by Eliza Green
Robinson scoffed and stood up. He was taller, thinner and paler than Olsen. ‘What use is she, Olsen? Why did you bring them down here?’
Olsen turned to Isobel, ignoring Robinson. ‘Yes, I want to know that, too. How is it you think you can help us?’
‘Why don’t you demonstrate for them, Isobel?’ said Albert.
Isobel took a moment to look around the kitchen. Her gaze was neutral as she studied the walls and ceiling. She stepped outside and examined the tunnel arch. Her gaze sharpened. ‘There.’
They all followed her. She pointed to a spot in the smooth rock where the arch was marginally higher. ‘I can see weak fissure cracks where the original builders put the vault in. The load up top is putting too much stress on the support. If you don’t reinforce the vault, you’re looking at another cave-in, right where you live.’ She nodded further down the tunnel. ‘If that happens while someone is in this part of the facility, they’ll be cut off from the entrance.’
Hayes leaned against the door. Her green eyes shone under the overhead lighting. ‘It’s all bullshit, Olsen. Mac examined the tunnels extensively. He says there are no issues. The collapse happened before we arrived. It’s been eight years and there have been no problems.’
‘Mac used to work as an overseer for construction, Hayes,’ said Olsen. ‘He was by no means a civil engineer, like our friend here.’
‘She’s telling us this to manipulate us. If you think I’ll help them, you’re sorely mistaken. I’ve got to get back to work.’ She walked away but Isobel grabbed her arm as she passed. Hayes tried to twist out of her grip, but Isobel tightened her hold.
‘Isobel, please,’ said Albert. They hadn’t come this far to get kicked out before they got help.
Isobel levelled Hayes with her powerful glare. ‘Do you know what my species can do? Our visionary capabilities are superior to yours. We can run fast, we’re strong and we can hear a pin drop from over a mile away. I can read emotions, but not as keenly as others of my kind.’
Hayes snatched her arm away. ‘But now you’re devolved, so you’ve lost those abilities.’
Isobel shook her head. ‘I still have all those things, except now I’m starting to resemble my former human self. But I feel far from human. I will always be Indigene.’
‘So? What’s that got to do with—’
‘Do I stand before you and tell you how a computer works? But yet you challenge me on what I can and can’t do. I used to be a structural engineer. Those abilities were heightened through a change I did not ask for. Now we’re stuck together on a planet that is no longer my home. I can see things your eyes will never see. Should I dare to call myself an IT expert because I know how to operate a DPad?’
Robinson muffled a laugh with his hand, earning him a scowl from Hayes.
Albert smiled. Why had he ever feared Isobel? She was possibly the most interesting person he’d met in some time.
‘I studied a little civil engineering,’ said Olsen, stepping in, ‘but not enough to call myself an engineer. I gave it up and got into law instead. Forget about Hayes and tell me what you see, Isobel.’
Isobel relaxed and focused on the tunnel wall. ‘The engineers built these facility tunnels incorrectly, which has led to weak spots directly underneath the heaviest building up top. The Widener Library. The weight of the building has created fissure cracks that, over time, have led to the partial collapse. Just because it happened before you got here doesn’t mean the problems are over.’ She glanced at Hayes. ‘The bedrock beneath the college campus is made of limestone, which weakens if exposed to the elements. Many of your tunnels run further underground and shouldn’t give you cause for concern. But the wall here...’ She patted an area near the vaulted section. ‘It’s only a metre thick and it’s not providing enough support for the vault. The original builders should have supported these weak points with metal-alloy struts, stronger than steel. I can show you the exact points where you must reinforce the walls and the ceilings.’
Olsen frowned at the ceiling and rubbed a hand over his clean-shaven chin. ‘We need more than instructions. We need someone to do the work for us. I never thought we’d need a civil or structural engineer. Everyone assumed the remaining structures were solid. Are you willing to work with us?’
Albert had heard enough.
‘We came down here to do a deal. Isobel’s help for your IT expertise.’
