Skyfall

by Anthony Eaton

  ‘Lovely day, isn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose.’

  She hoped he wasn’t one of those sleazy types. At this point, all Kes wanted was a caf and then she’d go home and think about making up with Lari.

  She knew she’d have to. It had been silly of her to let things go as far as they had, but sometimes he was just so … dense. And she really did like him, despite everything. They’d have been friends anyway, even without …

  ‘Are you having … caf?’

  ‘Yes.’ She tried to edge a little further away from her unwanted companion, but the place was crammed with mid-level workers and late-shift managers all having their tween-shift break, and there wasn’t a single centimetre of spare space.

  ‘I’d have thought you a bit too … young for that.’

  The man had a habit of pausing in the middle of his sentences, as though considering his next word and then over-emphasising it. She wondered if he thought it made him sound intelligent.

  ‘Listen, mate—’

  ‘Relax, Kesra.’ The man grinned. ‘Don’t go jumping to the wrong … conclusions.’ He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a pale, faded mark on the skin of his right wrist: two tridents, the same as the one on her pendant. ‘I’m just like you.’

  Kes couldn’t stop her eyes doing a quick flick around the ref. There didn’t appear to be anyone else watching but it was impossible to tell for sure.

  ‘I’m not Underground.’ She kept her voice to a whisper.

  ‘You’ve got a chain around your pretty little neck which says otherwise.’ The man covered his wrist. ‘In any case, you can relax. I’m just here to ask how your morning went. Did you get up to anything … exciting?’

  She fixed the man with a stare.

  ‘There were no problems, if that’s what you’re asking.’

  Her caf arrived, along with one for the stranger, even though she hadn’t seen him order it. He winked at the waitress.

  ‘Thanks.’

  There was definitely something shifty about this one, Kes decided. Mind you, that shouldn’t have surprised her. A lot of Underground guys were like that, especially the mid-level ones like this bloke. They thought they crapped sunlight.

  ‘Anything else?’ She kept her tone carefully neutral. The man ignored her question while he took a sip.

  ‘Shi! This tastes disgusting. I don’t know why we even bother drinking it, do you?’

  ‘What do you want?’

  ‘Relax, Miss Anatale.’ The man leaned his head close and lowered his voice. ‘I’m only doing my job, so how about playing along for a little while, eh?’

  For a moment all traces of sleaze dropped away and Kes was struck by a strange intensity, a sense of control about him. Then abruptly it vanished.

  ‘What was that little scene, down at the hub?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Didn’t look like nothing.’

  ‘Just an argument. It doesn’t concern you.’

  ‘A lover’s quarrel?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘What, then?’

  Kes fixed the man with a glare and took a mouthful of her own caf. The guy was right, it was terrible.

  ‘Politics.’

  ‘Oh dear, Kes.’ He shook his head in mock-concern. ‘Don’t you know never to try discussing politics with the upper levels? They tend to have a different… perspective from people like you and me.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll call him and fix things when I get upstairs.’

  ‘You do that. I don’t need to remind you how important it is that you and Larinan remain on … good terms.’

  ‘Don’t concern yourself.’ Kes bolted the last half of her drink in one gulp, throwing it down as fast as she could.

  ‘You’ll give yourself indigestion.’

  ‘Anything else?’ She made to stand, but the man pressed her arm to the table with a sweaty palm.

  ‘You did good work this morning, Kesra. I’m here to tell you that. Very … good work. We’ll be in touch.’

  ‘Don’t hurry.’ She wrenched her arm free and this time the man let her leave, but as she reached the door of the ref he called out to her.

  ‘I’ll look forward to our next meeting, Kesra. I suspect it’ll be soon.’

  Ignoring the urge to glare back, Kes pushed out into the common again. She felt odd, unsettled. This morning’s adventure should have left her feeling pleased with herself, but instead queasiness had settled in the pit of her stomach.

