The Wall, page 26
She spoke quickly and clearly, and it was all totally unbelievable. “Do you believe this?” he asked Gideon. “About this machine?”
Gideon shrugged. “I’m not sure.” Kate punched him on the arm and scowled and Gideon continued, “So far it’s been right. All the same, without the file from Stella, I might not have been so convinced. However, it all fits. And we all know Harry is crazy enough to do it. I just don’t understand how the rest of his people would go along with it.”
“Money,” Aaron said. “That’s what it all comes down to. Money and power. Come look at something.” He turned away and led them up the small rise that gave them a view of the town of Culpepper. From here it appeared almost normal. He lowered his pack from his shoulder and pulled out a pair of binoculars, raised them to his eyes. The wall around the town came into sharp focus, ten feet high, razor wire along the top. Armed guards patrolled the area around the barrier, others manned the black metal gates. He handed the binocs over to Gideon who stared for a long time.
“What is it?” Kate asked.
“A slave town,” Aaron said. “And we have information about at least a hundred others.”
“But what is it?”
“The towns are taken over by a company—sold to the highest bidder as far as we can tell. At first, the workers were paid in scrip, which could only be redeemed at the company stores. Then they weren’t paid at all, just given essentials. Food and clothing. Leaving wasn’t an option and the wall was built to ensure compliance.”
Gideon turned to face him. “Nobody complained? Fought back?”
“What did you expect—a revolution?” He shrugged. “I’m sure some did, and they were dealt with. A few managed to escape. Joined the rebels. That’s how we found out about them. This started about six years ago, as far as we can tell. The only town that really fought back was razed to the ground. Everyone dead.”
“I can’t believe this,” Kate said. She’d gone even paler.
“Well, this is even better. This particular town is a little different from most. It’s actually run by the government, and it’s rumored that—among other things—there’s a laboratory in there for maintaining nuclear warheads. We’ve been trying to get proof. So far, we’ve got nothing definitive, but it all ties in with what you’ve told me. The country no longer has the facilities to make nuclear warheads. So if they have them, or even if they get them from the Russians, they need to be maintained.”
“Why have the rebels never brought this out in the open?” Kate asked.
“As I said, we’ve no proof. Apart from that, we’ve been trying to get control of the Party broadcasting system so that we can get a message out nationwide. So far, we’ve failed, and our main contact was killed recently, so it’s doubtful it will happen now.”
“Oliver?”
“You know him. Did Stella tell you?”
“No. He was my boss…and my friend.” She stared off into the distance for a while, then looked back. “There must have been something you could do.”
“The people at the top say they’re waiting for the right time. Most of them are scared, and a few I think are in the pay of the administration. I’ve suspected for a long time that we have traitors in our midst. That’s why I’m here alone. I couldn’t risk telling anyone about this meeting.”
“So we can’t expect any help from the rebels?”
“There are a couple of people I trust.” He’d have to go back to New York, see them in person. He couldn’t take the chance of a call being picked up on the chatter. He glanced between the two of them. “You’re really going to go through with this? Try and assassinate the president?” It seemed unbelievable.
“We don’t have a choice,” Kate said.
“We’ll take any help we can get,” Gideon added.
It was a suicide mission. Aaron knew that, and he was guessing they did as well. But maybe they didn’t all have to die. Maybe Kate could come out of this alive—it was what Stella would have wanted, and he was guessing his brother as well. Together they could do it, keep her away from it. Distance her.
“I have to go back to New York and get my people. We’ll head to D.C. tomorrow. I’ll find a way to contact you once we’re in the city.”
Gideon nodded. “We have to get back. I have a meeting this afternoon. I don’t want anyone looking for me.”
“Okay. I’m glad you came. I’m glad we had a chance to talk.” He hesitated, then asked the question he’d been building up the courage to ask. “How’s Mother?”
Gideon cast him a look as if deciding how much to tell him. “Not good. She never really recovered. After you ran, they interrogated her and Father.” He gave a shrug. “At least she’s alive. I was hoping you might have contacts—somewhere she could go for safety.”
There were some settlements far from anywhere where people managed to live off-grid. “I’ll talk to a few people,” he said, “and I’ll be in touch.”
Then he turned and walked away.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression.” Harry S. Truman
By late the following afternoon, Kate was going stir-crazy. They’d agreed not to contact each other until Gideon heard from Aaron, then they would organize a time and place to meet and plan.
Gideon had been quiet on the drive back; she guessed he’d been deeply moved by the meeting with his brother. She knew they’d been close growing up. Was he contemplating the idea of losing Aaron a second time?
He’d dropped her off at her office, and she hadn’t heard from him since.
She’d spent the day finalizing the plans for assassinating the president at the Smithsonian in two days’ time. Assessing how much help Auspex could be. Gideon had told her to devise the plan based on four people: him, Aaron, and Aaron’s two rebel friends. Not her. Apparently she would be more of a liability than a help. In some ways, she saw his point—she didn’t want to be a liability—but she was still pissed off.
