The Drone Keeper: A Dystopian Crime Mystery Thriller (Watch the Wreckage Book 1) Read online

  Steve ignored that last part and took another swig of his beer and this time he thought it tasted better than the last time.

  “So, what are you working on that you can share? You gotta give a little too, mate.”

  Steve nodded. “Well, I’m sure you can guess most of my job. I receive the orders and complete the tasks. That’s pretty much the bulk of it. Nothing too exciting.”

  “A lot of package deliveries, huh?”

  Steve laughed. His shoulders went up and down an odd number. A smile on his face. He knew how to fake it. “Something like that.”

  They each took another swig but kept their eyes on one another.

  “Any ah, new projects?”

  “Ah…it’s more of a hobby actually.”

  “Yah?”

  “This area…there used to be an ocean here a long, long time ago but not so long ago there were a lot of bats in this area too.”

  “Those were the mammal bird like creatures, right. Kind of creepy.”

  “Yeah, something like that. They were cool though. Mammals flying through the air.”

  “Wasn’t it more like controlled falling. They didn’t actually fly.”

  “They did. They flew. You’re thinking of flying squirrels,” he smiled. “I’ve studied bats because of the drones and used some technology they used. For instance, bats used echolocation to determine distance, speed, and direction to hunt for prey. They ate their weight in insects and other pests every day.”

  “But carried rabies,” Kevin pointed a finger.

  Nodding. “Only about ten percent of them.”

  “What happened to them? What wiped them out?”

  “Same story, different species. They had sensitive colonies. One bat infected with a virus and the whole colony died off. No one really knows. But I honestly think it’s just evolution. You know?”

  “So, what does that have to do with your hobbies?”

  “Oh, yeah. I get sidetracked. I think it’s possible that a few of them might still be around. I haven’t seen exact signs, but the habitat here indicates it’s possible. You haven’t seen any signs of life?”

  He was laughing under his breath as he took another sip. “You’re kidding me, right? I can’t even find cactus in the cliffs. This place is dead, just like the rest of it.” He pointed again at the new world in the window. “It’s what they’re after right? Only we don’t get a ticket.”

  Steve knew the beer took down some inhabitations. He waved his hand and nodded briskly.

  Kevin shook his head and waved him away. “They’re not…they’re not concerned about us. …can say whatever the hell we want to say,” his voice becoming louder with each word.

  “Well, I think I should get going.” Steve said and began walking back to the kitchen.

  “So, wait, you should really be careful walking around here by yourself. I’m serious. It could get dangerous. There’s hardly any light anymore. And we don’t really know what’s out there. Don’t be a stranger. Come back again!” he’d yelled as Steve kept walking.

  He’d waved goodbye but didn’t turn around. He’d only drank half the beer but felt the effects too much as he neared the crop room, bright lights, and the odd bird netting enclosure. Stopping for a second, he looked around and remembered the exact spot where the Velcro door was hidden. It was best not to ask questions; he still could not get out of his mind why there was bird netting surrounding the place. But as the gravel crunched under his shoes and he walked from the light into the dark, he realized…the netting wasn’t for birds exactly…but perhaps something else with wings.

  CHAPTER 3

  It was the first time he’d woken with a hangover in at least a decade. His temples throbbed and when he tried to focus. He noticed the too-bright light pouring in through the windows. Sitting up, he squinted. He still could not figure out what the hell that incessant noise was, and then he realized what it was…what it had been all along. It was Anabelle. Still, he didn’t hurry. Sitting on the edge of his bed, still fully clothed, he bent over and rubbed his temples and stared at his shoes. What in the hell simulated the alcohol effect in that beer? Then it hit him…it wasn’t the simulated alcohol that was giving him the headache…it was the simulated induced hangover to keep people from drinking too much. We could have done without that little party.

  “I said, where are you? Steeeve…answer me!”

  He groaned again, rubbing his forehead. This could not be happening. He pulled up the latches on his shoes while he was down there and shoved them off. Multi-tasking…it was a good thing.

  “I’m here…” he yelled. “I’m right here.” His head hurt so much more when he spoke.

  “I don’t see you!”

  “I’m busy.”

  “Wait…what were you doing? This isn’t like you. Are you okay? Are you sick? Do I run a diagnostic?”

  “No…no, don’t do that. I’m fine.”

  “You left last night. You left the building. I saw that but figured you went on one of your walks. But you came back and then nothing. You didn’t check in. You know you must do that. And I was worried. I must report when you deviate from the routine. You know that, Steve.”

  “Wait, wait…no. You don’t have to do that. I was on off-time.” He walked into the kitchen then, so she could see him, and she gasped.

  “You’re…you’re rumpled. You slept in your clothes, didn’t you?

  “So…I just fell asleep. There’s no crime in that,” but then his head pounded more with each word, and he waved her down a little with his hand and grimaced again.

  “What…are you hurt?” She looked harder through the screen. “Did you get injured? Or something”

  “Shhh,” he said.

  “Oh my god, I know what this is.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t,” he warned her with a wagging finger. “Don’t say it.”

  “You drank alcohol. Where did you get alcohol?”

