This book is intended for a more mature audience, so be advised.
╗ TEN ╚
GHETTO
Anna
had been under the growing impression that all the food in Central
Admin would be laden with grease of one kind or another. But, after
Adam called for food to be delivered directly to his office, the
spread of delicacies that arrived within a minute astounded her. Fine
dining was not a foreign concept to her but this was something else
entirely. The hors d'oeuvres consisted of a huge platter of shrimp
and cocktail sauce, a cheese and meat tray, and a dish of caviar and
crackers, along with a hearty red wine. After that came the main
dish: lobster tails in butter and garlic sauce with green beans and
stuffed clams. By the time the dessert of ice cream and sweet blush
wine was brought in Anna felt she could not eat another morsel.
It
was the most excellent food that she had ever tasted. As each dish
arrived the thought kept coming to mind that if she was indeed to be
the next Party Secretary, this might be how she would be eating every
day. Gourmet food, the best wine, and all she could ever have of
both. A childish notion, perhaps, but as each succulent bite slid
down her throat she found it more and more convincing. Although, she
realized her figure would suffer under such a heavenly strain, and
that did give her pause.
The
clock passed mid-afternoon by the time both of them leaned back
satisfied in their respective chairs. While they were eating the
Secretary had spoken precious little about the heavy subjects they
had covered previously. He instead contented himself with commenting
at length on the food they ate, where it came from, the vintages of
the wines they drank. His experience of the culinary arts was
extensive, as well as his knowledge of fine wines. Anna found the
conversation about food equally as intriguing as their earlier topics
and listened with great attention to his commentary.
She
realized it was he that she found truly fascinating. Whereas before
he had appeared intimidating, he now seemed eager, passionate, and
engaged. The way he eyed her sometimes made her uncomfortable, but
she chalked that up to her mother's lingering influence over him. His
conversation was never dull, his wit never insipid, and his manners
never vulgar. Anna found herself comparing him to Jesse, and the
pairing was so comically mismatched that it almost caused her to
laugh out loud. The Secretary displayed none of Jesse's smarmier
traits; Adam was suave and genteel where Jesse was forward and
overpowering.
She
swallowed awkwardly as she finished what she could of her dessert and
glanced at the glass of wine in her other hand. Mostly empty. Her
mouth suddenly felt sticky and she remembered that this was her
fourth glass. A tiny warning bell in the back of her mind warned her
to slow down, but the warmth in her body rebelled against the thought
of temperance. She shrugged and downed the rest of the wine in one
swig. It would have alarmed her how eager she was for her alcohol if
she wasn't already feeling so relaxed. The tension from earlier had
mostly melted away and Anna did not feel eager to stop the numbing
process.
She
glanced over at the window briefly and with a start noticed how far
the sun had set during their little party. They hadn't even gotten
back to the Secretary's earlier explanation, although through her
mild mental fog she almost couldn't remember what the question had
been. She marshaled her thoughts with some difficulty as she
resolutely put her glass on the table.
“You
were going to . . . “ Anna started, then began again, “I had
asked you about why your security fell down on the job so badly when
Daniel Marcus escaped. You never did tell me why.”
Adam
swirled the wine around in his glass and took another long sip before
replying. “You had asked me that. I had been about to answer. More
wine first?” Anna paused but then waved him off. He shrugged and
poured himself some more. “More for me!” he remarked with a
smile.
Anna
couldn't help but grin back, and then felt silly for doing so. Damn
alcohol talking.
She folded her hands in her lap in an effort to compose herself.
Adam
took a long puff on his electronic cigarette and released a ring of
vapor that traveled almost all the way to the ceiling before
dispersing. He watched it go with a mesmerized expression on his
face, then turned back to Anna. “Funny how the small things
captivate us,” he mused. He shook himself and returned to a more
business-like tone. “Yes, Daniel Marcus remains at large and
dangerous. And our forces continue to fail in finding him.” He bit
his lip, a reluctant pose unlike his normal self. “The security
problem has its origins many years back, dating back to even before
my father was party secretary. How much do you know about my father?”
Anna
frowned in puzzled thought. “Not very much. I know my parents
worked with him . . .”
