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Brady frequently visited San Martin over the next few months, hoping to get another chance to meet Rhea, but she never seemed to be there. He was told by the Bear that she was often in Boulder Creek and that there was probably little for her to do as a Disciple in as small a town as San Martin. Brady didn’t entirely believe him, although he valued the word of Samuel Beardon the Third. He still felt that Rhea had given him the brush-off. He had been turned down by women before, but it never felt like this. I’m pining. Man, I never pine for no woman. I gotta shake off this feeling.
He went to Los Banos a couple of times, but the town’s decaying had taken root, and it left him feeling depressed. The Bear and his family had moved on to work in Oakdale, which was just on the outer edge of where Brady was prepared to travel. I cleaned that place out of anything useful years ago, and I’m picking up more discarded Green clothes than I could ever need from elsewhere. I don’t want to flood the market.
He thought about Lucky, Mary-Lou and Amie, but he knew that if he tried to renew contact, that would be tantamount to confessing to a crime he didn’t commit. Instead, he decided that the only person who might restore faith in himself was Professor Yuan Chu. He hoped he would be interested in the legal documents he had. Brady had given up on trying to decipher them, but someone of the Professor’s intellect might be able to figure out something which Brady could make use of.
He left a note at the bus stop arranging a meeting for the following evening at 6pm, which had become a routine time by now, to save on any confusion. He also left word that Oakdale had been dissolved. In the early days of the post-revolutionary period, he would have declared it as Green, as back then, he thought the GreenRevs were capturing the land for their own use. Now, he knew different, it would be sprayed, and then once everything had been broken down, the re-wilding process would begin. There were some tiny towns he used to pass through, where he saw more spraying, several years after the initial destruction, and it reminded him of the muck spreading the farmers of old used to do - it certainly made the vegetation thrive in their newly prepared lands.
He knew the news of what was happening in Oakdale would be alarming to East McFarland’s dwindling population, as places like Oakdale and Los Banos were of a similar size to them.
The next day, Brady loaded up his Hearse and stacked up legal papers beside him on the passenger seat. He joked to himself. I am my own HeavyLoader™.
He arrived at the bus stop a few minutes before 6pm, and Judge Jefferson was waiting for him. He also noted a couple of elderly ex-cops standing about fifty yards away. I don’t like the look of this.
Judge Jefferson was sitting down with two walking sticks propped up beside her. She greeted Brady, ‘Hello, Brady. I’m sorry to meet you in these unfortunate circumstances. As you can see, my health is fading, that’s why I have someone to accompany me.’
‘What’s the matter with you, Judge?’
‘Rheumatoid arthritis, it’s a curse of the family, especially down the female line of my family. Of course, the living conditions don’t help matters, none.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve seen a lot of folks with health issues out there. It’s a tough life to endure.’
She smiled, ‘But seemingly not for you, Mr Mahone, you appear to be in remarkable shape, and you don’t seem to age. I’m guessing you found a way to go Green.’
‘Not me. Not on purpose, anyhows. I’m still a Trad to the core.’ He looked at her, and she looked defeated. He looked back across the ex-cops and then he spotted the wheelchair. When he saw how the elderly ex-cops shuffled, he realised that even these people were weak and infirm, and therefore of no threat to Brady Mahone. He felt troubled but couldn’t grasp why. He guessed the situation was always going to come to this, but it didn’t seem to matter until he was personally and emotionally involved. He said, ‘If you don’t mind me asking - I don’t wish to cause you no offence, but why are you here?’
‘Professor Yuan Chu is dead. He died peacefully in his sleep last week.’
Brady slumped onto the plastic seat in the bus shelter next to Judge Jefferson and started to cry. Fuck this shit. Brady Mahone doesn’t cry. He tried to hold back the tears, but when Judge Jefferson put her arms around him and drew his head into her bosom, Brady Mahone sobbed his heart out. He couldn’t stop, and he didn’t want to stop. He hadn’t felt this compassion for another, this pain, this human in his whole life. Even when his Foster Daddy, Archie Mahone, had died, he didn’t feel anything like this, because the memory of his passing was tainted by his actions. For the last sixteen years since the GreenRevs Revolution, the only person who believed that Brady Mahone had goodness within him was Professor Yuan Chu.
Judge Jefferson continued to console him, and tears were rolling down her face as well. ‘He thought a lot of you, Brady Mahone. He talked about you all the time and always looked forward, so much, to receive the latest missives from his intrepid scout, navigating his way through the new world.’
Brady sat upright and brushed his tears away with his coat sleeve. ‘In all my travels, I’ve never met anybody like him. I’m not just saying that. He gave me something to think about other than myself.’
