A small panel provided a readout of the energy the orb was producing.
“We have to keep those walls glowing, don’t we?” Buscar said. He did not expect an answer.
Hunter stood beside Buscar and looked on.
“We could have gotten so much from him. We could’ve gotten names and dates and plans, but you screwed it up once again. You’ve no doubt ruined him for the donor tank as well, but it can’t hurt to try. I am embarrassed to call you my son. You are weak like your mother. Do you think you can handle this or do I need to hold your hand?”
“I’ve got it,” Buscar said. Then he thought, I will kill you myself at the first opportunity. If you weren’t my path to running this damn company, I’d have killed you before now.
Hunter walked off, and Buscar started the process. A group of twenty-five thousand orbs identical to the one holding Olinar turned in slow, rhythmic unison. They all contained a person who had been harvested.
Within each orb, the occupant experienced excruciating pain. As the orbs moved, each turn brought the occupant one step closer to death. After just a few revolutions, each welcomed death. They could not move and they could not scream. They simply hung like a side of beef at the slaughter house, waiting to be cut into pieces, and the gelatinous contents of the orb cut very effectively.
The cuts were not just external, although this was the most obvious. They were internal as well. Most occupants died after a few days, and others were driven mad from the pain and isolation. No one survived, and this was by design.
An indicator told Buscar the orbs were in sync and ready to be put on line. He hit the initiate button on the heads-up display, and the power generation surged. This small section of orbs stacked ten high, fifty across, and fifty deep fueled the glowing compound walls and recharged fuel cells for the energy needs of employee homes.
No one on the street knew nor even suspected, the street lights and what few comforts they enjoyed in their flats were powered by the torture of their relatives, friends, and neighbors. Each one harvested from somewhere around the world.
Chapter 21
Elizabeth swiveled in her chair as Jacob and Joniver entered.
“Hey boys, uh, sorry, men,” she said. “I guess I never got to have you together as boys did I?” There was a wistful look in her eye, and Joniver wondered if it was genuine.
“You needed to see us?” Jacob said.
“Yeah, please sit down,” Elizabeth said, and she got up to shut the door. The brothers shot each other a glance. “You both have told me in different ways that you’d like to see Hunter fall. Is that right?”
Both brothers shrugged and nodded. They did want to see Hunter fall, but it was not just Hunter. They wanted the whole system to come crumbling down.
“There’s a way, and you two are crucial for it to happen,” she said.
“I don’t want to endanger Olinar,” Joniver said, sitting up. “I want to get him first.”
“I understand. Hear me out. I think we can accomplish both things.” She paused. “Your father was determined to tear down the company system.”
“How did dad die?” Joniver asked.
“He was killed in a car accident.”
“But what actually happened?” Jacob asked.
“He was killed in a car accident. That’s the truth. If you’re asking me if…if someone killed him, then yes, I believe someone caused him to have the wreck.”
“Who?” the brothers asked in unison.
“He denies it, but I am convinced it was my brother. I think it was your uncle, Stephen Hunter.”
“Humph,” Jacob said.
“Wait,” Joniver said, “Hunter, the Hunter I met before being rescued is my, I mean, our uncle? He’s your brother?”
He looked at Jacob, “Did you know this?”
“Well, I didn’t know it, but I suspected something. He came to see me too much. I mean, why would a Director spend so much time focused on one Guardsman?”
Joniver felt soiled by this news. He felt as if someone had just injected him with a flesh eating parasite, and he could feel his insides being sucked off his bones. The idea of being related to Hunter sickened him just now as much as the fleeting thought had turned his stomach in Hunter’s office a few months ago.
“He spent time with you because he knew what you had and he wanted it,” Elizabeth said. “You two have the codes that would permanently disable the company security systems world-wide. To get the codes, however you both are needed."
“Hunter knew this and the codes are the reason he was trying to find you, Joniver. He had Jacob, but he needed you both. Until the night you were picked up, he had no idea where to look for you."
“See, your dad believed in the right of people for what he called self-determination. They should be able to live their lives as they saw fit without interference from the company or any government. He believed in this idea so much, he thought he could get the company from Hunter and systematically dismantle the structure. In time he wanted to give people their freedom.”
“People can’t be free and be safe,” Jacob said. “The terrorists would take over.”
“What terrorists, Jacob?” his mother asked. “We are not terrorists, despite what you’ve been taught. What have you seen here? What have you learned about us?” The question was rhetorical and she continued. “Once people were free, your dad wanted to reestablish a government, with elected officials, similar to what we have here in the North. You both are named after him by the way. His name was Jacob Jonathan. Joniver your middle name came from my brother’s middle name, Oliver. We figured he would never expect you to bear his name. Nana and I came up with the name Joniver to further obscure who you are. After your dad was killed, I was a danger to both of you, so my death was staged and I came North with some friends.
“I know all this is a bit overwhelming, but the point is we can strike back! We encoded in your DNA the computer codes. One of you has the codes sequenced in a non-replicating part of your DNA. The other has the key to deciphering the sequence. The method is simple, but the encryption and validation comes from having both of you.