“That
is correct, they did indeed work together,” Adam said, nodding.
“Only part of the reason that Verité had your parents killed.”
He saw that Anna shifted uncomfortably in her seat and he quickly
switched back to the original topic. “My father inherited a torn up
country, recently recovering from civil war and unending violence.
His father, my grandfather, saw the proverbial writing on the wall
and knew that we were losing the countryside. Our reunification
project has always worked best in the cities under close central
control.”
Fear
the country, Anna thought.
Everyone does, it makes sense.
Adam
continued: “When we emerged from the so-called 'overpopulation
period' there was chaos in government and anarchy in the streets; my
grandfather and father both realized we needed one way of making
everything work together, one system, a universal safety net. My
grandfather devised and began the Central Administration, and my
father built on and radically expanded it to encompass all of D.C.
and its surrounding environs. Every major city in this country still
under our control employs the same concept. I am the beneficiary of
their labor.”
Anna
knew little of Central Admin's history and the explanation intrigued
her. “And was the idea not successful?” she asked with some
confusion.
“It
worked, for a while,” the Secretary sighed wistfully. “We
streamlined food production, made certain utilities and businesses
public, put the universal camera and sensor monitoring system in
place, and automated the hell out of daily life. We encouraged
leisurely pursuits and the enjoyment of sexual freedom granted by the
AnnexEstros regimen. We discouraged dissent and suppressed all that
might threaten the system.”
The
last thought sent a small chill vibrating up Anna's spine. It had to
be done, so she supposed. But suddenly something he had said rang odd
and she spoke up. “What do you mean, the 'so-called overpopulation
period'?”
Adam
smiled a hollow smile at her. “A wall of convenient lies, as I
said. That was one of them.”
“I
don't understand,” Anna stuttered.
“There
is no problem with overpopulation in this nation, not now, nor has
there ever been a problem with it in the past. It is one of the
widest and grandest lies ever devised by man.”
Anna's
mind felt blank. It was a lie, he was lying.
“This
country is suffering its most serious lack of population in history,”
Adam continued unabated. “I would go so far as to say that the lack
is critically dangerous at this point.”
“You're
joking!” Anna blurted, a little too loudly. “This country,
underpopulated?
This city has a traffic jam every other hour on every other street!”
She laughed and added, “If anything there are far too many
people. I thought that was the reason for AnnexEstros, the old
abortion centers, the reason why HomoGen exists at all! What are they
for if not to curb humanity's irresponsible breeding?”
The
Secretary leaned forward in his chair towards her and his face
betrayed no traces of humor. “Listen closely to me, Anna, and open
your mind to what I am telling you. You must.”
“Not
when you are lying to me!” Anna retorted hotly. “HomoGen exists
to solve the problem of over-breeding! It's a heritage that I had the
honor of helping to create!”
She
saw a flash of frustration and anger briefly cross the Secretary's
face and thought that maybe her temper was running away with her. He
recovered himself, however, and continued. “HomoGen was indeed
founded during my father's tenure as Secretary for the purpose of
controlling the population numbers. However, the truth diverges from
what you know on several points. The first is that its primary task
became a desperate effort to push population numbers up, not
down. HomoGen has become almost our last best hope to stabilize the
population numbers.”
The
will to disbelieve him welled up in her in a powerful surge, although
the alcohol deadened some of the shock of the new information. What
the hell was he talking about? “I have to respectfully
disagree,” she said. “Officer Holloway expressly told me that
HomoGen's numbers and figures hit the targets perfectly. How could we
be suffering a massive population problem if that is true?”
“I'd
expect you to think that, naturally. While it is true that HomoGen
was and is currently meeting its projected targets, it is a relative
newcomer onto the population scene. If I recall, their first real
product was AnnexEstros, the fertility control drug. After that,
Central Admin assumed control of a good deal of the company and began
work on the Versions. Do you recall the eagerness the government
showed in getting the Version project off the ground as quickly as
possible?”
Now
that she thought about it, Anna did recall. Her heart sank as the
truth became more clear. So Central Admin had never had any intention
of ever cutting funding from HomoGen. “But that still leaves a
problem,” she persisted, although with less conviction now. “We
may have been funded by Central Admin, but we had accounts with
private customers for their own Versions to go to their own families.
