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.
The Washington Albany Research Centre was at first sight a very large, well financed University Campus. Once you passed through the first Security Gates and the trees that surrounded the Centre. You could see the large impressive buildings covered in reflective glass. They stood out on the manicured lawns like glistening jewels on the horizon. The foremost building was glass and steel with a long straight driveway leading up to it. The only thing missing were students wandering on the impressive acres of grass. Sandy squinted as the sun caught one of the steely glass spires and shot a high intensity beam in her eye. She immediately reached into her handbag for her sunglasses.
As the car glided up the driveway, they were stopped by a security barrier .Sandy noticed a small Portacabin beside the barrier which was manned by uniformed guards from a Private Security Firm. Their uniforms had badges on them. Sandy noted the Company’s name and intended to write it down when she had the chance. She reflected, however, that for her sake it would be safer to try to remember it. Her notes would probably be checked and why would she need to know the name of the Security Company? She wanted to appear totally supportive of Allenby’s organisation. She felt that he would be adverse to hostile criticism or to anyone digging too deep.
The chauffeur appeared at the passenger door and opened it, Joss beckoned to Sandy to get out of the car to sign in with security. Once inside the cabin Sandy had her photograph taken which included an iris scan . Sandy was given a few forms to sign and one of the guards went out to the car to check with Joss. When he returned he said firmly to the guard doing the inputting on the computer.
” Yes access , all areas”.
Sandy was going to be on site for a couple of days ; she had been given a Condo on “The Bay Area”. As Joss had said the accommodation was near leisure facilities. She was given a map which detailed the weights room, sauna and swimming pool as well as a running and jogging track and trail. The iris recognition would give her access to anywhere she wanted to go.
Sandy was relieved when she picked up her information pack and got back in the car with Joss. She was feeling claustrophobic as if she was entering a spider’s lair. Joss was speaking to Professor Allenby on the phone when she sat back down on the soft leather seats. Sandy couldn’t help but notice that there was some warmth in the relationship and that Joss spoke gently to the Professor.
” OK, we’ll meet you in the Atrium.” she finished her call. ” Sandy, slight change of plan , no time to freshen up yet. One of the Professor’s meetings was cancelled , he wants to meet you for lunch, is that alright?” Joss turned and looked at Sandy.
“You are very honoured, he rarely stops for lunch.” Joss smiled.
” That’s brilliant, to be truthful that’s great, I mean it’s only a short visit , so I can freshen up later.”
The car continued it’s stately journey and glided silently along past the main building, it made a left turn and stopped outside another impressive glass fronted building. As Sandy got out of the car, she gazed at the enormous impressively etched Romanesque Glass door, which featured many colours. As Joss and Sandy approached, the two doors slid apart effortlessly .Joss turned and told the driver to drop off Sandy’s luggage at her condo. The driver nodded and silently departed.
Sandy and Joss walked into the large plant filled space. It was full to the brim of exotic plants and they were displayed at all levels that the eye could see. Joss made small talk to Sandy as they walked towards the elevator along a raised platform which appeared surrounded by an artificial pond. Sandy looked down at her feet ; the impression it gave was that she was walking on water.
Joss raised her hand and pointed to the greenery.” These plants are all grown hydroponically with distilled water and organic nutrients, we grow some rare succulent herbs. The Professor is extremely interested in how we grow our own food and wants the Atrium to be totally self-sufficient. We haven’t quite reached that stage yet there are so many factors, we struggle with getting the nutrient mix right.”
They reached the elevator. As the doors opened automatically water appeared to swish around either side as they got in. Sandy thought her feet were going to get wet, but she remained totally dry.
” The Professor’s sense of humour, it usually makes people jump”. Joss laughed
As the elevator doors closed and the elevator began to go up , the displaced water moved back to it’s original location in the clear Perspex floor. Also as the elevator rose, plumes of water cascade off as they moved through the different floors, the effect was stunning and Joss explained that it also helped maintain the correct humidity as well as being a delightful feature.
On the upper floor ,where the restaurant was, the special effect plumes ceased and Sandy and Joss got out of the elevator. The effect was similar to downstairs, except the water had a sapphire blue hue. Again Sandy couldn’t help but look down at her feet to see if they were wet or stained blue , but they were bone dry.
Sandy remained poised as she saw Professor Allenby walking towards her and Joss, he was with a couple of other smartly dressed men. Allenby appeared to be giving them instructions, they parted ways just before Allenby reached Sandy.
” Ah, Sandy, I’m so pleased that you are able to finally see our site. I know it’s just a whistle stop tour, but thank you for coming. I’m so sorry Gerry couldn’t make it”. Allenby smiled and took Sandy’s hand. The grip was a little too tight and Sandy felt went on longer than she was comfortable with.
She talked as he held her hand.” Hello Professor , this is quite a place. I’m really looking forward to finding out about what you do here. It’s such important work. I hope we can do you justice in just two days. I just didn’t expect this.”
Allenby let go of Sandy’s hand.
” Come on , come on , please let’s have lunch, it’s certainly not your average work’s canteen.” Allenby turned and beckoned Joss and Sandy towards a table.
They all sat down and Sandy noticed that there were probably about thirty covers, all deceptively placed among pots of foliage. There were formally dressed waiters and waitresses moving backwards and forwards across the floor, imperceptibly taking orders, bringing dishes and clearing tables.
Sandy picked up her menu and began to read it. There was water on the table and some long glasses, Joss poured each one of them a glass. Sandy thanked Joss and sipped the water as Allenby and Joss continued to converse politely. When the waiter came Joss checked what everyone wanted and ordered.
The Professor began talking . Sandy listened and took a long sip of water to disguise her surprise when she saw Gregor, the Icelandic Researcher she had met at the Conference in Barcelona, at one of the tables on the opposite side of the “Atrium”. Sandy knew that Allenby had noticed she had spotted Gregor, but Allenby made no comment , he continued talking to her about the work of his Institute and Sandy replied by asking a question about how such a prestigious facility was funded. Allenby was very forthright on that issue, there were major donors , philanthropists who supported the work. They realised that cleansing the Human Genome was the only way to stop disease . You only needed to look at cancer figures, that had been a real success story and had helped him gain support. Cancer had effectively been eradicated. The rest would follow naturally , why stop at cancer. The money to be saved in curative care was enormous and easily funded the preventative measures that Allenby and his supporters were promoting.
