Penumbrials Ch. 01: Penumbra

'Cars are too easily traced back to their owners. We came in by a more anonymous way.'

'Ah.' Harold said and nodded. 'Would you care to follow me?'

He led them to the meeting room that was scheduled for Elyssa as Dormin expected. The room had a round light coloured wooden table suitable for twenty people to sit at in comfort in the expensive chairs around it. It also featured a well stocked bar against one wall, and Dormin and Adalet took a walk around the table examining it all.

'Are the walls secured against radio waves?' asked Terry.

Harold turned to her. 'And the doors. No transmissions can go in or out unless a private grid connection is requested. We also check daily for any bugs.'

Dormin gave her a nod and she put her tablet and case on the table to take out her spectrometer. 'I'll just make a quick check.'

She moved slowly along the walls and Adalet turned to Harold. 'I see you have a nice selection in the bar. I would like to see your menu options.'

Harold glanced at Terry to see she hadn't moved far and see Dormin watching her. 'Of course, no problem. I'll be back in just a moment.'

Adalet glanced at the door after he left and moved towards it to check the hallway. 'All clear.' she said and Dormin took off his shoes to stand on the table.

Terry grabbed a power supply from her case, got up on the table and stepped on Dormin's hands to reach the dropped ceiling, lift one tile and plug the supply in one of the power outlets for the lighting. They got down from the table, wiped any dust from it and went back to their places.

When Harold came back Adalet studied the menu and asked a few questions while Terry finished her sweep.

'All good.' she said and put away the meter in her case. 'No signals detected.'

Adalet gave Harold a smile. 'I think I can recommend holding the meeting here.'

He brightened for a split second before his business smile reappeared. 'Thank you very much.'

They left the meeting room and before they rounded a corner in the hallway Terry bent down to plug in another power supply in a power socket concealed behind a potted plant.

Dormin gave Harold a hand when they reached the reception desk. 'We'll let you know as soon as we've arranged a date.'

'We'll look forward to receiving you.' Harold said.

Dormin walked behind Adalet and Terry on their way out and Adalet whispered 'Are you sure it'll work?' to Terry.

Terry smiled a little. 'Don't worry. These things look like and work like regular power supplies. The one at the ceiling uses a vibration sensor in the plug to pick up sound and transmit it to the other across the electric circuitry. That one transmits at encrypted low frequency radio waves which we can unscramble. If anyone finds them they'll think it's just something someone forgot.'

Adalet nodded. 'I'm glad you're on our side.'

Dormin checked the time. 'How about we go have a look at the motorcycles?'

'Oh, yes.' Terry said and grinned. 'Let's see how cool we'll be on those things.'

***

Ourania dropped the three off at a nearby industrial park where more airships touched down. She was glad there were two more older airships and they wouldn't stand out as much between the younger ones.

The taxi drive to the cycle specialist didn't take long and they arrived at a two storey building with a row of different motorcycles in front under a canopy.

Terry's tail wagged at the sight of some low choppers with wide wheels.

Dormin chuckled. 'We need something more agile.'

Terry flattened her ears and sighed. 'I know, but it's so cool to just cruise around on one of these.'

Dormin walked over to one of the tattooed guys with the store logo on his black shirt and referred him to the request made earlier by Terry.

The burly guy looked it up and smiled. 'Ah, I see.' He gestured to follow him. 'Let me show you the one we have here.' Dormin was led to one model in a section between touring and off road. 'This one has two wheel drive for extra off road abilities, but it also an advantage for normal street driving. It has higher clearance than normal bikes and enough options to attach storage cases to take your whole house with you.'

Dormin chuckled. 'Just the bedroom and kitchen will do.' he said and examined the bike.

Adalet and Terry were looking at some of the other choppers and street racers when two feline men approached them. 'You ladies looking for something that can cruise for a long time or that can give you a high speed thrill?'

The women glanced at the feline in faded jeans wearing a leather jacket and the one in tight leather outfit with too much rubber in a certain place.

The first one nudged the second one. 'I'm thinking we're looking at something that should either handle smooth or rough terrain.'

Adalet lifted her eyebrow at Terry while the felines laughed to themselves. She and Terry turned to them and she put one hand on her hip. 'Just one type of terrain? How sad is that?'

The felines stared at her.

Terry grinned. 'What we need is something that handles any kind of surface.' she said and passed the two with Adalet to hook up their arms with Dormin, who stood behind the felines.

'Have fun playing with your toys.' said Adalet and grinned as the three of them walked out of the store and left the felines speechless.

Dormin smiled a little. 'I'll bet that hurt.'

Terry gave him a big grin. 'Good. So how's the bike?'

'It's good, they can have four ready in two days. And they can deliver at the airship parking.'

'

Back aboard Diafanis Terry updated Ourania on what they did and how they put the felines back in their place. Ourania chuckled and glanced at Dormin who was looking at the list of accessories for the bikes.

Terry leaned closer to her. 'Thinking about a test drive?'

Ourania shot back. 'No way!' she said, then looked away. 'I mean, I wasn't think of anything like that.'

Terry grinned. 'Okay. The bikes won't be here before a few days anyway.' she said and pulled up the connection from the mansion on one of the engineer's screens. 'We have contact.'

The others came closer. 'But will we get good quality sound?' asked Dormin.

Terry nodded. 'The sound sensor is very good. I should only need to filter what we get a little.'

'Good. They'll arrive soon so let's eat quickly.'

***

'There they are.' said Adalet, who watched the entrance of the mansion with Dormin from afar.

Dormin used a camera and shot video of everyone arriving at the car park. The familiar green car appeared between the other cars. 'And there we have Elyssa.'

They watched as she got out with the feline and canine, all three dressed in black business suits. Elyssa greeted the men and women who were outside and joined them as they walked up the steps to the front entrance. Gwen and Stefanie followed.

'She's not a speciest.' Adalet said. 'Looks like almost every known world is represented here.'

'Would have surprised me if she was.' said Terry over their private link. 'Especially after what we saw last night.'

'Are you already receiving something from the room?' asked Dormin.

'Staff setting up the table so far. I've adjusted the sound a little already but we can't be for sure until we hear voices.'

By the time the last arrival had entered the mansion Terry had calibrated the sound. Adalet and Dormin went back to Diafanis and joined up with Ourania and Terry in the cockpit just as the meeting began.

'Ladies, gentlemen.' said Elyssa after everyone in the room exchanged greetings. 'I'll keep it short. I've read your reports and things are looking good. I hope that everyone sees the slow approach is more efficient than the old fast one which burned a lot of you in the past, some even literally.' A couple of the heads exchanged glances. 'You can chase fast riches, but you'll slip in the end and crash hard. Besides, who's actually using any of that wealth for something nice and not just merely storing it under ever thickening layers of dust?'

Most of the people around the table glanced around uncomfortably. Elyssa smiled. She loved poking at their weaknesses.

'So, on to the latest business, how's the renovation of the subway doing?'

One female rat leaned forward on the table. 'We're on schedule. The planned date for a temporary local shutdown hasn't changed.'

Elyssa nodded. 'Utilities?'

A male bird cleared his throat. 'Everything is in place and prepared for maintenance.'

'Roadworks?'

'Commencing tomorrow.' said a woman.

Elyssa smiled gently. 'Good. It'll be fun.' she said and looked around the table. 'If there aren't any more questions I suggest we enjoy our dinner.'

Dormin leaned back in his seat. 'Something about this sounds weird.'

Terry turned in her seat while the sounds of shuffling, talking, and a few laughs came out of the speakers from the engineer's console. 'They didn't mention anything specific, but I get the feeling they have something planned that's going to happen soon.'

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