Murder of Crows (Book One of The Icarus Trilogy) (37 page)

He almost didn’t notice it through the tears, but he picked out the camera from his periphery.  He walked over to the cloaked machine and looked right into the lens.

“We need to talk.”

-

Maxwell Garrison looked at the quarterly reports for the Northwestern Division and sighed.  The advertising revenue was down and the living wage had gone up for all of the support staff.  The casualties and resurrection costs were about the same, so that didn’t matter, but Garrison wasn’t happy.  Along with the fact that he was balding and overweight and had to pay his mortgage, he would now have to sacrifice something to compensate for the loss of revenue.  He’d have a smaller bonus, now, or at least one of his underlings would.  Maxwell would have to give up one or two days from his vacation to Solaria in the summer.  He growled at the thought.

He was still looking over the reports when Carver walked into his office.  The old soldier had been there a number of times, so he wasn’t uncomfortable being there.  He was followed by Garrison’s assistant who was pleading with him to stop walking but one stern look from the veteran was enough to silence the mouse of a man.  The old Crow walked up to Garrison’s desk and just stood there.  He had enough manners to wait until he was addressed.  Garrison looked up from the reports and motioned with his hand that Carver should take a seat.  The old man shook his head.

“You’ve changed the layout here, the couch used to be over there,” Carver said before pointing his thumb behind him.  Garrison looked at the man over his glasses and sighed.

“Yes, Jonathon, about ten years ago.  You’ve been here since then; back with that business with that soldier you mentored.  Now,” Garrison said before he leaned back in his leather chair, which creaked all the way, “what can I do for you?  Are you ready to retire, yet?  I swear you’re the only one who actually costs me money, Carver.”  Carver shook his head and sighed.  He took the seat that was offered him and Garrison raised an eyebrow.  Usually the soldier was not one for comfort.

“It’s about the new kid.”  Garrison ran through the archives of his mind to figure out what he possibly meant.  He came up with a hundred likely suspects and let his derision be known.  He threw his hands up and shrugged.

“Jenkins.  The suicide.”  Garrison could narrow that one down.  Those weren’t very common.  He scanned through his memory and remembered signing off on some papers regarding a Ryan Jenkins just that morning.

“Oh, yes.  Well, he’s cleared for duty.  No reason to ruin the crop.  He just had a dissociation episode.  Mentally he seemed to be coping with life on Eris.  I’ve already signed the order.”  Garrison wondered why the veteran would bring up the child like this.

“He’s not going to make it,” Carver said before looking at the bureaucrat.  Garrison furrowed his brow and leaned on his elbows against the desk.

“Now, Jonathon, explain yourself.”

“The kid’s like Washington, Garrison.  He’s just going to keep doing it.  It makes sense for him; you didn’t hear him…” Garrison rolled his eyes before the man could continue.

“I’ve reviewed the tapes-“

“Well you didn’t fucking listen, then.  And this goes deep, Garrison.  He’s been going through the stages since he got here.  This isn’t just dissociation.  He fundamentally believes that he is born and dies through the system; that there’s no way out.  Just like Washington.”  Garrison sighed and leaned back in his chair.  Carver definitely had more insight into the boy’s character; that was for sure.

“You mentor this boy, too?”  Carver looked down at his hands and nodded.

“He’s like me.  Early adoptions and everything.  Nowhere else to go.”  Garrison sighed again and looked at his own hands.  Even though they were freshly-manicured and pampered, they had just as much blood on them as Carver’s.

“Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?” Garrison asked before taking off his reading glasses and rubbing his eyes.  This was a nightmare.  A whole crop ruined just like that or, worse, he held liability for letting him back on the field.

“I tried to do it different.  I tried to help, rather than just teach like I did with Washington.  But it’s too late for that.  He’s not coming back.”

“Ugh.  It’s going to be a lot of paperwork getting him off the field, now, I hope you know that.”

