Gary Gibson - Final Days

Narendra quickly locked the door behind him, leaving Saul finally alone with the food. He ate ravenously, his eyes watering from the rich spices flavouring the meatballs.

Once he had finished, Saul made his way over to the window and discovered that he was perhaps thirty storeys above ground level. So far as he could tell, he was confined in one of several residential towers strung along the sloping side of the valley. He could see construction teams, like tiny, multicoloured ants, clambering around the tower that was its nearest neighbour. It stood perhaps a kilometre away, its upper floors presently a tangle of girders. He even thought about shouting for help, but the chances of anyone hearing him were extraordinarily slim.

He stepped back to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening hard. After a moment he was rewarded by the sound of a throat clearing.

Saul passed most of the rest of the morning watching cargo drones drift above the city canopy, obviously on their way to and from other settlements. Without his contacts, he felt desperately isolated, as if he was stranded naked in a jungle with no idea how to get home.

Narendra returned in the early afternoon, again accompanied by Eren. He placed a wooden chair in the centre of the room, while Eren gestured with the barrel of his shotgun, and barked several unintelligible commands indicating that Saul should kneel. Once he had complied, Narendra stepped quickly behind him, binding his wrists once more.

Narendra took a seat on the chair, facing Saul, while Eren moved to stand directly behind him.

Narendra rubbed his palms against his thighs. ‘I must ask you again,’ his eyes fitted up towards Eren, with more than a touch of nervousness, ‘why you came here.’

‘None of your damn business,’ replied Saul.

Narendra merely nodded, and took out a small pouch. He began to roll himself a cigarette, carefully balancing the paper on one knee as he added a pinch of tobacco. ‘I did say earlier that it would be better for both of us,’ he remarked, without looking up from his task, ‘if you answered.’

There was a faint tremor in Narendra’s voice, and Saul noticed the broker’s hands were shaking very gently. It wasn’t difficult to guess that he was deadly afraid of Eren. He’s out of his depth , Saul realized.

‘Does Eren here know just what you do for a living?’ Saul asked suddenly. He could hear the slow in-and-out of Eren’s breath, and could picture the shotgun muzzle hovering just centimetres from the back of his skull.

‘Yes,’ Narendra replied, still focused on his work. ‘He is very much aware of it. We are . . . siness associates, you might say.’

Saul nodded, as if in understanding. ‘So all that information you gave me about Shih Hsiu-Chuan, last time I was here . . . that was all a set-up, am I right?’

Narendra’s eyes flicked up to meet his, then lowered. ‘Yes. When did you realize?’

Saul shrugged. ‘Lee Hsingyun turning up when he did was just too convenient, and he obviously knew a lot more about us than we did about him. Outside of the ASI, you’re the only one who knows we had an interest in Hsiu-Chuan.’

‘You’re not the only person I trade with, Saul. It goes both ways.’

‘Yes,’ Saul nodded, ‘but in return for the information you give us, we allow you to continue trading, just as long as you don’t cross us. In all the years we dealt with you, this is the first time you’ve done that, so why now? What’s at stake that suddenly everything’s different?’

‘You sound,’ said Narendra, ‘like you already have an idea why.’

‘I always realized all that stuff you liked to spout about staying “neutral” was just bullshit, but I could never figure out just where your true loyalties lay. Now I think I do. Your friend Eren’s with one of the separatist groups, right?’

Narendra said nothing, lit his cigarette and took a draw, the smoke drifting up pungently.

‘Not Fan Pan Zhe,’ Saul continued, ‘so I figure it’s Al Hurr. They’re pretty much running Sophia these days.’

Eren muttered something from just behind him, and Narendra nodded in response.

‘I asked you a question.’ Narendra fixed his gaze on Saul. ‘You still haven’t answered it.’

Eren pressed the shotgun muzzle up against the back of Saul’s neck, forcing his head forward. He then shouted something close to Saul’s ear, and Saul closed his eyes, trying not to think about the damage a shotgun cartridge could do at such close range.

‘Wait!’ he cried out. ‘All right, I’m trying to find a man called Farad Maalouf. I believe he has family here.’

Narendra nodded, over his head, at Eren, who withdrew the shotgun. Saul straightened slowly, his heart hammering in his chest.

‘So why are you trying to find him?’

‘A friend of mine disappeared. I’ve reason to think Maalouf might be able to help me find him.’

‘And this friend’s name?’

Saul glared at Narendra. ‘Now, that really isn’t any of your fucking business.’

Narendra gestured to Eren, who rammed Saul in the small of the back hard enough to send him sprawling face-down across the rough-textured concrete. A moment later, Eren straddled him, taking a grip on Saul’s bound wrists and twisting his arms up and over his head.

Saul screamed from the sheer pain: it felt as if his arms were being ripped out of their sockets. An eternity seemed to pass before Eren finally let go.

‘Jeff Cairns,’ Saul gasped, from where he lay helpless. ‘I thought Farad could help me find a man called Jeff Cairns.’

‘We know who he is,’ said Narendra. ‘He and Farad once worked together. What do you know about their work?’

‘Nothing.’ Saul shook his head vigorously, so his cheek rasped against the concrete. ‘Something off-world, that’s all I know. Might be mineral assessment or something else, I have no fucking idea.’

‘But you’ve been assigned to find both him and Maalouf?’

‘No.’ Saul twisted his head around so he could finally look up at Narendra. ‘I wasn’t assigned by anyone. I’m here for personal reasons, that’s it.’

‘You’ll need to give me more than that.’

The last thing Saul wanted to do was tell Narendra about Olivia. ‘All I know is that Jeff’s in some kind of trouble. That’s the sum total of my knowledge.’

Narendra addressed Eren in rapid-fire Turkish. When he looked down at Saul again, his expression was tight-lipped. ‘No,’ he replied. ‘There’s some other reason you’re here.’

Eren dragged Saul over to the window, fumbling one-handed with the latch and pushing it wide open. Saul tasted air damp from the condensation that gathered under the city canopy, as Eren pushed him up against the frame. He struggled, but Eren seemed to expend little effort in pushing Saul head-first out through the window, a firm grip on his collar the only thing keeping Saul from tumbling to his death. He felt his bowels turn to water as he stared at the void separating him from the ground.

‘Eren,’ said Narendra, coming to stand by the window, ‘thinks we should let you drop, if you have nothing useful to tell us.’

Saul stumbled over his own words in panic, his heart beating so hard it felt like a terrified animal trapped in his chest. ‘All I know is Jeff was on to something that the ASI’s been trying to cover up, that’s it, I swear I have no idea what it is, but they’re killing anyone who was involved in any way.’

‘And this is the truth?’ demanded Narendra.

‘Goddammit, yes .’

‘Are you aware,’ asked Narendra, ‘that you were followed as soon as you arrived in Sophia?’

‘By your people, yes.’

Narendra uttered a brief word to Eren, and Saul found himself suddenly pulled back from the window. He collapsed in a heap on the floor, his heart still thundering, and watched Narendra discard the burned-out stub of his cigarette and grind it under his boot. Saul sensed a shift in the atmosphere. Perhaps, he hoped, they were starting to believe him.