“Good, you can initiate me into the mile high club, or have I misread some signals?”
Eva raised her eyebrows. She had met some uninhibited people before, but no one quite like Paloma. Problem was, she found herself attracted to Paloma too. She reminded her of a beautiful Mexican actress she had once had a crush on.
As they walked down the street toward the small electric car that had been provided, Eva suddenly sensed eyes watching.
“Paloma, are you being monitored?”
“Que, por la policía?”
“Or anyone?”
Anaïs started to turn around.
“Don’t,” snapped Eva.
“Are we being followed?” Anaïs asked nervously.
“Maybe. It could be because of your activist work.”
“Pinchazos. They have been tightening their grip. Usually they just focus on the leaders.”
“Would your father hire a private detective?”
“I haven’t spoken to him in awhile. I can’t see why.”
“What do we do?” asked Anaïs, trying to resist sneaking a look.
“Keep walking,” said Eva as she pulled out her Shunyata phone. She set it on movie and angled the camera lens to surreptitiously film behind them.
“Have you been hacked? Have you noticed anything disturbed in your room? Any strange behaviour?”
“No, I’m very careful with digital security. As for anything being disturbed; I’m messy, I wouldn’t notice.”
Eva turned down a narrow, graffiti covered alley.
“This isn’t the way,” Anaïs objected.
“I know. If we are being tailed they will have to come down this street. It’ll isolate them.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?” Anaïs asked, looking quickly over her shoulder.
“Don’t spook them Anaïs,” Eva snapped. “We need to be able to identify them. Mierder. I thought this was going a little too smoothly. Rafael should have left his cock in his pants.”
“No seas una perra,” Paloma hissed angrily. “I seduced him.”
“This isn’t a game Paloma, a scene from a stupid spy film. People will kill for access to another planet.”
Eva stopped and checked her phone. She froze the image and zoomed in, using the in-built software to sharpen the image. “There’s only one of them. Me cago en hijas de puta.”
Paloma smiled at the profanity.
“I have to get a better image,” said Eva ignoring her.
“Are you sure,” Anaïs hissed.
“Turn back,” said Eva. “Pretend you’ve forgotten something. Don’t look at him.”
They turned and began to half walk, half run up the street. “Hurry, we’ll be late,” she said loudly in Spanish.
“I told you it was the wrong way,” said Paloma catching on quickly.
When they got close, the man reached for his phone and turned away, pretending to be an ordinary citizen going about his business. Eva stopped suddenly and walked directly up to him, using her phone to take his picture. “Who do you work for motherfucker?” she said.
The man looked startled. “Pardon?” he stammered.
Eva looked up and down the street and when the lane was momentarily empty she acted quickly, pushing him into a recessed doorway and pulling out a knife hidden in her jacket.
“Merde alors Eva,” said Anaïs backing away.
“Hand me your phone bastardo, and don’t pull your fucking gun or you’ll be dead. I’m trained paramilitary.”
He handed her the phone and then with one swift move, she hit him over the head. He collapsed and she reached into his jacket, pulling out a wallet and a pistol. It was over in seconds.
“Okay, let’s move,” she barked as she started to run to the side street. When they left the lane she ordered them to slow to a walking pace.
“What the fuck just happened?” Anaïs said, her face pale.
“You’re really not playing around,” said Paloma, excited by the sudden turn of events.
Eva ignored them and punched a code into her phone. She downloaded the image of the man and images of his police and private identification, finally copying the data from his phone.
“Eva, tell me what just happened,” pleaded Anaïs, a tremor in her voice suggesting she was starting to panic.
Eva handed Paloma his phone. “You’re the revolutionary, check his images and explain it to her.”
They reached the car and climbed in.
“Won’t they catch us?” Anaïs asked as she took the back seat.
“No,” said Paloma. “Eva bought us time knocking the bastardo out. They are slow. The airport is close. We’ll be on board before they know what’s happened.”
“Don’t worry Anaïs. Aviva is the best in the business. We had a back up plan, although she won’t be happy that her team missed the police tail.”
Paloma cursed as she scrolled through the images. “He snapped you and Anaïs. I think he sent them, joder, there’s images of me going back a week.”
“Think Paloma. Why are they interested in you?”
“I don’t know… I’m small fry. Puta madre! Of course, Joxepa: my former lover. Her brother was ETA. They must have thought…”
“ETA?” asked Anaïs finally catching on to how serious the situation was. “The Basque separatists?”
“Si, Joxepa is a Basque name. She comes from an established Basque family. She was here to study. She was not that involved.”
“Perhaps they thought she was here to work with Catalan separatists. If we are lucky it was a low level investigation just to monitor your movements. I knew you were trouble,” said Eva. “Now, toss the phone… GPS.”
Paloma laughed. “Yeah, but you still want to fuck me. Face it, you like a bit of dangerous pussy.” She lowered the window and let out a loud expletive, tossing the phone and smashing it on the road, finally sticking up her finger, “coger el establecimiento, viva la revolución, viva el viaje interestelar.”
“Idiota,” Eva said trying not to laugh, just before her phone gave a single alarm tone.
