The Culling Read online

  He backed slowly out the door. In the corridor he looked right and left. To the right was the way back to the control room, and his certain death. To the left the corridor, he knew, wound around the inner perimeter of the building, arriving at a large space that had once been a loading bay. It had large double doors to the outside world on the side of the building near the river. He turned left and began walking.

  47.

  When Cruz returned to the control room, he resumed his hovering over the beleaguered technician. The woman was sweating from the combination of the concentration required to balance the power input controls and the frustration of having him standing so close that she could feel the heat from his body.

  “If the present rate continues,” she said. “We should achieve full power in thirty minutes.”

  “I don’t understand why this should take so long,” he said, leaning forward.

  The woman flinched as she felt his bony thigh against her shoulder.

  “The radius of the circle is larger by a multiple of more than ten, citizen. But, in order to have a beam with sufficient power, it requires more than ten times the amount of energy. Building up to that level of energy must be done with care lest it cause an overload and explosion.”

  Cruz didn’t understand what she was saying, and didn’t want to understand. He only wanted the damn machine up and running. He pointed to a small screen. A red line moved slowly across the bottom from left to right. It was about halfway across. Above the line, a series of numbers blinked on LED insets. “Is that the power indicator?” he asked.

  The technician nodded.

  Cruz watched the glacial movement of the red line. His pulse thumped. He gave no thought to what would happen when the line reached its right terminus. That thousands would die in a blaze of intense pain, and hundreds of square blocks of the prole community would be reduced to ash, didn’t cause him a moment of unease. He knew that a few would survive. Those currently working in the factories and fields and in the few residential structures that were outside the device’s circle would survive. But, they would never forget the sight of the world around them going up in flames, of those who would dare oppose Hector Cruz being turned into grey ashes. And, from those ashes, Cruz would build a new world – his world – one that he would rule forever. In time, as he rebuilt the population of New Liberty, rebuilt a more compliant cadre of workers, technicians and soldiers, he would expand his control. He would share his secrets with few. Maybe a small inner circle of advisors who helped him rule. He might even select one or two to share Halifax’s treatment. It would be good to have someone to keep him company over the coming centuries. He could always use the other little procedure he’d had Halifax develop, should anyone appear to be threatening his position.

  It would be he, though, who would decide. He would hold the power of life and death over all. And, he thought, he’d start by eliminating useless people like the lump of a technician sitting in front of him.

  “How much longer until it’s ready?” he asked.

  The woman sighed, which caused Cruz to fume inwardly. “Still about thirty minutes,” she said.

  The red line looked as if it hadn’t moved. He pressed forward, willing it to increase its pace across to the right.

  A scuffling sound from outside the room pulled his attention away from the technician. As he turned, the door slammed open and two monitors walked in. Then, his eyes widened as Gravius walked in behind the monitors.

  “What are you doing here, citizen?” he demanded. “You are under house arrest.”

  “I’m here to keep you from making a bigger mistake than has already been made,” Gravius said.

  “You’re too late. It has already been set in motion.” He moved to block their view of the control panel. He had to stall for time. Clearly, Gravius had suborned the monitors set to guard him. But, if he could distract them long enough it wouldn’t matter. And, once the monitor returned with Halifax’s notes, his position would be secure. Maybe he would keep Gravius on longer. “Look, citizen,” he said. “Perhaps I acted a bit hastily in your case. I’m putting you back in charge of the monitors. Maybe you could even replace that fool, Wainwright, and be in charge of all the community’s defenses.”

  Gravius shook his head. “No, citizen,” he said, his dark face contorted into an angry scowl. “It is you who are too late. Your reign of terror is over.”

  Beads of sweat popped out on Cruz’s face. His eyes darted from side to side, as if looking for a place to run. “But, I’m doing what’s best for the community, don’t you understand. We must have order. And by reducing the population and instituting better control procedures, we can achieve that – perfect order. And, you and I could be in control of that.”

  “There is no such thing as perfect order,” Gravius said. He took a step forward. “Your father understood that. He knew the system we’d put in place was unsustainable, that’s why he was planning to make changes just before he died.”

  Cruz laughed. “Yes, my dear father,” he said. “He was a weak man. He actually believed that he could create a society where everyone was equal. He was planning to grant full citizenship status to the proles and abolish the crèche system.”

  “Your father understood that people who have a stake in their community work harder than those who are compelled to work.”

  “My father understood nothing. He would have thrown away everything we worked for and built. There are better way to control workers, and I have them. Once we reduce the prole population to a manageable level, you’ll see.”

  Gravius shook his head again. “You’re talking about genocide. I can’t let you do that.”

  Cruz stared at Gravius and the two monitors. His nostrils flared, and the veins on his neck stood out like cords of thick twine. “You can’t stop me,” he snarled. Spittle dribbled from his quivering lips. He whirled back toward the control panel, and grabbed the technician, yanking her from her chair and flinging her toward Gravius. While he might not understand the workings of the device, he’d been present at enough cullings to know how it was activated. He lunged for the red switch in the center of the panel and pulled it down. Then he twisted until the switch broke off in his hand A loud hum filled the room. The red line inched slowly toward the right. Cruz turned to face them, his eyes bulging and red. “Too late,” he cried triumphantly. “It’s too late.”

