‘It worked too. If I’d told you about the death at ten to one, which is when I heard about it, there’s no way you’d have enough energy to be grumpy at me now.’
‘I have to know events in real time: boom boom boom. That’s the way I work. Always has been, and must be still.’ Walker paused, leant against the wall for a moment, remembered he was in the corridor, and spoke more quietly: ‘How’d it happen?’
‘Natural causes, apparently.’
‘Apparently?’
‘This fella decided to do 200 push-ups. One-handed, mind you. I mean, what a grandstander. He probably deserved what he got.’
‘And what did he get, exactly?’
‘He got to 201, wiped himself down with a towel, and collapsed. Dead before he hit the ground, according to the eyewitnesses. And before you ask, no one filmed it. Pity: could have been something decent to try and feed you with.’
‘Don’t be crass. That’s five in a month.’
‘A month and a bit.’
‘Curtin needs to autopsy the body to within an inch of its life.’
Hail’s wearable buzzed.
‘Yes?’ he said. ‘Is it important? I’m right in the middle of … Ah … Right, okay, never mind … No, thanks for telling me. No, that’s fine, you did the right thing … You’d better cut it open, I suppose. Take a look. And let Cleave know you’re doing it. She may want the footage or have some instructions … No, I won’t ask her. Ask her yourself … You send her a message and you wait. That’s what I have to do … Tell her it’s urgent and keep the body cold … Right. After the autopsy, just get rid of it. Unless Cleave tells you different … No, just dry burn it. Make sure there’s nothing left. Not a hair … Okay, bye.’
‘What’s happened?’ Walker asked.
‘Oh, nothing you need worry about.’
‘I need to know everything.’
‘Okay, okay: the dog died.’
‘Of course it did. Some sort of change-of-environment illness, presumably? Not enough radiation in the air here, something like that?’
‘Vale Fred,’ Hail murmured. And just for a moment, although longer than he knew was wise, he allowed himself to remember his childhood puppy, Missy, who licked and widdled and dug the garden for four and a half glorious months before she slipped through two fence pickets and headbutted a Mazda hatchback.
They stepped into the doorway of the recording room. A nurse, plainly dressed, stood guard.
‘For Chrissakes,’ Walker said.
‘Better safe than sorry,’ Hail said cheerfully.
The door slid open, and Hail gave Ajok and the camera crew a friendly wave.
‘Just give us a minute, will you?’ Hail said.
‘Busy saving the world again, eh?’ Ajok said, flashing the full-mouthed smile that, as one of Hail’s premier interviewers, she had obliged herself to master.
‘I want to see the autopsy results for that dog myself,’ Walker said to Hail. ‘And don’t forget to let Curtin know about the autopsy. She loves looking inside dead stuff.’
‘Just so long as she keeps the whole thing quiet. We don’t want any of those Medical Journal of Rise articles she’s so fond of dropping on us unannounced. I really wish you’d speak to her about that.’
‘She lives and breathes free speech. And for checking my pulse.’
‘Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt,’ the nurse said, ‘but I’m here to check your pulse. And a few other things.’
‘Find Curtin,’ Hail said into his wearable. He paused for a moment, and then spoke again: ‘It’s me. Yeah, good morning. We’ve got a bit of a, um, wildlife situation here … Oh, you heard … Well, it was good while it lasted … Walker thought you might want to watch the autopsy … Yeah, he’s doing fine, all things considered. He’s fired up. Your nurse is giving him a look now. But come and see him when we get back from Grand Lake … You sure? It’s not every day you get to see inside a dog … Yes, all right. We’re leaving soon.’ He looked up at Walker. ‘Curtin says she’s coming with us to Grand Lake. She says if she doesn’t come, you’re not going either.’
Walker shrugged, and then winced. ‘Have you told Willy we’re coming?’ he asked.
‘I wish you wouldn’t call him that.’
‘It’s his name.’
‘It used to be his name. It’s not helpful, in the current environment, given everything, given the state of your —’
‘Stomach.’
‘Health and wellbeing.’
