Trinity

by Patrick Morgan

To JT’s surprise it was the younger of the two women who spoke up.

  ‘Ness, my name’s Ness. Don’t ever call me Vanessa.’

  ‘Thank you, I’ll remember that,’ said JT, imagining that if he made the mistake he would be unlikely to get a second opportunity.

  The man regarded JT intently and fingered his short beard. ‘Ezekiel Lee,’ he said finally, before looking across to the elder woman.

  ‘I’m not going to tell you my name, for the time being at least,’ she said, measuring him with pallid, watery eyes. ‘You will have to take it on trust that I have good reason.’

  There were two interpretations of this statement but JT felt sure there was nothing in his past to warrant the woman’s distrust. ‘Okay,’ he replied, accepting she must be protecting someone else not present.

  ‘We got into Mal-Kas,’ began Ira. ‘We got right in there with no problems. Horrible bloody place.’

  ‘Did anybody recognise you, Ira?’ asked Lee.

  ‘No way,’ said Ira, amused. ‘It wasn’t deserted by any means, but the people we saw were all company people. The scary part is the people we didn’t see.’

  ‘How’s that?’ asked Ness.

  ‘We found Connor,’ said JT, who then deferred back to Ira.

  ‘He was in what they called a ‘Restricted Area’. We got the impression there were several but we only saw the one. It seems to be part of the mine that had been fenced off. There’s a big metal dividing wall and behind that some sort of roller-shutter gate by the sounds of it.’

  Ira looked at JT for reassurance. ‘We didn’t see it, but you could clearly hear it being opened and shut.’

  ‘And there was a scream,’ said Ira with conviction. ‘We both heard it. It could have been animal, but we both think it was human.’

  ‘Connor was carrying a knife, which he pulled on Ira,’ said JT. ‘It already had blood on it.’

  ‘So he’s using serious force to keep the workforce producing,’ said Ness, eyes narrowed.

  ‘Actually,’ said Ira, glancing at JT for support, ‘We think it might be a bit more serious than that.’

  ‘How so?’ asked the unnamed woman JT had begun to think of as the ‘Elder’.

  ‘When we got back and talked to Vincent O’Brien at CID, he had a theory that the people were being held captive so the mining company can collect a subsidy for employing them.’

  ‘We got the impression the mine had run dry,’ interjected JT, wanting to make clear that the pieces fitted together. ‘One of the drill-rig operators said the core samples they take don’t contain ore, but geologists were falsifying the results to make it look like the mine was still viable.’

  ‘O’Brien thinks the subsidies might be more valuable than the ore,’ said Ira in conclusion.

  The Elder considered this a moment before speaking again, more to the other two than to JT and Ira. ‘That might fit. I had not considered subsidies being a factor, but it makes sense.’

  Wordlessly, the other two agreed.

  ‘Mr Gilbert,’ said the Elder, ‘We are very grateful for your coming here. These are disturbing tidings you’ve brought us. Would you be willing to make a similar trip for us again, I wonder?’

  ‘Not to Mal-Kas,’ said JT, alarmed by the suggestion. ‘We were lucky to get out the first time…’

  ‘Not to Mal-Kas, no,’ said the Elder in agreement. ‘I wonder if the same phenomenon is occurring elsewhere though.’

  ‘Possibly. If we were to look anywhere else it would have to be somewhere that Hellinar Research has a legitimate interest in, equipment that genuinely needs inspecting.’ He considered this a moment then began again, a little hesitantly but warming to the idea as he spoke. ‘I could easily and quite legitimately make a case for wanting to inspect the equipment elsewhere. I need to write a short report on Mal-Kas – the truth is they didn’t look after their kit at all well. They didn’t even know what was theirs or what was on loan from us.’

  JT could see Lee nodding his understanding and felt Ira’s eyes on him from the right. ‘Honestly, it would be easy to argue that Hellinar Research needs to put some resource into a stocktake, find out where our equipment is and in what condition.’

  He looked across to meet Ira’s eyes. ‘How strong is your Ira identity?’

  Ira was clearly startled by this question posed in the open. ‘It’s pretty strong,’ he said, hesitantly. ‘I’ve used it half a decade now. I have a bank account, link credits.’

