BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) (27 page)

There was the sound of
a man making a commotion and shouting in the depot that he had just left. Isa
began to jog along aware that the man had probably realised his coat was
missing. He headed for a set of doors in one corner of the vast underground
hanger but before he could make it. He felt his legs collapse from under him. A
security guard had appeared from a small side office and had fired a stun shot
into Isa’s leg. The man ran over and pulled Isa’s arms behind his back and
secured them with a cable tie. He then pulled him to his feet and frog marched
him into his small office.

Isa chose not to answer
the guard’s questions. He decided that he would wait till he was taken above
ground and then attempt to escape. It appeared that this guard was tied down to
this location and was waiting for an escort to come and collect Isa. They both
waited and sure enough two security officers walked into the small room. One
had a helmet and visor on and the other had a peaked cap pulled down hiding his
face. The guard saw them only briefly before he realised that he had a problem,
but one strike of an electric whip made him comfortably numb and unconscious.
The two men took a brief look at Isa observing his tied hands and restrained
position. They figured that he was not a problem and walked out of the office.
Perhaps fifteen minutes had past before anyone returned. It was the man wearing
the full face helmet and another wearing a similar face covering who joined
him. This second man was obviously the supervisor of the first, and he soon
took charge barking muffled questions at Isa. He was obviously a more serious
threat than the security guard and was expecting an answer, and so Isa thought
he might tell the truth.

“I am from outside. I
am trying to get into the citadel to find my brother.”

“Who is your brother?”
the leader barked through his closed helmet.

“His name is River. He
is Hopi like me. He is…” Isa was interrupted by the man interrogating him.

“He is a complete pain
in the arse. That is what your brother is!” and the leader turned to his
subordinate and instructed, “Take this guy with you and put him into one of the
boosted containers. We are taking him up with us.”

Isa was confused by the
turn of events. He had been led on a long march around the perimeter of the
large cargo bay by a guard with a drawn weapon. They were heading to a
particular area in which manic activity was taking place. Here, there were many
guys with helmets obscuring their faces operating mobile cargo lifters and small
cranes. Many containers had their doors wide open and some were being emptied
while others were being filled. One man was giving instructions to the others
whilst simultaneously tapping in serials on a hand held device. He was
obviously directing these local operations but otherwise appeared unremarkable.
Isa’s guard spoke to him and passed on the instructions which he had been given
by the boss-man back in the security guards office.

“When you have filled
the next container, put him inside too, he is going topside and make sure the
boss gets the serial.”

And as per instruction,
Isa found himself locked inside a tightly packed thirty foot container with
just enough room to sit down when the doors were sealed. There followed a lot
of abrupt clunky movements which gave him concern that he might end up crushed
by the heavy unsecured load that he shared this large metal can with. There was
much movement to follow and then long periods of waiting. Isa wondered if they
had forgotten about him. He was also honing his senses in preparation of
seizing the first opportunity to escape.

When the doors finally
opened, he abandoned all thoughts of escape. The goal of his intended search in
this metropolis was standing right in front of him with his arms outstretched
in welcome. He looked very different to Isa. He was immaculately turned out in
an expensive fashion suit and shoes. His hair was styled in a flamboyant cut
that just seemed vain to Isa. 

“I cannot believe you
found your way here,” said River looking incredulously at his brother.

“I cannot believe I
found you so quickly,” replied Isa.

“You can thank my
friend Ramesh for finding you. Apparently you had already got yourself into
trouble and he saved your ass.”

“Is he the man that
imprisoned me in this metal can?”

“No he is the man that
heisted you along with some other fine cargo. I got here as quickly as I could
once he had called me. Come with me, they need to reseal this and move it.”

River placed his arm
around his brother’s shoulder and walked him towards the vehicle park. He
pointed out to Isa that he had never yet been allowed underground. “Do you know
how long my boss has been refusing my request to take part on a freight hijack,
and my brother beats me to it.”

“You have a boss?” Isa
was amused by the concept.

“Yes although it is
probably best that I don’t introduce you to him yet. He wouldn’t be happy to
know that you were a witness to a heist. But otherwise your timing is good. I
started renting an apartment this week. You can stay there but I will need to
get you set up with an electronic identity and some cash. However you may need
to work for the boss in order to get these…”

Isa interrupted River, “I
do not want any of these things you mention.”

River gave Isa a
penetrating stare, “Why are you here Isa?”

Isa studied River as if
examining how he was altered, “Why don’t you know?”

River did know, “My
pledge to meet you at lizard ridge; I didn’t make it, so you followed your
promise to come here,” River was visibly touched by Isa’s loyalty. “I did not
forget. I did try Isa, but I got into trouble and was no longer able to freely
leave.”

