Second Solace

by Robert Clark

  I said nothing. Cage turned around and looked me dead in the eye.

  ‘Since your arrival, my men have suffered two attacks. Well, I suppose that isn’t technically true. You seem to be the only victim of the second attempt, and we haven’t yet found the culprit responsible for instigating the alarm, though I suppose that would be Mr Westaway. The first attempt occurred during your extraction. Corser was ambushed as he lay in wait for you. He detailed the event in his report, and states he did not recognise the perpetrator. I believe him. Which only makes this issue more serious.’

  He paused like he was waiting for me to bequeath some thoughtful insight on the situation. I left him hanging.

  ‘James, I asked you here today because I wanted to do two things. The first is offer you an apology. I am sincerely sorry that since your arrival, you have seen only the worst of Second Solace. Our goal here is not to isolate our ilk, and I am loath to resort to such measures. If we are to rebuild this country, we will need more than a handful of stubborn mules. We need to grow, and we cannot accomplish this if we treat our guests like enemies.’

  Another pause.

  ‘Well, thanks,’ I said. ‘I hope this means my time in the hole is over?’

  ‘So long as you don’t step out of line. I’ve asked my daughter, Gail to house you until further notice, so long as that is alright with you?’

  ‘No problem here,’ I said.

  ‘Good. So that brings me to my second point.’ Cage moved across to the bookshelf. His fingers drifted across the books, before finally coming to a rest over the spot I’d used to snap Westaway’s knife, the end of which was now stuck into the heel of his old boot. ‘I want to ask a favour of you.’

  ‘What kind of favour?’

  ‘The kind that I would not ask of lightly. These two attacks on my people are not mere coincidence. In the years since Second Solace began, do you know how many times someone on the outside has tried to take it away from us?’

  ‘How many times?’ I asked.

  ‘None,’ Cage snarled. ‘Not one goddamn time. I’m not stupid. I know what we are doing here is going to ruffle a few feathers, especially amongst the bureaucrats and business moguls. But what can they do? I own this land. They can’t take it from me without a fight, and they’re too big a bunch of pussies to try. They know we would win, so they don’t even try. The way they figure it, what harm can we do when we’re hidden up in the mountains? For almost thirty years, they’ve lived by that mantra and left us well alone.’

  ‘Until now,’ I said.

  ‘Until now. Which doesn’t sit right. What would change in thirty years that made them suddenly want to come knocking? Nothing, that’s what. This is someone new, and they’ve got us in their sights. I don’t like it. I won’t let this all burn to ash. What I’ve built here is too big to lose. It’s bigger than me, bigger than all of us. Which is why I need your help.’

  ‘Help with what, conquering the world?’

  ‘This world isn’t ours to conquer. Thinking that way is audacious, and it’s what will get us killed. No, what I need from you is different. These attacks started before you were on the scene. No matter what the others might say, I don’t believe you have had anything to do with it. But that doesn’t mean my enemies don’t wear familiar faces.’

  ‘You think someone here doesn’t share your dreams?’

  ‘I think someone here wants to take my goddamn head off,’ Cage barked, before lowering his tone. ‘Yes, James. I think someone on the inside is responsible. I don’t know who, and I don’t know why, but I’ve never ignored my instincts before, and right now they’re screaming bloody murder. So that’s what I want you to do. I want you to find out whoever is responsible, and bring me back some cold, hard evidence. It has to be you. No one else has arrived since, and anyone here could have conspired against me.’

  He looked at me and waited for another response. An uneasy silence drifted between us. No one else around. No cameras. No locked doors. I had the knife, I could get it out and cut his throat right there and be done with the place. But I didn’t.

  ‘Right,’ I said. ‘I have a couple of issues with this.’

  ‘By all means, fire away.’

  ‘Okay, so you want me, the man you had on trial yesterday, to sniff out your traitor? Forgive me if I’m being overzealous in my assumptions, but how am I supposed to get anyone to confess to me after yesterday?’

  ‘Yesterday this wasn’t a problem.’

