Devolution

There are times in a man’s life when the journey flashes by in a blur as though he is looking out the window of a car doing two hundred kilometers an hour. You know you are heading to a specific place and you want to get there as fast as possible so the details of what occurs or exists along the way, are insignificant.

At other times the travel is at a much more gentle pace and one has time to smell the proverbial roses. The destination although still anticipated does not extinguish the need to enjoy the journey itself.

‘Your question Sid?’

A thump on the back rescued Sid from his secret philosophical musing and face to face with the reality of Gareth Masterman’s hard and penetrating stare.

‘Huh?’ answered Sid, stupidly.

This particular point in his life was nothing like either of the two he had been thinking about. His journey was over, or as good as over. Masterman would answer his questions and then kill him. With a rediscovered clarity of thought he accepted the situation and the choice with which he was presented. He was not afraid of death. Death was almost meaningless to him, but he had always thought he would be more prepared when the Grim Reaper came to take him, and he never imagined circumstances such as this one where he was helpless.

He was stalling again, aware of Masterman’s patience stretching very thin, and all the while pressing closer to the decision, the choice; possibly his last choice.

‘Sid, I don’t have all day. In fact I can’t believe I’ve been so generous with my time.’

The pause seemed to suggest he wanted gratitude.

‘Thank you,’ said Sid. ‘I’m a little surprised to be meeting you. I don’t have personal meetings with those who hire me.’

‘I’ll give you ten more minutes.’

‘And then what?’ asked Sid still stalling, trying to operate normally on the outside while his problem solving machinery rattled inside his head.

‘And then you can go.’

‘I can go?’

‘You’re wasting time.’

‘Why am I here?’

‘Your assignment is over. I’m terminating our arrangement and I like to do that in person.’

‘The target is still alive.’

‘I know that. Your inability to kill Joshua Carpenter has interfered with my schedule so I’ve given the job to someone else.’

Another nail in Sid’s coffin; Masterman telling him the name of his target confirmed that he would not be allowed to go despite what Masterman said.

‘Anyone I know?’ said Sid with a smile.

‘Hardly a time for humor is it Sid?’

Sid thought for a moment. He had to make this time count. If he could escape then he would need as much information as possible to help him. To help him what? Escape? Masterman would hunt him down no matter how fast he ran or how far he traveled. What then? To take the information to the authorities and bring down a Mr. Big? Sid smiled, amusing himself by his persistent clichéd thinking.

’Did you send someone to kill me after I had arranged the death of the doctor in Mumbai?

‘No.’

‘Why wasn’t I told there was a time limit on the hit on Carpenter?’

‘There were alternate plans in place,’ said Masterman as he stood up and walked out from behind his desk. ‘Before I gave the order to kill, I had to find out what the boy knew. When those plans failed and I was still without the information I needed, I decided that it was too dangerous to play the game any longer. That’s when you were given the kill order, and I assumed you would carry out the execution immediately or at least at the first opportunity.’

‘It’s only been a day and a half since I received that order.’

‘You had ample opportunity to kill Joshua Carpenter before he entered that alleged church, Turning Point, but not only did you not kill him, you lost track of him. Sid, you failed me. It’s as simple as that.’

Increasingly unnerved by Masterman’s cold professional tone of voice, Sid was forced to wrestle the rising tide of panic.

‘What’s the connection between Carpenter, the doctor and the Senators in Mumbai?’

Masterman parked his rear end on the desk just to the side of Sid and put his hand on Sid’s shoulder. The latter flinched as though poked with a branding iron. This display of intimacy by Masterman was an horrific contrast with his obvious intent.

The smile which preceded his answer was serpentine: pure evil.

‘Joshua traveled to Australia as a Carrier. He volunteered, and for some strange reason so did his two best friends, Veena Singh and 3-11-15, a.k.a. Ted. The doctor in Mumbai, Daniel Smisco served on the Kinshasha Report Response Committee with the two senators. I was also a member of that committee. Dr. Smisco was working on a secret project called Devolution and everything he knew was apparently stored on an encrypted disc and dispatched from Mumbai in the safe keeping of ICF’s latest recruit, Joshua Carpenter.’

