by Ryan Gawley
As quickly as he was able he descended the right hand staircase and returned to his favourite chair where he remembered working when Kathy had surprised him with the sedative. He searched frantically for his tablet and realising it was not where he expected he knew it was pointless to search further. It was gone too but between Kathy and the tablet the small device was infinitely more valuable to him.
He lumbered groggily along the grand entrance hall to the lift controls and tapped the button to summon the carriage but the panel remained infuriatingly dormant. He waved his left wrist frantically in front of the sensor but without his implanted chip it was a futile gesture. His ego demanded that everyone and everything should answer his command so he waited, fully expecting the inert electronic circuits to come to their senses and surrender to his will. Eventually he was forced to acknowledge that no matter how much he swore or shouted neither lift nor net-screen would respond without his authorisation chip. Worse still he had to accept he had been imprisoned in his own home.
Resignedly he began to walk back along the hall to sit in his chair and brood but turned again as he heard the pinging of the thick cables in the lift shaft as they took the load of the ascending car. It had worked after all he thought, perhaps his implant was still working and he had merely sustained an injury during a struggle with Kathy. She would still pay for her disobedience but he felt now at least he wouldn’t be made to look a fool.
As he waited impatiently, despite his dishevelled appearance he admired his own reflection in the polished brass doors. Sure enough the lift arrived at his penthouse apartment and the doors parted silently on well-maintained runners but to Henderson’s surprise the car was occupied.
‘Afternoon Mr. Henderson,’ said Derek Stone, as always punctual and simply but impeccably dressed in his usual black suit and black tie over plain white shirt. As was normal since he had downright refused to be chipped he had scanned his thumbprint on the reader beside the floor selection buttons in the lift and now stood casually radiating confidence, a hint of a smile in his remaining eye as he quickly assessed his employer’s appearance and knew something was amiss. Although it would most likely mean more hassle for him Stone enjoyed any opportunity to see his egotistical boss in a more vulnerable moment.
Henderson rallied himself and snarled. ‘Where the hell have you been? Do you know what time it is? Do you realise what has happened due to your incompetence?’
The lift doors began to close and Stone was tempted to allow them but thought better of it and pressed the door open button before stepping into the hallway to look down into the red face of Henderson as he unleashed a tiresome tirade to which Stone had become immune. As he listened Stone filtered out the abuse spewing from the intolerable fat man and analysed the fragments of actual information. It was serious indeed, Henderson had been drugged, his implant chip had been removed and Kathy had escaped with his networked tablet.
‘You’re lucky I don’t have my tablet Stone or I would summon an Enforcer squad to take you for special interrogation. Well, don’t just stand there, explain yourself,’ demanded Henderson.
Stone remained outwardly stolid but internally fought to control an urge to grab Henderson by the lapels of his suit jacket and smash his nose with a head butt.
‘Yes sir,’ Stone managed to say after a deep controlled breath. ‘If you remember I said I would see you this afternoon following the errand you insisted I attend to, which by the way is all taken care of. The delivery was confirmed and I have a case in the car to use for transfer of cash funds as you requested.’
Henderson opened his mouth to vent another stream of obscenities but realised both men knew who was responsible for the current situation and so decided to change tack. ‘You can redeem yourself Mr. Stone by putting your talents to work in finding my errant daughter. She may have gotten out from behind these walls but I will show her she cannot escape my reach.’
Stone hesitated as he decided how to answer. ‘I can certainly locate Kathy Mr. Henderson but I think you should know there is another more pressing matter that I guess you are not yet aware of, seeing as how you’re out of the loop at the moment.’
It was Henderson’s turn to listen as Stone efficiently delivered a verbal report about the breached sector barriers; the Dregs running amok, rioting and looting in the Elite sectors; the Enforcer’s ongoing battle to suppress the surging masses spilling from the opened gates and of the horrific acts of violence committed by many of the Dregs who Stone described as seeming as if possessed. Henderson listened and understood clearly what had happened. Everything was unfolding as it should except now that the sector barrier had been opened the Enforcers hadn’t a hope of containing the problem. He knew the Elite sector was in danger of being overrun and the thought of the Dregs desecrating Elite areas dealt a blow that his heart struggled to overcome causing him to clutch at his chest while scrabbling to loosen his collar.
‘We have to locate General Curran; he has to get this under control. I cannot have Dregs running amok in my city, I will not tolerate it. I will not,’ he ranted as his face grew redder and sweat streamed down his forehead while the vice around his heart tightened its grip. Stone half-heartedly stepped forward to steady the ailing man but was pushed aside.
‘Leave me be’, Henderson croaked. ‘We have to get to Central Control. I must speak with the General,’ he said stumbling toward the lift, chest heaving as he fought for breath.
Knowing there would be no reasoning with his employer Stone scanned his thumbprint once again to open the lift doors and rode with Henderson to the basement level car park. The brief journey provided a few moments to calm down and the cooler air seemed to help the older man’s condition as he stormed ahead opening his own door in the rear of his luxury transport rather than wait for Stone to dutifully open it for him. Out now on the city streets Stone expertly guided the large sedan through fleeing pedestrians and several privately owned vehicles as he raced toward the dominating tower of the Central Control building. At Henderson’s request he navigated a route as far around the sector barriers as possible, the failed leader unwilling to risk getting caught up in the devastation and carnage he had helped design and unleash.
