Sandy’s Documentary was given a prime-time spot on a popular Government Network. The figures that came through were significant and were an excellent demographic. The Documentary had caused a furore of discussion in the Media about three “High Profile” Cure cases which had been included in the documentary, and had led to questions in the English Parliament about Policy towards medically challenged children curiously there was no mention of hereditary causes.
Sandy had never before had a reason to question how serious debate over issues was glossed over. Her final analysis of what had been said was that the Parliamentary Questions were deliberately sterile. Her documentary in the guise of promoting Allenby’s “solution” raised some serious questions about the origins of these conditions and their subsequent “Miracle Cures”. They were simply ignored or not addressed. The overall opinion was how wonderful Medical Science was and how it should be applauded.
Sandy’s main concern, though, was she had not received any texts on her and Martin’s secret mobile for a number of months. She checked every night and had been disappointed. There was no news about Alex and his condition.
Thankfully the night after the Broadcast ,they received a text . Sandy was to place an order with a Computer Equipment manufacturer who would make a delivery to her house. Dutifully Sandy placed the order and the next day the delivery arrived. Maria was the delivery driver, as she explained later, an excellent cover as her work record showed her as a self-employed courier driver. She could work for a number of Companies and deliver across a large Geographic Area without gaining attention. It was working well.
Martin helped Maria unload the boxed equipment and once inside the front door Maria put the boxes down and hugged Sandy. Sandy sensed something was wrong. Maria seemed quiet. After the initial greetings and the offer to sit down Maria quietly said.
” I thought your programme was wonderful. I could read between the lines. Allenby must think you are in his pocket.” Maria looked Sandy in the eye.
” I suppose he must, that was the intention.” Sandy replied.
Martin felt uneasy at the mention of Allenby and moved away to make some drinks for everyone. After a few moments they all sat down at the kitchen table, mugs in hand.
Sandy continued. ” I had to promote Allenby, it’s what he wants, I suppose it’s the next phase of his project, at the same time I hope that it would get people thinking. We’re being led down a very nasty path , there is no discussion or debate. It simply is not allowed. Our eyes have been closed and hence it’s come to this. What’s in the boxes Maria? Have you any news about Alex?”
Maria stood up and began to open them, she did not say anything at first.
” Alex is not a very well , we have had to move him a number of times and I think it has taken it’s toll. I have a letter from him for you and if you want I can take something to give to him from you.” As she opened one box , she took out a letter from among the electronic equipment inside.
Sandy reached out to take the letter and recognised Alex’s child like scrawl. Unlike his previous letter, this one was only one page and on one side and she couldn’t quite read all the words, Alex had obviously struggled writing it. It was still precious. She handed it to Martin who also read it, he also began to survey the electronic paraphernalia on the table.
” Alex’s condition is deteriorating isn’t it?” Martin said to Maria as he picked up one or two items from the table.
” We are doing our best. Sandy’s work has raised moral throughout our organisation, she did an excellent job. We will not stop fighting people like Allenby.” Maria looked up at both of them.
” How is the Organisation doing? According to Allenby it’s very close to being unravelled. Is that true?” Sandy pushed her hair away from her forehead as she looked at Maria for an answer.
“Really?” Maria looked at Sandy.” That is what he thinks, well that’s good if he does. I can’t be certain, we all work on a need to know basis, but there will always be resistance as long as there are people and children to protect.”
“Allenby is killing people, I saw a nurse she was given a cocktail of drugs so she would tell them what she knew, whatever they gave her , she never recovered. She died right in front of me. Allenby watched, he said it was necessary.” Sandy looked at Maria.
” Did you see Dr King?” Maria had a priority and the death of the Nurse was not her concern.
” Yes, I saw him, he was at Allenby’s Science Park and he had been through some sort of interrogation before the Nurse, they were taking him to the recovery room, I expect he is dead now , just like the Nurse.” Sandy answered feeling very depressed.
” I hope not, he was making such inroads and treating so many conditions, he was our best Specialist. It’s why I came to see you. We need to get him back, it’s the only chance we have for a lot of our children. Our treatment success rates have declined . Now we know that he is there, we must try and get him back. We need you to go back to the Science Park and find out if he’s still alive and if we can get him out of there. It’s ours and Alex’s only hope.”
Martin interrupted ” No it’s too dangerous ”
Sandy burst into tears. Maria continued ” We need to try.”
Maria was a zealot .The loss of her own child had made her very focused. It was her life, working to stop the gene pool cleansing projects. She waited while Martin hugged Sandy and comforted her. Maria put her hand on Sandy’s hand. Martin looked at Maria suspiciously , he knew Maria was not going to give in.
“Look Maria, you need to give us some time, we’ve got the twins, Sandy needs to be there for them too, you are asking too much.” Martin pleaded with Maria as he held Sandy.
Sandy howled like a wild animal, she was getting torn in so many directions and she felt she could no longer cope. The twins had almost forgotten what it was like to have a bedtime story read to them by their mum. Sandy was always tired and thinking of other things. Maria knew she wasn’t going to get the answer she wanted tonight, and although time was of the essence, Maria knew she had to back off.
Maria took a deep breath and continued.
“OK , but there are some more pictures of Alex I can show you , some recent video. I might as well leave this equipment here for now. I’ll support you both should you decide you are able to go back to Allenby’s hell-hole.”
Sandy had already made up her mind. Sandy stopped crying and began to calm down.
Maria handed Sandy a small hand held device with video of Alex on it. He was playing, he was so much more slower and thinner than she remembered. He smiled and waved at the camera, but it was obvious he was in pain. His stomach seemed distended.”
” My poor child!” Sandy touched the screen with her fingertips.
“He looks so ill. Martin look!”