  Gravius moved forward and shoved him from the panel. “You damn fool,” he shouted. “What have you done?”

  “What none of you had the guts to do,” Cruz said, smiling. “I’ve stopped the prole insurrection – stopped it in its tracks. And, I’ve ensured eventual development of the utopia we’ve always dreamed of. Citizens will thank me one day.”

  The humming grew louder.

  Gravius turned to the young technician who was cowering at Hiroshi’s feet. Her face was pale.

  “Can this thing be stopped?” he asked her.

  “No, not without the switch,” she said in a quavering voice. “Once activated, it will continue to send signals to the device until it reaches full power, and then it will fire. There’s not enough time to repair the switch.”

  Gravius spun and grabbed Cruz by his collar, shaking him as a terrier would shake a squirrel. “You fool. You’re committing mass murder.”

  Cruz only laughed. A maniacal sound. He’d finally snapped. “Too late. Too late,” he crooned. “Now, it’s all mine. All mine at last.”

  Gravius had the look of a beaten man. “There’s nothing we can do,” he said, looking gravely at Hiroshi and Leland.

  Hiroshi moved forward and lifted the technician by the shoulders. “You said this machine here is sending signals to the device, right?” The woman nodded numbly. “If that signal stops, what happens?”

  “If the s-signal is interrupted,” she said. “The device will continue to generate heat until it burns itself out – I think. I’m not sure, though.”

  Hiroshi had never seen the controls before, but he remem
bered what he’d read about machines. If the master control signal stopped, the device would be left without instructions. It shouldn’t be able to complete its cycle. Shouldn’t, but he wasn’t sure. He remembered something else his father had told him once, “When action is called for, act without hesitation. If things are going wrong, the wrong action won’t make them any worse, and the right action just might be the first thing that pops into your mind.” He drew the flechette pistol and aimed at the blinking lights on the panel. He pressed the firing stud, sending dozens of metal darts into the panel. When the first darts struck, it got an instant response.

  The metal tips of several darts pierced the thin metal covering of the control panel, causing a short in the electrical circuit. Sparks flew in all directions, and the hum was replaced by first a sizzling sound, and then a high pitched whine. Smoke began pouring from the panel. The red line flickered and then the screen went dark.

  Cruz, seeing the smoke and sparks, pulled away from Gravius and flung himself at the panel. “No-o-o-o-o!” he wailed. He grabbed the metal panel, which had thousands of volts coursing through it. His body bucked and began smoking. His face contorted and his tongue protruded from his mouth. Blood began streaming from his eyes and ears. His hair caught fire.

  The whine grew louder.

  “That can’t be good,” Leland said.

  “I think we’d better get out of here,” Hiroshi shouted.

  He grabbed the technician and began shoving her toward the door. Leland and Gravius followed close behind. They just had time to make it through the door, slam it shut and get ten feet down the corridor, when there was a loud bang, and then silence. The door hung drunkenly from one hinge, partially opened. Thick gray smoke poured from the room, bringing the smell of burned plastic, flesh, clothing, and hair into the corridor.

  “The controls are dead,” the technician said. “I don’t think the device can fire now.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Hiroshi said.

  “Where did you get the idea to do that?” Gravius asked.

  “Just something I remembered,” he said.

  They walked back up to the main floor and out of the building. As they walked around toward the river side, they could see the top of the monument. The red lights in the openings were flickering rapidly. Hiroshi thought he could see white smoke coming from the structure.

  Suddenly, the structure was enveloped in a bright white light and billowing smoke. A few seconds later, a sound like a thunderclap reached them. As the smoke thinned, they could see that the top twenty feet of the structure was gone. The jagged stones were blackened, and a thin trail of smoke drifted up to join the smog from the factories.

  Leland tapped Hiroshi’s shoulder and pointed toward the river. A large group of people were heading toward the headquarters. As they neared, they could see a small, bedraggled group of monitors in front, their hands clasped above their heads. Following them were more monitors, accompanied by men carrying bows and spears. Hiroshi recognized Moses at the head of this group.

  “Looks like our people won the day,” he said. He turned to face Gravius.

  “It looks like that indeed,” Gravius said. “To whom do I surrender?”

  48.

  While the proles, under the watchful eyes of Moses’ troops, began the job of removing the bodies and cleaning up the mess in their community, Moses, Hiroshi, and Leland met with Gravius in The Committee Room to discuss the terms of New Liberty’s surrender.

  “I guess you’re the man in charge now,” Moses said to Gravius.

  “It would seem so. What are your terms, citizen?”

  Moses chuckled. “I’m just Abraham Moses, Mr. Gravius,” he said. “We’re not much for titles in Freeland. Anyway, the only terms are that you folk here not take any offensive action against us. You’re probably going to need some assistance getting things back in order. We’re willing to help you there. We could also use some of the goods you produce in your factories, and we’d be willing to trade some of the things we grow for them. I reckon that’s it. The rest is up to you.”

