Freedom Incorporated (21 page)

Dan knew she’d backed him
into a corner. How could he disagree with that sort of logic? “Yes,
I suppose it is.”

“
Well I
haven’t done any of that. I’d never touched a gun until today. I’ve
never handled explosives, and I’ve never threatened anybody. All I
want is to share my point of view – the same way corporations share
theirs. That’s it. And for that I’ll either be sent to prison for
the rest of my productive life, or executed… which might be
preferable.”

“
Hmm,” Dan
replied. It was all he could manage while so deep in
thought.

But Jen was
just getting started. “What makes them think their message is so
important, so
correct
, that they have the right to silence all opposing voices?”
She clenched her hands into fists and frowned with such intense
frustration that it bordered on madness. “They think they’re so
fucking righteous! Or maybe they’re scared they’re wrong. Maybe
deep down they’re afraid that if someone draws attention to it,
people will demand change.” Jen sneered. “They’re terrified of
change, I know that. But is it really worth killing for? They’ve
killed so many already. They killed my grandfather. They killed his
friends and colleagues. I’m sure that Raven freak has killed
people. And how about you? Mr Daniel Sutherland?”

“
It’s just
Dan.”

“
Okay. How
many people have you killed, Just Dan?”

“
I’ve never
killed for UniForce.”

“
Ha!” But Jen
stopped her ridicule short when she saw the truth scrawled on his
face. Although it was a guarded answer, she believed it. “Okay,
well maybe
you
haven’t. But I’m sure you have friends who’ve killed
for their corporate masters
.”

“
No. I have no
friends.”

“
Jesus, who
are you? No friends? Sheesh!” But, again, she saw the truth on his
face and caught a glimpse of his pain searing just beneath the
surface. She softened her tone and said, “I’m sorry.”

Dan faked a smile; it
looked strained. “That’s okay.”

“
Hasn’t a
company ever fucked you over?” Jen asked, pleading her case. She
saw him as her judge, jury and executioner – if he so
chose.

Dan nodded.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
UniForce.
Every time they sell my exclusive lists to the Raven.

“
And did you
do anything about it?” She eyed him curiously, wondering what other
gems she’d glean from his expression. But Dan had erected his stony
mask again, so she saw nothing. Yet she’d glimpsed something,
twice, so she knew he had emotions. And that was good.
Maybe I can still get out of this.

“
No, I
can’t-”

“
There!” she
exclaimed, triumphantly cutting him off. Then she smiled and added,
“You see? They have all the power. They hold all the cards. You’re
just living off scraps. When one of them fucks you over there’s
nothing you can do. You just accept it and go on. And
that
is the world my
grandfather was fighting to change.
”

It was
starting to make sense
.
But just as reason dawned, Dan felt as though an ocean of
guilt was tossing him around like a tiny cork.
Were my other targets the same? Am I just a corporate tool?
Is apprehending these people really the right thing to do?
For the first time since Katherine’s death, he
wondered whether he’d be proud of his work when he met his almighty
maker.
If such a thing
exists.
The jury was still out on that
issue. His microchip read ‘agnostic’ in the field reserved for
religion. He wanted to believe. He’d wanted so desperately to
believe in an afterlife since Katherine’s death. But how could he
console the notion of a god with what was happening in the world?
It was the same everywhere, droves of ex-believers were abandoning
the world’s major religions and flocking to Xantex prescription
houses instead. Why not? It was a faster fix than religion and
didn’t require any painful soul-searching. Besides, Xantex had
better commercials.

He crammed his
chaotic thoughts behind
the
already-straining
doors of mental
discipline and
re
focused on his immediate concerns.
What am I going to do with her?
He
found it curious – Jennifer Cameron was the first person he’d
apprehended from his new list and he was thinking about
letting her go
.
How the hell did that happen?
At this rate he was going to lose a fortune. Yet, somehow, the
importance of turning a profit was quickly losing its
significance
.
What’s the point?
He
desperately needed something fresh in his life, some kind of
purpose other than being a capitalist drone.
What’s the point of having money if I have to sell my
soul?
The maths on that just didn’t add
up.

Dan risked
another look.
She’s
pretty.
She did remind him of Katherine, no
matter what he tried to tell himself. Not her looks, Katherine was
taller and heavier and had a cute little gap between her front
teeth. Yet there was something in the way Jen held herself, the way
she spoke and the things she said. It pained him a
little
.

Finally, he
admitted something he’d known deep down for several hours:
I can’t turn her in.
His
decision came from a combination of many things, but he wisely
decided against analysing it.
Don’t
examine it, Danny-boy. Just let it be.
The
logical part of his mind was throwing spasmodic tantrums but, for
the first time in months, he’d thoroughly appeased his
conscience.

Now I have to
tell her,
Dan thought with a slight pang of
unease. He didn’t want her to think a few cheap words had convinced
him to quit his job.
But isn’t that
essentially what just happened?
Dan scowled
and said irritably, “If I don’t turn you in, what should I do with
you?”

Hope flared in Jen’s
eyes. She sat straighter and licked her lips before hesitantly
asking, “Are you serious?”

Dan nodded
solemnly.

“
So you’re not
such an evil hunter after all,” Jen said, sighing with relief. Her
words inadvertently stabbed a dagger into Dan’s already tender
mind.

He
recoiled
in
shock,
but knew Jen had
n’t meant to cause
him
anguish. “It must be my turn to tell a
story,” he said and cleared his throat. “Seven years ago there was
a great man, a leader. He was admired by his followers and feared
by
his corporate
enemies. His name was Mike Cameron.”

