by Nick Cook
‘She was just copying me in,’ I replied, almost amazed at my ability to come up with a convincing lie in such an emergency situation.
Jack drummed his fingers on the sides of his glass. ‘Getting back to what we were just discussing, can we at least agree from now on not to do any dangerous missions apart from each other? I can’t cope with stress of it to be totally honest.’
I was taken aback by the unexpected tenderness in his eyes. I really did mean a lot to him then, but could it really be as much as he did to me?
My phone buzzed again and I took it out to see another message from Lucy. Look, if you don’t tell him, I will.
Making sure I kept the screen angled away from Jack as he gave me a questioning look, I quickly typed a reply. Don’t you bloody dare or I’ll come up to the landing bay and take a sledgehammer to your micro minds.
Touchy!!! came straight back from her.
I pressed the power button and shoved the phone back in my pocket, meeting Jack’s eyes with a shrug. ‘Lucy really wants to talk to me about that data. Anyway, back to what we were talking about, I completely agree, Jack. I would have felt exactly the same if you had been away on a dangerous mission and I didn’t know what was happening to you.’
He gave me puppy-dog eyes. ‘You get it then?’
‘Yes, I really do…’ There was so much more that I wanted to say, but I couldn’t.
‘No Woman No Cry’ suddenly cut out from the speakers and I heard the unmistakable sound of Lucy clearing her throat.
My blood iced. She wouldn’t dare…would she?
‘Lauren and Jack, there’s been a…development. Please get back down here for a briefing straight away.’
All eyes in the Rock Garden turned towards us.
‘Why, what’s happened?’ Jack asked as we stood.
My watch buzzed and Lucy’s face appeared on its screen. ‘And now I have your attention again, you should know that a report has just come in that a Tic Tac craft, almost certainly the same as the one we encountered, has crash-landed outside a small town in Illinois.’
I stared at Jack. ‘We’re on our way,’ I replied to Lucy. We both burst into a run as we headed towards a lift.
Chapter Nine
We were deep in the bowels of Eden, inside an incident room I’d never seen before. My attention was on a large screen showing a satellite image of a rural area of Illinois, as Niki had just explained. The whole of our team had gathered round a large oval table of polished wood. Even Lucy had a virtual place in the form of a small monitor to one side of the main screen.
Niki pressed the button on a remote in his hand and a blinking green box appeared near the middle of the image. ‘This is the region that Delphi’s internet searches have narrowed in on.’
The view magnified to show a small town to one side with a large lake to the right of it, bounded by forest. A number of buildings clustered round its northern banks.
‘Where’s that?’ Jack asked, peering at the screen.
‘Lake Crest near the Shawnwee National Forest,’ Niki replied. ‘It lies to the north of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, in the US state of Illinois. Delphi picked up dozens of reports of a strange glowing pill-shaped craft. It sped low over the lake before people lost sight of it. There were also reports of a flash of light on the southern horizon, suggesting it came down somewhere in that forest. Security agencies have been busy trying to suppress these stories, or, when they haven’t been able to, attempting to discredit them, giving these sightings extra credibility.’
Mike leant forward in his chair. ‘Assuming this is a genuine incident, you can bet the Overseers will be all over this like a rash.’
‘We believe they may already be on the ground,’ Nike said. ‘There’s already reports of cattle mutilations in surrounding farms – the Overseers’ usual modus operandi.’
‘But surely that only adds credence to this being a genuine event?’ I said.
Nicky shrugged. ‘That’s all part of the Overseers’ playbook. It’s a classic Cold War strategy: seeding fear among those who might be inclined to believe, who then see that same possible alien visitor as a threat. Generate fear like that and you’ve already won half the battle.’
Jodie shook her head. ‘When did the world get so complicated?’
Mike met her gaze and nodded. There was even a small smile exchanged between them. Was this a hint of thawing in their relationship? I spotted Niki looking between them and shaking his head, then Lucy actually scowling. I mentally sighed to myself. I had no idea what was going on with Niki, and maybe I didn’t want to, but I really needed to have a woman-to-woman chat with Lucy about the Mike thing.
