The Boys' Club

Chapter 5

     Something was not right. Tracy could feel it after she hung up from her phone call with Carmen the following night. Her sixth sense told her there was something going on. Carmen had told her how she had been put in the simulator for the whole day with everyone ignoring her. It was just as she had thought. The men were going to make it as difficult as they could for their new recruit hoping she would give up and ask for a transfer off the island. But there was something else going on, and she thought she knew what it was.

The next night as soon as Carmen called, Tracy asked her if she had the phone on speaker.

"Yes, why?" Carmen asked.
"Just flip it off," Tracy said casually.
"Okay, it's off." Carmen picked up the phone.
"Don't say anything other than yes or no," Tracy said mysteriously, "Did you bring your mobile phone with you?"
"Yes," Carmen answered feeling rather puzzled.
"Okay, I want you to say goodbye to me as if I told you I had to go somewhere, then get your mobile and go outside to some secluded area well away from the barracks. Call me on this number but dial oh one one first. That will connect you to the mainland via the satellite. Got all that?"

Five minutes later Carmen was leaning against the wall of a storeroom talking to Tracy.
"Don't ask me how I know, but I think your room may be bugged," Tracy said.
"But why?" Carmen asked, "and who would do it?"
"It could be anyone, someone trying to find out who you are talking to and what you're telling them about what goes on there. Here's what I want you to do. When you go back to your room, see if you can find the bug. It will probably be a small metal disc. It doesn't have to transmit its signal very far, so it probably won't have an antenna. Start by looking near the phone, it maybe be attached to the underside of the phone itself or the table."
"What do I do if I find it?"
"Take it to Driscoll first thing in the morning and tell him where you found it. What he does about it will be interesting to see."

Ten minutes later Carmen started searching her room for the hidden microphone. She checked beneath the phone, under the table, the bookshelf, and there it was. Stuck to the bottom of the lower shelf with Bluetak of all things, an innocent looking small metal disc. She gently pried it loose and put it on the bench next to the television which she turned on as per Tracy's instructions. Then she went into the bathroom, closed the door and called Tracy again on her mobile.

"Good work," Tracy said, "We can't assume Driscoll will track down those responsible, and it's quite possible they may try again. Tomorrow one of our planes is going to the island on a delivery run. The pilot is the same one who flew out with you and Dad the other day, Darryl Gibson. I'm going to give him a small package with instructions to only give it to you personally. He'll get there at about midday, so maybe you can organise to go to lunch around then. I told him to look for you near the dining room."

"What's in the package?"
"Something that will help you sleep peacefully at night."

The next morning on her way to the maintenance hangar, Carmen stopped by Driscoll's office where she met Barbara, the director's executive assistant, an older looking woman with short grey hair and a pleasant smile. "Welcome to the island," she said, shaking Carmen's hand, "I hope the guys aren't giving you too much of a hard time."

Carmen wasn't sure if she was serious or not, but she smiled, "They're fine," she replied.
Barbara shook her head slightly and gave Carmen a knowing look. "Just hang in there, honey. Now did you want to see Dr Driscoll?"

Driscoll looked at the microphone in astonishment. "You found this in your room?" he muttered.
Carmen gave him her rehearsed story about how she accidently found it stuck under the bookshelf when she had dropped something on the floor. She couldn't tell him about Tracy's involvement."