Freedom Incorporated (79 page)

The neighbourhood was the
perfect cover, for which he couldn’t have been happier – the kind
of deserted urban landscape he thrived in. A raven’s paradise.
Ravens haunted deserted and barren landscapes. He was a human
raven, so it made sense that he’d operate best in barren human
environments.

Still, it was
a dismal place.
So
desolate.
Hideous, pitiable creatures
scratched a forlorn existence from the rubble.
Why do they bother?
He couldn’t
honestly answer that question; it was beyond his capacity for
reason.

The Raven was crouching
in an abandoned house, which someone had deliberately converted
into a dump, or so it seemed. Someone had mistaken a corner of the
room for a latrine and defecated there many times, leaving a huge
pile of shit. So the air reeked, but he could filter that
distasteful sense through his embedded computer, attenuating his
disgust at his surroundings. Indeed, the overpowering stench made
it the perfect place to hide. Nobody would voluntarily come within
50 metres of the rancid hole. The flies were worse. They buzzed
incessantly and frequently landed on him with their shit-caked
feet. Yet he had a good vantage to observe the house where Dan and
the others were hiding.

Due to an alarming lack
of video equipment installed in this area of the city, the Raven
was relying primarily upon his eyes – something that made him
intensely uncomfortable. It was easier to trust cameras and he
could use them to observe multiple angles simultaneously. Now he
felt hampered, but accepted the assignment conditions without
complaint.

The omen however… that
was something else entirely. It frustrated him greatly that his
protector hadn’t given him permission to swoop while his quarries
had been apart. And still he was waiting. He was willing to take
them all if the omen would just give him the opportunity. The house
didn’t deter him. He’d accessed the schematics from the New South
Wales Police Department’s database and he knew where contractors
had skimped to complete the contract on time and budget. There were
always vulnerabilities. It was just a matter of knowing where they
were and how to exploit them.

So the Raven waited, and
watched.

*

Sunday
, September 1
9
, 2066

9:49
Sydney
,
Australia

Jen and Samantha embraced
as soon as they saw each other, though Samantha was the only one to
shed tears as the pent up tension from the past several days came
rushing to a blissful conclusion. She just couldn’t contain the
overwhelming urge to cry. She didn’t know why, but it felt
good.

“
Shh,” Jen
soothed her. “I’m okay, I promise.”

Samantha wasn’t so easily
reassured. “Are you? Really? Did they hurt you? I swear if
they-”

“
Most of them
already are,” Jen said. “Dead I mean.”

Except for
Esteban,
Dan thought bitingly.
I still have to remedy that.

“
I’m fine,”
Jen was saying. “Really.”

Samantha’s relief came
with another torrent of tears, which required both Jen and Cookie
to soothe. Dan and Simon just felt awkward, watching the reunion
uncomfortably from the kitchen. But they stayed respectfully silent
instead of whitewashing the moment with sarcastic or light-hearted
remarks.

The headaches and nausea,
Jen’s constant companions, were gone. Though she had the uneasy
feeling another bout was near. She’d learned to recognise the
preliminary signs and didn’t want to be standing when the next
round struck. “I have to lie down.”

“
Come on
then.” Samantha began helping her to the bedroom. “You need
rest.”

“
Dan?” Jen
turned back to him. “Can you come?”

He hid his surprise well.
“Sure,” he said nonchalantly and followed her into the second
bedroom where Samantha was helping her into bed.

“
It’s the
drugs, I’m going through withdrawals,” Jen explained.

“
Drugs?”
Samantha’s eyes popped wide. “Did they addict you to
something?”

Jen shrugged. “I s’pose
so.” It was a disturbing thought but it’d been fact for long enough
that she no longer flinched. “They’re wearing off I think. They
injected me twice. Once at the start and once last night, I think.”
Time was a blur and she couldn’t be sure. She didn’t even know with
any degree of certainty what day it was.

“
Is there
anything we can do?” Dan asked, as concerned as Samantha. “Do you
want to go to hospital?”

She gently
shook her head. “No, I’m on top of it. Give me another few hours
and I’ll be fine.”
I
hope.
That was what she’d been telling
herself all along, so that’s what she’d come to believe.

Samantha reassuringly
squeezed her hand. She knew when she wasn’t welcome. “I’ll leave
you two alone then.” And she closed the door on her way
out.

They remained silent for
a long time, studying each other. Jen had wondered what she’d feel
if she ever saw Dan again, knowing that he’d killed Adrian Miller.
She wondered whether Dan knew Adrian was trying to help. But she
surprised herself with her reaction. She didn’t care. It didn’t
seem to matter a damn.

Dan read her thoughts, or
part of them. “You’re thinking about what I did to
Miller.”

“
Yeah.” She
nodded. “I suppose I am.”

Dan nodded too, but
mutely. He didn’t blame her for holding it against him.

“
I wanted you
to know that it doesn’t matter,” Jen said, trying to get the words
out before the next wave of gut-wrenching nausea.

“
It doesn’t?”
Dan frowned, not sure he understood. “But I killed him and carved
a… that doesn’t disturb you?”

“
A little,”
Jen admitted. “But I think I would’ve done the same if I were
you.”

Dan absorbed
the news. He wanted to reassure her too; he wanted to say that it
didn’t matter to him if they’d raped her.
Doesn’t matter?
Dan began to
frown.
They’re not the right words. I
mean, it doesn’t bother me… No, that’s wrong too. I mean, I should
say: I think no less of you.
Deep down he
believed Esteban had raped her, but he couldn’t broach the subject
with his mind so muddled; he didn’t want it to come out
wrong.
Maybe later.

