Freedom Incorporated by Peter Tylee (me reader .txt) 📖

make for a pleasant change,” Dan scoffed.

Cookie peaked at everything James had downloaded from the Raven. It was too intriguing not to look; peering inside his mind was like staring into his soul. “Holy shit.” He started panting uncontrollably. “Holy fucking shit.”

“What?” Dan demanded, concerned something had gone horribly wrong.

“Ah, James hacked into the Raven’s head before he died,” Cookie explained. “You’ll never guess what he found.”

Dan had no idea such things were possible. He blinked at James with a mixture of surprise and irritation. Imagine how easy that information would’ve made it to avoid him! I would’ve known where and when he was going to strike. I guess it doesn’t matter much now though. “What?”

“Bank account details.” Cookie’s mouth sprouted a massive grin.

“And?”

“Well, that’s it.” Cookie could see Dan didn’t grasp the enormity of the news. “He’s dead so he’s not going to want it anymore.” But still Dan didn’t get it. “Well… don’t you see? With this information we can access his accounts.”

“How much?” Dan asked, finally twigging to Cookie’s line of thought.

“Seventy million North American Credits,” James read the balance from the screen three times to make sure he’d put the decimal point in the correct place.

Dan whistled softly.

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Cookie’s grin was only getting bigger. “Wait till we tell Jen, she can finally afford that yacht she wants.”

“Five ways that’s…” Dan performed the calculation in his head. “What, about fourteen million each?”

Cookie nodded. Neither man had any scruples about helping himself to the money. As far as they were concerned, they’d earned it. Besides, the twisted creature they were stealing it from was dead. Thank goodness!

At that point, Dan’s conscience reminded him about Hans. He’d promised to help the struggling scientist in any way he could. “Make that six ways.”

“Six?”

“Hans van de Berg,” Dan replied. “He’s the Dutch guy who helped us get into the Guild, without a key so to speak.”

“Six ways is still bloody good.”

But money was only the second best way Dan could think of helping the man. Taking over UniForce would afford him a certain degree of protection. Then deal with PortaNet. Dan wasn’t ready to relax yet; he still had gritty work to do. But one thing at a time. They had a number of hurdles to pass before he could claim victory over UniForce.

“Let’s go find security.”

“Yeah, before they find Samantha.” She’d stayed behind with Simon to guard Jackie’s office while Cookie tampered with the security database.

“And then we wait for Jen.”

*

Monday, September 20, 2066

UniForce Headquarters

16:25 San Francisco, USA

Jen was exhausted. She’d never known how difficult it was to organise an urgent shareholder meeting. Now she’d been awake throughout the San Francisco day and her circadian rhythm was screaming at her for the abuse. She was so disoriented she didn’t know what time it was or whether she should be waking up, sleeping, or just heading to bed. All she knew was that the shareholder meeting would start in five minutes and if it were successful, they’d be in the clear.

They were all waiting nervously. Nobody was confident enough to place bets on the outcome.

They’d spent much of the previous day with the authorities, answering a swarm of questions about the incident in Jackie’s office. They’d carefully worked out their answers in advance and their stories held coherently together, giving the security forces a bleak image of Esteban’s loyalty and a glowing portrait of Jen’s courage.

John adjusted his collar and tie for what seemed like the thousandth time. “Do I-”

“You look fine,” Jen said, interrupting him before he could ask the same question he’d been asking every five minutes for the past hour. “Trust me would you? Just stop fidgeting or they’ll see right through you.”

He summoned his courage and strapped his arms to his sides. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need it,” Simon assured him. He was just as exhausted as the others and looked as if he was ready to sag into a sofa and drift lazily to sleep. He was starting to forget what his girlfriend Tanya looked like and intended to apply for leave as soon as he got back to the office. He was one hour late for work as it was. Man, the Super’s going to be pissed. He’d spent much the day organising deals and winning shareholder votes. He had several useful contacts owing to his links with the law enforcement industry. A bit of pressure here, a favour called there, and suddenly the flow-on effects ensured that at least one-fifth of the votes would be affirmative. “You’re a shoe in.”

John took a steadying breath. “I hope so.” He’d given the situation a great deal of consideration and realised that his whole life had been leading to this opportunity. He was nursing the noble goal of chairing the world’s first socially and environmentally responsible giga-corporation using the perfect blend of his father’s moral conviction and economic realities that worked in practice. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe the other giga-corporations would stumble over themselves to comply with his new brand of corporate ethics, but he satisfied himself with the thought that it had to start somewhere. And why not with UniForce?

They were standing in a nervous huddle in one wing of the stage. Many of the shareholders had taken the time to attend in person and a sizable crowd had assembled to watch the proceedings. Others had chosen to watch via video feed and vote remotely. Jen was just happy they’d amassed the required percentage to get a binding decision.

“Okay, I’m on,” John said quietly before strolling stiffly onto the stage and standing behind the podium. He was more nervous than he could remember, but nobody noticed. The room hushed to a respectful silence.