Anaïs jumped. “What now?”
Eva laughed. “Don’t worry. It’s just the back up team telling me they’re monitoring the situation. We’re clear for the moment. You okay?”
She turned to see a shocked Anaïs frozen in the back seat.
Paloma turned and reached out to her. “It’s cool baby girl. We’re safe now. You know, we should have returned to my apartment. I hade some crazy dope. Vous êtes une fille Parisienne cool, non?” Paloma smiled and held her hand to comfort her.
“I brought some already. It grows wild in Bhutan estúpida,” said Anaïs, just to spite Paloma’s patronising tone.
“It’s good shit, excelente,” said Eva. “I certainly plan to get wasted after this little escapade.”
“Have they discovered any psychotropics on this planet of yours?”
Anaïs found the change of topic suddenly surreal. She smiled a little and shrugged her shoulders. “Je ne sais pas, you’ll have to talk to them yourself and ask.”
“Seriously?”
“Oui, sérieusement.”
116
Aviva
Aviva read the report and slammed her fist on the table. The security situation was spinning out of control. There were too many spot fires to put out and the chance that one might develop into a full-blown wild fire had just increased substantially. Eva had done the best she could, considering the circumstances. Her actions had ensured that they had temporarily contained a potentially disastrous situation. Her greatest concern was that Eva and Anaïs might be linked to a terrorist investigation and an alert sent out to all the relevant agencies. Even though they were due to leave Earth and disappear, there was a chance they could be traced to Bhutan. Of course Eva’s attack on the police officer would be investigated. The police would talk to the staff and patrons at the café and get descriptions, and there would be footage from public and private security cameras, but at least they now knew which unit was
doing the investigating. There was still a chance they could intervene: bribe someone, hack their computers, erase inconvenient footage, throw in a few red herrings. And they had one major advantage. Most public police forces were stretched for resources and a fuck up like this might be an embarrassment and given a low priority.
She rubbed her eyes. She was tired. Too tired. She buzzed her personal secretary Jorge.
“Have you progressed with the vacation?”
“I’ve finalised three candidates. I scheduled a time for you to review and approve, but we can do that now.”
“Good, and be a sweetheart and bring me a coffee.”
“That’s your third for the morning. You’ll get the jitters.”
“I know, bad night.”
He appeared ten minutes later with a freshly made espresso, a glass of water and painkillers on a tray. He handed her the coffee and used his personal screen to activate the large monitor in her office.
“Turns out there’s a thriving market for executive personal services. We’ve eliminated the dodgier ones, escort services attempting to step up into the corporate sector. We’ve settled on two specialist services. The first is the London based CEP, Cavendish Executive Personnel. They’re agents for butlers, nannies, PA’s, chefs, that sort of thing.”
“And they provide sexual services?”
“Yes, what they call their platinum PA service. The PA still acts as a PA; only they include a full range of erotic services, from massage to penetration. The advantage is that they still act as a PA. They will handle all flight, hotel and restaurant bookings, theatre dates, limo services, so that none of the detail appears on the executive’s corporate card.”
She nodded, not that it was a concern for her. She wasn’t trying to hide the fact she was hiring an escort. “The second?”
“An intriguing group: the brainchild of an Australian university student. They call themselves the Aspasia Group, after the classical figure Aspasia, a noted hetaerae…”
“Remind me…”
“An Ancient Greek courtesan. They were trained singers, dancers, conversationalists, symposium hostesses. They were afforded great respect in Athenian society. Aspasia was said to be highly intelligent and to have had some influence on Socrates.”
“So I assume they are mostly university students earning extra money offering their services?”
“In a sense. The consider themselves true courtesans, skilled in several disciplines, including the sexual arts…”
“Women only?”
“No, men as well, they cater to all sexual preferences.”
“And you say you have three candidates?”
“Based on your criteria. CEP is Eurocentric and could only provide one Asian. Aspasia offered more choice.”
Three faces appeared on the screen. “Naturally we don’t have their real names, but on the left we have Jade, in the middle Jasmine and on the right, Xiao-Xiao. All are highly intelligent, multi-lingual and as you can see, very beautiful.” He flicked through professionally produced images of each one: in casual and evening dress, in swimsuits, naked.
“And they are available for a two week period?”
“Longer if you wish, although the bill would be substantial. The service includes full financial privacy through off-shore accounts, which attracts an administrative fee.”
“And which is the more sporty of the three?”
“Xiao-Xiao. She trained as a gymnast and turned to competitive snow boarding.” The screen changed to show images of Xiao-Xiao performing a difficult routine in a half pipe.
“How do we proceed?”
“Vid conference. She will want to interview you to make an assessment.”
“Assess me?”
“Yes, they vet all their clients. They need to get an idea of your needs and make sure you are not a psychopath.”
“I see, and the accommodation?”
The screen displayed images of a modern home with sweeping views of a lake and snow capped mountains. “Queenstown, New Zealand. I understand it’s very beautiful and it specialises in adventure activities.”
“And the cost?”