Olsen gave him a hard look. ‘I said I would consider it. I don’t go back on my word.’
He motioned for them to return to the kitchen. Isobel hovered by the table while the others sat down.
‘Waverley neighbourhood is losing life support,’ said Albert. ‘I spoke to some of the refugees who confirm there’s a pattern to the energy failures.’
‘Waverley, you say?’ said Robinson. ‘My family lived near there when it was still called Cambria Heights.’
Hayes leaned forward. ‘What sort of pattern?’
Albert explained how the residential blocks were losing life support, but the ones that had originally been business premises—like the old school in East Compound—had so far been unaffected.
‘So why not relocate all the people to the unaffected blocks?’ said Olsen.
‘Because there are too few of them.’ Albert paused and looked around the room. ‘How have you not been affected by the changes up top?’
‘We have our own power supply,’ said Robinson. ‘All the medical facilities do.’
Olsen frowned. ‘I don’t understand what you’re asking, Albert. Where does this code come into it?’
‘Jenny has the details. The short-haired woman outside. All we can tell you is that for years the criminals have forced us into a life of servitude. We’ve been reliant on them for working generators to access basic light and heat. Recently, some money was stolen in our neighbourhood. Marcus, who runs Waverley, rarely asks questions. He just inflicts punishment. Around the same time as the money theft, the life support failed.’
‘And you think Marcus has something to do with the code and the life support?’ said Olsen.
‘Jenny doesn’t seem to think so. When I told him about the life support failure he seemed genuinely surprised.’
Olsen nodded. ‘The controls for some facilities, like here, have been separated out, but the rest run off a central feed.’
Hayes grunted. ‘The criminals are all degenerates, Olsen. They are the least skilled and most opportunistic of those who still live on the planet. The factions all occupy the big mansions left behind by the World Government elite. Those properties have their own power supplies, like we do. But unlike ours, which is independent, their power is controlled by the World Government supercomputer.’ She looked at Albert. ‘How many of you currently live in the neighbourhood?’
‘Approximately fifty thousand.’
Hayes stood up and left the room.
Olsen called after her. When she didn’t answer, he sighed. ‘We’re all strong personalities down here, but we are smart enough to know that there needs to be a chief. I think my age swung it.’
‘Will she help?’ said Albert.
Olsen shrugged. ‘I think I should speak to Jenny before I commit to anything. I’ll arrange for someone to bring her down here.’
Robinson’s eyes sharpened. ‘You want to bring an underground movement crusader down here to see our operations? Over my dead body.’
‘We don’t have any choice. I know you don’t trust them, but we need more information about this code.’
Robinson seemed intent on disagreeing, but finally relented. He stood up. ‘Don’t come running to me when she fleeces the place of everything we own.’
‘I don’t think that’s her style,’ said Albert after Robinson had left.
Olsen shrugged. ‘Doesn’t matter if she’s a Girl Scout. Robinson has history with their movement.’
He pulled out a walkie-talkie. ‘Hanson. Get the woman Jenny. She’s up top. Bring her down here.’
A few minutes late
r, Albert heard the metal door being opened and the echo rush along the tunnel.
Jenny joined Albert and Isobel in the kitchen. She looked around, drinking in every little detail of the room.
When Olsen asked her about the code, she told him everything she knew about the encrypted message; how it repeated on a certain channel and how it only started broadcasting a week ago, not long before the life support failure.
‘Now you know as much as we do.’
Hayes returned with a DPad in her hand. She slowed when she saw Jenny. Olsen made the introductions before adding, ‘We can trust her.’
Hayes gave him a look and handed her the DPad. ‘Is this what you’ve been seeing?’
Jenny nodded. ‘Do you know what it says?’
‘No. I haven’t tried to decipher it. I thought it was mumbo jumbo.’ Hayes flipped the DPad around and presented it to Isobel. ‘Can you read what this says?’
Isobel shook her head. ‘I don’t know anything about computer languages.’
