He regained some control over his frustration and my body started to relax slightly, not having to try and shield as much. It was bloody painful to cope with Markus' outbursts, physically and emotionally.
“I want you to test her loyalty to the full." he added, emphasising 'full'.
“Well?"
He stared at me, demanding a response impatiently.
“I'll do my best, Sir. I hope my best will be good enough." I just about managed to sound calm.
“It better be." Markus said uncompromisingly.
Fuck it. It was going to be damned hard and I shoved it to the back of my mind for the moment. I just didn't want to think about it.
I glanced over at Eliza in the other room. Her body language looked relaxed. Frank was brilliant with people, always managing to get to his goal without making people feel miserable. However, he was allowed that freedom as Markus made sure it was possible. Frank used him literally like the proverbial stick. If it wasn't for Markus' strict discipline, Frank wouldn't be able to get anywhere either. Typical good cop, bad cop scenario. Anyway, I was glad Markus had chosen to speak to me and not Eliza. It wouldn't have ended well for either of us I don't think.
I was waiting for Markus to decide to move on. I felt in no position to broker it as he was clearly not in the best of moods with me, so I just stood silently. It looked like Frank was done with Eliza as he looked over to check with Markus who gave him the slightest of nods. I guessed they would come in soon, which couldn't come quickly enough for me.
CHAPTER 51
That meeting hadn't gone half as bad as I thought it was going to go and I felt quite good now. Frank had been perfectly amenable and had managed to make me feel less of a failure. I could still detect a hint of distrust though, and I was sure he was cloaking as hard as he could. But then I suppose, they had to be careful who to trust and they have only known me for just over a month. So I made my peace with that and hoped I could convince them of my loyalty in due course.
It took one glance over to Zack to determine he hadn't had the best meeting. When we entered the room the stench of frustration hung heavily in the air and it stemmed from both of them. Frank raised his eyebrows at Markus, but he gave nothing away, instead asking us calmly and quite pleasantly to take a seat around the table.
“Hey." I mouthed to Zack, trying to catch his mood.
He threw me a little smile but then looked towards Markus again, giving him his full attention.
“Right, let's get down to it." Markus started.
“Last night, the leadership team have discussed at length how to proceed from here. We have decided to dedicate all our available Sensorians on the task of locating Rick and then monitoring him. We need to know exactly who he's in contact with and who he has recruited already. We're going to have to deal with each and everyone he has got involved in this. It's going to be a huge operation, Rick must be caught at all cost. He's endangering all of us with his actions and he has to be stopped.”
Markus paused and both Frank and Zack nodded in agreement.
“What's my role going to be in this?" I dared ask.
Markus glanced at Frank who turned to me to speak.
“You will be instrumental in finding out information from him and eventually capturing him. You're our way in. Part of him is still hoping you'll join him in his delusional revolution and we could use that to our advantage. We hope that he'll approach you again and you'll let him persuade you to join him, giving us the insider information we need to discover who's involved.”
Frank waited for a moment to scan for my initial reaction before carrying on. I agreed, I did think my father desperately wanted me by his side, though I wasn't sure of my own ability to deceive him. It was going to be a difficult and dangerous task.
“However, there is a big 'but' in this. It all depends how your next month or so will go. Whether you can prove to be a loyal Sensorian and, trust me, you will be severely tested. If after that time you still wish to help us and be part of our community, then that would be the best outcome for all of us.”
Ah, that explained Zack's mood as I guessed it was going to be down to him to 'severely test' me and I could tell he wasn't particularly looking forward to that. And neither was I! I didn't really know what to say to that apart from shit shit bollocks shit, but I didn't think that would go down too well. So I just nodded, hoping that someone else would take the attention away from me. Zack obliged.
“Yes Sir. Markus informed me briefly about this earlier and I will see to it. I'm confident Eliza will do her utmost best to prove her worth and loyalty to us.”
He gave me an encouraging nod, which made me feel good. Whatever he had to do next, I knew he had my back. He trusted me and I would try my hardest to prove him right. I hoped to God I would remember this in the undoubtedly difficult time ahead.
Have we got any leads as to where they went last night?" Zack enquired, eager to find