‘Are we done?’ Walker asked the nurse.
‘All done.’
Walker stood before the door, which whirred open. ‘Right, Ajok,’ Walker said. ‘It’s nothing personal, but let’s get this thing over with nice and quick, can we?’
‘Most certainly, sir. I just need a few words of comfort and inspiration for your adoring fans.’
‘If they really adored me, they’d respect that I am a man of few public words. But sure. I can do that.’ To Hail, he murmured, ‘So, is Willy expecting us or not?’
‘Commander Holland has not been officially informed of our intentions. But I doubt he’ll be too surprised if we show up.’
‘No, tell him. Tell him now. I want him to stew … What was his name?’
‘Who?’
‘The dead soldier. What was the dead soldier’s name?’
‘Please, boss,’ Hail said, nodding towards Ajok.
‘I’m sorry, Ajok,’ Walker said. ‘I know we haven’t even started, but could I trouble you and your team to leave the room for a moment.’
‘Of course, sir. No problem.’
‘None of that equipment is turned on, is it?’ Hail said.
‘Certainly not,’ Ajok said. She flashed her smile — it was the mandatory full stop to every sentence she uttered, and she felt it, like a prick, every single time. This smile strained, and she could see that Hail knew that he had offended her.
Ajok ushered the film crew ahead of her, backed out of the room, and paced the corridor. She was fiercely loyal to Walker — like everyone born in the New Time, she owed her very birth to him — but she could take or leave Hail. She didn’t think he was nasty or even conniving. She just found him a little too big for his boots. And these days, she’d noticed, Hail was always hovering around Walker. It was odd. And vaguely troubling. Why, for example, did he need to be here for this interview? Ajok wondered if she could slip in a question about it on camera: something along the lines of ‘There are those who say you are becoming too dependent on too few advisers?’ But, no, there was no way of doing it tactfully. Anyway, she knew the boundaries. Believed in them too. Yet she worried that Hail was building a wall, plastic brick by plastic brick, between Walker and the people.
‘What is the dead soldier’s name?’ Walker asked Hail again, once they were alone.
‘I don’t, um … someoneorother. Smiffee, maybe. Not sure.’
‘I know he’s not a diseased dog from the badlands, but, all the same, if you could give him a moment’s care and attention, I’d appreciate it. Find out his name, eh? Find out who his family is. Where is he?’
‘Who?’
‘What the hell is wrong with you? Where is the dead man whose name you don’t know?’
‘Ah, right. Sorry, boss. Still at the front. In the medical room, presumably.’
‘Okay, get him home first. We’ll go out there tomorrow. Or the day after.’
‘But, boss: five deaths in a month. It’s urgent.’
‘Let’s let Willy stew a bit. He hates waiting. He hates unfinished business.’
Walker closed his eyes as a severe dizzy spell threatened to overcome him. He reached out with one hand and seemed to steady himself by leaning on thin air.
‘Boss, we really need to get this interview with Ajok done.’
‘Fuck. Okay, let’s do some blah blah blah.’
Hail opened the door. ‘Sorry, Ajok, that was rude of me to ask you if the equipment was turned off.’ He gripped her arm, briefly. She nodded her acceptance of his apology, although she would have preferred it without the touching.
‘And we’re sorry to hold you up,’ Hail continued. ‘Walker is ready now.’
Walker was already sitting on his chair, cameras framing him from six angles. Ajok took her seat and ratcheted up her smile, while her crew fussed about with the equipment.
‘Okay?’ she asked. One of the crew nodded.
‘Good afternoon, fellow citizens of Rise. I’m here with our most esteemed guest, the great man Walker, for an update for the people before the peace talks. Good afternoon, sir.’
‘Always great to be with you, Ajok. And there’s no need to call me “sir”.’
‘Thank you. But tell me, sir, it’s been another big year of warfare —’
‘Capped off just a few days ago, if I might interrupt you, by “The Battle of Sergeant Sala”, one of the great moments we’ve all had the privilege to feast on. I’d go so far as to say it was better than “The Battle of Trench 21”.’
