Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  November 8th

  The scientific building Uncle Vinny picked out for the meeting with the crime faction leaders was a utilitarian pale greenish-gray that reminded Acevedo of a hospital. The white-robed Apprentices at the gates didn't give their group a second glance as they passed by. It was an odd building, two stories and U-shaped. Torches stood around a large courtyard, which was mostly lined with boxes and old machinery. The ground was grassy and dry. Acevedo's younger brothers had set up chairs, then retreated to scout for anyone watching.

  The group, over a hundred of the roughest men Acevedo had ever seen, nevertheless had intelligent eyes, full of cunning. Vinny locked the courtyard gates, and Acevedo stood in front of them. "I'm Acevedo Spadros. How would you like to take over the city?"

  The men stared at each other in amazement.

  "Polansky Kerr is mad," Acevedo said, his breath steaming in the frosty air. "He murdered King Taylor and plans to kill everyone outside the fence with fire and lead. Even the children."

  Angry murmurs came from the men.

  "But we plan a surprise for him. I need your help, and the support of your men. In exchange, you'll get —" He hesitated. I didn't think this through. "Whatever you can get."

  "Looting rights," his uncle said from the back.

  It sounded much worse when said that way. But he needed these men desperately, and if a few looted homes was what it took, that seemed a small price to pay.

  A man with very dark skin stood up. "So we help you get rid of this mad King, and we get to take what we want. No prosecution?"

  "Do we look like fucking cops?" Vinny said.

  "Nah, but once this is done, I don't wanna rope round my neck," another said. "I know you, but I don't know this guy." He faced Acevedo. "Are we here to do your dirty work then get strung up for it?"

  The crowd murmured.

  "None of that," said Acevedo. "They will be no ropes, so long as you stop when we say. After, we'll need the people behind us, or we'll all hang."

  Nods scattered around the room.

  A short, wiry man with white-blond hair stood. "If Vinny vouches for this guy, that's good enough for me. What's the plan?"

  Acevedo had made up large boards with the city mapped out. "There will be two fireworks above Market Center: one red, one blue. Blue means the King was captured, and they don't need us. If we don't see the blue one by 3 am, we're blowing the bridges between the quadrants. That'll be the signal." Four bridges blowing at once would be heard halfway to the Rim.

  "We'll have ray cannon to breach the fence. Bring all the weapons and ammo you can; we have more for those without. Rocket launchers, the works." He paused. "Don't cross the bridges onto the island. We have people there to secure it and I don't want them shooting you by mistake. They'll wear white armbands to identify themselves."

  "Damn," a huge red-haired man said. "You're serious."

  "Dead serious," said Vinny. "If one word gets to him first, he'll kill us all. So no sneaks, no leaks, all in. Got it?"

  That seemed to sober many of them, and they sat, hand to chin, pondering their situation.

  Acevedo looked around. "Who's in?"

  The blond wiry man laughed. "I figured we had no choice once we saw your faces."

  Acevedo shrugged. Forcing people to fight never worked. They had to want it. "Who loves this King?" Silence. "Who loves loot?"

  A cheer rang out.

  "Not sure why anyone wouldn't do this," the red-haired man said. "What's the catch?"

  Acevedo laughed. "If we fail, I sure hope you can run, because Polansky Kerr will never stop chasing us."

  Blocker peered at the men around him in the courtyard. He'd fought many of them in the past, and they nodded to each other warily. Vinny had told them: This is neutral territory, safe passage night, but Blocker still felt twitchy about getting home.

  It didn't take an Inventor to figure out who the people "securing" Market Center would be. No wonder Mr. Alcatraz is jumpy. He's right in the middle of it. I better warn Turbo that Polansky Kerr's men might be sniffing around.

  But what a plan! Everyone working together to take down Polansky Kerr.

  He climbed on his horse and galloped into town. Just wait until he told his brother Fish about this.

