Reason For Vengeance (Dark Vengeance Book 1)
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Authors: Adrian D Roberts
Reason for Vengeance
Book One of Dark Vengeance
By Adrian D. Roberts
December 2014 Edition
Cover by Matt Hubel - [email protected]
Copyright © 2014 Adrian D. Roberts
The right of Adrian Roberts to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
For Willow
I hope you enjoy reading this when you are older, as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Graham, Richard and my Mum for taking the time out of their busy lives to read, edit, critique and encourage. I could never have done this without you.
The gun vibrated slightly in William’s hand. The screw spun down into its slot, too fast for the eye to track. His hand moved quickly to the second slot, the next screw popping automatically into place. The gun vibrated and the second screw was in. Third, then fourth, fifth and sixth.
William stepped back. His left hand selected a full magazine, his right ejected the empty one from his gun. The engine in front of him had already moved on and a second slid up. One, two, three, four, five and six screws. Next engine and on it went. For William the moves were automatic, with almost no thought needed.
His eyes were on the work in front of him, but what he wanted to do, was look at the person who stood to his side. Zhanna Huang, with her own gun loaded and ready. At one hundred and fifty or so centimetres, she was at least forty shorter than him and he towered over her. Yet there was something in her smile, the one she always gave him as they swapped places every day. Something that he found very attractive.
A piercing whistle cut through the noise of the factory. William finished the engine he was working on and stepped back. Zhanna slid smoothly past him with her smile and nod.
“Morning,” William said, but she didn’t hear. She never did, it was just too loud.
With a shake of his head, he placed the gun on its rack and joined the mass of men and women who were leaving the assembly line. There was little room between the marks painted on the floor to display the walkway. It was a slow shuffle as they all made their way out. Rough, woven sheets hung over the entrance to dampen the noise.
“Will, Will!” shouted a voice from behind. He looked back and although taller than most around him, he couldn’t see whoever was calling him. A ripple passed through the crowd and when it reached William, Guido Neumueller slid out of the press of bodies.
“Looking forward to it?” Guido asked.
“Absolutely,” William answered with a big grin.
“If only we can get out of here in time.” Guido hopped a couple of times to try and see over heads of those in front of them.
“Don’t worry. We’re only two stops on the Underground from Sywell Park. The march doesn’t start for another two hours.”
“Yeah, but we’re missing the speeches.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” laughed William. “They’ll all be repeated when we get to Temple Square, right there in front of the Senate, where the Privileged have to listen.”
“Did you give Zhanna the note?”
William felt his cheeks heat up. “No, but I said good morning.”
“You said, good morning. As if she can hear anything on the line.”
“I’ll give it to her tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Guido rolled his eyes. “We’ve been on that line for ten hours a day, seven days a week, for five years. We’re nineteen and you still haven’t been out with anyone for what? A year?”
William shrugged and looked away. “Ten months,” he said quietly.
“Alright then, ten months. Numera was a great girl. I liked her almost as much as you did but she’s gone. It’s time to move on.”
“She’s not gone!” William rounded on his friend. “She froze to death.”
It was Guido’s turn to look away. “I’m sorry... Look that’s why we’re going today. Someone’s got to stand up to them. How can they fly through space when we freeze and starve?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that.”
While they talked, the crowd made its way out of the factory, down the steps to the underground and onto the platform.
“A lot of people are going to the rally, I guess.” William said to change the subject. “More people here than normal.”
“Bloody protestors,” an old woman said loudly from beside them. “I’ll never get a seat now. Waste of time if you ask me.”
“Why?” William asked. “Last I heard, there are going to be over a million people marching today. We pay our taxes, we vote, they have to listen to that many people protesting over the injustices in our society.”
“Really?” She answered and glanced at the train timetable. “It looks like we a few minutes, so let me fill you in on a few facts of life here in the Pantheon. The Privileged have all the money, they have Life X, so they can live for centuries and they have all the power. It has not changed in over fifteen hundred years ago. They have never allowed anything to upset their lifestyle in all that time. Why would they now?”
Shrugging a little uncomfortably, William hadn’t expected to get into a full discussion on the crowded platform. He thought carefully before answering.
“They’re politicians. We won’t vote for them again if they don’t listen.”
“But who would you vote for instead?” the woman countered. “Laycock is our Senator. Say he doesn’t work towards making life fairer. What do you do? You don’t vote for him, but who would you vote for?”
“Whoever is running against him who’s pushing for change,” Guido pointed out.
“You two are too young to remember this, but that’s exactly what Laycock promised, when he was campaigning for his seat. Nothing has ever come of it. It’s what they all promise, but they never come through.”
“We need our own candidate then,” William said. “Someone from the Ghettos who understands the problems we face every day. Wages that barely give you enough to get by. People struggle with heating, let alone being able to pay for doctors and schools.”
“Hah,” the woman shook her head. “No Manual would have a chance. You need a one hundred thousand sovereign deposit just to run. If you don’t spend millions telling people you are the one for them, you’ll never get the votes. Our politicians are all from the Privileged because they’re the only ones who can afford it.” The train rumbled into the platform and the crowd surged forward. “Good luck boys, but trust me, it’ll do no good.” She said before getting lost in the press of bodies.
“She was a bundle of laughs, wasn’t she?” Guido grumbled as they packed themselves shoulder to shoulder with everyone else onto the train.
“Yeah,” William replied as the train pulled off. They rode in silence. William didn’t feel like talking as he thought about what the woman had said.
