Riley Part 3
The sedan returned Katya to her house just after sunset. There were 17 small cottages here, spread over the grounds of a large Victorian mansion. A discreet sign on the gate outside the grounds named the property “Blackpool Spa & Resort�. Each cottage was painted a different color, hers was teal.
Her head thrummed with sound as she opened the front door. The technicians had told her this would happen. She had eardrops and a specific range of facial exercises to do. She was fully prepared – this had happened to the other sixteen already – so she had their experiences to draw support from.
Her desk glowed a pale red color. On the surface were several messages, most from her online agents. The urgent message was from Brigitte, 3 cottages to the south.
‘Come see me when you get back.’ - Brigitte
“Call Brigitte,� she instructed. A musical chime, and then a voice: “Brigitte.�
“It’s Katya.�
“Hey, how are the ears?�
“A little loud…�
“They’ll get better soon. Can you come by? I need to talk.â€?
“Sure, love. Let me eat something first and I’ll be right there.�
“See you soon, then.�
Another musical chime and then silence, but not complete silence. The cochlear replacement had greatly increased the amount of sound her ears could bring in. Even though the cottages were specially designed to be quiet, she could hear (and feel) the subtle thrum of electronics in the walls. In the bedroom, a click-click-click broadcasted the blinking LED of her alarm clock.
She walked into the cookspace and selected a protein-rich soup from her approved menu. With a flick of the tab, the container began to warm to the touch. Twenty seconds later, the soup was ready. These packages still amazed her, even though she had been using them for almost a year. Only fifty people knew about or used such technology. All but a few of of them lived within 300 yards from her front door.
Once the soup was gone, she grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the cooler, reset the security program on her desk, and stepped out the door of the cottage. She heard the nearly silent click as the automatic locks engaged. Around her the whole world was full of sounds. The tread of her feet on the pea gravel path was like a pile-driver at a construction site. Bees in the clover seemed to have the volume of a military jet.
Katya decided to make this quick and set off for Brigitte’s cottage at a run. The thump of her feet hitting the ground echoed through her head. Fortunately the pink cottage was only a few hundred yards down one path, through a small water garden and to the right of the greenhouses. As she came to a halt the front door of the cottage opened, and Brigitte stepped out.
It had been widely discussed among the group of women just how much they all resembled a large group of sisters. Katya and Brigitte were nearly the same height, both just over 1.7 meters. They had similar body structure. A stranger would think it likely that one was a ballerina and the other a gymnast, and they would be right. Nearly all of the group had some sort of background in athletics or dance. All of them had short hair, no longer than just below the ears. There were no blondes in the group, just a mix of brown, auburn, brunette and the two redheads. All of them had blue eyes.
Brigitte walked right up to Katya and gave her a kiss on both cheeks. It was a French thing. Brigitte was the only native European in the group, although several others had lived there on and off, and she was thrilled to be the only one with continental manners.
“Congratulations, darling. You’re the last one! I think soon we are ready.�
“Yes, but ready for what?�
“Does it matter? We will all be fabulously wealthy, no matter what happens. Do you think anything would keep Riley from achieving his goal?�
“No, not likely.�
“Come walk with me, Katya. I need to ask you something, and I need to make sure no one else is listening.�
“Why all the secrecy?�
“Just wait until we’re in the greenhouse, and I’ll tell you.�
The greenhouses were buildings that all the women were familiar with. Each of them had spent many hours here planting seeds, watering, transplanting seedlings and moving mature plants outside. In yet another example of symmetry, each of the group had prior experience with plants, gardening or forestry. The greenhouses were a social gathering place, since they all felt comfortable in the muggy warmth amongst the plants.
After sunset in the summer, there were no grow lights on, and the door to greenhouse #3 opened into a dark building. Despite the darkness, Katya could hear the plants moving, hear the chik-chik of predatory wasps devouring aphids, hear the drip-drip-drip of the irrigation. Both women knew their way around from experience. Brigitte led the way down the center of the building until they were directly in front of the ventilation system.
Brigitte reached out and turned the fan control to HIGH. She turned to Katya and whispered “I don’t think any of our ‘sisters’ can hear us over this fan if we stay quiet.�
“What is it?� Katya asked.
“I think I’ve found out what Riley is up to. Or at least part of it.�
“Brigitte, what do you mean?�
“Oh nothing, just a little net research. It’s what I do!�
Brigitte was the daughter of two network engineers. She was born, their only child, during a five year stint working in California for a French-owned telecommunications company. This was back in the late 1990s when the whole world was being interconnected. Brigitte had grown up in a house where every new telecommunications and network device was being beta tested, used, or being thrown out before it had even reached the general public. By the age of 14 she had her own business doing network consulting and information research.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?�
“Naturellement, dear. The network is my life. When I was hired by Riley 6 months before you, I was the second girl he brought here. Of course Natalie and I were both very curious as to what was going on, with so little information. I started doing net searches almost immediately.�
“Brigitte! Riley told us not to ask any questions.�
“But I have not, Katya. No questions at all. Just gathering information. You see, I know who Riley is.�
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