  “No wonder you’re divorced. I can see why. Can we…talk about this another time, please.”

  “Seriously, you never drink. You have alcohol poisoning.”

  He swallowed, “And now the whole system knows. Thank you, thank you for that.”

  “Well, it’s not against the laws. But it’s frowned upon.”

  “Can we just get on with things, please?”

  She didn’t say anything but just stared at him with her disapproving look. Her black hair, straight as a rod, not a strand out of place. Her glasses always reflected whatever light she had on in front of her to the left. Although come to think of it, she always had a light on. Was it always dark where she was? He still wasn’t convinced she wasn’t an AI.

  “No. No…I think you need to clean up first. Take an hour. We can cut your break later. Or you can make it up on your own time. Not that you need more personal time. You get yourself in too much trouble.”

  “Can we? That would be great. I’ll…” but she was already gone. Puffed out in a flash. “Okay then, I’ve got an hour.”

  He shuffled off to the shower, and after depositing his clothes into the decontamination bin, the bright white lights flashed, letting him know the process had started. Then he stood underneath the shower nozzle and closed his eyes tight. Though it wasn’t terribly bright, he wasn’t ready for the vitamin D light yet this morning. And in a glow of a lavender beam, he went through the routine of scrubbing and rinsing. When the tone rang, he didn’t linger past the warning bell or risk the cold spray. In less than five minutes, he stepped out and dried off, retrieved his refreshed clothes from the bin, and then wanted coffee and something to eat to settle his stomach before Anabelle returned. But it was smoothie day…and just the thought of chugging down a green smoothie made him gag. So instead, he traded the automatic meal selector option for a breakfast bar and called it good. If he could drink more than three cups of coffee…he wouldn’t strangle anyone or light them on fire because that was how he felt, not that there was anyone around to injure. But then again, there was
the guy down the road that poisoned him in the first place…

  Instead of plotting revenge, he tipped his mug and ripped another bite from his bar and realized he had the capability of reaching out and touching anyone, really. Then, of course, there was that pesky ex-wife of his…

  “Are you done?”

  Sometimes he was scared that Anabelle could read his thoughts. But so, what if she was an AI and was also somehow inside his mind…there were privacy laws against biohacking neurochips. Still, like everything…laws were made to be broken.

  “Hi, you need to warn a person before you just show up like that. You know that. There used to be these things called social graces, Anabelle. You may have heard of them. Perhaps look them up…”

  She cut him off, “And they went extinct along with manners… Are you ready to get to work, or do you need more personal time?”

  He took the last bite of his bar and another large swig of coffee. “Yes, of course. And thank you for your consideration this morning.”

  “Well, you look like you’re back to normal. If you don’t make it a habit, I won’t report it.”

  She said it so under her breath, he didn’t think he needed to remark on the fact that he’d done nothing illegal and…she worked for him, not the other way around.

  “We have five assignments today and three missions.”

  “That’s quite a lot in one day. Someone’s busy. All for the Company? Or private contractors?”

  “A little of both.”

  “Then we need to get started, or we’ll be here all night.” He went to the wall of screens and first noted the local conditions outside the window and then checked the list of assignments for the day. And then some movement out the window caught his eye again while Anabelle continued about the first mission. “Anabelle, did you say there was a storm coming. Are we expecting rain?”

  “No,” she said somewhat defensively because she was never wrong in the morning weather briefings. It wasn’t that they couldn’t deploy in inclement weather, and sometimes it worked in their favor depending on the mission. Still, it wasn’t expected, and that was the problem. Because things were moving out there. And the second time Steve looked, they were moving even more. Scrub brush vibrated, and what looked like desiccated remains of ancient cactus picked up and blew several feet away and then landed again. “There is clearly….”

  “I…I know what it is. It’s not the weather. You’re receiving a visit today. I forgot to tell you.”

  “What? You forg…you don’t forget…. things.” But that’s when the door chimed, and Steve made a face at her on the screen as he passed by, and she made a face back at him as he left.

  The door chimed three more times before he opened it. “Hi, Randolph. I’m surprised to see you here.”

  “I made an appointment with your, ah, person.”

  “You mean, Anabelle?”

  “If that’s what her name is. Are you going to let me in?”

  “I’m thinking, no.”

  “I’m your lawyer, Steve. You can’t just leave me outside.”

  Steve scoffed, left the door open, and went back inside, leaving Randolph on the ledge with a questioning look on his face.

  “What do I….”

  “Just shut the door behind you,” Steve yelled over his shoulder. “And make it quick. I’ve got work to do and I’m already behind schedule.”

  Back in the kitchen, Steve’s hand was out, reaching for his cup of coffee before he even reached the island. Then he realized the container wasn’t warm enough, and nothing was worse than mediocre cold coffee on a day with a hangover. So, he looked up at Annabel on the screen. “Give us ten minutes.”

  She nodded and puffed away.

  On the way to the coffee dispenser, he caught sight of Randolph. “You want a cup?”

  “Never touch the stuff, you beastly savage. It’s not real anyway.”

  Steve shook his head and wondered if everyone had an annoying lawyer in their life. It could not be a good thing to have one that visited you when he was bored.

