Paradigm (9781909490406) (15 page)

‘Not bad,' she said. ‘But next time you'll need to be much quicker.'

Carter looked down at his hands, bleeding and caked with mud. He tapped on the wall with his fist.

‘Bit out of practice,' he said, proud with his efforts. ‘But it'll hold until the rain stops.'

T
hey sat there watching
the ice turn back to a thin rain and then eventually slow to a halt. Although it had always been the same since the Storms, Carter never ceased to be amazed at how quickly things could change, sometimes with little notice. As the darkness of the night clouds cleared, they sat there watching the moon. Lily ran her fingers along the stone wall of the shelter.

‘You know, I can't direct you in what to do next but I will support you. You will have some choices to make.'

She looked closely at Carter. ‘There are decisions to be made about your own personal challenges and it is the outcome of those decisions that will make or break your application.'

‘I understand that,' said Carter. ‘But what about the other Contenders—have they got decisions to make? Are their challenges equal?' He picked up a bunch of twigs and rearranged them to form a chemical equation in the blackness of the dirt.

‘You'll never make it if you think about them. Now, this is about being
you
.'

‘It's all about me,' he said. ‘This is what I do know. But being a leader is all about the unknown, right?' The sweet scent of Lily's skin overwhelmed him as she moved closer to him. She reminded him so much of Isabella his heart raced.

'All three of you have an equally tough road to follow but your journey is yours and yours alone. Bravery is relative, remember.'

‘It is,' said Carter. ‘And I am ready. Let's go.'

F
or over an hour
they walked through the small wood crammed with trees. Through the fractured conversation and the cracking of twigs, Carter felt the warmth of Lily next to him as they cut a path through the undergrowth. There were times when he thought that the path would have been easier but, for the most part, he was thankful for the cool silence and the temperate stillness inside the ring of trees. By the time they reached the lights of the southern edge that led to Unity Square, Carter thought he felt Lily lean into him, but when he looked, she was a few paces away from him and he realised that he was smiling.

W
hen Carter awoke
, the sun was streaming through his window and he could tell by breathing in the freshness of the air that Alexis had already left. He lay there for a second watching the ice white clouds scuttling across the cobalt sky, feeling his body warm and still on the rester. He felt good, relaxed, seconds before he realised the warmth was actually dampness in his bed and was coming from last night's clothes. Before he could pull on a clean suit, a bleeping pulsed in his pocket. He pulled out his personal information card:

You are required to attend a meeting at Industry Headquarters. You must leave now.

C
arter hauled
himself down the stairs and out of the door into the sharp rays of the white morning. The sun had already cut through the morning mist, chasing it into nowhere. As he turned into and then past Unity Square, he broke out into a run towards Proclamation Plaza, his lungs heaving hard and his ankles turning over at every other stride. The streets were almost empty; most of those on the morning shift had left already and those on the evening shift hadn't yet returned.

As he ran through the tunnel, he could just see the silver outline of the Transporter waiting to leave, glistening in the sun. With one last spurt, he pelted towards the stop and through into the carriage. As he slumped breathless into his seat, the door closed and the carriage pulled out towards the Industry Headquarters. When he arrived, two Industry officials flanking the door entrance barred his entry to the Plant with their strong, stubby arms.

‘Carter Warren. Come with us, please,' one of them said, and they moved aside, locking in unison behind him.

T
he interrogation room
was deep underground with round observation depressions at regular intervals in the walls. A long real-wood table ran through the length of the middle; three chairs, two occupied, were placed on one side of the table and one sat opposite. The officials led Carter to the only unoccupied seat on the far side of the table and they each took one of the other—considerably more comfortable—seats in front of him. Next to him was Ariel and beside him was a young woman with a shock of red hair, twists of scarlet weaving around her pale cheeks. Her eyes didn't leave the grainy texture of the wood as she drew circle after circle with a bony index finger. Carter's heart skipped a beat and then sank. It was Iseult. She was older than he remembered, obviously, but in his mind she had been more beautiful, softer and more delicate. She was no Isabella. The woman seated before him looked troubled and strange. He felt a sickness pool deep in his stomach.

