The Power of Forgetting (44 page)

'Jared? Come
on….'

'Uh…'

'What's wrong?'
another person asked.

'Nothing….
nothing at all.'

'You have got
to be kidding!' It was almost like Oliver, but not quite. Then I
thought I was dreaming for a moment. But it seemed like being awake
too. I was lying on the floor, as if I had slid off the chair as I
was overcome with tiredness. There was no sound. They looked down
at me. I was blinking. Someone came near. I heard them faintly
then:

'He's
fine.'

'Don't be
stupid.' said someone female. I saw red hair and thought it must be
Lorraine. She was kneeling down beside me. There were others, but
it seemed indistinct and watery. The silence faded in and out.

'Just need to
give him a shock.'

'Like
electricity?' said another person who sounded like Davey.

'No! A
surprise. Something that would make you jump.'

'A trance you
say.' said Oliver in his drawl of soft welsh tones, 'An idea
Captain.'

I think I tried
to see her then; something swam into view… blue eyes. Silky waves
of corn. Janey. She turned to the others and the shimmering lights
travelled up and down the strands of her hair, where she had
loosened it from the clips.

Janey…. I tried
to mouth her name. But I was entranced by the silence inside, and
the warmth of the sun from the window.

'As you say: a
shock.'

Suddenly I was
swamped by someone pressing their hands on my shoulders and then
pressing their weight on top of me. My eyes were open but it was
hazy.

'Jared?'

I blinked but
wasn't sure what to make of this. Silky strands brushed against the
side of my face.

I was kissing a
woman. She was prising my mouth apart with hers, pressing deeper
in. it was forceful and strong, and not entirely unpleasant…. Until
I realised it was Janey! I think I tried to speak or utter
something random and stupid. But she curled her tongue into
mine.

Suddenly I was
pulling myself upright. I sat on the floor facing Janey and blinked
a couple of times. They were gathered in the room, some sitting,
some standing. I thought everyone might be here. But I wasn't
thinking too clearly about that that at the present time. I ran my
tongue around my teeth. The taste of mint.

'Are you okay
now?' Janey asked.

I stared at
her. She had that rumpled look of a woman in a state of excitement.
I knew that look, but my confusion was more to do with what had
been going on with the Mr Charles character. My watch said two
forty-seven. I looked back at Janey. We always did talk with our
eyes. I wasn't sure what she was saying now. I looked into her
eyes, which pulsed with brightness and luminous purity. Her pretty
face was slightly flushed and she was smiling.

'I think…' I
began rather hoarsely, 'I think I'm alright now.'

'Good.' She
said, 'Well, that's good.'

She stood up,
and offered me a hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. We
were quite close for a moment. She looked sideways at me; 'well
dear brother, I think we should go now.'

'Yes.' she was
still smiling at me, but there seemed a shadow behind it. I wanted
to her if she was alright. But then I saw Hanson in the background
and just blinked and turned to the rest of them.

'You have seen
the Boss.' said Lorraine solemnly.

'Yes.'

'What did he
say?' asked Marcia.

'He made me an
offer.'

'What offer?'
asked Joe

'Look… can we
discuss this later? Don't we need to get out of here?'

'Davey's
getting the access codes now.' said Marcia.

I moved over to
and old table were Davey had put his pack and was running a
search.

'Got it!' he
said.

'Are you sure?'
said Oliver.

'Yeah, pretty
much.'

A moment later
they were out in the corridor trying the door.

'It doesn't
work.' Said Davey, 'but this is the right one.'

'Shit!' said
Hanson.

'Perhaps I
might hazard a guess,' Lorraine said firmly, 'there is a chance
that we have accidently rotated the codes. It could be you tripped
the changeover to next day's codes when you went into the
computer.'

'Try it.' said
Oliver, as everyone looked at Lorraine in a surprised way.

'Just a
minute,' Davey set the pack on the floor.

'Alarm's out
now.' Said Oliver, 'Five minutes to get away.'

'Okay! There
they are.' Davey showed the screen to Marcia.

'This better
work.' Joe said, as Marcia tapped it into the panel.

The door popped
open then with something like a hiss and a sigh. We quickly piled
through and prepared to close it behind us.

