Amber & Ice

Chapter 22: I can't help you any more

Dyo was no longer smiling when, half an hour later, he was standing in Briseis’ apartment with Ismene, Don, Ariadne and Orion.

“The camera turned back on? You’re sure?” Briseis asked, her face white.

“One hundred percent, Bree - the security guard found us, after all.” Dyo was pacing up and down the kitchen, too anxious to stay still, while Athena sat on a bar stool next to Ariadne.

“The security guard… God, Dyo, you could have been thrown in jail! They could have traced the glasses’ stream back to us!” Briseis was sat down too, her hair in disarray. When the data stream had stopped suddenly, she had gone into complete panic mode, certain that Dyo must have been caught.

“But we weren’t, Bree. We got out.”

“With so little data it was hardly worth going in!” She looked to Don for support, who, of course, nodded in agreement.

“Would you have preferred me to leave them there, for someone else to find tomorrow morning and - how did you put it, ‘trace the stream back to you’?”

“No. Of course not. I’m just saying that something isn’t right. This is your second failed mission in the past month. And with what happened in the theatre tonight…”

“Stop dragging it out, Bree. Just come out and say it.”

“You don’t fail, Dyo. You never fail. But… but something else has changed.” She glanced at Athena as she spoke. “How do we know we don’t have a leak?”

“I agree completely,” Dyo said, calmly.

“You do?” She looked shocked. “Well why did you bring her here-”

He cut her off mid-sentence. “We need to start interrogations. Question everyone who knew what we were planning to do tonight. And when I went to the voting centre. There can’t be more than five or six of us who know everything.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Dyo. We don’t need to interrogate everyone in the group. Your leak is sitting right there!” She pointed angrily at Athena.

Dyo stopped pacing. He froze, mid footstep, and turned to face Bree. The room was so silent they could hear the sound of people in the street below calling to each other. When Dyo spoke, his voice was quiet. “What did you just say?” Every word was slow, careful: a challenge.

“There’s only one variable, Dyo. One change. It has to be her.” Athena knew that she should say something; that she should defend herself, but she wasn’t quite sure what she could say to prove her innocence. Of course she wasn’t the leak; she didn’t even know enough about what was going on to be able to leak anything to anyone. She was about to say this, when Ariadne stepped in.

“That’s ridiculous, Bree. Athena isn’t the leak; she didn’t even know about the mission in advance. You wouldn’t let her listen, remember?”

“She didn’t need to know about it in advance. She could have tipped off the Institute about the meeting tonight, then messaged them while they were streaming the data - she still had her glasses on, didn’t she?”

The room was silent again. Bree and Don were both glaring at Athena. Even Orion looked doubtful.

“Athena isn’t a snitch,” Ariadne said, her jaw set.

“Ari… Maybe you should… Don’t you think…” Orion sighed. “You don’t actually know her that well.”

“Orion! Come on, not you too! I expect it of these idiots.” She waved in Briseis and Don’s direction as she spoke. “But you? Don’t you trust my judgement? Or Dyo’s?”

“I’m just saying-”

“That you don’t trust me,” she cut him off, folding her arms across her chest.

“We need to consider all options…”

“Okay. All options. We’ve considered Athena. I’ve told you that it’s not her. Now let’s consider some others.”

“Ari-”

“No. Don’t ‘Ari’ me. You’re being ridiculous. All of you. And cruel too. Athena has been through a lot and she’s put up with more of our nonsense than she needed to. And if this is how we treat new members, how on earth can we expect to convince others to join us? This isn’t an exclusive club, Bree. You don’t get to pick who can and can’t come in. We are supposed to be a movement. We are supposed to be recruiting!” She looked across at Dyo, who was still staring at Bree, his mouth slightly open. “Dyo, back me up.”

“Athena is not a spy. She’s the only reason I got out of there without arousing suspicion. If it wasn’t for her, I would be in that jail cell right now and the police would be knocking on your door with my glasses. So I suggest you apologise.”

“Dyo!” Don was on his feet, his face ablaze with anger.

“Apologise, Bree and look for the real leak.”

“I can’t do that, Dyo,” she sounded almost sad.

“Then I can’t help you any more,” he told her. “Come on, Athena. We’re out of here.” He walked to Athena’s side and took her hand before turning towards the door. “Ari, you coming?” he asked the blond girl as he passed her.

“Absolutely,” she said, in Bree’s direction. But she didn’t move straight away. Instead, she turned back to Orion.

“What about you, Ori?”

“Ariadne, you need to think about this for a minute-”“Forget it, Orion,” she sneered his name. “Come and find me when you find the real spy and are ready to apologise.” She stood on Athena’s other side and together they left the apartment.