“Already the Medical Insurance Companies are on their knees, imagine. There just is no need for intrusive medical care, we have healthy populations and we want to keep them that way.”
Sandy found herself accepting the Professor’s arguments and found that Allenby was being very open and frank. She was impressed by his arguments and it wasn’t until later when she was alone with her own thoughts back at the Condo that she realised what a good promotional job he had done on her.
It didn’t take long after meeting Gerry at the Conference in Barcelona that Professor Allenby got in touch. As a result of their meeting; time and events went very quickly. Gerry wanted to take a backroom role.
Sandy was tasked to set up regular online planning and production meetings with Allenby and his team. Sandy herself, put a team of people together to produce a documentary about Allenby’s work. Gerry for good reason wanted to keep Allenby at a distance. Gerry explained to Allenby that he was going on a delayed honeymoon with his young wife and leaving Sandy in charge of preparing the ground and producing a one off programme about his work. It would lay the ground for some of the other things Gerry had in mind. Professor Allenby was delighted.
Gerry left a lot of the planning to Sandy and rarely attended any Production meetings. However one morning he arrived promptly and took the chair uninvited and announced that Sandy would now be liaising directly with Professor Allenby. Sandy nearly choked on her coffee, she was frightened of Allenby and she didn’t mind admitting to it. Gerry gave her the details of how to contact him and suggested that she take a small hand picked crew with her for her initial visit to his research centre near Washington in the United States of America. Apparently Allenby had made a specific request that Sandy be part of the crew.
She rang Allenby later that day and got hold of him immediately. Allenby was adamant that the initial visit would be just her and no one else. Sandy argued that from a cost point of view having a small crew with her would enable her to do more. Allenby insisted, on the first visit, no cameras, no phones, just her notebook. She would have to get a feel for the place. She was going to see it “Warts and All”. Allenby played the “Gerry and I ” card very well, Sandy knew she had to agree to anything that Allenby wanted, she knew that she was between a rock and a hard place, but at the same time she knew it was just too good of an opportunity to miss and that it could be key to protecting Alex.
The night before she flew to the States; Sandy and Martin discussed the visit while Sandy packed. She railed against Allenby, she was convinced he was a lecherous predator. Martin made her laugh at herself, when he told her really she should be getting used to dealing with them by now and he reassured her that she could handle anything , even the “Dirty Doctor”. The important thing was to make the visit and if possible unearth the dark side of Professor Allenby’s Genetic Cleansing Policy.
When’s Sandy’s flight arrived at Washington Dulles Airport, Sandy was met at the exit lounge by Professor Allenby’s assistant Dr Jocelyn Zander. Sandy recognised her from the conference in Barcelona as the Professor’s unflappable assistant.
Sandy was fast tracked through customs and the two women got into the back of a Chauffeur Driven , electric Bentley, while the driver dealt with Sandy’s hand luggage. The seats were as big as sofas and the two women sat very far away from each other. Sandy tried to make some small talk about the flight and how it had been delayed, but her efforts fell on deaf ears as Jocelyn was obviously tied up with another issue and was making notes on her hand held computer. Sandy decided to sit back and relax, she gazed out the windows of the car and watched as they criss-crossed Highways and left Dulles Airport and Washington State with it’s suburbs and drove into open farmland, Sandy could see they were surrounded by beautiful mountains and it was such a contrast to the tired city of London where Sandy lived, Sandy relaxed into the cushioned seats and gazed out of the window.
“It’s very beautiful isn’t it?” Jocelyn said to Sandy.
” Yes, it is .” Sandy, was taken by surprise by Jocelyn’s voice, however, she quickly decided that she should continue the conversation. ” That’s a New York accent isn’t it? You’re not from here originally?”
“No , you’re right , I’m a New Yorker , through and through, but I can’t help but love the area around here. I love hiking , it’s just great to get out and walk. Just wait until you see our facility , it will blow your mind. It looks onto the mountains , the accommodation in most areas has wonderful views.” Jocelyn replied.
” I’m sorry , but you didn’t tell me your name. “. Sandy was fishing.
” Oh , I’m so sorry, my name is Dr Jocelyn Zander, I’m Professor Allenby’s personal assistant. You can call me Joss if you like, I’m sorry if I was a bit frosty with you, it’s just I had something important to deal with for the Professor, I’ve only just found out that it has been resolved. I’m afraid it was preying on my mind a bit.”
” No problem Joss, I’m used to people being frosty with me , it’s par for the course if you are a journalist, and anyway is that not how “real” New Yorkers behave.” Sandy smiled, hoping to break the ice.
Joss smiled back, ” Yes ,we are a tough lot , we have to be.”
The ice maiden melteth. Sandy thought to herself.
” So how far is the site from the airport?”
“It’s about an hour and a half outside the city, it’s a Campus Facility , so most people live and work on site. I have my own apartment on site, but I travel a lot with the Professor, where the Professor goes I go. I’m rarely ever there.”
” How long have you worked for the professor?” Sandy asked.
” Nearly five years as his P.A., he was my Doctorate tutor, it helps that I understand his work, but I’ve got to admit sometimes I feel out of my depth. I’m not an original thinker. I just squeezed through my Doc Phil.” Jocelyn glanced sideways at Sandy.
“If you don’t mind me saying, I find the Professor quite intimidating, I’m sure he only employs the best.” Sandy replied.
” You’re right, he is intimidating, a lot of pure thinkers are like that , so single minded. I tend to be the one who picks up the pieces in his wake. I know him very well and I understand him. He is very determined to resolve the problems we are now having with foolish misguided people undermining the work of the last 40 years.”
” Resolving? How?” Sandy couldn’t help herself, she regretted immediately how she had posed that question, perhaps a mite too abruptly. Would Joss pick up on the fact she had an ulterior motive? However, Joss seemed un-phased and continued talking with enthusiasm.
” Well yes, he’s incredibly driven, everything we do, as you will shortly see is to improve humanity, we need to cut out those illnesses that come from our D.N.A.. It is something we have achieved successfully in a number of geographical areas and we cannot allow that work to be ruined by ignorance. The methods that now have to be used to achieve the final phase, may seem harsh to some outsiders, but we have no option.” Joss stared at the road in front of her through the gap in the front seats.
Sandy replied looking at Joss.” Professor Allenby’s words to me were “warts and all” , I’ve got to admit , I’m not sure what to expect.”
