Chapter 7

“Wow, you have a great view over the city from here” Eric commented once Nata had welcomed him into the apartment. For some reason this made the young woman burst into laughter.

“Take a seat, Eric” she said with a lingering smile. “I am going to change out of this gear if you don’t mind. It stinks of burnt plastic”

Eric looked around her apartment, far smaller than his of course but it felt warmer, more lived in. There were wooden cabinets and shelves in every available space, stuffed in an orderly way with bottles and jars, printed books and little boxes. It reminded him of pictures he had seen of a Curio shop, a place filled with exotic items from across the world.

He seated himself on the edge of a large overstuffed chair, conscious of his clothes and boots that were stained with dark smudges from the burnt warehouse. If he sat absolutely still, he felt confident he would not shed any ash onto Nata’s rather old but elegant rugs or furniture.

“Don’t sit there so stiffly!” she cajoled him as she re-entered the living room some minutes later. She was wearing a long, simple green gown that covered her arms and finished just above her ankles, the thin fabric showing her slender but female form beneath. Her pale brown feet were in a pair of simple sandals, her toenails painted a shade of green that matched her dress. Eric gulped and tried to sit a little less formally, shifting his feet self-consciously.

Nata had gone into a tiny kitchen alcove and returned with a tray containing a jug of juice, some water and a small plate of spiced cookies. She sat on the small two-seat sofa next to Eric’s chair and poured some water into a glass before handing it to her guest.

“Here, I am sure your throat is as caked with dust as mine” She poured a second for herself and drank it in one long swallow. Eric watched her over his own glass as he sipped the water, his own throat not as affected since his mask had filter pads. All of the obvious combat gear he had left stashed in his bike panniers, securely parked in Nata’s parking space below the apartment building.

Nata had now poured herself a glass of juice, apple he guessed by the pale colour and was nibbling daintily at a cookie. He could not help but admire the natural beauty of the woman, which he ruefully admitted to himself she was. Nata was eighteen years old, substantially older than his apparent age of thirteen and much older than the two years he had been alive since being decanted from the cloning tanks.

“Am I really that fascinating?” she said to him, startling Eric as he realised he had been staring at her for a few minutes.

“Sorry, but I have not really had a chance to look at you properly before” he admitted shyly. “And yes, you are fascinating. Your combat skills are incredible and the power of Lacerata seems unstoppable”

“Is that so?” she laughed. “I realise I don’t look my best right now, but I am disappointed that it is only my fighting skills that impress you”

Eric was well and truly flustered now and decided he needed to change the topic urgently.

“Nata, who were you expecting to find at the warehouse? You thought I was that person, didn’t you?”

“Nobody that I can tell you about, so please don’t ask anymore” she responded, her face closing over and giving him nothing.

“I understand, Nata. We all have our secrets” Eric sympathised. Nata watched him over the lip of her glass, the juice forgotten for the moment.

“It’s not my secret. But if you want to find out more, go to the Little Angels Orphanage. Ask for Sister Adoracion, she will know how to help you”

“Thanks for that, Nata. You have me intrigued now so I might just do that” Eric answered. “How about a different topic?” He held up the ampoule he had found at the warehouse.

“Heightened Experience, supposedly a legal mood elevator being made under licence here in the Zone by Euro-Pharma. What I wanted to know is why the Brackenridge’s were manufacturing the stuff in that secret laboratory?”

“You guessed they were making the drug before you investigated?” Nata asked. Eric nodded his agreement in response so she continued. “The Order had a similar tip off, which is why I was there”

“Isn’t something like this better handled by the Guard or Police Auxiliary? Making and selling drugs without a licence is a criminal act, not a matter for the Order”

Nata frowned again, making Eric notice her brows were full and well shaped, accentuating her large eyes. He shook his head, wondering why he kept noticing these kinds of things about her.

“In normal circumstances, I would agree” the Sister said. “But we have been having problems with a derivative of the original drug. It is quite dangerous when taken by an Adept, or at least a potential Adept”

“What!” Eric shouted. “Does this drug have a name?”

“Er, yes” Nata replied. “The name they use is HEx. Have you heard of it?”

If Naomi Tengaki were the kind of woman to make a bet, she would have bet good money that she would be dead by morning. That was the vibe she was getting as the Brackenridge butler, an imposing tall man who introduced himself as Hammerton, escorted her through the tastefully furnished house. Her high heeled shoes tapped loudly across the polished wooden floorboards, the butler at her front seeming to make no noise at all as he walked.

