Waiting in the Shadows (6 page)

‘Celia, go for a run with the twins,' he suggested in such a way that she climbed silently out of the car.

He sat beside Ruby watching as the other three disappeared along the strand. He gave a sigh, then turned to her and smiled.

‘Now, we'll try again. There seemed to be an excessive amount of pressure on your performance up to now. It could not produce positive results,' he smiled again. ‘Start up when you feel it fit to do so. I don't think you will be ready to drive on a public highway today, but you should be able to manage the rudiments of controlling this car.'

‘But … Celia thinks I will be able to drive as well as she can,' Ruby said.

‘Don't worry. Between us we will always have a driver until you feel confident in yourself. Don't let Celia intimidate you!' he smiled.

By the time the others returned, Ruby was able to drive the car fairly smoothly. She still struggled with braking and gear changes, but it didn't feel such an impossible challenge anymore.

‘A good morning's work! Now most of us can be relied on as drivers when required!' Celia commented as Keith drove them home.

‘But that does not mean we will waste our time driving around pointlessly,' she continued as Johnny and Leon looked at her innocently. ‘This car is not a toy! It's a useful tool in Non-Lab life!'

‘Sometimes living like a Non-Lab is
so
good!' Leon whispered to his brother who nodded in agreement.

Ruby looked down at her plate and moved her food around without much appetite at lunch later that day, while the twins chattered excitedly.

‘Don't worry, Ruby. You will soon master this new skill,' Keith told her with a smile.

‘Not as quickly as you Labs can. Many Non-Labs take lessons for months before they pass their test and are free to drive on the road,' she said.

‘Months? To learn such basic skills?' Celia sounded incredulous.

‘Don't forget, Celia, Labs are
programmed
to be good at something! Non-Labs have to learn from scratch!' Keith reminded her.

‘That's true. But we are also good at learning. Non-Labs do not seem to be quick at acquiring new skills,' Celia replied.

‘Who chooses the skills for each Lab?' Ruby asked them.

‘Our subscribers select them,' Johnny told her.

‘They generally choose the things they are particularly good at,' Leon added.

‘Do you all know who your subscribers are?' Ruby continued.

‘I looked at the Centre records,' Celia told her. ‘The actual names are not listed, but Johnny and Leon's subscriber is a famous …'

‘Let her guess!' Johnny shouted. He looked at Ruby smiling.

‘Mmm …' She looked at the twins, ‘A golfer? No. Tennis player, swimmer. Ah! A footballer!'

‘How did you guess?' Johnny asked.

‘You're very active, so it had to be a sports person!'

‘Yes, at least, he used to be active. He was in his sixties when he had us created. He had almost killed himself with alcohol and drugs. And he had fallen out with any remaining friends and family he had left. He planned on renewing most parts of himself until he would be able to make a miraculous comeback to the football scene!' Johnny told her.

‘And impress everyone!' Leon added. ‘But, unfortunately for him – though not for us – he died before they were able to carry out an operation to replace his heart and lungs.'

‘And what about Celia?' Johnny asked.

‘Someone really clever! Very organised, knowledgeable, good with computers … A scientist? No? Someone who works with computers?'

‘Yes. He's American. Often called on for his skills in combating computer hackers. I was created for his daughter but she died in a car crash when she was a young child, so I was to be discarded. Abe kept me safe until I was mature, and then I was awakened and taken to the Caves.'

Suddenly she pushed her plate away, ‘Come on. No more guessing games. Keith and Ruby, you could take a look around the local college and pick up a prospectus. Johnny, Leon, clear the table. I've got some work to do.' She grabbed her laptop and left the room.

‘It must be nice to know you are all talented in some areas,' Ruby said to Keith in the car that afternoon. ‘Hey, we didn't talk about your subscriber. What does he do?'

‘She, actually. She had me created for her son. She's an actress, in the theatre. All over the world. She's hoping he will become interested in it, too'

‘Mainly Shakespeare?' Ruby asked him and smiled as he nodded. ‘You can tell by the way you speak …'

Keith raised an eyebrow.

