CHAPTER 38
“What did Hamilton yell at you, Govicide . . . I mean . . . Locke?” Ned asked when Locke handed him the keys.
“It’s nothing. Just a murderer upset that I got to him. That’s all.” The words fell out like subjects escaping a burning building, hurried and disorderly.
“Well, I am glad you did because--”
Locke marched away, leaving Ned standing there.
“See you later, Govicide . . . I mean . . . Locke.” Ned’s voice echoed down the corridor.
Once the double doors closed behind him, he screeched to a stop. All the information from Hamilton satisfied cravings he’d had for days. Yet all of it only put a band-aid on his bleeding problem.
He was eager to evade the System.
Why? Because he was an Offender now. Just another subject of the Masses who wanted to get around the OWG and the System.
Just like Hamilton. Just like the Messenger. Just like the Free Enterprisers who moved all the cash.
Jade and he disobeyed the OWG and now they were trying to evade the consequences, like any Offender. They weren’t special because Locke carried a Govicide badge anymore.
They were Offenders, going down the same path all Offenders before them had tried.
And failed.
When had his desires become more important than the OWG mandates? A subject’s own wants were grounds for prison time, or even worse. In fact, he knew that was how Offenders got started in the first place, worrying about their own economic needs before everyone else’s. Now, he was no different.
What if Locke knew he and Jade were right, but the OWG was. . . wrong?
There, he said it.
He heard Hamilton’s voice. It wasn’t coming from the cell a hundred yards away. The voice clanged in Locke’s head.
People have no rights when the One World Government is never wrong.
Looking at the double doors behind him, he agonized over these thoughts. His palms were slick with sweat. His head hurt as he hung it, confused over his allegiances.
The OWG gave him and Jade everything for all their lives. A roof over their head. Food. Clothing. Entertainment. How could he turn on it so quickly?
Because the OWG was wrong, no matter how many Goods and Services he got. Five billion dead. Many more starving, if Hamilton could be believed.
But the OWG insisted one day everyone would have an automobile. And all the buildings would be populated. And the air would be clean.
But, nobody will be left, his conscience protested. There won’t be anyone to drive those automobiles and breathe the air.
If he were a good member of the Masses, he should turn himself in. Jade should do the same. And put themselves at the mercy of the OWG.
If he and Jade believed in the OWG, they should surrender without question.
Or, if Locke believed Hamilton, they should run.
Simple as that.
But, even Hamilton got caught. And if he got caught, anyone could. Even the Messenger and all the others would be snared. It just hadn’t happened yet.
Both choices made him queasy. They wouldn’t be presentable to Jade, either. She’d be angry when she heard Hamilton refused to help. Locke would have to tell her Hamilton didn’t believe in abortions.
She’d laugh. Then cry.
If they ran, how would they travel? All transportation was tracked.
On foot? That was no way to escape. They’d be caught in no time. Hamilton was correct. There was no way to avoid the OWG for the rest of their lives. Thirty years? No way.
Locke raised his head to look at the doors leading to the Homicide Offices, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.
Now, he understood what went through Jade’s head when she tried to take her life. As illogical as her behavior seemed then, it seemed sensible now. Maybe suicide was the only way out. It was better than enduring imprisonment and torture. Maybe Jade’s actions two hours ago made more sense than he knew.
But he couldn’t see himself cutting his wrists or slashing Jade’s.
What about jumping off a tall building? That could be the best way. Any of the roofs of Gambling City’s casinos were high enough.
A short fall, then splat, and it would all be over. No more thoughts of the Symbol, Hamilton, cash, the System, the OWG. Everything would turn to black and their worries would disappear.
Yes. This was the only answer. If he and Jade couldn’t show obedience to the OWG during life, maybe by committing suicide they could do that in death. Their Goods and Services could save someone currently starving like Hamilton mentioned.
A death-giving entity . . .
Hamilton’s words echoed.
Locke ran down the hallway through another set of double doors and back to the empty Homicide office. He wound around one desk after another. The front door beckoned.
“Where are you going in such a hurry, Govicide Agent Locke?”
He knew the voice.
Hiss.
He didn’t allow Locke to answer. “How was your conversation with Hamilton?”
“Fine.” Locke rotated, seeing Hiss in the shadows behind a cabinet.“What are you doing here?”
The veteran Agent stepped out. A streetlight outside a near window outlined his puffy face. “I will ask the questions. What did you two talk about?” By the parental tone of his voice, he already knew the answer.
Locke lied anyway, teeth chattering. “The case.”
“The case? What did you find out?” Hiss took a few steps, closing the distance to fifteen feet. His face blank but turned to the side just a fraction, eyeing Locke.
“Not much. He’s tough.” His left foot tapped a nervous rhythm.
“You were in there . . . oh . . . ” Hiss lifted his watch up into the light.“ . . . twenty minutes. He had to have said something.”
When Hiss said it, the sudden recognition that he couldn’t save himself landed on Locke like an SST. “What did you do, Govicide Agent Hiss? Follow me?”
“Yes, I did,” Hiss sneered, “on mandates from the Director.”
Locke gripped the edge of the desk beside him. “The Director?” His eyes spied the front door, estimating how long it would take to get from here to there.
“Yes, the Director.”
“He allowed me to talk to Hamilton, so why are you here?”
“Tell me what you talked about and I will explain.”
“I told you already. He didn’t say much.” Locke’s fingernails made thin indentations in the wood desktop.
Hiss crept closer. One side of his mouth curled. “Govicide Agent Locke, twenty minutes and nothing? That is a little hard for me to believe.”
What did we talk about?What did we talk about?What did we talk about? . .for twenty minutes. “Well, I tried to get him to talk about that vehicle in Snow City. He didn’t say anything. I tried to get him to talk about the break-in at the technical facility. He didn’t want to talk about that either. I was going to make a report for the Director, just like he told me to.”
