Chapter 20

I handed Grant the data terminal, and spent the next few days walking around in a daze. Somewhere, Jenny was possibly frozen in a state of suspended animation, waiting for me to awaken her. I had no idea whether she ever arrived at her destination, or even where it was. All I knew was that locating it would become my top priority. Just the possibility that Jenny and I could be together once more gave me fresh hope, and determination to prevail against the odds.

As expected, Matthias arrived the following day. He ranted and raved about the interruption of his research, and accused me of stealing the data terminal.

"It wasn't yours in the first place," I reminded him. "You stole it from the citadel."

"That's irrelevant," he replied furiously. "I was in the middle of an important investigation. Your theft may well have set me back months."

"What was the thrust of your research again?"

"It's highly complex and required the continuous use of the terminal to interpret the results."

"The terminal hadn't been switched on in weeks. The whole workshop was covered in dust so thick, you could write your name on every surface."

"This is an insult. How dare you let this interloper question my integrity," he accused Grant who, until this time, had witnessed the exchange with indifference. Grant looked slightly concerned by the scientist's vociferous defence, clearly wondering whether he'd erred by taking my observations at face value.

As soon as Matthias appeared, I'd discussed the matter with Teel who knew something of Matthias, and his final months at the citadel.

"I believe you are acquainted with a young surrogate called Nialla?" I asked.

My question caught him off-guard, and it was several moments before he denied even knowing the girl in question.

"I have it on good authority that she regularly frequented your rooms, and that when the Chamberlain was informed, he took serious issue with the matter."

"These allegations are totally unfounded," he blustered.

"A colleague of hers now resides with us. The two of them discussed your activities in great detail at the time. What was it that the Chamberlain accused you of? Bringing the council chamber into disrepute, pursing your personal pleasure at the expense of your profession? Isn't it true that an investigation discovered a profound lack of progress in every project you tackled, and that they were about to revoke many of your privileges?"

"This is outrageous," he protested weakly. "There is not the slightest foundation of truth..."

"Are you calling her a liar?"

"This is an unfair exaggeration of the facts. None of these accusations were upheld."

"That's perhaps because you fled, before the High Council delivered judgement."

"I am a highly respected scientist," he stammered, beads of sweat trickling down his brow."

"I once ran a research department that comprised over a hundred respected scientists. I examined your 'workshop' and found no evidence of any work that had taken place within a great period of time. The data terminal maintains a log of whenever it is used, and I can confirm that it has been activated a total of six times during the last year."

"There you are," he replied.

"You referenced material on the maintenance of large electric engines, similar to those employed by recreational water craft."

"I am entitled to some leisure activities."

Grant interrupted our exchange. "Matthias, I've provided you with everything you asked for, please tell me exactly what you've achieved over the past year."

"The suit..."

"You did assist with the suit, but beside that, what else?"

He paused before answering, his voice carrying little conviction. "You can't judge purely by results alone. Much of my research is paving the way for future advances."

"In which direction?"

He continually fumbled his words as he attempted to dig himself out of the deep hole he found himself in, leaving Grant in no doubt as to the truth.

"I'll be sending some more people to stay with you," Grant informed him. "I'm told that the fields surrounding the Manor are extremely fertile, and perfect for cultivation.

"Henceforth, I'll decide what you work on and if you fail to deliver, then I'll have you helping with the harvest. Maybe a little hard physical work will stimulate the grey matter."

Matthias opened his mouth to object but thankfully closed it again as he realised how dependent he was on Grant's generosity. I'm sure Mark can provide a range of suitable projects for you to work on. You'll be carefully monitored from now on. I also think it's time that Helen and Sandra return to the city, it must be an ordeal for them being so isolated from the rest of us."

"But ... but..." Matthias blabbered.

"I leave Carrie to keep you company, but if I see no sign of improvement, be assured that I'll recall her also. You've taken advantage of me, Matthias, but I'm willing to forgive and forget, provided you keep up your end of the bargain from now on."