‘That’s a big call, sir.’
‘And one that I stand by. But you’re right. Of course you are. It’s never about one film. It can’t be. I’ve been so delighted by the quality of the battles all year, and, if you’ll permit me, I’d very much like to take this chance to thank all the committed soldiers — those fighting for the present and future of Rise, of course, but also our honourable enemies from Shine, led by the great Barton. You give all of us life. You make all of us proud.’
‘And here we are again: another year gone, and another round of peace talks are upon us.’
‘It seems like only yesterday that we wrapped up last year’s talks.’
‘What do you expect this time around?’
‘Well, of course, when it comes to matters of specific areas of dispute and tangible progress, I cede the floor to our honourable Mr President, who I’m sure would be delighted to update you in exquisite detail. Such a way with words, that man. I truly envy him. But to answer your question to the extent that I can … it’s okay, I can see from the way your eyebrows are dancing that you think I’m avoiding the question. From my perspective, the people of Rise want stability. In my opinion, we love stability. Always have, always will. And what’s not to love? Stability is so sturdy. Yes, there are certainly some issues for the presidents to work through in the peace talks, but I’m hoping for more of the same over the next year. We have non-negotiables —’
‘What are they?’
‘Two full and fabulous meals a day, morning and night, for starters. Sure, we can’t have a Sergeant Sala moment every day, but our bodies need regular fresh footage. Our scientists, working closely with their counterparts in Shine, have proved that it’s good for us all — and it’s absolutely essential for growing children.’
‘And so there is not any prospect of peace this year?’
‘I didn’t say that. The people of Rise crave peace. I personally crave peace. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. I dream of peace every night. Ah, there’s that exasperated smile again. Okay, I’ll answer your question: everyone wants peace, nobody wants war, and we will deliver peace, one day soon. Very soon. I’m certain of it. Will it be this year? All of us will have to wait and see. But I’ll tell you this: we have orange skies every morning, we have purple skies every night. We have each other. We have life, and life is precious.’
‘Thanks be to Walker.’
‘And thanks be to Barton. Never forget Barton. Great to see you, Ajok. Keep on smiling.’
***
Ex-Sergeant Sala, now simply Sala, chose the air train’s last carriage. It was empty when she entered it, but, in the minutes before the train set off, it quickly filled with curious and thankful citizens. No one tried to speak to her or sit in the empty seat beside her. No one stared at the collapsed side of her face, the skin permanently mauve, an earlobe missing, half her nose shoved atop the other half. The train simply took off, all heads facing forward. People just wanted to share the same space, the same air, with Sala. They wanted to feel her spirit. She understood this, and, although she preferred solitude, she did her best to enjoy the moment and to embrace the communality. It wasn’t the same as going to war. Not even close. But it was something.
The train blew out to the fringes of Rise, every seat but the one beside Sala taken. Only on the return leg did people begin to dribble off, station by station. And when Sala reached her stop, she got off too.
A train trip — different routes, different people — became part of her daily routine. A carriage of humanity, silent but for the breathing.
***
The armoured vehicle — an Old Time troop carrier, renovated and sporting a new set of redundant wheels — carried Walker, Hail, and Curtin through the city of Rise via a private road that had once been a majestic winding river, the centrepiece of the old city. As word spread that Walker was on the move — he had to be, because no one else ever used this vehicle or this plastic-brick-paved road — people rushed to wave, cheer, or clap. For many years, Walker had actively discouraged such adulation. He had found it distasteful. Demeaning. Unhelpful to the cause. Pandering to the very excesses of the Old Time that caused the mess in the first place. But despite his misgivings, he’d always waved back and very often stopped for a chat. In time, he’d realised that the people weren’t interested in turning him into some sort of god. They were grateful. They were friendly. They were alive. That was all.
At the city centre, they became a mini parade. The vehicle’s rear door slid up, and Walker positioned himself in the opening. When someone started singing ‘Let’s Be Tender’, Walker banged on the side of the vehicle. The driver eased to a stop, and Walker hopped down.