Martin knew now there was nothing he could do to change Sandy’s mind. Before Maria left , Sandy and Martin wrote a short note to Alex and gave it to Maria to pass on . Maria said she would make sure he got it and as she went out the door she gave a final glance to Sandy .
Sandy was desk bound for the next few weeks, the bruising had subsided . As she sat at her desk, having completed the initial pitch and been given the go ahead and an increased budget to make the Government Funded Documentary that would tell the story of Allenby and his Institution, she couldn’t help but ask herself was it all too late.
Her initial pitch had gained unanimous approval and she had received a congratulatory email from Allenby, as well as some flowers and champagne which were delivered to her home address, with a note saying that he hoped that they would meet again soon. She threw it all in the bin . It all felt very creepy.
She had showed Martin , Allenby’s email and he suggested that if Allenby came to London, she should book some holiday and say that she was away with her family. Gerry would have to deal with him. It was a sensible suggestion and one that would be plausible. Except Sandy knew Allenby would not believe it or accept no for an answer and she would also miss out on an opportunity to find out about his next move. Would Sandy be able to take much more of Allenby, she knew she had to and the thought turned her stomach.
She had not heard from Maria for a long time. Gerry supplied the money without question and only asked about her work, not specifically about Alex. Perhaps if she had heard something about his condition she might have shared it with him, but she hadn’t had any new information. She didn’t know whether Alex was alive or dead, but for the sake of her own well being she chose to believe he was alive.
Monday morning arrived like a sledgehammer to Sandy and Martin heads. They both went their separate ways, Martin as always handling the child care and Sandy setting off for the office. Just as Sandy stepped into the lift from the Car Park at Sunshine Media , a man rushed in behind her as the doors were about to close. It was one of the young production runners, an ex- County Rugby Player. As he turned around to check what floor he was going to , his lap top bumped against Sandy’s thigh. It was still tender and she squealed.
” Oops sorry , are you OK?” The young man turned around and looked at Sandy.
” Fine thanks, I’m a bit bruised, Kick Boxing Class at the weekend, I need to learn to defend better.”
” Apologies, I’m a clumsy oaf. Really sorry.” He apologised in his accomplished Public Schoolboy accent.
Sandy reached the floor, where she normally gave her expenses to Gerry’s secretary. She moved awkwardly out of the lift. To her surprise Gerry was standing opposite the lift door and greeted her as she got out. He looked tanned and relaxed.
“Sandy, so good to see you!” He made a show of hugging her , not realising why she moved away reluctant to be bumped again.
“Sorry Gerry, I’m a bit tender, I fell down in the garden , I ‘m pretty badly bruised.” She drew away from him and looked at him sceptically.
” You look well, where have you been?” Sandy enquired, noticing Gerry’s concerned look.
“Oh I see, dangerous places garden’s .” Gerry moved backwards away from her. ” Oh the Caribbean , Mills likes it , I was bored as hell, but we combined a bit of work too. New travel programme possibly.”
“Nice.” Sandy began to make her way to where Gerry’s Secretary sat, ready to leave her expenses on her desk. Gerry continued talking to her.
” I need a debrief on your Allenby trip, I’m curious to know what you thought about his facility.”
” Sure Gerry, will we use my office downstairs? It was really interesting stuff. The place is amazing. I’m buzzing with ideas. There’s a hell of a lot going on there.”
“OK, I’ll see you in half an hour, we won’t be interrupted.”
“OK Gerry”. Sandy put her paperwork on the Secretary’s desk and made her way out of the open plan office down to her basement office.
Gerry meanwhile headed to the coffee machine and flattered one of the young Production Assistants who was just getting herself a coffee. As usual his banter worked wonders for the new girl and she left the coffee machine on a high, impressed that one of the “Management Team” had taken the time to speak to her. She felt she had made a good impression. As Gerry pressed the buttons to get his coffee, all he could think about was the welfare of his son. Sandy had not looked at all well.
Half an hour later Gerry and Sandy both sat opposite each other in her basement office. Sandy who had no photographs or even many notes told Gerry what she had seen.
“It’s worse than I even thought….” Sandy looked up at Gerry, she wasn’t sure if she could trust him.
“How do you mean?”
“It’s a Death Camp Gerry. That facility is used to torture people and kill them when they are no longer needed. It’s all very dangerous and very scary. Allenby wants a good PR Job done on it, no accidental leaks apparently there is some sort of Global Agreement that means the people who are captured are basically fair game, he can do what he wants with them. Officially they no longer exist.”
” I cannot believe it has come to this” Gerry looked dismayed, the relaxed demeanour disappeared and a look of despair replaced it.
“Believe it Gerry. Allenby wants to make his actions look that it’s for the benefit of mankind and that what he is doing is to protect our future.” Sandy noticed Gerry looked dismayed.
The man is a monster of the worst kind.” Gerry shook his head.
“Yes, that’s true, but he has a lot of important backers, who supply a massive budget to provide the kind of place he has near Washington. It’s acres, an amazing self-contained Science Park. Allenby’s aim is to close down any sites throughout the World that protect and care for children like Alex. I got very close to him, but he didn’t let his guard down. I did get the most fantastic tour of the place. ” Warts and All” as he liked to say. Gregor is a captive there.
“Gregor? The chap from Norway?”
“Iceland, yes he’s now a convert to the Professor’s beliefs. He’s a statistical genius and he’s now helping Allenby’s team solve the Big Problem of keeping the World Gene Pool clean. Pristine. No more inherited defects, no unpleasant , incurable conditions.”
“No deviants”.
“None of any sort, someone wants perfection, no gentle fall out anymore. The only way to do it is to shut down any Global Resistance, by whatever means possible. I think he is going to “screen” everyone.
“It was bound to happen.”
