Chapter 3

Penelope stared blearily at her screen and sighed. Whoever owned that airfield definitely knew how to hide. The airfield was owned by a private corporation and its owner was a man called John Clark. She checked, but the John Clark in the records had sprung into being only six months previously, along with the corporation. It looked like both had been created just to buy and build that airfield. Some gut instinct was telling her that such an action had to do with Reid, and that just made her feel sick and worried and scared all at once.

She'd tried tracking the money transactions involved in buying the land but so far her searches had reached a dead end. The money only went so far before it stopped-she'd managed to track it through no less than five accounts and nine dummy corporations before it just vanished. She'd been so frustrated and disappointed when that happened that she laid her head down on her desk and indulged in a few tears.

C'mon, Garcia, she said to herself after a few minutes. Reid's counting on you. You can't let him down. She pulled herself together and faced her screen again. The facial-recognition was still running in the background, so she checked it for the umpteenth time since yesterday. Still no matches. She began to sigh, and then stopped mid-sigh as an idea occurred to her. She and Reid had been talking about icebergs shortly before...well, before. He'd told her that the majority of icebergs existed underwater. Entire ecosystems existed under and around icebergs and most people never noticed. Well, if the majority of an iceberg could exist underwater, perhaps an organization could exist underground. She'd seen plenty of them before, so why not the one that had taken Reid? She smiled and placed her hands on her keyboard.

It was time for her to dig.

Reid didn't know what happened when he passed out. It was almost pleasant, to be able to let go of the world like that and let his mind drift into unconsciousness, but slowly, he began to be aware of himself again. He became conscious that he existed and that something had been very wrong. His mind flinched away from that thought and latched on to the more comforting thought that he was alive, he had a body, and it was breathing. From breathing he became aware that he had a chest, neck, and head, and then arms and legs that were weighted down and immobile. His body was lying on something soft and warm and that thing supported him completely.

Hearing returned then. He could hear his own breathing, and there was a sound nearby. It was a soft sound, one that skirted the edges of his ears, and it was regular. Every other minute, there was the same sound. A new sound, of cloth against cloth and the slightest creak of wood brought him even closer to waking.

He fought against it, not wanting to leave the peaceful limbo he'd found himself in, but he could feel his body waking. His mind was waking up and with a jerk it snapped back into his body and his eyes opened.

Spencer blinked. He was staring at a cream-colored ceiling and at the periphery of his vision he could see a ceiling fan slowly turning, circulating the air in the room. The last thing he remembered...he'd been outside, hadn't he? When had he gone indoors? Wait a moment, who had he been talking to?

"Awake now, or are you sleeping with your eyes open?"

Spencer's head turned. There was a man with curly brown hair and a neatly-trimmed beard sitting in an easy chair nearby, holding a book and regarding him with a sardonic smile. The clothes he was wearing looked familiar, and it took Spencer a few minutes to realize that they were similar to what he'd been given to wear when he'd gone to lunch.

"I think I'm awake," Reid said, his dry throat making his voice croak. "Where am I? Who are you?"

"Both sensible questions," the man said, putting a book aside. Ah, that was one of the sounds Spencer had been hearing: turning pages. "You are in bed in your room and I am Sean Gallagher, the guide appointed by the Director to get you settled."

At the word Director everything rushed back to him and he felt a ball of ice settle into his stomach. "Where is he?"

"You've been out about an hour and a half. He had you brought here so you could rest," Sean told him. "He's probably in his quarters or in the research building. If you go a day without seeing him, then it's a good day. I think you surprised him when you passed out. Not very many people do that."

"I still don't know why I did it," Spencer admitted. "One second I was sitting there and the next…"

"You'll find no judgement from me," Sean said. "I was asked to sit with you. Feeling any better? Do you feel light-headed?"

"Yes, and no," Spencer answered, sitting up slowly. "I still feel like I should be waking up."

"From this nightmare? I know what you mean," Sean said thoughtfully. "How you're reacting is normal. It's a shock to be taken from your life and brought to a strange place and be told by a perfect stranger, 'This is your life now.'"

Spencer swung his legs over the side of the bed to face Sean. "Are you one of the prisoners or one of the jailers?"

Sean gave a mirthless laugh. "Can't you see the defeated look in my eyes? I was brought here five years ago. I was a chemist, then. Now I'm a member of the Trust." His voice was almost dripping with disdain.

