The Midnight Stand (The Elysia Saga Book 1)

by Affortunato, Louis A.

  “Look, I don’t care whether you stay or go,” Anderson said, “but your bail was paid by your son-in-law so as far as we’re concerned you can leave.”

  “We came here together, we’ll leave together,” Ancil insisted.

  The officer’s expression said he could care less. “Suit yourself.” He began to close the bars.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Daniel called from behind the officer. He was dressed in his all white work clothes, having come directly from the aluminum plant in which he was a supervisor. The plant was another subsidiary of CyberTronix. They specialized in home wares and everyday appliances. Daniel held a high rank within the plant and would always come home in the evenings and discuss the new innovations his division was overseeing, even bringing home the prototypes to test out. One of the perks of the job he said. “I thought you were letting him go?”

  The office turned to Daniel. “He doesn’t want to leave.”

  Daniel rolled his eyes. “And you listen? Open that up and get him out.”

  “I’m not leaving this cell, Daniel,” Ancil said as he sat back down on the metal bench that lined the side of the holding cell.

  “Ancil, I don’t want to play games today,” Daniel leveled at him. “I get a call at work that my father-in-law and nine year old son have been arrested. Then I have to explain why I’m leaving early. I’m really not in the mood.”

  Ancil regarded Daniel with a steely look. “We came here together, we leave here together.”

  Daniel’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red. Officer Anderson simply stood there dangling his keys in his hand. “Harley is in there crying, terrified to death over what you did.”

  “The boy is stronger than you think and twice as smart,” Ancil said. “I doubt he’s as distressed as you say he is.” This brought another flush of color to Daniel’s face.

  “Fine, you know what? Stay here. I don’t care. You can explain to Nat why her father is in jail.” Daniel turned and started to walk away.

  “Wait.” Lee said. Daniel stopped and looked back at him. Lee got up off the bench. “Ancil, you being here won’t accomplish anything other than you being away from your family. Go home to your daughter. We’ll be alright here. They can’t hold us indefinitely.”

  Ruth added, “It’s okay, really. You don’t have to feel like you need to stay for us. We can handle everything. It’s not like this is the first time we’ve been in one of these.”

  “It is for me,” Earl said. His shirt was unbuttoned and he was fanning himself with a handkerchief. Large beads of sweat were streaming down his face. “It’s hot as hell in here and I could go for a cold one.”

  “We’ll be out of here soon enough, just hold tight,” Lee assured him.

  Ancil thanked Lee and walked out of the precinct with Daniel and Harley. They were all silent as they got into Daniel’s too small eco-friendly car and drove away.

  No one spoke on the ride home either. Daniel just looked ahead as he drove, his hands squeezed tight on the steering wheel. Ancil stared out the window, seeing nothing but the blur of road speeding by. Harley was in the back. He had fallen asleep and was lying across the backseat. There would be much to say when they got home. Ancil knew that the reason Daniel wasn’t laying into him now was because he didn’t want to upset Harley. He still felt Harley needed to be protected from the world.

  When they pulled into the driveway, Natalie came running out of the house before the car was even off. She wrapped her arms around Harley and held on to him as if he was going to fly away. She took his face in her hands and kissed it.

  “Are you okay? I was so scared,” she said. “Are you hurt? Let me look at you.” She held Harley out at arm’s length.

  He tried to pull away from her grasp. “I’m fine Mom. It was no big deal.”

  Natalie looked up at her father. “How could you put him in that situation? What were you thinking?”

  “Grandpa didn’t do anything, Mom,” Harley broke in, “it was the cops.”

  “Go inside to your room, Harley,” Daniel ordered.

  “But Dad, I’m telling you what happened. It wasn’t Grandpa’s fault,” Harley pleaded.

  “That’s enough. Go inside now, this doesn’t concern you.” The look on Daniel’s face said he wasn’t in a mood to play around. “Natalie, take him in.”

