Her mother ignored her again. “I’ll take care of you. See you spend a couple days in bed.”
“That’s not going to happen.” The prospect of days in bed alarmed Kat so much, she almost managed to lift her head off the pillow.
“We’ll see.” Caroline smiled sweetly. “You rest, and let others take care of everything.”
“Mother,” Kat protested. But she could barely get the word out.
“I’ll just keep you here for the next couple days, Katherine, and then it will all be over.”
Kat nestled her head into the pillow, even as her mind started to panic. Mother, what have you done? She couldn’t seem to say anything. There had been something she wanted, needed to say, but she failed to recall.
Caroline was looking down, straight into Kat’s eyes. “You’re terribly headstrong. You get that from your father, you know. So I added a little something to your cocoa, to make sure you get plenty of rest. Then you’ll feel much better.”
In the cocoa?
“Remember, Katherine. There are some things you can’t fight on your own.”
Kat struggled against the deep eddies dragging her thoughts under the water, trying to make sense of what her mother was saying.
“And darling, there are some things you can’t fight at all.”
Kat drifted off into the dark.
Chapter 13
Conspiracy Facts
4:15 p.m. Tuesday, December 17th
DAVID felt like a new man as he stood, peaceful and calm, silent in the shade of the perimeter wall. He looked out at his crew as they wrapped up for the day. Normally the large cart would be coming soon to pick up the men, but since they’d worked around so close to the main gate, today they’d all be walking to the tram station to go home. He was pleased with their progress. Almost three weeks, but over three quarters of the buffer zone had been completed.
Both days David had been absent, Ken himself had come to supervise the crew, so of course they’d worked harder than ever. And then been glad to see David’s return.
David had shown up for work this morning, not quite at the crack of dawn but early enough, feeling renewed and ready to get back to business as usual. Indeed, that’s what he’d been ordered to do. Security Chief Nelson had sternly warned him not to talk with anyone about Rossiter and what had happened, or anything else pertaining to the investigation. To just go about his normal routine.
After Nelson had finished with him, David had crashed in his dorm room, getting to bed far earlier than he had for a long time. He’d woken refreshed just after dawn, ready for the day. In the bright light of morning the adventures of the previous night, of the past couple weeks, had all retreated like a dream fading. And he’d been happy to head to work.
Ken had grumbled a bit when David called him on his FURCS pad to inform his boss he would be back on the job. Ken had surely enjoyed chivvying the crew, but the man had more important matters demanding his attention, and David had nudged his boss onto those. That’s when he’d found out about the change in the schedule.
The crew had advanced so close to the main gate that it would’ve been too inconvenient to use the east gate for all their comings and goings. But the guards wanted to maintain tighter security at the main gate. So Ken had arranged for the main gate to be opened twice, once in the morning and once in the evening.
David had the use of one of the carts and could have traveled all the way to the east gate to have his lunch inside the compound if he’d wanted, but that seemed silly. He’d brought a packed lunch like the rest of his crew. He’d enjoyed it, and the cool, fresh air and the shining sun, and even permitted himself to pitch in and do a fair bit of the work.
He’d taken it easy with his crew, too, allowing them to go slow the whole day. After all, it was more important to get the job done right, and by now his crew knew what they were doing—enough anyway that he didn’t need to keep an eagle eye on them all the time.
Most of the day he’d been able to keep his mind blank, and that had been refreshing, too. But as the day wound down, David found his thoughts returning to the dilemma, the one he now shared with Lt. Henson and Chief Nelson and Officer Miles. Not to mention who else they might’ve told about what had been going on. It wasn’t all on David anymore.
He wondered how well the lieutenant’s trusted men were doing at watching his mother, if they had managed to keep her from communicating with the other conspirators. He found himself particularly curious about what Nelson might have his security staff doing. The man hadn’t given him the slightest hint. But the security chief had impressed him with his methodical approach and keen mind.
David wished he could be more like that. He’d heard Nelson raise some questions with the director’s daughter last night, even though the man had kept his voice low. Now his mind drifted back. Why did Rossiter want to kill me? And why now?
He took a long slug from his water bottle as he considered. Simple questions, but he couldn’t allow himself to jump to hasty conclusions, the way he’d done often enough. He needed to go through everything he knew, everything he’d seen and heard. And rethink it all from square one.
Though he didn’t have the time for that now—he needed to gather his crew and get them moving. He’d spotted the new sergeant, Carruthers, who had taken the place of the absent Sgt. Rossiter, walking over to talk to the guard detail. David hustled across to have his own word with the man.
He’d met Carruthers in the morning when the sergeant had come to set up the day’s detail. But the man had been in quite a rush then and hadn’t been able to answer any questions. Maybe he could now.
“Sergeant.”
Carruthers stepped away from the guards and toward David, nodding. “I’m just checking to make sure these men know the routine. And you. This is a special circumstance. I want your entire crew escorted through in one tight group. We won’t open back up for any stragglers, understood?”
