by Giger, S. L.
“They won’t get hurt, right?” I asked.
“No, but they surely will be confused when they wake up.”
“I see this must be done,” Claire growled. “We just have to make sure we won’t get caught.”
We discussed the plan until we all agreed, and everyone knew what they had to do. The most difficult part of the plan would be, that we wanted to make everything happen unseen by the three women. If they figured out that we drugged them, it would be disastrous. Our Siren speed would help but I imagined it to be difficult, nevertheless.
So, on the day before the congress, I went to the Holiday Express in Oxford, where the congress took place. There were some guests in the lobby with small carry on suitcases and I wondered whether they were all doctors. They must be, no normal human was traveling for fun at the moment. I needed to find out in which room the women were staying. Therefore, I picked one of the three and asked at the reception if they knew what room my friend Emily Schuster was staying in. “She works for Seattle State Hospital,” I added. The nice lady told me the room number without further questioning the protection of personal data. I took the stairs to the fifth floor in Siren speed because the chance of being caught on a security camera was slimmer than with the elevator. I knocked at Emily’s door, leaving an envelope with the speaker program of tomorrow’s congress in front of her door. Obviously, she already had the program but that wasn’t the point. I pretended to wait in front of the elevator. Luckily, she opened the door and I tried to memorize her face. Short grey hair and thick black glasses, probably about fifty-six years old, slim figure and a little shorter than me. Like everyone else, she’d be at the dinner tonight and we only had to see who she was sitting with to find out who the other two women from Seattle State were.
At dinner, Melissa, Claire and I also mingled in the room. I pointed Emily out to them and since they were sitting at a table of three, we were pretty sure about our other two candidates who would lend us their ID. When they got up, Claire raced up to the fifth floor to see into which rooms they’d disappear. Melissa got in the elevator with them to follow someone in case they weren’t all on the same floor. I stayed in the lobby and checked the elevator numbers in case all three of them were on different floors. To our convenience they were all on the fifth floor and Claire got the other two room numbers. Now the difficult part followed. How would we get them to take the sleeping pills? To talk about the second part of the plan, we returned to our base in London which took us less than ten minutes in Siren speed.
“We don’t know if they’d actually drink a cup of coffee or tea if we leave them in front of their door. Plus, we still need to steal their badges from them.” Claire remarked.
I pursed my lips, sure Claire wouldn’t like to hear what I’d have to say. “We have to steal the pass key and break into their room at night.” Never in a million years had I imagined myself doing something like that.
“And suffocate them with soporifics?” Claire said, aghast.
“No, that’s much too aggressive. I will enter the rooms and insert the solution through a syringe. Should leave them knocked out for about five hours.” Melissa grimaced.
“Won’t they wake up when they get stung?” I asked.
“It works quickly but to be sure, both of you should come with me and be ready to press a pillow over their faces and hold them down, in case they scream.”
“Gosh, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Claire drummed her fingers on her knees. “What will they do when they wake up and realize the conference has long started?” She thought out loud.
“We can’t be sure,” Melissa hesitated, “yet, I think they won’t shout it from the rooftops because anything out of the ordinary might be used against them.”
I realized I was biting my nails again and to hinder myself from doing that, I repeatedly stroked my hand across the plush fabric of my chair. This had a calming effect. “True, and we are doing this to save the world after all. I’m sure they would forgive us if they knew our reason. Still, to be on the safe side, we should wear something to cover our faces and wide black clothes, so they can’t make out our shape.”
We all looked at each other with big eyes and Melissa spoke out loud what everyone was thinking.
“I didn’t think it would involve such actions when I signed up to find out more about our enemy.”
“It was quite agreeable here until you showed up.” Claire complained but patted Melissa’s arm.