‘Has there been any information about the Overseers managing to retrieve this Tic Tac?’ Ruby asked.
‘We have no idea about that yet,’ Alice replied. ‘Delphi has been unable to dig up any further information.’
‘I’ve tried to look into it, but the same for me too,’ Lucy said from her monitor. ‘I checked the chatter on the military satellites, but there’s been nothing to suggest they have found it yet. In fact, quite the opposite. The military are about to claim a military transport carrying some experimental highly toxic biological warfare chemicals came down. Within a matter of hours they’re going to declare an exclusion zone for a fifty-mile area south of Lake Crest.’
‘I call bull to that,’ Jack said. ‘You can guarantee it’s a cover story for an active search and recovery mission.’
My pulse quickened. ‘In that case we have a window of opportunity. Get our team on the ground and fast. Maybe we can find the Tic Tac before the military do. And if anyone inside survived, maybe we can form a potential alliance with them against the Kimprak.’
‘Absolutely,’ Lucy said. ‘If we do make first contact, we could also discover why there’s been such a dramatic increase in Tic Tac activity in recent months.’
‘Holy crap,’ Jack said. ‘You mean we could have our very own Roswell incident on our hands here?’
‘We won’t know unless we try,’ I replied.
Ruby nodded, her eyes shining with enthusiasm. ‘We could get an Armadillo ready and have a team in there before the exclusion zone kicks in.’
‘Then we need to launch immediately,’ I said. ‘But we don’t have to go in high profile. We could start off in the nearby towns to get an idea of where the Tic Tac came down. Then we use the Armadillo to track it down before the US military and their Overseers handlers get to it.’
Alice remained mute, although the colour had drained from her face as she stared at her hands resting on the table.
In contrast, Niki was holding up his hand like a teacher trying to hold back the runaway enthusiasm of his class. ‘Look, do I need to point out the obvious? This will be absolutely crawling with both soldiers and Overseer units. Even undercover you’d have a hard time keeping a low profile.’
‘Oh, come on, this is a rare opportunity,’ I said. ‘Just think of the upside. Our world needs friends. And that’s the last thing those aliens on-board that craft will be thinking humans are right now, after being shot down by a TR-3B. We have an opportunity here to show them what the other side of our humanity looks like – and that we’re really worth helping as a species.’
‘As noble as that sentiment is, I’m afraid it simply can’t happen,’ Alice said, breaking her silence.
‘But why?’ I asked.
Jack nodded. ‘What are you thinking here, Alice?’
‘We simply can’t afford to lose anyone on what would be a highly speculative mission chasing an unknown outcome. Our priority has to be locating the next waking micro mind.’
‘With all due respect, Alice, I think you’re missing the point here,’ Lucy said. ‘Yes, of course, it’s essential we recover the next fragment of my AI matrix. But it also makes an awful lot of sense to cultivate potential alliances where we can, despite the calculated risks.’
Alice drummed her fingers on the arm of her wheelchair, avoiding eye contact
with anyone. ‘Calculated risks is just a euphemism for throwing people’s lives away. And as much as I value your opinions, this is still my decision. I’m not prepared to take the risk.’
I traded frowns with the others round the table, with the notable exception of Niki, who still had his professional mask in place. Instinct told me this had little to do with the risk profile of this mission – not when it had so many upsides. No, this was about Alice’s scare in Ariel when she’d frozen. That experience was now clouding her decision-making. Which meant that I needed to tackle this situation with a considerable amount of tact and sensitivity.
I leant towards her. ‘Look, Alice, I know you mean well, but, as the saying goes, you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.’
Jack nodded. ‘We have headed into previous missions knowing just how potentially dangerous they’ve been, but that didn’t stop us from doing them anyway.’
‘I agree – and I’m not exactly hero material,’ Mike said. ‘But even I can see that we wouldn’t be where we are now if we hadn’t all been prepared to face the risks when necessary.’
