The last embers of sunset slid inexorably beyond the horizon, the illumination dead, gone. Rows of orange edged peaks had been replaced by nothingness, a black canvas of eerie silence. The noise of mountain boots sinking into the layer of freshly laid snow alerted him to expect unwanted company.
“Still locked in strong and silent mode then?”
“Not now, Rosa.”
“You’re going to have to talk to us eventually about what’s on the disc I gave you.”
“Don’t you know?”
She narrowed the gap to stand close, rubbing her gloved hands together to generate warmth.
“I haven’t seen it. Gratia asked me to pass it on.”
The mere mention of her name made him angry.
“Are you going to try again?”
“No.”
“I thought you made a promise.”
“Rosa!”
“Okay. But whatever was discussed doesn’t stop you from joining the rest of us in the hot tub.”
“I showered earlier.”
She exhaled with impatience and frustration.
“What?”
“Like it or not you’re team leader.”
“So?”
“So show some leadership man. The world doesn’t revolve around Matt Durham’s personal woes.”
With that she gave up and trudged back to the lodge. For the first time he felt the evening cold and shivered. Odd that a rise of just a few hundred feet up a mountain could propel a person from one season into another, autumn to winter, he considered. Weary steps brought him to the wood stair leading to the balcony where the others soaked and joked playfully in the tub. They were in pleasingly good spirits. Mounting the third of the four steps he shivered again and a bead of perspiration dripped from the hairline of his scalp. Wiping it from his brow he held the railing to maintain balance.
“Budge up all,” said Johnno. “The man’s finally decided to come in.”
Leaden legs shuffled him along as perspiration intensified to the point of saturating his face in sweat. It had been so long since this last happened.
“Matt, are you feeling okay?” he heard a voice say. “Matt, what is wrong?”
“I’m … going to turn in for the night.”
If there was a reply he didn’t hear it. Gripping the door handle at the third attempt he stepped inside, hand rested against the wall to keep him steady. A handful of paces would get him to his room. Arms pressed to the walls of the narrow corridor he took the first step, then the second and third as beads of cold sweat leaked from his pores. The fourth proved the proverbial step too far and his knees buckled.
“Gotcha,” said a voice from behind and two pairs of strong arms managed to keep him upright.
Vision fading he couldn’t determine their identities as they lowered him onto the mattress where a sudden array of hands worked to unzip and unbutton the layers of clothes.
“I’ve told them you might need some attention,” said a woman’s voice.
He flopped from side to side as they continued to undress his body, devoid of the energy to resist. Unclothed, they sat him up.
“Sip this,” said the voice.
He gulped from the glass, the warming effect of alcohol bringing a temporary relief from uncontrollable trembling and profuse sweating before his feverish mind succumbed once more to confusion.
“Maria?” he said. “It’s still happening, still …”
“Easy, take it easy. Lie back and rest. We’ve got you,” said the woman’s voice as his mind galloped into the dark tunnel called oblivion.
Bubbles came to mind. Not the ones to be seen rising to the surface from deep water but the soapy ones you blow through a ring after dunking it into the plastic cup holding the artificial mixture. One particular liquid mass of uneven shape grew larger and larger and then … He sat bolt upright, eyes trying to focus, brain trying to engage. A wisp of blonde hair trailed over his arm and he blew to try and remove the errant strand, growing increasingly agitated at his inability to succeed. Then he remembered earlier events and realised its obstinate refusal to move was due to the hair being glued to his arm by cold and sticky sweat.
Oblivious to his surrounds he somehow managed to adorn his briefs and stumbled from the bed into the dark corridor. Using memory as a guide he found the hot tub and immersed himself in water, eyes closed and head resting against the edge to luxuriate in the warmth of the hot bubbles for minutes on end. Approaching steps disturbed the mood.
“Matt, are you okay?”
“Rough,” he said.
“Try this.”
A glass tumbler pressed into his right hand and he gulped at the alcohol to ease the parched sensation in his mouth. One more and he handed it back.
“What time is it?”
“Three,” said Lily’s voice.
Two bodies entered, positioned to either side, almost as if they wanted to provide an impenetrable protective coating. In its way he found this reassuring.
“I thought you two were supposed to be resting.”
“We heard someone moving around,” said Lily. “When we saw it was you it seemed like a good idea to get up and keep an eye out.”
“I’m fine, really. No need for babysitters.”
“Not a problem,” said Johnno’s voice. “It’s the least we could do after you took the hit for Rosa.”
