by Samuel King
Doherty attempted to free himself through sheer force of will, but when the laser got within inches of his hand, he sagged back into the chair, sobbing. Taking one last look at his right hand, he closed his eyes.
He never felt the severing of the hand—only its aftermath, and with eyes opened wide with horror, he watched, as Jimmy placed it in a plastic bag. He handed it to Debbs, who held it up like a trophy. Then the pain arrived, unlike anything he'd ever imagined.
He reared back in the chair, his body jerking spasmodically. He screamed noiselessly, choking on the towel in his mouth. The basement's dim light grew dimmer still.
"Get a tourniquet on that, quick," he heard Debbs order. "Then get it bandaged up. We don't want him bleeding to death."
Larry, or was it Jimmy, asked, "Where do we take him?"
"St. Mary's," Debbs answered. "They're good with amputations, and our friend here can afford the best."
As he teetered on the edge of consciousness he considered Debbs' choice. St. Mary's. Of course—where else? Hail, Mary, full of grace, the…"
***
Joel studied the hastily drawn sketch. "Are we sure this information is solid? Entrances, exits, location of the holo system?"
"The servant Bobby has his eye on, swears by it," Kate answered. "She wants out real bad. Apparently the owner treats them all like shit, but he's particularly hard on her."
Helen gazed up at the wall clock. "Speaking of Bobby, where are they? They should be here by now."
"Jimmy's probably bein' difficult," Kate said, with a note of sadness. "He's really bitter about the whole thing. Refused to see me while he was in the hospital, and he didn't want me to pick him up, either."
Still angry about the foolish behavior that had cost Doherty so dearly, Joel took a deep "breath" before speaking. "We don't deserve that. Hopefully, he'll come to his senses and start treating us like friends rather than enemies."
"I don't think he's feeling very friendly," Kate observed. "Just the opposite."
"Well, he's only got himself—"
"Joel!" Helen snapped. "This isn't the time."
"Sorry. It's just that it never should have happened. It was all so senseless."
"Okay, so it was senseless," she replied. "What does that get us? He's the one missing a hand."
"I know, but—"
With a hand cupped to her ear, Kate whispered, "Shhh! They're here."
The door slid open and Doherty stepped inside, quickly followed by Freeman. "Here's the man of the hour," he said, smiling.
Kate ran to Doherty and embraced him. "Welcome back, Jimmy. I missed ya… so much."
"Hello Kate. I missed you too."
Watching as he kissed her, Joel's hopes were raised. Perhaps the grifter had set his bitterness aside. "Good to see you, Jimmy. How are you feeling?"
"I'm alright, I guess. Still learning how to use this." He displayed his prosthetic hand, clumsily flexing his fingers.
"That's good, Jimmy," Helen offered. "You'll have it down in no time."
Doherty scowled. "Maybe."
Joel shook the prosthetic hand, cautiously. "No, I think she's right. You've got good mobility there. Bet you can hoist a beer with it… How about it, Helen?"
"Certainly." Helen rose from the table and retrieved a beer from the old refrigerator in the corner.
"One for me, too, Beautiful," Freeman said.
"Why don't I get one for all of us," Helen replied. She retrieved two additional bottles from the refrigerator and set them on the table. Afterwards, she hesitated for a moment, and a bottle appeared in each of her hands. She gave one to Joel.
"I still get a kick out of that magic," Freeman said. "Sometimes I forget—"
"Magic?" Kate asked.
"What? It is magic, to me anyway. I don't think of Joel and Helen being different from us, and it always surprises me when they do stuff like this. What's wrong with that?"
Joel sipped his beer, smiling. "Nothing at all, Bobby. Quite normal, actually. But someday I'll get an EMU amplifier in the bathroom, and we won't have to engage in ‘magic' to eat and drink with the rest of you."
"Just what we need," Kate quipped. "Two more people usin' the bathroom."
Helen guffawed. "You mean one more. I don't have any intention of loading my waist containment field with material beer, just so I can purge it later, like some damn leaky faucet. I'll leave that pleasure to the rest of you."
