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Sue sat cross legged on a table, waiting for something
to happen. This floor of the Harker Building, the one
where the explosion happened, was supposed to be office
space but it certainly was not. It seemed to be some
kind of high tech research lab. There were only a few
people around, and part of the floor was locked, accessible
only with a swipe card. So she bided her time, waiting
to see if anything interesting happened before taking
the risk to sneak into the inner sanctum.
To keep herself busy she pondered some mysteries. There
was no shortage. Firstly, what were the magicians doing?
She had formed the clear idea that they were looking
for her. When she spotted Bill he was hovering outside,
peering into the windows one by one. She only just moved
in time but she thought he sensed she was there anyway.
She wondered what he wanted.
The second mystery was how Hamlet had found them. He
had a strange look whenever he glanced at her, as if
he knew more than he was prepared to say. At James'
old office, when Sue had been hiding, Hamlet had twice
looked right at her even though she was invisible. She
had put it down to coincidence but now she wasn't so
sure.
The third mystery was why he had chosen to sit exactly
between her and the window. His large frame blocked
any possibility that she might be spotted from outside.
That might be coincidence too. But then it might not.
The fourth mystery, or at least, the fourth puzzle,
hung on a comment that Hamlet had made just before he
left.
"What are you going to do about the severance?"
James asked him.
"There's always blackmail," said Hamlet brightly.
"What do you mean?" Kath looked positively
eager at the idea.
"He must get up to all sorts of mischief. If we
could film him doing it?. Well ...." He left the
words hanging. "I'll see ya tomorrow. I have Tai
Chi in ten minutes." The door swung closed behind
him.
That wasn't a bad idea. Sue wondered if James had a
video camera.
The fifth mystery on the growing list, was why someone
should want to conceal a laboratory in an uptown building.
The gaping hole in the outer wall was sealed with polythene
sheeting to keep the elements out, but some gaps had
developed around the edges. She realized that she was
looking across the park to the area where the muggers
had snatched James' briefcase. She could even see the
spot where the litter basket had stood. It was not there
any longer.
That explained how the TV crew had arrived so quickly.
They must have been filming the explosion.
She stretched and tried to decide what to do. The steel
door into the secure part of the laboratory looked very
strong. She drifted down the corridor and waited. After
a few minutes a short Asian girl walked briskly towards
it, pressed the tips of her fingers against a glass
panel until she heard a soft beep, and then hauled the
heavy door open. On impulse, though she felt doubt even
as acted, Sue slipped inside.
The sight that greeted her was not at all what she
expected. She did not know what she had expected, but
this was definitely not it. Near to her was a machine
mounted on crisscross hydraulic legs. It was about the
size of a caravan. Sue thought she recognized it as
a flight simulator. The Asian girl walked up to it,
climbed a ladder, opened a hatch, and climbed inside.
Sue looked around the rest of the large room. The simulator
was not alone. There were many more of them, ranged
in neat rows. A lot of them seemed to be in use, moving
in a bizarre ballet of banks, turns, rolls and dives.
Sue rose up to the ceiling for a better look. From that
perspective they looked like a field of poppies on a
blustery day.
"What is this?" Sue said, very quietly. It
was just about the most remarkable thing she had ever
seen.
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