You act like HomoGen exists primarily for the government's purposes,
just churning out Versions for you to use however you please. We
were- are- a successful company in our own right. The Version program
has proven wildly successful!”
Adam's
eyes narrowed at her, and for the first time in the past couple hours
her uneasiness returned. He frowned and fingered his chin. “Jesse
is HomoGen's head bean counter and you were in the tech department,
but the two of you were sleeping together. Surely you had a good look
at HomoGen's balance sheet after getting frisky with him?”
Anna
felt the muscles in her neck tense up. The scope of their prying was
becoming alarming. She managed to control herself, though. “Maybe.
Why?”
“Then
you surely noticed the top buyer for your Versions?”
“Some
entity called FPSO, I think. I wasn't so concerned with that part of
things. HomoGen's different business units are pretty cellular and
insulated from each other.”
“FPSO
stands for the Federal Population Services Office, and it is another
branch of our governing office.” Adam stared hard at her. “Central
Admin funds the majority of both ends of HomoGen's operations, simply
in an attempt to keep up population numbers. HomoGen's alternate
business model of contracting directly with willing couples for
Versions would never work. No matter how much those couples think
they can love and care for the Versions. That model has never worked,
not even from the beginning.”
Anger
welled up in Anna's heart and without thinking she came upright out
of her chair, almost in a threatening pose. It could not be true. It
was not true. She knew those couples, at least a few of them, and she
knew they were more than capable of making a loving home for their
Version. Adam's words stung her like a direct insult to the program
and she didn't care if he knew what she really thought.
“If
this is your idea of truth, Mr. Secretary, then I've had quite enough
for one day.” She could barely believe she was speaking to him this
way but she was not about to stop now. Her face felt flushed as she
spoke. “I've spoken to those people, I know they know what they are
doing. I believe HomoGen's model can and will work, and that they
should be given a chance.”
The
Secretary appeared unruffled. “HomoGen's model does
not work,
Anna. Right now. It doesn't work. I had the statistics directly from
Jesse's superiors this morning. They cannot find enough couples or
families of any kind willing to take Versions. They've run dry before
they've even started. This city is a wasteland for finding that kind
of love and acceptance.”
Anna
stood, jaw and fists working. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.
“Every Version is loved and-!”
“-loved
and wanted?” Adam stood slowly, pushing himself up against his
cane. A fire blazed in his eyes. “There is no love in this entire
process, and it's about time the charade was dropped. You want proof
that this entire idea is no longer working? Look around you, Anna.
Look at your commex, look at your car! They are the same models that
existed twenty years ago, the same designs! This country is suffering
a brain drain of epic proportions, simply because there are not
enough human heads to figure out the problems we face.”
He
inched closer to her. “To make a long story very short, that
is why our security fell down on the job so badly, Miss McLean. We
are overstretched, understaffed. The computer networks and systems we
built to make the Central Admin idea work are aging and shockingly
out of date. This is not a simple PR problem. I could show you
numbers and charts all day to prove you wrong, but I'd rather just
show you and let you see for yourself.”
Upright,
he was again a much more imposing figure despite the cane. Anna
shrank back and stammered, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean-”
“I
am not interested in what you meant or didn't mean. And I am not
interested in your apologies, Anna. I am interested in giving you the
wide truth, of letting you into the great secret so that you may be
part of the solution. You must grasp the enormity of what I am
attempting to show you if you are to ever govern. Come,” he said,
gesturing for her to follow him.
“Where
are we going?” Anna replied, suddenly apprehensive.
“We
are going for a drive.”
They
exited his office and were immediately joined by a phalanx of armed
guards who walked with them all the way to the elevator. Anna vaguely
noticed that the hallway didn't look half so charming in the waning
evening light. They descended several floors down to the underground
parking garage where Anna had parked her car, but emerged in a
different section where a fleet of shiny black vehicles stood parked
in long rows. Again surrounded by armed guards, Adam guided her to
one of the biggest vehicles, a giant truck with thick windows and
heavy doors. Bulletproof, no doubt.
