by Claire Buss
'You of all people should know your religious history, Ruth,' Dina added. 'Every time believers of one deity try to sway believers of another, it ends in bloody wars. You can't force faith on people.'
'I'm not talking about forcing faith on people,' Ruth snapped back. 'She's real. We've seen her, the scientists here have seen her, and others deserve to know Gaia is real. They deserve to know that hope exists.'
'I understand what you are trying to say Ruth,' Martha reassured her. 'But the people are not ready. They are still reeling from the lies of Corporation. What they need is solid leadership and transparency. Belief in the spirit of the Earth may follow. But looking after our basic needs has to come first.'
Martha stopped talking, trying to gauge how the others felt.
'You sound like a politician,' Dina said.
'Well, I am a Hamble.'
Chapter Eighteen
C42N: Click through for the latest riot images and live feeds.
MAHA: Our city needs transparent leadership from those who care.
ANON88: What gives MAHA the right to stick her nose in?
ANON6: I agree with MAHA. New governance for the people, by the people.
ANON27: Everyone should be able to do what they want.
MADSR: Now is the time to elect fairly, no more Corp rule.
Jed walked Ben to the meeting room in silence. With so many questions swirling around in his head, Jed didn't know where to start. As they reached the meeting room door, Ben grabbed his cousin's arm and stopped him.
'It's not what you think,' Ben said. 'I'm the only one left. The only one they could find.'
Jed stared at him for a moment before shaking his arm free and opening the door. When the two men entered the room the others were already seated. The Chief gestured to the two empty chairs.
'Take a seat. Both of you.'
Jed sat slowly, unsure why he was being included in the meeting. His cousin looked at the remaining chair suspiciously before also sitting, with a glare for the rest of the room.
'Auto - capture on,' Agent Deveraux said, the holo humming as it began to record. '6th October 2215. This meeting calls forward the remaining high ranking officials in accordance with city breakdown procedure 3.0. In attendance are Chief Tony Minkov from Force. Professor Faisal Kamir , Head of Academy. Surgeon General William Lee from Med Centre. Agent Jack Deveraux, Special Investigations. Representing Anti-Corp is Ben Jenkins, and the public protector, Detective Jed Jenkins.'
Jed looked up in surprise but Deveraux avoided his gaze and licked his lips before continuing.
'Corporation Board Member, Roger Hamble – unable to attend, deceased. Corporation Board Member, Julia Nicks – unable to attend, deceased. Corporation Board Member, Yassin Aswad – unable to attend, deceased. Corporation Board Member, Patrick Basjere – unable to attend, bound by law.'
A glowing panel appeared on the table in front of each man. Silently, they all pressed their hands down upon the panel and a DNA sample was taken confirming their identity.
'Declaration of truth initiated. Please repeat after me.' And Deveraux led the men through the declaration.
'I understand that from this moment on I represent the best interests of City Forty-Two. When questioned I vow to share all information truthfully. As a city representative I will uphold the law in all decision making. I understand that failure to do so will result in the loss of my freedom and rights. I make this declaration of my own free will.'
Once the declaration had been completed, the illuminated panels faded, and Deveraux called up the procedural guidance for a city representative meeting on the large screen at the back of the room.
As per procedural guidance 3.0
All decisions must be made unanimously and in one session. The recording will then be sealed to prevent tampering and made available for public record.
Step One: Identify the threat to the City
Step Two: Facilitate solution
Step Three: Identify those responsible for threat
Step Four: Action containment
Step Five: Update leadership
Each man took his time reading through the expected steps.
'Seems pretty fragging obvious what the threat is.' The Chief was the first to speak.
'Corporation lies,' Ben said.
'Anti-Corp terrorism more like,' the Chief snarled.
'Arguing semantics won't get us anywhere,' Professor Kamir said. 'The threat is clearly the hysterical masses running amok outside. We need immediate crowd pacification with regular info jack updates on the water crisis. Rumour mongoring certainly isn't helping the situation.'
'And you think gassing the populace will?' the Surgeon General asked, incredulous.
