“Is Major Carlson there?” enquired River.
“No Citizen River, He is a Security Officer, intelligence police like me. We are based at the C.P.S. HQ in Central. The Citizens Protection and Security Headquarters,” Scott pronounced the words slowly as if explaining to a child. “We don’t usually work out of the local CPSC, but I cannot take you to headquarters because you wouldn’t be allowed in, with or without that bracelet. Major Carlson will be meeting us later at the local CPSC in District Eight.”
River listened whilst he stared out of his passenger window. The vehicle had climbed steeply and joined a Major transport route quite high off the ground. There was a lot of traffic but each vehicle kept equidistance from each other, and held to a straight invisible path at a constant speed. From this height he had a good view of the passing scenery which switched between a city high rise sky line, to raised parks and green spaces, and to tunnels passing through large buildings and Major constructions. River turned to face the Sgt. Scott who had turned around in his seat to talk. He noticed that the man was no longer holding the steering wheel or operating any of the controls.
“How is this vehicle driving if you don’t operate it, sergeant?”
“As soon as vehicle joins a Major transport path, an automatic pilot kicks in. It is a safety issue Citizen River. It prevents any accidents. The vehicle either follows a pre-programmed route or it finds the quickest route to the destination. Of course I can manually over ride the auto pilot because this is an enforcement vehicle. But if there is no need, you may as well just let the vehicle take you where you want to go, or switch it to manual on the side roads when you want to park up or make a manoeuvre.”
“My name is River, not Citizen, not Eli, just River.”
“So you don’t use Eli as a first name either. Is River an Indian native name then? My wife is a second generation Navajo.”
“I was named Eli after my father” explained River. “He was a religious man, not a native, but a white man like you. My people who are Hopi later called me Paayu which is Hopi for river. They said that it described my nature which is both determined and flexible. Are there many Navajo or other natives here?”
“There are many,” the sergeant confirmed. “Most of them live downtown in the higher district numbers. Generally speaking they don’t fare so well here in the metropolis. They are mostly lower social status. For some reason they don’t seem to fit in or progress well. Even my wife’s family is pretty messed up; a lot of gambling, alcohol and problems.”
Their vehicle had taken a slip path off the main transport route. They were experiencing the slight effect of g-force as the vehicle followed a tight circular path and dropped maybe 40 feet to a lower level, which was still above ground. There was less traffic here and most of it was other patrol and enforcement vehicles. The signs didn’t lie. The Civilian Protection and Security for District 8 was looming right in front of them and Sgt. Scott took manual control as he manoeuvred into the internal parking depot. He required no authorisation, as the vehicle’s onboard computer had already identified its occupants and logged them in. Sgt. Scott parked in a free spot, exited and took River in a lift down to the main custodial reception. He had bypassed the main reception on the ground floor because to all intents and purposes, River was a prisoner and needed to be booked in. The officer manning the custodial reception required Sgt. Scott to sign them both in. He declined the option of removing River’s custodial bracelet at the reception desk. He also declined the offer of a cell to lock up River, and asked instead for an interview room. The desk sergeant took them to a vacant room. Fortunately it was one of many, which meant that they could stay here undisturbed for the duration until Major Carlson arrived.
Sgt. Scott wanted to go and get two meals and some beverages from a restaurant upstairs. This meant River had to be secured whilst he was away. A simple command tapped on the small console on his own wrist pulled River’s wrist with some force to a lock up panel on the table he was sitting at. It was held there with no slack which pretty much secured River. Sgt. Scott shrugged and apologised for the inconvenience and said that he would not be too long.
This was not the only way that he could have held him there but it was the least threatening. The custodial bracelet could also immobilise its wearer by interacting with their nervous system. He could have just as easily used a spoken command to carry out this same action. Like most other security officers, Sgt. Scott wore specialised contact lenses and an ear piece which acted as an optical & audio interface for a small police computer processor unit which was worn in a small pocket pouch on his trousers. This too had an interface to the bracelet.
River was left wondering whether this was purely a matter of protocol or if Sgt. Scott didn’t actually trust him. It was nearly an hour later when Sgt. Scott returned to the interview room carrying a tray full of food and drink. He apologised to him profusely as he released him from his arm restraint. He said that the restaurant was busy, and that he had also got held up by some communicator calls. One of these was from Major Carlson who had called whilst on route to the CPSC. It didn’t take him long to arrive, because the two men were still sitting down and eating when he walked into the room.
“Sergeant Ray Scott and Citizen Eli River; Now fancy bumping into you two delinquents here,” joked Carlson as he put two hands round the back of his sergeant’s neck and pretended to strangle him. River stood up to greet Nathan who grabbed hold of his right arm and held on to it in an exuberant greeting. “I am so glad to see you up on your feet and looking well young man. I thought we had lost you.”
“Did you get hold of your family, Sir?” enquired Sgt. Scott.