  * * *

  "So let me get this straight," Fish said. "Old Kerr kills the King, blames it on a guard, and now he's gonna kill all the outsiders. So why do we care?"

  "Dammit, we gotta care," Blocker said. "We don't got much territory out there. But we got a lot in here, and if damn near a hundred gangs are gonna get free looting, sooner or later some of them are gonna look at us. We gotta be ready."

  His brother's eyes widened. "So what do we do?"

  That was a good question. "We gotta pick," Blocker said. "Do we stay in, or try to grab land out there?" Either was risky. But there were no buildings to speak of outside the fence. "I say make like we're in this, but when it starts, we pull everyone in. There's nothing worth taking out there. Let go of the outside stuff and make damn sure no one takes what's here. They'll get tired of fighting us, move on to easy prey. Once that's done, they'll start fighting each other. While they're doing that, we can start expanding. Introduce ourselves, help them rebuild, make sure they know we can protect them better than their gang did." Blocker considered each gang that controlled the areas around their territory. "We could double our turf if we play our cards right."

  Fish nodded. "Let's do it."

  After the meeting broke up, Acevedo toured the science building. It had two stories: the upper seemed to mostly be storage; the lower was set up like a museum — displays under glass of the history of the founding of the city, how it was powered by the Magma Steam Generators below the pilings which anchored the vast dome mechanism of the city to the bedrock. How the rivers were pumped round and filtered.

  There were many rooms covering the different topics, and from the signs in front, one might even purchase tours.

  The children will love this.

  He found his uncle talking to some of the men. "Find out how much it would be to rent this place."

  "The whole place?"

  "Yeah."

  "For how long?"

  How long would the city be in an uproar? He couldn't bring the children back to the city until it was safe for them. "A couple of weeks should be long enough."

  His uncle nodded and left.

  A man came up to him — the very dark brown one — and said, "Why are you here, Spadros? You look like a librarian."

  "Close. I teach in a private school. Bridges history."

  "So why are you leading a war?"

  It took a moment for Acevedo to come up with something. "It became personal. What's going on, outside the fence. The thought that this man would murder little children —"

  "Children die all the time. So you sign a petition, write a letter, like all the other good little citizens. Why are you trying to stage a coup over it?"

  Acevedo couldn't answer.

  Finally the man said, "That's why I don't trust you, Spadros. You may know what you're doing, but you don't know why, and that makes you dangerous. I'll help fight your war, because I see how it benefits my people. But don't expect anything from us after." He turned and left.

  That was odd, Acevedo thought. The man didn't even offer me his name. But his question was a valid one.

  Why am I doing this?

  Acevedo thought about it all the way home, and never could find a suitable answer.

  Charlie was talking so fast Crispin could hardly follow him. "Slow down, pal. What did they say?"

  His brother took a deep breath. "The King killed the King! And now he wants to kill us too, outside here. And they want to kill him! They want us to help, and we get to loot all we want."

  Crispin wasn't totally clear on it all, but he got the picture. "So what do you think?"

  That finally slowed Charlie down some. "Like I told them, I don't see why we wouldn't. We got no stake in that so-called
'Pot of Gold.' I say piss on it, grab all we can. They got food, clothing, parts, lumber. We could use that stuff here, get everyone houses, like ours. And I was thinking: why not grab the racetrack too? With all those horses, we could get around really well."

  Crispin frowned. "That's all the way on the other side of the city."

  "But we'll have all the horses! All the rich folk put their horses to board there."

  Crispin felt astonished. How did Charlie know that?

  Charlie laughed. "I was talking with one of the guys from over there, and he said it. They got the same idea, but they're gonna grab it after the fight. I say we grab it right away. Then we can ride around the city all we want, and no one'll be able to stop us. They'll all be on foot." He paused. "We'll have all we need to make it work. Horses, food for them, place for them to stay —"

  Charlie stopped, and Crispin could see the gears turning. When Charlie got that look on his face, something great was going to come out of it. "One day the war's gonna end," Charlie said. "People are gonna wanna have fun." He grinned. "They'll pay good money to see our horses run again."

