by Thomas Fay
‘And it’s a private company?’
Socrates’s eyes blurred again.
‘Yes. Gridcom is owned by a number of other corporations.’
‘The Iona Corporation?’
‘Nine point nine eight per cent of issued capital. They do not have a controlling interest.’
‘There’s definitely something going on there. Once we get you checked out we’re heading over there and we’re taking Sorensen with her team in full combat armour.’
John drove along the road parallel to the airport and turned right into Mascot. He was nearing Professor Holstein’s warehouse when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID: Private number. He answered the call.
‘Tesh, here.’
‘John, it’s me,’ his uncle said. He sounded out of breath.
‘Nathan? What’s wrong?’
‘They’ve found me, John. I need your help.’
John cast a glance at his partner. Going to help his uncle would mean risking Socrates being destroyed by the Flux Cell disruption device. The android stared back at him with eyes that only looked human. Then he did something which surprised John despite the eight years they’d been working together.
‘Go, John. You must save your uncle.’
‘What about you? You need to get your Flux Cell checked out. You should go and see Professor Holstein.’
‘No, John. If your uncle is being pursued by the Ruling Council then you will require my assistance.’
‘Are you sure about this?’
‘Yes.’
John nodded his thanks.
‘Nathan, we’re on our way. Post the coordinates on the website we always visited when I was younger—we have to assume Council Security is monitoring my phone.’
Thirty
Olympic Park had been heavily polluted over the years from industrial and military activities before the area was transformed for the 2000 Olympics. This involved the excavation of a large amount of the contaminated soil from the site and redevelopment of the parklands. Following the completion of the Olympics, the area underwent further development including the creation of a number of commercial buildings, hotels and multipurpose facilities. During the Global Energy Crisis, Olympic Park was the site of one of the most violent and destructive demonstrations witnessed in the city. Widespread damage to buildings, parklands and numerous deaths resulted in a negative stigma for the area. While parts of it had been rebuilt under the Iona Corporation’s leadership, many derelict buildings and overgrown areas remained as a testament to the violence of people deprived of oil.
‘This is it,’ John said.
Their Sentinel cruiser pulled up next to an abandoned warehouse. A large number of the industrial windows had broken panes. Parts of the brickwork had cracked and crumbled away. The paint was peeling away. Faded signage denoting former businesses was now unreadable.
‘I am detecting a single infra-red signature inside the structure. Back corner, fifty-one point two metres from our present location,’ Socrates said.
John got out of the cruiser. He checked his handgun. Taking in the building’s exterior, he quickly located a single car parked near a side entrance. It was a late-model Iona Corporation sedan. Grey in colour.
‘That’s him. Any sign of anyone else?’
‘Negative. I am not detecting any other heat signatures within a radius of two hundred and fifty metres.’
‘Looks like he managed to shake them,’ John said. ‘Let’s go get him.’
They approached the building. A door with a faded sign that had read Emergency Exit Alarmed at some earlier point in its life was directly in front of them. John reached for the door handle.
‘John, should I go first?’ Socrates asked.
‘No. I’ve got this.’
John pressed down on the door handle and pushed with his shoulder. The door swung open. The inside of the warehouse was filled with packaging equipment and empty containers of various shapes and sizes. Electric forklifts stood silently in one corner. Another housed a breakout area for workers. A sense of abandonment permeated everything inside the warehouse, underscored by the thick layers of dust.
‘There,’ Socrates said. He was pointing at a small office at the back of the building. John made his way across the warehouse floor. Reaching the office, he opened the door. The inside had the same abandoned quality as the rest of the warehouse. A desk strewn with papers and envelopes, a computer screen and keyboard, a worn office chair, several filing cabinets and a large metal safe. There was a picture of some exotic location complete with beach, palm tree and mojito.
‘Took you long enough,’ Nathan said. He had been standing in the corner of the office, obscured from view by one of the filing cabinets. He held a handgun casually in his right hand.
‘Are you alright?’ John asked.
‘Yes. I managed to shake them in the city and catch a train to the Homebush station. From there I borrowed a car and came here.’
‘Why are they after you?’
‘I suspect it may have something to do with what’s in that safe.’
John turned to look at the metal safe located on the ground. It had to weigh almost a tonne and would be difficult to open without the proper combination or professional safe-cracking equipment. Luckily he didn’t need either.
‘Socrates, if you don’t mind?’ John asked.
‘Certainly, John,’ Socrates said.
The android knelt next to the safe. He moved his head from side to side, analysing the structure. Then he struck twice with his fist. Each of the hinges snapped. Socrates grasped the front of the safe and pulled. The sound of twisting metal filled the office. Then there was a loud shearing sound as the metal gave way. Socrates dropped the metallic plate on the ground.
‘Impressive. Shall we take a look at what’s inside?’ Nathan said.
‘After you,’ John said, motioning with his hand.
