"Sir, a report has just arrived. You really need to see this." A clerk hands a printout to the man in a lab coat. He is working in the room adjacent to the observation chamber he and his female colleague were in, to work on separate problems, when they were last interrupted. Leaning back, half sitting on his desk, he reads through the short report, expressing, in succession, surprise, annoyance and finally worry. He instructs the clerk to send for his colleague.
"Already.."
"...here" The woman says right on cue, entering the room. "What's going on?" She asks.
Handing her the print, he says "Apparently our drone lost its target." Waiting for his colleague to read through the report as well and look up to him again, he points at the pad in her hand "And according to that, it's not malfunctioning, nor is there an indication of any kind of interference. It just veered off course slightly then corrected and the target is gone."
"How is that possible? It's just transmitting a video stream and positional data. How can a simple camera following something suddenly lose its target? With the target in sight even!" The woman already thinking of all kinds of possibilities, dismissing most of them for logical reasons, and some, like teleportation, as her too active imagination.
"That's a very good question." He turns to the clerk "Is there anything during their stopover? What did they do, anyway?"
"Er..well, they just shared a drink. Nothing else."
"Hmm.." Now at the end of his wits as well, he notices the same expression on his colleague he expects to have on his own face "This is not good. It's about 200 kilometers from Aimerse to the outskirts of the range itself. They could be anywhere in there already, never mind the entire length and width of the range." He walks over to a computer at the other end of the room, calling up a few data sheets, while mumbling "How much of Sassam is surveyed anyway? In a way we could use, of course."
"Currently, starting right in the middle, in each direction just over fifteen hundred of the eight thousand kilometer span are photographed in a high enough resolution and a combination of filters to detect any life signs. The higher-ups don't care much for the exploration of that area. They've probed for anything they could mine, didn't find anything and dropped the subject. Private funding has only been found a few years ago, to rent satellite time for further exploration. And they don't get many spots in the schedule." The woman explains.
"Well, that's what happens when you're confident you had every angle covered." he sighs. "I suggest a group of surveillance drones, say 5, more if we can get some, spread along the outskirts of that town and further out. We should cover some 100 kilometer width with that. For when they come back, I mean. It is highly unlikely they chose a different route than the one they took to get there. But for now, let's assume they'll stay and see that our operation is happening this evening." He says.
"I agree. At least drones we have enough of. I don't think we should report this just yet. So far, it doesn't change much. We'll get another opportunity to send a team after them, instead of some inflexible drone. If we don't get a better opportunity to snatch her right away before that, of course." The woman says with a sigh.
"It'll be best for our heads as well, I think. I like mine where it is. Don't want to lose it, just because some equipment could be tricked." he jokes.
Laughing, the woman exits the room to return to her own work.
–
"We will be arriving in just under an hour."
This time, at their liftoff from the roof of the parking area, Marie's mind isn't distracted with so many thoughts, she can take her time to look over the small town from above, taking in the sights she isn't likely to see again any time soon. While it's a nice town, it's not even much of a vacation spot.
But she does plan to keep it in the back of her mind, visiting again. She isn't particularly put off by the fact that the picture in her mind, of the woman now next to her, then sitting at the same table, the two enjoying each others company, doesn't seem to want to exchange for her sitting there alone.
"So back to the main topic." Marie turns away from the sight, focusing on the other woman who's just putting the last few commands into the flyer's systems. "There's something I have been meaning to ask..." She doesn't need to know she managed to make me forget to ask it... "When you had your research going and these people approached you, did you never think to check on them, check through names of their employees – your coworkers – and such?"
"Oh, of course I did. Well, initially, I did not look into the normal staff, but I did try to find out about those in the suits. The information I found, so long as we assume it was truthful, suggested they were businessmen through and through." When the other woman is finished with her inputs and faces her, Marie is somewhat relieved to find the open expression she's seeing. So you're finally coming to terms with the fact that this is still...well, at least some kind of interrogation?
"And, while they had had a few deals that might even have caught the interest of the police, they seemed to be careful enough to leave nothing I could find to use as leverage against them." Mu's hand twitches, almost holding it up, but she realizes it is not necessary, when Marie is just quietly waiting for more information to come forth, instead of questioning her methods again. "I did look into it as thoroughly as I was able. Being in business myself allowed me to see quite a bit more than the police could have, I believe. I understand it is anything but easy to gain access to company records and business internals, yes?"
"True, yes."
"I could not go further than find out that these people had investors in the form yet other companies. Aside from the publicly available overview of those, I was unable to procure more details of their owners. These companies, however, were, as per public knowledge, working on governmental contracts, as well as for the defense industry.. Those two connections were as far as I could trace the involvement of the government. No obvious or hidden money trails or other kind of support. In itself, the contents of those two connections were very much so legal. They took a lot of precaution."
The flyer's hums are the only sounds inside the cabin, as it makes its way over the landscape, dotted with small wooded areas, all natural fields and even a few water bodies of varying sizes. "Seems like you thought of everything, except inform us." she sighs. "I'm still not convinced it wouldn't have been the better choice. We aren't completely powerless, you know? There might even have been people who wanted to talk."
