by Blake Banner
He chuckled. “But you see, those countries where poverty is at that level invariably spend a fortune on weapons. Weapons are one of our five biggest sources of revenue.”
I saw her nod slowly. “OK, but they are still breeding and they are still expanding, and they are spilling over into the West as refugees.”
Tau laughed. “Now, now, Marni, don’t let the Thought Police catch you saying things like that!”
She swallowed another oyster and took a sip of wine. “Understand me. If I am joining up with Omega, it is because I want to live in a world that is nice to live in. I am not into some Soylent Green shit dystopian future.”
“And neither are we.” It was Rho. “Quite the contrary. Like you, our aim is to create what our founders called the New Atlantis. A place, as you so succinctly put it, that is nice to live in. Nice by our standards. Not by Seth or Billy Joe’s standards, who would be content with a TV and a fast food burger joint.”
Tau was nodding. “We take that as read.”
Marni spread her hands. “So what do we do with these nine billion people?”
Rho raised one fat finger. “First, we use them to create wealth. They help us to do this by providing us with cheap labor and by buying our weapons. So while we are generating wealth we are preparing. Now,” he raised a second finger. “You may have noticed the happy synchronicity that brings us global warming at the same time as this explosion in population.”
“How is that happy?”
Tau wagged a finger at her. “You need to shake off those mental chains, Marni. They are all very well for high school ethics one oh one, but if you aim to climb up the evolutionary scale, you need to change your thinking.”
“I do? OK. Tell me.”
“Within the next few years, it is impossible to be precise, the temperatures around the equator will start to rise dramatically…”
“I know. That has been my point all along. That is why I am sitting at this table…”
Rho raised a hand. “Bear with me. Both your father and you highlighted this point. I know. Now, what you also said, and what we could never have you publish, was that as temperatures rise, the regions to the north and south of the equator will begin to experience drought on a scale never before seen. Famine will follow drought, punctuated by flooding and hurricanes. In short, gradually, the areas between parallel forty-eight north and forty-eight south will become practically uninhabitable, and certainly non-productive in terms of food. And this of course will lead to mass migration north.”
He sat back and sipped his wine. “In nature, in ancient history, climate change has always lead to mass migration. Of course today, with this human plague sapping the planet, we call it a refugee crisis instead. But it’s the same thing.”
Marni sighed. “I don’t mean to be rude, Rho, but so far you are just quoting my own research at me.”
He smiled. “Where your research has fallen short, Marni, is exactly where Tau pointed out. Your moral limitations. You assume—you take it as a given—that we must help these refugees, these billions of starving people. But once we have prepared, created the infrastructure of the New Atlantis, their purpose will be served and we will not need them anymore.”
Marni flopped back in her chair. “Wow…”
The maids came out again and removed the dirty dishes and the bowl. The manservant poured the red wine and the girls brought out three dishes of roasted duck breast. Rho waited for them to withdraw and started cutting into the tender breast.
“You see,” he said, “since the middle of last century, we have been creating the conditions, as dear Margaret used to say, creating the conditions for violent social unrest. You have no doubt been aware of the rising popularity of far right parties, and a general feeling amongst a growing portion of western society of grievance against stupid and incompetent governments and politicians, who do not seem to have the best interests of their people at heart; politicians who force mass migration and rampant Islam upon a helpless populace. The lines are drawn, the seeds are sown, for a violent backlash.”
Marni sounded shocked. “And that’s a good thing? How?”
“My dear Marni, you have been complaining about the exorbitant growth in population. I am now offering you drought, hurricanes, tsunamis and war as means to thin out that population.”
“But these are things you cannot control…”
“That used to be true. And this was the purpose of the research that Professor Weitz was conducting in Turret, until your friend Lacklan came along. My God, that man is destructive. I tell you, Marni, that man had a very troubled soul.”
“I believe you are right.”
