Chapter 1: From the Agency

The knock on the door was unexpected. Caroline Bullworthy was enjoying a quiet afternoon. She had just got back from work an hour earlier. Her husband, Graham, was busy with his chores in the garden; her daughter supposedly diligent with her school work upstairs. It wasn't worth summoning Graham so, for once, Caroline answered the door herself.

Two women stood on the step. One was a quiet, mousey-looking, rather pale woman wearing gold rimmed, half-moon glasses and carrying an e-pad. The other looked sterner. Her straw blonde hair was scraped back from her face and pulled into a pony tail. She wore dark glasses, a dark jacket, dark trousers and low heeled ankle boots. Even without the lapel badge on the woman's jacket, Caroline would have known that she was a New Order party agent, put in place to make sure that some civil servant or other was doing their job.

"Mrs Bullworthy?" The mousey woman blinked down at the screen of her e-pad and then looked up again.

"Yes," Caroline responded, "How can I help?"

"Care and Confinement Agency," the mousey woman said, fumbling in her pocket for a wallet with her identity card. "Just one of our spot checks. Nothing important really." She shook her head from side to side, smiling. Caroline wondered if it would fall from her shoulders. Her party companion didn't look as though she thought it was 'nothing important really'. She didn't bother to introduce herself.

Caroline knew about the spot checks. It was an annoyance for her. She didn't see why the government should be able to come around disturbing people but on the other hand, Caroline approved of making sure that people did what they were supposed to. The checks had become more frequent recently. The government had said it was because of increased risk of dissident activity; the opposition had claimed it was a disgraceful infringement of civil liberties because the Home Affairs minister wasn't up to her job. In theory, Caroline knew, she could insist on seeing their inspection warrant but, in practice, that would only irritate. It probably wouldn't worry the mousey looking woman but the thin lips and the cold stare of the party agent suggested she might make life difficult if Caroline refused. "Come in," she said, showing the way to her living room.

The living was comfortably, if conventionally, furnished. A floral print fabric covered the couch and two armchairs. The three women sat down. Caroline on one of the armchairs, her guests on the couch.

The mousey woman seemed no less diffident. "Oh. Sorry. Should have said. Isobel Harris. I'm a junior inspector with the agency. Just starting. I'll try to make this as straight forward as possible." Her companion allowed herself a momentary glance ceiling-wards.

"Quite all right. It's no problem at all." Caroline was reasonably sure it was no problem. She thought she complied with all the regulations although it was difficult to be sure; they kept changing all the time. She sat back. The print of the dress she was wearing blended almost matched that of the chair. To Isobel it looked like her head, with its ruddy, chubby face, and her podgy hands and legs were emerging from the chair itself. "So how does this work? I mean do you want to look around or anything?"

"Ah, oh, err, yes. Just a moment." Isobel flipped screens back and forth on her e-pad. Finally, she seemed to work out what she was doing. "Right. Fine. I'd like to see all the members of the household please, first, and their ident cards."

"Of course. My husband, well ex-husband. You know. And my daughter. I'll just get them. Excuse me Ms Harris, and..." Isobel's companion didn't bother to fill the gap.

Caroline Bullworthy pulled herself out of the chair and headed towards the back of the house. "Graham"" she called from the kitchen door. "In here, please." She didn't wait for him to acknowledge her but went back to the foot of her staircase and called up. "Sue-Linn. Someone to see you."