Brain Storm (US Edition)

by Nicola Lawson

  Karl had never told her who her real parents were or why she had been put into foster care. Nor had he told her why she was in danger or who was after her. In fact now that she thought about it he hadn't told her much and she wondered why she had ever gone along with him and left her good life behind in the first place. There was just something about him that made her want to trust him. But what did she really know about him? He had told her that he was a doctor but she had never checked up on that. Was it a coincidence that Karl had been in the vicinity of the statue when she had been taken? Or was he behind all of this.

  Carla didn't want to believe that it could be Karl who was doing this to her but he was the only concrete suspect she could think of.

  ***************

  She was dumped back inside the cell. She curled up on the cold hard floor and cried. She always cried. She cried when they came for her. She cried when they started doing those terrible things to her. She cried when she woke up and they were still torturing her. She cried when they dumped her back into this room because she knew that it was only a matter of time until they came for her again.

  Her body ached all over and she was in constant pain. Whatever it was that they did to her in that room it was excruciating and hurt for hours afterwards. Sometimes the agony had only just started to fade when they came for her and subjected her to it all over again. Sometimes she would go for days on end with the pain never ceasing. She looked forwards to those mornings when she could wake up and the pain would only be a dull throb in the background.

  Was this all that life was? She had an idea that there was something more than this. Stories of places where pain wasn't a constant companion. Where children mixed together and had fun. But those things seemed so alien to the little girl who was trapped in hellish world of pain and hurt.

  Had she been a bad person? Surely however bad she had been she didn't deserve this.

  Her body was covered in scars where they cut into her when she was asleep. Recently they had shaved her head and she could feel scars on her bare scalp where they had started cutting into her skull. She reached up and felt the sharp stubble where her hair had just started coming back. She had had gloriously long red hair until they hacked it off. The only reason she had known that it was red was because it was so long she could easily see it, they never provided her with access to a mirror. She had no idea what she looked like. Her hair had always been knotted but she had enjoyed trying to comb it out with her fingers. Now they had stolen even that small pleasure from her.

  She rocked herself to sleep curled up in the corner of the room, tears continuing to fall.

  ***************

  Sara barged into the outer chamber of Marc Ash's office causing his assistant to flinch and look up from the computer screen. Her fingers stopped tapping their rhythmic beat on the keyboard and a hand dropped below the level of the desk ready to hit the button concealed there. If she hit that button it would call security to this office and cause reinforced barriers to surround Ash's inner office.

  The assistant recognized Sara, who was a frequent visitor to the office either for a commendation or a condemnation, and visibly relaxed although she kept that hand under the desk her finger no doubt poised over the button, it was part of her job to be cautious.

  "Agent Fox," the assistant said in a cool voice. "Supervisor Ash is rather busy at the present time. I am sure you can understand that the events of last night require his immediate attention. If you would like to make an appointment I can schedule you in for-"

  Sara held up her hand to indicate for the assistant to stop speaking. The other woman went quiet and looked at Sara waiting for her to speak. Her face maintained a neutral, professional expression even though Sara's rudeness must have annoyed her.

  "I want to see him right now," Sara said, she kept her hand raised with her palm towards the assistant to keep her from interrupting. "What I have to say is related to the events of last night and he needs to hear me out." Sara lowered her arm and looked at Ash's assistant expectantly.

  "Supervisor Ash asked for there to be no interruptions while he compiled his final report. Whatever you have to say can be reported to him later. If you think it is too important for that," The assistant's professional mask slipped for one brief instant letting Sara see that she didn't think that anything Sara could ever have to say would be all that important. "I am sure one of the supervisors conducting the debriefs for last night’s operation would be happy to see you. I can look through the system and find out who is free for you."

  Sara placed her hands on either side of the assistant's desk and leaned forwards over the top of the computer screen so that their faces were only centimeters apart. "I suggest you inform him that I want to see him right now before he is through compiling that report. If you fail to do so I can assure you that when he does get to hear what I have to say he will not thank you for standing in my way."

  Sara brought to bear all the weight of her voice on the poor assistant. Sara had used that voice to back men who were physically much larger than herself into a corner. She had used it when she was unable to get to her weapon to cause cold blooded killers to throw down their own. This woman displayed more mettle than some of those had, she covered any fear with a glare of annoyance, but she couldn't prevent the color from draining out of her head.

  The assistant got on the internal line and explained to Ash that Sara insisted on seeing him. Ash must have asked her to put Sara off but the assistant told him that Sara had said it was urgent and was being very insistent. In the end Ash relented and the assistant glanced up at Sara but avoided eye contact.

  "The supervisor will see you now."

  Sara stood back upright and smoothed down her clothes. "Thank you so much for your help."

