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Disclaimer: The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. This story is copyright (c) 2010 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

When Marion went through the gate that let her enter E Deck the next morning, she immediately noticed a difference about the group of Shepherds clustered around the watch station. She mulled over possible reasons for the change, and then decided that was pointless as she would discover the reason in a few seconds anyway. She reached the second gate and let herself through, with a smile for the waiting group.

"Service, Elena, Kristina." There was no need to greet Belle, of course, as they had travelled in together. She looked up at the fourth person. "Service, Ruth. Welcome to E Deck." Her two-metre-tall friend from the training class grinned down at her.

"Service, Counsellor. Elena tells me this is where you were kept when you were thought to be a villain."

"It was, and they all did me proud while I was here. I have no doubt that you will do the same for all our clients while you're here as well." Marion turned to Elena and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Louise? Ill today?"

Elena shook her head and gave a short reply. "M Deck. She got borrowed."

"Ah. I'd forgotten that they were scraping around for replacements." She added hurriedly, "Not that I consider Louise, or indeed any of you, to be Shepherds of last resort. I guess I hadn't realised that they were so short of staff."

"Bad timing," Elena explained. "We have staff out ill, and on holiday also. Aside from the usual chronic shortage of staff, that is. We got Ruth as a replacement, so it's not all bad news. You two know each other from last week, of course."

"Yes. E Deck's a quiet enough place these days, so it's probably ideal to allow Ruth to familiarise herself with the routine. And I don't think we have anyone on Deck who will regard her size as a challenge, so there shouldn't be any friction. Go easy with her, she looks fearsome but she's really just a gentle soul."

"Thank you, Counsellor," Ruth murmured.

"Gentle?" asked Kristina sceptically, looking up at Ruth.

"Oh, yes. She can easily toss me five metres on the mat, but every time she does she apologises afterwards."

"Now, tell us, what happened yesterday?" asked Elena. "I know you weren't on the spot, but I hear you had a busy time in Sick Bay."

"We did. I'm glad you got Talya out of the way, there were a huge number of people running round at some points, quite a lot of them covered in blood. I have no idea how she would have coped. I remember, you said Trish tipped you off?"

"Of course. She spotted the fight on the monitors, hit the alarms, and then realised that so many people were getting injured that Sick Bay would be crawling with staff and detainees, called me and told me to get Talya out of there. We met the first of them as we left, it wasn't a pretty sight."

"I couldn't agree more. I had -" Marion counted up the crowd in her treatment room, "- five Shepherds, some injured, three detainees, all injured, Wanda the new Medical Orderly, Alison and myself in my treatment room together at one point. You certainly couldn't have swung a cat in there."

"What were the injuries like?" asked Kristina.

"Mostly cuts and bruises as you might expect. One of the detainees had a broken arm and passed out while we were trying to sort her out. Another had bleeding behind an eye, and one of the shift Shepherds had someone step on her knee so it was quite swollen by the time she left. There was a Site Shepherd with a couple of bust ribs. Sophia came in later, apparently another of the shift Shepherds had fallen against the edge of the watch station and got a depressed skull fracture she had to operate on immediately. Don't know what happened in the other treatment rooms, of course, I was too busy."

"Do you know what caused it?" Elena asked.

"The first Deck Shepherd who came in, Cathy, said she thought it must have been pre-arranged somehow, although they weren't sure how they got that past the monitoring. Apparently they all gathered in the lounges, and at some innocuous signal just came out in a mass and met in front of the watch station. First thing they did was to trash the station presumably to stop the alarm being given. They must have known that the Site Shepherds were just at the end of the corridor, which may explain the levels of violence. They wanted to get done what they planned before anyone could stop them."

Marion could see them digesting this information, and trying to imagine what they would do if the same thing happened on E Deck.

"Why would they do that?" Ruth asked. "Is that kind of behaviour normal on the Decks?"

"Fortunately no," Elena replied. "And you're extremely unlikely to see an incident anything like that up here. As for motive, we'll have to wait and see what can be learned from the video logs and so on." She addressed Marion. "Are you planning to get involved at all? I would guess you might be interested in talking to some of those who were there."

"It was an idea, Sophia seemed to think it would be the right thing to do. But I don't know the procedure that's followed after an incident like this. Would I be stepping on Site Security's toes, do you think?"

"Don't think so. You'll want to run your plans past Director Khiskov first, though. Usual procedure for those involved in some kind of incident is, firstly, the whole Deck gets locked down for a period depending on how serious the incident was. This is to encourage the better-behaved on the Deck to try and stop things flaring up in the first place. Secondly, everyone on the Deck, Shepherd and detainee alike, gets a serious grilling from Site Security to get to the bottom of the matter. Doesn't always work, people can be pretty close-mouthed in here. Lastly, those deemed at fault get extra time and maybe a reduction in privileges. Detainees, that is. Staff found at fault have mandatory retraining, and possibly a temporary reduction in pay or benefits."

"Ouch. Bit hard on a Shepherd who gets caught in something like yesterday's happening. I can't see how they could have prevented that at all."

"Perhaps not, that will be taken into account. You may have better luck finding things out than Site Security that could pinpoint the problem. Speaking of which, we have one of them up here, you might make a start on her, get some pointers."

"Up here? Why?"