The basic plan was that Auspex would infiltrate the Smithsonian systems and set off a diversionary alarm, which would cause panic and result in the president being hustled off to a safe place. There were several areas that could be shut off by steel barriers coming down. Auspex would take control of these and isolate the president and his immediate bodyguard, shutting them in with Gideon and Aaron and preventing both Harry’s escape and any help from his private army. Hopefully that would improve the odds and they’d kill the slimy bastard.
Auspex would then lift the barriers and Gideon and Aaron would escape.
And they’d all live happily ever after.
Or not.
One thing she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do was ask Auspex the odds of any of them living through this. She didn’t want to know, because she suspected they were very, very low.
She also hadn’t taken off Auspex’s overrides yet. Once or twice she’d nearly typed in the question and asked what would happen if she did, but she’d chickened out at the last minute.
She needed him right now. Couldn’t take the risk that he’d vanish.
Midafternoon, she took a walk to clear her head. She’d only been back a few minutes when there was a light tap on the door. Nothing else happened.
“Come in,” she called out.
The door opened slowly, and Teresa put her head round it. She’d clearly been crying, her eyes red and puffy, her mascara streaked down her cheeks. She came into the room, closing the door behind her, and stood silently, her arms wrapped around her middle.
“Teresa? What is it?” Kate searched her mind for what could have happened, but she came up blank. They couldn’t have been discovered, or else she’d be faced by a whole load of Secret Service agents, not just Teresa. Besides, she wasn’t sure her being arrested would make Teresa cry.
“He’s dead,” she said.
Her mind blanked…and then started racing.
“Who’s dead?”
“The president.”
Everything stopped while her brain processed that. Was it over?
“I remember when he first became president,” Teresa continued. “I was only six years old, and he was going to save the world.”
She exhaled. “You mean the old president?”
“Harry Senior. He was such a lovely man. So charismatic. Now he’s gone. It’s the end of an era.”
It certainly was. Kate rested her head against the back of her chair, her pulse fluttering. For a moment there, a different future had flashed before her eyes, one where she didn’t have to die or lose everyone she loved. It had been…blissful. Unfortunately, it had vanished as fast as it had come.
“What happened?” she asked. She must have missed the announcement while she was on her walk.
“The president—the new one, I mean—went to see his father in the nursing home yesterday. He sent out a report that his father was in good health, was happy about the ceremony in a few days’ time, excited to be part of that. Then he died quietly in his sleep last night.” Teresa sniffed. “I’d been going to go along to the ceremony to see him. Now it’s over.”
“Has the ceremony been canceled?” What the hell were they supposed to do? Time was running out.
Teresa sniffed again. “No. His son made such a moving speech. He was in tears. He said that the ceremony was to honor his father, and that he would do that whether his father was alive or dead.”
“Good.”
That Harry Senior was dead shouldn’t make a difference. The plan should still be viable. Part of her was relieved. The rest…she didn’t know. That brief glimpse of euphoria had left her confused. She’d accepted what she had to do, and then there had been hope, and now that hope was snatched away once again.
“Thank you for telling me,” she said, wishing the woman would leave. She needed to be alone to get herself back in the right frame of mind for martyrdom.
“I just thought you would want to know so you can send your condolences. I’m sure you’ll be invited to the funeral.”
“Maybe.” It would have to be soon.
“I’ll go then. I have other people to see. It’s important that the Party sticks together at a time like this.”
“Thank you. You’re doing a wonderful job.”
Something that might have been doubt flickered in Teresa’s eyes, then she gave a nod and turned and left the room. As the door closed behind her, Kate lowered her head to the cool metal of the desk, trying to ease the ache.
She sat like that for a long time, then slowly straightened.
She should have heard from Gideon by now. And he should have heard from Aaron. The temptation to call him was strong, but that wasn’t the agreement. Maybe Auspex had heard something.
Has there been any chatter about Aaron Frome in the last twenty-four hours?
The answer came immediately.
This afternoon at 15:15, Aaron Frome was arrested with two other people while entering the city on fake papers.
She stared at the words, willing them to disappear or morph into something more acceptable.
Are you sure?
99 percent.
What happened to him?
He is at this moment being questioned by the Secret Service.
Did that mean that Gideon was aware of what had happened?
Do they know who he really is?
They do.
Shit. Was Gideon in trouble? Maybe they’d already arrested him as well. That’s how things happened. You were guilty by association. Panic bubbled inside her, and she forced it down.
Has Gideon been arrested?
No.
Will he be?
There is a 96 percent chance he will be arrested.
When?
The highest probability is tomorrow morning when he goes to work.
Are they watching him?
At this time, the probability is negligible.