Nathan knelt and reached inside the safe. He pulled out a number of envelopes. These were filled with certificates and bonds. There were also several notebooks stacked inside the safe. Nathan moved all of these aside. At the back of the safe was a dark-grey box. It was a thirty-centimetre cubic shape made of military-grade armour plating. It could only be opened with the correct twelve-digit code. Grasping the box, Nathan pulled it out of the safe and stood up.
‘Is that an e-storage box?’ John asked.
‘Yes. I haven’t seen one of these in a while,’ Nathan replied.
‘Any idea what’s in it?’
‘Not exactly but I believe it has something to do with the Iona Corporation, which would explain why they’ve been after me since I got here.’
‘I don’t suppose you have the code?’
‘No, but it’s going to be fun trying to figure it out.’
Socrates turned towards the front of the warehouse. His head moved from side to side.
‘What is it?’ John asked, raising his handgun even as his uncle released the safety on his weapon.
‘I am detecting a dozen infra-red signatures converging on our location.’
Thirty-One
Highly trained and experienced law enforcement officers respond to dangerous situations in a calm and controlled manner. They assess the situation, take into account available resources, and take action. Intelligence operatives are even more adept at handling dangerous situations. They are also trained to work with other operatives and agencies. Despite his age, Nathan was one of the best field agents the intelligence community had ever produced.
‘We can’t stay here,’ Nathan said.
‘I agree. Socrates, can we get to the cruiser?’ John asked.
‘There are two heat signatures near the cruiser, another two near the second vehicle. The others are covering the four sides of the building in pairs,’ Socrates replied.
‘They’re trying to box us in,’ Nathan said.
‘Looks like it. How did they find us?’ John asked.
‘They must have followed your cruiser,’ Na
than said. ‘I was pretty sure I’d shaken them before I got on the train.’
‘Makes sense. The head of Council Security and a couple of Internal Affairs officers cornered us at Sentinel HQ. They let us go a little too easily,’ John said.
‘So those are Council operatives outside?’ Nathan asked.
‘Probably.’
‘The genetically engineered soldiers created by the Ionians for physical confrontations?’
‘The same.’
‘Well, this should be interesting.’
John grinned. ‘It almost always is. Socrates, can we make it to the cruiser without running into more than two of them?’
The android scanned the warehouse floor.
‘Yes. If we move now we will be able to disable the two operatives entering the building through the eastern entrance.’
‘Let’s go.’
Socrates led the way, followed by John and Nathan, who brought up the rear. The android moved quickly, reaching the emergency exit they had entered through first. He positioned himself on the left side of the door. John stopped next to a large packing press about two metres from the door. His uncle positioned himself behind him.
The door opened and two Council operatives stepped through. They were dressed in the standard lightweight composite body armour with reflective visors. They carried heavy-calibre weapons. Socrates waited until they had entered the warehouse before he was amongst them. Pushing their weapons out of the way, he struck once, twice. The operatives promptly crumpled to the ground.
‘We could have used someone like him back in the day,’ Nathan said.
‘Socrates is very handy in tricky situations,’ John said. ‘Come on, before the others come looking for their friends.’
John approached the emergency exit. Socrates waited for them.
‘Nice work,’ John said, taking in the comatose figures of the operatives.
‘Six heat signatures have entered the building. The other four remain near the vehicles,’ Socrates said.
‘Let’s take a look.’
John inched the door open until he could see outside. Their cruiser was about ten metres from the building. Two Council operatives with heavy-calibre weapons stood next to the cruiser. John eased the door closed.
‘We have a problem,’ he said.
‘The two operatives near the cruiser?’ Nathan asked.
John shook his head. ‘I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about the transport ship parked about three hundred metres behind them.’
‘It must be unpowered,’ Socrates said. ‘I am unable to detect any electromagnetic emissions.’
‘Makes sense. They landed far enough away that you wouldn’t detect it and powered down. Then they approached on foot,’ John said.
‘We can’t outrun the ship, can we?’ Nathan asked.
‘No. Believe me, we’ve tried.’
‘What happened?’
‘Let’s just say it didn’t end well. We also got very wet.’
‘John, the other operatives are moving through the building. They will reach our location in approximately sixty seconds,’ Socrates said. ‘I do not believe I can disable them all without risk of injury to you or damage to my systems from their weapons.’
John considered their options. Socrates could destroy the transport ship using his arc cannons but that was tantamount to declaring war on the Ruling Council. They needed a solution that took the ship out of the equation without completely destroying it, something that could be explained away as an accident at a stretch. Then he remembered the heavy weapons in their cruiser. He wasn’t sure the Gauss rifle could disable the transport ship but it was their best option.
‘Forty-five seconds,’ Socrates said.
‘John?’ Nathan asked.
‘Alright, Nathan and I will exit and distract the two operatives near the cruiser,’ John said. ‘Once we’ve got their attention, Socrates takes them out. We get in the cruiser, Socrates powers up the Gauss rifle and disables the transport ship.’
