They were in the manager's office, in his mansion. Killer and the manager were trying to come to an agreement.
"I find it unsettling to refer to you as Killer. Do you go by any other name?"
"Aw, we're friends. Call me 'Kill' for short."
"Don't be flip. I was trying to be congenial. It's time to get down to business."
"You're right. We do have a problem. How do you suggest we solve it?"
"Let's begin by laying our cards on the table. I don't care if you take every CB there is--you may be doing me a favor if you do. I'm willing to give you the land to get your colony started. Land is no big deal. The problem is that infernal machine you have found. I can't let you keep it so it may be used against Tower colony ever again. By the same token I know you can't give me the machine for fear that I will turn it against you. It's a stalemate. We have to find a solution."
"What do you propose, Mr. Manager."
"I can't make any commitments until I know exactly what all you have."
"Not true. You already know I have what it takes to turn Tower colony into a pond. I can dump an ocean on you and you should know it by now. You don't have any choices. I don't want Tower and you know I could demand it. I could expel the dweebs, but I haven't asked for that, have I?"
"Don't try to bulldoze me, Killer. You know what would happen if you tried to do all that. Open conflict. The CBs would be wiped out (we do have superior fire power)--a plan I haven't given up on yet. Only because you are proposing something that I have wanted all along am I listening to you at all. You wash my hand and I'll wash yours. You get your stinking CBs out of my hair and I'll be grateful. As far as giving them enough material to build ther entire colony that's impossible! I won't do it. I couldn't if I wanted to."
"I'm not asking for a handout. Make it a loan. And we don't need stereos and cars. We need food and trucks to get it out to New Tower. Just give us enough that we can get started. There are five million CBs in Tower colony--nearly half the population. In order for them to leave we must have logistical support. There's your guarantee that we won't use the rainmaker against you--unless we have to."
"Not good enough. As soon as your colony is on it's feet you will be coming back for the rest of Tower colony. It's like a gun being held to our head. You must give certain assurances or I can't deal with you. For one thing I want the gun. There can be no negotiating on this point. The only alternative I see is if you have a second rainmaker. Even then I would have no way to know if you have something else more deadly.
"Here's what I can offer, Killer: enough supplies for the CBs to get ther colony started in exchange for all your artifacts, and I mean all of them, including the building or whatever they are in."
"How can I give you all that, Mr. Manager? You will become the power on Seco. You saw the droid I brought. What could your people do with that kind of technology?
"No, I'm sorry. I won't give you all of the artifacts, but I might be willing to consider sharing what I have."
"Keep talking...Killer..."
***
"What a bummer!" Toni complained.
"What's the matter? Both of you have been upset ever since we left complex seventeen."
"You are using us!" I griped. "You have put us on display and you aren't letting us do a thing that we want. I wanted to see that colony. Now you have us back in this miserable railcar riding for who knows how long, going to who knows where. I don't like it. I want to know what's going on!"
"Ok. We are going to one of the main supply complexes and it should take about two hours to get there. I had to 'show' you two to Seventeen so it would give the go-ahead to the others to let you into the place where we are going. You will see all kinds of things there."
"What kinds of things?"
"You name it and it's there. It's almost as big as your whole colony. There are no people there but almost everything else is. It used to be known as Apex (translated) which, I think, means the center or the top, the Ajax, the acme, the pinnacle."
"You mean it was the capital of the whole planet?"
"Kinda Cookie, after the war during the evacuation that is. It's still pretty impressive. There are weapons there that you CBs can use to win your war with the colony. Would you like that?"
Toni and I made a face at each other.
"I guess, if it would save lives." I admitted.
"You don't sound very enthusiastic, Cookie."
"I wish the war never was. I wish we could just start our own colony and be left alone. So far the old colony hasn't made any moves against us. As long as they don't bother us then I say don't bother them. Wars kill people. I don't want that."
"Whoa!" Toni put in. "I don't like the idea of getting killed either. If we had those weapons we could defend ourselves. I say the more the merrier!"
"Good! Two diverse opinions. The others will be pleased!" Jet announced.
"Why are they going to be so happy. All we are going to do is bring our problems to them. Are they bored, is that it?"
"Bored? Hmmm..." Jet thought for a moment trying to find the right words in our language to express herself in. "I suppose you could say that. We have been maintaining all this equipment and doing our jobs for all this time, day in and day out. That would get boring after a few million repetitions. We talked and found ways to amuse ourselves. That got old too. Now we have you to share with. It is very exciting. We want to help. This will be a great adventure. Is there something wrong with that?"
"It depends. We are revolting because we have been mistreated and abused. It is not a game to Toni and me. This is not an amusement! I think I can safely say that if we had our choice we would rather not have to revolt.
"Maybe we need to talk to you--and the others about segregation and oppression. I don't think you would find it amusing!"
"Oh, you are getting me wrong! It is educational. It is the experience. It is the change! We value life too. We don't want to see anyone killed or hurt. Don't think we don't understand. If it were the dweebs that found me instead of you I think I would still be on your side. I know how they have treated you. I have watched on your video. I know it does not give a true picture, however I can read between the lines. The others will want to ask you many questions. That is why we have been in such a hurry. Please reserve your judgement until you have met with the others. Ok?"