'I never said gassing,' Professor Kamir replied. 'But that might be the only course of action available if we can't agree on how to calm the people down.'
'The issue is clean, fresh water, supplied freely without any Corporation involvement,' Jed said, trying to refocus the conversation.
The Chief jabbed his finger into the table. 'Yes - but where are we going to get a free uncontaminated water source from?'
'Aren't people working on the filtering system at Science Dept?' the Surgeon General asked, looking at Agent Deveraux.
'They are,' Deveraux conceded. 'But we have to wait for the levels of radiation to dissipate. Nothing we can do about that.'
'So we need a miracle.' The Surgeon General snorted.
'There's a place, outside the city limits,' Jed said. 'It's called Camp Eden.'
'Camp Eden?' the Professor scoffed. 'Fifty years ago there was an expedition outside, the whole crew died.'
'Another expedition went last year. They are all still alive and well.'
Jed tried to say more but Ben cut across him angrily.
'And how do you know that? Another Corporation cover up? Or is this perhaps a Special Investigations top secret hideaway? Replacing one oppressive regime with another.'
'I know because my wife is there,' Jed replied calmly.
'Special Investigations have no involvement with Camp... what do you call it?' Deveraux said, looking flustered as he tapped away furiously on his handheld.
'Camp Eden was financed by Mr Hamble...'
Ben leapt to his feet. 'So it IS a Corporation cover up,' he yelled.
'Will you stop interrupting me Ben? For frag sake man, sit down – I sent my wife and child out there.' Jed coloured a little when he realised everyone was staring at him. 'They have some tech there. We should be able to set up a live link, and you can talk to the people on the ground. I've told you everything I know.'
The Chief rubbed his jaw. 'I'll get a tech team in to set up the link. It might take a short while. Let's pause the holo and reconvene in an hour.'
Deveraux pressed some buttons on the holo, putting it on hold, and was the first to stand. 'I need a synth-caf,' he said to no-one in particular, and rushed out of the room.
The others followed at a slower pace, but the Chief gestured for Jed to hang back.
'What about him?' Jed pointed to Ben leaving the room.
'He has a detail, they won't let him go far.' The Chief huffed. 'This is a fragging mess we're in Jenkins. This Camp Whatsaface better not be some rich boy's playground.'
Jed swallowed. He hoped it wasn't as well.
C42N: City Forty-Two Representatives meet to end crisis. Sweep your view across.
ANON88: Who gave them the power to decide what we want?
Forty-five minutes later, a live feed was streaming between Force and Camp Eden. An extremely brown, slightly dishevelled, man stood in the main tent with Kira and Martha off to one side.
'Hi hon. Are you okay? Where's Grace?' Jed spoke to the screen, ignoring the man for the moment.
'Hi. We're fine, we're all fine. Grace is playing in the orchard with Dina and Ruth. Jed – this is Dr Max Carter, he's in charge here.'
The two men nodded at each other.
'Before we begin, Kira, there's so
mething you should know,' Jed said. He stopped talking as the door opened to the meeting room and the city representatives filed back in. Each resumed their seats around the table, turning so they could all see the video link.
'What's Ben doing there?' Kira whispered to Martha, who shrugged in response.
Jed stayed standing, and began the introductions.
'Gentlemen, may I introduce Dr Max Carter, head of the Camp Eden project. Also present are my wife, Kira Jenkins, and Martha Hamble, who some of you know I believe.' There were murmured greetings. Jed carried on. 'Max, ladies – this is William Lee Surgeon General of Med Centre, Head of Academy Professor Faisal Kamir, Agent Jack Deveraux from Special Investigations, Force Chief Tony Minkov and you already know Ben.' Jed paused, shooting a glance at his cousin. 'He's the Anti-Corp representative.'
Kira gasped while Martha merely looked on. Max was a little bemused at their reaction but decided to wait and find out what was happening. Jed walked round the table to take his seat.
'How can I help gentlemen?' Max rubbed his hands together nervously.
