BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) (25 page)

The last duty that
Dakota had to discharge for her boss was to make sure that River became
proficient with a firearm. The other night she had arranged with Ramesh for him
to find them a remote and private venue for some target practice. Ramesh had
invited them down to his workplace. He could usually come and go as he pleased
and access most areas. He would find Dakota someplace suitable.

Ramesh was a labour
union official at the large Freight Port in District 16. Apart from receiving a
stipend from the Union, he received a full salary as a stevedore supervisor, as
well as his salary from Shondran. The three salaries could have combined to
provide him a comfortable lifestyle. Except that Ramesh used most of these
credits to spread around amongst those that worked for him and other port
officials. His real income came as a share in the profits from theft of freight
cargo coming in and going out of the metropolis. The balance and bulk of the
profit went to Shondran who sold on the plunder. This freight port was the main
artery for the metropolis. Citadels were not wholly self sufficient, and the
balance of trade with other citadels created affluence for the elite. Thus the
organised hijack of freight was potentially one of the most troubling crimes
for the government. Shondran managed this potential by managing the scope of
the theft in order to make it appear as a manageable and acceptable loss. He
was to all intents and purposes taxing New Denver’s imports and exports but at
the same time making the tax burden seem reasonable. For this to work he had to
ensure that the theft of freight was unstoppable and unsolvable. And that
required the control the labour force of the Port with an iron fist. Very few
crimes involving theft of freight were ever solved. There were never any
witnesses or pertinent video evidence. If anyone did get caught, they continued
to plead innocence and ignorant of any conspiracy despite any conviction. They
or there families were looked after. This fostered a solid unbreakable code of
silence and mutual solidarity and support amongst freight stevedores. Shondran
put his own men up for election to the freight labour union and they were
always elected unopposed. Ramesh was one of these officials and his work at the
port was like a franchise for Shondran’s interests.

River drove again under
Dakota’s insistence. Thankfully the auto guidance system knew how to get to the
main freight port. The security at the perimeter gates called through to Ramesh
and then directed them to a vehicle park where he would meet them. Ramesh
collected them in one of the ports open jeeps which were so useful at covering
the large acreage of the port above ground. He drove them to a south western
section of the port where the stacked freight that looked like it was not moved
too often.

“This is long stay
cargo awaiting reassignment or completing order issue. So there is not a lot of
traffic over in these parts. See those stacks over there. They are empty cans.
I have set up a range in one of the longer ones.” Ramesh left the jeep where it
was and walked the last 50 yards with Dakota and River to the target container.
“I don’t want to make it obvious where we are but other than that we have
perfect privacy here.” And as if to prove his point, he emptied his clip of
five bullets into the faint target shapes positioned at the end of the 100 ft
container. When he switched on the lights, he commended himself on hitting his
target three times. “Shooting in the dark is a useful skill for a freight
hijacker,” Ramesh stated and he turned to River to enquire, “Have you fired a
gun before?”

River was unapologetic,
“No, we have no use for them.”

“Who is the ‘we’?”

“The Hopi”

“I am half Hopi just
like you and I need a gun,” insisted Ramesh.

“I thought you were
Cheyenne,” said River seeming confused.

“Half” 

“You don’t act like a
Hopi.”

“You don’t act like a
gangster. Maybe you should stop talking and learn to fire a gun,” Ramesh handed
River a loaded pistol and stood close beside him offering tips and advice. “Don’t
pull the trigger with your index. Use that finger to point. It’s a natural
target finder. Extend your arm fully and hold the gun straight and not
sideways. Now point that index finger at the target, relax, breathe slowly and
squeeze the trigger.” River let one off and appeared a bit shocked by the
recoil. Ramesh watched his actions and then viewed the hit which was high on
the target. “Now anticipate that recoil force and adjust for it and loose off
the rest in the chamber.” River squeezed six times in quick succession. The last
one indicated that the chamber was empty and he was out of ammo. Ramesh looked
impressed by his control and nodded at Dakota.

“Check the target,
Ramesh. That is a tight grouping of five,” as Dakota suggested, Ramesh looked and
was genuinely surprised at the accuracy and grouping.   

