(Author's Note: Finally came up with a title.)
McKree Home
Capital, Itrom
Aurigan Reach, Outward Periphery
5 December 3120
Max stopped by a fast-food restaurant on the way home from church, grabbing a value of meal of poultry nuggets and a soda to devour. He wasn’t in the mood to cook or do much of anything after his confrontation in Bible Study. He sat at his table at home and devoured the semi-edible fare. Fast-food hadn’t changed much in a thousand years; Garbage food that tasted frighteningly good for as unhealthy as it was. Given his troubled mood, a bit of comfort food did seem in order for Max.
Then a knock came at his front door unexpectedly. Max was not expecting anyone, so he stood up cautiously. Who could it be? Why were they here? What did they want? A rapid succession of paranoid thoughts ran through his head. Immediately after that, Max shook his head in annoyance. He had no reason to fear, not yet anyway.
He went to the door and opened it. Standing on his front porch was a man in an Aurigan military uniform. Max’s eyes went wide.
“Roger!” he exclaimed in delight.
“Hi, Max. Good to see you.”
“What the hell you doing here? Last I heard, you were still on Coromodir.”
“I transferred to the House Gallas home guard about a month ago. Even stopped by here about a week ago to see you, but you weren’t home.”
“Yeah, I was on a camping holiday in the wilderness. Come in. Come in. It’s so good to see you.”
Max stepped aside to allow his guest into his home. Roger Michaels was the fourth and final member of Max’s BattleMech lance on Laconis. He was also the only one to stay in the military after the battle of Laconis, moving up in the ranks to command his own lance on the Aurigan capital world of Coromodir.
With all the drama in their unit between Max, his sister, and his girlfriend/ex-girlfriend, Roger somehow managed to both be in the middle of all of it and yet always above it all. He’d kept in touch with all of them after the war, maintaining his friendships with all three, despite their contentions with one another.
“You been the see the others?” Max asked.
“Ashe greeted me at the spaceport when I arrived with Bobbie in tow. I half-expected you to be there. I guess you’ve never patched things up with them.”
Max shook his head. “That’s not likely to happen.”
“Too bad. You and Ash were quite the power couple. Never mind that she’s gorgeous.”
“Her beauty hides a lot of ugliness. And Bobbie can’t see it, or chooses not to. Not sure which.”
“You’re being too hard on the two of them.” said Roger.
“Coromodir is a long way from Itrom. You haven’t been here. You haven’t seen what they’ve become.” Max waved away the anticipated objection from Roger. “Oh, I know you’ve kept in touch with letters and emails and all that. But I doubt Ashley’s going to tell you in an email ‘Busy week. Had to evict a bunch of innocent people from their homes so my sycophantic friends could build a new shopping center.’ Nor is Bobbie going to tell you, ‘By the way, I could use some more martial arts training. There’s some deadbeats that need to be reminded to pay their property taxes.’ But that’s who they are and that’s what they do. And everyone turns a blind eye because they do it to the right sort of people, people that no one here cares about.”
“Capellans.” said Roger. “Or Taurians. Or anyone not born in the Reach really. Same shit. Different day. All depends on who the villain of the year is. You probably acted and believed the same once.”
Max frowned at that. “Call me naive, but I grew up on stories about heroes who used their strength to protect the weak, not exploit or abuse them. King Arthur, Robin Hood, Patrick “Pendragon” O’Brian, Morgan Kell, and so forth. People who didn’t judge others by their origins or skin color, but by their character and ethics. What Laconis taught me is what happens when no one tries to emulate that sort of person. You get mass slaughter. You get atrocity. You get what may very well be coming here to Itrom. And I’m the only one, it seems, who can see it.”
“We were all that sort of naive once. We all believed what you just said going in. We were going to save the world. Be big damn heroes in our BattleMechs. Protect the weak. Defeat evil. And we failed miserably at it. All our good intentions meant little in the crucible of real war.” Roger paused. “You may be the best of us. After all that we went through, you’re still trying to find a way to preserve those ideals. You say I don’t know Ashley and Bobbie the way they really are. No, I know all too well what they’ve become. They’re just like me.”
“You haven’t gotten confused about who the enemy is.”
“The enemy is whoever my superiors tell me it is.”
“How convenient. Surrender your conscience to someone else.”
“As every good soldier should.”
“I don’t believe that and I don’t think you do either. That line of thought led to the Perdition Massacre or to Kentarus IV or the Nazi Holocaust over a thousand years ago. Or countless other examples throughout human history when people checked out of their brains and morals and decided to ‘only follow orders.’”
“I didn’t come here to argue with you, Max.”
“You sell yourself short.” emphasized Max. “You’re not Bobbie or Ash. Not even close.”
