New Arizona – February 26, 2506
“Who do you think I am? I’m not some thick school kid, just out of his nappies.”
“Please Mr Tormaine, I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Montgomery Tormaine slapped a brown envelope on the desk in front of the frightened man. Tormaine was a small man, only five feet five inches tall. What he lacked in height, he made up for in weight. He was a massive sixteen stone. He’s a dangerous psychopath, with a tendency and a liking for violence. People would not have considered him to be a powerful man, but that was exactly what he was. He was the leader of a criminal syndicate. A powerful crime syndicate that had taken control of New Arizona.
It had been six years since the last sightings of Larna Fox had been reported. The syndicate was considered to be the opposition council, standing against the council which sought to build New Arizona and the protection force field after the nuclear explosion, in the year 2000, had destroyed the planet and made living on the surface of the planet impossible. The nuclear explosion had caused a number of changes. Because temperatures were a lot lower, the human metabolic rate had slowed, slowing the ageing process into seven orbital years for every ageing year. People now had two ages, Erayears, which were how old they were in future time and Chronoyears, which is their age in orbital terms. The ozone layer had been destroyed by the radiation from the nuclear bombs. However, due to the large amount of smog and atomic fallout, the sun’s rays were blocked out. The surface of the planet returned to an ice age. The once great cities of the Earth were turned into Ice tombs. All plant life and animal life froze to death. This syndicate was looking to take over complete control of New Arizona. It already ran black markets in slave trading, food, weapons and other illegal substances. He gave out so called business loans to people. This was why he was standing in front of this man right now. This man had failed to keep up with his repayments. Montgomery stood, hands on hips, waiting. The man slowly reached out for the envelope. Montgomery did not move. The man slipped his finger under the flap of the envelope and pulled out a wafer thin, clear plastic sheet. On it, words and figures were etched. The man looked down at the figures, his mouth slowly falling open. Montgomery looked around the small, under decorated apartment.
“That’s quite a lot of money that you owe me Mr Lewis.”
“How did the amount get this high? I only borrowed ten new dolans.”
“Interest, my dear Mr Lewis. You now owe me one thousand. Pay now, or face the consequence.”
“Consequence?”
“Death Mr Lewis. Death. Now, I’m trying to find something that might pay off your debts. Unfortunately, there is nothing of much value in this place.”
Suddenly the computerised door slid open with a hiss. Tormaine turned his head slowly. Standing in the doorway was a huge man, well over seven feet tall. The figure was in fact Tormaine’s mandroid servant Lenon. Lenon was created using the same blueprints as Liam. The cyborg from Larna’s fourth adventure through time. Lenon was, however, passive, and not trained to harm anyone unless so ordered by Tormaine. That was one advantage of being in the crime syndicate. They could obtain anything that they wanted. All the new technology, all the new designs. Tormaine turned his attention to the tiny figure being held by Lenon.
“And who do we have here?”
Lenon moved into the light, dragging his prisoner with him. Lewis tried to get to his feet. He was stopped by a forceful push from Tormaine. Lenon threw the tiny figure to the floor. The figure landed at Tormaine’s feet. It was a woman. A fine, beautiful young woman.
Tormaine knelt down on one knee. He grabbed a handful of the long, flowing blonde hair and lifted the woman’s head up with a gentle tug. He gave a long whistle when he saw her face. He glanced at Lenon, who immediately walked over and lifted the young woman to her feet. The woman did not try to fight, she knew that it was useless. Tormaine turned Lewis.
“I think I’ve just found the one thing of true value that you have.”
“Please, you can’t take my daughter. She’s all that I live for.”
“Well that’s the choice for you then Mr Lewis. You can either die and we take your daughter, or you can live and we take your daughter as full payment for your debts. Just think, I won’t have to pay you another visit. Ever.”
Lewis looked at the frightened woman being held by the hair by Lenon. The girl pleaded with her father with pitiful eyes.
“Please daddy, do something.”
Tormaine lent across the desk. On the flat surfaces of the desk was a security screen showing the view of the front doors. Tormaine noticed that the door was being surrounded by police officers. He looked up from the screen to Lewis.