“Yes sergeant, they are getting a taxi here, Valerie picked up Anton and Audrina from work. And as for those other things, I have them right here in my pocket.” Turning to River, he pulled out another bracelet almost identical to the one he already had on. “This is the best offering our tech boys have come up with at short notice. It is an adapted custodial bracelet with extended privileges which has been programmed to work with five other controllers. That will be Sgt. Scott here, my self, and my family. We are still working on another non custodial bracelet with no restriction in permissions or privileges, which will act as a permanent replacement for your rejected identity implant. But until that is ready, you are going to need to be accompanied by any one of us five as chaperones wherever you go.” Carlson now addressed his sergeant. “Ray, after we have finished deputising them as custodial agents, how about you coming out with us for a drink uptown, and maybe a better meal than you just had. I feel like celebrating and it is not easy getting my whole family together for a night on the town on a weekday evening. And River, you are coming too; you don’t have a choice,” he said tapping his own wrist custodial controller. Ray Scott laughed at this, and said that he would at least join them for a drink.
They didn’t have too long to wait before Valerie, Anton and Audrina arrived at the main reception upstairs. Nathan went to collect them and bring them down to the custodial reception. He intended to deputise them as custodial agents so that they would be legally allowed to chaperone River and provide him with some delegated permissions and privileges.
The custodial reception sergeant swore each one of them in and then activated the new control bracelets placed on their wrist. River was done last, the custody sergeant removed his present one and replaced it with the new one which he then activated. River’s was the only bracelet which would be non removable. This whole process was fast but a little formal. Once everyone had walked past the main reception upstairs, the air of formality was over and everybody lightened up. All six in this entourage hugged or greeted each other with some warmth. The two security officers grabbed their personal belongings and overcoats from their vehicles; the overcoats were to hide their uniforms in the plush environment of the central zone. They opted to sign off and leave their vehicles here at the CPS centre. Tomorrow they would probably be reallocated to someone else. Then th
e party of six squeezed into one taxi and took the short ride uptown.
They started their evening at a well reviewed restaurant in the Central zone. There was a good vibe in the group and everybody was happy and in good form. Ray Scott stayed only for a few drinks and apologised that he had to head home to his wife. Valerie commended him saying that she needed him to teach her husband such respect for his spouse.
Anton was wearing a casual suit that he wore earlier to work. He looked much more mature than he did the other day. Despite Valerie having picked her up from work, Audrina had somehow managed to dress up for the occasion. She was wearing a short but elegant pleated black dress with a statement pair of heels, and looked very stylish as well as glamorous. Valerie dressed with style and with certain flair too. However, she preferred to look elegant rather than sexy, but it was evident that she adored the way which her daughter dressed, and was proud of the admiring glances and stares that Audrina attracted. More than a fair share of those glances came from River, whom was finding it increasingly difficult to hide his attraction to Audrina. He hated the way that he was acting out of character. He was more talkative and smiling, laughing, or agreeing with everything that she said. Wise people in his tribe said that this behaviour came when someone had cast a glamour up on you; A spell of attraction. River believed it to be self inflicted though. Simply put, he was smitten with her. This made him feel self conscious and that feeling made him cycle through his alcoholic drinks faster. He was not used to alcohol. It was making him tipsy very quickly. Everyone was smiling at him; maybe because he was grinning at them. He was soon beginning to slur his words, and when he answered Valerie’s questions about his hospital stay, he began to ramble on; not so much incoherently, but instead without making any point. Nathan was the first person to state the obvious, which was that River had had too much to drink, and Valerie suggested that they all head home after the meal. This brought about exclamations of disappointment from Audrina and Anton. They were looking forward to the Central’s planned night carnival and firework show scheduled for later that evening.
River felt some shame for his loss of control. He didn’t want this night to end prematurely and he tried to say as much, but by now no one was taking him seriously on account of his slurred speech. In defence of his young friend, Nathan pointed out that he had only just got out of hospital and that he probably needed to rest.
Feeling guilty and responsible for cutting the evening short, River knew that he needed to get his head straight; and so he stumbled to his feet and headed for the men’s room. He found that his coordination was gone and began to stagger forward. The Major stood up to offer support, but River shook his head and spurned his offer of assistance.
Instead he plodded on, and with his head spinning madly, it took some determination to put some distance between him self and the table. Finally reaching the bathroom, a cursory glance showed that it had no urinals, however what he needed right now was to sit down in one of the cubicles. He found one and managed to shut the door for some privacy. Next he squatted down beside the toilet bowl, and his nausea made him want to throw up. He didn’t though; instead he just needed to be in his own space. He closed his eyes and the temptation was to drift off to sleep. However he cleared his mind of all the nonsense that was presently cluttering it up. Then he began to run his hands from the crown of his head to the base of his heal. As he slowly moved them, they hovered at just a slight distance from actual contact.
