Eve In Utopia

Chapter Eleven

Well, this is just wonderful, thought Eve sarcastically as she gazed around her new room for the next few days. It was a lot nicer than a prison cell, but the door was electronically locked and there was a armed guard outside the door. Neither was an insurmountable obstacle for her, but such a direct approach to escape would immediately trigger a security response that would make accomplishing her mission more difficult. Still, she couldn't remain here passive as she had a mission to complete and so she needed to find a less confrontational way out. The female Secret Service agent had just looked at Eve blankly when Eve asked what she was being charged with and about access to a lawyer, not that Eve had one on speed dial. They had at least given her the tablet back after she requested it to have something to do as both the Internet and the television were not functioning. Access to outside news seemingly had been declared a national security risk. They had undoubtably examined the tablet thoroughly for evidence and finding none, had apparently decided the collection of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels to not be subversive which only goes to show that they hadn't read them. While Eve pondered a way to escape, she decided to take advantage of the hospitality and ordered a hamburger and fries from room service. Since the government was paying for it, Eve ordered the ultra expensive burger made with real 100% beef and hoped it wasn't a C.M.O.T. Dibbler advertising line. Of course the phone in the room wasn't working and so placing the order had required knocking on the door and passing a slip of paper to her guard. It did cheer Eve up a little when she saw the guard drooling when room service arrived with her food that cost more than the guard made in two days of dangerous work.

After polishing off the burger, Eve wandered out onto the small balcony to see what could be seen. She was on the fifty-eighth floor of the hotel and the plaza below looked a long way down. On the other hand, the identical balcony immediately below her own on the fifty-seventh floor was quite close. Eve turned off the balcony light and leaning over the railing, she watched the room below her for half an hour. If there was anyone in that room, they didn't seem inclined to come out on the balcony and there was only a faint light visible from inside the room, probably from one of the bedside lamps. Well, the night was getting on and she had things to do, so Eve climbed over the balcony railing and hung there by her fingertips. If she started her body swinging back and forth like a pendulum and let go at just the right moment, she should be able to land on the balcony below. If she missed, then as they say the first step was a doozy and she'd make a real mess on their pristine sidewalk.

Eve was just preparing to attempt it when another of her visions came on her without warning. Instead of hanging from the floor of the balcony, Eve found herself clinging by her fingertips to the rough rocks of a cliff face. Glancing down, Eve saw she was a lot higher up than fifty-eight measly stories. Yawning beneath her feet was a canyon that made the Grand Canyon look like a small gully. Looking up, the sky was a yellowish orange colour with creatures flying through it that looked like they would be right at home in the next Jurassic Park movie. Eve's view of the sky was suddenly eclipsed by the figure of another woman a few feet above her and peering down at her.

"My, but you seem to be in a precarious position," said the woman with an unpleasant smile on her face.

It was a face that reminded Eve an awful lot of her own with the same blonde hair, just a slightly different shade and the same blue eyes. "Hello Perfection," said Eve, not bothering to ask for a hand up from this woman as a rabid wolf was more likely to come to her aid.

"You killed a whole bunch of my Hunters," pouted Perfection. "I was even mildly fond of some of them as they had been with me for years."

"I only killed them after they attacked the colony and slaughtered over a hundred men, women and children," Eve pointed out. "Some might say that justified my reaction."