Price of a Bounty

-Guy-

A History



Keira looked away first. Was it a sign of remorse? I studied her. What was she thinking?

“What do you expect from me?” Keira finally blurted out. “Unless someone steps in, bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. I’ve seen it over and over again. I try to change things, and I feel bad when people get caught in the crossfire, but I can’t spend time worrying about it. It just happens sometimes. You can’t let yourself get dragged down by that. Otherwise, you won’t be any good to anyone.”

Is this my chance? Can I convince her? “You have a strength, Keira, a strength I don’t usually see in people. It’s a strength of spirit. No wonder Scott trusts you.”

“Scott trusts me? I was beginning to wonder,” she replied sarcastically. “If he trusts me, why didn’t he ever tell me about you?”

I decided not to answer her question, not yet. “Your anger adds to your strength, but it’s misdirected. You can continue to take out ‘the bad people,’ or you can use your strengths to serve ‘the good people.’ If you choose the second, you can live, truly live, and stop simply surviving.”

Could I help her? I wanted to, I really did. Scott had helped me to see clearly. I hoped I could finally return the favor.

“You asked how I knew Scott.”

She nodded.

“We met when I transferred to your high school. We’d both been going through a rough time. My father had just uprooted me. That’s how it had felt anyway. I was being relocated against my will. Scott was being relocated against his will too, but it wasn’t the same. He’d been told he would have to leave in just a few months. He was preparing to move on.”

“I remember. I was still at the junior high, but I remember how quiet and withdrawn Scott was at home. I was afraid he would leave, and we’d never see him again, or worse that we’d already lost him.”

“I think most teenagers are selfish and self-centered. I was. Everything I wanted had always been provided, and until our move to Tkaron, I’d always gotten my way.”

“You think Scott was being selfish?”

I shook my head. “Scott wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met before. And he was never selfish. From what he told me, it sounded like he didn’t expect anything to go his way. He worried that he was at the end of his life, not the beginning. Even so, even as everything he knew was ending, he put you first, you and your sister.”

That was all I was willing to share with Keira for now. Would it be enough? Scott had changed my life. Would this conversation be enough to change hers? While she sat deep in thought, I remembered.

Scott and I had eaten lunch together every day for the rest of the school year. Our lunchtime conversations had allowed me to see the world from a different perspective.

That summer, Scott was hired to do yard work at a few wealthy estates. He was trying to earn as much money as he could to leave behind for his sisters. I began to work alongside him, but I refused payment, making sure Scott took 100% of the earnings. I didn’t need the money – he did. I only wanted to experience what life was like for the majority of citizens who had to work hard to survive.

Later that summer, my father took me on a business trip to the Realm of Mediterra. We’d needed a special pass to be allowed inside their borders. My father had explained that most Mediterrans didn’t like to do business with Terenians. We were fortunate that one of their corporations was willing to negotiate with our company. I saw possibilities in Mediterra that I’d never before imagined. If they could do all that, why couldn’t we?

In just a few months, my views about life had changed completely. I’d decided that I wanted to devote my life to improving our realm. I began by using my family’s influence and wealth to serve the less fortunate in any way I could. My father would have forbidden most of my actions. That only forced me to find creative ways to finance my projects. That was the start of it all, of everything that was important.





-Keira-

Crossroads



I thought about Richard’s words. “You can live, truly live, and stop simply surviving.” It was an invitation.

I’d had opportunities to join the Resistance before, but no one had ever given me a good reason to even consider it. Help people I didn’t know? Why? No one had ever helped me or anyone I knew unless there was something in it for them. No, that wasn’t entirely true. Richard had just reminded me that Scott had helped me and was always willing to help me. But that wasn’t the same as helping strangers. I wondered, had Scott helped others, besides me and April? I sensed that my life had come to a crossroads, again.

The first time I’d been at a crossroads had been about a month before my sixteenth birthday. Scott and I had had a conversation in which he tried to convince me to join the military. He said I could easily pass the same tests he had.

I knew what he meant. He meant blood tests, genetic tests. I’d heard the rumors about Ramsey Corps and the military. It was common knowledge that a number of corporations dabbled in genetics, but some lines should never be crossed. I believed the rumors that said Ramsey Corps had crossed the line, and I didn’t want any part of that! Every part of me belonged to me, and I wanted to keep it that way.