Judge Jefferson could barely utter the words through her own grief, ‘He’s a big loss to our community. He was my closest friend.’ She wiped her own tears away, ‘He made a request of me.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘He asked me to see you in his place. I promised, on his death bed, that I would always be here for you, if you want me too, of course?’
Brady nodded slightly. He didn’t want to discuss it. I done enough blabbering for one day. He said, ‘I got some things in the Hearse. I brought them for the Professor, but you can have them if you want. Actually, being a Judge and a DA ‘n’all, I suppose you might be better qualified.’ It stung Brady that he said that, as nobody was more qualified than anybody than the Professor, in his opinion. ‘You sit there, Judge. I’ll back the car up.’ Brady had started to call his vehicle a car while dealing with Trads, but he had to give everything it’s proper title when in the Green areas, as they frowned if he didn’t abide by their Green brand values. He knew it would be a hard habit to break, but business was business. He would have to train himself to say Fusion- this and Fusion-that, especially now that the Trads were beginning to die out.
He reversed the FusionCar™ to the bus stop, directly in front of Judge Jefferson. He opened the passenger door. He pulled out a few document wallets from the top of the paper mountain - he’d selected them because he suspected these had some more juicy information than the others. He handed them over to the Judge. ‘I picked up these from the Los Banos Police Department. They were investigating Sattva Systems™. I suppose more accurately, they were assisting the FBI with their investigations. It looks like the CIA were involved in the overseas side of the business.’ She shuffled through the documentation, she guessed Brady had made an effort to understand what he had here, as he had picked up on the difference of roles of the FBI and the CIA. Brady continued. ‘I know there’s nothing we can do now, but I thought you might find it interesting figuring it out how they gone and done it. If nothing else, it would pass the time.’ He laughed.
She smiled, ‘It’s been so long. I would love to do this. And I promise to let you know of anything of interest that I come across.’
Brady laughed with a mixture of humour tinged with relief that he wasn’t likely to start crying again. ‘I suppose that’s a great reason for Brady Mahone to keep visiting old East McFarland then.’ He added, ‘I could drive them over to your house if you want?’
She didn’t want to embarrass Brady by refusing this offer, but she didn’t want him to see where she lived. ‘No. That’s fine. Thanks for the offer, but there are obstacles and roadblocks. You wouldn’t be able to get through. My officers will assist me.’ They shuffled in closer at her signal.
Brady accepted her refusal. I haven’t been in the town for sixteen years. They are probably still scared of me. He had a flashback of how he decapitated the wannabee Mexican gangster. The memory made him feel nostalgic. ‘You better bring some trailers or something. I’ve got a whole car full of stuff.’
The officers went away to look for something to transport the loot of Brady Mahone.
Brady said to her, ‘I’ve got a delicate and weird proposal for you. Being as you’re the community leader and all. It was some information I picked up from a Green friend of mine. He said that if you leave any dead at the town limits, then the Greens will dispose of them ecologically.’
She looked at him, and she was clearly appalled at the idea. ‘Is that what you would like us to do with the Professor’s body?’
‘No. Oh, God. I’ve probably not gone and explained it too well.’
She shook her head. The images of all the dead she had administered over piled up in her visions. ‘Why on Earth would they want to do that?’
‘My friend. He used to be a preacher. It’s not a Green instruction. I believe he was giving me some inside information as a friend. I think it comes from a position of kindness.’
She softened. She didn’t imagine any humanity within the Greens, but the Professor believed in Brady’s judgment, and now she had promised to do the same. ‘What kindness? I confess, I’m struggling to find it.’
‘He says that the Trad communities are using up precious green spaces for growing crops, by turning them into cemeteries. I’ve seen the dead piling up, some of the places I’ve been to, they cannot cope with the volume of corpses.’
‘How does this preacher dispose of them?’
‘They spray them, and within a couple of days, they melt away into the Earth. They leave no trace.’
‘I’ll have to think about it. This is a very sensitive decision.’
‘Ok, Judge. You don’t have to make a decision. Just leave the bodies at the town boundary. They have things scanning for them, and then they issue the orders to their Operation Clean-up teams.’
The Officers returned, and Brady was glad of the chance to change the subject. ‘I’ve got something else for you and yours.’ He opened the rear doors of his ceramic, cream-coloured Sattva Systems™ FusionCar™ - he had once attempted to decorate it, to stamp it with his own identity, but it had a NanoCoat™ which repelled this, just like it repelled the dirt from the Highways - it even had a field which prevented even insects coming into contact with the vehicle as he travelled. Brady began unloading hundreds of items of clothing into the trailers the old cops had brought over. ‘I know the Greens are a bit short on style, but these are either nearly new or cleaned.’
