Harris paused at the entrance and turned. “I’m glad you’ve come.”
He closed the door behind him. I felt satisfied that we now had the required manpower to take out Genesis Alliance.
Jack tossed an olive into his mouth, squirmed, and spat it back into his hand.
“What was the story with Morgan?” he asked.
“I met his management team. He’s the only one that didn’t totally believe our story.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I’m seeing our new boss, Chip, later. He runs security and will help us strike GA.”
Rick lowered the magazine. “How many can they commit to the fight?”
“If they have any sense, they’ll all join us,” Jack said.
“Let’s grab some supplies,” I said. “We need to start thinking about ways to attack.”
Hundreds of cardboard boxes, five piles of clothing, and at least twenty baskets full of kitchenware gave the locker room a scruffy claustrophobic feel. Two women were in the process of taking an inventory, checking the contents of boxes and then writing on pads.
“Get what you need,” the closest said without looking up, giving me the impression that we were getting in the way of the task at hand.
I rummaged through the clutter and selected candles, a lighter, cargo pants, a T-shirt, and a clean set of undies and socks. In the food area, I threw cans of stew, vegetables, a camping stove, water, and instant coffee into an Aldi “bag for life.” In our current climate, the boast on the side of the bag seemed ironic. With arms full of supplies, we headed back.
“How easy was that?” Jack asked as we reached the luxury suite level. “Makes me realize we’ve got something else to save.”
I liked his thinking. Pockets of survivors around the world would be banding together like this. Hopefully, a few of them were already destroying their local GA teams. We already had something to fight for, but Flushing Meadows cemented it.
“Are you thinking of staying here after and not sailing away?” Rick said.
“It’s possible I—”
A small boy burst around the corner and crashed into Jack’s legs. He dropped his supplies and only just managed to maintain his balance by thrusting his hand against the wall.
Jack picked up his supplies. The boy cowered away from him. A woman with spiky blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, wearing a gray tracksuit, jogged around the corner.
She rushed over. “I’m so sorry. I’ve told him a hundred times not to run in the corridors.”
“No need to apologize,” I said. “Jack’s been hit harder than that before, by far bigger people.”
She knelt by the whimpering boy. “What happened? Are you all right?”
“It’s okay,” Jack said. “Accidents happen.”
“He doesn’t listen like the others,” she said to us, but her words were meant for the boy’s ears.
“You look after the kids?” I asked.
“We’ve got five here, all different ages. I used to be a teacher, so they put me in charge.”
“You guys really do have things worked out,” Rick said. “If you need help, just ask.”
“Hey, I’ve just been talking to Pam. Are you the people who showed up today?”
“Who’s Pam?” I asked.
“She runs HR. Told me about another event in three days and that you know how to avoid it.”
“Cattle prod to the head—it’s not pretty,” Jack said. “Our plan is to stop it before that.”
The woman nervously laughed while studying Jack’s serious face. She seemed to see something in him and rested her hand on his shoulder. “We’ve all been through a lot. If you know a way, I’d like to help the little guys first.”
“I’ll head over later. Where are you staying?” Jack asked.
“We’ll be in Room 72. I’m Lisa, by the way.”
She grabbed the boy’s hand and continued down the corridor. We returned to our suite.
Rick nudged his shoulder against Jack’s. “I think she likes you.”
Jack scowled and quickened his pace. “Probably the last thing on her mind. You reckon people are thinking about that?”
“No, but…”
I changed into the blue cargo pants and plain black T-shirt, and relaxed on the balcony seat. An occasional armed patrol prowled across the court, looking around, taking different routes back through the stands. I managed to doze for a couple of hours until just before eight in the evening, when the sun set below the stadium and the temperature dropped.
I returned inside. Rick snored on the bottom bunk, Jack had stripped his rifle and scrubbed the working parts.
“This one’s filthy,” he said. “Better check yours.”
“I’m off to the boardroom, see if I can find Chip,” I said. “If they’re heading to Hart Island tonight. I want to be part of the patrol.”
“Want me to come?” Jack said.
“Don’t want to confuse him. I’ll go on my own, see if they’ve decided on anything.”
I went via the orientation room to see if Harris could help me locate Chip; the door was locked. I carried on toward the boardroom, but stopped when I heard raised voices from behind a door.
A male and woman argued; I could only just make out the words.
“Just tell him,” the woman said.
“No, we’ll go. I’d rather split,” the man said.
“They took us in.”
“You saw how the prick threatened me.”
Note quite the paradise we’d been shown. I edged closer to the door in order to listen. A floorboard creaked under my foot. The conversation stopped.
I carefully stepped away and continued to the boardroom. When I arrived outside I opened the door without knocking, not expecting to find anyone. Morgan and Chip’s eyes shot to the entrance.
“We knock on closed doors,” Chip said.
“Sorry mate, didn’t realize,” I said.
“Come in, sit down,” Morgan said in a friendlier tone than he’d had when previously addressing me. “We were just about to send for you.”
I sat in my previous position and waited two minutes for them to finish their discussion. Morgan leaned back in his chair and cracked his knuckles.
“I’ll make sure the security’s sorted. Ten in the morning, okay?” Chip said to him.
“Good man. Best of luck tonight,” Morgan said and turned to me. “We’ve had the chance to discuss your tale. May I be blunt?”
“Please do,” I said.
“Chip’s volunteered to work with you on this proposed protection method tomorrow afternoon. As impossible as I… we think the activation is, there’s a question of responsibility. We owe it to our staff to treat your accusations with a degree of respect and don’t want to be behind the eight ball.”
“Can you repeat that in English?” I said.
“I don’t want you disrupting the company,” Morgan said. “You’ve seen how far we’ve come? You are going out with Chip and Harris tonight on a scouting mission. Tomorrow night, if we confirm your story, Chip has agreed to lead an assault. That’s my final word.”
Morgan’s final word was the same as my initial suggestion. I wasn’t going to argue, though. We had gotten what we came for. I imagined Jack repeatedly stamping on Jerry’s face and suppressed a smile.
“Harry. You okay with that?” Chip asked.
“I’m more than just okay,” I said. “It’s the smart move. Count us in.”
“Excellent, we’ll leave it at that,” Morgan said. “You look like you could do with forty winks. Get yourself back to the suite.”
“I’ll drop by in the early hours,” Chip said. “Be ready.”
“Count on it,” I rose from the chair. “Until the early hours, Chip.”
I found our suite door unlocked. Candles on a central table provided ambient light against the gloom outside. Jack and Rick were nowhere to be seen. I pulled on a sweater, made a cup of coffee, and sat gazing at the star studded sky. Morgan had organized everything extremely well, and he’d come to the right conclusion. But, even if we beat GA tomorrow, he needed to think about strengthening his defenses.