“Anyone who has the potential to produce progeny”
“Inevitable really , cause and effect. We want perfect humanity , we need to make it perfect.”
“At what cost though? Our own humanity.”
“It’s going to be very difficult , I need time to think things through. Allenby has come very far, he has a very powerful lobby, things are going in the wrong direction very quickly. I can see where this is leading. “
Sandy looked at Gerry and said ” I think he can be broken. I’m sure he can.”
“It’s no good breaking him, there’ll just be another Allenby to replace him.” Gerry replied rapidly.
” I need to think” Gerry continued.” I just don’t know enough about what he is trying to destroy. How many facilities are there like the one Alex was in? Can they be replaced when they are discovered? The people that run them and finance them who are they? they seem to have no profile. You’d think they’ be jumping off the roof tops saying these people are trying to kill us and our children.”
” It’s been going on for years” Sandy said.” Perhaps we are immune to the threat. I wouldn’t know anything about this if it wasn’t for Alex. If he’d been healthy I wouldn’t even be involved. I would be saying the whole thing sounds fantastical. It began with monitoring, then separating and finally killing. Wiping out all traces of deviance from all of Societies throughout the World. The people who are fighting only know because they have been the target, or have been found out because they have passed a defect on.”
“…. and being blackmailed.” Gerry interjected.
” I’m not sorry about that, I’ve changed and I’ve become very hard over the last few months. I don’t trust you Gerry, I need your money that’s true but I’ve no intention of telling you everything I know. Let me know what comes of your thinking and we’ll talk it through. Meanwhile I’m going to hash up a Media Project that put’s Allenby’s Facility in a good light, it’s what he wants Publicity, but Publicity of the right kind.”
Gerry looked Sandy right in the eye, there was no doubt Sandy had changed, she never would have spoken to him like that before. He knew at the moment it was impossible to convince Sandy that he could be trusted, so he nodded.
” I understand, I’ll get in touch when I’ve got some ideas. When Allenby gets in contact with me, which I’ve no doubt he will. I’ll tell him that you’re on the case.”
” You can believe everything that bastard tells you. I played my part to get what I want and I’ve got the bruises to prove it. He strikes me as the type that likes to talk “boys talk”. Tag him along .Vanity might be his downfall. Whatever you do don’t accept any invitation’s from him, he’ll sample you and I have no idea where that would lead.”
Gerry stood up and left the office , he knew Sandy was right to keep mum about what she knew. He was disappointed he couldn’t arrange a visit for himself to see Alex, but that was impossible now. They had nothing else to say to each other for the moment. Gerry closed Sandy’s office door behind him and went back upstairs to his own office where he could think and plan and wait for a call from Allenby.
Being practical in this modern world cooking can be a chore and not something we look forward to doing.
Where we have the time and resources to cook,then anything Mediterranean is my favorite,be it roasted vegetables in olive oil, baked feta cheese coated in sesame seeds and honey, aubergine dip and fresh mint with fresh tomatoes.
Ah if only, those flavours and textures could be every day
” A computer is a device that processes inputs to product outputs. By this definition the brain is a computer because it takes in information and produces outputs.” Quote from Googling The Internet.
The brain takes information and transforms it into something else. So my first computer was my brain and an amazing tool it was and I like to think still is.
However , one figure, stands out in the history of the Computer and she was born in the midst of the hedonism of George the Third ‘s reign she would become a renowned mathematician and the first person to see the potential of a machine converting raw data to something other than it’s component parts ie. not simply a machine for calculation, but a much broader canvas. That person was Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate child of Lord Byron.
Ada Lovelace’s clear concise thinking lead us to the concept of the computer as a clever machine. Dear,Dear Ada was a mathematical genius and was able to see the potential in Babbage’s Analytical Engine and took her place in history as a “Wicked Mathematician.”, but also someone who encouraged others. Not dare I say it someone who wanted to dominate others.
A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, some of which would be best assigned to a watery grave. Computing has been turned into a megalomaniac , male dominated globally polluting market place reserved for those with big budgets and even bigger egos.
Let’s face it , we have access to amazing information and we can choose to use it for good or for bad and that is what I reckon Ada Lovelace envisaged.
We have lost our way, just as a child’s brain develops and goes from being open minded and questioning to trying to satisfy the demands of the modern world and with that it’s megalomaniac , egotistical entrepreneurs whose goals just aren’t actually clear other than to dominate people, the market or perhaps the World, under the guise of Philanthropy.
Ada knew a fake when she saw it, and in honour of her, although by no means a brilliant thinker, I intend to be a free thinker and my brain , my first computer plays a part in that.
If I lose it , it’s OK , there are plenty more independent , quality thinkers out there and they will always be there, and able to use technology for the good of all. Let Ada be your inspiration.
On arrival in London, Sandy felt the nervous shock she had experienced begin to dissipate, she had not been able to sleep on the plane and the in-flight movies were either fatuous or far too violent for her to watch. Sandy knew that real life was far more dangerous than any fake cinematic creation. She weighed up whether she would share all that had happened during the visit with Martin. Her body was still sore from the sexual gymnastics she had performed for Allenby. She was now convinced that he was a psychotic narcissistic dangerous man, one capable of enormous cruelty, but one nevertheless who she needed to keep close to.
Sandy had briefly said goodbye to Joss as the chauffeured car arrived at her accommodation to pick Sandy up and taker her to the airport. They had briefly exchanged social niceties in keeping with their limited knowledge of each other, but Sandy knew Joss was relieved to see the back of yet another one of her lover’s conquests.
As Joss waved Sandy off , Sandy realised Joss was just as trapped as all of those poor unfortunates in Allenby’s Prison. Sandy was just another humiliation for Joss to endure. Allenby had her exactly where he wanted her. There was no time for a friendly girl chat, although the two of them would have had a lot to talk about if the opportunity ever arose .Sandy surmised that Joss would not listen initially but had the impression that Joss was beginning to question the controlling behaviour of her mentor. Sandy was perhaps one humiliation too many and that might be another chink in the invincible Professor’s armour.
