Chapter 14

If there was one thing that Kem really hated, it was staring mindlessly at a computer screen. He had initiated several searches, but he didn’t hold out much hope that they would be of any use. They were pretty pointless, but he needed to make himself feel useful. Even so, it wasn’t going to get Lize out of her coma, or whatever it was that was wrong with her. He felt completely lost and was beginning to think that he was working a long way outside of his abilities and his knowledge. The only vaguely useful thing he had done was to access the police files to see if they held any information on his two assailants. They were pretty obvious individuals and they had to have some kind of record. They couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere and they too obviously enjoyed their work and, Kem thought as a twinge of pain hit him, they were too good at it to be doing it for the first time. The thing Kem found hardest to reconcile was their message. He wasn’t to ask any more old men any more questions. Surely Lukas wouldn’t have sent them? Kem might have only met him for half an hour, but he was pretty good at judging people, even without Julia’s empathetic abilities to back him up. Lukas wouldn’t work this way. No, if he was going to destroy you, he’d do it in full view of the world. Kem was pretty sure that Lukas didn’t even think about him after he left, never mind think that he needed warning off. The way he felt at the moment, Kem wasn’t sure that the old man wasn’t right. He certainly didn’t know anything about politics. For example, he had never even considered the possibility of the elections being rigged. If Lize said that they weren’t then they probably weren’t. Although she was a politician, he didn’t think that Lize would lie. But then, maybe she would if she thought it important enough. And, presumably, keeping her seat on the Executive Committee would fulfil that criterion. At least, if it was important enough to rig an election then lying about it to someone who, after all, was just being employed for a single, specific problem and who would never have any contact with her after the job was complete would not present any problems. This was just getting too complicated. Kem reminded himself once again that he was just being employed for a single, specific problem that he really needed to get on with and find out what happened to the New Argo.

That was the other problem with talking to Lukas yesterday. If Kem’s hunch was correct, and they often were, then Lukas didn’t have anything to do with the sabotage of the New Argo. But EarthForward still seemed like the most obvious suspect, if not the only one. It would have to be a group rather than an individual and there weren’t any who were that vehemently anti-colonisation or that organised. Sure, there were small organisations, like the Coalition for Terran Supremacy and the Christian-Islamic Joint Programme Against Terraforming. But, the fact was they had unwieldy names that were used to disguise the fact they couldn’t scrape together more than a hundred members between them. No, the only pressure group that could bring any pressure to bear was EarthForward. They had to have been involved somewhere along the line. But, in a group that large, there had to have been factions. Maybe one faction was working counter to the wishes of the rest. But, if that was true, then he was still nowhere near finding it.

Kem’s concentration and note-taking were disturbed by Julia, calling him on the intercom.

“Kem, sorry to interrupt your navel-gazing,” she said.

“You’re only jealous because you haven’t get one,” Kem joked.

“I could if I wanted to!” She told him. “You have a call. You’ll not believe this, but it’s Nicholas Bateman. He’s called to speak to you personally.”

Kem was less than enthused about the prospect about speaking to Bateman after his earlier encounter. “Oh. Good.”

“Shall I tell him you’re unavailable?”

“No, put him through. I’d best get this over with. Just give me a moment to tidy my desk.”

“Okay, he’s on hold when you’re ready.”

Kem pulled open a drawer and swept his scribbled notes and his computer-pad into it. He wasn’t sure why, perhaps because of Lukas’s words yesterday or maybe because of that strange smile he saw on Bateman’s face in the doctor’s office, but Kem didn’t want Bateman to see what he was working on. Just call it healthy paranoia, Kem told himself.

He pressed the button on the com-net control and Bateman’s face appeared on the screen.

“Mr. Bateman, good evening. Your journey back to NYA was pleasant, I hope?”

“Thank you, Mr Logan, it was.”

Kem didn’t want to waste any time with small talk beyond that.

“What can I do for you? I have to warn you that if you want to talk about my investigation, you’re wasting your time. I can’t discuss any of the details with anyone other than Executive Carr and Ms. Chance.”

“Ha. I am aware of that, Mr Logan,” Bateman said, half-irritated. “But can we cut through the theatrical posturing and get to the point. I am well aware that you are investigating Lize’s theory that the New Argo was sabotaged. I do not want to know what you have discovered. I am sure that you would be able to find any amount of evidence for potential sabotage attempts. I can send you any number of files from my time as Terraforming Committee chairman which document numerous plans proposed by the lunatic fringe. None were successful. I do think, however, that somebody considers you to be a danger to them.”

“What do you mean?” Kem asked, innocently.

“Well, I don’t believe for a moment, even if you do, that the attack on you last night and whatever has happened to Lize is a coincidence. I think they were designed to make you end your investigation.”

“Why, if there’s nothing to prove?”

