by S M Stuart
“Mm,” she muttered. “Well, keep us informed and don’t do anything silly will you?”
“Yes we will and no we won’t, Mum!” I said, grinning cheekily to lighten the mood.
I knew that Mum would continue to fuss over me if I didn’t finish my breakfast so I struggled to get the eggs down and swigged my lukewarm tea before dashing off to get ready for Seth. He’d promised to come around as soon as Samuel had gone off to work so I needed to get a move on. In my room I rooted around to find a decent top and was half-way through applying make-up when I heard the doorbell. Damn! Then I gave my reflection a quizzical look. When have you ever worn make-up for a day with Seth? Who are you and what have you done with Dez? This romance thing was all a bit unnerving. I wanted Seth to think I looked good but I’d never been a girly-girl so why start now? He’d probably be in his tatty jeans as usual. I grabbed a wipe and smeared the eyeliner down my cheek – oh, very attractive! By the time I’d finished my cheeks were red and my eyes watering from the excessive rubbing. To hell with it, I thought and ran down the stairs to find that Mum had already let Seth in.
“Oh!” I skidded to a halt, taking in the vision of manliness waiting in the hallway. Seth had washed his hair and slicked it with gel so that it framed his face like a fiery halo – for once the curls were staying in place. He was wearing a new shirt with the top two buttons undone but I was sure I could see the tip of a tie peeping out of his pocket. His jeans were pristine, not a pinprick of oil to be seen. He held a large bunch of flowers and a box of chocolates in outstretched hands as though he couldn’t wait to get rid of them.
“These are for you, Mrs Hanson,” he said, presenting the chocolates to her, “and these are for you.” He pushed the flowers into my arms, blushing furiously.
“That’s very kind of you, Seth,” said Mum. “Isn’t it, Desirée?” she added, pointedly.
I realised I’d been standing there with my mouth open and shut it quickly, licking my dry lips as I did so.
“Yeah … yes. Thanks Seth,” I managed. With a quick glance at Mum to make sure she wasn’t going to interfere, I reached up to kiss his well-scrubbed cheek. I smiled as, beneath my lips, I felt the stubble that he’d missed when he’d shaved.
“Shall I put them in water for you, Desirée?”
“Muuuum!” I wailed.
“All right, all right. I’ll try to remember. Although why you have to shorten that beautiful name I’ve no idea.” A touch of the old irritation came into Mum’s tone but she smiled as she took the flowers and gave Seth a nod of approval before disappearing into the kitchen.
“Wow. Don’t you scrub up well?”
“If you’re gonna make fun, I’m off,” he said. “I knew it was a bad idea.”
“No! No, it wasn’t. It’s lovely that you dressed up for me, Seth. Thank you. Sorry I didn’t manage it. I tried, but make-up and me just don’t get along together.”
“I thought we could go on one of those dates I mentioned and I wanted to surprise you.”
“You certainly did that!” I kissed him again. “But now you’re gonna have to wait for me to get ready after all. Can’t have people thinking you’re dating a down-and-out, can we?”
I pushed him through to the kitchen where Mum was busy trimming the flowers and arranging them in one of her favourite vases – Hey, remember they’re mine! I thought – aloud I said, “Will you look after Seth while I get changed, Mum?”
“Yes, yes.” She waved me away. “But hurry up. You shouldn’t keep the poor boy waiting.” Poor boy? He must’ve made a big impression with those chocs to get her sticking up for him.
“Mu-um!” I called, after half an hour. “Help!”
What sounded like a herd of elephants came charging up the stairs.
“Dez, are you all right?” Seth shouted as he rattled the handle of my bedroom door.
I leapt towards the door and leaned against it to stop him getting in – I was only wearing my bra and pants and they didn’t even match!
“Excuse me, Seth.” Mum’s voice cut through Seth’s attempts at breaking and entering.
“Oh. Er, sorry Mrs Hanson. I thought something was wrong with Dez.”
