Archipelago N.Y.: Flynn (16 page)

“Congratulations,
son!” said Alan Perry. “So, you're officially one of Duncan Roth's boys now!”
Flynn's father leaned back on his chair, studying the golden badge in his
hands.

Flynn sat across
the table, watching his father closely. Alan Perry’s face was a mixture of
resignation and worry. “You don't seem too happy about it,” Flynn said after a
long pause. “And you weren't there to cheer for me, either!”

“I was at work,
son.”

“Would you be
happier if I’d failed the Trials, then?” asked Flynn, his voice heavy with
sarcasm.

“You know how I feel
about this scavenging business.”

“Yeah, Dad, I know...”
said Flynn, now glaring at his father. “You would have preferred to see me
fail, so I’d become a Watchman, like you.”

“It's a good job,
Flynn! It's safer, for a start ...”

“Oh, yeah? Look
where it got you!” said Flynn, making a sweeping gesture at the shabby room
they were sitting in. “Nowhere!”

Alan Perry said
nothing, but his eyes were full of hurt and sadness.

“C'mon Dad,” Flynn
broke the silence. “Like it or not, Duncan Roth’s my boss now!”

“And here you are,
bound for glory, so sure of yourself ...” Alan Perry shook his head, then
leaned across the table. “Just remember, son ... he’s one of them!”

“So what?” Flynn
raised his eyebrows.

“For starters…
there’re those rumors about Ann Baxter,” Alan Perry lowered his voice to almost
a whisper.

“What rumors?” asked
Flynn, surprised at hearing the woman’s name. He had no idea what his father
was talking about.

“They say the
Rottweiler was responsible for her death… They say he made her work on the really
hard dives on purpose, because she’d become inconvenient for him… She was
beginning to speak out against the Government, so he got rid of her… to save
his own job and to sit on the board with Marcus Van Zandt.”

“Are you telling
me that Duncan had Ann killed?” Flynn was shaking his head in total disbelief.

Alan Perry got up
and started pacing around the table, waving his arms. “I just don't trust him!
This man’s evil, Flynn! He’s more protocol than the Van Zandts themselves! He’s
sent more people away than...”

“Dad!” cried
Flynn, shaking his head again. “You said it yourself… It’s all rumors… This man
defended me from the Van Zandt boy today! I don't know why, but he did! And he
let me and Tony compete, despite everything Leo had told him… And I won! Are you
forgetting that?” Flynn paused and stared at his father for a long moment. “Just
when I’ve finally made it, when I’ve got a future ... you go and ruin the
moment.”

“Flynn, I'm happy
about you winning… but going up the ranks in this place is dangerous! Getting
too close to these people can be more trouble than you think… You'll never be
one of them!”

“Really?” Flynn
sprang up and kicked his chair. “Just watch me!”

“Flynn, wait…” his
father shouted after him, “I didn’t mean…”

The door flap
slammed behind Flynn’s back. The walls vibrated; a tin fell from one of the
shelves and rolled on the floor. Alan Perry closed his eyes and listened to the
sound of his son’s angry footsteps die away on the walkway outside.

“So, shall I take
the boy’s name off the List?” Vince Jordan, the burly Chief of Security, looked
up from his hand-held device.

A long, tense
silence fell over the boardroom table. Red-faced, Leo Van Zandt glared at
Duncan Roth sitting across from him. Duncan was expressionless. The other board
members shifted nervously in their seats. All eyes were on Marcus Van Zandt. He
sat at the very end, his fingers drumming on the table’s surface. “No!” he
finally said. “Winner or not, his name stays on the List! He'll probably die in
the next couple of months anyway!”

“Very well!” said
Vince, getting up to leave. “The Departure List goes out tomorrow night… My
people will start notifying the families shortly.” He was at the door, when
Marcus stopped him.

“Remember to keep
things nice and easy!” Van Zandt said with a smile. “I don't want any drama!
This should be a week of celebration!”

Vince Jordan nodded
and left.

Marcus waited
until he had closed the door. “You OK with that decision, Duncan?” he swung his
chair to face his right-hand man.

“I’ll accept it, yes,”
Duncan replied.

“Do you have a
replacement for the boy? He was on one of your winning teams.”

“I'm thinking of
someone… someone I’ve seen work with the diver.”

“I know who you're
thinking of!” Leo erupted suddenly. “You can forget about her, Duncan!”

“Leo!” Marcus Van
Zandt exclaimed, slightly puzzled by their exchange.

Duncan Roth barely
looked at the boy.

“Stop defending
him, Dad! He shouldn’t have allowed Flynn Perry to compete in the first place.
That boy’s nothing but a criminal!” Leo was now yelling, his voice shrill.

“Leave!” Marcus
sprang out of his chair, pointing at the door.

“I'm old enough to
be part of this Council!”

“You'll be
welcomed back when you learn some manners! Now go!”

The look on Leo's
face was that of a child whose toys had been unjustly taken away. His eyes were
full of helpless anger, welling up with tears. He glared at his father, his
lips trembling. Then he threw a nasty look at Duncan Roth and stormed out,
slamming the door behind him.

A moment of
silence followed Leo’s exit, then Marcus slowly eased back in his chair. “Teenagers!”
he said, rolling his eyes. “Which reminds me! Next time we meet, we should have
our Day of Pairing on the agenda… Must find Leo a fine specimen of a girl… so
he can calm down a little.” Van Zandt chuckled. “As a bonus, he’ll provide me
with some Van Zandt grandkids to keep me happy,” he added and winked at Duncan
Roth.

