The Liberation Centre

Kate Pendray sighed, picked up her pen again and sat back down on her workstation chair. 'Thanks,' she muttered to Morgan Brown's departing back loud enough for him to hear the irony. She'd stood up to remonstrate with him but it had been no use. 'Thanks very much.' Morgan had deigned to waddle down from his comfortable office on level three - Kate was on the ground floor - to inform her a new batch of aliens was due in to the reception suite for processing. As always, it irritated her that Morgan was dressed so neatly. Today, his tie was silk and he was wearing aftershave she'd never be able to afford for her husband Jeff. Because of the care he put into his presentation, everything about Morgan's tone and demeanour annoyed her. Despite his frank and open approach, she thought he was a pretentious prig. Therefore, she rationalised, even though he was her manager and she had to do what he requested, she didn't have to do it with good grace. Still, this job was much less demanding than her previous position in Customs with its ten-hour fixed shifts. And the pay was considerably better. But a new shipment meant Kate was not going to finish her day by 3 p.m. and so she wouldn't be able to pick up Declan from school.