The Power of Forgetting (42 page)

'Okay,' said
Davey in practical mode, 'we'll need ten minutes totally clear. Is
that other room here?'

'About 20 yards
away.' Oliver looked to me.

'I'm going to
be lookout then.' I said.

'We will have
at least five minutes from when you first hear them coming.' Davey
said and stared at me very directly. He startled me, seeming so
much happier in these grey tunnels than outside. Perhaps because he
was operating in his area of expertise. Fiddling inside computer
files didn't thrill me in that way at all; and for me the trapped
feeling of these windowless spaces was having the opposite effect.
The three of them seemed pleased as we tiptoed towards our
destination. I swallowed hard and tried to breathe to calm myself.
Oliver slid along the wall ahead, and then silently beckoned us
forward. I held the small torch while he worked the lock of a grey
door inset into the wall. The fine needle like tool twisted once
more, and he pressed the catch down. It swung open noiselessly.

Inside the dim
illumination inside of something like a broom cupboard, Oliver bent
down to work on a small access panel. It gave way to his skill and
we were then faced with a tight squeeze through a twenty-foot
tunnel to another small airless room right behind the computer
memory banks.

'Alright. You
stay here.' said Oliver, 'snap twice with your fingers if you hear
anyone approaching.'

'We could lock
the door.' I said, and then regretted it.

'I can't undo
it that quickly,' said Oliver, 'besides, we need to see which way
they are going if anyone does come past.'

'Yes...of
course.' I shook my head to clear it. Davey and Janey were
wriggling their way through the small shaft. Oliver slid the pack
off his shoulders and followed them. I turned back to the door.
Close behind it I stood motionless, with a small sliver of light
falling across the floor. It was only open by the minutest
fraction, just enough to peer down the corridor beyond.

'Jared!' Janey
hissed from the vent shaft behind me.

'Here Janey.' I
knelt down and passed her the toolset from the side pocket of
Oliver's pack.

'Thanks!' she
grinned at me before disappearing into the small tunnel again. I
took my position again and prepared for a long vigil. Time was
already stretching out in swathes and sheets of featureless
greyness. I checked my watch. We had only been in the building for
quarter of an hour. It seemed much, much longer.

'Come in Jared;
update please!' The noise in my left ear made me flinch but I
answered without hesitation.

'We're in; just
starting on the computer access.'

'Keep it tight.
We can hear movement at this end.' Marcia's voice was snappy and
tight.

'Where are
you?'

'In an access
tunnel. Shortcut to the labs.'

'Stay safe.' I
said rather unnecessarily.

'Update me in
ten.' Marcia said and cut off the transmission.

I checked the
time again, and eased round the bevel of the watch face. I carried
on staring through the tiny gap down the corridor. it was too
quiet. I looked at my watch again. only two minutes had passed.

'Oliver!' I
whispered as loudly as I dared down the small access tunnel.
nothing. I waited a few minutes more beginning to feel a creeping
sense of something approaching.

Suddenly, Davey
slid out through the small opening with a black block, and
immediately knelt down on the floor and pulled the cables form his
big.

'Here, hold
this…' he gave me one of the cables, and then connected the memory
block to the small tablet resting inside the top of his pack. He
turned his hand towards me, so I gave him the connector end.

'Are we in
business?' I whispered.

Davey frowned
and touched the tablet.

'Yeah….
loading.'

I went back to
watching the corridor. There! In the distance someone was walking
slowly this way.

'We've got
company!' I warned.

'Is that a
cliché?' Davey asked without turning round.

'Probably.' I
squinted at the figure. Something…. something was odd about him. I
glanced at Davey. 'Twenty per cent.' he said.

'Shit!'

'There's a lot
to download.'

Janey wriggled
out of the gap then, 'There's the next one.' Davey took the
identical block from her. She immediately disappeared again.

I saw the
person in the distance pause and appear to turn to one side. They
were far enough away to be just unrecognisable.