‘My name is Malcolm Wilson,' said one of the officials. ‘And this is Murphy. I am a relative of the original Wallace Wilson, of course—names are so important, don't you think, Carter?'

Carter looked at the pair. ‘Can you tell me why they're here?' he asked, pointing at Ariel and Iseult. ‘If this is about my Contendership, then where are Jenson and Elizabet?' He tried to be cool, keeping his eyes away from the spiralling motion that Iseult was making on the table. It was unnerving.

The officials looked at each other and one spoke in a gruff tone.

‘We're not here for the advancement of your career today. We are here today to discuss the disappearance of Lucia Webb-Davenport. We have not yet located her and as a matter of security, both hers and that of the Community, we need to understand how we can find her.'

Murphy picked up a slate and began to read from the screen.

‘At the request of her guardians Jescha and Ailsa Webb-Davenport, we have been focusing this investigation on supportive recovery but we now have to consider this to be an active attempt at escape and therefore treason.'

Iseult continued to run her finger around in a spiral shape on the table, following the grain with a macabre delicacy that made Carter shiver. The marginally more convivial of the two officials started questioning her first.

‘Iseult Webb-Davenport…' he started. The woman with the red hair lifted her head from the table and looked at the space between Murphy and Wilson. Her green eyes looked dull and lifeless and her mouth flopped loosely open. ‘Related to an original Scout. What good fortune.'

‘Am I in trouble?' she slurred. Trouble came out as
trubber.

Carter looked her up and down—there was something different about her—not usual. Her eyes darted from one side of the room to the other then fixed back on the table. She was just like some of the people he'd seen once in the Infirmary. People who were classified as special and kept safely away from the Community by the Industry. The analysts he'd been working with had told him that they had their own special Community inside the walls of the headquarters. He shivered.

‘No,' said Wilson. ‘You're not in trouble. But we do need your co-operation to assure us that we do not have a problem here.'

‘What sort of problem are you talking about?' said Carter. ‘Can't you just use the Model to track her card's location?' Iseult snapped her head around to look at Carter. He caught her eyes for a second before she cast her head downwards again, back to her spiral-drawing on the table. Wilson etched indistinguishable shapes on his slate, squared his jaw and cleared his throat.

‘Please be reminded that you are all here under the Community Charter, sub-clause,
Protection of the Community Environment
. As the immediate family of Lucia Webb-Davenport, who is under suspicion of being a dangerous and dissident citizen, you are also currently being considered for segregation. I'm sure I don't need to explain to you what that means.'

Carter kept calm. ‘Whatever I can do to help, obviously,' he said.

‘The room was silent except for the scratching on the table.

‘Well, Carter Warren, second day back in the Community and already under investigation. Congratulations. I'm sure you expected to be here under different circumstances.' Wilson paused for a second before Murphy picked up.

‘Dissenters,' said Wilson, scribbling on his slate, ‘such a rare and selfish kind. Not only putting the Community in jeopardy but they leave without their loved ones. Their only thought is for themselves.' He looked at Murphy. ‘Selfishness is a dreadful thing, don't you think, Murphy?'

Murphy nodded gravely and clicked his teeth. ‘Sad people,' he said.

Carter swallowed deeply and shook his head before the realisation dawned.

‘I see,' he said. ‘This is all part of my training, isn't it?'

Murphy's mouth broke out into an uneven grin.

‘Our Controller General in waiting,' he said. The transitory smile that had looked uncomfortable on Murphy's lips was swallowed up by an ugly, empty frown that spread across his face.

