~Tex~ the Junker and the Sons of Liberty

[Yngen]

Chapter 7

The Company's Fee

-Office of the Attorney General, Planet Manhattan-

The New York sun fell through vaulted windows onto Clive Porter's desk. The desk was clean except for a work terminal that Mr. Porter was reading from. As the cheif law enforcement officer for all of Liberty space all manner of intelligence and legal discourse flowed through this office but for now Mr. Porter was concentrating his mind on this one message from a singularly influential and wealthy woman. Favors had
been exchanged already between the two of them, which made them somewhat intimate. Uncomfortably so. For instance the sender of this message had used the A.G's classified government message address. The fact such a thing were possible by a civilian disturbed Porter.

He looked away from the message a moment and consulted a file he had pulled on his new aquaintance. Former CEO of Aegira Technologies... retired but still on the board of directors and apparently controlling a large sum of the stock. The dividends from these stocks she funded a gargantuan project called 'SinTech.' It had taken serious negotiations with the office of the President to aquire this information, which was
limited and vague all the same.

2 weeks ago Clive Porter had enlisted this woman's help to eliminate the leaders of a Terrorist organization based in the Bering system. Though Porter had recieved his own reports from military units in Texas Porter payed particular to this message's account of the operation. According to this, only one of the terrorists had been eliminated. Far more than the Entire Liberty government had been able to accomplish in 20 years but far less than Clive Porter had bargained for back on Pittsburg. The Junker had apparently evaded his attackers in Texas and William Patrick was still at large. Now there was no telling where the two had gone. Element of surprise was lost, the terrorists knew they were marked by a powerful foe.

The message requested a prisoner release from LPI Huntsville. Teresa Bannon, wife of Tom, mother of James...they wished to use her as bait to draw their targets into the open. Fine enough, the original arrangement required the whole Bannon family eliminated. Releasing Teresa from Huntsville solved two problems, while flushing out the young Junker it also removed Teresa from the protection of the Xenos in the Prison. Still it was strange for a woman to be held so long in prison for nothing but a possesion charge. 15 years now, he recalled the Texas Rangers dealing out heavy sentences like that...pity. Another request followed as well, this one gave Porter a prickling chill up his spine. She wanted one of the Terrorists to be taken alive and handed over to her custody...for...human testing.

"Now we come to it. They DID have something else in mind for compensation. They want a guinea pig who won't be missed to do experiments on..."

It was practicality that led Porter to agree with these terms. He and his 'partner' were too deep in bed with each other to start saying 'no' now. He was in for it all.

As Porter began typing out his reply he pressed his intercom switch,

"Erik, get me the corrections office at Fort Bush."

His call was made. The corrections office drew up the necessary forms and scheduled the abrieviated hearing that would be summarily overridden and ram-rodded through the beuracracy. The parole board was ordered to assemble the next day.

Atka research station, Sigma 17

Alexis Sinclare walked along the observation portals to labs 2 and 3 where final testing was being completed. Young scientists in lab coats took on their most professional dimeanors as she approached. They had worked hard for this moment. Finally a Manhattan VIP would acknowledge the work being done out here, and no less than the CEO herself... She said nothing as she observed the researchers behind the safety glass work, making her host escorts somewhat nervous,

"You'll find our safety precautions quite thorough, Maam," said the chief Scientist.

"Will I?"

The severe woman regarded him for the first time. Her tone of voice surprised the scientist.

"yes maam, our last 3 safety reviews were well over 95% nominal."

"Then you should fire your auditor. I see no fewer than 5 class 'A' safety violations even now as I look on. You have one hour to find all five or we'll be posting both the auditor's and your own positions up for internal hiring."

Without waiting for a response Ms. Sinclare turned on her heal and left the observation deck. The Chief research associate was now regretting ever wishing for any more attention from Manhattan corporate. With his livelihood on his mind he trotted to the decon chamber to prep himself to enter the main testing area. Halfway through the decon cycle he found his first violation. He activated the chamber intercom.

"Damnit people, who left the inner door unlocked!"

With his clean suit on the chief waited for the decon cycle to complete then stormed into the testing area.

