BLUEMANTLE by Karen Langston (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud TXT) 📕

“Spread the word. Tell them to look out for Bluemantle. Don’t tell them what it’s about. Just tell them it’s coming.”

Chapter Fifteen

Inside the Allears Training Centre, Governor Blix glided down a concrete corridor, torso erect, her sharp grey suit marble-rigid. Her eyes glared from left to right, catching glimpses of brightly lit rooms through glazed letterbox apertures. Wulfwin walked one step behind her, hands behind his back, his leather trench coat reflecting the strip lighting above.

Blix stopped beside one of the oblong windows and stared at the scene beyond. “Progress,” she said. “Talk me through.”

Wulfwin stood beside her, shoulder to shoulder. “Eight made the grade. None in the first rank. They all require adjustment.” He looked through the window at a small form lying on an operating table, grey cloth covering all but a strip of face where eyes once belonged. A woman in a white gown was leaning over the body. She trimmed a suture, completing two lines of stitches side by side: gentle half-moons, mirroring the brows above. Blix and Wulfwin watched as the woman picked up a razor and gently ran it over each brow, erasing them with a single swipe.

“Commander Lore made a number of changes to the Test,” said Wulfwin. “They are designed to reduce the instances of surgical intervention to achieve a higher proportion of sighted Allears. However, the modifications will take time; we need more resources now. All eight have had the procedure.”

“Timescales,” said Blix, her eyes fixed on the child.

“Ordinarily, six months. I’ve manipulated the programme to fast-track this cohort, as per your orders. We usually begin with Chromatofen ingestion and a period of attitude retraining, modifying their established ideologies until fully aligned. I’ve brought their physical adjustment forward so that their aural sensitivity can adapt to the changes while we work on their minds. They should be ready to enter the field in four months.”

“I want them ready in three.” Blix turned away from the window, her eyes as cold and unyielding as the concrete that surrounded them. “Show me the latest graduates.”

Wulfwin led Blix through a maze of corridors, punctuated occasionally by solid steel doors. Eventually they reached a door left slightly ajar, through which a low, expressionless voice could be heard. “Wait,” said Blix as Wulfwin went to push it open. “I want to observe unnoticed.”

Without a word, Wulfwin turned and led Blix further down the corridor, up two flights of formed concrete stairs and into a small, windowless room. A uniformed officer was seated behind a monitor, her startled face luminescent in the screen’s blue glare. Recognising who stood in the doorway, she jumped up and saluted.

“We need this room,” said Wulfwin. The officer began to gather some papers and a notebook from the desk. “Leave everything. Wait outside.” The officer did as instructed and scurried out, saluting once more as she passed Blix on the threshold.

Wulfwin gestured for Blix to sit in front of the monitor. On the desk was a bank of switches and dials. As he operated the controls, the image on the monitor jumped to different scenes: training rooms, laboratories, wards and dorms around the Centre. He stopped when the screen showed a top down view of Dent Lore addressing a group of recruits in Forces-issue coveralls. He flicked a switch and Dent’s voice crackled from speakers either side of the monitor.

“…training have led to this. You bear a great responsibility, on which the Authority depends,” came Dent’s voice, low and level.

Blix spoke over the monologue. “You have vouched for Commander Lore. You are confident of his loyalty, but you acknowledged a reluctance to recruit. I’ve yet to feel reassured.”

“I find his lack of passion strange. There is evident commitment, but no fire. No fury. It frustrates me, but it does not concern me.”

“And that is supposed to reassure me.”

“His motive for temporarily limiting recruitment was sound in theory. His proposal to modify the Test to achieve more sighted Allears bears merit. If his plan succeeds, I will even be impressed. It will improve performance significantly.”

“Your conclusion.”

“His rationale was laudable. He did not consider timescales and the need to increase resources. Since I raised the issue, in the context of your displeasure, he has responded positively. He is keen to start work on the new recruits the moment they recover from surgery.”

Blix stared at the screen, scrutinising the top of Dent’s head and his broad shoulders. The angle of the camera meant she couldn’t see his face. His address continued: “…in service to the Authority and its ambition to apprehend the Music Makers. Failure will not be tolerated…”

“I’ve seen enough,” said Blix, standing up. “We are done. I must return to my office.”

“Before you leave, there’s something else you should know.”

“Continue.”

“We have a sleeper in the field. Sent us a Code S.”

Blix stared at Wulfwin, eyebrows raised, her breath quickening.

“I’ve met with him,” he continued. “He’s become active. It was he who corroborated the intel from that kid from the Exchange, the lead about the last event. He says he has integrated with a high-value source.”

“This is positive news. We should arrest his source.”

“If I may offer my opinion, Governor, we would do well to wait. It is likely we will learn more through covert means. The sleeper in question has proved a reliable informer in the past.”

“I couldn’t care less about your sleeper. Tell me more about his source.”

“That’s all I know. It’s a new development.”

“Then find out,” she said, failing to suppress a tremble in her voice. “And if you can’t, we step in. I don’t have time for games.”

Wulfwin watched Blix with a calm, steady stare. He had noticed a tremor in her hands, which she now held behind her back. “May I offer counsel, Governor?”

“You may.”

“I strongly recommend we hold off intervening until his source proves unreliable or has gone cold. I see no risk in doing so. Instead, there is potential for us to learn vital information that could lead us directly to the Makers. I