  ‘It absolutely was a problem. You’d already had one attack, and you were sitting ducks for the second. And that doesn’t explain how I’m supposed to buddy up with a bunch of people who think I’m the enemy.’

  ‘Not everyone here thinks that way, and besides, you’re a smart man. I’m sure you can suss out some other ways of finding the information we need.’

  ‘You expect me to spy on your people?’ I scoffed. ‘And what if I get caught? Are you going to confess to your own people you had me watching them?’

  ‘Of course not. Best I can do is make sure they throw you out on your ass with your head intact. So my advice would be to not get caught.’

  ‘Thanks for the insightful wisdom.’

  ‘What’s your second issue?’

  ‘What makes you think this mystery usurper is just one person?’

  Maddox Cage paused in thought and looked around the room like he expected to see some fiendish turncoat ready and waiting to strike. When he was satisfied no such person was there, he gave me his honest answer.

  ‘I don’t,’ he sighed. ‘I don’t have a goddamn clue if it's one person or one hundred. I’ve always advocated for honesty here, and maybe I’ve been blinded to the thought that I was the only one following that logic. I can’t say how many people here want me out, and in truth that scares the hell out of me. I tried to keep things fair from the start, hence the courthouse. I didn’t want anyone here thinking I was going to dictate their lives to my vision. All I can hope is that it is just a handful, because when you think about it, how can it be just one?’ He looked down at the stain left behind by the man who had tried to kill me. ‘Westaway didn’t mastermind it all, that’s for damn sure. The guy could barely tie his own shoelaces without help. And the man who attacked Corser wasn’t one of ours. Which means somewhere out there stands a group of people ready and waiting, and I don’t like that.’

  I didn’t like it either, but it wasn’t my home on the line.

  ‘The intelligence you got, the data burst that told you about my location, how many people knew about it?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know, ten people, maybe. More if any of them talked, which is for damn certain. This place isn’t the pentagon. These people don’t know what they can and can’t say to their spouses.’

  ‘You need to try to get that number as exact as you can,’ I said. ‘You need to get the names of every last person who might have known about it. How long did you know before you made your move?’

  ‘Almost twenty-four hours,’ Maddox said. ‘We found out and jumped into action straight away. Corser had to drive down to the spot immediately.’

  ‘Then you can take anyone who found out about the job later off the table,’ I said. ‘If Corser was the first out the door, then whoever turned on you had to know almost at the same time. Unless they got really lucky and had someone in the ballpark area of the attack, the guy who attacked Corser had driven a long way as well. So tell me, who knew about the data burst. Work it out chronologically, and we’ll start with the names at the top.’

  Cage thought about it for a spell.

  ‘Then at the top of the list I’d have to say six people. Myself, Fenwick, Corser, Cecilia, and the Dawson brothers. We had a meeting shortly after we found out. Just the six of us.’

  ‘Who are the brothers?’ I asked.

  ‘Carl and Jack Dawson. They sat on the board at your trial. They’re twins. Not the identical kind. They’ve been here for about seven years. Both served in the Marines before they joined us.’r />
  ‘I can’t help but notice Westaway wasn’t on your list.’

  ‘I don’t think I’d ever had a conversation longer than a good morning with the guy the entire time he was here. I barely knew him.’

  ‘Then who did? Who of those five people had more than a working relationship with him? Who might have been able to tamper with his outlook on life, or have recruited him here in the first place?’

  ‘I’d say Jack, Carl and Corser. But none so much that I took notice.’

  ‘Then for the time being, we can assume Corser didn’t stage a hit on himself, unless he was lying about the whole thing. Which, admittedly, isn’t off the table.’

  ‘I trust Corser with my life,’ Cage mused.

  ‘I hope your trust isn’t misplaced.’

  ‘Me too. Then it’s decided. You’ll look into the Dawson brothers first.’

  ‘Who said I agreed to this?’

  ‘You got a problem with it?’ Cage barked.

