Free City Center, The by Simone Pond

asked, trying to squeeze out some information. If Joseph was in the same building, she might find a way to reach him before his trial.
    “Yes, Miss Rhodes. But we assure you the highest precautions and safety measures have been implemented. You’ll be safe. Please come with us.”
    Ava followed the men toward the transporter. She kept her arms folded across her chest to keep the book in place. She couldn’t bring it with her. Her forehead dripped with sweat, but she didn’t want to move her arms.
    “Are you feeling okay?” the head Officer asked, eying Ava.
    “I didn’t get much sleep last night. This terrorist attack is really quite upsetting.”
    The Officer held out a handkerchief. She wanted to take it, but she didn’t want to lose her grip on the book. She leaned her face in his direction, hoping he would pat her forehead. He froze for a second, not sure what to do. The others watched. One of the men finally grabbed the handkerchief and patted Ava’s face.
    “I simply can’t go anywhere like this. Please allow me to take a quick shower.”
    “We don’t have time.”
    “I’ll make haste. This close to the big day, it’s most important I maintain my appearance. We wouldn’t want to upset Morray, would we?” She knew they couldn’t argue. Nobody wanted to upset Morray. Ava hurried to the washroom. She grabbed a robe and wrapped it around the book, and tucked it under the stack of clean ones. She rinsed off, put on a fresh tracksuit, and returned to the Officers. She didn’t know if there would be anymore dwelling searches, but for now the book was safe.
    They arrived at the Administrative Building and one of the Officers escorted Ava down the corridor toward a containment room. The building was headquarters for the Planners, where Morray and Dickson’s team conducted their think-tank meetings and made decisions that would affect and shape the future. She didn’t see any other Successor Candidates in the building, which meant one thing—she was there for interrogation. She didn’t know how much they saw, or what they knew, but they weren’t going to let her off easy. She had disobeyed protocol during a high-level threat. Until she had more information, she’d keep quiet and work out a strategy to get to Joseph.
    She stepped into the containment room and sat down at the glass table facing the observation mirror. They’d be watching every single facial expression and studying every word. She’d have to give the best performance of her life to persuade Morray and Dickson that she had nothing to hide.

The Window
    Morray entered the Administrative Building. “Open this section,” he ordered the guard standing next to the entrance of the highest-level security wing.
    “Yes, sir.” The guard entered a series of access codes.
    “Forgetting something?”
    “Oh, yes, that’s right, sir.” The guard fumbled with the scanner. “Place your index finger here, and look directly straight ahead.”
    Morray passed the recognition test and entered the wing. He reached the observation room, entered his access code and conducted the scan recognition. He knew access codes were breakable so he took great precaution by having multiple entry checks. He had security measures and firewalls placed throughout the City Center to ensure optimal protection. So how had the Outsider infiltrated his system?
    Inside the observation room, Planner Dickson stood by the window, entering information into his hologram display.
    “Dickson,” Morray said.
    “Chief.”
    “I want you to retire the entry-point guard to Ret-Hav effective immediately.”
    “Yes, sir.” He pulled up the guard’s file. “Done.”
    Morray walked over to the window and observed Ava. She stared straight ahead, maintaining a calm demeanor. She wore a white tracksuit and her hair was pulled up. Though she hadn’t been beautified, Morray was drawn to her. “Did you use DNA replication with this one?” he asked.
    “She’s mostly original