“My congratulations, sir.”
Jessup thanked him and added something along the lines of new times and trends. But Frank missed most of it, his ears still burning from Barney’s outburst. He decided to leave, too.
“I’m sure we’ll see each other again,” he said rising from his chair.
“Wait,” the captain gestured him to stop, his face now serious and decisive. “Two minutes. I’ve got something to tell you.”
When Frank left the office and rejoined Barney by the elevator, they nearly quarreled. Frank tried to explain that Jessup had suspected Memoria’s bosses from the start and conducted a secret investigation of his own. He had risked his job and his rank doing so, he’d broken the rules and regs, but ultimately, he’d been right and earned his promotion. It wasn’t his fault that the case had now been handed over to the Feds for further inquiry, and it definitely wasn’t his problem. He’d already done more than he could.
“He’s got a promotion,” Barney tapped his stick on the elevator floor in indignation. “And Max got his place in the graveyard. As did lots of other people.”
“You,” Frank very nearly prodded him with his finger, “you-” he turned away to the doors. “We could have learned what happened to Bow. Whether they found him or not. He could have told us what it was in those capsules and why you’ve lost your hair. Jessup was about to share some information. He won’t do it now.”
“Never mind. You’ll learn it all in DC.” When the elevator doors opened, he shouldered him aside and walked out into the spacious lobby.
Frank stepped out after him and stopped looking at his broad back as the veteran headed for the doors. What an asshole. How did he learn about Frank’s DC trip? It was classified. Only a few people knew about the new talks with the migrants. Frank hadn’t spoken to anyone about it, not even Maggie.
He caught up with Barney by the exit.
“Wait.”
The veteran swung around. Frank looked into his eyes as he searched for the right words.
“Well?” the veteran drawled.
“I don’t want to argue with you,” suddenly, Frank realized that he had to accept this huge angry man standing in front of him as he was. Barney Douggan had been around the block a few times. He remembered a lot. Frank still had a lot to experience.
Barney’s expression changed. His face softened good-naturedly.
“Forget it. Out with whatever the Captain told you.”
Frank looked up at him and said in a quiet voice,
“He warned us about Claney. According to him, he’s only a puppet. There’re much more powerful forces behind him, and he doesn’t yet know what they are.”
“That’s pretty obvious.”
“Don’t interrupt me,” Frank shook his head. “Just like you, Claney was under control. His body was literally studded with mnemocapsules.” He fell silent waiting for two civilians to walk past. One had a detective’s ID pinned to his lapel.
“All right,” Barney mumbled, perplexed. “What now, then?”
“The Captain is asking you to leave New York. He suggests you lie low for a while. You know how to remove the bracelet so disappearing off their radars won’t be a problem. Know what I mean?”
Out of habit, Barney touched the bare skin under his nose where his fat mustache used to be. Frank could guess what he was thinking.
“Let’s go,” Barney said. Then he added, agitated, “Maggie’s waiting for us. I’ve made some stew. Took me all morning. Did my best for you two. That’s why I was late.” He wanted to add something else, waved it off and started limping down the steps.
Frank overtook him. He had no doubts what the veteran wanted to talk to them about during the meal. He opened the back door of the cab waiting by the curb, threw one last glance at the department windows and stepped inside after Barney.
“Where to?” the dark young driver turned in his seat.
“Home,” the two said in unison and looked at each other.
“Oh well,” the driver raised his eyebrows and started the engine.
About the Author
Alex (Aleksei) Bobl is a Russia-based science fiction writer, author of 11 novels. An ex-paratrooper, he used his military knowledge and experience to write his debut novels for S.T.A.L.K.E.R., a bestselling science fiction action adventure series set in a post-apocalyptic Chernobyl.
After his initial success, Alex Bobl teamed up with his friend and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. co-author Andrei Levitski to create a SF project of their own. Entitled TechnoTma: The Dark Times, this action adventure series is set in a post-apocalyptic future where the Black Sea has dried out and the Crimea has become a major desert. The eight books of TechnoTma had a total print run of over 250,000 copies and have been translated into German and Spanish. Talks are now under way about translating TechnoTma into English.
Memoria. A Corporation of Lies is Alex’s last science fiction novel to date — a hard-boiled men’s adventure set in a dystopian New York. Alex Bobl lives in Moscow with his wife and two boys and is currently working on his next science fiction novel, The Continent Anomalous. You can follow its progress in Alex’s blog, Obviously Incredible, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Copyright
Memoria. A Corporation of Lies
Alex Bobl
Published by Sky Bridge Publishers, 2012
Copyright © Alex Bobl 2012
Cover Art © Vladimir Manyukhin 2012
English translation copyright © Irene Woodhead 2012
Editor Neil P. Mayhew
All Rights Reserved
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is entirely a work of fiction. Any correlation with real people or events is coincidental.