by Eliza Green
‘They’re gone,’ she said, nodding towards the road. She smiled, and eased Albert’s tense arm off her that pinned her chest. ‘He’s right, you know. I could kill you.’
‘I’m not your enemy,’ said Albert. ‘It’s those untouchable bastards out there you need to worry about.’
Jenny rounded the corner. Sal was behind her.
‘I thought you’d lost it,’ said Jenny.
Albert rushed to Sal’s side. ‘I’m so sorry. Are you okay?’
Sal grimaced. ‘I’ve felt worse.’
‘Quickly. Let’s get inside. No need to air our business out here.’ Jenny gestured to the storage unit at the back of the market.
Inside, Jenny, Sal and Albert removed their masks. Isobel slowed her rate of breathing to accommodate for the new air.
Sal introduced herself to Jenny.
‘And how do you know Albert?’ Jenny’s tone was friendly, but Albert sensed she was figuring Sal out.
‘I’m co-treasurer for Waverley.’
‘I don’t mean to be rude, but how do you fit into this little scenario?’
‘I discovered the stolen money. Isobel and Albert trust me and that’s all you need to know.’
Jenny stared at Sal for a moment longer than was necessary. She blinked and turned her attention to Isobel.
‘You may be in a position to offer us assistance, but before I can go into details, I need to verify your identity.’ Jenny removed a thin, short silver wand from her coat pocket. ‘I need to scan your neck.’
Isobel frowned, but removed her scarf and bent her head. Jenny waved the device over the back of Isobel’s neck and checked the details on her DPad. She nodded. ‘That’s the first part over with. You have a special chip under your skin that carries a UUID, a unique identifier code. And it matches with the one I was given.’ She offered her hand. ‘My name is Jenny Waterson.’
Isobel hesitated, then shook it. ‘And the second part?’
‘I’ll get to that shortly. I heard you were looking for me.’
‘Yes. I was sent here to find you, if that’s what you mean.’
‘Were you told why?’
Isobel shook her head.
‘Neither was I. But we might be able to give each other answers. I’m part of an underground movement and we’ve waited for someone like you for eight years. I’d like to show you what we do, introduce you to the head of the movement.’
‘When?’
‘Now, if possible. The criminals have finished their rounds. They shouldn’t be back for a while. We’ll be gone no more than an hour.’
‘Where do you plan on taking me?’
Albert wondered the same thing. ‘I agreed to bring Isobel to you, not so you could drag her off to some underground lair for your experiments.’
Jenny met his stare. ‘Isobel needs to meet with our leader. In the past, Indigenes have been sent back from Exilon 5 to help and things have not worked out. I can’t say any more until Isobel has met with Greyson.’
‘Your husband?’ said Albert.
‘Yes. But he doesn’t want to do it here. It’s too risky. We would prefer to talk at one of our secure facilities.’
‘What makes you so sure she won’t betray you like the others?’
‘Albert!’ said Sal.
‘Because she has passed the first test,’ said Jenny.
‘I don’t understand.’
‘The scanning device detected a specially designed chip in her neck that could only have come from the Indigenes. I also recorded her pulse and heart rate. She is confused, a little unsure, but she’s not trying to deceive me.’
‘I can control my emotions,’ said Isobel. ‘How do you know what I can do?’
Jenny smiled. ‘I’ve dealt with many Indigenes over the years, Isobel. I’ve come to recognise behavioural patterns in your race. If this discussion is to go any further, you must meet with Greyson. I won’t compromise on that.’
Albert pursed his lips. ‘Well, if Isobel agrees, then you take me, too.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t take you. Just Isobel.’
Albert shook his head. ‘I promised someone very close to me that I would keep her safe. And I don’t break my promises.’
20
Jenny got Greyson from the market and introduced Albert, Isobel and Sal to him as the ‘leader of the underground movement’. Keen to move the discussion off site, Jenny told Albert and Isobel to meet her at Hope Street, just past the docking station. She called Eleanor and told her to send a car to that street, then returned to the stall where Greyson made arrangements with John and Louis, two other vendors, to cover in their absence.