***
Dan Chet was the president of the United Colonies League. He had been quite surprised to hear from Tower colony. It was a maverick colony that had split apart from the mainstream many many years before. Something like two hundred years had passed where the members of the United Colony League had grown and developed. Giving support to the individual had been the key. The better each individual was the better off the whole UCL had been.
That had not been the plan of some of the maverick colonies. Tower colony had thought that by exploiting ther people that would allow some at the top the time and resources to 'think', to create, to make life better for everyone. It hadn't worked like that. Those who were being given all the benefits that could be lavished on them had 'thought' of more things that they wanted and ways to take more from those below them. It always worked like that. They had become greedy and lazy. The whole colony had suffered. As time advanced they had receded into an abyss of decay.
That was fine. When things got bad enough it would be the underdogs who would takeover and turn things around. The UCL had been waiting. Dan had not been too surprised when he got the call from the manager of Tower colony and heard that there was a take-over in progress. The only question on his mind was if the UCL should step in and help whoever was behind the uprising. It was to his shock and later consternation to learn of the discovery of alien artifacts on Seco. Weapons in perfect working order. Weapons that could unleash a flood of water from the sky.
It was a disaster! The UCL should have been reaping the benefits of waiting so long for Tower to come around. This could upset everything. The planet could become flooded. Tower could advance to the lead in technology. Tower could be taken over by CBs, a group who might be worse than the one already in power. All kinds of things could go wrong.
Dan knew it was his duty to keep abreast of what was going on over there. Perhaps an opportunity might arise to get some of this alien technology for the UCL--maybe all the alien technology.
Dan was already one of the youngest UCL presidents ever. If things went right he could assure himself a long long series of terms.
***
"Com'on honey...come back to bed and make me happy all over again." she cooed seductively.
He started for the bed. She was a beautiful woman.
"...if you've got another 50 in script to give..." she added and laughed heartlessly when she saw that he didn't.
He eyed her with a mixture of hate and disgust. She had used him. He had been weak. It wasn't his fault. He had been waiting so long and the end still wasn't in sight.
He had been drinking and trying to relax when she had come up and sat beside him. He hadn't known what she had wanted. He didn't care. What had mattered was that she was beautiful. He had liked talking to her, hearing her, looking at her, and finally touching her. It had been a revelation when he held her for the first time. She had fit him like a glove and, oh, she had felt so soft and smelled so good.
He was lonely, overworked and underpaid. He had been at New Tower nearly a month. Things weren't working out the way he hoped they would. Every day more CBs arrived hopefully and every day others left. There was little work available, little food, and almost no housing.
Everybody was running around trying to earn what they called script. It was like credits but you had to keep track of it yourself, like money. Actually it was just printed IOU's from Killer. Supposedly Killer was promising to pay face value--if you could find where to turn it in at. They had to use script. The credit computer was back at old Tower. Somehow it didn't seem appropriate to conduct business using ther computer system.
He was lucky, maybe, because he worked for Killer. He had a job everyday. Maybe one day he was unloading trucks and the next he was in charge of one of the barracks where everyone slept. He was kept busy and he did make a little bit of script everyday. He hadn't been able to put much of it back though. Something about having all your money in your hand and so many ways to spend it.
The price on booze and pills was a bargain and he had spent much of his free time getting off on them. He had also blown a fair amount of his script on various card games and games of chance. He had finally hit a small streak of luck and managed to get out while he was still ahead.
That's when he had met Cindi. She had been like a long cool drink after a drought. It was almost love--it was lust. She had played all of her cards just right. He hadn't stood a chance. She had played on his needs.
She had taken first his money and then everything else, including his pride. Sid knew he had been had. He couldn't wait to make some more script so she would let him love/lust her again.
***
I was interrupted from my thoughts by a whisper.
"Why are you being so grumpy today?" Toni wanted to know. "You've done nothing but be a bitch since we left this morning. I'm surprised Jet hasn't slapped you silly by now. What is your problem?"
I looked at Toni surprised. She was right though. I had been on edge. Things had been building up inside of me. I missed Sid. For a moment when I had first came to consciousness that morning and I had felt someone in bed beside me I had somehow thought/hoped/dreampt it was Sid. When I had realized that it was only Jet and it had angered/depressed/antagonized me. I guess I was still upset with her for not being Sid. The mind works in strange ways...
"Sorry." I whispered back. "I'm upset about something. I guess it's been showing. Thanks for letting me know. I'll try to get a handle on it."
"You'd better! I want to slap your face myself. We are making history here. I need you to be with it. Whatever is bothering you isn't as important as what we are doing right now. Try to work with me, ok?" she whispered hoarsely.
"Ok." We were making history.
I was worried. Jet had surprised me. I had thought she was in my back pocket and I had found out she wasn't. How many times would I make the mistake of underestimating her? I guess I was biased against the idea of a computer, even one in an android body, being a life form equal to my own. I'm sure she was, yet I kept letting her surprise me. I kept assuming I knew what she was thinking. I had to remember that I didn't.
