No Direction Home (5 page)

*****

‘You're looking a little confused, sir,' Sondgren said a little hesitantly. She and Vinter were sitting facing each other on opposite sides of a comp unit; both were reading data off screens in front of them.

‘I am, a bit, to be honest. I'm trying to draw up a priority list of UNSEC personnel to be revived and I've just found out that I don't actually know any of those in the chambers. Not one of them.'

‘Is that surprising? I don't know any of them either, but we're talking about only thirty five UNSEC personnel making the cut out of over twelve thousand, so the odds are that we'll all be strangers.'

‘OK, but, apart from me, not one from Canberra Office, supposedly an elite posting? The best of the best?'

‘Maybe they wanted to spread the selection over as wide a geographical area as possible – more experience that way.'

‘True,' Vinter conceded reluctantly. He saw her glancing at her watch surreptitiously, then abruptly remembered: ‘Shit – I forgot. It's your birthday, isn't it? You wanted to get away early, right? And you're almost an hour over time.'

‘If that's OK.'

‘Course it is. Get moving.'

‘Thanks, sir.' She stood up and headed for the door, then paused, looking back at him. ‘You're very welcome to come along, sir. We're just meeting for a few drinks in Harry's Bar.'

Vinter grinned – the main social area had acquired that name somewhere along the way – but then shook his head. ‘No, you go on. You'll all be better off without me – it's never a good idea to have the boss along when you want to let your hair down.'

‘You sure?'

‘Yeah, I'm fine. It's not my sort of thing anyway, to be honest – getting too old.'
Oh yeah? Drinking competitions, trying to drain steins of beer in one go while lying flat on your back – that was you, wasn't it? And not that long ago, either, not in subjective time, anyway…

‘OK, but if you change your mind, you know where to find us.'

‘Go on, enjoy yourself.'

‘Thanks, sir.' She flashed him a dazzling smile, then was gone, leaving him staring at the doorway. Not for the first time, he thought how attractive she was, but there was no way that he would have an
affaire
with a colleague – it was totally unprofessional. He had seen far too many cases – and careers – ruined because officers couldn't or wouldn't keep their hands off each other and he was not going to make the same mistake. Somewhere in the back of his mind, however, was the suspicion that he would get precisely nowhere if he
did
try anything on with Kari Sondgren, because she was just as professional as he was – she wouldn't have reached her present rank at a prime posting if she wasn't.
Was that the real reason for his principled stand – the feeling that she'd tell him where to get off anyway?

It hadn't stopped him with Livvy, after all. She'd been a colleague at UNHQ in Canberra, albeit only a liaison officer at Economic Aid and Development; the point was that she hadn't been a full-fledged UNSEC officer and it hadn't caused any conflicts of interest or problems for anyone else. Both single, unattached and with no intention on either side of making it any more serious than it needed to be… they'd both had a good time and when it ended, it did so amicably, with no ill feelings. It was just the sort of relationship he'd needed after that bitch Naomi at University – sensational in bed, but not just with him, as he'd found out eventually – a complete slag…

Here, hold on… Slag? A bit strong, isn't it? Just because she dumped you for someone else…

Yeah, after she'd been around most of my mates as well – the things I heard about her afterwards…

Oh, right, she was sensational in bed and you thought she hadn't ever been with anyone else, is that it? Why did you let it get to you? Admit it, the main reason you shacked up with Livvy was because it was never going to get serious and you were scared of getting involved… You damn near let Naomi put you off women for good.

OK, I take your point. And yes, I certainly didn't have any complaints about her at the time…

Vinter was vaguely aware that he had leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head, allowing the erotic images running through his head full play.
That's another problem with having a rejuvenated body… you start thinking about sex a lot more often… There was Cheryl, the first – although it sure as well wasn't for her… That girl at the party – Lauren, wasn't it? – just a month later… you were on a roll there, weren't you? And Jessica, with legs that seemed to go on forever. Then there was the married one, the boss's wife at that summer job – what was her name?

Anji.

No, it wasn't Anji…

Abruptly, he sat up, frowning.
Who the hell is – was – Anji? I keep thinking of that name and I've never met an Anji, ever, let alone slept with one… but was she the woman in my dream, the one with long blonde hair in the same bed as me?

At that moment, a vivid image of a laughing face seemed to explode into his mind – just the face with long blonde hair cascading down each side, gone almost before he realised it was there…
Shit, she was bloody gorgeous, stunning – I'd never have forgotten that face, would I?

