Just This Once

by Diana X Dunn

  “The world was burning and some people just wouldn’t stop adding to the problem. People kept making more cars and other people kept buying them and using them. Men and women were flying all over the world just for vacations. They had to be stopped, the planet had to be saved. Harry McCain was mad in the end, but he was right in the beginning. The poor had to rise up and stop the rich from destroying everything. We had to make people understand.”

  “Your methods were questionable at best.” Sienna answered dryly. “Shooting innocent people simply because they were driving their cars or blowing up airplanes full of vacationing families isn’t the best way to get people to listen to your message.”

  “It seemed right somehow at the time. McCain told us that a few big gestures would make people listen. I truly was only eighteen when I got sucked into that life.”

  “And if an eighteen year old came into your church tomorrow and started killing your parishioners or your family, would you want him or her stopped?” Sienna asked, curious to see how he would answer. He simply shook his head and then buried it in his hands.

  After a moment Sienna spoke again. “Are you confirming for me that you are indeed James Slidell?” she asked, her tone carefully neutral.

  “If I deny it?” Sienna saw hope flash across his face.

  “Then I take you to the nearest police station where you will held for DNA testing.” Sienna replied. “James Slidell’s DNA was found after several shooting incidents as well as at several bomb sites and other locations associated with eco-terrorist activities.”

  “And if I admit to having once been James Slidell?” His voice was weary now, the fight had left him, and Sienna was sure that he knew his life was over.

  “You were tried in absentia in 2070 and sentenced to death on the 23rd of June in that year. I am authorized by War Crimes Act 5681-C, Section 26, to execute you immediately.” Sienna kept her voice level and her tone cold, watching the man’s face intently as it lost all of its color.

  He sat back in his chair, stunned by what she had told him. “So that’s it?” he finally choked out. “You’re going to kill me? Here? Now?”

  Sienna allowed herself a small smile. “That would be nice and easy, really, wouldn’t it?” she asked him. “I would much rather see you suffer first.”

  “What do you mean?” She was sure that he was terrified now, concerned that she was working for one of the organizations that people only whispered about. There were groups that specialized in finding, capturing, and torturing men and women wanted for war crimes. Most people believed that such groups were simply urban legends, but it appeared that James Slidell believed in them.

  Sienna smiled fully now. “I mean you’re going to turn yourself in.”

  The man blinked in surprise. “Turn myself in?”

  “That’s right. You are going to take yourself to the nearest police station and confess everything.”

  “Why on earth would I do that? Why would you want me to do that?”

  “You’ll do it because you don’t like any of the other alternatives I can offer you. Why I want you to is my concern.”

  “Go on then, what are the alternatives?” he asked.

  “I suggest you simply use your imagination on that.” Sienna tilted her head to one side. “There are any number of things that could happen to you, or to your family, that could be very unpleasant.”

  Slidell’s face paled. “You wouldn’t hurt Dorothy. She had nothing to do with this. She doesn’t know anything about my past. The kids, the grandkids, they’re all totally innocent. No one knows about my past, no one.”

  Sienna pulled an Injectomat out of her bag. She leaned across the desk and pressed the end of it into the man’s arm, clicking the button once it was in place. The man was so surprised that he simply sat and let her do it.

  “Slow-acting poison? A tiny bomb? What have you just stuck inside me?” His tone was almost disinterested.

  “Nothing that dramatic. A tiny tracking device, that’s all. You have twenty-four hours from right now to turn yourself in with a full confession. You’ll list everything that you did, from the protests and marches through every incendiary device that you planted, every person you injured or killed, anything and everything that you remember taking part in or being the brains behind. Also, every associate that you worked with, what they were called then, and any information you have on their current whereabouts.”

  “It was so long ago,” he protested.

  “You’ll just have to do your best.” Sienna had little patience left for the man who had killed many innocent people. “If I’m not satisfied with the results, there will, of course, be repercussions. A few memory enhancing drugs could bring back the really interesting memories, for example.”

  The man across the desk shuddered. Such drugs were highly sophisticated and could force the recollection of any moment from your own past. From what Sienna had heard, you would remember the event as if it was happening once again, right before your eyes. It was said that the drugs even intensified your emotions, so your fear, loathing, and terror would be even stronger than they had been at the time.

  “If you kill yourself your family will suffer in your absence,” Sienna added.

  Slidell only nodded. Every government in the world had denounced the eco-terrorist agenda and the punishments were harsh for anyone found guilty of taking part in their movement. Efforts to convince the many men and women who’d disappeared underground to give themselves up had led to shockingly severe penalties being established for the families of those involved, even if they knew nothing about what had happened in the past. While Dorothy was completely innocent, in the eyes of the law, she could be jailed for life simply for marrying him. Their children could be similarly punished.

  “I’m sorry now that I married,” he said in a low voice.

  “If you do what I ask, I’ll see to it that your family is not punished,” Sienna told him.

  The man nodded slowly, clearly grateful for that small concession.

