BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) (9 page)

River had been awake
since the early hours of dawn. He had watched the initial rays of sunlight
passing through the bevelled edges of the thick security glass windows. This
had created a wonderful prism effect on the white walls of his hospital room.
That effect had stopped once the sun had reached higher in the sky. It was the
first Sunrise River had witnessed since he had been brought to the Blue Horse
City. That was many weeks ago and he had spent the balance of his time either
locked up in the windowless cell in the custody of Rangers, or here in this
hospital room. There was no other view worth seeing from his window, and
nothing to hold his attention as the hours passed apart from the occasional
visits from Dr. Khan and his nursing staff. Dr. Khan had explained to him just
how close he had come to death with a temperature that had reached critical
levels. He had also explained to him that it was caused by an allergic reaction
to the implant that he had received. River had only come out of sedation late yesterday.
Apparently he was still out cold when his friend Nathan Carlson had visited him
earlier on. He hoped that he was coming back soon as he was beginning to feel
once more like he was a prisoner.

When he next saw the
Major’s familiar black uniform it was being worn by a shorter and stockier man
in his 30s, who accompanied Dr Khan into the room.

“Citizen Eli River, my
name is Sergeant Scott. Major Carlson has asked me to come and collect you. He
is sorry that he couldn’t be here in person but he is busy right now. Dr Khan
here tells me that all your vitals are normal and that he can discharge you. Do
you think you could get dressed? We can go as soon as you are ready,” Sgt.
Scott’s speech was very direct and purposeful. His tone was neither friendly nor
unfriendly.

River nodded and was
already reaching for his clothes as Sgt. Scott continued “Citizen River, I am
aware that you currently have no personal identity implant which is going to
cause you a few logistical problems getting about.”

“What kind of problems?”
asked River.

“Nothing will work for
you” said the sergeant. “Most doors won’t open for you, devices will not
recognise you, and you will have no way of paying for anything. However, we
have a temporary solution to get around this,” The Sergeant took a thick silver
metallic bracelet and firmly placed it around River’s right wrist. “This is a
custody bracelet which allows me to override any person’s ID privileges and
permissions; which in your present situation is none. However, it also allows me
to delegate some basic permissions to you, whilst you are in my custody. These
are what we use when we arrest people.”

“So I am under arrest?”
enquired River.

“Only technically,
Citizen River. It means that we have to stay together until I get you booked in
to a CPSC, and then we can take it off and find an alternative.”

“CPSC?” enquired River

 Sgt. Scott noticed
that River was dressed now and ready to go and he turned to face Dr Khan. -“Doctor,
thank you for your assistance,” and to River, “Come on Sir, I will explain
later; lets go!”

River followed Sgt.
Scott past the ward reception and to a lift which took them down to a basement
level transport park. The vehicle with the bold black and white livery of the
Office of Interior stood out and was obviously their ride. River was asked to
sit in the back.

“Citizens Protection
and Security Centre, a CPSC,” Sgt. Scott was talking whilst driving. “You will
find then dotted all about the metropolis. They act as custody centres and
public access points for citizens dealing with the Office of Interior. You will
find a mixed selection of patrolmen, community police, enforcement guards, and
public service officers down there.”

“Is Major Carlson
there?” enquired River.

“No Citizen River, He
is a Security Officer, intelligence police like me. We are based at the C.P.S.
HQ in Central. The Citizens Protection and Security Headquarters,” Scott
pronounced the words slowly as if explaining to a child. “We don’t usually work
out of the local CPSC, but I cannot take you to headquarters because you
wouldn’t be allowed in, with or without that bracelet. Major Carlson will be
meeting us later at the local CPSC in District Eight.”

River listened whilst
he stared out of his passenger window. The vehicle had climbed steeply and joined
a Major transport route quite high off the ground. There was a lot of traffic
but each vehicle kept equidistance from each other, and held to a straight
invisible path at a constant speed. From this height he had a good view of the
passing scenery which switched between a city high rise sky line, to raised
parks and green spaces, and to tunnels passing through large buildings and
Major constructions. River turned to face the Sgt. Scott who had turned around
in his seat to talk. He noticed that the man was no longer holding the steering
wheel or operating any of the controls.

