Relative Strangers (Book 2) No Man Is An Island

26. Waiting For Results

E was not good at waiting, nor was she good at allowing other people to do things for her. Which is why she was not having a good day.
She had spent the following morning sat at her usual table, while the rest of the team tried to engage her in conversation.
E had ignored them all and kept looking up at Lester's office.
He spent most of the time on the phone to the Minister, discussing the retrieval of E's documents.
She had tried to convince Lester to let her get them, since she had technology that would make it much easier. But Lester shot her down, like he had the day before.
Eventually E had stopped asking, but she warned Lester that if he damaged the documents in any way, he would have to deal with her wrath.

"Try and eat something" encouraged Matt.
E pushed her untouched lunch away from her and rested her head onto her folded arms.
"I'll eat once the documents are recovered successfully" she replied.
"Well, even once they are, you won't get to check them yourself, since Lester isn't having them brought here. So there is no point in worrying about them. You might as well continue to help us, instead of wasting your time thinking about those documents. There is nothing you can do for them now" insisted Matt.
E sighed, "I know. But I can't help you, not when my mind is so preoccupied".

"Then maybe you should get some rest. I know you didn't sleep last night. So why don't you have a nap in one of the rooms. I can wake you if there is any news" offered Matt.
"If I couldn't sleep last night, I don't see how I'm going to sleep now, when I'm even more worried. Besides, if you know that I didn't sleep, that means that you didn't either. So get off my case" E said grumpily.
Matt raised his hands, "Fine, fine, I'll leave you alone".
E regretted her tone, but she didn't have the energy to apologise to Matt.

To pass the time, E removed one of her notebooks from her bag, and began scribbling down scientific notes.
She wasn't concerned that the others were watching her, as she knew that Connor was the only one with any chance of understanding what she was writing.
E had put all of her research on hold for months, so that she could concentrate all of attention onto her island.
After months of failure, she felt so close to success, and she finally had hope that her island would be free again.
However, she knew that once Harold Wolf had left the island, nothing would be the same again.
The island was now public knowledge, and she was worried about what would happen to it in the future.

Later that afternoon, Lester left his office and made his way over to the group.
"Well?" Demanded E.
"They've found the documents that you placed, and they are still in good condition" revealed Lester.
E felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest.
She looked over at Matt and he grinned back at her.
"So, what happens now?" Asked E.
"Now, the minister reveals this information to those fighting for the rights to the island. The documents will then be scrutinised and carefully examined. Hopefully everything will be fine, and the other countries will have no choice but to back down and remove their claims to the island" answered Lester.

"And what happens once the island officially belongs to Britain?" Questioned Matt.
"Then we kick Harold Wolf's team off my island, and free the creatures!" announced E.
"Not quite. I expect he will try and fight our claim. And when he loses he will want to buy the island from us. We're not out of the woods just yet" warned Lester.
"Well, how long do you think all this will take?" Quizzed E.
"I'm not sure. But sometimes disputes like this take years"
"Years! But we haven't got years. Those creatures are suffering right now. Besides, what is there to disupute? Those documents me and Matt forged clearly state that the island belongs to the UK".

"I know, but the other countries are going to do everything in their power to prove that the documents are fake, so that we don't succeed. We just have to pray that they aren't able to prove that the documents are fake" admitted Lester.
"I feel like we've caused more problems than we've solved by doing this the legal way" mumbled E.
"Well what would you have us do?" Questioned Lester.
"I could easily take the ARC team and all the soldiers, through an anomaly and into the island. No one would be expecting it, and we could easily take them all out. And that way no one argues about my island anymore".

"You're talking about murderering dozens of people" frowned Becker.
E shrugged, "So? Besides, eventually they would have to surrender, to stop the fighting and loss of life. Then we would win back the island".
"Yes, but for how long? They would return with more men than we have, and we would then be forced to retreat. Not to mention the loss of life on our side as well as theirs. Are you really willing to put everyone here's life on the line?" Questioned Lester.
"It is a risk I am willing to take. And it's better than sitting here for years, while villainous slugs argue about it in court" informed E.
"Just when I thought you had changed, you go and remind us all about the lack of humanity that you possess".

E glared at Lester and climbed out of her seat.
Matt quickly ran around the table to join her side, and stop her from attacking Lester.
He placed his hands on her arms, diverting her attention to him instead of Lester.
"Don't listen to him. You are not the cold hearted killer that you once were. You could have killed all of those men on the island, singlehandedly, but you didn't. I know that you could have used the anomalies and the cover of darkness to murder them all by now, but you didn't. You don't want to be that person any more, I know you don't" admitted Matt.

"Maybe I didn't kill them at first, but things are different now. They tortured me for weeks, and I can't let that go" shouted E.
"Yes you can. I know you can. You didn't kill the scientists who experimented on you. So I know that you won't kill these soldiers" insisted Matt.
"That was different. Those scientists thought they were trying to save humanity. The way they went about it was wrong, but at least their goals were good. These soldiers have no good end goal. They are harming and caging those creatures, purely for profit" replied E.
"That maybe true. But that still doesn't mean that they all deserve to die".

"Maybe not. But I care more about the creatures than those soldiers. So if it comes down to it, I would rather cause harm to those human than the creatures" revealed E.
"You see, she is clearly quite insane. She has no respect at all for human life" commented Lester.
E tried to spin towards him, but Matt held her back.
"I know you want to help the creatures, but as least give our plan some chance to work. It might only take a few weeks for everyone to agree that the island is ours, and then we can free the dinosaurs" promised Matt.

"Fine. I'll wait a while. But I cannot wait forever" admitted E as she removed herself from Matt's grasp and began heading out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Asked Lester.
"I need some air. But feel free to follow me, if you are worried that I'm going to kill someone on the way" snapped E over her shoulder.
"Follow her Matt" ordered Lester.
"You know, just once, you could try being nice to her" replied Matt, before he ran off in the direction E had left in.