  Chapter Thirteen

  November 27th

  Xavier crouched behind the door. He pulled a lever, one of a hundred spread throughout the training building which turned on the buzzer outside. It buzzed for thirty seconds, then stopped. He listened as men crept closer, burst into the room, moved ahead. He threw a small beanbag at the back of Varkonyi's head. "You're dead."

  Groans filled the room.

  "You didn't even look behind the door! It's not just Varkonyi. You all need to do better than this. Once they figure out what's going on, they won't be shooting beanbags at you." He paused. "Come on, let's try it again."

  Ocho Malize was having much better luck with his five. "Those guys are scary good," he said after the exercise. "Too bad they're completely nuts. Totally amoral. I had them fire on boards with their mothers' portraits on them and not one even hesitated." He paused. "What are you going to do with these guys?"

  Xavier had an idea but he didn't want to say it yet. "You're doing great, Malize. Just keep working with them. You'll see."

  Xavier fell into bed once he got home from training. Between training his men half the day and standing guard all night, he felt exhausted much of the time. Even though Kerr's men shadowed him constantly, Polansky Kerr refused to allow him to step down from his guard post, saying it would disturb the men. Because he had limited time to train them, most of his men were coming in on their time off to participate. We're all tired, and tired men make mistakes. Perhaps Kerr intended it that way.

  What was the man really planning? What did he hope to gain by this massacre?

  I'll probably never know, he thought, as sleep overcame him.

  When Acevedo got home from school, as usual, his father sat at the kitchen table reading the paper. This time, though, he put it down. "Take a look at this."

  Acevedo sat across from his father and took up the paper:

  HOUSING PRICES FALL 5%

  Southwest Quadrant Sell-Off

  * * *

  The Office of Housing reported today that housing prices fell 5% in the past month. On studying the data, the cause appears to be the large number of house sellers in the Southwest Quadrant.

  When homeowners were questioned as to their reason for selling, many cited the turmoil in the city. "I just don't feel safe here anymore," Sikelela Ikhadi Diamond told this reporter. "We're moving to the countryside."

  A request for comment from the Office of the King was denied.

  * * *

  "Diamond," Acevedo said, remembering Jack's comment about his surgery apprenticeship. "I've heard that name before."

  "One of the clans," Papa said. "They have very dark skin. Good looking, especially the women."

  "Do they live in the Southwest Quadrant?"

  "I think so." He paused. "Yeah. A big group of them there. They're real quiet, stick to themselves."

  This was very odd. Acevedo remembered the man at the meeting. I don't trust you, Spadros. "Is Uncle Vinny here?"

  "I'm here," a voice came from way back in the house. A few minutes later, Uncle Vinny came in. "Whatcha need?"

  "Who was the Diamond guy at the meeting?"

  His uncle thought for a minute. "Name's Caesar, I think. Don't know him well. Why?"

  Acevedo handed over the paper. "I think I unnerved him."

  Vinny read it over then nodded. "It's a good strategy. Pull the gentlefolk out of harm's way, then it doesn't matter who you hit or what you break." He laughed. "They're even making money with it." He put the paper down. "As long as they don't tip off the King, they can do whatever the hell they want." He ambled off back where he came from.

  "Papa," Acevedo said, "we're going to have to move too."

  Papa smiled. "You finally figured that out. Me and your Mama talked about it the night Vincenzo came to me. We've been here a long time, but it's time to move on. Even if this works, who wants to live in a war zone? And if it doesn't, we won't be welcome here."

  If we lose, Polansky Kerr's going to want our heads. "Where will we go?"

  "Oh, we have a place out in the country — remember when you were a boy?"

  Acevedo thought back to a summer when he was twelve. "We own that? I thought it belonged to Granpa and Granma."

