Phoenix Rising (Book Two of The Icarus Trilogy) (9 page)

Douglas hated him.  Jamie was everything that was wrong with the show and was the symbol of what Douglas hated in humanity; style over substance, money over people and a general disregard for morality and ethics.  It was the perfect cover.

Douglas and Eric followed the man to the elevator bay and waited half a meter behind him.  They didn’t dare speak in case anyone was to hear what they were talking about.  It didn’t help that Jamie was completely intimidating.  On the set Eric may have talked to him on an equal level, but now that the resistance agent had revealed himself he had become larger than life.  Eric was just someone who talked on TV, Douglas was just the announcer; Jamie ran the show and apparently was the head honcho of their faction of the resistance.

It wasn’t until they walked down the hallway of the sixth floor and into Jamie’s room did Douglas breathe normally.  He hadn’t expected to feel so much anxiety from just meeting with someone, but as he sat himself down on the bed and looked at his boss he tried to remember the good that could come out of his actions. 

Douglas wondered why he ever thought this was a good idea.

Eric backed himself up against the cabinet that held the television and looked at Jamie.  The producer had set down a number of his things on the writing desk and then turned around and lazily sat himself down on the chair.  He looked at Eric and raised an eyebrow.

“You can sit down.  We have plenty to talk about,” he said softly, but Eric looked at him and bit his lip before shaking his head.  He wasn’t comfortable sitting around when discussing something like this.  Every word was incriminating and the celebrity felt like he could be thrown in an EOSF gulag at a moment’s notice.  He looked at his producer and waved his hand around his eyes.

“Where are your glasses?” he asked with a note of disdain.  The producer sat back and laughed at the nervous man.  It was odd to see Eric like this; he usually held himself with such confidence.

“I don’t need them, Eric.  They’re just so I look more professional on the set.” 

“Makes sense.  Part of your cover,” Eric said before crossing his arms and nodding a few times hurriedly.   Jamie gave him another raised eyebrow and set his hand on the desk to support his head.

“Not really; everybody knows I do it.  Are you …on … something, Eric?”  The celebrity looked back at his boss and backed up a few steps down the hallway.

“J-just something to take the edge off.  W-why do you want to know?”  Jamie laughed and shook his head before rubbing his fingers on his brow.

“Seems like you put the edge
on
.  Relax, Eric, we’re safe here.  I got this room so that we could speak comfortably.  You have to remember that none of us have anything incriminating in our pasts, minus your drug use.  They aren’t going to be watching us.”  Jamie looked from the celebrity back to Douglas.  The announcer had been watching the two and was gripping the comforter of the bed with white knuckles.  Jamie tilted his head and pursed his lips as he saw the tense man on the bed.

“Same goes for you, buddy.  Just take a breath and relax.  There won’t be anybody from the EOSF bursting through the door,” Jamie said before bringing his hands down and interlacing his fingers.  He sighed and made a conscious effort to look at each of them throughout his comments.

“I told both of you to be here because we need to talk about what we’re going to do.  And for you, Douglas, I wanted this to be a true introduction into the Eris Freedom Initiative.  Eric over here doesn’t really have the clout to be able to recruit you, but we checked up on you and you have a rather sparkling record.  It helps that you’ve been pretty selfish in the past; you’re not going to raise any red flags before the broadcast,” Jamie said before sitting back in his chair and smiling.  Douglas was surprised that Jamie was speaking so calmly and with such a nice tone to his voice.  The announcer was used to the irate producer that Jamie presented on the set of War World.  He was a big reason why the program had done so well in the last ten years.  Jamie Caswell sought out the best talent and editors and the battlefield came alive.  Douglas had never expected to see the man smiling.

“I have to hand it to you guys, though.  Talking about the Initiative in the fucking
break room
was a stroke of idiocy.  You’re both lucky that I reviewed the tapes and deleted the evidence, or you could have ruined the entire thing.  The last thing we needed was for them to discover a conspiracy and wipe the whole staff.  This is my baby, here, and I don’t want you fucking it up from this point on, you hear me?”  Eric and Douglas looked at the producer and nodded.  They felt like they were back in school and that they had just been scolded by the cool teacher.  Jamie looked at them for a moment and then scratched the back of his neck.  He leaned forward in the chair and interlaced his fingers again before looking up at the two of his subordinates.