“Get
in, please,” he said curtly, then nodded to the other men. Two of
the guards jumped into the front seats of the Secretary's vehicle
while the rest climbed into the other cars. They all began to move as
a caravan and emerged into the fading sunlight with a roar of heavy
gas turbine engines.
Anna
watched the familiar sights slip by: the various memorials and
monuments lit up in the evening air, the restaurants, the dilapidated
Union Station building and shining high rises that eclipsed it on all
sides. More porn shoppes, long lines of old row houses, small corner
stores and fuel stations. At another bend they passed by one of
HomoGen's Version training centers and Anna pointed it out. Through
the wide lighted windows she could see several Versions and their
various training personnel. Adam glanced out the window
dispassionately.
“You've
never driven farther than this street, have you?” he remarked.
Anna
shook her head. “No, I never had any business farther in. Why?”
“I'm
sure you don't know this, but HomoGen and FPSO outgrew the training
centers years ago.”
Then
Anna realized they were driving through a section of the city that
she had never been in before. The buildings gradually took on a more
slovenly appearance, and evidence of crime became more and more
visible. They rounded a bend and Anna's stomach wrung as she saw what
looked to be a long row of military-style trucks arrayed against one
side of the street. Men in uniform milled around them with automatic
rifles at the ready. Up ahead in the gathering dusk she thought she
could see an autotank with its restless automatic cannon turret
twitching back and forth. To her consternation she became aware that
they were indeed headed towards the tank at a healthy clip.
The
convoy slowed as it reached the tank and made a right turn down the
same street that the tank's cannon was pointed. Anna craned her neck
from the back seat to try to see what lay ahead. She thought she saw
something peculiar blocking the road about two hundred feet down, and
as they approached noticed that it was a huge steel fence and gate
that stretched from one side of the street to the other. A sign
hanging on the fence read “VG Entrance 1C.” The convoy came to a
stop and made a partial u-turn, so that the Secretary's vehicle was
closest to the gate and he and Anna could have an unobstructed view
through the side window.
A
second autotank lurked only a few feet away from the fence, its
various guns bristling grimly on a mission of watchfulness. They were
all pointed through the bars of the gate at the broad space beyond,
and Anna strained to see what lay past.
“What
am I looking at?” she asked uncertainly.
“You
are looking at where unwanted Versions go,” Adam replied.
Anna
swallowed and looked.
“We
pay HomoGen to produce them because they must keep producing to keep
up, but when we cannot find a family to put them with and can't find
a training center space for them they have to go somewhere. So we
bring them here.”
Anna
stared with mounting horror as she saw, past the fence, a crowd of
dark figures moving through the street, coming and going from the
doors of the row homes on either side. They prowled like animals,
lost feral creatures scavenging for food and garbage. Fires burned
here and there in barrels and huddled forms sat around them
motionlessly. Unnerving human noises and a horrible stench wafted to
the truck and Anna grimaced.
“What
is that smell?” she asked.
“Most
likely cremating another body,” Adam answered. “They do it
sometimes.” He looked at Anna. “This is part of what you and I
must work to end.”
Anna
glanced over at him briefly. Her anger still remained, but it was not
directed at the Secretary anymore. It felt now as if she had been
lied to by everyone except him. She nodded in blank agreement and
looked back out through the gate.
One
of the figures around the closest fire looked up and Anna could
barely make out a face: a white, scared, and enraged face. He stood,
pointed at the convoy and shouted something. Soon the crowd around
the fire stood and shouted with him, and they and the rest of the
aimless creatures began to approach threateningly. The slow advance
quickly gained speed and anger and the crowd surged towards the gate
in a fearsome mob.
Despite
the metal bars between the convoy and the Versions, fear rose up in
Anna's throat and she tried to say something but it never emerged.
The Secretary grabbed her arm and pulled her back from the window.
“You may not want to watch this part,” he said curtly. All her
thoughts were then cut off by a brilliant flash from her left
accompanied by a deafening roar of gunfire.
The
autotank had opened fire, its huge Gatling guns buzzing and sending a
stream of fiery tracer rounds through the gaps in the gate. Before
Adam managed to pull her back from the window completely Anna caught
a brief glimpse of shredding bodies and spraying blood. Her mind went
blank; she turned away, covered her ears and closed her eyes. The
gunfire continued for what seemed an eternity, then abruptly ceased.
