The Sins of the Fathers

Chapter Fourteen

The Stoddart Residence

Boston

Massachusetts

"You were right, Grace." Gideon Palmer told his daughter, his face filling her monitor as he confirmed her worst fears. "The device doesn't have a huge range, and it is designed for the police to find individuals, not collect data on crowds of people, but it does show on screen every woman in range who has working equipment. It is going to take the agents a while to list the individuals, because there are thousands of them...especially in Beacon Hill, Seaport and South End?"

"Three of the most affluent suburbs?" Grace murmured, feeling rather pleased that her own instincts had been proved right, but also sickened that so many women were being illegally disciplined right under their noses.

"Obviously, we did not search for earpieces or retinal lenses, because they can be legally prescribed for medical reasons, and most people in this country have microchip health and identity passports inside them, so we concentrated on the punishment functionality on the chips and the vocal cord clips, which are both completely banned...and this map is of your neighbourhood in Beacon Hill, love?"

"Good grief?" Grace gasped, leaning forwards as far as she could, feeling her collar tighten at her throat, as she peered at the details. Her father had not mentioned the collar. No doubt her mother had warned him, and he knew that she was working. Her desire to be involved with the Rosen Foundation in the field, and her decision to marry Brett Stoddart, meant that she was bound to spend some of her life pretending to be pious, simply because of her gender and Brett's role. It had advantages, because she could go places her husband could not, but it had its drawbacks too, which her father had warned her all about, many times. "There are dozens of them? Even in this road?"

"Once we have a list, we will try and match it against people who have visited Britain, but my gut feeling here is that there are too many for that to be the only cause? Only a few BIB executives go to London every year, so I really do think that this is something else." Palmer continued, leaving the map on the screen for his shocked daughter to examine. "So...we are also going to try and match them to local doctors as well, because I think that we must have some illegal procedures being conducted?"

"You think they are being equipped here?"

"Well, it's not hard...as I said, the vast majority of Americans are already chipped as per the demands of their health insurance...the punishment functionality is actually a software update...you wouldn't even need to see a doctor for that...and I would bet that every one of those dots have a medical prescription for the eyes and the ears...so the only thing that needs a medical practitioner is the cord clips...a fairly simple procedure, I believe?"

"Has Uncle Sean seen this?" Grace asked as the map disappeared and her father's face was back on her screen.

"Yes...and he is not happy. He has asked the team to continue taking readings in Boston to get the full picture and then to have a go in Washington and some other large Reformist communities."

"But he still won't intervene because of Mr Reece Cartwright?" Grace sighed, sitting back again, thinking about Candice.

"Not immediately...we really do need the full picture before diving in...but Norman asked me to tell you that he will do something before his term ends, because Bateman would stop the investigation in a heartbeat?" Palmer stopped to take a sip of his water and watched Grace intently whilst he did so. "That's just a few months, Grace?"

"Boston is becoming more and more British every day...it's like an invasion?"

"I agree...and the first hospital convent is to be built in Boston...where you already have a Reformist mayor and city council, Reformist Senators, Reformist judges and Reformist police commissioners." Palmer point out, as Grace looked away from the screen and nodded to someone. "Maybe a takeover, rather than an invasion?"