Price of a Bounty (Reliance on Citizens Makes Us Great!) (23 page)

The
day of our departure, Keira and I dressed up like a well-to-do couple
going on holiday. Passing through airport security had never been so
easy. The guards checked our IDs against their lists like always,
but didn’t bat an eye as first Keira and then I passed through the
checkpoint. Guy would arrive on a later flight. We had all agreed
that we shouldn’t be seen together. It was risky enough with the two
of us, though her new name lowered the risk some. We didn’t talk
much during the flight, anyone could be listening, and we arrived on
time.

In
the airport, we located a restaurant and sat down to eat. Guy’s
flight, booked through a different airline, was due to arrive only
two hours after ours.

“What’s
he doing here?” I wondered aloud.

“Who?”
Keira followed my gaze.

“Don’t
look.”

She
turned to me. “I’ll be right back.”

Before
I could stop her, she stood and walked toward the restrooms. I
looked again. He was pretending to watch the teleview at the
newsstand. Yes, it was the same man who had followed April and me.
What’s she doing?

A
few minutes later, Keira returned to the table with a magazine held
loosely under her arm. She sat down and placed a call on her
portable transceiver. I continued to eat while I kept a close eye on
the man. He was still pretending to watch the news.

“Hi,
it’s Keira.” She turned on the vidscreen briefly, just to
verify her identity, and then spoke quietly. “I need you to
check on a number for me. It’s 49-73-60-41. Yes, I can wait. It’s
registered to who? With those codes we got, can you go into the
airline databank, and change my name from Kendra James to Madeline
Jones? Yes, as quickly as possible. I don’t want to have to give up
my new ID so soon. Thanks.” She looked at me. “Elaine
Ramsey knows we’re here.”

The
man answered his transceiver, then walked away.

“He’s
gone,” I said.

“She
got what she came for then. That means Danielle and April should be
safe.”

“What
did you do?”

“I
checked his transceiver and returned it before he even noticed it was
gone. He sent three pictures: one of you, one of me and one of us
together.”

“Then
she knows you’re alive.”

“Without
a doubt.”

Just
then, my transceiver buzzed. “I’ll stop in tomorrow. Yes,
that’s the earliest I can manage.” When I disconnected, I
looked at Keira with concern. “I’ve been ordered to return to
base.”

***

“You
can’t go,” Danielle said firmly.

We
sat in their parlor.

“I
have to. I’ve been given a direct order by a superior.”

“You
don’t have to,” Guy corrected. “You could stay here
indefinitely, but I think you should return.”

“You
think he should go back? To that, that lion’s den?” Danielle
asked.

“All
Ramsey knows is that Scott and Keira are here, but we don’t know what
she wants,” Guy explained. “She could have called Scott
in at any time, but she hasn’t. So why now?”

He
had everyone’s full attention.

“You
said you were followed when you arrived with April.”

I
nodded.

“But
Ramsey didn’t call you back then. The only difference now is that
you’re here with Keira.”

“That’s
right,” Keira said softly. “She wants me, and we’ve
known that for a long time.”

“We
have no reason to believe that she’s aware of Scott’s ties to the
Resistance. You’re right.” Guy looked at Keira. “We
can guess that she’s calling Scott in to get to you.”

April
looked up in dismay. “Then Keira can’t go back.”

“Yes,
she can,” I said. “Just not with me.”

“Then
you’re really going.”

Danielle’s
face was damp with tears. I hugged her close. The others sat
waiting for me to make the next move.

“We’ve
worked so hard, spent so many years, getting people into the right
positions so we could accomplish the most good. I can’t let one
person chase me into hiding.”

With
my sleeve, I gently wiped away Dani’s tears. Then I looked at the
others, “We need some time alone.” We stood, and I led
her down the hall to the kitchen. A few minutes later, we heard the
front door close.

-April-

Art
Fantastique

“Where
to?” I wiped away my own tears. “What would you like to
see?”

“I’m
not really in the mood for sightseeing,” Keira said.

“How
about Art Fantastique?” Guy suggested.

