One of his men quickly grabs it from me and puts it into his laptop. It doesn’t take long before he is nodding to his superior, which I take as a good sign. I grab Destiny’s hand, partly to make sure that all this is real, but also to make them feel somehow guilty if they chose to throw us both out now.
‘You have proven yourself very useful, Mr. Henry. This information is what we lacked and with your knowledge of these schematics we can build our own sky cities, but they will be far bigger and much safer than what was planned for this island. If he thinks we will ship our resources halfway across the world for such a small project then he really is as narrow-minded as he is arrogant.’
I nod, thinking of how Lawrence’s big vision has ended up so small. It makes me think of when I was a child. I always told my mum how I planned to build a robot and full of nothing but hope I would try to bring a few bits of plastic and an old battery to life – always dreaming, never quite succeeding.
‘I’m not a bad person,’ Jin says, looking at me and only me. ‘This is not the usual way we do business and in any normal time we would have signed a deal, come to a valid agreement or simply bought out Lawrence’s little business. But with none of those options available to us and time running out I’m sure you will agree that different measures are required.’
‘Do you want me to blow the servers,’ Jin’s hitman asks, a finger on his phone.
It’s at this moment that my phone rings, causing everyone to look at me. I look at it and see that Lawrence is calling. Without thinking properly, I tell my new boss that my old boss is on the phone, the option to speak to Lawrence clearly in his control, to which he nods.
I answer, immediately hearing Lawrence shouting at me. ‘Where are you?’ he says. ‘The Chinese have attacked us. Tyrell is dead and the server room has been compromised.’
I sit quietly for a moment, wondering what to say, not knowing if it is worth saying anything. ‘We’ve been attacked?’ I ask.
‘Yes!’ he shouts. ‘Where are you? We need to stop them before they get away. I’m heading to the roof. If those bastards think they will escape then I’ll blow them out of the sky. They cannot leave with the data they have taken.’
I quickly unbuckle my belt, looking out the windows until I can see both the complex and the new threat to us. ‘They are going to fire on us,’ I say to Jin.
‘Blow the servers,’ my new boss says without hesitation.
A return nod and a single reflex later, we all feel the vibrations of an explosion. No sooner has the hitman accomplished his task then he grabs a sniper rifle from the side of his seat and adopts a position near the door.
I finally put the phone back to my ear, waiting to savour the moment of our final goodbye. ‘You’re with them, aren’t you?’ Lawrence says.
‘Yes,’ I say, flatly, bluntly, as if it is such an obvious answer. ‘I have taken the schematics and the server room has just been blown up.’
‘You little bastard!’ Lawrence shouts. ‘You have betrayed me and taken what doesn’t belong to you. I knew you were just like your father and yet I still gave you a chance. I will destroy you for this. You and your parents will pay dearly for this, I can promise you that.’
‘Speaking of family, aren’t you going to ask me anything else?’
He’s quiet for a moment and I think that maybe it’s the noise of the chopper. We bank to the left so we can get a good look at the complex and I wait for him to say something. ‘Destiny,’ he says. ‘She’s with you.’
‘It took you a while to ask. I wonder if you really had thought of her at all?’
‘I’m not going to argue with you so just give her back to me.’
I look over at her, to the one we both want, but she’s busy looking out the window. I follow her line of her sight until I see him; he is standing in a suit with several of Tyrell’s men around him. They are heavily armed, with machine guns and a few rocket launchers, and he isn’t stopping them from taking aim. I start to feel vulnerable again, wondering if he would dare shoot us out of the sky now that he knows she is with us.
My fear quickly vanishes as I see those men start to fall, one by one, as each feel the systematic blows of a true killer. Lawrence suddenly realises what is happening and runs for cover, as the remaining men flee towards the stairs and away from the roof. When the shooting stops I see him stand up and put the phone back to his ear, as he straightens his thick glasses and looks up to the sky to find us.
I feel her soft skin as I take hold of her hand and look at her. I know that those eyes are the only place I will ever find comfort. ‘Can we go now?’ she says.
‘Lawrence, she doesn’t want you and she will always be with me from now on. I can’t change how we feel for each other but I want you to know that I will always take care of her.’
‘That’s not good enough,’ he says. ‘Return her to me; you know she’s all I have. Land now and we can discuss this and agree a fair exchange of knowledge.’
I laugh, feeling a huge wave of relief rush over me, knowing my life will never be the same again. ‘There’s really no need. They have all they came for and you have nothing left to trade, but I have to know something,’ I say and look down at him as the helicopter circles. ‘If you had a choice what would you pick – Destiny or the data?’
I watch him as he walks to the edge of the roof, looking up at us, his body turning as he follows the helicopter’s movements. ‘If you knew me properly, like you should, you would already know the answer to that.’
‘Humour me and I’ll see what I can do to help.’
I watch him shake his head, endlessly disappointed in me. He’s no longer my employer, my mentor or even my miserable uncle. ‘If the cause is just, the corporation must rule over the individual for the greater good.’
I watch him for a moment, wondering if he is truly brave or if he is just a cheap coward wrapped in an expensive mask. ‘If it’s not for her, then why do all this?’
‘You’ll never understand the answer to that question,’ he says, his head still shaking. ‘Just put Jin on the phone.’
I nod but say nothing, intending to do exactly as I’m told. ‘He’d like to speak to you,’ I say, holding the phone up to my new boss.
Jin shrugs his shoulders and then shouts in Chinese to the cockpit. The helicopter starts to move away as his personal assassin leans out the window again.
‘You taught me well, Lawrence. I believe you when you say that corporations and cockroaches may both endure, but right now I am picking what excites me, and what my heart is telling me is right. You should know that I will always love her, this one simple individual.’ I switch the phone off and sit back in my seat as I let Destiny take hold of me, my eyes closed and my mind only on this happy future that is finally unfolding.
And with a final hiss of the gun, I allow myself a smile.
9. That secret slice of life
Thursday 25th August – Los Angeles
I bang on the door again. ‘Come on, you son of a bitch, I know you’re in there,’ I say out loud, not caring if he hears me. I need to be careful, I know that. I can’t push my luck and I can’t fight my way in, either. The only choice I have is to get him to the door and somehow make him help me, no matter how much he doesn’t want to. I bang again, shouting out his name. I hit the door loudly, desperately. This place is my only lead, the only place that I stand any chance of finding her.
I’m still banging when he slowly opens the door. I see his disapproving face through the small gap, and then he frowns and sighs, telling me all I need to know. ‘It’s you again. This is starting to become a bit of an annoying habit.’