She was small, slight, young, pretty and probably of Indian descent by skin colour. She also looked utterly unconcerned by the scene just looking at him. “I’m sorry but my paperwork does not have a G so neither do you”. Then looking round she raised her voice “Again I am Corporal Helen Patel of the specials control and recruitment team. This man is coming with me and I have carte blanche authority to take all necessary actions to ensure this”. She looked round waiting and Skender eventually obliged.
“Rubbish. Oh I admire the bluff but a wee thing like you aint the Micro. No nice try but no” and he swung the gun to face her. An orange glowing sphere formed around him cutting off his words and Corporal Patel looked round “any other skeptics?”. There were no takers and people started to leave quickly shock at the sudden turn of events making them compliant.
Outside a jeep was idling and a middle aged man in an officers uniform casually held a rifle pointed up to the sky. As each person came out it was swung in their direction and they were encouraged to move on. Finally Brian, Morgan and Gwen were left. Brian stood up looking at Morgan “You’re evicted. Get out. If you want your stuff go to the council tip because I won’t let you go through our bins. Why are you still here GET OUT!”.
The corporal put herself between them “Sir I am going to have to ask you to leave. When I drop that barrier the remains are going to be quite irradiated and a NEST team will decontaminate the building in a few days. Until then get any personal effects and get out inside seven minutes. Well six and a bit minutes now” Brian and Gwen just gawped for a second and then ran behind the counter grabbing stuff. Apparently that bullshit was plausible.
“Do I wait for you or just go outside” Morgan asked suddenly keen to be polite.
She turned and smiled which even in the circumstances made him feel better “well Mr Oxbridge I am pleased that even without a G you are cooperating. If you go outside by our vehicle you will find Major Channing your current case officer. He is eager to meet you”. Those instructions were clear enough and case officer did not sound too worrisome he thought. Heading out he heard the young lady encourage speed from the others.
The assault rifle held by a tall gangly middle aged man swung towards him and he called out “can I assume that you are Major Channing? The nice lady in there told me you would be keen to see me”. The rifle holder weighed him up and then replied “There is no nice lady in there. If we are making assumptions can I assume that you are Mr Moran William Oxbridge?” without moving the rifle at all.
Confident that this was not a wise idea he decided to do it anyway and shook his head. “Nope. Thats not me. Not without a G in my name”. The primary look on the mans face was amusement as he replied “Ok Mr Oxbridge with a G. Are you the individual who absconded from the William Grange Medical centre?”. “Yes” he replied. “Are you the individual who earlier today carried out an illegal interrogation of attack survivor Miss Annie Sandra Oxbridge?”. “Interrogation? No but I had a reunion with my daughter”. “Daughter. Huh. Ok well that answers my next question. From what I can see you were having some difficulties, don’t worry that was the frying pan and this is the fire. You are under arrest for evading registration under the specials control act. You will also be charged with interfering with the recovery of an attack survivor” The rifle went back to being pointed in the air. The major grinned “Gotcha”
Sitting in the jeep Morgan watched as the Major dealt with police ambulance and fire authorities. He had been warned not to leave and at least previously he had ignorance on his side, if he ran again that would not be true. After a few minutes the young Corporal got in the driver’s seat and started driving. As they got underway she looked in the mirror and with a grin asked “Any progress on getting that G?”. Looking to make a link he shook his head and just said “no”. She nodded seriously and said “Yes Isobelle – that’s his wife- is very clear about how hard it is for him to find a G”. She laughed while he tried to decide how to react and then added “Relax. I’m the good cop. Supposed to get you at your ease and make you drop your guard. Then use anything you say to break you later. Its all bullshit in this case. One lawyer and 15 minutes of the easiest work he has ever done will get you out of this. You obeyed all lawful commands when you knew they were lawful commands right?”
Morgan nodded relief flowing through him, he was not as far in the shit as he had feared. She continued “So the worst that could happen would be a sentence of enlistment to the SCAR team and to be blunt from what I hear you are headed for that anyway. Just curious. Do you know what you did to get the science team in an uproar? Whatever it is they already filled out the detain for study requests.” She eyed him in the rear view mirror looking for a reaction. Not getting one she continued “On the bright side Quiet Girl is coming in as well. I understand you are related to the survivor?”
That comment about good cop was worrying Morgan so he stayed silent.
Interrogation resistance assigned
Dismiss. Well that was useful feedback anyway. Well if she wanted to build a rapport lets trade information. “Look pardon my ignorance but who are you. I mean you gave your name and you seem to be dressed as some sort of soldier but what is the SCAR team. Are you part of it. How do you get sentenced to it. Why can some scientists detain me for study?”
