The Gaia Effect

by Claire Buss

It took four of Jed's unit to pull him away from Ingrid's body. Two more medics ran over with a gurney. Jed was still fighting the men holding him as his sister was air lifted away.

  'No! That's my sister. She's not... you can't....get off.'

  As the med van disappeared, the fight dropped out of Jed. He sagged into the arms of his men. A skimmer flew into the crime scene, and somebody hurtled off at a run. A young operative tried in vain to stop Pete.

  'Sir. You can't enter here. It's a cordon..'

  Pete carried on. When he saw Jed, he stopped in his tracks. Jed lifted his tear stained face and shook his head as his friend fell to his knees and howled in pain. For a brief moment, everyone stopped to look.

  Pete's howl reverberated around the wreckage, as he poured his grief into it. Without warning, he broke off, staggered to his feet and grabbed Jed by the arms.

  'The baby? What about the baby? Not the baby?'

  Jed couldn't answer. He didn't know. The medic who had organised Ingrid's gurney came cautiously over to the two men.

  'We sent the body to Science Division. I'm sure they'll do everything they can to save the baby but,' he hesitated. 'It didn't look good.'

  Not waiting to see whether the two men understood what he had told them, the medic hurried over to another body being pulled from the wreckage. Pete and Jed looked dimly at each other, neither one able to comprehend what had happened.

  EMERGENCY MEETING OF CORPORATION

  BOARD FOR CITY FORTY-TWO

  DATE: 1st August 2215

  VIRTUAL PRESENCE: J NICKS, Y ASWAD and P BASJERE

  R HAMBLE INJURED – MINUTES SENT THROUGH

  AGENDA

  1. ATTACK ON CORP TECH

  2. DECISION ON PREGNANCY B

  3. PUBLIC UNREST

  4. CONTINGENCY PLAN

  MINUTES

  1. UNWARRANTED ATTACK ON CORP TECH HAS REVEALED SERIOUS SECURITY BREACH – NEW MEASURES TO BE PUT IN PLACE. ALL EFFORTS MUST BE MADE TO RECOVER PROJECT WORK & RE-HOUSE IN SECURE LOCATION. FAMILIES TO BE SENT CONDOLENCES. ORDERS FOR TERMINATION APPROVED ON CULPRITS.

  2. PREGNANCY B UPDATE – HOST DIED IN ATTACK. BABY WAS VIABLE BUT DECISION MADE TO TERMINATE FOR MEDICAL STUDY.

  3. LEVEL OF PUBLIC UNREST NOT TO BE TOLERATED. FORCE MUST EXERCISE GREATER CONTROL. CORPORATION TO FILL THE SWEEPS WITH POSITIVE MESSAGES AND TURN FOCUS.

  4. CONTINGENCY PLAN A READY FOR EXECUTION – BOARD MEMBERS WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE CITY UNTIL SITUATION RECTIFIED.

  ANY OTHER BUSINESS – NONE

  Chapter Thirteen

  CORP: Use your locator tech to check on your loved ones.

  Corporation looks after you.

  ANTIC: Our leader, Victor Bianchi speaks out against today's violent action.

  “Radicals have used our peaceful movement as a terrorist springboard.”

  Twenty minutes after being air lifted to the Medical Centre, Ingrid's body lay within a suspension field in the operating theatre. Several medical staff and two senior consultants, one taller than the other, stood around her.

  'And you're sure they don't want the fetus to survive?' The taller consultant asked, reluctant to act. 'If we continue to supply oxygen, there's a very good chance it can be saved.'

  'The Board want us to carry out an investigation into how this happened. That means autopsy for both mother and child.' His older colleague replied.

  'We can't just let the baby die. Surely emphasis should be on saving the child. I mean, it's a medical marvel, think of what might be possible.'

  'This is why we have strict directives. Dead mother – dead child.'

  Both consultants looked at Ingrid's lifeless body for a moment longer. The older consultant shook his head and gave the signal to turn off life support. If anyone in the room was shocked, they hid it well. The two consultants watched as the rapid heartbeat of the fetus began to slow and become erratic, before fading away altogether. Neither of them noticed the recorder nestled in the corner of the room, it's small red light flashing, capturing both image and sound.

  MED4AC: Let's ignore the Hippocratic Oath shall we?

  ANTIC: !!!INSTANT UPDATE!!!!

