Summer is still weeks away but we are already getting temperatures in the high 90s (gasp!).

When I was out on the road yesterday (being thankful for good air conditioning), I saw a guy in a new Ferrari and I began to think like this; I could steal his car, sell it and live off the proceeds while writing full time. In the end I thought I'd better not because stealing is stealing and it's not a nice thing to do at all.

So I just wanted to say if any of you have a spare Ferrari hanging around not being used, just stick it in a shipping container and post it to me here in Oz. Sorry to say I do not know how many stamps you'll need, but I'm sure your local post office can help with that.

Chapter 72

The Beginning of The End

"If you say so Sir, but we will not be accessing the contaminated food in the Supply Ship."

Luis's blunt response to Marshal Baron's return order left the room in a temporary state of silence. The shock on April's face was surpassed only by the look of fear on the face of the young Paramedic.

"I'M NOT HAVING ANYTHING MORE TO DO WITH THIS" he suddenly cried out "I KNEW WE'D NEVER GET AWAY WITH IT."

Marshal Barron took a deep breath and turned bright red as the Paramedic ran out the room so fast, he almost knocked himself out on the doorframe.

"Contaminated food?" April also turned red, but with rage "What have you done Marshal?"

"I haven't done anything; Luis is just making unfounded assumptions" Barron defended himself.

"Seems like a pretty good guess to me" Florian said accusingly.

"This is incredible" April began breathing heavily while pacing in tiny circles.

"It looks to me like you will do almost anything the Deep Council tell you too" Florian shook his head in disgust "What have they got on you? It must be pretty bad."

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU PROMISED THEM FLORIAN" April cried out "THIS HAS GOT TO STOP; YOU HAVE TO TELL US WHO THE MEMBERS OF THE DEEP COUNCIL ARE, AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT NOW!"

Florian Klein hung his head in shame. It was very plain to see he had made the wrong decision in keeping quiet.

"Alright April... yes... yes I will" the elderly man sighed "Just give me fifteen minutes to tell Professor Topolski; I owe him the courtesy of finding out from me first."

April thought for a moment before nodding her head reluctantly.

"I'll come and see you in sixteen minutes" she stated as Florian left.

The Doctor rose from his seat and hurried to the door as well, but April raised her hand to his chest making him stop in his tracks.

"And where do you think you're going?" she growled in his face.

"Let me go April; I have to try and find out what was sent in the Supply Capsule and how dangerous it is."

Another second of thought and April stepped out of the Doctors way.

"I'll be around to see you soon too!" she called after him.

Just then, a loud Claxton alarm echoed throughout the base followed by an important announcement.

"Emergency; Emergency! Medical Response Team to southwest factory floor!"

The message repeated a few times before Talon approached April and spoke into her ear.

"I just realised Mrs. Dias; the southwest factory floor is just down the corridor from here.

Neither of them knew if there were any connection, but they both hurried off anyway to check it out for themselves. April took the lead as usual while Talon hurried along behind her as fast as he could.

"WAIT; NOT THAT WAY!" he called out as April opened the stairwell door.

"But the factory floor is three levels down" she protested.

"True, but you can see the entire place from the gantry crane access walkway" Talon revealed.

Only a few meters further on, Talon held another door open for April. They stepped out onto a metal walkway that ran around the entire area, looked out over the factory floor and saw a small group of people gathered around the body of the Paramedic, lying in a pool of blood three floors below them.

"Oh my God" Talon gasped and exited back to the corridor with April following close behind.

She leant on the wall and gasped for breath, but her legs soon lost all strength and she slid down to the floor.

"That would have to be the most horrible thing I've ever seen; I think I'm gonna be sick" Talon continued to breath heavily.

Nothing more was said for a few minutes as April and Talon listened to sounds of mild panic drifting up from below.

'Mrs. Dias" the young man sought her attention.

"What is it?" she replied.

"Do you think he killed himself or..."

Talon found he could not complete his thought, so April tried instead.

"Or was he murdered to keep him from talking?" she said.

"Well... yeah" Talon nodded.

"I wish I knew. The Deep Council may have been blackmailing him and the thought of their information becoming public knowledge may have been too much for him to cope with. On the other hand you're right to think they could be desperate enough to... to... oh no... Florian!"

April clambered back onto her feet and hurried off down the corridor with Talon in his usual place bringing up the rear. They ran as fast as they could to the nearest main thoroughfare that ran the length of the base. Most people walked along these boulevards but April did not have time to dawdle.

"Hurry up or I'll leave you behind" she called back and jumped into the driver's seat of a small electric cargo mover.

"GO!" Talon called out as he threw himself in the rear tray.