‘Are you sure you don’t mind, John?’
‘Nah, we see what you two do for us, drawing the heat when Marcus is being an extra shit.’ John’s eyes flicked to Jenny. ‘It made my blood boil to see you singled out like that. Bastards.’
‘Do what you gotta do,’ said Louis. His eyes settled on the female vendor who’d told Marcus that Jenny had been in the storage room. ‘Don’t worry about the others. They won’t say anything. Isn’t that right, Dolores?’
The female vendor busied herself with her books.
‘What is it you’re going to do, anyway?’ said John.
‘It’s none of our business,’ said Louis. ‘That way, when Marcus asks, we can’t tell him anything.’
Greyson nodded. ‘It’s best if you don’t know. And if Marcus asks—’
‘I’ll tell the bastard you went home sick,’ said John.
‘That’s only going to bring her more trouble.’ Louis nodded at Jenny.
Greyson smiled. ‘I’m sure you’ll come up with something that’ll work. Just keep the others from talking.’
Louis patted Greyson’s arm. ‘Hey, I’m sorry we haven’t been much help up until now.’
Greyson nodded. ‘You’re helping now, and that’s all that matters.’
Jenny put on her coat with the battered DPad in the inside pocket, and touched the tender bruise on her stomach.
She faked a pain for show. When some vendors she didn’t know asked what was wrong, she lifted her shirt to show them the injury.
‘That should give them something to talk about,’ she said, winking at Greyson. ‘Now we can go.’
☼
Jenny and Greyson travelled on foot to the rendezvous point by weaving through the back streets. Neither of them wanted to get caught by one of the military vehicles on the main street.
‘What do you think she is?’ said Grey.
‘I don’t know. She could be anything. But I’m positive she’s more than a simple empath.’
‘We haven’t given her any reason to trust us. And we’re taking a massive risk by bringing her to our hideout.’
‘We need her to see we trust her,’ said Jenny. ‘I think that’s what all the Indigenes want. A little trust. And for people not to instantly assume the worst of them.’
‘Why will this time be any different?’
‘She wanted to find me, not the other way round. So that’s a start.’
Greyson nodded. ‘I’m not sure how she’ll react when I tell her she could help free the people of Earth.’
‘She seems very guarded, but she’s relaxed enough around Albert and Sal. And I saw her near Waverley with an older boy. Ben. About sixteen? I think he’s Albert’s grandson. I would almost say the pair are friends.’
‘Yeah, I’ve seen the same boy. If there’s any connection there, it might be worth exploiting.’
Jenny frowned. ‘I thought you didn’t like to exploit kids?’
‘We’re running out of options, Jen. I’ll consider anything at this damn point.’
They arrived on the ironically named Hope Street where a black vehicle waited. Greyson signalled to the single occupant and the vehicle pulled down a side street. They passed by the entrance to see two people caught in its headlights: Albert and Isobel.
Jenny and Greyson looped around and approached the car from the bottom
of the alley.
The vehicle was a Grade 1 military model, faster than those used by the criminals. They had been the transport for the old World Government board members. Jenny’s arrival seemed to relax Albert, but she understood his hesitation over this situation. A stony-faced Isobel was in a quarter crouch next to Albert, staring at the vehicle’s occupant.
‘It’s okay,’ said Jenny as she passed Isobel. ‘He’s with us.’ She opened the back door, took two scarves from the driver and tossed them to Albert and Isobel.
‘Get in and put these over your eyes.’
Without a word, Albert and Isobel climbed in. Jenny joined them in the back while Greyson sat in the front with the driver.
Jenny checked the tightness of the blindfolds before ordering the car to move.
☼
Twenty minutes later, the car pulled up to the old entrance to the Liberty Avenue subway station. Graffiti daubed long ago added the only colour to the derelict buildings in the area. Large rocks had been placed along the steps leading down to the station.
