The Harmony Paradox

by Matthew S. Cox

  Katya flicked her hair off her neck and socketed the plug. A screen in front of the guard shifted from dark to pale blue, and he poked a few buttons. She hoped he wouldn’t think much of her having a storage module installed, especially since she hadn’t declared it on her ‘employee record,’ but lots of people had them to carry games, movies, or music. That hers happened to be empty at the moment should make it a non-issue.

  The word ‹Connected› appeared floating in front of her face, followed by a small white box with black text:

  ‹Sentinel Corporation SecurScan would like to run a data catalog process. Do you grant permission?›

  Yes and No boxes appeared under it. Of course, saying no would probably jump straight to something between guns pointed at her and handcuffs… and police. She stared at the ‘yes’ button and mentally clicked.

  A progress meter appeared and jumped to eighteen percent, where it hesitated. Katya shifted her weight, and tried not to think about standing three feet away from armed security guards while smuggling data valuable enough to put her away for decades. The progress bar crept up at about one percent per second. I am so glad I didn’t wear a skirt. She kept her smile pleasant and her mind on random things like coffee, white rabbits, sunflowers, and blue skies. When the progress indicator reached twenty-four percent, it zoomed to finished.

  “All set.” The man smiled and held out his hand.

  Katya smiled and disconnected the wire before draping it over his palm. “Sorry to run, but I’m missing class.”

  He nodded.

  “Oh… I almost forgot.” She fished out the tag. “My NetMini’s in a cubby.”

  The man took the ticket, and retrieved her device.

  Heartbeat pounding in her head, she scurried for the doors. The guard and a teal-haired woman receptionist watched her. Fearing they might’ve grown suspicious, she smiled back at them.

  “Professor Dorran is going to kill me.” Katya pointed at the exit. “I’m late for class. They stuck me with a shitty schedule, first class at 2:00 p.m.”

  The woman gave her a sympathetic look like she’d experienced the same thing.

  17 Chert voz’mi! Her heart slowed. They didn’t see it.

  She walked away from the building to the edge of where a curving road cut through the campus grounds, about twenty yards from the doors. A mental nudge opened a call to Alex. His face appeared on a virtual panel, bearing a large smile.

  「Bonjour, mon chéri. How are you on this fine Monday afternoon?」

  「I’m well. What about that blind date you’re supposed to set me up with?」

  Alex’s smile went from pleasant to predatory. 「Excellent. Proceed north 725 meters. There is a sidewalk café, Bruno’s Bistro. The agency will send a driver to pick you up. He’ll be wearing a blue necktie. To confirm his identity, say ‘nice tie.’ He will reply with ‘go fuck yourself.’」

  Katya squirmed. Already did that. 「Right. Minimal chance of an accidental correct response.」

  Alex chuckled. 「Well, some people are that antisocial. Talk soon. Adieu.」

  She pivoted ninety degrees to her right and walked. A glint of sunlight behind caught her eye. A thirty-ish man in a nice grey suit with a white shirt exited the building, heading her way. He had a strange smile that could’ve meant any of a thousand things, but Katya read ‘I know what you did.’

  Old training took over, and she strolled into the light flow of pedestrian traffic, heading north. She made a random right turn past a PubTran obelisk and cut left at the next cross street. The man kept back about twenty meters, but made the same turns. He walked with his right hand in his pocket, his left arm loose, and an amused half-smile on his face.

  Yeah… he’s following me. Shit.

  enny hovered at the kitchen sink, hand-washing dishes from lunch in flagrant disregard of the machine below the counter. A repetitive thrumming rattled the walls from whatever music Alyssa had on in her room. He smiled to himself, feeling not the slightest inclination to go demand she turn it down. They had a few weeks left before school started up again, and… shit. He hung his head. She’s going to be in high school.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Kathy, sidling up behind him and threading an arm around his back.

  “It just hit me we’re the parents of a high schooler.” He chuckled.

  “Not quite yet.” She rested her chin on his shoulder from behind. “Technically, she’s still in eighth grade. She’s a little girl ’til the end of the summer.”

  He twisted around and kissed her on the lips. “They’re right you know.”

