The Fall of the Absolute

by Karen Page

Chapter 25

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Chapter 25

"Ooh, something new," Jennifer said, sounding all excited. "What is this?"

"I'm not sure. I just asked them for something unusual for you both. Something you have probably never had."

Jennifer raised her mug and clinked it against Theo's. "Cheers."

"Cheers," responded Theo, and took a sip. As it slipped down, he said, "Wow, that's a nice warm feeling."

Mentally though Theo was not happy. He'd loved to have dropped the drink or made some excuse, but he was following Jennifer's cue. She was running with it. They had nothing to lose apart from their secrets if the antidote failed. Silently he prayed their acting skills passed muster.

While sipping her drink, Jennifer mentally contacted Kelly and Hope via her Device. It was really useful for discreet purposes like this. "I will keep this open. Theo and I have been given a drink that will make us more talkative. We don't know if it is by accident."

"Monitoring. Do you want an extraction?"

"Negative. We want to see how this plays out. If we reveal too much, then intervene."

"Good luck," Hope said.

"It tastes so good," Jennifer said, putting her empty mug down. "We'll have to have it again in the future."

"That orangey bit seemed a bit strange," Theo added, his mug empty too. "They really do need to have glasses. It would look so much nicer in a glass."

"How do you know Kelly?" Sofia asked gently, glad the drink would block their memory of the conversation.

"I lived in the same village when I was younger. Then we went to the same music school," Jennifer answered truthfully. "You've met her now. Aren't she and Hope wonderful?"

"They are. Does Kelly do anything else besides the Space Racers?"

"Yes," Jennifer acknowledged, putting on a fake reluctant tone.

Sofia leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. "What?"

"She sometimes helps out in Jen's shop," Theo said helpfully.

Sofia's eyes narrowed. This wasn't going as planned. They were answering her questions the way they should, but it wasn't the answers she expected. She sat back and ate more of her meal. It was delicious. She knew she'd have to get used to alien food being the race team's administrator.

"Theo, can you get us another of those drinks?" Jennifer asked him. He was sat on the outside, blocking her from going.

"Sure," he said with a grin. "I wonder if they do one with a green swirl. Sofia, do you want one?"

"I've still got my drink," Sofia responded quickly.

Theo gave a little sway as he got up. He steadied himself by holding onto the back of his chair.

"Be careful," Jennifer whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, Jennifer noticed Sofia smile. Theo's actions seemed to have reassured Sofia.

Theo was back before Sofia could ask another question. He informed them, "They only do orange swirls."

Sofia rolled her eyes. He seemed more impacted by the drink than Jennifer.

"Jennifer, before you went to the music school, you went to a school in Gloucester. They said you were very intelligent. Yet you are running a shop. Isn't that beneath you?"

Theo turned angry. "How dare you insult Jen. You don't know her. She works hard in that shop. At least it is clean work. You worked for a mine."

Sofia looked around, alarmed. Nobody was turning around to look. She realised that she couldn't hear anybody else's conversation either. Each table was in its own privacy bubble. This was excellent. She'd been trying to keep her voice low. Now she realised that wasn't needed.

"I bet it only closed down because people died," Jennifer said, adding to the spiralling interaction. Jennifer had heard some drugs designed to make people talk could make them angry. She hoped the drink was the same.

Unfortunately, the spell was broken by the waiter bringing the drinks.

"Be careful," the Station whispered in Theo and Jennifer's head. "I don't know if the Sporotia will give full protection for two drinks."

"Kelly and Hope, did you get that?" Jennifer asked mentally as she nursed her drink.

"Get what?"

"Our protection might not work for two drinks. We are on our second."

"We will move closer," Hope responded and then, with an afterthought, "But we will stay out of sight."

"When does the transport leave for the race?" Theo asked. "And do you have to do anything special there?"

"Robert will be introduced as the new team manager and Kelly will do a lap of the circuit as a demonstration. I'll just be shepherding them all around."

"Don't you find it beneath you?" Theo asked. "You used to manage up to a hundred miners, shipping etc. Now there is just Robert and two team members."

"Use my own words back at me. You are full of surprises," Sofia said, pleased as they had loosened up.