“The point is, natural disaster, and war, will account for a good many people. But civil conflict within Europe and the USA will reduce the population drastically and also have the added bonus of creating a new mood of unity and solidarity. That is a base on which we can build.”
“So your plan,” said Marni, “is to select a population…”
“It is already selected, naturally, the western population. Those people who have been bred on social media, computers, TV, who have practically no critical faculties left at all. They are ripe for exploitation.”
Tau spoke up. “It would take a minimal intervention, using the sun beetle, to create a population happy to serve, happy to create a New Atlantis on a reborn world.”
She shook her head. “That is a pretty crazy vision.”
Rho shrugged and spluttered. “In 1917, a vision of a world with eight billion inhabitants, where you could talk instantly to anyone anywhere on the planet, and see them on a hand-held screen, where it was against the law to smoke in public and the air was poisonous to breathe, would seem like a nightmare fantasy. Yet it is a reality. These violent changes are inevitable, Marni. What we aim to do is manipulate them, ride them, so that at the end, we are on top, and the people who survive are submissive and compliant.”
“What about Russia, China, Europe…?”
Rho raised both hands palm out and smiled. “You have hardly touched your food. I think that is quite enough shop talk for tonight. You need to assimilate this new vision, and begin to fall in love with it.”
She spread her hands. “You’re right. Just let me ask you one thing. Did any of the bugs survive? Or did the fire wipe them all out?”
They were silent for a moment. Then Tau said, “We are checking, but we are confident some have survived. If not, we go back to the drawing board to recreate them.”
I closed my eyes. My head was spinning. For a moment I didn’t know what I was doing there, what my purpose was. I had come here to rescue her, to help her, but she didn’t want to be rescued. She was one of them, and my death meant nothing to her. So, if she didn’t want to be rescued, why the hell had she put that picture on the board? Why had she left her diary for me?
What was her game?
Nineteen
Then I had a flash of clarity. I knew what to do, but before I could act there was a shout from out in the darkness and the sound of running feet—a lot of running feet. The guards had been found. I stood and drew my bow, targeting Tau, determined that this time he would not survive. But even as I did it, he and Rho stood and four armed men burst onto the terrace, shouting to them to get inside.
Three of them took up positions looking down into the grounds. The fourth, a big, dark guy with a long black ponytail, addressed Rho.
“The boys on the perimeter! They are all dead, sir, shot with arrows. We checked all the rooms in the house. He ain’t inside. He’s still out there.”
That was the last mistake he ever made in his life. One and a half seconds later, he was looking down at his chest, wondering why he had a feathered shaft sticking out of it, as his consciousness and his life ebbed away.
It is a fact that people take a full four seconds to react to unexpected violence. If the violence is completely silent, it takes a little longer. The three guards were still staring out into the blackness of the night. Rho
was frowning at his lieutenant as he slowly sat down in the chair he had been occupying. Tau was looking about him with a ‘What the…?’ expression on his face.
Only Marni reacted. She got to her feet and said, “No…”
All of that happened in a single second. By that time I had nocked my second arrow, pulled and loosed. It whispered on the night air and thudded home into the farthest guard’s heart, protruding two inches from his chest.
I had time to pull my Sig and take out a third guard before Rho started screaming, “He’s here! He’s here! On the roof, you assholes! Here on the roof!”
I tried to get a bead on him, but he rushed at Marni, grabbed her with his left arm and dragged her in front of him. Meanwhile, with his right he pulled a gun from under his arm and let off two wild shots in my general direction. Marni was thrashing and kicking, clawing at his hand. Tau had clambered over the table and was scrambling for the door, screaming, “Up here! Up here!”
The remaining guard had seen me and let off three rounds, nicely grouped. I ducked and they hit the wall behind me, whining and singing off into the darkness. He paused a second and I put a single shot through his forehead that sent him backward over the balustrade.
Now we had a stand-off. Rho had his arm around Marni’s throat and his gun to her head.