“How is this vehicle
driving if you don’t operate it, sergeant?”

“As soon as vehicle
joins a Major transport path, an automatic pilot kicks in. It is a safety issue
Citizen River. It prevents any accidents. The vehicle either follows a
pre-programmed route or it finds the quickest route to the destination. Of
course I can manually over ride the auto pilot because this is an enforcement
vehicle. But if there is no need, you may as well just let the vehicle take you
where you want to go, or switch it to manual on the side roads when you want to
park up or make a manoeuvre.”

“My name is River, not
Citizen, not Eli, just River.”

“So you don’t use Eli
as a first name either. Is River an Indian native name then? My wife is a
second generation Navajo.”

“I was named Eli after
my father” explained River. “He was a religious man, not a native, but a white
man like you. My people who are Hopi later called me Paayu which is Hopi for
river. They said that it described my nature which is both determined and
flexible. Are there many Navajo or other natives here?”

“There are many,” the
sergeant confirmed. “Most of them live downtown in the higher district numbers.
Generally speaking they don’t fare so well here in the metropolis. They are
mostly lower social status. For some reason they don’t seem to fit in or
progress well. Even my wife’s family is pretty messed up; a lot of gambling,
alcohol and problems.”

Their vehicle had taken
a slip path off the main transport route. They were experiencing the slight
effect of g-force as the vehicle followed a tight circular path and dropped
maybe 40 feet to a lower level, which was still above ground. There was less
traffic here and most of it was other patrol and enforcement vehicles. The
signs didn’t lie. The Civilian Protection and Security for District 8 was
looming right in front of them and Sgt. Scott took manual control as he
manoeuvred into the internal parking depot. He required no authorisation, as the
vehicle’s onboard computer had already identified its occupants and logged them
in. Sgt. Scott parked in a free spot, exited and took River in a lift down to
the main custodial reception. He had bypassed the main reception on the ground
floor because to all intents and purposes, River was a prisoner and needed to
be booked in. The officer manning the custodial reception required Sgt. Scott
to sign them both in. He declined the option of removing River’s custodial
bracelet at the reception desk. He also declined the offer of a cell to lock up
River, and asked instead for an interview room. The desk sergeant took them to
a vacant room. Fortunately it was one of many, which meant that they could stay
here undisturbed for the duration until Major Carlson arrived.

Sgt. Scott wanted to go
and get two meals and some beverages from a restaurant upstairs. This meant
River had to be secured whilst he was away. A simple command tapped on the
small console on his own wrist pulled River’s wrist with some force to a lock
up panel on the table he was sitting at. It was held there with no slack which
pretty much secured River. Sgt. Scott shrugged and apologised for the
inconvenience and said that he would not be too long.

This was not the only
way that he could have held him there but it was the least threatening. The
custodial bracelet could also immobilise its wearer by interacting with their
nervous system. He could have just as easily used a spoken command to carry out
this same action. Like most other security officers, Sgt. Scott wore
specialised contact lenses and an ear piece which acted as an optical &
audio interface for a small police computer processor unit which was worn in a
small pocket pouch on his trousers. This too had an interface to the bracelet.

River was left
wondering whether this was purely a matter of protocol or if Sgt. Scott didn’t
actually trust him. It was nearly an hour later when Sgt. Scott returned to the
interview room carrying a tray full of food and drink. He apologised to him
profusely as he released him from his arm restraint. He said that the
restaurant was busy, and that he had also got held up by some communicator
calls. One of these was from Major Carlson who had called whilst on route to
the CPSC. It didn’t take him long to arrive, because the two men were still
sitting down and eating when he walked into the room. 

“Sergeant Ray Scott and
Citizen Eli River; Now fancy bumping into you two delinquents here,” joked
Carlson as he put two hands round the back of his sergeant’s neck and pretended
to strangle him. River stood up to greet Nathan who grabbed hold of his right
arm and held on to it in an exuberant greeting. “I am so glad to see you up on
your feet and looking well young man. I thought we had lost you.”