“Alright, I have to let you know that even if we’re a success on the air we’re all screwed.  It’s basically a suicide mission, so if you don’t want to do it, I guess that’s fine.  But if that’s the case, don’t be surprised when you have an … accident.  Now, Douglas,” Jamie said before turning his eyes to the announcer, “I know you didn’t sign up for this and I’m sorry, but we really could use your help.  In addition to the two of you I really only have a couple more guys that I can count on when the broadcast goes public.  Can we count on you?”

Douglas looked at the resistance agent and suddenly wanted to be back in his studio apartment.  He didn’t know that he was going to die just for this shot at self-worth.  He didn’t know that he was literally giving up his life to this movement.  Even if Douglas didn’t help them they were going to kill him, or at least that’s what it sounded like.  He just wanted this to be a dream; he wanted to wake up.

The announcer was looking at his hands when he realized that he didn’t actually want to wake up.  He didn’t want this to play out any differently than it had.  Douglas Finnegan had always tried to commiserate with the rest of the poor people on Earth, but he never truly belonged with them and he felt guilty every day.  Douglas’ life was practically worthless; he was just a fake voice on a television program devoted to war.  He was part of the machine and definitely part of the problem. 

Douglas realized that he had so quickly agreed to join Eric’s resistance movement because he was disgusted with himself and his world.  The announcer looked up at Jamie and realized that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t help out in some small measure.  Douglas breathed in and steeled his reserve.  His life was worthless, but maybe his death could mean something.  He nodded; he didn’t need to say anything.  Jamie sighed and returned the nod before turning to Eric.

The celebrity had let the man talk, but now he was pacing around the room.  He obviously had not considered that the broadcast would not end well for them.  Eric jerked around and looked at Jamie accusingly.

“Oh, we’re going to die?  You didn’t tell me that,” Eric said before resuming his pacing.  Jamie just looked at the man and scratched his cheek.

“What did you expect, Eric?  As soon as we go on air we label ourselves enemies of the state.  You can’t expect to last long once you start condemning the status quo.”  Eric looked at his producer and squinted at the man.

“That’s fair, I guess, but it’s still bullshit.  What are we even going to say, Jamie?  What could be so goddamned important?”  Jamie sighed and rose out of the chair before approaching the anxious celebrity and placing his hand on the man’s shoulder.  Eric looked at him like he was about to swing at the man.

“Eric, remember why you’re doing this.  Remember Phillip.”  Eric heard the name and suddenly relaxed.  He thought about his half-brother and all the things that had been denied him.  Eric looked down at the floor and shuffled over to the bench near the cabinet before sitting down and looking into the middle distance.  Jamie looked at the man and walked back over to the desk.

“As to what we’re going to say,” he said before sighing and playing with the change that he had set on the desk.  “It’s a declaration of war.”

Both Douglas and Eric slowly looked back at their producer and wondered if they had really heard him say such a thing.  It was ridiculous.  What war could he have to declare?  It had to be a joke.  It was too much for the jaded Douglas to handle and he laughed before shaking his head.  He looked back at the slightly disheveled resistance agent and furrowed his brow.

“You can’t be serious,” Douglas said before seeing the grim countenance of his superior.  “You’re serious.  War?  What are you talking about?”  Jamie sighed and sat back down in the chair.  He looked Douglas in the eye and breathed out deeply.

“We’re to be one of the first casualties, gentlemen.  The Trade Union and War World Entertainment have gone too far.  They own everything.  They own our present and our future.  Everyone, and I do mean everyone, is just a slave to their profit machines.  And yes, Eric, even with your celebrity you’re just one of their products.  They sell you every day on
War World
.  Things have been going poorly for the last five hundred years, but with the advent of Eris and their terrible games they’ve
gone too far
,” Jamie said while looking at the floor.  Douglas could see the anger and hate that the man held behind the walls of his mind on a daily basis.  He could see the resentment and the feelings of injustice.  Douglas could understand how the man wouldn’t have even hesitated for a moment to kill him if the announcer had not agreed to help.  Jamie was lost in his own world of anger and Douglas didn’t want to be the one that brought him out of it.

