BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) Read online

  “In your own words Nathan,” prompted Colonel Richards who smiled at Nathan. “No need to be formal here.” Nathan considered this a strange thing to say whilst he was effectively conducting himself in a disciplinary meeting.

  Their respective screens began to show first person subjective raw audio & video footage from a few different incidents. They all shared a common subject which was River. He featured in all the edits chosen by Major Donnell. When they had finished playing them end to end, the Internal Security officer asked, “Major, who is this man and what is your relationship to him, and perhaps you might also recap for us what was going on in these scenes.”

  Nathan addressed the panel, “This is Citizen Eli River who has recently been processed as a citizen by the Office of Environment. We have shared sporting interests in common and to an extent we are now friends. Some of the footage shows me collecting him from the Rangers office when he was processed. I made a point of doing this because the young man effectively saved my life after a bad accident outside, and I felt that I should repay him by helping him integrate easily into his responsibilities as a citizen. For this purpose, I have provided him quarter in my home. Some of the other footage showed us at the west gate with Deputy Lyons of the Environment Office. We are about to set off on a sporting activity break.”

  “I for one can vouch for Major Carlson’s well known leisure pursuits on the outside doing his free running and such,” confirmed Nathan’s boss, Colonel Paul Richards who seemed to want to support his subordinate officer.

  Major Donnell interrupted, “The free running is not a concern here. If you look at the audio transcripts for the conversation with Deputy Lyons, you will notice that Major Carlson describes this man Eli River as an asset of his. He states that he has infiltrated a criminal organization in District 18 and knows of the location of tunnel exits being used by the organisation. Despite this you didn’t actually view any tunnel entrances unless you found one during your transmission break at Garden of the Gods. Can you explain please Major Carlson?”

  “Well that was perhaps a lie or at least an exaggerated truth I made to Deputy Lyons,” explained Nathan. “We didn’t visit any tunnel entrance because we didn’t know the whereabouts of any. That part was a lie, except I do intend to use River as an asset to infiltrate one of the down town organised crime gangs. He is native born and this might help him blend in better in those parts. As you know, ex-natives are highly represented ethnic grouping in these gangs which we have little success in infiltrating.”

  Nathan’s two direct bosses were nodding away as if satisfied by this entirely plausible explanation. Only Major Donnell seemed unconvinced, “Major Carlson, You have had three periods involving loss of both audio and video feed from your personal recordings. The first two can be attributed to the damage sustained during your near fatal accident. The second one also attributed to a poor installation after your reconstructive surgery. The last outage lasted quite a considerable time occurred at Garden of the Gods. Can you talk us through what actually occurred there?”

  “Citizen Eli River and I had visited the Garden of the Gods as it was the location of my accident. We were looking for a cave passage up to the top of the ridge so that I could re attempt the same jump. You know how it is always better to get back in the saddle when you fall off your bike. Anyway what happened was I nearly knocked myself unconscious on a low cave ceiling and as a result I got a lot of grit in my eyes. I had to remove my optical lenses and they were too dirty and damaged to replace until I got back to New Denver. I had some concussion so I took it easy and rested up in the cave. I am assuming that the audio feed was affected in some way.”

  Deputy of Operations Leo Weiss concluded the review, “Thank you for being candid Major Carlson. I am quite satisfied with your answers here today. Thank you again; you may go.” Nathan had been summary dismissed, as he knew he would right from the start of the review board. It was still a trial though, and he took a sharp intake of breath to recover his nerves on route back to level B3 to collect River. When he reached and accessed the door to the I.T. lab, he was met by David who acted both nervous and disturbed. “River has been led away by some m ore I.S. guards who came almost immediately after you left. I couldn’t stop them. I mean how could I stop them? They wouldn’t listen to me or tell me where they were taking him. I am sorry Nathan.”

  Nathan was angry, but not with his friend in the I.T. lab. “David it is Ok. I should have known. I think my whole review board was a ruse to get access to River without me. I imagine Major Donnell from Internal Security is questioning him right now. I am going to head back there right now.”

  “No Nathan, Don’t!” appealed David. “I know where he is, and I don’t think this place was where you were.”

  “How do you know where he is?” asked Nathan.

  “The bracelet it is still providing location readings. He is down in B6.”

  Both men looked at each other with a sense of dismay. B6 was the floor that housed the medical labs and interrogation rooms or the psychology and parapsychology division more commonly known as Psych-ops. Nathan knew that he wouldn’t even get access to their floor level. He needed some assistance from someone of a higher rank. He phoned the main switchboard and asked to be put through to the Deputy of Operations, Leo Weiss.

