Daphne dismissed Shaw and Brett the second Bill Taggart stepped through the turbo lift door. Her use of the investigator wasn’t personal. She needed a way to distract Deighton from whatever plans he was attempting to put into motion—plans he still hadn’t trusted her with. Deighton had an unhealthy fixation with Taggart’s wife, Isla. Sending Taggart to Washington would hopefully keep the CEO occupied, while Daphne figured out her next move in all of this.
She relocated from the boardroom to her private office and closed the door behind her. Taking a seat, she flicked the monitor over to the face of a sergeant.
‘Well?’
‘Yes, we have him in custody. We’ve transferred him to your secured facility in Washington.’
‘Good work, Sergeant. Your superiors will hear about your team’s efforts today.’
The sergeant smiled. ‘Thank you, Ms Gilchrist.’
‘Tell Deighton I’m on my way. Out.’ Daphne severed the connection on her end and sat back in her leather chair.
Taggart hadn’t been to blame for the breakdown of the operation on Exilon 5. It had been Deighton’s idea to send Caldwell in to stir things up. Bill was getting closer to the truth about the Indigenes and his wife. Military better used to guerrilla tactics than tact had been the logical choice to distract their rogue investigator from the real mission: to drive the Indigenes out of their hiding places. And that’s what Taggart and his team had done.
But neither she nor Deighton had prepared for one of them to find his way to Earth.
☼
Within the hour, Daphne arrived in Washington on a specially chartered craft. She crossed the foyer of the World Government headquarters on her way to the restricted-use turbo lift located behind the reception desk.
The lift took seconds to reach the secret levels containing several bunkers. The door opened to reveal three weapon-carrying officers patrolling the bunker security area. While the added firepower wasn’t necessary with such top line security, a paranoid Charles Deighton had insisted upon it. His access to the World Government board members made him more powerful than most realised.
And that’s what worried her.
The system scanned both of Daphne’s chips and sampled and cross-referenced her DNA against the database copy. The dual referencing protected the facility against facial manipulation—a popular procedure in the black market.
Daphne continued to the door at the end of the corridor. She entered the room to find Charles Deighton waiting inside, along with Tom Billings, the overseer for security matters in the World Government. Ahead of her was a flexible membrane containment unit holding a male adult Indigene.
‘Ah, Daphne. I see you made it.’ Deighton greeted her as if they were old friends, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘So good to see you.’ The words dripped off the old man’s tongue like honey.
Daphne performed for her boss. ‘Charles! I hope you haven’t started without me. What’s with all the extra security measures outside?’
‘I thought you might comment on that.’ He laughed a throaty cackle and nodded towards the unit where the captured Indigene watched the trio in silence. ‘Can’t be too careful. You never know who’s trying to discover our secrets. Daphne, you remember Tom Billings? He’s here to witness proceedings.’
‘Ms Gilchrist.’ Daphne gave him a quick nod, then turned her attention to the Indigene.
‘I’ve just had a meeting with Bill Taggart.’
‘Who?’
‘The investigator. He’s back on Earth. I’ve ordered him to this neck of the woods. I thought you’d like to keep an eye on him.’
But Deighton wasn’t listening. ‘Looks like we’ve captured a second generation, given his young age. I’m not sure we can lay claim to a product of two Indigenes.’ His brows lifted and his mouth down-turned. ‘But we’ve certainly set evolution in motion.’
Daphne moved closer to Deighton, hoping to learn more about his plans. ‘What’s to be done with this one?’
‘This is the perfect time to begin the experiments again. We learned nothing new from the child Indigene before it died. And clearly their race has evolved since we placed them on Exilon 5. This is a rare opportunity to perfect evolution.’
‘Evolution?’ She kept her tone light. ‘What are you suggesting?’
Deighton waved his hand at her—a sign he was done with the topic. ‘Billings, you got here before me. Has he said anything?’
‘Just grunts,’ said the security overseer. ‘He’s refusing to cooperate.’
‘I’m in no hurry,’ said Deighton.
‘For what?’
Deighton ignored her. Daphne turned her attention to the Indigene. Maybe he could tell her the story her boss was unwilling to share.