Freedom Incorporated, Peter Tylee [literature books to read TXT] 📗

it isn’t pretty. So we began moving people instead. It’s amazing what desperate people will pay to have someone smuggle them out of one country and into another. Anyway, corporations snapped us up after college and we used our new connections to join a people-smuggling cartel.” He shrugged with his hands. “Eventually Esteban was invited here and he took us with him.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Jen didn’t really care to hear it.

“I just want you to understand where I come from,” Adrian replied. “It all started because I needed a little extra cash at college. My parents were rich, but that didn’t mean any of their money trickled down to me. From there I was just swept along.”

It didn’t vindicate anything as far as Jen was concerned. “So? You could’ve said no.”

He nodded, regarding her carefully. “I know.” Eventually he had to look away, unable to hold her gaze without feeling intense shame. “Better late than never though, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“You want to escape, so I’ll help you do it.”

“What about the others?” Jen asked, equally concerned for their wellbeing.

Adrian shook his head. “I wouldn’t know how to find chips for all of them.”

“How do you intend to find a chip for me?”

“I know where Esteban put that little device of yours.”

“It has six chips inside,” Jen said eagerly. “So that’s six people.”

“I can’t do anything for the others,” Adrian repeated unapologetically. He was already putting his neck on the line for Jen and, as far as he was concerned, that was enough. “And I want to do this without him finding out it was me.”

“How?”

“Don’t worry yourself about that, just don’t tell anyone. Deal?” He scoured her face for signs of betrayal. He wouldn’t help unless he decided to trust her.

“If I said anything I wouldn’t get out, would I?”

“Good point.” He shoved off the table and headed for the door. “I’ll be back within four hours. Wait for me here, okay?”

She kept nodding until he left the room. Now that’s bizarre. She didn’t trust him any further than she could spit, but she had to acknowledge that he represented her best chance of escape. For six of us. Then she made a vow that she intended to keep: And I’ll come back for the others.

*

Saturday, September 18, 2066

10:20 San Francisco, USA

Michele wore thick makeup to conceal her sleepless night and resultant baggy eyes. She’d deactivated the video component of the phone. “I’m telling you it was him.”

“Okay, careful Michele,” Esteban warned in a threatening voice. “Don’t say anything stupid on an open line.” Sometimes he wished he could smash her skull like a melon, or throttle some sense into her brain.

“I won’t,” she retorted, nearly hysterical. “Where are you?”

Esteban rolled his eyes. Oh Lord, you fucked up when you put this bitch together. “How stupid do you think I am, Michele? Look, calm down, everything’s going to be fine. I’m sure you just made a mistake. Maybe you dreamt it?”

Her tone was becoming whiny. “I wasn’t dreaming, okay? Why won’t you believe me?”

“Just meet me in the office.” He’d had enough.

“No. I’m not going back there. He said-”

“I’ll be there in a second,” Esteban said, cutting her off before she said something Echelon would archive, giving him the added hassle of having to delete records. “You’ll be safe with me there. I’m approaching the portals now. I’ll see you in a minute.” He hung up before she could protest.

Michele pouted and reluctantly replaced the receiver on the public phone. She was spooked enough to distrust her mobile because she didn’t understand what was and what was not possible in the mystical land of technology - she lived with the myths Hollywood fed her. She looked up at UniForce headquarters. She hadn’t gone far; she’d been too scared to go home. Does he know where I live? Does he expect me to leave the company? The city? The country? She kept trying to replay the conversation in her mind but fear had distorted her memory to the point of worthlessness.

She’d filled ‘a suden ilness’ into the necessary form as her reason for leaving the building - spelling wasn’t her strong point - and fled as soon as Dan had left. She knew of a hotel in Nevada that had a 24-hour reception desk and she’d checked in there for what had remained of the night. The vibrating bed had been nice, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as she remembered - probably because she’d had the company of two adoring men on her last stay. I didn’t get much sleep then either, she thought with a childish giggle.

She did as Esteban bade and sought the nearest portal. A flash and a heartbeat later, she was standing in the foyer of her floor at UniForce headquarters. She marched to her office and found Esteban sitting on her desk.

“Close the door.”

She obediently complied.

“Now what’s this shit about Sutherland?”

“He was here last night,” Michele repeated for the fourth time. “He came right up here, past all the security, and threatened me.”

Oh yes, past all our ‘quality’ security. Esteban scoffed at the pitiful excuse UniForce headquarters had for security. The guard training programs were behind schedule so they’d outsourced all the quality guards to other companies. “I just checked his movements and as far as PortaNet’s concerned he hasn’t left Australia.” He shrugged sceptically. “So unless international airlines have reopened for business in the past few days, I don’t think it could possibly have been him. Maybe it just looked like him?”

Michele threw a tizz. “No! You’re not listening to me. It was Dan Sutherland! I know what he looks like.”

