Escaping Elysia

Chapter 3 - Like The Wind Turbines (cont.)

About an hour later I'm deep into the genetic structure of chia seeds, but Claudine's words keep dragging me back out. What if she's right, and because I keep silent something horrible happens? I don't think I could live with myself. Biting my lip, I bring up her contact information on my screen and send her a message.

Okay, you've convinced me. I'll go to the police after work to tell them.

A few seconds later she responds.

Good! Want me to come with you?

I turn around and make eye contact with her, then smile and nod. She grins.

When I turn back around, a new message has appeared on my screen. It's from Secretary Sheer's assistant. My heart speeds up. He's never contacted me before.

Ms. Creedy, the Secretary would like to see you in her office.

I swallow and pop my phone out of its slot. The screen vanishes, and I dock the phone back onto my wristlet as I head for the elevators. I step on, pressing the button for the 40th floor, and take a deep breath. My hands shake, and I clasp them together to still the movement.

When I get off the elevator Secretary Sheer's assistant leads me to her office, rapping sharply on the door once before opening it. "Ms. Creedy," he says, announcing my presence, and I step inside. He pulls the door closed behind me.

The Secretary is sitting at her desk, focused on the tablet in her hand. "Would you like a water?" She doesn't take her eyes off the screen as she gestures to a small fridge behind her.

I shake my head, then, realizing she can't see me, clear my throat. "No, thank you."

She points to a chair in front of her desk. "Just a moment," she murmurs.

I sit, taking in my surroundings. I've never been in her office before, as it's not exactly somewhere lowly interns are normally invited. The room is filled with light. It streams through the many windows and the skylight in the ceiling. Solar panels line the windowsills, attached to cords that snake their way across the room. One of them leads to the back of the fridge. Another to the charging port in the Secretary's desk. The desk is the biggest thing in the room, and I run my hand along the edge while I wait, feeling the wood grain underneath my fingertips. It's not real, of course. Cutting down trees is prohibited. It's probably made of some sort of polymer meant to imitate real wood.

Here and there on the shelves, in the corners, and even hanging over her desk are different succulents and flowers. Under the north facing window a vegetable garden replaces solar panels. Onions grow in one of the boxes, perfect spheres. I can't identify the other plants yet. The room is certainly befitting of someone who leads the Department of Energy.

"Okay." Sheer puts down the tablet and raises her eyes. They travel across my face, inspecting every shadow and line. I feel suddenly exposed. "I understand that you want to talk to the police about what happened yesterday."

I frown. "But how-"

She shakes her head sharply. "Not important. This is about the shooting, right?" she asks, and I nod. "That's what I thought. What is it?" She lowers her eyebrows and puckers her mouth, like she's thinking hard. "Do you think the press mishandled the coverage?"

"Um, sort of, but that's not really-"

She knits her eyebrows together. "I thought this might come up. Do you...I hate to ask this, but do you feel like you didn't get enough recognition?"

What? My cheeks light on fire. "No, no. Of course not," I stutter.

Secretary Sheer sighs. "Evita, you need to understand that the city's attention is focused on finding out what Caine had planned yesterday. We don't have time to make you feel like more of a hero."