David nodded. “Nobody’s allowed to walk back over the finished ground, so anyone who’s left behind would have to walk all the way to the east gate to get back in, and that’s over three miles.”
Carruthers shook his head. “All the other gates have been closed for the day.”
David sighed. “Then I’d better work on rounding everyone up. They’re already finishing, they just need to get their gear together. But first—” He felt a tiny qualm, because what he was about to ask didn’t really fit with Chief Nelson’s orders. “Do you know what happened to Sgt. Rossiter?”
“Good question. I probably shouldn’t say anything, but—” The sergeant looked over his shoulder at the lounging guards before continuing. “It’s the bloodiest mess. First, Lt. Henson relieves Sgt. Rossiter of duty, though no one knows why. Then the sergeant takes his gear and leaves the barracks in a big huff. And then this morning Colonel Gray finds out and orders some of the guards to go out looking for Rossiter and drag him back, whatever it takes. And they’re still looking.”
“Huh.” Which was all the response David could manage. At least everyone had a reason for Rossiter’s disappearance that didn’t involve looking for a dead body.
Carruthers frowned. “With no sign of the man, I’ve had to take on some of his work, too.”
David shook his head in commiseration. “Well, thanks for satisfying my curiosity. I’ll do my part to help this go smoothly, and let you get back to your own job.”
Carruthers nodded and went back to the guard detail, while David turned and walked over to grab a flag out of Greg’s hand.
“I’ll finish that.” He took the spade from Greg, too. “Get your gear and start the others forming up to leave.”
Greg nodded and pointed. “Another one’s ready over there.” Then he trotted over to the next closest crew member, presumably to spread the word that they’d best get moving.
David ran over to the base camp and grabbed a couple of the sensors to plant. As he ran back, crew members straggled past him toward the base camp to grab their things
. Ready to quit the day and get some grub, no doubt. He was replacing the second piece of sod when Greg returned to give his report.
“Everyone’s gathering their gear. All except for Jake and Stan.”
David grinned. “Don’t tell me those two continued working. Have they lost their appetites?”
Greg blushed. “Sorry. I meant I couldn’t find them. Eric said they’ve already left for the day.”
David frowned. Simply taking off work without informing their supervisor was a new low, even for those two, and just when he’d started thinking they had improved in their work habits. Maybe he’d gone too easy on them.
With the main gate having been closed all day, they must’ve walked all the way around to the east gate to ditch the job. Which seemed a lot of effort to avoid work. Perhaps Eric had truly reformed since he hadn’t taken off with them, but someone should have told David before now.
David sighed and waved Greg on. He did a last check of his own work, and by the time he trudged back to the base camp, the entire crew had assembled. Carruthers and the two guards stood off to the side, quiet and watching.
David clapped his hands. “All right, folks. Let’s not waste any time. Supper’s waiting.”
Then he shooed them forward. The two guards snapped to and jumped to march ahead of the crew, rifles at the ready. Carruthers dropped back to walk at the rear of the flock with David, who was there to shepherd his sheep along and make sure they didn’t stray. The sergeant might have had the same idea, or he might’ve wanted to keep an eye on David.
Without exception, everyone hustled to get inside, and they were all trundling through the gate in no time and stampeding up the street. David’s crew made straight for the tram station. The two guards sped toward their HQ, and likely the mess hall.
David lingered, looking around. In addition to the two guards closing the gate, four more stood by with their rifles, and he appreciated the extra vigilance. Since it was his work crew they opened up to let through, he felt a responsibility. He was heartened to see the guards were taking the vulnerability seriously, despite Chief Gray’s apparent attitude of negligence.
He wished everyone else were a little more cognizant of the threat. This morning he’d chatted with some of his fellow students around the dorm for the first time in a long time, and it had startled him how little they seemed to be aware of danger to the compound. Even the volunteers on his work crew took the possibility of being attacked in stride, though at least they took the job itself seriously now—most of them.
David glanced around for Sgt. Carruthers, to offer him thanks, but the man had disappeared. As had everyone but David. He took a deep breath and began strolling up the sidewalk along the main thoroughfare. He just wanted to walk, and try to collect his thoughts.
If he was going to start with what he knew for a fact, without any doubt, then he actually needed to begin with the end. Sgt. Rossiter had tried to murder him. The man must have had a reason, one of his own, or if he was acting on orders, then the person who sent the sergeant after David had lent it to him. That was the why.
David himself wasn’t a threat to anyone, he was sure of that. So it could only be something he knew, and not anything he’d been told, but had discovered first hand, or there wouldn’t have been much point. No point to getting rid of me.
He was still having a difficult time accepting the fact that someone wanted him out of the way. His amateur investigation hadn’t amounted to much in the end. But David had found out a few things, and he’d told a few people. If the first question was why, and the answer was because of something he knew, then the second problem was the who.
The obvious solution to that was Rossiter himself, but David had a difficult time believing that. He had seen no indication the sergeant had noticed his tail. But even if the man had cottoned on, he’d have no reason to think David had discovered anything, unless someone who knew better had told him.