Two splashes told him they had been joined by others and he opened his eyes to identify the newcomers, Will and Toby.
“Where’s Rosa?”
“Crashed out in bed,” said Will. “You’re quite a handful to control when it hits you. We didn’t know about the attacks, Rosa explained about Mrs T.”
“I thought you were screwing her,” said Johnno.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? Don’t you ever think about anything else?”
“Life’s too short.”
If nothing else the man had a sense of humour. Matt rested his eyes and waited for the next question.
“What’s it like, when it happens?” asked Lily.
“Like fire in the veins. As though someone had jabbed a giant syringe into your body and was sucking the life out. I’d hoped I’d seen the back of them. Clearly wishful thinking on my part,” he said.
“How long will they go on for?”
“According to the guy who treated me it could take several months,” he said with a shake of the head.
“How did you get involved in this from the start anyway?” asked Lily.
“A friend sent me an unmarked USB. I had no idea what was on it but soon found myself being chased by Tillman and flew to Canada under a false passport. Unknown to me Rosa was following and introduced herself in Toronto. I lost her for a while until she picked up my trail in Victoria. That’s where I found out who she really was. By then she’d decided to help me uncover a conspiracy I later discovered to be called The Milieu Principle. We went on the run. Tillman caught us up in St Wolfgang, in Austria. Johannes Schafen was killed there and Rosa wounded. I thought she was dead and shot Tillman out of revenge.”
Lily revealed a surprising lack of hostility.
“Once I got Rosa to safety I removed the bullet. While she was recovering I then went on to meet a politician in Brussels who I was told might help us.”
“Catherine Vogel?” said Will.
“Yes. With her help I thought we’d succeeded in finishing the conspiracy only to find out later the people involved were still operating. I made one more attempt but the closest I got was to pass some files to an investigative reporter. He was swiftly charged and jailed with tax evasion so the story more or less died with him.”
“I remember. Horton Priest wasn’t it?” said Toby.
“The one and only,” said Matt.
“He was murdered three months into his sentence by a fellow inmate as I recall,” added Toby. “The prison authorities never identified the culprit.”
“Now you know why.”
“So who is behind the conspiracy?” a
sked Lily.
“Never found out,” said Matt, glancing at Will.
“Something doesn’t add up,” said a thoughtful Toby. “If Tillman worked for these people and was trying to kill you then why leave his log for you to find?”
“There’s a lot about this that doesn’t add up. The only thing I know for certain is that nothing is what it seems.”
“Rosa owes you big time,” said Johnno.
“No, more the other way round. She’s rescued me more times than I care to remember, taught me everything I know about how to survive and the way you people operate.”
“She couldn’t have taught you everything,” said Lily. “Or you would have known.”
“Known what?”
“Leave the dead behind,” said Toby. “Two casualties, only one antidote and you regained consciousness first. The onus was on you to stay alive and move on.”
“We’re curious,” said Lily. “Why did you do it, give Rosa your one and only dose of the antidote?”
“Yes, why did you do it?” asked a voice.
Attention turned to the blonde haired figure standing in her briefs at the open door.
“Speak of the devil. You coming in?” bellowed Johnno.
“After Matt’s told us why,” said Rosa.
A half shrug followed the shake of his head.
“It seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” he said. “I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly at the time.”
“The right thing?” she asked.
He was going to have to say something.
“I thought I’d led four of you to your deaths. I wasn’t about to let it happen to all five.”
He found it impossible to judge what they were thinking, save the belief they appeared to have further warmed to him for some reason.
“Come on, Rosa. Jump in,” said Johnno.
Matt shut his eyes at the point she reached behind to start undoing her bra, not daring to re-open them until he knew she had entered the tub.
“Rosa, what the hell do you think you’re doing stripping off like that?”
Her mischievous grin and fluttering eyes prompted a tour of their expressionless faces and it suddenly dawned he must be the odd one out within the group, a scenario leaving him distinctly unsettled.
“Well,” said Rosa, widening her mischievous grin. “Are you going to be part of this team or not?”
There was little point searching for support. All eyes were on him, daring him to make the necessary gesture to confirm allegiance.
“Crap,” he said.
