with another war on the way, this time with our ain folks?’
‘They forced me into a situation where it was run or die. I’m sorry I dragged you all into this but McShit knew what he was doing. I didn’t lie to him about what kind of people were after me.’
‘Aye, I ken that. I’m sure you can justify it to yourself. It just seems to me that all my pals died so even more people could die. Maybe it would’ve been better if only you’d died.’
He was doing a very good job of making me feel like shit; a very good job of adding to the creeping sense that I had betrayed people. What had I been expecting? That when the Cabal was found out they were just going to go quietly.
‘Only me and the girl?’ I asked.
He gave this some thought.
‘Aye, you and the lassie.’
‘That wasn’t going to happen.’ Though I’d thought about killing her myself. Putting her out of her misery before Rolleston got to her.
‘Your ex-special forces, aren’t you?’ Normally we didn’t answer, but if he’d looked me up then he knew. That made me wonder how angry the boys and girls at Hereford were with me at the moment. I probably shouldn’t go anywhere near any of the Regiment’s pubs in the near future. I nodded.
‘Some useful skills there. You going to fight in this mess that’s coming up?’
‘No. I’m out. Besides, maybe you’re right. I could end up just making things worse.’ I bent over the bike doing busy work, trying not to look at Robby, whose eyes seemed to be boring into me.
‘Gonnae play it safe and put a bullet through your heed?’
I straightened up and stared at him. ‘I’m sorry about your friends. What do you want from me?’
He stared at me for what seemed like a very long time.
‘Not a thing.’ He said each word very carefully. ‘I just wanted to come down here and get a look at you.’
Robby stood up and started walking away from me on the rain-slick superstructure. I watched him go. He didn’t look back.
I tipped the storage security guys. I could afford such largesse now. They seemed unimpressed.
I wasn’t going to fight. I was going camping. I went into the Ginza for the first time. I saw a group of teenagers wearing nothing but boxer shorts, string vests and cowboy boots. They looked cold and wet. Such was the price of fashion, I guessed. There were camping shops but it all seemed overpriced, over-engineered and frankly shit. I went down to the market by the river. I got myself some noodles from the best and most expensive noodle bar in the market and then went to a military surplus stall that I knew and got most of what I wanted there.
There were three more items I needed. One of them I had to get made up for me; another had to be downloaded from the net and burned onto a skillsoft chip; the third was going to take a bit more tracking down. I found what I was looking for again on the net. Under God’s reign I was leaving an easy trail to follow if anyone was angrier with me than Robby, but hopefully that would change. The final item would be delivered overnight.
I took the time to download some text files of books. I could read them on my IVD but it wasn’t the same. I also downloaded a lot of music: Coltrane, Davis, Gillespie, more. Having money for the first time ever, I was like a fat kid at the cake counter. I would have more than enough to keep me amused for ages. I killed a bit more time by buying some actual books, real old ones. They were expensive. I didn’t buy too many because I needed to be able to carry them. I also bought a few bottles of Glenmorangie. Good for keeping the chill out.
The final item arrived. I packed everything securely into bike bags and attached them to the Triumph. Using a machine like this as a beast of burden was a crying shame and would affect the handling, but sacrifices had to be made for my wilderness getaway.
It was still pissing down with rain and it was cold. I guided the bike through the busy ground traffic on the Perth Road,
‘They forced me into a situation where it was run or die. I’m sorry I dragged you all into this but McShit knew what he was doing. I didn’t lie to him about what kind of people were after me.’
‘Aye, I ken that. I’m sure you can justify it to yourself. It just seems to me that all my pals died so even more people could die. Maybe it would’ve been better if only you’d died.’
He was doing a very good job of making me feel like shit; a very good job of adding to the creeping sense that I had betrayed people. What had I been expecting? That when the Cabal was found out they were just going to go quietly.
‘Only me and the girl?’ I asked.
He gave this some thought.
‘Aye, you and the lassie.’
‘That wasn’t going to happen.’ Though I’d thought about killing her myself. Putting her out of her misery before Rolleston got to her.
‘Your ex-special forces, aren’t you?’ Normally we didn’t answer, but if he’d looked me up then he knew. That made me wonder how angry the boys and girls at Hereford were with me at the moment. I probably shouldn’t go anywhere near any of the Regiment’s pubs in the near future. I nodded.
‘Some useful skills there. You going to fight in this mess that’s coming up?’
‘No. I’m out. Besides, maybe you’re right. I could end up just making things worse.’ I bent over the bike doing busy work, trying not to look at Robby, whose eyes seemed to be boring into me.
‘Gonnae play it safe and put a bullet through your heed?’
I straightened up and stared at him. ‘I’m sorry about your friends. What do you want from me?’
He stared at me for what seemed like a very long time.
‘Not a thing.’ He said each word very carefully. ‘I just wanted to come down here and get a look at you.’
Robby stood up and started walking away from me on the rain-slick superstructure. I watched him go. He didn’t look back.
I tipped the storage security guys. I could afford such largesse now. They seemed unimpressed.
I wasn’t going to fight. I was going camping. I went into the Ginza for the first time. I saw a group of teenagers wearing nothing but boxer shorts, string vests and cowboy boots. They looked cold and wet. Such was the price of fashion, I guessed. There were camping shops but it all seemed overpriced, over-engineered and frankly shit. I went down to the market by the river. I got myself some noodles from the best and most expensive noodle bar in the market and then went to a military surplus stall that I knew and got most of what I wanted there.
There were three more items I needed. One of them I had to get made up for me; another had to be downloaded from the net and burned onto a skillsoft chip; the third was going to take a bit more tracking down. I found what I was looking for again on the net. Under God’s reign I was leaving an easy trail to follow if anyone was angrier with me than Robby, but hopefully that would change. The final item would be delivered overnight.
I took the time to download some text files of books. I could read them on my IVD but it wasn’t the same. I also downloaded a lot of music: Coltrane, Davis, Gillespie, more. Having money for the first time ever, I was like a fat kid at the cake counter. I would have more than enough to keep me amused for ages. I killed a bit more time by buying some actual books, real old ones. They were expensive. I didn’t buy too many because I needed to be able to carry them. I also bought a few bottles of Glenmorangie. Good for keeping the chill out.
The final item arrived. I packed everything securely into bike bags and attached them to the Triumph. Using a machine like this as a beast of burden was a crying shame and would affect the handling, but sacrifices had to be made for my wilderness getaway.
It was still pissing down with rain and it was cold. I guided the bike through the busy ground traffic on the Perth Road,
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