Matthias collapsed into a chair, his face a picture of deep unhappiness. I tried not to gloat, but it was difficult to stifle a smile as he received his comeuppance. Left to me, I'd have had him sowing a different type of seed for his living, but Grant seemed inclined to afford him a second chance. Maybe when properly directed and supervised, Matthias could deliver good results. I personally tended to doubt it, but I admired Grant's diplomacy, pleased that skilled leadership was still alive in the world.

"I've never seen him so humble," Grant admitted after Matthias retired dejectedly from the room."

"You're a soft touch," I declared. "I wouldn't have been so lenient."

"He didn't rise to his position in the citadel without possessing a degree of talent, even if he did subsequently choose to squander it."

"It's interesting that his prurient nature asserted itself. Maybe the citadel is not as pure and chaste as they'd have us believe."

"From what little I've read in the library disks, the upper echelons are fully aware of mankind's disposition for sexual excess. That most of them choose to ignore these natural urges I find not only remarkable, but frankly quite disturbing. The lower classes are brainwashed into believing sex is somehow sinful, or not worthy of appreciation. This is a shame because I think that if they'd been honest, the chances are they'd reduce the risk that people would one day rise up and overthrow them when they finally discovered how they'd been enslaved for decades."

"I imagine they're going to be pretty angry when they discover it."

"Correct. I think the time will come when the truth needs to be told. Maybe your friend Sarek could assist us," Grant suggested.

"Sarek is a man with his own agenda. I believe he knew that Jenny, my girlfriend, chose to freeze herself, rather than live under the Founder's guidelines. The disk he gave to me was a diary that she made, detailing her personal account of the first ten years after the Calamity. I discovered that my daughter not only survived, but probably lived a long and fruitful life. It's a sobering thought that maybe some of the citadel's inhabitants could well be my distant descendants."

"A sobering thought indeed," Grant agreed.

"If I had any idea where Jenny chose to place herself in stasis, I'd set off there now and try to awaken her."

"Before you go searching up and down the country, we could use your help here, just until we establish regular supplies of our new crop."

"I've had some thoughts in that direction," I replied. "I'd like to offer the seed to some of the villages."

"For what purpose," Grant asked, surprised by my suggestion.

"I've lived in one of them. They are struggling in much the same way that we are. By helping them, and reducing their reliance on the citadel, we may gain important allies. If we deny the citadel any place to send their malcontents, it's possible that things will come to a head much sooner than otherwise."

"An interesting thought."

"We won't need more than a fraction of the seed that we now have. Once we start cultivating our own, we'll literally be overflowing with it. Eventually, we'll be able to support a much larger population, but until that time arrives, we might as well help others."

"You've almost convinced me," Grant acknowledged. "As soon as we secure a steady stream of supply, we'll make a tentative approach to one of the smaller villages, and see what their reaction is."

"I know just the place," I grinned.

I replayed Jenny's diary a hundred times but found no mention of the location of their stasis chambers. She'd obviously feared that the disk would fall into the wrong hands. I tried to think where Jenny would consider and only two possibilities stood out. The first was that she'd used what little resources remained at Genotech to build another chamber in one of the lower levels. When I'd awoken, I'd been in deep shock and departed for the citadel with Sarek, giving no thought to explore the ruins any further. The only other place where stasis technology would likely be present was at the Avalon facility.

The New Forest was a large region, and none of the disks provided any clues to its exact location. It had obviously been long abandoned when the Founders eventually created the citadel, and I theorised that Jenny would have hoped its redundancy and isolation made it a suitable place to remain undiscovered.

An unlikely friendship sprang up between Vanessa and Teel. Having fully recovered from her injury, Vanessa seemed to spend a lot of time in her company. They disappeared for days at a time, delivering seed and advising on the best methods of cultivation. The genetically modified bananas needed to be grown under glass, but I still found it incredible that they could thrive at all in such a non-tropical climate.

