BEYOND THE PALE: ( The Outlander ) Read online

  Ramesh was a labour union official at the large Freight Port in District 16. Apart from receiving a stipend from the Union, he received a full salary as a stevedore supervisor, as well as his salary from Shondran. The three salaries could have combined to provide him a comfortable lifestyle. Except that Ramesh used most of these credits to spread around amongst those that worked for him and other port officials. His real income came as a share in the profits from theft of freight cargo coming in and going out of the metropolis. The balance and bulk of the profit went to Shondran who sold on the plunder. This freight port was the main artery for the metropolis. Citadels were not wholly self sufficient, and the balance of trade with other citadels created affluence for the elite. Thus the organised hijack of freight was potentially one of the most troubling crimes for the government. Shondran managed this potential by managing the scope of the theft in order to make it appear as a manageable and acceptable loss. He was to all intents and purposes taxing New Denver’s imports and exports but at the same time making the tax burden seem reasonable. For this to work he had to ensure that the theft of freight was unstoppable and unsolvable. And that required the control the labour force of the Port with an iron fist. Very few crimes involving theft of freight were ever solved. There were never any witnesses or pertinent video evidence. If anyone did get caught, they continued to plead innocence and ignorant of any conspiracy despite any conviction. They or there families were looked after. This fostered a solid unbreakable code of silence and mutual solidarity and support amongst freight stevedores. Shondran put his own men up for election to the freight labour union and they were always elected unopposed. Ramesh was one of these officials and his work at the port was like a franchise for Shondran’s interests.

  River drove again under Dakota’s insistence. Thankfully the auto guidance system knew how to get to the main freight port. The security at the perimeter gates called through to Ramesh and then directed them to a vehicle park where he would meet them. Ramesh collected them in one of the ports open jeeps which were so useful at covering the large acreage of the port above ground. He drove them to a south western section of the port where the stacked freight that looked like it was not moved too often.

  “This is long stay cargo awaiting reassignment or completing order issue. So there is not a lot of traffic over in these parts. See those stacks over there. They are empty cans. I have set up a range in one of the longer ones.” Ramesh left the jeep where it was and walked the last 50 yards with Dakota and River to the target container. “I don’t want to make it obvious where we are but other than that we have perfect privacy here.” And as if to prove his point, he emptied his clip of five bullets into the faint target shapes positioned at the end of the 100 ft container. When he switched on the lights, he commended himself on hitting his target three times. “Shooting in the dark is a useful skill for a freight hijacker,” Ramesh stated and he turned to River to enquire, “Have you fired a gun before?”

  River was unapologetic, “No, we have no use for them.”

  “Who is the ‘we’?”

  “The Hopi”

  “I am half Hopi just like you and I need a gun,” insisted Ramesh.

  “I thought you were Cheyenne,” said River seeming confused.

  “Half”

  “You don’t act like a Hopi.”

  “You don’t act like a gangster. Maybe you should stop talking and learn to fire a gun,” Ramesh handed River a loaded pistol and stood close beside him offering tips and advice. “Don’t pull the trigger with your index. Use that finger to point. It’s a natural target finder. Extend your arm fully and hold the gun straight and not sideways. Now point that index finger at the target, relax, breathe slowly and squeeze the trigger.” River let one off and appeared a bit shocked by the recoil. Ramesh watched his actions and then viewed the hit which was high on the target. “Now anticipate that recoil force and adjust for it and loose off the rest in the chamber.” River squeezed six times in quick succession. The last one indicated that the chamber was empty and he was out of ammo. Ramesh looked impressed by his control and nodded at Dakota.

  “Check the target, Ramesh. That is a tight grouping of five,” as Dakota suggested, Ramesh looked and was genuinely surprised at the accuracy and grouping.

  “Okay hot shot,” said Ramesh picking up a remote control. “I am going to spin each target around at random. When you see one move, then shoot it and I will spin the next one.” Ramesh stood slightly behind River and started to tap the remote each time making a different one of the five targets turn around. River allowed his natural reflexes to take over. All he had to do was point fast and he fired on instinct. Ramesh watched River react almost in synchronicity to his own target selections and so started to vary his timing but inevitably finished on a quick furious burst of target changes. River maintained his synchronised timing not even allowing Ramesh the opportunity to check the targets.

  Dakota had been checking those. “My man’s a natural bona fide gangster,” she whooped. “In your face, Ramesh”

  “I’m pleased for you Mrs. Cactus. Your husband can shoot,” Ramesh joked.

  “Us Hopi’s must be naturals,” River said inclusively to Ramesh.

  “Well if Mr and Mrs Cactus don’t need me anymore, I will be heading back to work, down under.” Ramesh had accentuated the words ‘down under’ suggesting that the prospect was a real drag.

  “Do you go down in the tunnels?”

  “Often,” Ramesh affirmed.

  “Is it true, that hijacker’s store stolen freight in unused ground exit tunnels running from the main tunnel network,” said River remembering Nathan’s confession to Deputy Lyons at the west gate of the Wall.