I
looked at him. “The shop is open right now. There would be
customers around.”

“That’s
all right. Let’s show Keira what you’ll be doing when you return to
Tkaron. Then we can go to a restaurant or to a park…somewhere we
can talk.”

“All
right. Follow me.” I led them to a busy street a few blocks
from the house. There, I was able to hail a cab.

I
knew Keira’s mind was elsewhere. Even so, as I gave the tour and
explained some of the artwork that we had for sale, she acted
impressed. I took them into the back room and shared a little of
what Dani had begun to teach me.

“We
were told that these two paintings were created by the same artist, a
man named Pierre-Auguste Renoir. But you can see that the lighting
in this one is significantly different than in this one. Since the
first has already been authenticated, we know that the second isn’t
an original,” I paused. “Sometimes, it isn’t so easy
though. See these?” I walked them over to another set of
paintings. “These three paintings: Lamppost, Central Park and
Birds at Topock Marsh, were all created by a woman named Chen Chi.
They look very different don’t they?”

Guy
nodded, and Keira looked at me with…was that pride?

“What?”
I said.

Keira
smiled. “I’m just really happy for you. This is the perfect
job for you, isn’t it?”

“Yes,
I think it is.” I turned to Guy. “Thank you so much for
giving me this opportunity.”

He
put his arm around Keira and said, “I’m glad it’s working out
for you.”

“There’s
a small café just down the block. Would you like to get some
coffee or tea?”

Keira
nodded, and Guy said, “Yes, that would be fine, Aimee.”

I
was starting to like the sound of my new name.

We
sat outdoors at a table with a colorful umbrella spread overhead.
Keira asked some of the same questions I had when I first arrived,
and Guy’s responses were very much like Scott’s.

“How
is it that the Mediterrans are so much more advanced than us? I
mean, just look at all of this: hovercars, maglev trains, inexpensive
and reliable public transportation…”

“Energy
pulse showers that clean and massage.”

Keira
raised her eyebrows.

“No
water needed, and safe food for everyone,” I finished.

“How
is this possible? Is it like this everywhere except Terene?”
Keira looked to Guy for an explanation.

“No,
not everywhere. Some other realms are faring poorly due to natural
disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. A few, like Mediterra, are
doing really well. As far as I can tell, there are only two realms
where a large percentage of the population is kept down. And only in
Terene is the Divide caused by wealth or lack thereof.”

“But
why aren’t people fighting back? I mean look at how life could be.
It could be good for everyone!”

Guy
shrugged. “The people who would fight aren’t shown this.”
He waved his arm at the expanse of city in front of us. “They
don’t know how it could be. Think about it, only the Elite have easy
access to modern techno, andnd no one in Terene has anything close to
what every citizen has in Mediterra.”

“Then
that’s the answer,” Keira said. “That’s what the
Resistance should be doing. We should be working to educate people.”

I
knew what Guy was going to say because Scott had already explained it
to me. “Someday, Keira. That’s the goal. For now,
although our convictions are strong, our numbers just aren’t high
enough to start a revolution. And unfortunately, we don’t have an
easy way to educate everyone. You have to remember that our economy
is still recovering from the war. Leaders in the Gov use fear to
justify their decisions and control the population. They’ve set it
up so that every single person is trying to get ahead by stepping on
each other, when the only real way to make progress is to band
together and cooperate.”

There
was something more pressing on my mind. “But what do we do
now? About Elaine Ramsey, I mean.”

Guy
looked at me. “Nothing. Other than Scott leaving early, we’ll
stick to the plan, and in a few days, Keira and I will fly back.”
Keira reached out and took my hand as Guy continued, “Whatever
happens after that, you’ll stay here with Danielle. Let us worry
about events back home.”

-Scott-

Returning
to Tkaron

Both
Elaine Ramsey and Major Phelps were waiting to greet me when I
arrived at the airport. A few other soldiers milled around and
pretended they weren’t here for me. I saluted and stood at
attention.

