Phoenix Rising (Book Two of The Icarus Trilogy) (11 page)

As Garrison passed a collection of exercise equipment to his right he couldn’t help but let his gaze fall to the man sitting by the window.  Jasper Montgomery was sitting at his desk with his fingers interlaced in front of his chin.  He was older than Garrison, but looked much better for it.  His hair was white and his skin wizened, but Garrison had no doubt that the old man was in better shape.  The only feature that showed the man's true age were his eyes.  They were squinting at the new arrival and Garrison couldn’t see the irises.  Maxwell remembered that they were a pale grey, but he couldn’t see them from so far away.  It was a disconcerting sight in any case.  The middle manager did what he could to hurry his pace and prostrate himself before the head of the Trade Union.

He smiled and waved as he approached and regretted it.  Montgomery was usually not so cavalier in situations like this and Garrison would not be received warmly.  Montgomery just raised an eyebrow and didn’t move from his position at his desk.  Garrison sighed and tried not to look so eager.

The middle manager reached the CEO’s desk and stood there for an awkward moment.  He did what he could to hold back the air that was threatening to burst out of his lungs; even the short walk had slightly winded the bureaucrat.  Garrison could tell that the old man was assessing him.  After what seemed like an eternity he motioned with a slight nod for Garrison to take a seat in one of the arm chairs.  The regional director for the Northwest Quadrant of Eris sat down and wondered what was going to happen to him.

-

Darren Christiansen looked at the bloated regional director by the desk.  The man was overweight and balding; two things that Christiansen never wanted to be.  Darren was dressed in the finest cashmere suit he could buy, his dark, brown hair was slicked back and long ago he had let the doctors cut up his eyes and give him perfect vision.  He was an up and comer at War World Entertainment.  His father had held a Senior VP position at Future Bionics for most of Christiansen’s adult life.  It gave him all the right connections to come far in the media conglomerate.

It helped that Darren was quite the shark.  He didn’t stop to consider the casualties of his selfish actions; he didn’t care how many fell by the wayside.  Darren wanted to succeed; he wanted to help rule the world and it seemed like he had gotten his wish.  He had been with War World Entertainment for ten years now and after all the back-room dealings and political undermining he had gotten Montgomery’s attention.  The old man was grooming Christiansen, now.

Darren looked at the puppet master to his right and smiled.  Montgomery was going to die eventually and Darren would be right there to pick up where the old man had left off.  The thought was quite pleasant to the young executive.  He was leaning against the wall to Montgomery’s left and did what he could to remain unnoticed.  Christiansen looked again at the director of the Northwest Quadrant of Eris and wondered why Montgomery had asked him into the office.  The old man must have had something important in mind.  Garrison didn’t seem the type to have any great ideas; he was too much of a bureaucrat.  Darren instantly disliked him.

“Max.  It has been too long,” Montgomery said before leaning back in his chair.  It didn’t creak; it was too new.  Jasper Montgomery was not the kind of man who would keep an old chair any longer than necessary.  The old man was watching Garrison with keen interest.  Maxwell stammered a bit and looked flustered.  Again, Christiansen was reminded of everything he didn’t want to be.

“Quite a while, sir.  I don’t come to Earth very often,” Garrison said before bringing out a handkerchief and wiping his brow.  Darren did what he could to suppress the sigh of disgust threatening to pass his lips.  Montgomery smiled and tilted his head ever-so-slightly.

“No, I don’t suppose you do.  And please, Max,” Montgomery said before waving his hands in front of him, “there’s no need for ‘sirs.’  Call me Mr. Montgomery.”  Darren smiled at that.  Jasper liked to keep men in their place by making them use his last name.

“Yes, Mr. Montgomery,” Garrison said while nodding, “if that’s what you prefer.”  Montgomery nodded and leaned forward onto his hands, which he had folded in front of him.

“Oh, yes, please.  Now, Max,” Montgomery said while staring down the puddle of a man, “tell me about this Hero program.”

Garrison should have known.  The whole thing was an experiment and an expensive one at that.  It was well-within budget, but he was panicking now.  He didn’t want to be fired just because he signed off on a paper.  Maxwell sighed and looked at the viper in front of him.  The old man held his future in his hands; Garrison had to tread lightly.  He cleared his throat and tried to explain it the best he could.