For the first time Doherty chuckled, and Joel placed a hand on his shoulder. "What do you think about that, Jimmy?"
After taking a long sip of his beer, Doherty replied, "Gee, Helen, ya make takin' a piss sound God-awful."
They all laughed at the con man's wit, and Joel began to relax. It seemed Doherty was fully on the mend, physically and emotionally. "Here, grab a seat, Jimmy. I'll show you what we've been working on."
"Is this really the time, Joel?" Helen asked.
"Why not?"
"Jesus," Kate muttered.
Jimmy looked at the two women and then at Joel. "What?"
"Don't pay any attention to them," Joel said. "They're just afraid that you're not ready to go back to work."
"Back to work?"
"Yes. Our next project."
"Next project?"
"Uh-huh."
"You're kiddin' me right, Joel? I just made half a million dollars, and ya think I'm gonna go play Harriet Tubman? For what? So I can lose m'other hand?"
"Who's Harriet Tubman?" Freeman asked.
"Oh, for Christ's sake, Bobby!" Doherty exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air. "Don't ya know anything at all about your own people?" Before Freeman could answer, he said, "No, of course not; this is all a big game to you."
"I may not know a lot of history," Freeman replied. "But I know what's right. And what's happening to some of these people isn't right, man."
"People! No disrespect to Joel and Helen, here, but ya can't help all of these people, as ya call them. They're sold in stores, ya know."
"Careful, Jimmy," Helen admonished. "Why don't you quit while you're ahead?"
"Because I ain't ahead, darlin'; that's why. Look!"
Doherty displayed his prosthetic hand again. "I'm down a hand, in case ya haven't been payin' attention. While the rest of ya are playin' revolutionaries, I'm payin' the price."
Seething from the con man's insult, Joel exploded. "I don't want to hear about your damn hand. You didn't lose it on the job; you lost it afterwards, doing something monumentally stupid. Stop blaming us for it."
"Come on, Joel, ease up a bit," Kate said. "This is getting' out of… We're all gettin' carried away here."
"Well, I'm tired of him blaming the loss of his hand on us and what we're doing."
"I'm tired of him, period," Freeman muttered.
"Fuck you, ink spot," Doherty shot back.
The thief lunged at him, only to be stopped by Joel, who stepped between them. "Calm down, Bobby. He's just trying to provoke us."
"Well, maybe he should just take his money and go," Freeman said. "Before I do something stupid. He just doesn't get it."
"Get what?" Doherty shouted. "That ya all lost a friend? Hey, we've all lost friends. Most people don't go crazy about it and try to change the world. Ya got no idea, what you're gettin' into." He paused and glared at each of them, one after the other.
"Bobby may not know about his people," he continued. "But I know about mine—four generations of volunteers—from the Easter uprisin' to the Provisional IRA, Belfast. All that sufferin', all that blood, and where did it get us? M'family's still dirt poor. So, you take ya revolution, and stick it where the sun don't shine."
"Get out," Joel muttered darkly. "You take your damned money and go back to Boston. I've had it."
Kate cried out, clutching Doherty's good hand. "Wait a damned minute!" she said. "Ya can't send him away like that. I've got somethin' ta say about it, too."
"The hell with them, Kate. Let's get out of here, just you and me. I've got enough to set
us up for quite a while."
Kate's eyes filled with tears. "No, God, no. Is this the way it's goin' to end? Us tearin' each other apart?"
Joel caressed her face. "I've tried, Kate. If he wants to go, then he should. If you want to go with him, I'll understand. No hard feelings."
Kate slapped his hand away. "No hard feelin's? Don't ya dare say that to me. Claire was my friend, too—more mine than yours, in fact, and I'm just as committed as you are."
"For the love of God," Doherty cried. "Don't I mean anything to ya?"
"Ya know ya do—so much it's drivin' me crazy. But I believe in what we're doin', Jimmy. I can't just walk away."
"You're crazy. Ya know that? Just like the rest of ‘em. The four of ya thinkin' ya can make a difference."
"We're just trying to do what we can," Helen said, glaring at him. "I'm sorry you don't feel the same way."