  “That is a strange question. No. Who told you that?”

  “Just an ex-friend”

  “No, that would not make sense; we need the freight here, not in some remote exit tunnel to the wilderness.”

  “So these exit tunnels do exist?”

  “Oh yeah, but they are securely locked down, and a long way away.”

  “Could I get down to the tunnels?” enquired River furtively.

  “I don’t think Shondran wants you involved in this freight cargo business; at least not for a good while until he feels he can trust you.”

  “What if it wasn’t to do with business?” River enquired gingerly.

  “Are you planning on making a run for the hills, or your reservation?” Ramesh said sardonically. He was not at all happy with River’s line of questioning or suggestive motives.

  “Wouldn’t you? You were born out there,” River challenged Ramesh.

  “I was a child. There is nothing out there for me now.” Ramesh stared intently at River now, “Nor for you my brother. You have got it made here. You have a beautiful girl here,” Ramesh winked at Dakota. “You make easy credits, and you don’t have to do much to get them. Why would you want to go?”

  “Maybe because I feel this is not right for us. Nothing is natural or un-tampered with here. Not even the water. If you stay here your spirit will become corrupted or twisted. You live here in a world of control and suppression where you only have the illusion of choice.” River spoke freely and his words had surprised both his fellow ex natives.

  “If by the spirit you mean the soul, I agree with you brother. I may be a criminal and do questionable things but I am a religious man and a believer. I know that the Devil will throw all manner of temptations and troubles your way. He seeks to corrupt your soul but if you believe in the redeemer it doesn’t matter about what happens in this world because you will be saved in the next. You don’t need to escape from New Denver. You need to escape from this world.” Now it was Ramesh’s turn to astound both Dakota and River. Neither of them would have considered that Ramesh was even remotely religious.

  “I am surprised to hear you speak like this Ramesh. Those are not native beliefs,” stated River.

  “Damn Ramesh. I am surprised that you got a religion at all. Where did you pick
up all that flim flam anyway,” said Dakota.

  “Pasteur Eli from my congregation”

  “I’ve heard of that man. He has a big following,” said Dakota.

  “What is the background of this man Eli?” enquired River.

  “He was an outlander who came in voluntarily about 15 years ago. He is not a native, but he understands us. He used to live in a native community outside. They didn’t appreciate him like the natives here do.”

  “My fathers name was Eli. He used to live in our mixed community of natives and non natives. He was a religious man and a Pasteur. He left me, my mother and my brother and sister about fifteen years ago.”

  Dakota and Ramesh stared blankly at River. They were speechless.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  Nathan was sure that he had recognised his son as the intruder at the CPS Headquarters. However he wasn’t certain, and nor had he shared this suspicion with Ray Scott or anyone else. Even if he was right, he was quietly confident that no one else would recognise his son’s particular walk or body language. Despite this, the need to know for sure, and the need to ascertain Anton’s motives became paramount on Nathan’s mind. A couple of days had passed since he first suspected his son, but one evening Nathan decided to question his son. This would require him to shoot his taser into his leg whilst he exercised out on the roof terrace. It took him all of five minutes to recover from the pain and discomfort, but Valerie didn’t even notice as he hobbled past her and knocked on his son’s bedroom door.

  Anton opened his door to find his father limping and looking like he was in some discomfort.

  “Anton, I have disabled my audio-visual recording for the next 25 minutes. I have to ask you this. Were you the imposter that used fake Marekh Guild credentials to gain access to the CPS Headquarters?”

  “No. I don’t know what you are talking about,” Anton answered defensively.

  “Please don’t lie. Tell me the truth son. We haven’t got long to talk freely,” Nathan was pleading with his son and Anton felt empathy for his father’s anguished state.

  “I erased the GPS locations that were stored on the holo-messenger. River had told me about what you did with him on your last adventure outside. He told me that a man named Hassun had taken the holo-messenger back to his community. It stored the location of that hidden community which incriminated you.”

  “I understand. You are saying that when I took it back off him, it implicated me for not reporting that I had met with another outlander. Very good son; I didn’t realise that,” Nathan seemed both impressed and relieved.

  “Have you got the GPS coordinates of his settlement?” Nathan couldn’t help but ask.

  “No I deleted it so they remain hidden,” Anton glared at his father in mistrust.

  “You are still looking out for his needs then,” Nathan’s statement was part challenge.

  “Shouldn’t you be? You brought him here. He is stuck here now and may be in trouble. Did you ever consider that he was innocent?” Anton’s reply was a full challenge.

  “I know Audrina may not have been telling the whole truth, but River was sleeping with your sister in our home.” Nathan felt that Anton’s rose tinted view of River’s actions needed some redressing.

  “I knew that. She started it. Then she got pissed off with him. She only said that he raped her when she felt bullied by you for an answer. You seemed determined to have him arrested to save yourself.”

  Nathan seemed pensive as he considered his Anton’s words, “Son, why do you think I roughed him up and told him not to come back? I knew I was saving his life; I had to. I think Ray intercepted him on purpose when he was arrested and made sure that he could escape. I don’t know for sure because we haven’t been able to talk to each other.”

