Alpha Incorporated

IV - v HEAVENLY COMFORTS OF DESPAIR

Lucy listens for any sound in the building, something that might be coming from Isabella's apartment. The girl's roommate, Francisca, hasn't heard from her either. They have tried to track her down through Claude, but have no way of getting in touch with him; his email account is closed and no one has his new phone number. Francisca even called Isabella's parents, wondering if they had heard from her, but she didn't want to get them upset and played down her concern. Lucy can't imagine what a mother would be going through, knowing that her daughter has disappeared. Franny did discover that her parents were not aware of Claude's situation, as they gave her Claude's cancelled cell phone number. It is Friday morning. Isabella has not been at work since Tuesday. Lucy considers informing the police, but wonders if they might think that she is implicated in Isabella's disappearance.

She has a morning sector meeting, then hopes to do some digging before alerting anyone about Isabella's disappearance. Maybe she has hit it off with Angelo Lord, and is warming his bed this morning, or perhaps she is helping her brother move or something. There are a million things that are more likely and more probable than all the things she is trying not to think about.

Once at work, she tries Isabella's extension again. Nothing. She checks her messages. Nothing relating to Isabella. She searches the name "Measures" in the company database. There is a hit, a new result: Blue Pages. Measures, Claude. Termination Notices. It is a company release, signed by Angelo Lord, to be sent to all departments throughout Alpha Incorporated, for immediate release and publication. There are few other public reprimands as well, but Claude Measures is certainly the star of the show.

Lucy clicks on the image to enlarge it, takes one look at the photo, then picks up the phone and dials Pompey.

"Hey. Are you still playing altar boy for Priest, Bishop, whatever your buddy's name is?"

"Do you mean Mr. Fryer?"

"Ya, him, Friar Tuck."

"I haven't heard from him lately. Why?"

Lucy pauses for a moment before saying anything further. She doesn't know who to trust, and certainly has no clue who this Mr. Fryer is. But Pompey seems genuine. He did, after all, conspire with Fryer to doctor Claude's termination notice. "Well, I was wondering about the Blue Pages, the one featuring Claude Measures. I happened to notice a little change with it."

"Whatever do you mean?" Lucy can hear his feigned puzzlement over the phone.

"Well, I happen to know the man in the photo, the one who is supposed to be Claude. I know it isn't Bernardine either. His name was Ragozine. I worked with him once. A notorious pirate, he was. He is long gone though, fired years ago for selling Alpha company secrets. I heard he died in a car accident in Portland. What is going on, Pompey?"

"Oh, I am not cut out for this new position. I don't have it in me to see people lose their jobs. Bernardine didn't deserve to be fired, probably less reason for him to be axed than Claude. Bernardine was spreading his own kind of love around here, but in an artistic sense. Some feel that Alpha employees should not be making artistic statements on company time, and, well, using company resources to build sculptures for an art exhibit."

"So, you get to judge who stays and who goes?"

"No, I am just a paper pusher. But sometimes things get misfiled, you know. It is up to the bosses to catch the error." Pompey laughs, then explains, "no, here is what happened: I get together with Bernardine—super guy, by the way–to give him the heads up of what is coming down the pipe. I tell him to gather his shit and get out before security drags him through the foyer kicking and screaming. Not as though that would have bothered him. Anyway, we go out for a pint, and then a few more, and we hit it off like we are best buddies. So, both a little drunk, we decide that rather than publicly humiliating Measures and Bernardine, we use someone who is already dead, and serve his head to the almighty Mr. Lord. There is no way he would know this guy. He kinda looks like Claude Measures anyway."