“And maybe you do too. I read the news on the Infoweb. I know what Ashley did to those folks just down the street here. I also knew it would bother you. I knew I’d find you wrestling with what to do about it.”
Max let out his breath. The problem of good friends was you couldn’t hide from them. They always knew what you were thinking. “Yeah.” he admitted after a few seconds. “But what of it? Are you going to give me the answer I’ve been looking for?”
“I doubt I have to. It’s right in front of you. Seems you’ve missed something about your childhood heroes. King Arthur, O’Brian, Morgan Kell, all of them were leaders. Commanders. And the soldiers, knights, and warriors under them adopted their good morals.” He paused briefly. “You say I surrender my conscience. No, I entrust it to people who will do what is right. You yourself have had nothing but praise for House Arano or House Gallas or most of the noble houses of the Reach. And why is that? They have power and strength, but they use it properly.”
“So you say I should become such a leader.”
“You have more power than you know. More influence than you give yourself credit. Use it.”
---
Mayoral Office, Capital
Itrom
Aurigan Reach, Outward Periphery
6 December 3120
“Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go! Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me for me for me!” Max frowned as he pulled into the parking lot outside Ashley’s office. The song was just about to hit the best part, but he had no time to linger. He’d gotten lucky and managed to land an appointment with the mayor, no easy feat on such short notice. He turned off the motor, cutting off the late Brian May’s guitar solo as the music player died along with the engine.
It had been over a thousand years since Queen had recorded that song, but, like the Who, they’d been rediscovered in recent years. An expedition into the irradiated wastes on the far side of Itrom had recovered a long lost Star League era memory core in 3115. Unlike many of these cores, which contained technical or scientific data, this one was a cultural archive of music from Earth from as far back as the 1950s. Not knowing what else to do with the find, the Aurigan government turned it over to several music businesses throughout the Reach, who in turn released the recordings as musical curiosities. Many of the songs hadn’t been heard outside of humanity's homeworld for hundreds of years and they took off like lightning. People couldn’t get enough of the long dead musicians and their work. Names like Queen, Bowie, Foo Fighters, and the Beatles were suddenly the biggest thing in music, as they had been once long ago.
The first thing Max was confronted by was a small group of protesters outside the office. Max was pleased to see them, but was disappointed to see that they were nearly all of Asian ethnicity. Probably fellow Capellan refugees protesting the treatment of their own. However, what disappointed Max was the lack of anyone of any other race. Was he truly the only native Aurigan who gave a damn about what was happening? He hoped not. He was gambling that he could persuade Ashley that he wasn’t and, failing that, he was hoping he could actually rally his union members behind him in a strike against the city government.
Max passed through the line of protesters, nodding at several in acknowledgement, and walked inside anxiously. Bluff or no bluff, his nerves were largely from the fact that he had rarely spoken to Ashley or his sister since they’d all returned to Itrom after their tour of duty was up. Most of those times could hardly be called civil. Still, after his conversation the previous day with Roger, he knew he had to try this.
The secretary was wrapping up for the day. He looked at Max and simply pointed to the office behind him. “She’s expecting you, Mr. McKree.”
“I don’t doubt it.” grumbled Max sardonically. No doubt, upon seeing his name on her calendar for the day, Ashley would be quite curious.
“So, Max, what’s got your panties in a bunch this time?” asked Ashley as he entered her office. Her back was to him as she poured herself the last cup of coffee from the carafe.
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, I know damn well this isn’t a social call. It never is with you.” she said, heading back to her desk. “Let me guess. Your union workers are pissed I bypassed them on the Capital Falls Plaza job.”
“Close, but not quite. I’m more concerned with how you got the land for that little project.”
“Like manna from heaven, it just fell into my lap. By complete coincidence, the people living in those homes were part of a criminal conspiracy against House Gallas. I had them arrested and their land seized.”
“So says all the papers and the press releases. A lot of folk in the refugee and expat communities say otherwise. Not the least of which are the people outside your front door.”
“And you’ve taken their word over mine.” Ashley frowned. “Sad, but not surprising.”
“The circumstances of it all is a might too convenient. Funny how the land you’ve been trying to grab for this project for months suddenly becomes available.” said Max. “Honestly, Ash, who the hell do you think you’re fooling?”
“No one seems to mind but you and those Capellan animals outside. Duke Gallas hasn’t said a damn thing about it. He’s the only one I’d be worried about and he doesn’t care either. So good luck drumming up support for your little crusade.”
“Likely because you’ve fed him a good enough cover story that a planetary duke has little reason to prod into this further.”
“Unlike you, he takes me at my word.”
“There are ways to make him change his mind.”
