SUSUN HADN’T HAD EVEN TWO HOURS OF SLEEP when Chumboy came and woke her up, saying they needed her in the kitchen. When she got there Jeff was already up, cradling a cup of tea, and Chumboy was explaining about this family stuck down near the border.
“That fella, Laurent Champagne, he was here before, comes in every now and again, remember, the prospector guy? Yeah, well anyway, he got in last night just after all the shit hit the fan, tells me that his sister’s brother-in-law disappeared about a month ago, probably with a little help from Talos Security. Said the guy went out to the family hunt camp and never came back. She’s on her own with four kids and they’ve pretty much run out of everything. Laurent thinks we should bring them in, told her to sit tight and wait for us. Thought maybe you and Jeff could go.”
Susun could just imagine what a woman with four kids would need. “Bringing them in isn’t going to be easy.”
Chumboy sighed. “Shit ton of fuel too, but we don’t have much choice. Make sure you bring extra along, just in case. And see if she has any stashed at her end.”
Jeff asked, “How far?”
“Far enough, right near the border.”
Jeff whistled, “Yeah, that’s a ways.”
“Bit of an operation, yeah, but with Johnny mia, and a few of us needing to stick around here to hold down the fort, I think it’s going to fall to you two to go collect them. Me, I think you’re going to need at least two machines plus a sled or two in the back, they’ll have stuff to bring out.”
“What’s her name?”
“They’re Skinners, think her name is Lorraine.”
“Alright, better than sitting around here waiting for Armeggedon.”
Jeff looked up from his mug, said, “No kidding, waiting for Armeggedon to get ready can be a real bitch.”
Muspar thought Laskin was looking way too comfortable, leaning back in the swivel chair, legs stretched out. The guy took up half the goddam room. When Muspar had seen Solanski dragging himself into headquarters and had asked how things had gone, Solanski just shook his head, said things kind of got out of control. Muspar was on his way to Talos before Solanski could even finish explaining.
Laskin was saying, “I told you, they’re hillbillies, plain and simple. They invited us in, threw us a party, started playing with some of our guns and got carried away, we decided to bail and come back here to check in. Figured we should apprise you as to the women and children aspect of the situation. End of story.”
Muspar said, “Mr. Laskin, you had a very straightforward task,” but already Laskin was sort of waving his hand and shaking his head, causing Muspar to stop and ask, “What?”
“Really, call me Grier, that whole Mister thing just doesn’t sit right with me. And as for the job, no one said it was over. If it was up to me, boss, that place would have been razed to the ground. Mitch thought we should check in, that there were possible pr issues, I didn’t agree with her assessment, but a team is a team. So here we are.”
“There is always a place for sober second thought,” Bob Scott said, “so what was on your mind, Mitch? Did you get to see Slaught?”
“Yeah, we saw him. On the up side, they’re very accessible, not too deep into the Territories and highly visible. These guys aren’t hiding out. Downside? There seems to be a group of maybe a half dozen active members of the cell but also a lot of civilian enablers, and that really complicates things.”
“How many?” Scott asked.
She glanced at Laskin, “How many was it, forty-four?”
“Something like that, give or take a few kids.”
Mitch continued, “There’s too many civilians there, way more than we anticipated. It was unclear also how many of them were there because they were left behind and needed a roof over their heads, or were actually ideologically committed to the community.”
“Ideologically committed?” Scott asked.
“Well, we’re not in total agreement with this interpretation of the community but there does seem to be some sort of extremist religious element. Their community is called Lazarus…”
Laskin interrupting, saying, “It doesn’t matter what they are, they could worship fucking Baal, whatever he is, but they’re wasting a lot of our valuable time,” and then standing up, grabbing his jacket, he said, “Look, these bozos are playing way above their weight class, they have shit when it comes to manpower, fire power and fucking brainpower. So I’m heading back up, with or without the team. I am finishing this, getting my money and going far away.” Turning to Mitch he said, “I’m heading out in forty-eight hours, whether you’re there or not.”
Once the door slammed, Scott looked at Mitch. “What’s with him?”