We spent the night organizing equipment and medicine. Early in the morning I raced around a cleaning lady until I could snatch a key from her. About two and a half hours before the congress, we quietly slipped into the room of Emily. When the door was closed again each of us pulled a black stocking over our head with two cut out eyes. I had to stop myself from laughing at the ridiculous situation. We silently approached the bed where Emily was sound asleep. I started sweating under my stocking. Not because it was too hot, but because I suddenly was very nervous. It would have calmed me to know that Claire and Melissa felt the same. However, since like me, they did not possess a beating heart, I couldn’t make out physical signs of nervousness.
Melissa took out the syringe and stung Emily into her upper arm. With closed eyes Emily wanted to slap that spot, as she probably thought it was an insect. I caught her arm in the air and then Emily opened her eyes. “What is happening,” her eyes widened instantly, and she wanted to sit up. However, Claire and I gently pushed her shoulders back into the pillow. Claire placed her index finger outside her mask, where her lips would be which caused a moment of confusion in Emily’s eyes.
“So sorry.” Melissa whispered as Emily’s struggles weakened. It was an effort for her to focus her eyes and then she fell back asleep. I looked at Claire who was holding up a white clip-on ID card and we all hurried to the door, taking off our masks. Melissa checked the corridor and since it was clear, we slipped out again with an adrenaline-rush going through my body. I shook my arms to physically shake the dread off. Melissa leaned against the wall, hands on thighs and Claire let go of a long sigh.
“Two more to go.” I puffed my cheeks.
With Brenda the procedure was pretty much the same. Luckily, she didn’t wake up because we needed a little longer to find her badge. It wasn’t on the nightstand, but she had left it in a coat pocket. Now only Rita was left and then we would have about two hours at the congress before they’d wake up.
I carefully opened the third door, only to look into the surprised eyes of Rita who was on her way to the bathroom. “Oops, wrong room.” I hid my mask behind my back. We decided to put it on inside the room as we didn’t want anyone to see our criminal activities on the corridor. It wasn’t hard to change my feeling of surprise into shame and confusion. “Why did my key work here? Sorry.” I backed out with the others behind me.
“Damned. Why is she awake already? Nobody needs two hours to shower and eat breakfast.” I whispered after we had walked a bit away from the door.
“I knew this was a bad idea.” Claire looked up and down the corridor to check whether anyone else had witnessed this embarrassing moment.
“Even if she goes back to bed again, her sleep probably won’t be that deep anymore.” Melissa said and chewed her lips. “If she goes to breakfast, we have to put something into her drink after all, but it might take fifteen minutes until she feels something. I assume she’d then go back to her room because she might feel a bit dizzy.”
“Yes, we must put something into her drink because we already have two sleeping beauties in their rooms.” I wiped my sweaty hands on my black sport’s pants. My nerves felt like they would rip apart and instead of our plan working out on the first try, my suffering would be prolonged.
“I’ll do that.” Melissa said. “You stay in the background because if she recognizes one of our faces, it would surely be yours.”
I stared to the ground, defeated.
“It’s alright.” Claire wanted to cheer me up. “I can distract
her while Melissa does whatever she needs to do.”
I slowly nodded. “I’ll leave you to figure out plan B then.”
I returned the passkey to the staff without being seen and Claire waited around on Rita’s floor to see when she’d leave the room. Half an hour before the start of the congress the door finally opened, and Rita took the elevator up to the breakfast room. I had taken a seat at a table, a cup of coffee in front of me and the program of the congress.
Rita looked around a bit confused probably searching for her co-workers but finally took a tray and a plate and loaded it with bread rolls and cold cuts.
When Rita got to the drinks, she poured herself an orange juice. That was Claire’s cue. She joined her and asked Rita for her help with the coffee machine. I kneaded my fingers below the table. Rita dedicated her attention to the machine for a moment and that was Melissa’s chance to put the soporific into Rita’s orange juice. Claire then left the room and Melissa sat down with her orange juice and piece of toast at another table. While Melissa pretended to eat the toast, I scanned the program. We both kept an eye on Rita who thankfully was drinking some juice between every few bites of breakfast. After what seemed like an eternity to me, the first signs of the soporific appeared. She took a few deep breaths and then rubbed her forehead. In the end, she got up without clearing her table and headed out of the room. I followed her from a safe distance, holding my breath, praying it would work out as planned. I let go of a sigh of relief when she disappeared into her room. At least she wouldn’t pass out on one of the public toilets.