Ashley laughed. “What? You going to walk up to his palace, knock on the door, and invite yourself in with your little story of persecution and bigotry?” She shook her head. “You have no more influence than that batch of foreigners outside. The Duke couldn’t care less about you or your cause.”
“Are you so certain?” retorted Max. “But, even if you’re right, I do know there are things he does care about.” Here it goes. Max’s bluff. “I am pretty high up in the WorkMech union and strikes tend to get attention. You may have scabs working Capital Falls, but my people are in another dozen sites across the city. We bring everything to a screeching halt and the Duke’s going to take notice. And when he asks why, we’ll tell him. I’ve got ex-Capellans in my union. People you call ‘animals.’ People...”
“I can’t stop the project now.” interrupted Ashley. “Ground’s already been broken. The houses are gone. New buildings are going up. You’re a little too late to play hero.”
Recognizing his bluff had worked, Max leaned in. “Fine. They can’t get their homes back. Here’s what you can do however. You can let them go. Drop all charges, which are bogus anyway and you know it. Compensate them for their lost property and send them on their way. You’ve gotten what you wanted. You and your business friends got your little shopping plaza. Fine. Keep it. But give those families what they’re due.”
Ashley paused in thought, considering her options. Before she could give her answer, there was a loud thump outside. Ashley frowned and turned towards the door. “What the hell was that?” She headed out the door without another word. Max followed.
The glass walls that separate the secretary’s area from the world outside were marred. Someone had thrown a brick or another heavy object against them, not realizing they were the same sort of armored glass that BattleMech cockpits are made of. Outside, they could see Ashley’s security officers pulling a Capellan teen out of the crowd and dragging him back toward the office.
“You want me to give them ‘their due?’ Well, they just attacked my office with a brick.” snarled Ashley.
The protesting crowd surged forward, hoping to intercept Ashley’s guards as they hauled the hapless teen forward. Ashley raised her hand and several other guards raised their weapons, aiming them at the crowd.
“Ash, this is going to get ugly fast. You don’t want to escalate this.” said Max hurriedly.
“Don’t tell me how to do my job.” she snarled in return.
“You start gunning people down in the streets and the Duke will take notice. I doubt he’ll...” Before Max could finish his sentence, the guards arrived with their prisoner. Max noticed his sister among them.
“What do we do with him?” asked Bobbie.
Ashley looked down at the boy and then at the cowed crowd, held back at gunpoint. “Give them an example of why they shouldn’t oppose me.” she said.
The guards turned around and began kicking and hitting the boy.
“Enough!” snapped Max in futility. The guards ignored him and continued to beat the teen. One of the guards stepped back and drew out his knife. It was one of those twisted tri-blade models, designed to inflict maximum damage. As if the beating wasn’t bad enough...
“No!” Max cried. When he was ignored again, Max didn’t think twice. He reached under his coat, drew his revolver and fired. The 11mm round struck the guard square in the face and his head exploded in gore and blood.
Ashley staggered back, shocked for the moment. The guards paused in their abuse, wide eyed as they watched the corpse of their comrade slump to the ground. The teen, still conscious somehow, saw his chance, came to his feet, and ran.
Max did likewise. He hurled himself down the hallway towards the back exit to the complex. The guards shook themselves out of their stupor and tore after him. “Get him, you fools!” yelled Ashley. “Bring me back to me alive!”
Max doubted highly that was a call for mercy. She wanted to make example of him as well, a fate he did not want to embrace. He dashed out the back door and headed across the back part of the parking lot. He cut left, intending to circle around behind the protesters who were now moving to protect the wounded boy. The guards burst out of the building and saw him, Bobbie in the lead.
Max paused to open fire again. He did not aim to even hit his pursuers, but wanted to give himself more time. It proved to be a mistake. He heard Bobbie growl, “Fuck this. Shoot him.”
His own twin sister giving the order to kill him. Were he not so scared of the immediate danger, the thought of it would have cut Max to the core. The guards opened up with their submachine guns, ripping bullets across the parking lot, heedless of the damage to the parked vehicles there. They were likewise heedless of who else their shots were hitting as several protesters fell to the ground bleeding.
Somehow, Max had managed to avoid being hit as he dashed between the parked cars. He leaped into his hover jeep and fired up the engine. As the protesters scattered in terror from the guard’s attack, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and fled the scene as fast as he could.
After about five blocks of weaving through the Monday rush hour traffic as fast as he could manage, Max paused to look behind him. He saw no obvious pursuit, but he knew damn well it was coming. What was he going to do now? He’d killed one of Ashley’s hired goons. He knew she was not going to let that slide. He had to flee. Get out of town. Get off world, if possible. He gunned the engine and headed towards home. He knew that would be the first place they’d look, but he needed to fetch some things before he hightailed it out of town.
No comments:
Post a Comment