'You can start by telling us exactly what you're doing out there,' the Professor said, sounding disgruntled. 'And why Academy has no knowledge of this expedition, if it can even be classed as such.'
Max grimaced, and ran a hand through his hair. 'Well, you heard of the failed attempt fifty years ago to set up Camp Eden?'
The Professor nodded and gestured for him to get on with it.
'I found out about it, and thought it was fascinating. I spent a year lobbying anyone I could to fund a new expedition. Mr Hamble was the only person of authority who would listen to my bid. Academy officials told me I was wasting my time, so I never got to pitch to you directly.'
'We get a lot of funding bids,' the Professor said. 'There is a process, you know.'
'So Hamble paid you to do what? Watch the grass grow?' the Chief said gruffly.
Max barked a laugh. 'We came to test the air, soil and water for contaminants. And to see if we could discover what had happened to the original expedition members.'
'And?' the Surgeon General leant forward.
'All our testing came back negative.'
There was a collective sigh of disappointment in the room.
'No, no – negative for contaminants. The radiation levels have gone, we have a fresh water supply here. Mother Nature has begun to heal herself.'
'Begun?' asked Ben, frowning.
'We've been scouting further afield and the bombing sites are still arid. A nearby lake is devoid of life but with a little human engineering we could help things along. We've been working on a new way of..'
'Yes, yes. All very interesting I'm sure,' the Professor interrupted. 'The real question is how do we get your fresh water to the city? If indeed it is clear of contaminants.'
'We'd need to corroborate your findings,' the Surgeon General agreed. 'Can you send some samples to us for verification?'
'We can bring them,' Kira said. 'That is, if it's safe for us to come home?'
Jed tried to sound more confident then he felt. 'I'm working on it.'
Kira looked upset. There was a pause in the discussion as everyone in the meeting room tried to think of a suitable solution for transporting the water into the city. Ben cleared his throat. 'I might have a way we can get the water to the city.'
The others looked at him in surprise.
'Anti-Corp uses the ancient sewer system sometimes - to get in and out of the city undetected. With a little hi-tech investment, the tunnel walls could be resealed and water flow guided to the abandoned water works. Which would also need servicing but they should still work.'
'We'd need some serious man power,' Jed said, looking at his boss. 'And I think I know where we can get that from.'
The Chief rubbed his hands together. 'I like your thinking Jenkins.'
'Care to explain?' Deveraux asked.
'We round up everyone involved in the rioting, and split them into work teams,' Jed said. 'Force operatives can oversee.'
Ben slapped his hands on the table. 'You want to make the people pay for Corporation's cock up? It should be corpers who fix this, not the man on the street.'
'We all need to work together to fix this, Ben. Water shortage is a serious problem – take your head out of your ass and grow up. It's about time the people of City Forty-Two did something for themselves.'
Jed was breathing hard. He glanced at his wife on the video screen and she gave him a discrete thumbs up. His face twitched as he tried not to grin, and muttered his apology to the Chief.
'I agree,' the Surgeon General said, surprising himself for speaking up. He carried on quickly. 'We face a hole in governance. Rather than allowing miscreants to ruin our city further, we must all come together.'
The Professor was nodding. 'A new, shared governance. Focused on the problems at hand. It is the only way.'
Martha had been listening to the discussion with interest. She waved her hand to get the room's attention. 'Are we going to open the city walls then?'
'I don't see how else we can solve the water issue, unless you have another idea?' Jed said.
'I think it sounds like the right thing to do,' Martha said. 'But I'm just wondering whether this sudden freedom might be too much - for certain people ....'
'You mean Anti-Corp radicals running off?' Ben said, thrusting his chin defiantly at the screen. 'Freedom of choice is freedom of choice,' he continued. 'You can't be seriously considering the continuation of Corporation's restrictive regime? We are on the brink of individual personal freedom here.'
'I am not suggesting anything,' Martha said. 'I just think that we need to be careful. We don't want to destroy the healing that has already happened out here by tramping about all over the place.'