"Sorry for being so suspicious."

"Don't be," Sean told him. "It's a good question to ask. Now, I do have to tell you that as a member of the Trust, you can earn points for doing good deeds, like being a Welcome Wagon for a new arrival. Earning points gets you an excursion off-campus and I desperately need to get out of here. Even if you don't need a person to welcome you and show you around, please indulge me. I won't get the points if I don't show you around and explain things."

"How would they know if you didn't?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Good Lord, you're naive," he groaned. "There are cameras everywhere."

"Of course there are," Spencer muttered. He thought about Sean's position and nodded. He could afford to be kind. "All right. You show me around and if anybody asks, I'll say you're an excellent Welcome Wagon."

That won him a smile. "Okay. Your color's good, but stand up slowly, okay? I don't want you to pass out again."

Spencer did as instructed and he felt steady once he was on his feet. He pushed his feet into his shoes and combed his fingers through his hair. "Ready."

"Good," Sean said, standing and going to the dresser. He grabbed something on top of it and handed it to Reid. "Here you go."

The device looked like a Fitbit. "What is it?"

"That's your wristband," Sean said, showing him a similar one on his own wrist. "It locks and unlocks your room, signs you in to your activities and the cafeteria, and it carries your credit. You can also use it to check out books and materials from the library and to log computer time."

"Computer time?" Reid repeated, latching onto the words. "They let us go online here?"

"They have research databases," Sean clarified. "There are a few other sites that they allow, but there's no chance to log in to your social media or email."

Reid squashed his disappointment, but he felt as if he wanted to curl up on the bed and sob. There would be other chances later. There just had to be.

Sean led the way out of the room. "We're in Beech Cottage," Sean said as he turned left toward some stairs. "Everybody lives in the cottages and they're all named after trees, for some reason. Everyone has their own room and bathroom, and there's a balcony where you can sit and enjoy the view. Every cottage has a common living room and a kitchenette, where you can put together a late-night snack if you need one, but most meals are eaten at the lodge."

By this point they'd reached the bottom of the stairs and emerged into the living room. There were plenty of couches and chairs, a few coffee tables, and an entertainment center. Shelves held books and board games. With pleasure Spencer saw at least three chess sets. At Sean's encouragement he glanced into the kitchenette, which had a supply of fresh fruit, nuts, rolls, cookies, granola bars, refrigerated snacks like cheese, yogurt, and frozen treats (all healthy ones), as well as sports drinks, iced coffee, and bottled water.

"Always recycle the bottles and such," Sean advised him. "That's a rule. There'll be a book full of rules and advice in your room; you can peruse that at your leisure later. Come on."

Sean led him to through the front door and across a wide porch and down some stairs to a path. "You'll be able to see all the cottages if you stand here and turn in a circle. Most of them are at full capacity, but there are a few with empty rooms."

Spencer looked. There was Beech, Oak, Spruce, Dogwood, Aspen, Pine, Cedar, Chestnut, Elm, Walnut, Hawthorn, and Maple. "How many people in each cottage?"

"Eight to ten; it depends on the size of the cottage. During the summers in the evenings there are a lot of people who like to sit on the porches and chat or play games, and you're always welcome to join in if you want." Sean paused and sighed. "I sound like a bloody brochure."

"You sound like someone showing me around," Reid told him in an effort to propitiate him. "What's the next stop on our tour?"

"The bikes," Sean said, leading the way to a sheltered bike rack. "Your wristband unlocks a bike for you, just wave it over this panel here. We can ride these and I can show you the rest of the place. Some people prefer to walk, but bikes get you there faster. Another reason to take them is that there's a lot to see."

Spencer waved his hand in front of the panel and he heard a click as he saw a bike lean sideways in its port. Next to Sean he wheeled the bike out of the rack and onto the path. Once they were pedalling seemed an opportune time to talk. "So, you were a chemist?"

"Feels like an eternity ago," Sean admitted. "I don't really want to talk about it, though. Hard to think about. Okay, ahead on our right is the cafe. You can stop in there anytime for a drink and a snack and to spend time with people. You can use your credits to purchase things. Nice place to take a date."

Spencer screeched to a halt. "A date?"