He still thought she’d dreamt it, but let it rest for now. “Okay, I’ll go and check the parameters on my scan if it’ll make you happy.” But a hum of doubt had started tickling the back of his mind. He has been waiting an awful long time. Esteban had expected the legendary Dan Sutherland to be stalking him by now, but he was still messing around in Australia. He shrugged the feeling off by roaming his gaze over Michele’s body. Sure, she was built like a penguin, but she could work small miracles with her mouth. And since he wanted to wait with Jen, Michele was his only option. “But first… there’s something I need from you.”

She knew what he wanted but she wasn’t in the mood so she twisted away from him with an exasperated grunt.

“I won’t take long.” He unzipped his fly and pulled her closer, making her kneel in front of him.

Michele grudgingly started caressing his flesh, kissing him softly. Before long they were in the ecstatic throes of passion - or at least Esteban was, Michele was merely bored. She wanted to rest and was thinking about whether it’d be safe to sleep in her office when Esteban orgasmed. She spat into a tissue.

“I told you I’d be quick.” Esteban grinned at her, satisfied now that she’d slaked his desires. He could see from the look in her eyes that she hadn’t been expecting it. She’d nearly choked. Reducing the pressure on his explosive libido also gave him the opportunity to think more clearly about Sutherland. Hmm… what if he’s using someone else’s chip? It was a startling thought. Then he could be anywhere. He could still be in the building! Esteban zipped up his fly and reached for his gun, scanning the room with suspicion.

“What is it?” Michele’s eyes opened wide with a fresh onrush of fear.

“Nothing,” Esteban snapped. “Just stay here.”

“Where’re you going?” Michele asked, sounding desperate.

“To check on Sutherland.” Esteban approached every corner as if it might hide his enemy, wary now that he realised Dan could be hunting him while electronically cloaked. The confidence he’d derived from his handheld monitor had evaporated now that he suspected Dan could traverse the portals without raising an alarm. He felt blind.

Michele shrugged when he left the room. She logged into her computer and filled out the necessary forms to notify the system of her return before curling up on the couch and closing her eyes.

*

James’s head came up with a start. “What?” It came out as a croak, his vocal cords too fatigued to form the word properly.

“I said, wake up!” Esteban shook him harder, trying to rouse the information technology co-ordinator from the deepest slumber he’d achieved in days.

James rubbed the numbness from his face and removed the sleep from his eyes before focussing on the intruder. “What is it?”

“You have work to do,” Esteban said cruelly, having no comprehension of how hard James had been working already.

James waved at the monitor. “I can’t find the holes. My team’s working on it.” He snorted. “The ones that came in today anyway.” None of the original volunteers was willing to spend that much time at work, but others had stepped forward to fill the ranks and he’d had a steady stream of fresh minds working on the problem, so far with little success.

“I don’t care about that,” Esteban growled. “I want to know what the Raven’s up to.” He hoped the cyborg had an insight into Dan’s mysterious appearance in San Francisco the previous night.

James shook when a frisson ran through his body. “That man’s an animal.”

Esteban nodded. “Yeah, but he gets results.”

James arched an eyebrow. “You didn’t see what he did to some poor Australian doctor.” His head was spinning with fatigue and over-reliance on stimulants. His legs were aching from too many days in his chair, and he’d been forgetting to wriggle his toes to avoid deep vein thrombosis.

“Doctor?”

“Yeah, some guy in Brisbane.” James grimaced. “He made a real mess.”

“Let me see.” Esteban pushed forward to squint at the tiny font on James’s monitor. “Why’s he tracking Tedman Kennedy?”

James shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t download everything or he’ll know I’m here. It started after he mutilated the doctor. Maybe he’s a friend? Someone that’ll lead him to the others?”

Esteban shook his head and swore a long string of curses under his breath. “I doubt it.” He’s changed chip. “Where is he now?”

“Uh…” James sent sluggish commands through his implant. “Hang on a second.” Esteban waited impatiently, tapping his fingers against anything nearby in a fidgety display of nerves. James ignored him and busied himself with the Raven’s thoughts. After all, they required some measure of interpretation - thoughts were a very individual thing. What one man intended to be funny, another would find insulting. And so it went with every thought that passed through the Raven’s computer. “I think he’s in Sydney.”

“You think?” Esteban was far from impressed.

“It’s not an exact science.” You should be thankful I could get anything. James was getting annoyed with Esteban’s lack of understanding. But he couldn’t be bothered educating the swine, especially while so sleep deprived.

“All right, forget it then.” Esteban stormed from the room, his gun raised and his eyes darting everywhere.

What crawled up your arse? James wondered. But his interest subsided soon after his door swung shut - he’d installed a pneumatic hinge to take care of the people who forgot to close the door behind them. He hated working with an open door and hated people who forgot to knock. What if he was in the middle of a dirty video call to his wife?

“Hey honey.” He felt drunk from lack of sleep and before he knew it, he was looking into the videophone at his wife’s beaming smile. “I was hoping you’d call.”

“Hi.” James was stunned; he didn’t remember dialling. “Are you okay?”

“I’d be better if you were here.” A