Escaping the Cradle

by Karen Page

Part 29

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Part 29
DATE:FC+123

Earth First had been raving for a week that technology derived from space research could be alien influenced. There were even pictures of heaps of memory foam mattresses on fire in France, America and Brazil.

Not to be outdone, Earth Fist, the militant offshoot of Earth First, had claimed they'd disrupted a satellite launch by killing power to the site and other companies should shy away from using alien tech. This was soon disputed. They had killed the power, but the launch had still occurred. One news site even had a picture of a fictitious control room, lit by candles saying, 'We survived the blitz, and we will survive terrorism'.

The doorbell ringing woke Henry from a vivid dream. He lay there for a minute, trying to capture the memory, but as the doorbell rang again, it slipped away, like a mist taken by a new wind.

"I'm coming," he grumbled more to himself than whoever was at the door.

By the time he'd pulled on some day-clothes, the doorbell ring was now a demanding knock. Whoever it was, they were very insistent. It was a Sunday, and he just wanted to relax.

He opened the front door, and was about to berate whoever it was, but stopped when he saw the woman standing there. She had a friendly smile, and a twinkle in her eyes which totally disarmed him.

"Hi Henry. Sorry to disturb you on a Sunday, but there's some urgent things I need to discuss with you."

"Who are you?" Henry asked, not budging, and thinking about shutting the door on her.

"I'm Brenda. I'm part of Laura Taylor's investigation team."

"Wait there," Henry said, and shut the door. There was something familiar about her, but he wasn't taking any chances. Not after the fake police at Becky's house.

He took his mobile phone out and rang Becky. He knew she would be up. Jenny liked her routine and would have her ma out of bed.

"Becky. I've got a Brenda here. She says she's part of Laura's investigation team. Do you know of a way to check?"

"I know Brenda. You sort of do too. Put her on."

Henry opened the door and passed the phone. The call didn't take long, and she passed the phone back to Henry. "That's Brenda. She is part of the same team as Andy and Stacy."

"Okay. Thanks. See you tomorrow, if not later today."

When Henry had ended the call, Brenda asked sweetly, "Can I come in?"

"Sure," said Henry. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Whatever you're making."

"Breakfast?"

"No, thanks," said Brenda, following Henry into the kitchen. "I had something a few hours ago."

It wasn't even 8am. What time had she left?!

"Is this about Friday?" Henry asked, switching on the kettle, and grabbing two cups from the cupboard. "I thought we handled the bug and tracker as directed."

"You did. Something else has come up. I need you to step me through the day."

When he'd finished making the two cups of tea, Henry sat on the settee, and Brenda took one of the overstuffed armchairs. She sat there, confident, poised. The sparkle still in her eyes but now seemed all business. She took out a small camera and set it up.

"I'm going to record this interview, just in case. Are you okay with that?" asked Brenda.

"Now you ask, after you've gone to all the trouble in setting it up," retorted Henry.

Brenda shrugged and finished setting it up. "This is an interview with Henry Potter at 08:34. Now Henry, can you tell me about your visit yesterday."

"I'll tell you what I saw and felt. I'm sure Liam will have a different perspective."

"He's being interviewed by someone else. As is Kevin and Melanie."

"Melanie?"

"The receptionist you saw yesterday." Brenda then spoke a bit firmer. "This is important. I need to know what happened while you were at the satellite company."

Henry took a sip of his tea and thought about what Brenda had said. So at least four investigators asking questions. That was a lot of manpower. And why the receptionist. To Henry it didn't make sense as she had so little connection to the day's events. But she seemed earnest, and that steel in her voice made him not want to dawdle.

"Okay. Here's what I remember," said Henry and retold what had happened the previous day.

When he was finished, Brenda smiled. "That was some day."

"It was," agreed Henry, shifting uncomfortably. "But you could have got that information from anybody."

"No. Only you could tell me what you saw and how you felt. Feelings don't show on CCTV."

"Oh. What's this about?" It didn't seem like an inquisition, but Henry was unsure why there were these questions.

"I need to ask you a few more questions first. That way I don't taint your thoughts."

Henry mulled that over and nodded. "Okay. Ask away."

"So, tell me about the two CAA people."

"What do you want to know?" asked Henry, unsure what was being asked.