Anna
waited until the echo reverberated into nothingness before she would
open her eyes and ears again. When she did she heard a new sound:
howls of agony and despair piercing the air from behind the gate. She
didn't dare look, but she couldn't help but listen. A horrible
haunting sound, it rose in pitch and volume as the seconds ticked by.
Vaguely she saw the Secretary order their driver to take them back to
the Central Admin complex. She felt the vehicle pull from the gate
and speed away from the agony and horror.
A
numbness overtook her, a different numbness from that induced by
alcohol. This was a raw, aching kind of numb, punctuated by that
brief image of violent death. She felt rather than knew that the
effects of the wine protected her mind from the worst of what she had
seen. Her hands shook all the same and the queasiness from earlier
returned.
They
arrived back at the parking garage and Anna noticed they stopped
right next to her car. She climbed out of the truck and Adam followed
her. He turned to face her, leaning hard on his cane.
“I
hope you will be more inclined to believe me in the future,” he
said.
Anna
nodded wordlessly.
“Here
is your firearm,” he added, handing her the gun that she had left
with the guards outside his office. “You must choose, Anna. Choose
whether or not to help me fix this problem, or to let it fester like
it does now. And I hope you say yes, because I have never handled
rejection particularly well. I have a plan, but it requires you.”
The
last words he delivered in a darker tone and a chill shook Anna.
“What will I have to do?” she whispered.
“I
can only tell you that when you say yes.”
Before
she could reply he waved to her car. “Do not take too much time to
decide. Every second we lose is gone forever.” With that, he turned
on his heel and stalked off, surrounded by his men.
Dazed,
she climbed into her car and programmed it to autodrive home. Her
head still spun a bit from the wine and the trip, and she did not
trust her own instincts to get her home in one piece. She turned her
music on and set it to as high a volume as she could bear, just to
prevent deep thought on the way home.
It
seemed ages until she rounded the bend into her own street and swung
into her own driveway. She shut the car off and the sudden absence of
music lent the world an especially poignant sense of hollowness.
Gritting her teeth, she made her slightly unsteady way up to her
front door and fumbled for the correct key. She wanted her bed, and
she wanted it now.
Then
she stopped, and listened.
The
man who lived on the opposite side of her from Mr. Vickers owned a
dog, but a quiet dog that rarely barked at anyone unless a new car
passed by. Now, however, all she heard from next door was incessant,
urgent barking. An eerie and uncommon sound.
All
the hairs on her neck and arms stood up and she froze, her key in the
lock but not turned yet. Probably just paranoia, alcohol induced. She
turned the key and the knob, but instead of entering right away she
instead pushed the door open and stepped back. It swung inward as it
was supposed to, revealing the empty and dark interior. Breathing a
partial sigh of relief, she reached around and flipped the entryway
light switch on. The light flickered on and showed nothing amiss.
Then
she saw it: the panel opposite the door that housed her home security
system control box. The LED on the panel blinked green. Wasn't it
supposed to be a solid green? Had she forgotten to set the alarm this
morning? Unlikely . . .
Without
thinking she drew her gun and entered the doorway, pushing the door
closed behind her. It shut with a loud bang and she jumped. She
flicked the safety on the gun to the “off” position and rounded
the corner into the living room.
All
normal there too. She turned on a table lamp and, with the gun
pointed steadily forward, she made her way towards the kitchen. All
seemed well in there too, but she decided to look in briefly just to
make sure. She took a tentative step through the kitchen archway.
She
never saw where the first blow came from but it landed on the top of
her arm with such crushing force that the entire limb spasmed and
went completely numb. Another blow simultaneously struck the gun from
her hand and she vaguely felt her entire arm being wrenched around
and behind her back. A third strike landed like a load of bricks on
the backs of her knees and they caved in, sending her into a kneeling
position on the floor. Hot breath whistled past her head as sudden
pain washed over her entire body. Another hand held her shoulder in a
powerful grip.
“Do
not make a noise or I swear I will kill you,” a man's voice grunted
flatly into her ear.
Click here to read Chapter Eleven!
