Secret Histories 10: Dr. DOA Read Free Page A

impact, and blonde hair shorn back to her skull in a buzz cut. She was still short and stocky, but she looked . . . bigger. All business. Being Matriarch changes a person; you have to grow up, to grow into it. Power and duty, an unchallengeable word and never-ending responsibilities, either make or break you very quickly. Of course, Margaret had always been a tough nut even when she was just Capability Maggie, in charge of the Hall grounds. I couldn’t resist teasing her, just a bit, for the good of her soul.
    “Are those shoulders . . . padded?” I said innocently.
    “It’s a good look,” Molly said solemnly. “Very Eighties, very Iron Lady. Really rocking that power-crazed authority-figure bit.”
    “She is the Matriarch,” said the Sarjeant. “People must show the proper respect.”
    “Us?” said Molly. “That’ll be the day.”
    “Why have I been called back so urgently?” I said just a bitplaintively. “When I told you I needed some downtime and was on call only for serious emergencies?”
    I broke off as all the flowers and blooms turned their heads to look at me, and not in a good way. The creeping vines on the walls stirred, and hissed threateningly. The Matriarch has always been very protective of her garden, and vice versa.
    “Control your pets,” said Molly. “Or I’ll hit them with a blast of magical weed killer.”
    “They’re just looking out for me,” said the Matriarch. “You really shouldn’t raise your voice to me, Eddie.”
    “If they even look like bothering me, I will make mulch out of them,” I said coldly.
    The flowers looked at me, and then at Molly, in a thoughtful sort of way, and backed off a little. The Sarjeant-at-Arms cleared his throat.
    “If we could please stick to the matter at hand . . . Time is of the essence.”
    “It’s come to something,” I said, “if you’re having to act as peacemaker.”
    “The irony of the situation has not escaped me,” said the Sarjeant.
    “All right!” I said. “Peace all round and goodwill to everyone. Let’s get the hell on with it. What’s the mission, and why is it so damned urgent?”
    “You brief them,” the Matriarch said to the Sarjeant. “You have the latest information.”
    The Sarjeant bowed to her and fixed me with a hard look. “We need you to break into the Secret Headquarters of a new organisation, Cassandra Inc. It claims to be able to see the future. And has been selling information on what’s going to happen, to all kinds of interested parties.”
    “Okay, hold it right there,” said Molly. “That’s not actually possible. There is no one fixed future, as such. Just a whole bunch of possibleoutcomes and differing timelines. Which one you end up in is the result of all the different choices made by all the people in the world. Even the most powerful computers would have a hard time crunching numbers that big.”
    “Nevertheless,” the Sarjeant said in his best
You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know
voice, “Cassandra Inc has demonstrated an excellent track record of getting it right.”
    “How is it doing it?” I said.
    “We don’t know,” said the Matriarch. “And that’s just one of the things worrying us.”
    “As long as Cassandra Inc stuck to predicting business futures, or personal recommendations, we were ready to leave it be,” said the Sarjeant. “But now Cassandra has started peddling future information to the secret organisations of the hidden world. The good, the bad, and all those highly dubious groups lurking in between.”
    “Not Government agencies?” I said. “I mean, they’d be the most obvious markets. Politicians always have a vested interest in knowing what’s coming their way so they can blame it on someone else.”
    “Cassandra has refused to deal with any Government department or individual,” said the Matriarch. “Either for political reasons or because no Government would approve of how Cassandra’s getting its