* * *
Isidore takes Clara in his arms as soon as she enters the room. "I wanted to say goodbye."
"Not yet. You can't say goodbye yet."
"I have to. This may be our only chance. As soon as I go back into that courtroom, they will have a verdict. From that point, it could all be over."
Clara smoothes his hair. "I believe that you'll go free."
"Optimism is nice, but it only covers the dark truth for so long. It's over, Clara. There's no way they won't convict me. No one cares about the life of an android. I knew going into this that I wasn't going to win. I did this to take a stand for our baby. I had to die knowing I did everything I could to help her live a full and happy life."
"I can't lose you, Isidore."
He looks into her pale green eyes and squeezes her soft hands. "Do you mean that? Before I die, I have to know the complete truth. No more lying, no more hiding things, no more secrets. Clara Lifestone, do you love me?"
"With all of my heart and for eternity."
* * *
Blice holds Isidore in his arms, unashamed to show the world how he cares. He's not letting him go, no matter what. The jury foreman hands the verdict to the bailiff who gives it to the judge. Blice says a prayer as he squeezes Isidore's hand. Please, God. Please let someone care.
The judge unfolds the paper and stands. He reads the verdict. "The National Court of the Unified State finds Isidore Nikolai Williams guilty of all charges. A sentence has already been decided on. Today, the ninth of June, year 2298, Isidore Nikolai Williams is sentenced to death by firing squad. Clara Lifestone is stripped of her title of inquisitor and is to be exiled into the wasteland. Her child will be confiscated and drowned."
Isidore gasps and clings to Blice as he stares down at the floor.
Damien's laughter fills the courtroom as he shakes hands with Inquisitor Clark. The people around them cheer and applaud the verdict.
A tear slides down Isidore's cheek as he holds onto Blice's arm. "Don't let them take me."
The judge leans forward and watches them. "Is the android . . . crying?"
"He is, Your Honor."
"Interesting. I didn't expect to see any emotion from a computer. Android, do you have anything to say? I will allow you to speak and address everyone if you wish."
Isidore dries his eyes then steps forward. "If I can ask one thing before I die, please let my daughter live. I love her. She deserves a chance to be happy. I only ask this. You can kill me, torture me, or anything else you want to do. Just please spare my daughter."
"The sentence has already been handed down. It can't be changed." The judge says.
Isidore finally breaks. He drops to his knees in the middle of the room with the entire world watching him and he screams out in his agony. The courtroom is quiet again. The only sound is Isidore's crying.
As the guards handcuff Isidore and lead him out of the room, Blice goes over to Damien's little celebration table. "Are you satisfied now, Montgomery?"
"This is the single happiest day of my life. It's a miracle."
"I envy you. You can watch a man you regarded as your friend be sentenced to death and smile about it. What is it like to be a heartless bastard?"
"There's no need for insults, McSage." Damien says. "The better man won. Welcome to justice."
"Justice? You think this abortion is justice?"
"Call it what you will, but the courts have spoken. I suggest you go kiss your little sex toy goodbye."
Blice can't contain himself any longer. In one rage-fueled swipe, he punches Damien in the face then draws a switchblade from his pocket. Before he can stop himself, he has Damien pinned to the floor with a stripe of blood oozing below his eye.
The guards pull Blice off of Damien and take the knife from his hand.
Blice reaches to the table and picks up Isidore's revolver, but the guards knock it out of his hand. "I will hunt you down and make you suffer, Montgomery."
"Try it and see what happens to you. You may be the president, but even presidents can fall."
* * *
Blice steps up to the cell. He has to say goodbye and thank him for everything he has given to him. Isidore is leaning against the wall with his back turned to him. He looks so small and young in there. It breaks Blice into pieces to know the fate that awaits him. "Hey, Niko."
"Hey."
"How are you doing?"
Isidore turns to face Blice. His face is streaked with tears and spotted with bruises. "Not very good."
"Why are you covered in bruises? Did they hurt you?"