  Natalie took Harley by the hand and pulled him towards the house. Harley looked back at Ancil. His eyes were wet and his lip was quivering.

  “It’s alright, Harley,” Ancil said. “Go in with your mother. We’ll be in soon.”

  When Natalie and Harley were in the house Daniel turned to face Ancil. “You God damn son of a bitch,” he said, almost in a whisper. “Who do you think you are taking my son to one of your rally meetings? Do you know how that makes me look? It puts my whole career at risk having people know what you do. And everybody knows about you.” Ancil starred back at him, showing nothing in his expression. Daniel continued, “That’s right, they all know about the pamphlets and the whispering at the church and the conspiring with all your other geriatric friends. I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish with all this. You can’t change anything that’s happening. It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. And what’s worse is you brainwashing Harley to think like you. He told me the other day he didn’t want to go to school anymore because they don’t prepare you to survive on your own.”

  A smirk appeared on Ancil’s face. “He’s already smarter than me at that age.”

  “That’s a joke to you? I don’t need you filling his head with your garbage.”

  “You treating him like a baby isn’t going to help him either.”

  “He’s my son. You understand that? Mine.” Daniel said as he drove his index finger into his chest. “And I’ll raise him my way.”

  “Your way is to have him and everyone else become dependent on CyberTronix and their machines. I know they’re funding Ellis’ commune and are the ones behind all the buying up of property from under everyone’s nose.”

  “Henry Ellis is a visionary who will transform the future of living on this planet. His project is the first step in that transformation,” Daniel said. “And CyberTronix will be at the forefront of it.”

  “You’re blind to your own rhetoric, Daniel,” Ancil said. “You think you’re going to be leading the way, but workers like you will be left behind and shut out.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “What do you think will happen when the machines take over your job? What will happen to you then?” Ancil asked. His eyes were fixed on Daniel’s, intense and powerful. Daniel seemed to reel back a bit when Ancil said it.

  “My position is one of importance to the project. They need my expertise to move developments forward, for quality tests. That takes years to do properly. It’s not something you can just manufacture,” Daniel said. He sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was Ancil.

  “For the moment you’re necessary to them,” Ancil said, “until that is they figure out how to replace you with a machine that can translate schematics and assess quality with the same level of experience and nuance it would take a normal man thirty years to attain and at a fraction of the cost. Face it Dan, you’re no more important to them than the metal worker or assembly line worker they can replace without missing a beat. You’ll be a historic footnote in ten years that kids will read about and say, remember when we use to have people do that”.

  Daniel scowled at Ancil. If they weren’t standing outside he looked like he would have attacked Ancil without hesitation. “I want you out of here,” he said, nearly trembling.

  “I’ll leave,” Ancil said, “but I want you to remember what I told you because this isn’t about you or me. We had our time on this planet. It’s about Harley and his generation and I don’t want him not having what I had when I was younger.”

  Daniel gave him a condescending snort. “He’ll have more. More than you ever had. The Project will see to
that.”

  “And what will his father see to?”

  “I can see to it that he never sees you again.”

  “I’m sure my daughter would have something to say about that.”

  “I’m not so sure she would,” Daniel said. “Nat knows I’m in the right. She’s told me several times. She can’t figure out why you could never let go of the past. She’s worried about your influence on Harley just as much as me.”

  Ancil stood there, feeling exposed and alone for the first time. He never knew how Natalie really felt. Even though he knew she accepted the idea of the Project for Daniel’s sake, he always thought deep down she was against it. He knew now that he was truly alone and there was no hope for Dan or Natalie, but there was still hope for Harley and he’d be damned if they were going to keep him away from his grandson.

  “Harley is independent and has a mind of his own,” he said. “You won’t be able to control him. He’ll make his own decisions and you won’t have anything to do with them.”