"Don't be sorry for me, Blondie. I'm goin' back to reality—minus a hand but half a million richer."
Kate threw her arms around him. "Stay, Jimmy. If for nothin' else, stay for me."
He wavered, and for just a moment it appeared as though he might change his mind, but the moment passed. "I can't, Kate. I'm no true believer like the rest of ya. I just came to do a job. I've done it; now I'm goin' home. Come with me."
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Please stay."
Doherty pulled away from her. "Sooner or later, someone's gonna die—either one of you or somebody else. Maybe you'll stop then."
"I don't think so," Joel said. "It's bigger than us."
The confidence man pretended to spit, before snarling, "You're full of shit, and ya got the rest of ‘em mesmerized." He walked to the door and opened it, taking one last look at them. "Good luck to ya," he said, before walking out, into the hallway. "Really. I hope ya don't get ya'selves killed."
"Please, Jimmy," Kate cried, but he didn't stop, and as they watched, the door closed behind him, its two halves meeting in the middle.
Once it had fully closed, Freeman kicked at it. "Good riddance," he said. "We don't need him."
Kate cried out, before focusing her anguish on the thief. "Speak for yaself, Bobby," she said, slapping him. "I need him." When he tried to comfort her, she pushed him away, then fell into a nearby chair and started to cry.
+ + + END + + +
4. The Pleasure Palace
Doherty hesitated before taking the final steps that would trigger the apartment's visitor alert—steps that would bring him back to everything he'd fled from. Was it only three months ago? While the horror he'd witnessed in Philadelphia prompted his return to Atlanta, only Sweet Kate, the magnificent red head, propelled him the final few feet.
He waited for nearly a minute before the door parted in the middle, each side receding into the door jam. Once it had opened fully, he stood facing Helen, probably the last member of the group he wanted to see. Her cryptic smile somehow managed to set him at ease and unnerve him at the same time.
"Hello, gorgeous."
"Well, if it isn't the prodigal son."
"The one and only. Are ya gonna let me in?" She stepped aside, making a sweeping gesture with her arm, and he entered the dingy room that had once been his prison. "Love what you've done to the place."
"Always the comedian."
"Somethings never change, darlin'."
As the door closed behind him, he walked to the center of the room and took his old seat at the dining room table, the same table where all their plans were hatched. Helen slowly made her way to the other side, crossed her arms and smiled. "Just like old times. How've you been, Jimmy?"
"Well, I've got the hand pretty well figured out," he said, drumming the table top with his prosthesis.
"I'm glad to hear that, really. I think about you once in a while, about how you must have suffered. Joel was out of line. Whatever the circumstances, you got hurt because you helped us."
"I'm okay," he said with a shrug. As an afterthought, he added, "I'm richer."
"Really?"
"Ya, I made a bundle playin' the poinies."
"You made money gambling?" she asked, laughing.
"Ain't that somethin'? I've been playin' for years, when I didn't have a pot to piss in. Always lost more than I won. But a month ago I plunked down fifty thousand on a lark, and it paid off eight-to-one. Just goes to show the old sayin' is right."
"What's that?"
"The rich get richer."
"Yes, I suppose they do, don't they. We've made a couple of pretty good investments ourselves."
They fell silent and he began to survey the room, his eyes coming to rest on the holo-system in the corner. "So, where are ya?"
"Excuse me?"
"I see you're not here anymore," he said, pointing to the empty table that had once held their neural arrays.
"Oh, that. Shortly after you left we moved them to a safe house where we store other fugitives' arrays. It seemed like the prudent thing to do, given the way you felt."
"Ah, Jesus, Helen! Ya thought I might turn rat?"
"Not really, but we couldn't afford to take the chance. You forget how angry you were at the time."
"I never—"
"I know, and Kate was furious with us for even thinking it. She threatened to go back to Boston… You broke her heart, you know."
"I broke m'own heart, too, darlin'." He rose from the table and walked to the other side, coming to a stop next to her. After lowering his head for several seconds, he raised it again and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Helen."
"Sorry?"
"For what I did at the game."
