Rethrick Construction disappeared from the map. It took government quite a while to organize Maine, longer than most places. When the rest of the world had been divided up between international cartels and world-states, there was New England, still alive. Still free. And my grandfather and Rethrick Construction.
‘He brought in a few men, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, little once-a-week newspapermen from the Middle West. The Company grew. Weapons appeared, weapons and knowledge. The time scoop and mirror! The Plant was built, secretly, at great cost, over a long period of time. The Plant is big. Big and deep. It goes down many more levels than you saw.
He
saw them, your alter ego. There’s a lot of power there. Power, and men who’ve disappeared, purged all over the world, in fact. We got them first, the best of them.
‘Someday, Jennings, we’re going to break out. You see, conditions like this can’t go one. People can’t live this way, tossed back and forth by political and economic powers. Masses of people shoved this way and that according to the needs of this government or that cartel. There’s going to be resistance, someday. A strong, desperate resistance. Not by big people, powerful people, but by little people. Bus drivers. Grocers. Vidscreen operators. Waiters. And that’s where the Company comes in.
‘We’re going to provide them with the help they’ll need, the tools, weapons, the knowledge. We’re going to “sell” them our services. They’ll be able to hire us. And they’ll need someone they can hire. They’ll have a lot lined up against them. A lot of wealth and power.’
There was silence.
‘Do you see?’ Kelly said. ‘That’s why you mustn’t interfere. It’s Dad’s Company. It’s always been that way. That’s the way Maine people are. It’s part of the family. The Company belongs to the family. It’s ours.’
‘Come in with us,’ Rethrick said. ‘As a mechanic. I’m sorry, but that’s our limited outlook showing through. Maybe it’s narrow, but we’ve always done things this way.’
Jennings said nothing. He walked slowly across the office, his hands in his pockets. After a time he raised the blind and stared out at the street, far below.
Down below, like a tiny black bug, a Security cruiser moved along, drifting silently with the traffic that flowed up and down the street. It joined a second cruiser, already parked. Four SP men were standing by it in their green uniforms, and even as he watched some more could be seen coming from across the street. He let the blind down.
‘It’s a hard decision to make,’ he said.
‘If you go out there they’ll get you,’ Rethrick said. ‘They’re out there all the time. You haven’t got a chance.’
‘Please—’ Kelly said, looking up at him.
Suddenly Jennings smiled. ‘So you won’t tell me where the papers are. Where you put them.’
Kelly shook her head.
‘Wait.’ Jennings reached into his pocket. He brought out a small piece of paper. He unfolded it slowly, scanning it. ‘By any chance did you deposit them with the Dunne National Bank, about three o’clock yesterday afternoon? For safekeeping in their storage vaults?’
Kelly gasped. She grabbed her handbag, unsnapping it. Jennings put the slip of paper, the parcel receipt, back in his pocket. ‘So
he
saw even that,’ he murmured. ‘The last of the trinkets. I wondered what it was for.’
Kelly groped frantically in her purse, her face wild. She brought out a slip of paper, waving it.
‘You’re wrong! Here it is! It’s still here.’ She relaxed a little. ‘I don’t know what
you
have, but this is—’
In the air above them something moved. A dark space formed, a circle. The space stirred. Kelly and Rethrick stared up, frozen.
From the dark circle a claw appeared, a metal claw, joined to a shimmering rod. The claw dropped, swinging in a wide arc. The claw swept the paper from Kelly’s fingers. It hesitated for a second. Then it drew itself
‘He brought in a few men, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, little once-a-week newspapermen from the Middle West. The Company grew. Weapons appeared, weapons and knowledge. The time scoop and mirror! The Plant was built, secretly, at great cost, over a long period of time. The Plant is big. Big and deep. It goes down many more levels than you saw.
He
saw them, your alter ego. There’s a lot of power there. Power, and men who’ve disappeared, purged all over the world, in fact. We got them first, the best of them.
‘Someday, Jennings, we’re going to break out. You see, conditions like this can’t go one. People can’t live this way, tossed back and forth by political and economic powers. Masses of people shoved this way and that according to the needs of this government or that cartel. There’s going to be resistance, someday. A strong, desperate resistance. Not by big people, powerful people, but by little people. Bus drivers. Grocers. Vidscreen operators. Waiters. And that’s where the Company comes in.
‘We’re going to provide them with the help they’ll need, the tools, weapons, the knowledge. We’re going to “sell” them our services. They’ll be able to hire us. And they’ll need someone they can hire. They’ll have a lot lined up against them. A lot of wealth and power.’
There was silence.
‘Do you see?’ Kelly said. ‘That’s why you mustn’t interfere. It’s Dad’s Company. It’s always been that way. That’s the way Maine people are. It’s part of the family. The Company belongs to the family. It’s ours.’
‘Come in with us,’ Rethrick said. ‘As a mechanic. I’m sorry, but that’s our limited outlook showing through. Maybe it’s narrow, but we’ve always done things this way.’
Jennings said nothing. He walked slowly across the office, his hands in his pockets. After a time he raised the blind and stared out at the street, far below.
Down below, like a tiny black bug, a Security cruiser moved along, drifting silently with the traffic that flowed up and down the street. It joined a second cruiser, already parked. Four SP men were standing by it in their green uniforms, and even as he watched some more could be seen coming from across the street. He let the blind down.
‘It’s a hard decision to make,’ he said.
‘If you go out there they’ll get you,’ Rethrick said. ‘They’re out there all the time. You haven’t got a chance.’
‘Please—’ Kelly said, looking up at him.
Suddenly Jennings smiled. ‘So you won’t tell me where the papers are. Where you put them.’
Kelly shook her head.
‘Wait.’ Jennings reached into his pocket. He brought out a small piece of paper. He unfolded it slowly, scanning it. ‘By any chance did you deposit them with the Dunne National Bank, about three o’clock yesterday afternoon? For safekeeping in their storage vaults?’
Kelly gasped. She grabbed her handbag, unsnapping it. Jennings put the slip of paper, the parcel receipt, back in his pocket. ‘So
he
saw even that,’ he murmured. ‘The last of the trinkets. I wondered what it was for.’
Kelly groped frantically in her purse, her face wild. She brought out a slip of paper, waving it.
‘You’re wrong! Here it is! It’s still here.’ She relaxed a little. ‘I don’t know what
you
have, but this is—’
In the air above them something moved. A dark space formed, a circle. The space stirred. Kelly and Rethrick stared up, frozen.
From the dark circle a claw appeared, a metal claw, joined to a shimmering rod. The claw dropped, swinging in a wide arc. The claw swept the paper from Kelly’s fingers. It hesitated for a second. Then it drew itself
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