Milo Moon: It Never Happened (9 page)

Further t……..’

It was impossible to make out the last paragraph and signature, as it looked as if it had been damaged by water. Michael turned to the next page. It contained the details of the two other formyons with two profiles. William Drake and Anne Drayford. Michael knew both of them, as they both worked with him at Air and Atmosphere - Mechanical Maintenance.

‘I’ll have to contact these two, Milo.’

‘Definitely.’

Michael turned the next page. It was a part of Milo and Michael’s files, listing their treatment dates. There were ten pages of information.

‘I think we’d better get moving, Milo.’

‘Yes.’

Michael immediately started down the stairs and Milo wasn’t surprised when Cindy didn’t follow. He was well fed now and needed a good sleep to help his digestion.

Slowly walking the short distance to Regal Street, Milo and Michael tried to absorb what they had just read. Neither understanding much of the content. Especially the copied document, as they had never heard of United States of America, United Kingdom or Russia and didn’t know what a country was either. But there were eleven.

‘The glass that cut my hand Milo!’

‘Yes Michael, CERN.’

‘So we are definitely under something called a CERN.’

‘It called it the European Council for Nuclear Research in the document.’

‘So it should be ECNR then?’

‘I’m happy with the connection between the glass and the document. Whether it’s CERN, ECNR or European Council for Nuclear Research, there’s something above us.’

‘And somebody, Michael. And somebody!’

Michael arrived at his apartment and unlocked the door.

‘Hi, I’m home!’ He heard footsteps coming from the kitchen and was certainly shocked when he saw the strange woman enter the dining room and heading towards him.

‘Who are you?’ he asked, in shock.

‘Who are you then?’ the woman responded.

‘But you’re not Claire.’

‘Who’s Claire?’

‘My wife!’

‘I think you’ve made a mistake. This is not your apartment. You’d better leave before my husband gets home. He’s due very soon,’ the woman said, with a little fear in her voice.

‘But this is my apartment!’

‘Please leave now, or I’ll trigger the alarm,’ the woman said, as she held what looked like a remote control in her hand.

‘Michael, I think we’d better leave. I think we are in deep, deep trouble if they’ve taken and replaced Claire. Everyone we know is disappearing.’

‘Yes, Milo. Understood.’

‘I’m very sorry madam. It must be my mistake. Probably the wrong apartment. No need for alarms, I’ll leave right away.’

‘Thank you,’ the woman said, as Michael made for the door. Closing the door behind himself, and making his way back down to the street.

‘What do we do now, Milo?’

‘Okay, Michael. Let’s be calm. Let me think,’ and they both started to conclude that they had serious problems now.

‘Right! First thing to worry about Michael is our third eye. We’re probably being tracked, so it’s not going to take long to find us. We need to find somewhere where we aren’t able to be monitored.’

‘Yes, but if we’re monitored, they will know where we’re heading. So even if we head for the edges of Sootere, they will be able to follow us as we make our way there.’

‘The bin! The bin, Michael.’

‘What bin, Milo?’

‘The garbage bin. Let’s see what we can find.’

‘You do have some crazy ideas, Milo.’ but Michael dutifully trudge off towards the garbage bins at the side of his building.

‘What are we looking for, Milo?’

‘A balaclava.’

‘A what?’

‘Oh here we are. This will do just perfectly,’ Milo said, as he held up a black plastic bag full of kitchen waste.

‘Oh it smells, Milo!’

‘Just wait, I’ll empty it.’ Milo emptied the contents and shook the bag as best he could to remove all the rotting pieces of food scraps.

‘I’ll turn it inside out. It’ll be fine.’

‘Fine for what, Milo?’

Milo pulled the bag over Michael’s head and tied the plastic tie straps around his neck. He then pushed his fingers through the front of the bag to create holes in front of his eyes, and one for his mouth. He did the same for himself.