“It’s not that far now, Sandy, The Professor has told me to give you total access, so you’ll see everything we do at our facility. Your accommodation will be ready and if you want some time to relax , there’s a pool and a gym on site and you can either walk or use one of our electric buggies to get around. It’s five o’clock now , and you’re going to have dinner with the Professor and I at eight thirty. I believe from then on your visit will be pretty full on .”
” Thank you.” Sandy nodded.
There was now a natural silence between the two women. It was a beautiful day and as the electric car glided silently and smoothly along the almost empty highway. Sandy looked out the window in wonder and thought how peaceful it all looked. Why did everything have to be so murky she thought to herself? Perhaps she was getting into this deeper than she could cope with. She wanted to stop the car and jump out, just to walk in the sunshine for a while and head back to the airport and fly back home to be with her family. How easy that would be?
Tedi without knowing , had played the part of matchmaker when he invited all his Village Dog Friends to the House. Mrs Granger had forgiven him and had told him that as long as he let her know in advance that he had invited guests and as long as his guests stayed outside in the Quadrangle that she would make them a “special treat” of delicious leftovers. Only Tedi was allowed in the kitchen. Tedi had nodded in acceptance.
A particular dog called “Willis” , who was a Wiermaraner had seen Tizzy, Tedi’s sister on his first visit and in truth Tizzy had noticed him. They were both very keen to see each other again and hoped the opportunity to meet up would happen soon. It had definitely been love at first sight.
Meanwhile Cross and James had builders and designers in and some of the outbuildings were converted to kennels for rescue dogs , there was an immediate need for these as local rescue centres were full to the brim. So soon James was busy with settling in the new dogs and there were also a need for volunteers and more staff to look after the new arrivals.
It was something close to Tedi’s heart as he remembered his time at Dog’s Trust and he wanted the facilities to be just like he had experienced. They would be more of a foster and rest and recreation service. Tedi knew the park and the Countryside would help any dog that had had a bad experience or just needed to let off steam. He knew they would have space for the bigger dogs and to be truthful he loved the idea of having more doggy friends.
So every day once his other duties were completed and he had done whatever Cross needed him to do, his free time was spent following James around and helping his rescue friends settle in. Tedi knew some of them were very upset and needed to be given time and space, but some became firm friends immediately; and once James saw that happening, he would let Tedi show them the ropes and they could head out into the park for some adventures.
Once such dog was Barney. Barney was tall and gangly, with a furry black and brown coat and what could only be described as funny ears and very gentle eyes, he was a lurcher and doberman cross. He was full of energy and a great companion for Tedi. Barney had no fear and would run off in all directions with Tedi chasing him.
One day Tedi and Barney bounded around the lake and then continued along a path that Tedi didn’t know . After reaching the end of the lake and climbing up a grassy knoll. From the top they could see a tree lined avenue in the distance , across the field on the far side, there was a kissing gate which they went through and then they made a sharp turn to the left .The avenue extended as far as the eye could see. Tedi was pretty sure it would lead to the village eventually but both dogs wanted to walk along it , as it was new to them.
They trotted beside each other, enjoying the afternoon sunshine, until eventually they came across a large White House, with a small pond surrounding it. The two dogs gazed in wonder as a huge water fountain spurted flumes of water from the centre of the pond at the front of the White House . Little did Tedi know, but this was one of his tenants, an American Family who rented the House from the Estate. The fountain stopped and the two dogs stared in wonder.
” Why had the water stopped?” They both wondered.
Tedi gazed at the centre of the pond.
“ It’s going to go any minute, it really is going to go any minute now…. I know!” Tedi said excitedly and was circling around in a frenzy, each circle he made he’d look to see if the fountain had gone off and where the water was going to land”.
“ Tedi you are going to make yourself dizzy! Look out!” Barney said.
The next moment a stream of water came shooting out of the fountain in the direction of both dogs. It was very beautiful to see and Tedi looked straight up and stared. Barney, moved swiftly out of the way, so the water didn’t land on him. Tedi however waited until the last minute and was soaked , he didn’t move out of the way and the water cascaded on top of him. Then he jumped in the pond and splashed around.
Tedi loved the fountain and was delighted with himself , he thought the droplets of water were beautiful and despite now being soaked to the skin he was happy. So happy he decided to roll on the earth around the lake and Barney looked at him, the once white dog was now very muddy and totally unrecognisable.
Suddenly a very angry man came running out of the big White House shouting and holding what looked like a big stick in his hands, he pointed it at the two dogs. There was a large bang and a bullet went whizzing over Tedi’s head.
Barney signalled to Tedi, that they better get away fast. The two dogs ran as fast as they could away from the Fountain and the man continued shooting at them. The two dogs reckoned the shots were over their heads but it was still crazy. They disappeared up the tree lined avenue. Fortunately the avenue lead to the village and once in the village they felt safe and they made there way to Freddie’s house.
Tedi and Barney told Freddie what had happened.
” Oh that’s the man with the gun, he doesn’t like anyone playing in the fountain. Good Grief Tedi you are a right state, you’re covered in mud. “
“Oh has he chased you too?” Barney asked Freddie
” Oh yes, he’s chased all of us, he’s never hit anyone , I don’t think his aim is very good. We tend to stay clear, it’s only a fountain. ” Freddie said nonchalantly.
“Only a fountain ” Tedi thought “It’s brilliant and I want to go back there and play in it, particularly in the summer.”
Barney and Tedi headed back home, Barney met James and some of the volunteers who were just starting to do the rounds with dinner. It was Barney’s favourite time and he was very hungry. Tedi headed off to the big House to get cleaned up and to have a word with Cross. He wanted to find out more about the White House and the Fountain and if possible stop the man shooting at any dog that wanted to swim in the fountain.
“What was the man’s problem?” Tedi thought “Swimming in the Fountain would be fun in the summer”
How to let Cross know though, Tedi decided he would bring Cross to visit the White House the next morning on their morning walk. Maybe if Cross talked to the man he could persuade him to let the dogs use his fountain, either way he had to stop him from shooting at everyone, because it was very dangerous. Someone could get hurt.
The next day, on his walk with Cross , he brought him the opposite way around the Park, as it was a shorter route to get to the White House.
Cross arrived at the White House and walked up past the fountain up to the front door.