Mitch sighed. “The situation escalated more than we anticipated, probably because we underestimated the Wintermen. As we were leaving, Grier lost it a bit, ending up taking out a civilian. He seems to be having a hard time getting perspective on things.”
Muspar figured this Mitch Black might be having some perspective issues of her own. “I think you are going to have to do better than that. What the hell are you talking about, he lost it? A professional doesn’t lose it, we send some half-assed celebrity out there to do our dirty work, I guess that it stands to reason doesn’t it…”
Mitch interrupted. “Look Captain, it was a new set of circumstances when we got up there, we are told to expect something akin to a rogue hunt camp and we end up in a full-fledged community—women, children, bible thumpers. It was incredibly hard to get a bead on what was going on, there were lots of different dynamics and it was, quite frankly, difficult to accept that the whole community could be conspiring to create some sort of faux Waco.”
Muspar persisted. “Want to explain exactly what happened, from the beginning, right through to how your boyfriend managed to kill someone?”
She sighed as she looked at him, Muspar thinking she was sizing him up, weighing in her mind how much she had to give a shit about what he had to say. He could see as she turned away from him, giving him her back, that she’d made up her mind. “No, I don’t want to fucking explain.”
Muspar couldn’t believe this bitch. Standing there in her saran wrap dress, thinking she could say anything she wanted. He was walking, taking his boys and walking, that was the last straw, but Scott was saying, “Okay, whoa people, look. Let’s all calm down, we need to be cool and think this thing through. People high up the food chain are watching and expect results, from all of us. Now, we clearly have a serious situation, and I think you did the right thing by coming back and checking in, decisions like that can’t always be made in the field. These are decisions that Talos,” and looking over to Muspar, “and Police Services need to make together in order to secure the situation, and keep our shareholders happy.”
“Your shareholders?” Muspar was incredulous. “I think there are more important things at stake here.”
“Well Captain, maybe I need to remind you that those shareholders control a large part of your budget too, not just mine. So let’s remember that we have shared interests and objectives and that we should be working towards obtaining those objectives, okay?”
Shared interests my ass. Muspar had no doubt that Scott would hang him out to dry if this crapshoot turned sour, and he was getting a strong feeling that was exactly where it was headed.
Scott was saying, “Now, our fatality?”
Mitch shook her head, “Young female, simple case of collateral damage. But regardless, that place is going to be in an uproar over it. My guess, though, is that the death will panic them, probably undermine the leadership core and create some chaos. That works for us but it might take a couple of days to filter through the group. I think we should proceed carefully, maybe try to id some of the other players up there. I don’t think we need to rush. Let’s face it, they can’t really reinforce or re-tool their operation. There really isn’t anything they can do to get ready for us, so I think we have a couple of days at least on our side.”
“So are we going to stick with the original plan then?”
Mitch shrugged. “It’s your call but I think taking out a few of the key players on site, rounding up the rest and bringing them out, it could work but we’ll have to keep them under lock and key and away from the public. The PR would have been tricky even without the casualty, but now, well, I guess Talos can handle the PR on that.”
“We talking actual families?”
“Some, and a lot of old geezers. The optics aren’t ideal.”
“Well, we’ve talked before about how grueling the trip can be, maybe some of them won’t survive it,” Bob Scott said quietly. “It is more than plausible too that in the arrest process there is more collateral damage…”
Muspar wasn’t sure what he’d heard. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m not talking about anything Captain, except a situation that is potentially very damaging to both Talos and the Police Services, as I’ve already explained to you. My thinking right now is to stick to our original operation for appearances sake, take up the trucks are far as the border, and then Ms. Black here can make a judgement call.”
“I don’t think I am willing to turn the control of this operation over to some Talos operative who can’t even keep her boyfriend on his chain. Those trucks don’t come back fully loaded with these people, I will turn the matter over to the Justice department.”
Scott said, “You know Captain, Talos is the Justice department, but if it makes you feel better, I think I’ll refer this up the line for a thorough risk assessment and I’ll let you know the parameters of the operation once I hear back, how does that sound?”
