‘Doctors said they don’t know if she will wake up. With everything that’s happened to her, all they can do for her is restore her limbs.’
It’s better than not having, Evelyn wanted to say. ‘She will wake up.’
‘How you holding up? Did you hear from Cecille?’
‘I’m alright. Didn’t hear from him, but I suspected he was informed of the result the meeting.’ She sat beside Martha.
‘Something on your mind?’
‘Just… disturbed. Don’t know if that’s the right word in this context. I’ve been going over what this person said to me before they escaped. His words keep echoing in my mind and I can’t get them out.’
‘What did he say to you?’
‘I rather not say. At least not here.’
‘Why?’
‘Because... because I believe what he said to me probably speaks truth and I rather not draw attention.’
Heidi went quiet.
‘Did you know Martha is anaemic?’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘Yeah, neither did I. And yet, the culprit knew about it.’
‘He did?’
‘Yes, I found out from him.’ She paused. ‘How can that be? I’ve known Martha for three years, and not once did I suspect she was anaemic. She exhibited the same kind of tiredness as any other person, but never thought she was suffering from iron deficiency.’
‘Maybe she didn’t want to share this particular part of herself with anyone. We’re all suffering from something to some extent, right? Yet, we keep it to ourselves because we don’t want the attention.’
Evelyn paused. ‘Maybe.’
‘Did the person make a claim about Martha’s condition?’
‘They made a claim about something related to Martha’s condition, along with many others. But I’ve yet to do anything to verify their claim.’
‘What are they claiming?’
‘Like I said, I rather not say, at least not here.’ She sighed. ‘I hope Martha wakes up soon. We her help in finding where this person took her. I cannot allow her help all be for nothing. I couldn’t forgive myself if it was.’
‘Why?’
‘I... feel guilty for the position she’s in right now.’
‘I must, I do feel responsible for this. But this job comes with moments of reflection on one’s action, and in that, I think we all did the best we could within that moment. So, don’t think, Evelyn. Martha wouldn’t want you to.’
‘Martha isn’t the person responsible for the agonising pain she went through. It was me. My defiance that resulted in this.’
‘And Martha wouldn’t have expected any less. You had every right to be defy the culprit because you knew that what we’re trying to do was greater than the bombing at the Ascent University. This person wants to rid us of any hope we have in surviving our predicament, right? That’s a hell of a goal. Going up against someone with that goal will come with costs. Heavy costs.’
Evelyn remained quiet. She returned her attention to Martha, paying close to her breathing.
Later, she was sitting in their rendezvous point. With a cigarette burning in her hand, she stared at the CCTV footage that monitored everything relating to the investigation, while Mark threw darts at the dartboard and Luther rested against the wall, watching Heidi with her laptop, streaming through information.
Mark sighed after throwing the last dart, which was off target.
‘So, where do we go from here?’ he asked, sounding discouraged as he walked toward the dartboard to collect the darts. ‘We have no idea who or what we’re facing, and we don’t know how or where the culprit is getting the things they need to make their plans work. And, to top it all off, we have absolutely no idea when they are going to make their next move.’ He resumed throwing his darts.
‘We do know one thing now: what they’re after. Which is a start,’ Luther said.
‘That’s kind of crazy though, isn’t it? What have we done to deserve such aggression from a freak?’
‘I’m not sure. But someone believes we’ve done something wrong. No person commits an act like this without having a strong opinion about it.’
‘I agree. Like think about it. Ever since Oblivion, there’s hardly been any conflict between anyone these days. Times have been peaceful. There’s nothing, according to history, that we’ve done that would bring out such a response from someone. It’s like the guy has some sort of resentment towards something.’
‘You think this is a man doing it?’ Heidi inquired.
‘Yeah, I meant didn’t you hear their voice. It’s seems like the likely scenario. But then again, it could be a woman in a disguise. I mean, women can be just as bad as men.’
‘I guess you have a hard time picking up women.’
‘That’s nice,’ he said, sarcastically. ‘Look, man or woman, I don’t care. I just want to stop this person from doing any more harm to anyone. If we knew what was driving them to do this, we might be put in a better position to deal with this person.’ He threw his last two darts, both landing around the edge of the board. He rolled his eyes.
‘Well, I don’t know if we’ll find out that anytime soon. In the meantime, we should focus our attention on what this person might target next.’
Mark joined Heidi. ‘What do you think that’ll be?’
‘This person planned to see all of this come to an end, personally or by proxy. The past two occasions this person tried to do some serious damage towards us on their own, they failed. Aside from having ships blown up and creating a highway disaster, we haven’t suffered anything detrimental.
‘Don’t forget the bombing at the university.’
‘I haven’t. Aside from these events, the supplies to ship are safe and the bomb meant for the inner city was diffused.’
‘The person was close though.’
‘Thankfully, we have able people.’ Heidi closed her laptop. ‘If this person decides to plan another attack, it won’t happen here, I think.’