” Ah interesting, let’s see if Mr and Mrs Needham are in . I can introduce them to you.” Cross knocked on the door.
The man who answered the door was the man who had fired his gun at Tedi and Barney. Tedi recognised the man immediately, but because he was with Cross he just stood by Cross’s side waiting to see what happened next.
” Good Morning Mr Needham, how are you?”
” Good Morning Mr Cross, lovely to see you , oh I’m very well, and who is this little fellow with you, you know I think I recognise him.”
” Yes, this is Tedi , the Head of House, you’ve probably seen pictures of him in the Newspapers, believe it or not he actually owns the Estate.”
” Oh my, he owns it , he’s our Landlord then?” Mr Needham looked a bit concerned.
“Well yes, but everything is fine isn’t it , you haven’t any problems?”
” Well no , but I think that is one of the dogs I shot at yesterday for going in my pond, the dog hair clogs up the mechanism , it costs a fortune to clean it out. I just wish they wouldn’t . I wouldn’t hurt them, I just try and scare them I’m really sorry. I hope he is OK.”
Tedi knew the game was up. He looked up at Cross.
“Tedi is this true?”
Tedi lifted his paw and scraped at Mr Needham’s trouser leg.
” Oh that’s alright, he’s telling you it’s alright” Just then the fountain erupted in the background, it made Cross look around, it was a very beautiful sight.”
“My what a sight.” Cross looked over at the fountain, Tedi looked longingly at it.
” Well I suppose if he owns it , I can’t really stop him using it.” Said Mr Needham.
Cross thought quickly. ” Well we could come to a maintenance arrangement , knowing Tedi, he’ll want to use it with his friends, we can make sure it’s kept clean and keeps working even if the dogs occasionally play in it. It be a great place for a pool party in the summer Tedi ? Wouldn’t it?” Cross looked down at Tedi
Tedi’s eyes lit up and he pawed at Mr Needham’s knee again.
Mr Needham , knelt down and patted Tedi, “Guess you know what you want Mr Tedi, or what do I call you Lordship maybe? Well as long as we can keep the fountain working , then if you and your friends want to use it that is fine with me.”
” We just know him as Tedi , his title is just too long to say and we haven’t time for all that fawning and Lordshipping, have we Tedi?” Mr Needham smiled as Tedi raised his paw in agreement to Cross .
Why don’t you and your family come up to the House one evening and have dinner with us, we can talk about our plans, and we can explain what we’d like to do and you can let us know what you think.” Cross continued.
” Sounds dandy, that’d be nice. Let us know when , and we’ll be more than happy, we’ll be glad to help. My son is really into his exotic animals , and I think he’d like to help with the Big Exhibition show you do. We were really disappointed when we moved here and found out the Big Exhibition show for Exotic Animals was being cancelled. My wife , well she loves all animals too . She didn’t like me scaring off the dogs, but I do like the fountain.”
” Great, well let’s set a date when we know we’re all free, sounds like we’ll have a lot to talk about.”
So it all worked out well in the end and Tedi and his friends were able to play in the fountain when they wanted ,especially when it was warm. Indeed the fountain was where Tizzy and Willis had there first date and very often they could be found lying there together in the sunshine on warm summer days.
The next day after a busy day and a flight delay , Sandy arrived back home from the Airport and as she closed the front door behind her, she felt a great sense of relief, she felt she was locking out what she now knew to be a dreadful dystopian world. Martin was out with the twins , he’d left her something to eat on the kitchen table with a note to say he’d be back soon. It was so good to be home and have a brief moment to gather her thoughts.
As she sat eating ,Martin arrived. The twins were excited to see her and Sandy was delighted to see them. For a few hours she enjoyed being a mum, knowing that her family were safe, that their lives were not in danger. Sandy would discuss later with Martin her thoughts on what she had discovered and her plans on what she needed to do next.
Meanwhile Gerry had gone straight to his office. Millie had been given another foreign assignment and would not be at home to greet him. He had everything he needed at his office, he could shower and catch up with his correspondence and e mails and then settle down on his sofa bed which was in a small room beside his office.
The talk with Professor Allenby in the bar the previous night had been very interesting and shocking at the same time. Gerry had learned how much Gene Theory had progressed. Gerry had always known himself to be a carrier, his mother had sat him down when he reached puberty. It was not the normal bird and bees talk. She warned him for his own safety not to tell anyone about his condition and also that in his case it would be best not to father any children. For a teenage boy, this was very strange to hear and assimilate.
Gerry, however, had other plans and had been very successful in his work at an early age and was too busy building his career to think about marriage or fatherhood. His mother’s warning was always at the back of his mind and though he liked women, he had been careful. He had let his guard down with Sandy. Gerry was struck by the bond he felt for Alex his son. Alex was important to him and he wanted to protect him as best he could from the likes of Allenby. It was not going to be easy.
Allenby, Gerry had ascertained was looking to wipe out any irregularities in the Human DNA Code entirely from the planet. Allenby was an articulate and persuasive talker whom Gerry quickly recognised as a someone who liked the sound of his own voice. The Media Business was full of them. Gerry found himself getting angrier and angrier as he listened to the droll voice of the good looking and well groomed Allenby. He took control of that anger and all Allenby had seen was what Gerry had wanted him to see. Gerry was an expert at appeasing the big egos of the day and Allenby, he knew, would think him a useful man to know. They exchanged business cards.
Now, in the peace and quiet of his office as he sat sipping his coffee he was secure and could think rationally. His Media World was like a giant sieve, leaks were par for the course, so when it came to keeping data safe Gerry used the latest technology. He was full proof. He used his encrypted computer to search for the names of the Institutions that Allenby had mentioned, he began building up a picture and followed up on the clues to Allenby’s targets that he had intimated were not far off being raided.
He also dug into what Allenby had described as the “messier” side of the process, eradication or denaturing. There was never any right word for what was in fact killing or annihilation, even Allenby acknowledged that. It wasn’t all rumour, it was indeed fact and unpalatable , but what could they do? Resources were not infinite and it took brave people to make the final decision , but they had to, there was no other cost – effective option.
Gerry had listened to Allenby describe some events and processes, it was almost as if the Professor felt compelled to explain himself. Gerry had stroked the Professor’s ego by suggesting that a documentary about his work and how it was benefitting the World might help. Allenby said he would be in touch if he felt it would help. Gerry had dangled the bait and he knew he would hear from the professor sooner or later.
