Swan Song (Book Three of the Icarus Trilogy) (37 page)

When Eric Jones’ lifeless body fell off the stage, eight planets of humanity knew Jasper Montgomery to be a murderer.

-

James Kaspar watched in horror as Atlas had his neck broken.  He was shocked when Jasper Montgomery pulled the trigger and ended Eric Jones’ life.  When the people in the crowd swarmed about in terror, all he could do was stare at that massive screen above the stage, but he wasn’t looking at the feed.  He wasn’t watching the EOSF officers protecting Jasper as he retreated into his tower.

All he could think about was Demetri’s stupid, smiling face and how he would never see it again.

James and Elizabeth had heard the commotion and walked down Orchid Street to see why everyone was so excited.  When the soldier had finally been able to see the two men on that massive screen he realized what had happened.  The negotiations had been a set-up; just a trap by the corrupt Trade Union.  Whatever had occurred at that meeting, everything had fallen apart and Atlas and Eric Jones were paraded around for everyone to see.

As soon as he had seen the two revolutionaries, he knew that his best friend was dead.  Demetri Urlov had gone with their captain and a handful of other EFI members.  Something had happened; some betrayal or some massive attack.  Whatever it was, Jimmy knew that he could have helped.  It might have been out of their hands, they may have been hopelessly outnumbered, but James would have been there.  He would have been there to save his friend’s life or die trying.

Except he was too focused on his own selfish happiness.  He had given away his responsibilities, given into complacency, and now Demetri Urlov and so many other members of the EFI were dead.  And as he watched Atlas swinging at the end of the gallows, James couldn’t help but think that he could have changed this outcome.  He might have been able to save the teacher’s life; he might have been able to let Eric Jones see another day.  Because of his selfishness and his cowardice he had been unable to join the cause; the very cause that had freed him from slavery.

James had rushed back to the Kane household back on Lavender Street, fingers interlaced with the young girl at his side, but as they reached her home, Kaspar knew he wouldn’t be able to go inside.  Elizabeth looked at him in terror, but James could only think about what he needed to do. He never should have given into his happiness.  As he looked up into the beautiful girl’s green eyes, he knew what he had to do.

“What are you doing, Jim?  Get inside, it’s dangerous out there!” Elizabeth shouted from the threshold, but James halted at the steps.  He lowered his foot back down to the sidewalk and looked up at the woman he loved.  He would have given everything to her, but now he knew that he couldn’t.  His life didn't belong to him; it was something he couldn't offer.

“I have to go, Liz.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked in confusion, her frustration leading her to blush.  James wanted to smile at that, he loved how she would get frustrated, but he crushed that affection.  It would only make it harder to do what he had to do.

“I have to go, Liz,” he said as he stepped away from the threshold and looked down at his feet.  This hurt, but it was for the best.  She would have to live on without him, because he couldn’t be responsible for the sorrow that might come from his death.  Kaspar knew that he had to fight, and he didn’t want her to lose him like that.  It was better this way.

“Stop it,” she whispered, tears pooling around her eyes.  She already knew what he was saying.  She already knew what he was thinking.  In that short week they had come to know each other inside and out and Elizabeth didn’t like what she was hearing.  She didn’t like what his face was telling her.

“Demetri’s dead because of me, Liz.  I have to,” he started, but she jumped down the steps and pushed him.

“No, you
DON’T
,” she screamed, her emotions flying out of her.  “I know it’s rough on you and you want to make up for not being there, I
know
, but nothing you’re going to do now is going to bring him back, Jimmy,” she said, falling into her own grief.  Her sister’s brown eyes came to mind with that easy smile of hers.  The pain of her loss came back like it had never left.

“It’s not about bringing him back,” Kaspar said as he looked down at the girl he loved.  It was ridiculous that it happened, a fluke of the universe, but at least he had known love for this brief amount of time.  He swept his hand through her dark hair and pursed his lips.  “It’s about making sure no one else has to die.”

“They’re going to die, Jimmy,” she said while shaking her head.  “Just because you’re there doesn’t mean it’s going to stop anything.  You’re just one man.  You can stand not to fight!  You can stay here with me.  Who says you can’t be happy, Jimmy?  Who says you haven’t fought enough?” she pleaded with him, not wanting to see him go.  He looked at her and his heart broke, knowing that he could never have this girl again.

“
I do
.  I know I haven’t fought enough.   It’s my fault that Demetri died alone like that, but that’s not why I’m going back.  This is still my war, Liz, even if I ran away.  Now I have to go back.  The dream’s over.  It’s time to get back to my story,” James said as he backed away, out of the girl’s embrace.  He desperately wanted to grab onto her and hold her tight, but they were never meant to be.  It always had to be this way.

“Forget me, Elizabeth.  Forgive me for the pain I’ve caused you.  Hate me for now, curse my name, but I only ask that you forget me in time.  I need you to do that for me.  I can’t stand to be this for you, even if I deserve it.  I’m .... I’m sorry,” Kaspar said as he turned from the girl he loved and ran towards the headquarters of the Earth Freedom Initiative.  He wanted to think about his best friend dying without him; he wanted to feel justified in his decision.  The only thoughts that came to his mind were of the pain he was forcing on that young girl on those stairs.

Though she would never realize it, James Kaspar was fighting for her.

-

"Murderer!"

"Tyrant!"

"Get out here!"

"You killed him, you fucking bastard!"

"Murder!"

"A RETURN TO JUSTICE!" Charles Kane roared above the crowd of people swarming against the barricade.  He, just like so many others, had walked to Babylon Tower to see what had happened, and found Atlas' body swinging by the antiquated gallows.  Charles Kane was there to see Jasper Montgomery wrestle away the sidearm from an EOSF officer; Charles Kane was there to see Jasper send a bullet through the celebrity's head.