“That was very stupid Lewis.”
“I had to do something, I couldn’t just let you take my daughter without some sort of resistance.”
“Well that resistance has just cost you your life.”
Tormaine turned and looked at Lenon. Lenon released his grip on the woman, brought his hand down to his side and pulled out his laser gun. Before the woman could get in the way Lenon fired three times, blasting Lewis back. The chair toppled over backwards, sending Lewis crashing to the floor. The woman screamed. Tormaine stopped her from going to her father by grabbing her around the waist. He pushed her back to Lenon.
“Take her back to my place and get her re-programmed. Once she’s programmed to forget all the events of her life so far, programme her with a sense of being a good, obedient wife, transport her over to my half brother on the other side of the city. She can be his birthday present. Now go.”
Lenon pushed a button on his wrist before grabbing the girl’s wrist. They both disappeared a second later. Tormaine looked at the security screen.
“Time to go and say hello to the nice police officers.”
He pushed a button on the wrist control pad he was wearing and disappeared from the apartment.
He appeared almost instantaneously outside the front of the building. He was standing right in front of the Police Commander.
“Commander Aspel,” Tormaine said with a small grin on his face, “You didn’t have to come down here and congratulate me in person, but thank you for doing so.”
“I haven’t come down here to congratulate you. I’m here to arrest you for murder and kidnapping.”
“You and I both know that that is impossible. While I’m in the elections for the General Council, I cannot be arrested. What did they used to call it, Diplomatic Immunity?”
“The election results are just being broadcast. The moment you have lost, I’ll arrest your ass and transport you to Antarticus instantly.”
“IF I lose.”
On a giant craft far above the ground, two large electronic screens sparked into action. The craft was known as a ‘Broadcaster’. As there was no television stations being run, the Broadcaster was used to transmit news all over New Arizona. Tom, Tormaine, and the other police officers all fell silent.
It was a lady presenter who was the first to appear. She was glamour itself. She had to be, she was the face of New Arizona.
“Now here with the General Council elections, it’s Bob Greenburg.”
A bald, old man replaced the woman’s face.
“Good evening citizens of New Arizona, there have been some major shocks in the voting results today. In section one, Justice Tormaine defeated Council Member James Ammer. In section two, Fredrick Jason has defeated Council Member Sam White. And in section three, the major shock of the day, Council President Larna Beaumont has been beaten by Montgomery Tormaine, who becomes the new President of the New Arizona General Council.”
Tom looked at Tormaine. His mouth dropping wide open. Tormaine just smiled. He started to shake his head.
“Now gentlemen, if you do not want to lose your jobs, I suggest that you go out and catch some real criminals, and stop bothering the President of your General Council.”
“I’ll make sure that you get what’s coming to you Monty Tormaine.”
“My dear Commander, you couldn’t even give me a ticket for foul language, you jack ass piece of shit.”
Tormaine laughed deeply as he pushed the button on his control pad and disappeared. Tom slammed his fist into his leg.
“Jesus, there are sometimes I wish Larna Fox was still around to handle stuff like this.”
Tormaine sank into his big leather chair, swinging his feet up and around on to the top of the desk. The big screen in front of him flashed a message up. ‘Incoming message’. Tormaine dropped his feet off the desk.
“On screen.”
A face immediately appeared on the large viewer. Justice Tormaine was a lot younger than his half brother, but his looks were just about the same. Deep, Italian almost, dark looks that would have been pretty if they were not such bad boys.
“Well brother, congratulations.”
“I understand we are now the new General Council President. Way to go. And, thanks for the present.”
“You like her then.”
“She’s perfect. Where’d you get the bitch?”
“Secrets now Justice. I just thought she’d be a nice congratulations present.”
“You were a bit forward in sending her before the result broadcast.”
“No one will find out.” Tormaine said as he gave a sheepish grin.
“I hope you’re right. I’ll talk to you soon bro, I’ve got a little BUSINESS to take care off, if you know what I mean.” Justice said, ending in a hearty laugh.