 “Did you get hold of
your family, Sir?” enquired Sgt. Scott.

“Yes sergeant, they are
getting a taxi here, Valerie picked up Anton and Audrina from work. And as for
those other things, I have them right here in my pocket.” Turning to River, he
pulled out another bracelet almost identical to the one he already had on. “This
is the best offering our tech boys have come up with at short notice. It is an
adapted custodial bracelet with extended privileges which has been programmed
to work with five other controllers. That will be Sgt. Scott here, my self, and
my family. We are still working on another non custodial bracelet with no
restriction in permissions or privileges, which will act as a permanent
replacement for your rejected identity implant. But until that is ready, you
are going to need to be accompanied by any one of us five as chaperones
wherever you go.” Carlson now addressed his sergeant. “Ray, after we have
finished deputising them as custodial agents, how about you coming out with us
for a drink uptown, and maybe a better meal than you just had. I feel like
celebrating and it is not easy getting my whole family together for a night on
the town on a weekday evening. And River, you are coming too; you don’t have a
choice,” he said tapping his own wrist custodial controller. Ray Scott laughed
at this, and said that he would at least join them for a drink.

They didn’t have too
long to wait before Valerie, Anton and Audrina arrived at the main reception
upstairs. Nathan went to collect them and bring them down to the custodial
reception. He intended to deputise them as custodial agents so that they would
be legally allowed to chaperone River and provide him with some delegated
permissions and privileges.

The custodial reception
sergeant swore each one of them in and then activated the new control bracelets
placed on their wrist. River was done last, the custody sergeant removed his
present one and replaced it with the new one which he then activated. River’s
was the only bracelet which would be non removable. This whole process was fast
but a little formal. Once everyone had walked past the main reception upstairs,
the air of formality was over and everybody lightened up. All six in this
entourage hugged or greeted each other with some warmth. The two security
officers grabbed their personal belongings and overcoats from their vehicles;
the overcoats were to hide their uniforms in the plush environment of the
central zone. They opted to sign off and leave their vehicles here at the CPS
centre. Tomorrow they would probably be reallocated to someone else. Then the
party of six squeezed into one taxi and took the short ride uptown.   

They started their
evening at a well reviewed restaurant in the Central zone. There was a good
vibe in the group and everybody was happy and in good form. Ray Scott stayed
only for a few drinks and apologised that he had to head home to his wife.
Valerie commended him saying that she needed him to teach her husband such
respect for his spouse.

Anton was wearing a
casual suit that he wore earlier to work. He looked much more mature than he
did the other day. Despite Valerie having picked her up from work, Audrina had
somehow managed to dress up for the occasion. She was wearing a short but
elegant pleated black dress with a statement pair of heels, and looked very
stylish as well as glamorous. Valerie dressed with style and with certain flair
too. However, she preferred to look elegant rather than sexy, but it was
evident that she adored the way which her daughter dressed, and was proud of
the admiring glances and stares that Audrina attracted. More than a fair share
of those glances came from River, whom was finding it increasingly difficult to
hide his attraction to Audrina. He hated the way that he was acting out of
character. He was more talkative and smiling, laughing, or agreeing with
everything that she said. Wise people in his tribe said that this behaviour
came when someone had cast a glamour up on you; A spell of attraction. River
believed it to be self inflicted though. Simply put, he was smitten with her.
This made him feel self conscious and that feeling made him cycle through his
alcoholic drinks faster. He was not used to alcohol. It was making him tipsy
very quickly. Everyone was smiling at him; maybe because he was grinning at
them. He was soon beginning to slur his words, and when he answered Valerie’s
questions about his hospital stay, he began to ramble on; not so much
incoherently, but instead without making any point. Nathan was the first person
to state the obvious, which was that River had had too much to drink, and
Valerie suggested that they all head home after the meal. This brought about
exclamations of disappointment from Audrina and Anton. They were looking
forward to the Central’s planned night carnival and firework show scheduled for
later that evening.