  Marc Ash was already stood when Sara went through the doorway into his office proper. He was just coming around from behind his desk to meet her. Unlike Sara's small and spartan office the supervisors was of a fair size. Like her office his contained cleaning facilities in the back although his were part of a full bathroom. As well as the desk and seating in front of and behind that he had a group of comfortable chairs arranged around a low table. On the walls either side of the simply functional communications and data analysis screens were display screens that showed images of the ECSIS logo, the European Confederation's flag and the Confederation's Chamber of Governance.

  Ash dispensed with full formality by addressing her by her first name. "Sara, I hope this is important, I'm very busy right at the moment."

  "It is sir," Just because he had started informally it didn't extend to allowing Sara to be too familiar, she still had to address him as befitted his superiority.

  If I addressed him as he deserved to be addressed I'd be referring to him as an ass hole more often than not.

  She continued bluntly, "Sir, the report you filed earlier on is wrong."

  Ash didn't indicate that Sara should take a seat nor did he take one for himself, so they remained standing in the middle of his office.

  "I do not believe it is for you to criticize me," Ash said. "But I'll admit that as with any preliminary report there may be some small inaccuracies, but they will have been corrected in this final draft."

  Sara stared straight at her supervisor, not the least bit intimidated even though he stood over a head taller than she did and was puffing up his chest to make even more obvious the difference in size between the pair of them.

  "This isn't a matter of a few small spelling mistakes or a slight problem with the exact sequence of events. That preliminary report contained a major factual anomaly and I want you to explain why."

  Ash's face flushed red with anger at being addressed in such a manner by one of his subordinates. "Explain yourself now otherwise I'll have you up on insubordination charges. I've given you a lot of leeway in the past, Fox, but this time you've pushed your luck too far."

  Sara still didn't give an inch. She stared calmly at Ash. "I'll tell you what's wrong with yo
ur report and if you can't explain yourself it will be you who is up on charges, sir."

  Ash looked at her aghast and Sara pressed on, telling him where his report conflicted with the facts as they had truly occurred. Halfway through her speech Ash absentmindedly took a seat but Sara still wasn't invited to do the same and so remained as she was. When she was through it took Ash a moment to realize and for that time the room was silent.

  Eventually he found his voice. "As far as I was aware the events unfolded as I put down in my report. You say that there is no way this Carla Swift could have killed that man, are you absolutely certain?"

  Sara didn't hesitate. "Absolutely. And I want to know why you lied about it."

  Ash got back out of the seat and started pacing around the room not looking at Sara. "I never lied . . ."

  "Sir, I just told-"

  Ash stopped pacing and faced her. "I never knowingly lied. Everything in that report was based on reports and evidence from agents and forensic teams at the scene."

  "With all due respect, I can't see how that could be," Sara said becoming less confrontational. Ash seemed to be genuinely concerned by her accusations, and not in the angry way Sara would have expected from him if he had indeed intentionally falsified his reports.

  "I don't know why or how such a thing would happen but you can see for yourself."

  Ash went over to his computer terminal and tapped out his access and authorization codes. He spent thirty seconds using the tracking ball to get to the relevant sites and turned the display so that Sara could see it. "Take a look for yourself. There are reports from forensics teams that investigated inside the statue that found hair and skin samples from Carla Swift. The forensics team that investigated the shooting say the weapon used matches that found on Swift and that she had gunshot residue from the weapon on her hand and arm. The officers you handed her off to have filed reports that indicate the weapon used in the killing was found in her possession. There are even more reports linking Swift with both the CDM and the victim."

  Sara leaned over and used the tracking ball to scroll down through the reports. They were all there just like Ash had told her. She skimmed through the reports and saw that they all indicated that Carla Swift had indeed been inside the statue last night and had killed Grosset. If she hadn't been there herself and known that Carla couldn't have killed him she would have been convinced that she had. As it was the evidence was so compelling that Sara ran over the events again in her head to see if it was possible that she could be mistaken.

  Ash moved her hand away from the tracking ball and leaned around so that he could see the screen. "Look, there's even an eyewitness report of Swift fleeing the scene."

  Sara read through the report and realized it had to have been made by the young woman Sara had encountered first when she rescued her from the terrorist in the office adjacent to the gift shop where the other hostages were located. She skimmed over the parts that dealt with the woman's initial capture and her rescue by Sara's intervention but read on in detail the statement that followed. The woman claimed to have heard a series of pops, those would be the reports of silenced weapons, and then shortly afterwards she claimed to have seen a woman sneaking out through the room. She claimed she was too frightened to try and stop her or to give a shout to alert anyone to the escape. The description of the escaped hostage that she gave was a match for Carla Swift.

  Sara was certain that no-one had left that shop, definitely not through the door into the room where she had left that hostage. For her to do that she would have had to walk right past Sara. But surely they couldn't all be conspiring to frame Carla Swift. So was Sara mistaken after all. Should she just drop it now or should she press on and risk further embarrassment if it turned out that she was wrong?

  Chapter Nine

  "How is she progressing?"

