Chapter 9

As Lunn looked at himself critically in the mirror he wondered whether he should spend more time at the gym. He was getting older and his life of luxury had taken its toll on his body; it was starting to show and he knew he had to be careful not to end up like his father who had died as the result of complications caused by obesity.

He had fitted a new razor into his shaver and as far as he could feel there was no stubble left on his face. He knew that Alice liked the musky smell of his aftershave but he was also aware that it could be overpowering and could spoil a perfectly planned evening. He quickly got dressed and as he looked at himself in the mirror again, he was pleased that his clothes largely hid his imperfections.

“Hmm, very classy,” Alice purred from the bed.

He turned towards her and was pleasantly surprised to see that she was dressed in a sexy looking dress. The long skirt had a split which revealed her toned legs and the bodice was figure hugging, showing a daring cleavage. He sat down next to her and asked, “Are you in the mood for a nice dinner?”

She traced her finger along the buttons of his shirt as she replied with a husky voice, “Only if I can have you as dessert.”

He looked at her dazzling smile as he retorted, “Hmm, I was thinking more of a delicious starter.”

Alice giggled and as she bit her lower lip, his desire to skip dinner completely and make love to her right now, was increasing by the second. Apparently, she had seen the change in his eyes because she sat up and after gently kissing him on the lips, she said lazily, “Let’s have dinner first because that would be a good moment to discuss what I have discovered.”

Lunn chastised himself that he had nearly had forgotten why Alice had come to him in the first place. As he got up from the bed he extended his hand to help her to her feet. She hugged him, burying her nose in the crease of his neck and after inhaling his scent she purred, “Let’s go bigshot, I can barely wait to have you.”

He took Alice by the arm and guided her to a room which had been designed to serve solely for special arrangements. Lunn was thrilled at how she gasped as they entered the cosy and warm room. He had spent months getting this room decorated to his taste and weeks searching for the just the right exotic furniture to transform the room into a warm oasis of bliss and tranquillity. The large table, crafted from a solid piece of wood, was lit by a dozen real candles which supplemented the warm glow from the indirect lighting of the room. The air in the room had a fresh tinge but was lightly scented by the exotic pieces of foreign wood. He couldn’t hide his grin when Alice looked at him completely astonished.

“You amaze me every time, Lunn. What on Earth made you create such an incredible place?” she whispered.

He chuckled and asked her, just because he wanted to hear her response, “Do you like it?”

“I love it! It must have taken you a long time just to find all those beautiful things.”

Lunn saw her face briefly drop into a sad expression but then her radiant smile was there again and she asked with glee, “So you’ve ordered dinner in?”

He was puzzled only for a brief moment, wondering what had gone through her mind, and answered, “Yes, I thought it was appropriate to inaugurate this room by enjoying dinner with a very special woman.”

She gasped and asked tremulously, “You’ve never used this room before?”

He hugged her and said, “No, I knew it had to be special. It was only today that I had the urge to share this room with someone else and that is you. So why don’t you sit down and I’ll pour you a nice glass.”

As they sat opposite each other, Lunn raised his glass to hers and addressed her in a smoky voice, “To the adventures to come and that I may enjoy your amazing company for a very long time.”

“Oh you, flatterer,” she chortled playfully, “I bet you say that to any beautiful girl.”

Lunn understood that she had elevated her hidden discomfort to a joke and in the same vein replied, “Yes, any woman who is my friend, pal, lover and, oh yes, I nearly forgot; my head of security.”

Lunn was taken aback by the strange silence in which they both didn’t know what to say. He was relieved when Alice said in a silvery tone, “Well mate, as I’m the head of security, I had better play you the recordings.”

“Mate?”

Alice couldn’t keep her face straight as she handed him a tablet and said, “Yes dear, mate as in friend, pal.”

Lunn was only slightly apprehensive as she continued in a neutral voice, “You might find the recordings somewhat unsettling.”

Lunn looked at the tablet and saw a list of video files and started to play the first one. The footage showed the truck arriving in a dead-end street which he instantly recognised as the alley of Danette’s laboratory. He was surprised when the fit looking girl stepped out of the driver’s side and realised that it was the same woman who he had seen on the satellite pictures. He had to smile when the man stumbled out of the cabin after she had opened the passenger door. He was amazed how young they looked; they must have been half his age. Lunn had to rewind the video to see how they managed to open the door of the laboratory.