  “Who is? About what?” She tilted her head.

  “Whoever the ‘they’ is that said ‘you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.’” He turned and put his arms around her. “Going out there… that’s like Joey rolling the dice with his life by doing stupid shit. It’s dangerous fun. I can live without it. I can’t live without you.”

  She stared up at him, guilt simmering in her deep brown eyes. “At first, I thought it was charming and romantic. Some rough and tumble wild man heading off to tame the unknown… then I started wondering if you just wanted time away from me. I can’t say I understand that pull you’ve got, but I know it’s part of you.” Kathy leaned her head against his shoulder. “Pretty stupid of me, huh? Even before that shit made me paranoid.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “They got me on it without me knowing, but I kept taking it after that. I knew what it was doing to me, but I just couldn’t resist it.” She leaned back, a shocked look on her face. “I… is that what it’s like for you? Feeling like you’ve just got to go back out there or you’re going to die?”

  Kenny smiled with a wistful chuckle. “Not quite that bad. It’s more like sex. Kinda think about it all the time and whenever the opportunity presents itself…”

  She jabbed a finger in his side. “You’re so bad.”

  “Am I now?” He wagged his eyebrows. “Isn’t that what got you in trouble in the first place?”

  “Maybe.” Her grin turned coy. “Still wanna try for a son?”

  Kenny leaned in and kissed her. They crossed tongues for a minute or two before the faint pap of a bare foot hitting the kitchen tile broke the silence.

  “Ooo-kay. I’ll come back later,” said Hayley.

  Their kiss slid apart, and they chuckled into each other’s shoulders. Kenny lifted his head and caught a trail of blonde beating a hasty retreat back into the house. Not long after she disappeared, the music got louder and dampened again with the soft thud of a closing door.

  Kathy peered into his eyes, but couldn’t keep a straight face, and broke up laughing.

  The generic bing-bong chime of an electric bell filled the house.

  “Oh, come on.” Kathy sighed. “Those people are never going to leave me alone.”

  “You think it’s Family Services again?” Kenny stepped past her, walking to the living room and to the door on the far side of it.

  Kathy hovered in the archway between dining room and kitchen. “Who else would it be? Your friends always vid you before they show up.”

  Unless Joey’s dropping off another orphan. He pulled the door open, revealing a dark haired man in a black suit with a deep tan. A taller, much wider man stood next to a black mini-limo hovercar parked out front, a Halcyon-Ormyr Executive Sedan, easy four million new. His instinctive contempt for those who flaunted wealth flattened his expression.

  “Mr. Marlon?” asked the man, his voice soft yet confident, and lacking any trace of a discernible accent.

  “Yeah.” Kenny hooked his thumbs in his pants pockets. “Somethin’ I can help you boys with? This ain’t exactly local for ya.”

  The man made a polite chuckle. “No, you are quite correct. My name is Arthur Polini.” He gestured toward the large man behind him with an open hand. “My associate, Marco.”

  The large man rendered a curt nod while grunting, “Mmm.”

  “My employer possesses an appreciation for
certain exotic artifacts.” Arthur offered a clear business card. “It’s come to our attention you are one of the more reputable individuals involved in the procurement of such things.”

  Kenny glanced at the rectangle of plastic. A shimmery rainbow stripe of holographic data underlined the name ‘Mr. Jordan A. Ferrero.’ Under that, another line read, ‘Venture Capital, Art Galleries, Imports.’ His chest tightened. This guy’s got Syndicate written all over him. He shifted his gaze up from the card to Arthur. Fuck. “That’s right. ’Course things have been a little trying as of late. Family matters.”

  “Ahh.” Arthur clasped his hands in front of himself and bowed his head for a second. “You have my condolences. They look well.”

  Kenny glanced back, finding Kathy in the living room behind him, Alyssa and Hayley on either side of her. Both girls had blue t-shirts and bright pink shorts on, small enough to where he made a mental note to have a chat with the girls later. Kathy fidgeted with the front of her blue flannel shirt.

  “You’ve got a beautiful family,” said Arthur.

  “Thanks.” Kenny tapped his trigger finger on his leg.

