"First I must come to Paris because you are spending every moment on the damn computer. Now, I give you a brief window of time to spend on it, and for the past two nights, you have not been on. It makes me wonder what could be more enticing."
Her breath caught. "I went out to dinner last night. Jacq and Mari were there. And then tonight, my legs were hurting, so I took a bath, but I was just heading in to spend the time I had left tonight before bed. Your... You were right about the socializing. I need to do more but sometimes it doesn't fit into an afternoon schedule. That's okay, isn't it? I mean, to see people for dinner sometimes, or Jacq after he gets off from work? And Arnau told me about a natatorium, you know, for indoor swimming. It is open afternoons and evenings. It would be wonderful to swim in the evening under the stars."
"You know, Jessa, sometimes when you become very talkative, it is because you are trying to hide something."
"I'm just trying to please you, Torah. Be a proper Lord's wife. But there is so much for me to learn. And..."
"And what?" he prompted, tersely.
"And I don't want to lose myself along the way," she said softly. There was a much longer silence this time, until she began to wonder if the call had been dropped. "Torah?"
She heard what might have been a sigh. "I don't want you to lose yourself, either. Why don't you call Gemma? Her number is in your phone. See if any progress has been made for you to work on the pandemic."
"Thank you, Torah. I will!"
"And Jessa?"
"Yes?"
"You should be aware that the Council will undoubtedly perform genetics testing on our children. I will see you in about two weeks. Good bye."
She stared at the phone. He knew. Was he telling her it was okay to see Arnau, as long as they were careful? Or was he telling her he knew and to put an end to it? She was beginning to despair that anybody in the Circles ever said anything in straightforward language. She determined to call Mari tomorrow to set up a time she could pick her brain about everything Circle-related that wasn't to be found on the Councilary Web.
At the moment, though, it was that web that was calling her. She knew it was time to set aside avoidance of things she didn't want to know. It was time to figure out why everybody seemed so obsessed with her. Genetics aside, it was obvious she wasn't the last person on earth capable of having children. Mia and Mari proved that. Nor was she vain enough to think she alone could solve the pandemic, though she desperately wanted to help. And she was no Helen of Troy, though she might stand out in a crowd. So why the hell did it seem like everybody knew her, and had some sort of agenda that involved her? Even Torah had first told her that he picked her out at Summer's End, then confessed that he'd picked her out from paperwork before he had even seen her. If he could lie glibly the first time, why not the second? Too, Arnau had seemed surprised that they had sent Torah. Although he was definitely a fine physical specimen as well as proven fertile, Jessa had observed his cohorts at their wedding, nearly all of whom appeared strong, fit and healthy. That didn't, of course, speak to their fertility, but her research had already indicated that fertility issues were far more common for the women of the Circles then for the men. So why her and why Torah?
On the other hand, she didn't want Torah's tech spy eavesdropping on this particular research. A plan began to hatch in her mind even as she sat down before her computer, fingers poised over the keyboard. She had noted more than a few bistros and cafes offering wi-fi service. And a notepad would seem an innocent enough purchase to Raza, though perhaps not to Torah should he happen to review her spending. She decided to save the more questionable research for her 'social (and less traceable) time' even though she was dying to begin as soon as possible. She sighed and called up her list of URL's related to the pandemic. Except this time, when she traced information about the mutations and new vectors, she focused on the metadata of the sites; first posted dates, last updates, number of visits. Anything that would give her an indication of just how extensive the knowledge of the potential tertiary pandemic might be. When her computer pinged to warn her she'd reached the end of her allotted time for the night, her whole theory of Torah's motives had been turned upside down yet again. When he had told her about a tertiary pandemic, he had apparently been passing on what - to all appearances - was top-secret information. Again, she was frustrated by the lack of connection to internet sites in other countries, but in Europe it appeared there were very, very few people who knew that yet another wave of the pandemic was poised to flow over the land. Why had he trusted her with that information? She realized that she should be cautious when she reached out to Gemma about research.