  River was being held under restraint. He was strapped down to a medical inspection table. A medical assistant wearing scrubs was attaching various pads to different parts of his body and caps with attached wires were being placed on his fingers. The room was lit only by a central overhead set of spots which only illuminated the table and kept the rest of the room in shadow. He could make out a large viewing chamber with dark glass which allowed him only to make out the possible outline of three persons behind it. He thought that there were three because he was being questioned by them, and he could tell the difference between their voices. River declined to answer most of their questions; there were also many questions that made no sense to him. He was determined not to succumb to fear, and he secretly altered his breathing with the intention of entering an alpha state. Then all the lights went on and the room became astoundingly bright as the door was forcibly opened.

  Major Nathan Carlson marched into the medical room flanked by two Internal Security guards. He started to unfasten the bindings and straps holding River to the table as he talked to the black glass window of the viewing chamber.

  “Dr. Mercer, Dr. Tullis, and Citizen Naighal; I am Major Nathan Carlson of Security Operations and Organised Crime. You are holding this man without due authority. If you check your warrant now you will find that it has been updated and he has now been placed under my direct custody. I don’t take kindly to your department interfering with an asset of my departments. If you approach him again without going through me first, you will find yourself in hot water with the Director of Operations,” Nathan was on a buzz although anger still showed in his tone. However he really enjoyed sticking it to these bastards and creeps. The Major like many others in the CPS couldn’t even understand why these Dr. Frankensteins were tolerated in the Interior Office.

  When River was on his feet, Nathan walked him out of the medical section and off B6 floor with his escort of security guards under his command. The lift only went up from this floor. They didn’t even get off when the lift reached B3. Nathan would call David later, but right now he wanted to get River out of this building.

  It wasn’t until they reached home, that they were both able to relax. It had turned into a stressful day just as Nathan had anticipated in the morning, except worse. River had asked Nathan why he had been detained and who the mysterious doctors and medical officers of level B6 were. Nathan just told River that his detention was a mistake, and that those people wanted to study him on account of his medical rejection of the implants. What Nathan declined to mention to River was that he had seen Dr Khan’s hospital notes as being listed as the evidential reason for their warrant. They wanted to turn him in to a lab rat and fin
d out how and why his physiology was different. The thought of it made him feel sick.

  Nathan was happy to explain the benefits of River’s new identity bracelet though. He exclaimed that the days of chaperoning him were over. He was his own man again, free to access and roam the metropolis at his pleasure. This news was warmly received by everyone. However River was a little sad once he realised that he would no longer be accompanying anyone to their work place. On the whole, he had really enjoyed those chaperoning experiences. Right now River wanted a break from the subject of technology, and he knew just where to find that oasis. He waited for an opportune time, and then slipped inside Audrina’s room. When he told Audrina all about the medical examination being conducted on him in level B6, her imagination became inspired and she decided to relive it by playing doctor and nurses with him. She searched through her wardrobe for the closest approximation of a nurse’s outfit and then began her examination of his body. This time River really enjoyed the experience.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The price of freedom was loneliness. Although River now had his own identity, money credits on his account and the ability to spend it; he had no one to spend it on, and nobody to hang out with during the day. On his first day of his new freedom, he had taken the Metro elevated monorail to the central zone. He had really enjoyed his evening there before with the restaurant meal and the fireworks show. He was hoping to recapture some of that thrill, but it wasn’t the same walking around alone in the day time. Now he found himself wandering aimlessly around expensive shopping plazas not really interested in buying and not really interested in window shopping. Everywhere he went, he felt inundated with advertising which appeared at every opportunity and in all different mediums. Initially when he set off, he was wearing his communicator glasses in case he needed to phone anyone. The map overlay proved to be a really useful tool helping him find his way around. Although once he had entered the main shopping precincts, he had to take them off on account of the welter of personalised advertising popping up on his display. He sought refuge in a mall coffee shop and enjoyed a large cappuccino and piece of cake whilst sitting in a comfortable recliner. However once he had finished and ready to leave, he found that he had no where to go. He started meandering in the general direction of the rail station that he had arrived at earlier. His intention was to go home, but he discovered a signpost for the Central zone’s main park and decided to venture there.

  This turned out to be his best decision so far on this day. The park was as vibrant as the rest of the central zone, but in another way. It was awash with vivid natural colours, and lush and blooming as you might expect from the height of summer. The fact that it was an artificial construct on a vast raised platform didn’t take away from the beauty of the landscaped features. It had a shallow boating lake, ponds, bridges and mixed terrain. River had been here once before to watch the night carnival and firework show. However he had entered the park at a different location and in daylight and now could appreciate the majesty of its features and size. There was a maze, sporting facilities, secluded woods, and ornate gardens. Topiary features and flower beds were arranged along all the walk ways. The balance was maintained as expansive lawns. It was hard to comprehend that this immense park was an artificial construct built on top of acres of vehicle parking spaces and main transportation stations. That was only the tip of the iceberg too. Underneath that, there were many other identically sized platform levels housing service bays and warehouses, power stations and utility enterprises. And under that were the goods and service transport links to the downtown sectors. The whole central zone was of course built on an immense raised platform and River had of course witnessed the jaw dropping sight of it suspended high above the real ground level by minimal structural supports. He remembered how it blocked out much of the natural daylight in the downtown area when he was previously on his ride along with Nathan and Ray Scott. He was in awe of this feat of architecture. Perhaps it was down to the influence of his friendship with Anton. After all he always seemed to have some construction plans open on his desk at home.

