by Tanya Allan
“I was worried about that, but I couldn’t let him just shoot her, could I?”
Amber smiled and turned to Mrs Lambert.
“What time would you like her back?”
“In time to get a good night’s sleep,” the older woman said, with a smile.
“Excellent, can I suggest you change into something a little smarter?” Amber said to the jeans-clad Keira.
“Like?”
“A dark skirt and blouse, perhaps with a jacket. You are going to be part of the WIB now, aren’t you?”
“WIB?”
“Women in black.”
“How many are there?”
“That would be telling, but your addition will significantly add to those already serving.”
In the end, a conservatively dressed Keira joined Amber in the Jaguar and hurtled along the country roads towards London.
“How do you know nothing was coming?” she asked.
“I can see more with my mind than anyone can see with their eyes.”
“I can’t do that,” Keira admitted.
“Maybe you haven’t tried,” Amber said, glancing at the girl. She noted the torc for the first time, immediately understanding that here was the source of the girl’s power. She drove, while seeking answers with that amazing mind of hers.
“It’s an alien artefact,” Amber said at last.
Keira immediately touched her torc.
“How do you know?”
“I can ‘see’ into it. It’s highly technical, belonging to a race far superior to us in so many ways. Even with all our scientific brilliance, we could still never come close to what you have around your neck.”
“Is it old?”
“Very. I can’t tell exactly, but it was made long before man started thinking himself as civilised,” she said, pausing. “It’s what changed you from being a boy, isn’t it?”
Keira was surprised that she wasn’t surprised that Amber knew.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“You and I are more alike than either of us could ever imagine. We managed to get to a good place in very different ways. I did the same thing when I was about eight, or so. Only I didn’t need a torc. My parents were part of a scientific programme to try to engineer special people. They died without knowing if it worked. It didn’t; not to their generation, at any rate. Unbeknown to the authorities, I was born with powers, though. One of them was to become the person I should always have been - a girl. I don’t understand much about the inner workings of that thing, but I sense that it was created to give the wearer the appearance of being female. What happens when you take it off?”
“Nothing. No, that’s not true. I lose all my powers, but I stay a girl, now.”
“That wasn’t always the case?”
“No, to start with, I was a boy when I went to school, and the rest of the time I’d be a girl as long as I wore the torc.”
“When did that change?”
“After I started at this college. I’d been a girl permanently for a few weeks and my games mistress made me take it off to play hockey. I didn’t have a choice, so I took it off. I waited for the change to happen, but it never came.”
Amber nodded.
“I’d say that was the default if you left it on for longer than a couple of weeks. It wasn’t designed for humans, but for another race that needed to look human. I think it was one of a pair. This was the one to allow them to look female, while the other one was to make them look male.”
“How do you know?”
“Part of my power is to feel inanimate objects and understand their history. It’s not clear, but that’s the impression I sense.”
“Why would they want to look male or female?”
“They probably didn’t look anything like us, so needed to appear normal. Humans come in two genders, so they probably felt it right to have one of each, at least.”
“You mean there are more of these things?”
“I don’t know. Possibly.”
“Why did it change me if I’m not the same race as they were?”
“I can sense that it is tuned into female human DNA. It gives the wearer the image of being human female, regardless of whatever they happened to be originally.”
Keira thought for a moment, gently touching the torc with her fingers.
“Are there many people, like us, I mean?”
“No, very few.”
“I suppose I’m not really like you. I use an artificial means to obtain my power.”
“No; actually, I sense in you latent power that is simply amplified by the torc. Some of its powers are definitely unique to the torc, but others are most definitely of you.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Keira admitted.
Amber sighed.
“I have a daughter; she’s grown up now, and lives and works in America. Her father David was an American serviceman who was gifted and never knew it. He had some amazing latent powers, which made him an exceptional policeman. Jenny is probably more powerful than me, but we were careful no ensure that the security and intelligence services never found her.”
Keira frowned.
“What happened?”
“I went to work in America during the Cold War. The Soviets had a cunning plan to operate a sleeper programme and cause mayhem in the 1970’s and 80’s. We managed to stop them, but grew so close that we could not ignore things any more. We had to be careful, as we both knew how the official mind works. Our daughter Jenny was born just after David and I got married. As far as my people and his were concerned, we just happened to be enjoying some well-earned leave.
“We settled in the States, as I managed to get a job as a liaison consultant to the American intelligence people. David was still in their military, but they were good enough to keep us working in relatively close proximity to start with.
“We had fifteen wonderful years, and then he was diagnosed with cancer. Jenny took his death hard, as she couldn’t understand how neither of us could use our powers to save him. Jenny went into medicine and is now a wonderful physician on the West Coast. She has some amazing gifts, but she refuses to use any of them for anything other than medical practicalities. I actually respect her for it, but can’t help but think that in a way it’s a waste of some amazing gifts.”
