Read Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) Online
Authors: Alex Siegel
Involuntary Control (Gray Spear Society) (45 page)
Doolittle forced himself to smile at the girls. They were pretty in a foreign way, although he much preferred American women.
"That's a nice necklace," he said. "Which sister are you?"
The girl wearing the diamond necklace responded, "It's a family heirloom. Bethany."
"It's real?"
"Yes." Her voice was strangely lacking in emotion.
"What do you do for Aaron?" he said. "What are your skills?"
"We're computer hackers."
Bethany and Leanna approached Doolittle cautiously. Aaron stayed with them step for step. The woman with the red hair and the knives was one pace behind him. Clearly, the escorts were acting as bodyguards for the girls. Any trouble would be dealt with swiftly.
"Every team needs those," Doolittle said. "I'm sorry about your dead friend, but his passing served a noble purpose."
Both sisters had the same puzzled expression. It was creepy how they unconsciously mimicked each other. Bethany still carried the .22 caliber gun, but she wasn't holding it properly.
"What purpose?" Leanna said in a voice that was exactly the same as her sister's.
"The world is in chaos. Crime and sedition are rampant. Our natural resources are being depleted every day. It's time somebody imposed order."
"Somebody like you?"
"Why not?" Doolittle shrugged. "I have the leadership skills and experience."
"You're a monster," Bethany said. "We read about your history. You want to turn the world into a prison camp."
"Prison camps are orderly places. Work gets done. People are clothed and fed. They have a bed every night. I've spent time in prison camps, and they're not as bad as you think. The best thing about my technology is everybody will be satisfied. They won't miss their lost freedoms at all."
"You want order?"
"I want control," Doolittle said. "Total control."
"Total control is the elimination of entropy," Bethany said.
"Without entropy there is no heat," Leanna said.
"And without heat, there is no life."
"Even an
idiot
knows that!"
Bethany pointed her small pistol at Doolittle's forehead. "Let's do this together."
Leanna held the grip with her sister.
"No!" Doolittle yelled.
The gun fired and a bullet hit his shoulder. The tiny .22 caliber round didn't penetrate deeply, but it hurt like hell.
"Relax," Aaron said. "Gently squeeze the trigger, just like I taught you."
Doolittle tried to roll out of the way. Another bullet struck him in the back.
"Aim for the skull," Aaron said calmly.
The twins pulled the trigger again, and a bullet tore into Doolittle's jaw. He spat out teeth.
"Try again," Aaron said.
The twins fired rapidly until the gun clicked empty. Bullets peppered Doolittle's neck, back, and arms. Excruciating pain made him cry out.
Aaron chuckled. "That was the worst shooting I've ever seen, but it's OK. You made a sincere effort, and that's good enough this time. I wanted to administer the coup de grâce anyway." He took a tiny black device out of his pocket and held it in front of Doolittle's injured face. "Recognize this."
"An implant," Doolittle mumbled around a mouth full of blood.
"It came out of my brain. It seems fair it should go into yours. Of course I don't have your fancy surgical robots. I just have this shotgun."
Aaron dropped the implant into the shotgun. He leaned down and pressed the wide barrel against Doolittle's forehead.
"No," he whispered. "Please."
"When you meet God," Aaron said, "deliver a message for me. Tell Him I'm sorry. I wasn't good enough this time. Too many innocent people died because I was careless and slow. Next time I'll do much better. Next time I'll make Him proud."
He fired both barrels.
THE END
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