Showing his ID card and lowering the darkened rear window a few inches to allow the Enforcer guards to confirm the identity of his passenger Stone was waved through the retracted pneumatic bollards and raced on screeching tyres into the underbelly of Central Control. Henderson’s clearance level permitted access through the outer layers of security but they were both stopped in their tracks upon reaching the heavily guarded inner sanctum.
‘Don’t you know who I am,’ spat an infuriated Henderson as two armed Enforcers stood guard, impassive and staring directly ahead, completely ignoring any threat Henderson imagined he posed to them.
Stone remained poker faced throughout but immensely enjoyed watching the panicked Henderson become increasingly agitated and desperate as he surely began to realise how little real power he wielded. After a few moments Henderson had quietened to huffing and puffing as he leaned against the wall clutching his chest. A buzzer sounded and the two guards stepped apart seconds before a heavy steel door raised up on hydraulic rams into a recess in the wall above.
General Curran marched out and intentionally ignored the sharp salutes of the stationed guards.
‘What do you want Victor? Can’t you see I have a situation here?’ the General snapped although he was already aware of Henderson’s predicament after keenly observing the fresh stitches on his wrist which answered the question as to why he was out here bothering the guards when he would normally have barged straight in and shouted at Curran directly.
‘Perhaps you’re having some difficulty gaining access Victor? Well, why didn’t you say so,’ said Curran relishing the opportunity to further humiliate his old adversary. ‘You’re lucky I stepped out for a moment or you could have been here all day.’
‘Show me what’s going on out there.’ demanded Henderson. ‘Mr.
Stone relayed some of what he witnessed but I need to see the full extent of this disaster. You will allow Mr. Stone to accompany me, I have mislaid my daughter and he is helping me locate her. I give authorization for him to view any information that helps find her.’
‘I don’t like it Victor, as you know, civilians are not permitted to enter the command centre but since you insist I’m sure Mr. Stone will remain an unseen observer and stay out of my people’s way,’ Curran replied tersely.
Stone simply nodded and followed Henderson and the General as the heavy steel door closed quickly behind them with just a faint hiss which belied its great mass. They walked along a dark corridor lined from floor to ceiling with black marble slabs. Dim illumination was provided by a strip of green LEDs set into the wall at waist height which ran the length of the narrow space. They approached another heavy steel door identical to the first and Curran extended his left arm waving his wrist in front of a sensor which immediately responded and raised the door. As the door opened Henderson saw the General’s smug grin lit up from the glow of display screens shining through from the next room.
Stone was surprised to see the command centre was not the cavernous space he imaged to be populated with hundreds of technicians staring intently into hundreds more screens. Instead there were ten uniformed Enforcer guards stationed in front of a transparent projected screen which appeared to be touch sensitive. From here they could observe a grid view of what seemed to be one hundred or more screens. Individual screens could be selected and enlarged so as to view in more detail. Each view appeared to allow control of the camera providing the feed and from this each Enforcer could scan and highlight areas for priority action then dispatch ground forces as required. One enormous central screen displayed a grid of ten screens, each showing what the ten guards were viewing at that moment and in such a way the General could keep abreast of the overall situation and issue commands as he felt necessary.
For Derek Stone the advanced technology would have been fascinating except for the sickening images currently displayed. They were of scenes he had witnessed first-hand when driving to Henderson’s residential building earlier that afternoon but here, seeing so many at once, so much suffering, the massive scale of the city wide violence, across both capital cities, it was shocking and numbing all at once. From the live footage he could see that many of the first people to rush across the sector divide had been cut down instantly by relentless heavy fire from the Enforcers but the immense thrust of the crowd was proving too great. All across the city at each open barrier hundreds of terrified souls pushed forward, trampling the bodies of those that fell before them, many more were shot dead or grievously injured as they ran in fear or were driven forward by the huge crowd surging behind. Still others appeared invulnerable to the raining fire from Enforcer weaponry and despite seemingly lethal wounds continued to assault Dreg and Enforcer alike, ripping and tearing hair and flesh from any warm body they encountered until they too fell underfoot.
Would-be survivors fought hand to hand with Enforcers pitting sticks, petrol bombs and rocks against powerful shotguns and rifles. Many Dregs died a gruesome death but they outnumbered the Enforcers who were rapidly overcome. The armour, weapons and ammunition of injured or dead Enforcers were stripped from the bodies and turned against their comrades in increasing intensity until they were forced to make a tactical retreat and the beginning of a massive street war blazed across all sectors of the city. Most Dregs who broke through unscathed began running for their lives to seek any place of refuge. Some who had reached a safe distance into the Elite sectors began looting; breaking shop windows, grabbing armfuls of the luxury items they had been denied for so long and fighting to defend their bounty while terrified Elites joined the fleeing Dregs and tried to run to find sanctuary. Many of those not gunned down in the initial onslaught suffered convulsions before turning on their own kind, the lust for luxury goods forgotten, only a compulsion to savage and eviscerate remained and the sight of the blood strewn carnage served to turn yet more of the terrified city inhabitants to mindless killers.