But, apparently, he had… It was as if he could remember every detail of that face, the laughter lines on each side of her blue eyes, the long, smooth neck and flawless complexion… but nothing else. No memory of ever having met her, or who she was – was she Anji? Or a figment of his imagination?

Another image, of a film star from way back when against a shadowy background –
Memories… you're talking about memories –
then that was gone as well.

Vinter leaned forward, the frown deepening. Dr Al-Nashrawi had mentioned people experiencing disorientation and lapses in memory when they came out of the chambers.
Does something happen in cryosleep that affects our memories?
He knew that everyone emerging from the chambers was given subliminal hypnosis sessions during the wake-up period, supposedly to update them on the current situation aboard ship –
But what if they're editing our memories? Only giving us back the ones they think we'll need? Maybe they're holding back the more distressing ones that will only distract or upset us – if they're about people we'll never see again, for example, the ones left behind on Earth…
It could be a way to keep people sane, by not tormenting them with memories of people and places they would never see again and things that were gone forever.

For their own good…

Vinter wasn't sure he liked that.

It's all right, we've told you what to dream…
Another snatch of music, old rock, but with a synthesiser dominating – and where did
that
come from, for crying out loud? Snatches of film or music that didn't mean anything to him, but seemed to tie in with what he was thinking, some sort of associative recall – except that he had no idea where they were coming from.

Had they done it?
Had
they altered his memories?

Not that he would ever really know, he realised bitterly – and even if they had, what the hell could he do about it anyway?

‘Hallo, Inspector,' said Ferreira, coming around the desk to greet him; his handshake was firm, businesslike. ‘Good of you to be so prompt.'

Didn't know I had any choice in the matter…
Vinter sat down in the chair in front of the desk and watched Ferreira as he resumed his own seat. The other man was in full Colonel's uniform, but, even without it, there was no mistaking the military bearing. This was a professional soldier to his fingertips, one who had risen rapidly in the UN Peacekeeping Force following his transfer from the Brazilian Army fifteen years earlier. He also showed no sign of any after-effects of being rushed through the revival process; his eyes were clear, alert – and shrewd.

‘I've been reading through your reports on the investigation into the suspected agents,' Ferreira began without preamble. ‘To be blunt, there doesn't seem to be any indication of much progress.'

Vinter looked thoughtfully at the other man. Strictly speaking, the investigation was none of Ferreira's business; he was Military, not Security, when all was said and done. But, since his revival, it had become obvious that Ferreira, not Lahtinen, was now the
de facto
Commanding Officer of the
Terra Nova
, even if he had not yet invoked the Emergency Powers that would make it official. ‘No, there isn't,' he admitted. ‘The problem is that we're looking for a passive agent – or agents – who doesn't actually have to do anything but receive signals. There have been no acknowledgements of them, or any indication of any covert action so far – it's a situation where if he, she or they do nothing but simply lie low, it will be virtually impossible to find them. Short of hooking everyone currently awake up to lie detectors and interrogating them, of course.'

‘It may come to that, Inspector,' Ferreira said gravely; Vinter stared at him in near disbelief. Admittedly, he had thrown out the suggestion to see how the other man would react – Ferreira had revealed far more than he probably intended in that respect – but, in practice, it would be a violation of standard UN policy. But Ferreira had not discounted it as an option…

‘However, that would only be a last resort, of course,' Ferreira continued smoothly, as if belatedly realising how much he had given away. ‘I take it you're proceeding on the assumption that they are probably EarthCorp agents and checking all backgrounds with that in mind?'

‘We're not making any assumptions at all, Colonel – after all, both sides were building starships after we left. I'm inclined to agree with you that we are more likely to be dealing with EarthCorp than New Dawn, but we're keeping all options in mind.'
Now why did I say that? Why do I instinctively feel that it's more like the sort of thing EarthCorp would do?

‘Well, I suppose you know your own area best, but…' Ferreira shrugged, leaving Vinter in no doubt that he felt the UNSEC team was wasting its time tracking down any links with New Dawn. ‘However, I would be interested in any thoughts you might have about this spacecraft behind us – we've given it the codename “Stalker” by the way. Hardly original, but appropriate, one feels. Apparently, it will overtake us in twelve weeks or so if it continues at its present speed, but I want to make sure that there is no possibility of any useful information being transmitted to Stalker in the meantime.'

‘We're keeping all possible communications channels under twenty four seven monitoring, but…'

‘But what?'