‘Everything in life is training, Wilson, isn't that right? And I am always keen for training.' There was a smugness among the guards and a deeper scratching on the table from Iseult while Carter nodded back at them earnestly. It was all he could do to keep himself silent on the subject and deal with the matter in hand, waiting for the two officials to continue with their questions.

‘Do whatever you need to,' said Carter. ‘No special privileges. I understand that this is your job and that what you are doing is very important. If I can help you find her, I will. I have nothing to hide but I also have no time to waste.'

Wilson looked impressed. ‘Has she been in contact with you?'

Carter shook his head. ‘Not directly. I saw her at the Transporter stop but she disappeared before I could talk to her. She didn't say anything I could understand.' He looked directly at Murphy. ‘I'm sure there's security footage of that area that can be scanned—you probably know all of this already. I would be disappointed if that's not the case.'

The two interrogators looked at each other uncomfortably.

‘How did you know she was your daughter? You never actually met her did you?'

Carter shrugged at Wilson with an open smile. ‘I didn't. And while I had hoped to contribute to the Community by providing children on my return, I wasn't aware until I saw the FreeScreen that I been successful already. Lucky, I guess. Do you have children, Wilson?'

Wilson smiled back at him with some conviviality. ‘Not yet blessed I'm afraid, sir, although I'm hoping to get a genetic match this summer. Well, in your absence you caused quite a sensation. First multiple births to occur in the Community since the Storms—there was one hiccup of a party. Shame you weren't here to enjoy it. It was a blast, wasn't it, Iseult?'

Iseult kept her eyes firmly fixed on the table and started drawing shapes with her finger again. Murphy picked up the thread next.

‘But it's not the first time that one of the twins has gone missing, is it?' he said. ‘There was also that unfortunate incident with an old friend of yours. Isabella, wasn't it, Wilson?'

Carter hoped that his face didn't betray him at all. He wasn't used to anything except being completely truthful. But there was something about the conversation that felt almost threatening. He'd never so much as received a cross word from the Industry before.

‘Did I go to the Academy with her?' he said, causally. ‘Not sure I remember.'

S
hortly after that
, a girl brought through a plate of chicker crackers and some distilled water, but even as they passed the plate up and down the line, the questions continued. Murphy and Wilson appeared to be enjoying themselves, Carter thought; his only wish was to get out of the room and into the fresh, pale sunshine outside to start work on his Contribution. Being in the underground confines of the Industry reminded him too much of the fifteen years he'd spent in the Catacombs. And he wasn't in any mood to repeat that.

‘I will ask you one last time,' said Murphy, his mouth full of food. ‘Do you know where your daughter is?'

‘No,' replied Iseult and Carter in a firm and unintended harmony, then looked at each other.

‘Touching,' said Murphy. ‘Well, I'm going to give you three a moment alone. Sort of a family conference, if you like. Wilson and I won't be far away, don't worry.'

T
here was
an awkward silence before anyone spoke. Ariel looked across the table.

‘There's nothing more to say,' he said. ‘Except good luck.'

‘It's not luck I need,' whispered Carter. ‘I need to understand what's going on here.'

Iseult looked up from the table. Her nails were worn bare and her fingers were bright red.

‘You're in trubber,' she said. ‘Big trubber.'

‘What is she talking about?' said Carter. ‘And what's wrong with her?'

Ariel frowned at his mother. ‘Remember what we said,' he mouthed. ‘Don't talk about those kinds of things here.'

‘What does she mean?' said Carter.

‘She's terrified by the Industry,' said Ariel. ‘Completely unfounded but she blames them for everything that's happening.'

‘Where is your mama?' drawled Iseult. ‘She gone away? Like my baby?'

‘My parents are dead,' said Carter.

‘No they not,' said Iseult. ‘They in better place.'

Carter rolled his eyes at Ariel who put his hand softly on the woman's shoulder. ‘Mama, stop now,' he said. ‘You don't even know who this is.'

Iseult pulled back her hair from her face and looked at Ariel directly.