by A. A. Bell
‘I’m not insane,’ she whispered, and turned to face the fogless mirror.
No sign of her own image. The only reflections she saw were the shower and the bathroom door, with a towel hanging on the back of it. She took it down, her eyes still hooked on the ghostly version which didn’t move, even while she wrapped the invisible version around her breasts and damped herself dry.
Still no image of movement in the mirror.
‘Liar!’ She pounded her fist against the glass. ‘Look at me! I’m right here!
A knock at the door startled her. Not the big heavy security door to the hall, but her bathroom door. Someone had intruded into her bedroom!
‘Ben?’ she asked. ‘I thought you went home?’
‘Soon,’ a voice replied. Not Ben; Neville.
Fear stiffened her rigid.
He knocked again. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes! Don’t come in … please, Neville!’
The last two words she added in the desperate hope that Ben was right in promising it would win kinder responses from him. In case it didn’t, though, shegripped onto the mist-damp door handle, wishing it had a lock like her old bathroom at home. She resorted to holding it as firmly as she could manage with her slippery hands.
‘You’ve been in there a long time, lass.’
‘Yes, I … I was enjoying it. Is there a rule against that?’
‘No, but rules say I have to check you’re okay after each shower; make sure you haven’t slipped or hurt yourself. You know that.’
‘Well, I’m fine!’
‘I’m taking your word for it so far, ain’t I? You’re gunna have to open that door soon and prove it, though, so we don’t have to come in there.’
We? Did he mean Steffi Nagle had crept into her room too? ‘You don’t have to sound so mean about it!’
‘I ain’t bein’ mean! Geez, lass, you get some funny ideas in your head. Just hurry up and get dressed. I don’t want to come in there anymore than you want me to.’
‘Then go away!’
‘I can’t do that neither, and you know it. You’re takin’ so long, another half-minute and I’ll be forced to call a female warder to bust in on you. I think Steffi is still —’
‘No!’
‘Be reasonable, girl! We can’t have you sittin’ in yer own blood and singin’ that you’re fine while your life runs down a drain, can we?’
‘I guess not, but … oooh!’ She huffed in frustration. ‘Please be patient! And take your hand off the knob … please, Neville. Go and sit at the table, or something. I need to hear you move away from the door before I open it.’
‘Suit yourself.’
She pressed her ear against the steam-covered timber and waited until the pressure let go of the handle. Still listening, she heard footsteps, but they didn’t head towards the small dining table. She heard something rustle closer to her chest of drawers.
‘What are you doing out there?’
‘Just checking to make sure you still got a change of clean clothes in your drawer.’
‘Well, don’t! … Pleeeeease, Neville. Please, if you must be sure I’m okay, just sit so I can hear where you are.’
‘Are you going to be calm when you come out?’
‘Yes! Of course! Just wait. I won’t be long, I promise.’
She heard a grumble and a few footsteps towards the table, but didn’t hear the scrape of a chair.
‘Are you sitting yet?’
He sighed and she heard the metal chair squeak as it took his weight.
‘Thank you. Now stay there … please, Neville.’
She gathered her clothes quickly and pulled them on while huddling under the cloak of the towel.
‘I’m coming out now. Are you still at the table?’
‘Well, what does it sound like?’
‘Okay, I’m coming out.’
She ventured out cautiously.
The room appeared empty except for the brown ghost of herself still unconscious on the mattress.
‘There,’ she said, speaking to the ghostly chair and hoping the invisible Neville hadn’t shifted it too far from its usual place. ‘Now you’ve seen me. No blood. I haven’t hurt myself, have I? Check the bathroom if you want. I haven’t even tried to dig an escape tunnel.’
‘Very amusing, but I don’t think you want me to go away just yet.’
‘Oh yes I do.’
‘Oh no you don’t.’ He rustled something on the table that was just as invisible as he was. It sounded like a box full of junk. ‘If you think you can see, then come see this.’