“If I can get in, we
can get out. You are leaving with me this time. No arguments.”

River was always
impressed by Isa’s conviction and straightforward outlook, but on this occasion
he felt that his brother’s simple outlander values were at best naïve.

“I don’t know yet what
you went through to get here, but I am telling brother, it will be much more
difficult to go back by the same method you came here. We may not be able to
get back underground.”

“Will you come with me
though?”

“Yes brother. I will
come with you. And it is so good to see you,” River had now made his pledge; he
was committed to leave now.

River took Isa to his
rented apartment which was in East Filton. He drove him there in style in a
plush executive sedan. Isa preferred to sit up front with his brother. He was
not overly impressed with the car or by his surroundings on the journey from
the transit port. The citadel seemed to hold no interest for him at all. He
acted single minded in his desire to leave immediately or as soon as possible.

River realised that he
was running late and had to leave as soon as possible too. Earlier today he had
collected the plush sedan from long term parking and was already due at the
Mira Belle to collect Shondran. He was going to be chauffeuring him and the
Mexican across the metropolis to a conference and leisure hotel where they
would be spending the weekend.  Shondran had already contacted his communicator
twice on route and River had declined to take both calls. He figured the boss
was probably getting a little anxious; after all he had been going on about
this trip for the last fortnight.

The timing couldn’t
have been worse but River explained to Isa that he would only be gone for a few
days, and that he would be sending a friend over today to babysit him in a
manner. He explained to him that he was going to require a chaperone. With no
identity implant, he wouldn’t be able to pay for anything, access any services,
use a communicator, or even access entry to the apartment. 

Before he left, River
tried to make Isa as comfortable as possible. He walked him around the
apartment and showed him how to operate different appliances and facilities
which were mostly new to him as well. He had only recently moved in, and moved
out of the Mira Belle at the same time. He loved the privacy and security of
having his own place. However there were other factors involved. River felt
that he needed some space apart from Dakota. He had not given her the address
of this apartment as he didn’t want her staying over. Although she worked for
Shondran, he was pretty certain that she had his best interests at heart. But
that was the problem; she was a little too fond of him which made him
increasingly uncomfortable as he knew he couldn’t reciprocate her affection.

The surprise arrival of
Isa changed this dynamic though. He realised that he needed Dakota’s help and
he contacted her as he set off on route for the Mira Belle. She was pleased to
get his call, and happier to get his address and access credentials. She told
him she would head over later and meet his brother Isa.

River realised that
this was only a short term fix. He knew that Isa would require Tiberius’s false
identity services. However, he knew that he would have to square Isa’s arrival
with Shondran before Tiberius would ever oblige. And he could think of no way
to run that by him. In fact River was nervous about Shondran even meeting Isa.
It was possible that he would view his arrival during a freight hijacking as a
major security threat.

Meanwhile back in the
apartment, Isa was literally climbing up the walls. He had no interest in using
any electronic device, eating any processed food, and was so bored at not being
allowed outside, that he had climbed out of the window on this fourth floor
apartment and climbed up to the flat roof. There he felt much more relaxed and
comfortable watching the outside world and street life below. Isa didn’t want
to meet Shondran either, nor Dakota or anyone else at all. He was just
impatient to start the return leg of his journey back to Avana with River in
tow. 

Ramon Cortez walked
through the public restaurant of the Mira Belle careful not to spill the coffee
he was carrying for his boss. He was a man of much smaller stature than many of
Shondran's other bodyguards but he commanded respect among his peers for his
quick thinking intellect and ruthlessness. He also had a ruthless loyalty to
Shondran. He would kill or be killed for him. Despite this, he often felt
sidelined by some of his other lieutenants who felt that they shared a cultural
bond with their Navajo boss. He was actually jealous of their native ancestry.
Being of Mexican ancestry, he liked to point out that there was a lot of Aztec
blood in him, and that the ancestors of the Aztecs were related to those of the
Navajos having both emerged from a mythical underground land called Atzlan.
Despite this, nobody referred to him as an Aztec. Behind his back everyone just
called him the Mexican.

He found his boss
packed and ready to leave and waiting outside his ground floor office with two
other bodyguards. The change in his attire from casual to formal was drastic.
He was attired in a business suit which looked expensive, and made him come
across like a different person. Cortez was wearing his best suit as well
because he would be accompanying him today.

“River called and said
he will be here with the sedan within 5 minutes,” Cortez's words were of little
comfort to Shondran who always felt anxious whilst waiting to travel anywhere.

“Did he say why he is
late?”

“Yeah, he apologised
and said that he got held up by a security operation closing the district 17
turnpike when he was collecting the vehicle.”

