The London ITF office came into view as Bill arrived for the briefing he hadn’t been told about. All Simon Shaw had said was new investigations had started into the Indigenes on Exilon 5. Bill still had no idea if Simon was a friend or foe. Did he keep information back because he didn’t trust Bill or because of an order from the top? Whatever the reason, Bill needed a distraction more than ever. Something was about to happen. He could feel it.
He entered the lobby and passed through the body scanner. The corridor with hospital lighting stung his eyes. His feet marched on the blue carpet that had seen better days. Simon’s office was on his left. He glanced inside, not surprised to find it empty.
Bill stopped walking. He could be in and out of Simon’s office. But just as he stepped towards the open door, a roving camera entered the space through its own special entrance and swept the area. Bill hunkered down and fiddled with his shoelaces until the camera disappeared the way it had come. He stood up and resumed his walk past Simon’s office to the corridor on the left where the briefing rooms were located.
Ahead of him, a glass door divided the hallway in two. He scanned his thumb on the security plate to the side and the door made a sucking noise upon release. He passed by the briefing rooms he knew were empty until he reached the second last door on the left. Voices coming from inside increased in volume when he opened the door a crack. Simon Shaw stood at the top of the bright room while Team Eleven occupied the chairs around the boardroom style table. Bill took a deep breath and burst in, noting the look of surprise on Simon’s face.
‘Sorry, sorry, sorry.’ Bill raised a hand. ‘My alarm never went off this morning.’ He removed his coat and draped it across a spare chair by the door. He fixed his untidy shirt and straightened his tie before he sat down.
Simon frowned. ‘I never invited you to this briefing, Bill.’
‘Oh, didn’t you? Well, I’m here now. Who knows the Indigenes better than me, right? I mean, didn’t I spend twelve months profiling the little buggers not too long ago?’ Bill glanced around the room and recognised a few faces from his old team: Caldwell, Jones and Page, among others, who’d served under him during the original investigation into Stephen. ‘Caldwell, what brings you here?’ Bill folded his arms.
Caldwell stood up and squared his shoulders. ‘That’s Commander to you now.’
Bill looked from Caldwell to Simon, waiting for the punch line. When Simon didn’t deliver one, he smiled and played along. ‘Okay... Commander. I’m sure they’ll rectify that typing mistake in no time.’
‘Sorry, Bill. This is a closed briefing,’ said Simon. ‘I need you to leave.’
‘Leave?’ Bill dropped the pretence and his smile. ‘This is my investigation, Simon—always has been. If I’d had my way, these losers wouldn’t have got within a mile of Exilon 5.’
‘Things have changed since then. Commander Caldwell will handle things from now on.’
Caldwell sat down. ‘I always said you weren’t the right fit for the job, Bill.’
Bill pointed a finger at him. ‘I haven’t forgotten what you did, Caldwell. Your ego will fuck this one up too. Just you watch.’
The others sniggered. Bill guessed the news about their commander’s decision to disobey Bill’s orders—to observe Stephen only—was common knowledge. Caldwell’s cockiness dropped away along with his sneer.
Simon approached him and Bill got to his feet. He played up his irritation when Simon ushered him towards the door. ‘I’ll speak to you later, Taggart.’
‘Too right you will.’ Bill lowered his voice. ‘You’ve got some fucking explaining to do.’
Outside the room, Bill was about to leave when he noticed Simon had not closed the door fully. He stayed back and listened.
Caldwell delivered his report. ‘We were recording previous patterns in Indigene activity on the surface when the ground shook, as though there had been an earthquake. We now suspect it may have been an explosion. Indigene hunting has intensified over the past couple of days and I have no explanation. We can find no obvious pattern to their movements and they’re surfacing at all hours of the night. I recommend we investigate the tunnels that aren’t used by Maglev trains to see if something happened there.’
Bill had told Stephen to mix up his and others’ hunting movements. It would confuse the military that would be looking for behavioural patterns.
‘I won’t tell you again, Commander—your orders are to observe only,’ said Simon.
‘I get that, but my men don’t like to wait. Covert operations are not our thing. We’re not trained to observe.’