  "Things are moving forwards as anticipated. She is responding well to the transplants. With the new genetic modification to this latest batch we appear to have eliminated the problems of tissue rejection we encountered earlier in the project."

  "Excellent. If this one proves successful we will be able to prepare units for mass production."

  "Sir, I was wondering how the other projects are developing. I have heard that they are still losing subjects. I would be happy to try and modify my techniques to solve their mortality problems."

  "This project requires your skills full time, Doctor. We do not need to be able to mass produce units as part of the other projects. The high death rate ensures that those few units which do survive are the pick of the crop."

  She didn't know what the voices were on about but she knew that because she could hear them she was about to wake up. She clung to the sleep for as long as she could, she was aware enough to know that all that waited for on the other side of that door was a world of hurt. She felt her grip on unconsciousness slipping as she was pulled away to the waking world. She held on for as long as she could but in the end she was wrenched back out of her sanctuary and thrust into reality.

  Even before she was fully awake she was crying out with the pain. This time it was concentrated in her chest. She could feel it burning next to her heart and tried to look and see what they had done to her this time. She tried to lift her head to look at her chest but a strap across her forehead kept it pinned where it was. She knew from prior experience that similar straps would be place across her chest, on her legs and ankles, and on her arms and wrists. All she could see was the light above the metal table where she was trapped naked apart from a thin gown and shadowy shapes on the edges of her vision behind the light. She continued screaming.

  "Shut it up."

  She was bound so tightly that she couldn't struggle against them as they forced the gag into her mouth. Her screams were muffled by the obstruction.

  "Give it a few hours to recover from this latest surgery and then begin the next stage of testing. I want empirical data so that we can predict how long it will take to produce the number of units we will require once we make the move into mass production."

  ***************

  "You see I based my report on the facts available to me. Are you certain that this Carla Swift could not have killed that man and then slipped out past you? You are a very good agent, Sara, no-one will hold a simple slip like that against you."

  Sara was silent for a pair of heartbeats as she played through the events in her memory, it was no use she couldn't come up with any way that she would have missed Carla Swift had she been there. "I am certain, sir, Carla Swift did not kill that man. I made a thorough search of the statue before I made any move and I never saw her. The witness told me how many terrorists were in that room and they were all accounted for. There is no way that Carla Swift was in the statue last night."

  Ash leaned forwards to put his forehead in his hand, he pinched the skin together and then started rubbing it in a circular motion. After a minute or so he looked up at her with eyes that were suddenly weary. "You understand what this means?"

  Sara nodded. "Someone falsified that data to frame that woman. Probably the same someone who caused that security mech to malfunction and target her for elimination."

  "Whoever did that not only has knowledge of this division of ECSIS but a high enough level of access to our supposedly secure database to change these reports sometime between when they were first filed and when I accessed them. They may even have modified them before then and switched them for the true files at the moment they were entered onto our system." Ash stared thoughtfully at his black-topped desk.

  Sara nodded and started pacing, what he said made sense. "Sir, we have to investigate this. Someone with that level of access . . ." Not to mention the fact that an innocent woman had become entangled in this mess. She didn't mention it because she knew that that thought wouldn't add any extra incentive for Ash to investigate. He would only be bothered by the knowledge that there was someone out there with enough power to let them manipulate information on a database belonging to a
division of a Confederation agency that didn't officially exist.

  "I agree this needs to be investigated, but not by you." Sara opened her mouth to complain but Ash pressed on. "I will look into this personally. Given your personal contact with the Swift woman, however brief it may have been, whoever is behind this will be keeping a close eye on you. I can use my access to conduct my search surreptitiously. I also have contacts in other agencies that may be able to help. The best thing for you to do right now is to drop it and return to your regular duties. If I come up with anything I'll let you know."

  Sara thought of complaining, of insisting that he let her help. But she knew he was right, that he was more likely to be able to trace them down from behind a desk than she was. Her area of expertise was located out in the field, Ash's contacts would be more useful in this kind of an investigation. But that didn't mean that she had to like it.

  Sara returned to her office to let Ash make a start. She went back into the saved files on her computer terminal and removed all of those that pertained to the last night’s operation. When that was done there was really no reason for her to stick around. The adrenaline rush that had flooded her system throughout the operation and that had come back into play along with her anger when she discovered the plot to frame Carla Swift had long since faded. Now she stared to feel the full effects of so many hours of activity. She was shattered and wanted nothing more than to get home and get to sleep.

  Her apartment was located about thirty minutes walk from the ECSIS building. Tired as she was, Sara couldn't face the journey on foot so she found herself a taxi. She had never bothered to buy herself a car of her own, even though she knew how to drive and had undergone extra instruction in that area as part of her ECSIS training, living so close to where she worked it had never struck her as being important. If she was needed on an operation that was located too close to warrant the expense of a helicopter transport but far enough that she would need a car to get there the division would provide her with one.