BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) Read online

  He rejoined Shondran’s entourage later on, but by then the spark had mostly left everyone including the boss himself as everyone was looking drunk and worse for wear. River imagined that Shondran was actually running more of a Navajo war party than an impregnable criminal organisation. Looking around the room with the steel door at all his wasted soldiers, he wondered why Nathan and Ray Scott found it so hard to infiltrate this organisation. He wondered how some rival gang wasn’t able to just walk in here and take over. There was obviously another side to this coin which he hadn’t yet seen.

  Dakota slept in the same bed as River although they didn’t actually sleep with one another. Dakota seemed fine with this, neither disappointed nor put out. River liked the half native girl for her comfortable attitude to both him and life. She was a complete contrast to Audrina but for some unaccountable reason he felt like staying loyal to Audrina. After all, it was because of her that he had returned to New Denver.

  After a breakfast late in the next day, Dakota brought River back to meet Shondran in private. This time he chose a private office in a different part of the building. Dakota stayed outside whilst they talked.

  “I think I need to fill you in with a few facts about how exactly I make a living,” Shondran seemed a different man today. He appeared in charge and even business like. “I own this club. It is a nice little earner for me. Everything is strictly above board and there is no trouble at all here at the Mira Belle. So this is where I can usually be found. Before I took it over, it was a nasty little brothel but we use the old brothel rooms as lodgings for me or anyone that needs to stay over. So you can stay here if you like or rent your own place once you start earning. Now I have another club in this district called the Memphis Belle. That one is very different. It has a rough clientele and it is also like a labour exchange for criminals. Nothing illicit happens there in my name, but I cannot speak for others. The Memphis is a necessary evil for us. We need it to keep a handle on our other ventures; the illegal ones. Now I can’t involve you in those right now because I still don’t know if I can trust you. I won’t even tell you about them until I do; so as not to incriminate myself. You can ask others about them if you like.” Shondran took a break at this point to use an inhaler in both nostrils. There were no markings on it to suggest whether it was medicinal or a narcotic. He asked, “Any questions so far?”

  “So what work do you want me to do” enquired River.

  “I was coming to that. So I was thinking about you working security down at the Memphis, but then I thought that wouldn’t run. You see, you may be one of the handiest fighters that I have ever come across. Those guys of mine whom you dropped; they are experienced enforcers. You know, they are having a hard time living this down. Don’t get me wrong. They have no problems with you. But fellas like them are not meant to be dropped. That being said, those guys look the part; and you don’t. I worked security for years and I know that you wouldn’t be respected son. You don’t look aggressive. You are not big enough, and you don’t look handy,” Shondran took another intake on his inhaler and continued. “Then it occurred to me that you are exactly what I need in a bodyguard. Walking around with an ex-doorman is like walking around with a portable wall. They have the eyes but they don’t have my sight. You look unobtrusive. Anyone who might have a problem with me will feel that there is an open window. I will be able to see my enemies coming at me but I will also be able to count on you stopping them. I mean not just you. There will be back up but it will be inconspicuous. What do you say? Will you accept?”

  “Yes I do, but I need a new Identity and someone to remove this custody bracelet.”

  “River you maybe a hotshot native fighter, but you cannot negotiate to save your life. You haven’t asked me about credits and you haven’t asked me about working hours.”

  “I trust you to decide”

  “Well you can stop trusting me son because I don’t trust you or anyone else. I don’t even know if I can control you, but I like you and I want to try. But you have to wise up a bit; Don’t, let people smell the outside off you; you need to stop trusting people in this mean old world that we live in. Learn to live by your wits and you might become a force to reckon with.” Shondran paused to see if his words were registering, and then asked, “How do you like Dakota?”

  “She’s a nice girl,” replied River genuinely.

  “Well she is a lovely girl and she is your new best friend. I am going to ask her to take you to see a man of mine; an associate that knows about identities. And by the way, I am paying you well, so when he fixes you up with a new name and bank account, there will be nice few credits rolling through it. And as for working hours; they are going to have to fit around mine. And you are going to need a firearm and a few carry weapons. Dakota will take care of that too. Oh and you are going to need to drive. My girl again will sort you. Come back and check me tonight at closing time and we can find out your new name. Welcome aboard Son.” And with that, it was clear that Shondran was dismissing him to move on to other pressing business.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Dakota had selected a vehicle from the car pool and had insisted that River drove it. It seemed a fairly straightforward procedure as long as you turned on auto pilot assistance and you knew the full address code of your destination. She tapped that in for him partly to be helpful and partly because the address of the man they were visiting was meant to be restricted to just a few of Shondran’s entourage. She was taking him to District 20 to meet a guy called Tiberius. He would be responsible for creating a false identity for River.