“I did not say there was nothing to prove. I said that the New Argo was not sabotaged. You may well have been about to uncover something else. May I suggest that if you do not stop your investigation other innocent people my be endangered, not to mention the fact that next time you may be hurt even more than you were yesterday.”

“So, although I may be on to something here, you think I should stop? That seems a strange suggestion coming from someone who is so intimately involved with law and order. Surely, if there is some sort of illegal activity out there then you should be all in favour of it being found and stopped.”

“Absolutely, Mr Logan. Of course I am. However, I am also in favour of the correct forces being used to promote law and order. Please do not take this the wrong way, but I do not consider someone of your profession the sort of person to be undertaking this sort of investigation.”

“What do you mean? If it wasn’t for me, there would be no suggestion of any wrongdoing!” Kem was starting to get annoyed. “I wouldn’t even be involved if you hadn’t vetoed Lize’s demands for an official investigation.”

“Ha. And look where her refusal to follow my suggestions has led her. I admit that I may have been overlooking certain facts when I refused to allow an official investigation. However, now that it has been proved that there may be some¼ problem, I think that the Committee will agree to reverse its decision. So, you see, your work has been of value, after all.”

“You want me to give up so you can grab all the attention and glory for yourself?”

“Oh come now, Mr Logan,” Bateman raised his voice a little above its usual calm, reasonable tone. “Is that all this is about for you, fame and power? Don’t you think I have a little more at stake in this affair? It is my step-daughter who is lying at death’s door, after all. And anyway, what exactly have you discovered? Are you anywhere near discovering who attacked either you or Lize last night? Do you have any solid proof to say that the New Argo was sabotaged?”

“I have leads.”

“Meaning you have nothing. Come now, Mr Logan. We are both reasonable men. Let us come to an agreement. Hand over all your data to me and agree to stop endangering yourself and others and I shall arrange some sort of compensation for your time and trouble. How does ten thousand Euro-dollars sound?”

Kem was stunned by the amount of money being offered. He could buy a computer system comparable to the one he had seen in Lize’s office with that kind of money. For several moments he was very tempted. But why would Bateman do this? In theory, he could force Kem to stop his investigations in any number of ways. Did he know something that Kem didn’t? Well, almost undoubtedly, but what was it? And was it anything Kem could use to his advantage? One thing was certain and that was that this sort of offer only made Kem want to get deeper into the investigation rather than end it.

So, rather reluctantly it was, after all, a lot of money Kem was refusing, he said “Thank you for the offer, Executive Bateman, but I would prefer to keep on with the investigation until I am told to do otherwise by either Executive Carr or Ms. Chance.”

“Very well, Mr Logan. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. May I suggest that you are very careful from now on. Good evening.”

Kem was left staring into space, carefully mulling over the conversation.

“Julia can you come in here a moment?”

She appeared, sitting in the chair on the other side of her desk, computer-pad in hand.

“Do you want me to take dictation, boss?” she asked.

“No thanks. I want you to play back the last part of that conversation.”

“Sure thing.”

The com-net lit up again, with a split-screen showing both halves of the call. When it ended, Kem thought carefully again.

“Did that sound like a threat to you, Julia?” he asked.

“You know I can’t use my empathy over the com-net, Kem. They have to be physically present for me to engage with their Neumanns. Anyway, I suspect that Executive Bateman’s Neumanns are pretty well shielded.”

“No, I know that,” he explained. “I just want you to use your judgement. Was he threatening me or warning me?”

“Is there a substantial difference?” Julia often failed to grasp all the nuances of a conversation, despite her abilities.

“Hmm.” Kem sat back in his chair and thought some more. “Perhaps not.”

Chapter Fifteen

The following morning, Kem returned to his office and sat in the exact same posture that he had adopted the previous day. This time, instead of racking his brains, trying to force them to come up with something, he played ‘Solitaire’. He found it an effective way of letting his brain come up with something that was already there. He felt that there was some sort of breakthrough just around the corner, it just needed one flash of inspiration or one stroke of luck to show him where the corner was.

Half way through his fifth game, the computer flashed up that all the searches he had programmed into it were complete. He ran them through a standard programme to see if they could come up with anything that correlated with information he already had on file. Occasionally, they came up with something but, on the whole, it was just a habit he had picked up.

So, when after only a few seconds, it beeped at him, he was totally unprepared for it. Quickly flicking between the game and the search programme, he was amazed to see a single name had been thrown up. Checking its origins, he found that this one man, this Jeremy LaGrange, was listed as both an employee of TSD – the company that built the New Argo – and also as a member of EarthForward.

He sat back in his chair, beaming. He had known it, known he was on the verge of something and here it was. Okay, it was just a name but it was definitely a starting point. He was sure that it was going to be the single loose thread that would allow him to unravel the whole cloth of intrigue. With that one name, he had taken a huge step forward. He was that much closer to discovering the truth. Of course, he had to survive long enough to be able to exploit the truth, but he knew that he’d be able to do that.