‘Now, Michael, if we keep extra quiet, we might have a chance of not being tracked.’

‘It still smells, Milo.’

‘Come on, Michael. Let’s get a move on. We need to get back near G Sector. That I think, is where we need to start if we want to get out of here without being terminated first. Do you still have the duct plans?’

‘Yes, they’re in my bag. Why?’

‘Because I think we are going to set up home there for a while.’

‘Milo?’

‘Yes, Michael.’

‘I miss Claire already.’

‘Me too, Michael. Me too!’

Keeping to unlit areas as much as possible, Michael made his way towards G Sector. It took nearly an hour to get there, and then another half an hour to crawl along enough distance of ducting to feel relatively safe.

‘What now, Milo?’

‘Find a duct that leads to food, Michael!’

‘Can we take the silly hat off now?’

‘I think another hour, just to be safe. Study your maps. Find food. I think we’re starving.’

‘There’s a food distribution point a little to our right and then left. About four hundred meters. There’s an air duct leading into the storeroom.’

‘Right. Let’s get going.’

‘And the hat?’

‘A little longer.’

Guided by their torch, it took nearly an hour and a half of stooped walking and mostly crawling to get to the duct junction that led to the food storeroom. Michael made his way down the narrow chute. He was surprised to see in the distance that the grill covering was not in place. He approached slowly, sensing danger.

‘Michael?’

‘Shut up, Milo.’

‘Okay!’

Just a meter or two from the opening of the duct into the room, Michael could see light. He crawled slowly and carefully so as not to make a sound. Finally he could see the ceiling of the room. A little further and his viewpoint improved and he could see the walls and storage shelves and refrigeration cabinets. Inching forward slowly and being extra careful to be quiet, he finally arrived at a point where he could see almost all of the room. He saw a shadow in the room moving on his right. He held his breath, more out of fear and expectation than any sense of skilled espionage. The shadow moved again, and appeared to be someone moving about just under him and to his right. He waited, hoping that whoever was making the shadow would come into his view. More movement, but still only a shadow. He tried to gain a few valuable inches, making sure he was still well away from the duct exit. He waited. Breathing as shallowly as he could. The minutes passed, and still only the occasional shadow, until finally he saw the back of someone heading towards a refrigeration cabinet. It looked like a woman. He wasn’t sure, as she was wearing overalls over a protective body suit and a thermal hood.

‘That looks like your uniform, Michael.’

‘Shut up, Milo!’

‘Okay. Just saying, that’s all.’

The woman turned from the refrigeration cabinet with something in her hands and her head lowered, so Michael still was unsure who she was. Then finally, as she moved towards Michael’s position he caught a glance of her face. He recognised her and moved closer to the duct opening to try and see if there was anyone else in the storeroom. Although not one hundred percent sure, he knew he had to move soon. His legs were starting to go numb. He decided to make his move. He tore a larger opening in his plastic balaclava.

‘Anne,’ he whispered. The woman looked up immediately and saw Michael in the duct opening.

‘Now what are you doing up there, Michael?’

‘Are you alone, Anne?’

‘Sort of.’

‘What do you mean? Sort of.’

‘Come on down and I’ll explain. It’s safe.’

‘Right. On my way.’

Michael struggled, as he had to turn himself around in the small cavity to be able to go legs first out of the duct, which was located half way up a wall. It was a meter and a half drop to the floor. Finally managing to turn and get his legs through the duct opening, and then plopping to the floor, as his numb legs failed to execute a perfect landing.

‘Hardly an elegant entry, Michael. And, eh, nice bonnet!’

‘Nice to see you too, Anne,’ Michael said, from his prone position of the floor.

‘Hungry? I was just about to have some dinner. I’m starving.’

‘You read my mind, Anne.’

‘Both of them in fact, Michael.’

‘You too, Anne?’

‘Yep. Meet Mary Seaton. Ex filing officer with Alpha Reality Control.’

