Skyfall by Anthony Eaton Page A

out whether the D stood for Dad or Dernan. Lari sighed and tapped his father’s call code into the com program. Dernan Mann appeared almost immediately, looking tired and irritable.
    â€˜I’ve been trying to contact you all morning, Larinan. Where’ve you been?’
    â€˜With Kes.’
    â€˜I called her apartment.’
    â€˜We were out. In the ref.’
    His father’s expression reflected exactly what Dernan Mann thought of that.
    â€˜I want you across at DGAP.’
    â€˜Now?’ Lari had been hoping for a quiet afternoon on his own.
    â€˜Immediately.’
    â€˜But …’
    â€˜No excuses, Larinan. It’s not as though I’ve asked much of you lately. Report straight to research division when you get here. You’ll be expected.’
    â€˜Expected?’
    â€˜I’ll see you shortly.’
    The connection went dead. Lari stared at the blank display and shook his head, mystified. It was typical. Still, as usual where his father was concerned, he didn’t have any choice. He headed back down to the maglifts.
    DGAP had its own hub, separate from the main service hubs that handled traffic for the rest of Port North Central Dome. The doors opened and Lari stepped straight out into the brightly lit foyer.
    â€˜Can I help you?’
    A security agent glanced down from his station beside the lifts. His blue armour glinted in the clean white light. Two other guards stood over near the main reception desk. Security personnel in the DGAP foyer – that was new. Normally the DGAP foyer was pretty much deserted, especially in the last few years, with the decline in subject numbers.
    â€˜I’m Larinan Mann. Here to see my father.’
    â€˜Over there.’ The guard jerked a stubby thumb towards the reception desk, where a young woman was being harried by an impatient-looking man.
    â€˜He told me to report straight up to research division.’
    â€˜You have to be checked in, first.’
    â€˜I’ve never had to before.’
    â€˜New rules.’ The guard’s expression didn’t change. Lari turned left and headed for the internal lifts. He didn’t get more than a couple of steps before the guard’s hand came down heavily on his shoulder.
    â€˜Reception’s that way.’ The guard nodded towards the desk. ‘You need an escort?’
    â€˜Listen, my father is Doctor Dernan Mann, the head of research, and he told me to go direct to—’
    â€˜I don’t care if your old man’s the Prelate’s grandfather,’ interrupted the guard. ‘You either get signed in or you leave the building now. Got it?’
    â€˜Fine.’
    Lari shrugged off the guard’s hand and stamped across and joined the line. The man at the head of the queue was arguing with the woman behind the counter.
    â€˜â€¦ just seeking a statement,’ he was saying.
    â€˜And I’ve told you there are no statements, official or otherwise, scheduled for release today or in the near future,’ she snapped.
    â€˜This morning the Prelature issued a D-notice on any reference to DGAP on all webchannels. Plus you’ve increased security here for the first time in living memory. There must be some explanation, but you’re telling me …’
    â€˜Hope you’re not in a hurry.’ The man immediately ahead of Lari turned round. ‘They’ve been at it for ten minutes so far and I don’t reckon either of them is gonna back down anytime soon.’
    â€˜Why doesn’t security just throw him out?’
    The man gave him the kind of half-smile adults reserve for kids who make stupid suggestions.
    â€˜It wouldn’t be a good idea to have a reporter from one of the major newswebs forcibly removed from your foyer. Even for DGAP. These guys get even a sniff of a story and they never let it go. Even the Prelate would have trouble shutting it down.’
    They listened to the argument going in