Lennox Corporation: Book 1 in the Savior Series Read online

  Contents

  INTRODUCTION

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  About The Author

  MARK

  BROWNING

  "There are no actions in this world free from consequences and it the unforseen that always pose the biggest threat"

  LENNOX CORPORATION

  Book 1 in The Savior Series

  Copyright © 2020 Mark Browning

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected].

  First paperback edition June 2020

  ISBN 978-1-7351135-0-0 (paperback)

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  INTRODUCTION

  The year is 2146, and it has been 100 years since the fall of the world that once existed. There are many stories told of the times before the collapse when people were free and governments not the corporations ruled the empires. Others will tell you it has been this way since before the collapse. But, the real mystery lies in the collapse itself. The stories range from world war to natural disasters and even the involvement of aliens from another galaxy. They talk of a time when the world was divided by the mighty ocean not surrounded by it; and people were spread out amongst various continents and spoke a variety of intricate languages. No one really knows much about the world before the fall. But, out of the ashes of the old world arose the Lennox Corporation, a ruthless industrial machine disguised as the savior of humanity.

  After the fall, humanity was at an all-time low in both population and resources, out of the blue the Lennox Corporation arrived on the scene with a plan to salvage the remaining resources and people to rebuild society. They built sanctuary cities where they welcomed survivors, the only rules were that you provide a blood sample and agree to your assigned work duties. With the world in shambles and people seeking any kind of stability, survivors flocked to these cities in waves eager to flee the chaos of the outside world, and the Lennox Corporation was eager to provide the solution. As time passed, more people showed up. Lennox Corp ran out of room and began taking only the most intelligent and useful human beings into their cities. They even began replacing existing members of their new society with more capable people banishing those deemed unworthy back to the outside world. There are rumors of 100’s of people with special cognitive abilities being taken to the city only to disappear. There is no way to know the truth. The only way in is you having something they want, or better yet need .

  The outskirts of their new society became the slums, and the world rebuilt itself in the image of the Lennox Corporation. I was born in the slums of sanctuary city 3. My mother died in childbirth and I never knew my father. I have been inside the city only once and that is when they tested me as a child. Rumor is, they are no longer looking for people to live within the cities; however they are testing people from the slums for special cognitive abilities. Many people believe the areas outside of the cities contains contaminants left over from a chemical war that helped lead to the fall. The cities themselves are self-contained and have an independent ecosystem from the outside world surrounding them. These cities are a paradise on an otherwise scorched Earth, controlling everything from food production to medication. When you live in the slums, you scavenge the Wasteland or work for Lennox Corporation in the underground operations. All people in the slums and the cities are micro-chipped. The micro-chips serve to track people, designate their job position and allow them to make purchases with just a scan. People who live in the city have a special code in their microchip allowing them access the city. If you don’t live in the city, you don’t enter the city without a special pass.

  Lennox Corp has several mining and scavenging operations throughout the areas that lie outside of the city beyond the slums. They delegate work daily based on an ability and dependability merit system, but really it’s just based on bribes and corruption. Thousands of desperate workers line up every day hoping to make a wage. Every day, the same guys get picked. It’s a joke. The rest of the inhabitants of the slums scavenge, steal, and run small trade businesses to survive. Most are chasing the most impossible dream of all and that is admittance into one of Lennox Corps sanctuary cities. There are constant smuggling operations and people trying to bribe their way in. Some have tried purchasing old identities of dead citizens.

  The city itself is a very different story. If you live within the city walls, you work for one of three branches of Lennox Corp: Security, Technology, or Production. As stated before, you are micro-chipped and accounted for at all times, even if you leave the city for the night to visit your favorite hooker in the slums. Within the city walls there are no families, few children, no relationships just the tasks they assign you. But their payment to you is clean air, security, luxurious accommodations, top quality food and pretty much any other little extra you desire. The downside of that lifestyle is the loss of human connection, which drives many of the citizens of the city to the slums looking for that interaction they desire. It is very dangerous to have wants in the slums. Everyone is looking to capitalize on any opportunity, especially one that involves a citizen from the city. I can’t say that I blame people for robbing. Intimidating citizens was never for me. In this world you do what you can to get by, let the rest sort itself out. My heart always belonged to the Wasteland. There is an entire world of history and treasure to be discovered out there. You just have to survive the fall out and nomadic tribes. The roving tribes are prone to steal and they kill everything they come across. Most have not covered nearly the area that I have in my searches, but I started going out into the Wasteland 23 years ago when I was only 10 with a Nomad named Kalil. Early on, I differed from other human beings. Once, while out exploring with Kalil, a pack of wild dogs attacked me and I sustained what should have been catastrophic injuries. Kalil took me back to our camp to treat my wounds, and I healed fully in only 4 days. After the revelation of those 4 days, Kalil and I decided that it would be better to hide my gifts given the Lennox Corps interest in all things deemed special. As time passed, I only got stronger and my healing abilities became more rapid, making me an extremely effective scavenger in the Wasteland. I now have my niche; people in the slums and in the city know that if they are looking for a rare item, I am their best bet to find it. My name is Tristan, and my home is the Wasteland.

