ASSOCIATION / CH. 27:CHANGES
<9am, Thursday 8th February, 2272 Embassy of the People's State of the Beautiful Peninsula>
“Your report about your son's insertion, as an undercover loyal citizen.”
“Yes sir?” Lilly's mother replied to her supervisor.
“Your actions need more explanation.”
“My actions?”
“Of course. You have caused a diplomatic incident, if they had been bluffing about the field, you could have killed your son. Why shoot?”
“It was partly surprise, sir. Also, my shot would not have been fatal, and it has added to his cover. I think the easily fooled capitalists are fully convinced about him.”
“Surprise?”
“I knew that my daughter, in support of her own mission, was using him to deepen her cover and evidence to them that she was severing ties with us. But I was caught by surprise when he told them he wanted religious asylum. Obviously Lilly had been in contact with him, he seemed to be expecting what happened, whereas I was not.”
“Religious asylum?”
“Yes, I presume it was what Lilly requested for him, neither his father nor I have seen any evidence that he was anything other than a loyal son, so it is clearly a fabrication. But when he declared that he sought religious asylum, because he was a Christian, I was shocked, it seemed so real! So drew my weapon to fire as surely any loyal officer would at such a declaration.”
“And yet you aimed to miss?”
“I aimed to wound, not kill, yes sir. I realised, as my gun left the holster, that although it came without warning, it must have been part of the plan. I mean! My son, a Christian? But it would have surely been looked on with great suspicion if I drew my weapon but did not fire, or aimed to miss. I did not want any to probe into his claim of religion.”
“You do not think that it might be that your son and daughter might actually be Christians?”
“Really sir, I would find it hard to think that these Christians would claim their God was happy to accept someone who had executed his followers!”
That was true. She struggled with the idea, but she'd been assured He did. It was also a shrewd move. If her supervisor corrected that, he'd be in big trouble, since spreading knowledge of the banned religion was itself a capital offence.
“Yet your daughter has attended a church.”
“Yes sir. As you know, sir, she is an approved deep-cover agent. I have no doubts about her loyalty.”
“Moving on to the next topic. You have elected to stay, I understand, exposing yourself to a trial, maybe even a show-trial. How can you maintain your son's cover and still give an account of your actions? Neither the great leader nor I understand your motives.”
“They do not ask for the lifting of immunity for past events, sir. There will be no show trial. They wish to keep diplomatic channels open.”
“So they overlook your actions?”
“Hardly, sir. I may not be armed, I will have no immunity, and I will be watched, closely. They expel all other members of our security services, suspected and proven. We must replace the embassy guards with regular soldiers.”
“How will they tell regular soldiers from security guards?”
“They plan to use truthsayers, sir.”
“So we can send agents as long as they do not think in English?”
“Today our embassy passed on information about survivors in the clinic collapse, it was accurate?”
“It was.”
“I think the same information sources might be asked to check up on us. But I have not told you the most humiliating part yet. My husband has just learned of it.”
“Speak.”
“Our embassy guards may not step outside the embassy grounds while armed or face arrest. That was only to be expected. Moreover, they may not be armed with any distance weapon until a forcefield has been installed to make sure we don't shoot anyone passing the embassy. They also say that with the impact coming, and then clearing up the city, this will not be a high priority for them. Until then, they may only be armed with knifes and swords, and polearms.”
“Swords?”
“Yes, sir. So I was informed.”
“What is a polearm?”
“A medieval weapon sir. Long stick with an axe-head or blade on the end. As long as it's not for throwing.”
“Swords, knives, stabbing spears?”
“And I presume axes also, if we so desire.”
“But not throwing axes.”
“Exactly. All very intimidating, and lethal if used properly, of course, but it would require training, and practice.”
“I am sure that our rural recruits can wield an axe. And of course, there are martial arts specialists.”
“My thoughts exactly, sir. So they do not leave us undefended, and thus keep the rules of diplomacy, but they ensure that we are no threat to anyone outside our gates. But sir, with neither full agents nor informants... I am effectively retired, except for my communication with my daughter.”
“No informants either?”
“I will have no immunity, I have their permission to stay with my husband, because they wish to keep him. But if I recruit informants to an organisation they have listed as quasi-terrorist? I expect I would be jailed within a week. And anyway,” she lifted a finger to a junior staff member who'd brought her a cup of tea, indicating she should stay. “Since they will deport anyone suspected of being a member of the Security service, surely it will only take a whisper to one of their agents that such and such a person is an informant and they will be deported.”