He nods his head and looks down at the floor.
"Who did that to you?" Blice asks.
"The guards." Isidore holds up his hands to reveal rope burns that have been bleeding around his wrists. "They tied me to the bars and beat me up."
"Oh, Niko. Why would they hurt you when your fate has already been decided? I'm so sorry I couldn't defend you better. I tried."
"I know. It's okay. You did what you could. Thank you, Blice. You've been a good friend."
Blice holds onto Isidore's hand through the bars of the cell. "I guess this is goodbye, friend."
"I guess so. Answer me something? I want the truth."
"What's that?"
"Did I do good?" Isidore asks. "Was I a good computer for you? Did I serve you well and make you happy?"
Blice chokes on his tears and squeezes Isidore's hand. "Yeah, buddy. You were the best computer ever."
He smiles a tiny smile. "That's all I ever wanted, Blice."
"I'll never forget you, Niko. You saved my life. You're the only person in this world who ever truly cared about me. I failed you. I could have done something a long time ago, but I didn't. Can you ever forgive me?"
"I forgave you a long time ago. You're not the one who needs to be forgiven. I am."
"No. What do you have to be sorry for?" Blice asks.
"Ever leaving your side in the first place."
"You did what was right at the time. I don't blame you."
"What are you going to do now?" Isidore asks.
"Do you want the truth? Once you get to heaven, keep an eye out for me going the other way. I won't be long behind you."
"Don't." Isidore says. "You can still make a difference."
"It doesn't matter. One man can't change the minds of millions. It's futile to even think like that. I already have what I need to do the job. Before tomorrow, I will be gone."
"I guess I don't get to say goodbye to Clara."
"She's already gone." Blice says. "I asked, but the judge said no."
"What about Katarina?"
Blice shakes his head. "I don't know. I wish I could make this all better for you. I wish I could be a good owner and shelter you from all of this, but I can't. If you know of anything I can do, tell me and I'll do it. I'll do anything to save you from this fate."
Isidore holds onto Blice's arm and they stay there for a few minutes in the silence.
Blice knows they don't have very long. "I love you, Niko."
"I love you too, Blice."
Blice leans closer until he feels Isidore's warm breath on his face and delicately kisses him as the tears come back into his eyes. He pulls away and turns to the door. "Thank you for being there for me. You've been the best friend anyone could ask for. Pray for me, will you?"
"I never stopped."
* * *
Byron looks down at the tiny baby wrapped in a blanket in his arms. She's asleep and her little hand is clutching his shirt. Her pink lips move as she dreams. She looks just like Isidore. As Byron smoothes the tiny black curls on her forehead, he notices something. She doesn't feel anything like an abomination. This baby is alive and warm like a human. When her eyes open and she smiles at him, Byron stands and finds the keys to Damien's car. There's no way in hell he is going to let them drown her. He's getting out of here as fast as he can and going as far away as he can where they will never find them. "Don't worry, Katarina. I'll keep yo
u safe for your daddy. He was a good man. I don't know much about babies, but I will take care of you as long as I need to." He takes off past the gates of Paradise and out into the wasteland.
When he reaches the area outside of Rubble City, he stops and checks on the baby in the seat next to him. She is always smiling. "Here, I got you some formula. Are you hungry?" Byron cradles Katarina in his arms and feeds her. Maybe he can do this. Leena would be proud of him. He looks up as the gunshots from Paradise echo out against the mountains behind them. So that's it, then. Byron holds up his hand and sighs. "Farewell, friend. May God accept the soul of an android into heaven. If anyone ever deserved to find paradise, it's you. Don't worry. I have your daughter and I'll do everything I can for her. Rest in peace, Isidore."
13
Clara pulls her jacket close around her shoulders. Even though the sun is blazing and hot on her skin, the world is cold to her. She has nothing now. Her eyes are raw from crying and her feet hurt from walking in the sand for hours. They wouldn't even let her say goodbye to Isidore. Now she is faced with the daunting truth that she will never see him again. Her only goal now is to continue walking through this desert wasteland until she finds someplace where she can forget about Paradise and live what's left of her empty life. Where is she going? Maybe they will let her into Rubble City.