Now he and his insurgents were there to call for Montgomery's blood.

"A RETURN TO JUSTICE!" he yelled again, the voices around him falling away at his chant.  The older man had found his spirit and his aggression over the last few weeks.  He rarely spent more than a few hours at his house; rarely spent more than a few words on his almost-comatose wife.  The accountant only saw his dead daughter when he looked at the woman constantly reading the same page from her book.  And in his rage, he rarely thought about the daughter left to him.

"A return to justice!" a voice yelled beside Charles Kane.  The older man almost smiled at the person joining his chant, but his thoughts were elsewhere as he stared up the massive tower beyond the EOSF barricade.  The officers in the area had hastily constructed the thing after they rushed Jasper Montgomery away from the stage and into the safety of his tower.  The puppet master deserved no such safe haven; not after so many people had died for his greed.  Charles recalled his anger over Louie's death and his responsibility.  He had decided then and there that violence was the only option; it was the only area in which he could have an effect anymore.

"A RETURN TO JUSTICE!" Charles yelled again, his voice joined by a dozen more.  Already the swarm of people was choosing its leader; the hive formed around him.  Charles and his friends had put a number of EOSF officers in the hospital while wearing masks; hidden actions during the night.  But now he was standing in the pure daylight as people formed around him.  It was a moment of exaltation.

"RETURN TO JUSTICE!" he shouted once more, but he couldn't hear his voice over the hundred people shouting his words.  He tried again, but then it was a thousand. Charles was almost joyous as he realized that these people were shouting the words Louie had held as he died.  His friend was living on in this moment.

"RETURN TO JUSTICE!" the swarm yelled, knocking over the barricade as they did so.  As they rushed towards the line of EOSF officers, Mr. Kane recognized that cruel, sniveling officer he had beaten on the street so many weeks ago.  It made him smile to think that he could enact more violence on the man, so he rushed towards the men holding their weapons.

With so many people behind Charles, the only way out was forward.

-

The pain ripped through Ryan and he thought he was dying.

As Jenkins returned back to consciousness he could feel the pain resonating through him and the sweat all over his body.  The experience was far too intense and as he looked around the room he saw Carver looking at him in horror.  Ryan didn’t blame him.

For a moment, Ryan Jenkins had slipped out of himself.

Templeton had come with the news.  He was crying in anguish, his pain and misery contorting every feature, but he still had the ability to report what happened.  In a rage he had recounted what he had heard over Comms.  He yelled in fury at Ryan for allowing Atlas to go on this mission; he cursed Goldstein’s name and devolved into a sobbing mess.

The three of them had waited there anxiously, trying to consider what they could do to save their men.  The Mastodons had turned on them and they would have be dealt with, but more importantly the EFI had to rescue the imprisoned revolutionaries.

Except they didn’t have enough time.

They didn’t have enough to time to organize a strike on the execution platform.  The EOSF outnumbered them and they didn’t have enough agents in the field.  Before they were able to scramble their forces, Jasper had already killed Thomas and Eric.  The three men in the briefing room were now officially the leaders of the revolution.

Templeton had burst out of the room in his pain and anger.  Ryan didn’t blame the man; Thomas had been family to Darius.  Jenkins and Carver knew what that kind of connection was like.  Ryan was doing what he could to work through his own emotions, he felt overwhelmed by this series of events, but that’s when the dream came on.

It hadn’t waited until he was asleep this time.

Ryan was flying through that endless sky yet again, the twisted, black wings pushing the air beneath him and the gusts keeping him airborne.  By now, Ryan was conscious of what was happening in the dreams and so he looked at his surroundings.  In horror, he noticed the injuries he had already sustained during previous dreams.  Chunks of skin were missing, tears and scratches along his limbs and torso.  His wings were slowly falling apart, as well.

None of it helped Ryan’s insecurities, but then he noticed the heat.  He looked forward and saw the sun beaming down on him.  It was almost too much and Ryan remembered the myth.  The last thing he wanted to do was climb higher and melt his wings.  The shore was closer, now, but he was still too far out to make it there while being reckless.  Ryan decided to play it safe, even if this was all in his subconscious mind, and he decreased his altitude.

He was only a hundred meters above the water when he noticed a dark shadow beneath the waves.  It was worrisome at first, he didn’t know what lay beneath the surface, but then it became a whole different experience when the tentacles broke through the waves and wrapped around his foot.

Ryan’s world was fear for that brief moment as the dark tendril pulled him down towards the waves.  He wrestled with the monstrous beast and pumped his wings, determined to do anything to break away.  There were a few panicked moments as he realized that he might die in his dream.  He didn’t know what would occur, this was the first time that he was dreaming consciously, and he feared what could happen if the beast dragged him under the waves.

Ryan didn’t want this dream to end like this.  He looked up at his wing and saw a jagged piece of metal.  He grabbed at the thing, cutting into the flesh of his hand, but he didn’t care.  When he finally ripped the metal out of his wing he cried out in pain, but he instantly brought it down to cut at the dark tentacle.

Ryan heard an unearthly scream from the water, distorted by the sea between the beast and its prey, but soon the tentacle fell off of Ryan’s leg.  Relieved, Jenkins started to pump his wings, feeling pain from his wounded wing and his hand, but he did what he could to regain his height.

It was a good thing he did, as another set of tentacles rose above the surface of the waves and attempted to drag him under again.  The twisted Icarus narrowly avoided the beast and rode a thermal out of the terror’s grasp.  When he reached a comfortable altitude beyond the grasp of the unknown creature, Ryan looked ahead of him.  The shore was still out of reach, but worse still, he was much higher than he had been before.  He felt the sun on his back and hoped that he would be there soon.