"Run out of rooms. All the rooms on M Deck are doubles, so to give everyone on that Deck solitary means some of them have to get moved to other Decks. We got one of the uninjured ones. Makes no difference to us or her, she doesn't know which Deck she's on or what's special about it, and she's never going to find out, either, because she's going to spend the whole time locked in."

"I'll do that, but I'll check with Donna first, after I've got Talya settled."

They talked about other matters, then, until the doors were opened at nine-thirty and the detainees started appearing. Talya walked down to the watch station, her eyes fixed upon Ruth's impressive frame.

"Service, all."

"Service, Talya," Marion said. "This is Ruth, who's taking over from Louise for a while. Louise has gone downstairs to help run M Deck after yesterday's fight."

"Service, Ruth."

"Are you happy to come downstairs today?" Marion continued to Talya. "I wondered if yesterday's events might have worried you."

"Yes, I think so," was the reply. "I was talking to Trish yesterday evening and she told me what had happened. I know everything's been cleared up now, so I'm not too concerned."

"Trish? What shift was she on, then? I thought she was doing days this week."

"Ah, she wasn't on shift. She had offered to stay behind in case she was needed while they sorted out the destroyed watch station, and while she was there spare as it were, she decided to ask me if I wanted to have a game of chess with her." She frowned. "I'll have to sharpen up my game. She's quite a fierce player."

"Chess?" Marion could see that matching Talya with Trish was going to have unexpected benefits, if it meant that Talya was exercising her brain more. "Good idea," she added, "but try not to distract Trish from her duties, will you?"

"No problem, Marion. She's given me a schedule of her shifts, so that I know when she's supposed to be working."

The two walked off and managed to get through the end gate without being waylaid. Marion saw Talya settled in the office before going along to Khiskov's office, where she received permission to talk to all those who had been on M Deck and who were still in the facility. Accordingly, she returned to E Deck and was let into the room where the M Deck detainee had been put.

"Service, citizen."

"Who are you? What's going on?"

The detainee was a year or two younger than Marion, with short, curly blonde hair and a peaches-and-cream complexion. She sat on her bed, with the quilt bunched up in her arms in front of her, viewing her visitor with suspicion. Marion was now used to the idea of detainees in pink, but she found the idea of someone on E Deck in a pink dress to be disturbing. She perched on the woman's feeding seat, gave a smile, and then launched into her standard speech.

"My name is Marion. I'm not a detainee, and I'm not a Shepherd. I'm a Counsellor, and I can come and talk to anyone who has a problem, or even if they just want a chat. If you have a problem, I may be able to fix it, or I may be able to find someone who can fix it." She pulled her datapad from her pocket and activated it. It immediately gave her the details of the woman facing her. "Crystal Donetti, is that right?"

"Yes, citizen."

"Now, my office is in Sick Bay, and we were overwhelmed yesterday afternoon by injured from M Deck. That's where you are from, isn't it?"

"Yes, citizen. But I didn't have nothing to do with what happened, I was in my room reading when I heard all the noise. I looked out my door and there was people fighting everywhere, so I shut my door and prayed no-one would try and come in."

"Do you have any idea what was going on? I was in my office when it happened, so I really know little about it."

"No, citizen. But it might have something to do with them two young girls who came two weeks ago. You could tell the atmosphere changed when they appeared on the Deck. What's going to happen to me now, citizen? I don't even know which Deck I'm on now, although I saw some women in green when they brought me up here, dunno what that means. Will I stay here, or be sent somewhere else? I'm fed up with being moved around."

"Ah, I'm not familiar with the precise sequence of events after any disturbance, but you'll probably be kept in here for a while, solitary. I don't know if you'll be moved on after that or not. You'll probably be questioned by Site Security about what happened, so I'd try and remember exactly what details you can if I was you. Write it down in your journal."

"Journal? What's that?"

"You don't know about your journal? Come here to the terminal, I'll show you."

The woman had said that she could read, so Marion sat her down in front of her terminal and showed her how and where to find her journal, and how to make entries in it. Marion thought it interesting that she hadn't explored the resources of her terminal, but merely drilled down to find the things that she needed and ignored the rest. She also thought it interesting how proficient she herself had become with the use of the terminals, primarily due to the efforts of Talya and Trish.

When she let herself out of the room Elena was waiting.

"Anything?"

"Nothing much. She was one of the few fortunates who stayed out of trouble. She's given me a pointer or two, though. I think I'm going down to D Deck now, to talk to the more seriously injured detainees first."

On D Deck, Marion headed straight for the watch station in the middle of the ward.

"Service, all! I'm not going to chat to everyone this morning," she added to Felicia, the Senior Shepherd, "I wanted to speak especially to those who were injured on M Deck yesterday. Of course, I'll always listen to anything you might wish to say to me." Her gaze took in all the other Shepherds standing around. They were familiar with Marion's methods by now.

"Of course, Counsellor." Felicia grimaced. "A lot of confusion and work that caused, as well! We had to move some of the less serious cases we had over into S Deck to make room, I hope you'll find some time to go over there, one or two of them weren't happy about the sudden move. We have..." she counted down a list on one of the terminals, "...eight from M Deck, although one of them is so serious I don't think you'll be able to speak with her as we have her heavily sedated."

"Would that be the skull fracture Sophia had to deal with?"

"No, I heard about that. That was a Shepherd so she wouldn't be in here, this one's a detainee who came in with a broken arm, she collapsed during the night. Seems there was internal bleeding nobody spotted."