When Gerry was happy that he had completed his research and recorded all the threads of what would form his investigation, his thoughts turned to Sandy. He knew, he hadn’t been the only one who had noticed when she went into the lift with the young Researcher Gregor. Allenby had noticed too and had made a very unpleasant remark which even Gerry balked at the severity. Allenby was jealous of Gregor’s conquest. As for Sandy herself, Gerry thought, well she used to be a top athlete, perhaps she just enjoyed the physicality and maybe that guy could help her with information. What did it matter? Whatever floated her boat. He knew she didn’t trust him, but one day she was going to have to if they were going to stop Allenby and his like and save Alex and other children like him. He closed his laptop and began to prepare for bed. Gerry had made progress, which he would share with Sandy at the appropriate time.
After a few hours sleep , he woke and realised that the Canteen would be open for the night shift and he decided it would be nice to get some food and find someone to chew the cud with over an early breakfast. He liked to know what was going on in the office, there was always someone on the make. He was bullet proof now, money talks and thanks to Millie he had plenty of that, but nevertheless old habits died hard and it was fun to see what was going on. He got up , washed and dressed and went downstairs to the Canteen.
Later that evening ; Sandy lay on her hotel bed going over what Professor Allenby’s had said and replaying some of the exerts of his talk back to herself on her headphones. As she listened to his monotone voice repeating the words she had heard earlier that day it brought the horror of what he had been describing back to her and she shook with anger.
Allenby talked about genes as if they needed to be controlled no matter what the cost. Allenby quoted statistics, probabilities and gene deficiencies. As she listened ; Sandy visualised the children whom had been hunted down like animals and that had not survived. She had wanted to stand up and start screaming at this monster of a man.
The plan as Allenby had outlined was cleaning up populations as if they were a Big Data Problem. There had been pilot studies and he frequently mentioned the success in Iceland. Gregor sighed at each mention of his Country’s contribution and occasionally scribbled something in his notes. Sandy sensed that Gregor became increasingly frustrated and angry as Allenby talked. It dawned on her that Gregor was an ally and may be of assistance in the future.
Sandy had concentrated on Allenby’s Graphical Representations and his examples of Successes throughout the World in the face of “insidious genes that misguided miscreants were protecting”. She listened for clues as to how much the Professor and his organisation actually knew. It was the final part of his presentation that spelt it out.
Allenby championed the “Big Clean Up “.An operation that was in full swing to eradicate these “rogues” from the World Gene Pool. It sounded very like a large Military Operation. Allenby described the unearthing of sites all over the World that were hiding and trying to preserve the rogue genes. Allenby showed a World Map and details of successful operations, one of which had been a large organic farm in Norfolk. Sandy , looked up at the screen and recognised Building 1, the site that she had visited and where Alex had been receiving treatment and care.
According to Allenby over thirty children with the potential to corrupt the future of a healthy population had been extricated from the facility and would now have to be cared for by the State at a large cost to Society, because of misguided lunatics who were in Allenby’s words pissing in the wind and wasting valuable resources on a road to nowhere. The danger that they posed was real and they would have to be stopped. It was believed that some of the children escaped on an underground railway, which had been discovered and destroyed.
” That my friends, is what we are up against, these protagonists are sophisticated and dangerous people. Their idealists of the worst kind. If these children are allowed to grow up in a normal society , then they will infect it , they will stop progress. We have populations such as in Iceland who are clean, we cannot afford to let our guard down. As I described currently only fifty three per cent of our World population have that status and it is not good enough. We need to increase our covert work to discover all the sites throughout the World that exist. We need to stop their mechanisms for “kidnapping” children from recognised Government facilities, which provide the necessary care and support for these unfortunates .
Allenby explained that there was a Global Task Force in place, including local Police , Army and Civil Service , which he coordinated from his Research Institute in America and they were making significant headway. Allenby had said that the information gathered on other sites globally and the work being done locally meant progress was being made to close these facilities down. Allenby asked the Conference attendees for any information that would help the cause. He particularly requested that rare genetic disorders discovered in any circumstances be reported immediately and dealt with through identified channels which his organisation would be able to advise on.
Sandy was intrigued how cleverly Allenby managed to gloss over the fact that his policy was to kill human beings. Sandy sensed some unease in the room. The room was full of Medical Professionals and they all knew of specific cases where they had had to report to the Government.
It was bad enough when it was discovered that the “normal” screening hadn’t worked and local Government got involved, but when it was a covert discovery from one of the Institutions that Allenby was trying to close down. What actually did happen to these children? It was a grey area and not openly discussed. No one really knew for sure. They were taken away and the story was that there was some sort of Utopian solution and that they lived happily ever after, albeit they were no longer part of mainstream society. Laws were in place to deal with their ” Progeny Status”, in essence they would be sterilised. Was that right? Where were they kept ?What happened to them?
Increasingly people were numb as to what was happening .Parents more and more accepted the situation. There were however, locations like South America and some parts of Asia where there were strong religious and social ethics . There were groups of people working hard to prevent “Progress”. They were well funded and like a lizard re-growing it’s tail could regenerate itself in a few weeks no matter what actions were taken. That was why increasingly Professor Allenby was working with all Governments to ensure that Criminal Law would deal with them. There was no other solution. These people and their funders had to be “locked up”.
Sandy turned off her recording and began to make some notes, just as she flipped the lid on her laptop there was a knock on the door. It was Gerry, she let him in.
” Sorry , I missed everything. Can we catch up over dinner. I’m just going down are you ready?”
Sandy had forgotten all about dinner and Gerry: but she needed a break and thought that maybe it would be good to run things by Gerry. At the same time she knew she had to be care It struck her that Allenby had knew about the underground train, had Gerry passed that information on.
Gerry, who was the inveterate talker and told Sandy about his woes, so over a glass of wine and some mediocre steak and fish, he described his day. Sandy acknowledged his frustrations and nodded as he described how the rental car he had left down in the underground car park hadn’t started and the hotel staff had been unable to find someone to fix it. As for the Conference Administrators , they were fools. It wasn’t until they were nearing the end of the meal that he asked her if she had learned anything useful from her day. Sandy was almost falling asleep; she knew she had to keep her wits about her and just give him enough information to keep him sweet.
She told him about Professor Allenby’s talk and how she felt it had gone down with the audience.
