Redemption Protocol (Contact) Read Online Free Page A

beautiful.”
    Havoc looked out.
    “Yes, it is.”
    “I mean, if you could choose a place.”
    “Don't give up on me, Professor. They'll be here.”
    “I never asked your name. I mean, if you don't mind.”
    “Havoc, John Havoc. Pleased to meet you, Professor. And sorry to get you into this mess.”
    “Do you know why they, you know...? Just a crackpot Professor?”
    He genuinely didn’t know.
    “I’ve no idea.”
    More silence passed comfortably between them. One man succumbing to poison, the other bleeding out.
    “So why do you do it, I mean, risk yourself like that?”
    Havoc paused. A difficult question to answer to a dying man, while he was dying himself. Not a lot of room for bullshit there. The truth felt a little grubby – not meaningful enough. He turned the answer over in his mind.
    Money, Professor, I did it to pay off my debt. I didn't have a choice. Well, I could have died instead, of course. Instead? He looked down at himself and laughed. It hurt like hell. Only one shot left. It was too soon. He felt his mind dislocating as the pain washed over him in waves. He savored the tiny gaps between breathing. He was mildly hallucinating now, drifting a little. He knew a lot about pain, more than anyone in their right mind would want to know. He knew about pain management. Concentration was the key, while you had the mental resources to do it. He focused.
    “Making a living, Professor, I suppose.”
    “It's an honorable thing to do.”
    “Nothing honorable about what I do, Professor.”
    “Oh, I thought you were...”
    “No. Paid help. That's all.”
    The sparkles on the surface turned to a golden glow as the sun rose higher, approaching them across the water. Small birds hopped along the waters edge, calling out to each other. The smoke trails rising from the wreckage thinned out to almost nothing. The Professor's eyes de-focused as the hytelline worked directly on his central nervous system, softening everything.
    “Do you have anyone?”
    “No. No one.”
    “I'm sorry, John.”
    Havoc felt strange being called by his first name.
    “You, Professor?”
    “I’ve been very lucky, John. A life full of love. I met a wonderful woman and she said yes.”
    Havoc smiled.
    “Kids?”
    “We had a daughter. A beautiful, wonderful daughter.”
    “Had?”
    The Professor shook his head but didn’t answer.
    Havoc grimaced.
    “I'm sorry.”
    The Professor paused, looking forlorn. Havoc had been in this position too many times to count, talking to the dying, just not usually dying himself. There was more coming and not a lot of time to tell it. Sad stories, regrets, all of the things you would have done differently, if only you’d known. And absolutely no time for bullshit, lies or self-deception.
    “I fell out with my daughter.”
    Havoc nodded, splitting his precious concentration between listening and managing his pain.
    “We haven't spoken for nearly seven years. A silly argument about her mother. I said so many stupid things.”
    Havoc listened as tears trickled down the Professor's cheeks.
    “I miss her.” The Professor's voice cracked. “I miss her so much.”
    The Professor swallowed and blinked his eyes clear. He looked over the lake and into the past.
    “She was like her mother – strong, beautiful, so clever.”
    Liquid dribbled out of Havoc's mouth and he coughed. Excruciating pain shot through him. He coughed again and the pain ripped a short cry from him. He felt like someone had a crowbar inside him, levering it against his organs until they ruptured. He tried to swallow the liquid coming up in tiny sips to stop himself from coughing again. He got it back under control.
    “I'm sure she loves you.”
    “We went on holidays when she was young. She was so bright. Brave, headstrong, she knew all the answers.”
    “What would you say to her, if you could?”
    “Other than I love her, I'd say don't spend your whole life regretting what you could have done but didn't. Just do it.”
    Havoc