“Don’t give me your corporate bullshit. I’m sure I’ll be right at the top of Talos’s need to know list.” He gave Mitch a bleak look, said, “Guess it is too much to ask to have these jokers brought in for trial? Seems like you both have already locked in on execution-style diplomacy.”
“The last thing you want is this guy in the court of public opinion,” Mitch said.
“Oh, and why’s that, does he know all of Talos’s dirty little secrets?”
“No, because people would love him, that’s why. And you and your little army boys, and Talos, would look like Goliaths to his charming David. That what you want out there?”
“I guess we weren’t apprised of Mr. Slaught’s celebrity potential.”
Mitch said, “Grow up Captain, this is a crappy situation but you have a real problem out there. This guy, he’s the real deal and you better accept that reality or you’ll be caught in a shitstorm of trouble when Grier and I are long down the trail.”
Muspar was thinking he should’ve been taping this, because this little bitch and her sidekick were going to be in for a big surprise, maybe sitting in jail instead of some high-end resort. He was going to be contacting some people too, but he just said, “Just do your job like a professional and I guess we can all live with the results.”
“Whatever. I’m out of here, I have work to do.”
Scott was already gesturing towards the door, “Sounds good Mitch, where do you want to start?”
“Pulling together our gear. I’ll head down to the supply room, but I’m in no mood for that little creeper to be hanging around.”
“I’m sure the Captain can keep his people out of your way, this is a fairly sensitive operation.”
“For your information Ms. Black, my so called ‘creeper’ seems to have vanished. And not to worry, Police Services doesn’t want to be seen anywhere near this operation.”
Mitch frowned, turned to Muspar, “Isn’t that a bit of a security breach, to just have someone up and disappear?”
“Ms. Black, why don’t you mind your business and I’ll mind mine, we’ll get along better that way.”
“I don’t mean to harp on this Captain, but that piece of shit Skinner was around during our logistics sessions. I think you should at least follow up to make sure he’s actually where he’s supposed to be. He could have walked out with some sensitive material.”
“Oh, he did, my secretary’s spare pantyhose and a bottle of her nail polish. The kid’s a weirdo, and I don’t give a shit where he is as long as it’s nowhere near me.”
Muspar was sure he heard her swear at him as she slammed the door behind her on the way out. He turned to Scott, “Well, those two are a couple of real professionals. I can’t believe you are sending them back up there, but just remember, I’m not putting my future prospects at risk when this thing blows up in our faces.”
“For chrissakes Muspar, I think at this stage of the game there are bigger things to worry about besides your career.”
“Your career maybe?”
Scott said that was ridiculous, told Muspar he should keep a lid on his emotions. Muspar stood rooted to the ground. Scott gestured towards the door but Muspar was shaking his head, no, he wasn’t going to leave until he had some guarantees.
“Like what?” snapped Scott.
“I want Laskin in jail when this is over.”
“Jail? For what?” Scott was surprised.
“I don’t care, murder maybe, but it better be for a long time. Along with his bimbo. They’re loose ends that we can’t afford. This whole thing, I’ve had a bad feeling about it all along.”
Scott shrugged. “I’ll look into it, but that creates complications of its own, I’ll mull it over…”
“No, not good enough. I want your word now.”
“Captain, you aren’t really in a position to start giving orders around here.”
“Really? Don’t think for a minute that I haven’t covered my ass.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I’m taking care of myself and if things tank, you and your A-team are going down.”
“Okay Captain, calm down. You’re probably right about Laskin, he is clearly having authority issues. Mitch Black might be more complicated. I’ll move on the Laskin thing for you, but you focus on the job at hand and make sure that your guys get back out there with Laskin and finish this job.”
Susun and Jeff were telling Chumboy that he wouldn’t believe what had happened. It was just getting dark when they’d gotten back and they found him in the kitchen trying to fix the fan on Tiny’s big broiler. Both of them seemed pretty pumped, in a hurry to see him.
Chumboy asked, “Yeah? What happened?”
Susun said, “We brought back a stray.”
Chumboy was wary, saying, “This isn’t Noah’s Ark, animals here either work or get eaten.”