The car pulled up to a nearby street. Jenny opened the door.
‘Be back in an hour,’ she said to the driver before turning to Albert and Isobel. ‘You two stay here for a minute.’
She and Greyson climbed out. The car hid them from view while they tugged at a section of grating set into the path. It opened to reveal a ladder going down. Greyson escorted a blindfolded Albert and helped him down the ladder. Jenny guided Isobel down and replaced the grating.
At the bottom of the ladder, there was a metal door, and a small roving camera tracked their movements. The camera scanned Jenny’s identity chip, and the door opened.
Beyond the door were the service tunnels. They might have proved useful to the criminals back in the day when they had needed to hide. But now the criminals were on full display while the good people hid.
The large network of tunnels served the underground movement well, and gave them a means of escape if an attack occurred. Previously, they had used an old hydro facility converted into an underground hydroponics bay out west. The bay had been operational while the World Government had been in power. But when the Indigenes working for the criminals had infiltrated their group, the attack had forced the movement to seek out alternative hiding places. The movement had been in the Liberty Avenue subway for six months now; the longest they’d ever stayed in one place.
Inside the service tunnels, Jenny removed Albert and Isobel’s blindfolds.
‘I’m sorry for the secrecy but we can’t be too careful when it comes to this place. If the criminals discovered... Well, let’s just say we’ve moved around a lot over the last few years.’
They entered a service elevator that would take them deeper into the earth. The lift rattled and groaned as the ancient pulley system—replacing the electronics that no longer worked—lowered them into the chasm below.
‘Where are we?’ said Albert.
‘It’s better that you don’t know,’ said Greyson.
Albert went to take off his gel mask but Jenny stopped him. ‘Keep it on. We’re not inside the force field yet.’
The lift gave a little jolt at the bottom and Jenny pulled the door open. They met with the resistance of an invisible force field. On the other side, she and Greyson removed their masks. Albert followed suit.
Jenny and Greyson led the pair to a nearby room; an old guards’ station, separate from the main hub. Inside, there was a table and two chairs. They sometimes used it as a briefing room, but mostly it was for special visitors they didn’t want to take too far into the heart of the operations.
Greyson gestured for Isobel to sit.
‘I would prefer to stand.’ She kept close to the door.
Albert took the seat instead and Greyson sat opposite him.
‘We wanted to bring you here so you can see how serious we are about changing things on Earth. Not just for the humans but for the Indigenes who return.’
Jenny studied Isobel’s face that had not lost its guarded look. Her eyes pressed into every corner of the room.
‘What kind of operation requires us to be blindfolded?’ said Isobel.
‘One that we hope will help humanity, and will in turn save the lives of the devolved humans who return to Earth. Devolved humans like you.’
Isobel flicked her eyes to Grey so fast, Jenny tensed up. ‘I do not care for that term.’
‘What?’
‘Devolved human. It makes it seem as if I am of lesser value than you.’
‘I apologise,’ said Grey. ‘We haven’t spoken to an Indigene in a long time. It was careless of me to assume such a title.’
Isobel nodded and her shoulders relaxed a little.
‘Do you wish for freedom, Isobel?’ Grey narrowed his eyes and deepened the dark crinkles around them.
‘Of course I do,’ she said. ‘But not at any cost.’
‘You were sent here by Stephen?’
‘Yes.’
‘Jenny and I are both friends of Stephen and Bill Taggart, and we wish to know if you would be willing to help us.’
Isobel took a deep breath. Albert sat with his legs crossed and his eyes focused on the table. It looked to Jenny that he also waited for her response.
‘When I was on my way to Earth, all I could think about was meeting up with Jenny Waterson, as I was instructed.’
‘And now?’ said Jenny.
