Swan Song (Book Three of the Icarus Trilogy) (47 page)

"But what I'm telling you," Ryan said, remembering the one person he could not mention in this last speech, "is that we will move on.  We will recover from their loss, but we can never forget a single one of them.  We will have to lean on each other; we will have to support each other.  This is something that a man like Jasper Montgomery could never understand."

"Because he wouldn't be able to understand that we
can!
" he shouted, drawing cheers from the crowd.  "We
can
continue on, we
can
honor our loved ones, and we
can
create the worlds we were always meant to have!"  He almost wasn't able to hear himself talk when he delivered that last line, the crowd had become so loud.  As he breathed in, knowing that he had no more to say, he felt relieved.  He felt like there was nothing more that these people could ask from him; not today.

The messiah figure looked to his left and saw Darius giving him a smile, the false eye not as malicious when Templeton wasn't glaring at him.  Ryan shook as he turned to his right and saw Carver with tears in his eyes.  This is what they had been fighting for.  To the sound of admiration, Ryan Jenkins looked back towards his people.

His eyes widened when he saw Charlotte Kane screaming at him.

-

Elizabeth had not been fully aware of what was happening, but as she saw Ryan Jenkins emerge from the tower her mind flew into overdrive.  Suddenly, she knew exactly where she was and how she had come to be there.  She looked around at all the happy people and panicked, realizing that she was still dressed in her white pajamas and slippers.  Her mind was still reeling from all the new information when she saw him.

Jimmy was standing off to the right of the entrance.

Her heart still ached for the man, even though she had been abandoned, and at first she tried to get his attention.  Liz waved at him and called his name, but the soldier didn't seem to notice.  The crowd around Elizabeth was just too loud.

The young woman muscled her way through the crowd, trying to get to her former lover, but she encountered resistance just a few rows away from the edge of that sea of people.  It was only when Ryan's voice started booming over the speakers that she remembered what had happened.  James had left her; he had left her standing there on her front stairs while he went back to his war.

Suddenly, Elizabeth realized that it wasn't Jimmy's war.  It never had been.  The one who had started everything was right there, just a few meters away.  The leader of the revolution giving his speech was the one who had forced James to fight endlessly.  Ryan Jenkins was the one who had taken James from her side.

Then she saw Ryan Jenkins for what he truly was.  This man was no hero; he was just a selfish thief who never should have gotten the chance for a real life.  He should still be on Eris, fighting an endless war.

With that realization, Elizabeth gasped.  The noise was swallowed by the cheers coming from the men and women around her, but her mind reeled from what she had discovered.  Ryan Jenkins had done so much more than take James from her.  He and his friends were the reason that her sister was gone.  Ryan Jenkins was the reason that Charlotte died on Eris, choking on gas meant for him.

Elizabeth Kane cried as she realized that her beautiful, smart sister, the girl who had meant so much to her, had been killed for this victorious leader's agenda.  The tears fell from her eyes in her sorrow, but quickly it turned to anger.  She didn't bother to sniff back the snot running from her nose as she gave herself to her rage; Elizabeth saw how all the dots connected.  Without Ryan Jenkins, Elizabeth would still be a blissfully ignorant college student, her sister would still be alive and her father....

Charles Kane had been taken from her, too.  The accountant wouldn't have been there that day to get shot down by the EOSF; that day wouldn't have even happened.  If not for Ryan Jenkins, Elizabeth Kane would still have her family and her future.  With just one selfish and petty man, her entire world had been ruined.

As the cheers went up again, Elizabeth pushed forward.  The men in front of her were hugging in their celebration, their bodies creating enough room for her to reach the front row.  She screamed at the man on the stage, her voice drowned out by the innumerable shouts occurring throughout the square.  She wanted to point at him and proclaim him for the monster that he was, even if no one would hear her.

When she raised her right hand, she noticed the handgun grasped tightly between her fingers.  She almost smiled when she realized what was about to happen, but she didn't bother to think about it.

Elizabeth Kane just screamed as she pulled the trigger.

-

Ryan was confused at first, but after a split-second he realized that it wasn't Charlotte.  It wasn't her ghost returning for vengeance on him.  This girl had green eyes, not the brown eyes that he had fallen for.

Then the bullet tore through the carotid artery on his right side.

Jenkins felt an enormous amount of pain as the bullet passed through him and he staggered there, holding his hand to his neck as he looked at the young woman.  She was crying; he wondered why that was.

The messiah figure fell to the ground and started to breathe rapidly.  He didn't know why this was happening; he didn't know why he had come all this way to die now.  It seemed so unfair.

But his thoughts fell away as he saw the woman walk into his vision.  She stood over him for a moment, her face hidden by the shadow of her hair, but when she kneeled down Ryan was able to see the color of her eyes.  He smiled as he saw the woman he loved but never got to tell.

"Hey," she said, her face drawn into a coy smile.

"What?" he asked, but then he saw others approaching and standing over him.  He recognized them, but the names seemed to be just out of reach.  For a moment, that was.  When the giant loomed over him, Ryan knew exactly who each person was; exactly who had come to greet him.

"You did so well, Ryan," Charlotte said as she reached out her hand and ran her fingers through his hair.  "You had to do so much, but you did it.  You saved them."

"How?" he asked, a darkness starting to creep from the outside of his vision, but the giant on his other side kneeled down and set his massive hand on his shoulder.

"Doesn't matter, Ryan.  Soon it will be over.  I can't tell you how proud I am," Feldman said, the smile evident on his face.

"Greg.... I tried," Jenkins said, but Feldman shook his head at that.