Marion nodded. "I think she must have been the one who was in my treatment room. We wondered why a broken arm caused her to go into shock."

"Looks like she got kicked in the small of the back, we eventually discovered bruising around the kidneys. Nasty business."

"Indeed. Where's the first one?"

"Four. All the doors are open as usual."

The first casualty was Eleanor Brondby, the ex-nurse. Marion sat down beside the bed and looked closely at her damaged eye, which was bandaged.

"Service, citizen, we meet again. How are you feeling this morning? What's the status of your eye?"

Marion spent some time talking to the older woman. It appeared that her eye injury would heal and that she would make a near-full recovery. She hadn't taken part in the fight, but had been attacked when she had tried to pull other injured detainees to safety. However she was sharp, and had much to say about why she thought the trouble had started. Marion moved on and talked to those other injured who were awake at the time of her visit, returning to the watch station at the end.

"I'd better go and have my lunch," Marion said to the Shepherds. "I really shouldn't discuss what I've learned, particularly as I don't understand some of it myself. Let's just say it seems that gangs were involved. You have one here who is or was a gang member, Domenica, but I don't think she'll give you any trouble. After lunch I'll go and see if I can talk to the less damaged members of M Deck. Thank you for your time, citizens."

Marion rejoined Talya in the office and they discussed what Marion had learned for a few minutes before the lunch trolley arrived. As Marion popped the film over her cutlery her eyes caught the sample pot, still standing abandoned on the corner of her desk. She sighed. Talya's eyes flicked at her, recognised the focus of Marion's gaze, and wondered whether or not to say anything before deciding to make a comment.

"Is that... jar... important?"

Marion sighed again. "Yes, unfortunately it is. I need to provide more... genetic material... before I can fully resume the medication I need to stay as I currently am."

"Genetic material? Oh. Of course. You got that... jar... yesterday morning, didn't you, and we've been busy ever since. Are you supposed to do it here, or can you take it home with you? That might be a better option."

Marion shook her head. "I did do it that way the first time, but then I was only bringing a sample for Sophia to look at under a microscope to see if it looked good enough. This time it will be for reproductive purposes, so has to be in better condition." She reddened. Although she had readily discussed her biological details with various people, she still had a reserve of modesty when talking about such matters.

"You wanted to find somewhere quiet, like the treatment room," Talya guessed. "I don't think you're going to be able to use that this afternoon, one of the Orderlies came by earlier to say they will start kitting it out after lunch." She thought. "We're busy, but I'll take some time to think of somewhere quiet you might go, Marion. It's the least I can do."

"Thank you, Talya. Try and be discreet, won't you?"

"For such a matter, Counsellor, of course I will."

After lunch, Marion went downstairs to try and interview those left on M Deck, but when she reached the bottom of the stairs, a Site Shepherd barred her way.

"I'm sorry, citizen, access to this area is restricted. Which Deck are you looking for?"

The woman looked at her curiously, as it was obvious she had never seen Marion before, and it appeared that she hadn't read any of the bulletins which mentioned her existence among the staff. Marion wasn't particularly surprised by this. She could hear the sounds of construction work taking place through the grille where the watch station was being rebuilt, and she expected the Shepherds to be twitchy down here.

"I am Counsellor Hillier, I am a member of staff here at the facility and I am permitted unrestricted access to all parts of the building. I am here at the express request of Director Khiskov to interview those who took part in yesterday's disturbance."

"Your pardon, citizen, but I must verify your identity."

The woman pulled a datapad from a pocket and aimed it at Marion's disc, causing her details to be displayed. She looked puzzled, but lowered the datapad and put it away before commenting.

"My apologies, Counsellor, I have never before seen a member of staff dressed like yourself. How long have you been working here?"

"Five weeks. I'm surprised that you were not aware of my existence. Director Khiskov posted notices detailing my job and my uniform weeks ago."

"Ah, that might be because I have not long returned after maternity leave. My apologies again. You wished to visit M Deck? Go ahead, but take care as they are still working on the watch station."

Marion walked along the corridor towards the centre of M Deck, where a group of women in grey-clad jumpsuits were assembling a new watch station from parts stacked on a nearby trolley. The whole corridor looked clean and bright and there was no evidence of spilled blood or any other sign of commotion. There was a faint antiseptic smell in the air. The cleaners, Marion thought, must have spent most of yesterday evening tidying up in here.

Either side of the watch station area, outside the enclosing grilles, two Shepherds sat on chairs looking bored. As she approached those nearer to her Marion could see that one was Diana Poulsen, the Shepherd she had been with when they had been attacked walking back from the shop at the end of the road. The other she didn't recognise.

"Service, Diana. Got yourself a quiet job this time, it seems."

"Service, Counsellor. Yes, I hate it when a Deck is under lock-down, I prefer a little life, if you know what I mean. Although, perhaps, not quite as much life as yesterday, I've seen the recordings."

"I've been asked to interview all the culprits to try and find out what happened and more importantly why."

Diana waved a hand. "Go ahead. I'm nominally Senior for this ad hoc arrangement if you need anything doing, but you know your way round as well as I do, I expect."

"Thanks, Diana. I haven't forgotten that offer of a meal, either. It's just that circumstances spiralled out of control so rapidly I had no idea what to do about it. Another time, perhaps."

