Daphne Gilchrist paced at the top of the large meeting room which adjoined her ESC office on Level Seven. A huge oval-shaped walnut table sat on a circular cream-and-black rug. Twelve hand-carved chairs hugged the table's edge. A painting with a concentric pattern of rings in black and charcoal grey hung on one wall, representing the force fields that protected levels five through to seven.
Suzanne Brett, overseer for Level Five, and nine representatives for the ITF security branches ranging from London to Bangladesh sat around the table. They had power in their respective roles, but were subordinates in Daphne's presence.
'So, people, what are we going to do?' said Daphne, checking her grey trouser suit for lint. She touched her red hair, curled under at the nape of her neck that made her look younger than her eighty-eight years.
The reps stayed silent.
She locked eyes with Simon Shaw, the rep for the London ITF office, where Bill Taggart was stationed. He looked away from her penetrating stare. Daphne knew she wasn't an easy person to deal with but she despised shows of weakness.
Her father had been a strong, domineering character, who ruled her weak-willed mother with an iron fist. Daphne had learned how to use the same tactics in the boardroom. All her mother had taught her was that she would never become a doormat.
She sat down at the head of the table and tapped her nail on the table's lacquered surface. Her male personal assistant sat to her right.
'It appears from Bill Taggart's preliminary report that we face a serious problem with these Indigenes. They have the advantage and Deighton isn't happy. What I need are solutions. Raise your hand if you want to speak.'
She liked formality, structure. She had spent a large part of her working life in Osaka, Japan.
Simon Shaw, head of the London ITF office, raised his hand. He cleared his throat.
'Bill Taggart is the best investigator to come out of my office. His performance on other missions has been exemplary and I am confide—'
'I know exactly where he came from, Shaw,' said Daphne. 'I placed him there myself, if you recall. I don't need you to recite his credentials. If that's all you have to say—'
'No. What I'm trying to say is that we should wait until Taggart gets here for the debriefing. I'm suggesting we hear him out. I'm confident he'll have come up with another solution to track down the Indigenes.'
She locked her eyes on Shaw's thin face and grey eyes. He wasn't much older than Taggart. 'We can't lose all progress made so far on the faint hope that Mr Taggart will know what to do. It's our job to determine the best course of this investigation, not him. What happened this morning was no mistake. His team executed his plan as instructed and it failed. Plain and simple. Bill Taggart is not ready to lead the investigation.'
'I'm not saying he's perfect, but—'
'Someone else who is not part of the London office, please.'
Shaw sat back in his chair, eyes blazing.
Touchy-feely emotions had no place in Daphne's office. She had dealt with some of the toughest personalities during her twenty years as CEO of the Earth Security Centre. She knew how to play the game the way the men did.
The representative from the Bangladesh office raised his hand. Daphne nodded at him to proceed. 'Was there an issue with the military personnel Taggart had been assigned?' he said. 'I heard there was insubordination among the ranks.'
'Nothing more than usual with those flatheads,' said Daphne. 'I'm looking for real suggestions, people.'
The rep from the Tokyo office stood up and bowed to his host. 'Please, Ms Gilchrist-san. How much does Taggart know about our situation?'
Junsuke Sato was the only rep that Daphne respected. She admired the Japanese no-nonsense approach to work and traditional views of home life, even if she didn't gain the respect of being a woman in power there.
'Konnichiwa, Sato-san,' she responded with a brief, but respectful bow. 'Other than the basics, nothing. Shaw, care to elaborate?'
'He still thinks he's on a fact-finding mission. He knows little about the Indigenes or where they came from. As you instructed, I fed him the false background files.'
'Good. Taggart will be back on Earth in two weeks. He's scheduled on the next passenger ship leaving Exilon 5 tomorrow. We will speak to him then.'
Sato looked concerned. 'What about his wife?' he said. 'He is obsessed with finding her. What does he know about her fate?'
'He still thinks the Indigenes took her. I don't plan on correcting that. He's more useful fighting against them than with them.'
'Is he a risk?' said Sato.
Daphne shook her head. 'He is manageable. Shaw will see to that.'
'But what if he finds out about her?'
She laughed once. 'I really don't see how that's possible, Sato-san. He doesn't have access to that information and I'm not about to tell him, are you?'
Sato shook his head and sat down.
The Bangladesh rep spoke again. 'What exactly do the Indigenes know about us?'
'Very little, if Taggart's files are anything to go by. Although the revelation about what we are must have come as a shock. The boy had no idea what he was saying, and to whom.'
'Have the files been processed yet?' said the San Francisco rep.
'Brett?'
'Not yet,' said Suzanne. 'We're sending them down to our high-level storage facility on Level Five. They will be processed later on this afternoon.'
'Brief me straight away when that's done,' said Daphne.
'Forgive me for my worry, but we know not what information the Indigenes have on us,' said Sato. 'Do we know what they plan next?'
'No, we don't. But I can assure you of this much. We are putting in place proper measures to make sure no harm comes to us. The meeting with Ben Watson was innocent enough. I don't think they'll act on their new findings, at least not straight away. I'm still looking for suggestions from the table.'
None were put forward.
'That's disappointing. Let's reconvene when we've given this situation more thought. Next time, I want one idea from everybody.' Daphne stood.
'On a related matter,' said Suzanne, 'we're short of people in Level Five. With the extra work coming our way, we'll need an extra body to pick up the slack.'
Daphne snapped her fingers. 'Who do you have as replacement?'
'I have some options available in Document Control and Storage,' said Suzanne. 'But the specific person I recommend is Laura O'Halloran.'
'What can you tell me about her?'
'Three years on the job. Lives alone. Only child. Has a mother she doesn't visit. Father is dead. She's the only one with no social life outside work. She volunteers for extra shifts when they arise.'
'Sounds like a controllable candidate. Inform her of the promotion, effective immediately, and make her swear to all-out confidentiality. The last thing we need is for the human population to get wind of an alien race occupying their saviour planet. Deighton and the board members need the transfer to Exilon 5 to go ahead as planned. Thank you everyone.'
Suzanne nodded and headed for the door.
Daphne motioned for her to wait. The room cleared until it was just the two of them. 'Make sure her clearance is restricted,' said Daphne. 'I don't want her getting access to Level Eight information unless I give the order. Taggart's files should be clean enough. Need-to-know only. Got it?'
Suzanne nodded. 'Understood.'
'Will she be a problem?'
'Not if I tell Chuck to keep her in line.'
The worker in booth ten on Level Five: a creepy fellow.
'Good. As soon as she's settled and you have them ready, give her Taggart's files for processing.'
'Are you sure?' said Suzanne. 'She has no experience at this level. We have twenty-two other operators at your command, all with ample experience.'
'It's exactly for that reason that she's getting them. If anything should go wrong, we'll need someone to blame.'