Jen watched the flicker of camera flashes from the side and closed within whispering distance of Dan. “So, what’re you doing afterwards?”

Dan grunted. “If it works I’m going to need a drink.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“A new identity.” Dan grinned despite the serious undertones. “What about you?”

“Well, I think I’ll cash in on that drink you owe me.”

“Huh?” Dan’s head spun and he regarded her with awkward suspicion. “What drink?”

His eyes changed focus at the same instant the hairs on his neck stood on end. Over there… in the shadows. It was as if a demon had plunged a fist into Dan’s darkest nightmare and used what it found there to breathe life into pure evil. Everything happened so fast, yet in Dan’s mind an ocean of time was rolling slowly past. Part of him wished his body would move faster, infuriated by the restrictions of flesh and bone. It can’t be. Denial was always his first line of defence against something too horrible to accept. It followed a familiar pattern; he’d experienced it with painful clarity when fate had snatched his wife from him. But the problem with denial was that eventually reality asserted itself, brushing aside the inferior defence and stinging even more for the temporary buffer.

The Raven was already pressing his trigger. A ghastly expression contorted his face and streamers of blood caked the corners of his eyes and the ridge of his nose. It was like looking at a ghoul. He wore a black bandage around his forehead but a glistening sheen of blood was visible through the coarsely woven material. The assassin’s bullet had penetrated his cranium and struck his computer but the solid frame bracing the unyielding circuits had absorbed the impact and spared his life. It’d given him the headache of the millennium and badly damaged several circuits, but he’d survived. He’d then spent ten hours reprogramming around the damage to get back online and become semi-functional again. The impact had devastated large slathers of his specially grafted nervous tissue and his processing capacity was down to 13 percent. But that was plenty to make him deadly.

Dan didn’t need to think. It came naturally to him. It made sense that he should try to protect Jen from the bullet. It was somehow fitting. Somehow right.

He pushed her aside with the same arm that loosed his Colt and bowled Jen to the ground in a tangle of limbs that ultimately spelled doom for his own balance. He then felt the round pierce his chest to the right of his sternum and suffered an acidic burn when it detonated, shredding his flesh. It wasn’t even particularly painful, not as bad as he’d expected anyway. He’d taken steel bullets before, but never an explosive glass round. The detonation wouldn’t cause the most damage. By the time he pulled his own trigger, the nanotoxin payload was already seeping into his bloodstream. He’d fired his second and third rounds by the time he hit the ground and he’d grouped all three rounds neatly on the Raven’s chest. His fourth round entered the Raven’s skull near the bridge of his nose, finished what the other bullets had started.

Dan’s first thought was for Jen’s safety. “Are you okay?”

Jen nodded, too stunned for speech.

Simon knelt by his side and noticed the damage first. “Oh God, Dan, you’re bleeding.”

Jen hadn’t yet noticed and frantically searched Dan for wounds, soon spotting the dark red blotch on his chest. It filled her with helpless panic.

He tried to brush them away when they moved to examine the wound. “Don’t.”

“Oh mate…” Simon tried to keep his voice calm. “We’ve gotta get you to hospital.”

He weakly shook his head. “Don’t bother. It’s nanotoxin.”

Simon flinched, jerking away so as not to contaminate himself. He looked closer and recognised the telltale signs. Dan wasn’t going to die from blood loss.

“What?” Jen mouthed without sound. She couldn’t understand why Simon was pulling back. “We have to get him to a hospital.”

Simon ever so slightly shook his head, unable to break the news with words.

Dan let the Colt slide from his grip and reached for Jen’s panicky hands. “Jen…”

“No.” She couldn’t stop the flow of tears; hearing him murmur her name was too much. It’s not fair… we’re so close. Perhaps that was the most painful thing. She’d started to cherish thoughts of the future again and allowed her hope to flourish. Now it was doomed to the weeds of life, the only things capable of flourishing in the dark. And it left a bitter taste in her mouth to mingle with the salty tears running shamelessly down her cheeks.

“Jen, it’s okay.” Dan was tired. He was fighting to draw breath and the burden of keeping his eyes open was enormous.

What? “How is this okay?” she demanded.

“It’s my time, that’s all.” Dan would’ve said something else if he’d been brave enough. He’d grown fond of Jen against his wishes. If life had spared him enough time, he might’ve eventually admitted that he’d fallen in love with her. Though he’d never tell her that now, it seemed too cruel. “Slime?”

“I’m here man.” Simon drew closer so Dan wouldn’t have to waste energy raising his voice.

“Take care of Hans… you know what to do.” He could feel the transformation starting. His body was rotting on the inside.

“I’ll take care of it.” Simon slapped a boisterous hand to Dan’s shoulder. He wanted to say so much and he opened his mouth to articulate it but the words froze in his throat.

“Thanks.” Dan’s eyes told the story - Simon didn’t have to say anything, his friend already knew.

“Jen… I need you to do something for me.”

“Name it.” She was inwardly pleading for a miracle to whatever God happened to be listening, ready to devote her life to the glorification of His or Her great name if He or She would just spare Dan. She needed a