Inescapable (2 page)

‘Seriously?’
Fox asked. ‘It’s going that far, that fast?’

‘Especially in
the protectorates, there is a
very
significant rise in
liberal, minimal government sympathies. United Anarchy has made
some inroads into the popular cognitive ecology, but even without
that there is a definite shift which is likely to see the local
policing legislation going through this year. We know that Wayden
Executive Services is pushing that forward and putting money into
having the same sort of vote happen for the metro areas. We need to
be ready.’

Fox frowned.
‘Currently non-metro regions can handle their own policing, more or
less, if they wish. Many of them employ some sort of private
security because they don’t get enough support from NAPA. The
larger buildings in the metro regions are allowed to do the same.
Palladium handles security for all of MarTech’s buildings,
right?’

‘Yes, but if
these votes go through, NAPA will be reduced to a standards
organisation and the judiciary. They would handle prisons as well,
but there is a separate vote going through which calls for the
privatisation of the prisons. People will
have
to supply
their own policing service because there won’t
be
a
government one.’

‘Palladium
needs to be able to meet that demand,’ Jackson stated. ‘Ryan is
doing a good job of overseeing what could be seen as the
street-level policing requirements, but we also need an
investigative solution.’

‘I’m not a
manager, Jackson. I don’t know how to organise a company. I
investigate crimes and I’ve been known to rescue the odd hostage,
but I’m not a manager. I don’t
want
to be a manager.’

‘Setting aside
the fact that you have far more organisational skill than you
believe, we did point out that we have
no
real talent in
this area currently, yes?’

‘Well,
yes.’

‘So do you
really think we can afford to have someone sitting around in an
office working out where to find more like her? No. We’re giving
you a fancy title with “chief” at the beginning of it, but you
are
the investigative division until we can get more people
on board. And even then we’ll want geographically dispersed
resources to maximise coverage and minimise response times. You’ll
be doing real work, in the field, until you want to stop.’ He
grinned. ‘And we have
all
the best toys.’

‘Your Kitsune
AI can help you with the corporate stuff,’ Hoarsen said. ‘Terri and
her people have done a wonderful job on that model. We have a
standard skill package which should help her with corporate
acclimatisation, and we
do
intend to run you both through
the basic induction.’

‘And the
not-so-basic one,’ Eaves added. ‘We want you to spend a few days on
the Moon, and at the L-four facility, you’ll get your chance to
meet Graves in Chicago.’

Fox gave a sigh
and gulped down some coffee. The robot noted her cup was empty and
came to supply more. ‘Okay, so… When does the fun start?’

‘As soon as we
have your signature on some documents,’ Jackson said, grinning
brightly. ‘I have to admit I was a
little
worried you’d turn
around and walk out.’

‘To be honest,
I’m not sure why I’ve not. Except that I told my parents that you
had to actually put your foot down and
do
something if you
want to make the world a better place, and I guess that’s what
we’re doing.’