Well, he was pretty sure he would be able to, anyway.

***

“Mr. Barnes, I believe that I may have need of your abilities, after all. I have spoken with Mr. Logan and he refused to take my advice to end his investigation.”

“That is not particularly surprising, I have to say. In my experience that sort doesn’t take lightly to being hit over the head. Can I ask why you decided to deal with him in that manner rather than by having me eliminate him?” Barnes did not sound pleased. “Have I failed you in anyway?”

“Ha. Mr. Barnes, believe me when I say that I was as surprised as you when I heard about the attack on Mr. Logan. I have the utmost faith in your abilities and you have never been anything but perfect in dealing with the tasks that I have set you. When I find out who attacked Mr. Logan, I will want you to visit them and explain my displeasure with this unforeseen disturbance in my plans. However, that is for the future. What I need of you now is for you to show Mr. Logan the error of not listening to his superiors.”

“What can I say, sir? I will endeavour to teach him a lesson that he will remember for the remainder of his life. Not that he will need to remember it for very long.”

“Ha. Very droll, Mr. Barnes. I like a man with a sense of humour.”

***

It did not take Kem long to discover Jeremy LaGrange’s whereabouts. He lived in Shields Tower, the South Eastern tower of the arcology. Shields was the tower that Kem liked the most after Town. It was time for him to get another pass from Saffia.

He called her office only to be told that she was away and wouldn’t be back until the following day. He left a message and then disconnected the call, swearing softly. Well, he supposed that he could do with a rest, really. His ribs were still aching and he hadn’t slept very well the previous night. It would keep until tomorrow.

He walked into the front office and Julia appeared at her desk.

“What’s up, Kem?”

“Nothing, Julia. I’m just not feeling too good. I’m going to take the day off. If Saffia should happen to call patch it through to me at home.”

“Sure. You just go home and relax, I’ll hold the fort.”

“You’re a good girl, Julia,” he told her.

She blew him a kiss and smiled widely.

“The best. And don’t you forget it.”

***

The problem with being at home was that Kem was not very good at relaxing. After an hour of trying to find something to do and failing, he gave up and called Juh.

“Hi, Juh,” he said, once he got through. “You busy?”

“No, I’m not. What’s up?” Juh bellowed. “Are you at home?”

“Yeah I am. I needed the day off, there’s not a lot I can do until I get in touch with Saffia for a travel pass and she’s not in the office today. So, I thought I’d relax today.”

“And¼?”

“I’m bored! I need something to entertain me.”

Juh guffawed loudly.

“Oh dear, Kem. You have got a problem, haven’t you?”

“Tell me about it. I’m caught between being too shallow to entertain myself and not being shallow enough to enjoy the banal trash they show on daytime holo. I mean, who watches those bloody awful talk shows? They’re an insult to the intelligence. I mean, what was it this morning? ‘I changed my sex – now I cross dress back to my original gender’! Where do they come up with this stuff and how do they persuade people to appear on their shows? It’s an insult to the intelligence!”

Kem suddenly became aware of Juh laughing at his diatribe and slowed to a halt.

“Kem, Kem, calm down. They’re just a bit of fun, that’s all,” Juh told him.

“I’m sorry, but I fail to see the humour in gaping at someone else’s misfortune. All I see is someone in need of help.”

“Damn, I’m going to have to get you reading something other than those bloody Marlowe novels. They make you too damn cynical. Have you ever tried any N.R. Lydian?” Juh asked. “Now, he is funny. I almost died reading ‘The Fable Engineer’.”

He paused and grinned as if remembering a particularly fine scene.

“That’s a bloody good book,” he continued. “Remind me to let you borrow it sometime.”

“Sure thing, Juh. I called to ask if you’re free for lunch?”

“Of course I am, Kem. Aren’t I always?”

“Usually. The Ginger Dragon?”

“Where else?”

“True. Okay. In about half an hour?”

“Looking forward to it. If you get there first, mine’s a large one.”

***

Leaving the apartment block, Kem was drawn over to the side street that had been the scene of his assault. It was surrounded by police markers and signs telling him not to cross into the crime scene. Normally, Kem would have taken notice of them, except for the fact that there was a man already ignoring them.

“I don’t think you should be in there,” Kem called to the man.

He turned and flashed a smile.

“Oh, I think I’ll be okay,” said the man.

Kem stepped over the barrier and went across to him.

“No, really. This is a bad idea. I think you should just come away. We shouldn’t be in here,” Kem repeated.

For some reason, Kem felt embarrassed about someone he didn’t know seeing the place where he had been so badly beaten.

