Dominatus (11 page)

Mac stood with both hands hanging from his side as each of the vehicles came to a stop nearly fifty or so feet from us.  He glanced over briefly to the tree-line where Keith remained hidden.

After several more minutes, the door to one of the vehicles opened and Carol Denny emerged, making his way slowly toward Mac.

“I didn’t want things to go down like this, Mac.  I hope you believe me on that.  But I told you, after what you did yesterday, they were watching.  Have a record of everything.  And now, it’s out of my hands from here.”

Carol Denny stood directly in front of Mac, his face looking him over with clear concern.

“Dammit, Mac, this can go real bad for you today.  Please, don’t be a hero.  Don’t push back on this.  It won’t end well.  Not for you, not for anyone up here.”

Carol looked behind him as both vehicles opened, and two more men stepped out.  One was an Asian man of average height and build, mid-30’s, with a rounded face who appeared both tired and bored to be there.  The other man was much taller, well over six feet, with a lean, almost gaunt face crowned by a cleanly shaven skull. His age was more difficult to determine – though likely no more than forty-five or fifty years old.

Officer Denny leaned into Mac and whispered.

“These people are serious business Mac.  Don’t fuck with them.”

Mac appeared to ignore Carol’s warning, his eyes instead fixated on the other two men who were now walking toward him.  There was no emotion to be found in Mac’s face…his eyes as cold as the still-frozen ground below our feet.  As the taller of the two approaching men came closer, I realized both he and Mac had the very same look in their eyes - the look of men who knew well what it was to kill another human being.

Carol Denny straightened up and made introductions, first indicating the Asian man.

“Mac, this is Compliance Officer Stanley Chu of the Anchorage office.”

Carol’s nervousness betrayed him as he introduced the other man.

“And this…this is Special Operations Officer August Hess.  He is out of Seattle.”

Again Mac appeared oblivious of Officer Denny’s presence, or anyone else but the man introduced as August Hess.

“Long way from Seattle.  What is your title?  Special Operations?  Is that it Officer Hess?  The Special Operations division of the New United Nations…aren’t you the ones who kill off the troublemakers?  Were you the one who did that work in Grant County, Officer Hess?  How many kids did you bury out there?  Women?  All because they refused to fly the new flag?  Wasn’t that it?”

Officer Hess remained unspeaking, staring back at Mac.  It was Officer Chu who broke the silence, holding out a handheld communications and document device common to all government workers.

“I have a multi- non-compliance warrant here Mr. Walker.  You are accused of allowing public smoking, allowing public consumption of non-approved beverages, the playing of culturally insensitive music, the unlawful possession of a banned weapon, and assault against a compliance officer of the New United Nations.  You are hereby ordered to be placed into the custody of Compliance Officer Carol Denny and myself, where you will be taken to the Fairbanks holding facility awaiting the results of the administrative review of your file.  If found guilty of any or all of these offenses, you will likely be sentenced to the re-education facility located in Anchorage.”

Mac’s eyes never left Officer Hess.

“So why is he here?  Mr. Special Ops?  You all think you needed more than two of you to pick up a broken up old man like me?”

Finally August Hess spoke – his voice an odd, whisper-like croak.

“That is precisely why I am here Mr. Walker.  You have a reputation for having once been someone of certain… talents.  While that talent has clearly faded to little more than a shadow, for you do certainly look to be nothing more than, as you said yourself, a broken old man…we at the Special Operations Division are only too happy to offer assistance and assurance of a task completed.  And I assure you Mr. Walker…I complete my tasks, one way…or the other."

Mac’s gaze travelled from Officer Hess to Officer Chu, before settling on the increasingly uncomfortable Officer Denny.

“So what about it Carol?  You thinking to take me in?  Or trying to?”

Carol Denny bowed his head and whispered a reply.

“Told you Mac, out of my hands now.  I’m just here following orders.”

Mac looked back to Officer Hess.

“So you in charge here?  This your show cowboy?”

