Freedom Incorporated (68 page)

It was sad to
think that if New York developed much further the giga-corporations
would take an interest, target the city with advertising campaigns,
and try to weasel their way back into the economy by bumping local
businesses from the bottom rungs. When they tried, for they surely
would, the test of the locals’ integrity would begin. Would the
ruling factions accept the devil’s invitation? Would they abandon
the city they’d worked so hard to salvage from ruin?
Giga-corporations would dangle unimaginable mountains of money in
front of them if that were what it took to get a toehold. And from
there it’d all be downhill. New York may eventually reintegrate
with the rest of the country. A whimsical smile played on Dan’s
lips.
I hope the locals spit in their
faces.

He was still marvelling
at the miracle that was transforming New York when he reached
PortaNet security. In many ways, PortaNet was the lifeblood of the
capitalist world. People were so addicted to the company’s products
that they would fight to keep the wheels turning. It was imperative
that PortaNet had employees on call 24 hours, 365 days a year. A
malfunctioning portal was a looming crisis – it deserved media
attention! PortaNet therefore had an army of technicians crawling
across the globe to maintain their equipment. And that army took a
lot of co-ordination. It therefore wasn’t unreasonable to expect
some degree of activity at PortaNet headquarters on the weekend.
There was a digital sign welcoming pedestrians with company trivia.
It read, “Did you know that PortaNet is the world’s biggest
consumer of automobiles? When our reaction team responds to a
portal malfunction emergency, we use old-fashioned transportation
to get us there. That’s how we get you back online as soon as
possible. PortaNet – keeping you connected.”

The sentinels eyed him
with the hardened suspicion of seasoned guards working in the
deadliest city in the world. The local population held nothing but
animosity toward giga-corporations, which had abandoned them in
their time of need. None of the guards was a local. After their
shift, they portaled to snug little homes scattered around prettier
parts of the country. For that, they were hated. And that made them
weary of anyone who approached on foot.

“
Can we help
you sir.” His eyes narrowed to suspicious slits and he was ready to
raise his automatic rifle at the first sign of trouble. He
represented the security market that UniForce wished to conquer.
But PortaNet, as with other giga-corporations, would need much
convincing before relinquishing control of their personal security
force to an outsider.

“
I have an
appointment,” Dan replied in his clearest, calmest voice. Americans
had a tendency to disparage and distrust him for his accent. “With
Adrian Miller.”

Adrian hadn’t yet risen
high enough in PortaNet management for the guards to recognise his
name. Dan understood the drill; the guards would first check the
building’s roster to see whether Adrian was present. If he were,
they would check with reception to confirm the appointment. Only
then would they ask Dan to leave his weapons and escort him to the
meeting. It was standard security procedure.

One of the guards fiddled
with a handheld computer before shaking his head.

“
Adrian Miller
is not here sir. I suggest you get in touch with him and reconfirm
the appointment.” Despite Dan’s poor choice of attire for a
business meeting, the guard would never treat him with disrespect.
What if he were an important man? PortaNet didn’t want to impart a
poor impression of their company by allowing their guards to insult
people. But nor would he budge from his position – the job demanded
inflexibility.

That was fine with Dan,
he had what he’d come for. He would’ve preferred to have somebody
page him if Adrian turned up, but he knew that went against
protocol so he didn’t even bother to ask. The guards would only
decline; divulging the whereabouts of PortaNet personnel posed a
significant security threat.

He coerced his
face into a smile. “I’ll do that. Thanks for your time.” Then he
turned and walked briskly away before their nerves snapped and
their trigger fingers grew itchy.
But I’ll
be back.
Somebody who worked there shared
the guilt for his wife’s murder and he didn’t intend to rest until
all those responsible had paid for their sins.

Dan almost
enjoyed the stroll back to the station. The green fronds of life
were slowly unfurling, right before his eyes.
Maybe it’s worthwhile to hope after all.
And, if he could hope for the salvation of humanity, he could
hope to find Jen alive too.

His next stop was the
only home address listed on Adrian’s file. It was a long shot,
especially considering the file’s date, but in desperate times…
Assuming the information was accurate, at some point Adrian had
lived in one of the estates that had sprung up around the mountains
near Cincinnati. It was rugged country but the past three decades
had done a lot to tame it. By sheer weight of numbers, the new
estates had transformed once-picturesque landscape into a giant
suburban sprawl. A few acreages existed for the ultra-rich, but
they were the exception rather than the rule. Without cities to
concentrate human populations into tight wads, people were
discovering there was precious little land to go around. Sixteen
billion people were complaining about sixteen billion people.
PortaNet’s publicly announced solution was to seed a new planet,
and they spent trillions every year on space exploration to appease
an angry population that had no better symbol at which to focus
their fury. After all, before PortaNet introduced them to the
convenience of instant transportation, they hadn’t noticed how
crowded things were becoming. Now only the world’s wastelands, such
as Dan’s property in the desert, were free of the hubbub. And such
places, un-coincidentally, had the least attractive
brochures.

Dan wasn’t in familiar
territory. None of his forays into America had landed him near
Cincinnati and he had to guess which portal station would be
closest to his goal. He didn’t want to use PortaNet’s directory
assistance, wishing to minimise his exposure to Echelon. But with
help from the locals, he finally located the suburb, the street,
and the house.

Impressive.
It was a luxurious estate
boasting lush hedges and ample lawn – pocket money for enterprising
neighbourhood kids who’d started a mowing brigade. But nobody had
mowed it for a while and tiny yellow wildflowers were fighting for
sunshine amidst the cancerous grass. A swarm of insects was hopping
from landing pad to landing pad, gorging on the nectar flowers used
to pay for pollination services. Akin with many of the new housing
developments, the estate had no drive or garage – it had arrived in
the aftermath of the automobile craze. But it did have a garden
path, which wove lazily toward the porch. Some habits died hard.
Everyone wanted a front door, a path, and a gate.