"Tell me your feelings about them," asked Brenda, in almost a hypnotic whisper.

"Walter seemed to take charge. He asked the majority of the questions, though at first it was like he was expecting a rocket launch in the middle of Greater Manchester. He knew the requirements of the launch licence. When the power went out, he asked for confirmation we were in safety margins."

"And the other one?"

"Monica seemed more in tune with what we were trying to achieve. She even asked if she could see the unit. She wasn't allowed as it was sealed prior to launch. She was offered to see inside after the launch but said no."

"Was that before or after she found the control box had moved itself?"

"After."

Brenda leaned forward and asked her final question. "How much discussion was there between the two of them?"

Henry thought and looked through the day. "Not much. It wasn't like they were close colleagues." He thought a bit more and frowned. "The only time seemed to be when he strayed into something rocket based, and she brought things back to what we were doing."

"Recording terminated at 09:45"

Brenda stopped the camera and both of them took a cleansing breath.

"Have a look at the CAA website," said Brenda. "They put out a press statement last night."

Henry took his tablet from the coffee table and had a look.

'Since this was the first launch using a novel mechanism, the CAA assigned an inspector to be present on site to ensure the operation was conducted safely. The United Kingdom takes its responsibilities under the Outer Space Treaty seriously, and authorisation was only granted once we were satisfied that public safety and the space assets of other nations would not be impacted. The licence conditions applied were more stringent than for a standard launch, and both companies involved demonstrated compliance with this higher threshold.'

"An Inspector? Is that what you're worried about? It could be just a turn of phrase."

"It might have been, but someone enquired. Only one inspector was assigned. At the moment we don't know which one. That department is closed for the weekend."

"But the satellite company has a Class Three verification system," said Henry in horror. "Fingerprint or iris recognition backed by the Home Office. That system is supposed to be foolproof." He gulped. "That is used by the police, NHS etc. If that system is compromised, what else could someone get access to."

"People said we'd never leave the solar system because you can't travel faster than the speed of light," noted Brenda. "It is an assumption but never proved. Just like a perfect number has to be even. It has never been proved. All perfect numbers found are even, but there has been no proof that there isn't an odd one."

"And something is only true until it isn't. Is that why the receptionist is being interviewed?"

"Yes. Were they both checked properly? The simplest answer is often true. Perhaps the system wasn't compromised, but perhaps the process was. Perhaps she only verified one of them for some reason."

"How do you think like that?" Henry asked, amazed.

Brenda shrugged and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "It's my job. I'm an investigator. I got asked to come here today to do this interview as an emergency. I'm undercover and only have a small window where my absence won't compromise that."

Henry had met several investigators. The ones he knew the most were Tina and Luke. He was happy to socialise with them when they were around, but that wasn't often. What they actually did during an investigation, he didn't know. But what he had gleaned, it sounded like a cross between a spy and someone infiltrating companies that did evil and thought they were above the law. Perhaps Brenda was a modern-day Knight Rider.

"Good luck," said Henry getting up. "I hope you haven't been compromised."

"So do I. And if you do spot me on television, remember, that's not the real me."

"Is this the real you?" Henry asked, a nagging feeling he knew her, but couldn't put the puzzle together.

"No," she responded and gave a fabulous grin. "Nice you understood that."

Henry nodded but wondered what Brenda was involved with. "Just be careful," he said, and afterwards wondered what possessed him.

"Thanks," and she left to go back to her mission.

Henry thought more about Friday. Less so about Brenda. She was an investigator and the less he thought about them, the better. As he put the crockery into the sink, he wondered if there was anything else on Friday they could have spotted. Why would someone want to infiltrate a satellite launch? It wasn't a very exciting thing to do.

A message pinged on his phone from Becky. She wanted a meeting with him and Liam to discuss matters. Henry shrugged and went to see what Becky wanted.

Liam was wandering down the road, and they met up. "Did you just have twenty questions?" Henry asked.

"Yes. Who interviewed you?"

"Someone called Brenda. You?"

"David. You know, the one who found the body in the basement."

"That sounds so Agatha Christie."

They both laughed at the shared humour and ambled in the early morning sunshine to the office.

Henry wasn't surprised to see Becky wasn't alone. It was a Sunday, so he expected Jenny would be there. And where Becky went, Ashleigh was sure to follow. Those two were like peas in a pod. When Becky's wife had died, he thought that Becky could never be the same again. Then came Ashleigh and turned everybody's life upside down. Evan was there too.

