Missing Link

by Varun Vashist

  The phone rang, but no one picked it. She was about to disconnect when it was answered.

  "Harrison," a gruff voice came from the other end. That doesn't sound nice, she thought.

  "Sir, this is Kiara Davenport.. I mean Agent Davenport checking in." she tried to sound as nice as possible.

  "From Carlson's office? Great, you are already here. We need to meet in person. Need to speak to you before you start. Meet me today after you have settled down," he said firmly with a hint of a smile.

  "Sure, Sir, I will be there. Will need the directions, though," she asked.

  "Yeah," Ralph thought for a moment, "Did you see the lake while coming today?"

  "Yes, sir,"

  "You must have gone right from there. You need to come straight on that road; around a mile or so. There is a check-post at the factory entrance. Our office is inside that."

  "Inside the check-post?" she murmured.

  "What?"

  "Nothing, Sir," she said immediately, "What time you would like to meet me?"

  "Around six in the evening," he said while doing some calculation, "Yeah, we can meet at six."

  "How do I come?" she asked further.

  "You jog, right?" Harrison said tersely.

  "But, it must be three miles from here," she murmured again.

  "What?" Carlson roared again, "You need to be clear."

  "I will be there, Sir," There was no point making an excuse. Three miles were not much for her, but it was not great to meet your boss for the first time with sweat dripping out of your face.

  Suddenly, there was knocking at the door.

  "Sir, someone is at the door. Is there anything else?" she asked while walking towards the door.

  "No, that will be it for now. We will talk in the evening,"

  She disconnected and opened the door to see Paul holding a tray.

  "Your lunch," he said while getting inside.

  As Kiara was going to close the door, she saw the old lady staring at her from the window of her house. She looked at her for a moment and then closed the door.

  "Your mother doesn't like me much," she asked with a smile.

  Paul looked at her while setting up the table, "She hates anyone associated with the factory."

  "But, I don't work for them. In fact, my report will tell the actual story of human rights and environmental law violation in Kingston," she said immediately before realizing that Paul may not have understood.

  Paul looked at her with confusion before getting an essence of what she was saying, "I know that, but for her anyone associated with them is a bad person."

  "Well, you need to clear that to her, then," she urged.

  Suddenly, Paul's face turned red. He looked at her and barged out at once. Kiara did not understand what triggered that reaction. She thought about what she had said, but still could not find anything wrong with it. After a moment of contemplation she thought of letting it go and looked at the food. It had been months since she had anything homemade to eat. The food looked as good as the well maintained household. Whatever she may feel about her, this lady has got a talent for keeping her house neat and cooking a nice meal, she thought and started devouring the meal.

  Kiara looked at the watch while keeping the tray in the sink. She still had a couple of hours before meeting Harrison. She had to be prepared to face him. Any slip, and the first impression was gone. She thought of going through the report, something that she had avoided for the whole day.

  She shuffled through the pages that had some numbers till she reached the part about Cooper Industries Plan for restoring Blue Leaf Lake.

  'Corporate Social Responsibility has been the mainstay of Cooper Industries since its inception. Cooper Industries believe in clean and green Chemical Plants. We have followed all the environmental norms and have obtained all the necessary certifications. Since its commencement, Cooper Chemicals has provided jobs to over two thousand personnel from Kingston; in turn providing a better living to two thousand households encompassing six thousand and five hundred family members.

  To further its vision of providing an ecological balance, Cooper Industries propose spending five percent of its profit from Cooper chemicals in various activities over the next eighteen months that will make it a better place to work and Kingston a better place to live.'

  "First, you destroy everything and then you pretend to restore it," Kiara smirked, but thought about it again in a moment. "Kiara, don't get judgmental. Every story has two sides. First see what the actual situation is."

  With that, she got up and thought of taking a shower. It was an unusual time, but it was the place where she used to get most of her important thoughts.

  As soon as the first drops of water hit her face, her brain started running.

  "What did Richard have that was so secretive that it made the Coopers agree to Morgan's demands?"

  She closed her eyes and started thinking through the whole situation once again. Suddenly, she remembered something, "Carlson had said something about them being four steps ahead of others. Before the government could catch them flouting the norms, they constituted the team for the restoration of the Blue Leaf Lake. But, that means they are admitting themselves that the Lake needs restoration. Somehow, it doesn't add up."

  She came out more confused. However, at least she had something to begin with. The only thing needed was a bit of research and a partner that won't interfere. But, before the partner, she had to handle Harrison. She looked at her watch and started getting ready.

  She came out of the room at around five wearing her sweat pants and I Love New York T shirt. As she was about to plug the headphones, Paul came out.

  "You going somewhere?" he asked while looking at her attire.

  "Just for a jog," she replied and kept walking towards the road, "I heard, it gets a bit chilly after seven here."

  Paul nodded, wondering why she wanted to jog at this hour of the day.

