FIFTY-SIX

In the dark, safely hidden, Mason watched the soovie shell that contained Billy and Theo. Waiting patiently for the time to strike.

His thoughts took him to earlier in the day, back to the whore who’d pretended to be blind.

What had been important to her was stripping him of his Taser.

It was as Everett had warned him before sending him out into the shantytowns to look for Caitlyn: weaponry was what preserved the lifestyle and culture of the Influentials.

A hundred years earlier, Everett had said, America had been based on principles of fairness and equality, something he believed had almost brought it to ruin. America had essentially neutered itself, listened to liberal softies who didn’t allow America to use its full power in international conflict. Then, Everett had said, America worried about the body count—not its own, but of its enemies. America held back, and because of it, America’s enemies thought America was soft.

Everett had then outlined the military strategy of ancient Rome. Offer a carrot, but have no hesitation using a big stick. City-states were offered citizenship to join the empire, but those who opposed Rome were annihilated in the worst possible way—women and children included. It sent a strong message to other city-states.

America, on the other hand, had been so worried about world opinion that country after country defied it, until the great Water Wars almost destroyed it.

Influentials had learned and had applied their lesson to all aspects of culture. Murders and violent crimes were punished swiftly and decisively.

Weapons ruled. And those with the weapons maintained control.

Technology was on the side of the Influentials. Weapons were matched to owners by fingerprints. Weapons didn’t fire unless fingerprints matched.

There was more to it, Everett had explained.

Those who defied Influentials paid a price far out of proportion to their defiance. Again, Everett had referred to the ancient Romans. If a slave assaulted or murdered his master, not only was the slave tortured and executed, but his entire family as well.

If any Industrial or Illegal in a shantytown was found with a weapon, all shacks within a hundred yards were destroyed, and the families in those shacks were executed. This same drastic reprisal applied even if that Industrial or Illegal tried to obtain a weapon.

Everett had smirked at that point, saying it had been a decade since the punishment had been necessary. As a result, Influentials were able to maintain control of a population base much larger than themselves, much like the Romans had controlled their slaves.

Mason liked this, of course, especially as he was one of the weapon holders. In the animal world, the strong ruled and the weak paid the price. It was natural. It belonged in the human world too.

Settled back against a wall that overlooked the soovie camp, Mason let his thoughts drift to the whore who had not been punished. Yet.

From the Meltdown, he’d followed Billy and Theo here and settled in as dusk, then night, cloaked all of them. There hadn’t been any good chances to isolate them and learn what they knew about Caitlyn. He’d remain a mountain panther. Stalking them patiently until the right opportunity. If he was lucky, they’d lead him to Caitlyn.

It meant in the morning, he’d have to stay on their trail. All day. Even if it meant another exhausting day at the Meltdown. That wouldn’t give him an opportunity to punish the whore.

On the other hand, it wasn’t very likely that Billy and Theo would leave the safety of their soovie during the night.

Too dangerous.

They didn’t have any weapons.

Mason, of course, did. He never slept much anyway.

He decided as long as he returned in a few hours, it was unlikely he’d lose Billy and Theo. Even if he did, he’d be able to find them. As a pair, they were distinctive enough that someone, somewhere, would be able to give him information. All Mason would do was ask about a kid with raccoon eyes.

Not worried about losing Billy or Theo, Mason rolled softly onto his feet.

Time for some retribution.