“Follow
me.” Major Phelps turned on his heel. I fell in line. Elaine
Ramsey followed. The major led us into a small grey conference room.
He stopped suddenly and turned toward me. I heard the door close
but kept my attention on the major.

“Sgt.
Maddock.” Major Phelps spoke in his familiar deep rumbling
voice. I’d served under him for many years. He knew how to
lead and was well respected. However, he was not part of the
Resistance. “I’m glad you decided to return.”

“Those
were my orders, sir.”

“What
were you doing in Mediterra?”

“I
went on holiday, sir.”

“You
didn’t have permission.”

“No,
sir. I did not request leave.”

“And
where is the young lady?”

“She
decided to finish her holiday without me.”

He
sighed and looked down for just a moment. “Under normal
circumstances, I would order an investigation into your activities
overseas.”

The
major and I both knew the Mediterrans would never allow the Terenian
military to run an investigation in their realm. They would do it
themselves, and even with the agreement between the Resistance and
their President, they would have to look like they were making an
effort. Cover ups could be messy.

“However,
these are not normal circumstances, and we seem to have plenty of
evidence without the hassle of an investigation.” Major Phelps
opened a manila folder and reviewed some papers. “You’ve
traveled to Mediterra on more than a few occasions during the past
three years.”

“Yes,
sir. Usually under orders.”

“I
see that some of these orders were issued by me,” he paused and
studied me carefully, “but I don’t recall having issued
them.”

I
didn’t respond.

“Well,
Sgt. Maddock. It appears that we have a traitor in our midst.”

I
did not look away.

Elaine
Ramsey stepped forward and placed a document on the table. “I’m
prepared to offer you a deal. If you sign this and give yourself
over to Ramsey Corps, you will be honorably discharged, and no
further disciplinary actions will be taken.”

I
read the document and picked up the pen.

-Guy-

Missing

We’d
returned to Tkaron over a week ago only to find that Scott had
disappeared. After two days, I called him. When he didn’t answer, I
left a message.

“Sgt.
Maddock? This is Mr. Burke. I’d like to meet with you, if you have
the time. There have been some updates to your portfolio we should
discuss.”

When
he hadn’t returned my call by the sixth day, I used a public
transceiver to make another call. I kept the vidscreen turned off.

“Sgt.
McGraw?”

“Yes?”

“Call
me.”

20
minutes later, my secondary transceiver buzzed. This line was secure
and was rarely used. I turned on the speaker and vidscreen.

A
woman in uniform appeared. “Guy Bensen?”

I
nodded. “Thank you for returning my call. Maddock said you
were my link to the military if anything were to happen to him.”

“I’ve
been expecting your call.”

“Do
you know where he is? I haven’t heard from Scott in over a week.”

“The
last I heard, he was on his way to Parisio. I figure something must
have happened, and he decided to stay.”

“No,
I was there with him. He received orders to return to base, and he
did, the very next day.”

“He
may have received orders, but he never returned to base. I checked
the records when we were told he’d gone AWOL. The funny thing is,
there have been no orders to search for him. With his rank and the
number of years he’s put in, that’s odd. I thought maybe whoever was
looking for him knew he was already overseas, but if he came back
whoever wanted him probably has him.”

“It’s
Ramsey.”

She
let out a low whistle. “If Ramsey has him. There’s not much
we can do, not without blowing our cover.”

“Do
you know where she may be keeping him?”

“I’d
guess the Ramsey Corps lab, but I don’t know how you’ll get in
there.”

“I
need you to do something for me, Sergeant. Be my eyes and ears on
the inside. Contact me immediately if you learn anything.”

“Yes,
sir!”

***

Waiting
was mentally exhausting. April and Danielle hadn’t heard from Scott
either. By the tenth day, I was restless and on edge.

I
kept a regular schedule at the firm, and Keira spent her days
training with Eberhardt and Ricardo. But every evening, Keira and I
talked in circles.

Why
had Elaine Ramsey taken Scott? To get to Keira. But that wasn’t
working, so why was she keeping him? And why did she want Keira
anyway?