Could she have done anything to save her husband? Probably not. Even with her influence in the Inquisition, Clark and Damien wouldn't have let her say much. She tried to find anything that would sway the jury's opinions, but Damien's case was airtight . . . even if it shouldn't have been. Without letting Blice contest the evidence, there was very little that could have been done to help Isidore.
It broke Clara's heart. Even though their marriage was rocky and they had drifted apart over the past few months, she dearly loved him. That's why she has been risking her life to protect him and their daughter. If Clark and Damien ever found out that she has been undermining their plans for the past year, they would try to kill her. Damien wasn't planning on her being exiled as a part of the verdict so her time in the wasteland might be short-lived. If Damien can bribe or kill enough people to get his way, then Clara will be reinstated in the Inquisition and let back into Paradise soon. That is . . . if Clara wants to go back.
She could run now and get as far away from those murderers as possible. She doesn't need the Inquisition. Besides, they took her daughter from her and no one who drowns innocent babies deservers to be trusted. Even if Katarina was full android, she still deserved a chance to live. At least she knows that Byron finished the job and not Damien who would have made her suffer. Byron is a good guy, misguided and blind to Damien's true intentions, but a good guy nonetheless. He would have ended Katarina's life in the most humane way possible and for that, Clara is grateful.
Then there's Kazimir Dark's complete disappearance. Where has he been and why didn't he try to stop them from killing Isidore? She could have sworn that at least Kazimir would defend his creation. Maybe Damien actually killed him.
There is one bright spot in all of this. The alpha code died with Isidore. The copy installed in his programming was the only copy. At least Paradise is safe from that bloodshed. Because of Isidore's freewill, there was no telling what it could have done if he found a way to activate it. All Clara knows is that Damien needed that for W.A.N.D. and that it was extremely deadly if used in the wrong way.
Clara stops outside of Rubble City when she hears the distant echoes of gunfire over the desert coming from Paradise. She dries her eyes and says a short prayer for her husband. If she didn't have the slight hope that her daughter is still alive, Clara would run back into Paradise and shoot her way in then kill all the bastards who murdered Isidore. That's what is: murder. There's nothing justified about slaughtering a kind and loving man who only wanted to do good in the world. That's why Clara couldn't kill him when Clark wanted her to. She saw the tenderness in those bright blue eyes and she fell in love. Perhaps it would have been easier if she had followed orders back then and hadn't let this problem grow to the magnitude it is now.
Then she thinks about Blice. He will be completely devastated. She knows Blice won't live through the night. He already feels so guilty about the way he treated Isidore. Now that he's gone, Blice has nothing to live for. Even before Clara knew who Isidore was, he was all Blice could talk about. Then there was that night he made Isidore sleep outside in the snow so they could make love. If Clara had known what was going on and who he was, she would have made sure that Isidore stayed inside and was safe. It's too late for regrets now.
Someone is talking in the back seat of a car parked outside of the gates. As she listens, her heart skips a beat. She knows that voice. "Byron?"
He looks up and waves at her. "Clara!"
She runs to him and throws her arms around him. "Thank God. Where's Katarina? You didn't let them take her, did you? Did you kill her?"
"Nope." Byron motions to the back seat where the baby is bundled up and asleep.
Clara places her hand over her heart and smiles to see her daughter safe. "Thank you."
"Hey, what kind of man would I be if I let something happen to a defenseless baby?"
Her joy is quickly diluted as she thinks of her husband. She looks down at the sand below her feet and the dust clinging to her boots. "He's gone."
"I know." Byron says. "I heard the gunshots."
"Thank you so much for protecting Katarina."
"No problem. Isidore was a good man. I owe him more than this, but I don't know if there's anything I can do to repay him now."