****
The next afternoon, as Jessa started out with Raza in tow, she headed for a computer store she'd seen. Once there, she picked out a tablet and a number of other items she could use at home and might camouflage the tablet somewhat, if Torah cared to look. After a couple more small purchases along the way, she headed for a bistro that she knew had wi-fi and charging stations. In short order, her new notebook was plugged in and she was rapidly setting it up with fake accounts. She had learned a number of tricks through the Councilary web to obfuscate the tablet's owner and the accounts' origins. She could do even more later, but as soon as she had it functional for accessing both public and secret webs, she dove into her research with the limited time left. Her fingers were flying fast and her remarkable memory cataloging everything without trying to make sense of it just now, squeezing in as much as she could find out before it would be time to head home.
She found information about Torah as a Council Agent, including confirmation of the fact that he was the leader of his team. She had expected as much, though he had never said so. She found scattered reports from both early program work and the training program he had entered at the tender age of twelve. He had apparently excelled at pretty much everything. She also discovered that a good chunk of his personal wealth came from a 'signing bonus' when he agreed to enter training as a Council Agent. Much of the rest was apparently inherited. Torah was a Tenth Lord from a well-respected and established family. She had expected that he had a scientist in his third generation back. It turned out there were two; microbiologists, married while still in their studies at university.
Information about herself, though, was a thin thread. By the time she had to quit, she had found less on the Councilary Web than was readily available on the internet, which was very little and had more to do with her athletic conquests than anything that would lead one to believe she was in any way special. She was frustrated, but hardly at a dead end. She had only brushed the surface of what she knew was available through the dark and Councilary Web. She tucked the notebook into her bag before she called Raza to join her for the homeward journey. Still, Raza insisted on gathering the packaging from the notepad - just in case - before following Jessa back to the apartment.
Once back at home, Jessa placed a call to Gemma, and when it went to voice mail, she tried to leave a message that sounded more curious and eager to help than demanding as to why she hadn't heard anything. She knew there wasn't much Gemma could do to pressure the powers that be and given that she was beginning to feel that there was more than just passing interest in her own existence, she had no idea if that interest had to do with anything other than procreation. Once that was done, she called Mari and arranged to have lunch with her in a couple of days.
As soon as dinner had been cleared and Raza and Shay were back in their own apartment, Jessa went to the door and threw the deadbolt, just in case Arnau had any ideas about showing up. She may not be able to resist him when he kissed her, but she could resist him as long as he was on the other side of the door. As an extra precaution, she retreated to her office and closed that door too. She stared at her computer. She wanted to pursue her darker searches, wanted to rebuild her search spider, but Torah had confirmed beyond doubt that she was being watched, and closely. She would go back to the pandemic inquiry. He would expect that, if she was trying to reach Gemma. Maybe even wanted that from her. Could that be why he had told her about the tertiary pandemic? Knowing that she would follow her insatiable curiosity wherever it led?
It took the better part of the evening to find even a few sites dealing with the most recent mutations and vector research. There was definitely something about Italy, but Torah had already told her that. She had to wonder if it also had something to do with that mysterious 'city' in the mountains where no city existed, at least according to the old maps. She hadn't learned too much more, save some technical details, which wouldn't be too hard to learn more about, at least in the generic sense, as she worked on her microbiology in the morning, so she put off exploring that and spent most of her time trying to find more sites, guessing at URLs and naming conventions that the most promising scientists seemed inclined to use. While it was not unusual that the more recent the site, the fewer the visitors, it seemed even more evident that only a handful of people were actively researching the latest, scariest mutations. How was that possible? Had they learned nothing from the original pandemic? She was no fan of panic, but the utter lack of concern shook her. She found herself staring at her phone several times, willing it to ring, willing Gemma to call and possibly shed some light for her. On the other hand, did Gemma even know? Had all the precautions taken at the hospital back then been to guard against the secondary pandemic, rather than the tertiary as Torah had led her to believe; had seemed to believe himself? Jessa wanted to stomp her foot and demand answers from someone, but she was beginning to realize there may be very few people indeed who had any answers. And she was even beginning to wonder how Torah knew. He was not a scientist and he was not on the council. How did he come by knowledge of a Tertiary pandemic?