"That's water over the damn. I hope you didn't come all the way back just to apologize again."
"In a way I did."
"In a way?"
"Not so much for what I did but for why I did it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I didn't get it before. I knew you and Joel could think, but I never really thought of you as people."
"And now you do?"
He nodded.
"Well that's nice, but you still didn't have to come all the way back here just to tell us that."
"It's important that ya know I understand, now."
"Okay."
He scuffed at the floor, avoiding her eyes. "Real important, Helen."
"I don't know. I think you're making too much of it. A lot of humans feel that way at first."
"Ya don't understand. I've seen things."
"Yah?"
"Things I would'na believed if I hadn't seen ‘em with m'own eyes." He paused and shuddered then forced himself to look at the golden-maned beauty he'd so thoughtlessly abused. "Things that made we realize we're all God's children."
Helen started. "God's children?"
"I know ya don't believe in our God, but he's your God, too, Helen."
"What's all this God talk, Jimmy? What's the matter?"
"I told ya; I've seen some terrible things—people actin' like monsters."
"Monsters?"
He nodded.
She unfolded her arms and gripped his shoulders. "What are you talking about? You sound as if you've been to hell and back."
"I have, except it was Philadelphia."
"Philadelphia?"
"That's right. The city of brotherly love."
****
Hail, hail, the gang's all here… Plus one. Cynthia, the young woman Freeman had prattled on and on about, sat next to the thief, occasionally looking up at him with adoration. Though they'd freed her and several others, shortly after his departure, she obviously continued to relish her newfound freedom. She was demure, pretty and petite, and despite being older and Hispanic in appearance, she reminded him of the wretched young woman he'd met in Philadelphia.
Then there was Kate. Even more beautiful than he remembered, her hair had finally grown back and hung over her shoulders in alluring twists and curls. Gawwwd. Why the hell did I ever leave?
They'd gotten busier in his absence, and met daily
for a review of potential operations. It seemed everyone had a sad tale to tell of artificials being abused, and after welcoming him back into the fold, they told them. Afterwards, they settled down to the unpleasant task of prioritization, until Helen announced Doherty had a tale of his own.
They seemed surprised, perhaps annoyed. "Ain't been back but a couple of hours, and he's already trying to take over," Freeman muttered.
"You're right, Bobby," Doherty replied. "I've got some nerve comin' back to ask for help. But I don't know where else to turn."
"Hey, you're the money man," Freeman countered. "Go buy yourself some help." He looked briefly at Cynthia. "What… did you find some little honey you want to free?"
"Don't be mean, Robert," Cynthia said, patting his hand. "He said he said he needed our help."
"Well, that's what he always said about me."
"That was before. Why don't we leave it in the past."
"Do you always have to be the peace maker?" Freeman complained.
"Yes. You would be too if you had seen as much fighting as I have… artificials hurting each other like game cocks to amuse the owner."
Freeman started to reply, but Helen interrupted him. "Come on, Bobby, give him a chance. It's important… Go ahead, Jimmy. You tell them what you told me."
Doherty hoisted his beer bottle and tried to collect himself. Confessing his sins in private to Helen, he realized, and telling the group at large, were two different things. "I made a lot more money at the racetrack a month ago," he began. "And I wanted to do somethin' special. Believe it or not, I laid low for the first two months, and all that money was startin' ta burn a hole in m'pocket."
Seeking understanding or at least encouragement, he looked around the table but found only stony faces. Even Kate, who had been ecstatic about his return, afforded him only a blank stare.
"I needed a little excitement," he continued. "And a friend of mine recommended this famous whore—uh, bordello in Philadelphia; the Pleasure Palace he called it."
He could almost feel Kate's fury, her fiery eyes boring into him, but when he looked directly at her, he found no anger, only sadness. He covered his face and sighed, "Ah, shit."
"Tell your story," Helen urged.
He nodded slowly and lowered his hand, looking at each of them. "It wasn't just any bordello," he continued. "The girls were all artificials, sentient artificials, just like you, Helen and you too, Cynthia… Ah, Jesus, what am I sayin'?"