“You expect that staff there will be so disloyal?”
“We both know how people think, sir. A known informant is not a popular person. Is not much of our junior recruit's work checking up on accusations to weed out the ones made from jealousy or antagonism? Will these capitalist imperialists bother to do that? I do not believe my husband's effectiveness as ambassador will be served by a constant turn-over of staff, so with your permission sir, I will not be seeking informants.”
“You retire from active service?”
“I am disarmed, watched and my staff are sent home. If I recruit anyone, they will be sent home and I may be jailed. My role here was always secondary to my husband's, and I believe that retirement from active service is the best way to serve our people. My hands are tied, and I have no need of the rank, or status. Allow someone more able to serve have my place and salary.
"I will of course, continue to add reports from Lilly and Ree to the diplomatic pouch, and my summaries of the press here.”
“But what of the staff there?” her supervisor asked. “Who will keep them in line?”
“If I become aware of disloyalty to our country, of course I will report it as would any loyal citizen, sir. And of course I will not discourage staff members with concerns from bringing them to me, but as I said, I cannot recruit, and nor can my eyes be everywhere. I hope it will not happen, but there may even be defections, and as I will not be able to respond appropriately....”
“Ah, I understand your concerns. Yes, it would be better to not be on active service in that case. I accept your resignation from active service. I look forward to any informal reports you might send, of course.”
“Of course, sir.”
Her supervisor, former supervisor now, closed the connection.
The junior staff member tried not to respond; it wasn't appropriate to listen to the conversations of one's superiors.
“Three items, Tina.”
“Yes, maam?”
“Firstly, you heard that conversation, but you will not repeat any part of it to anyone until this time tomorrow. You understand?” The agents would be gone by then. She had good reason to think that even the ones she didn't know about would be on that plane.
“Yes, Maam.”
“Second issue. I would like you to prepare a report for me by tomorrow morning, summarising these newspaper articles, and others you can find on related subjects.” She handed a data crystal, with articles about the power and the gift on it, to this pretty girl she'd noticed touching hands with Ree. The message about the conversation with her husband's mother had made her think about some other reasons that people might want to touch.
“Third issue, Tina, while you're here. You have had... occasional encounters with my son, to which I turned a blind eye. I'm now wondering if I was right to think they were romantic or if they had some other purpose.” Tina went white and began to tremble. “So, sometime, I'd like to know what they were about. But not today, I'm going to be quite busy. Oh don't look like that, girl, it's just a mother's curiosity.”
It might be useful, she decided, to have a thought-hearer on the staff, especially one who didn't mind undergoing testing to be a truthsayer.
Tina heard and her fear turned to surprise.
“Now, Tina, as a routine measure, do allow me to lend you something for a few days.” It was the bug detector.
----------------------------------------
9AM, THURSDAY 8TH FEBRUARY, EVACUATION SITE TWO.
“Hardware connection?” Karen asked George from under the table.
“Connected.” George replied.
“Signal strength?”
“OK. Well, marginal but OK.”
“Data Errors?”
“Zero so far.”
“Good packets?”
“Ten thousand and counting”
“So why isn't it working?”
“It is now.”
“Why didn't you say so?”
“I've only just checked.”
“And... what changed?”
“You moved something?”
“I probably moved everything when I hit my head getting under here. Help me out, will you, love?”
“My pleasure. Uh. Oh. Did you touch anything?”
“No. What's it saying now?”
“No data, no signal, no connection.”
“None at all? Look at the data dump, can you? What does last status packet say?”
“Urm, here we go. Signal OK, voltage zero.”
“So why am I under the bench, when there's no volts getting to the mast-head receiver?”
“Doesn't that come from under there?” George asked.
“No. The power connector ought to be somewhere nearer the tower. Its only low voltage, you don't want too much lost on the cable.”
“Oh.”
“So, as I said earlier, get me out of here please.”
“Your wish is my command.”
“Urm, excuse me?” the first customer of the day asked “We seem to have lost the network connection.”
“Yes. So have we.” Karen said. “I think there's a problem by the mast.”
“Oh. I was just checking where our tent is.” a woman said.