‘It actually would be very useful to us if our agent
did
try to contact Stalker.'

‘Meaning you could then trace the signal?' Ferreira nodded approvingly.

‘The thing is that whoever it is – or they are – I don't think they'll show their hand unless it's worth the risk. It would need to be something pretty significant that they would feel they have to pass on straight away, regardless of the risk of discovery.'

‘Well, we're reviving the Peacekeepers – won't that be enough?'

Vinter shook his head. ‘If Stalker
is
hostile, they'd probably predict that we'd do that anyway as soon as we detected them.'

‘Except that their presence on board is secret.'

‘It's supposed to be, yes, but, according to our calculations, Stalker left Earth about seven years after we did. Do you honestly think what was left of the UN managed to keep its secrets? I think they'll know pretty much everything there is to know about who we've got on board – and their signals to their agents on board will probably tell them quite specifically not to bother with the Peacekeeping Force. They won't want them putting themselves at risk unnecessarily.'

Ferreira gave him a considering look. ‘You seem very certain of all this.'

Vinter shrugged. ‘It's what I'd do in their situation. They've gone to a lot of trouble to plant their source on board – they're not going to risk losing it.'

Ferreira nodded. ‘Makes sense – they said you were good, and I'm beginning to see why. So we need something they won't have predicted?'

‘They'? Who are these people that seem to be talking to everyone about me?
‘We need a downright lie – but a plausible one. However, we need to think how it's disseminated – if we claim to have nuclear weapons on board, for example, we can't just announce it on the TV channel.'

‘Hardly.'

‘We need a series of revelations, leaked through relevant departments one after the other, so that it's reasonable that it's being disseminated that way.' Now it was Vinter's turn to shrug. ‘A problem with a batch of food tablets goes through Hydroponics, something wrong with the manoeuvring jets goes through Engineering, a fault in the chambers is dealt with by Cryonics and so on. What we do is to tell the personnel that, naturally, they are to say nothing to anybody – we don't want people worrying unduly and so on, then wait for the source to send a signal. If nothing happens with the first rumour, we move on to the next one. Even if we don't actually catch the source at that point, we'll have narrowed it down to a specific department.'

‘Except that we'll have a number of key personnel worrying about non-existent problems.'

‘I had the impression that uncovering this source had absolute priority.'

Ferreira nodded slightly, conceding the point. ‘Yes, you're right, Inspector.'

‘In any case, we can always play it down later on – somebody over-reacted to a computer glitch, whatever. The alternative is to sit around twiddling our thumbs, waiting for the source to make a signal, because, believe me, Colonel, trawling through the records isn't going to get us anywhere. Whoever this is, EarthCorp or New Dawn, has gone to a whole lot of trouble to get this source on board – there's not going to be anything in their file to give them away.' He paused, then said, shrugging slightly, ‘Of course, there might not be a source at all.'

‘Explain.'

‘Just because they're sending what appears to be highly encrypted signals doesn't mean that there's anyone here to receive them. The fact that we can't decode the signals might be because they are utter gibberish and therefore indecipherable. The whole point might be to have us running around in ever-decreasing circles hunting for non-existent spies and trying to decipher messages that don't mean anything anyway. And no, it isn't a case of going to a lot of effort – all they have to do is send us nonsense messages and we have little alternative but to react in exactly the way they want.'

Ferreira looked as if he had just swallowed something inedible. ‘Is this the sort of thing you do every day, Inspector?' he asked with a hint of disbelief. ‘Play mind games?'

‘Pretty much, yes. It's what the intelligence world is all about, mostly.' He shrugged. ‘The point is that I can't afford to take that last possibility as the truth. We've got to see about identifying this source.'

‘Whether it exists or not.'

‘Exactly.'

‘Inspector, I've decided I do not envy you your job at all… Very well, we'll do as you suggest.'

‘Thank you. We'll need to consult with Department Heads to find out what specific problem would cause them the most concern – self-contained, so that they wouldn't liaise with other departments over it, but serious enough to warrant rapid action.'

‘And if the source is one of the Department Heads?'

‘Then we have a problem, to put it bluntly.' Vinter shrugged. ‘However, the source is more likely to be a lower level individual – fewer security checks and evaluations to get through back on Earth.'

Ferreira nodded. ‘So who do you suggest we start with?'

Vinter thought for a moment. ‘Probably something to do with our manoeuvring capabilities – or maybe we've sustained some damage from cosmic debris – something that will affect whatever fighting capability we've got.'