“You don’t need to do that.”  Garrison stopped rubbing his eyes and put his hands back on the desk.  He gave Carver a suspicious look.

“What are you talking about, Jonathon?”  Garrison wanted to know how much the veteran knew.

“Hawkins’ behavior experiments.  Use them on Jenkins.  Turn him into a monster.  It’s the best thing for him.  He’ll be happy being ignorant.”  Garrison sat back in his chair again and shook his head.

“Jonathon, I can’t believe
you
fell for that.  Norris is just-“

“Not Ed.  The Brit just doesn’t care.  I know that,” Carver said before putting his elbows on the desk, “but I know that there are others.  You have the capability for it.  You map out people’s brains.  I’m sure you can change the routes, if you want.  Tweak memories and all that crap.  Just do it for Jenkins.”

Garrison pursed his lips and looked at the man.  He was a verifiable legend and he had been all over the network.  It wasn’t outside reason that he could know about Hawkins’ secret experiments; the scientist wasn’t particularly coy about his achievements.    Garrison sighed and started to wipe his glasses with a cloth.

“Ok, fine.  We can do it; you got us.  But it’s a very expensive process.  We have been trying to use it to create heroes for television.  Basically like you, but artificial.  More marketable.  I’m not sure we’d even get approval to use Jenkins.  He hasn’t proven himself, yet.  The suicide doesn’t help.”  Carver leaned back in his own chair and sighed.

“He’ll be all that you need.  Remember, you’re the ones changing his brain.  You can make him whatever you need him to be.”  Garrison sighed and looked at the veteran.  They weren’t friends, but they held a mutual respect.

“Jonathon, there’s still the matter of the expense.  This has to come from the higher-ups, most of the time.  I’m just middle management, here.”

“C’mon, Max.  As a favor to me,” Carver said.  Garrison was shocked at the request.  Carver never used the man’s first name.  It was a sign to his commitment, at the very least.

“I don’t think I can afford to,” Garrison said, thinking about his vacation to Solaria.  The cost would eradicate his bonus and then some.  He might risk getting fired for just suggesting it.

“I’ll pay it.”  Garrison coughed as he recognized the words coming out of the man’s mouth.  The bureaucrat didn’t know what the man was thinking.  Before responding he tried to remember Carver’s earnings and the prospected cost and did the mental math.  It was absurd but it was possible.  He cleared his throat and looked at Carver with a very serious expression.

“Jonathon, that’s ridiculous.  You’ve been supposed to retire for a while, now, and you still can.  While you do have the funds for this, it would wipe out your savings.  You’d be back in debt, again.  You’d never get out.  You’d
die
here.  Do you really want that?”  Garrison hoped that would be enough to dissuade the man.  He held no good feelings for the veteran, but he held no bad ones, either.  This was a fool’s errand.

“It’s not about what I want.  It’s what I need to do.  I owe him, Max.”  Garrison looked at the legend sitting in his leather chair.

“You really don’t, Jonathon.  You’ve only known this kid a couple months.”

“I owe him, Max.  I could have saved him.  I’m going to make up for it.”

Garrison looked down at his desk and sighed.  There was no reasoning with the man.  It was part of why he was so famous.  He shook his head and pursed his lips before looking back up at the veteran.  His cold, blue eyes were looking right back.

“I’ll get all the paperwork ready.  I’ll set it up with Hawkins.  We’ll get this done.”  Carver was staring off into space as Garrison spoke, but he nodded when the bureaucrat finished speaking.  He got up and walked towards the doorway.  Garrison cleared his throat and the old man stopped for a moment.

“Try not to regret this, Jonathon.  It might be ugly.”  Carver sighed and headed to the door.

Albert led the soldier into the clinic and wondered what had happened to the Crow.  The EOSF guard remembered the last time he had brought the soldier in; he had been a completely different person.  The way he acted, the way he talked, everything about him was different except the structure of his face.  The only difference there was the grin twisting his lips.  Albert was determined not to talk to the soldier as they walked down the corridor but the soldier was determined to make the guard laugh.

