Thirty Four Minutes DEAD (9 page)

"A drink Greg. Well done - two in the bag already! I was wondering if you wanted to see the garden?”

"Cheers for the drink Marcia. The garden? We're underground here, and I always thought Denison operated a twenty four hour ‘stay down’ curfew when we have to work in one of the underground Designations!”

"Who said anything about breaking the curfew, Greg? Come with me. This Designation was initially earmarked as a fall-out protection venue in the event of a nuclear holocaust, and it was set to house the elite. Obviously they have newer sites for that purpose now, and so our project freed up this location for our research. The good thing about this Designation as far as relaxation is concerned involves what was left behind, Greg. Come and see my micro-paradise!”

Levene ushered Vain away from the relaxation area and he proceeded to follow her down several flights of stairs. At the bottom of the last flight Levene quickened her gait, eventually stopping in close proximity to a large black panelled area which had widened considerably in comparison to the narrow corridor they had previously been walking through. She turned to Vain and with an impish look made the following comment.

"Well Greg - time for a surprise!”

Levene inserted an identity card into a decoding panel on one of the wall sections. The applicable section withdrew, receding downwards into the floor. What was revealed seemed like a visual Arcadia - especially being placed in the confines of such a claustrophobic Designation.

Marcia Levene had not been melodramatic with her ‘micro-paradise’ description. Her words had been a faithful pragmatic definition. The other side of the wall had revealed an ornate garden – about an acre in size. Vegetation from a variety of climates grew side by side with a compatibility that denied nature in terms of geographical location. The bias prevalent in the creator of this aesthetic construction involved a predomination of plants from tropical regions, and yet despite this, sections of a ‘quintessential’ England were in evidence on occasions. A small strip of dark green lawn was the most noticeable section of ‘little England’. An artificial brook meandered through the garden and a selection of classical statues were located along the sides of the marble pathways which marked the boundaries of Levene's paradise.
 
Vain was surprised at the scale of the garden complex. Trees of considerable height stretched upward to the complex ceiling and a rain forest type foliage was the most consistent presence in relation to the wide spectrum of the plant life. The temperature was artificially regulated and although the tropical vegetation dictated that the level of heat reflected tropical climes foremost, the overall environment was balanced to a degree of comparative comfort. Levene paid testimony to her paradise.

"Pretty therapeutic isn't it, Greg? When our project decided to take over ownership of this Designation, one of the salient reasons concerned this aesthetic complex. The prevailing line of opinion felt that in an underground locale, staff would need outlets. The curfews impinge upon a person's liberties and they could subsequently tarnish one's ability to perform efficiently. It was felt that we should retain this complex, as it added an ambient ingredient to an otherwise claustrophobic Designation. The nature of the design is interesting too, Greg. You see a lot of the respective flora and fauna isn't actually real, being composed of a variety of plastic-based materials. A hybrid creation like this one couldn't possibly survive in our 'real' world and so whilst the tropical elements are largely natural, the majority of the vegetation from cooler geographical regions is artificially constructed".

"Surely the lawn's real isn't it, Marcia?”

"Sorry Greg - your little slice of England has been artificially installed on sporting surfaces for years!”

"How come you know so much detail Marcia, so much surrounding the minutiae of the complex?”

"I make it my business to look deeply into things that I am likely to have frequent contact with, whether my focus is a place or a person. The complex was easy to examine - all I had to do was ask Leif the specifics pertaining to the design. He's a proud man Greg, proud of every area surrounding his project, and it may surprise you to know that there's a softer side to him, one that involves a man who comes into his own when visual aesthetics are the applicable subject being discussed".

The pair entered the garden area and after a short period of contemplative silence Levene directed a more personal question to Vain.

"Tell me about your family, Gregory".

"I thought team members weren't meant to enter into dialogue surrounding their dependants, Marcia?”

"We're human Greg, aren't we? Those sorts of rules are token issues that surround any security-based project. Let's melt the ice of formality".

Vain proceeded to tell Levene about his wife and children before returning the question to his CIA colleague.

"What about you Marcia? Is there a Mr Levene, or any children?”

"Neither Greg. I'm married to our project - for want of a better phrase. Don't get me wrong, I haven't lived in a life of celibacy, and I don't hate men or anything weird like that. Let's just say that my sights are set on career horizons right now. I survive predominantly through fantasy as far as incarnated relationships go - although I've had one night 'no questions asked' flings with a few twenty-something fellas back home in Seattle. You're a good fuck Greg - at least in my mind! Don't worry 'once bitten, twice shy' Mr Vain, I'm not going to make that mistake again!”

Vain was quite taken aback by the frank nature of Levene's reply, and to an extent his guard was down. This showed itself in Vain's riposte.

"Maybe I've fucked you from afar as well!”

His words suffered from a slightly hurried execution but their intent was fully registered by Levene's eyes, even though the sentence had been uttered almost subconsciously.

The pair continued to walk around the garden in a good-natured silence. Neither felt embarrassment in relation to their short verbal exchange, and each felt as if their proverbial cards had been put on the table with regard to the type of attraction the two had for each other. As the couple retraced their steps, Levene once again took the lead with regard to dialogue.

"Well Greg maybe we'll fuck in closer proximity one day!”

"A couple of weeks ago I would have said something similar to what I said when I encountered you on the lawn at Designation B, now I'm not so sure. Thanks for showing me paradise - I'll be seeing you Marcia”.