“The codes are useless having just one. Once we have the codes, we can plan a mission to plant them and shut down all the systems controlled by the company. Everyone will become like people on the street. They will have a level playing field. We can mobilize them, and we will outnumber the Guardsmen.” She looked at them with expectation.
“What do you want us to do?” Jacob said. He grew tired of his mother’s ramblings and more than a little suspicious. Why had she not asked for these earlier if they were so important, he asked himself.
“I want to send you to the lab right now. They will take a blood sample and run it through an analyzer. We will have the codes and this will aid Dunston as he prepares the invasion. I see no reason you both can’t be part of the mission. We will get Olinar and destroy the hold the company has on the world.”
“Sure,” Jacob said, and he jumped up. “We’ll head to the lab right now. We’ll let you know.”
“Wait,” Joniver said.
“Joniver, this makes perfect sense. This is what you’ve told me you wanted.”
“I-”
“C’mon Dude, let’s get to the lab and then we’ve got workouts!”
“Thank you boys, uh...I mean, men!” Elizabeth got up and hugged them both. “I’m so proud of you! You are more than the men I had hoped you would be.”
***
Jacob and Joniver walked out. Joniver did not understand Jacob’s determination to get to the lab.
The had gone down two flights of stairs and entered another section of the compound when Jacob stopped, and put his hand on Joniver.
“What do you think?” he said.
He shrugged. “I don’t see a problem. The technology is straightforward and it has been done many times.”
“No, no, what do you think about her?“ Jacob said. “Do you trust her?”
“Not for a m
inute,” Joniver said. “I haven't felt good about her since we got here. Emily doesn’t trust her either. Elizabeth sounded crazy to me back there.”
“Yeah, me too,” Jacob said. “You hack the mainframe and get to the lab results?”
“Sure, I’ve done it twice since we got here. Emily needed some medicine and I needed some supplements, and I didn’t want to wait, so I sent the order myself.”
“Good,” Jacob said. “Let’s not give her the codes. We’ll get them and change them in the lab database.”
“Why?” Joniver asked. “What good will it do?”
“I’m not sure,” Jacob said. “It may do no good at all. It may keep us alive, though. We gotta be careful who we trust. Something’s off about this place. At first I thought it was just you.”
“Me?” Joniver said. He was shocked.
“Yes, you,” Jacob said, not pausing for an explanation. “I’m not sure what it is. This all just feels like a giant field test of some kind.”
“Can you hack the mainframe?” Jacob asked again.
“Like I said before, no problem,” said Joniver. “Let’s go give our blood."
He did not like the sound of the last phrase, but he did like how Jacob said it. “We gotta be careful who we trust,” Joniver repeated. They are a we now, and Joniver liked the feeling of having his twin brother on his side, even if he was a pompous jerk at times.
He felt a family pride, but it was more than simple pride. He had a feeling of home and belonging he had only felt in passing while growing up with Nana. The feeling was not stronger, but it felt longer -or before, maybe - than what he felt with Emily. It felt good. Joniver liked being a we with his brother.
“You gotta get in there as soon as the computer writes the codes. You replace them with bogus codes, and we’ll keep the real ones. My guess is we’ll need them before too much longer,” Jacob said. The two walked toward the medical lab.
They each had a troublesome feeling about their mother, but they both felt they dare not talk about what they suspected.
***
Once her sons had been gone for twenty minutes or so, Elizabeth put a controller cylinder on her desk, similar to the one Olinar had used many weeks ago to save Joniver. She typed a few lines on the virtual keyboard and in just seconds, a secure communication link was established. A few more lines typed and a face appeared on the screen.
“Hello Elizabeth, I wondered when I’d hear from you.”
“Hello Stephen,” she said. “Well, I suppose a brother and sister should talk from time to time.”
“I want the codes, Elizabeth. Do you have them?”
“Soon,” she said.
“Were they any trouble to convince?”
“None whatsoever, but I don’t think I am going to give you the codes.”
“Elizabeth we had an agreement. Your husband went soft like this and created all kinds of issues.”
“Believe me, my dear brother. I am well aware of my husband’s delusional thinking and his shortcomings.”
“Elizabeth, I want those fucking codes and I’ll damn well have them!”
“Careful, Stephen, you mustn't be given to these fits of rage. We need each other. We need each other to maintain our positions. You need me as a threat, and I need you as a target. How else could we focus our followers and mobilize our forces? This is a delicate balance, and me giving you the codes, upsets the balance. Don’t you see?” The corners of her mouth twisted upward in a sly smirk. “Besides, I promised you the Olinar kid, and I delivered on my promise.
“I also anticipate my sons will want to enter in on the next mission, and if they are caught or killed, well…such are the ravages of war.
“So I would have delivered more than what you asked. I’m sure your mole has kept you up to date on goings-on. I’m sure he, or she, can verify what I’m telling you.”
