Home » The Archives » Chapter 5 » Learning to Live in Paradise
| Re: Learning to Live in Paradise [message #1374 is a reply to message #1373] |
Thu, 26 July 2012 20:28   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
Karma:
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Field Commander
Switzerland |
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Monday, April 16th, 4:30 p.m., Tracy Island
After parting company with Elise, Dianne headed back up toward the monorail to the villa. She leaned against the wall of the car as it moved toward the access to the elevator that would take her back to the house. Suddenly, her discussion with Brains and Jeff about Tin-Tin's correspondent came to mind and she sighed.
"Might as well get this done now," she said to herself. Raising her arm, she called into her telecomm, "Dianne to Tin-Tin. Where are you now?"
The Malaysian girl's face appeared in the tiny screen. "I'm in the lab, Dr. Tracy. Do you need me for something?"
"Yes, there's something I need to discuss with you. Could you meet me in the dining room for a cup of coffee? Say in a half hour?"
Tin-Tin looked puzzled but said, "Sure, Dr. Tracy. I'll see you then and there."
"Okay. See you."
Dianne headed up to the house, trying to go over in her head what she needed to say to Tin-Tin. She stopped by the lounge to speak to Jeff.
"What do Ah tell her? How kin Ah handle this? It's not lahke Ah found this out mahself."
Jeff sighed. "I'm sure you'll come up with something, love. But if it will help..." He clicked on a file, sending it to the printer. "Here's a copy of Lena's memo to Brains. It contains all the proof of Tallman's true identity."
Dianne took the paper and glanced over it, then sighed deeply. "All raht. This should convince her if nothin' else does."
She gave Jeff a kiss on the cheek and turned to leave when he stood and caught her by the wrist, pulling her to him for a much deeper kiss. "Good luck, love," he said softly. She nodded, then left the room.
Tin-Tin found Dianne waiting for her at the dining room table, a cup of coffee already at her right hand. She looked up from the paper she was studying to give the younger woman a soft smile.
"Come an' join me," Dianne offered.
"Let me just get a cup of tea. Does your coffee need freshening?" Tin-Tin asked.
"Yes, but Ah can get it."
The unexpected drawl startled Tin-Tin, and she knew that whatever they had to discuss was upsetting to the doctor. So it was with some trepidation that she joined Dianne at the table.
They sat quietly for a few moments as Dianne searched for a way to bring up the subject. Finally, she took a deep breath and plunged in.
"Tin-Tin, Ah unnerstan' that you've been writin' back an' forth to one Giles Tallman. Sendin' him emails and such. Is this true?"
"Why, yes, Dr. Tracy," Tin-Tin admitted, both confused and defensive. "I met him in Kabul. He seemed like a nice enough man. I assure you that I haven't told him anything about International Rescue. I've been most careful about keeping things discreet."
"Ah'm sure you have been, Tin-Tin, and Ah'm not heah to tell you that you've done anythin' wrong. But..." Dianne paused. "But somethin's come to our attention concernin' Mr. Tallman that we felt you should know about. An' both Jeff an' Brains felt it best if it came from me, woman to woman." She slid the paper over to the puzzled young woman. "Please read this. It's a memo from Lena Matumbo about an incident of attempted hackin'."
Tin-Tin sat back and read the memo through once, then again. She lifted her eyes to Dianne. "Giles Tallman is actually Giles Hightower? What does that mean?"
"Jeff says that the Hightowers are the head of a cartel specializin' in industrial espionage," Dianne explained, stirring her cooling coffee. "They've tried t' steal from Tracy Industries befoah, but have nevah managed to make any inroads. Ouah security is tight an' our employees are, for th' most part, loyal. We're not sure why they targeted you, but it maht have somethin' t' do with th' Penelon forumula. No one else has been able t' get hold of it outsahde of François himself. Plus there are othah innovations that th' Hightowers would love t' get their filthy hands on."
Tin-Tin sat quietly for a bit, then swallowed and said in a teary voice, "And here I thought I'd found a friend." She looked down at the paper again, then up at Dianne. "What do you want me to do?"
Dianne sighed. "Ah suppose you should block him. It wouldn't be a good ideah foah him t' know that you know who he is; a block could be explained away by computer network troubles. Ah don't know what Jeff and Brains have in mind, nor Lena. It seems theyah targetin' her, too." She reached across to touch Tin-Tin on the hand. "Ah know this is a shock, and not somethin' you want t' heah. But... it was necessary."
"Thank you, Dr. Tracy," Tin-Tin said softly. She hesitated, then asked, "Do you think I could talk to Mrs. Matumbo myself? I'd like some more details on what happened with her."
"Ah'm sure you could," Dianne replied. "Just ask Jeff foah her number."
"I will." Tin-Tin pushed away her barely-touched tea, and rose from the table. "I'd better get back to work."
"Okay. If'n you want t' talk about it moah, just come t' me."
"I will," Tin-Tin promised. She put her hand out to pick up her tea, but Dianne waved a hand at her.
"Ah'll take cayah of th' dishes."
Tin-Tin nodded, then turned and left, taking Lena's report with her. Dianne sipped a bit more coffee, then picked up the cups and saucers and took them into the the kitchen for cleaning. I just hope she can deal with this betrayal and doesn't go off the deep end or anything. She really seemed to like the man and he's clever enough to use that against us.
Post by Tikatu on 16/06/2005
  
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