Officer Chu stepped forward, his right hand resting on the butt of his electrical charge weapon.

“That would be me Mr. Walker.  I’m the ranking compliance official here.  Officer Hess works in a different capacity than compliance, and as of now, this is a matter of compliance enforcement, so that would be my department if you will.”

“Fine then, Officer Chu.  Just to let you know, I ain’t going back with you to Fairbanks.  To the holding facility – that just isn’t going to happen.  Not today.  Not ever.  There ain’t one thing on that list, not one thing that I’m guilty of.  At least, not the place this country was when we were all younger men.  I own a firearm.  I own a business.  That ain’t a crime.  That’s basic freedom.  Or at least it used to be.  If I want to let people smoke in my business – my choice.  Not yours.  Not the government’s.  MINE.  You don’t like the music I play?  None of your fucking business!  You don’t like how I tell someone to leave – that’s too bad.  I didn’t assault Carol – I had him leave.   So no, I ain’t going with you Officer Chu.  So how about you turn around and go back to wherever…Anchorage, right?  Go back to your little office in Anchorage.  Back to your compliance files.  Your government paycheck.  That’s your world.  This here is my world, and you ain’t welcome.”

August Hess clapped his hands together slowly, his thin mouth curling into a sneer.

“Wonderful speech there Mr. Walker, but if you don’t choose to go willingly, as the law of the New United Nations requires, then this little situation we have here will be my jurisdiction.  And not just you Mr. Walker, but everyone hiding out up here - including your new little friend Mr. Neeson.”

Hearing my name spoken in that dark croaking voice of Officer Hess made my stomach tighten, and despite the near freezing temperature outside, a thin sheet of sweat was forming on my forehead.

Mac took a half step forward, placing himself between myself and the three officers.

“Mr. Neeson is my guest, and the Old Man’s.  I don’t care to have you threatening our guest.”

Officer Hess’s hand waived Mac’s words away.

“No threat intended, Mr. Walker, and as for your old man, he isn’t a concern of mine either.  Now I’m going to give you a few more seconds to agree to Officer Chu’s request that you be transported to Fairbanks with Officer Denny.  That’s the easy way.  The hard way?  That involves me Mr. Walker.  Me and my department, and you don’t want that. “

Officer Chu stepped toward Mac, his charging weapon drawn.

A gunshot rang out and echoed around us, sending both Officers Chu and Denny diving for the ground.  Mac and Officer Hess remained standing – staring intently at one another, both apparently oblivious to the firing of a gun.  I too remained standing, though far more out of panic than courage.  My eyes caught a flash of movement emerging from the trees and then saw Keith walking toward us, his handgun pointing directly at Officer Hess.  I sensed more than saw Mac’s body coiling, preparing to strike at the N.U.N. special operations officer.

August Hess’s mouth widened into a wolfish grin, large white teeth gleaming.  He actually appeared genuinely happy.

“Ok then, now this is my operation.  Your little long haired friend just had a serious lapse in judgment Mr. Walker.  I spotted him shortly after we arrived – knew he would break his cover.  Now you no longer will be dealing with them – you will be dealing with me.  All of you.  And I intend to deal out my justice to each and every one of you, and with such pleasure.”

Keith was now no more than ten feet from August Hess, his gun pointed at the compliance officer’s head. Both Carol and Officer Chu rose to their feet.

Hess glanced over to Keith, the wide smile still slashed across his face.

“You mind putting your little gun away sir?  Or are you going to require me to come over there and take it from you?”

While Hess’s voice remained calm without a hint of fear, Keith’s own voice wavered, as did the hand that held his gun.

“You just get back in your little pussy cars and ride on out of here.  Nobody is taking nobody.”

Hess turned to Keith and walked toward him until the barrel of Keith’s handgun pressed directly against the special operation officer’s forehead.

