the corner of the screen. He then went on to explain why he and Laura needed her help now. ‘Will you at least consider it, Captain?’ Bill said.

‘I’ll think about it, but nothing more. You’re asking a lot from me,’ said Jenny looking drained.

‘I’m about to ask even more of you. I need to know within the next forty-eight hours. It’s important that we get moving as quickly as possible. You can’t tell anybody about this conversation, not even family members. I’ve masked my signal. If this reaches government ears I’ll deny everything.’

‘Well, it’s not like I’ve many friends left in government. You needn’t worry about that.’

‘Contact me using this code,’ said Bill holding up his DPad in front of the Light Box.

Jenny picked up her own DPad, finger poised.

‘Don’t write it down. I need you to memorise it,’ Bill said.

Jenny took a few moments to commit the seven-digit code to memory. Afterwards, she said, ‘I’ll contact you soon’, then disappeared from his screen.

Laura’s face replaced Jenny’s. ‘Well, that went better than I expected,’ she said. ‘You were a little less tactful than I hoped you’d be.’

Bill had to agree. ‘What do you make of her?’ he asked.

‘Well … she’s a woman with principles, and she might be willing to help if it’s for the right reasons.’

‘Do you think she’ll go for it?’ Bill asked.

‘I guess we’ll find out in a couple of days,’ said Laura, glancing at her watch. ‘My lunch break is almost over. I’ll have to go. Let me know if you hear anything from Jenny.’ She logged out.