  Arthur lifted his eyebrows a touch. “I mean that sincerely. I assume you are familiar with my employer. Please don’t take my words as anything other than a compliment.” He smiled.

  “What’s Mr. Ferrero want?” asked Kenny.

  “I was hoping you would ask.” Arthur pulled a rolled up plasfilm sheet from his coat pocket and handed it to Kenny. “We think we’ve found an item of considerable value. An old computer my employer had been restoring―his hobby you see―had some data on it from an insurance company that predates the Corporate War.”

  Kenny whistled and unrolled the sheet. The top part had an image of a black horse statuette with a gold-plated mane, tail, and hooves, perched on a desk in front of a green lamp. He figured it about fourteen inches from nose to ass. Below the image, a screen capture of a prewar spreadsheet file had one line highlighted in yellow. The image had been zoomed in on a column labeled ‘product description,’ containing ‘Onyx Stallion’ next to an insured value of $8,500. “Interesting piece. If that’s actual onyx, probably start somewhere ’bout twelve million credits, assuming it’s intact.”

  Arthur smiled. “You live up to your reputation, Mr. Marlon. My employer would like to offer you a finder’s fee of four million.”

  Kenny failed to stifle a cough. Sure, he could probably throw a piece like that on the market through one of his contacts in the art circuit and pocket around eight mil… assuming it sold on the high end and the auction house didn’t keep too much. Of course… Syndicate. Four million done deal, no questions asked, no unfortunate accidents. “That’s a generous offer, Mr. Polini.” He smacked his lips. “Like I said, I got some things I need ta work out. Wife hasn’t been takin’ too kindly to me goin’ out there so much.” He thwapped the plasfilm back and forth past his other hand a few times. The urge called to him, manifesting as a twitch of the eye.

  Arthur offered another clear card. “Here’s my PID. Go on an’ think it over. If it sounds like something you’d be interested in, vid me and I’ll give you the particulars. We got a reasonably good idea where it is.”

  “All right.” Kenny nodded.

  “Ma’am.” Arthur nodded to Kathy before heading back to his car.

  Marco opened the door for him, revealing a white-leather interior with two facing bench seats and a wet bar done up in wood paneling. Kenny stood, flicking the plasfilm at his open hand as the big guy got in behind the wheel. The mini-limo glided up into the sky, leaving behind a cloud of swirling dust that broke apart into four separate little cyclones. He squinted as the wind met his face, painting his tongue with the flavor of dirt. The soft whine of ion thrusters faded to silence a moment later.

  “What was that all about?” asked Kathy.

  He walked inside, letting the door slide closed behind him. For the first time he could ever remember, he found it possible to stifle his desire to run off to the Badlands. He’d only gotten Kathy back home to stay days ago, and the last thing he wanted was an argument, or her believing he could up and run off to ‘have fun with the boys’ when she needed him. “Umm.”

  “Someone wants you to go back out there.” Kathy didn’t add any accusation in her voice, but he felt it anyway. “Right?”

  “Yeah.” He continued tapping the plasfilm.

  “I’ve never seen you look so guilty before. Usually someone says ‘Badlands,’ and you’re like a five-year-old at Wintermas.” She chuckled.

  “I want to tell them no.” He looked her in the eye.

  “So… why didn’t you?” asked Hayley.

  “Yeah, Dad,” said Alyssa. “Why do you look like someone kicked you in the balls?”

  “Ken…” Kathy took a breath.

  “Syndicate.” Kenny held eye contact with her. “What does it mean to you when the Syndicate says ‘that’s a beautiful family you’ve got?’”

  Kathy put a hand over her mouth.

  “They’re gonna hurt us?” whispered Alyssa.

  Kenny raised his hands. “I… he said he didn’t mean it that way, but… shit. I don’t need to get into a pissing contest with them.”

  “How much?” asked Kathy.

  The rant building inside Kenny ground to a screeching halt. He quirked an eyebrow at her. “What?”

  “How much did they offer you?” Kathy hesitated a few seconds. “Or was it just ‘do this or we kill your family’?”

  “Four million,” said Kenny, head down.

  “Holy shit,” muttered Alyssa.

  “Language,” said Kenny.