  ‘A fixed residence?’

  ‘Not exactly,’ said Ira with a laugh. Seeing JT didn’t get the joke, he fell silent.

  ‘Enough for me to hire you though.’

  Ira looked shocked by this. ‘Hire me? What, as an assistant?’ To the delight of everyone else in the room, he sounded utterly horrified.

  ‘Exactly. You and I go inspecting sites in Hellinar. We do the actual work but we dig around for whatever else we can learn.’

  ‘Sounds delightful,’ said Ira with as much sarcasm as he could muster. ‘Just tell me where to send my CV.’

  ‘I will,’ said JT, revelling just a little in Ira’s discomfort. ‘You’ll have to go through interview, and actually do the office work when I get you assigned, but I can’t see anyone paying us the blindest bit of notice once we’re up and running.’

  ‘And you would report back to us?’ asked the Elder.

  ‘Yes. Well, I suppose Ira would.’

  ‘We do it together,’ said Ira with total sincerity and laid a firm hand on JT’s shoulder. ‘We talk to O’Brien as well.’

  ‘I would expect that,’ said Lee. ‘We’re all on the same side and if we can do things as legally as possible that’s all to the good.’

  ‘I might be able to help you target worthwhile sites,’ said Ness, who JT remembered had some experience of living as a working prisoner. ‘If you can come up with a list of places you can legitimately visit, we can pick out the ones most likely to be of interest.’

  ‘That sounds ideal,’ said JT.

  ‘Thank you, Mr Gilbert. We are extremely grateful to you,’ said the Elder as she rose. The others did the same. Each nodded to JT and Ira in turn before they filed silently out of the rear door.

  ‘She likes you,’ said Ira under his breath.

  ‘The Elder? Or whatever she’s called…’

  Ira rolled his eyes. ‘No, you dumb-ass, Ness. You could do a lot worse you know, although she’s hard. I mean like quartz, not like, I don’t know, granite or something.’ He was floundering a little. ‘Think of something hard, but she’s harder.’

  He gave up altogether. ‘Come on, the Landlord said he’d do us another bottle and I want to take that son of a bitch for as much as I can get out of him. You’re not walking out of here this shift, my son.’

  JT gave him a broad grin and nodded his acceptance.

  ‘Good, then,’ said Ira. ‘We’ll drink to the future and I’ll tell you about Ness. She practically eats men for breakfast you know…’

  The two of them turned, leaving the rug-lined room quiet and airy behind them. As Ira pulled the door open, the sounds of laughter, raucous and good humoured, flooded in from the bar. JT Gilbert passed through the doorway followed by his friend, who paused before pulling the door shut with the delicate firmness of a hardened survivor.

  032: Departure

  Research and Development Facility, Eastern District, Skala City

  Accompanied by members of the GVX crew, Katherine entered the crowded hangar of SVA late the following shift. The hangar seemed smaller, darker and hotter, GVX somehow larger and more imposing; the formal lines of engineers and dignitaries gave the vehicle a scale it had previously lacked in isolation. The entire project team had been assembled along the left flank of the vehicle, Skala’s politicians and bureaucrats positioned opposite to form a narrow passage to the ladder. Katherine felt, a little cruelly perhaps, that the dignitaries’ intent was solely to rob the project team of their achievement and claim it as their own.

  Walking besi
de her, Myra Cena seemed shaky at being confronted by all the noise and the oppressive atmosphere. Katherine put an arm around her shoulder, and gave her an encouraging squeeze.

  ‘You said goodbye to your family?’

  ‘Earlier,’ said Myra. ‘They’re very proud.’

  ‘They should be,’ said Katherine reassuringly. Superficially it seemed to do the trick, as Myra, in step with the rest of the crew, waved out to no one in particular.

  Katherine made a point of shaking every team member’s hand she could reach while deliberately missing the occasional VIP. She was being petty and knew it, but considered a little bit of rebellion was called for given the circumstances. Kyra would no doubt approve. And that was the bizarre thing – Kyra was out there somewhere, cast as the villain, probably exhausted and almost certainly freezing. Katherine, in contrast, was preparing to leave Skala in a frenzy of goodwill. While overall it might serve as a wildly overblown metaphor for their differing natures, it seemed wrong, despite Kyra’s actions.