Davey quickly
unhooked the first block and got started on the second. He swapped
number one for number three as Janey came back through.

'How long?' I
said.

'About four
minutes.' he pushed the cable into number three.

Janey was back
yet again with the fourth and final box. She took number two back
to Oliver.

A few minutes
later the third was out. The last one took about thirty seconds to
read.

'Okay, that's
it.' Davey said. He quickly packed the equipment away.

I checked my
watch again. Nine minutes from the call.

'Where's
Janey?'

'I'll take it.'
Davey said, 'the panel needs two people to lift it.'

I saw to my
horror that there was someone quite close to our position. I froze.
I couldn't hear any sound from the other inner room. I hardly dared
to breathe. The man was joined by another, who came into my eye
line from behind us. The guests for the meeting seemed to have
arrived early! They trickled past in tows and threes for the next
few minutes while the others came back into the small room. Oliver
secured the panel. He pointed at the door. I shook my head. I
realised I was over time on the check in with Marcia.

'We need to act
casual.' said Oliver softly.

'Follow the
flow?' asked Janey.

'Check whose
coming from the other direction Jared.' Oliver slid out his
knife.

We were out in
the corridor the door clicked closed and Oliver flicked the
tumblers with practised ease. Another group of three people dressed
in colourful coats came past us. We followed cautiously.

'We don't
exactly blend in.' Davey looked to Oliver for advice.'

'Be cool.' said
Oliver.

'No one will
notice,' I said, 'pretend you are a guest. Imagine you want to go
in to the hall.'

'What?' Davey
looked scared.

'Act casual.'
Janey shrugged and shook her head in a little gesture of
playfulness.

We carried on,
following the flow, and scanning all the while for some way to get
away from the crowd that was gathering.

Oliver touched
my wrist. I turned and saw a small deserted corridor to the left.
We quickly followed to for about fifty feet and came to an
intersection. The way to the right was leading again towards the
great hall. The ceiling was sloping upwards and further down was
illuminated by skylights.

'We need to
join the others,' said Oliver, 'that took too long. We can cut off
the corner if we skirt the main corridor and run along that
gallery.'

'That's right
above the Hall.' said Davey, 'and the people are gathering.'

'Then we need
to split up.' I said.

Oliver nodded,
'get to the annex of the labs. We are meeting in a small office
just there remember…' he pointed at the map, 'the exit is at the
end of the hall.'

'As long as
Marcia has got to the alarm control we'll be fine.' said Janey, and
tightened her pack straps.

I gave Oliver
the head set and retrieved the spare from my pocket.

We moved into
the main corridor and a little further we all melted into the
crowd. There were columns here and seats, and further down a long
table covered with some sort of soft fabric and loaded with exotic
drinks and fruity creations. A waiter pushed a cocktail into my
hand as I passed. I felt helpless then in the flow of the crowd. Or
perhaps it was curiosity. I allowed myself to be carried through
the pale panelled spaces and brighter arched rooms into the hall
proper.

It was huge;
bigger than a cathedral. The enormous crowds of people that seemed
to come from nowhere were swallowed up in the space. I moved
forwards, realising that I was off target, yet fascinated by this
impossible place. Was it still in the same dimension space? Who
were all these people? The bright clothes and the party atmosphere
made me feel careless of the purpose I had come to exact.

What now? Where
was Mr Rimmington? Almost as I remembered my promise to Juliet, I
realised that Oliver had known what I was going to do… or perhaps
attempt to do, and might well be here somewhere as well. There was
music floating into the space; an otherworldly resonance played it
seemed on strings that did not inhabit the world of musical
instruments I had any familiarity with. Strange… like another
planet, or even another dimension of a world as yet unimagined.
There on a dais of pure marble the group were arranged; the crowd
flowing round this like some coloured river of light. As I left the
entrance further and further behind I saw there were other raised
platforms and as you left the reach of the sound of one, you came
to the edge of another. It lured you in. the people flowed all in
the same direction towards the distant misty reaches of this marble
edifice. I was entranced. It was something like I dreamed heaven's
gate to be; so pure… so beautiful. Was I dreaming? A group of girls
in bright flowing silk hurried past. Something like urgency was
being felt. I followed them. There ahead; in a crowd that would
rival any gathering of the best concert ever, they stood like birds
of paradise, waiting expectantly for their master to appear. Behind
me the crowd closed in, and I was stood in the middle of this sea
of strangers. And suddenly I was afraid.