  Ingrid Jenkins killed in building terror attack.

  Corporation murders baby – watch the unbelievable footage and spread the sweep.

  Stand for the people – join Anti-Corp – justice for Baby J.

  Kira stared in shock at the news sweep.

  Anti-Corp, who had reported her sister-in-law's death, were blaming Corporation for her murder and using Ingrid and the baby as martyrs for their cause.

  Kira threw the remote at the wall, cutting off the transmission. Collecting herself she went over to Grace's cube and stroked her baby's cheek gently as she slept.

  Her sister in law was dead. And her unborn child. Dead. In a senseless attack by a radical arm of Anti-Corp. How could this have happened? How did they go from being a group of friends – each the inexplicable recipient of an amazing, beautiful gift - to a family ripped apart, shattered by grief?

  MED4AC: Hamble, Marketing Director of Corporation, rebuilding spine at Corp Medical.

  The vid com chimed. Kira answered when she saw who it was.

  'Kira? Are you okay? You're not hurt are you? Is my granddaughter alright?'

  'Yes Mum. I'm okay.'

  'I heard what happened, I can't believe it. Your father and I were still getting over the shock of finding out all your friends were pregnant and then, and then, oh Kira – it's just awful. That poor baby. And Ingrid. Oh my dear, is there anything we can do?'

  For once Kira's mother fell silent. Kira looked at her mother's loving, concerned face, and her shoulders shook as the tears fell.

  'Oh my poor sweet girl. We'll be right over.' Before Kira had chance to say otherwise, her mum signed off.

  Martha came out of her side of the apartment, face ashen, her hair in disarray.

  'Kira, my father... he was in the building when....when the attack happened.'

  'Oh no – is he okay?'

  'He is alive but he is in surgery. The med centre said something about a damaged spinal cord. I have to go and see him. Mother is too scared to leave the house. I can't leave him there all alone.'

  'I understand sweetie, but do you think it's safe for you to leave the apartment? By yourself I mean.'

  'I will not be by myself,' Martha said. 'Jed has assigned us all a Force shadow, did you not know?'

  'No. I can't get through to him. I'm so worried, Ma. His sister just died and..'

  'Ingrid is dead? What about the baby?'

  'You didn't know?' Kira was confused. 'But how did you know about the attack on Corp Tech?'

  'I turned the news sweep on and saw the coverage but before I could read anything I got the call about my father.' She shook her head in disbelief. 'Ingrid is dead? I can't believe it. Where is Pete?'

  'I don't know. I can't get through to Jed. I don't know what's happening. I just know that Ingrid and the baby are.... Oh Ma....they're gone. They're just gone, Ma. And I don't understand why it happened. The baby... the baby... it never even started. Why? Why would they do this? I can't.....'

  Kira stopped talking as the tears took over.

  'Oh Kira.' Martha embraced her, stroking her hair as she cried. 'Poor, poor Ingrid,' she whispered. 'And the baby, that poor innocent baby. Oh Kira.'

  After a few moments, Kira pushed Martha gently away, and both women dried their eyes. Martha held a protective hand over her stomach.

  'I can't believe Anti-Corp wanted to kill them. It had to have been a mistake. Not a baby, Kira. What possible threat could it have been? Or Ingrid for that matter.'

  Kira shrugged, her face a picture of misery. Grace woke up and began to cry.

  Martha took the Force skimmer provided to the Med Centre. She had to make sure her father was alright. She didn't think she could cope with more bad news.

  As Martha reached the side wing of the Medical Centre reserved for VIPs, she saw a red-faced medical officer scurrying away f
rom a closed door. Without knocking, she entered the room and looked in dismay at the amount of electronics surrounding her father.

  'Hmm. You came then.' Mr Hamble gestured at all the equipment around him. 'Don't worry about all this. I'm regrowing part of my spine - nothing to it. No need to fuss.'

  Martha came over and kissed him gently on the head. 'Oh Daddy. What happened?'

  'It was those idiotic anarchists. Blowing up a perfectly respectable building for no good reason. The meeting got moved. Shouldn't have fragging been there in the first place.'

  'Did you hear about Ingrid? Jed's sister?' Martha asked.

  Mr Hamble's bushy eyebrows drew into a frown. 'Bad business. Just terrible. And the loss of the child. Bad business.'