“So what kind of a stray then?”
“A guy called Ricky Skinner.”
“Related to Lorraine?”
Jeff said, “Think she’s his mom. Hard to tell exactly what he was saying, he was babbling a lot, but it was clear he was from the City.”
“The City? I thought it was getting impossible to get out of there.”
Susun said he was sort of an odd little guy, added, “Apparently, it was his second time trying. He snuck onto one of the trucks running up what used to be the old highway. Now they use it as a security corridor, runs straight from the edge of the City to the border of the territories with not much on either side of it. This time though he bailed early, then up over the snow fence, wanted to make it to his Uncle’s hunt camp. Ricky said it was only a couple of kilometers or so from the old highway and figured he could make it. He’d brought snowshoes with him, and off he went, figured going cross country was his best bet after he got hauled off to jail the last time around.”
“Used snowshoes, eh? Couldn’t have been bringing much else with him.”
“According to Ricky, his Uncle had a well-stocked camp, snow-machines, guns, always six months worth of grub,” Susan said, “though he said he had been worried that Talos had already been there and wasn’t sure what shape things were in. So he headed straight there and low and behold, some of the shit was still there, but Talos had clearly been there first, razed the main cabin, no sign of his Uncle. One of the shacks was still standing so he stayed there over night, got a snowmachine up and running and loaded it up, then made tracks for his mom’s first thing in the morning. Think she was about half an hour away, Ricky said he knew the route by heart. He’d only been there a little while when we showed up.”
“He must be beat, maybe Tiny can rustle him and his mom up some dinner.”
“It might have to wait until the morning, he conked right out when he hit the pillow, but you’ll probably want to talk to him sooner than later,” Susun said, “he knows about Laskin’s team.”
“What did he say?”
Jeff explained the kid was a little incoherent about a lot of things, but it was clear that Mitch Black had made quite an impression on him. “He’s seems pretty messed up about the whole thing. Said Mitch wouldn’t let him help because he was fat.”
“Fat?”
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, that’s what he said. He’s a bit of a tubby one. Sort of sensitive about it too.”
Ricky said he didn’t want to leave his room yet, that he was still tired, rubbing his eyes like he was trying to prove it to her.
Susun said, “Bet you’re hungry, though? And there are some folks who’d like to meet you. We wanted everyone to meet you last night but you were sleeping by the time I checked in on you. But you might be able to help us out.”
He didn’t think he had much choice but he was nervous, and thought maybe he’d just tell her he was sick. But he was hungry too, so he said, okay, and followed her along a little hallway then down some stairs and into a big dining room. A few people were sitting around a table in the middle.
A big guy stood up, said, “I’m Chumboy, good to see you Ricky,” and then shouted over to the kitchen, “Hey, Tiny, get Chubbycheckers here some tea for godssakes.”
A man came out with a pot of tea, poured some into a mug, asked, “How d’ya take it?” but before Ricky could answer the guy had dumped in what looked like a pound of sugar and a quart of milk and pushed it over to Ricky saying, “Now don’t bug me again, I’m trying to make a goddam great dinner and you’re fucking me up. My cousin brought me a few ducks from your mom’s place, said their feet were freezing to the barn floor. So they’re going to be our dinner.”
Ricky stammered out a sorry, was feeling worried, the men sitting around the table watching him, that woman Susun smiling nice but not taking her eyes off him. He’d told her yesterday he wasn’t sure now if he had done the right thing in sneaking out of the City, and then ending up here. He was still nervous about it all.
At first he’d just planned on going to the hunt camp, but when he got there he got scared. He tried not to look at the ash and debris that was piled up across the yard where the main cabin used to stand. He dragged the ladder out of the shed and over to the small barn, climbing up, brushing away the snow, reaching into the opening onto the second floor of the barn. At the edge of the opening he felt it, hauled out the heavy canvas bag and tossed it onto the ground, then checking inside to make sure Delbert’s .30-06 was in there. Ricky could still remember the night his Uncle had sat by the fire, carefully wrapping his guns in garbage bags and duct tape, then joking about where to hide them. Ricky could remember where each and every one ended up, and there were plenty hid that night.