“Okay hot shot,” said
Ramesh picking up a remote control. “I am going to spin each target around at
random. When you see one move, then shoot it and I will spin the next one.” Ramesh
stood slightly behind River and started to tap the remote each time making a
different one of the five targets turn around. River allowed his natural
reflexes to take over. All he had to do was point fast and he fired on
instinct. Ramesh watched River react almost in synchronicity to his own target
selections and so started to vary his timing but inevitably finished on a quick
furious burst of target changes. River maintained his synchronised timing not
even allowing Ramesh the opportunity to check the targets.

Dakota had been
checking those. “My man’s a natural bona fide gangster,” she whooped. “In your
face, Ramesh”

“I’m pleased for you
Mrs. Cactus. Your husband can shoot,” Ramesh joked.

“Us Hopi’s must be
naturals,” River said inclusively to Ramesh.

“Well if Mr and Mrs
Cactus don’t need me anymore, I will be heading back to work, down under.” Ramesh
had accentuated the words ‘down under’ suggesting that the prospect was a real
drag.

“Do you go down in the
tunnels?”

“Often,” Ramesh
affirmed.

“Is it true, that
hijacker’s store stolen freight in unused ground exit tunnels running from the
main tunnel network,” said River remembering Nathan’s confession to Deputy
Lyons at the west gate of the Wall.

“That is a strange
question. No. Who told you that?”

“Just an ex-friend”

“No, that would not
make sense; we need the freight here, not in some remote exit tunnel to the
wilderness.”

“So these exit tunnels
do exist?”

“Oh yeah, but they are
securely locked down, and a long way away.”

“Could I get down to
the tunnels?” enquired River furtively.

“I don’t think Shondran
wants you involved in this freight cargo business; at least not for a good
while until he feels he can trust you.”

 “What if it wasn’t to
do with business?” River enquired gingerly.

“Are you planning on
making a run for the hills, or your reservation?” Ramesh said sardonically. He
was not at all happy with River’s line of questioning or suggestive motives.

“Wouldn’t you? You were
born out there,” River challenged Ramesh.

“I was a child. There
is nothing out there for me now.” Ramesh stared intently at River now, “Nor for
you my brother. You have got it made here. You have a beautiful girl here,”
Ramesh winked at Dakota. “You make easy credits, and you don’t have to do much
to get them. Why would you want to go?”

“Maybe because I feel
this is not right for us. Nothing is natural or un-tampered with here. Not even
the water. If you stay here your spirit will become corrupted or twisted. You
live here in a world of control and suppression where you only have the
illusion of choice.” River spoke freely and his words had surprised both his
fellow ex natives.

“If by the spirit you
mean the soul, I agree with you brother. I may be a criminal and do
questionable things but I am a religious man and a believer. I know that the
Devil will throw all manner of temptations and troubles your way. He seeks to
corrupt your soul but if you believe in the redeemer it doesn’t matter about
what happens in this world because you will be saved in the next. You don’t
need to escape from New Denver. You need to escape from this world.” Now it was
Ramesh’s turn to astound both Dakota and River. Neither of them would have
considered that Ramesh was even remotely religious.

“I am surprised to hear
you speak like this Ramesh. Those are not native beliefs,” stated River.

“Damn Ramesh. I am
surprised that you got a religion at all. Where did you pick up all that flim
flam anyway,” said Dakota.

“Pasteur Eli from my
congregation”

“I’ve heard of that
man. He has a big following,” said Dakota.

“What is the background
of this man Eli?” enquired River.

“He was an outlander
who came in voluntarily about 15 years ago. He is not a native, but he
understands us. He used to live in a native community outside. They didn’t
appreciate him like the natives here do.”

“My fathers name was
Eli. He used to live in our mixed community of natives and non natives. He was
a religious man and a Pasteur. He left me, my mother and my brother and sister
about fifteen years ago.”

Dakota and Ramesh
stared blankly at River. They were speechless.