Back in London however , Sandy thoughts took refuge with her family. It was a Friday night when she got back and Martin had announced that the twins were planning the “traditional Mothering Sunday Celebrations”. Sandy had forgotten entirely that it was Mothering Sunday, she looked at Martin in disbelief. Martin could see that Sandy was not sure that she could cope, but he reassured her that it was for the best and that he had organised everything with the twins and it was their surprise for her. There would be a trip to the supermarket on Saturday morning and the Cinema on Saturday Afternoon. Then on Sunday there would visit each set of in-laws with cards and presents in hand. Sandy went through the weekend in a daze, which she explained away as jet lag. Still it had lifted her spirits and let her forget for a short time what lay ahead.
Late on Sunday night with the twins in bed she had her chance to tell Martin what she had seen. They were both getting ready for bed and Martin noted the bruises on Sandy’s thigh.
” That looks nasty”
” Oh yes, it was very nasty.” Sandy replied with a distance that meant there was nothing that could be said that would make anything better.
“Sandy you did what you had to do. “
” I know , there was no other way. I did what I did for Alex.” Her head bent down.
” Look Sandy , you don’t need to justify yourself to me. I understand. I know that when this is over, we may not be the same people, we might not be able to help that, but for now until we get Alex back home with us and safe, I’ve got your back. I can keep everything together for you, no matter what you have to do. You are my heroine.”
Sandy looked Martin in the eyes and reached out her arms to him and hugged him.
” I feel so dirty, so used ,thank you Martin for telling me that , I needed to hear it. Martin whatever love is this is what I imagine it feels like. I had no option. We will get through this, I can’t forget what I’ve seen and done, but it’s like a battle and this is just the beginning. I don’t know if what we’re doing will work. I’m in deep, well over my head. I don’t even know who I can trust anymore , apart from you. Have you heard from Maria?”
Martin explained he had heard nothing from Maria. There was nothing else either of them could say, they lay in bed and held each other. Sandy gently wept and her eyes closed and she eventually went to sleep. Martin could not sleep, but he kept still and listened for the familiar rise and fall of Sandy’s breath. It was back to work for both of them tomorrow. Their normal routine, Martin dropping off the children at school and picking them up in the afternoon. Sandy would be away most of the day, he never knew what time she would be back. That was how it was and it was going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. There was nothing else they could do.
Sandy and Allenby watched through the one way window as the interrogations began.
Sandy saw a young man being wheeled in on a gurney , he was strapped to it and despite attempting to extricate himself could not move his arms or legs. He was surrounded by people in white lab coats who began to attach monitors to his body. Sandy saw one of them inject what she assumed was a sedative into his arm. Gradually he stopped struggling and seemed to relax and fall asleep. Finally all the monitors were in place and he was given another shot in the arm. He opened his eyes wide as if he was having the most awful nightmare, he began to scream, the monitors began to show crazy readings and the people in the lab coats began to move around him trying to see what was going on. There was blood coming from the young man’s mouth as he had bit his own tongue. Someone rushed to hold his head while they put a cloth in his mouth for him to bite on to. They tried as best they could to clean the blood from his mouth.
“The idiots! Sandy I’m so sorry, this is not what I wanted you to see. This is purely research , experimental, trying to find out what combinations of drugs work best. This is not helpful. ” Allenby stood up in sheer frustration.
Sandy looked at the young man. ” Will he be OK?”
” I don’t know, but this is not what I wanted you to see. This is our research laboratory where we are trying to find the ideal drug combination to get the results that we want. This should not have happened, however, we may as well move on.”
Sandy could see that Allenby was annoyed.
” I’ll let you know tomorrow how the young man is. We may aswell go to the Prison Facility now, I wanted to soften the blow, but in truth this has just made things worse.” He passed his hand over a sensor and the window reverted to it’s normal glass and Sandy could no longer see what was going on in the laboratory.”
Allenby explained that they would have to take his car to the prison facility She followed him down the corridor , trying as best as she could to remember the directions as to where she was going. As yet she hadn’t even taken out her notebook. They reached the Professor’s car and she got in .She could see the Professor was angry and he didn’t say anything, but he sent a brief message on his phone. The Professor relaxed a little as he started driving.
“It’s about a ten minute drive. It’s getting dark which is just as well, this part of the site is not landscaped. Not necessary, literally people are bussed in here and they will never leave.”
Sandy watched the road ahead of her , it was dark and the atmosphere felt dark. The conversation stopped while Allenby parked in a reserved spot. Sandy again tried to memorise the route he had taken.
This building was a characterless, concrete facility whose austerity contrasted with the rest of the site .As they got out of the car, two security guards passed by with their dogs. One of the dogs snarled at Allenby. He quickly moved out of the way.
” Come this way Sandy.” He snapped.
Sandy made her way around the car , avoiding the two dogs. She smiled at the Security men, who just ignored her and kept walking on their patrol.
Again they used their Iris recognitions to gain entrance through a small double door which was in fact at the back of the building, so there was no one there to greet them.
They ascended a short stairwell, and began climbing a flight of stairs. Sandy could just make out the walls as the lighting was minimal. When they reached the top of the stairs there was a walkway which lead to an elevated platform above a quadrangle. About four floors below she could see a lot of people milling around. There were some uniformed security guards , but most of the people below were dressed in civilian clothes, and all looked tired and their clothes were shabby. Sandy could see what looked like cells surrounding the quadrangle on all the floors apart from the one she was on.
“We came in the back way.” Allenby explained. “Gives you a good view of the people down there, these are from all over the World, people who have been working against us.”
