Fowler grimaced. His ship had been his pride and joy. Without it, he’d be unable to recover escaped convicts within the system, those playing pirate or just in hiding. Being unable to recover those assets on behalf of the company meant lost profits as long as they were free. The company only earned revenue on prisoners actively being ‘rehabilitated’ in controlled colonies. And yes, he wouldn’t be able to defend the island against the damned cannibals when they came calling, except with his marines. If it had been that alone, they might have lived with it. After all, the vast majority of prisoners assigned to them were currently in the colony and hard at work, generating revenue.
But without a proper ship, the colony itself was largely defenceless from naval attack.
The MMO prison system was shared between several nations. More accurately, it was shared with other corporations in charge of prison management for their respective nations. And all those corporations competed within the MMO system for profits. Without a ship to protect the port and island colony of Barbados, a raid from another national corporation could result in heavy losses. Rivals could make off with prisoners and goods or cripple a colony’s production facilities, meaning the colony would produce less revenue. This could take months or years to recover from. But far, far worse — conquest by a rival could lose them the entire colony itself. That meant heavy financial losses, perhaps permanently. Expensive future investment would be required to retake it. The English company’s board would not be happy about that.
“You know as well as I do how the prison system works,” Harrington said, pointing his finger at Fowler. “The more prisoners we’re in control of, the more money we make. The more territory and colonies we control, the more power we have within the system, allowing us to gain control of even more prisoners, and therefore make more profits. The more profitable each colony is, the more money we make because it proves that we’re successfully rehabilitating our prisoners, or at least making good workers of them, training them to re-enter the real-world economy. Losing prisoners means losing profits. Losing an entire colony would hit our bottom line so hard that the board would string you up in the real world. Or throw you in chains in this one for the rest of your miserable life.”
As much as Fowler wanted to take his humiliation and anger out on this fat man standing in front of him, he did not want to get himself fired and then blacklisted forever within the prison industry. One misstep and he’d be a rent-a-cop somewhere, or a minimum-wage security guard, out in the real world.
He highly doubted that his wife, Emma, would be happy with such a dramatic change in income and status. Nor would she enjoy losing the incredibly luxurious home they enjoyed here in the system. She would be absolutely against going back back to some crummy flat in some low-income neighbourhood in London. This world might be digital, but for all intents and purposes it felt real, and the daily luxury that they lived in here would be completely out of reach in the real world.
No, Emma would not like going back. She’d made it quite clear that she preferred it here.
For that matter, so did he. He imagined giving up their sprawling mansion and estate in paradise, their servants and fine meals. Imagined returning to dreary, gray London, to traffic and smog, to overcrowded streets and subways, to taxes and monthly bills. To the occasional wet snowfall that filled the streets with slush.
No. This job was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He’d been working here for more than fifteen years now. He’d honed his body and mind, developing elite martial abilities that were no longer part of the modern world but which felt so deeply right to him, so masculine. Out there, he was another nameless and disposable cog in an uncaring economy. Here he was a warrior and a leader of men. Here, he excelled and he mattered.
And all that was in jeopardy now, thanks to that fucking bitch, Mei Ling.
He subtly breathed deep and centred himself. “Our defences are strong. I will immediately review them in detail. But I believe that we have more than enough canon and soldiers to fend off any average raid. The fort is well stocked. And I will do everything I can to outfit the sloop for action as well.”
“We shouldn’t have to, you idiot!”
Fowler bowed. It kept the involuntary disgust on his face from showing. Bloody hell, this man irritated him with his stupidity and outrageous outbursts. Then again, this was one mistake he couldn’t blame anyone for except himself. Well, and the soon-to-be unemployed moron who’d let Mei out of her cell. He had plans for Saxston. Painful ones. That is, if Harrington or the board didn’t get to him first, which they probably would. Saxston would likely find himself in the dungeon here with the worst of their prisoners, perhaps for years, regardless of the legality of it. Fowler spoke. “Again, my deepest apologies, Governor Harrington. I will see to it that the colony’s forces remain strong until we are once more back up to full strength.”
The other man harrumphed. But he seemed to have worked much of his anger out by this point. And Fowler’s pretence of calm humility seemed to be worked. He turned to look out the glass doors. “Yes, well. Rest assured that your position here, Fowler, is under the most intense of reviews. And you will continue to be for the foreseeable future. If I were you, I’d pray nightly that no-one applies for your position during the next few months or you’ll be applying for unemployment.”
“Understandable, sir.” Actually, it would be a foolish move. Fowler was one of the best captains in all the English colonies. He was highly profitable. They’d be short-sighted to let him go in anger. Then again, Harrington was a fool. And Fowler didn’t think much of the suits running the board either.
Harrington looked over his shoulder and arched a brow. “You have re-acquired her, I assume?” he asked. “She’s back in chains?”
They both knew full well that she wasn’t. “Not yet, sir. But with the extra crew and marines on hand, we will conduct a systematic sweep of the island. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Ha! With your level of incompetence, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she managed to find her way off this rock somehow.” His voice became mocking. “Maybe you admire the wench? Is that how she got away in the first place, Captain? Is that why you haven’t caught her yet? Do you like her? Do you admire the way she humiliated you and blew up your ship? Some men like that sort of thing, being stepped on by more powerful women. Being dominated.”
Fowler flinched.
Harrington saw that he’d wounded his subordinate and grinned. “It was something, wasn’t it? Perhaps we should applaud her efforts. Maybe we should just give her the sloop, too, while we’re at it. Pat her on the back and wish her a merry bon voyage. And you can kiss her feet as she leaves. Is that what you really want?”
He ground his teeth. “No, sir.”
“Sorry. What was that?”
“No, sir!”
The governor’s amusement vanished. “Then I suggest you get off your ass and find her. Now!” Harrington grabbed a swath of papers from his desk and hurled them at Fowler.
He bowed again, allowing the papers to hit his head and fall to the floor. He would not react. He would accept this added humiliation. Because he deserved it. Him, losing to that woman, and in armed combat no less. He would take this abuse, for now. And he would recover his dignity by taking Mei Ling back into his possession immediately. Along with his weapons.
Straightening, he turned and marched out the door, stepping over the remains of the marble Venus as he went.
“And find the damn cat while you’re at it! It’s been weeks!”
Fowler let the door close behind him and rolled his eyes. Cat? Like he should be out chasing down some little house pet? Not that it was your average house pet. It’s not like you could just walk over to it and scoop it up into your arms. It was a bloody jaguar!
He grumbled under his breath. Who the hell kept a jaguar as a pet? The damned thing was better off out in the wild than caged up and abused by that overweight twit.
Outside the governor’s mansion, he stopped and took a few moments to breath. Then he put on his bicorn hat and, with sure and measured steps, strode down the street towards the fort. He had a prisoner to capture.
Comments (0)
See all