Sofia had finished her meal and Theo said to Jennifer, "Perhaps we should turn in. We have work tomorrow."

This wasn't what Sofia wanted to hear. She was just making progress. Not wanting to miss her opportunity, and knowing the drink would stop them remembering, she quickly asked as Theo started to stand, "What is going on at the station? What has EarthGov security not managed to uncover and why has Clive Brown sent me to investigate?"

"Kelly, stay where you are," Jennifer ordered mentally.

"Going on?" Theo echoed, sitting down. "There are over a hundred thousand people on this station. There is always something going on."

Jennifer wanted to giggle, but held it in. Now wouldn't be the time. She leaned back, letting Theo talk. He'd been the best when they'd learnt this. In her rush to ask her questions Sofia had told them more than she probably wanted to. To give an actual name was not sloppiness, it bordered on incompetence. Was she new to the job?

"Is the Rohastin hiding something from Earth?" Sofia asked, hoping this was clarification enough.

"I work with the human ambassador. She reports her situation to the Worlds Assembly. I just manage the minutiae of humans interacting with the larger alien base. Did you know that they are still getting to grips with the different human foods? When they find out about something they like they go crazy. Sushi and chocolate are the current likes. The box of mince pies that Reggie gave to her grandfather was shared with a few of his friends. Beth, one of the human chefs, was inundated with requests from them and then stollen. It's a good job the other chefs are quick in picking up the recipes."

"Breathe," Jennifer said to Theo.

He turned to her. "Jen, you know Clive Brown, don't you? Isn't that Kelly's dad?"

"I don't get it," Jennifer said with a frown. "Doesn't he work for some investment firm in London? What's that got to do with Space Racers? I thought you were from Canada, so how do you know Kelly's dad? You aren't having an affair with him, are you?"

"No!" Sofia responded automatically in shock. "He is my boss. As far as I'm aware he is happily married."

The waiter suddenly appeared with two drinks. Jennifer recognised it as Sporotia. Jennifer beamed at him. "Thank you. Perfect timing. I was starting to feel the impact of the Ram'tror. This is like an antidote. We had one earlier too."

Sofia looked stunned.

Theo smiled. "I hope you stick around. I hear you get great intelligence from the Space Racers circuit."

Jennifer and Theo walked out, leaving Sofia reeling. She realised she'd been played.

Kelly and Hope were waiting in a games room not far away.

"I think we need to clear the air with her," Hope said.

"Especially me," Kelly said. "If she is working for my father, is he doing it because he is worried about me, or for some other reason?"

They watched and saw Sofia walk out of the café. Her shoulders were slumped and Jennifer felt a pang of guilt.

"I have something I need to tell you," Hope said to Jennifer and Theo.

"Now?" Jennifer asked. It must be important if Hope was talking about it now.

"No, later when this is all over."

Kelly rushed after Sofia and the others followed slowly behind. It didn't take long to catch up. Kelly had stopped Sofia, but they weren't talking.

"Let's go to the shop," Jennifer suggested. At least Sofia wouldn't slip away in the Transport Hub. "We can talk in peace."

Reluctantly she followed Jennifer and Theo. Kelly and Hope followed behind. Jennifer unlocked and they went into the stock room. "My first day here and I'm compromised. I'm sure Robert will find another administrator."

"Is your job to investigate us, or find out intelligence?" Theo asked.

Sofia looked uncomfortable. "Intelligence. You four were a side project to try and get noticed back on Earth. I knew Kelly was his daughter. He's so proud of her being in Space Racers, but he thought there was more going on. He went quiet about it a few weeks ago, but I thought I would check you out."

"I take it you've been training for this for a while?"

She nodded. "This is my first job. I've ruined it by trying to do more than I was tasked. There have been rumblings of something going on for a year. We got someone hired to work with Rupert, but it didn't stick. I was trained as a replacement, but Theo got the job. I was slotted in here when a Racer team was being put together. Robert has no idea who I work for."

"So, carry on doing the job you were assigned," Kelly said. "Just don't keep trying to find out more about us. We are simple people. Hope and I work at Space Racers. Jennifer runs this shop with Reggie. Theo works with the Ambassadors. We all went to school together and decided to make a life here."

