A Drone over New York
Chapter 19

Max sat with his back against the wall, breathing heavily. Slowly the tears started to fade. Slowly his mind started to function again. Slowly his strength started to return.

It was awhile before he could stand again.

Anton went to the fridge and returned with a glass of water. The room felt hot and stuffy.

“Max,” Anton said quietly as he sat beside him. “Take it from me. I know these kinds of people. I’ve dealt with their kind before. Once they replace out, once they have someone on their list, they will kill them; they always do. They just want to get what they want from you or replace out the next name for the list. Dale was dead before they started shooting that video. They were going to kill you too if you replied. I’ve been in your shoes before. I’ve watched things happen that I could not control, even though I was part of it. Friends have died in front of me. The thing that kept me going was that I knew my friend did what they did for a reason. It may not be my reason, but there was a reason. It may have been to get a story, to tell the truth; sometimes it is even just to get a paycheck.”

It was the first time ever Anton had been nice about it being about a payday. Anton had been all over the world, seeing things and digging into things that Max could never possibly imagine. He’d been shot at, stabbed, arrested, beaten, held at gunpoint … the list was endless. Now he was sitting in a crappy modern apartment in Midtown Manhattan helping yet another person through the pain.

“How do you do it?” Max asked as he tried to come to grips with it all.

“To be honest, I struggle.”

Those words surprised Max a little. It was the first time since they had met that Anton had ever conceded anything of the sort.

“I’ve lost friends. Good ones,” Anton said, almost to himself. “Sometimes in ways that cause me to question why I do what I do. I try and tell myself they died so I could get the story out—so I could tell the world, share what happened. Make them live on through the story. That way they are never truly dead. But they are gone. They are not coming back. It gets to me sometimes. The world goes on, Max. The world keeps going. We are but a small ripple in a massive ocean. The NSA survived Snowden. ProBlez almost survived Svenlatan. But sometimes a ripple is all that is needed. The NSA now has stricter controls. ProBlez was eventually brought down. Andrew Svenlatan gave others strength. Did you know three others died trying to help him? No one knows their names, but they died. One of them was a good friend of mine. Many others helped Svenlatan too, and have faded away into the shadows of history. Most of the work I am ever going to do is in those shadows. Helping the people who truly break the cycle.”

Max didn’t know what to say.

“Max, I know what I am asking of you. I know it seems unfathomable right now. But there was a reason we were put together two years ago. You’re good, Max; you’re one of the best. You’re good enough to make things happen. If you decide to let it all fall away and give in, then they’ve won. Killing Dale will have worked. They will kill someone else again in the future.”

“Anton, shut up. You’re starting to ramble.”

Anton had a small laugh. It was the first time in the night he had managed a proper smile.

“Sorry about that,” Anton said.

“So now I have an angry corporation, who owns three-quarters of the drones in the sky, coming after me,” Max said. “They haven’t played a hand yet, but they are most likely going to stop at nothing to prevent this story from coming out. If I’m honest, yeah, I am worried about what they will do.”

Anton nodded. “And that’s in addition to Tyell’s crazy fans and a professional hit man working for the mob. Looks like you’re very popular right now!”

“Gee, thanks for the encouragement.”

Max felt better that Anton still had a small smile on his face.

“Just wanted to say there are some big guns involved here. You’ve done well for yourself.”

Max shrugged. “Not bad for a rookie, eh?”

“Not bad for a seasoned vet. You don’t do anything by halves, do you?”

They both had a small laugh.

“This has been a one hell of a night,” Max said.

“You’re right, Max. It’s getting late. Let’s wrap it up. I think we both need to process what’s happened here. I’ve got a ton of digging to do, and not a lot of time. Go and hide the drive again. Go wherever you’re staying, and sleep on it. The sun will be coming up soon. We should both try and get inside before the visibility is too high. I’ll brief Bill before I go, then I’ll need a day or two to pull everything together.”

“Okay,” Max said. He hadn’t slept well since this all started. It was starting to catch up with him.

As Max packed up his stuff, the two of them walked through their options for the next few days. Anton was pushing Max to stay under the radar. Anton didn’t ask any questions of Max, though, or about the sale.

He headed for the door, but Anton called out to him. “Max, I almost forgot.”

He pulled out his wallet and gave him $200 in cash.

“I think you are going to need this,” Anton said. “Let’s just make sure we both make it out of this for you to pay me back.”

Max smiled. He was glad to have a friend like Anton.