‘The message has been playing on a private channel,’ Hayes said to Olsen. ‘The first time I noticed it was a week ago. I thought it was the criminals testing us. I was reluctant to answer or acknowledge it, if they were using one of the Indigenes to track our location. Now that I know it’s not from them, I’d be more willing to decipher it. I’ll need an hour to run this through the decryption program.’
Olsen looked at Albert. ‘Do you have an hour to spare?’
Albert checked his watch. ‘Unfortunately not. I have to get back before curfew.’
Jenny stood. ‘Have the car take you and Isobel back, Albert. I’ll wait here.’
‘What about you?’
‘Tell the driver to circle back for me. Come find me at the stall tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll have something to discuss.’
Albert nodded and stood up. He caught the hard look Robinson gave Jenny and hoped she could convince them.
26
Jenny waited in the recreation room along with Robinson and Olsen while Hayes ran the code through the decryption software on her computer. She asked Olsen if she could go with Hayes, but Robinson was adamant she shouldn’t see their equipment.
She sank into the soft leather of the sofa and relished the luxury for a moment. She was either on her feet all day at the black market, or living with Greyson in a safe house with other members of the movement. Sharing accommodation had been the hardest adjustment for her to make. She wondered if she and Grey would ever get their own place.
Olsen and Robinson sat opposite in two matching leather chairs. Robinson stared at her.
‘How long have you been down here?’ she asked Olsen.
‘How long have you been part of the underground movement?’ said Robinson.
Jenny smiled. She normally asked the questions. ‘About eight years, before the World Government left.’
‘And what’s your purpose?’
‘Purpose?’
‘Is your little movement plotting the downfall of the criminals so you can slip right in and take over from them?’
‘That’s enough, Robinson,’ said Olsen. ‘We only have an abridged version, from the criminals no less, of what the underground movement stands for.’
Jenny lifted a brow. ‘So you’re basing your assumptions on what the criminals have said?’
Robinson smirked. ‘I have my own experiences of your little ragtag group. The criminals only confirm what I already know.’
Jenny crossed her legs. ‘And what’s that?’
‘That you’ll do whatever is necessary to succeed, trample over good people to be heard.’
Jenny pressed her lips together. ‘Well, that’s not entirely off the mark.’
‘I knew it.’ Robinson jabbed a finger at her. ‘She’s not to be trusted, Olsen. It was a mistake bringing her down here—’
‘But that was before I joined, before the World Government left this planet and abandoned its people. Perhaps I need to update you on who I am and what I do for the movement. Hear me out. Please.’
Robinson waved at her, then folded his arms.
She told them how she’d been a pilot for Calypso Couriers, a subsidiary of the World Government, and that the government had blackballed her from ever working again. She left out the part about meeting the Indigenes, which had prompted her to find a cause on Earth. Instead, she told them that Isobel’s return had been a calculated move by individuals on Exilon 5 with strong ties to Earth and its people.
‘We’ve been monitoring the situation on Earth for quite some time, gathering intel on the criminal factions and feeding it back to Exilon 5. We’ve always been interested in the skilled workers, what their story was and how they evaded capture. Until recently the people who lived in the neighbourhoods had been safe. But now, aside from the life support issues, someone’s interfering with the generators. They give the residents access to electricity for heat and light.
‘One particularly nasty element is Marcus, who works for the ruthless Gaetano Agostini and who controls Waverley neighbourhood where Albert is from. Gaetano and his son, Enzo, live in the old mansion in Astoria Park in Brooklyn. You know it? The old Deighton Mansion?’ Both men nodded and Jenny continued. ‘There are new stirrings among the criminal factions, certain people jostling for more power on the streets and more control over the neighbourhoods.’ Jenny uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. ‘Things aren’t better. Things aren’t even status-quo out there. And that is where the underground movement comes into it. We exist to help free the people of Earth from their prisons.’
Olsen smiled, but Robinson didn’t look convinced.
‘And how will you manage that?’
