Swan Song (Book Three of the Icarus Trilogy) (17 page)

“Oh?” he asked, relaying so much subtext with that one syllable that it almost made Garrison gulp down air.

“Yes, sir.  I’m the only regional director left, correct?” he asked, leading Jasper towards his goals.

“Well, yes, that does seem to be the case,” he said as he picked himself out of his chair and then walked around to the other side of the magnificent desk.

“I think that offers me a sort of insider knowledge that others might not have.  I’m very familiar with many of these soldiers,” he said as he watched Montgomery sink into his leather throne and then support his head on his interlocked hands.  “And with one of these soldiers in particular.”

“Are you trying to say that you know the inner workings of one Ryan Jenkins?” Montgomery asked.  The gaze of those cold, grey eyes could have turned lesser men to stone, but Maxwell had already steeled his resolve.

“Among others, as I was responsible for his release into the Hero program,” he started, but Jasper held up his hand to stop him from going further.

“I will have to stop you right there, Maxwell,” he said.  “I have quite a few psychoanalysts that have scoured Jenkins’ past and behavior and have constructed a well-crafted profile for-”

“With all due respect, Mr. Montgomery,” Garrison interrupted, gambling his life and future on one impetuous act.  He could see the rage flaring out from those piercing eyes across the beautiful desk.  “They can’t know these men like I do.  I held most of the profiles on all of the Crows, Sparrows and Lions, most of which are still intact, but you know which ones are the most valuable.  The Crows have marshaled planets behind them and they all have their particular skills.  But there is one that stands apart, and I will have you know that I know him intimately,” he said, faster than he thought possible.  He was waiting for Jasper to throw him out of his office and have him executed for his insolence.  Instead, the puppet master sunk back in his chair and peered over his fingers.

“Go on,” he said, the venom of a thousand rattlesnakes held in each syllable.  Garrison breathed in slight relief, stood up and then placed his hands on the mahogany desk that was worth more than his life.

“Jonathon Carver.  I have been personally dealing with him for thirty years and I will tell you that he’s tired.  He doesn’t want to fight anymore, not like this.  It’s the last thing he wants and I’m quite certain that he holds more than just a little influence.  He could listen to reason; perhaps help end this bloody insurgency,” Garrison said, but he could see Jasper rolling his eyes at the statement.

“These troublesome terrorists.  You cannot reason with them, Garrison,” he said, forgetting his gentle and formal persona.  This was the genuine Jasper Montgomery.

“That might be the party line, Mr. Montgomery, but these aren’t terrorists.  These are men who were forced into slavery,” he said, hesitating on the word, but continuing on, “and all they want is freedom.  A good amount of them want revenge, too, but I have a feeling that at this point most of them just want to stop.  I think that if you install me as a liaison,” Garrison, said, trying to gauge the executive’s reaction but finding nothing, “I can help you end this with less bloodshed.”

It felt like hours before Montgomery turned in his chair and then stood up.  He walked over to the liquor cabinet to Maxwell’s right and then poured out two glasses of brandy from the decanter.  The older gentleman then brought a glass to the still-standing bureaucrat and then extended his left hand.  Maxwell took the glass and wondered what was going to happen to him.

“An interesting thought, Mr. Garrison.  I had not expected such a plan from you, to be honest,” he said before lifting the glass to his mouth and inhaling through his nostrils, feeling the burn in his lungs.  The ruler of the world sipped at the alcohol before walking behind his desk.  “I will think about this and will let you know by the end of the week.  I will say right now that I could see this being very beneficial,” he said while facing the glass wall that separated Jasper from his city.  Garrison breathed a sigh of relief and then took a small drink from his glass; he had never been a big fan of straight liquor.

“Oh, and Maxwell,” he said just as Garrison was starting to feel better about himself.

“Yes, Mr. Montgomery?” he asked, wondering what the head of the Trade Union might have to add.

“You got lucky.  Speak to me like that again and I will have you shot.  And you know I can get away with that.  Do you understand?” he asked as he turned his head slightly to look Maxwell out of the corner of his eye.

“I understand....” he said, bowing his head slightly.

“Good.  Now get out.  I trust you know that the time for pleasantries is quite over,” Jasper Montgomery said before turning back to his city.  Garrison backed away from the most powerful man in the system, placing the glass on the table nearest to his chair, and then turned to walk out of the office.  Through his fear he could sense a distant happiness, but he didn’t want to indulge in it until he was far away from Jasper Montgomery.

Half of him thought that the old man would be able to read his thoughts and see that Maxwell was planning to give the world to the Earth Freedom Initiative on a silver platter.

-

Darren Christiansen saw the portly bureaucrat walking through the office doors and wondered what Garrison was doing in the building.  He had actually forgotten that the Quadrant Director had survived the Fall of Eris and Christiansen was surprised to see him back on Earth.  He nodded at the nervous man as Garrison made his way past Darren, but the older man didn’t make eye contact.  Darren shrugged at the act but then continued on to the double doors.  He only glanced at the beautiful girl sitting behind the receptionist’s desk, knowing that she was still expecting him to call her.

But as Darren walked towards the brooding old man by the window, his mind was absent thoughts for the pretty woman.  Montgomery had become volatile over the last two months and the young executive had to keep his wits about him.  There was no mindless coasting or lessons to be learned; every day was a fight with a caged lion.  As Jasper turned his head slightly it gave life to the comparison; Darren could almost hear the snarl of a prideful king.

“Where were you?” Jasper asked sullenly.  He did not appreciate waiting for anyone and Darren was close to an hour late for their morning rendezvous.  Christiansen had an excuse, but he did not bother to sound apologetic.  It was more important to derail the old tyrant from his thoughts.