I came…. that
ripple of silence that travelled through this vast crowd from front
to back. They became like attentive statues, paused in the moment
between moments. They stood with glasses still in their hands, and
with only the slight movement that indicate a living thing. They
blinked and breathed and remained quite still. I stood similarly,
wondering what was about to happen.

And then I saw
them, others moving quickly through the crowd. Every so often they
stopped, two of them and escorted a person to the left and
forwards. There were the steps to the dais that stretched the whole
width of this space, like some vast stage. It made me think then of
the base of cliffs, where the sea had washed over the remaining
rock shelf, and gouged an under cut into the cliffs beyond.

There were some
of these staff moving in the vicinity. I stayed still, not wanting
to attract their attention. And it seemed to be working. Some
crossed between some people directly in front of me and didn't pay
me any attention what so ever.

then at once
there were two of these people by my side, one to the right and one
to the left. a man and a woman, both dressed in dun coloured silk
of leggings and tunics. The woman took the glass from my hand, and
immediately handed it to someone who stood near. That person caught
my eye for a fraction of a second. Only that; I saw fear, and
relief. The expression smoothed out a moment later was again cow
like and compliant.

The man had his
hand on my shoulder; he held my right wrist with his right hand.
The woman stood behind me and something cold touched my neck for a
fraction of a second. Then she stood to my left. There was a moment
when I knew that I should resist. That I should run. But then I
felt a sensation of euphoria, even while my head seemed quite
clear. Every colour seemed brighter and the sound of all those
people faded completely. I sighed as the trace of something
delivered as one fraction of a drop, made my destiny different that
day. One moment….and nothing would ever be the same again…. I had
diverged off course and would find a fate that no power on earth
could divert me from. If I had known, if I had only known… I would
have run! Until my strength was utterly spent. But I did not
know.

In that moment,
I tipped my head back and marvelled that I could not see the
ceiling. The space above was filled with light. A glass roof, or
many skylights close together, lacing the whole place with light. I
relaxed and started to slip. They kept me upright and slowly we
made our way through the crowd, who parted in front of us like
polite weeds on a river.

And now I was
line up with the other hopefuls. I didn't struggle, I didn't
resist. And as each person was led forwards; I saw that they were
standing by themselves and were simply being escorted to the little
bright knot of important people that it would be my lot to be
dealing with at the moment.

There before me
were a group who seemed to contain some of the more shadowy
scientists from the Sandglass project. There they were…. those I
assumed to be the Bank Collective.

I saw the
others being led to church style pew like benches. They sat and
waited; then they were given a little case. Other minders collected
them and they then filed to the other end of the platform, out in
front of hundreds of people.

They took me
towards the back wall. This proved to be riddled with entrance ways
and corridors. They took me down one seemingly at random. I was in
a roomy place and a breeze from the outside was coming from
somewhere. I felt the floor sliding out from under me. The two who
accompanied me, quite gently let me down onto the floor, rolling me
onto my right side. It was as if there was no will to move. I
didn't feel weak. Rather, I was without the will power to make any
movement towards escaping.

'Mr Arden!' the
speaker came into view. A dumpy looking brunette with bad teeth and
a foul expression of hostility. She inspected me and leaned over
once or twice. I closed my eyes as she did so, and prayed that
whatever indignities they were going to visit on me in this
helpless state, that they would get it over quickly.