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The following two weeks seemed to pass relatively quickly for Vain and his team. Four other victims were forthcoming, and each one had stored enough heightened visuals to enable quick arrest procedures to take place. Whilst the MC team were pleased with the results of their work, they had in effect seen two extremes of HV quality in the first two victims that they had examined, and thus whilst they still enjoyed the challenge of locating memory camera footage, their sense of awe couldn't recapture the pique of the excitement generated by the first two demonstrations.
 
The MC team had undertaken vault - extension research in the time between the arrival of suitable corpses and this had enabled understudy involvement to take place. The three understudies would become an effective fringe team after the Chicago based MC testing, but they were initially given the opportunity to further their areas of specialism in the London Designation.

In the idle hours between victim explorations and research, relaxation or sleep became the order of the day. The respite time was particularly conducive for social bonding surrounding both MC teams, and this factor pleased Denison immensely. The bonding period gave Vain the chance to assess the two fringe team members who shadowed Ko-Chai and Tavini - Hannah Nichol and Marco Sant respectively. Diana Fearston, Vain's understudy, had proved extremely popular with all three ‘first’ team members. The two comparative newcomers had to earn their colours as far as scientific ability and congeniality were concerned. Both fringe team members fitted in well with Vain's front-line MC team and whilst neither Nichol nor Sant had a personality as warm as Fearston's, they both passed the unofficial character tests prevalent in the minds of the main MC team.

Ko-Chai and Tavini both came into their own with regard to social bonding -albeit in quite different ways. Tavini challenged Sant, his understudy, to a variety of sporting based activities, which were possible in their underground Designation, and Ko-Chai built a cultural bond with Miss Nichol, sharing a communal interest with regard to architecture. This left Vain with time to further the research that he and Fearston were undertaking concerning the membrane structure that separated the main MC vault from it's extension.

When Vain had occasion to relax he would visit Levene's garden or one of the many relaxation sections of the complex. He spent little time in his personal quarters beyond the four hours he allowed himself for sleep. He and Levene had rare conversational exchanges but they no longer had the guarded intimacy they experienced when Vain was initially shown the garden. Vain thought of Levene quite often during their ‘incarceration’ and while part of him felt guilty for this mental infidelity, another part of him longed to make incarnate the desire both had for each other.

The time spent in the London Designation was proving very fruitful until three days before their departure date to Chicago. Tavini broke the news that Vain had always inwardly dreaded.

"Yo Greg, brace yourself man, our room 101 has just arrived”.

"You what Dave?”

"Another victim mate, but he's a minor so I guess things are going to be a bit tougher with regard to the exploration. I know you and Mishimo have kids - you've both let that slip, and whilst I haven't got any it doesn't mean I don't feel, you know".

Tavini was unusually ruffled by the fact that the next victim was a minor. When Tavini reduced his streak of showmanship it immediately heightened the significance of the applicable area in focus. Vain had been inwardly devastated by the news that Tavini broke to him. In the past his research had involved experiments on minors but none had been murdered, and Vain could tell by Tavini's face that murder was a likely ingredient in this instance. He spoke as naturally as he could.

"How old, Dave?”

"Seven years, man - seven fucking years old!”

"Cause of death?”

"Strangulation. At least that's what Mr Nechro reckons but there's a big problem here, Greg. The lad was only partially sighted and I guess the HV's are going to suffer. Leah's memory-camera was a bit patchy to say the least but now we've got one that's going to be well and truly fucked up!”

"Oh Christ. Let's go and see Mason and get all the cause of death details, David. If he gets all ghoulish with the description this time, you may have to hold me back mate, because you're right, this is our room 101 all right!”

Mason preserved a respectful decorum when he detailed the nature of the child’s death. If he had become theatrically intense when he described Leah's death, his chosen method on this occasion favoured the reserved dignity that the MC team had hoped for.

Tavini had been correct with regard to Mason's initial diagnosis concerning the child's death, and the latter spent a long time reviewing the likely effect that partial sight could have on the exploration. Vain directed a question to Mason.

"This lad looks well cared for, Mr Mason. Our first six victims were either adults or individuals who were isolated from their immediate families and so project staff could intercept the corpses quite easily. Surely we can't hold this child for long. I mean, there's going to be a community up in arms over the murder of a seven year old, isn't there?”

"Yes Mr Vain, that would normally be the case, but Christopher went to a special school in Harrow - a school providing care and education for partially sighted children. His parents both work in Namibia and whilst they have now been informed of the child's death, we have been given the transit time Mr Vain. Both parents will be back in this country in thirty-six hours and our work can take place long before this deadline. We will be able to have the case wrapped when we hand the lad back to regular Law enforcement officers tomorrow morning".

Unfortunately Mason was tempting fate on this occasion. Up until this point the MC project explorations had always delivered a guilty party. The memory-camera work had consistently extrapolated images and sounds, which enabled convictions with ease. When the guilty were handed over to non-enlightened conventional security staff, the project 'plants' within these areas played the DNA card and thus the project's blanket security was maintained. The immediacy surrounding MC explorations built a collective confidence and MC project staff had thus become almost
blasé
with regard to the apparent infallibility surrounding their work. Mason had warned the team that the applicable twenty percent sight factor would disrupt the usual quality surrounding visual flow, but even he couldn't have anticipated the HV's that ensued.