David hadn’t even followed Rossiter for the last week and a half.
He raised his head as he crossed a side street and continued ambling along. Straight up the main thoroughfare, thankful there was little in the way of traffic these days, though it’d be easy enough to get run over by the tram. As he kept strolling, he lost himself in his thoughts once again.
If it wasn’t Rossiter acting on his own, then one of the people David had confided in must have informed the sergeant, at least, if not given the order. The most obvious person to suspect would be David’s own mother. He hadn’t told her what he’d seen on her workpad, but she could have discovered that herself. And he’d confided in her about everything else, except for his doubts about Crystal.
But David couldn’t believe his own mom would have him killed, or even risk his life by sharing what she knew of his investigation with people who might want him dead. So he shelved that idea and considered who else he had told—his boss, Ken, and Lt. Henson—and Crystal could easily have overheard his talk with Ken on Saturday morning or his conversations with his mother.
He hadn’t told Chief Nelson or Officer Miles any of it until after Rossiter had tried to murder him. So he had three suspects if he excluded his mom. David turned the idea of his mother as one of the conspirators, or even their leader, over in his mind and found it lacking. He may not have spent much time with her in the past few years, but he knew his mom. He also knew how much she’d seemed to admire Director Miles, and the idea that she’d betray her boss so thoroughly was hard to swallow. It wasn’t impossible, though. He would have to settle the question by confronting her.
With that resolve, David increased his pace and realized that he’d been heading straight for the Admin Center all along. Confronting his mother went directly against the instructions from Chief Nelson, but it was what David should’ve done first when he discovered the evidence on her workpad. However, he had allowed his increasing paranoia to trump his better judgment.
David checked the time and saw it was still before five—his mom wouldn’t have begun to think about leaving work yet. He didn’t imagine it would be the best place for them to have this talk, but there was no good place. Best to get it over with.
His course was set. It was his mother, so it was his business. But he could honor the spirit of Chief Nelson’s admonition at least, by appearing to act as normal as possible.
So David tried to continue strolling along without exhibiting the anxiety he felt. Right through the main entrance, into the elevator and up to the fifth floor lobby. It’d just turned five when he arrived, and the intern sitting at the outer desk was already packing her bag. The girl was flustered by his appearance.
“I’m sorry, the office is about to close—” She shrugged her shoulders.
David wasn’t sure what that shrug was all about. “I’m Ms. Belue’s son. Popping in to say hi.”
The receptionist blushed. “That’s fine, but. Security, you know? I’ll need to see your ID.”
David smiled and nodded and took his FURCS pad from his shirt pocket to show her.
“Sure.” And she waved him to the door behind her and went back to putting her purse together.
He circled the desk and went back into the main suite. Toby was still at his station in an end of the day flurry of activity, with no time for anything but a wave. David nodded and continued to his mother’s open office door.
His mom was sitting at her desk, forking a salad into her mouth with one hand while the fingers of the other tapped and scrolled on her workpad. She glanced up and saw her son. She continued munching her lettuce as she set aside the pad and stopped working.
David sighed as he closed the door behind him. This would be painful. “We need to talk.”
“Indeed we do.” She washed down the previous hunk of salad with a big gulp of water and stared at her son, waiting.
He cleared his throat. “I know.” He stopped at that. He could’ve used more of his time getting here actually thinking about what he would say and how. He might mention Sgt. Rossiter’s nigh
t visit, but he wasn’t sure if that had been to see his mother or not. He knew precious little for certain.
“Yes?” His mom pushed her half-eaten dinner to one side and leaned back.
David took a deep breath and decided he’d start with the worst of it. “I went into your workpad and checked the recent activity logs. You’ve been using your special access codes to alter the restrictions on the communications system. And calling Governor Roberts.”
“Certainly I have.” His mother considered him for a long moment. “You know, until last night, I’d assumed it’d been Crystal messing around, trying to get into those records.”
David blinked. He wasn’t sure what to say next. “Crystal?” Her matter-of-fact response had thrown him. Perhaps Lt. Henson’s notion of secret negotiations had some merit.
His mom went on, “I hadn’t considered you, and I’ve had to assume that Crystal was spying on me.”
“Spying for whom?”
“The governor, of course, or rather his people.”
David found himself nodding. “So this has been official. The director’s been trying for some kind of settlement? And you’ve been doing the talking?”
“No, David. I’ve been helping them prepare to take over the compound.”
He almost laughed before he saw she wasn’t joking. “Then when I saw Sgt. Rossiter slipping out our back door—”
His mother nodded. “He’d been there meeting me, not Crystal. He came to observe one of my conversations with Governor Roberts. So Colonel Gray could be sure of what I’d said.”
David tried to keep from goggling. He was determined to finish this conversation no matter how ludicrous it became. “But what about the director?”
“Miles trusts me implicitly. As well he should.” His mom was looking at him rather severely. “What we should not be doing is talking about this. Didn’t Chief Nelson warn you last night?”
Starting the Slowpocalypse (Books 1-3 Omnibus) Page 19