That exact attitude had almost cost Bill his job after a delicate mission to observe Stephen went awry.
‘Let us search the tunnels and pull one of those freaks out of their hiding place,’ Caldwell went on. ‘Then we can talk about observation.’
Bill desperately wanted back on the case. But he was sure Deighton had ordered Simon to keep him chained to a desk.
‘What about their hunting numbers?’ said Simon.
‘A slight increase, that’s all,’ said Caldwell
‘How many of them did you see?’
‘Well, there was a sharp drop off directly after the earthquake or underground explosion. Within a few days, the normal hunting party made its nightly appearance again.’
‘I asked how many of them you saw, Caldwell.’ Simon’s tone was sharp. ‘Deighton wants confirmation.’
The hairs on Bill’s neck stood at the mention of Deighton.
‘The usual, except—’ said Caldwell.
‘Except what?’
‘Well, another was out there with them—a female. I haven’t seen her before.’
‘Describe her for me,’ said Simon.
‘Tall, attractive, in that weird freakish kind of way.’ Bill pictured Caldwell shrugging. Caldwell had no clue why Simon was asking. ‘I don’t like those bottom-feeders—ugly fuckers, the lot of them—but this one? Well, she was all right looking. Nice blue eyes. They called her Serena.’
Bill’s heart thrummed loud in his chest. Stephen had mentioned a newcomer to their district. No cause for alarm, but if Deighton wanted details there was more to Serena than met the eye. Her arrival in District Three may not have been an accident. She may be a World Government plant.
Bill’s communication device rang and he covered it with his hand. ‘Shit...’ He strode towards the connecting door when the briefing room fell silent.
‘Bill, can you hear me?’ said Laura.
‘Say nothing.’
He walked back to the briefing room just as Simon appeared at the door.
‘Bill, I thought you’d gone.’
‘I forgot my coat. Excuse me.’ He pushed past Simon and grabbed it from the chair just inside the door. Simon gave him a look that said he should leave.
‘I said I’m going.’ He walked off. This time Simon closed the door all the way.
Bill passed through the glass door and slipped inside the first empty room he found.
‘I suppose you heard all that?’ he whispered into the microphone.
‘Hard not to,’ said Laura. He picked up a tremor in her voice. ‘Trouble?’
‘Nothing I can’t handle. What’s the matter?’
‘We need to talk—urgently. Can we meet this evening?’
At 7pm, Bill waited for Laura outside the docking station that had once been London City Airport. A large set of dark doors masked the interior. The doors opened and Laura emerged. Bill’s heart raced when he saw the confusion and terror on her face.
‘Come with me.’ He pulled her toward the Maglev train station. ‘I could have come to you.’
‘No, I had to get out of Sydney for a couple of hours. I don’t care if they know it.’
Laura remained silent on the short trip to Stratford and Bill didn’t push her to talk. He took her to Mick’s Bar on the high street, a place with a reputation for good bootleg alcohol. He’d discovered it just before his assignment to investigate the Indigenes on Exilon 5. Dark wood dominated the interior. Bright lights more suitable for interrogations hung overhead. A pervasive smell of body odour coated the inside of his nostrils. Yet, he loved the old-world feel to the place.
The bar was quiet that evening. Bill nodded to Mick stood behind the counter who filled two tumblers with amber liquid. He waved away Bill’s offer of payment.
‘Your credit’s still no good here,’ said Mick. He went back to watching the Light Box news feed on the wall with the other punters.
He and Mick had an unspoken arrangement. Mick had a chequered past, but he knew who the good guys were and which side to stay on.
Bill carried the tumblers of whiskey to a quiet snug at the back of the bar, while Laura followed. Her low-heeled shoes clacked on the dark wooden floor. The two men sat at the bar perked up at the sight of a woman. Laura pulled her coat around her. They sat down and Bill handed her one tumbler. He took a large gulp, then another.
Laura’s mouth twisted when she sipped hers, but soon the alcohol took the edge off and she visibly relaxed.
