Aaron and
Merlin sat at a table squashed by the wall, adjacent to their impressive array
of computer equipment, complete with tracking devices, monitors, everything
shiny and hi-tech. The irony wasn’t lost on Merlin that modern technology is,
in certain circumstances, easily bested by the primordial violence of the vengeful.
A
silence, brought on by the imminent arrival of Gillespie Quigg, added to the
already despondent atmosphere. Quigg, if born centuries earlier, would have
been the perfect witch finder or member of the Inquisition or something else
equally intimidating. He had the knack of making you think he already knew
something that you wanted to keep secret, so you ended up telling him anyway.
*I don’t
know what to say to Gillespie about my face.
*shaving
accident?
*only if
I’d been shaving with broken glass. I suppose I’ll have to go with a car crash.
More important is what we’re going to say about our progress on the files.
*look
Merl, we’re doing fine on all of them apart from the woman and we can just say
we’re making slower progress because she was the last of this batch.
*that’ll
only work if he’s not in a hands-on mood or he’ll be having us drive him round
to the house to ask her.
*really?
*I’m joking.
I think. All depends on what mood he’s in.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
As Gillespie
Quigg walked the mile to Aaron and Merlin’s office, he focused on what he
needed to say to them. This wasn’t easy. One of his many rules was always
following his instinct; the few times he didn’t were always regretted. His instinct now was that something wasn’t
right with their operation in general and their latest subject in particular.
Despite objections
from others above him, he had insisted they were the right people for the job.
Merlin was conventional in his thinking but he had a good analytical mind.
Aaron was naïve, impulsive but had a photographic memory for faces and details.
Together they should have made a good team but now he wasn’t so sure.
When he arrived, he
could sense a different kind of tension to normal and the state of Merlin’s
face showed something had gone wrong. Taking the car crash explanation at face
value, he jumped straight in:
*I think
you two are out of your depth, given the situation we’re in. You’re not
delivering the results I need. We need to talk seriously about what I can do to
help you.
Quigg
almost smiled to himself; they both looked like naughty school kids caught out
by their teacher.
*That's not true
Gillespie-we're on top of what we do and we're ready to move up to the next
level.
*What situation?
*We’ll see. Ok. Did
either of you read the ODT today?
Both answered no.
Quigg gave them a
photocopy of the article from the ODT about the dwarf incidents.
*Well, read this
article and I'll ask you both a question about it.
*You first Aaron. What do you
think?
*Yep, I knew it was just a stunt
right from the start.
*Merlin?
*no, I don't believe it. Too
vague, no names, no details and it mentions copycat actions twice, as if
they're getting in early with the explanation for the next sighting. Just
doesn’t make sense. Not that I think the original story is true.
*You’re wrong Merl, it's got a
quote from Mal Parker-I know him, he wouldn't lie.
*He would if the alternative was
traffic duty-this is why I said you're out of your depth. There's a lot going
on that you don’t know about.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Less
than a hundred metres away, Hawthorn Villan was treating herself to a
celebratory coffee, sandwich and cake for lunch-a radical change from rice and
lentils. Pleased that she didn’t have to start work until later, she’d gone
home and emailed a few people about her morning’s activity; there’s nothing
like revenge to set you up for a good day.
Her phone on the table rang but
stopped before she could pick it up. Blocked number was displayed – damn, she
thought, I must owe money. Looking across the café, a woman was staring
directly at her; fuck, it was her doppelganger again. Hawthorn hesitated; she
wanted to go over and talk to her but what would happen? Would they cancel each
other out or both explode in a flash of sparks and fire.
Hesitation over, she glanced back
ready to get up. She was gone,
*Hello Hawthorn.
She shrieked and jumped. *Shit.
*I shouldn’t be able to do that,
should I? But I can. As my mum used to say, there’s more things you can do with
your mind than there’s fleas on a dog.
*Who are you?
The woman was younger than
Hawthorn had thought but definitely looked like her.
*Name, rank and serial number?
*Why are you following me? *ha,
ha…I thought it was you following me-I think we just follow the same star. *I
want to know your name.
*Names are handy things. I’ve got
lots of them-what about you?
* Enough thank you but you still
haven’t told me yours.
*Well, one of them is Fernanda
but if you don’t like that, we can try some of my other ones.
Hawthorn leant across the table, gripped
Fernanda’s hand, looked deep into her eyes and whispered, *are you a catholic? For dust you are, and to dust you shall
return.
Ferdanda’s confidence quickly faded into
uncertainty. *I don’t understand.
*I’ve got quite a reputation for being
violent but that’s not what you need to be worried about with me, is it? I
think you’ve just realised who you’re dealing with haven’t you?
*Quite possibly, yes. Fernanda managed a
faint smile as she said this.
*Good, so we can start all over again
without the stage tricks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m not at the top of
the food chain but I get some good scraps thrown my way sometimes so I’ve built
up a picture of what’s going on. The dwarves aren’t important but they’ve been around
since the Holland government though where they live is another question as
you’d imagine someone would have noticed them.
Then there’s the
underground nuclear reactor that was built in by secret by Muldoon which is
still functioning for no apparent purpose; it’s well-known amongst MPs and the
media but the public don’t know about it. There’s more but they’re just
sideshows.
The New Zealand
economy is fucked; but capitalism is functioning just like it should. It’s
behind all this where the real decisions take place. There’s a constant battle
between parts of the state, private security firms, corporations, police,
military, the intelligence services about what should be done; they’ve all got
different agendas and their fights spill over into the public. And we’re part
of it.
Of course, what
happens here is minor compared to the States. Think about the NSA scandal.
Their budget was increased by 4 million; the CIA and other agencies’ budgets
were reduced by around the same amount so have a guess what’s going on here.
Anyway, there’s more
than enough technology out now or waiting in the wings to make keeping secrets
almost impossible. The more there is, the more there’ll be in the future-that’s
how it goes-all this data that is collected leads to the ability to control more
of what we do and think-that’s the aim and will probably be the result
Half the battles
going on are about who will be in control. That’s mainly what we’re involved
in. We’re not dealing with terrorists or subversives but working for one side
to stack up the odds in their favour.
*You’re believing
conspiracy theories, Gillespie. The world is simpler than that.
*I’ve spent thirty
years conspiring against people; I know what I’m talking about.
*The dwarf stuff is
bollocks. I think you’ve become too cynical
*I’m not cynical; I’ve
spent my life spying on people, framing them, wrecking their lives, all for
organisations who told me it was for the good of society.
*Why do it then?
*I was in a left wing
group and got trapped into informing. I could have refused but I was faced by
an alternative that would have really hurt someone close to me. I was too
scared by what could happen that I went along with it. I hate what I do to
people; it’s like I sold my soul. But none of that’s any excuse; I’m up to my
elbows in it and there’s no way out now, even though it destroys me.
*You’re going soft;
me and Aaron do this because it’s important. Someone has to do this type of
thing and despite what you say, we do it well.
*I’m under pressure
for you to get results and if you don’t, we’re all in the shit. Look, I’m going
to take you out for some food now but we have to work on a plan to help you. I need
to know what really happened to your face Merlin and I also want you to give me
Hawthorn Villan’s data.
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