Two years later
The Kings—run by Gaetano, Alfonso and Erico Agostini—had been in business for a long time, but had exclusive control of the New York area for just five months. Word had spread of the World Government’s imminent move to Exilon 5, prompting the opposing factions to make an early move on the New York area. Gaetano and his two brothers who ran the other two factions in the area had done enough to keep them out. Because the military still outnumbered the criminals in the New York area, the Agostinis had agreed to bide their time before they took over.
Marcus sat in his bedroom inside one of the dilapidated properties close to Waverley docking station. It was one of Gaetano’s safe houses. Marcus had met Gaetano only twice and his two brothers once before. For the day to day stuff, he dealt with Enzo, Gaetano’s son.
‘I’m so fucking sick of waiting around, Enzo,’ said Marcus. ‘Why aren’t we out there doing something?’
‘Because my father says it’s not time. If we tip our hand to the military about our plans, the World Government will get wind of it.’
A group of ten men, including Carl, had gathered in the living room of the rundown two-storey property. Marcus hoped there would be better digs than this when they took over.
‘But the World Government doesn’t give a shit about what happens here.’
‘They care enough to leave military on Earth,’ said Enzo. ‘They want to protect their properties here.’
For the last year and a half, Marcus had watched a steady flow of people leave Earth through the docking stations, but there was still no word on the World Government’s departure.
‘Okay, so when are we gonna take the old Deighton Mansion up in Astoria Park?’ said Carl. ‘This place is a dump.’
Enzo pinched the top of his nose and sighed. ‘I told you, already. The government still occupies the mansion. One of the board members uses the house. Tanya Li. There’s military everywhere... Jesus. You’re all a bunch of idiots.’
‘I’m only sayin’ we need to get in there before them other factions. The ones run by your daddy’s brothers.’
‘Alfonso and Erico wouldn’t betray my father like that.’
The Agostini family controlled the entire New York area as far as Long Island to upstate New York. They called themselves the Kings because of the Agostinis’ supposed connection to Italian royalty back in the day. But the opposing factions tested that family bond with lies and rumours. For now, the Kings maintained control and quashed any rumours designed to break apart their kingdom.
But everyone was feeling the pressure; the safe house buzzed with unrestrained energy. When the World Government called time, which could be any day now, the factions would need to be ready, and that meant plenty of jobs to be done in preparation.
‘My father wants people watching the docking station and the mansion tonight,’ said Enzo. They’d been spying on Charles Deighton’s old place for months now. But amid the rumours, nothing had changed. It was still occupied. ‘Marcus, Carl, Freddy: you three are on watch tonight. Jensen, Heller: you’re on docking station duty. Report back on any changes in the situations there. As soon as the military presence lessens, we’ll take the station and the spacecraft. Father wants the crafts as a Plan B if this takeover goes bad.’
Marcus had ditched his cleaning job as soon as he’d met Enzo Agostini. First impressions of Enzo had left Marcus with a good feeling about the move. He’d moved into a safe house in Manhattan, before being relocated to Waverley to watch the Deighton Mansion and the docking station. Similar groups of men watched other properties. But long periods of inaction had left the men restless. So much so that Gaetano had visited the safe house, told them to sit tight, and assured them that new businesses needed time to get off the ground.
But Marcus’ opinion of Enzo shifted fast when he saw him with his father. Gaetano was tall, confident and spoke with an easy tone. Enzo spoke too quickly, was quick to anger and didn’t command the same respect as his father. Marcus hadn’t noticed the difference until both men stood in the same room.
‘Sure thing, Enzo,’ said Marcus. ‘We’ll get the job done.’
☼
Marcus, Carl and Freddy approached Astoria Park on foot. The park was nothing more than a barren wasteland of rolling brown grass hills and cracked concrete paths, with a disused swimming pool for good measure.
A rectangular, grey, concrete building with a dozen windows sat positioned between the two concrete struts of the Hell Gate railway bridge, in what used to be the East River. A large wall surrounded the property. Marcus felt the beginnings of the force field, long before they reached the approach road to the mansion.
They stayed behind another bridge strut, further out from the house. Using broken bricks in the structure as footholds, Marcus climbed up first and settled on a ledge they’d created by removing loose bricks halfway up the strut. The other two joined him and Freddy used a pair of magnifying glasses to spy on the location.
‘What can you see?’ said Marcus.
‘Not much. There’s no movement.’
From their position, they could see over the perimeter wall and inside the top level of the house and the area to the front of the property.
‘Do you think they’re gone?’
‘Maybe. Can’t be sure from here.’
But Marcus had a feeling. They’d checked on the house just two days ago and had seen people milling about through the top-floor windows.
‘What about cars?’
‘No cars out front.’
‘But the force field is still up. So that’s got to mean something,’ said Marcus.
Freddy shrugged and handed the glasses to Marcus. He put them on and checked for himself. No lights were on. The place looked abandoned, except for two military guarding the front stoop.
Marcus handed the glasses to Carl. ‘Do you think they’ve left Earth already?’
‘Possibly,’ said Freddy. ‘I mean there’s usually a dozen military buzzing around this place. But it seems odd the government didn’t mention it, or at least announce it.’
‘Maybe they didn’t want to give us a heads-up, let the military get settled before we came out of the woodwork.’
‘Maybe.’
Everyone in the faction waited daily for the World Government to announce their departure. Some wondered if they would even bother announcing it. Marcus wouldn’t put it past them. The World Government believed they owed the people nothing.
Carl flashed his decayed teeth as he looked through the glasses. ‘You know what that means?’
‘What?’
Carl removed the glasses and nodded at the house. ‘No more sharing a single bathroom with twenty dirty fuckers.’
They watched the mansion a while longer, then headed back to the safe house to report to Enzo. Marcus found him pacing the floor of the living room. Jensen and Heller, who’d been watching the docking station, were with him.
‘Fuckers are gone,’ said Enzo.
‘Who?’ said Marcus.
Enzo stared at him. ‘The World Government. Who do you think?’
‘How do you know?’
‘The spacecraft are all gone. The station is locked up tight.’
Marcus still didn’t understand. ‘But that’s a good thing, right? We wanted them to go.’
Enzo’s temper flared. ‘Jesus. They’ve just taken our only way off this planet. We’re stuck here on this hellhole whether we like it or not.’