The Judge said, ‘I don’t think we have anything of value to trade with you.’
‘I’m giving them to you, Judge.’
‘Please, let’s dispense with the formalities. I don’t mind if you call me Audre. I stopped being a Judge a long time ago.’
Brady smiled, ‘Ok, Audre.’ He continued, ‘To tell you the truth, I’ve more than enough to trade with other Trad towns. I can afford to let some come your way. That’s if you want them...’
‘Yes. We are desperately short of clothing.’
‘I know that. You’d be surprised at the offers I get from the womenfolk from my other Trad districts.’ He joked. ‘Brady Mahone has become quite the Mister Loverman.’ He knew the humour was inappropriate but at least it warded off the feelings of soppiness, that he was always on the verge of, here.
She laughed at his bluntness of language. ‘Actually, Brady, that wouldn’t shock me in the slightest.’ She ran her hands over the garments. They were well made and practical. ‘I’m guessing these are made from recycled materials.’
Brady laughed, ‘Not my area of expertise, I’m afraid. All I know is they won’t be making any more.’ He noticed that the Judge looked a little shabby in her long black coat that covered multiple sartorial sins. He looked down to see she was wearing sneakers, and just above he could make out the bottoms of a pair of grey sweatpants.
She spotted him looking her up and down but chose to ignore this. She had long since passed worrying about her looks. She said, ‘And why’s that?’
‘They are wearing, what they call, YellowSuits™. The NanoTech™ means they can change their appearance in an instant. All they need is their Suits™ from now on. Apparently, they are saving the planet by running down the manufacturing of clothing.’
‘Whatever next?’
Brady didn’t understand rhetorical or redundant questions, ‘I’m hearing rumours about GreenSuits™ being the next big thing. They are supposed to recycle the human waste within the bodies. The NanoTech™ breaks it down to something the size of a pill.’ He laughed loudly, ‘They will only need to use the shitter about once a month.’
Audre tried to grasp the impact of this latest monstrous idea, ‘Why is this important to them?’
‘They are recycling water within them. They will barely feel the need to take a piss. It is to reduce the need for water - y’know, one of the most precious resources blahdy-blah.’
‘My God. They are not planning to cut off our freshwater supplies, are they? That was one of the few things we are grateful for.’
Brady could see the alarm in her eyes and hastily searched his recollections of half-remembered conversations in his quest to find some reassurances for her, ‘Ah yes, they didn’t want the untreated water spilling out onto the earth from the Trad areas. Also, they don’t want human diseases to spread into other animals.’ He added, ‘I remember them joking about reverse pandemics, y’know transmittable viruses spreading from Trads to animals.’
She spat out, ‘It’s disgusting the way they talk about us. Have they forgotten that we are human beings as well?’
‘I don’t know, Judge. They said the Trads were killing the Earth for profit, and you lot were going to take them down to hell with you. I don’t think you’ve - I don’t mean you, personally - have the right to take the moral high ground here. Sorry, Audre.’ As she shook her head, he could see she was trying to control her rage. He added, ‘Anyway, the good news is, is that I don’t think they are going to cut off your water. It’s not in their interests. It will be the Greens who will be cutting down their own consumption.’
Long seconds passed by while Judge Audre Jefferson returned to her usual calm and rational state. She said, finally, ‘I’m not angry with you, Brady. I think my frustration was getting the better of me. You’ve been very kind, and I don’t mean with just the clothing. It will do my mental health a world of good to get stuck into the substantial puzzle you have set me within these documents.’
‘You’re welcome, Audre.’
Audre called her officers over, ‘Gary, could you take the clothes to the Town Hall.’ He nodded and began to load his hand-drawn trailer. She said, ‘And Norbert, I would be grateful if you could take the legal papers to my home.’ She smiled softly, as the two old men struggled to get the trailers to move. To Brady, they looked like twins, or brothers born not too far apart. They both looked in reasonable shape - for older white dudes - and both were white guys with short white hair, which gave them a military bearing. Old soldiers who’ve seen better days.
‘I’ll need some time to organise and read the documents. When were you next planning to visit?’
He joked, ‘Brady Mahone is a very busy businessman. Would two weeks from today be good for you? Same place, same time?’
She smiled, ‘That would suit me just fine, Brady Mahone.’
She watched as he got in his now empty FusionCar™ and sped away in the direction of the Mahone Ranch. She sat at the bus stop, deep in thought, while she waited for Officer Norbert, as she warmly referred to him, to return from delivering the papers to her home, and then to push her back in the wheelchair.