  It took her ten minutes to negotiate the mud and enter the main road. Sun was still up, but the place looked deserted. As she walked across the main street, she noticed people standing outside a cafe. They looked at her and tried to figure out who she was. She noticed that and covered her face under the hood. Suddenly, they all stopped looking at her. May be someone had noticed her earlier with Paul. Though, it was a good relief for her.

  A little further, she noticed that some of the shops were half closed. Clearly, business was not the intention behind the shops, as told by Paul. She increased the volume and crossed the market. After ten minutes or so, she reached the point of bifurcation.

  She looked at the watch. It was already half past five. There was much ground to be covered. She started to pace up and within seconds she was jogging. She could not believe how Harrison had actually made her jog.

  She ran for a mile before reaching the point from where the Lake was visible. She crossed the road and started walking along the lake. There was a stench in the air that made her cover her face. She looked at the sky. The wind was blowing in her direction, bringing along with it the smoke and smell from the factory chimneys.

  She looked at the factory. It looked much bigger than when she had seen it earlier. From the distance she could see hundreds of men walking across the factory area; all having their faces covered with masks. It was already getting difficult to breathe and looking at the masked men made her start running again. It had been some time since she had run so much. By the time she crossed the lake, she was panting heavily. She thought of stopping for some time, but her watch told that she did not have much time with her. She took a sip from her water bottle and started walking as fast as possible.

  In another fifteen minutes, she was able to see the check-post. She was sweating heavily by now. She poured some water and splashed on her face. After a minute of catching her breath and arranging her clothes, she headed for her destination.

  Chapter 3

  The check-post was at the entrance of the factory. This further added to
her confusion. She looked at the entire arrangement for a moment and then walked towards the gate. As she reached the check-post, she was stopped by a guard. He looked her from top to bottom.

  "What do you want?" he asked in a grumpy voice.

  "I am here to see Ralph Harrison,"

  Again, he looked her from top to bottom. Kiara adjusted her T-shirt. She was getting uncomfortable with all the peeking. If allowed, she could have broken his jaw into half. She pressed her fist firmly, trying to control herself.

  "I will need to see your papers," he probed further.

  Kiara gave him the letter from the university and showed the fake badge. He did not even check it properly and gestured the other guard to open the gate.

  "Go straight and then left," he pointed at an office at some distance.

  She nodded and started walking. As she crossed him, she sensed he was again checking her. She turned around and gave him an annoyed look. He started looking down sheepishly.

  "You are lucky, bastard. I am under orders," she murmured.

  The road led to the Cooper chemicals. She could see the main gate with a huge signage. The road was in a much better condition as compared to the one she had followed. There was a canopy of trees on either side of the road. With natural light fading, the street lights had started to glow. She could see the lights in a line as far as her sight went.

  The office was at a small distance before the main gate as if it was specially created for the factory. She wondered how the town folks came inside to register their complaints.

  She was about to push the door when it was pushed from the other end barely missing her nose. She stepped back immediately.

  "Watch out," she yelled while covering her face. "It is supposed to be pulled from inside."

  "I am sorry,'' smirk filled voice came from the other side.

  She looked at him. It was an officer. He looked the same age as hers, but had more attitude than she had seen anywhere. He moved his fingers across his thick black hair and kept looking at her. She looked back at him, her eyes burning with anger.

  "Kiara?" he asked calmly while looking at her clothes.

  It angered her further, but it was not the right time to show her emotions. She just nodded.

  "Follow me," he said and turned around. He pulled the door and this time he finally hit Kiara, although gently on purpose. Kiara felt as if she was going to be thrown out of the assignment within a day. Oblivious to this, he kept walking till he noticed she was still at the door.

  He stopped and kept looking at her till she reached near him.

  "What's your problem?" she finally asked.

  "He is waiting for you," he pointed towards the cabin where a middle aged bald man was staring at the computer screen.

  As she looked away from the cabin, he was gone. She looked around to find out where he had gone. He had settled at his desk. She grunted and walked towards the cabin. There were three more desks in the hall. One of the officers did not bother to notice her. Second one looked at her and gave a passing smile before burying himself in the files.

  She knocked on the glass door. Harrison removed his glasses and looked at her. Looking at her attire, he knew who she was. He gestured her to get inside.

  "Good evening, Sir," She tried to make a good first impression with a welcoming smile.

  "How was your day?" he asked and got up. Not only his voice was commanding, his physique was also imposing. He was six and a half and well built.

  "It..it was good," she said while he shook her hand.

  "So, I believe you are supposed to get insider information about the factory?"

  "My focus will be the environmental and human rights violation, Sir," she said promptly as if rehearsed.

  "You understand that you are talking about going against the same person whose land we are using for our office,"

  "I do, Sir and I am wondering why the office is located here?" she asked the question that was bothering her for quite some time.