” You bring them here, it’s not dealt with locally then?”
” No longer, it just wasn’t working. The local Laws just couldn’t cope, there was always interference. Now , we have control.”
Sandy looked down at all the people milling around and realised it must have been a mealtime, some of them were queueing at a mobile kitchen, some were walking back to benches situated in the middle of the quadrangle with plates of food. No one seemed to be talking to each other, they all seemed very subdued.
“Is this really necessary Professor?” Sandy looked directly at Allenby.
” Yes, we have tried all other means and now we have to resort to this.” Allenby looked down at the quadrangle.
Sandy looked below her , she could see that most of them had the clothes on that they were probably captured in , there was a mixture of medical fatigues and civilian clothes.
” Come on, we have a lot more to see.” Allenby beckoned to Sandy.
Sandy continued to follow the Professor along the walkway Another iris recognition and then they turned left and entered a large reception like area, manned by people in lab coats and what could have been a large waiting room. There were people much like Sandy had just seen below in the quadrangle area waiting on benches, they looked nervous and apprehensive.
Suddenly as Sandy was taking in this new location , a pair of double doors burst open and an unconscious man in a wheel chair was pushed through by two orderlies in white coats. Sandy recognised him immediately it was Dr William King. Being a tall man , he was practically sliding downwards out of the chair, some orderlies appeared and helped the nurses pull his body upwards . They propped him up as best as they could , but again he slid downwards and began to moan. His eyes opened and closed.
” Come on Dr King, we’ll go to the recovery room now.” Dr King was wheeled out through another set of doors and disappeared.
Sandy stayed calm and continued to watch the unfolding situation. Two more orderlies took hold of a woman who was sitting on the bench nearest the door , she struggled as they both took one of her arms and lifted her up and marched her out. They disappeared through the double doors that Dr King had came through.
Sandy sensed the trepidation and disbelief in the people who sat on the benches waiting to see what their fate was. Sandy had mentally prepared herself and she whispered in the ear of the Professor with the appearance of genuine curiousity.
“What is going on?”
” Sandy , this is our torture chamber.” he whispered.
“Modern Torture or Medieval?” Sandy quickly responded.
” Nothing messy” The Professor smiled at her.” Just a lot of questions and drug treatments and some flashing lights.Nothing to be scared of really. We’re trying as hard as we can to get as much information out of these people as we can. Mainly locations and if we are lucky some names.”
“Is this Legal?”
“Not really, but not on record either, officially these people now officially no longer exist. We don’t even know their real names, they will have been captured at one of the locations that our monitoring has unearthed and transported here. We have a lot of support from a Global Point of view. Basically these people now have no status and do not exist. “
Sandy already knew about the secretive web surrounding Alex and this reassured her that despite these extreme efforts, that the Professor was making slow progress.
” I think they are about to begin the next interrogation, it’s an important part of our jigsaw. These are criminals, we need to show them as such. This is an important , if unpalatable part of our story.”
Allenby motioned for Sandy to again follow him , which she did, the doorway to the side where Allenby led her was basically another viewing gallery. Again they could watch through a one- way mirror . Sandy sat down beside another man who was already seated watching the proceedings through the window and making notes. Allenby did not introduce him. Sandy could tell Allenby was tense. The lights dimmed, and Sandy’s eyes adjusted to the view. Allenby remained standing.
Sandy saw a woman strapped to a chair, she wasn’t sure if it was the one that she had seen a few minutes before as her face was contorted and her eyes were wide open. The woman strained to see what the people surrounding her were doing, but her head was held in place by leather straps. The nurses or doctors were putting an intravenous drip into her arm. The woman’s eyes tried to follow everything that was going on around her, she looked like a scared wild animal.
Another injection was put into her arm and the laboratory where she was began to flash with strobe lighting of many colours. The white lab coats increased the intensity of the lights as the orderlies and nurses backed off and the interrogating team came in.
They were dressed in suits and held clip boards. The strobe lights flashed , their speed increasing and the range of colours alternating. The woman reacted to the lights and they obviously made her terrified.”
“What are those drugs?” Sandy asked.
” A mixture of hallucinogens and inhibition suppressants, it’s taking us a while to get the mix right. We’ve had a few problems, we have an infirmary and a long stay facility. I’ll show you later . We have found that by heightening the fear quotient the drugs are more effective , hence all the theatricals with the lights. Completely pointless, except one of the drugs will have made the lady highly sensitive to light. We are not sure what the pain threshold with that is , but obviously when we turn them off , she probably feels relief.”
Sandy kept looking straight ahead at the woman. The strobe lights stopped suddenly and the laboratory was in complete darkness, Sandy heard a click , the Professor had turned on the sound.
” Stop it, Stop it, Please. ” The woman was sobbing and snuffling as she cried out in desperation.
The bright laboratory lights were turned on and the woman in the chair was faced by three interrogators sitting opposite her. The questioning began like a rapid fire machine gun. The woman stared at them, rigid with fear.
“What’s your name?”
“Where do you come from?”
“Where were you educated, do you have a degree?”
“Why are you here?”
“Where are your parents?”
They gave the woman no time to reply and this seemed to agitate her even further. She struggled in the chair and could only move her arms and legs a little. The strobe lights came on , Sandy sensed they were a higher intensity. The questioning continued.
“Who recruited you/?”
” Did you think you were doing the right thing?”
” Where were you born?”
” Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
” When is your birthday?”
Sandy was finding this extremely stressful, the woman in the chair was obviously beginning to lose her mind.
“No I can’t take this let me go! The pain, in my head is unbearable!”
Immediately the lights stopped and the lab was again in darkness. Sandy did not see two of the interrogators leave room , but when the lights came back on only one of them remained seated facing the woman who had now succumbed to uncontrolled sobbing which was painful to hear.