‘Weren’t you listening, Robinson? The lowly faction associates run the neighbourhoods. But they want a bigger slice of the deal: the parties, the riches, the accolade. We know criminals like Marcus are getting restless. And considering how often the boss promotes or demotes, I’d say job security matters to them. They’re an erratic bunch who will slip up sooner or later. When they do, the underground movement will move in. Divide their loyalties, conquer their patches, reclaim areas, push them out.’
‘If there are so many of you, why not push them out already?’ said Olsen.
‘Because the factions have been too consistent, too tightly controlled in their operations. They’ve managed that by using Indigenes who’ve returned to Earth. We tried attacking from the inside, but we incurred a betrayal and a massive loss. Now we must wait for them to fracture from the inside out.’
‘And Isobel?’
‘Marcus overlooked her, thought she was a worthless empath. But Bill Taggart has deemed her important enough to send—’
‘Wait! Who?’ Olsen held up his hand.
‘Bill Taggart.’
Olsen smiled at Robinson. ‘That name.’
‘It doesn’t prove anything, Olsen. She could be using it against us.’
‘Using what?’ Jenny looked from a smiling Olsen to a hard-edged Robinson. ‘What am I missing here? Do you know Bill?’
‘How do you know him?’ said Robinson.
‘From a long time ago, before this mess. We’re friends.’
Olsen’s expression brightened. ‘He secured us this facility. But he never mentioned you.’
‘Nor you to me.’ Jenny leaned back. ‘When did you last speak to him?’
‘A year ago.’
Bill may not have mentioned her to protect the identity of the movement. But now Jenny needed the skilled workers’ help, and all secrecy must be forgotten, laid bare.
‘I assure you, we are on the same side,’ said Jenny. ‘We have a chance to work together, to make a difference, to reclaim this world as ours again.’
Olsen shook his head. ‘I think you overestimate our numbers and our ability to fight hand to hand. We aren’t soldiers.’
‘We don’t need soldiers. We need people who can outsmart the criminals.’
Robinson leaned forward and locked his gaze on her, trying to put her
in her place. ‘And how do you expect to do that?’
Hayes rushed into the room with a DPad in her hand. Jenny was grateful for the distraction. She had no idea how to answer Robinson’s question.
Olsen stood up. ‘Were you successful?’
Hayes waved him away and looked at Jenny. ‘Do you remember when the last of the passenger ships left this location with transferees on board?’
Jenny stood up. ‘About six years ago. After that, the runs back and forth were to bring the Devolved back to Earth.’
‘The authorities forced many people onto those ships who didn’t want to leave,’ Hayes said.
Jenny nodded.
Hayes glanced at the DPad. ‘Well, among those who transferred was a man who helped program many crucial features on Earth, including the all-important life support systems.’
Olsen frowned. ‘And you think he encrypted something?’
‘I’m sure of it,’ said Hayes.
‘Well, what does it say?’ said Robinson. They all stood now.
‘Hidden beneath the encryption is a verbal message, his message. Listen to it yourself.’ She hit a button.
‘I am Theodore Drake, the man responsible for designing the life support that you rely upon to breathe. I’m about to be transferred to Exilon 5 against my wishes and I don’t know if I can return. My hope is for the skilled workers to return to Earth one day and put right the imbalance on this world. I’ve heard rumours that the criminals will take over matters when we leave. The life the rest of you will face without us is uncertain, so I am giving you an out. I have unleashed a computer virus to disrupt the life support systems, setting it for six years from this recording. If skilled workers return, I have left instructions for them to recover this message and decode it. Life will probably have normalised by then and they can gain access to the place where I have put the virus.’
Hayes stopped the recording and looked up. ‘He expected someone to have decoded the message by now. The date he refers to came and went a few days ago.’
Jenny couldn’t believe it. ‘His plan was to kill everyone on the planet?’
‘The date is different for everyone. Some may already be dead. He must have known the factions would take over and turn Earth into a lawless society.’