‘Sort of old-fashioned. And always really polite. It's nice,' Ruby said.

They sat looking through the prospectus from the local college the following evening.

Johnny looked at Leon, ‘We could take a foundation course in Sports Science.'

‘And join some of the sports teams, too,' Leon added. ‘They have football, basketball, and swimming clubs!'

‘And use of a gym!' Johnny beamed.

Celia took the prospectus from Johnny, ‘I will enrol on a computer course, though they appear to be of a very basic level.'

‘This is a small college. It might be better for you to study for a degree at the city university. You could easily drive there,' Ruby suggested.

Celia shook her head, ‘No. I will start here. I may enrol for a university place at a later date. My work with the Labs will come first; I do not want too many demands on my time at the present.'

‘Before we begin to interact with the Non-Labs, we must establish the same story of our backgrounds,' Keith said.

‘Yes,' Celia agreed. ‘Ruby has papers to say she is previously from Nottingham. We could all have been educated there. I have looked at details of secondary schools there and printed off details of Sherwood High. I have also downloaded a virtual tour of the city, so we can all acquaint ourselves with some of the more noticeable features. The boys and myself will enrol at the college this week, in time for the beginning of term next week. Ruby will be officially working for an online estate agent, placing clients in suitable rented accommodation around the country.'

‘And Keith?' Leon asked.

‘I will enrol at the college on the Sound and Vision course. But I could also officially work part-time with Ruby at the estate agent; to cover the many trips we will make together,' Keith suggested.

‘And I think it's time we got in touch with Abe,' Celia said, ‘we cannot work alone. All Labs must stand together.'

‘You are right, Celia,' Keith nodded. ‘But first we must formulate a plan of action to enable all Labs to live free lives; then, hopefully, Abe will be more willing to listen to us. Has anyone ideas to offer? About the Centre and freedom for the Labs?' Keith asked.

Johnny and Leon exchanged looks.

‘Why can't all the Labs live in houses like we are now?' Johnny said.

‘Yes. Can't you get IDs for them, the same way you got them for us?' Leon looked at Celia.

She looked thoughtful, ‘I did think about setting up such homes around the country, but how would the free Labs adapt to Non-Lab life? We can't put them at risk.'

‘Ruby would have to stay at each new home to help them settle in, as she is doing with us,' Johnny offered.

Celia nodded, ‘That could be done. The second problem would be finding out how many false records I can implant on the National Insurance register before suspicions are raised.'

There was a moment of silence.

‘Do the Labs have to be registered as UK citizens?' Keith asked.

‘Ruby could not travel around the world!' Celia replied. ‘And how could we keep a check on their security?'

Ruby looked up, ‘They could be registered as citizens of a European country, residing here as students!'

‘Yes, that might work!' Celia nodded, ‘I could easily hack into the records of several European government offices. Hmmm. I am only proficient in Italian, Spanish, French, and Japanese. I have very limited knowledge of Eastern European languages!'

‘Det has Russian as her second language. And is fluent is several others!' Johnny pointed out.

‘I will email Det and arrange a meeting with her and Abe,' Celia said rising from the table. ‘Here? Or at the Caves?'

‘Here! On our own territory!' Leon suggested.

‘Yes! It's scary enough standing up to Abe!' his brother added.

Ruby cleared the table as the others gathered around Celia's laptop.

She filled the dishwasher and stood looking out of the window. A shiver went down her spine as she thought of the impending visit. Neither Abe nor Det had been at all friendly towards her, the Non-Lab. She wondered what their attitude would be this time.

She didn't hear Keith enter the room until he was standing behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders.

‘You do not have to be afraid of Abe, Ruby. You know that we will all protect you, don't you?'

She nodded, ‘Yes. But I don't think he will like having me around. Or Det.'

‘They will realise that Labs need Non-Labs to survive in this Non-Lab world!' he said. ‘And,
we
all like having you around.'

The door was flung open and Johnny appeared.