Professor Allenby moved closer to Sandy.
“They don’t usually succumb that quickly , maybe she’s faking it. Oh well , we’ll find out. Ridiculous really, we know all the answers to our questions, we just need to know if she’ll cooperate and I think this one will .” Allenby grabbed the notes of the man sitting beside him and read some details. Allenby pressed the intercom button and spoke. His voice echoed throughout the Laboratory where the woman sat. Allenby’s voice boomed as if it was coming from nowhere.
” Ruth we know all about you, we want you to cooperate now, the drugs will be working through your system . Shortly we can get you to do exactly what we want, but by then it will be too late for you. The effects are irreversible and you really would be of no use to us. Tell us now before it is too late. Tell us now and we’ll put the anti-dote in your system and you will be none the wiser for your experience , you can come and work for us. We need people like you.”
Ruth began to sweat profusely and Sandy began to think that what the Professor was saying was true.
Ruth’s face was pale and she whimpered and looked defeated.
” I know nothing, I was a nurse, I looked after children , it was my job. I don’t know anything about anything. “
” You are on the wrong side Ruth, I don’t believe you . Well if you won’t help us , then that’s it!” Allenby turned off the intercom.
” Absolutely pointless” He passed the notes roughly to the man who was sitting beside him. ” She’ll be of no use to us , I don’t think she knows anything of importance.”
Allenby turned to Sandy.
” I’m sorry you’re going to have to see the next bit, it can be very upsetting.” He put his hand on her shoulder. She felt her stomach churn and her skin crawled.
” I’ll see how much I can stomach”. Sandy looked as Allenby turned and watched the interrogation continue. At first there was a calm period. The woman seemed as if she was recovering. The questioning had stopped and the interrogator that had stayed in the room with her reached forward and touched her hand reassuringly. He was prompting her with questions which she answered, it was almost as if they were having a conversation. Sandy realised how little Ruth knew about her position and how that people like Ruth were protecting her son even now somewhere far away from here.
After about ten minutes of this , however, things changed rapidly. Ruth became irritated and asked for a drink of water, which was not forthcoming.
Allenby whispered to Sandy. ” We’re not being cruel. If we give her a drink now, she’ll drown in her own fluids, and that would not be a pretty sight.”
“I’m not sure I can watch much more.” Sandy shifted in her chair slightly.
“This is all a bit pointless, but it is a life we are destroying and I feel we should at least respect the process and see it until the end.”
Ruth’s pallor changed very quickly and her body began to spasm and the veins in her arms distended. Sandy could see the fear in Ruth’s eyes.
“What’s happening to her now?”
“Awful isn’t it Sandy, but we can’t keep everyone here forever. This is the part of the operation that is very distasteful, I’m not sure if people knew about it that we would be allowed to continue? That’s my dilemma. On one hand if we keep it hidden we’re OK , on the other if people understand and accept that this is necessary than we can do what we need to do much more quickly. “
“I can’t look anymore Professor, I think I’m going to be sick.”
Allenby signalled to someone and the blind came down on the viewing station and a woman in a white lab coat entered carrying a glass of water and a small tablet on a saucer.
Allenby turned to Sandy and said “Here take this.” He took the glass and the saucer from the assistant and passed it to Sandy.
Submissively Sandy took what she was given, she was in shock.
” Out of respect , I normally watch until the very end, I am the one who makes the decision about whether the interrogation will be useful. We have a non-denominational service for the deceased and we have a Garden of Peace. As I have said Sandy we are not animals and these people officially do not exist.”
The Professor continued ” Perhaps you see how important to me you are now. I need your support. Gerry said that you are very supportive of our gene cleansing programme, we know it is important to keep the Public on our side and if this ever got out , well all our work would be ruined. This is the hard but unavoidable end of the process, but we’ve done everything else to stop these people and nothing has worked. We have learned to be hard.”
Sandy listened to Allenby and couldn’t help but wonder how Gerry had convinced Allenby that she was who Allenby needed. Up until a few months ago she was a second rate sports hack, given the jobs that no one else wanted. She realised that she ‘d have to keep her story consistent. She pretended to be annoyed with Gerry.
“I really could kill Gerry at this moment. I just didn’t expect this. Did you tell Gerry you were executing people?” She went on the offensive.
“Well no, for obvious reasons I would not openly discuss this with anyone. I wanted you to see it though with your own eyes. You must remember I’m not now breaking the Law. These people do not exist in their Countries anymore. The decision as to what happens to them now is up to me . However I am well aware that if this ever got out into the Public Domain, then there could be a lot of trouble. So I was hoping you as a journalist could advise us going forward.”
” Advise you on what exactly, am I supposed to say this is OK?”
Allenby continued .”Gerry said that you are a strong individual, independent thinking, I expect you to have reservations. Let’s talk further, hopefully the queasiness has passed and you have an appetite for dinner. I’ll show you the rest of the facility tomorrow. You will meet some of the best people in their field.”
Sandy gathered herself and her things together, the queasiness had passed entirely due to the tablet she had been given.
“Some dinner and a chance to talk would be nice Professor.”
“Call me Ian, Sandy, it’s after 9.00pm.” Allenby winked at her.
“Call me Ian” echoed in her mind as she realised later that Allenby was a serial womaniser as he instigated some very kinky sexual manoeuvres with her in her room later that evening. Sandy did not care, she knew it was for Alex and she would do anything to protect her little boy.
Even in bed Allenby was a total control freak. Sandy knew they were playing a cat and mouse game. He had questioned her about Gregor and she had given Allenby the excuse that she just wanted to make Gerry jealous, he had dumped her for his new baby wife. Nothing had happened between her and Gregor, they had parted ways outside her room. Gregor had suggested a meeting when he was next in London, but she had heard nothing from him, she suspected that Gregor did not support Professor Allenby’s work and that she felt it would have been an angle worth following up. The meeting of course had never happened and now she knew what had happened to Gregor.