'Don't!' said
Davey quickly.

'What is
it?'

'Leave it. The
door I mean. It will set off a reset if you close it and trigger an
internal alarm.

'We can't just
leave it open.' said Hanson, and made to push the door.

It was swinging
inwards then on the mechanism. I saw Janey smile and at once the
distant sound of an alarm started.

'Oh… Bloody
fabtastic.' said Joe.

'Come on!'
Marcia shouted at them and we all started to run for the nearby
trees, and almost immediately crashed through tangles of
undergrowth.

'We are going
the wrong way in case anyone interested!' Lorraine gasped as she
ran.

'Short cut.'
said Oliver and grabbed her hand and veered to the right. We all
followed. We seemed to be circling to the right. It didn't seem
sensible. But I knew Oliver. The ground started to rise and we were
above the last point within a minute by a considerable
elevation.

'Have we got
what we need?' I yelled as we ran.

'Yes! Pictures
and everything.' Marcia replied.

'Our
people?'

'No.'

'Are you
sure?'

'Absolutely.'

We carried on
up the steep incline. We didn't look back. We didn't have to. A
deep noise was heard, vehicles starting up. We needed to get to the
fence as soon as we could.

We arrived near
the innocuous looking electrically charged barrier. Oliver frowned
in a thoughtful manner.

'Davey?'

'Tide's turning
in five minutes.'

'What?'
Lorraine said, then when no one answered, 'what does that
mean?'

Oliver checked
his watch, 'Just wait.' He said.

We crouched in
the bushes. Five minutes. I looked at my watch again. We could hear
the distinct whine of machinery. The guards having been stymied by
the incline were forced to take the long way round.

'On my mark.'
said Oliver 'Davey first.'

We paused
watching Oliver as he held up his hand and stared to the watch
face.

'Now!' he
chopped his hand down.

We ran to the
fence and started to climb. There was no doubt in anyone's mind
that this was not a time to stop and think about what was
happening. Just climb. Fast. Davey was over and dropped down the
other side. Hanson, by reason of his speed and sheer terror was
next. Marcia and Janey followed, then Joe. Lorraine was climbing
fairly quickly and reached the top. She swung over the top and
appeared to stop. Oliver nimbly shinned up and dropped his pack
down the other side. He was hurriedly trying unfasten Lorraine's
plait from a loop that had broken and got stuck in her hair. I
started to climb. I didn't stop to help, because it wasn't going to
help. Lorraine was wincing. She was well and truly stuck.

'Err…. guys!
One minute.'

'What happens
in one minute?' said Lorraine trying to keep still. Oliver pulled
out his knife.

'Thirty
seconds.'

'Okay Honey,
let go and jump as soon as you feel it give.'

'Do it!'
screamed Janey.

'Ten
seconds.'

Oliver broke
the next few strands. And she was free. He hooked his arm around
her waist and jumped. Lorraine tumbled over and landed on top of
me.

'Ouch!' I
said.

'Soft landing.'
said Lorraine and stood up.

'They're here.'
said Marcia, 'Shift your arses!'

We ran away,
heading for the wood land. There was a spectacular crash and
sizzling noise as one of the desert vehicles lost control and hit
the fence.

'How did you
know?' Joe said to Davey

'Logical.'
Davey said, 'there had to be an interruption in the power supply on
the tides, when they disconnect the section of fence that is near
the water.

'But you didn't
know?' Joe persisted.

'I
guessed.'

'We're alive.'
said Janey.

'That's one
hell of a guess.' Joe said.

'I just wasn't
sure how long it would be off for.'

'You weren't
sure!' Lorraine's voice went up at least an octave.

'Shut up
Millie.' Said Oliver, 'best to keep that sort of shit to
yourself.'

A quarter of an
hour later we were walking, not running through the forest. The
sound of pursuit could not be heard. And the reasoning was that no
transport could follow us in here. We would have to rely on our
wood craft to get us through. We stopped for a drink. The sky was
clouding over which could mean anything.

'It's going to
rain. Good.' said Oliver.

'Why is that
good?' asked Lorraine.

'They can't
track us easily.' I said.