‘Oh my fucking God, no,’ Hail groaned. ‘Not today.’
The whole crowd, and Walker too, belted out a spirited rendition of ‘Let’s Be Tender’, including the rarely used fourth verse.
Hail stayed in the vehicle, poised to jump forward and prop Walker up should dizziness overcome him.
Curtin ignored it all, turned on a personal autoscreen, and worked on her analysis of the previous month’s data on the strange illness, Walker’s illness, which was continuing its slow random spread. She flicked open a map of Rise. Dots and splotches, but no pattern that either she or the computer could detect. She flicked the map to Cleave, with a quickly typed message: ‘Any thoughts?’ Bloody Cleave. This wasn’t her thing — a current-day situation in Rise — but Curtin knew she’d have insights if she would just bring herself to leave the world inside her brain for a few minutes.
Walker, meanwhile, clambered up the embankment to shake hands and slap backs.
‘We’re fucked if he tries to come back down by himself,’ Hail said.
Curtin grinned. ‘Have a little faith,’ she said.
‘He’ll suffer for this later,’ Hail said.
‘Yes, but they love him. And he loves them so much that he’s willing to put up with a bit of adulation.’
‘Any chance it might help his … hunger?’
‘It’s more likely to do the opposite.’
‘Great. What if we staged an incident? Someone fitting and foaming at the mouth, maybe.’
‘You do that most mornings. It doesn’t seem to help.’
‘Find Walker,’ Hail said into his wearable. ‘Hey, boss, can you hear me? We need to get out to Grand Lake. Remember: five deaths?’
‘On my way,’ Hail heard in his earpiece.
‘Need a hand getting down?’ he asked.
‘Definitely not. Watch this.’
‘Oh no,’ Hail said. He looked out the back of the vehicle just in time to see Walker jump from the top of the bank. It wasn’t graceful, exactly — his feet hit the plastic with a jarring thud — but he stuck the landing.
With a final wave to the people, he ignored Hail’s outstretched hand and hauled himself back into the vehicle. The door closed, and he sunk to his knees.
‘You’re a fucking id—’ Hail began, but Curtin interrupted him.
‘Shhhh,’ she said. ‘Not now.’ She crouched beside Walker. ‘Follow my breathing,’ she murmured. ‘In … hold … hold … now out. In … hold … hold … out. Can you hear me? Out … Good. Again. Again.’ She held his wrist to try to arrest the shaking that was passing through his whole body.
‘I’m fine, I’m perfectly fine,’ Walker said weakly. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have sung that song, that’s all.’
‘It’s your song,’ Curtin said. ‘You had to sing it.’
Curtin and Hail helped Walker to a bed, bolted to one side of the vehicle. He closed his eyes and violently dozed as they passed through the flat districts of Rise and into the war zone of Grand Lake, the soldiers of both sides pausing a battle scene to allow them to pass.
Only when they reached Holland’s command post, twenty minutes past the battle location, did Curtin give Walker’s shoulder a nudge. He woke immediately, and Curtin had to hold him down. It didn’t take much: just her palm sitting on his air-puffed chest. She inserted a probe up one nostril and read the information that appeared on a private autoscreen in front of her eyes.
‘Better than I expected,’ she said with a grunt. ‘Not great, but good enough. Can you stand?’
‘Are we there?’
‘We’re there.’
‘Then I can stand.’
‘Slowly, please. I said, slowly.’
They dropped the ramp this time, and Walker allowed Hail to take his elbow. But as Hail started moving them towards the buildings, Walker motioned for him to stay.
‘I’ll take care of this by myself,’ Walker said. ‘You two wait here.’
‘Fine by me,’ Curtin said.
‘But, boss, there are all sorts of implications, complications. Don’t you think it would be best if we confronted him collectively, if we —’
‘I said, I’ll do it.’
‘Be careful. Don’t forget it’s Holland we’re dealing with here. He’s smooth. He’s experienced. Why don’t we just tag along. Even if we’re just listening, hovering, it might help when we debrief back at the —’
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