  ‘I’ve got a big problem with it. Chiefly among those being why exactly I should help. I didn’t ask to be here. You guys snatched me up off the street and put me through your ludicrous trial. Apologise all you want, but that didn’t exactly compel me to stay. So it’s no skin off my nose if your little project goes up in flames.’

  ‘I suppose you’re right. Why would you want to stay? What could we possibly offer you that you can’t get anywhere else? Besides protection from the American government, a strong and stable lifestyle, and a chance to start afresh.’

  ‘Who says that’s what I want?’ I asked.

  ‘I do, unless I’ve made a big misjudgement of character,’ Cage said. ‘Nobody can live a life like yours sustainably forever. You got caught once already. It’ll happen again, and next time you won’t have us to bail you out. But if you help me find my mole, I’ll grant you a place here. In fact, I’ll go one better. You prove yourself, and I’ll give you a seat at the high table. Give you a chance to make decisions on our future. Maybe even do some good in the world for a change. That’s not a decision I take lightly. Not everyone gets that kind of shot. Only those I trust to make sound judgements, and to have my back. You do this for me, and I’ll set you up for life.’

  Which was an unbeatable offer whichever way you looked at it. It satisfied every goal I had. On the inner circle, I could find out what happened to Agent Whyte’s missing agent. I could discover what Cage had planned for the future of the settlement. I could even get close enough to kill the guy.

  ‘I’ll do it,’ I said. ‘I’ll find your leak.’

  Cage reached out and clasped his frying pan of a hand around mine and crushed it for a spell in what I guessed passed as a handshake around these parts.

  ‘I knew you came here for a reason,’ he beamed.

  ‘Besides you planning my abduction?’

  ‘Water under the bridge. Now, we don’t have time to waste. You have a date with the Dawsons.’

  Eleven

  Mole Hunting

  I left Maddox Cage in the courtyard and headed back outside into the delightfully brisk December morning sun. After a brief conversation with the man in charge regarding his new orders, Shotgun Joe reattached himself to my side like an obedient limpet and frogmarched me back to the main street. The citizens of Second Solace had risen from their slumbers and begun their daily rituals. They hustled about with a cathartic practice engrained from years of routine. It was strangely calming to watch. No ongoing struggles. No hidden agendas. Well, none visible to the naked eye. Theirs was a life of a simplicity robbed from the modern world. Perhaps staying here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  ‘Boss says you’re to be given free rein,’ Shotgun Joe grunted. ‘But I’ll have my eye on you.’

  ‘So you plan to disobey a direct order from your commander in chief?’ I asked.

  ‘No. What I mean is, don’t do anything stupid. And don’t piss off anyone, you hear?’

  ‘Does that stretch to people already perturbed by my actions?’

  Shotgun Joe stared at me blankly.

  ‘Does that include anyone I’ve already annoyed?’ I asked.

  ‘Just don’t cause any trouble,’ he huffed, before he turned and trudged away into the snow.

  Noted. Now, to cause some trouble.

  I looked around and found what appeared to be a general store of sorts. Inside was nothing like the stores I’d seen in this country so far. Rows of hand-crafted containers stacked side by side showcased a selection of homegrown delights. There were apples and pears and berries of all kind, as well as carrots and potatoes and leeks. There were bottles of hand-squeezed fruit juices in mason jars. There were watercolour paintings hanging on the walls. There were chairs, and stools, and shelves, all crafted from locally sourced wood. There were hand-knitted throws, and rugs, and pillows. There were clothes. There was a little bit of everything. It reminded me of the old market stalls I’d visited as a child in the towns of Yorkshire.

  A grandmotherly-looking woman sat in a rocking chair behind what passed as the counter. She was watching me.

  ‘You’re the new boy,’ she said. Her voice had a rickety quality to it, like the rocking chair she occupied.

  ‘That would be me.’

  ‘I heard you were a bad man,’ she said it like it was a question.

  ‘Depends on what you qualify as bad,’ I said. ‘Everything I’ve done was to survive.’

  ‘I heard you were responsible for a lot of deaths in England.’