“Do you see much of her?”
“Yes, I do. She has a wonderful husband who is a doctor as well. They have three children, and I see them as often as I can. One of them, little Chloe, is showing great promise; if you know what I mean?”
“Where are we going?”
“I have to finish what you started, so I thought you’d appreciate a ring-side seat. Am I right?”
“Oh yes,” said Keira with a smile.
Ali was afraid, but he was never going to show that he was afraid, nor that all his training and preparation was insufficient for his current predicament. He pretended to pray whenever he thought someone was watching him and said nothing to the infidels whenever they spoke to him. The truth was that he actually was suffering from extreme doubt as to the existence of Allah, and specifically that he was on the path of righteousness. Nevertheless, he refused to be drawn to say anything, despite their use of several different interpreters.
They fed him regularly, and quite well too. But because he refused to speak, they had yet to attempt to interrogate him.
He was pretending to pray when he heard them open the wicket on the cell door. Then he heard the keys in the lock and the door opened. He still refused to look, even though he knew that someone was looking down at where he knelt.
He became more than a little disconcerted as that person made no attempt to speak to him or to try to get him to move. He looked up.
Keira stood a little behind Amber in the doorway of the cell. The policeman stood just behind her, twirling the keys on his finger. Amber simply stood there, looking at the prostrate man.
When she finally spoke, she said the nine words in Arabic that the man least wante
d to hear. Then they simply left the man quietly sobbing.
“What did you say to him?” Keira asked, as they left the custody suite. Keira didn’t see the identity card that Amber showed the police officers, but it seemed that she could go anywhere she wanted. Keira felt important to be with the older woman.
“I said, ‘Usman Khalid, your mother will be disappointed in you.’ That’s all.”
“I thought you wanted to interrogate him?” the younger girl asked.
Amber smiled.
“Oh, I did, but just not how he expected. I now know everything he knows, but now I have to remember it all, so hush for a bit, there’s a love.”
Keira followed her upstairs, to the CID office. Amber seemed to know her way around, and no one challenged them.
They walked through the general office. A few detectives looked up in mild curiosity as they passed and seemed to remember important stuff they ought to be doing.
“Are you doing that?” Keira asked.
“Clever girl, now just say nothing for a bit.”
They walked into a detective chief Inspector’s office. A female DCI sat at her desk. She looked up as Amber breezed in. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again, abruptly, and stood up, allowing Amber to sit down.
Amber reached down to the third drawer down and removed several lined A4 pieces of paper. The woman handed her a pen without being asked. Amber started to write in a very neat and precise hand. Keira and the DCI simply watched as Amber filled three sides of A4 paper. She then signed a name at the bottom and stood up, handing the paper to the police officer.
“That is a complete run down of the terrorist you have in custody. His real name is Usman Khalid and he is a Pakistani national. He is a seasoned bomb-maker and is responsible for several atrocities across Pakistan and the Middle East. I have listed all those on page three.”
The woman was reading the paper and she nodded vacantly without looking up.
“Ready?” Amber asked Keira.
“Yes; for what?”
“The other two, of course.”
“Oh, right, super,” the girl said, making Amber smile.
They returned to the car, and Amber drove quickly and well across London.
“Do you have any questions of me?”
“So many that I don’t know where to start. Did you just read that man’s mind and then make the police do what you wanted?”
“Yes, well, actually, no. What I did was to encourage the man to think of everything I thought we ought to know, and then I read what he was thinking. With the police, they need very little encouragement to be helpful. They do, however, have an unfortunate tendency to be rather bureaucratic and pedantic about certain protocols. All I do is by-pass the silliness and actually, they’re normally very happy with the way things pan out.”
“Could I learn to do what you do?”
“We’ve got a way to go before you get to learn things that others do. For a start, do you actually know what you can do?”
“I think so. At least, I’m learning stuff every day.”
“Well, I know you can defy gravity and move amazing weights with mental power. What else is there?”
“I’m bullet proof; or at least, I think I am.”
Amber just raised an eyebrow.
“A burglar threw a knife at me, and I discovered that I have a force field around me. It didn’t matter whether it was a knife or a punch, as neither landed on me. I think it would be the same with a bullet or bit of shrapnel.”
Amber smiled.
“Useful; go on.”
“I can learn languages very easily. I used to be crap at French, but with the torc, I learned to be almost fluent. We have a Korean girl at school, and when she spoke in her language, it’s like the torc translates and helps me talk back in her language.”