‘You were vague when we spoke earlier. Did Gilchrist call you in?’ Bill said after a few minutes.
Laura looked up at him, surprised. ‘You haven’t heard?’
‘Heard what?’
She lowered her voice. ‘Gilchrist is dead.’
‘What? When? What happened?’
‘They found her by the Potomac River in Washington. Her gel mask was in her hand and her hair was wet. They say she drowned.’
‘Shit.’ Bill rubbed his face. ‘But that’s not why you met me, was it?’
Laura shook her head. ‘Gilchrist pulled me into her office yesterday. She told me she knew about our trip to Exilon 5, and to Magadan.’
‘Why are you only telling me this now?’
‘Sorry. But we already had our suspicions.’
‘So who talked?’
‘Harvey Buchanan.’ Laura sipped some more whiskey.
‘Son of a bitch.’ Although it didn’t shock Bill to learn Harvey had betrayed them. Harvey had a good thing going with the World Government.
‘Look, maybe it’s good that Harvey spilled his guts.’ Laura took another sip. ‘I didn’t get the impression that Gilchrist called me in for a reprimand. She asked me questions about the Indigenes but it sounded like she wanted to know for personal reasons. Maybe things are—were—strained between her and the board members. Maybe that’s why she died.’
‘Deighton’s the most likely candidate.’ Bill turned the empty glass in his hand. ‘I told you Simon’s been acting weird since my return. It feels like he wants me to know something, but he can’t say.’
‘This is getting dangerous, Bill. I wasn’t Gilchrist’s number one fan, but now she’s dead, I’ll admit I’m scared.’
Bill half-smiled. ‘It’s been dangerous from the moment that woman gave you those micro files. Gilchrist’s death won’t change anything. That we’re not lying in a similar pool of water just proves they need us. We need to keep searching for the truth.’
But Bill needed more. He’d even considered confronting Deighton about everything, but he killed off that idea on the journey home from Exilon 5. He had Laura’s safety to think about as well as his own. Now, Gilchrist’s death only proved there was something to find.
Laura’s stomach rumbled as she drank more. ‘I’m starving. Can we get something to eat?’
‘Sure. There’s a replication terminal not far from here.’
She looked disappointed. ‘Can’t we go to Cantaloupe again?’
‘Replication terminal or nothing, I’m afraid.’ As much as Bill liked Cantaloupe, he couldn’t afford it without charging the bill to the World Government tab. He wanted to stay off their radar as much as possible.
Bill and Laura ordered their food and found a spot at the counter in the communal eating area. The place heaved with night workers preparing for shifts that would run till morning.
Bill bit into his chicken sandwich and wrinkled his nose. ‘This is disgusting.’
Laura shrugged. ‘Tastes fine to me. We can still go to Cantaloupe, you know.’ On the counter, Laura had laid out a sausage and gravy pie, a tuna sandwich and a half litre carton of tomato soup.
Bill looked at her spoils. ‘If you want to go to Cantaloupe again, be my guest, but you’re paying. Do you have any idea how many portions you’ve replicated? The ESC will think you’re meeting more than just me.’
Laura frowned. ‘Indulge me. I need it after everything that’s happened.’ She scooped a portion of the sausage and gravy pie into her mouth.
‘You’re eating way more than usual. What’s the matter?’
‘I’m just sick of everything.’ Laura shoved another helping of pie. Steam rose from its gooey centre.
‘No, I mean your appetite is way off the charts,’ he said. ‘Could it be a side effect of Stephen’s treatment?’
She shrugged. ‘Possibly. My depression occupied my thoughts half the time and the other half I looked for ways to control it. Now I barely give it a second thought. It feels as though I got my life and appetite back. I can’t explain it, but all food tastes wonderful.’ She picked up the soup and poured half of it down her throat.
Bill eased the carton away from her mouth. ‘Slow down or you’ll drown yourself in soup. I’ll wait for you to finish so we can talk.’
‘Sorry.’ She wiped her mouth with her hand. ‘I’m done. I promise.’ She pushed the rest of the food to one side.
Bill looked around the terminal. The place buzzed with enough noise that he felt confident their conversation couldn’t be overheard.