  "There are people in town who don't like the factory to be here. This is a sensitive zone. Mr. Cooper was kind enough to offer us the office. Post our coming here; there has been a huge reduction in the number of cases."

  "And, what about the other cases?" she inquired, "if there are cases from outside the factory premises?"

  "Anyone can come inside provided they can prove their identity," The calmness on his face showed as if it was a normal thing, "Besides; there is rarely any case from them. If any cases are there, they are against them."

  "What kind of cases?"

  "Nothing much; town folks believe the factory has ruined the ecological balance. So sometimes, there are clashes with the one who support the factory."

  "The one's working in the factory?" Kiara's volley of questions was not stopping.

  "You can say that. But, actually the factory follows all the norms and has all the certifications. People supporting it have a reason to do that. People against them have no legal ground whatsoever," Harrison said thoughtfully, though Kiara was not convinced.

  "What about the factual grounds?" Kiara asked firmly.

  Harrison looked at her with suspicion, "You have been talking to these nut-jobs, haven't you? What did they tell you? The lake is ruined; the land has become infertile. That's all bullshit. There are no facts supporting that."

  Kiara was taken aback by Harrison's sudden outburst. As if she had touched some nerve. She made a mental note of it: Never argue with him on what he believes.

  "I have received a note about you from Carlson. You have the habit of going against the orders. But, let me remind you. This is my territory. Don't try to cross the line. I have spent two years trying to bring harmony to Kingston. Don't try to disrupt it. "

  "I understand, Sir. I wouldn't share any data outside," Kiara tried to diffuse the situation.

  "About that," Harrison looked into her eyes, "You can't go inside without my permission and that too not without your partner."

  With that, he dialed a number. Kiara knew the moment had come that she always hated.

  She was still in thoughts when the door opened. It was the same agent who had received her outside the office. Kiara cursed her luck.

  He stood behind her clasping his hands behind his back.

  "This is Jake Carter, your partner for the assignment," Harrison said making Kiara wince. Of all the people only he was left, she thought. However, right now there was a bigger problem sitting opposite to her who was trying to clip her wings. She did not say anything, just nodded.

  "Jake goes for patrolling twice a week. Whenever, he is going inside, he will call you," Harrison said, "Don't try to get inside without my permission and whatever data you are collecting, needs to be checked by me."

  "But, Sir… I will need to spend more time inside. Otherwise, I will not be able to gather much information," she argued. She heard a chuckle from behind, but thought of ignoring it for the moment.

  "I told you. There is no information to be collected. There is nothing wrong inside. In fact, I am worried, if someone notices you, it may cause a furor. Already, people from human rights office are behind our back," Harrison was not ready to budge; but neither was Kiara.

  "What if they see your officer accompanying me? Won't they suspect there is something between me and your office?"

  "They all know that we don't let anyone go inside without someone from our office escorting them. In fact, if someone asks you about today's visit; you need not worry. It’s a standard practice to screen any newcomer in the town."

  Kiara knew that she was fighting a lost battle. Harrison looked like a Cooper Industries agent.

  "Anything else, Sir," she said while getting up.

  Harrison's demeanor changed a bit, "Listen, I don't want to be hard on you. But, the balance here is fragile. Try not to do anything that could disrupt it. Am I clear?"

  She just nodded and turned around, almost hitting Jake who did not get aside even after that. She made her way to the door, avoiding
any confrontation. Harrison looked at Jake and gestured him to follow her.

  "Wait," Jake called as she was about to get outside the office. She turned around and gave him What now? look, though, he did not bother about that.

  "We need to set some ground rules here," he said bluntly.

  "What ground rules?" Kiara asked, still having the same look on her face.

  "You would not do anything without my knowledge. I will take you wherever I feel you should go," he said while looking around.

  "So, basically I can't do the work I have been assigned. I will just do whatever Harrison wants and finally I will leave with a bogus report… that presumably will contain things clearing Cooper Industries of any wrongdoings," Kiara said with a firm voice making others stare at her.

  Jake shook his head, "Come with me."

  Kiara could not understand, but when he walked towards the main door, she followed him. Anyway, she had to go in that direction.

  "What is your problem?" he asked in a stern voice as she stepped out.

  "I don't have a problem. Problem is with all of you; suppressing and hiding things," Kiara retorted.

  Jake took a deep breath. "Everyone has an agenda and this place is no different. Harrison is the in-charge. Why would he not want to check your report? There have been lots of mishaps in the town since the factory came up. You are from a big city; a more organized place. This town…it has all kinds of people. You can't trust anyone. Whatever you want to do or have been told to do will ruffle lots of feathers right up to the top level. Even your people will abandon you if you go against the authorities. All I am saying is that chose your moves with caution."

  Kiara looked at him, trying to decipher whether he was helping her or warning her.

  "What's your agenda?" she asked the pertinent question.