The Last Good Man

Senior Staff

“We can’t afford a war,” Chris is saying. “We need to contact Variant Forces. Work this out.”

Lincoln has re-gathered his senior staff in the conference room: Chris, Tamara, True, and Renata. Tempers are short. Renata presented the results of her research on the replacement cost of the Hai-Lins: an impossible forty million for all three. ReqOps still owes several million on the loan used to purchase the now-destroyed equipment.

“Big profits only happen on the back of big risks,” Lincoln reminded them. But no one anticipated a hole this deep.

Chris continues: “We’ve got major training contracts to fulfill. The next class gets here in three days. We need to be one hundred percent on our security before then, and if that means signing a peace treaty, I say we do it. We cannot run the risk of a vindictive hit harming our clients, and we cannot afford to lose this training contract.”

Lincoln does not agree with this assessment. He hasn’t announced it yet but he intends to postpone the training session. ReqOps can come back from the financial hit, but if they allow harm to come to their clients? The company will be finished, and deservedly so.

True says, “You’ve put this off long enough, Lincoln. You need to let our people know who we’re dealing with.”

He meets her gaze, nods. Chris realizes he’s been kept on the outside of something, and the knowledge does not go over well. “What the fuck, Lincoln?”

Lincoln leans back, crossing his arms. Might as well do this right. His gaze drifts up to a tiny camera glistening in the corner of the room. “Hello, Friday,” he says. “Call Jameson in here.”

Chris eyes him warily but asks no more questions, willing to wait. Renata too says nothing, though her tension is revealed in the quiet tapping of her polished fingernails against the table top. Other than that, it’s silent until Jameson walks in. He looks around the table, assesses the cool emotional climate, and scowls in suspicion.

“Take a seat,” Lincoln tells him.

Jameson pulls out the chair next to True. They trade a glance. The chair creaks as he sits down.

Lincoln says, “You’re here because you and Chris were part of Rogue Lightning.”

“This have to do with our emblem?” Jameson asks in his deep voice. “Juliet told me about that.”

“It’s more than the emblem. It’s about Shaw Walker, our original commander, before either of you were part of the team.”

“We know who Shaw Walker is,” Chris says. “We know how he died.” He’s careful not to look at True.

Lincoln says, “There’s evidence that he’s not dead, that he’s Jon Helm, and that elements within the State Department are aware of his identity.”

Neither believes it. After True provides details, neither wants to believe it.

“We were supposed to be the good guys,” Jameson says. “How could Walker be tangled up in all the shit Hussam’s been putting down? You knew him, Lincoln. You really think Walker is the same man as this asshole, Jon Helm?”

Lincoln chooses his words carefully. “Shaw Walker had his faults. We all do. If it is him, the time he spent in Nungsan must have fucked him up good.” He turns to Chris. “We can’t do a deal with Variant Forces. They’re an unknown. We have no idea if they would honor an agreement.”

“They called in a warning before they hit our air force,” Chris reminds him. “That shows restraint. They were concerned with avoiding casualties. That tells me they can be reasoned with.”

“They gave Eden Transit ninety seconds to clear out,” Lincoln says in contempt. “That’s not concern. That’s one step north of fuck you.”

“Come on. If he’s known to the State Department—maybe on their payroll?—he’s not going to—”

“We don’t know what his relationship to the State Department is, but I’m betting ‘deniable’ describes it. We are going to postpone the upcoming training session—”

Chris’s fist hits the table. “We cannot afford to do that! We will be liable for—”

Lincoln cuts him off. “Yes, we will be liable for costs! But we cannot take the risk that our clients will be targeted the same way the Hai-Lins were targeted, if Variant Forces decides to take it up a notch.”

Tamara leans in, lends her support. “Lincoln’s right. I don’t know if Shaw Walker or Variant Forces was behind the intrusion at True’s place. My gut instinct is that was a step up from the operation we encountered in the TEZ. Even so, if Variant Forces decides they want to scope us out, take a run at us, my guess is they have the personnel to pull it off.”

“So you think Variant Forces is more than Shaw Walker?” Chris asks. “You think he’s got his own development team?”

“Absolutely. We beat them in that dogfight but if we had to do it over again—”

“If we could do it over again,” Renata interrupts in a bitter tone.

“Where’s a renegade company like that going to find quality talent?” Jameson wants to know.

“Anywhere,” Tamara tells him. “Everywhere. We’re used to the university system. We expect the best programmers to come out of the best schools—but it’s not always that way. To be really good at this stuff, you’ve got to have a mind wired for it, and you’ve got to be confident in your abilities and, sometimes, willing to take chances. Those traits can show up anywhere, including the ungoverned territories.”

“I’m going to guess ‘right action’ is not their company motto,” Chris says acidly.

Tamara shrugs. “I’ve seen people in this country explain away what looks to me like inexcusable behavior. But morality aside, Walker is running a successful operation that almost certainly relies on wildcat talent with no accountability. I imagine his people are not overly concerned about mistakes. So a few bystanders get killed; so what? They just update the system and move on to the next job. An attitude like that will produce breakthroughs at a faster pace than a highly educated team working under the general liability of a big defense contractor. That’s why, in my opinion, wildcat systems are game changers.”

“More reason,” Lincoln says, “that we need to handle this straight up and handle it now. First we assess, confirm the identity of our enemy, and evaluate his resources. Then we go after him.”

“You’re going to hunt down Shaw Walker?” Chris asks in a harshly skeptical tone. “That’s where you want to focus our resources? And if you find him, what? You planning to bring him home?”

“Yes,” Lincoln affirms. “One way or another. We don’t leave anyone behind.”