"The Director encourages relationships," Sean told him. "He feels it helps us...settle down, and settle in. Some couples have even gotten married-no kids yet, but I think it'll just be a matter of time before we have our first Trust baby shower."

"Yeah, okay. Not happening."

"Just be forewarned; he's an inveterate matchmaker. There have been a few times when he invited me to have dinner with him and I found myself walking into a blind date."

Reid shuddered. "Duly noted." Then, an awful thought occurred to him. "Do you think he might try to do that with me?"

"It's likely, especially if you're a fighter. Try keeping your head down for the first few months and the likelihood of it happening will be less. It's the people who don't settle down right away and get combative that the Director concentrates on."

Spencer made a mental note to be very, very calm and collected whenever he was anywhere outside of his room.

They were coming to a place that Reid recognized: the Green. "So, this is the park?"

"Something like," Sean admitted. "It's more like a giant, outdoor living room and lounge. There are plenty of fountains, as you can see, and when the wind blows, the fountains help keep the area cool. There are benches, shady areas, chess tables, areas for picnics, two outdoor gyms, paths for walking or biking, rockeries for climbing, and an amphitheater. There are bulletin boards throughout the Green with a list of events you can expect. Want to see?"

"A Welcome Wagon would show me," Reid pointed out.

"There should be a board up ahead."

They found it. The announcements were locked behind glass, but they were perfectly readable. In two days there would be a string quartet playing, three days after that would be a performance of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the following week after that would be a fireworks show. "Fireworks?" It was nowhere near a major holiday.

"Don't ask me why, but everybody here is ga-ga for fireworks," Sean explained. "The bigger and louder they are, the better we like them. Plus, a fireworks show is one of the few times you can stuff yourself with junk food and nobody gives you any trouble over it. You'll see."

Reid filed that information away for later. A fireworks show with its noise and distraction might be a good time to try slipping away.

Sean led the way to the far side of the Green, where the Main Square was. "Let's show you the campus exchange, shall we?"

"Why not?" Spencer replied.

They pulled up in front of a glass-fronted building and parked their bikes in a rack."There's a lot of bikes."

"Everybody uses them to get around," Sean told him as he opened the door. "Come on."

The phrase "campus exchange" had made Reid think of a college bookstore, but this was very different. Sean paused just inside the door so Reid could have a chance to look around, and what Reid saw surprised him. He'd been expecting items that were absolutely the bare minimum in what people would need, like toiletries and clothing, but these were all luxury items. Brand name clothing and shoes, old-fashioned film cameras and tape recorders, CDs, DVDs, expensive soaps and countless bath items, high-end stationery like notebooks, journals, sketchbooks and enough pens and pencils to stock a small specialty shop, and even gift baskets and boxes of gourmet foods and sweets. There was a section for magazines and newspapers, as well as all the current bestsellers in books. Nearest to Sean was a display of notions, like fidget spinners and squishies and brain teaser puzzles. Reid stared at the plenitude and he couldn't help breathing a slight, "Wow." He couldn't wrap his mind around it. "Why…? I mean, the Director, why would he…?"

Sean knew what Reid was struggling to ask. "He likes to keep us happy. One of the ways he does this is by giving us the chance to get things we like. Your credit should be on your wristband by now. Is there anything you'd like to get?"

"Not at the moment," Reid said, his mind still whirling a bit. "Let me think about it."

After the exchange Sean took him to the recreation hall. It reminded Reid of a university fitness center and then some. There were two Olympic-size swimming pools, enough fitness machines and weight machines to open two independent gyms, an indoor track, a rock-climbing wall, indoor tennis, volleyball, racquetball, and basketball courts, and classrooms for aerobics and specialty fitness classes.

"The wellness center has a few facilities for patients, but most people come here or outside in the Green to exercise," Sean explained. "This is just the first floor. Upstairs there's a dance studio, so if you choose to take dancing lessons, that's where you'll go. There's also a martial arts dojo and a fencing studio."

Reid did not work out, but the whole place looked like fun. It was busy, too: There were plenty of people using the machines, walking or running on the track, and he could see people in the pools.

"Now, did the Director tell you that you had to sign up for activities?"

That reminder brought him back to Earth with an unpleasant thump. "Yes, he did. Do I really have to?"

