Darius said, “Well, that worked. That’s all anyone cares about.”
“Unfortunately, that’s true, but that’s not the only reason they chose violence. You have to recognize that what they were doing was against the law and the constitution.”
“But they were the government. Couldn’t they just pass whatever laws they wanted?”
Gus signed, “What you think?”
Ilona signed, “People get angry? Fight back?”
“Exactly. Yes, it’s true that the government had the legal power to suspend the constitution and elections and to impose martial law, but those actions would have united Canadians in outrage and would have triggered physical confrontations.”
“So need to find way to stop people resisting?”
“Right. They needed to set up a paramilitary force to confront any Canadians who objected to their unconstitutional actions.”
Darius said, “Why not just use the police? Or the army?”
Gus nodded at Ilona who thought for a minute. “Police also citizens. Angry at government?”
“Yes. The government couldn’t depend on the police or the army to defend them against an angry citizenry that they might even join. They needed an armed force they could trust, people who would carry out even extreme orders. Unfortunately, there are enough thugs in the country who are borderline or even complete sociopaths who wouldn’t hesitate to inflict harm. Especially if the pay was decent.”
Darius said, “People who would be willing to use whatever force they needed to. Who would even revel in it. That was the Peaks.” He studied Gus. “I get the feeling you think there’s another reason they had to use such violence.”
“Insightful. That reason is more subtle. Most people believe that force should be proportional to the offence. If you insult me, I can insult you back, but it’s not all right for me to shoot you or even beat you up. Now what happens if people see a disproportionate response? If, say, I were to shoot you?”
“They’d probably condemn you.”
“But what if I could convince them that you were a danger? A threat to my survival, and I had to pre-empt what you were about to do? Would that change their minds?” He nodded to Ilona.
“Yes, if could convince them.”
“Exactly. Furthermore, what if I could convince them that not only were you a danger to me, you were also a danger to them?”
Darius said, “I see. If people believe a response should be reasonable and you can convince them that your violent response is, they will come to regard whoever you’re attacking as dangerous.”
“Right. Not just dangerous, but nasty enough to warrant the punishment they’re receiving. The government has managed to convince the public that their intent is benign and that the Peaks are a necessary evil to quell anti-social sentiments. The reality, of course, is that the government, like governments everywhere, has only its own interests at heart. The Peaks are a means to disguise that truth.”
Darius scrutinized Gus. “I don’t think you invited us in here to discuss political philosophy. What do you have in mind?”
“As I said earlier, we want to enroll you in higher-level attacks. Ones that will do the Peaks real damage. Every two or three months, the Peaks stage what they call a pacifying tour on the towns in the interior. We have a lot of members in these places. They’re a thorn in the Peaks’ side, so Peak Command loads up a few passenger cars with Peaks and raids the towns on the route. The raids are brutal, intended to demonstrate how futile it is to fight them.”
The images of the ruined villages flooded Darius. “Do they destroy the towns?”
“No, but they cause a lot of harm. Fortunately, we know in advance from the Coordinator when these raids are planned, and we’ve been able to warn the communities to shelter their more militant members. Peak senior officers threaten town councils and civic groups to force them to give up the names of our people. Sometimes, to our despair, they succeed. But these raids present us an opportunity. What do you think that is?” He looked at Ilona.
She signed, “Many Peaks concentrated. Officers. Good target.”
Darius said, “I agree. Whenever we can attack Peak officers, it’s a bonus.”
Gus nodded. “Yes. To have so many Peaks and especially senior officers in the same place is more than tempting. We’d love to find a way to crush them and we’ve been working on an idea.” He unfolded a sheet of paper. “This is a map showing the southern part of the province. This line is a railway. You can see where the railway crosses this river. We’ve been focusing on the bridge.”
Darius asked, “How deep is the canyon?”
“Over five hundred feet.”
Darius nodded. “If you could blow up the bridge when the train is on it, that would be a huge victory.”
“It would be, but there’s a problem. What do you think it is?”
“Is the bridge too strong for our explosives?”
Gus shook his head. “No, we have enough to destroy it.”
Ilona signed, “Peaks find bombs?”
“Right. Whenever the Peaks run this train, surveyors scour the entire route looking for explosives. There’s no way we could hide enough to destroy the bridge without their finding them. We need another way. Any suggestions?”
Darius studied the map. “Can’t tell from this. We need to see the area.”
32
THE CULMINATION
The Patriot Status Summary Report listed all those, known as patriots, who had reported suspected subversives. There were over two hundred names on the list, people who phoned a tip line to report that one of their neighbours or friends or co-workers had expressed anti-social ideas and should be monitored. Placing someone on the subversive list carried a reward. Money is the most effective way to motivate people whose morals are fluid, so the operator would ask for the caller’s name and address, “where we can send the cheque.”
The system would place the name of the suspected subversive onto the database with a disposition of question and evaluate. That was all it took to destroy someone’s life: a toll-free telephone call. When he first stumbled across this, Baxter had assumed that the questioning and evaluation would eliminate most people as suspects. After all, many of these calls would be from lovers who had been spurned, employees who had been disciplined, tenants who had had their rent increased, or anyone else someone had offended. Bogus reports from disgruntled whiners. Surely there would be some process to weed out hapless targets. But there was no disposition of cleared or innocent. Once on the database, the only path was from question and evaluate to terminate. The only status from pending to complete.
Every patriot received a weekly summary report listing everyone he or she had reported along with the current disposition and status. Each step up the disposition, from question and evaluate to terminate, carried a bonus.
And Todd Baxter was on a mission to deliver his own rough justice to those who hid behind the label of patriot.
When the weekly reports came out, he would review the list and select the patriot who had reported the most subversives. One had generated a list of over two hundred names, eighty of whom were now dead. His bonuses provided a comfortable living. Baxter had created a fictitious patriot, the one who had reported Warren Fraleigh. Now, with the name of the most prolific patriot in front of him, he entered that name onto the list of subversives with a disposition of terminate.