‘I’ve seen how things are here. The longer I live in my confinement, the more I realise that I am the lucky one.’ She glanced at Albert. ‘But others of my kind do not have it so good. If your goal is to help all humans, full Indigene or otherwise, how will you do that? If I help you, will it improve or worsen conditions?’
‘That’s a risk for all of us,’ said Greyson. ‘We are taking a leap of faith in putting our trust in you. You must do the same. You travelled back to Earth with several other Indigenes. Do you know what skills they have, the ones who were farmed out to the criminals?’
Isobel shook her head.
‘What about your own skills?’
‘I’m not ready to tell you.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I don’t see how my telling you will help. You must explain your plan first.’
Jenny stepped forward, drawing Isobel’s razor sharp attention.
‘The first step will be to get through to the skilled workers,’ said Jenny. ‘So they talk to us. We think there’s someone among them who can decrypt a repeating message on the DPad. We believe this message is connected with the life support issue. If we can gain control of vital systems, then we gain the upper hand. The criminals rely on the same air to breathe. Are you following me?’
Isobel stayed silent.
‘Isobel is an empath, I already told you that,’ said Albert. ‘Is your plan for her to read the skilled workers’ moods?’
Jenny smiled. ‘Isobel is no empath, which I already told you. Whatever her skills, they must be relevant, because Stephen sent her to help with our IT problem. While she is not IT, he must believe she has something of value that the skilled workers need. She is our bargaining chip.’
‘And you plan to sell me to them?’ said Isobel.
Grey fanned his hands at her. ‘No, no. Not like that. We want to trade your skill for one of theirs.’
‘The skilled workers are just people,’ said Albert. ‘Why not try good old-fashioned talking?’
‘Because we haven’t been able to find their Compound,’ said Grey. ‘We do know it’s somewhere on the old campus at Harvard University. Whenever we think we’re getting close, we’re chased off by their roving cameras which can shoot lasers. We need to know where to look.’
‘There’s a woman staying with me,’ said Albert. ‘Sofia. She says she knows the exact location of the underground medical facilities. She saw the above-ground entrance before they hid it.’
‘Why didn’t you say something sooner?’
Albert shifted in his chair. ‘You didn’t ask. I’m te
lling you now.’
‘We’ll need volunteers to speak to the skilled workers,’ said Jenny. ‘We can’t afford to wait. The life support is an issue we didn’t anticipate. It has to be our new priority, and we hope Isobel will be part of that team.’
Isobel didn’t reply. It wasn’t clear to Jenny if her silence was an acceptance.
‘Yes,’ said Albert. ‘The sooner we go, the sooner we can sort out this mess. I’ll ask Sofia to help.’
Greyson stood up. ‘I wonder if I might speak to Isobel privately for a moment.’
Jenny nodded and a hesitant Albert stood up. Together they left the room. Outside, both watched through a small viewing window as Grey and Isobel huddled into a corner. It was mostly Grey who talked, while Isobel listened, nodding twice. Her husband was so good at connecting with people.
When they came out, Grey said, ‘I thought I’d take Isobel on a quick tour of the facilities.’
‘Are you sure?’ Jenny remembered the last time an Indigene got close.
‘Yes.’ He smiled at Isobel. ‘I have a good feeling this time.’
A little later, Grey and Jenny called two volunteers to escort Albert and Isobel to the surface. They left the tunnels as they had entered: blindfolded.
Jenny pulled Grey back for a moment. ‘What do you think?’
‘I honestly don’t know. I can tell she wants to help, but I don’t think she trusts us yet.’
‘Can we trust her?’
‘Do we have a choice? The life support issue doesn’t give us time to look for another Indigene. It could affect us down here soon enough.’ Grey shrugged and stroked his chin. ‘I’ll take the first car and head back to the market. Can you get them back safely?’
Jenny nodded, but narrowed her gaze. ‘I know that look too well, Grey. What are you thinking?’
‘She mentioned this “Ben” a couple of times. I think we should use him for a little insurance.’
‘Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.’
21