***



Late one night, we sat on the window seat in my bedroom. I stared at my reflection in the glass.

“I’ve heard the rumors. Can you tell me they aren’t true?”

Scott was silent. I shifted my gaze to look at his reflection.

“Are you really all right with them taking parts of you, owning you in that way, after what they did to Mom and Dad?”

“Ramsey Corps is independent of the Gov,” he insisted. “They didn’t do anything to Mom and Dad.”

During the last few wars, leaders of corporations that designed weaponry and scientists who dabbled in either germ warfare or genetic screening had become wealthy and powerful, the crème of the Elite. Toying with genetics had allowed germ warfare to reach new levels. It had been reported that our military could now target specific populations. And, genetic screening was the best way to determine which people could be trained and medicated to be the fastest, the strongest, the best. Because of genetic studies, Terene had won the last world war.

“Don’t kid yourself, Scott. Ramsey Corps and others like it are the Gov. They created the Divide. You know as well as I that without the Divide, Mom and Dad would still be here.”

“Keira, you need a job, a livelihood, and right now, you have no training. You haven’t even finished school.”

“I’ll finish. I just need to find a place to stay.”

I’d been trying to figure out how I could survive yet keep my autonomy. Joining the military certainly would have been a means of survival, but it would have meant forfeiting my independence. I wasn’t willing to do that.



***



Scott wasn’t happy about it, but I’d made my decision. It had been a path of difficult times, cold times, hungry times and painful times, but I’d kept my independence. I’d also made a name for myself, and many throughout Tkaron respected and feared me.

What Richard was offering was different. He wasn’t asking me to give up my independence. He was asking me to use my independence to help others.

He’d been waiting patiently, had given me plenty of time to think about his offer, but I still had some questions. “Why would I want to help people? Why do you?”

“Life shouldn’t be like this, this Divide that we have in Terene. Ever since the war against Mediterra, our citizens have turned on each other, and many in the Gov have encouraged it. It benefits them. Don’t you see? The workers outnumber the Gov and the heads of corporations, but rather than banding together and demanding a better life, they fight for the slim pickings they’re given. This allows the Elite to keep all the money and power. It doesn’t have to be like this, and it wasn’t always so.”

“Are you sure about that?” He sounded like Mom and Dad. “Are you sure it’s not just wishful thinking?”

“I know it’s not. I’ve seen…”

I wasn’t done. “After all, there really aren’t many jobs available, and most people barely have enough to get by. Even if the Elite were to share what they have, would there really be enough for everyone?”

“Keira, you said yourself, you see good things happening to bad people and bad things happening to good people. It doesn’t have to be that way. It shouldn’t be that way. You can help to change society for the better and make a living in the process.”

“I’m already making a living, and I’m helping society get rid of some of the troublemakers. Our methods aren’t even that different.”

“Yes they are. You’re only helping yourself, when you could be helping so many. You can change that.”

“I can’t change my outlook on the world just like that! Do you really think a person can just wake up one day and think, it’s all going to be different from this moment forward?”

“I did, and Scott had a lot to do with that.”

“Did he recommend that you join the military too?” I asked sarcastically.

“No,” he replied seriously. “He wasn’t even certain that it was his best option.”

“Really? I thought that was always his plan.”

“Maybe you don’t know your brother as well as you think.”

Does Richard know Scott better than I do? Does Scott share more with him than he does with me and April? I looked at Richard carefully and asked, “What has Scott told you?”

“I’m not certain I understand what you’re asking.”

“What has Scott told you about me?”

“He said I can trust you.”

“And?”

“And that you’re independent, but I’d already guessed that.”

I smiled, then asked, “Do you expect that good things will happen to you because you do good for others?”

“No, but I do believe the only way to heal our realm is to serve others. It doesn’t really matter if ‘good things’ come my way or not, but yes, it has worked out well for me.”

I knew it.

Richard continued quietly. “You have an opportunity. What would your parents want you to do?”

I looked at him coldly. “What do you know about my parents? Just because Scott…”

He interrupted. “I’m sorry. Scott never talked about your parents. I only know that they’re no longer with you.”

“Oh.” If Scott hadn’t told him about that, then he couldn’t possibly know Scott better than I did.