  Daniel shook his head and smiled, like he was speaking to a small child who didn’t understand what was going on. “The Project is set to go live in a few weeks and the company wants me, us, as in my family, to be one of the first members of it. They have a home set up for us ready to go.”

  Ancil didn’t believe what he just heard. “You can’t be serious?”

  “This paper says I am.” Daniel took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it. He held it up for Ancil to see.

  The paper was an official invitation for the “Elysia Project” described as a “futuristic community of likeminded individuals to help foster the advancement and development of creative and technological ideals for the betterment of our human society”. The CyberTronix logo was printed on the top of the page. On the bottom was Daniel’s signature.

  He just signed away his son’s future, Ancil thought to himself. “Do you know what you’ve agreed to here? You just gave them complete control”.

  “This is where you’re wrong,” Daniel answered back. “I didn’t give them anything. They’re giving us opportunity.” He put the paper back into his pocket. “I need you to leave now.”

  Ancil continued to stand there. He looked back towards the house and saw Harley by the window looking at him. He was the image of sadness. His eyes were red and he wiped at fresh tears. Natalie then came in and led Harley away from the window.

  “Ancil, don’t make me have to call Sheriff Bailey.”

  Ancil gave one more look back to the empty window before turning to leave. It had started to drizzle while they were standing in the driveway, but that still did nothing to relieve the heat.

  He walked with his head down against the strengthening rain and thought to himself that now was the time for action. Time had run out and he needed to do something, perhaps even drastic. He wasn’t sure what, but whatever it was he knew it would probably have to be something that took him to the edge, an edge that he wouldn’t come back from.

  Chapter 10

  The crew was sitting in the common room when Maxon came in to brief them. Two members, Dean Stanton and Regan Walsh were playing Ultimate Foosball in the corner while the other two, Travis Henrik and Bert Meyers were playing a game of holographic poker, a practice that would have normally been frowned upon but, given that there was no money involved and the lateness of the hour, Maxon let it slide. It was important for them to get the tension out of their systems now before the truck rolled out. Not surprisingly, however, Bruce was nowhere to be seen.

  “Anyone know where Bruce is?” Maxon asked.

  Bert looked up from the foosball game. “He said he was going out for a bit. Be back soon.”

  “When was this?”

  “About twenty minutes ago,” Bert said. Eric scored a goal on him and the sound of a stadium cheer came from the speakers.

  That was just like Bruce Lennox. He came and went as he pleased and didn’t worry about sanction. It was a trend that other crew members saw and took note of and it did nothing but breed contempt amongst the men at a time when Maxon needed his men to all be working as one.

  He checked his watch. It was 11:05. He debated whether to wait for Bruce but he saw the eyes of his crew look to him, waiting for his brief.

  To hell with Lennox he thought. He couldn’t fall further behind schedule so he decided to start the brief without him. He’ll take the flak from administration if word got up to them.

  He gathered everyone together and went over the file with them. He warned them on the potential dangers that could arise and reminded them of the method in which they should enter a home and detain any erratic or violent house dwellers. It wasn’t rocket science, though aspects of the technology certainly seemed so. They heard it all before and Maxon had no doubt they were prepared, but protocol dictated these briefs must occur before every wreck.

  When he was just about finished and ready to send off the crew to get their gear ready, Bruce waltzed in through the door as if he weren’t fifteen minutes late. He didn’t even acknowledge the crew; instead he went over to the vending machine and used his ID link to get a soda.

  “You’re late again, Lennox,” Maxon said to him. “Where were you?”

  Bruce popped the top of the can and took a long drink. He let out a belch and wiped his mouth with his arm. “I had to step out for a little while.”

  “You know there’s no leaving the premises on a wreck night, you know that. Everyone has to remain in the common room when not on duty.”

  “Relax, it’s not like I took a truck out for a joy ride. I’m here, aren’t I?” He took a last drink from the can, crushed it in his hand and tossed it in the waste chute in the wall.