“I’ll let you know if she needs anything.” Mum knocked on my door and I opened it just enough to let her in. “What on earth’s the matter?” she asked.
“Look at me,” I wailed. “I’m no good at this.”
Mum looked around the room – clothes strewn all over the floor and my bed, make-up tipped out of my drawer onto the dresser top and a sickly mixture of all the perfumes I’d been trying. How did she always manage to look so damned gorgeous even first thing in the morning? She gave me one of her smiles – the ones so full of love that they made my heart squeeze – and I didn’t need to hear her thoughts, I could see them in her expression: Dizzy still needs me after all.
This was a first – Mum and I spending girly-time together – and I was surprised to find myself enjoying it. I’d expected her to go for sensible stuff and no make-up at all but she dug through the clothing to find a lacy little number that actually gave me a decent cleavage, matching knickers, a silky strap-top that I’d forgotten about, and a pair of skinny jeans with beaded embroidery. Finally, she produced a pair of strappy sandals from the back of my wardrobe. She turned up the bottom of my jeans so that my ankles were showing and put the sandals on for me as though I was Cinderella and she was Prince Charming’s side-kick. Once she was satisfied she turned me around so that I could see myself in the mirror.
“Oh!” I lost my breath in that one word. Mum was a miracle worker! She’d managed to tame my hair into a smooth curtain of black silk, a single understated diamante clip holding the fringe to one side. Although she’d applied make-up it was difficult to see where the cosmetics started and my natural colour ended, so subtle was the effect. I’d always thought my eyes were a dull slate blue but now they shone like a sparkling clear ocean.
“Thanks Mum.” And my sight blurred slightly.
“Ah-ah,” she said, quickly grabbing a tissue. “None of that, you’ll spoil the effect.” Although I could see she wasn’t far off a few tears herself.
Mum went downstairs to assure Seth that I’d be down soon. I looked around for my small, cream shoulder bag – the big retro-denim one was a definite no-no today. I transferred my Comms kit, and Elizabeth’s Handi into the smaller bag, dropping in a couple of tissues and my lip-gloss for emergencies. When I finally made it down the stairs Seth was, once again, waiting for me in the hallway, pacing impatiently. It was his turn to stop mid-stride and look in wonder.
Ooh, this feels good! I thought and decided that I’d ask Mum to give me some more lessons.
“Shall we go?” I asked sweetly.
“Y-yes. Yes, of course.” Seth opened the door and almost bowed as I walked past him. I’m sure I heard Mum quietly chuckling behind us.
***
I didn’t know what to expect from this date and was rather nervous. And irritated – why was it now so unsettling merely being with my best mate? The shift in our relationship created a wariness that had never been there before. We’d had arguments in the past but they hadn’t felt like our world was crumbling. We’d had rolling around on the floor play-fights but that physical contact hadn’t felt like bolts of electricity whenever we touched. Now everything was so much more concentrated, more intense. I briefly wondered if we’d made a mistake taking this step. Maybe Seth was feeling the same way as he gave my hand a squeeze and took it to his mouth for a reassuring kiss.
“What’s the plan, Stan?” I asked, trying to lighten my own mood, at least.
“Stan? Who’s this Stan? Let me at him!” He jumped about, shadow boxing and grinning as I rolled my eyes in mock irritation. “I don’t want to tell you the plan. It’s a surprise.”
“Ah, Seth,” I sighed. “You know I hate surprises.”
“No you don’t. You just say that ’cos you think it’s modest. But deep down you love ’em really. Everybody do
es. It’s shocks that nobody likes.”
“I’ll reserve judgement.” I had to admit he’d got me tagged. I did think I wasn’t supposed to like surprises, being the centre of attention, but it was exciting to think he’d planned something exclusively for me.
We walked towards the park and headed up the path to the wooded hill. I was glad we weren’t going to the lake, it held too many memories old and new that I wanted to avoid for now. As we reached the peak of the hill, Seth steered me towards the little woodland café. One of the outside tables was set with a checked table cloth, matching napkins, and a small vase of wild flowers. Seth guided me to the table and gestured for me to sit. He headed into the café and eventually reappeared carrying two enormous ice-cream sundaes with sparklers fizzing so brightly that I worried his face would be burned.