  “If you try to remove the homing device it will self-destruct and disable you until someone can locate you from your last signal. If you disappear with the device intact, we will, of course, find you. You now have twenty-three hours and fifty-four minutes to act.”

  Sienna rose to her feet and looked down at the man who was still sitting behind his desk. He lifted his head to meet her eyes. Hers were confident where his were empty and destroyed. Fully satisfied with the outcome of her assignment, Sienna let herself out of the house and caught the first transport back to New York City. On her way there, she reported the successful conclusion of her mission.

  Four

  April 2120

  Spring in the rebuilt city of New York felt just as magical as spring in New York should feel. The skyline had been forever altered by the Wars and the years of terrorist activity. For a while most of the city had been too dangerous for all but the very bravest or desperate to venture into. As the skyscrapers had tumbled or been abandoned, jobs and people had deserted the city and left most of it empty and forsaken.

  Now the city was experiencing a rebirth as people and companies flooded back. Property prices were suddenly racing upwards and abandoned buildings were being converted into luxury apartments at an astonishing rate. For older residents, those who had chosen to make the city their home even during the worst times, the rebirth was a mixed blessing.

  But today, as the birds sang in the replanted and newly budding trees and the traffic flowed smoothly with no hint of the jams that were sure to be a problem in the very near future, the city looked amazing. The sidewalks teemed with young, healthy looking men and women in business suits, carrying M-peds.

  As day turned to dusk, clothes designed for other pursuits replaced the business suits. The beautiful people of the city were out in force once more, this time in short skirts and tight jeans, hair and makeup as extreme as they dared, now looking for love or romance rather than the next deal.

  Of cours
e a reborn and growing city also has to deal with growing pains, and New York was no exception. Strictly enforced rules on identity cards, registered addresses, and required employment had cut down on the problems of homelessness and petty crime, but any big city would always have some level of street crime, no matter how hard the police and the government worked to prevent it.

  At eight o’clock on a Friday evening a high-security door opened in a large apartment complex in the heart of the rebuilt city. Three people stepped out from the door and made their way down the sidewalk. They were clearly dressed for clubbing and it seemed likely, from their staggering walks and hysterical laughter that they had already started drinking or drug taking before they left home.

  The two women and the man laughed and teased and flirted with one another as they made their way toward the bright lights of the club district. Anyone watching would assume that they had all worked hard during the week and were determined to enjoy their weekend. They wouldn’t have been far wrong. The trio drew nearly everyone’s eyes as they made their way toward their favorite establishment. All three were strikingly beautiful, but in very different ways. They seemed to radiate youthful energy and an abundance of enthusiasm for living life to the fullest.

  The man could have been anywhere from twenty-five to fifty, thanks to the advances in body and face redesign. He was about six foot tall, muscular but only so much as looked natural and his short brown hair was carefully styled to look as if he hadn’t spent any time on it at all. Brown eyes looked intelligent, but a bit unfocused from drink or something more. His clothes were modern takes on old classics, with bright colors and patterns providing a different look and verifying their expensive provenance.

  The two women were a study in contrasts. No could help noticing the gorgeous brunette, who looked no older than twenty-one. She was only about five foot tall with long glossy hair and a generous figure. Her eyes sparkled blue and then green and then red and then yellow as she blinked through her colored lenses. Her dress was short, almost indecently so, and cut low at the front to accentuate her abundant curves. Unkind observers would question how much was genuine and how much was down the skill of a very talented and very expensive re-designer.

  Her friend, on the other hand, was tall, slender, and blonde, with a simple sophistication that made her almost fade into the background when surrounded by her more flamboyant friends. Her hair was closely cropped and casually styled, looking as if she had simply washed it, run her fingers through it, and then left it. It was a style that wouldn’t have suited many, but she made it look feminine and sexy somehow.

  She appeared to be somewhere in her mid-twenties. Her blue eyes looked totally focused and coolly amused as she watched passers-by and joined in with the antics of her friends. Her own dress was short enough to show off long toned legs, but next to her friend’s it seemed almost demure, its scooped neckline revealing somewhat more subtle curves.

  They were nearly at the door to the club when she heard him calling her. “Sienna? Sienna? Is that you?”

  Of course she was far too well trained to turn her head. In fact, she even stepped out of the man’s way as he came past, looking for his friend. As he took her arm and looked into her eyes, she felt the same rush that she had felt in St. Mary’s Church in February. Pushing the man out of her head had taken a bit of work, but she had no time for a relationship. Now, looking into his eyes again, she could feel the connection pulling at her.

  “I’m sorry, do I know you?” She spoke smoothly and softly, her accent totally native New Yorker. She kept her voice friendly but distant.

  “Sienna Madison, right?” Alex looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

  She shook her head slowly.

  “I’m so sorry, from the distance you looked like someone I used to know,” he said, blushing as she stared at him curiously. “But I guess you aren’t her.”

  She smiled brightly at him. “The poor unfortunate thing, to lose a gorgeous friend like you,” she cooed, licking her lips and flirting openly. “She must be devastated, wherever she is.”

  Alex smiled at her. “I guess it is her loss.”