‘And then …?’
‘Then we drive like our lives depended on it.’
Nathan turned to Socrates. ‘Are all his plans this crazy?’ he asked.
‘No,’ Socrates said. ‘I believe this time John may have outdone himself.’
Thirty-Two
The Sentinel cruiser was speeding away from Olympic Park along Homebush Bay Drive. Things had gone more or less as John had hoped, although Socrates had been forced to take on two additional operatives that had managed to reach them before they made their getaway. Despite how surprisingly effective the Gauss rifle had been against the unpowered transport ship, John kept glancing in the rear-view mirror expecting to see the ship bearing down on them.
‘I’m still trying to figure out if you’re brilliant or just plain lucky,’ Nathan said. He was sitting in the back seat behind Socrates, who occupied the passenger seat. The android was holding the Gauss rifle between his seat and the dashboard. The bulky weapon left little room to move.
John grinned. ‘Can’t I be both?’ he asked.
‘I’d say you almost need to be, given what you’re up against. Although having Socrates around certainly evens the playing field.’
‘John believes Qallan Frost meant for me to balance the scales between the humans and the Ionians,’ Socrates said.
‘Makes sense. The Ionian technology is advanced. Not even the next-generation military designs I’ve seen overseas would be a match for them,’ Nathan said. ‘Although a few look strikingly similar to Iona Corporation designs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they stole a few schematics here and there.’
John nodded, his mind working through recent events, trying to reach conclusions as it always did.
‘We need to get you somewhere safe,’ John said. ‘It’s pretty clear you were the target of that IIA investigation and I suspect that e-storage box is the reason.’
Nathan hefted the metallic cube in his hands.
‘I’m certain it is. There’s something on here they don’t want falling into unfriendly hands.’
‘Which means we need to keep you and the box safe.’
‘Any ideas?’
‘Let me make a call.’
John opened his phone and hit speed dial button 2. The screen flashed the notification: Calling Simone Greenberg. She answered on the second ring.
‘Miss me already?’ she said.
John laughed. ‘Yes, actually, but that’s not why I called.’
‘What do you need this time?’
Pausing for a moment, John reassured himself that Simone’s phone and hence this call, could not be intercepted.
‘Do you still have that safe house on the North Shore?’ he asked.
‘Yes. Why?’
‘I’ll tell you when you get there.’
****
The safe house located in the Lower North Shore suburb of Mosman was the same one which they had used four years ago when they had been hiding from Councillor Jonathan Gage. Located at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, it blended perfectly with the rest of the streetscape. No one would have suspected the house was owned by the most powerful person on the planet.
John knocked twice on the door. Simone opened it thirty seconds later.
‘What took you so long?’ she asked.
‘Why do people keep asking me that?’ John said.
‘Who else asked you?’
‘Today? Fernali.’
‘Maybe if you got to where you were going more quickly we wouldn’t ask you.’
Simone smiled. Then she embraced John, kissing him deeply. Nathan cleared his throat loudly. Simone pulled away from John and looked at his uncle.
‘Hi, I’m Simone. You must be John’s uncle. Pleased to meet you.’
Nathan inclined his head in an old-fashioned bow. ‘The pleasure is all mine, Ms Greenberg.’
‘C’mon, we should get inside. Those operatives could still be after us,’ John said.
Simone opened the door wider and J
ohn and his uncle entered the house. Socrates remained outside.
‘Are you coming?’ John called out.
‘I will park the cruiser in the underground garage and check that the tracking beacon is deactivated.’
‘Good thinking. Join us once you’ve finished.’
Socrates returned to the cruiser. John closed the front door and joined the others. The living room was as he remembered it, with its sweeping views across the harbour. His uncle sat down in a chair. John sat on the couch. Simone remained standing.
‘So, what did you do this time?’ she asked.
‘We think Councillor Stone was after my uncle,’ John replied.
‘Okay, so what did he do?’
‘I believe this is all about this e-storage box,’ Nathan said. He leaned forward and placed the metallic cube on the coffee table. It looked strangely out of place inside the tastefully decorated interior.
‘Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen one of those for over ten years,’ Simone said. She picked it up. Turning it over, she located the input pad.
‘I take it you don’t have the code?’ Simone asked.
‘No,’ Nathan replied.
‘Any idea what’s inside?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘Yet you risked incarceration or worse to retrieve it. I can see where John gets his recklessness from.’
Nathan and John smiled in unison.
‘So, what do we do with the e-storage box?’ Simone asked.
There was a flicker of movement at the edge of the living room as the door to access the underground garage was opened. Expecting to see Socrates, John was completely taken aback when Councillor Agatha Stone entered the room. He half rose, his hand sliding towards his handgun.
‘You can hand the storage device over to me,’ she said.
Thirty-Three
Councillor Stone remained perfectly calm as John drew his rapid-fire handgun and aimed it directly at her. That humourless smile appeared on her face.