Melissa joined Claire and me on the fifth floor. “So, now I’ll wait another ten minutes and if she doesn’t come out of the room until then, I can be sure she is asleep,” Melissa explained. “I’ll then grab her badge and make sure she hasn’t hit her head in case she fell.”
I straightened my shoulders. “We went through so much trouble, I hope we learn enough about our enemy today that I can end her rulership.”
“You should already go to the first presentation, better not miss anything,” Melissa told us.
Claire held up the white hospital ID that now showed her picture. As long as they didn’t take it out of the case, nobody would realize her picture was only glued on top of another one. “And once more we pretend to be someone else. See you later. Don’t get caught.”
“You too.” Melissa gave us a terse nod.
I looped my arm into Claire’s and we walked to the entrance of the conference room together. A line had already built in front of the double doors where we needed to get registered.
“Workplace?” the guy with the clipboard asked me when it was my turn.
“Seattle State, US”. I answered without batting an eyelid.
“ID, please.”
I handed him Emily’s ID with my picture, not daring to breathe scratching my arm to take away the focus from my face. The guy checked off my name on the list and handed the ID back to me. I stepped past him, pressing my teeth together in order not to break out smiling. However, I crowed too soon. The next step was a metal detector. I got through without drawing any attention to myself but when it was Claire’s turn it beeped several times, making everyone’s heads turn.
“Must be my necklace,” she laughed embarrassed, as they checked her with a hand-sized metal detector. She needed to empty out her pockets, which only contained the ID with the glued-on picture. My nerves were strung to the breaking point. Finally, the security guards said she was okay and as we made our way into the room, I hoped there wouldn’t be any other tests or obstacles today.
Claire and I took seats as close to the front as possible. I looked around for the lady from the picture but neither she nor Dr. Palmer were here yet.
The room was filling up. Among the other people, Melissa walked in as well and took a seat further in the back. Soon, they closed the door and dimmed the lights.
I tried not to be too disappointed when a middle-aged man in a white coat stepped onto the podium. For the next half an hour he spoke about several bad pandemics we had suffered from in the past and I nervously drummed my fingers against my knee. Then, he moved to the recent scares due to the night flu. Finally, he said: “and now we welcome the man on stage, thanks to whom the flu deaths have been kept at a minimum and hopefully no further deaths will have to be suffered. Give a big round of applause for Dr. Palmer.” He clapped himself and while clapping, I as well as many others in the room sat up a bit straighter. Two security guards positioned themselves next to a door close to the front of the room. Dr. Palmer entered without acknowledging the audience and walked straight to the podium. I kept my attention on the door and a few seconds later the woman from the newspaper picture also entered through the door. She wore a khaki green pencil skirt and shirt which showed her curves but at the same time made the comparison to a military general very easy. I nudged Claire into the side and we both focused on the woman. Her heartbeat was even and didn’t let me guess anything unusual about her. A bit disappointed I bit my lip. She leaned against the wall on the side, keeping her eyes on Dr. Palmer. In her hands, she had a small cup of coffee, which she brought to her lips in even intervals. Her expression was concentrated and serious and she didn’t strike me as one to tell jokes with.
“Do you think it’s her who hypnotizes him?” I whispered since Claire was an expert on the subject of hypnotization.
“I don’t only think so, I’m sure.” She said to my surprise and then gave me the explanation without me asking. “Listen to their hearts, they are in complete unison.”
