The Road to Hell (28 page)
Authors: Peter Cawdron
Tags: #science fiction dark, #detective, #cyber punk, #thriller action, #detective crime, #sci fi drama, #political adventure fiction book, #science fiction adventure, #cyberpunk books, #science fiction action adventure, #sci fi thriller, #science fiction time travel, #cyberpunk, #sci fi action, #sci fi, #science fiction action, #futuristic action thriller, #sci fi action adventure, #political authority, #political conspiracy
"Hang in there," said Harrison. "You're going to be OK."
"You're a lousy liar, Harry."
Harrison held his hand, squeezing his fingers. Olivia found a first aid kit and started rummaging through it looking for bandages.
“
We did good out there today,” said Kane. “Showed those young punks they can't mess with the old dog.”
“
Yes, we did,” replied Harrison softly.
Kane's grip was easing. His eyelids drooped.
“
I never was any good at apologies, Harry.”
“
Nope, you weren't,” said Harrison with a smile. “But you're getting better at it. It just takes a little practice.”
Kane smiled. His eyes closed and his body fell limp.
Olivia ripped open a large gauss pad and went to say something but it was too late.
Kane was dead.
The End
In the aftermath of the senate inquiry into the covert activities of the council no fewer than four thousand people were arrested, the council was disbanded and a date was set for the election of a renewed senate. General elections to establish congress and elect a president were set to follow within two years.
Justice Dianora was sentenced to death for his role in the murders of Senator Johannes and the journalists Lincoln Thomas and Lisa Crawford. Kane was posthumously awarded the senate medal of valour and was buried alongside Senator Johannes in the Arlington Memorial Cemetery.
Olivia, Taylor and Susan moved to Europe to escape the subsequent media focus. Taylor worked at CERN, assisting research in the field of chronological causality.
Harrison and Rosie lived off media engagements while providing celebrity endorsements for a variety of products. After a few months, Rosie returned to New New Orleans to care for her ageing mother while Harrison settled in San Francisco.
Brains ran for president.
The two major themes in this novel are blind trust and the conflict between loyalty and honesty. Having seen both these in my own life and within society at large, particularly since 9-11, I wanted to try to capture that tension in a novel, along with the sense of ambiguity that often surrounds these concepts in life. And so I deliberately made Harrison, the hero of the story, a womaniser, while Kane, the bad guy, has a sense of integrity. Like the German clerk in World War II that so dutifully and blindly processed the paperwork for the trains running to Auschwitz, Kane is sincere in his loyalty and dedication. The moral of the story: Loyalty should never be at the expense of honesty.
If you enjoyed this novel, please take the time to write a review at Smashwords or Amazon as I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. In fact, if you hated it, write one as well, as I'm sure there's some learning in there for me.