“Traffic on Sunflower.  Insurgent killed Paul Kerrigan and Richard Masters outside of Kerrigan’s studio.  The local EOSF unit had a field day redirecting traffic and generally causing an inconvenience.  Sometimes I think we’d be better off firing a few department heads and inspiring fear back into the administration,” Darren said as he sank into one of the leather armchairs.  He didn’t consider fear to be the best motivation for the EOSF, but he knew Montgomery would agree.  Their conversations had become more and more concerned with keeping Jasper preoccupied with his own philosophies.

“In another era I would whole-heartedly agree, but we must tread softly, now.  We don’t want those
terrorists
gaining anymore support from EOSF outliers.  And am I supposed to recognize those names, Christiansen?” Jasper asked as he turned back to the young man sitting on the other side of the desk.  Darren shrugged with little effort and breathed out deeply.

“Kerrigan was a political talk-show host, one of our biggest propaganda machines.  Masters was just a religious zealot.  To be honest, I’m glad Masters is gone, but Kerrigan will need to be replaced,” Darren said before propping his head up lazily on his left hand.  While he looked relaxed, the young executive was watching Montgomery warily.  He knew something was about to happen.

“I’m sure there are plenty of candidates.  And I’m very sure I don’t need to worry about it.  Try to be on time even with the traffic, Mr. Christiansen,” Jasper said as he rounded his office chair and sank into the shiny, black leather.  Darren nodded slightly in assent, but made no actual promises.  He decided that he needed to probe slightly, or Montgomery would not be able to move past his current trouble.

“Was that Garrison I saw on the way in?  I thought he was staying on Midgard,” he said, and immediately was rewarded with an angry glare from the head of the Trade Union.

“He was.  The fool thought he could sway me into providing a job for him as a liaison to the EFI.  He said he could provide valuable insight into the workings of Carver’s mind, if you believe it.  Like that actually mattered,” Jasper said with disgust as he turned his chair to look out on his divided city.  “Still, it is something to consider,” he said under his breath.  The comment shocked the young executive, who had never considered Montgomery would ever make peace with these insurgents.

“Sir, you want to.... negotiate?” Darren asked, but Jasper looked at him sideways with clear disappointment.

“No, boy, I don’t want to negotiate.  My only thoughts are that it might bring some of these rats into the open and we can deal with them, then.  But it might be useful to let Garrison think that he is offering an actual settlement.  A negotiator is never as convincing as when he actually believes the lies he is selling,” Jasper said as he stared into the liquor in the glass he was holding with his right hand.  Darren shifted in his seat as he realized the truth of it; it was far more appropriate than the alternative.

“Jasper, there’s something bothering you,” Darren said, venturing into dangerous territory.  Most of the time the young executive didn’t have to try very hard to coax Montgomery into revealing his inner thoughts, but this conversation had become too muddled.  Almost instantly the leader of the Trade Union glared at his young student and breathed in sharply.

“You want to know what’s bothering me, Darren?” he asked as he pushed himself out of his throne and then walked towards the window.  “What’s bothering me is that this little conflict, this little squabble, had gotten out of hand.  This should have been over when I destroyed that little planet of theirs, but instead these terrorists have drawn out this fight well over two months!” he shouted, his constraint finally running out as he recounted the rebellion. 

Maybe you shouldn’t have killed millions of people
, Darren thought, but he kept the words to himself.  He had never agreed with Montgomery’s decision, thinking that this would be a war of ideals.  To kill an entire planet’s worth of insurgents and innocent people would only serve to galvanize the burgeoning resistance.  Darren remembered staring in horror as Jasper smiled at the dying asteroid.  The young executive was ruthless and ambitious, but he would never have considered something so destructive.

“I know it wears on you,” Darren started, but the old man at the window turned on his heel and threw the glass in his hand towards the wall of televisions, cracking the screen as it shattered.

“Wears on me, Darren?  These impetuous little rats have undermined my hold on an empire I built with blood and sweat.  I made the backroom deals, organized the mob hits, held the lives of billions of people in my palm and was ready to retire.  My entire life’s work and legacy was this tower, this city and the power to crush entire planets with the push of a button.  And now that is all RUINED!” he shouted as he slammed his clenched hand onto his desk.

“The resistance was supposed to die along with Eris, but it survived to live on in my beautiful city.  These criminals and weak-willed people have decided to stand up against me and the billions of people in my employ and I just CAN’T find a way to WIPE THEM ALL OUT!” Jasper shouted as he paced behind his desk.  He looked to his young student and growled, staring into Darren’s soul with those pale, grey eyes.

“I will kill them.  I will kill all of them and make an example out of this Atlas, Ryan Jenkins, Jonathon Carver, ANYBODY who rose up against me.  It’s just a matter of time before I have my revenge.  But what bothers me is that it has taken so long,” he said as he started to calm down.  Darren did not have the courage or the sheer stupidity to interrupt Jasper’s tirade.

“The longer it takes, the more foolish people will be convinced that they can rise up against me.  It more than just wears on me, my young friend.  But this is merely just a trial.  Soon I will have my power back, my fear back, and when it is all said and done, nothing will have changed.  We just have to be patient, Mr. Christiansen,” Jasper said as he walked back over to his chair and sat down.  “
I
have to be patient.”

Darren looked at Montgomery and wondered why he had ever wanted to take Jasper’s place.  The young executive had wanted power, but clearly this much power was enough to drive men to delusions and insanity.  Montgomery had lost touch with the common people, certainly, but it seemed like he had lost touch with the world, as well.  This was a man so consumed by power that his humanity had been devoured quite some time ago.

Darren Christiansen knew he was on the winning side of this war, but he also knew that it was far from being the right side.