Karen stuck her head above the table, and looked up. She saw man, pregnant wife, and a small child of undetermined gender. The wife, Karen guessed, was about a month away from giving birth, and tired. She hoped birth was a month away, anyway, as she struggled to her feet, with George's help. The husband had a rucksack on his back, a suitcase in one hand an was steadying the child on his neck with his other hand. Karen noticed that the child's white trousers were growing a yellow stain and dampness around the father's neck. She decided the computer was not the highest priority.
“Firstly, put down the bags and have some rest, it's going to be a while, whatever happens. There's a toilet block just round the corner, complete with baby changing area. My husband can you show the way. It looks urgent from here.”
“Didn't you change Mollie before we left?” the husband asked his wife, noticing that the dampness at his neck wasn't sweat.
“I was packing the bags. I thought you were going to.” she replied.
“You're pretty much the first ones here, so feel free to wash out her clothes if you want to. You won't get in anyone's way.” George offered.
“And there's warm water?” the mother asked.
“Plenty. There's also tea, fruit tea and coffee by the gallon too in what the soldiers call the mess tent, which is the big one you get to past the toilet block. Oh, and if you feel the need, as a pregnant mum you get access to a bath too. There's only a few though, near the medical tent, you'll need to get a token from the nurses' desk.”
“Oh, bliss, thankyou.”
“And if we can't solve the network problem in about half an hour, one of the soldiers is going to climb the tower and implement plan B, and fill a data crystal with the final tent allocations, and mark the network copy as out of date. At that point we will have the definitive version, heaven help us.”
“I don't understand why it needs to be able to change.” the woman said, as her husband followed George towards a clean toddler and a clean neck.”
“Just in case someone got something wrong and the computer's got down that they are perfectly healthy but they actually can't walk more than fifty meters without a rest. Or the computer put someone who's starting contractions as far from the medical tent as possible.”
“Right. Well, hopefully I've got a fortnight to go.”
“Now, that puts you in the priority category, so you ought to have two options. You can be on the edges of the camp so that... (was it Mollie?) is less disturbed by the noise of passing people, or, now you've got here and maybe seen a bit about how big the place is, you can choose to be closer to the medical tent just in case, and the baths of course. Bear in mind that there's no sign so far that the asteroid isn't going to hit, so you ought to think of being here more than a few days.” Karen saw the colour drain from the woman's face.
“So my husband was right? Moving now is easy, and moving later is much harder?”
“Absolutely.”
“If we're spending weeks here...”
“Close to the hospital tent?”
“I think so. Is it a hospital tent, or is it more of a first aid post?”
“In army speak, it's a pair of field surgery units with ancillary rehabilitation units. In layman's terms...”
“As close to a hospital as you can get. Mum used to be military. Thank you, that's a big relief. When you were saying medical tent, I was imagining a grass floor and a few bandages.”
“Hmm. What I think I'm going to do, once we've got the system fixed, is make sure we've got all the very pregnant mums in roughly the same area. And the midwives. And then I'm going to see if anyone thought of having a labour ward area, and if not talk nicely to the soldiers.”
“You can do that?”
“Yes, because as was drummed into us, we're here to make sure everything works. And a midwife splitting her time between women in labour at opposite ends of the camp does not work.”
“Not really.”
“But if you'll excuse me, I'll try and find some soldiers to help fix this problem with the network.”
“Be my guest.”
Karen talked into her radio.
“That's right, that little box at the bottom of the tower. It's supposed to be injecting power to the receiver up there, but it's not reliable. Can you check everything's plugged in properly, and no one's been using it as a punch-bag or something? There should be data to tower, data to network and a power cable.”
While she was waiting for the reply, she also called Sarah, Kate and Eliza. [We've planned the sites wrong.]
[What!] Eliza exclaimed.
[I've got a two-weeks-till due-date mother here, she was thinking it'll be all over in a few days, and they're expecting to be out on the edge of the camp for peace and quiet. I'm sure others have done the same. It's actually a good idea once she's had the kid, but we need an area for mothers having contractions, at least. And I wouldn't fancy walking there all the way from one end of the camp to the other.]
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
[We thought about chronic problems of the aged, and acute ones like broken bones. We forgot about the whole impending crisis thing.] agreed Sarah.
[Commandeer a midwife to help work out what needs to change, that's my suggestion.] Kate said. [How's your network problem Karen?]
[Up and down, still. Diagnostics say the problem's power to the antenna. Someone's checking the plugs. I hope it's not on the board itself.]
[Would that be a hard problem to solve?]
