Circles

Nobody spoke much during the late lunch. Delphine and Emma were listless and ate very little, avoiding the salad completely. 

‘Why don’t you go into the other room and I’ll tidy this away?’ said Joe.

‘I will help, said Xavier. ‘I need to practise this clearing up and loading the dishwasher process.’

Joe gave him a sharp look. Was he was making fun of him? But no, they had never seen any sign of a sense of humour in Xavier.

Kim led Delphine and Emma back to the softer seats in the living room. She was casting about for the best way to bring up the subject of the clones’ future when Emma spoke quietly.

‘Have you picked up anything from Jean-Claude?’

Delphine shook her head. ‘Not since I sent out an alarm signal from - that place.’ She shuddered. ‘And as soon as Xavier picked it up, I closed all the other links.’

‘I don’t feel safe. They will find us and I’m frightened about what will happen when they do.’ Emma’s eyes filled with tears again and Kim hastily fetched a box of tissues from the sideboard and put it beside her.

’Surely Jean-Claude wouldn’t harm you,’ she said. ‘Xavier told us he had been teaching him skills he would need outside. I can’t believe he would do that if he was planning to lead these other people to you.’

‘He will,’ wailed Emma. She sniffed noisily, the crying was making her nose run.

Delphine added. ‘He might not do it directly but Osborne and Griffiths have installed layer upon layer of advanced technology in the systems around us, like concentric circles. If any of that is disturbed, it could trigger the information they need to find us.’

Appalled by what she was hearing, Kim plucked out a tissue and knelt to wipe away the tears now rolling freely down Emma’s face.