"You were behind that building being gutted? I might have known."

Marion went through the gate, which had been wedged open to permit the desk panels to be carried through, and stopped. One of the jumpsuited women was Trish, and she smiled a greeting as Marion entered.

"Service, Counsellor! I suppose you want to go and talk to the battered and bruised."

"Service, Trish, yes I did. Thinking about it, how am I going to do that if there's no watch station?"

"Ah, we all have communicators, we ask the monitoring crew to do anything we require. Almost anything in the building can be operated remotely from Central Control if the need is there. Which end do you want to start?"

"I'll go up the far end and work my way back. I've no idea how long I'll be with each one, though. Has your job here been difficult? I bet you don't often get the chance to rebuild a whole watch station on a Deck."

Trish shrugged. "It's not been so bad. These things are modular, so replacement is usually straightforward. They did mangle some cables, though, and pushing the base of the station over made some awkward holes in the floor where the anchors ripped out, but nothing a little rapid filler hasn't fixed. That's why we're still here, if they had just damaged the equipment it would probably have been replaced overnight. I heard you had an interesting time down in Sick Bay yesterday."

"Yes, I'll tell you about it another time if I may. I must get on with these, I have a meeting with Donna later. Thanks, by the way, for rescuing Talya yesterday."

Trish grinned again. "It was the least I could do."

Marion gave her a meaningful glance. "Chess?"

Trish gave a 'what do I care' shrug. "Why not? Helped to settle her down. Good player too."

"It's fine by me." Marion gave a wave and walked through the second gate, to discover that the two Shepherds seated there were Wanda and Louise. She spent a few minutes talking to them before continuing on to the end of the corridor. As she reached the end door she heard a click as it was released, and she let herself into the room.

*****

"Service, Marion! Come on in." Director Khiskov gave a beckoning wave and resumed whatever she was doing on her terminal. A full cup of cold tea stood abandoned on her desk. Marion entered and made herself comfortable on a chair. Eventually Khiskov looked up and smiled at Marion.

"You've been busy today, I notice. From the look on your face, I guess you've got some good ideas what happened yesterday."

"I can tell you exactly what happened yesterday, Donna."

"You have my full attention. If you have managed to do that within twenty-four hours I'll - I'll treat you to a meal at any restaurant you care to name."

Marion grinned. "Wait till you have heard what I've found, Donna, I don't want to put you to unnecessary expense. It's like this. Two weeks ago two young girls were transferred from L Deck to M Deck, because they were being hassled by members of a gang down there, the Docksiders?"

Khiskov nodded. "Yes, they operate along the river, down by the docks, hence the name. Those two were being picked on, so they were moved for their own safety. Are you telling me that they were the cause of the problem? As far as I recall, they weren't identified as gang members as they had no identifying marks, and they weren't picked up as part of any gang operation."

"Nevertheless, that's what they are, they're members of a group known as the South Side Vixens, if I've got that right. I understand that they are an all-female gang on one of the estates over towards the river, and that their territory adjoins that of the Docksiders."

"They're Vixens? Unmarked Vixens? That's a departure for them."

"Apparently this is a new policy to ensure they don't get marked as gang members if they get intercepted by other gangs or arrested and end up in here. I knew very little about gang culture, since there weren't any where I grew up or where I lived before I came here, and I told them so, so they helpfully filled in all the details for me. I'm not sure I'm going to get away with that little trick again in the future."

"You never know. Well! That's something new for the book. I must make a note of all this for future reference."

"I'm putting together a proper report, but I thought I'd tell you what I found in case I got sidetracked again."

Khiskov rolled her eyes. "Don't. We've all been there. But, I thought there weren't any Docksiders on M Deck."

"No, there aren't, this is something different. On M Deck, in plain view, are three members of another gang, the Riverside Dragons, or more commonly the Dragons. Apparently they have territory which is next to the Vixens on the other side." Khiskov nodded confirmation. "Also on M Deck, but keeping a low profile, are two members of the Soho Crew. I understand that their territory adjoins the Dragons, but doesn't touch the Vixens sphere of influence. Now our new two didn't want to get involved with the Dragons until they found out that the Soho pair were there as well, and they made an arrangement with the Soho pair to combine against the Dragons to settle mutual scores."

"I see. But that's only, what, seven gang members. I can see how a few others might get involved, but fifty-odd? How did they manage to hide what they were doing?"

"Apparently the actual fight was pre-arranged in code, during time outside in the yard, and when some of them were in the gym. The idea was passed on in conversations during lunch and at other times, in such a way it wouldn't cause any alarm out here. It seems that there are some who were just spoiling for a fight, some who had grudges against either other detainees or against Shepherds, and some who were just bored and joined in for something different to do. There was also something called the 'forty-eight hour rule', which I didn't quite get."

"Forty-eight hour rule?" Khiskov echoed. She shook her head. "I don't know what that means. So, I can guess the rest of it. They arranged to meet in the lounges and then rush the watch station to prevent the alarm being given too soon. Once that was done, and the Shepherds incapacitated, the floor was open and accounts could be settled."

"That's it exactly. Oh, and you have a couple of ex-gang members in the mix as well, who have retired and settled down to a life of conventional crime instead."