The whole place showed a sophisticated sense of style that told a visitor the owners not only had an obscene amount of money, but they used it with an elegant economy. Naomi thought wistfully of her own garishly decorated apartment that she shared with her partner, Alison. She prayed fervently to whatever gods may be listening that she would be able to return home there, if only to throw out those awful lime green cushions her partner had bought last week.

Without a word, the cold faced butler led her out from the warm house to a breezy patio, the wind blowing in from the sea carrying the scent of salt, sand and rotting seaweed. Mrs Brackenridge was standing against the white painted railings, looking over the water as it crashed against the shore.

“Miss Tengaki, welcome to our summer house” the woman said, not bothering to turn and face her employee. “This is your first visit here I believe”

“Yes, Madam” Naomi answered as formally as she dared. “It is a very beautiful house. I was admiring the tasteful way you have decorated it as I came through”

Mrs Brackenridge let out a long, heavy sigh, barely heard over the surf.

“I was very pleased with how this house has been restyled. It took a lot of work to clean the remains of the previous occupants out of the wooden floors. Some of them even ended up in the basement as I recall”

Naomi felt a chill run through her body, unrelated to the cold moisture laden air blowing in from the Coral Sea.

“I beg your pardon. Mrs Brackenridge?” Naomi called out, unsure of what she had just heard.

The woman turned to face Naomi and smiled widely, showing far too many perfect white teeth to be normal in such a narrow mouth.

“No need to beg, Miss Tengaki. At least, not yet” She gestured to a small white table and matching chairs. “Please, take a seat”

Naomi walked to the closest chair, behind which stood Hammerton. As she approached he pulled the chair out for her then slid it under her as she sat down. Her heart was beating faster in her chest when she realised he remained there, within arm’s reach, while Mrs Brackenridge pulled out her own chair and sat down to face her.

“Now, Miss Tengaki, explain to me how you managed to burn down my warehouse”

Naomi gulped and for a moment wondered how far she would be able to run before the butler took her down. As if reading her mind, a heavy hand was laid on her shoulder, pinning her to the chair.

“Well, after we detected the first intrusion, I ordered my Net Divers to establish an alert on the main computer stacks. Something that only triggered an alarm if a user logged out without using the right password. It is not something most Net Divers look out for when they hack into a system”

“I see” Mrs Brackenridge said, her eyes dark and forbidding in the low lights of the patio. “So you thought it would be easier to catch them after they had broken in, rather than preventing their intrusion in the first place?”

“Yes” agreed Naomi, warming to her story now.”The intruder was very talented, almost impossible to detect and we definitely had little chance of keeping them out if they had returned. So we brought in the Golems and a whole squad of security guards, ready to respond when the intruder was finally detected”

“I understand, Miss Tengaki” Mrs Brackenridge acknowledged. “You let this intruder put themselves into the very jaws of the trap, let them take the bait into their hands, then closed it shut!”

“Exactly!” Naomi replied enthusiastically.

“In that case, why did you let the Golems blow up my laboratory and set fire to the whole warehouse?”

“Oh!” the Security Head gasped. “I had only done what your original instructions to me said. I was not to allow the intruder to leave the warehouse under any circumstances. They were to be killed or captured, no matter what the cost!”

“Ah yes, I did say that didn’t I?” acknowledged Mrs Brackenridge. “In the light of my own instructions, your use of extreme force against the intruder was entirely justified. You have my apologies, Miss Tengaki”

“Please, Mrs Brackenridge, there is no need to apologise!” Naomi burst out, waving her hands desperately in front of her.

“Of course, such an apology would only be required if you had actually captured or killed the intruder, isn’t that true?” smiled her employer and Naomi felt like she was balanced on the edge of a cliff, teetering on the crumbling rocks beneath her feet. Hammerton’s solid hand still lay on her shoulder, ready to push her off at a single command.

“I can find them!” Naomi shouted, clinging to life for all she was worth. “Please, give me one more chance and I can bring them to you!”

“Another chance, Miss Tengaki?” pondered the cold faced woman, smiling at her with all of those gleaming teeth once more. “There will be a price for my leniency, you understand that don’t you?”

“Yes, I understand” sobbed Naomi and sat there waiting for whatever would befall her.

Mrs Brackenridge stood up, startling her forlorn employee, yet she simply walked to the railing once again and regarded the moonlit surf as it crashed onto the sand.