  Alyssa sighed. “I’m fourteen, not four. And it’s not like I said f―”

  “Liss!” said Kenny, almost shouting.

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “Fudge!”

  He slouched, chuckling.

  “Okay,” said Kathy.

  “What?” Kenny stared at her.

  “I see it in your eyes. Some part of you either wants that money or wants to go out there.”

  Kenny shook his head. “It’s mostly not wanting some guy to show up in the middle of the night and machinegun the house. ’Course that payoff would mean a lot for the girls’ future.”

  Hayley gawked. “Would they really do that?”

  He scratched his head. “Over not going out there to grab some statue? Ehh… probably not. Not like it would cost them money. I’m just their top pick apparently.”

  Kathy grinned and walked into a hug. “Well, you are good at what you do.”

  “How long are you gonna be gone?” asked Hayley.

  “No idea. I haven’t told them I’d do it yet, so they haven’t told me where the thing is. Standard. They don’t want me runnin’ out there and grabbin’ it on my own. That would probably cause a midnight bullet party.”

  The girls shivered.

  “I’ll go,” said Kathy.

  “What?” Kenny shook his head. “Did you just say―?”

  “Do it.” She squeezed him. “And take me with you.”

  “What?” He reeled backward as if slapped. “Did you just say…?”

  “Take. Me. With. You.” She crossed her wrists behind his neck and stared into his eyes. “I used to get all wound up being afraid you wouldn’t come back. Going out there is so much a part of you it’s in your marrow. I’ll go.”

  “Whoa. They replaced Mom with an alien.” Alissa leaned back.

  Kathy smirked at her. “I’m serious. If I’m out there with you, I won’t have to worry about you disappearing.”

  “What about them?” Kenny nodded toward the girls.

  “Please don’t leave me with the Rodriguezes again,” whined Alyssa. “They’re super nice, but they treat me like I’m a little kid.”

  “My parents would probably watch them,” said Kathy.

  “Your parents loathe me. They’d take the girls to Mars and we’d never see them again. What about Joey?”

  Hayley fidgeted and gave him
an earnest look.

  “Uhh, no.” Alyssa shook his head. “He’s like the cool uncle to hang out with at like parties and stuff, but you shouldn’t trust him to be an adult.”

  Kenny laughed.

  “I wanna go, too,” said Alyssa.

  Kenny stopped laughing and stared at her.

  Hayley crept forward, toes gripping the carpet. “I don’t want to stay with someone else. Joey’s cool, but I’d rather be with my family.”

  “Oh, dammit.” Kenny pinched the bridge of his nose and paced back and forth. “Okay, hold on just a second.” He gave the three of them the ‘wait’ hand. “I need to find out exactly where this is going to go first. There’s some places out there that I am never bringing a woman… or girl within fifty miles of.”

  “Like what?” asked Alyssa.

  “You’re not getting a reason other than ‘because,’ until you’re at least thirty.”

  Hayley glanced at Alyssa. “Steel Reavers in the area that used to be Northern Texas would take us as slaves and have sex with us until we died from it.”

  Kenny stared at her. “Where the hell did you hear that?”

  “Net.” Hayley looked down. “I guess it’s true if you’re making that face.”

  “Holy shit,” whispered Alyssa.

  “Swear jar,” said Kenny and Kathy at the same time.

  “Aww.” Grumbling, Alyssa stomped into the kitchen and stuck her hand into a giant plastic jar. She stared at the scrap of metal she extracted. “Seriously!? Toilets? When did this go in there?”

  “Your twelfth birthday,” said Kathy. “You’re old enough to clean toilets.”

  “This is bullshit,” muttered Alyssa. Before either of them could say ‘swear jar’ again, she drew another token. Red-faced anger turned to laughter. “Bathroom floor. At least they’re close.”

  “Okay.” Kathy grasped his shoulders. “North Texas is out. I’ll stay home with the girls if it’s bad, but if it’s not… we’re all going.”

  “I’m not taking two kids out there without at least one more rifle along.” Kenny stared at Arthur’s PID card. “All right. Let me find out where this goes. If I call him, I’m obligating myself to do this. I want to be absolutely sure you’re okay with it.”