‘Astronautics, then?' Ferreira nodded agreement. ‘I'll tell Li Sung to report to me as soon as possible. Say fourteen hundred here?'

‘Fourteen hundred it is.'

As he made his way back to the UNSEC office, Vinter found himself wondering about his willingness to believe that it was EarthCorp, not New Dawn, aboard Stalker. There was absolutely no indication either way, so far – the long-range images that they had obtained of Stalker were of little use in that respect. They were head-on and if the spacecraft had any insignia on its hull, they were not visible from that angle; all that could be seen was a grainy, computer generated image of a disc – the ice shield, hiding the main body of Stalker behind it. OK, so, of the two, EarthCorp probably had the edge in technological capabilities, but New Dawn had more than enough population and raw materials for a starship project – in all honesty, it was just as likely to be one as the other. Was it that he had always seen EarthCorp as the aggressors, with New Dawn forced into retaliation to protect itself?
I mean, everyone knew that had happened to Hong Kong five years ago (well, closer to ninety now), with that nerve gas attack that had killed over a hundred thousand – and that tactical nuke detonated in Kalkuta a year later, both of them EarthCorp atrocities.

He came to a halt so abruptly that someone walked into him from behind; Vinter muttered an apology, but barely noticed the other man.
Memories – you're talking about memories…
Had they been fed into him as part of the subliminal briefing sessions during his revival? Was this another instance of his memory being unreliable?

But why would the UN do that – try to make him favour New Dawn over EarthCorp? What the hell difference could it make now?

All I seem to do these days is ask questions with no answers… but they all seem to have a common factor.

Memories.

And whether he could trust them.

*****

‘Chris – er – Inspector! Over here!'

Vinter, who had just turned away from the self-service area in the Savoy Grill, as the cafeteria was laughingly called, looked over at the waving figure at the table next to the wall and grinned in surprise – it was Ilona Novaska. She was smiling broadly and indicated the vacant chair opposite her; Vinter nodded and made his way over there. ‘Hi, Ilona – I thought you'd been put back into deep freeze.'

‘I was,' she said brightly. ‘Then they revived me again.'

‘Anything to do with the Peacekeepers, by any chance?'

‘You got it. They're rushing them all through the revival process as fast as they can, so all of my team has been revived to help.' She gave him a shrewd look. ‘Something to do with a spaceship following us, so the rumour goes.'

Breach of security – Ferreira will hate that.
Vinter hesitated, then nodded. ‘It's something like that.'

‘Shit, no kidding? From Earth?'

‘I damn well hope so – the last thing we need are monsters from interstellar space right now.'

‘And that was why you were revived?'

‘Well, yes.'

‘So are we intending to fight this ship or something?'

‘Looks like it, to be honest. We don't even know what they want, but… the new CO says it's better to be safe than sorry, but I get the feeling that he's already made up his mind.'

‘Ferreira? Yes, I've met him. Gave us all a pep talk about how vital our input is – and that we weren't to tell anyone about what we were doing.' She shrugged. ‘Still, I suppose as you're the Security Chief, you're not just anyone.'

‘Don't bet on it… But Ferreira wants all this kept quiet?'

‘And how. All the troops are confined to Section One Delta and everyone else has been moved out.' She saw the look on his face, and asked, ‘Didn't you know?'

‘No, I didn't,' he replied grimly.
Ferreira had some explaining to do…

‘Well, it
is
being kept bloody quiet,' she continued. ‘None of the troops are allowed out and nobody's allowed in.' She seemed suddenly uneasy. ‘Actually, I'm not even sure I'm allowed to be here, to be honest. Nobody's
said
I can't, but…' Ilona leaned forward, her voice lowered. ‘Chris, there's something not quite right about all this. I don't know what it is, but… We're not allowed to talk to the Peacekeepers at all – my team, that is. All the orientation processing is being done by other Peacekeeper officers – we're limited to the purely physical rehab. We're not allowed to ask even standard questions – there's always a Peacekeeper medic present. I mean, isn't that taking security to ridiculous lengths?'

Actually, no, it isn't, considering we're looking for infiltration agents, but…

‘Specialist Novaska?' A peremptory voice said suddenly at his elbow. Vinter turned his head, the sudden movement making the newcomer, a Peacekeeper lieutenant, take an involuntary step backwards. ‘My apologies, Inspector, I did not realise it was you. However, I must ask Specialist Novaska to accompany me back to Section One Delta immediately. Her presence is urgently required.'