It wasn't a very fast vehicle but people still had to move quickly to avoid being struck by the solid little cart. April's right foot was flat to the floor and her hands alternated between steering the vehicle and sounding the horn.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!" Talon called out after standing up in the back.

The cart was thin so it was also quite unstable, and it rocked from side to side as April tried desperately to avoid pedestrians while staying at full speed. Two kilometres down the road, they approached their destination still at full pace. The cart was only a few meters from the entrance to habitat section L7 when April finally hit the brakes hard. It had not been her intention to cause Talon any harm but that did not keep him from sailing over the drivers cab and hitting the ground with an audible thump.

"Are you okay?" April called out as Talon rolled to a stop a few meters away.

"I'll live" he replied as he clambered to his feet.

"Sorry about that" April offered before bursting through the double doors.

Talon limped after her, knowing he would not be able to keep up but willing to try. He eventually found April standing outside Klein's home thumping on the door with her right hand and hitting the call button with her left, all the while shouting out his name at the top of her voice.

"Stand back Mrs. Dias" Talon ordered.

He pulled the I.D. card from his chest pocket and tapped it against the call button.

"Perks of being in the Security Force" he said as the door slid open.

April rushed in and looked around still calling Florian's name, but it was soon apparent he was not there.

'Wait a minute" Talon realised something "When he left the Comms Room he wasn't headed home, he was going to see Professor Topolski."

"And Leonard isn't teaching because he's still on leave from Base Two" April added.

They hurried back out, not bothering to close the door behind them. Fortunately for Talon and his slightly bruised leg, Professor Topolski's rooms were only a short distance away. April still arrive there first and resumed her ritual of hitting things and shouting.

"Looks like they're not here either" Talon noted as he retrieved his I.D. card and used it again.

"I'm surprised you're permitted to just open any door you want with impunity" April noted.

"Oh the system records every door I override and I have to fill out a report later explaining why I..."

Talon stopped short as the door opened up to reveal yet another gruesome sight; Florian Klein and Leonard Topolski were both inside, and both were also quite obviously dead.

April and Talon stood in stunned silence just staring at the deceased men for a moment, but when April moved towards them, Talon quickly grabbed her elbow.

"Don't; this is a crime scene now" he advised.

April soon found herself sitting on the floor again, just outside the door. Finding the bodies of two of her closest friends after hearing about the danger to her family was too much for her to cope with and she soon fell into a state of shock. Talon too was still feeling very ill, but he managed to keep a clear head as he took out his communicator and reported what he and April had found. With more security officers on the way, Talon decided to take a quick look inside to see if he could spot anything that might be important.

The first thing to catch his eye was the coffee table the bodies were near; on there was a bottle and next to it, small container containing four tiny white pills while two shot glasses lay on the floor nearby. Talon knew time was not on his side so he set his communicator to video record and slowly moved it around the area. In just over a minute he heard the sound of approaching boots, so he slipped the communicator into his top pocket and moved back over to the doorway.

"What the hell..." the first man inside gasped.

"Mrs. Dias and I found them like this" Talon reported "Nothing has been touched Sir and so with your permission, I would like to escort Mrs. Dias home so she can rest."

"I think you should take her to the nearest Medical Bay" the man suggested.

"Yes Sir" Talon acknowledged.

April began to feel as if any bad day could easily be made much worse just by giving it the right opportunity. After all that had happened, she now received a stern rebuke from her Obstetrician. Even before the events of the day, there was concern April had been pushing herself far too much considering her condition and her doctor insisted she undertake an ultrasound test just to be on the safe side.

While she was being taken care of, Talon took a trip to the other side of the base with the intention of finding Saffron. As he entered his old learning suite, Dexter Riley looked up from his work in surprise.

"I didn't expect to see you back here so soon" he stated "I thought you were gone for good."

"There's been some trouble" Talon stated "I need to find Saffron Dias."

Riley looked sternly into the young man's eyes. Given the violent history he had with the ten year old girl, the cautious instructor wasn't sure if the new security officer wasn't trying to use his position for some kind of revenge. Talon could see the doubt on his former instructors face and knew he would have to explain without revealing anything about the deaths of Topolski and Klein. News was already spreading about the apparent suicide of a Paramedic, so he used that as an excuse.

"Mrs. Dias and I were near the southwest factory floor during the recent emergency; you may have heard one of the base Paramedics was killed in a fall from the gantry crane access walkway. It was quite a shocking sight so Mrs. Dias and her unborn child are now receiving a medical check up. She will want to talk to her daughter when the doctor is finished."

Riley nodded when he realised Talon was genuinely concerned for Saffron and her mother.

"The entire class in down one of the new tunnels studying Martian Geology" the instructor revealed "I'll call to have them brought out and you can meet them near the tunnel airlock."

"Thank you Sir" Talon nodded and went on his way.

