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Kathryn’s footsteps echoed along the corridors of the Babylon Institute headquarters. Those echoes, that had once sounded determined and alert, now sounded lifeless and empty. Butterstone was most likely dead, shot in cold blood in some back alley of London.
Kathryn wasn’t altogether sure why Butterstone’s death had made her feel that way. She’d seen people die before, and killed many herself. It was part of her duty as an agent of the Babylon Institute to be able to cope with death, because it was an unavoidable part of the job she was in.
But Butterstone was dead. And it was a death she could have prevented. A death she should have prevented. The memory of those moments was quite clear in her mind. Butterstone disappearing around the corner, the flash of colour, the gunshot, and more than that, the order to return. Damn it, she could have done something to help. All she’d had to do was force Butterstone to get on the bike with her, and all this would never have happened. And yet both he and Rockington had placed a single notebook in higher regard than his safety. What could have been so important that it was worth his life?
Kathryn paused as she reached the doors to the lift. Automatically she reached out and pressed the down button. Even the richly coloured, decorated walls, which were usually warm and friendly, seemed cold right now.
There was a ping as the lift reached her floor. The doors noiselessly slid open, and Kathryn allowed the single young technician inside to leave before she entered. Through her troubled thoughts Kathryn thought she heard the tech give her some kind of greeting, so she forced a smile and mumbled one back in reply as she reached for the lift control. Basement level three - research laboratories. The doors slid shut once more and the lift continued downwards.
She had looked briefly at the notebook Butterstone had given her during her return to the Institute. As far as she could see, there was little contained within its pages other than table after table of numbers, with very little writing as explanation. There was the occasional footnote about calibration or signal strength, but nothing that could confirm to within even speculation what it was that Butterstone had probably given his life for.
The lift gave the familiar ping sound once more and the doors slid open to reveal the third basement level. Kathryn tried to force herself to stop thinking as much about everything, and concentrated on appearing focussed on, and enthusiastic about, the mission at hand. She couldn’t let Butterstone’s sacrifice mean nothing.
Kathryn was due to meet Rockington and Professor Adams in the main research laboratory. The doors were directly ahead of her. She took a single deep breath and walked confidently into the lab.
The change in atmosphere was obvious. Outside of the laboratory, the corridors were quiet and calm, but in here, the air buzzed with activity and the sort of excitement generated only by scientists who get to develop technology at the cutting edge and kids with new toys on Christmas morning.
The main research laboratory for the Babylon Institute was an impressive affair. A large room with whitewashed walls, lined with computers and various miscellaneous machinery, most of which Kathryn could only guess the function. Scientists, most of whom were wearing the traditional white lab coat, worked on their respective desks, occasionally moving between each other to share some piece of gadgetry. The testing areas, which filled most of the back half of the laboratory, seemed pretty dormant.
Rockington and the Professor waited by a desk close to the centre of the lab. Professor Adams was a kind looking man, who Kathryn guessed was in his mid-fifties, though she doubted if even Rockington knew exactly how old he was. The Professor’s disarming smile and good nature had ensured his popularity within the Institute, and indeed Kathryn thought of him as a good friend. He smiled as Kathryn approached.
"Ah, Agent Phoenix! Good to see you again. I was glad to hear you enjoyed your brief spin on the Mark Four yesterday."
Kathryn smiled back.
"You guys did a great job getting the balance worked out. But I’m sure the Mark Five is already on the drawing board."
The Professor grinned and nodded his head over to a far corner of the lab. "The prototype’s over there. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re the first to road test it once we’ve completed the laboratory testing run."
Kathryn moved her gaze to Rockington. "Good morning, Sir. Agent Phoenix reporting as requested."
Rockington nodded slowly, taking a moment to regard her expression before replying. "Excellent work with the rendezvous yesterday, Kathryn. I realise that some of the consequences were not expected, but I don’t want you to let the Butterstone incident get to you. We sent out another recon team last night, and they found no trace of Butterstone, dead or alive."
There was an awkward pause as Kathryn forced herself to answer. Had Rockington seen the dismay she'd been trying to hide from her expression? Was it that obvious?
"Uh, yes, Sir. Of course."
"Good. Now, I believe you have something to share with us, Professor?"
Adams shifted on his feet, a slightly excited expression crossing his face. "Yes, indeed I do." From a pocket in his lab coat, the Professor produced Butterstone’s notebook. He placed it on the desk and opened it at the first page. "What we have here are astronomical readings, taken from various optical, UV, X-ray and radio receivers. The first few sets of figures point to a number of geographical locations, each of which is a site for one of these receivers." Adams pointed at a random selection in turn. "Arecibo, Jodrell Bank, Everest One, some of the premier multi-wavelength receivers in the business."
Adams turned a page and indicated the various tables of figures. "Now, these tables indicate a number of details about the signal source they’ve been observing. Things like signal strength, wavelength and pulse time. The top line of figures gives the location on the sky of their source. And it would seem that this is no ordinary observation. Because the source is undoubtedly the VXP source, in the Virgo constellation. For some reason, whatever division of Dalyn-Steward Butterstone got this information from is making detailed observations of the VXP source."
Rockington reached across and closed the notebook. "And that is where our investigation must end." He caught Kathryn’s expression of protest before she could say anything. "You know the rules, Agent Phoenix. The VXP source is a matter for the GSSA, not the Babylon Institute. We’ll pass on the information to them and let them deal with Dalyn-Steward."
"But -!"
"There’s no other way, Kathryn. Even given our international backing, the GSSA could possibly shut us down for going into this. At this point, we can’t risk that happening. My hands are tied." Rockington picked up the notebook and paced around the table. "Report to me at 1400 hours for your new assignment."
With that, Rockington turned and left, leaving Kathryn and the Professor standing in the laboratory.
Chris Smith, 13/03/01
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