  CHAPTER 1

  The Job

  After spending the winter in an underground bunker that I repossessed from a nomad group that was targeting people traveling between S.C. 2 and S.C. 3, I returned to the slums of S.C. 3 to cash in on a surplus of goods. The winter had been very productive. I had gathered everything from precious metals to hand woven quilts from the Old World. As I approached the slums, I noticed
some interesting changes, there were new and much more aggressive Lennox propaganda banners and there was also graffiti opposing the Lennox Corp plastered everywhere. The people versus Lennox Corp must have intensified during my time away. The slums were always one bad day away from erupting and today I felt something a little off. I quickly chalked it up to my ever growing paranoia. Spending so much time alone in the Wasteland had that effect on even the strongest man.

  I made my way to Larry’s shop to sell my winter’s bounty and hopefully be able to trade for a couple of books from the Old World. I had not found a single book all winter. Despite my successful haul, an element of disappointment lingered. If you were in the slums where I grew up and looking to trade or sell goods Larry’s shop was the only place to get a decent deal while also securing privacy. Larry had deep connections to people in every slum and his reach even extended into S.C. 3. I entered Larry’s shop and he lit up like a solar storm on an October night in the Wasteland. I had never seen him so happy to see me. Though we went way back and I was a good customer, Larry was not the sentimental type. It had to involve a big payday. He invited me into the back, for customers who require discretion, and before I presented my goods, he came right out with it. In a stern, but excited voice he asked me “are you interested in a job with a huge guaranteed payday funded by one of the wealthiest and most influential members of S.C. 3?” I have to admit it intrigued me though doing jobs for citizens was a dangerous game. The last place you want to be is on one of Lennox Corps threat lists. Among the top ways to get there is colluding with or corrupting a citizen of a sanctuary city and throughout all of my activities over the years I have been very selective with my jobs and stayed off their radar. Before I would even consider the job, I told Larry I would need the details and a sit down with the citizen. After the proposition we concluded our business. He paid me a decent amount of credits for my winter stash, but unfortunately he had no books to offer. I did, however, receive an old Road Atlas that shows how travel used to be charted and navigated in the Old World.

  As the evening approached and the night life awakened in the slums, I made my way over to Tammy’s, the only place that still welcomed me in our slums. Everywhere else deemed me a threat to business because of my bad temper and dislike for the alcohol impaired. Not Tammy though, as I had saved her brother’s life when he got lost in the Wasteland and she has always had a room for me since. No one that wants a problem comes around her place. They are well aware it’s protected by me, present or not. I will repay any harm visited on her or her establishment ten times over. Tammy was excited to see me, but I had already had my fill of small talk for the evening with Larry so I greeted her politely and then immediately headed for my room. I needed to sleep and have all of my senses working at optimal efficiency tomorrow when I met this mysterious citizen offering a too good to be true job. You never knew what Lennox Corp was trying to do. Being able to recognize their undercover security agents was a good way to stay one step ahead of them.

  I stopped by to see Larry the next morning, and he informed me that the citizen agreed to meet me here at the shop that evening at ten, and he was prepared to offer a fair sum for this mystery job. With time to kill, I spent my day taking care of some business around the slums. I needed to go by the scrap yard and see if the blacksmith had made my climbing spikes. I had scouted several locations that would require some advanced climbing techniques to reach. The harder and more dangerous a location was to reach, the higher the likelihood of it containing anything of value. One of the things I respect most about the blacksmith, he only trades in goods and services; he doesn’t accept any Lennox credits. He believes the Lennox Corporation created credits as another form of control, and he is right.

  Kalil told me stories, as a young man growing up, about the times before Lennox Corp took over and how they said they sealed all deals in blood and survival of the fittest ruled the Wasteland. There were no rules and no one to enforce them if there had been. There was only wasteland and failed pop up town after failed pop up town. Lennox Corp provided stability, a currency system and rules for the masses to live by. As for those that didn’t want to take part, they were left behind in the Wasteland to fend for themselves. This was before they began turning away people, before the slums or cognitive testing. A time when men like Kalil, Nomads and lone warriors against the world, with no affiliations, ruled the day. As a kid I loved his stories. Those times always sounded like true freedom to me. That is why I loved being out in the Wasteland so much, it was just me against the world.