Both of our parents had died because of greed, and nobody had stepped in to help them. Where would I be now, what would I be like today, if people had been looking out for each other back then? Maybe Scott, April and I would have grown up happy.

As suddenly as it had come, my anger drained away. Only sadness remained. I was a product of my environment, doing to others what had been done to me. I was living a life of revenge. Could I change that? Did I even want to?

“I need some time to think.” I stood. “Thank you for telling me what happened to Rose.”

“Please, let Eberhardt drive you home.”

“No thanks. I’ll walk.”

“Then let him walk you home.”

Then they would know where I lived, and they’d know where to reach me. I guessed that would be all right. I nodded and looked at Eberhardt. He’d been so quiet I’d almost forgotten he was there.

We walked a few blocks in silence. Every once in a while a car drove by.

Eberhardt interrupted my thoughts. “Did Scott ever talk with you about the Resistance?”

“No, why would he?”

“He seems like a good candidate, doesn’t he?”

I smiled, and then shook my head. “He’s military. That’s about as close as you can get without actually being the Gov! Do you know Scott too?”

“No, I’ve never met him. There are many reasons to join the Resistance, you know.”

“Why did you join?” I asked.

“I’m not as noble as Guy, but I do respect him for that.” Eberhardt paused. “I’ve been hurt.” He traced his finger along the scar on his face. “People I love have been hurt and killed, and I want payback. The Resistance allows me to push back, hard.” He grew quiet again.

We kept walking, lost in our own thoughts. I kicked some trash out of the way. It was another brochure touting the wrongdoings of the Gov.

“Why do you call him Guy?” I finally asked.

“It’s not just a code name. It’s the name he prefers, at least among those of us in the Resistance. He chose it for himself. You should ask him why.”

“But I’m not part of the Resistance.”

“You will be,” Eberhardt concluded with certainty.

We walked the rest of the way in silence. As we neared my neighborhood, cars became virtually nonexistent. People lined the sidewalks, sat in the sun and enjoyed the bright sunny weather. Others walked along the street, heading this way or that. After a cold winter, the warmth was appreciated by all.

Richard and Eberhardt had both given me a lot to think about. Can a few people really change society?





-Keira-

Lunch with April



The next day, April and I met for lunch at a small café. We ordered bread and hummus to share. Meat that wasn’t reserved for the military was either ultra expensive or unsafe.

“So, what have you been up to? The usual?” April combed her fingers through her long blond hair and pushed it out of her face. She had grown up to look so much like our mother.

“I’ve met someone.” Had Scott ever told her about Rick?

“Really?” Her deep brown eyes brightened. “Do tell. Is he good looking?” She toyed with a pair of wedding bands that hung on a chain around her neck. They had belonged to our parents.

“Is that all it’s ever about with you?”

“No, sometimes it’s about money. Is he rich?”

“He’s a friend of Scott’s.”

“Military,” she assumed.

“No, from before.”

“And they still keep in contact?”

“Apparently.”

“What’s his name?”

“Rick, well, Richard Burke, the third.”

“He sounds rich. How did you meet? Did Scott introduce you?”

“Not exactly. So…Scott never mentioned him?”

“No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“No reason. We met at work.”

“Oh no!” April rolled her eyes. “I hope he was an employer and not a mark. Either way, they say work relationships never last,” she teased.

I smiled. “I’ve heard that before too. Plus, he’s so different.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s an idealist, like Mom and Dad, and…well, I’m not. I should just forget about it.”

“Not so fast! They also say girls marry their father. No wonder you’re attracted to him. Is he cute?” she asked again.

“Stop!” I playfully cuffed her alongside the face.

“Ow, hey, he is, isn’t he?”

Just then, the Beckett’s nanny arrived with two young girls in tow.

“Do you mind watching Edrea and Vanessa for a little while?” she asked April. “I need to run a personal errand.”

April nodded. “Sure. We’ll be in the park. Let’s go, girls!” She motioned with her head for me to follow.

We settled down on the warm spring grass and watched the girls at play. They looked happy and innocent.

“Were we like that when we were young?” I asked.

“I don’t know about you, but I am still young.” April smiled and tossed her hair back.

“You know what I mean.” I nudged her with my elbow.