‘You think they’re going to make a move on the academy?’
‘I do… The main goal of the culprit is to see the hope we have extinguished. As of this moment, if you look at it, those students are our only hope. There isn’t anyone else.’
‘The people don’t see them as hope. They’re just students preparing for a greater cause, in their eyes. They’ll won’t ever see them as hope.’
‘You’re missing the point, Mark. As time passes for us here on Earth, we’ll continued to be at the mercy of the sun, and knowing that it will continue to increase in size, is going to be an ever-growing concern and reminder of the predicament we’re in. People here are going to be the first to experience the effects when that happens, and when things start to appear most dire, the people will only have those students to look up to.’
Mark became quiet. He appeared to have understood her point.
He looked at Evelyn. ‘Evelyn, what do you have to say about all this?’
‘I agree with Heidi,’ Evelyn said without facing them. ‘All the work the students are doing is for us… Which is why we cannot fail in protecting them, if the culprit decides to make a move on them.’
‘Any idea on how they’ll do that?’
‘None that would seem viable to the culprit.’ Eyes staring at the monitors.
‘Well, I have one.’
‘What is it?’
‘If this person decides to head for the academy, they’ll need a ship, and the only way they can get their hands on one is by stealing a ship from the army base. The ships there are the only ones capable of flying at light speed. No other vessel here can fly at those speeds. So, if he or she decides to go there,’ he looked at Heidi. ‘they’ll have to board one when another supply trip is made.’
‘They won’t do that.’ She faced them.
‘Why not?’
‘It’d be conspicuous. It defeats the purpose of remaining unseen. The culprit will do their utmost to stay in the dark until a moment arises where t
hey are forced to come out. But we’re not able to elicit such a reaction. We were lucky at the army base, and it won’t happen again. I think to them, it would be impractical to adopt that course of action.’
‘What will they do then?’
She paused to think about it. ‘I believe this person is going to employ a proxy, as Heidi suggested.’
‘Send someone to do their bidding?’
‘It keeps the culprit hidden while their plan is executed by someone else. I don’t believe this person will adopt the method you suggested, Mark. But I think they’ll have a ship of their own to fly there, which is why I need you and Luther to meet with the supervisors at the army base, who monitor every vehicle and vessel.’
Mark and Luther looked at her, waiting to hear her plan.
Evelyn continued. ‘They’ll be a logbook of individuals who have used them. It’s possible that there might be two, or more, knowing how stringent the army is when it comes to maintenance. They’ll have a book and records in their databases. I need you to look for irregularities with dates, times, duration, or personnel. Also, look for ships that never made it back to base during their flights around Earth, and flights to Mars.’
Her colleagues remained quiet as she spoke.
‘Check reports of stolen aircraft, particularly those that are capable of light speed. Check for any ships that were discarded and investigate them to see if any parts were taken. The culprit is intelligent, and we must assume the possibility that they’re able to design a ship of their own with any of the discarded parts. Alright?’
‘Alright. We’re on it,’ Mark said.
Mark and Luther got ready to leave.
Evelyn looked at Heidi. ‘Heidi, I’m going to need to go through surveillance footage from our satellites that are still operational. We should have a recording of every ship that was authorised and unauthorised, leaving Earth. See if you can find anything peculiar. I want you to keep an eye out for any flights made, those travelling to Mars, and continue to monitor the activity.’
‘Okay. Do you think we’ll find anything?’
‘I’m hoping we will.’
Mark and Luther left the room.
While Heidi was about to leave, she noticed Evelyn didn’t move from her spot. ‘What are you going to do?’
‘I haven’t decided yet,’ Evelyn said, eyes fixed on the monitor screens.
Once everyone had left the apartment, Evelyn sat quietly, thinking about recent events and the culprit’s words from their last encounter.
It can’t be true... can it?
She collected her belongings and headed outside. She wanted to stroll through the streets to see how life really was for the people in Interpol. She came to find many people on the streets suffering from some sort of ailment after engaging in discussions with them.
‘With the advancements of medicine,’ a person said, ‘you would think that there was a cure already made for all the illnesses and diseases by now.’
Evelyn didn’t have an answer. The person’s words made her wonder about the situation and question the current practices in medicine industry.
The person continued. ‘I mean I constantly have to purchase my medications for my condition, but it doesn’t treat it. It manages it until I need to buy it.’
Many people told her similar things but none of them were cured from their conditions with the medication they took.
How can this be?
She travelled to the BIOFO, where Mr. Khoury worked to learn more about the company and the work he was doing to verify the claim made by the culprit. She doubted there was any truth to it, but she wanted to see for herself.
She met with Eric Foreman, the CEO of the company, who wore a pinstripe suit and had a trimmed goatee.
‘Detective Klattenhoff,’ he said, shaking her hand.
‘Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,’ she said. ‘I’ll keep this brief, Mr. Foreman.’
‘I’ll try and help in any way I can.’
They sat by his wide office which overlooked the city in every direction.
