Complex? Big white building. There’s a bus that leaves from Liberty Square. You get off at Long Reef, and it’s only a short walk down from there.’
‘I can figure it out,’ I said.
‘I’m happy to work back and wait around for you. How about you come around 8:30–9 pm? You’ll have to hang around till everyone’s gone, but the carpark should be empty by then. And then it’ll be safe for you.’
I was liking this less and less. I didn’t like that this meeting was on her terms, and on herturf, again. But did I have a choice? Was it really going to be safe for me ?
‘You’ll need to press the after-hours buzzer,’ Jennifer added, ‘and I’ll let you in. You’ll find the red button just to the right of the front entrance doors.’
I thought about it for a moment.
‘Cal? Are you there?’ she asked.
‘OK. I’ll see you then,’ I said and hung up, hoping I wasn’t going to walk right into a trap.
18 MARCH
289 days to go …
The bus shelter was littered with bits of green ribbon from yesterday’s St Patrick’s Day festivities. I cleared a space to sit down and turned my back on the poster of my face that had been freshly stuck up on the wall. I didn’t think it looked anything like me anymore, with my new black look, but it was best to keep my head down, just in case. I was also puzzled by the phone number underneath my picture: it didn’t seem to be the usual anti-crime number and I wondered if Oriana de la Force or Vulkan Sligo were running their own publicity campaign to find me.
A middle-aged guy in jeans and a striped T-shirt was the only other person waiting in the shelter. I didn’t like the way he kept looking atme and I was relieved when my bus arrived. As we pulled out, I glanced back at him, still sitting on the bench, talking on his mobile. I turned away and put him, with so many other paranoid thoughts, to the back of my mind.
It was pretty dark by the time I got off at the Long Reef stop and walked the few hundred metres or so towards the cluster of buildings I could see down the road. Even though the streetlights were very dim, the large, white building I was looking for stood out clearly.
The Labtech government laboratories were set in bushland at the end of a long winding road where I was met with a boom gate. I ducked beneath it and ran for cover in some bushes that lined the driveway on the other side.
I made my way up towards the reception entrance, noticing that the vast parking lot to the left of the building was, as Jennifer had predicted, empty. I was a little early, so I satunder the leafy cover for a while and kept watch.
Nothing had moved in the last twenty minutes. I felt pretty sure that the grounds were deserted … aside from one particular person, waiting inside for her meeting with a teen fugitive.
I was so anxious to meet her and find out what she had for me.
I ran up to the entrance doors and pressed the red after-hours buzzer on my right. Shortly after, there was a buzzing sound and the lock was released. I pressed the heavy door open.
‘Turn left after the reception desk, ’ Jennifer’s voice advised me through the intercom, ‘and follow the corridor all the way to the end. I’ll be waiting there for you.’
I followed Jennifer’s directions, past a number of doorways and offices, until I found her waiting by a window in a small central area, the hub from which a number of narrow corridors led off in different directions. I approached with caution.
She wore a white lab coat that looked bigand bulky on her small figure, and a pale-blue paper cap covered her light brown hair that was tied in the back in a small ponytail. She came towards me with a warm smile and a look of relief. I held my hand out to shake hers, but she ignored it and came right in for a hug.
I was completely taken by surprise by her affection, and for a moment I felt like I was reuniting with family. I was also surprised by how unafraid she was of me.
I felt a surge
‘I can figure it out,’ I said.
‘I’m happy to work back and wait around for you. How about you come around 8:30–9 pm? You’ll have to hang around till everyone’s gone, but the carpark should be empty by then. And then it’ll be safe for you.’
I was liking this less and less. I didn’t like that this meeting was on her terms, and on herturf, again. But did I have a choice? Was it really going to be safe for me ?
‘You’ll need to press the after-hours buzzer,’ Jennifer added, ‘and I’ll let you in. You’ll find the red button just to the right of the front entrance doors.’
I thought about it for a moment.
‘Cal? Are you there?’ she asked.
‘OK. I’ll see you then,’ I said and hung up, hoping I wasn’t going to walk right into a trap.
18 MARCH
289 days to go …
The bus shelter was littered with bits of green ribbon from yesterday’s St Patrick’s Day festivities. I cleared a space to sit down and turned my back on the poster of my face that had been freshly stuck up on the wall. I didn’t think it looked anything like me anymore, with my new black look, but it was best to keep my head down, just in case. I was also puzzled by the phone number underneath my picture: it didn’t seem to be the usual anti-crime number and I wondered if Oriana de la Force or Vulkan Sligo were running their own publicity campaign to find me.
A middle-aged guy in jeans and a striped T-shirt was the only other person waiting in the shelter. I didn’t like the way he kept looking atme and I was relieved when my bus arrived. As we pulled out, I glanced back at him, still sitting on the bench, talking on his mobile. I turned away and put him, with so many other paranoid thoughts, to the back of my mind.
It was pretty dark by the time I got off at the Long Reef stop and walked the few hundred metres or so towards the cluster of buildings I could see down the road. Even though the streetlights were very dim, the large, white building I was looking for stood out clearly.
The Labtech government laboratories were set in bushland at the end of a long winding road where I was met with a boom gate. I ducked beneath it and ran for cover in some bushes that lined the driveway on the other side.
I made my way up towards the reception entrance, noticing that the vast parking lot to the left of the building was, as Jennifer had predicted, empty. I was a little early, so I satunder the leafy cover for a while and kept watch.
Nothing had moved in the last twenty minutes. I felt pretty sure that the grounds were deserted … aside from one particular person, waiting inside for her meeting with a teen fugitive.
I was so anxious to meet her and find out what she had for me.
I ran up to the entrance doors and pressed the red after-hours buzzer on my right. Shortly after, there was a buzzing sound and the lock was released. I pressed the heavy door open.
‘Turn left after the reception desk, ’ Jennifer’s voice advised me through the intercom, ‘and follow the corridor all the way to the end. I’ll be waiting there for you.’
I followed Jennifer’s directions, past a number of doorways and offices, until I found her waiting by a window in a small central area, the hub from which a number of narrow corridors led off in different directions. I approached with caution.
She wore a white lab coat that looked bigand bulky on her small figure, and a pale-blue paper cap covered her light brown hair that was tied in the back in a small ponytail. She came towards me with a warm smile and a look of relief. I held my hand out to shake hers, but she ignored it and came right in for a hug.
I was completely taken by surprise by her affection, and for a moment I felt like I was reuniting with family. I was also surprised by how unafraid she was of me.
I felt a surge
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