Swan Song (Book Three of the Icarus Trilogy) (35 page)

“I really don’t have anything against you, Zach, which makes it rough to see you like this.  I always kinda liked how you would joke around about the petals and the futility of it all.  Made you seem more .... realistic.  They only wanted Atlas, here.  Jones was a bonus,” he said before motioning towards Goldstein’s right.  Zachary turned to see the two men and felt a new wave of guilt.  He had led them right into this trap and there was no turning back.  There was no reset, no save point, no turning back the pages.

Goldstein had led them to death and martyrdom.

“Don’t blame Garrison, Zachary.  I’m sure you hate his guts right now, but he had his reasons.  They threatened his daughter.  Me, well, hate me all you want.  Cassie and Rick get to live, now,” Gerrig said as he uncrossed his arms and shrugged.  “Well, I’m gonna let them know that you’re up.  These two are going to have to make an appearance pretty soon,” Gerrig said before heading to the doorway.  Zachary watched him go and was confused as to what the traitor meant.  He paused as he reached the metallic door and looked over his shoulder, his expression one of sadness and guilt.

“I’m sorry, Zach.  You’re getting a raw deal.  I’ll see you in Hell,” the Mastodon said as he pushed through the doorway and turned to the left, disappearing from view as the door swung back closed.

Goldstein’s thoughts were swarming in his head.  He had thought briefly about cursing Maxwell, but he trusted what Gerrig had said.  The brute might be a traitor, but he was the honest kind.  He wouldn’t try to keep up appearances just for sympathy’s sake.  Instead, Goldstein tried to focus on the task at hand; tried to ignore the rage and emotions bubbling within him.  He worked through the motions and tried to figure out why this whole meeting had taken place.

As Zachary thought about it, he considered that the sole reason of this ambush was to get Atlas into the hands of the enemy and there were only a few options after that.  Either Montgomery was going to make an example of the man, executing him, or he would get Thomas to rescind his terrorist ways and demonize the EFI.  Neither option was good, but Zachary knew that Thomas would know how to deal with the situation.  He was prepared to die, after all.

As Goldstein tried to ignore his own fate, he was more worried about Eric Jones.  Zachary could see the beautiful man turning on them in an instant once he was threatened with pain or torture; Eric’s previous incarceration would seem like a walk in the park.  Goldstein doubted his own skills at resisting the Trade Union’s thugs; he had absolutely no confidence in the former television anchor.

Zachary tried to move over to the two unconscious bodies, but found it difficult with his limbs lashed together.  They had put plastic ties around his wrists and ankles, but Zachary pushed himself forward.  He needed to talk to these men and prepare them for what was to happen.  It was the last thing he might be able to do, so he had to make it count.

As he made his way across the concrete floor he saw Atlas starting to stir.  The guilt hit Zachary like a freight train, but he tried to ignore it; he didn’t have much time before Gerrig notified the people coming for them.  Goldstein moved past the moaning teacher and when he reached Eric, Zachary could feel the sweat starting to form on his brow.  He laughed at the situation, thinking that this was a sorry state in which to die, but he shook the thought from his mind. Goldstein nudged Eric and could hear the man groaning.

“Eric, wake up.  Wake up, you bastard!” he said, managing to shout and whisper at the same time.  After a few moments of nudging and poking, he finally saw Eric open his eyes.  The man was confused at first, the drug-induced sleep still in his eyes, but soon enough panic coursed through him and Eric tried to sit up against the wall.  In the act he pushed over Goldstein, who wanted to laugh at the situation.

“Gold – Goldstein!  What happened?” Eric asked as he looked around the room.  Zachary picked himself up and tried to sit on his knees again.  Once he did, Zachary breathed in and made eye contact with the celebrity.  He needed Eric Jones to hear every single word of this.

“We were betrayed, but that doesn’t matter anymore.  I fucked up, Eric.  Because of my stupid beliefs and my overconfidence, my hubris,” Zachary said before breathing in again.  It was difficult to admit his failure, but he had to move past it.