Briefs duly removed he swung them round above his head and catapulted them along the balcony to a chorus of hurrahs. He was at last beginning to understand the camaraderie of this peculiar ensemble. All for one and one for all came nowhere near. Their bond was unique, powerful and all consuming. If Tillman had succeeded in nothing else he had surely achieved something special with this motley group, blended together to form a unit like no other. This had been Tillman’s legacy, the creation of a masterpiece in human construction. There was something about being with this entourage he found attractive, special, providing a sense of belonging he hadn’t experienced before. Other than Johnno’s humming of a vaguely familiar melody the group lapsed into a peaceful silence.
“Why this place?” asked Will to break the mood.
“The fifty yard uphill kill zone between us and the trees. I prepped this place before we made the first attempt, as a back-up venue.”
“Where’s the back door?” asked Johnno.
Matt pointed behind, to the towering incline of mountain rock immediately behind the lodge.
“It’s up there,” he said.
“Difficult climb under fire,” said Johnno.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Their security protocols will be on high alert, waiting for our next attempt,” said Toby. “The moment we uncloak the site tracers will be coming from every direction, and given the speed they found us with the last time it’s likely they’ll locate us in minutes.”
“Fortunately we’ve got the back door key. With any luck we’ll be able to sneak in unnoticed and exit before they realise what’s going on.”
“Sometimes opening a door is all that’s needed to light up the site like a Christmas tree.”
“Then we download what we can and get out.”
“They’re highly sophisticated. For all we know they’ve got units stationed all over the place ready to rock and roll at a minute’s notice and could be at our door within an hour or even sooner,” said Will.
“Lily can monitor the environment while we’re busy. The moment she sees anything we move.”
“What time do we start?” asked Lily.
“We start on the perimeter at dawn.”
“It’s nearly dawn now,” said Rosa.
“Time to dress,” said Johnno, his movement encouraging the others to begin rising.
Matt shut his eyes to avoid witnessing the pounds of naked athletic flesh emerging from the tub. Once the splashing had stopped he re-opened them to be met by a pair of inquisitive blue eyes.
“Why did you do it?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“Give me the antidote.”
He struggled to maintain contact, mindful of her uncanny knack of getting into his head.
“I’ve already said. I’m responsible for you all. You would have done the same.”
He watched her head bob along the surface, submerged body shuffling up to position herself next to him.
“That’s not how I was trained,” she said quietly. “So why did you do it, really?”
The blue eyes brightened at his unease.
“I didn’t want you to die.”
Her eyes continued to search his face for the indisputable proof of his honesty.
“Why didn’t you want me to die?”
“Because you would have haunted me,” he said. “Life is tough enough without having your ghost whispering into my conscience forever and a day.”
He couldn’t be sure about the meaning in the movement of the muscles around her eyes, though the slight squint might suggest a smile was close to breaking free.
“And that’s why,” she said. “You’re afraid of ghosts?”
“That’s why,” he said.
The smile in her eyes escaped and she kissed at his lips.
“It’s me that should thank you,” he said.
“What do you have to thank me for?”
“For looking after me, earlier tonight,” he said.
“Thank Lily. She drew the short straw.”
“Short straw?” he said.
“There is a way of getting all sweated up with men. That wasn’t the one I had in mind.”
“I assumed it was you.”
She tossed back her head and laughed before dipping her shoulders in turn to draw up the straps of her bra.
“I thought you’d undressed like the others?”
“You’ve been watching far too much internet porn,” she said with a grin
“Rosa!” he complained, as she rose from the tub and went inside the lodge.
He twisted his neck to watch her go and saw the eyes of the others looking out through the half open window.
“Very adult!” he shouted with a wide grin.
He poured the remainder of the pot into the mug and sipped at the rim while he looked out of the window. The gentle breeze nudged at the remaining leaf of the isolated plant which had somehow forced its head above the snow line, refusing to bow to the inevitable onset of autumn. Even here, life found a way to survive. Elbows rested on the breakfast bar he surveyed the four bodies huddled around the rectangular dining table close to the patio doors. Toby occupied the first chair, eyes drifting between two of the three screens lying astride the wooden surface, while Lily concentrated on the third. Behind the two seated figures Will and Johnno watched interestedly, offering the odd insight every now and again. He looked left and saw Rosa’s
frame draped along a leather sofa, one of two identical pieces of furniture facing each other, her fingers operating the remote control to try and improve the picture on the wall mounted television screen. He beckoned her over and they joined the others, waiting patiently for the laptop screens to properly form. Lily was first to speak.
“Perimeter’s set.”
Matt tapped Toby’s shoulder for an update.