“Come on, Will. Shake it off. We’re here now and will you look at it.” Guido said in wonder. They had left the confines of the Underground and arrived at the Park. They stood on a slight hill and William took in the vast swathe of humanity stretching in all directions. Sywell was the biggest park in the Ghetto of Zeus, an open space cleared by common assent for this one event. All the people who scratched a living and made their homes in the park, were offered temporary accommodation in flats throughout the Ghetto by volunteers
“We want to know how far people have travelled, so send your home city or planet to our number on the datanet.” A woman called out to the crowd from a central stage. “Let’s see what we’ve got. It’s not a surprise that many of you live right here in this great city we call Zeus.” A cheer went up as she said the name. “But look at this. We have someone all the way from Macedonia! That’s sixty light years from here in Olympus. It would take you seventeen days by courier and I bet they didn’t do that. No, they would have hitched a spot on a tramp freighter, for a nice leisurely trip, and these people would have been on it for forty-three days!” She emphasised the number for extra effect.
“Forty-three days people and that’s only if it’s a direct flight. No freighter would do that, so I can guarantee you it stopped at Babylon and Atlantis on the way. With the layovers to deliver and collect cargo, they would have been on that freighter for sixty-eight days. You can bet not one of the Privileged would do that. Even the poorest of them would be able to afford a direct route on a passenger liner going twice as fast. More likely they would just use the family yacht!” The crowd jeered.
“Let’s go over there,” Guido pointed to the side of the park. “That’s where they’ll lead us off from. We can be near the front.”
“I thought you wanted to hear the speeches?”
“Ah, you were right. They’ll all be repeated at the Square. Besides, they’re almost finished.”
“Come on then,” William told his friend and strode forward. “Try and keep up!” His far longer legs covered the distance easily and Guido was practically running to stay with him. The closer they got, the thicker the crowd was, so they couldn’t make it all the way to the front. More people tried to come in from behind, but there was only so far forward people could go. The pressure around the boys increased as the speakers continued to whip up the crowd.
It seemed like an eternity in that jostling mass of humanity, though it was probably no more than fifteen of twenty minutes. A cheer came from the front and rippled its way back through the crowd. When it arrived with William and Guido, the pressure in front of them eased and the crowd began to move forward. Banners started to appear all around as people found the room to raise them.
FAIR PAY FOR FAIR WORK, EQUALITY THROUGHOUT HUMANITY and MANUALS NOT ANIMALS were displayed. People began chanting and William and Guido joined in enthusiastically. Their voices rose up with all the others to the calls of “Teach us and we will learn” and “Labour is entitled to all it creates!”
The protest made its slow way through the Ghetto and up onto the Speedway leading to the centre of Zeus. The massive, twelve lane permacrete road was suspended above the drab buildings of the Ghettos. William was sure elsewhere, those not involved in the protest, were swearing just as the woman on the Underground had. With this Speedway shut, there would be traffic jams created all over the City.
The Privileged of course wouldn’t be affected, not with their aircars able to fly wherever they wanted to go. All the Manuals could afford were the basic four and two wheeled vehicles that had been around forever.
“The sky is a right not a Privilege!” William shouted and was pleased when others around him took it up.
The shining towers of the Privileged, stretching high up into the sky, could be seen ahead of them. A cheer went up as people caught sight of these gleaming spires. William added his own voice to it along with Guido. There was their destination, in sight at last.
The crowd filled the Speedway from edge to edge. Some people even made it up on to the high surrounding walls, walking seemingly oblivious to the two hundred metre drop at their side. Interspaced throughout the crowd were vans handing out bottles and ration bars. William saw there was no selfishness, in the relaxed and convivial atmosphere, people passed on the food and water. They only stopped when those around them all had a share.
Stretching his long arms, William felt tired, they had been walking for hours and this was after his normal ten hour night shift at the factory. The energy of those around him sustained him, helped by the plentiful supply of food and drink. This protest was years in the planning. Millions of people, from across the Pantheon, gave what little they could afford. so it could go ahead.
Without really trying, William and Guido crept forward, closer to the vanguard of the protest. William’s long stride with Guido’s matching pace, from much practise, brought them only a couple of hundred metres from the front. Taller than most around him, William caught sight of something that didn’t seem right.
They were approaching the off ramp to the centre of Zeus. Beyond were barriers closing the road. William expected that and he could see traffic moving up onto the Speedway on the other side. What concerned him, were the barriers themselves and those in front of them. The barriers were one metre high permacrete blocks. Behind them sat armoured Zeus Police aircars with their lights flashing.
Standing in a line in front of the barriers were members of the Zeus Police. They stood two and a half metres tall in their gleaming silver riot armour. It was a reduced down version of the Legions Fully Powered Body Armour William had only seen in holovids. Large two metre tall riot shields were bolted to each of the officer’s left arms, with gas and foam launchers across their shoulders.
From those same holovids, William recognised the Quad Pulse Cannons mounted on their right arms. A chill went up his spine. He realised that was far too heavy a weaponry for deployment for mere crowd control.
“Something’s not right.”
“What was that, Will?” Guido asked, peering up at his friend.
“I said, something’s not right,” William repeated a bit louder.
“What do you mean?”
“There’s police in full riot gear ahead on the Speedway.”
“Oh.” Guido paused, too short to see for himself. “Maybe it’s to stop us going too far and into traffic. We’re going down the off ramp.”
“I guess.” Ahead William could see a commotion among the organisers leading the crowd and that worried him. The off ramp looked clear, but it curved down and to the right, out of sight. Then William caught something, a flash of reflected red and blue.
“They’ve shut the off ramp.” William stopped suddenly only to be forced forward by those behind.
The chants continued, “Vampires! Our blood sustains you!” Shaking himself as he felt sick to his stomach, William grabbed Guido’s arm.
“I think they’ve shut the off ramp and those riot police have Pulse Cannons!”