  “Trade is a good idea. And, you’re right - we have to take responsibility for ourselves. There are a lot of changes we need to make. One of the first will be to appoint a new commander of the monitors.” He turned to Leland. “You think you’re up for the job, son?”

  Leland’s face was a study in confusion. “Uh, I don’t know,” he said. “Do you think I am?”

  “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have suggested it.” Gravius chuckled.

  “Okay, I’ll do it.”

  “Good. From now on, you’re Leland-One,” the former monitor commander said.

  “No,” Leland said.

  Gravius looked at him, his brows arched high. “What?”

  “I,” said Leland. “am Leland Freeman, not some anonymous drone with a number affixed to his name. And, I think the rest of the monitor force should also have surnames. We could have titles for job descriptions, like squad leader and such, and even ranks, but I think everyone should have his own personal identity.”

  Gravius regarded his former young subordinate through nearly closed lids for a few seconds. Then, he slapped his big hands on the table and laughed.

  “You’re absolutely right, Citizen Freeman,” he said. “You’re in command, and it’s your decision to make. While we’re talking about identities, I think the term monitor to describe our people leads to unfortunate connotations. I think we should change the name to New Liberty Police Force. What do you think of that?”

  “I agree. Monitors are there to control people. Police serve and protect, and that’s what we should do. I like it.”

  They discussed a few more things, such as ending the practice of monitors, now police officers, patrolling the streets with visors down, obscuring their faces, or going on routine patrols in large units, while Moses and Hiroshi looked on.

  When Gravius and Leland were satisfied with the security situation, Gravius moved on to some more fundamental changes he thought were necessary for the survival of New Liberty. He started with abolishing the distinction between citizen and prole – every individual in New Liberty was a citizen. While he felt the fence should stay in place for a while, he decreed freedom of movement for all citizens of New Liberty, and unrestricted entry for Freelanders. The crèches would remain, but would be converted to boarding schools and care facilities. Their main missions would be providing education to all children as well as a place parents could leave children during the work day. Culling was, of course, abolished. Prisoners who couldn’t be rehabilitated would be kept incarcerated. New Liberty no longer had the death penalty.

  With the deaths of Cruz, Wainwright, and Halifax, there were vacancies on The Committee. After first changing the name to Advisory Group, Gravius decided that the former prole community should be represented on it.

  “You seem like an intelligent lad,” he said to Hiroshi. “I think you would be an ideal advisor.”

  “Thank you, but I’ll be going home to Freeland,” Hiroshi said. He looked at Moses who nodded slightly and smiled. “I know someone, though, who would be just as qualified – my friend, Washington Benedict.”

  “I think Hiroshi is correct,” Moses said. “That young man impressed me as an effective leader who is respected by his community.”

  Gravius nodded. “Very well, then. I think we no longer need a ministry of population control, but Drake Edison is a decent enough person. I believe he would make a good minister of trade and agriculture.” Everyone nodded. “I also think we need gender balance. After all, more than half the population is female. I was impressed with the young woman who ran your crèche, Mr. Jackson – Olympus was her name, was it not?”

  “Yes,” Hiroshi said. “Octavia Olympus. She was a tough headmaster, but she was always fair.”

  “Good, let’s see how she functions as minister of education, health, and social welfare. Now, one final personnel change – I’ll be dismissing the good Elder Robertson from the Advisory
Group. I don’t think it should concern itself with spiritual matters. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”

  Moses smiled and stroked his beard. “I think you’re off to a good start, Mr. Chairman.”

  Gravius nodded his thanks, but had a worried look on his face. “There is one other matter, Citi-, er, Mr. Moses,” he said.

  “What is it? And, please just call me Abraham.”

  “Wainwright’s militia is expected to return in about six months. I’m not sure I can have the community’s defenses set up to defend against them in that time-”

  “-There’s no need to worry,” Moses said, cutting him off. “Freeland is prepared to assist in the defense of New Liberty, just as I assume you would come to our aid if needed.”

  The new leader of New Liberty smiled and sighed. He leaned across the table, extending his hand to Moses. “On that, my friend, you can rely.”

  “I will leave a small contingent here to help you in rebuilding what was destroyed,” Moses said. “But, tomorrow, the rest of us will be returning to Freeland.”

  49.

  The next morning, Gravius and his new Advisory Group were at the west gate to see Moses and his group off. There were handshakes and wishes of safe travels. Hiroshi had emotional farewells with Washington Benedict and Octavia Olympus, both of whom were still reeling from their new appointments.

  Leland Freeman had an honor guard of police officers lining the path to the gate. As Hiroshi approached him, he held out his hand.

  “Safe journey, friend Hiroshi,” he said. “And, thank you.”

  “I did nothing,” Hiroshi said.

  “You did more than you know, my friend. You gave me myself.”

  The young police commander’s eyes glistened. The two embraced, and after pulling back, shook hands.