by Matthew Samm
“What happens if they get him to the Strangeways?” Alix asked.
Her father shrugged, wiping his face. “As I said, I don’t know, but it will be much harder to get him back. If it were up to me, I’d send the police there and take him back, but it’s more complex than that.”
Alix paused for a moment, unsure why it was more complex. “I don’t understand why it’s not that simple. Send the police to Strangeways, tear it apart and bring Isaac home!”
Her father’s eyes rose to meet hers. There was a flicker of disappointment as if she was missing something blindingly obvious. As if no self-respecting child of his would ever make the mistake she just had. “What if they’ve got him hidden and they claim they don’t have him? What if they see us coming and kill him before we can get there? There’s also the contracts we have with the networks.”
Alix gave the puzzled look again. Her father returned it with the disappointed one. “Alix, you know what the most popular show on video is, don’t you?”
Alix could guess but didn’t know for certain. She shook her head.
“It’s ‘Bait Crate’. People love it. They love that criminals are continuing to be punished even on Strangeways. They love the suspense. They love voting. They love the action. We have a contract with the network for Bait Crate to run for another two seasons. I can’t storm Strangeways. The network would take us to the cleaners. They’d wipe us out!’
Alix nodded. She understood the dilemma. The Warden bouts brought in some revenue for her father, but half the take went to the victims, a gift from the state for their loss. Her father needed more cash to keep the Wardens viable. He reached out to the networks and promoted a series of video shows. The most popular was ‘Bait Crate’.
Strangeways was overcrowded and while there was some hunting available for those that knew how, the majority of people relied on the crate drops of food and supplies. These drops were put out to the city on video. People loved watching criminals fight each other for meagre ‘gifts’ from the city.
There was one especially popular aspect of the show. The so-called ‘Bait Crate’. Most of the crates dropped contained essential supplies and Strangeways inhabitants crowded around as they dropped and fought for their contents. However, one of the crates was the ‘bait crate’. Inside here, there were no supplies. Inside, there was a trap of some sort, a trap which doled damage to those who’d been baited to see what was inside.
A number of bait crates remained firm favorites. Alix always remembered the crate that contained animal guts. As the Strangeways inhabitants sprung the trap, the doors flew open and cannoned entrails, blood, guts and excrement into a wide arc, covering the baited in nauseating filth. This was just the crate Alix remembered. Some of them were far more devastating, costing the lives of the gatherers.
Bizarrely, they always gathered around, despite the knowledge that doing so could kill them. To Alix, it showed how desperate things were on Strangeways.
“So, what are you going to do?” Alix asked her father.
He shook his head softly. “I’m not sure. We could establish contact with the Islanders and make a deal, see if that works, but you can see the problem there, can’t you?”
Alix nodded. “They might not want to deal. If they want revenge, they’re not going to get it by making a deal.”
“Exactly.” said her father, a slight smile spreading across his face and repairing some of the disappointment she’d caused before. “What would you do?” he asked.
Alix knew this was a test. He was always testing her. He was always asking probing questions and evaluating the answers she gave as if he was preparing her for something. She didn’t know what. He wasn’t going to retire any time soon, so it can’t have been to replace him. “I’d do things undercover.”
“What do you mean, Alix?” her father asked.
“Well, you could start trying to negotiate with them but send someone undercover, onto the island and take him back secretly.”
“What would be the advantages to that?” Always testing.
Alix thought for a moment. She didn’t need to think through her answer, just how best to explain it to her father. “You don’t want people thinking that criminals have scored a hit to the Wardens. You want to keep things quiet. Am I right?” she asked.
Her father nodded again, pleased with what he was hearing.
“OK, so if you could get Isaac back before anyone even knew he was missing, you’d save us having the story spread across the newspapers. You’d defeat Mad Jack’s revenge before he could take it and you wouldn’t need to storm Strangeways. Everyone wins.”
“Very good, Alix. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks. Of course, all the security who’ve been here tonight and all the police would know. If you wanted it completely covert, you’d have to silence them as well. Any of them could go to the newspapers if you didn’t.”
“Don’t worry about them, Alix. Security work for the Wardens, and the police. Well… the police work for me as well.”
Alix felt a pang of unease. The police didn’t work for him, but he was again speaking as if they did. She didn’t like the idea of the police working for anyone but the innocents of the city. That was their job and the basis of the Warden system. Police protected the innocent and when the guilty needed to be taught a lesson, the Wardens took over.
“Who do you think I should send, Alix? The Reaper?”
Suddenly, the unease swept out of her and she knew she wanted the job. It was her brother and her actions had let him be taken. This was her chance to make amends. “I want to go,” Alix blurted out, a little too loudly.
“Shhhhh, Alix,” her father cautioned. There were still people around who shouldn’t be listening. “I can’t send you. I’ve already lost a son tonight, I don’t want to lose a daughter as well.”
“I can do this, Dad. I’m a Warden. I’ve dealt with criminals before. I know how they think, and who’s going to be more motivated to save Isaac than his sister?”