  With a start, Katherine realised she was shaking hands with Ratha. The older Councillor looked stern and haughty, even a little frosty. Something had changed in their relationship, although Katherine couldn’t pinpoint what had precipitated it.

  ‘Good luck,’ said Ratha, in a detached, uninterested manner.

  ‘Thank you, Joss,’ replied Katherine, as warmly as she could.

  For a brief moment it looked as if Ratha might move to make a speech, but fortunately, in Katherine’s view at least, seemed to think better of it. For all her command and domination of meetings, Joss was a terrible public speaker burdened with the delusion she was inspirational. Her pronouncements invariably turned into protracted diatribes, interesting only to herself and a select group of sycophants.

  Glad to move on, Katherine saw Roy Jacobs a few paces ahead. Like her, he was making an effort to pay the project team more attention than the dignitaries, which lightened her hearts. She couldn’t help but smile, a gesture Jacobs happened to catch and reciprocate. He had reached Nara. Inexplicably captivated, Katherine watched as he shook her hand and lowered his head with unheralded familiarity and respect. As Katherine looked on, Nara did much the same. Some words she didn’t catch were exchanged between them, and Nara fleetingly brought a hand up to cup Jacobs’ cheek. Before she could blink, the moment had passed, and she wondered if she had seen it at all. She pushed it to the back of her mind, turning her attention to John Orchard, who stood before her, beaming.

  ‘You’re going to look after her, aren’t you?’ he asked, taking the role of the proud parent.

  ‘Of course I am, John,’ said Katherine, with a broad smile. ‘Will she take care of me though? That’s the question.’

  ‘Katherine,’ he said, in mock abashment. ‘How could you ask such a thing?’

  She took his humour gladly.

  ‘Come home in one piece,’ he said more seriously. She nodded and they exchanged smiles before moving on.

  Nara shook Katherine’s hand warmly. ‘I’m proud to be on the Council with you, Katherine,’ she said. ‘I sincerely regret we haven’t spent more time together. It seems absurd we’ve been sitting in the same building, attending the same meetings for so long but never got to know each other beyond that. Maybe when you return with Kyra we can make amends?’

  Katherine, utterly floored, didn’t know what to think. She tripped over her words but managed to say, ‘I’d like that, Nara,’ which seemed to be enough. Nara shrank back into the line, but with a look of admiration and something like happiness or satisfaction.

  To Katherine’s surprise, Vincent O’Brien and Tyler Olson stood next in line. She wasn’t sure how they had got themselves here, but was grateful they had made the effort.

  ‘Just checking you’re not stealing the other one,’ said O’Brien in a valiant attempt at humour.

  ‘I sort of am,’ said Katherine, pushing back a stray lock of hair. ‘I’m not sure I was given any choice in the matter.’

  ‘Well, good luck.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said as he straightened a little and offered his hand, which she took before moving on to be greeted by Olson. She wasn’t sure what to say to him. He smiled and his eyes sparkled with that wonderful welcoming quality he had. For a fleeting moment she felt like they were the only two people in the hangar.

  ‘You take care now,’ he said, his soft voice carrying over the hubbub around them.

  ‘I will.’ She hesitated then began again, ‘Look I’m so sorry…’ but he cut her off.

  ‘Please, we’ve talked through this. Maybe when you get back with your sister we could sit down and talk about it some more, if you feel you want to. But I’m fine with it.’ Moving to change the subject he said, ‘I’m retired as of the last shift,’ and gave a mischievous grin.

  ‘Congratulations,’ she said, pleased for him. ‘What will you do now?’

  ‘Oh, I have an idea on that, but let’s talk about it later.’

  Katherine gave him a quizzical frown, and returned his smile. Turning to her right, she saw the end of the line. Standing expectant and unusually regal was her father, accompanied by a flustered-looking Megan. Kyle Devin greeted his daughter warmly, while Megan looked awkward and out of place.

  ‘I’m grateful it’s you doing this, Katherine,’ he said and Katherine heard the truth of his words.

  ‘I’ll bring Kyra back, whatever it takes,’ she replied, trying to sound convincing even to herself.

