Part 3
A single glance around the small room was all Marie needed to show that it was unoccupied. The one bed was stripped and the mattress rolled up. None of the few possessions that had been in view the last time she had visited were evident. If it wasn't for the single bag in the middle of the floor, there would be nothing to show that anyone had lived there.
Spotting a folded note pinned to the top of the bag, Marie pulled out a torch from her pocket. Before she could read it though, a hiss came at her from the window.
"Marie! What's happening?"
Silently she cursed at herself. How could she have forgotten Tim in just ten seconds? Maybe she had just got too used to doing things by herself.
She leant out of the window, "They're not here. They've gone completely."
"Can you throw the ladder down?" Tim was looking around very nervously.
Less than a minute later, they were both in the room and looking at the note.
Dear Marie, It said, Sorry to disappear on you but we couldn't stay here any more. We've joined Mother Earth. They say they'll give me work in exchange for somewhere to live. Thanks for your help. The last lot of clothes I mended are in the bag. Molly Walker.
"Well that is strange." Commented Tim.
Marie didn't answer. It was more than strange; it was downright worrying. She knew Molly had been getting more desperate, but she had always refused any charity that had been offered. Marie had heard no mention of Mother Earth before, so for them to seemingly come to the rescue in under twenty-four hours was definitely not right.
She slung the bag over her shoulder and turned to the window.
"Where are we going now?" Tim asked.
"Back to campus. I don't like this one bit. Do you have access to an archive in the journalism department?"
"Of course. Why.."
Marie didn't let him finish.
"Find out all you can about this Mother Earth. I'm going to do some digging from my end."
OoOoOoOoO
The door had chimed three or four times before Marie registered it. She allowed Tim entry without looking up from the screen of the computer terminal.
"Take a seat," she said, "I'm just in the middle of something here."
She didn't see Tim gingerly tiptoe over the numerous printouts scattered across the floor as she was once more intently staring at the screen, fingers flying over the keyboard. For the next few moments, the only sound was the clicking of keys, then,
"Gotchya!" Marie hissed in triumph.
"What have you got?" Tim leaned over her shoulder.
"I don't know yet," Marie tiredly rubbed the back of her neck, trying to relieve the stabbing pain she always got when she was hunched over a keyboard. "I've just managed to hack into the Mars National Bank high security accounts. Took me five minutes."
"Five minutes!"
"They have a very nasty security system, or it would have taken me two." She stretched the crick out of her shoulders, then noticed that Tim was looking at her with an expression of bewilderment and suspicion. "What?" she asked. What had she just said to unnerve him like that?
"Do you normally hack computers for fun?" He asked.
Oh no! He thought she was a criminal of some sort, or one of these people who write viruses. She'd forgotten once again that she wasn't on Minbar surrounded by people trained to do what she had just done.
"Sorry!" she apologised, then rushed on, "The Rangers taught me. I don't normally…"
Tim held up his hand, "It's alright." He said, although Marie wasn't sure it was, "I am just going to have to get used to the fact that you can do things most of us would never dream of. I suppose you can kill a man in ten seconds?"
"Six." Marie automatically corrected. Oh gosh, that made her sound like a murderer now. She was digging herself deeper by the minute. "I never have though…"
Her frantic explanation was cut short by Tim holding up both hands now and backing away slightly.
"I don't want to know." He stated.
She really had no idea what to say. She found it hard enough to make friends, without scaring off a cute guy who was actually standing in her room.
She felt her eyes sting with tears. She couldn't cry now! Desperately fighting down the lump in her throat, she launched one last attempt "Tim.."
"No." Tim began again, paused, then with a deep breath continued "It's all right. It's just that I've never met anyone like you, so something like that is going to freak me out for a moment."
"I don't mean to…"
"I know." Tim stepped towards her.
Marie lowered her head, fearful that her shining eyes would betray how close she had come to losing it. She had worked too hard building up the image of a confident capable student, to let one disappointment wreck everything.
Two hands were placed gently on her shoulders.
"Look at me Marie."
Hesitantly, she looked up, unsure what she would see. Tim was looking into her eyes. No fear or disgust showed in them. Just a smile of friendship.
"You have skills," He said softly, "beyond most people. Never be ashamed of what you can do."
He squeezed her shoulders in encouragement and Marie replied with a tentative smile, not quite trusting her voice. Maybe here was someone who was willing to accept her for who she was. For the first time in a year, she didn't feel like she had to hide her true self to avoid being the misfit.
"So what is all this for?" Tim waved his hand at the paper-strewn floor.
Marie gratefully turned back to the computer terminal. With her back to Tim, she was able to wipe her eyes with her fingers and take a deep breath, hopefully without him seeing too much.
"This," Marie started to explain, "Is a paper trail. Follow the money, and you find the people. Luckily for me, Mother Earth has an easily found bank account." She grabbed a piece of paper off the floor and passed it to Tim. "Almost all those deposits on there are from individuals, private citizens. Some of the payments are legit, but it's the steady trickle to off-world companies that I followed."
She was on her hands and knees now, picking up printout after printout, retracing her steps through cyberspace.
"None of them are big enough to be noticed normally. We have money going to Vega, Proxima, Beta Durani, the Orion colonies, even the Drazi homeworld. Do you want to know the really interesting thing I found when I hacked them?"