“Really? You talked about our investigation?”
“Uh-huh.” Maybe running to the door wasn’t the answer. Maybe attacking Hiss was.
Reaching into his jacket pocket, Hiss pulled a box out. In the dark office, Locke couldn’t be sure what it was. Maybe it was Hiss’ phone. Why was he pulling that out? Locke gripped the desk tighter. Was Hiss going to call the Director?
Locke heard a click then a familiar voice.
“ . . . Because the OWG doesn’t believe in human rights, it exists contrary to human nature.”
A recording device.
Hamilton’s voice.
Another click and the voice ceased. Locke’s legs gave way and he fell into a chair beside the desk.
This was the end of the road.
“Now Govicide Agent Locke, that does not sound like talk about what we found. Does it?” Hiss smiled, his imperfect teeth like daggers.
Locke hung his head, staring at the floor. His knees shook like leaves in the fall.
Hiss didn’t wait for Locke to speak. “No, it does not. It sounds to me like you conspired with an Offender. I listened to the entire conversation.”
Locke’s calves tensed to run. He could be out the front door in three seconds. He could run out to his automobile and get away in less than thirty. He could get back to his living quarters in minutes.
But then what?
Running wouldn’t solve this. Just like there was no running away from what Locke already knew. The two were linked. Locke couldn’t run from the OWG, and he couldn’t run from the truth.
He’d be followed. He’d be tracked. And Hiss might have already alerted other Agents who were on their way to capture Jade.
As Locke searched himself for the courage, he found his heart just wasn’t in it. He was tired. He thought of Jade and her suicide attempt. She had wanted to give up. And now he wanted to do the same.
Hiss flipped on an overhead office light. Locke shielded his eyes.
“The Director had a tiny listening device put in Hamilton’s cell during one of the torture sessions. Funny enough, I got the idea after what you told me about him murmuring in his cell. How is that for irony, Michael?”
Hiss had never referred to Locke by anything other than “Govicide Agent.” Another sign this was the end.
“What? Nothing to say? OWG cat got your tongue? And what is this about Jade being pregnant? Sex without credits? That will get you every time.” Hiss shook his head but continued to smile. “But you just could not turn down working for Govicide. You know, you should have declined the promotion. Turning down the Director would have cost you many credits, but at least you would not be in line for an execution like you are now.”
Hiss pulled a stun gun from inside his jacket. Locke had seen a few in his life and knew they were accurate to thirty feet. The probes would fly and stab him, filling him full of electricity.
Why couldn’t Hiss have brought a real gun? Locke could’ve made a move for the door. Hiss would shoot him, and that would be the end. Everything would turn to black.
He thought of Jade. If he died, what would she do? They’d torture her for a time then allow her to live out the rest of her existence in isolation. Somewhere cold. Somewhere dark. Somewhere . . . alone. Then, they would execute her as well.
No. If their fates were already decided, he wanted them to face their short future together, whether it was at the wrong end of a gun or guillotine.
He stayed in his seat, not wanting to provoke Hiss’ trigger finger.
“I’m not going anywhere, Hiss.” If Hiss was dispensing with titles, why shouldn’t he? Locke sat straight in his chair, facing away from the door.
“That is more like it.” Hiss moved closer. “You know why the Director put me with you? Because you are one of the Masses. Just another one of those who could not pass the Govicide Test. And the Director thought he better put you with the best of the best, in case he was right.”
“Right about what?” Locke folded his arms.
“That a subject is either Govicide material or not. That is all you were. An experiment. And it is an experiment proving there is a bigger difference between Govicide and the Masses than we thought. If you think Govicide was tough before . . . Think of it. We publicize that the Director picked one of the Masses to be an Agent. He did it out of the kindness of his heart. Then that Agent sympathized with an Offender, an Offender who killed fourteen Agents. Govicide will be even harder on the Masses.”
Locke felt ready to burst. Hiss was correct. This would be a boon for Govicide. Govicide would use Locke’s story to justify being even tougher on the Masses. Less sex credits. Less work credits. An even tougher System program.
“Get up.” Hiss motioned with the gun.
Hiss stayed six feet behind Locke as they retraced Locke’s steps from minutes ago.
“Going to put you in a cell until I can get some other Agents to fly you to the District.”
The beginning of the end would start in prison. Clothed in shackles and handcuffs, once the other Agents got here. In the end, he’d be locked down, attached to a guillotine, and his head would be taken off. In the District’s main square.
The imaginary scenes danced in Locke’s head. He hid his cringes from Hiss’ penetrating eyes.
Then, something unexpected happened. The images of him and Jade being manhandled changed to pictures of other subjects being treated the same way. Anonymous faces thrown together by Locke’s subconscious. Screaming, shouting, crying.
Locke realized subjects who didn’t even know him and Jade would be the ultimate casualties of Locke’s curiosity and missteps. His and Jade’s end would be quick. The Masses would have to endure his mistakes forever.
And if he gave up and slinked to a quiet, obedient death, he’d lead the rest of the Masses right into the OWG’s hands.
His acceptance of his fate began to change . . .
There was a time long ago when he thought he’d be relieved when this case was over. Jade would get her abortion. Hamilton would be hung, or shot, or beheaded. Locke would be lauded for his crime-solving abilities. The Offenders would be stopped and everybody would go on their way.
Now he realized what a waste the world had become. Though he didn’t understand all that Hamilton said, he believed Hamilton enough to know there was a different time in human existence. It wasn’t perfect, but it must have been good enough that subjects like Hamilton were fighting to go back in that direction.
Locke wanted to go back in that direction as well.
He didn’t want anything to be over.