[No. Just time-consuming.] Karen replied [So don't send a midwife here. I guess Sarah's camp is nearest to the city.]
Her radio crackled. “Two problems, maam.”
“Tell me.”
“It wasn't plugged into the box properly, and someone's had the bright idea of using the power cable as a washing line. There's clothes on it still.”
“You are kidding me.”
“No, maam. It does look like one, sort of. There's a washing line prop holding up in middle, and no signs, nothing. Uh oh, I think it looks like the wire might be pulling out of the power plug a bit.”
“Is there a replacement cable? I don't want anyone fried.”
“I'm sure there is, Maam. I'll send someone to find one.”
“I don't suppose it could go underground, could it?”
“Oh! I remember. That was the original plan, but the ground was too hard when we were preparing everything last week.”
“Is it still? It's been warmer the last few days.”
“I don't think so. I'll get some of the lads to try.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. I suggest the clothes be delivered to the information tent, then I can have a word with the owners.”
He laughed. “Right you are, maam.”
----------------------------------------
11AM, EVACUATION SITE THREE.
“I heard someone urgently needs a midwife?” a woman in her forties rushed up to Sarah, carrying a bag.
“Urgent, but not delivery-urgent, yes, so please have a seat. Sorry if that bit didn't get through, but thankyou so much for coming. Everyone forgot about pregnancy when planning the camps. We need to redesign things without moving any tents, before we go and allocate people to tents we need for the mums to be.”
“How many pregnancies are we talking about?”
“Sixty percent of pregnant women in Restoration have decided to go to some other town. The others are split across three camps.”
“Is that all pregnant women, or a bias against the really expectant ones? Can I see numbers?”
“Yes. But no one thought to ask how pregnant they were.”
“But you've got names? I can get due dates out of the medical data.”
“We have names. If you can access the medical records?”
“Not a problem. But I don't suppose you know how to get the computer to collect the data? I know it's wrong and I'm ignorant, but I'd do it by typing...”
Sarah smiled “You make sure new life comes into the world safely, I can tame computers. I know which of our jobs I'd rather see done poorly.”
“It's very nice of you to say so.”
“No it's not, it's simple fact. Human kind survived quite happily without computers for a long long time. They're all very useful, of course, but like you say, you could do this with pen and paper, just not as fast.”
A few minutes' typing later, Sarah asked “Does that look like what you want to know?”
“Yes. Oh dear. It's very uneven isn't it? Half of them here? What were they thinking? Can you tell me what medical provision there is?”
“Certainly. Would you like to see it?”
“Even better. The hospitals are evacuated, did the medical staff get transferred with their patients?”
“Quite a lot, yes. About seventy percent.”
“Lets hope it was mostly the consultants, then. With that number, we're going to need a surgical team on standby for emergency caesareans round the clock. It looks like all the planned caesareans have gone away, so that's good.
“Only for the next two weeks.” Sarah pointed out, from the data.
“Well, they can go somewhere else in that long, surely?”
“I hope so. The army field hospital, with two operating theatres, is this way.” Sarah said, leading the way.
“But there's no special maternity wing and no labour ward?”
“Not so far. We're hoping you can tell us what we'd need to do to make this work.”
“Assuming we're talking about this being home for the next few months for those women on the list?”
“Yes.”
“Let's go talk to the military guys. I wonder how many caesareans they've done. I can't move tents, you said?”
“You can say they need to be taken down and replaced with something else, but there's heating pipes and things under them, all carefully laid out so no one would put a peg through a pipe. Hence the really regular grid. You're going to need to?”
“It depends what I learn from the medics.”
----------------------------------------
9AM, FRIDAY 9TH FEBRUARY, EMBASSY OF THE PEOPLE'S STATE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PENINSULA
“The report you wanted, maam?” Tina offered, handing her the report.
Min smiled; Tina had been very prompt, and had a new wrist-unit. “Thank-you. You have a new wrist unit?”
“Yes, maam. I don't know how it happened, I was cleaning the toilet and it dropped from my wrist. The strap must have broken, or come undone somehow.”
“Oh, so it is drying?”
“It fell just as I flushed maam. I had to go and buy a new one.”
“Ah. A pity. What did you learn?”
“Urm, quite a lot, maam.” Tina said. For example that the former head of security at the embassy didn't like bugs, even from home.
“Well? Tell me! What did you learn about the thought hearers, and such like.”