‘Eh, nice to meet you, Mary.’

‘So, I suppose I should introduce Milo. Milo Moon Ex um? What were you, Milo?’

‘I made nuts.’

‘Okay. Umm well, meet Milo Moon. Ex Nut Maker.’

‘Well, nice to meet you, Milo.’

‘Er, you too, Anne, eh and Mary. Did you know a guy called George Smithe. With an ‘E’.’

‘We certainly did, Milo, eh, and Michael.’

‘I have a feeling our conversations will be very interesting,’ Anne said, and Milo and Michael wondered if it was Anne or Mary. ‘But it looks like we had the same ideas. Cover the third eye, get to G Sector and then find some food.’

‘Yes, it seems so, Anne. Looks like we have the same maps too.’

‘Right, let’s eat and then stock up. We might be in for a bit of a stay in the duct system,’ Anne said.

Little conversation passed as they ate. They were too hungry, after what had been a very bad day for all of them. Anne’s husband had also been removed and replaced, and she had also tried to contact George with no luck. She wasn’t at all surprised when Michael told her that he thought he had been terminated. He was going to show her the file, but Milo asked him to wait for a while to make sure Anne could be trusted. Michael agreed.

‘Have you found a place to camp yet, Michael?’

‘No, Anne. Only got here a short while ago, and food was a higher priority.’

‘Same here. Do you want to have a look at the maps and see if we can find somewhere suitable? We certainly can’t stay here for too long.’

‘Okay. Let’s have a look.’ They opened their maps out on the floor, looking for somewhere large enough, but also remote enough.

‘They’ll certainly be looking for us now,’ Michael said.

‘Yes, I know,’ Anne replied.

Chapter 9 - Two To Tango

‘This’ll have to do then, Michael.’

‘Well, not much to choose from in a ducting system,’ Anne replied.

‘Enough space to lie flat at least. Is there an exhaust vent nearby?’

‘Why?’

‘In case we need somewhere to hide when they come looking for us.’

‘Right. Let me have a look. Umm, here,’ Anne said, as she pointed to the map. ‘Should be just behind us here.’

‘Okay, I see it. I’ll check on the vent cover,’ Michael said, as he moved to the vent just a few feet behind them. He undid the latches and removed the cover.

‘It’s small, but if you’re feeling a little bit friendly, it’ll be fine.’

‘Was that you, Milo?’ Anne asked.

‘How did you know?’

‘It’s okay, Milo, you and Mary can cuddle, Michael and I will try and save our skins.’

‘Speak for yourself!’

‘Oh, so you don’t agree, Mary?’

‘It’s all right, Milo. At least we’ll be warm.’

‘Have you two finished?’ Michael asked, as he looked for a way to secure the vent cover from the inside. He was greeted by silence.

‘Can we fit our food supplies in there?’ Anne asked.

‘Good idea. Let me have a look.’

It took a little work, as Michael and Anne worked to remove a panel on the side of the exhaust duct to make a small storage area. If they had any unwelcome visitors, they at least now had all their supplies hidden, plus a place just big enough to hide.

‘Right, time for some rest I think,’ Anne said, in a tired tone. Michael took out the file from George, and gave it to Anne.

‘Some bedtime reading for you,’ he said, as he passed it to her.

‘What’s this?’

‘Read.’

It had been a long day for Michael and Milo, and equally so for Anne and Mary. Michael fell asleep quickly. Anne slept fitfully, after being shocked by what she and Mary read before trying to sleep. Sleep did arrive however, and although less than comfortable on the aluminium floor, they got some hours of rest before being woken suddenly by metallic footsteps.

‘Anne! Quick! Wake up. Into the exhaust chute, fast!’ Michael whispered, as he partially dragged a half sleeping Anne towards the opening of the chute. He took down the cover, and helped her, more like pushed her bodily, into the chute, jumping in behind her and pulling the cover closed and turning off his torch. They waited.