"You all might as well kick me in the balls. We may be clear out in the Sigmas but the stock holders are VERY interested in this project. That means we have to be cleaner, faster and better than the rest of the company. I want everyone to stop what they are doing and go back over their safety protocols. Tell me if you forgot anything."

Slowly over several minutes the scientists chimed in with their results: physiological enhancement, exo-anthropomorphic integration, neuro-static interfacing and carbon-nano epithelial combustion all noted some safety violations. They even found some the CEO had overlooked apparently. It may have seemed sloppy, but Sintech procedures were exacting.

When the chief later met with Ms. Sinclare again he was noticeably relieved.

"Well now, you get to keep your job it seems."

"Thank you maam."

"Tell me, when will we reach phase 2?"

"We're there now maam. Little else we can do until we get a suitable test subject."

"You will have one soon Doctor. Phase 2 and all its materiel must be ready for transport to Aomori in 12 hours."

That little chore was done. Alexis Sinclare made her way back to the Unrelenting and signaled the Captain to set course for Honshu. She had already recieved her message from Clive Porter. Team 4 were standing by to redeem themselves after failing at Beaumont. There was also the prison Doctor to activate. His job was simple enough. Though it would probably meant the loss of his services, Sinclair thought it
a good investment to keep the Attorney General happy.


-Somewhere in Bering-


For most of the trip back to Barrow Patrick talked to James about Thomas Bannon and his life with the Xenos. He removed a pair of holsters from Lonestar's waste and gave them to James,

"He would have wanted you to have 'em."

The weapons found within those folds of leather were relics. Dry chemical charges propelling heavy metal slugs-no doubt hand made by the weilder. The handles were in-laid wood, so old James couldn't tell what species. He could sense more than anything the dim and bloody history behind the two revolvers. As he drew one out of the holster he was surprised by it's weight.

"Hard iron he used to call it. And if iron it be, then you'll need to keep it oiled if you don't want them to rust."

The guns were machines, and machines Tex knew very well. The first and last gift he would ever own of his father stayed cradled in James' arm for the rest of the trip.

Thomas Bannon's body was ejected into a decaying solar orbit. Though not a godless man, William Patrick only found passing conversation with the dead to mark the end of his friends life:

"Your boy is safe Tom. Manhattan bastards screwed that one up bad. I wish you could see him, those Junkers didn't get to him. He's you all over again. Good bye my friend."

James watched this gruff and short eulogy with no words to offer. The sheer absense of fatherly memories embarrassed and enraged him at the same time. He had a father, but he had never known his father. Realising this brought fresh thoughts of his mother to the fore. A much more concrete set of images flooded him, picnics in the mountains, weekends at the anti-grav tracks... and yet his mother was taken from him nearly 15 years ago.

How had his family been torn asunder so completely?

"You said you had friends at Huntsville watching my mother."

"Yes, she's safer than you are right now."

"I want to get her out of there."

"Out of the question, Huntsville is too heavily guarded."

"Fine, give me the names of your contacts and I'll do it alone."

"It will be a long time yet before I trust you with the names of my men working on the inside."

"I'll do it without your help then. Just drop me off at Freeport 2."

Patrick regarded the young man for a moment.

"You're even dummer'n I thought, boy. I guess all those years with the Junkers weren't kind to your common sense. Look, believe me when I tell you that I know everything that happens within the walls of LPI Huntsville. We practically own the place. But that stops entirely when you step outside the facility, from there on its Manhattan rent-a-cop contract bone heads running the joint. Hell they even appreciate us keeping the population in there quiet so they can go on with their cushy government jobs."

James: "Well least I aint a coward, like you was when you let my father go off on his own out there."

Patrick let loose a blow to James' gut. The young Junker crumpled and fell to the floor.

"Your Daddy 'n I have spilled more blood together then you've ever seen poppin pimples with Sammy Hamish. I owe him my life, which is the only reason you are alive today. If it were up to me I'd have let those slimy bastards gun you down in your sleep back at Beaumont..but no. Why I outta let you go to Hunstville yourself, see where it gets ya. You could even..."

"Both of you be quiet for a moment," Mark Lawrence interjected. "We're getting a message from Skeeter."

"That weasal is still alive? God bless him, what's it say?"

Patrick left James groaning on the metal floor and walked to the message console Mark Lawrence was reading. The two of them exchanged silent looks for a moment then Patrick turned to James Bannon.