  Her apartment was in the upper levels of the southern tower. The internal lift shuddered and groaned as it heaved itself upwards. The moment she stepped out of the car, she could hear the Bean screaming, as usual, even from the corridor.

  ‘I’m home!’ she called as she let herself in.

  ‘Kes, darling!’ Her mother emerged from the bedroom, the baby across one shoulder. ‘Can you look after Savi for me for a few hours while I get down to the supply agency and check the progress of our application?’

  ‘Of course, Mum.’ Kes sighed as she accepted the screaming bundle. It won’t do any good, she wanted to say, but she restrained herself. Requests for new accommodation were rarely granted; there just wasn’t anywhere left to put people. Her mother knew that as well as Kes did.

  ‘You’re a treasure. I don’t know what I’d do without you. He’s been fed, so he should settle down soon.’

  ‘It’s fine, Mum. You go.’

  Her mother stopped at the door, checking that she had everything she needed. Kes, her little brother clutched to her left shoulder, watched her. When did she get so old?

  ‘Okay, I’m all set. Bye, darling.’

  ‘Bye, Mum.’

  The door closed and immediately the Bean threw up all over her.

  It was getting on to mid-afternoon by the time Lari got home. The moment he stepped into the apartment his message tone sounded, growing louder and more insistent until he went to his room and logged on to his terminal. The message had a priority flag.

  Larinan, contact me as soon as you receive this. D.

  He’d never been able to work out whether the D stood for Dad or Dernan. Lari sighed and tapped his father’s call code into the com program. Dernan Mann appeared almost immediately, looking tired and irritable.

  ‘I’ve been trying to contact you all morning, Larinan. Where’ve you been?’

  ‘With Kes.’

  ‘I called her apartment.’

  ‘We were out. In the ref.’

  His father’s expression reflected exactly what Dernan Mann thought of that.

  ‘I want you across at DGAP.’

  ‘Now?’ Lari had been hoping for a quiet afternoon on his own.

  ‘Immediately.’

  ‘But …’

  ‘No excuses, Larinan. It’s not as though I’ve asked much of you lately. Report straight to research division when you get here. You’ll be expected.’

  ‘Expected?’

  ‘I’ll see you shortly.’

  The connection went dead. Lari stared at the blank display and shook his head, mystified. It was typical. Still, as usual where his father was concerned, he didn’t have any choice. He headed back down to the maglifts.

  DGAP had its own hub, separate from the main service hubs that handled traffic for the rest of Port North Central Dome. The doors opened and Lari stepped straight out into the brightly lit foyer.

  ‘Can I help you?’

  A security agent glanced down from his station beside the lifts. His blue armour glinted in the clean white light. Two other guards stood over near the main reception desk. Security personnel in the DGAP foyer – that was new. Normally the DGAP foyer was pretty much deserted, especially in the last few years, with the decline in subject numbers.

  ‘I’m Larinan Mann. Here to see my father.’

  ‘Over there.’ The guard jerked a stubby thumb towards the reception desk, where a young woman was being harried by an impatient-looking man.

  ‘He told me to report straight up to resear
ch division.’

  ‘You have to be checked in, first.’

  ‘I’ve never had to before.’

  ‘New rules.’ The guard’s expression didn’t change. Lari turned left and headed for the internal lifts. He didn’t get more than a couple of steps before the guard’s hand came down heavily on his shoulder.

  ‘Reception’s that way.’ The guard nodded towards the desk. ‘You need an escort?’

  ‘Listen, my father is Doctor Dernan Mann, the head of research, and he told me to go direct to—’

  ‘I don’t care if your old man’s the Prelate’s grandfather,’ interrupted the guard. ‘You either get signed in or you leave the building now. Got it?’

  ‘Fine.’

  Lari shrugged off the guard’s hand and stamped across and joined the line. The man at the head of the queue was arguing with the woman behind the counter.

  ‘… just seeking a statement,’ he was saying.

  ‘And I’ve told you there are no statements, official or otherwise, scheduled for release today or in the near future,’ she snapped.