“Ta-da!” he sang as he placed them on the table. “Pistachio Surprise Sundae.” He emphasised the surprise with a wink, but I knew that wasn’t the end of his planned date. I laughed and stood, leaning across the table to kiss him.
“Whoa!” he said and held me at arm’s length. Just as I was about to protest, he nodded downwards. I followed his glance and realised I’d been about to scorch my silky top on the still fizzling sparklers.
“Oops!” I grinned, self-consciously. Only a moment ago I’d worried about his lovely face being injured by the fireworks and there I was almost setting fire to my assets! “Thanks,” I added. “Thanks for this.” Sweeping my arm over the safe areas of the table. “Thanks for that.” Indicating his spruced-up appearance. “Most of all, thanks for always being here for me.” I lifted my ice-cream glass in a toast – the sparkler had fizzled out by now so my eyebrows were safe.
“Cheers!” he replied, mirroring my gesture.
It seemed the most natural thing in the world to sit there dawdling over our ice-cream whilst it melted. We talked about the little stuff – how we thought we’d done in our end of year exams, which of our Academy pals had got together and whether they still would be when we went back to class in September, and the latest mischief that Jeremy had been creating. The turmoil of the last few weeks was put to one side and I realised I’d barely a whisper of telepathic connections to cope with. Either the hypno treatment was doing the trick or relaxing with Seth was the best therapy to keep them quiet. But thinking about them brought to mind that I was supposed to be working on isolating individual connections.
“Seth,” I said, reluctant to break the mood. “This is really lovely but don’t you think we should be getting back to work on your mum’s Handi?”
A frown creased his face. “I wish I’d never let you see that,” he grumbled. “Maybe we should just give it to the authorities and be done with it.”
“NO!” He looked up, surprised by my outburst. “I mean, not yet. Please Seth,” I said more quietly. “I need to sort through it before we do, not just for your mum’s sake but to clear my own head.”
“You see?” He threw his arms up in frustration. “That’s why I shouldn’t’ve got you involved. Now your head’s all messed up too.”
“I think it would’ve been whether or not I’d seen the Handi. But now that I have seen it I can’t ignore your mum’s letter any more than you can.” I reached across the table and took his hands in mine, squeezing them tightly to make him see my point.
He shrugged and stood up from the bench, resigned to my suggestion. “Come on then,” he said. “The rest of the date’ll have to wait.”
“Sorry,” I said.
There I go spoiling things again!
CHAPTER 33
Paris: 12 February 2106
Nicole’s latest research was throwing up more questions than answers at the moment. She wriggled her shoulders to release the building tension. At least it was Friday and she was sure Tomas had something planned for the weekend. She smiled, allowing herself a moment to fantasise about what it could be. She’d heard rumours about reallocating staff in the labs. Perhaps Tomas had been considered for a promotion – oh, but maybe he would have to move to another site. She didn’t like that option! Dare she even think about what else he could be thinking of? They’d been together a while now. She knew it was old-fashioned to want a ceremony but her great-grandmother’s wedding dress was so beautiful, so delicate and Mama had promised that she could use it when her turn came.
“Nicole?” Her supervisor’s voice cut through her reverie. She tapped her Comms headset to respond.
“Bonjour, Madam Barteau!”
“I’m calling regarding the report you are submitting, Nicole. Your data seems contradictory to the expected outcomes.”
“Oh? In what way?” Nicole answered slightly less politely. It was disconcerting that her supervisor could watch her work in real-time.
“I believe you and Tomas have been collating evidence? It appears several of your test subjects are not listed on the master register. Not only that, but, their response to the treatment is inconsistent with that of the registered individuals. Perhaps some rogue data has corrupted your figures?”
“I’ll look into it, madam.”