She looked in the rear view mirror suspiciously “please don’t tell me you’re some sort of sovereign citizen crazy. As Major Channing said to the last of you people we can detain you because we have the guns. Putting 3 rounds into her knee probably helped emphasise the point.” It was said in a jokey way the same way someone else might make a joke about an error at work but whether deliberate or not a threat had very clearly just been made.
Trying again to get information he rephrased his question “without pissing off anyone with a gun but I really don’t know what SCAR is and how you got your apparently life or death authority.”
She looked in the mirror for a few moments and then said “look if I pull over for a coffee we can talk and if you run I will kill you so please don’t. You sound like you really don’t know and technically as the arresting officer I am supposed to explain your rights”.
Morgan tried to assure her that he was trustworthy “Look I won’t run and I promise you I really don’t know what you do or how I fit in”.
After a couple of miles they found a drive through and parked up. Whilst unbuckling his seat belt she turned round and really intensely staring at him growled in as low a tone as she could manage –”I really will kill you if you run. If not now when we catch you again. I promise I hold grudges”.
They found a seat and they ordered some coffees. After the first sip she started to explain. “As I understand it you have been asleep for a while yes? Well I may have only been a tweenie when the crash started but I saw a lot of scared adults. Universities have full departments talking about this crap but all I can say is that when the aliens started bombarding people from orbit the economy went to shit. And not the nobody goes on holiday shit I mean international trade just stops kind of shit. Governments powered through for a while here and abroad but we had been financing ourselves with debt. Hard to believe nobody had a problem with that but not enough money for everything we did. Then people stopped lending money because the economy was shit. No mortgages or buying a cars. What had been considered normal transactions? Forget it. Nobody will lend any money to or between governments type deals. People start talking about paying off debts and seizing assets to do it. And globalism, that happy optimistic ideal died. It was shivved for a slice of stale bread. This is all fairly recent, eight years ago the freeze started. China fell first, then the North America’s. Europe crumbled into nation states seven years ago then city states for the two years following. Recognisable governments have been reinstated in most places. Some percentage over 70% have some sort of stable government and let me assure you some of these places are scary. People will apparently put up with a lot to avoid anarchy. Even communism if you can believe that”.
As she took a sip Morgan asked the obvious question “And Britain how did we cope in this financial and military disaster.”
“Monarchy – its a simpler more brutal form of government and it was made in and for more chaotic times. It was a joke and a soap opera but when needed it was a figurehead that held us together. Pardon me but like most people these days we are grateful to the king. We are a country because he made us act together. The armed forces were getting mutinous, no wages, no food and nobody in charge. He called the generals together. Not fair he called all the heads of the armed forces together. A deal was made. They would restore order and he would provide legitimacy. It worked. Oh I mean lots of smart people whinged and complained but theres some sort of quote about a whiff of grapeshot making people listen to reason. Technically we are assisting Civilian authorities, in practice we are replacing them. Police arrested people and let lawyers sort it out, we killed people and then fined the families as there entrails were litter.”
Morgan objected “you sound proud – that cant be right”.
Helen looked sadly at him and with a sigh kept on “that if nothing else convinces me you are from another time. I grew up in a world where you did what you needed not what you should. Tyrants throughout history have said that apparently but for us that’s the only reason, not a quest for power. Anyway we do a good job with keeping order but violence and unrest are always boiling up. An idiot with a placard, Police can deal with him. A bulletproof flying idiot with flame breath and a placard- That’s where SCAR comes in. We control and recruit specials. We train indoctrinate and occasionally incarcerate those like you who are trouble makers. Our authority is remarkably broad, only results matter.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The coffee had grown lukewarm whilst she talked so the whole cup was downed in one. Looking at him she said “breaktime over – drink up and back in the jeep. Got an hours drive and I cant let you out of my sight so if you need the toilet, tough.” Drinking the rest of the coffee likewise in a gulp he got in the jeep. The rest of the drive was quiet and he used the time to think over what he had learned, nothing contradicted the hospital but it was a different and scarier slant on it.
After a few hours they arrived at what a faded tourist national trust sign informed were the grounds of Perdervil castle. There appeared to be a few new permanent buildings but mostly the fields were littered with dingy tents. Pulling up outside one of the newer buildings he was led in and taken to a desk. Helen walked up and addressed the burly man behinf it. “Case no 562409 – Delayed response to test collection. Tag and assign quarters pending review. Assign queries to Channing’s office.” They both then looked at Morgan expectantly. After looking behind himself to check he waved and said hello. Helen grabbed him by the shoulder and tried to push him to the desk failing miserably much to everyone’s surprise.