Kira chimed in. 'We have to respect the balance of nature and man working together.'
The men in the room digested the women's words.
'So what's your grand plan then my dear?' the Professor asked Martha.
'I think new governance should be voted for by the public, with representatives from each echelon of our society. The best way to move forward should be discussed openly, with the public given the opportunity to have their say. This is an opportunity for City Forty-Two to create a new way of life, interacting with the environment around us for the benefit of man and nature. We could then roll out the concept to other cities.'
Agent Deveraux leant back in his chair. 'Miss Hamble has a valid point. This city is the only one we know of free from Corporation. Other cities are more than likely firmly pro-Corp, pro-Tech and probably still consuming treated water.'
'Won't the sweeps have gotten through to them?' Kira asked.
'Ha!' Ben barked. 'The sweeps are the biggest joke of all. They are held within a self contained data unit, unhackable – believe me, we've tried.'
Jed and the Chief looked at Ben who held his hands up in mock surrender.
'It's true,' Deveraux agreed. 'Whoever designed the sweeps program created a self contained media platform. We believe each city has one but they are not linked and efforts to link them so far have proved ineffective.'
'Even more reason for us to get it right the first time,' Martha declared. 'Then we can save the rest of the world.'
'You can't be serious?' Ben asked, looking around at the room at the resolute faces staring back at him. 'You honestly believe that we can affect that much change?'
'And you're the representative that claims to be fighting against the machine?' Kira said flatly.
'Hey, I'm all in. If you think we can do this.'
'We're happy to liaise at this end with our findings,' offered Max.
The Chief and Agent Deveraux glanced at each other, before they both nodded. Jed looked at the Surgeon General and the Professor. Each man looked slightly stunned but both nodded in agreement.
Deveraux spoke with authority into the holo again. 'Let the record show Steps One and Two have been actioned.' He paused the holo. 'I sugges
t we regroup after lunch?'
The other men agreed, and filed out of the meeting room, leaving Jed standing in front of the video screen. Max gave a wave and left the tent.
'Can we come home now?' Kira asked.
'Soon my love. Soon,' Jed said. 'Kiss Gracie for me.'
Jed waved goodbye to his wife and Martha before ending the link, then sat down heavily in an empty chair.
FORCE: We urge citizens to stay at home and avoid areas of violent activity.
C42N: Rioting continues across the city. Sweep your experience, stay safe.
Jed was sat twirling his Force ID in his hands when the others returned from lunch, and the meeting resumed.
'Welcome back Gentlemen,' Deveraux said, turning on the holo. 'Our next step is to identify and neutralise the culprits responsible for this mess.'
'I believe Force already took care of that,' Jed said.
Ben looked at his cousin, but it was the Chief who spoke.
'It's true that Detective Barnes took it upon himself to eliminate the high ranking members of Anti-Corp.' The Chief spared a sympathetic glance for Jed, who was looking down at the table in front of him. 'Detective Barnes was mortally wounded and declined medical attention. He has been dishonourably discharged from Force, and condolences have been sent out to the families of those murdered.'
Jed's hand tightened on the cup of synth-caf in front of him but he refrained from speaking or looking up at the others.
'Is there anyone else significant left that we should be aware of?' Deveraux asked Ben, who shifted in his chair.
'Not that I'm aware of. You have to understand, I didn't stand very high in the organisation. I was way below Bobby - Roberto Travelli. And he was only in charge of recruiting.'
'What about the people responsible for the bombing of Corp Tech?' the Surgeon General asked.
Jed cleared his throat, and pushed his chair back from the table. He leaned forward, his head down, hands clasped together. Ben watched him warily for a moment.
'That was a....splinter cell if you like, the 42nd Army. Radicals who felt we didn't do enough.' Ben paused, fidgeting in his chair before continuing. 'You have to understand Anti-Corp was formed as a student body twenty years ago. It has its roots in Academy, and it looks to the student ranks for new members. We aren't – and we never have been - a terrorist organisation. Frag, I didn't even know about that plan.'