“I do hope that it is not a personal distraction interfering with your work? You came to us with high recommendations from your university tutors.” The query in Madam Barteau’s voice was clear. Nicole and Tomas had been very discreet about their relationship but the French can always sniff out any whiff of a romance.
“Oh no, madam,” she replied, a shade too quickly.
“Mm.” Madam Barteau didn’t sound convinced. “I’ll be consulting the Test Board to check whether any other anomalies have been noticed. In the meantime, please re-check your information and forward your findings to me first thing Monday morning.”
“Absolutely, madam!” The click of disconnection seemed louder than normal. Nicole had struggled to develop a good rapport with the prickly Madam Barteau. This issue with the data could provide the supervisor with the means to dismiss her. The trouble was that Nicole herself couldn’t understand why the data seemed so far off the norm. That was what she’d been researching before her musings about the weekend. She’d simply have to go over it all again to make sure it wasn’t her own error skewing the figures.
She didn’t want to risk dragging Tomas into a potential career-killer but she needed to confirm the information they had gathered. She opened Tomas’s Comms connection. Within seconds his smiling face filled the holo-screen.
“Bonjour, ma petite! Could you not wait to see me?”
“Sh! Stop that,” she replied, instantly ashamed to see his reaction to her tone. “I’m sorry, Tomas. But this is serious. Madam Barteau is concerned about our data. It’s contradicting that of the other test groups.”
“I expect ours is the placebo group and that’s why the results aren’t consistent.”
“Surely she would account for that? And she mentioned that not all our testers are on the official list. How could that be?”
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine, cherie. She could be right thinking it’s rogue data. We just need to find where it’s crept in. Maybe another lab’s work has seeped into our system.”
Nicole breathed more easily. Tomas was probably right. Laboratoires Lisle was only one section of a huge conglomerate, many parts of which were running pharmaceutical tests. Despite the best monitoring systems that money could buy no integrated technology was guaranteed to be completely failsafe. She’d trace the data back to its origins and filter out the errors. She glanced at the clock, 11:30am – no lunch today! She worried that she might need to work on this all weekend.
CHAPTER 34
Ellingham: 5 August 2110
Let’s get on with it.
I sat on the sofa with my eyes closed and Seth trying not to sulk beside me. No need for me to read his thoughts, they were plain enough – his straight-back, arms-crossed pose and the occasional sigh that he indulged in. Tough! If I was to have any chance of succeeding I had to ignore Seth’s disappointment and concentrate on the babble of voices in my head.<
br />
As I’d expected, my probing had caused the volume of noise to increase. It was like the mental equivalent of poking a mouth ulcer – uncomfortable on its own and when your tongue investigates the sore spot the pain sharpens, but you keep going back to it! My forehead tightened and Seth must’ve spotted the change as I felt his arm move to wrap around my shoulders and give me a reassuring hug. The trouble was that I didn’t know how to latch onto an individual when they had no way of hearing me. When you’re in a crowded room with lots of conversations going on you can make someone aware of you with a wave of your hand or by touching their arm. How was I going to achieve that telepathically when nobody could sense me? I tried moving my eyes under my closed lids, as though I was looking around that crowded room. It had some effect as I could grasp occasional snatches of thought: Wish they’d just get on with it … Where did I put those keys? … Nice cold glass … Not all of them came through in perfect English but the translation brain-gadget that Ms Thorogood had talked about in class did the trick and I understood the thoughts of a foreign origin as easily as those from English-speaking connections. But no matter how hard I tried to hold onto a single connection, I would soon lose it amongst the general murmur.
I concentrated on the remembered image of Dale Johnson, thinking about his shout the previous day. It sort of worked – in a distant corner of my mind I heard his fearful cry for help or maybe it was just the memory of that first connection. I reached out with my thoughts trying to reinforce that link and that’s when I heard it for the first time: … if she’s always open. What a perfect opportunity. Ha! I’ll be … I lost it and was grateful that I had. I opened my eyes in horror and grabbed Seth’s arms so tightly he cringed in pain.