"Turns out you don't have to go proving your courage, your mama's made parole."

--------

-LPI Huntsville-

The pale light of fluorescents shined off the duracrete floors of Teresa Bannon's cell. As she sat there she could hear the rodents scurrying along the floor under her bunk, almost as if they were aware the cell would soon be theirs again soon. On the wall opposite her bunk she could still see remnants of the tape she had used to affix photographs of Thomas and James. The wall was lighter in color, showing the distinct shapes of the photos that had stayed up there for 15 years. All of her personal items she had already packed and given to the guards for out processing.

Only 12 hours ago, Teresa had been at the parol board hearing. The same 3 individuals who had denied her paroll citing 'grave misgivings' about her likelihood of continuing as a drug smuggler had unceremoniously granted her freedom without so much as a comment. The same obtuse and irrevicable way the judge had initial sentence her she witnessed with her release, executed as if she were a stone being put away in the shed.

She could hear the clang of the wing security door opening and closing down the hall. Footsteps were approaching her cell...it was the guard.

"Teresa, the Doctor will need to see you before your release."

The guard unlocked her cell and stood aside for her to come out. As Teresa made her way to the security gate she looked into cell 346 were Joseph was. To anyone else in the prison Joseph was known as 'Red,' probably due to his hair. In many ways Red had more power in Huntsville than even the warden. Red commanded the Huntsville Xenos, a large contingent of convicted terrorists the Liberty government were detaining. Early in Teresa's prison sentance, Red had taken her under his wing. Ostensibly he said it was because she was 'a momma' and needed protecting, but Teresa suspected he was a friend of her husband Thomas and this endeared Red to her.

The look on Red's face reminded Teresa of the conversation they had earlier that day. The sudden release worried him. Though Teresa was aware of Red's ideological leanings and thought them ridiculous (why would the government care about little old me?) she couldn't help but feel off balance with the whole situation. But her misgivings gave way to unbelievable excitement. Today she would leave this floating city of death..
tommorow perhaps she would see James...the thought gave her chills and made her giddy. Never in her 15 years at Huntsville had she gotten a visit from her only son. She recieved letters from him almost weekly, but whoever it was he worked for wouldn't let him near the prison. But all of that was behind her so it seemed. She'd already recieved a letter from James saying he would meet her down on Houston tommorow. The letter didn't say much beyond that. Strange that her normally talkative boy was so terse in his note... Yes, it was time Red gave up protecting Mrs. Bannon. She was a free woman now and determined to do right by her son this time no matter what it took.

The guard led her to the infirmary where the Doctor was waiting.

"Hello Teresa, ready for your big day?"

He asked as he walked over to his medicine locker. Instead of the triplicate medical examination forms Teresa expected she saw an empty syringe on a sterilised tray next to the exam bed.

"Yes. Am I not up to date on my shots? I thought I had all of that done last month..."

"Yes indeed, this is merely a booster shot and vaccine. There's a influenza breakout down on Houston now and you haven't been exposed to it yet. The law requires you be perfectly healthy before you pass through that airlock. Now give me your arm please..."

The rest of the examination was the same as all the others Teresa had recieved yearly during her time on the inside. Eventually she was seen to a changing room where she was given street clothes and her personal effects. Shortly thereafter she boarded an LPI Armored transport bound for Houston.
The virus she now carried in her system began its work on a microscopic level, simply duplicating itself until its host cell couldn't support it then moving on to another...each duplication multiplying the rate at which the virus spread. 1 hour later Teresa Bannon was walking on Houston soil again for the first time in 15 years. The planet she had grown up on had changed without her. Places she once knew were replaced or gone completely. Sentimental attachments she never knew she had began to surface as she traveled throught he city carrying her newly reaquired personal clothes. A steady feeling of emptiness creeped over her that couldn't be filled no matter how far she searched. Friends had moved on..and her family...
The thought galvanized a course of action for her. Teresa turned around and headed straight back for the space port. She knew where she had to go. Her only pure hope left was her son, who by sketchy accounts was still alive among the Junkers of Texas. She would take what cash she'd been given by her release counsilor and find her son...somehow.

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[AU]Anton_Blix
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