As he watched the events unfold rivers of sweat ran from Henderson’s bald head and trickled down to wet his shirt collar while veins swelled and pumped as his blood pressure climbed to an unhealthy level. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, he had given assurances to the Brotherhood that he would personally oversee the successful execution of the final stages of the project.
‘General Curran, your men are incompetent’, he shouted but only one of the battle hardened Enforcers glanced over his shoulder fixing Henderson with a glare as if confirming his target for later.
‘Do you see what they have allowed to happen?’ Henderson continued. ‘It seems General that I should have insisted military command authority was transferred to me. You will answer for the mistakes made here today. As highest ranking Upper Council member I order you to relinquish your command.’
General Curran didn’t respond immediately but instead took a moment to casually walk to a desk at the rear of the room behind the rows of guards and retrieved a sheet of paper from a vintage printer that he insisted on continuing to use despite having the most advanced touch screen visualisation technology at his disposal. He crossed the room again to stand uncomfortably close to Henderson causing the shorter man to involuntarily step backward. Curran took a breath before he spoke and when he did it was in a low, controlled tone as he employed iron will to rule his emotions.
‘Do you know what this is Victor? This is a report from my senior security analyst. I asked why my barriers were opened. Why my men are being beaten to a pulp with sticks and stones. Why hundreds of Dregs are now running free beyond any hope of containment. Do you know what this report tells me Victor?’
Henderson just stared blankly, he knew he was losing ground with every second and could do nothing but wipe the sweat from his face with a damp, stained handkerchief as the General leaned further into his face to eyeball him hard, the stare feeling as though it would burn through the back of his skull.
‘This tells me Victor that it was you who issued the gate override command. It is you who has put my men in this situation and it is you Victor who will answer for the mistakes made here today.’
Henderson retorted in indignation at being falsely accused. ‘Don’t be ridiculous General, I never issued any such order. Why would I do that when we were so close to completing the project. This is preposterous; you cannot fabricate such a story just to retain your command. I gave you a direct order and I order you to follow it.’
Curran turned to a guard stationed inside the huge metal door. ‘Sergeant, Mr. Henderson has not confirmed his identity. No civilians are permitted in the command centre. Please escort him and his driver off the premises. Immediately.’
The sergeant saluted sharply and grabbed Henderson by the arm and led him struggling toward the exit while another officer opened the door and directed a compliant Derek Stone to leave ahead of his humiliated employer.
‘You can’t do this, I am in charge here and I order you to stand down. General Curran you no longer have command authority. Sergeant, release me immediately. That is an order Sergeant.’
As the heavy steel door closed behind him Henderson heard Curran shout. ‘You had your chance Victor. This is my city now.’
Stone rode the lift down to the basement car park under the Central Control building with his boss and the Enforcer sergeant who had maintained a secure grip of Henderson until shoving him, still spouting hollow threats, out into the parking bay as the lift doors closed and the soldier returned to his duty station. Henderson was dumbfounded and Stone had never seen him in such a state of confusion and panic. The over-confident bluster had disappeared and the feeble reality of Henderson’s true character was all that remained.
‘Where to now Sir?’ asked Stone as he opened the rear door of the car.
Henderson gasped for breath and composed himself attempting to save a scrap of his tattered dignity. ‘Take me to the
club; I have to speak with a friend there who will help get this all straightened out.’
‘Is that wise sir? You saw what’s happening on the streets, it’s not safe to be driving around out there. An expensive motor like this is a huge target for an angry mob. If we run into any obstacles I can’t guarantee your safety.’
‘What do I pay you so much for Stone if not to drive me and ensure my safety? If you can’t do that then what use are you to me? Take me to the club. Now,’ snarled Henderson unleashing his anger on Stone who said nothing as he fired the engine and sped out onto the streets hoping to make the journey to the exclusive club without incident.
There were more people on the road now than earlier and all were running wildly in various directions, some running for home and some not knowing where they ran to except that anywhere would be better than the developing nightmare behind them. Stone drove expertly swerving around most pedestrians with precision until one young Dreg girl who Stone estimated was no older than Kathy ran straight at the car and repeatedly changed course to match Stone as he tried to avoid her. There was nothing he could do. She folded over the bonnet and her head smashed into the bodywork but she still reached forward, grasping toward the windscreen with a terrifying crazed look in her eyes and blood running down her cheeks from self-inflicted wounds scored deep using her own fingernails. Stone’s gaze was fixed on her as she was carried forward on the front of the car until he stamped on the brakes sending her crushed body flying forward where she landed and rolled further breaking her damaged limbs and opening her skull as it impacted on the kerb.
Even Derek Stone who had witnessed and learned to live with many terrors was stunned by what he had seen. He sat frozen for a brief moment staring forward at the mangled corpse as people continued to run screaming past the car. A Dreg man in his mid-forties who was further along the street behind the girl stopped to see if the she was alright and Stone guessed maybe he recognised her or was by chance related to her because the man dropped to his knees apparently overcome with grief.