Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [17]
‘Could that not have been Foster?’
‘Could be.’ Maddy shrugged. ‘But then you’ve got to ask who genetically engineered the foetuses? That’s gotta need other people, some facility somewhere.’ The other two had no answer for that. ‘Fact is,’ she continued, ‘there’s more to this agency than just us. There are others out there somewhere or somewhen.’
‘So how do we talk with them?’ asked Sal. ‘How can we meet them?’
‘I think that’s exactly the point. I think we’re not supposed to.’ Maddy slurped her Dr Pepper. ‘Maybe we’re a bit like some sort of terrorist organization; for all of our safety, no one group can know where another group is. We operate in isolation. It’s just us … until …’ Her words tailed off and they sat in silence for a while contemplating where that sentence ended.
‘Not much chance of a big Christmas get-together, then?’ muttered Liam.
Maddy snorted drink on to the table, relieved that he’d found a way to break the sombre mood.
‘At least,’ said Sal, ‘we’ll have a brand-new Bob to protect us soon.’
‘Aye. I miss the big ape.’
Maddy pointed to the bank of computer monitors. ‘He’s just there!’
‘Naw,’ said Liam, wrinkling his nose, ‘it’s not quite the same him being in there.’
‘You can’t exactly hug a computer monitor,’ said Sal.
Liam chuckled. ‘Quite right. I miss his tufty round coconut head.’
‘And that dumb, total blip-head expression on his face,’ added Sal.
‘Aye.’
Maddy finished a mouthful of curry. ‘Well, we’ll have him around soon. Foster’s “how to” manual says the growth cycle should take about one hundred hours.’ She pushed her glasses up her nose. ‘Lemmesee … that’s just over four days.’
‘We’ll need some new clothes for him,’ said Sal. ‘I’ll see what I can find for him downtown tomorrow.’
Maddy nodded. ‘Good idea.’
They finished the Indian takeaway and bagged up the rubbish. Liam volunteered to take it out as the girls changed for bed. He crossed the archway floor, criss-crossed with snaking power cables, and lifted the front shutter enough to duck under and step out into their backstreet.
A flickering blue light dimly lit the street. Above him, bright halogen floodlights illuminated the thick metal spars of the Williamsburg Bridge arcing across the flat docile water of the Hudson River. On the far side – a sight he was still yet to get used to – was Manhattan, a vibrant inverted crystal chandelier of winking city lights and nudging traffic.
He dropped the bag into the trash can, and sucked in the cool night air.
Tonight all was well with the world. Tomorrow was the day planes crashed into buildings and the sky was a dark smudge all of the day.
He hated the Tuesdays.
‘Good night, New York,’ he uttered under his breath.
The city replied with the rumble of a train along the bridge overhead and the echoing, distant wail of a police siren racing through a Brooklyn street several blocks away. As he prepared to duck back inside and wind the shutter down once more, he found himself wondering if Sal was right. If they really were alone. If the agency was, in fact, just them.
As it happened, the answer to that specific question was to arrive the very next morning.
CHAPTER 10
2001, New York
Maddy was entirely engrossed in Big Brother USA when Bob interrupted. She’d been watching Nicole and Hardy quietly plotting together in the kitchen against the other two. It was a rerun of the previous week’s shows on FOX and she already knew who was facing imminent eviction. She’d seen this show at least four times already, but for some reason, despite knowing the outcome, it was still compulsive viewing.
So it was with mild irritation that she answered the dialogue box that had popped up on the monitor over the top of Big Brother.
> Maddy?
She sat forward and spoke into the desk mic rather than tap out an answer on the keyboard.
‘What is it, Bob? I’m watching Big Brother right now.’
> I am picking up incoming tachyon particles.
Her mouth dropped open and she dribbled milk and Rice Krispies on to her T-shirt.