Read Online The Suns of Liberty (Book 2): Revolution by Michael Ivan Lowell - Free Book Online Page B

thug was unharmed. In fact,
what might have looked like unconsciousness at first inspection was nothing of
the kind. Lithium had gained his name from the unique brand of weapon he
brandished. He called it his lobotomy beam. It could render someone comatose
instantly, and depending on the intensity at which he fired it, the effect
could be permanent or it could only last a few minutes. 
    The whole permanent coma thing,
that wasn't something the public knew about. He kept that to himself. In fact,
the Freedom Council had insisted on it.
    The thug on the ground would only
be out for a few moments. Just long enough for Boston's finest to cuff him and
haul him away. And, more importantly, get him in front of the cameras.
     
    Later, Lithium stood with his arms around a group
of kids who looked on adoringly at their hero. More kids were grouped behind
him. They all grinned into a camera, and Lithium spoke the lines that ran
across the camera's teleprompter.
    “And remember, kids, that's why
it's always important to do the right thing. Trust the authorities. And
remember, don't listen to the Revolution.” 
    The big man gave another of his million-dollar
smiles. He was “used car salesman meets superhero.” 
    “That's a cut!” the director of
the video crew yelled from fifty feet away. Instantly, everyone near the scene
headed in a thousand different directions. This “production” was over. The cop
cars were long since gone save one that had been kept in camera shot. 
    Lithium high-fived the kids and
strolled over to his rotund public relations manager, a middle-aged man named
Bob.
    “How'd it look?” Lithium asked.
“We get a good shot?”
    “Excellent. Be all over the six
o'clock news.”
    “And remember, kids, don't listen
to the Revolution.” Lithium said, mocking himself. “Jesus, Bob! Do I really
have to say that every time?”
    “Look, we're both just following
orders.”
    “Yeah, but it's like banning
music. As soon as you tell some kid not to listen, they’re gonna listen.”
    “You sound like one of ‘them.’”
Bob said with a shit-eating grin that pissed Lithium off immediately.
    “No, I sound like somebody who's
not got shit for brains, that's what I sound like. Jesus!  Anyway, whadda
we got on the perp?”
    “Uh, yeah...about that...” Bob was
clearly trying to think of how to break whatever bad news he needed to tell
Lithium, when at that very moment a voice interrupted them from behind.
    “Hey, man, you got a light?” the voice
asked. A cigarette was stuck in Lithium's face.
    “Aw, yeah, buddy, sure.” Lithium
was already holding his own lighter. He lit the cigarette and for the first
time looked carefully into the man's face.
    It was the thug from the heist. In
different clothes and with a completely different hairstyle and color, but the
same guy.
    “Thanks, man,” the thug said,
walking away casually. “Nice working with ya.”
    Lithium gasped. A slickly produced
arrest was one thing, but to realize that the whole thing had been a setup,
that nothing about his day had actually been real… That was insulting, as well
as more than a little dangerous. Lithium waited until the guy was out of
earshot and then let loose.
    “Jesus! Can't I ever fight a real
bad guy? Not some clown from central casting! We gotta connect the dots.
‘Criminals and insurgents, both scum. Both cause the pain in your life,’”
Lithium said, testing the line. Lithium lit a smoke for himself. “Ain't rocket
science.”
    “Don't look at me, man. I've tried
to tell 'em. Truth is, not too easy getting hold of the Council these days. I
can't even get a human on the phone,” Bob said.
    Lithium fumed. He was used to
bureaucratic bungling, but this was the ultimate insult. Turning a real arrest
into a publicity stunt, which they’d done plenty of times, sucked, but at least
it let him know not to do any real damage to any of the stuntmen or actors he’d
be facing. And it served the larger cause of showing