‘How well did you know Mr. Khoury?’
‘I knew him well. He and I worked closely on various projects with the intent to helping humanity.’
‘Could you give me an example on the kind of work?’
‘Certainly, for instance, one of our areas of focus include the acceleration of compost to improve soil fertility for our crop production on Mars. Another focus of ours is the growth of crops and increasing our output with the minimal amount of soil we have without causing soil exhaustion.’
‘Are we low on soil?’
‘We’re low on fertile soil. The conditions on the surface of the Earth has penetrated deep into the ground. We were working closely with government contractors who specialise in excavating Earth underground, in search for fertile soil.’
‘What happens if you don’t find any?’
‘I’ll let you know when that happens. So far we’ve been find fertile soil but the soil has to be processed before it can be worked with. That’s where our work with compost comes into play because we need to be able to match the demand our current population. Despite experiencing a disastrous loss on our population, there’s still a high demand for crop production as people need to eat and we need to be able to match that demand.’
‘And how are you faring, so far?’
‘We’re managing well, and we’re expecting to be in surplus in the next coming years. So, the future is looking promising for us as the population gradually increases.’
Evelyn sensed he was telling half-truths. ‘What about the quality of the crops? I understand they’ve been genetically modified, but to what extent?’
His eyebrows rose. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean are they modified to strengthen our mental and physical states? Can they eliminate our ailments that have somewhat become embedded in our lives?’
‘Being sick is part and parcel of living, is it not?’
‘It is. Though I’m curious if it’s possible to improve the quality of food beyond their current capacity that would strengthen our immune systems.’
‘That’s what we’re trying to do. We want to improve the quality of our crops, but there’s only so much we can do for the people. Look, we promote and advocate a healthy lifestyle to the people. However, at the end of the day, it’s up to the people on how they choose to eat and live. We can’t tell people what to do. Perhaps if people did research on the food they did eat, their eating habits might drastically change and improve their health and lifestyle.’
‘I can’t disagree with you there. Though it just seems strange. You could walk down the street and meet people who appears healthy and fit, yet still appear to be suffering from something.’
‘Maybe, it’s genetic.’
‘Maybe…’
‘So, what is it you want to know?’
‘I just to learn more about the work you do.’
‘To what end? It’s seems you’re searching for confirmation we’re doing here.’
‘I am.’
‘Is this part of your investigation?’
‘No.’
There was silence for a moment.
Eric angled, as if trying to understand Evelyn’s reason for meeting with him. ‘If I may ask, are you trying to direct the discussion to a particular notion? You seem like you’re alluding to some causality between our crops and people’s health. Are you suggesting we’re responsible for the illness people suffer from?’
‘I’m not. I’m simply trying to understand the quality of your crops and the work you do here.’
‘No, you’re not. I can tell that you’re taking this discussion in that direction, and I find that offensive.’ His face tensed and breathing deepen.
Evelyn took a breath, trying to calm herself. ‘Mr. Foreman, if you believe that I’m implying such a notion, I apologise. If you’ve been following the news on my operations regarding the culprit responsible for recent events, you�
�ll know that my last encounter didn’t bode well.’
‘I’m aware.’
‘Well, this person made an accusation about the work Mr. Khoury did, accusing your company for the prevalence on degradation in people’s health.’
‘And you believed this person?’
‘I didn’t believe them, but their words resonated with me. When you look around, you find people suffering from something. Doesn’t that seem strange?’
‘No, it doesn’t. Everyone gets sick. It’s a part of life.’
‘Maybe... maybe I’m overthinking this, maybe I’m not thinking properly because of everything that’s happened.’
‘Uh huh... and what’s your position now, in regard to work we do here.’
‘I’m happy to say that you’ve proven the culprit wrong.’
‘Have I?’
‘Yes. I needed confirmation from someone who had authority and influence. That was you.’
There was a knock on the door.
‘Who is it?’ Eric asked.
‘It’s me, sir,’ a lady said.
‘What is it?’
‘Mrs. Robotham is here to see you, sir.’
‘Send her in.’ He looked at Evelyn. ‘It seems our meeting will have to come to an end, detective.’
‘That’s fine. I got what I needed.’
‘I hope you can rid yourself of the notion the culprit gave you with the confirmation you got from me. We’re trying to help people. Remember that.’
‘I will. Thank you for meeting me.’
‘I will.’
Evelyn left the office, and moments later, was out of the building. Her mind returned to the discussion with Mr. Foreman and it seemed to her that was something he was hiding from her. She knew he was telling half-truths throughout their talk, though she couldn’t distinguish between the lie and truth in his words.
It’s seems like the culprit was on to something. She glanced at the building. They’re doing something... I just don’t know what that is.
CHAPTER 22
WITH JAM–PACKED days passing quickly, time flew for everyone. The weeks went by without a concern aside from their approaching exams, especially when it concerned the Arms and Military exam.
Wanderers in the Dark : Part 1 Page 16