“Do you know what those kids used to open the door?” he asked Alice.

“That is an optical card manufactured by Datanex.”

Lunn blew out some air before he said, “Let me guess, the lock is from Datanex as well.”

Alice chuckled and said, “You’re allowed no more guesses.”

He saw them carrying the androids into the laboratory and he wondered how they knew Danette’s laboratory.

“Do you know who they are?”

“They both worked for Bionex and the woman must have had an important position considering where she lives. The man is a mystery because I can’t find anything about him on the web.”

Lunn started the second video where he saw another person, dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants, getting into the laboratory by punching in the code on the keypad of the lock. He had to replay the video several times to come to the conclusion it wasn’t Danette.

He saw the tense expression on Alice’s face as he looked up from the tablet. She sighed and confessed, “I haven’t a clue who she is.”

“Well, it’s not Danette,” he responded.

He played the last video where the same woman, only dressed in much smarter clothes, was exiting the building while hiding her face from the view of the camera. Lunn was sure it was the same person judging by her posture and the way she was walking. Then it dawned on him: it was Andena!

He wanted to be sure and as he handed the tablet back to Alice, he asked, “Can you compare her profile with that of Andena?”

He loved the way Alice’s eyes suddenly widened and narrowed again, giving him a predatory look. Her fingers flew over the tablet and after a few seconds a smile grew on her lips as she said, “I admire your ability to recognise women simply from their body.”

Lunn laughed understanding he was correct assuming that it was Andena and retorted, “Who says I only recognise women’s bodies?”

Alice chuckled softly before replying, “Something tells me that you’re more interested in women than in men; correct me if I’m wrong.”

He had to admit that she was right and raised his eyebrows, as he took a sip from his glass. He reflected on what he had seen and felt that something was not right. He asked, “These were the only people entering or leaving the lab?”

Alice looked at him as she confirmed, “Yes these were all the events from the time that we initiated the EMP.”

Then it struck him; they all went into the laboratory in such a way that it was clear they knew that nobody was there. None of them announced themselves or waited for someone to open the door. They all knew that Danette wasn’t in her laboratory! He quickly looked at his phone and checked how long Danette had been offline. It had been more than four days. As he looked up from his device he noticed that Alice was nervously fidgeting with her drink. She cleared her throat before confiding, “I think we have reached the same conclusion: Danette is not in her lab. I’ve been searching for her and I’m afraid that she was in the Bionex building at the moment of the EMP. I have been looking at the recordings of the employees fleeing from the Bionex building but I didn’t see Danette.”

Lunn realised in an instant that Alice could stop her search, “Alice, I’m afraid you’re wasting your time. The kids knew she wasn’t in the lab and they were at the plateau when the EMP was fired. Even Andena knew that Danette wasn’t in the lab. Somehow the three of them knew they could use the lab without being bothered by anyone. I think they are all working independently.”

She inhaled sharply and tapped rapidly on the tablet again. When she stopped she whispered, “It was Andena who ran out of the collapsing building. She was just quick enough to escape.”

Lunn came to the shocking conclusion that it was possible that Danette had been kept at the Bionex building against her will. He had expected her to be on the plateau but she clearly wasn’t there and now it all made sense: Danette had probably angered Mr. Yousima some way that he had decided to lock her up which had sealed her fate.

With a hoarse voice he said, “I think that Danette is dead and I think that Andena and the kids know that as well.”

Before Alice could respond there was a knock at the door. Lunn knew it was the dinner and said with a ringing voice, “Enter!”

Silently they watched as the two waiters placed the side dishes on the table and Lunn realised that his carefully planned dinner had been completely ruined by the depressing realisation that Danette was dead. As the main dish was placed in front of them, the two waiters left the room without uttering a word.

It was Alice who broke the tense silence by speaking softly in a brittle voice, “I’m so sorry Lunn. I, I should have come to those conclusions myself.”