As the desk beckoned several people wearing armbands that said MP picked up weapons and started to approach so accepting the inevitable he let himself be lead to the desk. Ten minutes later a blood sample had been taken, a photograph made just for the records and a hard orange plastic bracelet was glued shut on his wrist. The Bracelet had his case number somehow inserted through it and he was told it would allow him three meals a day, clothing, and a place to sleep. He was also told it was a crime to damage it and the penalties for losing it started at death. He had no idea when these people were joking so just nodded away at everything.
When he left he tried to listen to the conversation and caught the desk guy talking to Helen “ I thought you were a high physical. Why couldn’t you shift him?” and her reply “I am high physical- 12% with a max of 15% but he just wouldn’t budge”. As interesting as that revelation was he decided to play dumb until he knew what was normal around here. A quick status check showed him to be at 10% still.
Wandering around aimlessly some staff looked at his bracelet and then told him oranges were all in the tents. Eventually some young man took him to a quarter master who issued him with a tent, bed roll with blankets and told him induction was in two days for his intake and just to stay out of the way until then. He wondered out and started to try to put up a tent. It was not easy and the only good thing was getting a skill notification for camping. Following a group of others he found the mess and got something to eat. Finding a table in one corner he sat down to eat while just absorbing the ambience of the place.
It seemed, well, normal. Nobody looked scared or angry. After finishing his dinner he went back and got a desert this time sitting down next to a group of orange tagged people that seemed to be composed of a mixed range of ages. He was acknowledged and then after waiting for a lull in the conversation “hey folks just got here today. What’s the routine like?” The man next to him turned and grinned “Thought I hadn’t seen you before. Names Greg by the way.” Morgan introduced himself and a round of names was exchanged. After the pleasantries Greg continued “well you’ve got good timing. Training Cadres are set up once a month and the next starts in three days so you wont have to wait long. Until then just hurry up and wait.” Another piped up “no red in your band so you aren’t considered dangerous to be around but Condoyle house – the building covered in vines next to the pear orchard – has the science block. They will sometimes talk about how best to develop”. Morgan perked up “Oh advice from someone who knows what they’re doing. Thanks for that” Greg snorted “Don’t let the name or the degrees fool you. This weird craps less than ten years old, nobody knows anything for sure. I mean yes they’re useful but just remember its guessing same as you. Do what works for you”. Changing tack Morgan said “trainings in three days, I was told inductions in two?” Another person offered “we get assigned to trainers in 2 days and the training proper starts the day after”. Deciding that was enough interrogation he just let the conversation flow and a pleasant half hour passed.
A few hours later after he had someone take pity on him and show him how to lay out his tent as well as what to do with his stuff he was lying down I his tent when his bracelet started to buzz. He looked at it for a few seconds and when it persisted he started looking for someone to tell him if that was unusual. A sergeant supervising ditch digging assigned a digger to escort him to the intake building which turned out to be where he had been given the bracelet. Deposited there he was looking for some guidance when Channing walked up carrying a leather document pouch. “Follow me” and he just kept on walking. After another look round Morgan did exactly that. When they left the building he started talking again “so they put you in genpop then. Fair, I have no specific threats about you. Anyway Michael and Graham are our two chief theoreticians and your test results excited them. You poor bastard. They moved your recruitment to an urgent collection and here we are. So lets you and me together find out why you are worth chasing all round the country.” Ignoring all further attempts at conversation they walked past a pear orchard and up to a quite large but really lovely old house covered in vines. Channing paused for a second then slump shouldered knocked on the door. His military posture had returned by the time the door was opened. A short wiry man wearing designer gym wear opened the door, whilst not slight the muscle shirt seemed unearned. His hair was slicked back and a model perfect set of teeth flashed in a smile. “Oh dear” he said looking at Morgan “whats this one done?”
Channing stiffened to attention “little bit of light GBH, some evading the recruiters but that seems accidental. Interfering with an attack survivor of special interest –Quiet girl- but other than that nothing much sir.” The short man turned and looked at Morgan for a few seconds and still looking at him asked “so why bring him here, you know what we do here, why are we the right hammer for this nail?” . Channing reached into his document pouch and proffered it to the man who took it and hummed for a few seconds. “Oh its you. Oh this is exciting come on in what are you still outside for come on in – you too major I will have questions for you as well.” They were guided into what looked like a normal and homely lobby and from there into a set from a movie. White walls. Machines that went beep. Bright lights and a man in a dusty tweed jacket writing equations on a blackboard. Wannabe Gym bro shouted over “Michael – your anomalous result just walked in”. Turning round a man who looked like he went out of his way to appear ordinary blinked at Channing then Morgan. “Dont shout Graham you know its distracting”. He walked over grabbing the sheet out of Gym bro’s hands and saying “so imprecise. Which anomalous result eh, would it kill you to give all the pertinent information. OH its you. Sit down both of you sit down.”