Khiskov shook her head again. "We try, very hard, to identify gang members so that we can keep them separate, but if they are going to stop giving their members identifying marks I don't know what we'll do. Are you sure of your facts here? If you are, I'll have to notify the Facilities Directorate so that they can warn the other facilities to be on their guard."

"Director, I am reasonably sure. It's possible that this pair were specially singled out for this treatment, to allow them to go places without being identified by other gangs, so that they could act as messengers, for example. I can't imagine all gangs doing this, but if even one does it then I can see it will cause trouble."

"I'll get out a note, then, today. If we can't spot these people then it would very easily cause trouble elsewhere. What happened here was bad enough. Thank you, Marion, for some quite brilliant investigative work."

"Ah, Director, remember that I'm supposed to be an unbiased observer here. I don't want anyone to know that what I just told you came from me, or it could prevent people from talking openly to me."

"Don't worry about that. Our normal procedure in these cases is to grill everyone, and that will take a week to ten days. By that time everyone will have repeated their story so often no-one will realise that we already knew what happened. We'll keep your name out of it, don't worry."

"Thank you, Director."

"While you're here, I've been thinking about what we discussed the other evening. I may have an idea to propose at the next meeting of the Board. Consequently, you will be invited to the meeting, which is the day after tomorrow, starting at about two o'clock. What I have in mind should make your job much easier, but it will probably involve some significant changes. I don't want to say much more just at the moment, until I've done some more investigation, made sure of my facts. Don't look so alarmed, anything I suggest will be for your benefit, you'll see."

Oh, great. As if I didn't have enough else going on just at the moment.

"Ah, thank you, Director. I think."

Khiskov smiled. "I'm sorry, I have alarmed you now. Perhaps I shouldn't have said so much. Now, is there anything else to discuss?"

Marion talked for a few minutes about some recent cases before taking her leave of Khiskov and returning to her office.

"Did it go well?"

"What? Oh, yes, thank you." Marion told Talya about the board meeting.

"I shouldn't even think about it if I were you," she said practically. "We have enough to deal with as it is. I've found somewhere for you to have a little quiet time," she added meaningfully, glancing at the sample jar.

"Oh?"

"Yes, Sophia's treatment room. She says that you're quite welcome to use it any time this afternoon if you need to."

Marion had been so focused on the fact that her own treatment room would not be available that she hadn't considered the three others attached to the doctor's offices.

"In that case," she said, "I ought to go and try now."

She picked up the pot and walked out of her office towards Sophia's office. Knocking on the open door she entered.

"Talya says that I might borrow your treatment room for a few minutes."

"Hmm? Oh, yes, help yourself." Sophia looked up from her terminal at Marion and gave an encouraging smile. "I know it's important, and I know you've been having trouble. Go on in, and I'll make sure you're not disturbed."

She climbed into the chair and tried to relax, to put her mind in a suitable state, but it proved difficult. Khiskov's final shot hadn't helped. The time of day didn't help. I should be working, not mucking about with a sample pot. At least I can no longer call it self-gratification. She shuffled around in the chair. I must find out how to adjust these things, comfortable I'm not. Grumpily she climbed out of the chair, put the pot down on the nearest work surface and peered at the control panel. By dabbing the various buttons she figured out how to make the chair do what she wanted before climbing back in again, sighing. What a performance. Where was I? Oh, yes. Of course, the pot's over there now. She considered abandoning the attempt and trying again tomorrow. No, this is for Belle. Get it over with. She climbed out of the chair again and fetched the pot.

She was careful not to let herself get into the same state she had at the clinic, but even so by the time she had managed to generate a sample she was flushed, sweaty and thoroughly uncomfortable. She cleaned herself up before opening the door, pot in hand, to exit through Sophia's office. Sophia looked up at her with sympathy in her eyes.

"I know you had to do it, and I also have some idea what it must be costing you," she said. "This ought to be the last time anyone will ask you to do something like this. Can you manage to get it along to Pathology?"

"I think so, Sophia. Thank you for the use of the room."

"Any time. Like I said, I know that it's important, both to you and to Belle."

"Is this the end of it, then?" Marion asked. "Can I start on the blockers? I've had about enough of this nonsense."

"Let's just wait till that," she pointed to the pot in Marion's hand, "has been received and checked by the Fertility Clinic before we start doing anything irreversible. That shouldn't take long, so expect a call tomorrow afternoon to get your next set of pills. Off you go, get that along to Pathology right away."

Marion passed on the sample to the next person in the chain and then returned to her office, her state of mind much more relaxed now that the unpleasantness was behind her. Talya looked up as she sat down.

"Everything go okay?"

"Yes, thank you. Why the concern?"

"Although you're still working with your usual vigour, you've been unsettled the last couple of days, and I guessed it was that. I know how much it means to you and Belle."

"Thank you again. Yes, it's done. I have to wait until it's been received and checked, but I think I'm finally ready to say farewell to the man in me."

"I didn't think there was much man left in you anyway, Marion. Emotionally, I meant. Of course, that's because I didn't get to know you until just before you were released, so I didn't see what you were like when you came here."

"Probably wouldn't have seen much even then. At first, I was just confused and disorientated, then I was told to keep a low profile by blending in, so that's what I did. Seems I was quite successful." Her eyes went to the clock on her terminal. "It's getting quite late, have there been any calls while I was out?"

A few minutes were taken reviewing progress and then it was time for Talya to return to E Deck. Marion accompanied her as far as the watch station.