‘I’m not sure
we’re making it better,’ Jarvis said, his brow furrowing a little.
‘If we’re lucky, sure, but for now I’m going to be a happy man if
we can stop it getting worse.’

~~~

‘Okay, so you’ve put
the main offices of Palladium in Chicago,’ Fox said, ‘but you want
the investigative division operated from here?’ She was looking at
organisation charts and maps projected into the viron around them
that almost obscured the real walls of the conference room.
Palladium had a presence in every MarTech-owned structure on and
off the planet, but it had one large office in the arcology in
Chicago.

‘We have the
main research labs here,’ Jackson replied. ‘For now, that’s your
forensics department. When the new tower comes online, which is due
to start happening late August and into September, we’ll put in a
purpose-built facility there, but it’s still better to have it near
primary R and D.’

‘And we thought
you’d prefer to stay in this metro,’ Hoarsen said.

‘Well, yeah,’
Fox admitted. ‘I’ve just got myself settled and I do kind of like
the area.’

‘But we should
consider when we’re going to move you into one of the towers here,’
Jarvis said. ‘It’s a policy thing. We like our people, especially
the ranking ones, to be housed in company buildings.’

Fox’s brow
furrowed. ‘Like I said, I just got settled. I’ve got the apartment
the way I want. I like the view. I have a good neighbour and he
doesn’t work for MarTech so there’s no moving us both. If I’m not
moving to Chicago, I’d prefer to stay where I am.’

‘It’s a
security issue,’ Jarvis replied, setting his face, brows narrowed,
lips thinning a little; he was expecting an argument, which
probably meant that he had read her profile.

‘I believe,’
Jackson said as Fox opened her mouth, ‘that the situation can be
handled suitably. If Fox is moving, I’d prefer her to move into the
new building, which will not be ready for a few months. Moving her
to one of the others and then moving again is a waste of time and
resource. We’ll wait and see how things are working out in
August.’

‘That’s… That
should be workable,’ Jarvis said, nodding.

Fox looked at
Jackson. The man was planning something. Maybe he was just trying
to keep the peace and hoping to wear her down. ‘Yeah, we can work
something out on that timescale, I’m sure.’

‘We’ve been at
this for six hours,’ Hoarsen said, ‘and if I have any more coffee,
I won’t sleep until Thursday. Let’s call it a day. Fox can, I’m
sure, use a little time to get her head around the procedures we’re
foisting on her, and I’d imagine everyone would like to get home
tonight.’ Fox considered it a major step forward that they were all
calling her by her nickname now.

Jackson
shrugged. ‘I’m more or less home, and Teresa is up in Jenner
Station.’

Hoarsen’s mouth
opened a fraction, just enough to suggest to Fox that she had
wanted to say something which she had changed her mind about. ‘Give
her a call. You’re allowed to call your daughter even if it’s not
about work, you know?’

‘True. I hate
the light lag, but… I wouldn’t mind getting her take on the latest
reports anyway. Thank you, Mariel. You always know how to cheer me
up.’

This time Fox
was sure she saw a flicker of something like regret on the woman’s
face, and that was something that would need checking out, but for
now… ‘I think I could use some acclimatisation time, yes. I’ll go
over all these charts and procedures with Kit tomorrow, and
then…’

‘Then,’ Eaves
said, ‘we’ll get together via telepresence and start talking over
how we’re going to integrate investigation into the rest of
Palladium.’

‘All
virtual?’

‘We’ll get you
over to Chicago at some point, but most of us prefer to work from
home when we can.’

‘I love taking
meetings in my bra and panties,’ Vaughn said, giggling and
immediately turning scarlet. ‘Uh, that’s a joke, obviously.’

Fox shrugged.
‘Works for me, and I’m sure your underwear is very tasteful.’

~~~

Fox did like the view
from the window of her apartment. Her opinion of it was, she had to
admit, a minority one. The building was on the Esplanade,
overlooking the Hudson, and across the water was the grey mass of
the Jersey Housing Combine. To the left, she should have been able
to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, but those were
obscured by the growing grey wall of the Hudson North Barrier, one
of the wall-and-lock structures being erected to hold the Atlantic
back from New York. It, like the rest of the flood defences, was
still under construction and that was one reason that she had an
apartment with a window for the same rent as one of the interior
suites. Okay, so losing the view would not be a major hit to her
standard of living…

Sam Clarion had
the next apartment down her corridor. His window was a screen. ‘I
don’t see why you wouldn’t move into one of their arcs,’ he said as
he sipped wine on her sofa. ‘That view is
not
worth it. I
bet you could get something overlooking all the rich bastards in
Brightwaters and Islip.’

‘The view from
a kilometre up is not that great,’ Fox replied. ‘Why do you think
Jackson has his suite overlooking the interior park?’

‘It’s a good
point.’ He seemed to consider that for a second and then nodded. ‘I
must admit that I’ve had a few clients with top-level arcology
apartments and I guess the view’s not
that
great from that
far up.’

Fox, standing
at the window, looked back at him. ‘You’ve had clients in places
like that and they let you out of bed to look out the window?’ Sam
was the kind of man who you would, Fox thought, keep in bed, naked,
as much as possible. He had the body of a god, one of the really
fit, Greek ones, but with better-sculpted genitalia, and there were
also not too many Greek gods with Chinese ancestry.

