The Watcher

by Bill Stenlake

  It is while they are in the house, that they tap into the communication networks of the house. From doing that, they are able to see that there is little need to keep following round behind these people. They are in the cities mainly and have already stirred up more than just a hornet’s nest. Their time will be much better spent in confronting them directly. They also find out, that the place they had been going to go; has already been found by the army. No doubt there is another place where these people have regrouped. What they do find out through entries on the social media network; is that the current operations appear to be led by two people. These are Joe and Franz. They can see that there is no mention of Ricardo any more. He appears to have done enough, for others to take up the cause.

  Believing that they are in as safe a place as any while they prepare to move into action to stop these attacks, Vee and Bar stay in the house. They set about counteracting the word on social media. They find it easy enough to hack into the main accounts and start to send conflicting posts. From the comments received back, they can see that they have sown the seed of doubt, in some. On the other hand, there appears to be no shortage of people who are still willing to take up the cause.

  Vee and Bar concentrate their actions on these posts. They easily find ways to effectively turn their comments against them too. After only a couple of hours, the system is in chaos. What had been a clear plan, to have an organized assault on the Capital cities, has now turned into something far more confusing. This confusion is picked up by the authorities, who issue an instant curfew countrywide. There is also a shoot to kill policy invoked during the curfew, for anyone who might dare onto the streets, armed.

  While Vee continues to work the social media sites in the UK, Bar turns his attention to Europe. In one or two countries, the authorities are not far behind his thinking and his activities. Once he has started to destabilize the social media surrounding the rioters, the authorities are there backing this up, with curfews and warnings, similar to those in the UK. It is not going to be enough, just on the simple say so of some posts on social media sites. But it may well be enough to take some of the people out of the equation. Of course, the hard cases and the determined ones, who would like nothing more than to cause total disruption, will not be swayed from what they are going to do. Vee and Bar know this, as do the authorities.

  Vee and Bar decide that there is no point whatsoever, for them to make direct contact with the authorities. They have already come into contact with them and all they have wanted to do; is to remove them from their task and interrogate them. They know that when it comes to action, they are going to have to have their ears and eyes open in all directions. Everyone will be gunning for them, even when they see them in action.

  Making sure that they can continue to use social media, they are ready to leave, to make the relatively short journey, for them, to London. It will not be the only Capital that they intend to visit, but it will be the first. They have debated whether they should show themselves, so that there will be no doubt when they first get into action, but on reflection they decide that the appearance of aliens; that is what the people of this planet would call them, will be counter-productive to their cause.

  Joe and Franz have their assault ready and planned. They have been in position for a couple of days now. They needed this time, to allow others in the different cities to get into position too. It is nearly the hour for the assault to begin. Well it is nearly at that point, until someone hacks into the social media accounts. It takes them a while to notice that fact. It is only when people close to them, alert them to the change; that they see what is happening. Of course, by then they find that they are locked out of their own accounts. However much people post in reply, these comments are refuted and mocked by the hackers. As a result of this, they can see that, even in their own ranks in this area, they are losing people by the minute. It doesn’t take long for that pattern to be confirmed to them, that it is being repeated all over.

  They decide to bring the timetable forward. How effective they are in getting that message across to all the other units, they are unsure of. They are unsure of how many other units, not just in this city, but in all the other cities they have planned this mass assault to take place. In just the short time since the messages were changed on their social media sight, the streets have emptied alarmingly. That makes the number of human targets a much reduced figure, if not a total reduction. It still leaves all the buildings and of course there will be people in the buildings. They may well just have to make their assault more concentrated, on places where they know there will be significant numbers of people inside.

  Joe and Franz make their move. They break cover and drive their convoy into the heart of the city. They have fifteen minutes to get to their first intended target. Most sections have that, or less, to reach their first target. The countdown has begun and there is no way it is going to be stopped by them now. The groups have all been told that when they begin, there will be no more communications. There will be no more orders. There will not be any, until such time as they regroup after this massive assault.

  Chapter 7 Mario & TZ

  Mario has no idea where they are going, but he can see from the look on Maria’s face, she knows exactly where she is going. There is a look of steely resolve on her face, as she keeps her eyes, not only on the road ahead, but also on the road behind them and the areas to the left and right that they are passing. She is driving at a good pace, but far from flat out. She doesn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention.

  After a few miles, she appears to relax some. They have passed very little on the road and there is no activity in the sky whatsoever, in any direction. But then they are moving away from built-up areas and out into the real countryside.

  They stop after half an hour and they try the radios. There is nothing coming back to them, other than some serious static. She gives it a few minutes, still without any success, before she throws the radio onto the back floor well.

  ‘I don’t believe that we were expected to be a part of this’ she says, turning to Mario.

  ‘I find that strange’ he replies.

  ‘After all the help I have given them since they took me in, too’

  ‘I’m guessing that they are afraid of you too really, just like your folks in the reservation.’

