Ramin paused, trying to take it all in. The men sat silently whilst an old croc pulled itself out of the water to warm up in the overhead sun. Little birds flew down and landed on its back, pecking away at the bits of mud and weed.
‘Why didn’t she believe me?’
Sam paused. He knew Ramin wasn’t asking about Director al-Cavifi.
‘Lots of reasons. Clio was her best friend. She’s grieving, and you’re asking her to accept that Clio is not only dead, but a cold hearted, manipulative killer. And if she can accept that, then she also has to come to terms with the fact that she was totally fooled and her mission failed because she trusted an enemy.’
#42 Neith – Alpha
The sun was beginning to set over the sea as the visiting dignitaries stood on the marble plaza sipping champagne whilst waiting for the grand ceremony.
‘Did you know this tastes just the same as the stuff at home?’
I grinned. Every day with Julius was a constant litany of what was the same and what was different. It had only been a week, but he was adapting pretty well. It had helped when we had shown him the library. Earlier in the day, Paul had been buried whilst Clio received a full ceremonial dispatch with honours. There was obviously nothing to bury, but her name was engraved on the wall for fallen heroes. I’d have rather had her here by my side, but at least I could stand proud knowing that I had been her partner.
This evening’s event was to launch the new acquisition; an undiscovered Fabergé egg. I had promised Julius that it would be going to the world’s greatest museum, and here it was in the Mouseion of Alexandria. Julius and I were given pride of place as the egg was revealed. Of course, the actual egg was stored in a hermetic vault, but in front of us was a perfect 3D printed replica.
‘So, someone sitting in New York can dial this up and hold a copy for themselves?’
‘Yes,’ I said, and smiled. It seemed funny explaining something that a seven-year-old knew inside out.
‘And they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference? Everything moves and feels the same?’
‘Identical. Except for the fact it dissolves into its nano parts after a couple of hours. That, and the “Nano” stamped across its side.’
‘What if I wanted to study it for longer?’
‘Then just order a hologram. Use the printer if you need to hold it.’
‘And anyone can do that, no restrictions, no limits, no requisition chits?’
I knew that Julius was soon going to be living in the holo labs. ‘Pay attention, it’s almost ready.’
‘It’s a shame Ramin can’t be here.’
I glared at Julius. Nothing was going to spoil today. This ceremony, the earlier memorial, everything was to honour Clio.
‘That wouldn’t be appropriate.’
As the lights went down, a spotlight focussed on the white-gloved hands of a curator as she removed the egg from its box to a gasp from the audience and a huge burst of applause. As she twisted off the first egg top, those lucky enough to be standing nearby saw the beautiful portraits of a Tsar and Tsarina gazing lovingly at each other. Those further back looked up at the holo projections, while those at home or in cafés and bars were watching on live feeds. This was a huge event and was breaking all records for audience figures.
And why wouldn’t it? The tale of its retrieval was the stuff of a Beta drama. Violence, betrayal, greed, gun-fights, and that was just the Romanovs. Add in Fabergé and the Curators, and it was a perfect storm. Of course , the full story had been gently doctored. No point in alarming the general public.
As the curator continued to reveal each smaller egg, the world watched in wonder, until the final ruby intaglio was revealed and the audience once again burst into applause.
As the fireworks died down, Director al-Cavifi stepped forward and addressed the audience.
‘As you know, we always attach full detail to every artefact about the retrieval team involved in this. However, this time we have a couple of extra names to add.’
I squeezed Julius’ hand. Sam had asked me about this idea when it had first been suggested. I agreed wholeheartedly, but hadn’t said anything in case it didn’t happen.
‘We always honour the Beta creators whose works we save and treasure, but today we’re also going to honour two Betas that helped secure this lost Fabergé masterpiece. Charles Bradshaw and Julius Strathclyde. I think we can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that here is a Julius we can all celebrate.’
Cheers and laughter floated out over the warm evening air. The director stepped forward again, raising her glass. ‘Ladies and gentlemen. To the Mouseion of Alexandria, to the illustrious men and women of the Q Field, and finally, to Julius Strathclyde and team leader, Neith Salah.’
‘To Julius and Neith.’
The toast was taken up and rang out over the towers and parks.
Neith and Julius just looked at each other and shrugged, two perfectly mis-matched eyes grinning back at each other.
# interlude 5
The following text conversation was retrieved doing a sweep of the ghost files of the Q Zone security system. It has been added to the evidence report for Case No: 234530/H. As yet neither correspondent has been identified.
- My companions are not happy with your failure.
- We retrieved the egg!
- Fool. Do you think there is any way that we can counterfeit it now? With all your ridiculous mismanagement of the incident, we have been forced to let it go.
- I still insist I handled the situation as well as I possible.
- Rubbish. Chief Nymens now suspects you and we can hardly move against him without tipping our hand. If you do anything to make him suspect you further rest assured that you will be on your own.
#the end
The woman wiped the mud off her knees and tried