  ‘Accused. Not responsible.’

  ‘I heard there was a tape of you doing something evil.’

  ‘What else have you heard?’ I asked, trying not to think about the tape.

  ‘This and that,’ she said with a half shrug.

  ‘If I told you I was framed, would you believe me?’

  ‘Son, this place isn’t about the past. It’s about the future. Lot of people did a lot of things. Some of them good. Some of them not so much. We aren’t supposed to cast aspersions. It’s one of the rules here. It’s a place of new hope.’

  ‘Like the Star Wars film,’ I said.

  ‘What’s a Star Wars?’ she asked.

  ‘Never mind. Listen, you wouldn’t be able to help me out, would you?’

  ‘All our wares are free to residents,’ she said. ‘That’s another rule. We don’t have a currency here. You do your part and get what you’re given.’

  ‘So I can have a glass of apple juice?’ I asked.

  ‘If you’re a resident,’ she said.

  ‘I think I’m a resident,’ I said. ‘I’m not allowed to leave, at least.’

  ‘Then you can have a glass of apple juice.’

  She climbed up out of her chair and took one of the mason jars full of foggy brown water down from the shelf. She jotted down the sale in her book and left it on the counter for me.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said. I unscrewed the lid and took a sip. It tasted great. I savoured the liquid and put the lid back on. ‘That’s amazing.’

  ‘It’s fresh,’ she said.

  ‘I got that. Listen, I actually wanted to ask you about someone. Figured a store owner is as good a place to go to as anywhere else.’

  ‘Who are you looking for?’ she croaked.

  ‘The twins. Jack and Carl Dawson. I just spoke to Cage. He wants me to help them out with something.’

  The store owner frowned and stared at my face for a long moment, drinking it all in.

  ‘They work with Cecilia,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what they get up to. Something important is my guess.’

  ‘So you don’t know where they are?’ I asked.

  ‘Their lot always heads north. They’ve got the facility up there. If you’re to be working with the Dawsons. That’d be the place to start.’

  ‘A facility? Whereabouts is it?’

  She frowned again.

  ‘You sure you’re not mistaken?’ she asked. ‘Those lot get all kinds of protective over that place. Doesn’t sound like they’d want some newcomer inv
olved, if you ask me.’

  ‘Pretty certain. Just came out of a meeting with Cage. He told me to get to work if I want to stay here, and he said I’d be put to best use with the Dawsons.’

  ‘Then I think you should speak to Mr Cage again,’ she said. ‘I don’t get involved with all that.’

  She sat back down in the rocking chair, and some combination of wood and bones creaked loudly. She took her eyes off me with the kind of certainty that means a conversation has reached a dead end. But that was okay. She’d given me more than enough to go on.

  I finished the apple juice and left it on the counter. Figured that was the common practice unless the facility the owner had mentioned was a glass manufacturer. She didn’t seem offended by it, so I smiled and walked back out into the morning sun. Warm rays pierced through the snow-topped trees, creating a still beauty that was seldom found in the modern world. I let it sink into my skin for a moment.

  North - by my calculations of where the sun had risen for every single day since it’s first - was to my left. Through the trees, I could see the land rising steadily as it joined into the distant mountains. I wondered just how far you could see from their peaks. It would feel like you were the king of the world from up there. With the mountains in my sights, I set off. The snow was deep, but less so where the paths had been forged. So I stuck to them as best I could.

  Up ahead, I caught sight of the wall. A huge wooden structure towered over the patrolling guards. Each carried some kind of hunting rifle, and walked with purpose. There was no hiding from them. Not in the light of day. So I just stuck my hands in my pockets and fell in behind them.

  The patrol wasn’t the most complex of procedures. I watched the two men up ahead reach the corner where the wall met the jagged mountainside and take a sharp left. I stayed close behind, making sure they knew I was there. No reason to look suspicious. Not yet at least. The guy on the right spotted me and turned around.

  ‘Something you need?’ he asked with the kind of tone that was as much a request to piss off as it was a question.