System

21. Collision Point

A broad avenue stretched directly from the northern gate to the citadel, so Esther was able to make rapid progress back to the centre of the town. The secrets of Oasis City were beginning to be uncovered, but she was no closer to finding out what had happened to Crittis. It was time to talk to Certaine and see if he could shed any light on the situation.

Her mind was elsewhere as she approached the castle gates and she didn't see the old woman until she stepped out in front of her.

The old woman wore a thick grey robe which covered her face and she held out a thin bony hand which stopped Esther in her tracks.

'Hold on a moment, young lady,' the old woman croaked. 'Don't be in such a hurry!'

Esther was on the point of dodging around her when she caught a glimpse of a thin face under the dark hood.

'What do you want?' she demanded.

'A few seconds of your time, no more,' the woman replied. 'I can see that you are busy, but spare a coin for an old lady.'

'I've met the 'big whore' and the 'old trader',' Esther said. 'So which one are you?'

The old woman chuckled.

'You can call me the fortune teller, if you like,' she replied as she held out her hand. 'Cross my palm with silver and let's see what the cards are saying for you today...'

Esther was on the point of walking away, but reached into her bag and drew out a single copper coin. She placed it carefully in the claw-like hand which disappeared into the folds of the old lady's dark cloak.

A moment passed and the fortune teller drew out a single tarot card which she held up so that Esther could see it.

'This is for you,' she said darkly. 'I see a journey ahead...'

Esther stared at the card for a moment and then reached out and took it. She turned it over thoughtfully and noticed that a single word had been written on the reverse side.

When she looked up again, the old woman had gone.

'Interesting,' she said to herself as she played back the events of the morning in her mind. Perhaps she had more to go on than she had thought...

There was no sign of the old woman in the crowd, so she turned her back on the city and stepped through the gate into the castle courtyards.

The guards nodded as she passed and she walked up some broad steps and entered the citadel itself. She knew her way through the maze of corridors and soon reached a chamber right at the heart of the huge building.

It was a large hexagonal room with a barrel vaulted ceiling and a smaller chamber in the centre. The floor was made from shiny black marble and the walls were cut from deep red granite.

The small chamber at the centre was also hexagonal and had six arched doorways which opened onto the main room. There were a number of people milling around with papers, books and cases. This was the very core of the castle.

Esther approached one of the six doorways and a wooden panel slid back to allow her through. She walked inside and it closed behind her.

There were a number of round buttons on the walls of and she selected one and pressed it firmly. After a few seconds another door opened and she stepped through into the Council's emergency control room.

She had not visited this place before, although she knew it existed. As the steel door slid shut behind her she looked around at the broad windows, the small desks and the huge central table. It took her a few moments to acclimatise to the technological complexity of this space after the archaic atmosphere of oasis city.

'You should have changed,' said an avatar of Phillipa Bartim who was working near the entrance.

'I didn't have time,' Esther replied, which earned her a raised eyebrow. The avatar clearly questioned the priorities of a person who had no time to select an outfit.

'Where's Certaine?' she asked.

'Working over there,' the woman pointed. 'Something about water purifiers, I think...'

'Thanks,' Esther replied before making her way over to a small table where Adreus Certaine was deep in conversation.

She cleared her throat and he turned round. He was surprised to see her but not displeased.

'Could I have a moment, sir?' she asked quietly.

'Of course,' he replied quickly.

He apologised to the little working group and led Esther over to the main table.

'Have you learned anything useful?' he asked.

'Possibly,' she replied. 'But this may not be the best place to talk. I may have a useful lead though...'

'Okay,' he nodded. 'What have you got?'

She thought for a moment.

'Before I show you what I have, I need you to tell me a bit more about the general situation. Do we know what has actually happened to Crittis?'

Certaine shook his head.

'It's really hard to make any sense of it,' he replied. 'On one level he has totally disappeared as a person, but it's not as simple as that. It's almost as if a wall has been erected between him and the rest of the system.'

'So all of the information that Crittis owned - all of that processing power - is still there. We just can't get to it?'

'That's right,' Certaine said as he gestured at the table. 'We've been working to fill the gaps that he left behind and we're slowly managing to get things back under control. There are still vast sections of the system itself which are locked out, but yes, they are still there.'

'So,' she continued carefully. 'What we need is a way through the wall...'

'Maybe,' Certaine said thoughtfully. 'What did you have in mind?'

Esther reached into her pocket and pulled out the tarot card. She held it up so that Certaine could see it.

'Someone gave this to me in the city,' she said quietly. 'Someone who may know something...'

He took it and turned it over.

'I've seen a few swans today,' she continued. 'But his one was handed to me in person.'

Certaine nodded and flipped the card over again.

'A picture of a swan and the name, Petros...' he said thoughtfully. 'I wonder...'

He turned back to the table and waved both arms out over the detailed images. The map began to move as he zoomed in on various locations - a mountain resort, a small town, a tower block... He dismissed them, one after another until the view focussed in on the small image of a three-hulled boat. He pulled his hand back and the ship moved closer towards them. Above it the tiny red icon of a swan was blinking.

'Crittis ran a city ship called the Swan,' he said thoughtfully. 'He was the sole contractor, so there's not much we can do yet. We've decided to leave it until we can send a rescue party out...'

'What's that?' Esther asked pointing to a tiny green icon which indicated a file. It was floating next to the ship.

'That, my dear, is very interesting indeed,' Certaine said as he quickly waved his arms over the table and everything returned to normal.

He looked around them, but nobody seemed to be watching.

'Let's take a look shall we?'