Her father thought for a moment. “There are people on Strangeways who know you, Alix. You punished them in the cells before they were sent there. Don’t you think they’ll want payback?”
“Not if they don’t see me. I’ll find Isaac and bring him to the docks. Just have someone pick us up. They’ll never even know I’ve been until he’s back with us.”
Lucien looked her up and down, mental calculations deciding whether this was prudent. He’d be putting his last remaining child in jeopardy, but Alix was correct. No one would be more motivated to find Isaac than her. Coming to the conclusion that she was a Warden and therefore in daily jeopardy anyway, he finally nodded. “OK.”
Alix suddenly felt the weight of expectation and the pressure of performance. If she failed, it would be more than just a bout lost. If she failed, it would mean the death of her brother, herself and probably the entire Warden system, her father’s true baby.
“Are you ready to go?” her father asked.
“What? Now?!” Alix cried, her throbbing head protesting.
“Yes. Now. Isaac hasn’t got much time. Go and get changed into your combat training gear.”
Alix’s heart fluttered. It was real. It was happening. What had she signed up for? She stood up and walked to her room. Her bed looked as inviting as it had an hour ago, the duvet turned down at the corner, begging her to slide in and drift away on a cloud. She stared longingly at the covers for a moment longer, before the guilt of losing her brother re-asserted itself and she steeled herself to her task.
She turned towards her walk-in closet and went straight to the rear. She tapped a button on the back wall and a panel shifted upwards. It revealed a black, almost skin-tight bio suit. It was contoured to her individual musculature, the fit conforming to her as if it was made to measure, which it was.
The suit allowed the wearer to control a great deal about the fit. To build additional strength or conditioning, the fit could be stiffened, making the wearer work harder to pe
rform every movement. If the wearer needed to shed a few pounds, the suit could be heated, making the wearer sweat profusely and the weight to slide out of her pores. Alix had never had to use that setting. For real-time combat training, the suit material would harden under impact, allowing her training partners to hit her with full strength shots, but reducing the impact of those shots to almost zero.
At various places around the suit were biometric sensors reading all her bodily functions. Alix had never enjoyed some of the measurements. They told her trainer every piece of data he could possibly want; blood sugar levels, sleep quality and length, heart rate. It even told her trainer where she was in her menstrual cycle. She really hated him knowing that one, but he insisted it was important to know so he could compensation for her bodily changes at each stage.
She slid into her suit, feeling it constrict around her, moulding itself to her contours. Then she slipped into her boots and wrapped her hair into a tight ponytail before exiting her bedroom.
Upon entering the living area, her father was hanging up on a call. He had cleared out the apartment. There were no more police, no more security. Just her father and one of the members of the science and medical team.
“Alix, this is Dr Castelow. He’s here to do a quick check on you and prepare you for this undertaking. I’m finalizing some business that will take me away for several weeks. Pay close attention to Dr. Castelow, especially what he tells you about the tracker.”
“Hi, Alix. Like your father said, I’m Dr Castelow, Kyle Castelow and I’m going to check up on you and then provide you with your trainer’s handset and tracking device, so we can monitor you from the city. Are you ready to begin?”
Alix nodded.
“You have ten minutes, Doctor,” her father said, walking out of the room as he tapped in the digits for another phone call.
Dr Castelow nodded and then turned his attention to Alix. He motioned for her to sit down on the couch. “How are you feeling, Alix?”
“I’m OK, worried about my brother.”
“That’s understandable. I would be too. I’m going to run a few quick tests, Alix and then, assuming everything is OK, you’ll be good to go.”
Alix nodded and the test began. They didn’t take long. Once Dr Castelow had finished, he smiled, seemingly happy with the results.
“All’s well, Alix.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the tracker. Normally, it would go on her trainer’s non-dominant wrist and feedback data on her condition and progress. “You’ve seen one of these before, Alix?”
She nodded.
“Good. Instead of this going on your trainer’s wrist, we’re going to put it on yours. You’ll be able to see your own bio stats and use them to inform your decision-making.” He pointed to a device on the side. “This is new. When you find your brother, you hold this button down until you feel it vibrate. That will tell you the message has been sent and your father will send a team to pick you up. I think he said by the docks.”
The docks had been her suggestion. She felt a mini-surge of pride. Her father had respected her idea and made it official. She buried a tiny portion of her guilt.
Just then, her father’s voice cut the air. She hadn’t heard him re-enter the living area and Dr Castelow hadn’t given anything away. “Is she ready, Dr Castelow?” her father asked.
“Yes, sir, she is.”
“Excellent. Alix, are you ready?”
There was a brief pause and a deep breath as Alix’s whirling emotions settled into line. “I am.”
“Very good. Follow me to the roof. I have a hovercraft waiting for you.”
4
Alix sat in the rear of the craft, strapped into a safety seat, feeling completely alone. They had not set off for the island immediately but had first flown to the Warden’s main offices and warehouse. Whilst three crates were loaded into the vehicle’s hold, she had stepped off for a few moments, resisting the urge to flee and remembering why she was there.