No
security.
Dan arched an eyebrow. It made it
less likely that Adrian Miller still lived at the premises. He rang
the doorbell, one hand inconspicuously gripping his colt inside his
coat. A late-20-something male answered the door. “Yes?”

No sense
lying.
“I’m looking for Adrian
Miller.”

He looked Dan up and
down. “You don’t look like one of his friends.”

“
I’m his
boss.” Dan lifted his chin to imitate conceit. “And if I don’t find
him today he’ll have no job to return to Monday.”

He had the biggest set of
jug-ears Dan had ever seen. They looked like sails, driving him
forward against his will. “Then if you find him, you can tell him
his half of the rent is overdue.”

“
He hasn’t
been around recently?” Dan squinted.

“
Nope.” He
didn’t look like a lover. Dan suspected he was a just a roommate,
someone to help pay the bills and watch the TV with. He wore
parachute-material tracksuit pants and a baggy sweatshirt. With
white socks to complete the picture, he looked as if he were be
about to go jogging. “He hasn’t really lived here for ages. A lot
of his stuff is still here, but he only turns up, oh… maybe one
night in six.”

“
Do you know
where he stays?” Dan tried to soften the pounding in his chest. He
didn’t want to appear too desperate for the answer.

But the jug-eared
roommate shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t have the
foggiest.”

“
How about his
mobile number? I left my agenda in the office and never got around
to programming my employees into my phone.” The excuse sounded lame
to Dan, but jug-ears took the bait.

“
Yeah, sure.
Wait a sec.” He ducked back into the house. Dan could see some
furnishings from the door: spotless leather couches, a groomed
carpet, plush rugs, and an ornate mirror in the foyer. “Here it
is.” He slapped a torn corner of paper into Dan’s palm. “I tried it
yesterday but didn’t get an answer.”

“
Okay, thanks.
If I find him I’ll tell him about the rent.” Dan backed from the
house and showed himself to the gate, latching it behind
him.

*

Sunday
, September 1
9
, 2066

5:42
Sydney
,
Australia

Samantha heard the phone;
its shrill screech tugged her back to consciousness. But when she
first woke, she was too weak to do anything about it. Cookie had
wrapped his arms around her and she felt safe, warm and cosy in
their nest. She just hoped the phone would stop.

After another
few rings, it did. And she smiled into the peaceful night. It was
wondrously quiet in their safe house; nobody in the neighbourhood
had caused any problems, yet. She was just drifting back into
slumber when the ear-piercing ring started again, more irritating
that before.
Damn, whoever it is, they’re
desperate.
All she wanted was to relish the
peace.
Why can’t they give me
that?

She poked Cookie in the
ribs and he grunted, shifting away from her and creating a crevasse
of cold air that chilled her through her thin pyjamas. She snuggled
deeper under the covers and frowned at the persistence of whoever
was calling. It was up to the seventh ring already. She jabbed
Cookie again and he snorted, half-snored, and rolled over once
more. On her third attempt, she mercilessly stabbed him in his ribs
and he woke with a jolt. “What?”

“
The phone’s
ringing.”

He relaxed. “So?” And
rolled over.

“
Well aren’t
you going to get it?” Samantha prompted.

“
Hadn’t
planned on it.” Cookie took a deep breath and wriggled until he was
comfortable, turning his back to her.

Samantha’s frown
freshened. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep with the phone
ringing for the rest of the night. It was up to its twelfth ring
when she pulled back the covers and a wave of goose bumps prickled
her skin. She padded on bare feet through the unfamiliar house,
holding her hands protectively in front of her to guard against
running into things. As it was, she stubbed a little toe on the
couch and cursed luridly – and loudly. Eventually she squatted to
answer the phone… half a second too late. Nobody was on the other
end.

“
Fuck.” She
slammed the receiver onto its stand and rubbed feeling back into
her toe. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

She was halfway back to
bed when the phone screamed for her attention again, and she bit
the inside of her check to stop from cussing at the top of her
lungs. Amazingly, her voice was calm when she spoke into the
receiver. “Yes?”

“
Samantha?”

“
Who’s
this?”

“
It’s
Dan.”

“
Oh.” She was
too tired to think of anything else to say.

“
Is Cookie
there?”

“
He’s
asleep.”

“
Can you get
him for me? It’s important. I might have a way to find
Jen.”

“
Hang on a
second.” She left the receiver dangling and slapped a hand on the
light switch before navigating back to their room. She found
sadistic pleasure in jumping on the bed and shaking Cookie
awake.

“
What?” He
grumbled, frowning.

“
It’s Dan. He
want’s to speak to you.”

Cookie spent a
long time lifting the fog from his mind before standing and walking
to the lounge room. “Yes?” He wondered what was so pressing that
Dan would risk alerting the New South Wales Police
Department
and
Echelon of their whereabouts.

“
I need you to
trace a number.”

“
Hang on.”
Cookie nestled in front of his computer. “Okay, shoot.”

*

The Raven
couldn’t contain his triumphant euphoria.
Foolish, Dan. Very foolish.
A flicker
of glee trickled into his computer and traversed the nano-net to
James’s terminal. Now the Raven knew where Samantha Lee and David
Cooke were hiding.
I have a choice to
make,
he thought
rationally.
Take Dan now, while he’s alone?
Or go for the others while they have no
protection?
Uncertainty clouded his
pragmatic mind and he raised his chin to the sky, imploring an omen
to relieve him of the burden of choice. He shouldn’t be dabbling in
these matters himself. They were for higher powers to decide and he
would do whatever they entreated.