  He was still holding onto her arm. The woman, who had so recently been Sienna Madison, fell into step beside him, giving him another sexy smile.

  “Where are we going, then?” he asked, winking at her.

  She laughed throatily. “Greenwoods,” she answered, winking back at him.

  The line of scantily clad young women and overdressed young men outside of Greenwoods snaked down the sidewalk. Alex and his new friends walked past the line and headed straight to the front door of the club.

  “Hey, sexy,” the enormously over-muscled doorman greeted the short brunette with a leer and a pat on the bottom as he opened the door to the club for them. The foursome slipped inside the door quickly as the crowd outside shouted protests at their preferential treatment.

  “Sometimes it does pay to twirl with men you don’t really like!” The brunette laughed with her friends, as the four made their way deeper into the dark and noisy space.

  “Let’s get a VIP room,” Alex suggested, shouting over the noise and confusion that surrounded them.

  “Are you buying?” The blonde fluttered her eyelashes at him, half flirting and half teasing.

  “No problem,” he snagged a passing manager and requested a room, passing over a handful of large notes. A club like this was strictly cash only. The manager handed back a key and shouted instructions as to where to find the room.

  Alex led his new friends through the crowded dance floor, past the bars that lined all of the interior walls until he reached the small staircase that led to the private rooms. Upstairs a long corridor held a series of doors and he opened the final one with a flourish.

  “After you,” he gestured to his guests, holding the door open for them to enter.

  The room was fairly small, with a glass wall that allowed them to watch everything taking place on the dance floor below.

  The remaining walls were lined with couches and chairs and a small table was set in the middle of the floor. The couches were all garish shades of red and purple and the floor was covered in bright pink tile. The whole effect was migraine inducing, but at least the window allowed some distraction. As Alex shut the door behind them the window to the club outside frosted over and a recorded message appeared.

  “Welcome to Greenwoods. We are delighted that you have chosen a VIP room for your enjoyment this evening. Touch the red button above the window to protect your privacy while you are enjoying your evening. This will still provide you with a view of the club below. Touch the yellow button to provide frosted glass. Touch the blue button to turn the window to two-way glass. The M-ped on the wall is connected to our VIP service area. Please order any food, drinks, or other necessary items from them directly. Any party not spending at least two hundred dollars per hour will be asked to vacate the VIP room at their earliest convenience. Enjoy your evening.”

  “Guess we’d better get some drinks ordered fast.” The brunette smiled and fluttered her lashes at Alex. “Are you paying for everything tonight then?” she asked.

  “I’ll certainly pop for the first round of drinks,” Alex answered.

  “Shall we just get a bottle of bubbles?” The brunette suggested, touching Alex’s arm and licking her lips when he looked at her. “I love bubbles but they do make me misbehave.”

  Alex tapped a few buttons on the M-ped screen, requesting two bottles of the best sparkling wine with four glasses. The bottles were at the door almost before he’d finished, and he handed over the necessary cash without batting an eye at the ridiculously inflated prices.

  The service would remain impeccable if they kept spending like that. In one order Alex had spent enough to ensure a five or six hour stay in the VIP room. The accompanying waiter poured a glass for everyone and then bowed out, pocketing the generous tip Alex slipped him.

  “To new friends.” Alex raised his glass in a mock
toast as everyone settled into seats around the room. He had disengaged his arm from the brunette’s leechlike grip. Now he took a seat in a small chair in the corner between the two women. The other man smiled, obviously amused by the dynamics developing in the room, and settled back on the opposite wall to watch the fun.

  “So, tell us all about your wonderful self.” The brunette leaned in close and batted long, obviously fake, lashes at him. As she shifted forward she provided him with a stunning view down the front of her tiny dress.

  “I’m Alex Knight. I live here in New York most of the time and I’m a writer,” he answered. He turned to the other woman and saw amusement written all over her face.

  “I’m Pixie Pan.” It was the brunette who replied, even though Alex was focused on the blonde. “My friends are Julia Randall and John Lewis. We all live in the same apartment building and hit the clubs whenever we are all here. Julia travels a lot for work, so she doesn’t always come with us, but I’m always up for a night out.”

  Again the invitation was clearly put, but Alex didn’t bite. “What do you do that makes you travel so much?” Alex asked the woman he now knew was called Julia.

  “Oh, nothing exciting,” her voice was cool and low and he found himself leaning toward her to catch every word. “I’m a sort of personal assistant and my boss has business concerns all over the world. He sends me to check things out sometimes.”

  “Have you ever been to Pennsylvania?” Alex asked.

  “I’m sure I spent some time in Philadelphia last year. There was a problem with one of the hotels there and I went and helped sort things out.” She answered easily, lying naturally and with practiced ease.

  “Never been to Erie? It’s in the northwest corner right on Lake Erie.” He was watching her closely, but she knew she was a good enough liar to convince him that he was mistaken about meeting her before.

  “It doesn’t ring any bells. If it’s really important I can check my diary.” Her tone made it clear that she thought he was pushing too hard and he immediately backed away.