“Well, Mr. Montgomery, I’m guessing you’ve seen the costs of it and that’s why you’re asking,” he began, looking for some sign from the CEO.  The old man nodded and Garrison took that as a sign to continue.  “Well, there’s been a bit of decreased profits from rising costs of living and lack of funding from advertisers and so a few of the people in R&D thought it would be a good idea to look for other ways to spur interest again.”

“Go on,” Montgomery said.  He hadn’t moved except for that nod.  It was unnerving to the balding bureaucrat on the other side of the desk.

“We thought it would be good to create heroes, like Carver in his prime.  The problem is that our recruits can’t measure up to a man like that.  I’m sure you’ve seen Carver fight,” Garrison said, suddenly made very much uncomfortable about the possibility that Montgomery might not have seen the veteran fight.  He was a very busy man, after all.  These fears were proven groundless when the old man’s face cracked into a smile.

“He is quite impressive.”  Garrison did what he could not to let the old man see the relief coursing through his body.  He gathered himself and continued his explanation.

“I think a lot of the reason that people have lost interest in the games lately is that there aren’t too many men like Carver anymore.  He’s an old man now and the heroes seem to be gone.  McEwen retired and is now on War World.  Hargrave left and killed himself on Elysia.  Tojo disappeared.  It seemed like all of the interesting characters who commanded the battlefield were lost to us.  The new batch of ex-convicts and foolish post-adolescents were not standing out,” Garrison said, pausing to collect himself.  He needed to keep Montgomery’s interest and somehow justify the money that he had allowed to be spent for the program.  Although unnerving, it was a good sign that Montgomery was continuing to stare at him.

“So the Hero program is built on the assumption that we need more of these celebrities.  And since we can’t seem to find them, I agreed on some experimentation in order to make them.  Mostly behavior modification and memory conditioning.  They are supposed to have the perfect mix of bloodlust, tactical planning and martial skill.  There have been a few early guinea pigs that haven’t entirely panned out but I’m confident with the right mix of soldiers we could create a different atmosphere on Eris.  They wouldn’t be virtually unknown opponents fighting war with interesting weapons.  They could be titans out there.  They could have real rivalries.  We could have a whole world filled with Carvers.”

Garrison tried to gauge the old man’s reaction; Jasper hadn’t stopped staring until the end of the bureaucrat’s explanation.  As Garrison wrapped up his selling points, the old man sank back into his chair.  He set his left elbow down on the armrest and used his hand to support the weight of his head.  Montgomery continued to squint at the middle manager for a long moment.

“How many are out there so far?”

“Six.  The first five seemed to have come from poor stock, though.  They were incompetent soldiers prior to the behavior modification.  I hope this last one will work out.”  Montgomery opened his eyes a bit and Garrison thought it was a bad sign.

“This last one?  What’s the soldier’s name?  Why do you think he will work out?”  Garrison suddenly felt his future and his security slipping through his grasp.  Not only his vacations on Solaria, but even his home on Eris was in jeopardy.  He prayed that Montgomery would be merciful.

“Jenkins, Mr. Montgomery.  Ryan Jenkins.  He was already developing into a fine soldier but a small problem arose on the field and he committed suicide.  He saw his own corpse, Mr. Montgomery.”

Darren watched the entire exchange and was more than content to keep quiet.  He had liked watching the balding man squirm under the scrutiny of Mr. Montgomery.  It was like watching a god grind a worm beneath his heel.  Darren would confess that this Hero program seemed interesting, even if it was a waste of funds, but the name caught his attention.  The young executive didn’t watch the program very often, but Jenkins had made an impact on the games already.

“Wait, you’re saying Jenkins has been part of this program?  For how long?” Darren asked, completely forgetting his assigned task of merely observing.  The effect was somewhat jarring.  Darren had assumed that Garrison had been aware of his presence, but the man was startled by the appearance of another man in the room.  Darren again thought about how worthless the regional director really was, but when he thought about it he could sympathize.  It was hard to pay attention to anything when Jasper Montgomery was asking questions.