“Actually,” Barnes said. “This is the perfect place for us to be. After all, the police already have it cordoned off.”

He swiftly drew a long, wickedly curved knife from under his coat and, before Kem could react, thrust it into his belly. Kem grunted as the air was forced from his lungs. Barnes pulled the knife out and stabbed again, this time entering his chest. Kem fell to his knees and Barnes punched the weapon into his back, knocking Kem to the ground.

“You see, this is what they should have done to you. Warnings are pointless. People only understand direct action.”

Kem tried to push himself up and managed to get himself on to his hands and knees. He coughed and was surprised to see blood splatter onto the ground in front of him. He raised his head to look at the man who was staring down at him, grinning happily, blood dripping from the knife onto his coat.

“Why?” Kem asked. His elbows suddenly gave way and he fell forward, hitting his face off the ground.

“Because that’s what I’m paid to do,” Barnes said. “And, because I like it.”

He knelt next to Kem and carefully wiped the blood from his knife onto Kem’s rapidly staining shirt. Then he stood and quickly walked away.

Chapter Sixteen

Juh paused in his pacing and looked at the clock. Why was it taking so long? Surely they should know by now? They deal with this sort of stuff every day, don’t they? He often suspected that everyone was else incompetent, but usually put it down to his, admittedly enormous, ego. Today was a different matter entirely. If there was anyone he would expect to know their jobs inside out, it was these people. They should be in a permanent state of readiness, just in case anything happens. After all, isn’t that why people pay meds-insurance? What was the point if, when they were needed, the doctors just floundered around and failed to come up with anything useful.

Realising that he was getting himself worked up into a state where he would explode, he took a deep breath and slowly let it out, counting to ten. After that he felt a little calmer. He looked at the clock again and told himself that, no, it hadn’t really been that long. For something like this, they needed to be thorough and to make sure that everything was going to be fine. Which, of course, it would be. There was no way it would be anything else. He had to sit down and wait, calmly. He would buy a news-taper from the hospital download kiosk and sit, calmly, reading every article until he was told the good news.

That’s what he would do. Yes.

Down the corridor, a door slid open. He was immediately on his feet again, looking anxiously towards it. A doctor came out, followed by Angela in a motorised wheelchair, a small bandage on her temple.

“How is she, doctor?” Juh asked.

“She’s fine and so is the baby,” he was told. “I’ve told her that she isn’t to go throwing herself around any more and she’s promised me that she won’t.”

She laughed at her own little joke, whilst Juh gave a tight lipped smile in return. He knelt down next to her and took her hand.

“I told you I was fine,” Anji chastised. “That I’d just tripped and banged my head. But you wouldn’t believe me, would you? You had to go and make a huge thing about it.”

Juh looked up at the doctor and gave her an embarrassed smile.

“Anji,” the doctor said. “Juh was perfectly correct to bring you. At this stage in the pregnancy, you are vulnerable to accidents and we don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Of course, doctor, I understand. It’s just that Juh is such a worrier. He won’t let me do anything that may exert me. Including sex.”

Juh’s dark face flushed noticeably. The doctor just smiled.

“It’s not unusual for first time fathers to get over-protective of their wives,” she explained to Juh. “But you must realise, Anji is perfectly healthy and so is your child. Now, can I suggest that you take your wife home and show her a good time?”

Anji started to get out of the wheelchair but the doctor put her hand on her shoulder to prevent her.

“You have to stay in the wheelchair until you are out of the door, Anji. It’s hospital policy to prevent accidents.

Anji shrugged her hand off and stood up.

“Oh, rubbish. Who’s being overprotective now? I hurt my head, not my legs and I don’t feel at all dizzy. Do you really think I would be idiot enough to sue the hospital if I fell over? Thank you for your time, doctor.”

The doctor looked at Anji and, recognising her stubborn streak, decided that it was going to be less stressful all around, if she let her get away with it.

Juh took Anji’s hand again and they turned and went out of the door.

“But still,” Juh said. “If I hadn’t been waiting for ages at the pub for Kem to arrive, I might have been around to help you and make sure you didn’t fall.”

“I wonder what happened to him. Did you give him a call?”

“There was no answer. Julia hasn’t heard from him sine he went home.”

“He probably fell asleep or something. You know he’s dead to the world when he sleeps.”

***

As they were leaving the hospital, an ambulance screeched to a halt. They stepped back as a team of doctors ran past them and hauled the ambulance door open, pulling out a wheeled stretcher. The man lying on it was covered in gel packs from neck to waist, but, even so, blood was still oozing out and pooling on the stretcher.

Anji cringed away from the bloody mess. Juh, however, stood and watched as it went past, his eyes wide with shock.

“Kem?” he whispered.

“What?” Anji asked.

“That was Kem.”

He grabbed a doctor as he was going back inside.