Over dinner, they had talked a lot about relationships, with her husband with the people she met in her job. Allenby was forever trying to catch her out. How she felt about Gerry? Did she miss being away from her children? What did her husband think of her working away from home was ? Was Martin successful in his career.
Sandy later thought that Allenby turned what would be normal social chit chat into an interrogation. Sandy, however had kept a cool head and began to realise how well Gerry had prepared the ground for her, unintentionally perhaps. Allenby was beginning to trust her, she also realised that his arrogance was his weakness, the man could never be wrong. He was the Perfect Judge of everything.
Sandy’s Condo, was beside a lake , it had a stunning view, but not of the mountains. It was all man-made and artificial. There were fountains and a number of three dimensional sculptures made of glass or Perspex that appeared to change shape depending on the angle you looked at them or how the natural light shone through them .
Sandy needed some fresh air and decided to go for a walk around the nearby artificial lake. Gerry would have loved this place she thought to herself. She was surprised he hadn’t made the effort to come.
After her walk Sandy showered and drank a cup of herbal tea. It was nearly six o’clock in the evening and the phone rang, it was Joss, the Professor would like Sandy to start the tour at six thirty, Joss would send the car at six twenty. Was that alright? Sandy agreed and she was ready when the car came to collect her.
The chauffeur driven car again glided along the pristinely grey tarmac and made a sharp turn to the left. Sandy realised that behind the fancy architectural front there were more functional , plain and she thought forbidding buildings hidden . They were well disguised. Smaller and plainer. The car stopped and the driver signalled to her that they had arrived and she stepped out of the car , Allenby was waiting for her.
He stood patiently as she walked towards him. ” I’m pleased to say that you have me all to yourself for the next few hours. I want to show you the heart of what we do here. What we are capable of. I am sure you will find it most interesting. As I have said previously I want you to see the whole operation “Warts and All”. We are fighting some very dangerous people and organisations and we have to use some very harsh techniques to find out the information we need to destroy them. Some of what you will see , you no doubt , will find upsetting. He smiled, his perfect white teeth showed as he parted his thin brownish chiselled lips. Sandy noted they were moist.
Allenby opened the security door and walked briskly in, Sandy followed him at a pace. A long narrow corridor led to the laboratories which Professor Allenby described.
“Here is the low-end research facility, repetitive, but necessary analysis.”
The walls were clinically white, occasionally broken by some windows enabling Sandy to see inside. There was no one about all the workstations were empty. There were rows of microscopes.
” Has everyone finished for the day , it seems a bit quiet?” Sandy asked.
“Yes in this area, there’s no need for 24/7, it’s just routine Science here.” Allenby replied.
” These people still live on Campus though.”
” Yes , they are employed here and we provide them with accommodation. We have a lot of land and we have created a village like atmosphere. It’s mainly for our ancillary workers, they are good facilities and good working conditions. I don’t visit there myself, but we couldn’t function without it. “
” I see, so they live here permanently.”
” Yes, we have everything here for them , schools , gyms , medical facilities and entertainment venues such as a Concert Hall and a Bowling Alley. We attract the best , but sometimes we need the average, so it works for us. “
They reached the end of the corridor and moved into another Security Area, this time Allenby and Sandy both had to go through the Iris Recognition software. It took a few seconds for the door to open and Allenby took Sandy immediately to his office which was at the end of another row of laboratories. Sandy saw there were people working inside of them, however none of them even looked up to acknowledge her or the Professor. The Professor’s office was unassuming in comparison to the opulence she had experienced so far.
” Sit down Sandy” Allenby gestured to a chair . ” What you are about to see , may well shock you to the core, and what I’m going to tell you may find distasteful, but be aware I have the backing of some very powerful people. We need to tell our side of the story . We can no longer continue in the background, we are strong and we must use our strengths.”
Sandy sat and listened.
Allenby pressed a button underneath his desk and a projector screen rose from a hidden cupboard opposite Sandy. The lights in the office dimmed and the Professor began to talk as he began a prepared presentation.
“What you see on the screen Sandy is your DNA Profile. We collected your saliva when you had lunch. Totally illegal of course. In normal circumstances we would have to ask your permission, but these are not normal circumstances. Please forgive us. This shows how quickly we can process the information.”
” There’s nothing to forgive Professor, I mean this is part of the story isn’t it?” The penny dropped why Gerry had not been able to make the visit with her and had made his excuses.
The Professor, pressed his hand held device and more information about Sandy flashed on the screen. Scientific classifications, but basically reflecting your strengths, where you fit in in the general population and any problems that we foresee. Without knowing you personally I can tell that your genetic makeup is one that is beneficial to our future. Country programmes vary, but I assume you are sponsored to have children?”
” Yes, I have twins, glad to say. After my sports career, there were so many incentives, but I didn’t feel pressurised. By then my maternal instincts had kicked in and I had been with Martin a long time, so it was quite natural. Not at all clinical, like your analysis , don’t get me wrong, I think it’s wonderful what you can do , but it’s the old Nature versus Nurture isn’t it? Are we just strands of protein?” Sandy wondered just how much the Professor knew about her history of child bearing.
” Thank you for being so direct, well those strands of protein are very important to our future, the future of our World”
” Well that’s why I’m here, to find out what we can do to help. Promote the cause. I have to admit though I’m a bit scared of what I’m about to find out. I can imagine that your work must be constantly under threat from people who don’t support it”.
” I appreciate that, so let us continue, there is no point in me trying to hide anything .”
A new slide popped onto the screen.