” He seems to be a total control freak, fascinating man though, so confident in being right and quite invincible.” Sandy was waffling.
” I’ve heard a lot about Allenby, ” Gerry interjected ” I would say he is a very dangerous man.”
” Really, dangerous? I suppose you are right, he was just short of talking about a ” Final Solution”, I sensed a general unease from parts of the audience while he was speaking.”
” If Allenby knew anything about my condition , I’d have been toast, a long time ago.”
“That’s ridiculous , Gerry, he is just a Scientist, he has his theories, you’re not suggesting that he’s going around killing people?”
” I’m pretty certain , him and his mob were the ones who nearly got hold of Alex.” Gerry looked at Sandy gravely.
” He’s a respected Life Scientist, he’s supposed to be improving things for everyone.” Sandy felt she was laying this on a bit thick, but she felt Gerry was fishing. She was surprised when Gerry replied with total vehemence.
” Sandy don’t be so naïve, that man is a Sociopath, he’s extremely dangerous.”
Sandy picked up her napkin and dabbed at her lips. ” Look Gerry, I’m tired, I had a lot to take in today, is there anything specific you need to know? I’m here to gather information, but if you want to point me in a direction that’s worth a follow up , please do.”
” I’m sorry, Sandy, you’re doing the right thing, in an official capacity.” Gerry watched Sandy fidgeting and knew that she wanted to get up and go.
” You’re right, I’m tired too, but I’m just going to have a quick night cap in the bar, I’m sure you have got better things to do. I’ve got my pass for tomorrow. I’ll be there , save me a seat.” Gerry smiled and stood up.
Sandy stood up as well , somewhat relieved to be able to go back to her room and gather her thoughts.
” See you at breakfast Gerry, I think the first presentation is at ten thirty. Goodnight.” She turned and left the area where they were dining and Gerry walked over to the bar.
As Sandy walked through the lobby, she saw Gregor who smiled broadly at her and was obviously pleased to see her.
” Ah Sandy, would you like a night cap? Sorry we missed each other earlier.”
” Oh Gregor, sorry, I forgot we’d said we’d meet up. My boss had no one to go to dinner with , so I had to keep him company. He’s gone to the bar now , so I think I’ll pass on the night cap.”
Gregor replied. ” I did want to speak with you Sandy, is now not a good time?” Gregor looked pleadingly.
“I really wanted to talk to you too, but I’m so tired, I need a break. I’ve been treading carefully all day with my boss and I don’t think I can take anything else in. It’s a pretty busy schedule tomorrow and I’m flying out early evening, my husband has been looking after our children. So I’ll be glad to get back.” Sandy smiled at Gregor.
” OK I understand. Here, have one of my cards, the e. mail on the back is totally secure, but keep it light. I’m going to be in London in a few weeks time , so we must meet up.” Gregor handed her his card.
Sandy looked at him ” Thank You, that’s kind of you and I’ll send you an e. mail tomorrow, I’m interested in your Country’s story and how you view it. It would make a good interview , when you are in London.”
” Thank you, that would be good. Have a good flight home.”
As Sandy turned around to go , she noticed Gerry in the Bar talking to another man, it was Allenby. Gerry caught her eye and waved nonchalantly. Allenby turned and noticed Sandy, but did not acknowledge her.
On the spur of the moment , she turned back to Gregor.
” Follow me to the lift and get in with me, pretend we have an assignation”
” What?” Gregor looked puzzled.
I don’t want to be too obvious, but I want someone to think I’m being true to form and going to bed with you. I’m not don’t worry. I have my reasons. I want my boss to think it.”
” OK, let’s go then, which floor are you on? Look the lift is free. Let’s go. Gregor put his arm around Sandy’s waist. They both entered the lift and disappeared. Gerry turned his back and continued his conversation with Professor Allenby.
That evening, at home over dinner, Martin and Sandy discussed the the trip to Barcelona and the fact that Gerry wanted to accompany Sandy. Their priority as parents was to ensure they had child care to look after the twins. The more emotive issue that they both faced was trusting each other, they agreed they did but they also agreed they didn’t trust Gerry. That was all Sandy wanted to hear. Martin told her that he didn’t feel she had told Gerry too much, it was a worry that he had kept the letter but if Martin had been in Gerry’s position he would have done the same thing.
The following week, Gerry and Sandy were in Barcelona, they arrived on separate flights , but Gerry managed to catch Sandy at El Prat Airport and they took a taxi to the hotel together.
When Gerry and Sandy arrived at the hotel, it was about 8.00 pm local time, they were just able to book a table for dinner. Sandy had tried making excuses, saying she wasn’t hungry, but Gerry had insisted . They would go up to their respective rooms after dinner. He had arranged for their luggage to be brought up to their rooms. When they were seated at dinner he asked Sandy what she wanted to drink. They both had a small glass of rose wine.
Gerry took Alex’s letter out of his pocket. ” Here , I’m really sorry I meant to give this back to you, I just haven’t had a chance.”
Sandy took the letter. ” Thanks, I’m glad to have it back, it’s all I’ve got from my little boy, I suppose you kept it for the same reason.” She put the letter in her bag and took a sip of wine.
The two of them really had very little to talk about , Gerry had made all his own arrangements and he did not want to talk “shop” or talk about what ” Mills ” was doing, Sandy did not want to talk at all. So they ordered a main course and decided to call it a day. Sandy said she was going for a run in the morning and would meet Gerry at the administration desk for the Conference which luck would have it was being held in the hotel they were staying at.
“Goodnight” she coldly said as she got up from the table and left the restaurant. Gerry, sat for a few moments and once he had signed the bill the waiter presented to him, he got up and walked into the bar for a nightcap and some company if anyone was around.
The next morning, as Sandy stood in the queue for those who had pre-registered, she was just about to collect her badge and the Conference Information Pack when Gerry approached her, badge-less and annoyed.
” I hate all this nonsense!” He turned to Sandy having already remonstrated with the man on the check- in desk.
” Sandy , tell him who I am!”
Sandy walked over to the man at the desk and told him that she could vouch for Gerry and that he’d sent his registration details yesterday. The man on the desk said that there was no record of Gerry’s name and that he would have to register again and it would take a few hours to resolve.
Sandy went over to Gerry and said.” Gerry there’s no record of you registering , it’s going to take the morning to sort it out. Why don’t you go and enjoy Barcelona for now. You can join me for the afternoon sessions. I’ll update you if there’s anything interesting this morning.