"I'm going to go in the lounge for a minute or two to tell them what happened downstairs," she informed the Shepherds. "There's no reason that they shouldn't be told some of the truth, even if I have to keep the full details quiet for a while, until Site Security finishes it's witch hunt."

"You know what happened?" Elena asked, impressed.

"Yes, that's what I've spent today finding out. I'll tell you later, or you can just listen on the monitors."

Although it was only a few minutes before the doors would be locked, those detainees who were permitted out all crowded into the lounge to hear Marion describe what had happened to her the previous day. This was followed by a fairly simplified but accurate explanation of what had happened on M Deck, pitched as 'probable sequence of events' and 'based upon what had been overheard' during the first aid operation in her treatment room in Sick Bay. As the chimes went for the end of free time Marion cautioned them not to spread rumours about what had happened, and promised them the latest news about the investigation as she heard it.

She returned to the watch station as the doors were closed but had no need to repeat her story as it had been monitored on the pickups in the lounge.

"How much of what you told them is the truth?" Elena asked.

"All of it," Marion replied. "I'm not going to divulge any further details to them or to yourselves, because that would jeopardise Site Security's investigation."

Elena nodded. "Fair enough. We can keep our mouths shut, and so can the girls," meaning the detainees. "Gang members, eh? We've had the odd one or two up here, but they're not the type who tend to be suicidal or anything like that. More likely, they've tried to break away from the gang and have to be kept up here for their own safety."

"That's a whole sub-culture I know nothing about, and I'd mostly like to keep it that way," Marion said. "Isn't going to happen, of course, because I need to understand how such groups operate if I'm to be effective with them in here."

"Good luck doing that," Elena said. "Gang members are notoriously close-mouthed about what they do, presumably because of their intense loyalty to the group they belong to."

"They talked to me this time," Marion pointed out. "Although, I think that some of them, particularly the two young ones, were a little taken aback by the level of violence that resulted. Hmm," she considered, "That may give me a lever when I speak to them next time. You never know what might come in useful as a means of getting someone's attention."

"Do you have to go back to your office?" Belle asked as the group walked towards the lift at the end of the shift.

"No, I've finished down there for today. If I come up here with Talya every evening, that gives me plenty of time to talk to you and the gang, so I think I'll make that part of my daily routine."

The five women stood waiting for a lift.

"Didn't you say the other night that you thought you'd have to stay some evenings to be able to visit the trusty Decks?" Belle reminded her.

"You know how to upset a carefully laid plan, don't you?" Marion replied. "Truth, but that's not going to happen for at least a week or two at the current rate. It seems our services are heavily in demand amongst those I have been able to visit, new Decks are just going to make the situation worse. Once more, the situation threatens to get out of control."

"Was it actually ever in control?" Elena murmured as they entered the lift.

Marion sighed. "There's truth in that, too. To think that last week-end, I wanted to come back to work to have a rest."

"It will settle down, trust me," Elena said. "It just takes time. Don't forget, you're setting up a whole new function and you don't yet know how it will ultimately operate. Once the dust settles, I'm sure you'll be fine. I can't think of many of us who could manage to do what you done have so far."

As they were changing, Belle asked in a low voice, "Did you manage to do anything with that sample pot?"

"Yes," Marion replied. "It should have got to the clinic by now. I must admit, that's a whole weight off my mind."

Belle gave her a curious look. "It has often been suggested that that was where men kept their brains. Are you sure that's what you meant to say?"

"Very funny, you know what I mean. Are we going shopping tonight?"

"I'd thought to leave it till tomorrow, actually. Why, did you have some pressing reason?"

"No, just wanted to mentally prepare myself. Tomorrow will do fine. The day after, I have been, well, perhaps 'invited' is not quite the right word, summoned perhaps, to the board meeting. It seems that Donna has some ideas she wants to propose about my function here."

"She's not going to cause trouble about the calls in and out of the building, is she?" Marion had naturally discussed her work problems with Belle.

"No, I don't think so. She was as pleased as anything when I told her about the fight, so I don't think she wants to rein me in. She wouldn't be drawn on the details, though."

"Typical security. Speaking of which, I wonder if Jane's found out anything."

"Give the poor woman a chance! She's only had two days."

When they got off the tram in Old Town, Belle made a suggestion.

"I'm beginning to have an idea about tomorrow, with regard to the shopping."

Marion rolled her eyes. "Go on, then."

"I think that we might get a better selection if we went somewhere else. I was thinking, maybe we should go down into New Town tomorrow night after work. We can raid some of the big shops down there and then get a meal out before we return home with the spoils. How does that sound?"

"A meal out?" Marion said doubtfully. "You mean, in a posh restaurant?"

"In a restaurant, certainly, not necessarily a posh one. I don't want to sit there like a lemon trying to read a menu that's written in French with some snooty waiter leaning over me, then having them watch while I try to eat something I can't even identify. No, I had a particular place in mind, a small restaurant I've been to with the girls on occasions before, it's in Court Street, not far from the museums. I know the sort of food they serve, and they don't muck it about. Nice atmosphere, good bar, plenty of room to stash the bags, what do you think?"

Marion thought about it while they walked to the Enclave. They had managed to have a single evening eating out so far, the general lifestyle of a Shepherd didn't really accommodate much more. But with the change in their relationship, perhaps this was a good opportunity to spend an enjoyable occasion together while others rushed round and cooked the food. It also looked like their next week-end was going to be busy, so that left an evening expedition as the only option.