“You see, these are skills that the aliens needed to fit in among humans. They needed to be safe, and to be able to move quickly. Perhaps they were not used to Earth’s gravity, or perhaps they were terrified of humans so much that they needed the ability to escape rapidly. The chances are their own language was nothing like our early speech patterns, so they needed artificial help to get their voice boxes to attempt human sounds and to tune into the minds of the humans so as to provide an instantaneous translation.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, indeed, Keira; you’ve stumbled onto something very powerful and very precious. If you keep it, you need to learn exactly of what it is capable; indeed, of what you are capable.”
“If I keep it?” Keira sounded quite worried.
Amber smiled again.
“Okay, now I know that’s not an option. I am not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“You could, though, very easily, by what I’ve seen.”
“Yes, I could, but I won’t, I promise. You see, I was like you once, and it’s tough when you feel that you are the only one. I sense in you all the frustration of having this power and not having anywhere to go or anything to do; am I right?”
“You know you are.”
“Well, I’m here to tell you to forget about looking for trouble, as trouble will find you when you’re ready for it. Now I know you exist, it’s my job to keep you safe while you learn what you can do. There are many people who would stop at nothing to have what you have, and if they can’t have it, they’ll try to make you to do things by threatening to hurt those close to you. What you should be doing is enjoying being at school, because you will never be as free as you are now.”
“School is so dull!”
“It seems that way, but it’s not forever and if you try, you can actually have fun. If you don’t want to have fun, then it’s as easy to be a miserable cow and end up being miserable for the rest of your life.”
Keira was quiet.
“Are you okay?” Amber asked.
“I’m confused; are you telling me you want me to come and work for you?”
“Not for me, dear, I want you to come and work with me. I want you to develop as normally as possible, with due regard to the odd circumstances, and to let me help you in that development.”
Keira felt very humble, as clearly Amber was an important figure within the security services, and yet she was taking an inordinate amount of trouble to single Keira out for special treatment.
“I’m flattered, but how do you know I’d be good enough.”
Amber laughed heartily.
“My dear girl; if you take a moment and look at what you managed today, and all without any help or special training, you will understand that you are more than good enough.”
“Then, what do I have to do?”
“Are you seventeen yet”
“Soon.”
“Then you have to do nothing for a couple of years. I will get you and your father to sign a form, and the rest is up to us. Your secondary education is a private school, yes?”
“Yes.”
“And your father is paying full whack?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Then we will inform him that HMG will pick up any further education. In other words, once you agree to join us, we will pay for your degree course at university.”
“I’m not sure I want to go to university. Can’t I just come and do cool stuff with you?”
“You will have enough time to do cool stuff, as you call it. You only get to be a free student for a limited period, and believe me; you want to take what you can get. The main thing to remember is that you might have some amazing gifts, but you don’t know it all. Take my advice; work hard, get your A-levels, go to university and get a useful degree in something that will help you and in which you are interested. Then come and do cool stuff. How about it?”
“I suppose you’re right. Can I get some work experience in the holidays?”
Amber just laughed as she pulled the car over to the rear yard of another police station.
“We’re here; now let’s see what littl
e Miss Shamin tells us.”
Keira grinned.
“They all tell you everything without knowing it; right?”
“Right!” said Amber, leading the way.
Twenty
France 2012
Adelise Fortier had never hated anyone quite as much as she hated the English girl. It had all started a couple of years ago, in the summer holidays.
She and her family, which comprised her parents, her older brother Armand and her younger sister Claudette, hailed from northern France. They had a holiday home in the Brittany Port du Crouesty. Her parents were keen sailors and they owned their own five berth yacht that was moored in the marina. When they weren’t here, the boat was stored in one of the boat yards. Her father would call the yard and arrange for the yacht to be in the water and ready for him when they arrived.
They spent every summer here, as her father was able to work from the cottage, which had internet connections and all he needed to keep up with his clients. He was an accountant. In fact, their little cottage had around the same amount of space as did the boat.
They also belonged to the sailing club, which gave them all a degree of social interaction with other people. Six weeks with just one’s parents and siblings was enough to drive anyone bonkers. The children had all grown up together, so Armand and Charles, being the same age, had become firm friends as little boys and were still good buddies.
Strangely, she remembered Keira’s father and mother, but not the girl herself. She had a vague memory of a skinny and shy boy who didn’t make any effort to mingle with the French children. It took her a while to remember where she had seen Graham before, because he now had a much younger and more attractive woman, and a different child. Adelise assumed that Keira was not his, but Stephanie’s child, and the boy had remained with the rather intense mother, who was no longer with her husband.
Charles Royer was her dream-boat. Only the young man was unaware of her interest. Charles and his younger sister Bernice were, just like Adelise and her family, migrant holiday-makers; brought by their parents to spend summer by the sea.