“
This sounds
familiar, didn’t-”

“
Please let me
finish.” Dan needed to get this off his chest. “Mike was
assassinated by a UniForce agent and, although the murder wasn’t
sanctioned by the WEF, the police couldn’t touch the case due to
some tremendous political pressure. You’re one of the few people
who might understand that. The pressure UniForce applied was like
nothing else the investigating officer had ever experienced in his
life.”

Jen did understand, or at
least she thought she did. She knew what kind of heinous things
corporations would stoop to in the name of preserving their
control.

“
The
investigating officer nearly lost his job and UniForce tormented
him for weeks. But he didn’t give up and eventually hauled the
assassin’s arse in.”

Jen’s breath froze in her
lungs as she grasped what he was trying to tell her. “It was you,
wasn’t it?”

Dan nodded.
“Yes.”

“
But…” She was
stunned, too stupefied to finish her thought.

“
I’m sorry he
got off Jen, I really am.”

Jen braved a
wane smile. “Thank you,” she said, then paused to collect her wits.
“I mean, thank you for everything you did.” Something seemed
strangely out of place.
How could this
possibly be the same person?
“But I don’t
understand how you got into bounty hunting. I never would’ve
guessed that someone who brought a UniForce assassin to justice” –
she shuddered at the pitiful legal system that unashamedly bought
and sold ‘justice’ on the open market – “would’ve started working
for them.”

Dan clenched
his jaw. “Maybe I’ll tell you someday.” But his tone told her that
he probably wouldn’t. “I just wanted you to understand that I’m not
a monster. I’ve never done anything illegal on behalf of UniForce;
I’ve made sure of that.” He heaved a tired sigh. “And I won’t turn
you in.”
Maybe I’ll start screening
targets and return only those
who deserve
it
?
But that was
impossible, and he knew it.
With UniForce
double selling my lists, I’m barely breaking even. I can’t choose
which targets to apprehend, I’d go bankrupt.

“
Since you’re
letting me go, I’d like to let
Samantha
know I’m okay.
She’s
going to start-”

“
Who’s
Samantha?”

“
My friend. We
were in the mall together. She was returning a top when you knocked
me
off the bench
.”

“
Sorry about
that by the way, i
s your head
okay?” But although his voice was rigidly calm,
something dark flashed in his eyes. It scared her.

“
Yes, I’m
fine.” She felt the tender spot on the back of her head.

“
The
pellets contain
nanotoxin
,
which is why you definitely don’t want to cut
yourself.”

She thought about the
shards resting between her breasts and her heart fluttered.
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, Samantha’s going to wonder
where I am.”

“
Hmm…” Dan
pursed his lips in concentration. “That’s probably a bad
thing.”

“
Why?” she
asked, dread filtering through her mind.

“
Because the
Raven no doubt knows about her.” With his thumbs, he caressed the
synthetic fibres on the steering wheel. It felt like human skin.
“He must’ve seen you together and he would
know that tracking Samantha is
the
easiest way of finding you.”

“
What?” It
came as a gasp.

“
He’ll track
Samantha until you turn up, until he detects you somewhere else, or
until UniForce nullifies your apprehension order.” Dan swerved for
a slower car, noticing the chill that creep up his arms from the
permanently lowered window. “Did you ever see any of the
‘Terminator’ series?”

“
Ye
s
, all
five.”

“
Well the
Raven makes the terminators look tame. He’s more intelligent, he
has access to a billion times
the
information, and he can use the portals.” Dan
would’ve enjoyed his analogy if it weren’t such a serious topic.
“Sure, the terminators may be stronger and faster, but the Raven
is
deadlier.
And
just like a terminator, he’ll never give up. We can’t intimidate
him or bluff him; he’ll just keep coming until you’re either dead
or apprehended.”

Jen
ordered
herself to remain
calm. “What can we do?”

“
Well…” Dan
arched his back. It still ached from land
ing
on the railway track. “We do have
some things in our favour. He’s not bulletproof
.
H
e’s just as
fragile as anyone else,
and
that makes him cautious
.”

“
So we can
scare him away?”

“
No, that’s
not likely. I’m just saying he’ll plan his moves carefully as long
as I’m here
.
But
eventually you’
ll get
sick of me hanging around. And besides, I won’t deter him
forever, he’s attacked me before.”

Jen’s mind raced through
the possibilities. Nobly, she chose the only option that would
permanently keep her friends safe. “Then you’ll have to turn me
in.”

Her
selflessness surprised him.
Her file was
way off.
He distantly wondered what else the
file had wrong, and how much UniForce had fabricated just so there
were words on the screen. He flicked a switch on the dash and
massage-nibs in his seat kneaded the knots in his back while he
considered her offer. The problem was, he didn’t
want
to hand her over. A
wicked thought bubbled to the surface:
What if UniForce sent the Raven to keep me in line?
It was a ridiculous notion that logic shredded a
few seconds later.
Getting a little
egocentric aren’t we?
Still, his options
were grim no matter which way he looked at them. He either handed
her to UniForce, or whisked her away and sheltered her under his
protective wing. He didn’t fancy that Jen would want him buzzing
around forever.
So that leaves secret
option number three – help her disappear.
It
was the perfect outlet; he knew the system so he understood the
extreme measures required to keep her hidden indefinitely.
But then there’s the Raven.
The Zyclone hadn’t clouded his judgement to the extent that he
believed he could outwit the Raven forever.