Waiting in the Shadows Read online

  Isaac stood to face him, spreading his hands out. ‘I’m on your side! It’s in my interest to keep this story under wraps until the correct time, the same as it is for you.’ He paused, ‘Hey, maybe we could even be friends?’ He held out a tentative hand. Throwing him a derisive look, Abel turned away.

  The following day Ruby found Isaac beside her in the supermarket again.

  ‘Shopping again?’ he asked her.

  ‘I didn’t get anything the other day, don’t you remember?’ she smiled.

  ‘I’m glad we’re friends again.’

  She nodded as she reached for a box of cereal from the top shelf.

  ‘Here, let me,’ Isaac said, passing one to her. ‘See? I’m useful already!’

  Ruby smiled again, ‘Even more helpful if you let me get on with my shopping.’

  She continued to the next aisle, with Isaac beside her.

  ‘So, any developments?’ he asked.

  ‘Nothing new since we saw you yesterday!’ she said.

  ‘Are you going to be setting up new homes soon?’ he continued. ‘Maybe I can help?’

  ‘Celia organises these things, it’s really not up to me,’ Ruby said.

  ‘I would like to be involved as much as possible! Then when the Centre is exposed, I will be able to tell the real story from the inside!’ Isaac told her.

  ‘I will speak to Celia,’ Ruby promised him.

  He approached her again the next day when he called around with Sara and Jane.

  ‘Have you seen this?’ he asked, unfolding a national newspaper. He showed her the story on a political rally to be held in London the following day. A group calling themselves “Forever England” were to march through the city centre to protest against the number of immigrants allowed into the UK. ‘Are any of your group involved?’

  She got up and signalled him to follow her to the garden.

  ‘Ben and some of the others are holding a counter meeting at the university.’

  Isaac frowned. ‘That could be an explosive situation! Isn’t it dangerous for them to take part in it?’

  ‘Yes!’ Ruby nodded, ‘Abel has tried to persuade them not to attend, but Ben and Megan insist they must stand up for what they believe in or they might as well be still living in the Caves!’

  ‘I’ll get in touch with a friend of mine who works for a London paper. He might have some details about this march.’ Isaac looked thoughtful.

  ‘That would be helpful, Isaac,’ Ruby said. ‘Abel must be very worried or he wouldn’t be planning on going to London himself.’

  ‘Tell him maybe I can be of use if I go with you to London,’ Isaac told her.

  Abel was adamant that Isaac did not accompany them to London when Ruby suggested it later that evening.

  ‘We don’t need his help! We can take care of our own!’

  ‘He has friends in London. He’s going to find out what they know about this demonstration,’ Ruby told him.

  ‘He is not travelling with us. He can stay with his friends,’ Abel said, and turned away.

  Ruby phoned Isaac to tell him.

  ‘I know you are trying to be helpful, Isaac. Abel finds it difficult to trust Non-Labs,’ she said. ‘It will be a while before he accepts your help. He’s still not happy to have me around!’

  ‘Well, I’ll be in London anyway. I’ll phone you if I hear of anything that will be useful,’ Isaac sounded disappointed.

  Ruby, Abel, Ben, and the other students from London were in front of the university where a large podium had been set up.

  Several of the students had made speeches about the right of people all over the world to be allowed to travel freely.

  Ben spoke about the lack of equality between the different countries and how many people like himself would like to see opportunities and resources shared out more equally.

  ‘We don’t need to divide the world into places you can go into and places you are barred from! We need to open the boundaries between countries!’

  Ruby stood near Abel, watching him speak.

  ‘He obviously feels very strongly about this!’ she whispered to Abel.

  His face was set. ‘I am not happy about him bringing such attention to himself and the others!’

  Just then Ruby’s phone began to ring; it was Isaac. She moved to a quieter place so she could hear him.

  ‘Ruby! Things aren’t looking good! My friend has heard that the Forever England group have hired some hecklers to join the university demonstration. They’ll be here soon! You’d better get your people out quickly!’ Isaac told her. ‘The police are to be sent in. There will be plenty of arrests!’

