Fools of us All - Chapter 5

“Anything on your board?” Dar leaned over to see my screen.

“Nah,” I said, closing what I had been looking at. “I thought we had some noise coming from the federal police, but they’re grasping at straws. They have nothing.” I leaned back in my chair, working my stiff neck. “I’m a little surprised…ooh.”

Dar had reached over and was massaging my neck. “You need to relax more,” he said. “You get so tense.”

I smiled. “This is important stuff. There’s no time to relax.”

With a laugh that seemed oddly forced, Dar said, “You should always take time for rest when you can. You won’t always have the time.”

Before I could think of anything to say, the sound of a throat being cleared came from behind us. Dar’s hand quickly dropped as we turned in our chairs.

“Comfy?” said Dun.

“Uh, yes?” I replied, glancing over at Dar who was smiling sheepishly as he turned back to his computer. His smile faded quickly, replaced by an almost guilty look.

“Are you busy?” Dun’s tone indicated that I was not busy.

“I think I’m done here for now,” I said, looking over at Dar one last time.

Dun nodded and then motioned for me to follow him. We walked down a small corridor, one that barely allowed his broad shoulders to pass, and entered his office, a cramped room with a desk and two chairs. He sat down heavily and waited for me to do the same. For a moment there was silence as he regarded me with a critical eye, as though he were sizing me up for something. The feeling was vaguely creepy and I was startled when he spoke. "Caz, why are you here?"

There were many questions I had been half-expecting, but none of them had been along these lines. "You wanted me to come with you," I replied, unsure of what he meant.

His laugh was short and without mirth. "Funny. I mean, why are you with the organisation?" It had been a month, and I had yet to hear anyone call it anything but the organisation."

Well," I started slowly, "as you know I was at that meeting last month, and I found myself agreeing with everything that was being said. The corporations taking over the governments was bad enough. But now they are trying to do away with the government altogether and merge into one large intercontinental country just seems wrong. I want to do my bit to help and let people know the truth." I was feeling pretty good about that goal too. I had been part of the crew that had hijacked the newswave broadcast, sending out what the officials called 'harmful propaganda', but which really was truth. It turns out that my skills in communication technologies weren't completely useless after all. Briefly I wondered why Dun seemed so uneasy.

I didn't have to wonder long. "Listen, Caz, there's something you have to know." He paused and picked up a sheet of paper in front of him, studying it carefully. I waited in silence, finding it odd when he muttered "I told them she wasn't ready yet," under his breath. Finally he raised his head. "We've been watching you for some time now, longer than a month. We think that you are going to be the key to a problem that has been brewing for some time now. I need you to trust me and to listen closely. I don't think you are going to like what I have to say, but I promise you, it is all true."

Forty minutes later, he left the office. I sat there for most of the night before I got up and ran out the door. This changed everything.