Onekka - The Tragedy of Jaqui Fennet Read Online Free PDF Page A

she intended to go through them with a fine tooth
comb. The difficult bit was the restricted plans - those rare corners of the
station she couldn't view. She had the data, but not the decryption keys.

The very fact that restricted plans existed frustrated her. Jaq had always been
a firm believer in the right to know. If the impact of the internet had proved
anything, it was that society couldn't function in an atmosphere of lies and
deception. On a facility such as Onekka, where the entire population was
dependant on the administrators doing their job correctly, it was more
important than ever that information was open and available. People should know
about the places they lived and worked, and that knowledge should not come with
a side dish of threat.

Derek was getting increasingly insistent in his movements, so she let out a few
sharp gasps and smiled while he shuddered and came in a single spasm. For a
moment, she fancied she could feel her birth control kicking in. An army of
mechanical bacteria - she refused to call them 'nanobots' - attacked her
lover's sperm and rooted out any rival infections that may have sneaked in. Fight
fire with fire.

Derek rolled into a cigar-shaped heap of duvet and commenced snoring while Jaq
went back to planning. Breaking into the restricted schematics would require a
skillset she'd not yet encountered, or a miracle of learning on her part. In
the meantime, she flipped up her comp screen and began perusing the plans she
could access. If nothing else, she could identify anomalies and figure out
which of the specialised plans she required.

As the hours passed, she knocked back cheap whisky and squinted at the screen.
In three years, she'd never noticed anything suspicious, but then she'd never
truly looked for it previously. Then she noticed a pattern - a bulkhead
slightly out of place in the same area of every deck. The plans for the next
element along were all locked. Bingo!

Jaq threw back her glass of drink in triumph, and felt gravity pivot suddenly.
Her bed shoved her in the back, which made her giggle. One too many drinks
poured while distracted! Against the backdrop of Derek's incessant snoring, she
slipped between layers of consciousness into slumber.

*

"You must not trust anybody," said the well-spoken voice.

"Number Thirty Seven?" Jaq smiled. Thirty Seven felt like her friend.
The chamber was a brain, she thought. Something in the deep redness and the
vibrancy of the atmosphere felt like drifting in thoughts, a sea of unconscious
cogitation. She floated once more with legs crossed, and felt settled.

"My sisters are here too, this time. Jaqui, it is very important that you
do not entrust your secrets to anybody. None can know what you plan to do, or
even suspect."

"I need someone to crack the decryption codes on the restricted
schematics. Without that, I won't know which places to look for the
delegates."

"The delegates are but a part of what you seek. Open your mind, and
understand the scope of what is hidden from you."

She sighed. "I think you over-estimate me, but it doesn't matter; I still
can't get into the plans."

"You must trust yourself, Jaqui." Thirty Seven's voice dripped
through her brain like a syrup balm. "You have the abilities you seek, it
is just a matter of unlocking them."

She felt herself sinking back towards consciousness, and almost panicked. She
liked it here, in this uncomplicated dream place. She appreciated the straight
talking and the simple interactions, but the visits were never for long enough.
"I can't learn the fine art of hacking in the space of a day!"

"Trust us, Jaqui. You do not need to."

*

The next morning, Jaq feigned sleep until Derek left for work in a babble of
false declarations and promises. As soon as she was alone, her cigarette met her
mouth and she fired up the comp screen. Ignoring the dull ache in the back of
her head, she resumed her close inspections of Onekka's schematics.

Something felt different today. Lines