“What’s happened to that man?” he demanded.

“Do you know him?” the doctor asked.

“He’s called Kem Logan, he’s my friend.”

“Come with me, we’ll need to ask you some questions.”

“What’s happened to him?” Juh repeated.

“He’s been stabbed.”

Taking the two of them to the reception desk, he called over a secretary.

“Carrie, these people know the stabbing victim,” he told her. “Get his details from them, please.”

He turned to them again.

“Sorry, what was his name?”

“Kem. Kem Logan.”

“Thanks. We’ll keep you updated.”

The next few hours were a blank for Juh. After ten minutes of questioning about Kem’s age, address, known allergies and the like, they were left to wait. He told Anji to go home, there was no way he was going to allow her to sit in what were, quite frankly, highly uncomfortable seats in the reception area for who knew how long. She didn’t argue, recognising that if she were around, Juh would worry about her as well as Kem. He bought a news-taper and tried to read it. At one point, he realised that he had read three pages and couldn’t remember anything about them. Later, he re-read the same paragraph five times, as he kept looking up as doctors and nurses walked towards him and then past, on their way somewhere else.

Eventually, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He went over to the reception desk.

“Excuse me?” he asked. “Can anyone tell me what’s happening with Kem Logan?”

“I’ll just check for you,” Carrie said.

She punched a query into the computer.

“He’s still in surgery.”

“Is he going to live?”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine. We’ll let you know as soon as we know anything. I suggest that you go home and try to rest. It will be some time before he’s out.”

Juh nodded his head, slowly, turned and left the hospital.

Chapter Seventeen

Once again, Juh found himself standing before the door to Kem’s office. This time, however, he knew that there was no way Kem would come in and surprise him. He looked at the gold painting on the frosted window and wondered how long it would be before Kem would be passing them again. Morbid thoughts refused to leave him. He recognised serious injuries when he saw them. Part of his job involved the movements of coroners’ reports to people who needed to see them but, perhaps, weren’t supposed to, for one reason or another. As a matter of course, he copied and stored them. He had seen some extremely gruesome corpses, but none of them held the same qualities as seeing Kem passing before him less than a metre away, blood spilling out of his body. Although the holos were perfect representations of the bodies, in real life everything seemed more vivid, more intense. One thing he hadn’t thought about was the smell. Even now, what was it? Six hours after seeing Kem, he couldn’t get the smell out of his head. It was unlike anything else. Yes, he had smelt blood before but there was something else mixed in with it. Juh didn’t think he was superstitious in any way, but, during the time he had spent waiting in that reception area, a small, solid thought had crept into his head and refused to move. That smell, that subtle undertone to the metallic scent of blood¼ That was what death smelt like.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Immediately, the lights came on and Julia’s avatar appeared, sitting at her desk in her standard red skirt and cream blouse.

“Juh? Kem isn’t here,” she told him. “Wait a minute. We’ve been through this routine. Don’t tell me he’s been beaten up again?”

Her sensors filtered the data from Juh’s Neumanns and her empathy analyser kicked in.

“Juh? What’s wrong? It’s worse than that, isn’t it?”

“I’m afraid so, Julia. Kem’s been attacked and is badly hurt. It seems he was stabbed several times.”

“Oh no! Is he going to be all right?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

They stared at each for a few moments, neither knowing what to say. Finally, Julia broke the silence, saying the only thing that her algorithms were telling her was even close to appropriate.

“Thank you for coming and telling me, Juh.”

“It’s okay. You needed to know. Will you be able to handle things, until we know how he is?”

“Yes. I think so. I’d better contact Ms. Chance and tell her what’s happened.”

“That’s a good idea. If you need any help, please call me. And¼ if anything happens to Kem, I’ll make sure that you are cared for.”

“Thank you, Juh. I know you will. Of all the people I’ve met, you are the only one, apart from Kem, who treats me like a real person, rather than a computer.”

“You’re a lot more human than most people I know, Julia. I have to get back to Anji now and tell her what’s happening. I’ll keep in touch.”

As he left, the lights went out again. Julia, however, sat at her desk, a faint glimmer betraying the fact that her body was just a projection. She had never, ever felt like this before. Was this what was meant by sadness? She had felt it before, but it was only ever second hand and filtered through a programme that really just set a flag. This, though was different. It felt like a deep sucking well in her central processor. It felt like her computations were sluggish, although analysis showed that they were running at their usual bit-rate.

She decided to use a word that she had often heard Kem use, but had never found the correct context in which to use it herself. Another swift analysis gave this a 98.6% chance of being an opportune moment. She paused a moment, before speaking, taking a mental equivalent of a deep breath.

“Fuck.”

