Chapter Five
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Denise was seated on the sofa just outside the
Supreme Council chamber. The corridor leading to the door appeared narrower
than the day before. Perhaps he wasn't so impatient then. Today, he had been
staring at the clock on the wall opposite him and wondered why the sound of
ticking seemed quite loud. The councillors, including his boss Connor, had been
meeting for over an hour.
‘Excuse me,’ said a voice above him. ‘Are they
still meeting?’
‘Erm, yes, yes they still are,’ Denise replied,
snapping out of his daze. He recognised the heavily-built, clean shaven
Lieutenant General as a military officer on the Presidential Staff.
The officer thanked him and proceed to tap at
the double doors at the entrance of the chamber. One of the doors opened
slightly and a security officer of the Presidential guard appeared from
within.
The two men spoke in whispers and the
Lieutenant General waved a file he was carrying, apparently showing the officer
one of its contents. The officer opened the door ajar and the lieutenant walked
in. Denise could hear a member of the council within the room before the
officer shut the door.
He frowned as he tried to recall what part of
the military the lieutenant was attached to. Based on the comparatively
nondescript attire, he looked like an officer of the intelligence services. Was
he Central Intelligence or Military Intelligence? he asked himself. Or
Secret Surveillance Ops? Unlike CI and MI, SSO reported directly to the
President and wasn't formally part of the military. Could that be why he had
clearance to enter the chamber? He wondered what the message was.
The doors burst open as a Presidential guard
strolled out. This was followed by another, a few seconds later. Denise stood
up as the President himself walked after. He made a slight bowing gesture and
greeted him, saying, ‘Mr. President!’
The head of state nodded with passive
acknowledgement as he walked past. The five other members of the council
who attended walked after, only the Education Secretary was missing this
time.
Denise joined Connor as he walked towards the
corridor and they proceeded to walk eastwards towards the atrium of the
Presidential Palace and then south to the southern exits. The Economic
Secretary looked flushed and Denise felt there was something he didn't like
about the meeting. ‘How did it go?’ he asked feeling a bit apprehensive.
‘A number of things and there was this
nonsense about the munitions factories,’ he said, pausing to take a breath. ‘Wage
cuts... We best talk about on it the jeep.’ Denise was aware of the people who
casually waited around the Atrium and realised it was something Connor wanted
to discuss with discretion. Munitions factories are not something you speak
about in the presence of others.
‘Who was the guy who entered the chamber?’ he
asked.
‘An officer from the SSO,’ Connor replied, ‘He
had something about the RR being active again. That madman Salzar is making
some noise.’
‘It doesn’t matter, RR is dead anyway, no one
follows them anymore,’ Denise commented.
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