“What are these?” Alix asked one of the workers, a burly guy with a coarse accent and a slick of sweat on his forehead. His belly overhung his pants and jiggled as he manned the loader and positioned the final crate. Another man secured it to a slide rail that led to the currently gaping rear door to the hovercraft.
“Crate drop, love. You’ll be off to the network after this so they can fit the cameras”.
Alix understood what was going to happen, although she hadn’t been told before, which she thought odd. Doesn’t he want her to succeed? For a moment, she cursed her father for not having the foresight to share with her the entire plan. Surely, since she’d be in the firing line, he would have shared the method of entry with her?
This was exactly like her father. He always kept his cards close to his chest, but especially so when it came to her. He was always testing her, she knew that. It would be just like him to build the plan; not tell her and then see how well she adapts to make it work. How good was her foresight? Usually, she’d obsess over whether she’d thought of every angle, but today, she knew she’d got the answer. When the crates dropped, she would as well.
As the man in the loader had said, they headed from the Warden offices to the network where they installed the cameras. This would be for a future episode of Bait Crate. It didn’t take long before they were in the air and heading to Strangeways Island.
The first rays of sunlight peeked into the cabin. In her seat, her mind drifted to her brother and the task at hand. She suddenly realized as they took off into the blossoming dawn, what she’d volunteered for. She was heading to an island of criminal scum. Each person on that island had committed a crime. They shared none of the respect she had for the rule of law. Each one of them would kill her because she wasn’t one of them, or maybe just for the fun of it.
It was an awful sensation to feel her brother was in the midst of these people and that, as she flew, he could be lying dead on some patch of wasteland. The thought chilled her to the core, but another, more disturbing thought began to worm itself into her psyche.
For months now, her brother had seemed more at home as one of the outsiders. He was violent at school. He’d assaulted that boy just the other day, an incident that left the school no choice but to expel him, even with his father in the position he was.
For a high schooler, Isaac was certainly able to handle himself with his fists. Rumor had it the boy he beat had a reputation and was nearly double Isaac’s size!
It wasn’t just at school. Isaac rebelled every chance he could, especially if their father demanded something of him. Like her, Isaac was constantly pressured and tested by their father, but unlike her, Isaac couldn’t stand it. He’d not even try and solve their father’s riddles, simply ignoring them; to hell with the consequences.
There was a part of Alix that admired him for this stance. Isaac did, on some level, act out as she felt. Generally, she didn’t mind her father’s tests and looked on them as ways to improve herself, but she had to admit, it grated at times. Sometimes, she just wanted a hug, rather than a life lesson.
Her mind scanned over Isaac’s history, especially as it applied to her father. She remembered when the aggression and the violence had really kicked up a notch.
Isaac was bullied as a child. He was small and meek, thin and sickly. He spent many youthful years combatting a string of illnesses. The worst was a bout of pneumonia, which doctors’ thought could be life-threatening. As it was, he managed to pull through and that set the tone for Isaac’s maturation.
He was a survivor. He always survived and came back stronger, but the scars of the ordeal remained open and they could be very easily seen. Before he started middle school, he’d had particular trouble with a group of boys in his year. They knew who his father was and one of them had a family member who’d been sent to the island years before. They saw how weak Isaac looked and smelled blood in the water.
Isaac really suffered with them. It started out as verbal abuse, but when no ramifications fell, they upped
their game and began physically beating him. Isaac just took the punches, refusing to ask for help, but eventually, partly through Alix’s urging, he came clean to his father and admitted the bruises and the cuts were beyond his control. Isaac asked for help.
And their father didn’t give any.
The conversation took place in the living area. Their father sat in his chair, a deep recliner of the finest leather. He always sat in that chair as if it was a throne. Isaac stood before him and asked for help. They didn’t know, but Alix stood in the hallway just off the living area and listened. She was proud of her brother seeking help and she fully expected her father to give it. He didn’t…and his refusal broke her heart.
“You want me to sort out your problems for you, Isaac?” he’d said.
Alix didn’t remember any words coming back from her brother, but she imagined that he nodded, probably with his head bowed, not daring to look his own father in the face; ashamed that he couldn’t sort the problem himself.
“Why should I help you, young man? Do you think you deserve help?”
From the hallway, Alix heard silence again.
“You’re growing up now, Isaac, you can’t have me solve your problems for you. If you want these boys to stop hurting you, then you make them stop! Do you understand me?”
Alix heard a sniffle and knew her brother was crying. She had to fight the urge to go in there and intervene, but she knew her father would be disappointed in her if she did and it wouldn’t help Isaac either. Isaac needed her father to respect him, and at this moment, he didn’t. Alix stayed in the hallway.
“What a perfect message it would send if you protected yourself from these boys, Isaac. You say one of them has an uncle on Strangeways? Excellent. I’ll punish the adults, you punish their children.”
There were more sniffles from Isaac and finally, Alix could stand it no longer. She made an appearance, saying nothing to her father but leading her brother to her room.