Brigitte Attali flinched when she woke to find a flight attendant leaning over her.
‘I’m sorry,’ the man said. ‘I was trying to check your belt without waking you.’
Brigitte lifted her blanket and showed him the buckle.
‘Thanks. You’d better put your seat back up,’ he said before moving along the aisle.
Brigitte brought her seat up and squinted as blinds were raised throughout the cabin, flooding it with dazzling sunlight. The plane was diving and banking and she could see swollen grey clouds gathered over the city. She stretched and sat up straight. The elderly couple who’d been her neighbours all the way from Beijing caught her eye and smiled. She’d been an antisocial companion and had slept the entire flight. She’d missed her original connection and had been terrified the Red Wolves had discovered her subterfuge when Chinese border control had taken her aside for questioning. But it had been a routine spot check for coronavirus – maybe because she looked unwell? After two negative tests, they’d let her go. However, she’d missed her flight and had to wait another twenty-four hours for the next one, which had cut into the precious time the patch would keep her alive.
Echo had been right. Apart from a mild sensation that she was swaddled in a feel-good blanket, the effects of the fentanyl were now muted. Her heart skipped with momentary panic.
What if the synthetic hormone has also stopped working?
You’d already be dead, she told herself.
The plane touched down and Brigitte went through immigration, but her nerves didn’t really start playing up until the Homeland Security officer checked her declaration and waved her through customs. There was nothing stopping her now. She had no excuse not to make the call, but she was afraid they wouldn’t take it. She had to assume they knew what she’d done to Wollerton by now, and that they’d consider her a traitor.
She swallowed heavily and went through the sliding doors into the arrivals hall, which was packed with early morning travellers meeting their drivers and loved ones. She found a quiet spot beneath a high staircase, took her Ghostlink out of her holdall, and made the call.