SFSD X

Tabula Rasa (5.4)

Rosa sat back from the workstation and stretched. She had spent the last few hours here at the nearest library, engrossed in the huge range of information at her fingertips. If only she had a clearer idea of what to look for.

Her memory had not returned and she'd wasted the first half an hour searching the news for women who had gone missing recently, but found nothing that seemed to apply to her own situation. A search on Thump Corporation was more successful. Headed by reclusive billionaire Ron Thump, the Corporation had fingers in a multitude of pies, everything from coal mines to pharmaceuticals. Staunch opponents of renewable energy, they funded a variety of climate change think tanks, all of which concluded that climate change was a huge hoax, designed to limit free enterprise.

A rare picture of Thump and his wife of thirty years, showed a conservative, grey haired couple ducking into a car to avoid the cameras. In contrast, the media was full of photos of Max Thump, Ron's playboy younger brother. She stared at the most recent photo, a shot of Max laughing as he left a popular nightclub with a glamorous blonde on his arm. He didn't look familiar.

Rosa flipped through the screens, trying to discover how she fitted in. Why had she been held by the Corporation? What did they want from her?

In the end, she decided there was only one way to find out.

Dressed in a new black pantsuit, her short black hair freshly styled, and wearing the latest fashion sunglasses, she presented herself at Thump Corporation headquarters the following morning.

"Good morning. My name is Rosa Tabula and I need to see the person in charge," she told the perfectly groomed receptionist. "I'd like to return some property." Rosa took out the three security cards and held them out so that the Receptionist could see the company logo but not the names.

The blinding white smile faltered a fraction. The Receptionist reached out a hand towards the cards. "Oh. I can take them for you, if you like."

"I don't think so," answered Rosa with a polite but determined smile.

The Receptionist hesitated for a minute and then made a call. She looked back at Rosa.

"Mr Regan, one of our vice presidents, will see you shortly, if you'd like to wait a moment."

Even before she'd finished speaking, a young man came across the floor toward them. He was dressed in a grey suit, with short blond hair curling in crisp curls over his head, and blue eyes. His mouth was smiling but his eyes were curious. Rosa thought he looked cute. She wouldn't mind taking him somewhere dark and private!

"Ms Tabula? I'm Richard Galore, Mr Regan's assistant. I hear you have some of our Security cards? May I see them, please."

Once again, Rosa proffered the cards for view, but kept a firm grip. As soon as he saw the name, Dr Jason, Richard's demeanour changed. His body stiffened and his eyes became much more searching.

"If you'd like to come with me, I'll take you up to Mr Regan."

Rosa followed, hiding a smile of triumph. Her heart was pounding and the adrenaline was pumping, but with anticipation not fear.

They stepped into an elevator and her companion pressed the button to the top floor. As they rose skyward, he turned to look at her again, a slight frown between his eyes. His question was the last thing she had expected.

"Excuse me, but have we met before?"

"It's possible." Rosa gave the safest answer she could think of; she didn't want to confess she had no memory. Not yet, at any rate. She smiled and changed the topic.

"'Richard Galore'? Do your friends call you Dick?"

He rolled his eyes, becoming human for a moment. "Not if they want to live. My mother had an unusual sense of humour. Her name was 'Pussy'."

They were both smiling when they came out of the elevator.

Rosa sobered instantly as she followed her companion toward a double door. Richard knocked and waited for an answer before he opened the doors and ushered Rosa inside ahead of him.

A grey haired man with an impassive face sat behind a huge desk. He made no move to rise, though his eyes were fixed on Rosa.

Richard went forward. "Mr Regan, Ms Tabula has something I think you need to see."

Holding her head high, and bracing herself for action, Rosa tossed the cards lightly onto the table—face up. She met Regan's cold eyes with her own.

"Perhaps you can tell me why these men kidnapped me and held me prisoner?"

~~~

Bill Cartwright, Agent 008, slipped down the corridor as quiet as smoke. He found the Research Laboratory and entered, using a tool similar to the one Bond had used. He was hyper-alert. He knew that these people must be good if they had caught James Bond off guard.

He wasted no time checking the empty work area but moved straight to the cubicles. He looked into the nearest and saw a glass capsule with a naked man inside. The man's eyes were shut and his face was paler than usual but Cartwright had absolutely no hesitation in identifying his colleague—James Bond. But was he dead or alive?

Much as he wanted to break into the room and find out, he realised he needed to know more first. Quickly, he checked each of the remaining cubicles. Four more were occupied, by three men and one women, but the sixth was filled with a stainless steel machine which looked like nothing so much as two coffins stuck side by side. Tubes and wires formed a canopy above, and the walls were lined with blank-faced monitors.

Cartwright had absolutely no idea what he was looking at, but he began to take pictures.

~~~

Inside the capsule, Bond continued to relive the loop that had been planted in his brain. As far as he was concerned, he was chained and hanging from the roof in a dark room, struggling to keep his toes on the floor.