“We have a modern slave system.  And we don’t just make them work; they don’t pick our crops.  We have other slaves that do that.  But these men and women die for us every day, painfully, and they get brought back to die again.  The Trade Union has institutionalized Hell.  I know I can’t stand it.  I know that deep down humanity can’t stand it.  The Trade Union and Jasper Montgomery know how to market it so that they don’t understand.  They know how to trick all of us into accepting these atrocities.  That’s what our broadcast is going to say.  That’s why it’s a declaration of war.”

“Because we’re not going to stop with just Eris.  That’s enough of a reason, but the Trade Union has to be stopped.  They own us with fake money.  Every one of us.  Our freedoms have been taken away from us and we didn’t even notice.  We’re not going to let them get away with it anymore.  We tried talking to them in the past, we tried to be civil, but our voices were just drowned out.  Our leaders arrested and killed in the streets of St. Louis.  Our struggles
forgotten
.  But not anymore,” Jamie said before looking Douglas right in the eye.  The announcer suddenly felt like a child.  This black-haired man in front of him was a true man; he was the kind of man that Douglas could follow into Hell.  The announcer just barely realized that he might have to.

“With our broadcast the Eris Freedom Initiative will no longer be a resistance movement.  We’re going to be a rebellion.  We’re going to stand up and we’re going to fight for our lives.  And not just the right to live, but the right to live without chains,” Jaime was breathing hard when he finished his speech.  Douglas could tell that the man was speaking from the heart.  Jamie
knew
what he was doing was right.

Eric had been caught up in the speech as well.  Memories of his lost brother came to his mind and he knew he was on the right side of this conflict, but by the end of the speech reason started to filter back into his consciousness.  Eric found holes that needed to be filled; he found problems with their methods.  He looked over at his producer and found his voice.

“That’s pretty, Jaime.  But how the hell are we going to be able to fight the entirety of the EOSF and all of the national militias?  Just by saying ‘we’re here?’  It sounds like we’re all going to get killed.”  Jaime looked over at the celebrity and bit his lip.

“It’s not just us, Eric.  In two weeks we’re going to go to broadcast.  We’re going to state our intentions and tell the whole world what they’ve allowed to happen and what they can do to fix it.  We hope to bring some into our fold,” Jaime said before rubbing his eyes and continuing.  “But we’re not the soldiers in this war.  Give me a gun and I’ll go to war, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not my role here.  I’m just responsible for the declaration.  We’re going to use the Trade Union’s weapons against them.”  Eric looked at the producer and shook his head.

“Jaime, enough.  What are you talking about?”  Jaime sank into the chair and looked at the ceiling for a moment before picking himself up and looking at the television anchor.  He gave a slight smile while recalling the genius of the plan.

“Part of our declaration is going to be the announcement that all of those slave soldiers on Eris are going to be free.  That’s the point of the Eris Freedom Initiative, after all.  We’re going to take off the chains of a million soldiers with years of training and a world full of weapons and point them at their former masters.  I can’t imagine we’ll have a tough time getting them to help,” Jaime said before standing up and gathering his things from the desk.

Eric and Douglas hadn’t expected that, it had seemed too far-fetched before Jaime said it, but now it all made sense.  It was the only way a movement like the EFI could ever make its mark.  Douglas looked up at his boss and blinked a few times.  It was a lot to take in.

“How?” Douglas said, unable to comprehend what was being discussed.  Jaime smiled as he turned around and leaned against the desk.

“Honestly, you really don’t need to know.  We just need to make sure that the message gets through in a couple of weeks.”  Eric stood up and started to pace the room again.  Douglas looked at his superior and sighed.  He guessed there were different ways to absorb information like this.  The celebrity turned to face the producer and looked off into the empty space.

“Well, what now?  What are we doing until then?  Should I practice lines or something?” Eric said, wondering how much of a role he would play.  Jaime laughed before shaking his head.