“That, urm, thought hearing is rare, but not as rare as what they call the gift, and that while someone with the gift can hear anyone's thoughts wherever they are, they can only talk to someone who hears thoughts.”
“That was in the first article, yes.”
“Urm, in other articles, I read I learned about the truthsayer association, and how a thought-hearer joins: the lie-detector tests, and interviews, and so on. Also about the capitalist who was behind it being formed. She wanted to have an organisation of respectable truthsayers, not just so she would not be bothered by liars after her money, but also to give evidence in courts and things like that.”
“Would you consider such a role useful for a state?”
“That is a difficult question, maam. At home, I have my suspicions that the security services would not like people who can find things out secretly, who have taken a vow to not pass on everything they learn, or having a means of communication that cannot be tapped.”
“But such people exist, except for the vows, don't they. Otherwise?”
“Any court interested in the truth would surely be interested in the workings of the defendant's mind, or those of a witness.” Tina replied carefully.
Min smiled, Tina had chosen that response well. “And here in the embassy?”
“Well, maam, there are allegations made, and visa applications.”
“Yes. You'll have noticed there are less staff here than yesterday, and I myself was surprised about some who were told to leave. Our hosts do not want dangerous agents among our staff.”
“It would surely be our duty to keep such agents a secret, maam?”
“We could ask my husband about it. It would surely sour diplomatic relationships if we were knowingly to be harbouring one such.”
“Maam, are you suggesting...?”
Min held up her hand to stop Tina's question. “We merely speculate. Of course if we were ordered to give assistance that would be different.”
“Isn't it a standing order?”
“But one standing order to all embassy staff is to make sure that the behaviour of other embassy staff does not cause a problem with the host government.” Min smiled at the irony of her saying that. “As you are aware, I've done a little on the wrong side of that myself.”
“Yes, Maam.”
“So, it occurred to me that our hosts might be very pleased if we could provide, on an occasional basis, of course, a truthsayer who would understand the thoughts of people whose thoughts were in our language.”
“Would they trust such a person?”
“I expect the truthsayer association would be insulted by such a thought, Tina.”
“Maam, I don't think I understand.”
Min decided she wanted Tina to know she didn't think there were bugs but she might be wrong. She desperately wanted to ask Tina if her guess was right, that Tina had been holding hands with Ree because she was a thought-hearer. Tina nodded.
“Now... I am sure you are loyal to your country, Tina. That is not in question, and I do not wish to test your loyalty. But the situation has changed. There are no members of the Security services here now, except for me.”
“I understand that you felt obliged to comply, Maam.”
“Do you? I had nothing to do with it, and I am quite sure in my own mind that the expulsions were done with the help of someone with the gift, since, as I said, even people who didn't report to me were sent home. None made more than token protests, either. And as you heard yesterday, my position here is precarious.”
“Yes, Maam?”
“Our hosts would like me to stay, they've said, as long as I behave well by their standards, I am not entirely sure what those standards are. But if there were a staff member able to join their truthsayer association, then I can see them considering that to be a conciliatory gesture, which might well improve the rather frosty state of diplomatic relationships. The truthsayer association is not a branch of their government, but still... word will travel, I'm sure.”
“Oh! You feel that an embassy worker, applying with the approval of the embassy, could make your position more secure?”
“Yes, it would. And as you've noted, a truthsayer on staff would also be useful.”
“But without approval from home, and if it were suggested that the truthsayer worked against the loyal members of the security services...”
“Some people might misinterpret it as a move disloyal to the party, yes. But the government here clearly has a good relationship with people with the gift. I predict the net effect on the security officers would be exactly zero.”
“Yes. Even before publication, they were working together.” Tina remembered.
“Exactly. But of course this is merely idle speculation. We don't know of a thought hearer in the embassy.”
“Would authorisation from home be sought for such a course of action, should someone come forward?”
“My thought is that such a person, known of at home, might be called upon by people ignorant of the vow, to actions that ran counter to its principles.”
Tina's mind raced. Had destroying her wrist-unit been a rebellious act? Of course, it had been, of a low level. But was the ambassador's wife now actually suggesting that she secretly sign up to an organisation that wasn't banned but was so politically sensitive it could easily be banned in the next few days? Tina had heard her say yesterday that a certain number of defections might occur. Was she suggesting that Tina defect? Was this actually a loyalty test? Or... did madam Min think that Ree was in love with her and wanted to send her after him? The only other possibility she could think of... no... surely she wasn't deliberately sending Tina to be in a position to be contacted by someone with the gift? She realised that she'd been thinking a long time.