  “I can fix that for you so that neither of you will need to shoot yourselves in the leg again,” Anton was being facetious. “…I have been working on an application program for you which will create a time freeze. It will stop recording audio-visual data in real time for periods of up to 60 minutes at a time. You can engage it and stop it with a simple command and then an algorithm calculates the missing time sequence and pads out and extends all other time sequences in the prior data that do not involve dialogue. So it can overlay and cover up the missing time period. I can patch it into your processor this evening. Ray just needs to come over here, and his is even simpler for me as his data processor is external.”

  “I very proud of you Anton; you are very smart and you have a good heart. I think sometimes that I am only beginning to know you...” Nathan spoke with real sincerity, “…And I reckon I still don’t understand your mother or your sister.”

  “Do you even know where Audrina is now?” Anton knew, but he wondered if his father did.

  “She is staying over at a friend’s place,” Nathan replied as if he was answering a rhetorical question.

  “She is renting her own place Dad. She won’t come back here,” Anton was both relieved to get this out in the open but he also wanted to challenge his father’s lack of understanding of the situation.

  “Oh Lord, what are we going to tell your mother?”

  “That is your problem,” Anton had something else that he wanted to say but was unsure whether to broach the subject. “Can I trust you Dad?”

  “Of course you can Anton.”

  “I know where River is. I have been able to track his identity bracelet.”

  “Oh no, If that can be done then that means that Naighal and Psych-Ops can find him,” Nathan seemed genuinely concerned for River’s safety.

  “No it doesn’t Dad. He has cloned another identity. They won’t be able to find him by his identity bracelet, and they can’t do what I can do.”

  Nathan was just beginning to really appreciate his son’s skill set. He also very much admired his insight and understanding. “Anton we will look for him together and help him. I am proud of you son.”

  Chapter Thirty Four

  River sat next to Ramesh five rows back in the congregation. The hall had seating for three hundred people and there were very few seats left empty. Ramesh murmured along with the preacher repeating his words in total agreement. River on the other hand looked around and studied the congregation. They were rapt with attention hanging on his words. River was sure that this was not the first time that they had listened to this message because they met here twice weekly, but today was the weekly sermon which he was delivering with pace and with gusto. His audience was his congregation and the majority were ex-natives, with a blend of other denizens of the downtown districts. And right now for the duration of this meeting, they looked like they were inspired and had hope and the conviction of a better life after this one. River turned around to face the preacher and listen to his words of the locally renowned Reverend Eli as he reached the crescendo of his sermon.

  “First they tell you that you are superstitious; then they tell you are mistaken; then they laugh at you; then they tell you are wrong; then they persecute you; then they fear you because they cannot break you; because they cannot break your spirit; because you hold tight to the spirit of god; because they cannot break your resolve; because they cannot break your faith; because they cannot turn you away from the redeemer.

  You live in an evil world that has fallen under the control of demon lords. They are the masters that your masters serve. The same masters that tell you that there is no god, each day pervert themselves and bow down to worship them. They try to make you worship them everyday when they pollute and corrupt everything in your life and leave you only with the fruits of sin. They give you fear, they give you violence, they give you fornication, they give you hate, they corrupt hope with gambling, they corrupt love of each other with sex and perversion, they corrupt love of god with the narcissistic love of oneself. They corrupt the love of life with fear and doubt. They hold you as slaves. They will control you rather than set you free. And they control you because they fear you. They fear you because you can be at one
with god but they cannot; because they pretend to be gods and they are not worthy of worship. They fear you because they fear the redeemer, and they see his reflection everyday in your faith. And they fear him because he is the only one true path that will take you by the hand and set you free and lead you to his father, the creator.”

  Eli was definitely preaching to the converted, based on the enthusiastic reception of his words. His sermon served as the culmination of the meeting. There had been no liturgy, just a selection of different speakers and acted out dramas. Now that it had finished, the congregation all broke ranks and mustered together in a spirit of unison and mutual support for each other. This was the closest approximation of community that River had seen in the metropolis. It was very unusual to find anyone who did not hold atheistic convictions. The only religion which he had heard of in the citadel was initiate-based and strongly sexually oriented. That was the mystical cult religion of many of the elite which Nathan had told him about. Their mysticism was very magically orchestrated, ritualistic, and directed towards manifesting realities.

  This religion espoused by the reverend Eli was something quite different. River watched the man threading his way through the congregation as everyone now stood up and collected in small groups. He finally reached Ramesh and happily shook his hand and then turned to talk to River. “I haven’t seen you before but I hope to see you again; thank you for coming today.” The Rev Eli was about to shake hands and move on to the next attendee, when River replied to him, “I am not sure if I will come again, but you have seen me before. I am your son.”

  Leaving the congregational hall, Ramesh drove River on to the Memphis Belle which was his working venue for the night.

  “So will you be visiting your father again?” enquired Ramesh.