“There’s not much time, Eric.  They’re going to parade you and Atlas around like little playthings, like little trophies.  I need you to be strong, Eric.  I need you to realize that there are two options left to you.  You can give up, go craven and probably live through this.  They’ll want to keep you alive if I’m right.  They’ll want you to turn on the EFI, demonize us, recant what you said on
War World
.  They’ll try to turn you into the people’s figurehead against the resistance,” Zachary said, but Eric just shook his head at that.

“That’s not going to happen.  They killed Phillip, they killed my brother.  They’re not getting me to recant; they couldn’t do it last time.”

“They’re going to fucking try, Eric!  They will do anything and everything they can.  They might kill a person every day until you agree.  They might cut off bits and pieces of you that the camera can’t see.  They have an almost unlimited resource of pain and cruelty and I need....,” Goldstein said before faltering and looking at the floor again.  Eric Jones wouldn’t be in this position if not for him.  He sniffed and kept the tears from forming in his eyes before making eye contact again.  “I need you to be strong.  I need you to be the man I couldn’t be.  This is the other option.”

“You can stand up for all of your beliefs and all of your comrades.  You can do your small part, which I know is not small at all.  I’m asking you to give your life to the cause.  I’m asking you to look at a potential future and payday and all the other things they offer you and say ‘no.’  You’re going to have to be stronger than you ever thought possible and no one around you is going to sympathize.  No one around you is going to help you.  You will live and die and everyone around you is going to hate or disapprove of your actions.  I’m telling you this because I want you to know that
that
is all an illusion." 

"Everyone in the EFI, everyone in the world will be on your side.  We fought on the right side of this war, Eric.  My part in that is over, Tom’s part in that is over, but you still have one last act.  I hope you make it a good one,” Zachary said, hoping that he had said the right words.  He really didn’t have the time to convince Eric of anything.

“What are you talking about, Zachary?  Why are you talking like I’m so much more important?  You’re going to be right there with us,” Eric said, not understanding their situation.  Goldstein bit his lip and this time he couldn’t force back the tears.  He looked down at his knees and noticed from his periphery that Atlas had moved.  He ignored the development and instead looked at Eric Jones. 

“Eric, promise me that nothing that happens to me, that nothing that happens to Atlas will change your mind.  You have to be strong.  I’m telling you,” he said while sniffing and looking down at the ground again.  “You don’t want to regret this, Eric.  I’ve done plenty I regret, I know,” he said while reliving his own memories.  He didn’t want this, he didn’t want to focus on what happened, but the guilt was becoming too much. He had failed and he had indirectly killed these two men.  Zachary looked back up at Eric Jones; the one salvation left to him.  “There’s no coming back from this moment, Eric.  There are no second chances and there’s no one to apologize to if you’re not strong enough.  Live the rest of your life like there are no apologies.”

“Zachary,” Atlas said from a meter away.  Goldstein looked over at the teacher and his resolve broke.  He knew exactly what he had done and that there was no way to fix it.  The only thing left was damage control.

“God, Tom, I fucked up.  I’m so sorry,” Zachary said, but Atlas half-crawled over to him and shook his head.

“It’s ok, Zachary.  It is.  I went into this knowing this would happen.  So did Eric.  So did you, Zachary,” Atlas said, causing Goldstein to look at him through eyes brimming with tears.  “We all signed up for this sacrifice.  You don’t need this guilt,” Thomas said, that sad smile stretching across his face.  Goldstein laughed at that before looking at the ceiling in desperation.  He turned back to Atlas and shook his head.

“I thought I had everything covered, Tom.  I thought I had it all figured out,” he said, but Atlas laughed at that.

“Well, there might be something to say for that hubris, Zachary, but I’m telling you,” Thomas said before looking into Zachary’s eyes.  “I don’t blame you.”