Tormaine just smiled as he gave the command.
“Screen off.”
Lenon appeared in the doorway.
“I am sorry to disturb you sir, but there is someone here to see you.”
“That’s okay Lenon, nothing can upset me now.” Tormaine paused when he saw the figure standing beside Lenon, “I was wrong. What are you doing here?”
The woman stormed into the room and slapped a clear plastic sheet down on the desk.
“This is why I’m here. I thought we had a deal you slimy son of a bitch.”
“One date is not what I’d call a deal. A deal is when you sign over your life to me.”
“There is no way I’m going to do that and you know that.”
“Miss Jackson, you’re father owes me a lot of money.”
Miss Jackson was around twenty-five. She was not unattractive, yet she seemed to put off any male interest, probably because she had a fierce temper. Her figure was impressive, but then all the women in the future were either well built, or perfectly built. There were no ugly women for some reason. Tormaine relaxed in his chair, looking at the fierce lady in front of her.
“You know, you’re the sort of woman who gives women a bad name. I’ll tell you what I’ll do for you. I’ll give you a fifty fifty chance of clearing your father’s debt.”
“What’s the catch?”
“The catch is, if you fail, you have to sign your life over to me. Become my maid, my slave, whatever you want to call it.”
Miss Jackson thought for a moment.
“What do I have to do?”
Tormaine turned to the panel behind him.
“Helmet.”
In the space beside the panel a small helmet appeared. It was a helmet, similar in design to a bicycle helmet. Tormaine turned back around and handed the grey helmet to Miss Jackson.
“It’s a game of sorts. You go over to that little room,” Tormaine pointed to a cubicle the size of public convenience cubicle. “And get changed into the virtua-suit. The cubicle will then turn into a game arena. The game is set in an old castle, run by a baron who tortures his female visitors with the sole purpose of enhancing their sexual arousal. You’ve got to escape from the dungeon cell, then from the dungeon and finally from the castle. If you managed to escape the castle then the debt will be cleared. If, however, you get caught, or find that the game is too much for you, then you sign over your life. Have we got a deal?”
“All I have to do is beat the game.”
Tormaine nodded. Miss Jackson looked towards the little room.
“There’s got to be a catch.”
“The only catch is that you lose, you lose your freedom.”
Miss Jackson got to her feet. Tormaine watched her walk across the room to the little room.
“Of course we’ve got a deal.”
“Great. Now all you’ve got to do is get changed into the virtua-suit. The suit will simulate every single response that the game gives you. You may enjoy some of them.”
Miss Jackson just gave a wry smile as she stepped into the room. Tormaine waited until the door had closed before telling the computer what to do.
“Computer, set the game for level five.”
Tormaine laughed as he looked at the room.
“She’s going to enjoy this.”
A moment later Lenon walked into the room with a pile of small compact discs. They were about the two inches in diameter. He went across to the large screen on the wall facing the desk. He immediately pushed one of the discs into the slot beneath the screen.
“Let’s see what you’ve got for me this time. I hope they’re better than the last lot that you found.” Tormaine said with a sigh.
“I think you will find the one you are looking for in this bunch sir.” Lenon paused as he turned to the screen, “Load data.” Another pause followed while the computer loaded the data from the first disc. When a picture and file information came up on the screen Lenon started to talk, “The first option is Lalena Travis. She is eighteen—”
“No good. Next.” Tormaine interrupted.
The picture changed. Tormaine moved forward in his seat when he saw the face staring back at him. Lenon started to explain.
“Oh, I am sorry sir this is the wrong file. This is the police secret agent file. I will put up the next one.”
“WAIT. Who is she?”
“Sir, she is Larna Fox. Surely you remember sir.”
“Remember.” Tormaine said looking at Lenon with bewilderment.
“Larna Fox is the woman suspected of killing your wife. However, we also have certain information that suggests that she helped keep your family alive when Liam, the cyborg project you financed, tried to kill them all.”
“Really. Give me more information on this Fox.”
“Well she is twenty one Erayears old.”
“Hologram on.” Tormaine said quietly.