“I really don't see a solution, then, Maam. It would surely not be loyal to keep such a vow secret.”
“Loyalty is a complex, many-stranded thing, young one. Sometimes using resources in a way that might raise eyebrows in some quarters is the only way to use those resources to the benefit of the people of our beautiful state. Take my son, for instance, I have no doubts about his loyalty, but he now has religious asylum. How is that a good use of his engineering talents? Could not they be used for the betterment of the people? Possibly, but would they have been? He does not have the muscles to assist in the army, certainly. Whereas now, he will be educated by the state here at no cost to our education programme, his asylum supports his sister's cover at the United Nations. It will be years before he might be of aid to his people, I expect, but while our engineers are good, the facilities at home are not as good as here.”
Tina had no doubts about Ree's loyalty either. They'd shared prayer requests a few times. “You expect that he will renounce his asylum and return home, after university, Maam?”
“What would be the use in that? No, I expect that he will qualify as an engineer, and perhaps after five or ten years infiltrating their system, then one day be able to report on the project he is involved in, providing inside information that will help our nation prepare for the final war, or improve our defences or solve some other problem that faces our nation. Perhaps he will not even need to deliver information covertly, but work towards opening up of their secrets, or perhaps translate papers for our engineers, so that knowledge may spread and all may benefit. I know that he loves his people, Tina, and is a brave young man of principle. He knew I would shoot, you realise.”
“I.. had wondered, Maam.”
“Was there romance, between you?”
“No, Maam.”
“I thought it was possible, despite the age difference. But it was just other things in common. You were at the same school, learned from some of the same teachers, is that right?”
“Yes, maam.” Tina agreed. She hadn't known Ree at school, but they'd worked it out.
“As I say, he knew that with what he said, I would have no option but to shoot.”
“What exactly did he say, Maam?” Tina asked. Then realised it was an incredibly dangerous question. She apologised.
Min smiled, and lied “It doesn't matter. It got him asylum, and got me retired from active duty.”
Later that day, as she was running an errand, Tina realised two things: firstly that this errand was going to take her straight past the address she'd seen as an office of the truthsayer association, and secondly the only person who might report her for going into the office was the one who'd said it would be a great idea if she went, and never mind what people at home might think. If it was a loyalty test... she'd probably failed already, anyway.
----------------------------------------
“Hello.” Tina said nervously. “My boss sort of hinted that I should join.”
“Oh? You don't want to yourself?” the elderly woman behind the mask asked.
“Well, it could get me executed back home. Otherwise, maybe.”
“Then you'd better flip that sign to 'shut' and come into the back.” the receptionist said. “You're a foreign worker?”
“Embassy staff.”
“Whooo.” Helen exclaimed, “And the ambassador thought you should come along for a chat?”
“His wife.”
“Interesting. Perhaps I should disclose that I'm just manning the office today while everyone younger and fitter is out chasing people hiding in Restoration. And that I haven't been a government spy for about a decade, but for my day-job I train people your age. You're from the Beautiful Peninsula?”
“Yes.” Tina answered. Shocked at what the woman was telling her.
“Any idea why your ambassador's wife might want you here?”
“I haven't seen any news reports about it but urm...”
“She's just made sure you don't have any security service people on staff.” Helen supplied.
“Yes. You know, then.”
“I know that she shot at someone because of what he said, and his majesty was convinced that anyone else in your security services would have done the same, so they've gone home. Don't tell me more, I have enough form-filling as it is.”
Tina grinned. It was hard not to like this woman. “The other part of it is that I think she thinks I'm a Christian.”
“Shouldn't that earn you a bullet from her gun too?”
“She's not on active service now, and you've disarmed her. But yes. I'm pretty sure that last week it would have.”
“A week's a long time, sometimes. So, why does her almost getting herself kicked out of the country get you here?”
“She said that maybe it would be taken as a conciliatory gesture. She was talking hypothetically, if there was a truthsayer from the embassy, helping out occasionally at the airport, interviewing new guards, so they couldn't trick their way in, and so on.”
“Wheee, sacrifice your skin to solve a diplomatic crisis? That sounds unfriendly.”
“And she thought that me being a truthsayer might be useful in the embassy.”
“Would it?”