Chapter Eighteen

Juh stood looking through the window at the inert form on the bed. For the second time in a week, Kem was hooked up to monitors. Although, this was a lot more serious. For a start, no-one except authorised personnel were being allowed into the room. All the monitors – and there were so many more of them - seemed to be working at a much lower rate this time as well. Before, the few that he had been hooked up to, had been constantly pinging and making happy little sine waves. Now, the noises they made were irregular and the waves were little more than ripples. Juh suddenly became aware of a presence next to him.

“It’s hell, isn’t it, seeing someone you love just lying there?” Saffia asked. “How is he?”

“I don’t know. The doctors say they’ve done all they can for him. Now it’s just a question of time. He has to get through this by himself. It could go either way.”

“I haven’t known him for long, but he seems very strong to me. He’ll pull through.”

“Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Saffia Chance. Kem was working for my boss.”

“Juh Collins. Pity we couldn’t meet under more pleasant circumstances. How is Executive Carr?”

“No change. Kem told you who he was working for?”

“He needed some help. Don’t worry, it’s still confidential.”

“That’s okay. It’s just that - don’t you think you may be in danger? I mean, if what’s happened is because of the investigation, then any of us could be a target.”

“I can’t think about that at the moment. There’s too much happening to worry about myself as well as Anji and Kem.”

A moment passed as realisation dawned on Juh.

“Anji could be in danger. Damn, I’m a bloody idiot. Excuse me, Ms. Chance, I need to call my wife.”

“Wait, Mr. Collins. Don’t panic. There’s no need to worry her. I’ll arrange to have a security detail put on her. She’ll never know about it. In fact, it would be better if she didn’t know. I’ll arrange a watch for you.”

“No, that’s not necessary. I can look after myself.”

“I’m sure Kem thought the same way. Until the police can work out who did this and if the two¼” Saffia searched for the right word. “¼incidents are connected, I think that it would be safer for everyone involved to be guarded.”

“And, now you know about me, you’ll put one on me whether I agree with you or not.”

“Well, essentially, yes. Although I’d prefer it if you agreed to co-operate Mr. Collins. It would make everything so much easier.”

Juh sighed and turned back to look at Kem. This was going to make his job a hell of a lot harder for a while. Kem was going to have some serious making up to do when he finally got out of hospital.

“I suppose you’re right. Fine, I’ll agree. But I want to meet them, I don’t want to have people tailing me that I don’t know about.”

“Of course. I’ll arrange it this evening. How can I contact you to let you know the details?”

Juh felt in his jacket pocket and pulled his wallet out. He opened it and took out a card.

“This has my direct line on it, although, I imagine that we’ll see each other fairly regularly in here. What ever you do, don’t let Anji know. She’d go mad and I don’t want her stressed.”

“Oh yes, Kem mentioned that she was pregnant. Is everything okay?”

“She had a fall yesterday, but she and the baby are doing wonderfully. Now if only we could persuade Kem that it was a good idea to follow suit.”

Saffia followed Juh’s gaze. The heart monitors were beeping slowly and softly, as if counting off the remaining seconds of Kem’s life.

“Lize as well¼” she said quietly.

***

The next few days were slow and depressing. Saffia arranged to have Kem moved to a room adjoining Lize’s. It meant that she and Juh could watch both and not have to split the time between them. Neither one spoke much – sometimes the entire afternoon would pass with nothing being said – but both gained comfort from the presence of the other. Once, Juh brought a portable com-unit and Julia dialled into it, allowing her avatar to manifest itself in the hospital. But, when he asked if she wanted to visit again, she refused, offering no explanation.

A week later, on a day that had initially promised to be like all the other days in the hospital – long and dreary and depressing – Juh was called into Doctor Pearson’s office. He sat Juh down and offered him coffee. Warily – he had grown suspicious of the drinks offered by the hospital, after several close calls with a beverage claiming to be coffee – he accepted.

Once he was sitting comfortably, sipping his, remarkably acceptable, drink, Pearson gave a cough to clear his throat.

“Mr. Collins,” he started, looking at him, gravely. “Obviously, I don’t need to tell you that it has been a week since Mr. Logan was brought in, but I do need to say that there has been no noticeable improvements in his disposition. In fact, he has started to deteriorated.”

“What do you mean?” Juh asked, knowing exactly what he meant but, at the same time, needing to hear it confirmed.

“I am afraid to say that it is my opinion that Mr. Logan is not going to recover. His deterioration will continue with increasing speed as his organs – those that are still working – start to shut down. His Neumanns are already over-stretched trying to keep him alive and they will start shutting down themselves at some point in the next forty eight hours. He will be dead within a fortnight and it will be an unpleasant death. Probably not for him – I doubt he will recover consciousness, his brain was starved of oxygen for quite some time - but you and your wife who will be forced to watch him die.”

“What do you suggest, doctor?” Juh asked.