Lunn knew that they had done it together and he couldn’t blame her for anything. He reached for her hands and as she gave them willingly, he caressed them softly. He forced himself to muster a smile as he said with a gentle voice, “We are a team, Alice. I couldn’t have found this out without you and it is simply tough luck that what we discovered just now is Danette’s death.”

“It has ruined our dinner.”

He sighed while poking at his food with a fork. He felt sad because he’d never had a chance to reconcile with Danette. The only thing he could do now was to make sure that the androids were saved from destruction. He knew that the androids would not be a potential threat anymore now that Mr. Yousima was gone. It was then that he suddenly wondered what those kids were planning to do with ten androids.

“Are those kids still at the lab?” he asked.

Alice was clearly surprised by his sudden question and it took her a few moments before she grabbed the tablet to look for an answer to his question.

“They left the lab about twenty minutes ago.”

He tried to keep his disappointment to himself because he knew he needed them to be there to have any chance of gaining access to the laboratory. He asked, “Right, at what time were they there?”

She energetically typed on the tablet again and replied, “Hmm, they are not your common early birds; it was just after eleven this morning.”

He grunted and murmured, “Well, we can wait until tomorrow then.”

“I guess we can. What are we going to do now?”

His stomach rumbled right after her question and he noticed that the food smelt delicious. He murmured, “I’m hungry.”

“Me too. It would be a waste to throw it all away,” Alice sighed.

Lunn didn’t really care but acknowledged, “Maybe we can fill our plates with what we think we will eat and take it to my office.”

Arnost took his usual stroll around the office trying to organise his thoughts. He had had a bad night; he had been tossing and turning all night, mulling over the possibilities of how to fight off the aliens. There were too many unknowns and he missed the input of Haruz who was one of the best strategic thinkers he had ever known. He shivered, knowing that twenty thousand ships were on the verge of swamping the Earth. After he had heard the disturbing information from Meleda that the aliens were coming so soon, he had panicked. He had desperately wanted to gain control and had spoken to Haruz’s second in command, Harrold. The man had promised him that he would give the nuclear launch platforms the necessary priority. He knew that Meleda had a soft spot for Harrold and he assumed that he would use that to convince her to assist. Arnost had reached the control centre and as he opened the door he was surprised by the small number of people present.

“Where is everybody?” he boomed into the room.

It was amusing to see how he had startled all the men and he had trouble keeping a straight face as Harrold’s chair fell down with a loud clang as he had jumped up to attention. With a wavering voice, Harrold replied, “As we are working solely to get the nuclear launch platforms online. I have dismissed all those without sufficient security clearance, sir.”

Arnost was disappointed to note that Meleda was not involved and he asked, “How are you progressing, my son?”

Harrold was taken aback by Arnost’s phrasing of the question but he recovered quickly, reporting, “I’m afraid progress has been slow because we can only assign newly-built connections to the platforms, sir.”

“Why is that?” asked Arnost irritated.

He saw Harrold shrink a little as the man responded in a subdued voice, “We seem to have trouble re-assigning existing secure connections, sir. We’ve tried everything but I’m afraid we have lost control over the existing connections, sir.”

“Where’s your expert on secured connections, Harrold?”

Harrold stuttered, “I, I, I don’t know who you’re speaking of, sir.”

Arnost couldn’t believe what Harrold had just said and fumed, “Who the hell do you think I’m talking about? Are you so thick that I have to spell it out to you? I’m talking about Meleda!”

Horrified, Harrold stammered, “It, it has been decided that Miss Meleda was not needed anymore, sir.”

“Bloody hell! Which idiot made that stupid decision?” Arnost bellowed.

He saw the blood drain from Harrold’s face and knew that he had lost the little gamble he had made: instead of trying to persuade Meleda to comply, Harrold had dismissed her.

Arnost wanted to ask more questions, he noticed that the few people who had been there, had in the meantime quietly left the room. He sighed and calmly said, “Right, so you’ll understand that I want to know why you have dismissed her.”

Arnost began to feel uneasy as he saw Harrold searching for words. The agonising expression of being lost was clear from his face as he placidly said, “I could not afford the risk of working with her anymore. Her delusional tale about other aliens who will cure her of an incurable disease, was the final straw.”