The smile that Jodie flashed him was even wider this time.
Alice folded her arms across her chest. ‘And I’m the one responsible for your lives. I’m afraid I’ve mentally run the numbers and I’m telling you that this mission simply isn’t worth it.’
Jodie spread her hands wide. ‘But, Alice, you must see—’
Alice slammed her palm down on the table. ‘Oh, for god’s sake! I’ve made my decision. Will you all stop trying to undermine me?’ Alice reversed her chair away and disappeared through the door in a matter of seconds as we all traded stunned looks.
Jack whistled when the door closed. ‘What the hell was that about?’
Ruby chewed her gum and shrugged. ‘She certainly seemed stressed about something.’
Every set of eyes turned to me, but I wasn’t going to reveal Alice’s secrets.
I crossed my arms. ‘Hey, why are you all looking at me? I don’t know anything.’
Niki rotated his coffee cup between his fingers. ‘That was quite an overreaction on Alice’s part.’
‘Surely you can see the sense of sending a team in, Niki?’ Jack asked.
He nodded. ‘I can. As has already been said, this is a rare opportunity to gain a powerful ally in the defence of Earth. But Alice is right too – there is a risk element we can’t ignore either.’
‘But, Captain, it couldn’t hurt to put feet on the ground with the strict understanding not to engage,’ Ruby said.
Niki sighed. ‘You haven’t been deployed with these guys on a mission yet, have you?’
‘No, sir, I haven’t. And?’
‘I can tell you now that following orders isn’t exactly their strongest suit, and I’m sure they wouldn’t disagree.’
‘Hey, we simply adapt according to the circumstances,’ I said.
Jack nodded. ‘Niki, you’re ex-military, right?’
‘Yes, I’ve seen my fair share of action in the past. Why?’
‘So you know you have to be flexible when you’re on the ground. That is and has always been the reality of the best military strategies. They tend to go to pieces on a first encounter with a real enemy. If Tom were here, I am certain he would say the same.’
‘Maybe so, but I can also guarantee,’ he said, making air quotes with his fingers, ‘that flexibility in interpreting orders will only make Alice less inclined to send you in to investigate.’
‘OK, so if you can’t trust us, then put together a security team and send them instead,’ I said.
‘Do you really think Alice would even agree to that right now?’
I sighed. ‘No, she probably wouldn’t. But are you saying you’re at least a little bit on-board with a team going there?’
Niki narrowed his eyes on me. ‘Maybe.’
‘Then pretty please with icing and sprinkles on top,’ Lucy said from her screen.
He held up his hands. ‘OK, OK, leave it with me. I’ll see what I can do.’
Although I nodded with everyone else, I wasn’t sure Niki would get anywhere with Alice either. As a plan B, I was already plotting how to best tackle her in private. Her personal issues were getting in the way of a real opportunity to make a difference in saving our world. And there was absolutely no way I could stand by and let that happen.
Chapter Ten
I stretched out in my small room, trying to let the calming blue ambient lighting wind me down a bit from my latest run-in with Alice. I’d also selected the most soothing screensaver I could find in Delphi’s databanks and a gentle lapping sea was displayed on the video screen that filled the whole end wall of my room.
I lobbed a crisp – or chip as Jack kept telling me to call them – from the huge supersized bag I’d helped myself to from one of the food stores – comfort food always helped me to destress. It landed as intended, right in front of the small robotic vacuum cleaner that’d just appeared from a rectangular slot in the wall. Without a complaint it spun towards the crisp and hoovered it up, leaving no trace.
I tipped my head back, resting it against the wall, and worked my neck muscles with my fingers, trying to untangle the tense knots.
I should have been out there trying to track that crashed UFO down, not sitting on my bum here. This was so bloody frustrating. I raised my face towards the speaker unit built into the ceiling. ‘Delphi, retrieve latest images from Tic Tac crash site area.’
‘Commencing retrieval,’ Delphi replied.