  ‘I know you will.’ He could see Katherine wanted to say something but was hesitating. ‘Go on,’ he said and Megan looked up as she recognised the seriousness of his tone.

  ‘This whole thing,’ said Katherine, not quite knowing where to start. ‘Me going with ROOT, GVX, it seems very surreal. Did you get a say in it?’

  ‘I did,’ he confirmed.

  ‘And how did you vote?’

  ‘I voted for you to go,’ he replied, holding her in a level gaze. Katherine looked away, feeling conflicted as she knew she would. On the one hand she was deeply gratified by her father’s trust in her, on the other she wished for the simple protection a parent would naturally be expected to provide for a daughter. To her surprise, when he spoke next she found she had both.

  ‘I voted for you to go, not just because you’re the right person, Katherine. I voted for you to go because it will be safer for you to be away from Skala. I know that sounds contradictory, when you’re going further into the ice than anyone has gone before.’

  Katherine gawped at him. What he said next, directed at Megan and in a low tone so as not to be overheard, startled both sisters.

  ‘I think you should leave too, Megan. I can’t explain yet, it’s too early, but things are changing in Skala and not for the good. You would both be better off somewhere away from here. Where that might be, I don’t know. I can’t make it look like I’m hiding you, it has to look normal. If either of you have any ideas, I’d be glad to hear them.’

  Lost for words, Katherine looked to Megan, who seemed to be making up her mind on something.

  ‘Dad,’ she began hesitantly. The address made Katherine both profoundly jealous and happy at the same time. She wished she could call Kyle Devin ‘Dad’ again, but knew she never could. ‘When I was with the Hadje, the Shaman, that’s the tall guy with the cat eyes I told you about…’ Kyle Devin nodded. ‘The Shaman said I should go to Kul to find a man called Benjamin Kittala. That he might be able to show me the way to another city. He called it Tsarocca.’

  ‘I’ve heard of it,’ said Kyle in a hushed tone. ‘But be careful who you mention that name to.’ Then, to Megan’s astonishment, he said, ‘I think you should go, but Kul is a dangerous place. You can’t go alone.’

  Katherine grinned, much to the confusion of the other two. ‘I have an idea about that,’ she said and turned to head back up the line. She returned a moment later with Tyler Olson in tow.

  She addressed her father formally but her tone was light. ‘Councillor Devin, this is Tyler Ol
son. This is the man that followed Megan into the tunnel under the Vault.’

  ‘We’ve met,’ said Kyle with a frown. Olson, for his part, wore the satisfied look of a man whose expectations, however unlikely, had been fulfilled.

  ‘Mr Olson is now retired from CID.’ The link dropped.

  ‘Have you ever travelled to Kul, Mr Olson?’ asked Kyle.

  ‘No, sir, but I’d sure like to,’ said Olson with a smile.

  ‘Then that’s settled, provided you’re happy with that, Megan?’ Megan seemed to grow taller as her father spoke to her for the first time not as a child, but as an adult.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’d be very happy to travel with Mr Olson.’

  ‘Then I’ll speak to the quartermaster at Hellinar Research and organise transport for you as soon as we’ve finished here. He’s requested a meeting for later this shift on another matter, so the timing couldn’t be better. As far as anyone’s concerned, you’re on a field trip sanctioned by me.’

  Without further comment, he turned his attention back to Katherine and they regarded each other for a moment. Then, taking a step forward, Kyle embraced his daughter for the first time in decades.

  ‘Take care of yourself and your crew,’ he said so that no one could overhear. ‘And when you return…’ his voice trailed off a moment before he composed himself and spoke directly across her ear. ‘When you return, I suggest you approach Skala with care. Do you understand?’

  ‘Yes, Father,’ she said. He held her for a moment longer before they broke apart.

  Although she didn’t understand what he meant, the seriousness of his words was impossible to miss. She glanced at Olson, who looked concerned, then at Megan, who was looking at the floor.

  ‘Good luck, Megan,’ said Katherine and embraced her sister.

  ‘You too,’ said Megan and smiled.

  The remainder of the crew had now filed past Katherine and she turned to follow them up the ladder to the platform. She took a last, long look at the assembled crowd and her family, from whom she seemed a little less exiled than she had thought. She took a mental photograph and turned, hitting the door release as she did so.