‘Hey! Abe and Det will be here tomorrow, as soon as it gets dark!' he cried.

Abe made it quite clear what he thought of their new life from the moment he arrived the next evening.

‘Well, you certainly seem to be happy, living in the Non-Lab world,' he remarked as he entered the house and looked around.

‘It's the standard all people have a right to, Non-Labs and Labs,' Celia said simply.

‘I don't care about Non-Labs,' Abe cast a glance at Ruby, ‘But I do care about my people.'

Keith nodded. ‘We also care about the Labs. That is why we asked you to come tonight.'

Ruby smiled quietly to herself as she watched Det run her hands over the smooth material of the sofa. She had spotted her earlier on in Celia's bedroom, stroking her face with Celia's soft dressing gown, then closing her eyes in rapture as she lay down on the bed. She had jumped guiltily as Abe had called her name from downstairs. Abe may enjoy his Spartan life, but she felt it wouldn't take much to lure Det to a less arduous lifestyle. She brought her mind back to the present conversation. Celia was explaining the plans they had of setting up similar homes around the UK for all the freed Labs eventually.

‘How many freed Labs do you have in the Caves now?' she asked him.

‘About five hundred,' he replied. ‘We were thinking of starting a new colony in caves further north.'

‘A lot of hard work and time was spent getting the Caves to their present standard,' Keith began. ‘It would take a similar time span to develop a second site.'

‘And they are still pretty basic,' Celia added.

Abe bristled. ‘The Caves are a place of sanctuary to many of our people! And don't forget, they were once your home, your shelter, not so long ago!'

‘Abe, when Miranda was taken by the authorities, you took us from danger in the farmhouse and led us to safety in the Caves!' Keith said. ‘We will never forget that!'

All the others nodded in agreement.

‘We are not here to quarrel. We are here to plan the closing of the Centre and freedom for all Labs!' Celia added fervently.

‘So, tell me; what are your new plans to save the Labs?' Abe sat back.

Heated discussions went on long into the night. It was finally decided to trial two new homes, one in Manchester, where four Labs would enrol as students of music at the university, and one in London, where five Labs would enrol to study Law and Politics. Ruby and the twins were to stay in Manchester for the first month, then move to London when the second home was set up.

‘All Labs must continue to maintain a high level of fitness. We cannot allow any of our people to descend to the fitness levels of the average Non-Lab. Our training programme will continue at the Caves,' Abe insisted.

‘We have no problem with continuing our fitness regime,' Johnny said.

‘Yes!' his brother nodded. ‘And there are many sports clubs we can join when we start our college courses!'

‘We all follow a strict training regime; Ruby included!' Keith added.

‘I will need Det to work with me to input data into the Eastern European government offices' websites, as my knowledge of Eastern European languages is limited,' Celia continued. ‘She can move in here and enrol on the same computer course as myself.'

Abe looked as if he wanted to object, but Det readily agreed to the plan.

‘You'll get one of these, too!' Johnny said excitedly, holding out his driving licence for her to see.

‘How did you get these?' she asked Celia.

‘You just have to know where to look on the internet,' she gave her a slight smile.

‘Do you all have driving licences?' Abe asked taking the licence from Det.

‘Yes. Nearly all Non-Labs drive. It's a necessary skill.'

‘How did you all learn so quickly?' Det asked.

‘I downloaded a series of simulated lessons used by many driving schools. We practised on those, then we just needed an hour or so of practical experience.'

‘And then you all could drive?' Det looked surprised.

‘Yes. Except for Ruby. She is a slow learner, I'm afraid,' Celia said.

Keith noticed Ruby's embarrassment.

‘Don't be so harsh, Celia! It is more difficult for Non-Labs to acquire new skills. And Ruby has many good qualities that we have yet to acquire!'

Ruby's head was buzzing as she climbed into her bed that night. In the next room she could hear the low voices of Celia and Det. They were to share the room, with Det on a small guest bed. Abe had also agreed to stay for at least one more day as Celia had arranged for new IDs for both of them, due to arrive at the local post office in a day or two.