“You can see why potential hackers wouldn’t be interested in the site. It’s just a scenic picture.”
The screen revealed a photographic image of the sun rising over a country field. Matt thought back to Tillman’s log and the curious cryptic message about three following a master in search of enlightenment.
“Try the sun,” said Matt.
Toby double clicked the cursor and a blank space appeared in the centre of the sun. The blank space resembled an empty box with three lines.
“Neat,” said Toby.
Matt retrieved the paper in his pocket and examined the three lines of scribble.
G R A T I A F U CH S = 7, 18, 1, 20, 9, 1, 6, 21, 3, 8, 19.
J E N S S C H A F E N =10, 5, 14, 19, 19, 3, 8, 1, 6, 5, 14.
J O H N T I L L M A N = 10, 15, 8, 14, 20, 9, 12, 12, 13, 1, 14.
Instinct suggested what to do next.
“In that order,” he said.
The three sets of numbers neatly filled the spaces and he felt his arm muscles tense. The screen sprang into urgent life and endless streams of code galloped past them as they were dragged into a black hole.
“Wow,” said Toby.
“What does it mean?” asked Lily.
“Governments use technology of this complexity. Take a look at this …”
“We get the picture, Toby,” said Rosa. “Bytes, rams and mega things; it means nothing to us.”
“You’re such a philistine, Rosa Cain. There’s not an ounce of artistic appreciation anywhere in …”
The journey shuddered to an abrupt and sudden halt. Toby, with tongue poking through his lips, appeared to have stopped breathing as they waited to see what would happen. A flash preceded another mad dash through a maze of galloping code and then they stopped for a second time.
“We’re in,” he excitedly announced.
“Great, but where are we exactly?” asked Rosa.
Matt could understand her initial confusion. The image on the screen resembled a long dark tunnel, a beacon of daylight some considerable distance ahead.
“You were right,” said Toby. “This is a back door.”
“So what do we do next?” asked Lily.
“Explore,” said Matt.
Swift operation of the mouse brought them closer to the light, nearer to the unknown. Toby’s finger movement halted at the tunnel end and they strained their eyes to look into the illuminated area and saw something akin to a foyer, replete with half moon shaped reception desk some distance away under a high domed ceiling.
“What the hell is this, playstation?” said Johnno.
“Virtual,” said Toby. “I remember chatting online with a pal in the USA about developing something similar. It looks like we got beaten to it.”
“What are those two humanoid shapes?” asked Lily.
“Sentinels, guards to the uninitiated,” said Toby. “Wow, is this cool or what?”
“Next thing we’ll be picking up energy sacks and ammo belts to fend off aliens,” said Rosa.
“Settle, people,” said Matt. “We’ve got work to do.”
“We don’t even know which way to go.”
“Forward,” said Matt.
Emerging from the tunnel their presence took humanoid form, like the guarding sentinels, only theirs was in the shape of a sharply dressed man in suit and tie.
“I’ve always wanted my own Avatar,” said Toby.
He edged them deeper into the massive chamber, stopping at the reception desk. A section of desk rose to grant access and they moved forward again. Passing through the opening they descended the stairs into a dimly lit space. Two further sentinels were stationed at either side.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Walk a little.”
This brought them before the image of a circular shaped vault door complete with capstan wheel fitting. Immediately, an empty box appeared on the screen.
“Another password needed,” said Toby. “It can’t be the same as the ones we’ve already used.”
“We’re stuck,” said Rosa. “We only had three and they’ve all been used.”
Matt was stung into silence, unable to comprehend why they had reached a virtual brick wall. To have come so far and be held up now had to be plain unfair, unreasonable. He stood, motionless, unable to think.
“Any ideas?” said Johnno.
He had none.
“Now’s the time to speak,” said Toby. “The sentinels are on the move, heading towards us.”
“How many digits?” he asked.
“The same number as before, eleven.”
How could there be another password of eleven digits to get access? Matt didn’t know of anyone else with that number of letters to their name.
“Boss, they’re getting closer.”
“Shut up, I’m thinking.”
“Well think quickly,” said Toby.
“He doesn’t know. Get us out Toby,” said Rosa.
“No,” said Will. “This might be our only shot. There’s no turning back now.”
“But he doesn’t know,” snapped Rosa.
“Matt, think. There must be another name lurking in the back of your mind,” encouraged an anxious Will.
“I’m thinking.”
“There isn’t time,” said Rosa.