"You two survived your interrogation?" Becky quipped, as they came into the discussion room.

"So it seems," said Liam, dryly. "It was fact finding. There didn't seem to be any thought I'd done something wrong."

"No, it seems the receptionist did though," said Becky. "Hers was a rather quick interview. I feel sorry for whoever got sent. A three-hour drive, and a fifteen-minute chat."

"How did the second person get in? Was there a failure of the verification system?" Henry enquired, concerned at a government security failure.

"It was bypassed. They gave her a letter on headed paper saying that use of that system would compromise their security. If they wanted the launch to go ahead, they should be just let in. She did so, and didn't mention it to her boss or anybody. She thought she'd done the right thing."

Evan gave a low whistle. "That takes guts. Who would have thought someone would have the nerve to do something like that."

"Exactly. Hence why it worked. And then once they were through, there was only a short period before it was locked down for the launch."

"But were any of them fake?" Liam pondered.

"We've no idea yet. They seemed to know CAA procedure. But if one of them was an imposter, why did the real one take part in the charade."

There was a moment's silence. "The next bit of news. There is going to be some development across the road in the old industrial units. Planning permission has taken time but has been agreed. The plans have them more in keeping with the area rather than the rather utilitarian 1970's design currently there. This will be for our expansion."

"I won't have to wear a suit, will I?" asked Henry.

"Not unless you want to. I don't see engineers wearing suits that often. Laura's planning team say it's going to take at least six months before it's ready. It seems some of those units probably have asbestos, so that will take time to remove before they can be cleared. In the meantime, we are going to have some temporary offices at Waterwells business park."

Evan pulled a face at that drab lifeless place.

"I know and I'm not looking forward to it either. But you don't need to be by a river anymore. That part of the research is done. Most of the time you will still be doing what you currently do. However, you will need to make sure that the teams that will be going out doing satellite deployments know what to do."

"So, there is going to be recruitment?"

"Yes. And they all have to be checked. When we launch foreign satellite, which I'm sure will be quickly, there will be trips abroad. We will need more than Eos and Aurora. We will probably have other pilots and ship engineers."

"What about security of our parts?"

"That went in last week. The areas you will be in have secure doors and the windows secured too. The good news, the county police headquarters is virtually opposite. Hopefully that will put off any breaking and entering."

"What about The Anchor?"

"It's not going anywhere," said Becky. "This is our company HQ. When the work is completed in the business park, we will be back here. This is going to be our main research building. But it will be noisy with the work opposite. Plus, there is that handover that's needed."

"This recruitment. When is that starting and what are the people like?" asked Liam.

"It's funny you should ask that," Ashleigh said with a slightly smug grin. She took out her tablet, and clicked a few things. "You should now be able to see the CVs. I'd like your opinions."

When Becky groaned with Evan, Liam and Henry, there was surprised glances.

"You didn't know about this?" Evan asked.

"No," said Becky. "I knew she was up to something, just not what."

"I will also need James to look at a few applications too."

"How do we know if they can be trusted?" asked Evan.

Ashleigh nodded. "These have already been filtered. They should be trustworthy, but you never can tell 100%."

"Okay, let's have a look," sighed Liam. "What a thing to do on a Sunday."

Jenny, who'd been quietly reading something on her tablet looked up. "If you are moving to an office in Quedgeley, what will happen to being picked up after school?"

"It's only down the road. One of us will be there for you," said Becky. "It's closer than when we were doing all the work at the factory."

"And we'll still make sure you get your afterschool lessons," said Liam. He'd been enjoying teaching them. It took him back to when he taught at university before he got to pure research.

"Kelly's mum's new job is nearby," said Becky. "So, it will be just as convenient for Kelly to be picked up from there as here. Anyway, what are you reading that has you so engrossed. You've hardly said a word."

"I was reading about the stuff Miss Barnes mentioned about satellites. The CCSDS protocols."

"And?"

"I understand a bit more about what she proposed now, but some of the standards don't make sense to me. Do you think she would mind if I asked about it?

"Send her an email," suggested Becky. "It will help you put things in a structured way. She can then talk to you, and both of you will already understand what the conversation will be about."