"Are you going to tell your dad?" Sofia asked.

"I'm not," Kelly said. "And you don't have any reason to either. You've got a hard enough job as it is. Understanding each species isn't easy and understanding what is right for them or an anomaly will take experience. Jennifer and I are lucky that we became friends with a Reginadde when younger and have grown up in a universe with more than one intelligent species."

"Try not to drug us in the future," Hope said. "We don't like things like that."

"Ram'tror does taste nice," Jennifer admitted and Theo laughed.

"I'm going to bed," Kelly announced, jumping off the crate she'd been perched on. "I don't want to crash on my demonstration lap."

Sofia followed Kelly and Hope out.

"I hope we've made the right decision," Theo said with a sigh. "We were lucky this time."

Jennifer nodded and they locked up and headed to their apartment. "We know who she is. If she goes back with her tail between her legs, they will be suspicious of us. Who knows who they might send next time."

"Upgrade in status confirmed," Jennifer heard the Station whisper in her mind. She looked across at Theo who had the same look of shock as she did. She had no idea what this status upgrade meant, and if it would help them if they dressed as their alter egos.

Silently they went into their apartment and Theo rushed to get the bug scanner. They wanted to make sure she hadn't left anything on their clothes. It came back clean. Carefully they undressed and put them inside a secure box for closer inspection.

"I've got to send a status update," Jennifer said once they were dressed.

"Be kind," Theo murmured.

"I will. I'm saying there is an EarthGov operative on station. We know who they are, but we are still hidden, though they might suspect we are more. I'm not going to give names."

"You'll get push back. They'll suspect both Sofia and Robert and will want to know who."

"Possibly. Maybe not. A known agent is better than an unknown one."

There was a knock on their apartment door.

"What now?" Jennifer thought as she went to see who it was.

It was Kelly and Hope.

"Didn't we just say goodnight?" Jennifer asked, inviting them in.

"I have some news, but I couldn't share it with Sofia around," Hope said.

"Does anybody want a drink?" Theo said, walking out of the bedroom.

"No. I want to get to bed, but Hope has some important news," Kelly said.

"What is it?" Theo said, snuggling up to Jennifer.

Hope blushed a bit and after a small pause said, "After the Space Racer practice, I had a meeting with the doctor about my operation. He'd discussed possibilities with Shinara. Anyway, she was there as well as other senior doctors. They'd wanted to run some tests to see how my body reacted to some things."

"And?" Jennifer said, sitting forward.

"They did things there and then. I thought they would take a sample, and I'd come back in several days, but they ran them then. They have a plan for a new type of nanite that will dissolve in two days."

"Do you have them in you now?" Theo asked, wondering what they would do if she did.

"No," Hope responded emphatically. "Shinara suggested they contact Medical Research on Earth to see if they have any volunteers. I've no idea how long it will take, but it seems I'm another step closer."

* * *

The next day was race day. Jennifer and Reggie were busy in the shop so wouldn't get chance to be there.

During the initial rush that always seemed to occur, a message from Kelly appeared in Jennifer's inbox. It had been sent to her and Theo. "Both Robert and Sofia were on the transport."

When the morning rush had died down, Reggie said, "Can we talk privately?"

"Sure."

Reggie locked the door, and they went into the storeroom.

"What's up?"

Reggie looked nervous. "I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about yesterday at the Space Racer Stadium. I think something is off with Sofia."

Jennifer smiled. Reggie was catching on quickly. "What makes you think that?"

Reggie explained, pointing out some of the training she'd received on her home world, and what she'd picked up from Jennifer.

"What are you going to do with this information?" Jennifer asked.

"Nothing at the moment. I only have suspicions," Reggie replied.

"If I was to confirm, then if she asked me about you, I'd be obliged to confirm who you work for. That might make your travel to Earth rather difficult, and you've only just started to learn more to be able to give more reasoned intelligence."

"But we're friends," Reggie stated rather naïvely.

"We are, but there is also fairness. Don't forget I also have my other job. I have to balance everything, just like you do."