He was conducting a brief chi energy cleansing operation. He was determined to negate and override the effect of the alcohol on his system. He repeated the whole routine again, but this time standing. He began to breathe in a slow and precise way, and now he could tangibly feel the disturbed chi energy underneath his fingers which he moved to concentrate it near his abdomen, liver and kidneys. He concentrated a slow sweeping movement above his head and in front of his forehead and throat. He was cleansing his top three chakras, and the corrupted energy that he could palpably feel being removed, he pushed down into his lungs. Taking a long steady exhalation, he felt it leave his body and disperse in the air. Already he was beginning to feel much better, but he conducted the routine one more time, this time adopting certain posture positions which helped substantially.
A few minutes later, he was feeling quite normal. He felt grounded, and his reason and coordination were working as well as ever. He decided that this alcohol which he had just consumed for the first time, was acting as a contaminant in his body. He elected not to drink any more of it in the metropolis.
River left his cubicle to the surprise of woman standing by a basin washing her hands. He slipped outside and now noticed that the sign clearly said ‘Ladies’, and thought that intoxication was highly over rated. Heading back to his table with a confident demeanour, he apologised to everyone for his behaviour and sat down. Nathan had a worried look on his face.
“I checked the men’s room but I couldn't find you. We were worried about you. How are you feeling?”
“I am perfectly fine. There is no need for concern.” River spoke in a relaxed and confident tone, and the Carlsons looked at him with some surprise that he was no longer slurring his words. –“The hospital food wasn’t very nice, so I am really looking forward to this meal; and the fireworks and night carnival too.”
The change in River’s speech and in his deportment was alarming. The whole Carlson family continued to stare at River unable to comprehend his complete recovery from the depth of drunkenness.
Nathan spoke to reassure everyone. “Well it looks like we are staying out late tonight,” And then leaning towards River to speak privately, he said “You really are a remarkable young man.”
The meal was an enjoyable interlude before the later evening’s entertainment. Nathan took this opportunity to explain the constraints that being a custodial chaperone would entail. Only basic permissions and privileges were being transferred to River. Therefore, everyone had to keep in mind not to leave him alone because he would get stranded. They would have to pay for any services or purchases on his behalf. They would have to make sure not to break any law at all whilst chaperoning him. Lastly the Major reminded his family that they had to look after him as their guest. Tomorrow Anton would chaperone him as he only had day release to university. The day after, Audrina was asked to chaperone him, whilst Nathan promised to take over for the next consecutive day. Valerie would act as a reserve chaperone.
Nathan went to pay the bill but he found that Audrina had already covered it. He contemplated on how she was such a good daughter, and recognised the positive that she must obviously be making good money in her financial employment. They collected their coats and headed out into the plush and enticing streets of the Central Zone. It was getting dark so they opted to take a detour through an arched indoor emporium that was full of market stalls selling various antiques and collectables. At the other end, they walked up the grandiose steps to the Central Zone’s elevated park. When they reached the top, they looked out on to the spectacle of a large public gathering in the middle of this immense square mile park. They headed over towards the water features in the centre and halted on a long and fairly high footbridge over a boating lake to take in the excitement and sheer exquisiteness of the scene close by. It was 10pm and the night time carnival had already began. Marching bands, and floats with exotic dancers, always illuminated by hundreds of Chinese lanterns and fairy lights were winding there way slowly around a figure of eight route. The whole route was completely enveloped by a large throng of revellers enjoying the carnival, the girls and the music. River was surprised to find Audrina grabbing his hand as well as Anton’s and pulling them in the direction of the oncoming parade. They threaded there way through the dense crowd and as they got closer to the front, River went on point and exerted his strong physique to open up a space big enough to allow all three a ringside position. The carnival was awesome for River. The excitement in the air, the vibrant music and the allure of the exotic dancers made th
is the best experience for him in the metropolis so far. He felt welcome within the Carlson family and whilst standing between Audrina and Anton, he exuberantly put an arm around each. Audrina in return slipped her arm around the back of his waist; Anton on the other hand dropped his shoulder, and let River’s arm slip off. River understood that Anton really did not like being touched or engaging in any close personal contact. When Audrina strained to see a spectacular upcoming float, River let her mount him and sit on his shoulders. Once up there in her elevated position, she didn’t want to come down. She just rocked about as if dancing, waiving her hands in the air. River noticed other couples in the crowd copying them, but nobody could match River’s stamina or strength as he wilfully suffered Audrina’s weight. She didn’t dismount until most of the floats had passed them by. Then the three of them decided to head back to the ornate footbridge to join Valerie and Nathan. They reached them just in time for the firework show. This was a sight that simply mesmerised River. He had never seen fireworks before, and he stood open mouthed in wonderment. Audrina showed her playful streak by waiting for the climax of the display, and then cupping her hands over his eyes as she pressed herself tightly behind his back. River shook his head and was able to release her hands before he completely missed it. He turned around to look at her sternly and she gave him the warmest of smiles.
When the display finished they followed other early departees heading for the public transport terminals. Soon enough they found a taxi rank, and were soon heading home after having had the most wonderful family evening together. When they reached home it was after midnight and everyone soon retired to their respective rooms. Tomorrow was a working day.
BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) Page 8