After two hours of going through CVs, Becky's phone rang. She glanced at the screen and saw it was her boss, Laura Taylor. She moved away from the desk. "Hi"

"Please move out of earshot of everyone."

Becky walked outside. "I'm out of earshot."

"Later, can you pass my thanks to Henry and Liam. They were very helpful with the information they shared. Linked with what Melanie said, I managed to track someone down from that department of the CAA and explain Friday's events."

She went on to explain the situation.

"It sounds more like Counter Terrorism will be involved rather than the police," sighed Becky.

"Yes, so just be warned. Don't discuss this with Henry and Liam. We don't want them tainted even more than they already are."

"Oh, Brenda and David interviewing them might have tainted their knowledge?"

"Yes. I take it they are both at The Anchor?"

"Yes."

"Great. I will get word to the CAA who can let the police or security services know. If they want to, they can interview them. Let me know how it goes. All the interviews that Brenda and David did were recorded, so original interviews can be shared if needed."

When Laura had ended the call, Becky made her way back inside.

The others looked up, but she put on a smile and asked, "Did you find any good ones?"

Evan pulled a face. "Two to add to the possibilities pile, but still no knockout candidates."

"Then let us hope there is a mythical fantastic person, or three, in this lot."

They'd started to get disheartened with the candidates, when they were alerted that a car had drawn up into the car park. She recognised DC Singh. He'd been one of the officers who'd helped find Jenny when she'd been kidnapped.

"It seems you're still attracting attention," he said as he shook Becky's hand.

"Not me this time. I didn't go. I presume you're here to see Henry and Liam. They're through here. The only thing they are aware of is some discrepancy between the CAA press statement yesterday and what they saw. They've not been told about today's findings."

DC Raj Singh didn't move. "Okay. How's Jenny doing?"

"She got some great help and is fine. She's in there too."

"Okay, lead the way."

Becky took him into the discussion area, with everyone staring at the man Becky had brought in. Only Ashleigh recognised him. "DC Singh, isn't it?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I've been instructed to interview Henry Potter and Liam Mann."

Ashleigh whispered something to Jenny, who perked up and went across to Raj and peered up at him. "Thank you," she whispered in reverence.

"My pleasure," he smiled. "You were very brave."

Jenny actually blushed and rushed back to Ashleigh.

"Are you interviewing them one at a time, or both together?" asked Becky.

"One at a time. We get a cleaner report that way."

"My office is upstairs," said Ashleigh. "It should give you the quietest place for you."

"I've been informed that two corporate investigators interviewed you and that was recorded. My colleague says it was in a timestamped admissible format, which he was surprised about. Having met some of you before, I'm not. Nobody is accusing you of anything wrong. We just need information about the CAA inspectors."

As promised, the interviews didn't take long, and the Counter Terrorism officer was soon on his way.

"Did he tell you anything?" Henry asked Liam when he joined them.

"No. He said he didn't have that information. He was just here to gather facts."

"Laura told me earlier," said Becky. "I was asked not to tell you, so it didn't taint the interview."

"Which one was fake?" said Henry. "I bet it was Monica."

"Yeah, my money's on her too. Walter was too much a CAA guy," added Liam.

"They were both fake," said Becky. "The real inspector was drugged and tied up. They showed a fake letter saying that performing an identity check would compromise them. The receptionist went for it."

"Walter was fake?" said Liam in shock. "But he was so real. Who were these people?"

"Hang on," said Ashleigh. "If they were both fake, then that launch went ahead without a CAA officer being there. That was one of the requirements of the launch licence."

"What does that mean?" asked Liam, horrified. "Do we have to redo the test? It wasn't our fault."

"We don't know," said Becky. "We could be fined. We breached conditions even though it wasn't our fault."

"I thought that presumptions like that had been revoked with those dystopian drug laws."

"Mostly, though some rules still stand. Laura has her legal people looking into it."

"If we do have to redo it, can we get permission to return the satellite? It would be quicker than getting them to build a new one. A do over. There are no harmful chemicals in the satellite."

"They did send out that press release," said Evan. "Perhaps they won't want to admit the problem."

"Whoever these people were, they weren't amateurs," noted Henry dryly. He then gave an impish grin. "This job's getting more exciting by the day!"

The others didn't laugh.