“I don't know how, but... maybe. Visa applications, for example. If it wasn't a secret. Which of course it ought to be if I'm ever going home.”
“So why on Earth would you want to sign up?”
“I think for me the key word is ... fellowship.” Tina admitted. “It was so great having someone to pray with, but now he's gone.”
“Let's pray now, then for wisdom for us both. Then I'll make a call to see who I need to call. Can you tell me your name?”
“Oh, sorry, I'm Tina.”
“In this mask, I'm Truthsayer 216. But you can call me Helen.”
“And you're a Christian?”
“Yes. Almost everyone in the association is.”
“Wow!”
“So, let's pray.”
----------------------------------------
“Hi. Truthsayer 216 here. I've got an almost applicant, for whom joining might be a death-sentence back home, add in diplomatic status, and even more complicated secret stuff. I think I need expert help!”
“Aren't you the lucky one?” Kate said “Expect to be called sometime soonish.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
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[Hello Helen.] Eliza thought. [I hear you need help.]
[Mystery Voice! Just the person! Tina here needs the help really. Christian, People's State of the Beautiful Peninsula, and Mrs ambassador has dropped some clear hints about popping over and signing up. The poor girl's lonely, missing fellowship, and I think she's pretty confused.]
[OK. I'll take it from here, then. Want to introduce me?]
[Of course!]
“Tina, someone with the gift is about to call you. She's not with Security, but she's sort of attached to the palace staff, from what I understand.”
[Hi, Tina.]
[Hello.]
[I understand you're in a confusing and dangerous position.]
[Yes.]
[And, you are a Christian, from the People's State, and you work at the embassy?]
[Yes.]
[Well, I suggest that the first thing you do, is leave the office, and carry on your normal business. Hopefully that'll reduce any danger. But wait a bit.... No, no one is going to spot you leaving, even remotely, unless they're doing it from a third country I didn't check. And there still aren't any agents, former agents or informers in this country except your boss.]
[Thank you.] Tina said. Eliza had included Helen in that, so Helen ushered her out of the office, flipped the sign back to open, and sat back down to work on her lecture notes.
[Now, Tina, do you want to join the truthsayers, or not?]
[I don't know. I don't know why Mrs Ambassador suggested I join. She spoke about it helping with diplomatic relations, helping links between our countries, and being an act of loyalty. But.. it doesn't actually make sense really.]
[Well, putting you in contact with me is a rather different response than shooting her son.]
[You know about that, then?]
[Yes. Does she suspect you're a Christian?]
[She might. I was terrified yesterday. She said she'd seen me holding Ree's hands, and had thought it was romance, but she'd realised it might not be. I thought she was about to denounce me, but she'd dismissed it as a mother's curiosity and told me to write a report on a whole lot of articles about the power, the gift, and truthsayers.]
[And you found out that part of the truthsayer application would be an interview with someone with the gift?]
[Yes.]
[Was it something that she knew about, do you think?]
[I don't think so. It wasn't in any of the articles she gave me.]
[And how did that sound? Scary?]
[No, wonderful! Thank you for talking to me, even without me deciding to join.]
[Not a problem, Tina. But can you help me understand why someone invading the privacy of your thoughts is wonderful?]
[It was so great being able to think to Ree, to think about Christian things. Madam Min thought it might be romance. Well, perhaps it might have gone that way, even though he's so much younger than I am, because we could share so openly. And then he defected.]
[Yes. Of course, you could too.]
[One thing I considered was if she was suggesting I should and giving me a way to, but she seemed to want me helping at the airport.]
[The airport?]
[Sorry, I thought Helen had told you. Madam Min said that she'd hurt relations between the embassy and the host government, which was the opposite of what should be happening. She said that perhaps if there was a truthsayer who understood our language checking up on the new guards, that would... show good intent, or something, and make her position here more stable.]
[And how would that be viewed at home?]
[Just being a truthsayer would probably be disloyal, unless I was going to break the vow.]
[And helping unmask agents to a foreign power?]
[I think that'd make me an enemy of the state. She said it wouldn't matter, that she expected someone with the gift would be checking on them anyway. But I don't think that would count much. She wrapped it up to make it sound like keeping her here was the most loyal thing I could do, since she was the only member of the security service here now. But... I don't understand her reasoning well enough.]