Darren could feel the old man’s eyes burning into him.  The protégé was only there for observation during the meeting, and his complete disregard for that rule would be met with consequences.   Darren did what he could to ignore the old man’s stare and looked at the middle manager instead.  This was his kind of power play.  He knew that if he looked at the disapproving CEO that the man would think less of him.  Darren would just have to commit to this.

Garrison was breathing rapidly now.  He had been so absorbed in trying to convince Montgomery that his decision was worthwhile that he hadn’t noticed the young man leaning against the wall to his right.  Garrison didn’t even remember the question; he just looked back at the aging CEO and could see the contempt coming from his squinting eyes.  The middle manager was grateful that it was directed at the young executive that had interrupted his conversation.  It was only a brief moment of respite, however, as after only a few seconds Montgomery shifted his gaze back to the lowly regional director.

“Forgive me, Max.  This is Darren Christiansen.  I have asked him to observe some of my business practices as a way of introducing him into my tutelage.  Now, can you answer his question?”  Garrison looked at the old man and panicked.  He did what he could to recall what the young man had said but his mind came up blank.

“Umm,” Garrison said as he tried to stall.  He thought about how things could have been so easy when he retired, but now it was going to be difficult.  He didn’t know what he was going to tell his son and daughter.  They wouldn’t be able to afford the best private schools anymore.  He was interrupted from his thoughts by the young man approaching the desk.  Darren set his right hand on the edge of the wooden antique and gave Garrison a soft smile.

“Sorry about that, Max.  I just wanted to know how long Jenkins had been part of the program,” Darren said while donning a fake smile.  The young executive just wanted to know what the fat old man knew, but being nice about it would get a better answer.  The old man brought out the handkerchief and blotted the sweat at his brow once more.  Darren would have liked nothing better than to break the man’s face and sell him to the slave yards.

“Not very long.  Only a couple of weeks.  Everything prior to that has been the product of natural qualities.”  Darren nodded and gave a one-syllable laugh. He remembered how the young soldier had showed quite a bit of potential with just a few games under his belt.  Darren only had a moment before he could feel Montgomery’s eyes poking and prodding at him again.

“Do you know the soldier, Darren?”  Christiansen finally deigned to look at the old man and brought his gaze down to meet the aging CEO.  Jasper’s eyes were full of mild interest and approval.  Darren had played it just right.

“A little.  A few of the games were quite entertaining.  Max, are you sure he could become one of these heroes?  Are you sure he won’t try to kill himself again?”  Darren looked at the middle manager with a mild dose of compassion.  He didn’t want to scare the man into stammering again and was happy to see the corpulent little man nodding with zeal.  It made Darren smile that he could hold such power over a man who was technically higher up in the food chain.

“The conditioning should be perfect.  Hawkins did it himself.  You’ve approved quite a few of his experiments, Mr. Montgomery.”  Darren looked back at the old man, who was smiling at the regional director.  The young executive wondered what experiments he was referring to but decided he didn’t really care.  Sometimes the old man’s mind was a little too twisted to truly comprehend.

“As I recall he does very good work,” Montgomery said before rocking back and forth in his chair.  Darren could tell that he was satisfied.  He wondered why the old man brought the regional director to Earth just for this conversation.

“He does, Mr. Montgomery.  We’re quite proud of him.”

“Mhmm,” Montgomery agreed before clearing his throat.  “Well, Max, then I do think we can keep this program going for a while longer.  Let’s try to promote Jenkins a little more; try to increase public awareness for the boy.  No use in having a super-soldier and not telling anyone about it.  If he does well then I think we can expand this Hero program of yours.”

Garrison was more than just relieved.  He had survived another meeting with Jasper Montgomery, which, to his mind, was quite the accomplishment.  Only after a moment’s reflection did Garrison realize that this was quite a short conversation to warrant travel to Earth.

“Thank you, Mr. Montgomery.  We’ll do what we can.  But, sir,” he said while wincing.  He hadn’t meant to use the honorific, but from the CEO’s lack of a reaction he decided that he could continue.  “We could have had this conversation over the phone or through messaging.  Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”  Darren looked over at the CEO, very curious as to the answer.  He didn’t see the need for this face-to-face, either.  The old man simply smiled and brought his hands to rest on his desk.