  They arrived at a suburban address where the homes were still stacked like most others, but they were a better class than your average downtown housing estate. The area was much more residential and had sporadic patches of greenery. Tiberius lived in a second floor apartment and he turned out to be a young thin white guy who looked less like a gangster than River did.

  “Hi Tee,” Dakota warmly greeted Tiberius who replied in kind. It was obvious that they knew each other well. “This is River, Shondran wants him set him up with a new profile and he wants you to license him up and put him on a class B payroll.”

  Tiberius extended his hand to greet River. River was on the verge of shaking it until Tiberius grasped hold of his right wrist.

  “A custodial bracelet! And you bring him here Dakota?” Tiberius glanced angrily at her.

  “Don’t worry Tee, its inactive. There is no trace from it.”

  “I better be the judge of that,” said Tiberius pulling River across his front room to a computerised work station located in a windowless corner. Still holding River’s arm he passed the bracelet over a desk mounted scanner a couple of times whilst he intently studied the display on a small attached screen. When he was content that the custody bracelet was truly inactive, he rested River’s wrist over another device which emitted a strong magnetic flux that River could actually feel. The bracelet snapped open and dropped off revealing River’s own identity bracelet underneath. “What the frig!” he exclaimed, as he now even more urgently dragged River’s wrist back to the first scanner. He studied the readout on the display for a lot longer this time. Nobody talked whilst he did so but River and Dakota stared at each other in puzzlement. “I see. I think I get it. You were just using this one as an identity bracelet.” Tiberius picked up another portable RFID scanner and scanned River a few times while looking perplexed, “So what is wrong with your ID implant?”

  “I think I rejected it. It came out,” River truthfully replied.

  “River, let me tell you,” Tiberius talked whilst shaking his head. “They don’t come out and they are non allergic. But Hey whatever; I can work with an identity bracelet just as well. In fact this makes my job easier. My name is ‘Tee’ by the way. I am pleased to meet you River.”

  “I thought your name was Tiberius,” enquired River.

  “It is,” Tee confirmed, and River looked quite confused.

  “So can you pick a name, and I wil
l set up a full citizen’s profile for it.”

  “I pick River.”

  “Another name please, not your own,” Tiberius rolled his eyes at Dakota. “It is a false identity, so it helps if you don’t use your real name.”

  “I like your name Tiberius.”

  “Well that’s mine, and it is an avatar name for when I am hacking. It is not a proper name. Perhaps, think of something familiar or a name that has a meaning to you.”

  “Cactus, they are familiar to me. It has meaning,” River suggested.

  “I cannot call you Cactus.”

  “Why not?”

  “I need a first and a second name, like John Wayne, or Eli River, or Angus Cactus,” Tiberius was being sarcastic. He added Angus as a joke rhyming couplet to River’s chosen name.

  “I like Angus Cactus. That can be my name.”

  “But I just made that up” exclaimed a frustrated Tiberius.

  “Yes I know. It is a false name and people can call me Cactus.”

  “Nobody is going to call you Cactus; trust me. Anyway if that is what you want, you are the customer. Now sit down while I take some medical scans of you. I need to compare your biological vitals to a wider database and find someone else who is similar enough in age and physique to you that we can clone their records. Then I set up a personal, educational and work profile and lastly a credit account and history. Then you will be Citizen Angus Cactus. Are you happy with that?”

  “Very happy Tiberius,” River said as he sat down in a reclined chair.

  “Call me Tee,” said Tiberius who was hand scanning River from head to toe.

  “So why don’t you name yourself Tee instead of Tiberius,” enquired River seriously.

  “Don’t start that again,” Tiberius remonstrated and addressed Dakota, “What is up with your new friend. Is he missing some vital screws?”

  “Yes he is missing one screw,” said Dakota suggestively whilst running her fingers through River’s hair as he lay reclined in front of her.

  The last three scans remaining were fingerprints, dental and DNA which was assessed through a few follicles of hair. Tiberius explained that these three indicators were unique to him so once he had uploaded the patterns he would use them to supplant the original ones on the cloned person’s medical record which he was using to build the core of the identity profile. “So Citizen Angus Cactus, are you going to be working for Shondran?”

  River replied with his own question, “Yes, do you work for him too?”

  “No, we are associates, I work for myself but we look out for each others interests.”

  “Tee means that he is a hacker, who works with a team of hackers, who say they are fighting the government, when all they do really is jack off to online porn and steal credits from data transfers. Shondran protects him,” Dakota revised Tiberius’ statement.

  “Yeah I love you too Dakota,” came Tiberius’ sarcastic but affectionate reply.