  ‘Ben’s on the podium speaking at the moment! The others are near him. I can’t see Abel. He was here a moment ago! Where are you, Isaac?’ Ruby felt her heart racing.

  ‘Calm down, Ruby. We’ll be all right. I’m near the podium; I’ll speak to Ben as soon as he gets down and get him to get the others together. I’ll get them out on this side. You find Abel and both of you get as far away from here as soon as you can, OK?’

  As soon as Isaac had rung off, Ruby began to look around for Abel. She finally spotted him near the entrance to the university and pushed her way through the crowds to join him.

  ‘Abel! We’ve got to get out of here quickly! There’s going to be a disturbance, the police are on their way, people will be arrested!’ she blurted out.

  ‘We must get Ben and the others,’ he cried, turning towards the podium.

  Ruby caught his arm. ‘Isaac has them, look!’

  Ben was speaking to the other Labs and all were following Isaac at a swift pace.

  Ruby and Abel were near the entrance of the university when suddenly there was shouting. Several people were pushing their way through the crowds towards the podium. There was the sound of someone screaming. People began to try to leave the square, but a cordon of mounted police blocked them.

  Ruby looked with frightened eyes at Abel. He grabbed her hand, ‘We can’t get out that way! Come on.’

  He ran into the building, pulling her behind him. At the end of the corridor someone shouted at them to stop. They ran down another corridor, trying door handles, but they were all locked. Finally Abel found one that opened and pulling Ruby in behind him, closed the door. They stood closely together in the dark, Ruby trying to breathe quietly. She knew they were in a storage cupboard from the smell of polish. The handle of a floor polisher pushed painfully into her back. The sound of running footsteps outside made her heart pound. She gripped Abel’s jacket tightly.

  ‘They couldn’t have gone any further this way!’ a voice said.

  ‘All the rooms are locked,’ another answered him.

  ‘Try the caretaker’s cupboard. He doesn’t always remember to lock it,’ the first voice said.

  Abel held tightly to the door handle, his face pinched as the person outside tried to move it.

  ‘No. It’s locked,’ the voice finally said. ‘Let’s try the cloakrooms. They may be hiding in there.’

  ‘Better be quick before they have time to double back!’ the second man answered.

  Ruby and Abel listened to the sound of their feet moving away.

  As Ruby gave a sigh of relief, Abel pulled her closer to him. She could feel his heart beating against her. Then slowly he lifted her chin and kissed her gently on the lips. She gave a gasp of surprise.

  He quickly released her.

  ‘I must apologise, Ruby. I don’t know why …’ He stopped speaking as they heard voices outside the cupboard again.

  ‘Beats me how they did it! But they’ve somehow got out.’

  ‘Better get back to the desk,’ the second voice replied, ‘before more of them get in!’

  They stood in silence for several more minutes before Abel opened the door and beckoned her to follow him.

  It was getting dark when they finally arrived at Ben and the other students’ house. Isaac was seated in the lounge talking to Megan when they entered. He stood up smiling. />
  ‘We’ve been watching the news! We were so relieved to finally hear from you. What happened?’

  ‘We tried to get through the university building, but ended up stuck in a broom cupboard and eventually had to make our escape through a window in the ladies’ toilets!’ Ruby giggled. The events of the day had left her feeling light-headed.

  ‘I told you I might be of use to you!’ Isaac beamed at Abel, who gave him a wry smile.

  ‘We must thank you for your quick actions today, Isaac. You did indeed prove to be extremely useful,’ he acknowledged.

  ‘We phoned Celia, so they wouldn’t be worried about us when they see the news tonight,’ Ben said.

  Abel looked at him, ‘I think you must keep a lower profile until the Labs are in a stronger position to speak out, Ben.’

  He looked at Megan and they both nodded.

  ‘It is true. Our arrest could endanger many others. But I hope it is not to be too long before we are in a position to speak out, Abel.’

  ‘More Labs are freed every day. But we are still not strong enough to bring about the closure of the Centre without putting any Labs in danger. If only we could formulate a plan to accomplish that, we would all be free tomorrow!’ he sighed.