“Not your concern. Once Mr Jayarama signs off on this, the finance department will deal directly with the Aspasia Group. You won’t even need to take your wallet.”
“And how quickly can this happen?”
“It’s off-season so the house is vacant and Xiao-Xiao is available. Within two weeks. Shall I expedite it?”
She nodded, Xiao-Xiao it would be. She looked at her photos and the exquisite dragon tattoo on her back, obviously done by a master artist, possibly in Japan.
117
The Second
Rafael was shaking as he entered the conference room. Everyone had been polite, which seemed to make it more unbearable. If they had mistreated him and acted unfairly he might be able to redirect his guilt towards self-righteous anger. The problem was that he could not fault the process. He had made a serious mistake and he had to atone for it.
He thought he had prepared himself but they had one more surprise: Paloma. She was sitting between Anaïs and Eva. He met her gaze but she lowered her eyes. How could she be there?
They had formed a large circle to avoid any suggestion of a hierarchy. Everyone’s voice would be equal, including his. He found his seat next to Adey, who had agreed to chair the process, having participated in restorative justice meetings in Africa.
“Welcome everyone. There are several items on the agenda. The first as you all know, is Rafael’s breach of his contract. You’ve all been asked to prepare a personal impact statement, but first let me formally introduce you to Paloma Carabajal, who wishes to explain her part in the events that bring us to this point.”
“Hola,” she said nervously.
“For her benefit, because this is the first time she’s met most of you, we’ll go around the circle and give a brief introduction: name, profession, just a few words.”
Rafael tried to catch Paloma’s eyes as the introductions were made, but she ignored him. He felt confused. Surely she could give him an encouraging smile? He squirmed in his chair. This was going to be psychological torture.
“Good, now Eva has a report to give regarding events in Barcelona. Anaïs was present as well.”
Rafael looked around the room quickly. Barcelona? When were Eva and Anaïs in fucking Barcelona?
Eva gave her report. Everyone was shocked, including Rafael. The seriousness of his breach of the security protocol was beginning to sink in.
Put Put raised her hand. “So I get this clear, you’re saying that the anti-terrorist division of the Barcelona police may have been able to trace the call to Bhutan, thus potentially exposing the mission?”
Adey nodded for Eva to answer.
“If they had thought it was worth pursuing then yes, they may have opened that line of inquiry. They would want to discover if Rafael was linked to the cell in anyway. They would need to consider if he was in the region to smuggle drugs or arms.”
Solomon held up his hand. “Sorry, drugs?”
“Yes, to sell for cash. Drugs are a major source of income for insurgent groups. They rely heavily on the black market, on contraband…”
“I had no idea…” Rafael interrupted.
“Please Rafael, hold your hand up like everyone else,” said Adey softly.
“No one is suggesting you knew this Rafael,” said Eva. “Paloma didn’t know she was being monitored.”
Paloma nodded. “We think they were on the verge of realising I had simply had an affair with someone in ETA and that it had ended. The timing was unfortunate.”
Rafael moaned.
“The added problem is that the police are often corrupt: they sell information to interested clients. For the most part they are pretty stupid, but some are smart and well connected. This information may have found its way to a third party,” Eva explained.
Somaly held up her hand. “But Rafael’s message was very vague.”
&n
bsp; “But it contained the phrase ‘it’s out of this world’…” said Eva.
“Yeah, but who…” interrupted Solomon.
Adey held up her hand to stop him. “Please, one at a time.”
“Actually quite a few people.” Eva continued. “Aviva has authorised me to tell you that several independent sources are beginning to think that interstellar travel is theoretically possible, some have even thought Akash knows more than he has revealed. It can be like a chain reaction.”
Paloma held up her hand. “Once you have some of the key pieces, the puzzle can fall into place very quickly. I worked it out simply on the basis that Rafael was an agriculturist. Why would a computer company hire an agriculturist?”
Grace held up her hand. “To work on agricultural projects in Bhutan… Bhutan has a reputation for sustainable agriculture.”
“Yes, I initially thought that too,” Paloma replied. “But I knew Rafael had signed a very strict contract with Shunyata, something that would be completely unnecessary for a simple agricultural project. You see, I study law, and I know something about employment and non-disclosure contracts.”
“You told Paloma about the contract?” Sirakit interjected.
“Please, hands,” Adey reminded them.
“He asked for my advice. He does not trust multi-nationals. I share his concerns.”
Put Put held up her hand. “But what is the worst that could happen?”
Alice held up her hand. “You are all being naïve…”
“Alice… Language…” said Adey, reminding her that they were expected to avoid inflammatory language.
Alice scowled.
“China or Russia could invade Bhutan,” said Freja holding up her hand as she spoke.
“You remember the North Korean war?” said Alice. “Well, Akash knew. Of course they knew. The major security agencies all use Shunyata systems to analyse meta-data. If anyone of them thought Akash was withholding information that would give them access to another planet they would not hesitate to act. Bhutan would be swarming with paramilitary and we would be imprisoned and possibly tortured for information. If the whole world knew, the whole world would go to war. They already go to war to control resources on this used up dump, let alone whole new worlds.”
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