I took in the different thuds from the people around us. With some concentration, I could attribute each beat to an individual person like an animal could detect the smell of their prey. I had already found hers, but it was easy to spot Dr. Palmer’s heartbeat as his presence was exposed on the stage. Indeed, they were exactly on the same beat. Then, I noticed something else that was odd. Usually, I easily detected what mood a person was in from the vibes they were sending through blood pressure and pulse. However, Dr. Palmer hardly radiated any energy and the energy around that woman was like a bulletproof shield. I felt a wall of power and it was impossible to get through to her emotions.
I raised my eyebrows at Claire.
“Yes, she is very skillful,” Claire remarked. “It takes a lot of power, physically and mentally, to control someone for so long and shielding herself off from the environment at the same time.”
“But this doesn’t make any sense. From how I understood the Orbiters, she’s a simple human without any magical powers.”
“Hypnotization can be learned by anyone who is focused enough. However, her degree of concentration makes me want to bow in admiration,” Claire whispered. “We definitely have to be careful around her. The energy shield will only be one of her many security measures.”
“Yes, it’s also a great move to put someone else in the spotlight while being able to pull all the strings from the background.” I returned my gaze to Dr. Palmer who was again making propaganda against the Alternatives and their power to bring the night flu upon the world. With consternation, I realized that the doctors in the room listened intently and some of them took notes. No nervousness in the air which could have hinted that anyone was about to ask a critical question. I grinded my teeth. Could all of the scientists in this room actually believe that people who lived a different lifestyle were cursing us with a virus? I studied the faces of the other people in the room while keeping one ear on Dr. Palmer’s nasal voice and the other on the woman’s and his heartbeat. Everybody was highly concentrated on Dr. Palmer’s words, some nodding in agreement. A bit disappointed, I returned my glance to the front. No interesting discussion would follow afterward. They had only invited doctors who were active supporters of PaNacea.
Dr. Palmer seldom looked into the audience and as I remembered from past interviews only feebly scanned the wall at the back of the room.
His speech lasted one hour and then he announced that a question session wou
ld follow shortly. I rolled my eyes, without taking my attention away from the two of them. Perhaps, I’d at least notice anything that would give me more information about why this woman was so powerful. Even if the question session wouldn’t challenge Dr. Palmer in any way. The staff, marked with “Science is Mighty” buttons pinned to their shirts, brought more microphones into the room. Three women from Dr. Palmer’s entourage positioned themselves in the aisles to get to the people who were raising their hands. One of these women caught my attention instantly because she did not possess a heartbeat. On top of that, she looked so familiar that I let go of a short, sharp breath. I grabbed Claire’s wrist and probably squeezed it blue and green. Claire had noticed her too and wasn’t looking at our enemy in the front anymore but also stared at the slim and stunningly beautiful woman with the microphone. I managed to turn my head in Melissa’s direction to see her mouth had dropped open and her nose quivered, trying to fight back tears.
Roisin had blond hair now. It was neatly combed back along her head, ending in a short ponytail. But no matter how little sense this made, standing there in front of us, suddenly Roisin was back in our lives. I reminded myself to breathe. I still couldn’t believe it. We had waited for her and then looked for her for the past two and a half months and now here she was, working for Dr. Palmer. Roisin must have noticed us. It was impossible not to feel the presence of an un-beating heart in a room full of normal people. Yet, she never looked at any of us. I got that she was in the spotlight now and it was smart to wait with hugging us until after the speeches. Yet, she could at least give me a smile to let us know we could stop being worried about her.
They walked to the doctors who asked questions and Dr. Palmer answered them. My chair suddenly felt hot as hell because I wanted to jump up and run over to her. However, the experience from the press conference in London helped me to stay quiet and not draw any attention to myself. Melissa had awoken from her rigor and raised her arm every time it was our turn to ask a question. Roisin even once got close to her section but then held the microphone into someone else’s face. Melissa tried to get her attention with a few grimaces, but Roisin never even looked at her. It became clear that Roisin actively avoided any contact with us.