Dexter Riley could not help but ponder the obvious change in attitude Talon was showing and mistakenly assumed it was because of his new responsibilities in the Mars Security Force. He had no way of knowing it was totally due to the influence of April Dias, the woman Talon had previously insulted and distrusted.

Half an hour later, Talon and Saffron arrived safely back at the Medical Suite, only to find a small group of people, including the leader of the Citizens Council, waiting outside to see her mother.

"Can I go in and see my Mom?" Saffron asked one of the nurses on duty.

"I should think so Honey" she smiled "I'll just check."

The nurse disappeared down the corridor leading to the examination rooms and returned soon after. She then escorted Saffron to a room where she found her mother sitting up in bed chatting to one of the doctors.

"Ah come in Miss Dias" the doctor got up from her seat "You'll be happy to hear all is well so I'll leave you two to talk for now."

She then turned back to face April and spoke a little more sternly.

"But I have a few more things to say to you later about taking better care of yourself."

There were two chairs close by, but Saffron just ignored them both and climbed up on the bed next to her mother.

"I can't believe Professor Topolski and Papa Klein are both dead" she cried softly.

"It was a real shock alright" April agreed.

"Is that why you're sick?" the young girl asked.

"I'm alright sweetie; I was just a little upset" April admitted.

Saffron snuggled into her mother's side and just lay there for a few minutes, trying to relax but finding it very hard to do so.

"But how is the..." Saffron faltered.

"The baby is okay too" April said reassuringly "The doctor just said I need to rest for a while."

Very little more was said as mother and daughter lay comforting each other until the nurse returned twenty minutes later.

"The doctor said you can receive other visitors if you like. Do you feel up to it?"

"Yes but not here" April replied "I'd rather go home where my bodyguard can boss people around when I tell him too."

"You're wicked Mrs. Dias" the nurse smiled.

Her doctor insisted April allow herself to be driven home and was surprised when she did not resist; even though she felt fine, April had decided she deserved a little pampering. Marshal Baron tried to talk to her on the way out of the medical suite, but April decided to put herself into a position of power over the leader of Mars and told him to make an appointment. Later, as a kind of joke partly designed to annoy anyone April felt like annoying, she temporarily turned Abigail's bedroom into an office and meeting room. Talon Descott was given a small desk just inside the front door while Ruth Kinderman had a larger one near the passage to the bedrooms.

While Ruth did her best to organise April's notes on the Deep Council Investigation, Talon made sure anyone who was let in, knew they were only there as long as April allowed it to be so.

"How long are we going to have to wait here?" Marshal Baron said impatiently.

"It won't be much longer sir" Ruth smiled sweetly "Mrs. Dias just needs a little time with her daughter before she comes out."

Barron sat heavily on the couch between Sierra Corbin and Victor Kittredge, the other two members of April's investigation team, and mumbled to himself about how Olive Roux was never treated this badly. A few minutes later April emerged from Saffron's bedroom and greeted everyone.

"Sorry to keep you waiting but I had something very important to talk over with Saffy first" she informed those present.

"I'm trying to be understanding April, but I do have a lot of work to do in dealing with all these sudden deaths" Marshal was also trying to keep a cool head. "Now first things first; I know I'm being rather insensitive, but how long do you think it will be before you can recommence the investigation?"

"There will be no recommencement of the investigation because there really is no point anymore" April shocked everyone.

"WHY THE HELL NOT?" Marshal lost his cool completely.

"There's no point because now the Deep Council has done away with the only two people who could reveal their identities to me, they've managed to make finding out the truth effectively impossible."

"I don't have all the facts from Security yet, but first indications say it looks like Topolski and Klein may have had a suicide pact" Marshal Barron noted.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard" Sierra Corbin barked.

"As I said, we don't know for sure" Barron countered "but no matter what you think April, everyone on Mars still expects the probe into the Deep Council to continue. We just can't move on until it's done and dusted."

"I knew this was a bad idea from the very beginning and now I maintain it's an impossible task, unless each member of the Deep Council reveals their identities first; and you know that'll never happen. So if you want to keep going, you'll have to find someone else to head it up this farce because I'm not having anything more to do with it" April declared plainly.

"You're making a big mistake April!" Baron insisted.

"So are you if you think you can intimidate me" she replied.

I've gotten to that special point in the story where it finally takes over my life. Dishes are piled up in the sink, vacuuming not done, I'm wishing the clock wouldn't keep telling me it's time to go to work; you get the idea. I remember it first happened when the Seasick Dragon story was nearing its end, so I know what to expect now.

A few weeks of obsessive writing, followed by great satisfaction upon completion and ending with the feeling of being lost and empty without anything worthwhile to do for a few days... then starting the whole thing all over again with a new book.

Yeah, I think I've flipped out too. :D