He put the ladder away. The big drift behind the barn, that’s where the snowmachine was, so he dug down in the snow till he found the edge of the tarp and hauled it off, sending snow flying, some of it going down into his boots. He checked the fuel and figured there was enough there, grabbed an extra fuel can from the shed, and then put the files on his Uncle Delbert and the Winterman into the gun bag and headed back out, following the trail that he had taken dozens of times from the hunt camp north towards his mom’s house.
She was glad to see him, said she’d taken him for dead. He told her what he had found at the hunt camp, asked her where Bo was, his Uncle Delbert’s dog, and his mom said, “I guess they burnt them all up together.”
When his mom had told him that she hoped that the folks from the Wintermen community were coming to fetch her soon, that she’d sent her brother to ask them to come get her, he’d panicked, but she told him she thought he should come because they were good people and it was the government or that Talos bunch that was lying, they’d been lying all along. Ricky asked her how she could be sure and she said that’s what Delbert thought.
Chumboy thought Ricky had a hard time paying attention, his eyes now unfocused, like he was daydreaming or something. He asked, “So Ricky, you gotta tell me, what made you head on up here?”
Ricky sort of re-focused, peering across at Chumboy.
Chumboy said, “Go on Ricky, tell us your story before your pancakes get here.”
Ricky took a deep breath and said, “Uh, well, I worked for Captain Muspar and he had all the files, files about the government and the people, and all the stuff that goes on, know what I mean? Captain Muspar is in charge of the police. And I read it, the file, and after I read about my Uncle, my Uncle Delbert, and saw his death certificates, and I thought maybe, well, I should stop at his camp, that maybe there was a mistake, you know, maybe my Uncle wasn’t dead, but he is.”
The kid talked like he had no brakes. Chumboy later told Susun he thought it was because Ricky had no punctuation in his brain.
“Do you know who did that to your Uncle?” Chumboy asked.
Well, I don’t know for sure…” He trailed off.
“I think the people who hurt your Uncle are the same people who hurt a friend of ours,” Chumboy said, watching a sweaty kind of panic move across Ricky’s face as he pushed his glasses up his nose. Sure was a jittery guy.
“What did they do?” Ricky asked.
It took a few seconds before Susun said, “Killed a girl, a nice young girl. They shot her.”
Ricky’s eyes looked like they might pop out of his head, bouncing around from one person to another, blinking a lot, tilting his head, Chumboy worried that he was getting too agitated. He said, “Everything is under control now Ricky, and those people are gone, long gone.”
“They killed my Uncle Delbert too, burnt him and his dog and his cabin?”
“Well, if not them personally then it was likely Talos. Right now we’re trying to come up with a plan that is going to stop them from hurting anyone else. Do you think there is anything else that can help us out?”
“When I heard Captain Muspar and Mr. Scott talking…”
Chumboy interrupted, “Who’s Scott?”
“Mr. Scott is from Talos. He has a big office.”
Chumboy nodded, “Go on.”
“Well, they talked about something called Project Final Sweep and Mr. Scott said ‘From now on there’s only going to be resource parks up in the Territories, nothing and nobody else,’ and Captain Muspar asked, ‘This goes all the way to the top?’ and Mr. Scott said ‘Yes. All the way. The agenda is to cramp industry’s ass to get up there and get moving, but every scrap of settlement has got to be gone. Erased.’” Ricky paused after delivering the information in a flat monotone, like he’d been rehearsing it over and over, like his times tables or something. Then he said, “And that’s what I heard.”
“Okay Ricky, that’s great.”
“And I know some other stuff too, like the big Safety Parade that’s coming up and that the Captain and Mr. Scott fight a lot, and then I also brought some files with me too, stole them from the Captain. There’s stuff in them too.”
“Files?”
“Yeah, I took Captain Muspar’s files about the Winterman and my Uncle. I sure hope it wasn’t the wrong thing to do…”
Chumboy slapped him on the back, said, “Rickyman, you’re doing one right thing after another. Keep it up you’re going to turn into a damn genius.”