A wave of sadness overtakes her and she finds it difficult to stand on her own. "Can you hold me?"
"Of course." Byron takes Clara in his arms and holds her there as Katarina sleeps in the back seat. "What do you think Blice is going to do now?"
"Kill himself."
"Really?"
"If he's not dead already, he will be after he overdoses tonight." Clara says. "They'll find his body on the bathroom floor in the morning. He doesn't take loss very well."
"Damn. He truly did care about Isidore, didn't he?"
"Yah. He did. I did too."
Bryon rubs her arms through her jacket. "Oh, Clara. I know. He loved you too. He loved you so much."
"What do I do now? I've lost everything."
"You still have your daughter who will need you now more than ever. You have to raise her and tell her about Isidore. Tell her how good of a man he was and that he loved her with all of his heart."
Clara looks around at the mismatched deteriorating walls of Rubble City. "I guess I'll stay here in Rubble City and find some work."
"Don't worry about it. I will get us a place to stay and I'll take care of you and Kat."
"Kat?" Clara smiles and dries her eyes. "I like that."
"Me too. I have some money saved up so we won't have to worry. I will join back up with the Rubble Rebels. You can stay at the house and take care of Kat."
"Thank you, Byron. I see why Isidore always spoke so highly of you."
"I'm not that great." Byron says. "I have my problems."
They both look up as more gunshots sound off in the distance.
"What's that?" Clara asks.
Byron grins. "I've heard that gun before."
"What are you talking about?"
"That's a Colt .45 revolver. When you've been around guns as long as I have, you learn what they sound like. It's not just any revolver, either. That gun is in the hands of an expert marksman."
"How do you know?" Clara asks.
"Trust me."
He knows something. What is he hiding? "Why are you smiling?"
Byron jumps inside the car and starts the engine. "I know that expert marksman. You could say that he's so good it's as if he was programmed to use a gun."
Clara's eyes grow wide. "You don't mean-"
"I mean it every bit, sweetheart. Get in. We're going back to Paradise."
* * *
Blice would
be anywhere but here if he wasn't the president of this hellhole and was ordered to be present at this execution. So much for him giving all the orders. Even with his Secret Service agents surrounding him, he feels the voracious eyes of the citizens who want nothing more than to see Blice up there in handcuffs alongside Isidore.
Isidore looks so small up there on the wooden stage with the soldiers in combat armor surrounding him. Be strong, Niko. Don't let them see your fear. And for the love of all that is good in the world, don't cry. Blice won't be able to survive if he sees him cry. Not now. Now Isidore is so pathetic and helpless and every minute that passes tears at Blice's soul. But Isidore isn't crying. He doesn't cry when the soldiers raise their guns. He doesn't cry when one soldier whips him just for the show of it all. Now his already bruised skin is striped with red and his clothes are tattered where the whip has sliced through them. The citizens cheer when he's hit and shout insults at him continuously. It's all a show.
And that show makes Blice physically sick. His agents have to hold him up and give him injections in his arm to keep him from passing out. Blice feels every hit that Isidore takes as if he was the one being whipped. He would take it all for his friend if he could. Isidore has been beaten far too much in his life. They couldn't just kill him quickly and get it over with, could they? No. They have to watch the android suffer.
One of the guards steps forward and motions for the one with the whip to step back. "Any last words, android?"
Isidore looks up as the blood trickles down his face. His bright blue eyes brim with tears, but he doesn't cry. He takes a deep and painful breath before he speaks. "If you value your lives, I suggest you leave this area and get behind something made of lead. This is not a threat. It's a warning. I would hate to see all of you die. My hatred lies with a few choice people in this vicinity. If it is my time to die, then I accept my fate wholeheartedly. What are you waiting for? Shoot me already so I can show the world how much of a human I'm not."
"You think your little threats will scare us?" The soldier asks mockingly. "He's bluffing. Continue with the execution."
Paradise of Lead Trilogy Page 64