"One of the Director's precepts is that being social and mixing with others will help you settle in," Sean sighed. "Believe me, your life will be a lot easier if you just go along with it. If you try to isolate yourself…"

"I know, it'll be a transgression and someone else will be punished in my place," Reid muttered. He didn't want to think about that too much.

Sean nodded. "That's right, but I wanted to give you some food for thought. You're not the type of guy who would take this lying down, so I wanted to warn you. The Director and the people he employs, they have all the power. There was one person who persisted in isolating himself, despite other people first encouraging, and then ordering, and then exacting their own type of justice when that person refused to cooperate. When it became clear that nothing anyone did would make him comply, the Director took things one step further and had him admitted into his doctor's care at the wellness center." He paused and gave Reid an earnest look. "You don't want that to happen. Trust me. We didn't see that man for twelve weeks, and when he was released, he was moved into the Director's home. We rarely see him, if ever. Don't be so stubborn that the Director makes you into the crazy man in the attic."

Reid wrestled with fear that threatened to crawl up his throat, but he nodded. "I understand."

"Now, back to those activities," Sean said, clapping him on the shoulder and leading him down the hall and around a corner into a room. "A list of available activities are kept in the office, here, and you just take a look at that list and tell the young man behind the desk what you'd like to do. He'll sign you up for them and you'll get your schedule."

It was a pleasant office, Reid reflected as the man behind the desk took his name and handed him the list. He settled onto the sofa to read it. The Director had said that he had to do at least one activity each morning and one each afternoon or evening, so he could...woah. There were a lot to choose from. "Beachcombing is an activity?"

"We're surrounded by beaches on three sides," Sean reminded him.

A good number of the activities were ocean-related, Reid saw. Sailing, swimming, life-saving, tidepool ecology, specimen hunting, seashell collecting, tubing, snorkeling, sandcastle building, surfing… "Are there a lot of sea gulls on the beach?"

"It's a beach," Sean said, sounding confused. "What have you got against sea gulls?

"I'll tell you later." Spencer went back to reading the list. "Maybe my activities will be land-based, rather than beach-based." Hiking, rock-climbing, bushcraft, biking, horseback riding, swing dancing, cross training...um, no. He turned the page, a bit frustrated. There had to be something that he could do that wouldn't make him feel like a total klutz...wait a moment. Fiction writing, poetry recitation, foreign language study, mathematics symposium, Shakespeare, star-gazing, bird-watching, ecology walks, geocaching, pottery, basketry, woodshop, fabric arts, mosaics, sculpting, drawing; this was more his speed!

"Sir, I've checked your file and your doctor suggests a yoga or pilates class for you," the minion behind the desk told him. "You might want to schedule your required activity first and then schedule your other activities around it."

Annoyed, Reid scanned the list again and found a promising candidate. Beginning yoga. He'd seen plenty of people in parks and on television doing yoga and it didn't look too difficult. At the end of twenty minutes, he handed his list of chosen activities over, the minion entered them into the computer, and handed Reid a printed schedule. "There you are. Enjoy yourself, Dr. Reid."

Reid hoped his smile dripped with irony as they took their leave.

The rest of the tour passed in a bit of a blur for Reid. He saw the stables, the riding and hiking trails, the gardens ("Pleasant places to read," Sean had said), and the arts building, which was a bit more interesting. There was a full drama and concert theater, practice rooms, craft shops, art studios and galleries, rehearsal space, and classrooms. In one classroom Spencer caught a glimpse of a class of six working on bookbinding, which was one of the activities he'd signed up for later in the week. The place they went to next was the research center. He wasn't allowed into any of the labs or meeting rooms since he was still in his first three months, but the library was part of the research center, and he was allowed to go there.

"Two floors, and 200,000 volumes," Sean said quietly and reverently. "The only limit to the number of items you can check out is how much you can carry."

Reid lost track of time then as he wandered the stacks, looking at all the books just waiting for him, and his excitement only grew when he found plenty of books that he'd never read. He started plucking books off the shelves with glee and reading them without bothering to find a chair.

A bell ringing overhead startled him out of his reverie and he looked around, still dazed by words. "What's that?"

Sean, sitting in a chair with a book of his own, set it aside. "That's the bell for dinner. In case you're curious, the Director will be there, and he'll notice if you're not. Come on."

With trepidation welling in him, Reid got to his feet and followed. He was not looking forward to this.