“Come on, Matt,” said Lily. “You must know of someone else involved in this thing.”
“He doesn’t know,” insisted Rosa.
“I’ll get us back to the tunnel,” said Toby.
“No,” said Matt sharply. “Wait.”
He snatched at the writing pad and scribbled furiously in panic, J A M E S K I M B E R. He converted the text into numbers, 10, 1, 13, 5, 19, 11, 9, 13, 2, 5, 18, and showed them to Toby.
“Try that.”
“Who the hell is he?” asked Lily.
“Never mind, go,” he said.
Toby’s fingers hammered against the keyboard and they held their collective breath. The capstan wheel spun madly round and the vault door opened.
“Jesus, talk about cutting it fine,” said Toby.
“Where are the sentinels?”
The screen spun one hundred and eighty degrees to reveal the two humanoid figures returning to position. Matt sighed and felt a congratulatory pat on his shoulder from a hugely relieved Will.
“Take us inside,” said Matt.
They were confronted by pitch black, the screen so dark it was impossible to see what was in front of their eyes.
“Where the hell are we?” asked Johnno.”
“You’re the techno genius, Toby. What are we supposed to do now?” asked Matt.
“Lights would help,” said Will.
Toby tapped lightly at the screen and the room illuminated, as though brightened by an invisible flick of a switch.
“I should have known,” said Toby.
On three of the side walls of the limited room a vast array of silver shapes were now visible, each coded on the front with mixed numerical titles.
“This thing is huge. Where do we even begin to look from here?” asked Johnno.
Matt was busy trying to make sense of the control panel on the right of the screen. There were five dots, listed like bullet points on a presentation screen. Four were coloured red, the last a bright green with a short message alongside; Welcome James Kimber.
“The five dots,” said Toby, noting Matt’s interest. “They signify the designated users of the vault. Green means we’re the only one logged in.”
“I wonder who the others are,” said Will.
“Won’t know until they log in,” replied
Toby. “When they do they’ll know we’re in too.”
“What are these for?” asked Matt, pointing to a horizontal line of coloured lights placed underneath.
“Worker ants I would think,” said Toby. “They’re the little people who keep it operational, everything from security to system maintenance. None of those would be allowed in here though. This is the top table.”
Matt’s attention turned to the security boxes.
“See if you can figure out how to download information,” said Matt. “Lily, use your phone to take a photo of the first wall of security boxes. Once you’ve got the picture work with Will to decipher the numbers on the front into titles. Rosa and Johnno can do the same with the second.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Rosa.
“Work on the last one while Toby explores the mechanics of this virtual world.”
While the others set about their allotted tasks Matt turned his attention to the third wall, scanning the numbered boxes and quickly identified something of interest. 16, 5, 18, 19, 15, 14, 14, 5, 12 = personnel. His finger touched the screen and the box opened, revealing a pile of compressed files.
“How am I supposed to be able to read these papers?”
Toby touched the screen and drew a finger sideways to bring the first file into open view.
“Touch the screen and the page will automatically turn,” said Toby. “Move your hand fast if you want to skip through.”
“Isn’t there an easier way of working through?”
Toby pointed to the search box and smiled patiently.
Matt typed in the word Vogel. Several seconds passed as the machine conducted its enquiry, signifying completion with the arrival of a compressed folder.
First into view was a short statement, no more than a few lines of text, authorising Vogel’s involvement in the project. James Kimber was the signatory. Vogel’s first daughter, Eva-Maria, had been conceived through her liaison with Kimber and the tie between them looked closer than he’d imagined. Maybe she had returned to the well to get Ilsa. According to this her date of activation was two years ago, signalling she hadn’t been involved at the outset. There was no information on her role within the vast organisation, suggesting contact was kept to an absolute minimum.
“Matt,” interrupted Toby. “They’ve built a failsafe into the system. There must be three simultaneous authorisations from the five designated users before a download can be initiated. I’m guessing it’s a feature aimed at eliminating the potential for data corruption and/or theft. If there is a procedural breech the system locks down.”
Not the news Matt wanted to hear. The plan had been to locate evidence of the conspiracy and go public, impossible without an ability to download. Having the back door key was not the straightforward solution he’d hoped for, every move revealing yet another obstacle.
“You have to find a way.”
Toby nodded and returned to his research. Matt revisited the search button. He typed in the name Fuchs and tried to be patient. Two documents appeared on screen. The first related to Gratia’s father, Gerhardt, and advised that surveillance had halted.