  "It did, and when they died, it belonged to me. Haven't been there in years, but it shouldn't take too long to get the place aired out and dusted. I'll have your sisters do it."

  "How much money do you have? Where does it come from?"

  Papa smiled. "I have enough. Have you ever been to the casino?"

  The question disoriented him. The casino? "No, I don't gamble."

  Papa shrugged. "We have a deal with them. We get half their take every month, and we don't bother them."

  Acevedo stared at his father, appalled. "That's extortion!"

  "My son, so learned. He knows the meaning of so many words." He leaned forward. "Acevedo, I'm the head of the Business. It's what we do. It's a tradition, you might say. You can learn to live with it or not. I want to give this all to you someday. But I'll give it to Vinny or one of your brothers if you're not comfortable taking care of the Family."

  "I always thought you were joking when you said things like this," Acevedo said. "I never thought it was real." Then he had a horrible thought. "Where are the Bluffs?"

  "In their rooms," Papa said. "Are you ashamed of what we do? Of what you're doing now? Meeting with criminals, plotting to overthrow the government?" He paused. "Because if you are, you should stop."

  No, Acevedo thought. "But that's different."

  Papa shrugged. "You're going to hurt more people in a few months than I have my entire life. You need to figure out why it's okay for you to do what you're doing and not okay for me to do what I do." He picked up the paper and began reading.

  This sounded too close for comfort to what Caesar Diamond had said. Why am I doing this?

  Chapter Fourteen

  December 9th

  Since Polansky Kerr's men seemed to be running the place, Xavier gave the men their 21 days off for Yuletide, each of them assigned on one of those days to do a shift of patrol duty outside the palace grounds. Before that, he met with each group again, except, of course his "top" group: they had no reason to be silent. "This will be difficult. Your families will want to know what you're doing, why you've been working so many hours, what you think of the King. One wrong word could cause all our deaths. Be cautious."

  His men agreed to keep quiet.

  "See you January 4th," he said.

  Ocho Malize said, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

  "No, go home and relax. Spend time with your family. I need you fresh when we return; we'll have a lot of work to do."

  Acevedo released his students for Yuletide, and Jack came to his desk. "We'd be pleased to have you for Yuletide Center," he said. "It's my dad's birthday."

  "A winter child!" Acevedo said. "So am I
."

  It was an old tradition from just after the Catastrophe: those born in the dark days from vernal to spring equinox celebrated at Yuletide Center, December 21st. Those born in the bright days from spring to vernal equinox celebrated on Midsummer's Day, June 21st.

  Acevedo said, "My family will want me home that day. Perhaps the next?"

  Jack beamed. "That would be great!"

  Crispin Hartmann and his brother Charlie lay on the hills over the racetrack. "We don't want to damage the complex," Crispin said. "But we have to get in and hold it."

  The more Crispin thought about Charlie's idea, the more he liked it. This building was huge, it had fence all around it, and it was fairly defensible, especially with guys holding these hills. You could see someone coming for miles. The fact that they could get up here and this close without anyone even noticing was encouraging.

  Charlie rolled onto his side. "Can you see any guards?"

  Crispin peered through the old beat-up binoculars they had found in the trash. Charlie had tried looking through them but said they made his eyes hurt. "Nope."

  Charlie rolled back onto his stomach, put his chin on his folded arms. "We have to assume there's guards. Or security of some kind. Horses are expensive."

  "But they probably won't have a lot of guns. They don't want the horses hurt. They just want to make sure no one steals them."

  Charlie frowned. "How would they steal them? There must be a back gate. You see it?"

  Crispin squinted. "No."

  "It's got to be there. How do they get deliveries? How do they get new horses? We find the gate, we find the guards."

  "Well, I don't see it. Maybe it's on the other side."

  Charlie scooted back away from the peak and stood, dusting himself off. "We better get going, then. The sun's not going to be up all day."

  Crispin laughed. "The sun is going to be up all day. That's what day means."