'Oh…' Lorraine
looked at me with a new rather calculating expression; 'Since I am
now definitely excommunis, perhaps you could tell us all what the
deal was with Mr Charles?'

'No deal.' I
said.

'You mean you
didn't take one, or you weren't offered one?' asked Joe.

'I think I
would like to tell on debrief.'

'Really.' Joe
was staring. Then come to think of it so was everyone else.

'I think,' said
Marcia, replacing the cap on her water canister, 'that you ought to
stop holding out on us.'

'Really? You
think that?'

'I agree.' said
Joe.

I looked round
at everyone else. Hanson was sniffing the air, as if he scented
trouble that he was anxious to avoid. Lorraine folded her arms, and
Janey put her hands on her hips. Only Oliver seemed unaffected by
this sudden group desire to have me for tea.

'We need to
keep moving.' Oliver said suddenly.

They all looked
at me again, then everyone followed Oliver's instruction and
carried on.

'Just don't say
anything.' said Oliver at my shoulder as we started moving
again.

'Oh?'

'The group is
more fractured than it seems.'

'Tell me.' I
said without turning my head.

'They didn't
tell you what they found at the labs.'

'What was
that?'

'Live copies of
every one of us. Except you and me.'

'Live
copies?'

'Yes.'

'Did you see
Janey's copy?'

'No, I was with
your group remember.'

'Yes, of
course.'

We tramped
along for a while getting into thicker and dingier tangles of
woodland. I began to feel hungry as well as tired. It was coming up
to four fifteen. The light level was getting lower and lower.

'Oliver?'

'Yes?'

'What happened
to the copies?'

'The same thing
that happens when someone is not on your side in a war.'

I digested
this. I didn't dare ask for details.

'Okay girls and
boys!' said Marcia, 'stop now. We need to suit up.'

'What?'
Lorraine was irritable.

'Look sweetie,'
said Marcia with sarcasm, 'you will do what you are told. My job
right now is to get your ungrateful backside home in one piece. So
get the suit on!'

Lorraine looked
at her with her mouth open for one moment, then turned way looking
teary eyed, and started to climb into the ice suit.

'Don't annoy
her.' Oliver had slid in beside me again. I turned to him with an
enquiring look as we donned our outer wear. He just shook his head
a fraction as Lorraine walked by and went to Janey. He rolled his
eyes; I followed his gaze then, as we stood up. Oliver checked the
back of my suit as we watched Marcia standing by Hanson. He was in
that stance he adopted when smoking…. but without the cigarette.
Easy, relaxed.

'I know it's
personal;' said Oliver quietly, 'but don't make it personal.'

'I wasn't
thinking about Andrew.'

'He's as mixed
up as you.' said Oliver in a whisper, 'And he's really scared. I've
seen it before...'

'You mean he's
unreliable?'

'He's working
for the other side. He says he wants out...' Oliver moved round to
my side and handed me a water bottle, '.... but resolve like that
can break given the right conditions.'

'What about
Lorraine?'

'Ah!' Oliver
grinned at me, 'Well that's outside of my ability to predict. As is
any woman.'

'So how much
further to the transport?' I asked him, as Joe came near.

'About six
hours hard travel,' Oliver pulled out the self-made map, 'but then
we have to push at the speed of the slowest. And then the tide is
against us. We should come out above our original position on the
channel.'

'We could take
a line across.' I said.

'The problem is
who we could put on the end of the line...'

'The lightest
person is Janey.' I said, 'But she might not land safely if we
swung her across.'

'We've got to
persuade Davey.' said Oliver, 'He's the only qualified
climber.'

'Why is a
climber afraid of heights?' I asked.

'You know the
principle of getting up a sheer wall?' Oliver glanced across to
others who were checking their suits.

'Don't look
down?' I ventured.

Oliver smacked
his hand on my shoulder in agreement, and sauntered across to join
the others.

The going was
hard after that, especially for Lorraine, who clearly wasn't used
to this amount of exercise over such an extended period. The
incline got a lot steeper. And all we seemed to be doing was going
up. It wasn't that which stopped us though. Ten minutes short of an
hour, by the last vestiges of light from the western sky, Marcia
called a halt. Some of us had pulled our hoods up and donned
gloves.