“I think you should allow us to end it now. I think you’ll agree that it is the more humane option. He has no quality of life. He has no life and no potential for life. All you are doing is prolonging own your pain, unable to mourn his death. Because, please, trust me on this, no matter what those monitors say, Kem is dead.”

“Do you need an answer immediately?” Juh asked.

“No, of course not. You need to think about this.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll let you know my decision shortly.”

Juh stood up, offered his hand to Pearson and then, quietly, left the room. His options were reducing drastically. He had to do it now. He would have to contact Williams.

***

If there was one part of his job that Doctor Pearson hated, it was recommending euthanasia. He knew that it was better this way than in those barbaric days when patients were forced to stay alive as long as possible and force their friends and relatives to suffer, but, it was not something he relished. And to have to recommend it twice in one day¼ That was nearly unheard of. Still, this Ms. Chance seemed to be a sensible, stable woman. She would probably accept his recommendations.

“Ms. Chance,” he told her. “What I have to say, is not easy. In the week that Executive Carr has been under my care she has shown no sign of awareness. Her brain appears to have shut down.”

“Is she going to die?” Saffia asked.

“I don’t think so. She could live like this for years – basically, as long as we keep pumping nutrients into her. But her brain shows no activity. It seems to have shut down.”

“Is there any way you can start it up again?”

“I wish it were that easy,” Pearson paused and sighed. “But even if I could, I don’t suppose that there would be any traces of Executive Carr. She would need to be completely re-educated.”

“What can we do?”

“There are two options. Firstly, you can have her live in this state indefinitely. Her med-insurance will certainly cover that.”

“And secondly?”

“You can allow her to die now, quietly and with dignity.”

“Oh.”

Saffia tried to say more but her mouth wouldn’t follow her commands.

“Please, think about it. Talk to Chief Executive Bateman. You don’t have to decide now.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Saffia said quietly.

She stood up and, without another word, left the room.

***

“What are we going to do, Juh?” Saffia asked, plaintively.

“There is a possibility. I didn’t want to talk about it until I had checked it out a little more, but there might be something.”

“What do you mean? What is it? Why didn’t Doctor Pearson mention it?”

“I doubt he knows about it. It’s still in its experimental stages.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to talk any more about it, just yet, not until I’m sure that everything is okay. I don’t want to get your hopes up¼”

“Everything is not going to be okay,” Saffia could feel the steel in soul that had been missing since Lize’s accident. “Things have been far from okay for the last week. How dare you sneak around and not tell me about something that could possibly save Lize.”

“Because I don’t know the exact procedure. I don’t know if they can both be helped. I don’t know if either of them can be, not for certain. Look, give me a little more time to check it out.”

“How much time?”

“A couple of days.”

“It had better be. I want to know by Thursday.”

“Fine. Thursday.”

Chapter Nineteen

It felt odd for Saffia not to go the hospital on Wednesday, but she forced herself to stay in the office and work. Most of her time was spent co-ordinating requests from the Committee Members for information on and clarifications of the work that had been handled by Lize but subsequently passed on to them. She also dealt with the enquiries that came in from the news-tapers. Mostly they were just requests for information on Lize’s status and the investigation into her attack. She replied to these with a statement that she, the hospital and the police had worked on together, saying that Lize was stable and a statement would be released as soon as there was any change in her condition. Looking through the news-tapers, she noticed that reports on Lize’s condition had quickly dropped out of sight. After all, how exciting was the body of an unconscious woman?

There was interesting request for information from one news-taper that made her pause. It came from a man called Samuel Johnson, enquiring as to whether or not there was any connection between Lize and Kem. She was taken aback by this, he was the only person to make a connection. She quickly called up Johnson’s files and found that he was one of Kem’s associates and they had shared information in the past. She made a note to have him checked out as a possible security risk. What was she saying? He was a reporter, of course he was a risk. Still, he wouldn’t leak a story with sort of potential, it would be career suicide. Maybe he was just intuitive. She would have to check with Juh and find out what he knew about him.

Thinking about Juh made her think about what he had in mind and she felt herself growing angry again. Why wouldn’t he tell her? Surely she had the right to know what he was planning. He had no right to make the decision by himself. Did he think she was some sort of weak-minded idiot who lost control at the first sign of a setback. She didn’t take that sort of patronising attitude from anyone, let alone someone who had only known her for a few days.

She was about to tell the com-net to contact him so she could tell him exactly what she though of him and what he could do with his plans when she had a change of heart. She realised that what she was doing was exactly the sort of thing a weak-minded idiot losing control did and she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing his ideas about her proven. No. No matter how hard it might be for her, she was going to wait and see what he had to say. But it had better be good. If he didn’t have anything more than a couple of vague notions, then she would¼ well, she didn’t know what she would do, but she knew it wouldn’t be pleasant. For someone in his position, with his occupation as an ‘Info-merchant’, an in-depth investigation into his activities could turn out to be extremely unpleasant.