The first harvest exceeded all expectations. After much grumbling, Matthias succeeded in formulating an advanced cultivation technique that increased yields further still. Even I had to conclude that it warranted all the faith that Grant had placed in him. A celebratory feast was organised within the grounds of the Manor, resulting in an orgy of consumption that lasted for days. Wine, roast meats, freshly baked bread were accompanied by a plethora of exotic fruit that nobody outside of the citadel had ever experienced. An even greater variety was promised, as soon as the fruit trees reached maturity.

Even Matthias relished the opportunity to indulge his appetite, gorging himself on what was available. I was quite relieved that he didn't seem to harbour any grudge from our last encounter.

"I can't remember the last time I ate so well," he boasted. "The High Council would be livid if they could see us all now, feasting on everything that they've jealously kept for themselves."

"The next step is to offer what we have to some of the villages."

Matthias expression became one of concern. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"I lived in one of them for several months, when I was expelled from the citadel. They live a frugal existence, and if we can make that less so, I'm sure they'll be eternally grateful."

"If the citadel discovers what you've done, they're not going to be very pleased."

"What can they do about it?"

"Perhaps not that much, but they can be very vindictive at times. They treated me rather shabbily, because of my one indiscretion."

I felt a tingle of sympathy for the man, having experienced a similar ordeal. "I'm sorry I created problems for you, but I desperately needed access to the data terminal."

"I'll be honest with you, I had become somewhat complacent. Since I've started my research activities again, I feel so much more alive."

We spent time discussing his current projects, which mainly involved cross–breeding some seed varieties to create hybrids that would flourish outside the controlled environment of the citadel's carefully temperature controlled conditions. In the process, I revised my earlier assessment of him.

Matthias suddenly stopped mid-sentence and stared across the room. I followed his gaze over to a secluded corner where Teel and Vanessa snuggled together. The pair kissed passionately, and I could just discern the movement of Teel's hand beneath Vanessa's clothes as she fondled the girl's soft breast. From out of the corner of her eye, Teel determined that she'd attracted our interest and became even more daring. Her hand delved downwards, whereupon Vanessa spread apart her legs in anticipation. Teel sucked at her exposed neck, whilst Vanessa closed her eyes and screamed silently at the intense stimulation.

It brought back fond memories from the citadel, watching her with Nella as she drove her friend insane with desire. Of all the women I'd met since awakening, Teel had fully embraced her sexuality and, from what could be seen, had recently converted Vanessa.

"I never realised that Vanessa was interested in other women," Matthias observed.

"Teel can be very persuasive" I replied.

"Clearly," he agreed. "It seems such a waste."

"I've watched her many times, with her previous girlfriend. It was most educational."

Matthias grinned. "A man after my own heart."

"I'm slightly surprised," I replied. "Everybody that I met at the citadel seemed to have little or no interest in sexual matters."

"They suppress the instinct very effectively through education, and by various chemicals introduced into the water supply. Having access to the historical databases however, I experimented and foolishly thought I'd taken adequate precautions against discovery. As soon as I realised my mistake, I decided to leave under my own terms.

"Before that, I'd figured there was an intelligent pattern behind the increase in Trog activity, and based on a statistical analysis of their sightings, determined the likely location for whoever was responsible."

"And you told them you were an activist that supported their cause," I reminded him.

"I suppose I did embellish my credentials a little but..."

"Did you tell anybody else about your findings?" I asked nervously.

"I didn't see any reason to, although the raw data is still there to be analysed if they decided to make the effort. I think it unlikely that anybody would bother."

"Just like Petrius failed to make progress on the 'reproductive' issue."

Matthias laughed cynically. "Petrius spends most of his time tinkering with human gene-splicing. He's the last person that would upset the status quo."

"How many people know the truth?"

"The Chamberlain and a few trusted advisors. Access to the facts is very carefully controlled, just like the knowledge that the villages can't grow their own food without our assistance. It provides a way to keep them in line, if ever they became rebellious.

"Your theft of the unmodified seed, and the excellent work that your lady friend has done with it since, threatens to tip things into imbalance. I would estimate that the leadership are in a total quandary at the moment."

"What would you suggest, other than withholding it from the villages?"