  They had been talking for several hours when Abel’s phone rang. He went to the hallway to answer it. His face was solemn when he rejoined them.

  ‘It looks as if we will have to think of a solution to the Centre, and fast! Fil just phoned the house. He has heard rumours that the Centre is to be taken over by an American company, and they’re planning on setting up similar sites in several countries around the world!

  As they drove along the motorway Ruby watched Abel’s face staring stonily ahead. He hardly seemed to be the same person who had held her close and kissed her in the darkness.

  Chapter Ten

  He walked past rows and rows of capsules, each with a slumbering occupant. He put his hand to his forehead, suddenly feeling incredibly tired. It became difficult to put one foot in front of the other. He steadied himself on the nearest capsule and rested his head against it. On the other side of the smoky glass a girl slept, unaware of his presence. He closed his eyes and slid gently down to the floor.

  This time he woke up feeling calm. He knew what he had to do. Somehow, he had to find the sleeping girl!

  Chapter Eleven

  ‘We can only sit around here while the Labs at the Centre are in danger!’ Ben paced around the room.

  Megan nodded. ‘I also feel helpless. What can we do? If Abel cannot find a solution, who can?’

  ‘Whoever it is, they will have to find one quickly!’ Joseph said.

  ‘We should try and get some sleep now,’ Oliver said, getting to his feet. ‘Tomorrow we could phone the Manchester Labs and see if they have any ideas.’

  It was late, so the students from the second house stayed the night. The following morning they were up early and set off home across London. As they emerged from the tube in the city centre, Joseph stopped at a kiosk to buy a newspaper.

  ‘Phew! Look at that!’ he said looking at the front-page headlines and photos from the university demonstration. ‘I’m glad we got out in time!’

  Sophie had noticed a young man nearby. From his accent she realised he was American. He was with two other young men, while close by were two burly, older men. Bodyguards, so he was obviously someone important. He had glanced across at her, then suddenly stopped talking to his friends and stared at her. He turned and said something to his friends then made his way towards her.

  ‘I know you, don’t I?’ he asked. He nodded at all four of them. ‘I do know you, don’t I?’

  The bodyguards appeared beside him.

  ‘I think we’d better go, Simon. Your father will be expecting you!’ one of them said.

  ‘Just give me a minute,’ he said his eyes fixed on Sophie’s face. ‘I know you all, from somewhere, don’t I?’

  Sophie shook her head, ‘No, I don’t think so.’

  ‘We haven’t been here that long,’ Joseph said.

  ‘And we’ve never been to America,’ Megan added.

  The young man was wiping sweat from his face; he had turned pale, ‘If only I could remember where I know you from.’

  ‘Come on, Simon,’ one of the bodyguards looked anxiously at him, guiding him towards a black limousine which drew up beside them. ‘You don’t look too good. Better get back to the hotel.’

  Simon continued to stare at them as he let himself be seated in the car.

  Sophie turned to Megan and gave a shudder, ‘That was eerie!’

  Oliver looked at them. ‘You know who that was, don’t you?’ They all looked at him. ‘If I’m not mistaken, that was Simon Armstrong, the son of the US president. He’s on an unofficial visit to England, before he starts studying here next year.’

  ‘Oh, yes. I read about that,’ Megan said.

  ‘He has also made many trips to England to visit the Centre.’ Oliver added softly.

  Sophie gasped. ‘And he thinks he knows us!’

  ‘We must phone Celia as soon as we get home.’

  ‘This is amazing! How could he have any recollection of his time in the Centre before the operation?’ Johnny said after Celia had told her of Sophie’s phone call.

  ‘Perhaps his machine was faulty and he began to wake up, as I did,’ Keith ventured.

  ‘There could be many others around the world who also have similar memories,’ Dette said.

  ‘On Monday they are holding the first talks about the American takeover bid,’ Celia shook her head.

  ‘We are in increasing danger every day! We must find a way to bring about the closure of the Centre as soon as possible!’ Keith’s face was grave. ‘How many Labs are free now, Abel?’

  ‘Nearly eight hundred,’ he replied.