“I don’t have a mole there, Elizabeth. You know I don’t.”
“You do indeed have someone here, and we both know it!”
“Elizabeth, I won’t argue with you now. I’ll give you some time, but those codes had better be mine by week’s end, or you will find out how little I need you.”
“Oh, and Stephen, mother’s here and alive. She says tell you hello.”
For just a brief moment, Hunter lost his composure. He dropped his head, and pulled his emotions back in check. “You shouldn’t think for a minute, Elizabeth, having her there will serve as a human shield for your little band of merry men! Call me when you have the codes.”
He ceased transmission.
“He would kill his own mother if it meant he could increase his power,” Elizabeth said. “He’d kill everyone on earth and blow the planet apart, if it meant he would be king of the debris.” She looked away thoughtfully. “I wonder how he’ll like the inside of donor tank?”
A fuzzy, incomplete memory formed in her fore thoughts, like the raged pain of a blow to the temple. She and Stephen were small children and they each had a ball or doll or a play thing of some kind. He lost his or it was gone for some reason, and he wanted hers.
“No!” she said. “You get yours!”
They got into a fight and while the details were out of reach to her conscious mind, she remembered the bloody nose he ran away with. She also remembered the feeling of pure victory. The feeling of meeting a superior foe and winning; and she had won spectacularly.
She smiled at the thought of his whining, whimpering form running away.
He put a scorpion in her bed that night. The sting was one of the most painful things she had ever experienced. He would never admit he had done it, but she knew. Elizabeth was sure.
“No scorpions this time, Stephen,” she said.
Chapter 22
Dunston pounded the table, “Order!” he said. The commanding carry of his voice silenced the room. “No one said it would be easy, and no one said it would be safe, but it must be done.”
“The twenty-five in this room represent our population at North Command,” one senator said. “If we don’t represent them we do them a disservice. We cannot, we must not, let fear rule our actions. We must not let our emotions rule our decisions.
“We have become so programmed to believe safety and security are the most vital of virtues for a society, but this is a lie. Yes, we must be safe, and yes, we must be secure, but these are not objectives. Safety and security are the by-products of our freedom. They are merely stepping stones toward a whole society.
“Here in the North Command we have neither safety nor security, and we do not have freedom.”
Murmurs and an uneasiness permeated the crowd.
“Hear me!” the senator continued. “Hear me!”
“We have neither safety nor security, and we do not have freedom. We are free to move about our compound and yes, we have free elections and representation. But while we are here, we are still prisoners of the company and its system. If we are to be free, we must take back what is ours. We must take back our freedom from the company who stole it.”
Applause and cheers carried the room with only a smattering of boos.
“There aren’t enough of us! It’s madness to say otherwise!” shouted another senator.
Dunston broke in. “We are few in number, but we have the strategic advantage at the moment. We have the computer codes, and with them we can shut down all company resources. There are enough of us and enough sympathizers who will fight with us once the resources are neutralized. We have already begun to recruit Guardsmen and believe once it is clear Hunter is out of power, we will have their support.”
“Who will be in power?” another senator broke in.
“I will assume the role of commander until we can have free elections,” Elizabeth answered. Around the room, a number of eyebrows went up, including Dunston’s.
“My position will be temporary,” she said. “We will dismantle the harvesting centers and re-educate the people, and within a short time, we will be ready.”
Dun
ston’s head cocked and his eyes narrowed. He wondered.
“What does a short time mean?” another senator questioned.
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth said, “but you must agree we cannot hold elections if people are ignorant of their freedom.”
There were no immediate answers, but the tension was palpable.
After a few uncomfortable seconds, Elizabeth said, “Ladies and gentleman, senators, I am open to another suggestion if you have a better one."
More awkward silence followed, as if most of the representatives had thought no further than the initial attack and bringing down the company. They had not considered what freedom looked like, nor what it would take to make it work.
Protecting the victory had not concerned them until now.
Elizabeth thought, And they question my leadership?
“Order!” Dunston said. “We have a plan! We can succeed! I call for a vote. Are you happy, are you proud of what we have been able to accomplish here with just a few thousand of us?”
There were nods and some hand claps.
“Think about it,” Dunston said, “we have better healthcare than anyone in the Americas, Afurope or Asia. We eat more, and more nutritious food, despite living in one of the most hostile environments on the planet. Our common education is better than any in the South except what is reserved for high company families.
“We are more innovative; we are better trained; and we have more hope for the future. Is this because we are smarter or stronger or because of genetic manipulation?” he asked his rapt audience. “No! It is because we are free! It is simple mathematics; we don’t have more people, but we do have more people with more opportunity, and so we are all better as a result.
“Listen to the 150 year old words of a man who paid for his freedom over many years in Afurope, Nelson Mandela: ‘For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.’
“Ladies and gentlemen, that is what freedom does. Freedom frees and freedom yearns to make others free. You have cast off your chains, but are you really free? Do you just want to continue to be a North prisoner in Hunter’s frozen cell?
Another Force Page 21