Mira frowned but approached cautiously. The ghostly table still appeared to be empty, but she wanted to make him think she could see it.
‘What is it?’ she asked, as if she didn’t understand.
‘A carton of privileges. Matron said you could have ‘em back, didn’t she?’
‘Don’t talk in riddles … please, Neville. I’ve already got a portable phone, some shoes and unrestricted borrowing rights from the book club. I notice there are also a few bras in my drawer now too, so what else is there until I prove I’m safe with them?’
‘What else indeed? At Serenity, you get a whole kit. That’s something you’d have known already if you hadn’t misbehaved from the first instant you got here.’
‘I didn’t misbehave. I defended myself.’
‘Don’t start that again. You’d better just be grateful that Matron’s wiped the slate clean for now.’
The chair sighed with relief as he stood up and Mira tensed.
‘Your turn to sit,’ he said. ‘Put a smile on your face first, though. You should enjoy this.’
‘I’d rather stand on this side of the table … thank you, Neville.’
‘Suit yourself. Now listen. I’m gunna lay some things out on the table and you can either look at ‘em now or explore ‘em later. Makes no difference to me, so there’s no need to feel threatened or get agitated. But it would help if you listened in silence while I unload ‘em. You okay with that?’
‘I’m listening.’
‘Okay then.’
Timber creaked as if he was prying the lid off a crate. ‘First up is your basic communications kit. Here’s a ream of Braille paper,’ he said, and Mira heard it thump on the table. ‘Here’s a pack of embossing sheets for tactile drawing … A Braille diary and calendar … A Braille writing frame with a stylus and a screwdriver-style eraser, only be careful with the frame, won’t you? It’s only plastic. Then you’ve got your personal PC with a Braille keyboard and printer that talks when it’s finished or jammed up inside.’ He placed the printer and PC onto the table more gently. ‘There’s no power or internet connection in your room, though, so we’ll have to find another room nearby where you can use them, just like your phone charger. Or keep it all here until an outlet’s installed. You don’t need power for nothing you don’t use. Then you’ve got your household and personal-care kit, such as your Braille label-maker, electric toothbrush — battery-operated. And here’s a CD player that’s battery-powered too. Here, look, it has Braille buttons — most clients find the bigger buttons easier to use than an iPod or other music sticks. I’ve already loaded a lesson on how to apply make-up by yourself, but you can also borrow music and audio books from the book club for it. There’s also a Braille jug and a talking teacup here — so you always know how high to fill it without burning your finger. Oh, and here … Hold out your hand.’
She did, but he grabbed her wrist and clamped a band around it. ‘No!’ she squealed and tried to wrench away. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Quit squirming. It’s only a watch.’
‘A watch? How do you think I can read a watch?’
He used her finger to push the button on the side.
‘Don’t touch me!’ she snapped, pulling her hands away from him.
‘The time is six forty-four pee em,’ responded an electronic female voice.
Mira’s mouth fell open in surprise. She pushed the butt
on again and it asked if she wanted to set an alarm time. Her surprise turned swiftly to amusement.
‘My, you have been deprived of privileges for a while if you think that’s entertaining. Here, try this talking thermometer later, too.’ He unloaded more small items into her hands. ‘. and this talking battery tester. You also get a talking colour detector. That should help with your make-up, so you don’t go out with red eyes and blue lips like the matron. Except she always has a reason, doesn’t she?’
‘Now I know you’re teasing!’
‘You think? You can go through the rest by yourself. Here’s a list.’
He handed her a list in Braille and she read down the columns swiftly with her fingers: Braille dictionary, tactile ruler, Braille Scrabble, Braille Nintendo games, tactile dice, tactile Connect Four, Braille playing cards, tactile dominoes, tactile Ludo, thinking puzzles on CD …
‘Some of these need two people to play — or more,’ Mira said.