  After departing Tiberius’ apartment, they headed back in the direction of the Mira Belle. River was really pleased to have an electronic identity again. He had Tiberius’ assurance that a retainer of credits had already been paid into his account. So when he drove past a supermarket in East Filton, he got a strong urge to get out and test his purchasing power there. It was the same shop where his ability to pay had been initially denied. However a better plan then developed in his mind, and he pulled up instead in front of Wendy’s Chinese takeaway. Dakota asked if he was hungry, but he replied no and asked her to wait in the car. He walked into the shop and was glad to see that Wendy was working today. He asked her to charge him for seven breakfasts and set evening meals for a whole week. Wendy looked quizzically at him but toted up a figure which he swiped for. He told her that it was to help cover her costs for feeding the men that slept in the alley across the way. She thanked him for his generosity calling him by his first name ‘Angus’. He thanked her for her sense of charity.

  The next stop was by request of Dakota. This time it was she who told River to remain in the car. They had driven to a run down housing estate that housed some of District 18’s rougher residents. The difference between this estate of high rise apartments, and that which Tiberius lived in was extreme. This looked like an area that was not safe to walk around. River wanted to come with her to protect her, but she was insistent. So he waited and she was back within 30 minutes and gave him a small carry bag. He opened it and had a look. Inside was an Aladdin’s cave assortment of small arms. “There is a selection of stun shots, tasers, electric whips, knuckledusters, knifes and a decent pistol for a kill shot. I will take you somewhere tomorrow to practice. This stuffs got to be concealed when you out. If you are caught with any of it, you are on your own.”

  “So they are illegal,” challenged River.

  “Yeah, hence why I had to collect it from an armoury”

  “Hence why you told me to stay in the car”

  “Orders; I am afraid. Shondran likes you, but it will take him a while to trust you,” Dakota smiled apologetically.

  River clocked on for first call of duty at 2am in the morning. He joined Shondran in the same secure back office that he had the other night, except that now he was part of his entourage. Shondran was pleased to see him dressed up in his new regalia and looking more the part. He questioned River about his day and then congratulated Dakota on a job well done. Then as an afterthought he asked River what his new name was. River proudly replied ‘Angus Cactus’. Shondran looked grave but then broke out in a smile. “You have a sense of humour, but seriously what is your new name?”

  “Angus Cactus,” River replied again not really seeing a problem.

  Shondran saw a big problem and he was beginning to raise his voice which drew all attention to him. “You want us all to call you Angus bloody Cactus. Son, you are having a laugh at my expense. We can’t call you that. You are going to have to stay as River to anyone in this room. You can be citizen Cactus in your own time. You are an idiot River; what am I going to do with you.”

  Despite Shondran’s instructions to the room, most of the other guys in his entourage started calling River by his new name. This was by reason of a running joke of which River was the butt. This didn’t stop River from being accepted into the midst of the group. He was affable, handy and un- ambitious; he fitted in perfectly. Dakota made sure of that and had him soon conversing in a mini group of the ex natives and herself as native queen bee. The very big guy with the braided hair who usually acted as unofficial doorman for this room was called Treyvon; he was Cheyenne. Another guy in this group was called Ramesh. He was Cheyenne too and worked for Shondran down at the freight port in district 16. Dakota had arranged to come down there tomorrow for some live round target practice. Treyvon liked this idea and volunteered to come as well. River felt really comfortable for the first time in a long while. He enjoyed spending his time in the company of other natives, although Shondran would often take issue with any cliques forming amongst his entourage of lieutenants. Sometimes he would come over and jokingly accuse them of having a Red Injun pow-wow. They would usually get the message.

  The club takings rolled in and Shondran stayed local to the Mira Belle all night and into the early morning. There were no dramas, and River’s first working day was over. When he retired to his room, so did Dakota. He found it hard to believe how tenacious she was at staying in his shadow. He didn’t really object though because he liked her and he was flattered by having his own entourage of one; particularly when she was such a pretty half Apache girl. When he got undressed, she copied him as usual and slipped into bed beside her. He found it difficult not to show affection to her and he leaned over and kissed her in the bed. That simple kiss was like pressing some ignition starter because she immediately climbed on to him and grabbed hold of his hands to place them on her breasts. She held them there whilst she rocked herself back and forth, sitting astride him on his crotch. River was certainly excited physically but emotionally uninspired. He sat forward and embr
aced her tightly while speaking quietly in her ear, “I cannot do this Dakota. I have lost someone that I love and now I am in mourning.”

  Dakota rolled off him and kissed him on his cheek, “I understand. One day you may feel that you want me and I will be here.” She then turned around to sleep.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  The last duty that Dakota had to discharge for her boss was to make sure that River became proficient with a firearm. The other night she had arranged with Ramesh for him to find them a remote and private venue for some target practice. Ramesh had invited them down to his workplace. He could usually come and go as he pleased and access most areas. He would find Dakota someplace suitable.