"Yes," she said finally, "Why not? That would make a pleasant change, and it would be especially welcome if we've been out shopping." She thought. "Of course, there's a question I have to ask, you know exactly what I'm going to say next."

"Of course," said Belle with a sidelong glance at her partner. "You're going to ask, what should we wear? The eternal question of womankind. And the answer is, just tidy day wear, I think. We're going to be moving about in crowds of people who will be wearing almost every style from work clothes to casual to sports clothes to uniforms to evening outfits. What we decide on, we can wear to work in the morning, no-one on the tram is going to blink an eyelash at what we have on."

Marion mulled this over. "Okay, then. I presume you have an idea just which shops we'll be visiting, as well?"

"Yes, I know the main shopping area reasonably well. Don't you?"

Marion shook her head. "I went there a few times with Anna, but that stopped after she died. I don't think I've been there in over a year, and then probably not the sort of shops you'll take me to."

Belle frowned. "Thinking about it, it's been a while since I went, so things might have changed. That might just make it more interesting for both of us."

*****

The communicator went while they were clearing the dinner things from the table.

"Service, Belle, it's Marcus. I wondered, if it was convenient, if you'd both like to pop over for a nightcap. I see you've both eaten."

"Well, we'd be delighted to, Marcus. Any particular reason?"

"Annelise wanted to ask you about your plans for the week-end," he said, but his expression said something different.

Belle took the hint. "We'll be over in about five minutes," she assured him. "End call."

Marion looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you said that the internal system was secure. Marcus apparently doesn't think so."

"You noticed? Come on, let's get this tidied up, grab a cardigan and be gone."

It was late enough that the girls had gone to bed by the time they were admitted to Marcus and Annelise's apartment. He ushered them through to the lounge.

"A drink? Just a little something for either of you?"

"Thank you, Marcus." Marcus poured and mixed their requests and brought them to their seats. Annelise was relaxing on the settee with her own drink and Marcus joined her.

"You don't trust the internal system," Belle said. "I notice you were very circumspect, and so did Marion. You think someone monitors the lines? I thought that everything in the Enclave was clean, it's the one place that pickups and monitors aren't tolerated."

Marcus waved his hand in a non-committal manner. "I just don't know. I do know that the apartments are clean, most of the ministers would never stand to have their privacy invaded. Don't forget that we sometimes entertain foreign guests as well, and it's often necessary to have frank but private discussions with them. The apartments are swept weekly, as you know. I can't say the same about the Enclave communications." He made a dismissive gesture. "However, that's not what I asked you over to talk about. I managed to grab a word with the First Minister earlier today, in circumstances which meant that we could discuss your seemingly minor difficulty without being overheard. It seems that your problem may peripherally be linked to some back-room discussions which various groups have been recently having. He didn't actually use the word conspiracy, but I wonder just what's going on." For the first time since they had known him, Marcus looked uncertain.

Belle asked, "Marcus, can you trust what the First Minister tells you? What I mean is, can you trust him?"

"I think so. I suppose in one sense I have to."

"Could he just be telling you what you want to hear?" Marion persisted. "When trust falls apart, like it seems to have here, it's very difficult to know who is on whose side."

Marcus looked uncomfortable. "That's the way to certain paranoia, but I understand your argument. He did say that he didn't know who he could trust in State Security, and that he didn't trust Defence as far as he could throw them. I think I'd agree with him on Defence. Tell them, Annie."

"It seems that the Education Minister who made this new proposal goes golfing twice a week," she explained. "One of his regular buddies is the Army Minister, and another is the Chief of Staff. In recent weeks, all three have been playing together regularly."

"Playing golf with fellow ministers is not that uncommon," Marcus added. "But the Army link is beginning to smell, especially given what you told me about your own service history, Belle."

"You said the Army Minister," Marion said slowly. "Not the Defence Secretary, then?"

Marcus shook his head. "His name wasn't mentioned, but I do know that he's a Progressive, the same group as the First Minister and indeed myself, so he may be innocent in this. It's lower down where the rot is."

"Progressives," Marion commented. "I hear these labels on the news, but I have no idea what they actually mean."

"Okay," Marcus said, realising that he was going to have to educate Marion to some degree. "Like any big organisation, the Party isn't all of exactly like-minded people, there are bound to be internal groupings of these and those who want different things, or who want the Party to develop in different ways. We have Traditionalists, Purists, Progressives, Conservatives and some other smaller groups. The Traditionalists want us to go back to the way we were immediately after The Uprising had succeeded."

He looked at the expressions on the three womens' faces. "No, I agree, we definitely don't want that. The Purists are worse, they think that the measures the new government took after taking power didn't go far enough. Gross stupidity! There's been enough similar attempts to do such things through history to know that it wouldn't work. The French Revolution, the Cultural Revolution in China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, you can probably think of others. Unfortunately, we can't easily get rid of these people, they have a level of support in the country even if they are a minority argument. The Conservatives on the other hand want the State to stay just the way it is today, so they object to virtually any change, forward or back."

He took a sip of his drink. "The Progressives, like Annelise and myself, agree that what was done forty years ago was necessary, but that the State should evolve like any other country. Our job is just to guide it as it develops naturally. There is another smaller group, the Evolutionists, who think that we shouldn't wait for change to happen naturally, but must push the State further and faster, in the direction that they would like it to go, of course. I'm not sure we'd have any control at all if that happened."