‘Use them for practice for now. If you want to play with someone else, ask at the nurses’ station or go up to the games room on the third floor between 9 am and 8 pm. Make sure you’re not there at mealtimes, though. Starting now, your door will be unlocked so you can come and go with unrestricted access — so long as you voice-record your destination into the whereabouts board. You do that by speaking as soon as you walk through your door, as Ben probably explained when he brought you back earlier. A sensor picks up your voice and transfers the information automatically to the nurses’ station.’
‘Are you saying I can come and go from the building now too?’
‘So long as you stay inside the grounds and keep well away from all the gates.’
Gates? Mira thought. She only knew about one gate. ‘I meant going to the music room by myself.’
‘Well, of course you can do that. Haven’t you been listening? You can go anywhere inside the boundary fence — the tennis courts, swimming pool, gymnasium, even the dojo. It’s not safe outside anymore since we no longer own the whole island.’
‘What’s a dojo?’
He laughed. ‘It’s a padded room over in K-block where you can learn self-defence. You know, karate, judo … all that kung fu stuff, including kickboxing.’
Mira smiled. She couldn’t help herself. ‘Oh, yes. I can really picture me kickboxing. Who would stand still long enough to let me aim?’
‘You do just fine without any training, lass. But as a matter of fact, we have a whole team of blind clients who compete nationally. I’m not joking.’
‘Sure, and I can start training as soon as I want.’
‘I didn’t say that. Only low-risk clients are allowed to learn self-defence so it can’t be used against any of the staff when you get upset. So in case that thought just occurred to you, forget it. You have to be a low-risk client for at least a year first. However, it is possible to speed up the steps it takes to get reassessed. You could drop into C-block for a chat with the padre, for example. I don’t know what religion you are, if any, but if you’re interested he can introduce you to all the main ones and start you on the path to worship as soon as you choose.’
‘I don’t plan on being here for a year.’
‘We’ll see. In the meantime, you can go anywhere inside Serenity, like I said, so long as you make it to thedining room on time for each meal and back to your room again each night by ten.’
‘No more half-cold meals in my room?’
Neville chuckled. ‘Now you have to eat half-cold meals with everyone else — unless you’re sick or prefer room service for special occasions. If so, just ask the night before at the nurses’ station … Oh, and I almost forgot.’ She heard him shuffling through pockets that held keys and loose coins. ‘Here’s two hundred dollars — it’s your weekly allowance. Keep it in your pocket for now. You can buy a purse or wallet from the canteen — extra treats too, but payday’s Mondays only, and once it’s gone it’s gone, so don’t waste it. Okay?’
Mira leaned against the table, feeling dizzy. ‘I haven’t been allowed outside a building on my own since they caught me; not even at the orphanage, and that was much lower security.’
‘It’s a privilege that’s easily revoked,’ he warned. ‘And you need to take these with you wherever you go.’ He pushed a small round disc and a stick into her hand, startling her again with the clammy touch of his skin.
‘That round thing is a badge with an electronic key that lets you into the dining room and all the community and sporting areas without setting off alarm bells. You don’t need to do anything. It works automatically by remote sensors that unlock each authorised door as soon as you’re in range, so all the exits will open automatically as you get to them. It’ll also give you a voice warning if you get too close to a staff-only area, and it’s got a global positioning system so no matter where you are inside the centre, if you get lost, you just press the knob on the badge like this …’
‘You are in B-block,’ responded an electronic voice — male or female, Mira couldn’t tell. ‘Ground floor, seventh room from the north end. Emergency exit is down the hall three doors to your right. Across the hall is the nurses’ station. Elevators are down the hall three doors to your left. Directly above you is the dining hall. Directly below you is the …’
‘Press it again if you want it to shut up,’ Neville said. ‘It works anywhere in the world so you can’t get lost when you’re out on a field trip, either — although the details aren’t so specific once you’re outside the gate. Often it’s just your general location or street.’
Mira rolled the disc in her fingers and pressed the button again, barely able to believe it. ‘It’s amazing!’