Shondran noted the
excuse. He had already conducted his own search for River after he had been
unable to contact his communicator twice earlier on. His personal data
interface had identified that River had checked in this morning with gate
security at the transit port in district 16. This excuse which he had just
supplied to Cortez didn’t correlate with that. He didn’t appreciate any of his
men switching off their communicators. He had even less tolerance for liars.
And right now he was unhappy about being held up for 40 minutes when he just
wanted to leave. He walked over to mirror and checked himself over once again
to settle his angst and maintain his composure and control.  

The problem with being
in charge was that everybody looked to you to solve their problems. You had
power over other people; the power to instil fear, or the power to help. So
once people were comfortable with you being in charge, they all sought some kind
of help from you. Those that weren’t comfortable with you being in charge
either didn’t know you, or hadn’t learnt to fear you. If you crossed paths with
them they would invariably try and test you. So you had to take dominion over
them, before they tried to destroy you. Once you had assumed control over them,
they too would eventually come to you seeking your help against someone they
feared less than you. It was a self perpetuating circle.

Sometimes the burden of
everybody looking to you for either help or direction seemed intolerable.
However the discipline of tolerating it was character building and the reward
was power.

Shondran reminded
himself of this as he adjusted his shirt collar in the mirror. He could also
see Cortez and Bronson and Carter in the peripheral field of the mirror. Even
now they were looking at him for some kind of direction like pet dogs wondering
if he might be taking them out for a walk soon. They were all good loyal
soldiers and reliable men but none of them were true enforcers. He remembered
his friend Shaun who had acted as his enforcer. He was initially so loyal that
it seemed logical to make him his right hand man. He had placed a lot of trust
in him and could rely on him. He acted with full power of attorney and
dispensed discipline, fear and justice on his behalf. Shaun was his confident
and confessor. However as he placed more trust and authority in him, there was
more than a degree of power exchange. It was inevitable that his friend would
make a move against him. After all, Shaun was his confident and the only person
who knew his weaknesses. He was the last man whom he had personally killed. He
didn’t like anyone to refer to him or mention his name now, and he had learnt
to never share power or trust an enforcer again. A leader had to be seen to
enact his own justice and confide in no one. The real price of losing a
confident was the burden of having to carry your own problems without being
able to share them.

That was except for his
brethren in the Lodge. Over the years, they had proved to be trustworthy and
loyal to each other. There were many amongst the other 32 men and women that
you could feel safe confiding in. It didn’t mean that you needed to incriminate
yourself by telling them specific secrets. However on a more general level,
these were fellow leaders who also shared both the benefits and isolation of
power. And there were no gangsters amongst them apart from a few senior law
enforcers.

He noticed Cortez and
Carter taking the cases out to the front and realised that River must have
arrived with the sedan. There was enough time for one call though, and engaging
his communicator he placed a call to the CPS headquarters.

“Commander Salford”
came the reply from the direct extension.

“Alex, how are you?”
Shondran asked rhetorically but with warmth.

“Barry, Is that you?”

“Yes Alex, I just want
to verify my man's story. Could you check something for me? I want to know if
you had any security incidents closing the district 17 turnpike earlier today.”

“I don’t think so but I
can check that out for you and get back to you. Is everything else okay?”

“Well now that you
mention it, I have been getting a lot of interest from some of your uniformed
officers recently making enquiries throughout downtown.”

“Well that is unusual
Security Operations and Organised Crime are intelligence gatherers, they don’t
usually make face to face enquiries.”

“They are not just
SOOC, some officers displayed biomedical credentials on their warrants.”

“Really that is
unusual. They would be Psych-Ops medical officers. I will make some discreet
enquiries and find out what’s their interest in your operation.”

“Thank you Alex, you
are always most helpful and I will let your commissioner know that when I see
him today.”

Shondran closed the
call as he approached the parked sedan. The smoked glass hid the occupants, but
there was no surprise to find Cortez in the back and River acting as chauffeur.
He addressed them both as he got in.

“Now I don’t want
either of you two to embarrass me this weekend by acting like criminals. So
don’t refer to me as Shondran, my name for this trip is Citizen Barry Hearne,
but you can call me boss. I don’t want any talk about anything illegal or any
mention of any of our business interests, club names, or anyone's names. As far
as anyone needs to know, I am a businessman in the import-export context. I am
allowed one bodyguard which will be you Ramon, and one chauffeur which is you,
River. So act the parts gentlemen. You are going to be in the company of some
very influential people. They will expect you to be discreet, quiet and in the
background. Any questions?”

Both Cortez and River
looked to each other then pronouncedly shook their heads. Shondran nodded to
River signalling him to set off. The coordinates to the Colorado Heights
Leisure Resort had already been set and River acted the chauffeur for the first
few minutes before allowing the auto-drive to kick in. 

