James Swallow - Dark Future: Jade Dragon

A Black Flame Publication

Copyright 2006 Games Workshop Ltd.

ISBN: 1844163784

Publishers note: This is a work of fiction, detailing an alternativeand decidedly imaginary future. All the characters, actions and eventsportrayed in this book are not real, and are not based on real events oractions.

Version: 1.0

For the punks, the edgerunners and the xiong can sha shou. You knowwho you are.

My fellow Americans,

I am speaking to you today from the Oval Office, to bring you hope andcheer in these troubling times. The succession of catastrophes that haveassailed our once-great nation continue to threaten us, but we areresolute.

The negative fertility zone that is the desolation of the mid-westdivides east from west, but life is returning. The plucky pioneers ofthe new Church of Joseph are reclaiming Salt Lake City from thepoisonous deserts just as their forefathers once did, and our prayersare with them. And New Orleans may be under eight feet of water, butthey don't call it New Venice for nothing.

Here at the heart of government, we continue to work closely with theMegaCorps who made this country the economic miracle it is today, tobring prosperity and opportunity to all who will join us. All thoseunfortunate or unwilling citizens who exercise their democratic right tolive how they will, no matter how far away from the comfort and securityof the corporate cities, may once more rest easy in their shacks knowingthat the new swathes of Sanctioned Operatives work tirelessly to protectthem from the biker gangs and NoGo hoodlums.

The succession of apparently inexplicable or occult manifestations andevents we have recently witnessed have unnerved many of us, it is true.Even our own Government scientists are unable to account for much ofwhat is happening. Our church leaders tell us they are holding at baythe unknown entities which have infested the datanets in the guise ofviruses.

A concerned citizen asked me the other day whether I thought we wereentering the Last Times, when Our Lord God will return to us and visitHis Rapture upon us, or whether we were just being tested as He oncetested his own son. My friends, I cannot answer that. But I am resolutethat with God's help, we shall work, as ever, to create a gloriousfuture in this most beautiful land.

Thank you, and God Bless America.

President Estevez

Ladies and Gentlemen, at this time Virgin SubOrbital would like toannounce that our flight is entering the descent phase toward the HongKong Free Economic Enterprise Quadrant and our arrival at Chek Lap KokSkyHarbour is on schedule for seven forty-five pee-em, local time. Yourcabin staff wish to remind you that there is still time to make anypurchases of perfume, smoking materials, caffeinated products, cyberwareor pharmaceuticals from our in-flight dutyfree catalogue; simply pressthe blue dot on the datascreen installed in your seat arm. Passengersare free to move about the cabin and take drinks at the upper deck baror use one of our recreation pods in the discreet cabin. However, wewould ask all clients to note that once the seat belt sign has beenilluminated, all passengers must return to and remain in their seats asthe aircraft makes its final approach to Chek Lap Kok. For your comfortand safety, neural induction coils mounted in the headrest of your seatswill automatically engage to help minimize any discomfort due topressure changes in the cabin. In the event of an emergency landing,these coils will also lull you into a dreamless, peaceful sleep whilethe cabin is flooded with ShokFoam. Should you have any questions abouttodays flight, please feel free to discuss them with one of ourpolylingual flight attendants. We know you have a choice when selectingthe carrier for your companys international transit needs, and we thankyou for choosing Virgin SubOrbital today.

Frankie worked his jaw and frowned, shifting slightly in the depths ofthe padded acceleration couch. The conformal cushion gave a sensual sighand moved to accommodate him, but he fidgeted again. The book hedloaded into his palmtop remained unread, his attention unable to holdpast page six of What Gangcults Can Teach Us About Management.Stuffing the computer into his carry-on bag, his eyes returned towandering over and around the smooth lines of the airliner cabin. Onsome level he felt like he was failing to project the right image. Theother men and women in their seats, each an arms length away from theother and surrounded by an expensive halo of legroom, all seemed so atease in here as to be profoundly bored with it all. Moving so shewouldnt know where he was looking, Frankie observed the lady inpinstripes with the Eidolon cheek-tatt. She was still having the sameconversation shed started as they came out of boost phase fromLA-Double-X, in poppy little spits of subvocalisation that werent realwords, talking to a dermal mike in her larynx. A privacy masking fieldmade it impossible for him to figure out what she was so animated about,but by the way she kept miming a gunforefinger extended, thumb afalling hammerit was clear somebody back in NorCalifornia was gettingreamed. Next to her was a large man who looked like a sumotori, forcedinto a black Ozwald Boateng suit that might have made an elegant puptent in another life. The big fellow was engrossed in the screen hegripped with fat sausage fingers; the sound was on direct beam, butFrankie could see the tanned face of ZeeBeeCees Tammy Popeldourisengaged in serious conversation with Juno Qwan, while the idol singersnew vid played picture-in-picture.

A gentle swell of turbulence rocked the liner, reminding him where theywere. He sniffed the air; the same canned, conditioned taste that theatmosphere in the office had, that the airport lounge had too. The cabinwas seamless in muted reds and pale cream, matching almost perfectly tothe decor of the executive embarkation area at LAXX, and no doubt to theegress lounge at SkyHarbour and any one of a hundred other airportsaround the world. Usually that sort of thing made Frankie feel safe, theidea that the corps were helping to maintain a homogenous profile acrossthe world, so that anyone could find a Buckstars or a MacDee no matterif you were in Manchester or Mumbai But all of a sudden it seemed tooplastic to him, just a veneer over a dangerous, unfamiliar place. Helooked away, forcing down the little flutter of butterfly nerves rollingaround in his gut. He was supposed to be a professional; this sort ofgiddy rush was the kind of thing a single-term window gazer wouldexperience, not an echelon executive like him.

I should be making the most of this, he thought. It wasnt every day hegot to fly transcontinental; what with the shifts in the fuel marketsand the rise of franchise terrorism post Y2K, aviation had moved back tothe rarefied state it was in at the dawn of commercial flightwhen onlythe military and the very rich could afford it.

Frankie let out a controlled breath and, for what must have been thehundredth time during the flight, he unfolded the photo.

There they were, the two of them with big, goofy grins on their faces onthe upper deck of the Star Ferry, the lights of the city a rainbow blurbehind them. He tried to remember who had taken the pictureone of theother grads, maybe that thin girl from Foshan who got posted to orbit?They both looked so happy there, fuelled by too many bottles of Tsingtaoand the elation at making the cut at the corporate academy. That wasbefore the company had parted them, sent him to the other side of theworld while his brother got to stay home and rise like a rocket throughthe ranks of the head office. Frankie felt the bite of resentment andinstantly flattened it. No. Alan deserves his success.