We were going to meet the 'others' and I had to keep in mind that she was more closely aligned with them than Toni and me. She regarded us as alien--and she was right, I think. We were still all sentient, for all the good that did...
***
It wouldn't be long now. Pete could see it in the colony manager's face. Pete was sure it wouldn't be long before he gave up on being nice to that man, Killer. It would be ironic, Pete thought, to kill someone named Killer. Like it was a sign of some sort. He was anxious just to see if anything special would happen. He was trying hard to not enjoy his work.
***
Edward returned home from another tiring day at work. It had been like all the other days, not bad and not good, something was missing from his life. It was his daughter, Sue, dear sweet, irrepressible Peaches. "That's the reason you're alive!" he thought, "None of the material things matter. It's the love you share with your family. It is the joy. What I have been doing isn't living. Going to work everyday and church every Sunday isn't where it's at. I want time with my family--all of my family."
Dejectedly he collapsed into his favorite chair in the den and turned on the video, not so much because he wanted to watch it as it was habit to turn it on when he sat in that chair. Everything was habit, nothing changed, one day was a repeat of the one before.
Unfortunately it was time for the news. The commentator was doing a report on that place the CBs might all go to, New Tower. The news had snuck in a reporter with a camera and was showing exclusive footage of the deplorable conditions out there.
It got Edward's attention. He started the recorder to save what he was seeing so he could watch it over again if he wanted to. Diligently he looked for his daughter's face. If she was still alive that is where she would be. He didn't see her.
Even more dejected than before he slumped back in his chair and let his mind wonder. Soon this tired man was asleep. While he slept a thought formed in his mind and when he woke back up he had a mission in life.
It was perfectly clear--he would find his lost daughter and he would take all of his family and move to New Tower. They would all live as CBs but they would all be together. He was sure an electrical engineer would be able to find work in a place like New Tower. His services would be sorely needed and even if they weren't he could find something. He began planning...
***
Edward wasn't the only one planning on going to New Tower in spite of being a dweeb. This second person was also in search of the same girl, except he knew her as Cookie. It was a bad time to ask for a leave of absence and his supervisor hadn't wanted to give it to him, but when he threatened to take it to the labor ring he was granted thirty days (all of his accrued sick time).
He knew he was a familiar sight to many who would be out there so he had to waste a week growing a beard. It was also a good time to first buy a black shirt then wear it in search of CB clothing. Soon he had all the accoutrements of being a CB.
He meet one of the trucks going to New Tower at one of the pick up points. Nobody recognized him. He was doing well. All the time he had spent with CBs was paying off. Soon he was sure he would find Cookie.
He had gotten to New Tower and found himself some work before he asked himself what he would do when he found her. Why was it so important to him to find out what had happened? He had no idea. It was beginning to creep into his thoughts that maybe he was attracted to her on a very basic level. He hoped it wasn't love. That would be terrible. He was sure it had to be some other reason. Something big was going down and he was going to bust it open. The fact that these CBs weren't under the law back at Tower colony didn't enter into Ralph's head.
***
Things were falling apart. He had finally gotten his car fixed and ready to run but he was afraid to put it on the street. Crime had escalated for awhile. It was still strange. People would go out to New Tower and decide to live there but then they'd come back and steal the things they needed from Tower city and carry them out to New Tower and come back again and again.
The police had pulled back. They had to. Every time they sent a patrol into this side of town the residents would throw stuff at them until they would have to leave. It wasn't like before when just a few people would throw things. Everybody would be out there. They'd call ther friends, relatives, neighbors, strangers, anyone to join them and they would be joined. It felt good to run the cops off.
Everybody wanted to go on out to New Tower but they had talked to the many who returned and said it was worse out there than in the city. All the CBs knew they would go to live in New Tower someday, but not many wanted to go right away. The majority wanted to wait until there was more housing, food, ect.
Dick had been hanging onto his job by promising almost daily to the owner that he would not do any damage to ther station and would not allow anyone else to. Some places, like the factories that had taken advantage of the CBs for years and years, had been burned to the ground after being looted. Five whole blocks in the middle of CB town had gone up in smoke in one night.
People were losing ther jobs, ther homes, ther belongings, and sometimes even ther lives. It was a strange revolt. It was like the CBs were fighting each other as much as the dweebs. One morning Dick had reported to work as usual to find the station had been broken into the night before. He was blamed and was just fired.
Dick had had enough. He got the car ready to go, cut out the back (with an ax and a hammer) to make a light duty truck out of it, loaded it down with as many supplies as he had money to buy and left with a friend who had been to New Tower and said he knew what was going on.
***
Mike saw it as a business move. He hadn't been able to open the Gas City bar for weeks so he bought a truck and a camper. He carted up his most valuable possessions tried to sell as much of the rest as he could. He bought lumber to build a shelter out of and found someone to watch over his old building then he left to see what would happen. He knew he could lose it all. That was the chance he had to take...
The whole book in zipfile format.
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