‘Okay,’ said Sid slowly, digesting the information. ‘So you killed the Senators. Why?’

Masterman looked at his watch. ‘Time’s up, Sid. Goodbye.’

‘The disc contains incriminating evidence of your involvement in-’

Masterman’s fist pounded into Sid’s cheek knocking him to the floor and wiping out the rest of the question. Before Sid could respond he was hauled roughly to his feet by the two gorillas and dragged out of the room backwards. Sid peered through the fast narrowing slit that was his left eye and caught the heartless glare of Masterman as he…Sid couldn’t believe his eyes…waved and smiled very pleasantly.

The door closed as Sid was dragged through another doorway, across the hall and out the front door. Sunshine blinded him and pain pulsated in his swollen eye socket, but Sid was a survivor. Kill or be killed. The choice. The time was now.

The grip of one of the henchman loosened slightly as he reached for the door handle and opened it. Sid twisted towards the weakness and found himself free on the right side. He twisted and thrashed to get free on the left, but to avail. In front of him was a hulking shadow, a blurred mass. He rammed it with his head and rolled with it as it fell. Surprise!

Sid quickly felt around inside the giant’s coat while he was on top of him. Just as he felt the pressure of the guy’s hand underneath and pushing him off, he laid his hand on the electrogun.

Everything was upside down as Sid was tossed from the giant’s body like a crumb which had fallen from his mouth and it took all Sid’s strength to retain the electrogun as he tumbled and quickly regained his feet.

The giant charged at him like a rhinoceros but as fearsome as he looked, as outweighed as he obviously was, Sid allowed him to crash tackle him to the ground. All the air burst from his lungs, whooshing through his mouth as he hit the dirt with the big man’s full weight now upon him. Still he gripped the electrogun tightly.

Quickly Sid felt for the safety switch and unlocked it, then just as quickly adjusted the setting to maximum force. He pressed it to the temple of the giant and killed him instantly.

The other guy was on to Sid in the same moment, throwing aside the body of his partner and grabbing Sid by the shirt front, he lifted him off the ground and banged him against a tree trunk. Before Sid could use it, the man grabbed the hand holding the electrogun and squeezed. Crack! The electrogun dropped to the dirt released by a broken hand without the strength to even hold it, let alone use it.

Sid thrust his knee into the man’s crotch and stomped on his stomach after he had fallen and relinquished his hold on Sid. Insane with rage and pain now, Sid struck again with his foot; this time at the head. One kick was enough to render the other man unconscious. The second was for pleasure. The third was because he couldn’t stop himself.

Voices. Sid sprinted for the car and scrambled into the driver’s seat.

‘Ignition!’

‘Driver ID not recognized,’ replied the car’s computer.

‘Shit!’ screamed Sid in frustration as a hand came in through the open window aiming for his throat.

He grabbed it and swiped it across the steering wheel, then yelled, ‘Ignition!’

Then engine fired. Sid threw the vehicle into reverse and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. Somewhere in the middle of the dust storm created instantly by the tires clawing at the dirt, Sid heard a loud crack and a thud and he let go of the hand which instead of leaving the car with its owner, fell in Sid’s lap.

Coughing and spluttering, Sid ordered the window up but it didn’t respond so he had to do it manually, while driving apparently in circles in a dense forest of dirt and sand particles. He locked the doors and stopped the car. He couldn’t see anything.

‘Fucking dust!’

Suddenly there was body at the side of the car, banging on the window. Sid forced himself to remain calm. The glass was bulletproof so there was no chance a fist could break through. He just needed to wait for the dust to settle just a little so he could see the road.

While the fist banged and was joined by another Sid waited, ignoring the pain in his head and the blood all over him and the cabin. Bang! That wasn’t a fist. Sid turned to see the rear windscreen cobweb, an object escaped from the cloud and impacted the window again. Sid looked forward and saw a glimpse of the house.

Accelerate, hard left, more acceleration, hold the turn, back to the right, full throttle, and he exploded into the clear air of an open road. Hurtling down the track, oblivious to the bumps and bangs of the roads natural obstacles, Sid did not turn back nor did he slow down.