‘Is that not the nature of the system?’ Harper asked.
‘Do you mean, “has someone won capitalism”?’ Rasch asked.
The stern-looking soldier snorted and shook his head.
‘Tell that to the people it’s enslaving, holmes,’ the Hispanic soldier said grimly.
‘This “live debt-free” scheme?’ Harper asked.
‘See, the energy they have is supposed to be generated free, right?’ the Hispanic soldier continued. ‘So they undercut the opposition and drive them out of business, then the costs start rising and rising. People get in debt if they want to be warm and cook and shit. So they look at this scheme, but once they’re in that’s it. They never quite seem to get out of debt. CELL owns them.’
‘Modern day indentured service,’ Rasch said. ‘And it’s not like they can really refuse to use CELL’s products. Now I’m the first to admit that democracy is a flawed system. It certainly got in my way more than once when I was CEO, and we used well-paid lobbyists to hijack it when it suited us to do so. At its basest democracy is legitimatised mob rule but I suspect we’ll miss it when it’s gone.’
‘And you feel a terrorist attack is the way to get your point across?’ The two soldiers with Rasch bristled at the word “terrorist”. Fry was trying to suppress a grin. Corporal Fenn remained impassive but kept on looking behind her into the darkness in the corner of the room.
‘If I could vote against it, write to my congressman or otherwise do anything about it, I would. I was probably the singularly most well-placed person to stop this company running out of control and I couldn’t. We’re not trying to get our point across, or terrorise anyone. We have a very specific goal to accomplish.’ The craggy-faced soldier cleared his throat. Rasch turned to look at him. ‘We will get nowhere with half-truths and obfuscations, Major.’ He turned back to Harper. ‘We are going after the mechanism for the CELL global monopoly on energy. The Ceph are a threat, and we will deal with them later, but right now we need to prevent my old company becoming even more powerful.’
‘It’s here in New York?’
Rasch didn’t answer. The stern-looking major looked less than pleased. Harper realised that he was dead if he didn’t join them. It might not even be that simple. Even if he agreed he would have to convince them he meant it.
‘They’ll hit you with the Archangel,’ Harper told them. Rasch was shaking his head. ‘They have to. If the source of their control is in the city they’ll have no choice.’
‘They can’t risk it. They may damage some of their valuable resources. Captain, it’s no coincidence that CELL are using New York as their base. They are harvesting the aliens’ technology and believe me, the last people in the world you want with that technology is a global super power that is accountable to no-one. Not if you ever want to live free again.’
‘Hyperbole,’ Harper said, finding himself angry. No, not angry, he thought, frightened.
‘We look like peaceniks, pinkos and hippies to you?’ the Major asked. ‘You know military men and women. What do you think it would take for them to get to the point where they are prepared to take an action like this?’
Distractedly Harper noticed Fenn glancing behind again. He was tempted to look himself.
‘I think you know this is true, Captain. I think that you have watched it slither slowly in over the past few years like a snake. I think you’ve known it was happening but desperately wanted someone else to handle it. Well, we’ve run out of people to handle it. There’s just us, here, now and as you can imagine we have a lot to do so I’m afraid I’m going to have to press you for an answer.’
Harper swallowed hard.
‘I’ll help you,’ Harper said. Somehow it still felt like betraying his country. Rasch nodded and then looked into the corner where Fenn had been looking.
‘Dane. Is he telling the truth?’
Harper watched as darkness seemed to recede around a massive and very powerful looking figure. It’s a cloak, Harper realised in amazement. The revealed figure was bizarre. It wore some sort of armoured exoskeleton made of thick, muscle-like cable. Half of the armour’s torso and helmet were painted white to resemble a skull and bones. Beads, feathers, bones and the skulls of rodents and birds were affixed to the armour in various places. The armoured figure wore a number of dog tags on a chain around his neck. There was a large automatic at his hip and he had some kind of sniper rifle in a sheath across his back.
‘His stress markers are all to shit,’ a surprisingly spacy sounding voice said. ‘But he’s telling the truth.’ The figure was looking away from the six people, as if staring at something none of them could see. Harper, Fenn and Fry were staring at the armoured man.
‘Are you an alien?’ Fry asked. The figure turned around to look at the scouse marine.
‘No,’ he said simply. The scouser looked crestfallen.
‘Yes, I could see why you’d be disappointed,’ Harper said to the marine.
Dane turned to Fenn. ‘You’re good.’
Fenn didn’t reply. She just watched the figure suspiciously.
Rasch looked up at the major.
‘Major Winterman?’
The Major was giving some thought to this.
‘I don’t like this,’ Winterman finally said. ‘There are too many ifs. Yes, the Robin Hood would be of a tremendous amount of use, possibly pivotal, but even allowing for the good captain’s willingness he still has a sizeable crew that needs to do as he says.’
‘The Major is right,’ Harper said. ‘Normally the discipline on a royal navy ship is excellent. CELL’s takeover has changed things. There are elements on board that would oppose supporting you and others who would wish to distance themselves from being seen to be doing so.’
‘I’ll go with him,’ the armoured figure said casually, though his focus still seemed to be elsewhere. ‘It’ll be fun.’ Harper turned to look at the bizarre but obviously powerful individual.
‘Dane, we’ll need you in the final assault.’ Major Winterman said.
‘S’cool, man. You got a boat you can loan me?’ Dane asked a surprised Harper.
‘Er… yes, an IRC.’
‘I’ll watch the rockets, it’ll be like the Fourth of July, man. Really pretty. Then make the rendezvous with my man Chino.’ He nodded towards the Hispanic soldier, who nodded back smiling at the armoured figure.
‘It’s your decision, Major,’ Rasch said. The Major gave it more thought but then nodded to Chino. Chino took a laminated map out of one of his fatigue pockets and gave it to Harper. It was a map of New York with grid references and co-ordinates on the back.
‘Our biggest problem, captain, is a series of automated and manned gun emplacements. They have near total coverage and can deny us movement on street level,’ the Major told him.
‘What about moving underground?’ Harper asked as he studied the co-ordinates.
‘Much of the city is still flooded, much of the underground may still be extensively damaged due to Ceph action, and we can’t know what changes CELL have made beneath the streets. If the Robin Hood takes these gun emplacements out you will save a lot of my people.’
‘The spirits of dead warriors will look on you and know you to be righteous,’ Dane said. Fry was staring at the armoured figure and then started to laugh.