  ‘It is not something that I will forget. They should know that about me. When I get crossed, I always get even and then add on some extra.’

  Mario just sits and looks at her. He can’t think of an appropriate comment to respond with. They warned him that she is one to keep on the right side of. He doesn’t feel threatened by her in the least. He just doesn’t want to reply with just any old comment. Maria takes the opportunity to continue talking.

  ‘I am surprised that your sister just went off with Buzz, as easy as that. They don’t look as if they would get on. Then she just goes and clicks with him straight away. I’m surprised she hasn’t been trying to get in touch with you.’

  ‘Maybe she isn’t able to. I mean, she is with someone she doesn’t really know and maybe she thinks it won’t be cool, to keep checking in to her brother.’

  ‘I guess you might be right. Anyway, it doesn’t look like we are going to be able to pick up their channel. They have obviously agreed another one or two and kept us out of the loop. That tells me that we were expendable and that they also expected us to be picked up in the raid. If we don’t know the channels they are using, then we can’t give them away. They should have known better than that.’

  ‘Are we going to see your people?’

  ‘That is the plan. I don’t see any point in trying to find where the others might have gone. They could be anywhere and this country is too big to look for people, if you don’t have a clue where they might be. Anyway, I am not sure they are going about this in the right way. All I can see them achieving, is a bit of collateral damage, before they get surrounded and taken down. They are all a little bit too green for this ki
nd of action.’

  ‘Do your people know that you are coming to see them?’

  ‘They are aware that I am going to return very soon. Exactly what my reception is going to be when I get there; is another matter. Even though they have always thought I would return to lead them, I don’t know if that will be allowed, when the time comes. I don’t want to fight them, but I am a Nadahli and my place is in the tribe; to be their leader.’

  ‘I will be with you all the way, not that I know what I can do to help you.’

  ‘Just by being with me, will be more than enough. They will be able to tell straight away that we two are one.’ She turns and smiles at him, as she says this.

  Mario leans across and kisses her full on the mouth. Her response is immediate and full of passion, but it is Maria who pulls away first, after a couple of minutes.

  ‘What I am not so sure about; is whether our people want to take part in this action. The more I think about it, the more I think that this violence is the least likely way for our voices to be heard. I think we may find our path lies in a slightly different direction from the one that we may have set out on.’

  As she says these words Mario can actually feel a change in him. He feels a change in the way he is thinking, but he also feels differently physically. It is almost as if the something that has been driving him for so long has been released. Now Mario thinks that he might actually be in control of his own actions, for the first time in a long time.

  Maria pulls out onto the highway again and they continue their journey towards the Nadahli.

  Buzz has just unloaded three bullets into the guys in the garage. They really didn’t see that one coming at all. Buzz jumps down and then drags the men, one by one, to the back of the garage. The doors are shut and no one can just walk in, but if they could, it would not be helpful for them to find three bodies lying near to the front.

  Meanwhile TZ has gone to the front of the building and is trying to hear what is happening on the outside. She thinks they got in here, without actually being spotted doing so. There were helicopters around, but she thinks they were not on her when they dived into here. That doesn’t mean they are safe though. To be honest, the minute they take this truck back out there, they are going to be marked. Nice as the truck is, there is no point in getting caught, just because they want to keep the truck. That means they are going to have to change vehicles and make sure the next one looks nothing like this one. In other words the next one is not going to be a truck! That in itself will cause a bit of a problem, in the way they execute things. She smiles at that thought, because that is what they have already been doing; executing people!

  It really hasn’t taken long for the authorities to appear, once they had started to cause disturbances on the island. If they had been out of the city, she guesses the response would have been much slower, and less intense.

  They have some decisions to make. Do they just throw caution to the wind? By that she means that they go back out in the truck. Then cause as much damage as they can, before the inevitable happens and they get caught. That is pretty much what they have been doing up to now. The problem with that; is that they are getting less time each time, before reinforcements come against them.

  She is interrupted in her thoughts, by the sound of an explosion outside. It does not appear to be close to them, but it is not that easy to place where it might have come from. She listens, but nothing else happens. She tries to look through the crack of the doors in the middle, but she can’t get a good look. She looks around her and sees the stairs to one side, leading up to an office. She makes her way up there and finds that there is a window she can see out of. The first thing that she realizes is; that it would appear that no one has taken note of their seeking refuge in here. A police car drives past, but it isn’t driving slowly, as if it is looking for someone. Another one follows a couple of minutes later. There aren’t many people walking, but then it isn’t that kind of district. She watches for another couple of minutes, but nothing untoward happens. She leaves the window and makes her way downstairs again. Buzz is waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘We need to change vehicles. The trouble is we need a certain sort of vehicle, to carry our weapons. I really don’t want to have to dump them. Where would we be able to find some like these again? The problem is that they are likely to set up road blocks. If they do that, then they are going to search the cars they stop. They will find our weapons and then where does that lead us?’