“You may leave” Mrs Brackenridge declared, the interview over. Naomi felt the butler’s hand lift from her at last so she stood as well and bowed deeply to the back of her employer and master.

“Thank you. I won’t fail you again!” she declared and then followed the silent butler as he led her to the front door of the summer house.

Naomi had regained her composure by the time her sleek red sportscar had driven itself home. The onboard AI parked the expensive vehicle with machine precision in her allocated space below the residential tower she lived in with Alison.

Her hand barely trembled as her Resident Smart Key summoned an elevator to the basement parking lot and when she finally reached her apartment door on the twenty eighth floor she was already making plans on how to locate and destroy that damned intruder.

“Alison, I’m home!” she called out when the door opened, filled once again with the drive and confidence that had enabled her to become Head of Security at the Brackenridge Distribution Center. It was a demanding but well paid job and she knew she could make amends for her failure last night.

“Alison honey, where are you?” she called again, not seeing her partner anywhere in the spacious living room. In the dining nook she saw their suppers waiting on self heated plates, ready for them to share a late night meal. Her hours working for Security meant a lot of late or missed meals, yet Alison loved her and never complained about the demands of her job.

Naomi paused in the passageway that lead to their bedroom, then retreated to the kitchen. From a small drawer she took out a pistol, checked the magazine was loaded and clicked the safety off. Holding it the way her old Army instructors had drilled her relentlessly, she crept stealthily towards the bedroom she shared with Alison.

The door was slightly ajar and a familiar stink of caseless propellant filled her nostrils. Someone had fired a gun in her bedroom, not long ago at all. With a wordless cry, Naomi hurled the door open and rushed into the bedroom, her pistol moving left and right as she scanned the room.

Alison, her beloved wife, sat on the bed with one of those awful lime green cushions clutched to her chest. The headboard that she was leaning against had a semi-circle of bullet holes framing her delicate blonde hair. The woman’s beautiful green eyes, rimmed red from tears, stared at her in terror over the gag in her mouth.

“Please put the gun down, Miss Tengaki” said a flat, emotionless woman’s voice from behind her, the hard metal barrel of a pistol pressing into the back of her skull. With a stifled sob, Naomi hurled her pistol onto the bed, the weapon bouncing on the dark green bed spread. For some reason, it occurred to Naomi only now that Alison really loved green fabrics.

The gun to her head shifted as the wielder stepped to one side and into Naomi’s line of sight.

“Do you know who I am?” asked the woman in the same flat tone as before. She was unremarkable in appearance, her bland face and hair making it hard to even guess her heritage, let alone age or distinguishing features.

Regardless of that, Naomi knew her. Everyone of a certain level in Brackenridge Transportation knew this woman and her role in the company.

“Monique Shaw, the Head Maid for the Brackenridge Family” Naomi muttered.

“That is correct” agreed Monique, her aim never wavering from the temple of Naomi’s head. “And as the Head Maid, it is my job to make sure every little spill is cleaned up, every small mistake is dealt with”

She glanced for a moment at Naomi’s wife, sitting in utter terror on their bed.

“It would be a shame for me to return here just to do some cleaning up, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, I understand” Naomi whispered. “Please assure your employer that I understand the price and I will make sure it does not have to be paid”

“Excellent, Miss Tengaki” Monique said with a thin smile. She lowered the pistol and it seemed to vanish as she tucked it out of sight someplace. “In that case I shall leave you and Miss Alison to enjoy your supper. Good evening to you both”

With that the woman bowed and walked briskly from the bedroom. Naomi sat down suddenly on the edge of the bed as her legs gave out, all strength fled from her body. Alison crawled across the green covers and laid a gentle hand on her arm, making her turn her head.

Naomi looked at her with a strange smile as she loosened the gag from her partner’s mouth.

“Tough day at the office, sweetie?” Alison asked her and both of them burst into that mix of tears and laughter that takes hold of you sometimes.

“Yeah, pretty bad” agreed Naomi. They were sitting like that when Naomi’s phone rang so she took it from her jacket pocket.

She listened to the report from her second in command, the one overseeing security at the ruins of the warehouse. Naomi nodded once or twice, saying “Yes” or a “No” then ended the call. Without a pause, the woman stood, pocketed her phone and slipped the pistol on the bedspread into another pocket.

“Sorry, honey, I need to go back to work” she told Alison. “You go ahead and eat supper without me”