Immediately a hologramatic image of Larna was beamed to the middle of the room from the side of the screen.
“She is five feet eleven inches tall. Nine stone. Personal stats of 36B-24-35. Long auburn hair with a white streak running right down the middle. Hazel eyes. No qualifications. She did not finish school.”
Tormaine stared at the face of the hologramatic figure standing in front of him. He could not take his eyes off her gorgeous features, which held a close resemblance to the actress Hudson Leick.
“Tell me more.”
Lenon looked at the computer screen.
“Access data file. Larna Fox.”
‘Please state your PC rating.’
“PC2.”
“Access denied.”
Lenon turned to face Tormaine. Tormaine got to his feet. He walked around the desk and up to the hologram. He stared right into the hologram’s eyes.
“This must be some sort of woman to have her personal file protected by a PC1 rating. Who is she?”
“I think that this is the right time to use the PC1 rating password that we have.
“Do it.”
“Access data file. Larna Fox.”
‘Please state your PC rating.’
“PC1.”
‘Please state security password.’
“PGC coming home.”
“Access granted.”
Tormaine grinned widely. Lenon looked at the screen.
“Larna Fox was put with a foster family when she was ten. Her parents were killed in a freak transporter accident. When she was fourteen she killed her foster father with a chair.”
Tormaine turned his head with surprise.
“A chair.”
“According this file, she smacked him over the head with it.”
“Nice girl.”
“She ran away after that. Apparently an old man found her. Trained her in marital arts, weapons. When the old man was killed by a gang attack she went on to the streets. The tattoo on the right side of her neck, signify Eternal Devotion in Chinese, is in memory of her husband. She became the streets best assassin. Twenty confirmed kills. She could hit a target from over two miles away in high winds. The best shot in New Arizona.”
“Looking at this record, there is no way that she shot my wife by mistake. If she were aiming for me, which the assassin obviously would have been, she would have hit me. No, I think that my wife was the target that day. I don’t know why?”
“Larna could have missed.”
“I wasn’t the target. I think Larna holds a light for me.”
“I do not understand you sir?”
“She saved my relatives from Liam. She killed my wife, instead of me. Could it be that she loves me? Tell me Lenon, where is she? I want her to be my wife.”
“I do not think that that is such a good idea. She is not the type to be ordered around.”
“I don’t give a damn about that, if the need arises we can re- programme the bitch. Just find her.”
“That is going to be the problem sir. According to this file a man called Craig Jordan abducted her. They disappeared through time and have never been seen since.”
Tormaine turned away from the hologram.
“Okay, I want you to go down to the SAT Laboratory and check out where they were last seen. Once you’ve done that get back here, I’ll give you further orders when you’ve done that.”
A few hours later Lenon walked back into Tormaine’s office.
“Well?” Tormaine said immediately.
“It seems that they were last reported to be in Belfast, 1995.”
“That’s good. Go back in time and get her.”
“There is a new problem.”
Tormaine looked up from the computer screen on his desk. Lenon took that as a signal to continue.
“According to newspaper reports around that time, there was a warehouse explosion. A woman was found outside the warehouse. She was suffering from permanent amnesia. There is a one hundred percent certainty that that woman was Larna Fox. Two bodies were found inside the warehouse, but they were too badly burnt to be identified.”
“Where’s Larna now then?”
“She is recovering in a Convalescence Home called Summer Meadows. She cannot remember a thing.”
“I don’t care what condition she’s in. With the MRP we can soon restore her memory. I want you to go back to just after the explosion and find her before the cops do.”
“Sir, if I do that then the newspaper report of her discovery will not be recorded. A paradox will have been caused.”
“Okay, then get her from the nursing home.”
“That will not be easy.”
“Nothing is ever easy. Listen, you know the time period. You know her location. Go get her. I don’t care how hard it is.”
“I have got a plan.”
“Good, then go. Bring Larna Fox to me.”
Larna is considered to be the perfect wife. She does not think so, especially when she finds out that the person wanting to marry her was her one time assassination target. Larna escapes through time to the year 10,076.