“All right, Lacklan, give it up. It’s over. You have come this far for her, we both know you are not going to let any harm come to her. Drop your weapons and come down here.”
I laughed. “I’ve been here since you strolled out with your martinis. I heard your whole damn conversation. You think I give a rat’s ass whether you shoot her? If you don’t, I will.”
I knew as I said it I had overplayed my hand. He smiled. “So go ahead. At this range, if you put a bullet through her throat, you’ll kill me too. So do it. I know you have the skill. What’s stopping you?”
I took careful aim. He was right and I had the wild rage of betrayal inside me. I felt like my brain was on fire and I was sick to my stomach. My father’s betrayal I had learnt to live with, and my mother’s indifference. But this, from Marni… Part of me wanted to punish her, to make her pay, but I couldn’t pull the trigger.
Instead I said, “You’re bluffing. You need her alive.”
Tau came running back onto the terrace with eight guards, all holding assault rifles. They took up positions, training their weapons on me. I didn’t stand a chance in hell.
“Do I?” Rho said. “Maybe I already have from her everything I need.”
“If you had, Rho, you wouldn’t be feeding her oysters and telling her she’s part of the family.”
He shrugged. “You’re not wrong. But don’t be over-confident, Lacklan. That is just the easiest route to what we want. There are other ways.” He turned to Tau. “What do you say, Tau? Shall we discreetly withdraw and leave the boys to play with Marni for an hour or two?” He looked up at me. “Are you a voyeur, Lacklan? Would you enjoy that? Or perhaps that is too subtle.” His face was suddenly twisted with hatred and cruelty. “Maybe it would be quicker to remove her foot with a blunt knife!”
Then he was screaming with rage, “Come on! Tau! Grab her!” and he and Tau were wrestling her toward the table while three of the guards swept the plates and the glasses onto the floor, where they shattered into shards. Marni was thrashing and screaming. They had her on her back, gripping her arms and legs. Rho had her ankle and he was shouting, “You! Get me that knife from the floor! Quick!”
I stood. “Stop.”
He turned to look up at me. His face was flushed with rage. He continued screaming, hysterical, “I should do it anyway! You cunt! I should fucking do it anyway you piece of shit! You fucking cunt-shit!”
I raised the Sig and aimed it straight at his eye. “Go ahead.”
Tau put his hand on Rho’s arm. “We have him. Don’t blow it.” To me he said, “Get down here.”
“Let her up.”
Rho straightened his jacket and smoothed his hair. Marni got to her feet. She stared at Rho a moment and made a grab for the knife he had been about to use on her ankle. Tau raised a hand. “Ah-ah! Let’s all just de-escalate this situation. We do this right and nobody gets killed tonight. Am I right, Rho?”
Rho smiled at her. “I am sorry, Marni. It was nothing personal. We do what we have to do.”
She whirled round and stared up at me. Her eyes were bright with anger and frustration. “You should not have come!”
I felt a bitter twist of anger in my gut. “Yeah, I can see that now. I’m sorry I interfered with your business arrangements. My father thought you were in trouble. Looks like he’s as much a schmuck as I am.”
I climbed down the wall and threw my weapon on the floor. One of the guards picked it up. Rho stepped over to me. I could see his intention in every step and every twitch. I gave him the dead eye and spoke very quietly.
“I haven’t much left to lose, Rho. I don’t much care if I die here tonight. So you better think carefully about what you do next. Touch me and I’ll break your fucking neck.”
I meant it, and he knew it. He hesitated a moment and snapped, “Tie him up. Put him down in the cellar.”
Four of them grabbed me and pulled my arms behind my back. I felt a plastic zip-tie bite into my wrists. I was watching Rho’s face, trying to figure him out. “What do you want with me? I see why Marni could be useful to you, but what do you want with me? Why not just kill me and be done with it?”