The whole end wall changed from the beach scene to a series of images. They flashed up one on top of the other so fast that I couldn’t make any of them out. Despite refining the search criteria regarding information about the Tic Tac, Delphi still managed to trawl up thousands of pictures every day. As I had done for several days now, I would have to wade through them manually.
A knock came from my door.
‘Hey, Lauren, it’s Jack.’
I swung my legs off my bed and sat up, hiding the crisp packet under my pillow. ‘It’s not locked.’
The door swung open and Jack stood there, hovering on the threshold. His gaze was immediately drawn to the images flashing on the screen wall. ‘Still looking for a way to change Alice’s mind?’
‘I have to, Jack. Whether she realises it or not, she’s so made the wrong call on this.’
‘I know she has, but I’d tread carefully with her.’
‘What’s that meant to mean?’
Jack gestured to the walls of my room. ‘Well, you sitting in here is evidence of just how well your previous attempts to tackle her have worked out.’
He wasn’t wrong. I’d tried every tactic, from counselling Alice in private about her past crash trauma to cajoling her in front of everyone. I had discussed the subject of the downed Tic Tac at every opportunity. Today, two whole days after the crash, I’d pushed my luck too far.
I’d been trying to guilt Alice into letting us go, but her expression had only grown ever harder. That was the straw that had finally broken the camel’s back. Way too calmly, she’d announced that she’d like us all to move out of her house and into the staff accommodation wing. She’d said she needed to concentrate uninterrupted on her own work. The truth was, and we all knew it, she’d just had enough of me being in her face and couldn’t take any more.
As Jack gazed at me, waiting for an answer, I resisted the urge to grab the chocolate bar that was hidden in my drawer.
I sighed. ‘I know, I know, but investigating that downed Tic Tac is important, Jack.’
‘Yes, I know it is, but you do realise it’s probably already too late. The Overseers will almost certainly have had the wreckage moved by now.’
‘Maybe they have, or maybe they haven’t,’ I said. ‘The strange thing is, there’s still a military cordon in place. Why would they do that if they’ve already recovered it?’
‘I see your point. But good luck in changing Alice’s mind.’
I m
ade a humphing sound. ‘Talk about someone digging in their heels.’
‘Says you, Miss Stubborn. Although I’d always had Alice pegged as someone who listened to people around her. But on this she’s beyond paranoid. If anyone could make her see sense, it would be Tom.’ He drummed his fingers on the frame. ‘I just wish I knew what had got into her. Alice hasn’t come as far as she has in life without taking a few risks.’
I had to bite my tongue once again, as I’d done constantly since we’d got back from the test flight. The trauma of our near crash had obviously badly shaken Alice and the reason for her current attitude was rooted in her original crash in Suzie Q. That was still a private matter, despite my annoyance with Alice. The only person I could talk to about it was Lucy.
Almost on cue, her voice came out of the speaker. ‘I didn’t want to interrupt, but I could try talking to Alice if you like,’ Lucy said. ‘After all, I can hack my way into any system in Eden, so it would be hard for her to ignore me.’
‘Hey, have you been listening to our conversation all this time?’ Jack asked.
‘What do you think?’
‘I hope you give us some privacy most of the time at least,’ I said.
‘I don’t tend to listen in whilst you’re on the loo, if that’s what you mean?’
‘Thanks for that small mercy,’ Jack said. ‘But as I just said to Lauren, I would leave Alice well alone for now. Anyway, Alice may be our boss, but she certainly isn’t yours. There’s no reason why you couldn’t take a quick jaunt over to Illinois to see if you can discover anything.’
I widened my eyes. I been so caught up in us going, I hadn’t thought seriously about alternatives.
‘That’s genius, Jack,’ I said, instantly warming to the idea. ‘That could so work, Lucy, as long as you steer clear of any TR-3Bs hanging around.’
Lucy let out a dry laugh. ‘I would if I could, but it turns out that the president of Sky Dreamer Corp. is as cunning as she’s paranoid. Alice obviously anticipated that sort of move on my part. She issued an order to Delphi to keep all launch bay doors locked. They are only to be opened under her direct authorisation.’