‘Being a
prostitute is not all deep penetration and acrobatic displays of
technique, you know?’ He was smirking. ‘Besides, most of the ones
in that kind of situation are paying me for more than sex and
companionship.’

‘I’m surprised
people in that situation don’t have their own bodyguards.’

‘You would be
amazed at how few people consider that kind of thing necessary
until they receive some sort of threat.’

‘Huh… Actually,
no, I’d believe that. I used to have to deal with the ones where
they didn’t take precautions even after the threat. Or didn’t know
to take care of themselves in places they should have avoided.’

‘People,’ Sam
said sagely, ‘can be idiots.’

‘True. Want to
go out for dinner tonight? I’m not entirely sure I want to stay
in.’

‘Sorry, I’m
working tonight.’

‘Acrobatic sex
or guardian escort?’

‘More the
former, but I don’t usually need to be that acrobatic. Felix isn’t
that energetic, but he’s a nice guy. Lost his partner about two
years ago. Sometimes he just wants the company.’

Fox gave her
friend a grin. ‘I know the feeling. I guess I’ll stay home and
study organisation charts.’

~~~

The area had been
called Hell’s Kitchen until the Manhattan Conservation District had
been formed. Now everything between 42
^nd
and
125
^th
was just the MCD, unless you counted Central Park,
which still bore its full name. Close to the park you were in the
domain of the conspicuously wealthy, those who had money and liked
to demonstrate they had it, but to either end was a buffer zone
which kept the normal folks away from the wealthy. The rents and
property values were still fairly high, the area fairly exclusive,
but Felix Kenan’s grandfather had owned the land he lived on: he
loved the place, and loved the area.

Sam did not
love the area or Felix, but he did like them both. Here, there
seemed to be more life than in the areas closer to the park. Felix
was a likeable old man, well into his eighties. His partner of
thirty years had died of an undetected neurological condition and
Felix had decided that he would not look for anyone else to share
the remainder of his life with. He was letting himself age
naturally and not worrying over his health so much, but he was also
not denying himself physically. Sam liked his visits to Felix’s
place because, with increasing frequency, the old man was happy to
simply sit and talk, revelling in the company of a handsome man.
Back in the day, Felix claimed, he had torn up the town with his
looker of a husband and there were always stories of their
exploits, some of them difficult to believe.

Felix’s house
had been put up on the site of his grandfather’s old house during
the redevelopment carried out in the 2030s. It was a modern
structure with a shell of brick. It was large for one man, that was
true, and Sam knew that Felix had turned down more than one offer
for the land, but it was a beautiful house with reasonable
security. Sam stood at the door and buzzed for attention, and there
was an immediate response from the building’s AI.

‘Mister
Clarion, you are expected, but Mister Kenan is not currently in the
house.’ The voice was soft, masculine, and warm, but there was a
hint of flatness to it which Sam knew came from its nature. Felix
refused to use more complicated operating software than a class 2
AI and those were barely capable of even faking emotion. ‘My
instructions are to make you comfortable until his return.’ There
was a click as the door unlatched. ‘Please enter and wait in the
lounge. Would you like coffee?’

Sam pushed the
door open and stepped inside. ‘Thank you. I’ll wait for Felix. Do
you know when he’ll be back?’

There was a
pause, which seemed odd. ‘Mister Kenan did not tell me. Mister
Kenan did not tell me he would be leaving, but he is not here.’

Sam frowned
and, because he habitually carried a weapon, slipped his gun from
where it was hidden in his coat. Something seemed wrong, out of
place. The AI was behaving strangely and there was something… What
was it? There was something he was sensing which was making him
nervous. He got as far as crossing the hall and opening the lounge
door before he realised what it was: a scent of copper overlaid
with the acid sting of urine. Felix Kenan was lying in a pool of
blood in the middle of his lounge floor.

~~~

Fox squeezed the bridge
of her nose and then lay back against the sofa, staring up at the
ceiling. ‘I am starting to wonder what the Hell I’ve got myself
into here.’