"You did.  No more second-guessing, Ryan.  I knew when I left that you were going to succeed.  Now you get to rest," he said, which caused the messiah figure to start breathing harder, fear overtaking him.  After a moment he felt Charlotte's hand caressing his face and he calmed down as he looked into those brown eyes.

"Ryan, just a little longer.  Hold on," she said, and as she did the darkness crept in from the outside of his vision, making the sun above him seem so bright.  He didn't know why, but he was compelled to reach out to it.

It seemed so warm.

-

"Ryan!  Just a little longer, hold on!" Carver commanded as he cradled the young man's head.  The old Crow held his hand to his son's neck, determined to stop the blood that was flowing out of the boy's body.  He wasn't going to let his son die; not like this.

"Where's a fucking medic!?" Carver shouted as he looked around in a panic.  Templeton had drawn his rifle and was looking around the crowd, making sure no more bullets were coming their way.  Kaspar had jumped from his position into the people and had disappeared, but Carver assumed the kid was chasing after the shooter.  Jonathon had seen the girl shoot the weapon, but almost immediately the crowd had swallowed her up.

"Goddamnit, kid, stay with me," Carver said as he looked down at his surrogate son.  Ryan was smiling, Carver didn't know why, but he decided to take it as a good sign.

"Look, we just gotta wait for the medic, Ryan.  Then we can retire.  The both of us," Carver said, tears flowing down into his beard as he rocked back and forth, Ryan's life blood flowing out from under his gloved hand.  "It's gonna be just like we talked about, kid.  We can let the next generation take over.  We've already done too much.  We can just sit back and watch the Trade Union get torn apart," Carver said, his thoughts on the future that was supposed to happen.

"Carver," Templeton said from outside his vision, his voice low and sad.

"It's gonna be great, kid.  No more fighting for us; no more living underground," Carver said as Jenkins raised his hand towards the sun above them.  "That's right, kid, we get to live in the free air."

"John," Templeton said, but Carver just shook his head as Ryan's arm fell to his side.

"We can eat like kings, Ryan.  None of that synthetic crap from Eris; none of those rations we've been living off for months.  We can eat goddamn, greasy cheeseburgers," he said in denial, but soon the black man's hand was on his shoulder and the old Crow looked up, his eyes red from the strain.

"He's gone," Darius said, his face filled with sadness.  Carver looked down at his son and saw the open eyes that had glassed over.  The smile was still there, but the blood from his neck was flowing out weakly now, gravity doing its part.  It took a moment, but soon Jonathon Carver realized that this was reality, that this was the present.  He wailed as he shut his eyes and curled up in his misery, bringing his forehead down to touch his son's corpse.

And when he cried, the world cried with him.

-

Darius still didn't believe it.  They had won, they had broken the Trade Union, but the man responsible for it didn't get to enjoy it.  Ryan Jenkins had died for good this time; there were no more resurrections for the messiah.  The corpse was just lying on the table in the EFI clinic, accompanied by the old Crow on the nearby stool.

"What are you doing here?" Carver asked, his voice low and gruff like always, but it seemed so much worse.  The veteran had given up in his grief and it showed.  Darius looked the man over, still dressed in his combat armor, and saw that there were clear marks where the veteran's tears had fallen.

"We need to set things in motion, John.  We can't have the people disorganized and without a leader like this; bastards from the Trade Union are going to take advantage of it.  Although he was important, we can't obsess over Ryan lik-" he pleaded, but he was interrupted by the veteran's angry shouting.

"Don't you DARE talk about that at a time like this!  You defile the moment and the memory, Templeton," Carver screamed as he glared at the interloper.  This was his time of grieving; his son was lying dead on the table just a few centimeters away.

"John," Darius started, but the veteran stood up quickly, knocking over the stool, and walked up to the one-eyed revolutionary.

"How about you stop talking altogether?  Get the fuck out of this room," Carver demanded, his voice colored by violence.  Darius could feel the old man's breath on his face, but he narrowed his eyes and stared back into Carver's face.

"I won't, John.  There's a time for this, but it'll have to be after we reassure the public.  They need to know they have a leader," he said, but that only drew a snarl from the old Crow.

"Then fucking stand up, Templeton.  I'm done.  I played my part," Carver said before backing towards the corpse on the table.

"No, John," Templeton said, but Carver shouted at him from Ryan's side.

"Yes, Darius!  My part in this cosmic joke is done.  I am the true fucking Daedalus," he shouted, his voice breaking with the effort and emotion.  He breathed hard as he looked down at the messiah figure.  "I got to watch my son die today.  The story's over," he said as tears forced their way out of his eyes.

"That story's done, Carver," Templeton said as he walked towards the volatile Crow.  He grabbed the old man by the throat and pushed him against the wall, forcing the man to look into his eyes.  "It's time for the next one."

"There is no next one," Carver said, but Templeton slapped him with his other hand.

"There's always a next one, Carver!  And you're front and center.  The people need a leader and you're going to give one to them."  The veteran looked down at the one-eyed revolutionary and laughed in his fury.

"What makes you think it'll be me?"  The red light coming from Templeton's false eye narrowed as the man glared into Carver's soul.

"It has to be.  After Jenkins, you're the only hero left.  Everyone knows Jonathon Carver.  Everyone will
follow
Jonathon Carver.  I know how you feel, John.  I lost a father to this war, but we don't have the option to give up.  I'm no longer Diomedes; you're no longer Daedalus.  Now we lead the people to their Golden Age," Templeton said, but Carver shook his head, the tears still coming unbidden to his eyes.