“
I just wanted
you to know, that’s all,” she said as her limbs began to twist with
pain.

“
Thank you,
Jen.” And he sat beside her throughout the tremors, offering
comfort by talking about trivial things in a soothing voice until
she fell asleep.

*

Sunday
, September 1
9
, 2066

16:55
Sydney
,
Australia

The Raven
fumed. He was starting to wonder whether his spiritual protector
deliberately intended to vex him before setting him loose.
If that’s true, it’s working.
He’d killed Dan a thousand times in his mind and imagined
nuclear warheads detonating on the house. He was hungry and
irritable, not the perfect frame of mind for carefully planned
slaughter.

Hurry up, damn
you.

*

Sunday
, September 1
9
, 2066

19:12
Sydney
,
Australia

Jen emerged to the sound
of laughter and, for a moment, she wasn’t sure where she was. The
ceiling was different. Then she remembered and it all came back in
a rush that left her giddy with relief. The laughter was from
Cookie; she recognised his voice now and smiled at his distinctive
mid-breath rasp.

For the first time in
days, she felt rested. And safe.

And
hungry.
It felt as though her stomach was a
bottomless pit. She staggered out to the kitchen where the others
were hunching around the table, an open box of cold pizza in the
middle.

“
Hey, Jen,
how’re you feeling?” It was Dan and he gallantly helped her to a
seat.

“
Much better,”
she said, looking hungrily at the pizza.

Samantha read her mind
and nuked two slices in the microwave before setting the plate in
front of her. “Here, you need to eat.”

Jen made short work of
the first slice and vowed to eat the second more leisurely – but
then quickly forgot. She spoke around a mouthful of pepperoni and
ham. “So what’s happening?”

Nobody
answered.

That means
something bad.
“What?” The half-eaten slice
of pizza remained anxiously frozen in front of her mouth. She hated
waiting for bad news.

“
We’re waiting
for three o’clock,” Dan said cryptically.

“
In the
morning?”

Dan nodded.

“
What happens
then?” Jen wanted to know, suspecting she wouldn’t like the
answer.

Dan took a long, deep
breath before saying, “None of us will be safe unless we finish
this, and it won’t be over until we deal with UniForce.”

Jen had a
sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Escaping the Guild had
been the easy half of the equation – she still had to remove the
threat of future kidnappings. And that meant neutralising Esteban
and most of the UniForce management team. There were no other
options.
And fleeing?
She scoffed. That was a temporary fix, which would ultimately
lead to a fragmented patchwork of a life. Because once she began
running, she knew she would never stop. Her life was in tatters and
the only way to recover a semblance of order was to smash the
instrument of doom itself.

“
What’re you
planning to do?” Jen asked. “You must have some idea.”

“
We do.” Dan
raised his palm to accolade Cookie. “Maestro here’s found enough
dirt on UniForce management to put them all away for life.” Which
wouldn’t be long – and an infestation of viruses wouldn’t kill
them. The instant the other prisoners discovered who they were,
inmates would take great pleasure in butchering them. “We can’t
legally arrest them,” Dan admitted. That was the darker side of
jurisdiction and international law raising its ugly head. “But we
have enough for a convincing bluff.”

“
A bluff?” Jen
couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re joking!”

“
No.” Dan
wished he were. “We can’t arrest them. It’d take weeks to get
authorisation for that. And if we tried, they’d pull strings to
block it.” Dan shook his head. “All we have is bluff. But it’s a
convincing one. You should see some of the stuff Cookie
unearthed.”

“
So… what
exactly are you planning?” Jen repeated, trying to wrap her mind
around Dan’s ludicrous suggestion. “March into UniForce
headquarters, walk past security and blackmail our way to
freedom?”

Dan shrugged. “UniForce
security isn’t as good as you might think.”

Jen laughed and wiped a
tear of mirth from her eye before saying, “They’ll know you’re
bluffing. They know they can make us disappear.”

“
I can be
convincing,” Dan said almost inaudibly. “So can my
Colt.”

So if bluff
doesn’t work, you’ll threaten?
Jen pinched
the bridge of her nose, desperate to find another solution. “We
can’t run, can we?”

“
Where to?”
Dan asked. “For how long do you think we’ll be safe? I can assure
you Esteban won’t rest until we’re dead. And the Raven’s probably
tracking us down now.” He had no idea how close he was to the
truth. “Before, when you were just another target to apprehend,
running was an option. But now? Well… now it’s
different.”

Jen felt
miserable. The hope for the future that she’d cultivated after
escaping the Guild was faltering. She’d imagined a future that
included both of them.
Somewhere warm… by
the beach. With a boat…
It was a fabulous
dream, but that’s all it was – a dream. The real future looked
bleak. But Jen didn’t intend to pass on her one opportunity to turn
her dream into reality. She gritted her teeth and said, “Then I’m
coming.”

Dan glanced at Simon and
saw they shared doubts. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea
Jen.”

“
Why?” She
arched a regal eyebrow and brushed her hair behind her ears.
“Because I’m a woman?”

“
No.” Dan
uncompromisingly shook his head. “Because you need to
rest.”

“
I’m fine.” It
was true, she felt fine. The pizza was working wonders, fuelling
her rapid recovery. Besides, there were seven and a half hours to
rest. “I’m coming,” she repeated with conviction, glowering at them
each in turn and daring them to demur.

Dan opened his mouth as
if to speak but remained silent when he saw her determination. It
wasn’t just in her eyes, it radiated from her whole body. So nobody
objected. They whittled the hours away with light conversation,
which periodically returned to what they’d do with their lives
after settling the score with UniForce – the corporation charged,
ironically, with making the planet a safer place for
all.