  'How did you know about that? Do they project the sweeps in here?'

  Mr Hamble looked uncomfortable. He tried to adjust his position on the hospital bed but gave up when he realised he had no control over his lower limbs yet.

  'Father?' Martha demanded. 'What do you know?'

  Mr Hamble breathed heavily out of his nose. 'It wasn't my call.' He looked uncomfortable. 'They decided not to save the fetus. It was a board decision. The bodies are to be investigated by Science Division to find out what is going wrong.'

  'Going wrong,' Martha repeated, feeling nauseous as she considered her own condition and how the Board must be viewing her.

  'Not that there's anything wrong with you,' Mr Hamble said hastily looking in concern at his pale faced daughter. 'It's just an anomaly. That's all.'

  Martha took a seat on the chair beside the bed. Several uncomfortable minutes passed until Mr Hamble cleared his voice.

  'It isn't safe for you to be here. You should be careful, now that everyone knows who you are and what's happened. In fact, I've been thinking.' He began fiddling with one of the wires sticking out of his arm. 'I want you to leave the city. There's a place, a wilderness camp. Away from the city. It's a test base, highly confidential, to see whether we can exist outside the walls, I want you to go there. You and the others.' He paused as if trying to find the right words. 'You are all in danger. We don't know how people are going to react. The attack today, those idiots blowing up that building. I can't risk you. Any of you. You must go.' He looked up at Martha, waiting for her reply.

  'A wilderness camp? What about the radiation levels?' Martha asked.

  Hamble tried to move again and gave up with a grunt. 'There's no radiation at Camp Eden. It's a safe place.'

  Martha put her hand on his arm before replying. 'I will let the others know, but if they decide to stay, I am staying with them. This is happening to all of us, we need to stick together.'

  'I suppose that's the best I'm going to get.'

  Jed sat with Pete in the interview room, waiting for their debrief to begin. Pete hadn't said a word since breaking down at the scene of Ingrid's murder. The door opened and the Chief came in, followed by Agent Deveraux.

  'Detectives,' the Chief said.

  Agent Deveraux came over and put a hand on Jed's shoulder. 'I'm sorry for your loss,' he said, in a low voice.

  Jed stiffened and turned his head to look up at Deveraux, but the Agent had already moved over to Pete and was repeating the gesture.

  Pete said nothing.

  The Chief settled himself behind his desk while Deveraux leant against the wall, off to one side. Jed looked warily from one to the other, bracing himself for the worst.

  'I've read your statement Jenkins,' the Chief began. 'And Deveraux confirms that Special Investigations monitoring did not pick up any chatter from your Anti-Corp infiltration team relating to the attack.'

  Jed cast an uneasy eye on Pete, expecting a reaction.

  Nothing.

  'We know you didn't know. Frag, none of us knew the target was Corp Tech - it was all pointing towards Science Division. I want you to pull your girl out of there and all association with Anti-Corp stops.'

  The Chief glared at Jed, expecting him to protest, but Jed nodded.

  'We'll provide some additional eyes on you all, keep you safe in the interim,' Deveraux said.

  'Safe?'

  The Agent looked at the Chief, who nodded. Deveraux walked closer to the desk. 'We moved on your information about finding high-energy radiation signs at Science Division. Miss Hamble's suggestion about its use was right.' Deveraux paused to make sure he had their complete attention. 'Corporation have been deliberately treating the water and forcing us to remain sterile.'

  Pete finally reacted.

  'Are you saying that my baby was some sort of secret science experiment?' he said, his voice hoarse and thick with emotion.

  'No, Detective Barnes. I am saying that the entire population has been a fragging experiment,' Deveraux replied.

  'We are the law,' the Chief said, interrupting him. 'We are not Corporation. We are not paid by Corporation and we are going to get to the fragging bottom of this. Barnes, Jenkins, I want you two to take the rest of the week. Grieve. Do what you need to do. This investigation will still be here when you get back.'

  'So we're just supposed to carry on and pretend that we don't know that we've been kept in the dark our entire lives?' Jed shouted. 'What am I supposed to tell my wife? I won't lie to her, she deserves the truth and . . . '

  Agent Deveraux held up a hand to stop Jed's tirade. 'We will be issuing a release – to inform everyone – but first we need all the facts. There is no need to create mass panic.'

  'What about Anti-Corp and what happened today?' Jed asked.