  ‘That’s quite a large number. Surely we could all storm the building and free the rest of the Labs?’ Isaac said, leaning forward excitedly.

  ‘We could free the Mature Labs, yes. But what about the developing Labs in the Nursery Ward? There are over two hundred of them at the moment,’ Abel pointed out.

  ‘Couldn’t you free those, too?’ Isaac asked him.

  ‘We have never tried arresting the development of the Labs in the Nursery Ward. They are on an accelerated growth programme. We do not know what the results would be if we stopped their development before maturity. They are not like Non-Lab children,’ Dette told him.

  ‘If only the Non-Labs running the Centre could understand how Labs feel!’ Leon said.

  ‘Instead of seeing us as just spare parts!’ his brother added.’

  ‘We need someone important who will listen to us!’ Leon continued.

  ‘Someone with more weight behind them than the people running the Centre!’ Johnny said.

  ‘Maybe that’s it!’ Ruby ventured.

  Everyone looked at her expectantly.

  ‘It’s probably a stupid idea!’

  ‘Go on, Ruby,’ Keith nodded.

  ‘If the son of the president of the United States has memories of being at the Centre, maybe he can help us?’ she suggested.

  ‘Ruby may have found a solution,’ Abel breathed. ‘How can we persuade the president’s son to help us?’

  There was silence for several minutes which was broken by a sudden cry from Isaac.

  ‘I’ve got it! I’m sure it could work!’ he shouted.

  ‘You’d better go and join the others, Ruby,’ Isaac said glancing at his watch. ‘Are they all here?’

  ‘Yes. Sakura, Jade, and Miyu just arrived a few minutes ago,’ she said. ‘I do hope it all works out!’

  ‘It will!’ he replied confidently. ‘Just make sure everyone follows the plan; unless I signal you.’

  Ruby had just disappeared through the door when Simon appeared flanked by his two bodyguards. The older men positioned themselves by the bar as Isaac stood up and approached Simon with his hand out.

  ‘Thanks so much for agreeing
to be interviewed, Simon!’ he shook his hand warmly. ‘You don’t know what this means to me! It’ll really help my standing with the paper!’

  ‘And low-key, as you promised me, hey?’ Simon gave him a smile.

  ‘You bet! Beer?’ Isaac asked him.

  ‘A Bud, please. Sorry! I know I’m in England!’ He gave a rueful shrug.

  Soon the two young men were sitting talking. Led by Isaac’s questions, Simon chatted easily about his life in the US and his plans for studying in England A young man approached their table.

  ‘Hi, Isaac. Didn’t know you were up in town this weekend!’ he said.

  ‘Quick visit only, Ben! Maybe I’ll catch up with you next time!’ he replied.

  Simon looked around and blinked rapidly as he saw Ben retreating.

  ‘I think I’ve met him before,’ he murmured.

  ‘Well, you were telling me about American football! Not at all like the game we play here, is it?’ Isaac continued.

  ‘What? Eh, no …’ Simon’s attention was diverted again as twin girls waved across at Isaac before sitting down at a table on the far side of the bar. ‘Their faces are familiar, too!’

  ‘Have you visited many other places outside London?’ Isaac asked him.

  ‘Yeah, a few places; I went to …’ Simon, his eyes on the doorway, had suddenly turned pale.

  Isaac looked concerned. ‘Hey, are you OK?’

  ‘It’s her!’ he whispered, as Sakura, Jade, and Miyu came in. Sakura looked at them and smiled. Isaac beckoned them over. They were followed by one of Simon’s bodyguards.

  ‘You OK, son?’ one of them said, glancing around the table. ‘Your mom said if you’re not looking too good …’

  Simon took a deep breath and nodded his head, ‘I’m fine, just great, Geoff. Catching up with some old pals here!’

  With a second glance around the table, Geoff left them to join his partner at the bar.

  ‘I saw you, sleeping … in that glass box!’ Simon whispered to Sakura.

  She nodded and put her hand over his.

  Simon gave a gasp,’ You’re not going to tell me I imagined it? You saw me, too?’

  ‘I didn’t see you. I was not awakened then. But we think we know what happened,’ she replied.