“You have two choices at this point - you either fire that weapon or you lay it on the ground.  Now if you choose to fire it, this place will be crawling with my people within hours, and they will be following orders to kill on sight.  Nobody will get out of here alive.  Not a single one of you.  Maybe you put that gun down…it’ll be confiscated, you’ll be answering to what you are doing here right now, but it won’t impact the others.  So you decide right now, what are you going to do?  Your call, sir, but I need you to know, the clock is ticking.”

Keith’s eyes sought out Mac, who in turn was watching August Hess even more intently than before.  Finally Mac spoke.

“Put your gun down Keith, this isn’t the time for this.  Let him have your gun, whatever, you ain’t gonna help us none by pulling that trigger.”

The shaking of Keith’s hand worsened noticeably as the former Hells Angels biker looked back to Hess.

“You that ready to die buddy?  Cause I would love to pull this trigger right now.  I really would.”

The special operations officer continued to smile.

“Oh, I’m not so sure about that sir.  You see, killing an unarmed man, it takes a certain kind to be willing to do that.  Now I’m looking at you, and you just don’t seem to have it in you.  You care too much.  Too much about this place, these pathetic people…too much about old Mac over there.  No, you just aren’t willing to do it are you?  Fact is, you let me get this close.  That was the most serious mistake you made today.”

August Hess moved his head so quickly to the right it was difficult to follow – I imagined the movement more than being able to actually see it happen. His left hand came up and grasped Keith’s wrist that held the gun and in another half second, the gun fell to the ground.  Hess’s right hand closed around Keith’s throat as he simultaneously swept his right leg around both of Keith’s legs, sending Keith toppling to the ground.  Hess then snatched up the gun that no more than a few seconds before had been pointed at his head and twirled it in his hand, holding it by the barrel.  The butt of the gun then came crashing down onto Keith’s forehead.  It was impossible to know if Keith was dead, or simply knocked unconscious.  His body remained motionless as Hess rose to his feet, still smiling, while somehow managing to appear even more pleased with the situation.

I was confused to see Mac still standing motionless, his own weapon remaining holstered at his side.  August Hess tossed Keith’s handgun to Officer Chu, who in turn handed it over to Carol Denny as Hess turned back to Mac.

“Ok then, let’s get back to seeing you off to the holding facility in Fairbanks, Mr. Walker.  You’ll be handing over your own firearm there first of course.  Or I can take it from you if you want to try it that way.  I’d rather enjoy that.”

“I already told you, I ain’t going to Fairbanks.  You can cite me for mandate violations, you can take my weapon with you, but you ain’t taking me.  You ain’t taking any of us.”

Chu’s charge gun remained pointed at Mac, as Carol stepped in between both officers and Mac.

“This is still my jurisdiction, and I think it best we re-evaluate our situation here.  There’s no immediate danger to anyone if Mr. Walker is allowed to stay here for now.  We can take his weapon, leave a copy of the anti-compliance citations with him, and go back to administration and review with them how we should proceed from here.”

Compliance Officer Chu turned to Carol, his voice rising up in protest.

“We have the order, Carol. We were to take Mr. Walker back to the holding facility in Fairbanks pending a review of the file.  I am the ranking compliance officer here.  Your suggestion has been noted and will be ignored.  Mr. Walker, you will be coming with us, as will the man who assaulted Officer Hess.”

Mac pointed to Keith’s still unmoving body that remained on the frozen ground.

“Does it look like he was the one who assaulted the asshole?  Your Officer Hess provoked that situation.  He wanted that situation.  Same as he’s trying to provoke me.  That’s how your government does this kind of thing.  You push and take and push and take until finally someone stands their ground.  Then you take them out and claim you were legally justified in doing so.  All we want is to be left alone.  We ain’t hurting nobody.  Carol, c’mon now, you know that’s the truth.  How many years you’ve known of us up here?  Not once did you need to come up here to take care of something we did.  Not once.  The only reason you would have to come up here is because you were ordered to keep an eye on us.”

Carol remained between Mac and the other two N.U.N. officials, shaking his head slightly as he responded with a slight cracking in his voice.