Free Thirty Four Minutes DEAD by Steve Hammond Kaye Page B

guarded intimacy they experienced when Vain was initially shown the garden. Vain thought of Levene quite often during their ‘incarceration’ and while part of him felt guilty for this mental infidelity, another part of him longed to make incarnate the desire both had for each other.
    The time spent in the London Designation was proving very fruitful until three days before their departure date to Chicago. Tavini broke the news that Vain had always inwardly dreaded.
    "Yo Greg, brace yourself man, our room 101 has just arrived”.
    "You what Dave?”
    "Another victim mate, but he's a minor so I guess things are going to be a bit tougher with regard to the exploration. I know you and Mishimo have kids - you've both let that slip, and whilst I haven't got any it doesn't mean I don't feel, you know".
    Tavini was unusually ruffled by the fact that the next victim was a minor. When Tavini reduced his streak of showmanship it immediately heightened the significance of the applicable area in focus. Vain had been inwardly devastated by the news that Tavini broke to him. In the past his research had involved experiments on minors but none had been murdered, and Vain could tell by Tavini's face that murder was a likely ingredient in this instance. He spoke as naturally as he could.
    "How old, Dave?”
    "Seven years, man - seven fucking years old!”
    "Cause of death?”
    "Strangulation. At least that's what Mr Nechro reckons but there's a big problem here, Greg. The lad was only partially sighted and I guess the HV's are going to suffer. Leah's memory-camera was a bit patchy to say the least but now we've got one that's going to be well and truly fucked up!”
    "Oh Christ. Let's go and see Mason and get all the cause of death details, David. If he gets all ghoulish with the description this time, you may have to hold me back mate, because you're right, this is our room 101 all right!”
    Mason preserved a respectful decorum when he detailed the nature of the child’s death. If he had become theatrically intense when he described Leah's death, his chosen method on this occasion favoured the reserved dignity that the MC team had hoped for.
    Tavini had been correct with regard to Mason's initial diagnosis concerning the child's death, and the latter spent a long time reviewing the likely effect that partial sight could have on the exploration. Vain directed a question to Mason.
    "This lad looks well cared for, Mr Mason. Our first six victims were either adults or individuals who were isolated from their immediate families and so project staff could intercept the corpses quite easily. Surely we can't hold this child for long. I mean, there's going to be a community up in arms over the murder of a seven year old, isn't there?”
    "Yes Mr Vain, that would normally be the case, but Christopher went to a special school in Harrow - a school providing care and education for partially sighted children. His parents both work in Namibia and whilst they have now been informed of the child's death, we have been given the transit time Mr Vain. Both parents will be back in this country in thirty-six hours and our work can take place long before this deadline. We will be able to have the case wrapped when we hand the lad back to regular Law enforcement officers tomorrow morning".
    Unfortunately Mason was tempting fate on this occasion. Up until this point the MC project explorations had always delivered a guilty party. The memory-camera work had consistently extrapolated images and sounds, which enabled convictions with ease. When the guilty were handed over to non-enlightened conventional security staff, the project 'plants' within these areas played the DNA card and thus the project's blanket security was maintained. The immediacy surrounding MC explorations built a collective confidence and MC project staff had thus become almost blasé with regard to the apparent infallibility surrounding their work. Mason had warned the team that the applicable