Tim stared at the sheaf of paper in his hands, obviously not understanding the printed figures. It was a second before he registered Marie's question and refocused on her.
"What?"
Marie grinned. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed infiltration.
"Every one of those companies is a front." She picked up her explanation again. "The money is turned around as soon as it arrives and is sent back to Mars, to the Mars National Bank high security accounts."
"Which you've just hacked." Tim finished.
Taking her seat once more at the computer, Marie scanned the accounts on the screen.
"There you are." She murmured to herself as she swiftly gained access to the one she wanted. Tim leaned in at her shoulder to see the information. He whistled.
"That's a lot of money."
"But it's not all from Mother Earth." Marie said, "See these deposits?" she pointed to various sets of numbers, "These are from somewhere new. And these payments; that's an awful lot of money going out to someone."
"Can you trace it?"
"Give me a few minutes."
And so she continued working, following the trail. The payments and the deposits were from the same company; a pharmaceutical. Investigating the company details, it appeared to be a small firm manufacturing a number of over the counter drugs.
"But their turnover doesn't account for the Mars money?" Marie thoughtfully stated.
"Unless it's a front for something else." Tim suggested. "Maybe drug running. Hide the operation behind a legit company; make it harder to find."
"A lie behind the truth." Marie agreed, "That is possible. But what is the connection with Mother Earth?" She paused for a moment, "Actually, what is Mother Earth? What did you find out?"
It was Tim's turn to grin. He had his own paper trail and opened a folder he had brought with him.
"It's a cult." He began, pulling out a number of newspaper articles. "It appeared a few months ago, after the quarantine was placed on Earth. They say they give a home and family to those who have lost theirs to the Drakh. It promises education for the children and work for all in return for the cult taking charge of their welfare. It hasn't gained much attention because unlike most cults, it doesn't advertise openly for new members. From what I can find, possible candidates have been approached individually."
"So far it's all feasible. What's the catch?"
"Well," Tim continued, "I looked into the guy who was running it, Daniel Boon. He has a decent enough background, or so he claims. I looked up any records from before the quarantine and found Daniel Boon. But he's still stuck on Earth."
"So who's this Daniel Boon?"
"Well, this took some digging, but I eventually got a photo of him. He's very secretive you know. Running it through the system, the most likely match is with a Don Boulden."
"And he is?"
"Was," Tim corrected, "A small time arms smuggler, dealing weapons with Free Mars during the riots a few years back."
Marie thought for a moment. If she had been worried before, this new information made her triply concerned for her friends.
"The biggest question," she said, "Is how come a Free Mars sympathiser is helping Earthers. Most of them wouldn't lift a finger if they were bleeding at their feet."
"Perhaps he's just going for the easiest source of money to fund whatever that company is hiding." Tim offered.
Marie nodded in agreement. "Then this Daniel is not really concerned about the welfare of those people." What had the Walkers got themselves unknowingly into? She had to help them! "We need to stop them."
In her head, she was mentally making a list of what she needed to do to put her plan in action, when an utterance from Tim broke her train of thought.
"Whoa!" He had his hands up again and a look of shock on his face. "What do you mean, stop them? We don't have anything here that could be used as evidence. You hacked into the Mars bank!"
"That's why we're going to join Mother Earth."
"Excuse me." It looked to Marie that Tim was on the verge of walking out. "Who's this we. I'm not one of your Rangers."
Well, maybe it would be better if she worked alone. She could accomplish the task quicker, and Tim wouldn't be in danger if she got caught. On the other hand, it was useful to have someone who could watch your back, and so far she had liked working with him.
"It's up to you of course." Marie decided to leave the decision to him. Mostly. "But you wanted a story for your project, and the inside view of the downfall of a cult I thought would be perfect. I can always tell you about it afterwards." She turned away from Tim and prayed that her 'Ivanova' manipulation skills had been well learnt.
It wasn't long before she heard an exasperated sigh.
"Fine. I'll come."
Marie grinned to herself. Her stomach had twisted in excitement when Tim had agreed, which was strange, as she shouldn't be looking forward to something this dangerous. She tried to centre herself as she had been taught in mediation class, but the feeling remained.
Later she would meditate. Now, she had to get everything prepared.
"What identity do you want?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"We can't go in just as ourselves." Marie explained. "We need to make up a history in case they check us out. What do you think; boyfriend and girlfriend, travelling around the galaxy until their money ran out and now they can't get back to Earth?"
"You can do that?"
"You said yourself, I can do a lot of things most other people can't." Marie settled herself for a long session at the computer terminal. She rubbed her neck again.
"That's the second time you've done that." Tim remarked.
"Bad posture." Marie replied, "But I usually concentrate so much I forget until it's too late. The pain's not that bad."
"I think I can help you there."
She felt Tim's hands settle on her shoulders. Marie was about to protest when his thumbs sought out her knotted muscles and proceeded to massage them, sending a shiver down her spine. All she managed was a groan of pleasure as the tension eased. Letting her head fall back, she gave in to his strong fingers and their rhythmic ministrations.
"Seem's I've found something I can do which you can't."
To be continued...