Chapter 5

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Bill's communication device shuddered on the coffee table in his ITF apartment. What did Gilchrist want now?

In no mood to talk to her, he shoved the ear piece into his canal and activated the device. A thin microphone unfolded to the start of his mouth.

'Yeah?'

'Mr Taggart?'

Bill almost dropped his mug of coffee when he heard the voice. 'Yeah?'

'Charles Deighton. Lovely to talk to you, old boy. It's been a while'

Not long enough.

'What, er, can I do for you, Mr Deighton?'

'I just spoke to Ms Gilchrist about this mission and I wanted to add my support to you and your team.'

First time for everything, he supposed.

'Thank you.' Bill had only spoken to the CEO of the World Government twice before, and once was to challenge his orders to send Isla to Exilon 5.

'I must admit I'm a little envious of you, stuck on a sunny planet filled with fresh air and hope. To tell you the truth, I'm sick of wearing my damn gel mask every time I leave a controlled environmental zone.'

'It's... different.'

'Bill... I hope I can call you Bill.' Deighton didn't wait for an answer. 'I must stress the importance of the events about to unfold tomorrow.'

'I'm well aware, sir.'

'But you've had trouble since your wife—Isla wasn't it—disappeared? There's still time for you to step down from the task.'

Bill gritted his teeth at the mention of her name. 'No thank you, sir. I'll be fine.'

Deighton cleared his aged throat. 'That's what I told Ms Gilchrist. She was worried about you, but I said, "Daphne, Bill is one of our best investigators. If anyone can do this, it's him." Are you clear on what's not to happen tomorrow?'

'At the briefing. Just observe. Don't apprehend.'

'Good. This is an important moment for us. It's the first time one of the Indigenes has been brave enough to surface during daytime. We don't want to scare him or her off. Just let it happen.'

Everything Deighon mentioned had already been covered in Bill's briefing with Gilchrist over two months ago, when they first spotted increased activity within city limits. He couldn't see the reason for this call.

'Bill, you've always been a loyal servant, and you proved that when you helped us take down Larry Hunt.'

'Thank you sir.'

'Your wife would have been proud to see how far you've come.'

Okay, he was done talking.

'Thank you sir. I really should get back—'

'Of course!' Deighton chuckled. 'Apologies, I'm keeping you from your work. Back to it, soldier.'

Deighton clicked off and the microphone folded back into the top of the earpiece. Bill yanked it out and tossed on the table.

'Fuck!' He paced the room to try and work off his anger. The last thing he needed was a pep talk from the man who'd put Isla on the very mission she'd disappeared from.

His breaths came short and fast. He punched the wall beside the Light Box causing its 3D image to ripple. Then he remembered the flash of light from earlier and the people probably watching him.

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