Saffia suddenly wondered if, perhaps she should talk to Executive Bateman. She knew that Lize hated him and didn’t trust him, but surely she would realise that he deserved some sort of consideration. Except, even considering consulting him made her feel like she was betraying Lize. She had always said that Bateman’s decision-making was the single most destructive force on the planet, so Saffia thought that Lize wouldn’t be happy if it was focussed on her when she was in such a vulnerable state. No, if she was going to do anything, she would present him with a fait accompli. Then he could rant and rave all he liked.

Chapter Twenty

“Um, Mr. Collins,” the man was very thin. His face had very little flesh on it, suggesting the skull underneath. He was nearly bald, with only a few wisps straggling across his head. “What a pleasure it is to, ah, speak to you again.”

“The feeling is mutual, Professor Williams.”

Juh sat in his office, a small glass of whisky before him. He had been drinking a lot more than usual this past week. On his desk before him was a small, antique, hand-held, so-called ‘Universal’ remote control that he had been fiddling with over the last few weeks in a so-far futile attempt to get it to work. Although he didn’t expect to succeed with it, tinkering like that always helped him concentrate on and prepare for a problem. He had been steeling himself for the conversation to come. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have the conversation, it was just that he found it so hard to talk to Francis Williams. Juh found his constant ‘umming’ and ‘aahing’ irritating in the extreme. Anything he said took twice as long as it would for anyone else and Juh kept having to stop himself completing Williams’s sentences for him.

“Can I ask how your research is going, Professor?” Juh asked.

“Well, ah, it’s funny that you should ask,” Williams replied. “I was, um, about to, ah, contact you myself. You have been extremely, ah, useful in obtaining test subjects for me, as you know. I am at a, um, point in my, ah, research where I need, um, live subjects. You have been so, ah, helpful in the past with my, um, needs.”

“The corpses, you mean?” Juh just wasn’t in the mood for Williams’ usual beating around the bush.

“Um. Ah. Well, Um. Yes.”

“What do you need?”

“Well, ah, let me, um, think.”

Williams stuttered and stammered for a minute or so, starting a sentence and then stopping and changing his mind. Juh could feel himself reaching breaking point. Finally, Williams managed to put together a nearly coherent sentence, his eyes tightly closed as if forcing the words out.

“I, ah, want, two, um, subjects. Live subjects. My, ah, ideal would be, um, one in a, ah, persistent vegetative state. Nothing other than, ah, autonomic functions. The other would be, ah, near, um, ah¼ expiry.”

“That is very specific, Professor.”

“Well, um, as I, ah, said, those are my, um, ideal requirements. I, ah, doubt, that you will, um, be able to, ah, get exactly that but, um, something close would be, ah, fine. Um, thank you.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Professor. I may be able to help. Let me check around and I’ll get back to you.”

“Ah, What was it that you, um, wanted?” Williams asked.

“Oh, just checking how the research was going. General interest you know.”

“Ah. Um. That’s, ah, nice.”

“Well, speak to you soon.”

“I shall, ah, look forward to it.”

Juh leaned forwards and turned off the screen. Then he slumped back in his chair and drained his glass.

***

Doctor Pearson stared intently at the small holo-screen before him.

“Basically, that is the situation with Executive Carr at the moment. Of course, it is possible that she may be able to make a sudden, miraculous recovery, but I doubt it. I’ve read about that sort of thing happening, but I’ve never witnessed anything and I suspect that these stories are more than a little apocryphal.”

“Ha. Thank you, doctor,” Bateman said, his face on the holo seemed to radiate benign approval. “I appreciate you keeping me informed. Can I ask that you prevent Ms. Chance from doing anything rash. I am in the process of taking over legal responsibility for Lize. I am sure that Ms. Chance will agree that this is the best method of gaining Lize the best care possible on a long term basis until some final decision can be made. But, you know how women can be when they are under emotional strain.”

“I understand, sir. I’ll talk to her. She seems like a sensible woman and I’m sure she’ll listen to any sensible suggestions that are put to her.”

***

“No. Absolutely not. That is an absurd suggestion.”

Saffia sat behind Lize’s desk. Juh sat opposite her, staring intently at the upset and annoyed woman. She couldn’t meet his gaze, looking off into the corner of the room or down at the desk.

“It might be the only thing we can do for either of them. Doctor Pearson is at the limits of his abilities. Without this Kem is going to die very soon and Lize is going to lie there, a breathing corpse. Do you really want to spend every afternoon of the rest of your life, visiting her and watching her getting further and further away?” Persuading people to do things they didn’t necessarily want to do was a major part of his job. Why was he finding it so hard to keep his temper?

“Do you seriously expect me to consider this? It’s an appalling idea!”