The Janus Discord (ONC2024)

Chapter 3

The rough cast stone house, with the shake roof, stood on a heavily treed lot at an angle to the street. A curved drive led up to the portico in front of the entrance, under which the LFA Nürburgring Edition Lexus serenely rested. Inside the house, the extravagance continued to a point of ostentatiousness.

Rebecca Davenport reclined in her ergonomic chair, the antique French phone resting against her ear.

"There will be a meeting of the Committee here, Lyle. Too many mistakes have been made recently to permit continuation of Icecap. I'm not debating anything, Lyle, you will do as I say. This evening at eight sharp." The phone was replaced in the cradle and Rebecca leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

******

The buzzing gave the man a start, and he took out the phone from his jacket, answering quietly while looking furtively about the restaurant.

"Polar 2 was another failure, and now he has met with Tate. This is your mess to clean up. You have twelve hours."

The phone went dead and he slipped it back in his jacket. Perspiration dappled his forehead, and he hastily fumbled a tablet into his mouth, downing it with a slug of water.

"Care to order now, Sir?" The smiling waiter arrived and stood attentively.

"No- no, I have to leave." He stood and left the restaurant, unsteadily.

******

Matt paced about his apartment, living room to hall, to kitchen and back, his cat's cradle of thoughts growing more complex. Arthur had crashed on his sofa for the night and now, when they should both be at work, they were still arguing about what to do.

Matt had refused to call operations for fear of being abandoned, but Arthur's argument about their safety continued to make that the only option. In the end, Matt agreed, hoping it would prompt another call from Devon. He dialled his new phone.

"Glacier."

"Huh? Who?" Matt balked.

"Glacier."

"Polar 2?" He ventured.

"Church street platform. Fifteen minutes."

Arthur looked on hopefully as Matt pulled the chip from the phone and broke it before washing it down the kitchen sink drain.

"Well?"

"Something's changed for sure."

"What? Who was that?"

"A contact. Fifteen minutes on the Church Street subway platform."

"What if it's a trap?"

"Listen, Tate. You're the one that wanted me to call my people. Well, that was one of my people." Matt swallowed, hoping to God it was.

"They won't expect me. I could hang back and cover you."

"You're armed?"

". . . No . . ."

"But you'll cover me. What with a train schedule? Let's go. You wanted this so we're doing it."

A train had just left and the platform only had a few people standing randomly about. Matt walked to an empty space and scanned the area. Arthur stood several feet away doing the same. The platform began to fill as the next train was heard, and when it screeched into the station, Matt felt the tug on his arm.

"Why is Tate here?" Matt was briskly ushered to a spot behind a large pillar.

"You know him?" He was slightly relieved to see it was Devon.

"What do you think. Answer me.

"He wanted a meet. He says he's ready to flip."

Devon's look was incredulous. "Flip? What- you think you're Harry Palmer or something? Jesus, Constable, where did you train?" He turned and gave a sharp wave to Arthur.

"What happened to Answering Service? How come I got you? Glacier?" He watched Arthur stand at ease. Without answering, Devon gave Arthur a professional pat down, checked his watch and belt buckle, then took a small gadget from his pocket and held it between them.

"Are you recording us?"

Another sceptical look. "It's a jammer, okay. Can we talk now?"

Matt gave him his facts and thoughts, and Arthur followed. Devon listened without interruption, then said they needed to go somewhere for a sit down. The subway carried them to the Union Station and from there they went outside and found a small bench in a public park.

Devon looked at both men, chewing his lip. "Okay. Icecap was breached, you know that. What you don't know, is that it was part of a much more complex programme called Zero." He raised a hand as Matt opened his mouth. "Zero is comprised of a number of politicians, agencies, and criminals, all interested in the disposition of arms for money."

"Shouldn't you have that jammer thing out?" Matt asked, looking around.

"It's really just a signal sensor for close range." He glanced at Arthur. "No good out here."

Arthur shook his head dismissing Matt's concern. "I was pretty certain the people that recruited me weren't the good guys."

"Yeah, and neither were the guys that you work for, Constable." Devon said, his jaw tightening.

"I don't understand - who are you working for?"

A couple strolled by and table fell silent. Devon pressed his fingertips together, watching them go.

"I work for a group that wants to bring Zero down."

"Another government agency?"

He shook his head. "A ghost agency - and that's all I'm saying about them. My job was to infiltrate Icecap and find a route to Zero. With the breach, that's all in jeopardy now."

"You mean you could be exposed as well? Why did you tell me?" Matt pressed."

"Because I wasn't sure of your friend here. Turns out I was partially right."

"Oh, now wait a minute." Arthur's eyes opened wide. "I did what I had to do. I owed a ton of money and they--"

"Yeah, I know. They threatened you, knowing you couldn't pay."

"Damn right they did! That's why I finally went to Constable."

Devon brushed off his protest. "Maybe you were told to do that too." The three men traded uncertain looks.

"So what now?" Matt bit his top lip, considering Devon's statement.

A chime sounded and Devon got up, excusing himself. He wandered away from the table and answered his phone.

"What do you think?" Arthur asked, watching Devon.

"Christ, nothing is real."

"I hope that doesn't include me."

"What do you think? I'm not even sure about him right now."

"So what do we do?"

"About what?"

"About covering our asses, man. We are in the cold at the moment."

Devon's brows were knitted when he returned, leaning his knuckles on the table. "Beatty died."

"What!" Arthur banged the wooden slats. "He wasn't hurt that bad."

Devon stared.

"Oh, shit. You mean . . . oh, hell."

"I want to know just what the hell is going on before I take another step." Matt argued.

"We've been here too long. We need to find another place to make some decisions." Devon headed back toward the Union Station. Arthur followed.

"Hey!" Matt scrambled to catch up.

A van pulled slowly away from the curb across the street, as the man in the back replayed the recording, holding thumbs up to the driver. "Accessing street cameras. When they surface, we should catch sight of them. I'll update Zero right away."

3211 WP word count to this point