‘That stick is the same kind of gadget, except it telescopes into a walking stick so you can use it to find your way along corridors and garden paths by yourself. If you pass something of interest, like a pond or a rose garden for example, the stick has a GPS setting that can give you running commentary of where you are, or you can switch it to tour-guide mode so the voice tells you what to listen or smell for inside Serenity and most tourist spots so you don’t miss anything of interest. It’s also fluorescent — you know what that means?’
Mira nodded. ‘It means sighted people can see it glowing in the dark and spot me a mile away.’
‘Yeah, so a word of friendly advice. Freddie Leopard’s still on his bandwagon about Nietzschean spies, death, doom, blah-blah-blah, so wear the badge out of sight inside your clothes and hang your walking stick inside the waist of your skirt or track pants. They’re tools for suppression of the innocent masses so far as Freddie’s concerned. He’ll break them first chance he gets. Oh, and one more thing — this technogear isn’t foolproof, so if anything breaks or fails to work the way you expect it to, just ask and we’ll fix or replace it. Don’t get angry or use them to hurt anyone. Any questions?’
‘Yes, one.’ Mira clipped the badge inside her shirt collar. ‘How does Freddie get around if he doesn’t have a pass key?’
‘He’s a hypocrite,’ Neville said as he headed for the door. ‘He hides his badge inside his shirt too. That said, he’s been here longer than any of us and seems to know all the secret ways of the place. You stay right away from him, you hear? If you can — I know it’s hard. Sneaky bugger seems to know where you’re going before you do.’
Mira listened to him leave and hugged herself, wishing she could hug Ben, knowing that none of this would have happened without him.
TWENTY-FIVE
Private Lockman made contact with Colonel Kitching on a secure line after his third attempt, but the colonel refused to discuss the matter until he could do it face to face. He ordered an immediate rendezvous in the foyer of the Drift Inn, where the dinner crowd were beginning to mingle outside the ground floor restaurant.
Quiet time at check-in, though, Lockman noticed. The concierge desk was manned by two red-coated staff, both idle.
Kitching emerged from an elevator, wearing a dinner suit. ‘Report,’ he said the moment he
drew near.
Keeping his voice down, Lockman launched into a summary of events surrounding Sergeant Hawthorn’s disappearance, as well as a briefing of the floors and areas he’d already searched.
Kitching didn’t seem surprised. He pointed to the biggest man at the concierge desk and clicked his fingers. His arm raised as he waved the concierge over, and as his sleeve moved, Lockman noticed three red scratches on the colonel’s wrist, which had been glazed with a clear antiseptic cream.
Abandoning his post, the concierge joined them and Kitching ordered him to summon his team. Using asmall black headset like those worn by key hotel staff, he called five other undercover soldiers from around the foyer; two of them attractive women dressed in glittering evening gowns.
Lockman wondered where they kept their dogtags and sidearms.
The brunette winked and smiled as if she’d read his mind. None of them offered their names and Kitching didn’t bother with introductions either, so Lockman assigned them nicknames in his own mind until he could catch on to their operational names over the comms net. The dark-haired woman looked like a Babyface, the blonde a Beachbabe, and the four men Lanky, Tank, Bug-eyes and Scar-chin.
‘Frequency is alpha-four,’ Kitching said as an indirect order for Lockman to tune in to their secure comms channel.
‘What if the sarge tries to contact me?’ Lockman asked.
‘If that was possible,’ Kitching replied, ‘he would have done so already. A more pressing question right now is, where did you stash the doctors?’
‘Sixth-floor toilets. I put them in a baby’s change room with facilities and supplies to last a few hours.’
‘Unorthodox.’ Kitching grinned.
‘I couldn’t be sure our plans weren’t compromised, sir.’
‘Good thinking, son. Now to the matter of your sergeant. We’ll use search pattern Gamma One. Private Lockman, you’re with me.’