“This presentation shows the Global Picture, the patches of red are where we are experiencing problems, no matter what we do the gene pool gets contaminated. If I show you over the last five years, it changes and moves around and then comes back again and we don’t know why. It can only be subversive forces. I find it extremely frustrating. I don’t think the raw data is as accurate as it needs to be , but we are finding resistance when gathering it, even violence in some instances. Increasingly members of our field staff are being ostracized and prevented from collecting samples.
” I’ve never came across anyone collecting my DNA, you mean like a medical facility, swabbing people , analysing and recording their DNA, perhaps they do it like you’ve just done it to me. Without my knowledge. So the areas that aren’t red , how do they work?”
” Resource mainly and Government Support.”
“That takes money, I suppose”.
“Yes, these Underground Agencies have won historically, they have backers and they have battled successfully. The problem is we just don’t know who they are. We clean one area and a few years later we’re back to square one again to do the same work as some rogue DNA has appeared out of nowhere.”
” So a bit like a virus re-infecting.”
” Well , similar , but scientifically there is no similarity. DNA cannot be transmitted, it’s within us. The only way DNA can be passed on is through Progeny. We know there are people who want to play God and we need to stop them. “
” Perhaps they think you are playing God Professor?” Sandy eyed the Professor, to see how he reacted to being directly challenged.
” Do you think so?”
Sandy wished she had not been so direct, but Allenby continued.
” God doesn’t come into it, I’m an atheist.”
Sandy thought quickly and decided to play Devil’s Advocate. ” I suppose to stop these people we need to think like them.”
” Yes, exactly, we’ve got a lot of data and we know what we think is going on, but up until now we haven’t had the Authority to deal with these people like criminals they are. As of last week, we have a Global, cross border agreement which allows us to hunt these people down. I don’t like wasting valuable scientific resource, some of these miscreants are at the top of their game, so I prefer to use other methods to persuade them that they’ve been pursuing the wrong path.”
” I feel we are getting to the nasty bit , Professor”
” Sandy , unfortunately the situation we are in calls for extreme measures. We can record all the data we want, but now is the time to take action. That is one of the reasons I want the Media in here, I wouldn’t like this information leaked and cause some furore that would get out of hand. I want to present the facts and our arguments for doing what we are doing. I need your input just to keep us straight. So we don’t come out of this looking like the villains .”
” Will I need a strong stomach Professor?”
“No, no we’re not animals, it’s harrowing, but the ends justify the means.” The Professor moved away from the screen and pressed the button under the desk to make it retract.
” OK Professor, I think if you show me what you are doing, I may understand it better and of course we can talk about everything in the best light. I’m intrigued by the change to the the Law and last week. Would I be right in thinking that the ” Criminality ” is going to be a major part of the story?”
“As the Law stands now these men and women are now classed as “Criminals”. They are offered re-education and rehabilitation in some cases but not all. We’ve had some success stories. One of them joined us recently and is now working for us. I believe you met Gregor Lavlet at the Conference in Barcelona.” Allenby waited for Sandy’s reaction.
” Oh yes, Gregor, I met him in Barcelona, but he was at a very successful institution in Iceland. Iceland had totally wiped out all genetic illnesses, screening was 100%. It was definitely not a Country to cause you concern. I did have a long chat with him and yes I would say he expressed some doubts about what was taking place in Iceland. We were going to meet up in London, I still have his business card somewhere…”
Allenby smiled.
” Gregor was captured at a site just outside Berlin. There were three hundred children who were being kept in a secure location.”
” Three hundred children.” Sandy knew she had to be careful and not ask too many questions now.
” My are you confident that he is rehabilitated now?”
” Well he will never leave here, all in all , it’s not a bad place to live, his expertise as a statistician is invaluable. He says he now believes he was wrong, it doesn’t really matter , the main thing is a talented researcher like him is out of the mix working for the opposition, and now can help us with our work. ”
” And what happened to the children?” Sandy asked.
” Oh they would have been relocated at a new facility , that would be dealt with at local level.” Allenby turned off his computer and moved towards the door of his office.
” I’m ready now to show you our facility where we keep those who are resistant to our ideas. The ones who don’t accept that what we are doing is necessary.” He opened the door of the office and led the way into a small room with a large window looking out onto a laboratory. The Professor and Sandy could see out , but the people they were watching could not see in.
Sandy continued talking to the Professor.
” A Life Sentence, is there anything worse? ” Sandy said.
The Professor turned towards her and Sandy looked him straight in the eye. She felt it was expected of her as a hard nosed journalist , but in side her stomach churned with the thought of what she was about to witness. The stakes were high and the means ruthless.
Sandy and the Professor entered the small room and closed the door . They both sat down on a bench from which they could look out the large window onto a laboratory. The Professor continued talking.
“This is the tricky and untidy part.”
Sandy couldn’t help but think that “tricky” and “untidy” were not the adjectives she would have used, she was very concerned about what she might be about to witness.
” It’s still up in the air, for the moment we are trying persuasion. We have many options , some not so palatable, but all now thankfully legal and above board.”
Sandy remembered Alex playing with the other children when she had visited him and looked at the Professor. Sandy would do anything to stop this man. The Professor was sitting almost knee to knee with Sandy and she felt his hand touch her knee. Sandy did not react. In other circumstances she would have turned and made her position quite clear, but the only thing on her mind was Alex and she was going to do anything to protect her little boy from this Monster.
She felt that she had won over the Professor and she realised that her DNA was the perfect cover . Gerry would not have passed Allenby’s analysis and most likely would have been arrested by now. Sandy would be the cuckoo in the nest just like her little boy was to Allenby’s plans. Sandy though had to play her part perfectly. She’d do anything to help the people who would help Alex. Martin would understand.
thenotsomightyom 