  ‘This morning the Prelature issued a D-notice on any reference to DGAP on all webchannels. Plus you’ve increased security here for the first time in living memory. There must be some explanation, but you’re telling me …’

  ‘Hope you’re not in a hurry.’ The man immediately ahead of Lari turned round. ‘They’ve been at it for ten minutes so far and I don’t reckon either of them is gonna back down anytime soon.’

  ‘Why doesn’t security just throw him out?’

  The man gave him the kind of half-smile adults reserve for kids who make stupid suggestions.

  ‘It wouldn’t be a good idea to have a reporter from one of the major newswebs forcibly removed from your foyer. Even for DGAP. These guys get even a sniff of a story and they never let it go. Even the Prelate would have trouble shutting it down.’

  They listened to the argument going in circles.

  ‘So,’ the man said, turning to Lari again, ‘what brings a lad like you here in the middle of second shift? Shouldn’t you be in school?’

  ‘I’ve finished school. I’m here to see my father.’

  ‘Advanced school, eh? Got a placement?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘And what does your dad do?’

  ‘He’s the head of research here.’

  Lari caught the man’s slight start as he put the pieces together.

  ‘You’re Dernan Mann’s son?’

  Lari nodded. There didn’t seem any point denying it.

  ‘Now you mention it, you do look like him. I’d heard he had a youngster.’

  He didn’t seem even slightly fazed. Lari watched carefully for that flicker of judgement that usually followed hard upon the heels of someone discovering his identity, but with this man there wasn’t even a hint of it. Lari found himself relaxing slightly, almost grateful to the stranger, who seemed easy to talk to.

  ‘So you don’t have a placement yet? I expect that before too much longer you’ll be taking up a position here with your brother.’

  ‘I guess. Unless something else acceptable comes along in the meantime. I’m in no hurry.’

  The man raised an eyebrow. ‘The project doesn’t interest you, then?’

  ‘Not much. There doesn’t really seem a lot of point, does there?’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘Everyone knows the subjects are almost all dead. What’s left for DGAP to do once they’re gone? Not a lot, just a whole pile of data crunching, and for what? It’s not like the results will be useful with no living primary subjects.’

  ‘Is that what your father believes?’

  ‘I think so. He never puts it in quite those terms, though.’

  ‘I guess he wouldn’t. Not after what happened to your mother. So if not DGAP, what have you got in mind, then?’

  ‘Nothing, really. If I tell dad that I’d like to go outside the family field, my life won’t be worth living, so I just thought I’d kill time until somebody puts me somewhere, hopefully not here.’

  ‘Sounds like a solid plan to me.’ The man grinned. ‘Half your luck. Wish I could find the time to just relax and let things happen.’ He looked at his wristband. ‘And on that subject, I can’t hang around here all shift waiting for these two to settle their differences.’

  ‘You’re not going to wait?’

  ‘Nah. I just wanted to leave a message for someone. It can wait until later. Nice meeting you, son.’

  ‘You too.’ Lari meant it. He’d enjoyed having a conversation that didn’t involve defending himself or his family. The man nodded and left through the main doors, out into Port North Central.

  ‘… and I’m telling you that nothing of the kind has happened, either today or at any point in the last five hundred years!’ The receptionist was no longer even trying to hide her exasperation. ‘Now, please leave or I’ll ask security to assist your departure.’

  ‘Don’t threaten me, miss,’ the man retorted. ‘I’ll go, but you inform your superiors that Alphaweb will be watching DGAP very closely.’

  ‘I’m sure they’ll be shaking in their boots to hear that, sir.’

  The man stalked across to the hub and summoned a lift, and the woman rolled her eyes skywards.

  ‘Next!’

  Lari stepped up to the counter.

  ‘I’m Larinan Mann. My father’s expecting me.’

  The invocation of his father’s name had its usual effect. The woman glanced at him, noted the family resemblance, and looked suddenly nervous.