  River noted that most of the other park users were usually engaged in some activity. Some were playing sports; some families were having picnics and outings. Many people were just congregating at the numerous open air cafes located throughout the park. He hadn’t noticed many other single people strolling about or just enjoying a peaceful moment amongst the park’s beauty. Those that were appeared to be just using the park as a short cut to the other side or maybe taking a lunch break on a bench. This made him feel a bit self conscious, and he decided to sit down close to a skating facility and phone Audrina for company. It was great to see her on the display of his communicator glasses, and he wished she was with him in the park. She looked so business-like and he recognised her desk in the background and remembered his day at her work place. She wasn’t in the right frame of mind to chat with him as she seemed busy as usual. She told him that she would see him later on and closed the call.

  The glasses provided a useful function of recognising your exact location and offering prompts for nearby facilities and places of interest. He had put his glasses on only to make his call to Audrina. Whilst talking with her, he had noticed a location of interest prompt come up on display. It was for the main Metropolis Museum and he decided that this would be his next venue. It was easy to find the correct exit from the park and a direct route to the museum using the glasses for directions.

  At the Museum, he paid his entrance fee and spent the next couple of hours walking around the various exhibits on display. He was disappointed that the subjects that most interested him were not really represented. There were some interesting holographic reconstructions of the old cities of Denver and Boulder as well as the international airport which was once situated where New Denver now stood. There was very little about any other metropolis other than a list of their names and some artists’ impressions and holographic models. There were no maps at all other than those of New Denver and very little accounts of history. There was an interesting exhibit chronicling the break up of old world order. It referred to a period of climatic and geographical upheavals and disasters which everyone knew about. However he felt the entries were cursory and misleading. There were no exhibits relating to the old world religions or philosophies, and nothing about the history of those previous civilisations. There was only a brief outline of financial collapse which started the slide to anarchy and preceded the period of natural disasters. Perhaps it was because no one was interested; these sections were probably small because very few people seemed interested in view them. On the other hand, the sections relating to new science and technology were very busy. Those sections had a lot of interactive exhibits, and top gear virtual reality simulators which was where most people seemed to be queuing. All in all, the Museum was a little disappointing, and River decided to head for home.

  River arrived home an hour or so before Audrina. He was looking forward to seeing her as he had been missing her company all day. He had a yearning to revisit the Central zones park with her when she had some free time. Valerie had been home since midday as usual, and Anton was home early as he had been at University today. They both took an active interest in River’s day and he built up the experience to make his day seem more enjoyable. When Audrina arrived home, she appeared to be quite depressed in spirits. She didn’t explain her forlorn state to anyone despite both River and Valerie enquiring about her day. Both Audrina and River had agreed to keep their romance secret from her parents at least for the meanwhile. Obviously Anton had been a witness to their mutual affection, but since that evening of River’s return, they had not openly demonstrated their relationship in front of him. This made it easier for Anton disregard what he had seen and not challenge them. The down side of this equation was the secrecy involved and the inability to simply show affection for each other openly. River could see that Audrina was unhappy but he was not able to find the opportunity to go and cuddle her and tal
k. He had to wait until she retired early to her room, and he followed her there shortly afterwards. However despite the privacy of her room Audrina was still in no mood for his company. She asked him if he would mind allowing her some space for the evening. River of course was more than willing to oblige, but he didn’t want to leave her unless she told him what was wrong.

  “It is not about you River; you haven’t done anything wrong. I just have things on my mind.”

  “What things. Tell me something please,” implored River.

  “Well for one thing, I have my full medical tomorrow morning. That involves inoculations and a full internal. For a woman, that is not a pleasant experience.”

  “Can’t you put if off?”

  “It is mandatory River. I don’t have that option,” she explained to him as if he was a five year old.

  “Okay, I understand,” River said whilst obviously not understanding. “Maybe I can meet you afterwards and we can do something together.”

  “I am going to work straight afterwards,” corrected Audrina. “Look maybe you can meet me after work,” she said as if throwing him a bone. River’s mistake was in not realising that she was not really up for this. “If you don’t mind, can you leave me alone now?” This message was clear enough and so he exited her bedroom.