Gerry looked very sheepish and smiled; there was no way around security and he knew he had forgotten to confirm the link that the Conference Organisers had sent him. He really wanted to accompany Sandy as he felt she was onto something. Sandy, however, was relieved that she would be free of Gerry at least for the morning. They said their goodbyes and agreed to meet up later.
When Sandy entered the large conference hall, she listened to the buzz of excited conversations from colleagues who hadn’t seen each other for some time. They were all catching up on the latest academic rumours and gossip. Sandy thought that her Press Badge might be a bit off putting to some so she decided to take a seat and have a look at her information pack. Let people come to her she thought, see what develops. She scanned through the information , the subject matter on the whole was extremely dry but one item on the agenda for this morning caught her eye.
Rogues and Genes
Professor Ian Allenby
” Rogues and Genes ” , was a talk by Professor Ian Allenby of the Washington Albany University and Research Facility. The talk was going to cover the black net and the presence of irregular activity and research in Modern Genetics. Sandy knew what this was about and what this really meant and she was going to find out what this Professor Allenby knew.
The seats around her were rapidly filling and a few people brushed by Sandy, saying the usual “excuse me”, Sandy looked up smiled and let them pass and continued reading about Professor Allenby. She scanned his biographical details quickly, he was English and quite young at thirty five to be heading such an important facility such as the Washington Albany. He had completed his PhD at Oxford University and had for a number of years worked for the Government . He had held a number of key Teaching posts and was very much the darling of the Private Sector and lobbied strongly on their behalf, in return for their patronage and funding.
Sandy failed to notice the tall , blonde gangly young man who brushed her leg and took the seat next to her just as she finished reading about Professor Allenby’s achievements. The young man, unfortunately spilled his coffee just as he was trying to sit down .He had been awkwardly trying to balance his ray-pad and his coffee cup tilted towards Sandy. Fortunately, the hot coffee missed Sandy and spilt onto the floor next to her, but instinctively she moved her feet away.
” I’m so sorry! I hope I didn’t splash you.” The young man said in a Scandinavian lilt. Sandy looked up and smiled.
” No damage done.” she moved her feet as the man reached down with a clean hanky from his pocket and wiped the droplets of coffee from the carpet tiles.
” What a clumsy fellow I am , I should not carry so much stuff””
” Yes , stuff is always the problem , there is simply not enough research into stuff!” Sandy smiled and began to laugh.
” So much stuff in the World! I cannot shake your hand. Hello, my name is Gregor , Gregor Lavelet.”
“I am from Iceland, Reykjavik, The Nordic Gene Institute.”
” Sandy Smith, Sunshine Media, pleased to meet you. I’m here to some preliminary research on a documentary I’m planning to make. It’s early days.”
Gregor settled into his chair, and tried his best to fit his long legs into the seating, it was a struggle.
” This is going to be very dry for the next few hours, going over the same old subject matter. We have been so successful in so many fields, really it’s just reporting progress and good news. I am most interested in what Professor Allenby has got to say, I suppose that’s the juicy bit for the Press too.”
Sandy laughed. ” Well I’m here to listen to everything, but you’re right, Professor Allenby seems to be the one with the intriguing story, we need bad news, threats to global security, no point us writing about what’s good in the World is there?”
” Yes you are right there, my cynical journalist friend.” Gregor smiled.
“Ah and I shall stereotype all Scientists as anal and boring …. I knew this gig would be a bundle of laughs.” Sandy said tongue in cheek.
” Please, please, don’t pigeon hole us scientists, where would you be without us?” Gregor defended his corner perhaps unnecessarily.
” No of course not , I was only being flippant, I’m sorry. I’m here to get the lay of the land, I need to be able to explain to the non-scientists what is going on. The more people who know about the Work, the more support it will have. I have read a little about Iceland, no record of any hereditary conditions being passed on for the last twenty years, now that is quite an achievement”. Sandy turned to Gregor.
” Yes, truly an amazing achievement, we have been very disciplined in our approach. We no longer have Parents put in the difficult position of choosing whether to continue with a pregnancy or not. It simply does not happen. Officially.”
” Really , tell me more, do bad “”genes” still pop up, how about “Unofficially”?”
” Officially there are none. Unofficially , I’m not so sure. I don’t work in that field. My work concerns genetic profiling, identifying key traits and looking at the ethical arguments for and against of allowing progeny to continue. We need to be very aware we are not trying to create a Master Race.”.
” That would be very dangerous and an abuse of all that has been achieved. Is it possible?” Sandy looked very seriously at Gregor.
” Yes, you should listen carefully to the Ethics discussion, you will begin to see how the land lies. I think we may have gone to far, I am hoping we are not at the point of no return. ” Gregor crossed his legs, he was beginning to get uncomfortable.
” Are you saying that basic human values are under attack.”
” Most definitely yes, you really have to read between the lines. Professor Allenby is a protagonist for the perfect human. I’m afraid I disagree with him. The psychological impact that this “perfection” is having on our small Island is interesting to say the least.” Gregor faced forward as he heard the introductory music and the Conference Introduction.
” Maybe we’ll catch up later.” Sandy whispered and settled down to listen.
Gregor did not hear her, he was concentrating on the podium. The first Speaker was introduced and began to talk. Sandy sat still ; her hands folded on the notes on her lap. She pressed the button on her phone to record; it would help her interpret the technical jargon later. She hoped Gregor didn’t think that suggesting they meet up later was a come on, but the serious young man was totally engrossed in his work, she could see that now. Sandy might as well have not be there.
It would have been unfair to say that the other presentations were very dry, but Sandy noticed that the room seemed to sit up on mass when Professor Allenby arrived on the Podium. He looked more like the CEO of a large Corporate Organisation than a career Scientist.