[Well, there are some members of your security services on the plane bringing the soldiers.] Eliza supplied [I don't know how many of them are planning to stay, and how many are there to give final briefings about our dangerous country. But you don't have enough time to join before this batch arrives. Do you have any idea about why she might want you to be in a position where you can never go home?]
[Not really. Well, if it was a loyalty test, I'm going to be dead soon, but I didn't hear any hostile intent from her.]
[Did you talk about anything else with her?]
[She spoke about how loyalty was complicated, and how she imagined Ree serving his people as a defector. She thinks his defection is a pretence.]
[Or she wants you to think she does. Did she tell you what made her shoot him?]
[No. She seemed proud of him. Called him brave, loyal, and principled and said he knew she'd shoot him for what he said but said it anyway.]
[{agreement} Ree is a very brave young man, Tina.]
[You know what he said?]
[Yes. Hold on a moment, I'll just ask him if I can tell you. Can I tell him about what his mother's pushing you towards?]
[Yes, that's fine. I need to get something from a shop somewhere here, anyway.]
----------------------------------------
[Tina, are you finished?]
[Yes.]
[Ree sends greetings, and says he's praying for you. But he doesn't really want me to say, since it might be bad for his mother. But he reminds you of thinking what-if one lunchtime.]
[What-if? I don't think I've thought that since school.]
[He said you went to the same school.]
[He recognised me from there?]
[Yes. Apparently at least one of your 'what-if's made a big impression on him.]
[{shock} I didn't really understand about iron back then. Then someone thought 'Careful, I heard that. Thoughts go through metal.' It was him?]
[I don't know, it sounds possible.]
[He called on her to repent, didn't he?]
[I can't answer that, sorry. He's asked me not to, you can understand why, I expect.]
[If he did, but she's still maintaining the fiction that he's loyal to the country...]
[Can one not be loyal to a country while being disloyal to its government?]
[{revelation} She said my loyalty to my country wasn't in doubt. Oh! And yesterday she decided it would be useful to have a thought-hearer on staff, especially one who was willing to be tested as a truthsayer.]
[Does that get you very far?]
[I think she's worried about it being found out that she's not fully loyal to the party any more. That is why she doesn't want staff rotation or any other people from the Security Services around!]
[Remember this is all just guesswork.] Eliza thought. [And I don't know how you can safely confront her about it.]
[Do I need to confront her about it? I think what I need to do is decide if I want to live a comfortable life where I can worship God openly, if I hide my faith for a while, or if God decides he wants me back home. The thought of defecting... that's really tempting.]
[You need to pray. But, Tina, if you do return home, you will not be alone.]
[God will be with me, I know.]
[And I can point you in the direction of other believers, if you know none.]
[I know some. Thank you. That answers a question I didn't quite form.]
[You're wondering if I'd bother you again some time?]
[I wouldn't put it like that. I don't even know your name.]
[It's safer that way.] Eliza pointed out.
[Do you think I should join the truthsayers?]
[It's entirely up to you. Let me know when you decide.]
[And you'll check me from wherever you are?]
[Well, distance is a factor at the level I'll want to check you out at. So no. But, on the other hand, it doesn't take long. We could probably do it when I'm passing the embassy one day, or something like that.]
[Do you pass the embassy often?]
[I don't think so, where is it?]
Tina told her the address.
Eliza thought for a moment, [Hmm. I don't think I've ever been along that road. I guess I'll work out something else.]
[{panic} What do I say if she asks me about my application?]
[Tell her you're past the first test, but they've told you to come up with a more convincing motive for joining than 'this could get me killed'. Oh, and if you want to, tell her there are four of her colleagues coming on the plane, pretending to be soldiers. I've just checked up on them.]
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Min greeted Tina as she returned with her shopping. “Did you have a successful trip, Tina?”
“Yes, Maam. Well, partially.”
“Partially?”
“Yes, maam. I guess I need to do work on my eyesight, my vision isn't very clear at the moment. But I was told that four apples will be sent back today.”
“Four apples?” Min had got the bit about the vision, but the apples was beyond her.
“From the consignment. They look the part, but apparently they're not the right sort.”
“Oh, rotten in the core?” Min asked.
“I don't know about rotten, maam, but certainly not very sweet.”
“You learned this... between the shops?”
“Yes. Walking down the road on my own, actually. Isn't it funny that hearing voices in your head used to be considered a sure sign of madness?”
“Admitting it certainly would be at home.” Min whispered. Tina agreed.