“Yes, I do.” She turned sober. “They’re how I wish we could have been. We weren’t given the opportunities they have.”

I looked at her. Her life hadn’t been easy either, though Scott and I had both supported her as much as possible.

“Do you think that’s right? Do you think some children deserve that life and others don’t?”

She shrugged. “It’s just how things are.”

“But, is it the way society has to be?”

“What’s gotten into you, and what have you done with my sister?” April teased.

Rick’s mood had rubbed off on me. I continued seriously, “It’s not what Mom and Dad believed. Maybe Terene really was different once, more…I don’t know, fair.”

“I don’t know that fair was ever an option, but if this guy is good looking and wealthy and into you, you could have the better life you’re dreaming of, couldn’t you?”

I wondered about that. Could Rick be into me? Oh, I knew I could make him like me – I’d seen the look in his eyes when he saw me in the bath. I was good at making men like me, but then it wouldn’t be real.

On my way home, I stopped at my bank. When I tried to withdraw the money Mrs. Ramsey had promised to wire, the teller gave me a strange look and said, “I’m sorry, Miss. That account has been closed.”

“What?” I asked in surprise.

“That account was closed,” she repeated, “just this morning.”

“By who?”

“I’m not at liberty to share that information.”

“It’s my account,” I responded in a steely voice, “and you’re telling me I don’t have the right to know who closed it?”

I saw her gaze shift, and I glanced over my shoulder. She’d caught the eye of the security guard on duty.

I bit my tongue, then turned and walked calmly toward the exit. Suddenly, a guard reached for me. I dodged and ran out the door and into bright sunlight. A few blocks away, I hailed a cab. It didn’t look like it would make it more than a few blocks, and the interior smelled funny. Nevertheless, I paid the driver and directed him to the Beckett estate. Upon arrival, I hurried around to the service entrance in back.

“Lewis.” I nodded a greeting toward the chef. “Do you know where I can find April?”

“Hi, Keira. She’s straightening the parlor for afternoon tea.”

“Thank you.” I hurried down the hall.

April had been living on site for over a year now, so I knew my way around. In the corridor, I passed the butler who also greeted me. I entered the parlor, walked over to the off-white fainting couch, pretended to faint and looked up at April.

“I need your help, sis.”

“So dramatic!” She giggled. “I’ll try my best. What do you need?”

“Information. Do you know of any upcoming social events in the next week or two? It’s important.”

“Why? You want to party?” She grinned, every bit the youngest.

“I’m serious about this.”

April sat down next to me. “I can see that,” she said quietly. “What’s up?”

“She double crossed me and closed my bank account. Nobody does that to me and gets away with it!”

“Who? Wow, wait a minute.” Her grin faded completely. “You’re really angry.”

“How can you tell?” I asked sarcastically.

“Other than the steam coming out of your ears? Look, go home and relax.”

I looked at her like she’d gone insane.

“Really, I’ve got your back. Who did this to you?”

“Elaine Ramsey,” I whispered. Her eyes grew wide, and I nodded to let her know how serious I was. “I need to know if she’s throwing a party anytime soon.”

“Cheer up! A lady of her standing throws parties all the time.” April threw her arm around my shoulders. “They always talk about events like that during tea. That and who’s engaged and whose wedding was horrendous and…” She stopped and gave me a look. “I’ll eavesdrop this afternoon, and I’ll stop by your apartment tonight.”

“Thanks.” I gave April a big hug. I didn’t want to drag her into my affairs, but in this situation, it was the quickest way to get the information I needed.



***



Later that evening, April stopped by as promised. “I can’t believe you pulled a job for Elaine Ramsey! Do you realize how influential she is? That’s pretty risky, even for you.”

“Well, she’d as much as told me she wasn’t going to pay me, but I had no idea she’d close my account. Who steals from the Working Class anyway?”

“She does, obviously. But you’ll get it back. She’s throwing a dinner party next Thursday at her Galt residence. You are just going to steal, right? I mean, you’re not going to…” She slid a finger across her throat. “Not Elaine Ramsey.”

I hugged her close. “Don’t worry, April. I’ll do what I do best. I’m a master of disguise. I’ll sneak in and out. She won’t even know I was there until it’s too late. Then, I may have to disappear for a while, until she moves on and tries to take advantage of someone else.”

I hated lying to April.