  When I arrived at the blacksmith’s scrap yard, a strange woman with a severe burn scar on her face came to the gate. After giving me a thorough questioning, she finally let me in and introduced herself as Laura the blacksmith’s apprentice. She said she and the blacksmith had been in a fire and that he had died. She was lucky to have escaped with her life. Apparently the blacksmith had been working on a special buggy for a group of hijackers who had been working a hilly part of the Wasteland. When they refused to pay, he locked down the yard and kept their buggy. Later that evening, the hijackers returned and burned the blacksmith and Laura out taking the buggy and a surplus of valuable scrap, then disappearing into the Wasteland. Laura told me that their clan wore the logo of the serpent. The logo was all I needed. They could count on a visit from me once I headed back out into the Wasteland.

  After a short conversation with Laura she handed me my new climbing spikes. She had made them herself. Evidently, all the old man talked about was our conversations over the years. His last request to her was that she always take care of me first, starting with my climbing spikes. It moved me knowing his last thoughts were of our friendship. I was the only one left alive that knew his actual name. I never told a soul and I never will. May his identity remain a secret in his next life, as well. I left out for the general store to stock up for supplies. I would need plenty of protein paste and dried meat for this next trip.

  The blacksmith’s death was weighing on my mind. I was heading back into the Wasteland soon; citizen job or not. I had a date with some serpents and two new locations to scavenge now that I had my climbing spikes. I returned to Tammy’s, packed up all of my supplies and prepared everything to load into my crawler, a dune buggy built especially for me by the blacksmith. He installed a technology used by Lennox Corp that will only allow me to operate it. The blacksmith had a way of turning machine and tech into one harmonious creature. After loading the crawler, I still had a few hours to kill and decided I’d play cards in Tammy’s lounge for a bit. By the time it was time to go meet the citizen, I was down 200 credits and over it, anyway. Cards were never my strength. I wasn’t much for games; I preferred things that were more physical in nature; but that came with the territory. If it weren’t for Kalil, I would have never learned to read. Now I am always searching out books for the knowledge. I learned about strategy when all I knew was survival; I learned compassion when all I knew was chaos. These concepts and so many more would have eluded me if I had not learned to read. 9 out of 10 people in the slums cannot read past the level of basic comprehension and that is another form of control that they allow Lennox Corp to have over them. The information is there for them, they just don’t care to use it. Just another example of why I spend most of my time in the Wasteland. My goal was to be heading out soon.

  Having arrived at Larry’s about an hour early, I took the opportunity to browse any new inventory he might have picked up overnight, and I was glad I did! There on the counter, right in front of me, laid a book on horticulture that someone had traded for a measly 75 credits. Believe me when I tell you, I was more than happy to pay Larry 100 credits and add the book to my growing collection. That would mean a stop by my true home, a bunker in the Wasteland buried deep beneath the fallen structures of the Old World. I kept all of my most valuable possessions there including an arsenal of weaponry I had been building for over 5 years. The manufacturing of weapons fell under the umbrella of production for Lennox Corp, but
in reality weapon sales was a large funding contributor to the entire operation. The Wasteland is a dangerous place and people need to protect themselves.

  Soon after I purchased my most recent book from Larry, a tall slender man with an odd way about him came through the entrance. I could already tell by his appearance, this was my citizen, so I waved him over and introduced myself. It was obvious he had been to the slums before, but he still seemed nervous and agitated. As he introduced himself he kept fidgeting. Mike was the name he gave, though I’m pretty sure it was not his actual name. He explained that while he was in the slums visiting a friend, which usually meant a hooker, a valuable piece of technology was taken from him. If Lennox Corp were to find out he had taken it, he would be fired from his position in the tech division and banished to the slums. He offered to pay me 250,000 credits. His eyes said that was negotiable. I would need to track down and find this piece of lost tech. I asked myself what is worth such a hefty price. Knowing I wouldn’t receive the truth from him anyway, I instead asked for the specific size and weight of the object. Taken off guard, the citizen answered my question with a very simple response, “It’s a thumb drive and I need it back now.” I thought about it in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes even though I already knew that I would take the job. With 250,000 credits I could stock the bunker for life. I accepted the deal under one condition, he had to write everything down that happened that night and I meant everything, no lies, and no half truths. He gave me a detailed description of the night he lost the drive and I returned to Tammy’s pouring through his account of that evening for clues. I had some ideas, but I needed to get some rest. My hope was this would be an easy payday.