Slightly distraught, Mu concedes "You make another valid point. However, I made it quite obvious I was looking into the project, a lot more than they should have expected. They should have been well aware of my wariness when...things started to turn against their plans, or at least I like to think the latter. This, then, should have made it abundantly clear to any of the involved parties that I was going against them, so if any one of them had an incline to support me, all they would have had to do was approach me. I never displayed animosity towards those whom I did not know about. Innocent until proven guilty, so to speak."
"Sounds more like wishful thinking than anything." Marie groans. She doesn't seem to show any remorse to all that. But then, what else is she supposed to do, it's not like it's possible to fix any of this anymore. "So there is at least a slight chance that there's anyone left for me to find who might actually want to talk." shaking her head, she mutters under her breath "Got to grasp for straws now, huh?" forgetting that the other woman can still easily hear her. Can you believe it's only been two days?
With the flight over the tundra, leading up to the sky-piercing, near thirteen kilometer high mountain range almost behind them, Marie takes a closer look at their surroundings, searching for any sign of life. Immersed in her search, combined with having her head swirling with thoughts about Mu and her ridiculous hint-ish remarks, as well as the constant new hurdles the woman puts in her way, she is startled when she's suddenly being addressed. She doesn't even entertain the thought that this went unnoticed anymore.
Great show there, Castaneda. You're doing well, representing the dignity of the police. No hope she might not have noticed..just look at that smirk. Oh boy.. She thinks, realizing how much she's actually starting to look forward to meeting the parents of this peculiar woman.
Smirking right back, though less from amusement, Marie asks "Sorry, what did you say?"
"That we are still about twenty minutes from my home. There is little to see until then." So she knows what I was looking for? What the heck? "Though some might find the location soothing, I do find it much too bland. I suppose I should not simply assume you are increasingly...excited." Mu's apologetic smirk has little effect, as her eyes reflect just as much of the teasing she is not showing on her face.
"I'm not-" Marie starts indignantly, despite realizing she's been teased, only too late, courtesy to her jumbled thoughts. "Well yeah, in a sense, I am excited, of course. Before I got involved with you," unguarded, the other meaning of the slip escapes both them "I never even thought that there could be people this far out in the nowheres. So, of course I am interested to see who actually chooses that kind of lifestyle. As you already noted, it's already rare for me to get as far out of City as our last stop."
The teasing fades into a gentle smile "You really miss out on many, quite lovely places. They are all around you." chidingly shaking her head, she shrugs "The city people rather keep themselves within the confines of their known borders. That is a sad thing, I think."
"Says the one building said city, living in it and being known for not taking much time off work in years." Marie summarizes her acquired information. Her eyebrow raises with every word and, smirking, she looks directly into Mu's golden eyes.
Only to find them suddenly very close seconds later, accompanied by a whispered "You have beautiful eyes."
You too! Too close! Too smile! Oh boy! Not wanting to show the cringe she felt at her thoughts, now really just a mess because of the sudden turn of events, leaves Marie to forcibly stare wide eyed into the depth of gold. Where did that one come from? Nonetheless she notices in detail, the parting of Mu's warm smile to release the amazed and bewildered words "I do not know why I did not notice this earlier," Mu says, amused, while leaning back slightly again "apart from our meeting for the first time. At which, you might imagine, I was more concerned with my rudeness. Nevertheless, you really do look remarkably like her."
More distractions? Not unappreciated this time...Does she have no concept of personal space? With a cursedly dry mouth and a scratchy voice, Marie manages to ask "Who might that be?" What's with these sudden changes in topic and behavior?
"I am sorry." Mu straightens up in her seat, obviously realizing that what she just did to Marie was not the right thing to do. Or is she apologizing for something else? But Marie can't find anything in her scrambled thoughts that might warrant an apology. Nothing, really...which in itself is bad enough.
"I have a liking for a particular type of music. Jazz, if you know it." She regards Marie with a slight tilt to her head, apparently expecting some form of answer. Marie gives one in the form of no more than a simple nod, still trying to swallow the dryness out of her throat. Wouldn't want to start squeaking or somesuch...that'd be the end of me.
"Long gone now, on Earth, there was an ensemble of musicians, the lead singer of which had a striking resemblance to you." Apparently not one to learn from her mistakes, Mu inches closer to Marie once more, staring into her eyes with a smirk. "It makes me wonder if your voice is of the same quality. However, alas, I have neither heard yours with, nor hers without melody. I imagine, though, the qualities remain the same, would you sing and she speak."
Noticing the flush and bewilderment on Marie's face, Mu abruptly sits upright and changes topics yet again "To answer your underlying question: I have been confined in City, by choice, for a while now. I alternated a few times along the years, but, in total, I have been in these lands much longer, enjoying everything there is – or was, as much is lost – to see, rather than holed up in the confines of ."
On cue of a beep, Mu turns back to her console, effectively eliminating Marie's chance to inquire about the absurd implication of a timeline. Well, it would no doubt be fruitless anyhow. Last guess I'm going to make, before I stop being so lenient, is that she's waiting for a place on her home turf to reveal anything. I suppose that's what anyone would do, if they have the chance. Leaning her much too warm cheek into her hand, propped up on her seat's armrest. Appreciating the scenery outside, she now finds mostly white, dotted with small groups of conifer like trees, green and thorny as back on earth, but far from the same. Come to think of it, how long has it been since I've seen snow...