The second was a note, countersigned by Catherine herself, authorising the elderly couple’s stay on Vancouver Island. There was nothing on Gratia. He typed in his name and drew a blank, which he found somewhat curious given the job he’d done for Catherine.
Then he moved on to the team; Will, Johnno, Toby and Lily. The records proved Will had been deactivated and there was nothing on the others. If one of them was a traitor then it wasn’t showing up here.
“Matt, look at this box here,” said Johnno. “It’s marked Oversight.”
The first part covered background and referred to events from some forty years ago.
“Kissinger? I’ve heard that name,” said Toby.
“A political beast from the Nixon and Ford administrations during the late sixties and early seventies, revered by all and sundry within the US political classes,” said Matt.
He manipulated the touch system to bring more of the relevant file into view and they crowded round.
“What does NSSM stand for?” asked Lily.
“National Security Study Memorandum,” he replied. “This one is numbered 200 and it’s about the possible effects on US foreign interests of rapid population growth in the developing world. Apparently they were concerned some of these nations would gain significant political leverage as their populations grew, such as Brazil in continental America and the likes of Nigeria in Africa. Higher birth rates meant larger numbers of young people with growing needs who would be more likely to challenge existing global power structures of the day than older generations. They forecast this kind of scenario would make it harder to get to essential mineral supplies in the future as the developing world increased their demands on the West in order to meet their own growing needs in return for access. The Americans concluded that future commercial exploration and exploitation of mineral supplies would only be viable if population growth in the third world was suppressed, thereby reducing economic demand from these countries.”
“Suppress, how?” asked Lily.
“In this report they cite heavy investment in education and training on birth control as a possible means.”
“And if that didn’t work?”
“Biological warfare,” he answered.
The subsequent hush demonstrated their grasp of the full implications.
“Genocide,” said Lily.
“It’s an effective way to stop people breeding. The other is through an enforced sterilisation programme.”
“I thought you said The Milieu Principle is about reducing overall numbers of humans on the planet?” asked Lily.
“It was,” said Matt. “But this looks like a far more targeted approach, with the end game being finance.”
“Money,” said Rosa.
“Yes. Take one forty-year-old US government policy, dust it down and privatise it, and hey presto you’ve got a blueprint for making more money.”
“It explains Kimber’s involvement,” said Lily. “The family fortune was built on high value commodity trading according to this article on the web.”
“That’s where The Milieu Derivative fits in,” said Johnno. “It’s the perfect weapon to suppress and clear out indigenous populations from a geographical area to get unfettered access to deposits.”
“Some might call it ethnic cleansing,” said Toby.
“Which is the reason why no advanced society, either east or west, would associate politically with this kind of activity,” said Matt. “Could you imagine the international condemnation and outrage if they got caught? We’re dealing with a private enterprise and a very dangerous one at that.”
“And yet,” said Lily, eyes fixed to her screen. “It says here that despite the report’s declassification in 1981 no successive US administration has formally revoked this policy since its adoption in the mid-seventies.”
“Which means it’s still current,” said Toby.
“But forgotten,” said Will. “If this were a US Government-backed approach then this site would be buried deep within the confines of their electronic security network, never to see the public light of day.”
“I didn’t know that,” said Lily. “All NSSM reports have to be endorsed by the National Security Council before they can be accepted as official government policy, and the NSC just happens to be headed by the US President of the day and his designated Security Adviser.”
“The original decision was made almost forty years ago, well before Kimber and his motley crew decided on this path. Nevertheless it suggests they might have a contact. Someone on the inside, within the State Department, feeding them with information,” said Matt. “It’s the only way a privately funded venture could get this organised without being detected.”
“Why do you think it’s a private venture?” asked Johnno.
“Because it’s about money,” said Matt. “The means, or in this case the lac
k of, to secure access to deposits which don’t belong to you. If you don’t have the cash to buy your way in it leaves the path open for people from richer nations.”
“Such as China and Russia,” said Toby.
“Yes, they’re both buying up everything in sight. If you’re a businessman without the means to compete and get a strong enough foothold fairly then the next logical step is to find an unfair way of getting your foot in the door.”
“But this involves mass murder,” said Lily.
“For personal profit,” agreed Will. “So we have to find the evidence in here to put a stop to this.”
“We’re don’t have the time,” said Toby. “James Kimber is logging in to the system.”
Chapter Thirty One
Home Truths