He stepped over real close so his face was only an inch from mine. “You have all the questions, Lacklan, and I have all the answers. That is the way it is going to stay, but you can be sure, the moment I have no more use for you, you’ll die.”
Marni was still staring at me. Two of the guards held her arms. She looked mad. “How did you find me? They said you’d gone to New York!”
“I guess I’m not the only one with questions.”
Rho turned to his goons. “Tie her up too. Put her in the boiler room.”
She turned on him. “What? Wait! No! Why? This doesn’t change anything? Why are you doing this?”
Tau laughed. “Oh, my dear, it changes everything.”
I smiled at her. It wasn’t a nice smile. “Congratulations on your new friends, Marni.”
They dragged me away and I heard her scream after me, “You idiot!”
They took me down the stairs and into the kitchen. There they unlocked a door and pushed me down a flight of concrete steps into a large cellar. There were racks of wine against the walls and a long, wooden table with glasses and decanters on it and other paraphernalia, as well as a shelf stocked with wheels of cheese and bottles of mineral water. They sat me on one of the chairs and zip-tied my arms and ankles to the back and legs.
One of them, a big redneck with pale blue eyes, patted my face and grinned. “Don’t go drinking the wine.”
They made to leave. “Hey.”
He turned back to look at me.
I said, “I’m going to kill you first.”
He laughed and they tramped up the stairs.
Like I said, planning is everything. It was clear to me when Rho put his gun to Marni’s head that either I was going to be shot or I was going to be tied up and imprisoned. So I took what precautions I could. Always be prepared for a fuck-up.
I wriggled my right wrist and my Zippo dropped into my palm. This was going to hurt, but pain is something you can get over. Death isn’t. I flipped the lid and thumbed the flint, then angled the flame onto the zip-ties. The pain on my wrist was excruciating, and the smell of singed flesh was sickening. But after a couple of seconds the bonds snapped. I bent forward and burned through the ones on my ankles too.
I stood and stretched and thought about breaking out of the cellar. But I decided against it. I needed to think. I needed to understand what the hell Tau and Rho wanted with me, why they had suddenly turned on Marni as soon as I appeared; and what the hell Marni was playing at.
I went to the wine racks and selected a Co
tes du Rhone, Famille Perrin Reserve from 2012. A wine like that should breathe for at least an hour before drinking, so I poured from a great height to get the air into it, pulled a pack of Camels from my pocket and lit one, and set about choosing a good goat’s cheese. Then I sat and ate and drank and smoked.
And thought.
Twenty
Morning came with the sound of the key in the lock at the top of the stairs. Then several pairs of feet tramping down. It was the redneck with three of his pals. He stood staring at me and pulled his piece from his waistband. I was sitting at the table, having a breakfast of cheese and red wine.
“You’re a fuckin’ piece of work, Mister.” He turned to the apes behind him. “Would you take a look at that? Tie him up again.”
He covered me while three of them approached me. I finished my cheese and stood. I put my hands behind my back and turned away from them. They fitted another zip-tie and shoved me toward the stairs.
They led me up through the kitchen back to the drawing room on the first floor. Tau was seated in one of the armchairs and Rho was standing, leaning on the fireplace again, sipping coffee. The glass doors were open onto the terrace and outside I could hear birds getting busy about the morning.
Rho said, “Sit down, Lacklan. We need to talk.”
I sat on the sofa and smiled at him. “We do?”
“I think you are intelligent enough to understand that nothing we do is motivated by personal feelings.”
I turned my smile on Tau. “That makes me feel a lot better. I thought after you had me strung up and beaten to within an inch of my life, you didn’t like me. That really hurt, Tau.”
Tau crossed his legs and lit a cigarette with a match. As he shook out the flame he spoke around the butt. “Try not to be facetious, Lacklan. What Rho is driving at is that everything you heard us say to Marni last night was genuine. Our intention was—and may still be—to initiate her into Omega.”
“Where is she?”
Rho asked me, “Do you still care for her?”