They sat down and Graham made a cup of tea for everyone. Michael fixed a stare on Morgan and said “I want you to know you lost me a long standing bet. Next time I am in Oxford I will need to run ten laps of the quad for you”
Graham interjected” it was a dumb bet. Besides Carly will enjoy your matchstick legs feebly flailing round the quad”.
After shooting a glare at Graham Morgan continued. “in several early attacks survivors were ejected with extremely advanced hardware inserted to them. That hardware could not be removed safely but there are eleven extracted systems that we know off in the world. Only seven are fully functional. Of those the UK has one. It appears to be a device for analysing and describing Functions. It shows core numbers, functions and build number. This information is not always comprehensible and a good deal of our time is spent interpreting gibberish results. One result is always clear and understandable. Build number is a hexadecimal count and we guess it shows how many people have these cores internal to them” Channing stirred and then asked “locally or worldwide?”. Graham responded “Worldwide, and it doesn’t tell you where they are or if they are active. Its really only useful for cataloguing and making spread estimates”.
Channing nodded muttering “I always wondered where those numbers came from” and then asked “so is that why Quiet girls potential amputation is so important?” Graham nodded “yes-if we get another functioning read unit we can either double our throughput or trade it to an ally for something. I know the Aussies are screaming for one because they object to China having that kind of information.”
Channing pointing at Morgan “Well that explains her. Him?”
“A statistician at Bangalore tech asked an interesting question. Does the count show how many specials there are or how many there were before you? Obviously nobody knew and it was added to the list of head scratchers” Michael replied “but then I made a dumb bet. I bet that we would never know for sure. The lowest number on record was 00013CC and I proposed that they started at an arbitrary high number.” Morgan saw where this was going “let me guess, you made a bet on the number and I was below it”
Graham grinned as he butted in “oh yeh – your build number was lower than 00013CC. It was zero. Actually it was seven zeroes but you get the point. You sir are patient zero. Nobody before you, no one.” There was silence for a good few seconds while that was absorbed. Channing eventually piped up “Who knows? Until we decide if this is useful who knows? Can we contain this?”. Michael stared at him blinking a few times then said “well we do. Whoever the data tech was who did the initial scan, Graham can you think of anyone else?” Channing stood up, and pulled out his phone “Keep thinking I have some calls to make” at which point he left the room with the phone to his ear.
Graham looked at him go then shook his head “paranoid the lot of them. Now your name is Moran? We need to get a case history from you. Knowing the exact start point will really solidify data projections”. Morgan settled back “No. My Name is Morgan. Theres a G in it. If youre gonna take my life story can at least one person get my name right” His voice had been rising and he was almost shouting by the end. Hands raised in mock surrender Graham sat down, as he was about to start Michael interjected “tell me what you find – I think there’s a breakthrough here and maybe if I stare hard enough and just let it percolate I will get it”. Graham watched him go back to the blackboard then turning back “More likely to go blind. Anyway ok Morgan with a G. Sorry. Lets start with your biographical data. Date of birth?”
The questioning was predictable and humdrum for 15 minutes until it came to the assault. When he mentioned the pain in his leg Graham paused everything and took some sort of uv light and after instructing him to disrobe dropped examined both his legs. Taking a pen he drew on his left leg and shouted “leg. Point of entry. Get this - seven inches”. Michael looked over “what?” “yup seven. They must have got a lot neater” looking at Morgans face “FYI the normal entry point – 2 millimetres. That must have been awful, people complain if the entry is over a millimetre” Michael walked over “Ranjits size hypothesis?” Graham pulled a face “well take blood and find out I suppose.” Looking at Morgan “theres a conjecture that the larger the wound the more abilities you have.”
While the blood was taken he listened to the sound of people bustling outside. A lot of people. Channing was talking to them but he could not make out exactly what was being said.
The interrogation, sorry case history continued. Nobody asked about voice, nobody asked about the white room. Taking a chance Morgan just cut them out of his story. It seemed to work, nobody called him out on it. He was discussing his work on the building site when Channing returned with a bewildered looking teenager following him. In his parade ground voice he announced “ok this is the Lab Tech who did the work. He will be staying to assist you in your blood work. Get him a bed. Morgan you will be staying here as well. You will be joined by myself and the corporal.”
Leaving the room the teenage lad watched him go then looked round. “Can I have a toothbrush?”