He succeeded once.  It was a bawdy joke about a whore, but as soon as Albert laughed he felt guilty.  It seemed far too crude during the current circumstances.  The undercover resistance agent was leading the man to death and the Crow had been laughing the entire way.  Albert had hoped it was shock, but it seemed like the man just accepted it.  The resistance agent wondered if the man might have been the victim of one of Hawkins’ experiments.  He just pushed the thought from his mind.  He couldn’t do anything about it, now.  It was his mantra.

They entered the clinic and Albert saw Dr. Kane preparing the euthanasia kit.  She had a vacant expression as they entered the room and Albert knew that she was putting up a front.  The good doctor held some feelings that she didn’t want to express at the moment.

“Hey, doc, how are you doin’ today?” the soldier asked in a gleeful moment.  He plopped himself down on the medical table and gave her a wide smile.  She gave a forced smile and started wiping down his arm with an alcoholic swab.

“I’m fine, Ryan.  How are you?”  Albert could tell from the way she looked at the man that she was just able to hold back tears.  He wondered what had happened between the two of them.

“Dying, doc.  Rough trade out there.  Some asshole decided to clip me in the shoulder right before the buzzer.  I tell you, they’re just out there to spoil my day.  Now I have to get all that training in just because some guy wanted to take a pot shot.  What horseshit, am I right?”  Dr. Kane gave another forced smile and patted him so that he would lie down on the table.  He obliged and started rolling his eyes once he was flat.

“I’ll see you in a bit, doc.  You know I’m an early riser,” he said with a grin.  Charlotte gave a weak laugh before she inserted the syringe into his arm.

“Are you ready, Ryan?”  He shrugged and gave her an innocent grin.  Her own smile finally left her as she pushed the plunger.  It wasn’t long before the smile creasing his face disappeared and he wasn’t able to move.  Dr. Kane grabbed a second syringe and attached it to the IV connection before pushing the plunger.  A morose quiet fell over the room as the man’s life left him.  Albert stood there awkwardly for a moment before deciding he needed to leave, but as he turned he heard the doctor quietly sobbing.  He turned back to face her and she was just looking at the dead soldier.

“It looks just like him.  It looks just like him but it’s not.  It’s someone else.  That fucking bastard,” she said between sobs.  Albert looked at her with pity.  Now he knew for sure that Jenkins had become one of those tampered soldiers.  It was one of the worst rumors he had heard about the games.  The resistance agent shook his head and repeated his mantra once more in his mind.  He couldn’t do anything about it, now.  The doctor turned her head and tried to fight back the tears and regain her dignity.  She glared at him.

“How can you just stand by like that?  This,” she shouted as she pointed at the corpse, “is what your employers do!  They kill them over and over again and once they’ve broken their toys they go ahead and destroy their souls!  This is what you’re a part of!  Are you proud of yourself?”  Albert tried to repeat his mantra, but it was too much for him.  He couldn’t just stand by.  Not anymore.  She was the one decent person and she needed to know.

He walked forward to her and stood half a meter away.  He didn’t want to get any closer for fear that she would lash out, but he didn’t want any part of his message to escape the room.  He didn’t know where Hawkins might be lurking or if the cameras would be able to pick up their conversation.

“I’m not proud of myself.  Not right now.  But this isn’t me.  This isn’t what I’m going to be.  I’m just playing a part.  Just like you, Dr. Kane.”  Charlotte’s eyes became fearful as Albert continued to speak.  It was the most he had ever said to the woman, and it wasn’t just small talk.

“I’m part of the Eris Freedom Initiative.  And I’m not the only one.  This time we’re taking the fight to them.  It’s not just Eris we’re trying to free anymore.  The whole system is broken.  Once we take back Eris, we’re going to take back Earth.  We’re going to take back our lives.”

“I don’t know what you’d be able to do, but we’re not going to turn you away.  We need everything we can get.”