  ‘It leads us into changing the plan. We have to change the way we are doing things. We are not nearly organized enough for a serious assault, particularly in a place like this. I think we are now getting out of our depth. We are just country folk, trying to cause havoc in the city. We have got away with it up to now, but our luck is going to run out very soon, unless we do something about it.’

  ‘So what do you suggest we do then?’

  ‘Let’s see what options we have in this place.’

  Chapter 8 Spirit

  Spirit stands and watches the robot, once it has stopped talking to him. The robot has given no indication, as to how long it will be before The Grand Master returns. He thinks that it is quite possible; they don’t really know the answer to that one. As far as his weapon is concerned, he has no worries on that front. It can only be used by him and no one else. They obviously haven’t attempted to use it, or they would know that. The weapon is the very latest of the Air Micro Compounder technology. It is something which even the Grand Master would not have had access to. It is certain that he won’t have access to any of the things he has been able to use, very soon. All those things will be taken out of his capabilities. Spirit isn’t sure how he knows this, but the information he has is a fact.

  ‘So when are you expecting this Grand Master of yours to make an appearance?’

  The robot does not answer straight away. In fact a couple of minutes go by and the robot still has not responded.

  ‘Are you expecting me to stand all of the time?’ he asks, when there is no reply forthcoming. ‘You are planning to keep me in this cage, with nothing to sit on and nothing to lie down on?’

  ‘Why would you need anything like that? After all, you are a robot just like I am.’

  Spirit puts a pained look on his face.

  ‘Do I look like a robot? I mean to say, if you look at you, then you are so definitely a robot. Take a look at me. I don’t look like a robot. I look like a human.’

  ‘Either way you are a robot.’

  ‘But I am telling you I am not.’

  ‘Our information is that you are a robot.’

  ‘I don’t know where you got that from, because you are wrong. I am not a robot. I get tired and need to sit down and I get hungry and I need to eat.’

  At that, Spirit sits down on the floor. Well that is what he intended to do, but the clamps around his body and legs don’t let him do that gracefully. He falls down onto the floor, with a clang, as the clamps hit the floor.

  ‘I also get thirsty. I am thirsty now. Will you bring me a drink please?’ Spirit carries on as if nothing has happened.

  The robot looks at him, sitting on the floor. He does that for maybe the best part of a minute.

  ‘I am thirsty’ Spirit repeats. ‘How will your Grand Master react, when he finds you have a prisoner who has died, because you wouldn’t give them food and water. You don’t have any idea when he might be coming. That much is obvious to me. May I have a drink please?’

  The robot listens to him once more, before turning to leave the room. Now this will be interesting, he thinks. How are they going to deal with the clamps he has on his body and legs. Well the body ones are going to have to be released, hopefully, unless they are going to give him his drink with a straw or something, and hold the container for him. He has no choice, but to wait and see. The robot is away for far longer than he would have imagined necessary. In fact it is away for so long, that he begins to think it has just left him to get on with it,
lying on the floor. Maybe it isn’t going to bother coming back.

  His arms are clamped to his sides, within the body clamp. It certainly isn’t the most comfortable of things to be stuck in, while lying on the floor. He rolls around a bit, trying to get slightly more comfortable. If he had his weapon, then he might be able to do something about the situation. The body clamps might make anything like that a bit awkward though. The only thing that he knows now for sure, that he didn’t before his capture, is that the Grand Master is expected back here. The only problem with that bit of information; is that he thinks the reason the robot didn’t answer him about when that is expected, is because it does not have that information. There is a possibility that the robot could be wrong. Maybe he won’t be coming back here. It would be a bit stupid to just stay a prisoner, on the off chance that he might come back here.

  He stops trying to get comfortable and just lies where he is for a few minutes. Still the robot has not returned. He turns his thoughts to where the weapon may have been taken to. It might be in this room, but he hadn’t been able to see it earlier and there is no chance that he is going to be able to see it now, from his position here on the floor. He isn’t going to be able to use the weapon while he still has the clamps on. Somehow he has to get rid of them, before he can do anything. How is he going to be able to do that? It is most unlikely that the robots are going to just remove them. They have put them on, to stop him from being able to do anything against them. Still the robot has not returned.

  He moves around on the floor again. It is not easy to do, as his legs are clamped together. It is probably quite funny to watch. He suspects that there will be someone somewhere, watching his futile efforts to move around his cell. That doesn’t stop him. He manages to get to lie on his back and then edge his way towards one of the edges. There is no obvious doorway in, but he knows there must be one. It takes him a few minutes, but he manages to edge himself in the same direction, long enough to make it to the bars. Once he gets there, he keeps rocking backwards and forwards, so that the body clamps keep banging against the cell bars. Every now and then he also gets his leg clamps to bang against the bars too. He is making quite a noise. Still the robot has not returned.