  'Those responsible will be brought to justice,' the Chief said.

  Pete leapt up, his chair flying backwards. 'Not if I get there first,' he snarled, and left the room.

  Jed made to go after him but the Chief stopped him.

  'Make sure he doesn't do anything he'll regret, Jenkins.'

  'I'll try, Sir.' He followed his friend out of the office.

  The Chief turned in his chair to face Deveraux 'What do you think about Barnes?'

  'I think he'll solve our problem,' Deveraux replied. 'Shame to lose a good man though.'

  Pete was in the skimmer bay by the time Jed caught up with him.

  'Where are you going?' Jed asked.

  'I'm going to kill them,' Pete said. 'I'm going to kill them all.'

  'I need you, Pete. We all need you. Here, now. Please.'

  Jed stretched out a hand. Pete began pacing up and down the corridor before spinning and punching the wall with a loud roar. Then he waited a moment, his fist in the wall, his head bowed before looking up at Jed, and giving a small nod.

  'Alright,' he said grimly. 'But I will see this through, Jed.'

  'I know.'

  At the apartment, Jed's parents had arrived. They were sitting in the lounge, shell-shocked, while a puffy-eyed Kira tried and failed to make light conversation. When Jed and Pete entered the apartment, Gretchen - Jed's mother - seemed to grow paler.

  'Jeddidiah, my boy. My sweet boy.'

  Gretchen held her arms out to her son, and Jed crossed the floor to greet his mother, clasping hands with his father before kneeling on the floor besides them both.

  Kira came over to Pete standing near the doorway, and burrowed herself into his chest. Pete stood a good foot taller than Kira, and could hardly make out what she was saying as she sobbed her sympathy and grief into his shirt. He gently hugged her back, fighting against the waves of pain that lashed through him. These five broken people clung to each other, drowning in their personal grief.

  It wasn't until Grace began to cry that they moved. Jed's father came over to Pete and pulled him into a bear hug before going into the kitchen area, while Jed stood up and hugged his wife. They went through to the bedroom together to find out what Grace needed. Mrs Jenkins had been left alone so Pete approached her cautiously. They hadn't made much progress in getting to know each other, and he didn't want to upset her further.

  Gretchen looked up at Pete and took one of his hands in hers.

  'We lost our daugh
ter, Peter. And you, you lost your love. No-one can ever, ever give her back to us.'

  She dropped his hand and began crying again, loud racking sobs that shook her whole body. Mr Jenkins returned to the couch and gathered her into his arms. Pete stood awkwardly not knowing what to do. He jumped when Jed touched his shoulder.

  'Help me make synth-caf?' Jed asked.

  JENHUB: A private funeral for Ingrid Jenkins and child has been held at the request of the family. All messages of condolences to be sent to the link within.

  It was the day after the funeral. Science Division had refused to release the body....bodies. Protestors had thronged outside the End of Days Chapel forcing the agents from Special Investigation to work hard to keep Jed's family and friends safe. Pete had remained impassive throughout. Not reacting to the service, the farewells, Jed's emotional eulogy – nothing. It was as if he simply wasn't there. The men assigned to protect him had reported no unusual behaviour, but Jed was still concerned. Pete's girlfriend had died in a terrorist attack and Corporation had let his baby die. For the good of science. Pete should've been raging.

  MED4AC: Dina Grey miscarried. Now only two pregnancies left.

  DING: Looking for BEJE – please get in touch.

  The apartment was subdued. Even Grace was quiet.

  'Can I get you anything hon?' Kira asked from the doorway as Jed lay in bed.

  'No.'

  He lay on his side, staring at the wall. Kira closed the door behind her, she didn't know what else to do.

  'Anything?' asked Dina.

  Kira shook her head.

  'He just needs time,' Martha said.

  'I know. I just feel so helpless. How are you doing D? Now that everyone knows about...' Kira trailed off.

  'I'm okay. It had to come out sooner or later. I just wish I could get hold of Ben.'

  'Still incommunicado, huh?'

  'Yeah.' Dina tucked her hair behind her ear. 'He wasn't in Corp Tech, I know that much, but I can't find him.'

  The mood of the apartment took over the three women, and they stopped talking. Martha fiddled with her Gaia statue while Kira looked off into space, and Dina played with the baby.

  It had been three days since the attack.