Nathan was sure that he
had recognised his son as the intruder at the CPS Headquarters. However he
wasn’t certain, and nor had he shared this suspicion with Ray Scott or anyone
else. Even if he was right, he was quietly confident that no one else would
recognise his son’s particular walk or body language. Despite this, the need to
know for sure, and the need to ascertain Anton’s motives became paramount on
Nathan’s mind. A couple of days had passed since he first suspected his son,
but one evening Nathan decided to question his son. This would require him to
shoot his taser into his leg whilst he exercised out on the roof terrace. It
took him all of five minutes to recover from the pain and discomfort, but
Valerie didn’t even notice as he hobbled past her and knocked on his son’s
bedroom door.

Anton opened his door
to find his father limping and looking like he was in some discomfort.

“Anton, I have disabled
my audio-visual recording for the next 25 minutes. I have to ask you this. Were
you the imposter that used fake Marekh Guild credentials to gain access to the
CPS Headquarters?”

“No. I don’t know what
you are talking about,” Anton answered defensively.

“Please don’t lie. Tell
me the truth son. We haven’t got long to talk freely,” Nathan was pleading with
his son and Anton felt empathy for his father’s anguished state.

“I erased the GPS
locations that were stored on the holo-messenger. River had told me about what
you did with him on your last adventure outside. He told me that a man named
Hassun had taken the holo-messenger back to his community. It stored the
location of that hidden community which incriminated you.”

“I understand. You are
saying that when I took it back off him, it implicated me for not reporting
that I had met with another outlander. Very good son; I didn’t realise that,” Nathan
seemed both impressed and relieved.

“Have you got the GPS
coordinates of his settlement?” Nathan couldn’t help but ask.

“No I deleted it so
they remain hidden,” Anton glared at his father in mistrust.

“You are still looking
out for his needs then,” Nathan’s statement was part challenge.

“Shouldn’t you be? You
brought him here. He is stuck here now and may be in trouble. Did you ever
consider that he was innocent?” Anton’s reply was a full challenge.

“I know Audrina may not
have been telling the whole truth, but River was sleeping with your sister in
our home.” Nathan felt that Anton’s rose tinted view of River’s actions needed
some redressing.

“I knew that. She
started it. Then she got pissed off with him. She only said that he raped her
when she felt bullied by you for an answer. You seemed determined to have him
arrested to save yourself.”

Nathan seemed pensive
as he considered his Anton’s words, “Son, why do you think I roughed him up and
told him not to come back? I knew I was saving his life; I had to. I think Ray
intercepted him on purpose when he was arrested and made sure that he could
escape. I don’t know for sure because we haven’t been able to talk to each
other.”

“I can fix that for you
so that neither of you will need to shoot yourselves in the leg again,” Anton
was being facetious. “…I have been working on an application program for you
which will create a time freeze. It will stop recording audio-visual data in
real time for periods of up to 60 minutes at a time. You can engage it and stop
it with a simple command and then an algorithm calculates the missing time
sequence and pads out and extends all other time sequences in the prior data that
do not involve dialogue. So it can overlay and cover up the missing time
period. I can patch it into your processor this evening. Ray just needs to come
over here, and his is even simpler for me as his data processor is external.”

“I very proud of you
Anton; you are very smart and you have a good heart. I think sometimes that I
am only beginning to know you...” Nathan spoke with real sincerity, “…And I
reckon I still don’t understand your mother or your sister.”

“Do you even know where
Audrina is now?” Anton knew, but he wondered if his father did. 

“She is staying over at
a friend’s place,” Nathan replied as if he was answering a rhetorical question.

“She is renting her own
place Dad. She won’t come back here,” Anton was both relieved to get this out
in the open but he also wanted to challenge his father’s lack of understanding
of the situation.

“Oh Lord, what are we
going to tell your mother?”

“That is your problem,”
Anton had something else that he wanted to say but was unsure whether to broach
the subject. “Can I trust you Dad?”

“Of course you can
Anton.”

“I know where River is.
I have been able to track his identity bracelet.”

“Oh no, If that can be
done then that means that Naighal and Psych-Ops can find him,” Nathan seemed
genuinely concerned for River’s safety.

“No it doesn’t Dad. He
has cloned another identity. They won’t be able to find him by his identity
bracelet, and they can’t do what I can do.”

Nathan was just
beginning to really appreciate his son’s skill set. He also very much admired
his insight and understanding. “Anton we will look for him together and help
him. I am proud of you son.”