The Transdyne Awakening by Chris Betts Read Free Book Online

viewscreen watching the corridor outside. Two of Ahab’s men were standing around. Zack, the nearest who had been observing his arrival, made a mock salute. The lobby was adorned with statues and the floor was covered with an intricately patterned rug. On the walls hung several large paintings, each one lit carefully by an individual light source. Clay stepped down the three carpeted steps into the lounge of the apartment.
    The luxurious main lounge was where Ahab liked to conduct most of his business dealings. At the far end of the large room, he sat leaning forward on a spacious leather couch. He was staring intently into one of three smaller viewscreens perched on top of a beautiful, polished table. Finally, he looked up. “Clay, everything go all right?”
    Clay nodded and handed over the small comp.
    Ahab turned his attention to the screen on his right, his lips moving as he calculated the required bottom line. “Yeah, that’s good,” he said. “I’ll credit you right now.” Clay waited while Ahab adjusted his account.
    Ahab had always done right by him, he thought. A thickset figure with a hypnotic stare, Ahab was a powerful presence. He was always dressed immaculately in unusual garb. Today, his loose fitting top garment looked blue, but seemed to change colour slightly as it caught different levels of light. His leggings were some type of shiny animal skin, worn over gleaming black boots. On his fingers were several very large rings. Some of these had big, shining stones mounted in them. Ahab was brown skinned with midnight black hair and a short, neatly trimmed beard. He totally ignored the rules of social proximity and fixed everyone he spoke to in an intense stare. Caught in the probing gaze of those dark, intelligent eyes, most people started to feel extremely ill at ease.
    It was something Ahab was clearly well aware of. He knew just which buttons to press if he needed information. From this comfortably furnished bunker, he controlled an expansive operation. Anyone in contact with him was quickly aware that Ahab had real gravity. The people hanging around this complex weren’t run of the mill rentagoons. These men were highly trained and well paid, the very best. Nobody just walked into a soldier’s position with Ahab’s organization. The screening was intense. For those who proved trustworthy and loyal, there was no better employer. Ahab had more juice than most politicos and a better intelligence network than the Polibureau. He had originally been destined for political office. His education had been thorough and he had graduated from the very best studylearn faculties. He had been tutored in all the disciplines required in order to take his place as an overlord. His natural father had been a State Governor for The Global Dominion. He had successfully quelled several uprisings and had been ruthless in state suppression of faithcrime. The forces of the Dominion liked to keep these purges out of public view as far as possible. Ahab’s father had implemented a coded system for tracking and arresting anyone associated with ‘socially divisive’ faith movements.
    Ahab’s path to disillusionment had started when he witnessed his first mass slaughter. He had been to the interrogation camps and observed the grisly torture of ‘anti-socials’. Somehow, he had never developed his father’s detachment. Scenes of men strung up with electrodes attached to their bodies stayed in his memory. He could hear their screams as they were subjected to unbearable agonies. His father told him this was a necessary part of statecraft and that he had better get used to it. To maintain social cohesion, the individual must be taught to conform to state rules governing conduct. Under The Dominion there was no longer any place for assertive individualists. They were a menace to be eradicated by any means necessary. Those loathsome individuals who insisted on infecting others with their toxic ‘godlegook’ were particularly