Sandy was fascinated as he watched his lithe capable assistant discretely solve a problem with the microphone sound that clearly the inhouse sound engineer was having difficulty with. The sound engineer cowed a little at the look of pure disdain he got as she waved him away and nodded with confidence to the Professor. The Professor in turn smiled at her with his fixed white smile and continued talking, the sound had been perfectly adjusted and he continued without interruption. It had been seamless. Sandy got the impression that the Professor was certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Sandy arrived at the office that morning with a more determination than she had ever felt. First of all she had heard from Alex and she was as sure as she could be that he was safe. Secondly, she was in a position to help Dr King and the others and once seated at her desk she began rereading her notes and looking at them with a fresh prospective. Sandy initially had regarded the Press Releases on new genetic policy that she had been bombarded with when she started her research with a high degree of scepticism, and occasional anger; knowing the reality of what they were doing. Children were being taken away from their parents and killed. Now, however, she read them clinically and objectively. Reading between the lines, they seemed very keen to promote their cause and Sandy felt that that this may indeed be the chink in their armour. They wanted justification for their actions and they wanted it publicised. Sandy had to play them at their own game, win their confidence. There were people to meet and places to see. What she could find out would help blow the lid off of the whole sordid mess and stop it in it’s tracks. Sandy decided she was going to be a key player in achieving that.
The Invitation to a ” Genetics , the Next 100 Years” seminar in Barcelona appeared on the face of it an extremely dry agenda, admittedly in a nice location. It was a good place to start ; so she picked up the phone and booked the flights and the hotel room and confirmed by e-mail her registration documents for the Conference. Sandy had just finished making the arrangements when there was a knock on the door and Gerry entered . He was smiling and was obviously ready to sit down and have a long chat. Sandy, for her part was now very willing to listen.
” The little madam is away on location for the next three weeks and dad in-law is going to be away on business, I’ve got a time-slot free. I wanted to set up a visit to see my son, is that possible?”
” Good Morning Gerry, nice to see you , hope you are keeping well? Thank you Gerry I’m fine, I had a great weekend. You never were one for the finer points of conversation were you Gerry?”
Gerry laughed at Sandy’s deadpan delivery.
” Waste of time all that yakking. I’m sorry , I apologise , getting ahead of myself again. How are you? How are things going?”
Sandy ignored his question. ” I’d give you advice to relax , Gerry, but you’d only misinterpret my meaning. Live in the moment, you’re always miles ahead of yourself and others. Time does not exist to be consumed or consummated for that matter.”
” My memories of relaxing with you are perfect, I’ve no regrets. My life has changed , I have a son. I’m a father to a wonderful little boy and you are his mother. Have you any idea how that makes me feel?” Gerry looked at Sandy directly.
Sandy refrained from squirming, though part of her felt like doing so. In her mind she thought , bloody Media Mogul. Egomaniac! She, immediately regretted it. Gerry was just a man like any other. The bond between father and son could and should be unbreakable, perhaps that was the way Gerry felt, there was no telling.
She continued.” I know how a mother feels and Martin and I are very protective of all our children. There was a raid where Alex was living , the location was compromised. Thankfully Alex was one of the children that they managed to help escape and he was not captured. It would have meant certain death. I had a letter from him , he described everything that happened to, him. It’s too much for a six year old to take, but he is having to take it.”
” How do you mean? Is Alex in danger?.”
” Daily danger, Gerry, Alex will always be in danger, he’s regarded by our Society as defective goods.”
” But the money, that’s going to protect him isn’t it? I mean that’s its purpose. The people we’re sending money to , they can stop him being harmed.”
” I hope so” Sandy gazed at the slightly flabby short man slouched in the seat in front of her and realised she was walking on a tightrope. How much could she let Gerry know? She was going to have to make a very serious judgement call, they needed more money and they needed it fast.
Sandy took the letter that Alex had wrote to her and Martin about his escape from one of the drawers in her desk.
“Here read this, it’s from your son. It’s pretty harrowing.” She stood up .” Do you want a coffee?”
“Please.” Gerry took the letter from her hand and began to read it.
When Sandy had made the coffee, she turned and looked at Gerry. He had finished reading the letter and he had tears coming down his eyes.
“Here’s your coffee.” She said bluntly.
“My poor child, this is horrendous, madness.”
” Tell me about it, is this what we do to six year old children? What kind of World are we living in Gerry? Alex was lucky, but he knows his friends and the other people he knew at Building 1 did not survive . They were his family. You can see how much work goes into keeping all of their work secret and that was a pretty sophisticated escape mechanism to save maybe twenty children. It all costs and what they need is money , your money. It’s more necessary than ever. Can you supply it?”
” Yes, I think I can.” Gerry looked up at Sandy.
” Give as much as you can and make sure it’s untraceable.”
” OK ” Gerry nodded and began to sip his coffee. He was unable to speak, so Sandy thought it would be a good idea to pitch him her plans.”
” I’ve done the research Gerry, but I need to move onto the next phase if we are help counteract these killers. I need to know the main protagonists. Attend some Government and Scientific Conferences . I’ve been ignoring the invites and the calls, because I’ve had my head stuck in books, but perhaps I can find out how these people work, how they find out the locations. Apparently, so I’m told it’s getting harder, and harder to keep them secret. The raids happen out of the blue. If I could find out how they locate them perhaps I could pre-warn them.”
“They have underground trains? That’s a pretty amazing bit of organisation.” Gerry was still digesting Alex’s letter.
Sandy flinched, had she let Gerry have information that she shouldn’t have. Were Gerry’s tears crocodile ones? She didn’t know and now she felt a bit foolish. Was Gerry really an A1 and actually supported what was going on? These thoughts buzzed through her head , but she regained her poise and took a sip of coffee from her cup. It was Gerry who recovered himself first and spoke.
” Have you anything planned at the moment?” He quizzed her.
Sandy gathered herself , she had chosen her course and she had to follow it.
” I’ve booked myself onto a Global Government Gene Conference in Barcelona next week.”
” Good, give me the details I’ll come too.”
” I don’t think that’s a good idea , Gerry?” Sandy frowned.
” Sandy , you need some gravitas behind you, I’ll watch your back…. and anyway I’m pulling rank on you. Don’t worry , I’ll book my own tickets, you can trust me , if you want the money , you have no option.”
” Fine Gerry, if that’s what you want. I understand.”
Gerry smiled ” See you in Barcelona!” and left her office.
When Gerry went out the door, Sandy put her head in her hands.
” Oh Crap!”
She immediately picked up her phone and rang Martin on his mobile, she just wanted to tell him what had happened and what was going to happen, but there was no answer. It was one time she really needed to speak to him. The phone went on to answering machine. It was good to hear his voice. She left a message.
“Hi Martin, Sandy, ring me when you get a chance.”
She went to put Alex’s letter back in the drawer, and she realised Gerry had taken it away with him.
thenotsomightyom 