  “You’re nearly twenty minutes late,” Maxon shot back. “We have a schedule to keep or don’t you care about that?”

  Bruce pulled a chair towards him and sat down in it, stretching his legs out in front of him. He folded his arms and eyed Maxon. He looked like a high school student who was trying to get attention in class. “It’s the same routine over and over again. We all got it. We know what to do. I don’t even get why we need to be there anymore. The truck does everything anyway. We just stand there.”

  “This is how things are done here Lennox. If you don’t like it, why don’t you ask your uncle to place you somewhere you’ll have more excitement.” The other members of the crew looked at each other and tried to suppress smiles.

  The tension between Maxon and Bruce was well known. They had butted heads on all the wrecks they’ve been on together. Bruce hated taking orders, or felt he didn’t need to, and he usually decided to disregard protocol and go rogue, especially when it came to entering a house and dealing with occupants.

  On the first wreck that they worked on, Maxon had ordered Bruce to act as point man and clear the dwelling of any occupants that might still be there. Protocol said that the point man should give a warning when entering a house and when sweeping each room. He was to be firm but also sympathetic to anyone still in the house and, most importantly, not fan the flames of violence that could arise. Bruce, on the other hand, not only fanned the flames, but also seemed to enjoy it.

  It was the house of a couple who had a young child and one senior male. They were slow in evacuating, too slow for Bruce’s taste. He refused to wait the required ten minutes allotted for the family to get out and he decided upon himself to get them moving. Everything seemed to happen before Maxon could get a hold of the situation.

  Bruce busted through the door with the battering ram, splintering the wood in jagged pieces. A high pitched scream could be heard from somewhere within. A women’s scream. The crew stood stunned for a moment, not knowing what to do, looking to Maxon for direction.

  Max had a crew of first year recruits that day and they all looked terrified at the site of Bruce as he dragged the young woman from the house and threw her on the lawn. She was screaming about her child. Max had to have her restrained, he had no choice, so he ordered one of the new rec
ruits to hold her down. Bruce had already gone back in the house before Max could tell him to stand down, not that it would have done anything.

  Maxon told the rest of the crew to stay outside as he went in after Bruce. More cries were coming from inside, this time a young boy. The boy was crying for his mother while Bruce berated him about where his father and grandfather were. He held the boy with both hands, almost shaking him to talk. The boy sobbed that they were upstairs.

  Maxon yelled at Bruce to stand down, ready to grab his side arm if need be. The father then ran down from upstairs. Maxon remembered he was wearing a dirty tee-shirt and flip flops that looked too big for his feet. He almost tripped as he came down the stairs. Bruce pointed his weapon at him and told him to evacuate the house right now. The father begged for his son to be left alone. He looked frightened and stressed, his eyes huge in their sockets. The boy’s mother was still screaming from the front yard. The situation was getting out of Maxon’s control and it was being hijacked by Bruce’s hotheadedness. By the time Maxon saw the old man coming up behind Bruce, it was too late.

  The old man, the grandfather of the boy and father of the mother Maxon later learned, came running out of the kitchen. He screamed, like a face painted Scottish warrior, and held a wooden spoon over his head. His too large pants were falling down his legs, revealing a pair of dirty underwear. A line of drool fell from one corner of his mouth and his hair was sticking out at all ends like a porcupine. The scene would have been comical if the ending wasn’t so tragic.

  Bruce wheeled around with the boy still in his grasp and put a boot into the old man’s chest. The old man dropped with a sickening thud as he hit the floor. He didn’t move at all after that. After that all Maxon heard was a high pitched wailing, probably from the man’s daughter, but he didn’t know for sure. It could have been the boy for all he knew.

  He ordered that the family be restrained and brought to City Centre for their safety. The medical team arrived and put the old man into the transport and brought him to the incinerator. There was nothing they could do, he was declared dead as soon as they arrived. The kick to the chest likely stopped his heart immediately they said.