  ‘Of course, Mr Mann. Just one moment …’ She punched a couple of commands into her terminal. ‘Um … I don’t seem to have you on the authorised list.’

  ‘I was told to report straight to research division, but the goon by the lifts there wouldn’t let me go up.’

  ‘Hang on.’

  While she was searching, Lari lowered his voice. ‘So, what’s all the excitement about?’

  ‘I’m not sure what you mean, Mr Mann.’

  ‘You know – guards, reporters. It hasn’t been this busy here in years.’

  ‘Just some kind of drill, they told us, but try explaining that to the webbers. Ah! Got it!’ She entered one last command. ‘There you are, cleared through to research admin. Someone forgot to put you into the main register. Can I see your wristband, please?’

  Lari held it out and the woman ran a small scanner across it.

  ‘There. All signed in. You shouldn’t have any more problems. Do you know the way?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Have a nice day then, Mr Mann.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  He got into an internal lift, which took him up to research division.

  ‘Larinan, good afternoon.’ A man Lari had never met was waiting in the reception area. ‘Come right through.’

  Lari expected to be taken straight to his father’s office, but instead found himself led through the maze of corridors, until they stopped at an unmarked door with a wrist scanner beside it.

  ‘Before you can go in, there’s just a couple of things I need you to sign.’ The man removed a datapad from a pocket, called up some documents onto the display, then placed it on the table.

  ‘What are these?’

  ‘Just standard security forms. I need your signature at the bottom of each, if you wouldn’t mind.’

  Lari scanned the documents. They were full of dense legal-speak. Something to do with non-disclosure of DGAP data and ethical reliability. His father would explain later, he decided, as he scrawled his name across the bottom

  ‘Thank you. Now, your wristband, if you wouldn’t mind, Larinan.’

  The man indicated the scanning plate beside the door, and Lari waved his left hand over the plate, which emitted a faint ‘click’. Then the door slid aside silently and Lari stepped through.

  The room into which he stepped was stark and bare, apart from a long table down the middle, around the end of which sat four people.

&
nbsp; ‘It’s about time.’ His father rose from his seat.

  ‘Sorry. I came as fast as I could, but security made me—’

  ‘It doesn’t matter, Larinan,’ his father interrupted. ‘I’ve already tendered your apologies.’

  The woman at the top of the table looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on where he’d met her. Beside her sat a short man in nondescript clothes and, beside him, Lari’s brother. Janil’s expression was thunderous, but that was no surprise. Even though Lari still had no idea why he’d been summoned, he knew Janil would be seething at having his copygen brother there in DGAP, on Janil’s turf. Lari couldn’t resist throwing a bright smile in his older brother’s direction, just to irritate him.

  ‘Hey, bro!’ he offered cheerfully. Janil’s scowl only darkened.

  ‘Doctor Mann, perhaps you should introduce us?’ This came from the woman.

  ‘Of course, Madam Prelate.’

  Lari gave a start, involuntarily shocked as he recognised the woman, and Janil smirked. His father, however, didn’t even flinch.

  ‘Allow me to introduce my younger son, Larinan Mann, recently graduated from the advanced school.’

  ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Larinan.’ The Prelate threw a warm smile in his direction. ‘Won’t you come and take a seat beside your father?’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Lari whispered, settling into a chair beside his father.

  ‘Later,’ his father muttered back.

  ‘Larinan, I’m afraid you’ve missed most of this meeting, so your father and brother will fill you in later. Gentlemen, it seems to me that the city’s position on this event is quite straightforward. Obviously it is still far too early to assess whether this latest development in the project will have a positive or a negative impact on the political landscape, and so clearly it is in our best interests to keep it under wraps as long as possible. That shouldn’t be difficult – DGAP is a secure facility and as of this morning information regarding the subject in question is under a citywide embargo. In the meantime, Doctor Mann, you should proceed as discussed, though I expect the highest possible level of discretion as far as the dissemination of information is concerned. Under no circumstances does anything discussed here today leave this room. And now, if there’s nothing else …’