‘What did you tell Gilchrist about the Indigenes?’ he said.
‘Nothing. I gave her some waffle about how we observed them from afar. I didn’t tell her we met them or about all the other stuff that happened.’
‘I’m as curious as you are to know why she called you in. You said it seemed as if she wanted to know for personal reason. Were the two of you alone?’
‘Yeah. In her office. She seemed distracted. At one point, I even thought she might cry.’ Laura glanced around the room. ‘So what should we do next?’
‘I hate to admit that we’re no closer to answers on this end. I should check in with Stephen—see what’s going on there. How would you feel about another trip to Exilon 5?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe,’ said Laura.
Bill lifted an eyebrow. ‘It wasn’t that long ago you almost bit my hand off to get on that passenger ship.’
‘Even if we try to leave the planet, I doubt the government will sit back and do nothing a second time. And I’m almost out of excuses to explain my lengthy absences from work. Turns out the dark conditions on Earth don’t bother me anymore. In fact, I think I prefer them now.’ She glanced at the food on the counter.
‘Are you serious?’ Bill turned her face, and attention, away from the food. ‘You hate this place.’
‘I still hate it, but the darkness is no longer an issue. Stephen cured me of my seasonal depression.’
Bill ate more of his sandwich as Laura eyed up the remaining food.
He sighed. ‘Come on. You’re far too distracted here. Bring it with you.’
They bagged up the food and walked the short distance back to the Maglev train station.
Bill brought Laura to his private apartment in Nottingham that he was sure the ITF had not bugged. Just in case, he enabled the sound disruption device as soon as he’d closed the door. Then he ordered Laura to eat while he sat on the sofa and watched her pace round the room with a half-eaten tuna sandwich in her hand.
Where had this appetite come from? Maybe it was Laura’s way of dealing with the news of Gilchrist’s untimely death. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her about his theory they were being watched.
When the food was all gone, Laura settled down. ‘That was the best meal I’ve had in a long time—except for Cantaloupe, of course.’ Bill stared as she continued to pace.
She stared back and stopped. ‘Why are you looking at me like that, Taggart?’
Her tone surprised Bill. ‘You’re not usually this abrupt with me.’
‘Are you going soft on me?’ she cooed. ‘Did I hurt your feelings?’
‘You’d have to do more than that, trust me.’ Bill patted the sofa. ‘Why don’t you sit down? You’re making me edgy.’
Laura’s expression softened. ‘Sorry, I don’t know what came over me.’
‘Don’t worry. Sit, please.’
‘I’m too wired to sit.’ Laura paced a new pattern in the floor. ‘So, what do we do next?’
‘Let’s assume the World Government knows everything we’ve been up to,’ said Bill. ‘And we know they’re up to something too—Gilchrist’s death was no accident.’ Laura nodded. ‘To help the Indigenes, we must find out more about what the government has planned.’
‘I agree. So how do we do that?’
‘We have to talk to someone who knows. I’ve no choice but to ask Simon outright.’
‘I thought we’d ruled out going through the front door,’ said Laura. ‘You were going to try profiling him first.’
‘And I still can.’ Bill frowned at her. ‘What happened to the courageous girl who gave two fingers to the world and charged a questionable amount of food to her account an hour ago?’
‘I don’t feel that way right now. Why Simon? We still don’t know if we can trust him.’
‘There’s no one else to ask. Simon has always stuck up for me. My gut says I should give him a shot.’
‘And what if he reports back to Deighton?’
Bill shrugged ‘It’s a risk we’ll have to take. Believe me, if there was an easier way, I’d take it. We must go on the offensive. Gilchrist must have gotten too close to something, something the board members are planning for Exilon 5.’
‘Like what?’ Laura sat down beside him.
‘I don’t know, but it feels as though they’re distracting us on purpose, keeping us from helping the Indigenes. And the new Indigene I was telling you about—Serena—is connected somehow.’
Laura looked dazed for a moment, then shook the moment away. ‘Okay, talk to Simon Shaw. But you’d better be right about him.’