“I suspect Leo’s
already found himself a girl,” Duncan muttered under his breath.

But Marcus didn’t
hear him. He was back to what they had been discussing earlier. “Got any new
ideas about disposing of the people on the List?”

“Same as before,”
Duncan replied dryly. “I see no reason to change the procedure.”

“If it ain’t
broke, why fix it, right?” Van Zandt laughed. “They’re all yours, after the Departure
Ceremony’s over… I trust you’ll do as good a job as always.”

“Rest assured,
Marcus. All will go according to plan.”

“Well, then…” said
Van Zandt, turning to face his other board members, “we’ve covered the results
from the assignment trials held today… All in all, the new work force exceeds
the numbers of those who’ll be leaving us. Congratulations for a job well done,
gentlemen!”

There was a round
of applause as Marcus rose from his chair. “I guess that’ll be all for now. For
the Greater Good! You may leave.”

Madison opened one
eye just a crack. The first thing she saw was the blurry outline of a tall
figure. Slowly, her vision cleared, her eyes focused, and she realized Leo Van
Zandt was sitting cross-legged just a few feet away from the couch. Staring at
her!

“You look very
pretty in your sleep, Madison Ray!” he drawled, his lips stretching into a
lecherous smile.

Madison sat up in
a flash, fully awake now. Her fish-skin top had rolled up and twisted above her
waist, her shorts had ridden up her tights, revealing her long, tanned legs.
She must have tossed and turned a lot in her sleep… But how long had she slept?
How long had Leo been sitting here? Judging by the light outside the windows,
the day was nearly gone. Hastily, she straightened her top and pulled at her
shorts, trying to cover as much as she could of her bare flesh.

“Pity you had to
do that!” Leo’s smile widened. “I was enjoying the view!”

“Were you now?”
Madison snapped. She shot him an angry look and said, “Then you’re no different
from any common Lower Side pervert!”

“Now, now,
Madison!” Leo said, mockingly. He leaned forward, his hand reached to brush
away a loose strand of hair from Madison’s face.

But she was faster
than him. In an instant, Madison had scooted over to the far end of the couch,
her knees drawn to her chest, her arms wrapped protectively over her shins.
“Don’t touch me!” she hissed at him.

Leo’s eyebrows
shot up in surprise. The corner of his mouth twitched. He stood with his arm
outstretched, frozen in mid air for a long moment, then he let his hand fall
down. “You’re right... I’m a Van Zandt after all,” he said. “Born and bred on
the Upper Side… I should have impeccable manners...” He got up and walked over
to the table, still laid out with the untouched food. Leo took a grape, tossed
it in the air and caught it in his mouth. “To prove what a gentleman I can be, I’ll
now engage Miss Ray in polite conversation,” he drawled. “I suppose you’d like
to hear about the Trials, then? And their final outcome?” he spoke with his
mouth full, chewing, his eyes fixed on hers.

Madison’s heart
skipped a beat… Of course, she wanted to hear about the Trials! She was worried
sick about Flynn… But she wasn’t going to give Leo the pleasure of seeing it
written all over her face. She fought to suppress her emotions as she watched
him pick another grape and pop it in his mouth. Calm and relaxed, he looked
nothing like the Leo Van Zandt from the day before. The smirk on his face could
only mean his plan had worked… He had succeeded and Flynn was either
disqualified or had lost the race, or…worse, thought Madison. “What happened at
the Trials?” she asked.

“Mmm…” Leo sucked
on the grape for a moment, “these are excellent! Have you tried them?”

“Answer my
question, Leo!”

Leo picked up the
plate full of grapes, walked over and sat on the couch next to her. “Hmm, let
me think now… What did happen at the Trials?” He leaned closer, offering her
the plate. “I believe that your hero boy lost!” Leo paused for a second,
clearly enjoying the impact of his words.

Madison’s face had
gone white as a sheet.

“Not only did he
fail to win,” Leo continued, “he also tried to sabotage one of the other
contestants, and earned himself a place on the Waste Crews…So, it looks like
you won’t be seeing him again!”

Madison felt she
was going to be sick. It had all gone terribly wrong! She had betrayed Flynn…
She had chosen to protect her parents from the threat of Departure…earned them
a few more years of life on the Archipelago, but she had traded Flynn’s future
for that… condemned him to the Waste Crews… His young life was ruined! And hers
too! That was the end of it!

Leo sat in
silence, studying her face. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. “Hah! Got you
worried there for a moment, didn’t I?”

“What do you mean?”
Madison shot him an icy look, trying to regain her composure.

“I mean, I was
kidding! Your Lower Side friend’s safe … for now!”

“You’ve got a really
twisted sense of humor, Van Zandt!” Madison sprang to her feet as if stung by a
jellyfish and stepped away from the couch.

Leo was still
laughing, extremely pleased with himself. “And you’re a smart girl, Madison!
I’ve got to give you credit for what you managed to do yesterday,” he said,
pointing to her basket. “You got a message out to that Romero boy, didn’t you?”

Madison refused to
answer.

“Makes me like you
even more… You and I will make such a good match, don’t you think?”

Madison said
nothing, glaring at him.

Leo shrugged,
reached down and lifted the basket’s cover. The pigeon’s head popped up.
“Anyway…” Leo continued, as he fed the bird a piece of grape, “you’ll be
pleased to hear, Perry’s got himself a position as a Free Scavenger and a
golden badge… Not for long, though! Sooner or later, he’ll screw up, make the
wrong move, and you my dear… will help me catch him in the act!” With those
words Leo grabbed Madison’s pigeon, flicked his wrist and broke the little
bird’s neck.