Cortez was a quiet man,
and generally would speak only when spoken to. Shondran had chosen him as his
personal bodyguard on this trip because of these qualities and also because he
could count on his loyalty. He had chosen River as chauffeur to act as his back
up bodyguard. He had several reasons for doing so. He considered River as his
most able personal bodyguard and had been pleased so far by his service in this
respect. River was also an obvious choice for him because this was a legal
venture, and he still considered River as not yet ready for any criminal
activity or undertakings. River was a wild card whom he didn't really trust. He
still couldn't make up his mind about his loyalty and trustworthiness, and he
hoped that this weekend would help him evaluate and come to a decision on the
matter. Right now he had a question for him, “So how come, we couldn’t contact
you on your communicator earlier.”

“It was probably that
security incident closing the district 17 turnpike. I think they were using
signal jammers.”

Shondran listened to
what he assumed was yet another lie. He decided that this wasn't the right time
to ask him what he was doing down at the port this morning. There would be
plenty of time to confront him later. He wasn’t happy with him though, and he
stared watching the back of his head slowly disappear as he closed the darkened
glass partition between the driver’s compartment and his own.

When they arrived at
the conference hotel, the sedan pulled up in front of the foyer and he got out
accompanied by Cortez. They were met by a hospitality concierge who directed
them to some comfortable seating whilst he booked them in and arranged their
convention passes. Refreshments had been provided for them and Shondran drank a
glass of bourbon and stared at River as he entered the lobby. He briefly
examined his new expensive suit and designer automated luggage holdall which
discreetly tracked his movements and followed close behind. It occurred to him
how much this man had changed since he was in his employment. He looked both
urbane and suave and now had a very contemporary youthful hairstyle. He didn’t
look like a chauffeur, but then he didn’t look like an outlander either, nor
did he talk like one anymore. River with his light complexion looked less like
an indigenous native than Ramon did. However he still thought like an
outlander; like some accidental tourist who was still keeping an eye on the
departure schedules. It was difficult to trust him.

The Hotel was built in
a Spanish architectural style with most rooms having small balconies
overlooking a large inner courtyard. The top floor had fewer hotel suites to allow
for personalised adjoining rooftop gardens. When River got the call after
breakfast to join Shondran in his suite, he realised that his personalisation
theme was golf. It wasn’t apparent at first because outside his veranda he had
a 30ft swimming pool in which he had recently been lounging as evident by his
wet shorts. However at the flick of a switch a sturdy floor of Astroturf rolled
out across to hide the pool completely. Then the new veranda setting became a
putting green. Shondran took two putting irons from a nearby golf bag and
offered one to River, “Do you play?”

“I have played golf
virtually.”

“Well that’s better
than nothing. Ramon doesn’t play at all. He doesn’t understand it.”

Shondran placed his
ball about 15 feet from the sinkhole he was aiming for. His shot fell short but
he got it in two. River placed his ball likewise and overshot substantially. In
fact it took quite a few shots before River felt he could begin to master it.
Shondran however had seen enough and suggested that they move on to a driving
range which was next to the resort's golf course.

They didn’t need to
take the sedan, but instead drove over in a golf buggy. Shondran was now
wearing respectable golfing attire whilst River's stylish suit now made him
look out of place. As they took up positions next to each other on the raised
driving platform, they started whacking longer shots with the heavy pitching
irons. The sun which was behind them was getting higher, and as they pitched
due west the open vista was stunning. The citadel wall was only a mile or so in
front of them. Normally if you were that close, it would totally dominate the
view. However there appeared to be a large breach in this particular section of
wall due west of them. So instead they could see far into the distance. The
view this late morning was stunning as the sunlight illuminated the Rocky
Mountains in the distance. They switched over to driving clubs and competed on
long distance shots with each other.

“I have an important
game of golf tomorrow, so I need to practice. And I would like you to be my
caddy for that game.”

“Of course Boss,
although I didn’t imagine golf would be your game,” pointed out River.

“Golf is the perfect
medium for business. You have privacy and solace, and sportsman's rules to observe
which gives you a measure of whom you are dealing with.”

One of Shondran's
drives swept much further out and to the left. The ball seemed to disappear and
at the same time the view seemed to shimmer. The distraction was enough to make
them both forget what they were talking about and Shondran sharply changed the
topic, “What is your interest in the transit port?”

“My friend works there,”
replied River defensively.

“Ramesh hmm, and that
is your only reason?”

“No Boss, I would also
like to see the underground complex and tunnels; and one day I would like to
work on a heist with the others,” River replied sheepishly.

“So you want to become
a criminal like Ramesh, or a gangster like me.”