  “Is this an official appointment?” Steve asked as the coffee machine poured another cup for him while searching the cupboard for a spare coffee mug. He wasn’t sure he had one now that he thought of it.

  “You mean, official for you or official for me?” Randolph said.

  He found another mug up on the second shelf, just out of reach, and grabbed a long spoon to nudge it forward. Finally, in his hand, he said a little harsher than he intended, “I don’t care…why are you here?”

  “You know, you should try those new positivity apps.”

  Steve took his coffee out of the dispenser window and put the empty mug in its place and pressed the button.

  Then he looked at Randolph and raised an eyebrow with a menacing expression. “Ex-wife or Company? Spit it out.”

  Randolph put his hands up. “Company. Ex-wife is remarried…you should be off the hook there.”

  “Whew,” Steve said. “Dodged that bullet. Here’s your cup.”

  Randolph put his hands up, “I said I didn’t drink it.”

  “I went through all that trouble. Drink it. I don’t care if you’ve developed scruples suddenly. You’re a lawyer. You’re stuck with a certain amount of dishonesty. It’s embedded in your DNA.” He shook his head.

  “Okay, okay,” Randolph said, accepting the mug.

  Steve tipped his head to the porch and held back the screen opening for him to follow. Outside, it was hazy…all except for the mirage above. The new world was always gallingly crystal clear, no matter the weather.

  Randolph held his coffee mug up to the image. “When are they going to finish that thing?”

  “I don’t know. Why does it matter? We’re not going.”

  “True,” Randolph said and sat down when Steve also found a seat.

  “What’s this about?”

  “Okay, it boils down to exclusivity. So, the Company wants you to terminate the other contracts.”

  Steve took another sip of coffee and said, “I’ll make this easy for everyone involved. The answer’s no.”

  “Steve, Okay, I hear you but don’t be too hasty, think….”

  “See how easy this is. You asked me a question, and I gave you an answer, and now you can get back into your little helicopter or whatever brought you here and go back to your little office in Seattle. Easy. Done.”

  “Not that easy. There’s a dollar amount attached to this offer. All you must do is say Randolph, I hereby sign the Company contract in your own voice, and it’s done in an instant.

  “I know you’d love it if I said those words. The answer is hell no. Let me guess…there’s also a commission attached for you if I accept.”

  He cleared his throat and said under his breath. “Not exactly a commission.”

  Steve shook his head but smiled and sipped again while looking up at the imprint of the new world.

  “You know this is just like you accepting watches from that old man whose son died. Each promotion you got; he gave you a new watch. That wasn’t right. Not exactly against the rules, but somewhere in the unwritten rules of humanity, that was wrong, and you know it. You took advantage of the situation. To question your integrity…too easy my friend.”

  “It’s a gray area. There's nothing wrong with accepting gifts from clients.”

  “Yes…yes, there is. That’s my point. Especially if the client is elderly, rich, and trying to replace a dead child or offer a stipend for doing your job. That’s the difference between you and me, Randolph.”

  “My moral failings aside…please consider their offer.”

  “I said no.”

  “You haven’t even seen the contract. So how can you say no?”

  “I have agreements with my freelance contracts. I don’t need to go exclusive. I make plenty without the Company’s exclusivity restraints.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t. Think of your friends, man.”

  Steve chuckled at that. Randolph never made eno
ugh. “Do you have gambling debts I don’t know about or something?”

  “Something like that, here look,” Randolph said, and before he could repeat no, Randolph opened a screen projected from his phone.

  “I’m not reading that.”

  “You don’t have to. I’ll read it to you…actually, just look at this.” He circled a figure at the bottom of the page. “See…yeah?”

  It was a significant amount. More than Steve imagined. But that also worried him. “It’s not about the money, man. Listen, look at that planet. It’s all pristine. No failings yet. It’s like a fresh newborn. It smells nice. There’s no trash. The water…can you imagine the water? You can drink right from a stream without dysentery. The animals are back. No gorgeous sunsets…but no pollution either.”

  “I like the sunsets,” Randolph said like a whining child.

  “Me too. But you know what, it’s still all a lie. That whole thing. The Company built that, too. Contracts don’t mean anything. People died for those contracts. I’m not going to sign. I don’t care what proposal you come back with next week or the week after that or how fat that number gets. So, my answer’s no. If that phrase ever comes out of my mouth, you can bet, I’m desperate or out for vengeance.”

  The contract image faded above the phone slowly, and Randolph sat back in his chair and drank his coffee while he stared up at the new world. “It’s a shame we don’t get to go there.”

  “Why would you want to?”

  Randolph sighed. “Because it’s all brand new…like you said.”

  “Nah…we just got this one all worn in. Don’t you see? It’s comfortable now.”

  “Yeah, but it’s dying.”

  “So are we.”

  Randolph did that smirk thing that meant he agreed.

  “I’ve got work to do. I’ll walk you out.”

  “Oh…kay,” Randolph said. “I’ll see you next week.”

  Steve smiled at the door as Randolph ran to his waiting helicopter. “Guy never quits.”