Then she still had a chance to warn him. He could run. Get out of the city. There had to be something he could do. She couldn’t bear the thought of him being interrogated again. Her fingers shook as she pressed the number for his office. There was no answer. She glanced at the clock. It was close to seven. Maybe he’d gone home.
She punched in his home number, and this time he picked up. “Gideon Frome.”
“It’s Leia. Meet me in the bar where we first met as soon as possible.” And she put the phone down.
…
Gideon got the taxi to drop him off a mile from the bar. While he didn’t know why Kate had felt the need for the subterfuge, it didn’t bode well. His stomach churned; he should have heard from Aaron by now.
He longed for the days on the Wall when he’d believed he knew who he was fighting.
Boyd was ignoring his calls. The news of Harry Senior’s death had turned the place into turmoil. The Secret Service was heavily involved in organizing the funeral, but, as usual, he’d been sidelined.
The streets were quiet for this early in the evening and the air was heavy with a coming storm. It made his scalp prickle.
Dave nodded to him as he entered the bar. Gideon glanced around and found Kate seated in the same booth they had shared that first time. She’d been a blonde that night. She was staring at the table, gnawing on her lower lip, but she looked up as though sensing his approach and her eyes were huge and filled with sadness.
What the hell had happened?
He slid into the booth opposite her as Dave came up beside him, a glass and a bottle of bourbon in his hand. He placed them on the table in front of Gideon. “Let me know if you need anything else.” As though sensing the atmosphere, he didn’t linger.
Kate had a full glass of white wine in front of her. Her fingers gripped the glass, but she hadn’t touched the drink. Her other hand crept across the tabletop, and he reached over and closed his fingers around hers. Her skin felt cold, almost clammy.
“What is it?” he asked. There was no point in putting this off.
“Aaron was arrested entering the city this afternoon.”
He’d suspected something must have happened. He took a deep breath. “What about his men?”
“Them as well.”
“Do you know where they are?”
“Auspex says they’re being questioned in the cells below the Secret Service building.”
Christ, so he’d been sitting in his office while Aaron was probably being tortured somewhere below him. He released her hand and poured himself a shot of bourbon, swallowed it in one go. Poured another.
“I’m sorry, Gideon.”
“He knew the risk.” But things were going to be far harder without his help. Plus, he’d hoped Aaron would have some idea of how to get their mother out of the city and to safety—if safety even existed anymore. And Kate had had hopes of getting her parents away to somewhere they could hide out. Neither would happen now.
Something else occurred to him. “Do they know who he is?”
She nodded. “You have to get away. Get out of the city. Auspex says they’ll arrest you tomorrow when you arrive at work. You have twelve hours to get away from here.”
For a moment, he considered running. If Aaron had been arrested, then the security must have been increased. They would put a flag out on Gideon’s ID, and there was no way he’d get through the checkpoints. That didn’t mean it was impossible.
Should he go?
He had no doubt that Harry was capable of setting off a nuclear device in one of his own cities, but maybe most of the country would survive. There was no guarantee the Russians would start a war.
So why not leave, get the hell out of here? Try and make the world a better place from the outside? There had to be a way. Maybe they could somehow stop the nuclear attack. There were others out there working against the Party, fractured groups that needed uniting in a common cause. They could take their proof—the file Stella had given them—and they could fight on. And if they failed, then they could help in the fallout.
He’d been staring into his glass of bourbon. Now he raised his head and looked into Kate’s eyes. Silver with just the slightest hint of blue, like the sky on a winter’s day. “I’ll go if you come with me.”
Shock flared in her eyes. He didn’t believe she hadn’t thought about it herself. She glanced away, wouldn’t hold his gaze. “You know I can’t.”
Anger and frustration rose inside him, threatening to choke off his breath. “Why?”
“Because the only way to stop this is if someone kills Harry.”
“You really believe that?”
“You know I do.”
“And there’s no one else who can do it?”
She shrugged helplessly.
There was no way she could do it alone. Hell, if it came down to it, even if she had a gun in her hand and nothing between them, he wasn’t sure she could go through with it.
“Maybe you could hide out somewhere and help me?” she said.
He considered it for all of about five seconds. “I won’t get anywhere near Harry. There’ll be a warrant out for my arrest. Every law enforcement agency in the city will be hunting for me.” There was another thing. “How long do you think it will be before they come for you? They know we’ve been seeing each other. It’s only a matter of time. Do you really think they’re going to let you walk into the Smithsonian and calmly kill the president?”
“They might. There’s no official connection between us.”
He snorted. “Boyd saw us together. So did the president. You’ll be locked up by tomorrow night, probably next door so I can hear you scream. How do you think you’ll manage under torture?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice sounded small. He was being a complete bastard, but he had to convince her somehow.
“Come away with me. We’ll warn my mother, your parents. I’m betting they have contingency plans in case anything goes wrong. We’ll get out of the city and stop this thing another way.”