“I don’t either.  We’ll face this together,” Eric said from his other side.  Goldstein chuckled and then moved to put his back against the wall.  He made eye contact with Thomas, who already understood what was going through Goldstein’s mind.  Zachary looked back at Eric Jones and sighed.

“We won’t, Eric.  Just....” he said as the door opened and four men came in.  He glanced at the men before realizing that he was completely out of time.  He turned back to Eric quickly and stared hard into the celebrity’s blue eyes.

“Like there are no apologies, Eric,” Goldstein said before the four men approached the prisoners.

“So Atlas and Jones, right?  What do we do with the other one?” one of the EOSF guards asked.  Gerrig was standing to the side and sighed before bringing out his sidearm.  He raised it and aimed it at Zachary’s head.

"Sorry, Zach.  Never wanted this for you," the Mastodon said with resignation.

“I’m sure you won’t be far behind me, Gerrig,” Zachary said with a sly smile before the traitor pulled the trigger and ended Goldstein's life.

“What?!  No!” Eric shouted, but two men were on top of him and dragging the celebrity to his feet.  Gerrig and one of the guards grabbed Atlas and carried them out of the room.  Eric looked over his shoulder at the merchant’s corpse and finally realized what Zachary had meant. 

Atlas and Eric Jones were meant for public display; a man like Goldstein could die in his cell.

-

So many people had come to see them die.  Most hadn’t believed it, but when the media blitz went out that the EOSF were victorious in an underground raid and were bringing Atlas to justice, it was enough to warrant some attention.  As people poured into the center of Babylon, into the empty space surrounding Montgomery’s tower, they were able to see the massive stage.  They were able to see the EOSF detachment and they were able to see the two tiny men tied up for display.  Above them was a massive screen which showed what the cameraman was recording.  Everyone in the area could see the two broken men sitting on their knees, even if it was from a window two blocks away.

Eric Jones looked to his right and saw the placid face of Thomas Xavier.  He wondered how the man was able to keep so calm and then remembered the teacher’s advice.  Eric tried to work through the process, tried to convince himself that he was going to die and no cowardice was going to save him, but it was difficult to think through it all rationally when he could hear all those people talking in front of the stage.  A very large part of him wanted to live; a very large part of him didn’t want to be on that stage waiting to die.

“Welcome, friends; citizens of our great city,” a voice rang out from loudspeakers around the clearing.  It was enough to calm the din of noise working its way through the crowd; everyone stopped speaking once that authoritative tenor rose above the clamor.  “We have special coverage of this event; special coverage of the day that the EFI, the terrorist force raging through our beautiful city, is broken.  After today we have nothing to fear, ladies and gentlemen!  After today, Atlas will no longer lurk among the shadows; no longer will he cause us to fear for our very safety!”

The voice continued, but Eric decided he didn’t want to hear it anymore.  He was getting sick to his stomach and as he looked over the crowd he saw a mixture of expressions.  Some were yelling at him, some were gleeful at this turn of events, and those faces caused the revolutionary to become fearful about this whole situation.  He didn’t understand how these people were able to live in this world and not see the EFI for what it really was; he didn’t understand how these people didn’t understand that they were fighting and dying for
them
.

However, as he looked through the faces of the crowd and started to despair, he saw one face which changed everything.  It was a young girl, not yet a teenager, looking right into his face.  She had fought her way to the very front of the crowd and Eric didn’t expect her to understand, but as the voice went on he looked into her eyes.  She wasn’t angry at him; she wasn’t calling for his death.  Eric only saw understanding in those eyes.  And he didn’t know if he was imagining it or not, the wind and noise swept the words away from her, but he thought he could see her saying something very important.

I’m sorry
.

It didn’t even matter if she had actually said it.  Once Eric had seen the girl’s mouth move like that, he understood what Goldstein had meant.  So many of these people didn’t understand, would never understand, but they would live in the world that the EFI would create.  Eric and Atlas had to be strong, had to die for a world full of people who might never understand their sacrifices.