"So," said Belle, "who do you think is behind my own problem? The Conservatives?"

Marcus nodded. "Those, or more probably the Traditionalists. Remember, the Traditionalists revere your father for what he did. Most of them would like to return to those days, possibly with you leading the charge."

"Over my dead body," Belle said emphatically.

"That might be arranged," Annelise muttered. Belle looked at her with shock. She hadn't imagined that whatever was going on could involve her life. Annelise continued, "Don't forget, a dead martyr may be more use to them than a live but reluctant hero."

"It probably won't get that far," Marcus hurriedly said when he saw the look on Belle's face. "The First Minister wants to use your problem to try and flush out the troublemakers, if you're agreeable. This meeting, day after tomorrow, to discuss the Certificates, he has decided to make a full meeting of the Guardian Council, no absences permitted. He wants to try and find out where people's loyalties lie, and a squabble over something that's seemingly unimportant may allow him to do that. I know it's not unimportant to you two, but that's the way most of the government will see it."

Belle nodded agreement. "What else can I do? And do I need to have concern for my personal safety?"

"No, I don't think so. There's squabbling and plotting going on all the time at this level in any government, I think it's a natural law. I'm fairly sure this will all blow over and you'll both be able to get on quietly with your lives. Can I refresh your drinks?"

"I think you'd better, Marcus. Suddenly, my throat's gone dry."

While Marcus was getting the drinks, Marion said, "Annelise, you do need to know what we're doing over the week-end, don't you? We'll want to go for a run on one of the days, now that I've got all the kit and have been round the park once. Thinking about it, we'll also have to go back to Michelle, she gave me a sports bra which I wore the previous time, but I'll need at least two more, I think. Other than that, I think both of us would be happy to accompany you and the girls again."

"That's wonderful, thank you! Can we explore some more of the park, do you think?"

Belle said, "Of course. We can try going in a different direction each time until you're all familiar with what's to be found near the Enclave." Marcus handed her a drink. "Thank you, Marcus."

"So you see," he resumed, "It now looks as though this isn't especially directed at either of you personally, but rather that you've been caught up in somebody else's plotting. Leave it with the First Minister, he'll bring them all under control."

Marcus's confidence in the First Minister's abilities weren't misplaced. Thor Henning Backstrom was a powerful figure with seemingly infinite amounts of charisma. Exceptionally able, he had won his position through solid demonstration of his talents rather than the usual manoeuvrings within Party circles. He was a Progressive, though, and there were always those who wanted to see the State move in other directions, so despite his many positive attributes groups existed who wanted to see him replaced.

"Suppose it works the other way around?" Marion suggested. "This group who are plotting, suppose they say something like, 'If things had been done our way, the daughter of General Marchand would have had a proper position and family by now'." Marion was implying that Belle would have had someone who was an obvious male as a partner and would have been working at somewhere more important and glamorous than a mere containment facility.

Belle looked cornered. It seemed that either side could use her to further their aims.

"That's an angle I hadn't considered," Marcus said. "Even so, I think everything's still in it's early stages, so there's no need for either of you to panic. I will see if I can arrange some discreet cover for you, perhaps, but for the next few days or so nothing ought to happen. Who knows, after the meeting of the Guardian Council, maybe it will all be over and done with."

"About the other proposal," Marion said after taking a sip of her drink. "The one about party members in the Enclave."

"Yes?" Marcus queried. "As far as I know, both proposals are still on the list to be voted on, if that's what you mean."

"I was just wondering if Jane had managed to find out anything."

"Not yet," Annelise said. "She's been too busy the last couple of days, the girls have been doing nature trips and Jane got roped in somehow. Tomorrow, though, she's going to be in the Security Centre after taking the girls to school, to fill in her weekly report and get her expenses sorted out. She says that will allow her to find out what information might be available to her."

Marcus added, "I'm not expecting too much, actually. State Security are so paranoid that I'm surprised that anything gets done sometimes. And Jane isn't a systems whiz by any stretch of the imagination. I'll be delighted if she does unearth something, it'll be more fuel for the argument during the meeting."

*****

"I don't particularly like this," Belle said as they lay together in bed.

"It's an improvement," Marion replied. Belle looked at her with surprise. "What I mean is, it seems you're being used as a symbol, rather than as an actual person. That means the attack could have focused on anyone who is a child of a Founder. In fact, thinking about it, there's probably more than one Founder's child involved here. We must point that out to Marcus next time we meet."

"I don't know what most of them do," Belle mused. "I bet none of them does a normal job like I do, though. And they've probably all got orthodox families, too."

"Truth. If we need to find out things like that, we'll need Jane's services. Or perhaps Trish."

"You want to get further into this investigation, don't you?" Belle complained. "I just want to get out, to be left alone to do what I want to, not to do what some bat-shit crazy political type stuck forty years in the past wants me to do."

"I'd rather it wasn't happening either," Marion responded. "But it is, and we have to fight it, and to do that we have to know more. But know this, daughter of a Founder, I'm going to be by your side, always, through thick and through thin. If they want you, they'll have to deal with me as well, and if some of them think I'm just a silly woman hanger-on, well, aren't they going to get a surprise?"