Free Windswept by Adam Rakunas

booze.”
    “A tragedy.”
    “Look, this isn’t Planet Paradise where diamonds and hookers bubble up out of the ground,” I said, zooming in on the beach to look for Jilly. “The only natural resources this place has are a lot of ocean and soil that grows sugarcane. The prices for sea water and industrial molasses are set, and with the way traffic’s been shrinking, the only thing that brings in extra cash is rum with a Co-Op seal.”
    “You know I was joking, right?”
    “Yeah,” I said, “and I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn’t. If it weren’t for rum, we wouldn’t have the cash to help people like you stay free.”
    Banks cleared his throat. “In that case, I’m excited to see the lovely refinery that protects and supports us all.”
    “Hey, there’s no need to go overboard,” I said. “The place is a dump.”
    I’d told Jilly to wait for us at the north end of Sou’s Reach on a strip of beach that no one claimed as their turf because of its proximity to the refinery’s waste pipes. Sou’s Reach didn’t want to be responsible for the sticky, stinky mess, and none of the bordering Wards wanted to deal with the potential for cleanup. It was the perfect spot for a pickup, and I couldn’t help but grin when I saw Jilly standing there, a green and brown WalWa corporate bus behind her. The launch bumped up onto shore, and we climbed out into the black, foamy surf. The one-eyed Breach carried the body.
    “You are getting such a raise,” I said as we approached Jilly. “But I’m afraid this ride’s a bit bigger than we need.”
    “No worries,” she said, then looked at the ground.
    “What?”
    Jilly looked back at the bus, then shook her head. There was a squeak of metal, and she leaped back as the bus’s rusty suspension gave way. Three dozen burly, dirty men with no necks and grimy coveralls climbed out. It took me a moment to recognize the insignia on their left pockets: they all worked at the cane refinery. There was one more squeak from the bus, and a man in a shiny white suit hopped to the ground and walked toward me. “Sister Padma,” said Evanrute Saarien, “what are we to do with you?”
    “Nothing, Rutey, if you know what’s good for you and your testicles,” I said, as Jilly ran to my side. “You OK?” I asked her.
    “They were blocking the road as I pulled up,” she said. “Made me stop and let them on.”
    “Were they armed?”
    “No.”
    “Then next time, step on the gas,” I said. “When you have ten tons of steel and they only have one ton of flesh, you win.”
    “Sister Padma, don’t take it out on the girl,” said Saarien, his voice slick as a molasses spill. “How was she to know how we do things in the city?”
    “True,” I said, “how could she know you hire former goons for your brute squad?”
    I heard one of the Breaches gasp.
    Saarien shook his head. “You would say something like that. Something that mocks our brothers and sisters in the Struggle against the harshest strains of corporate bondage.”
    “Once a goon, always a goon,” I said. “What do you want?”
    “Me?” he said, putting his manicured hands on his lapels. “I want nothing but to help these people and give them the opportunities and joys that Indentured life could never bring.”
    “If that’s your way of saying you want to pinch them for your headcount, get stuffed,” I said. “You may have stolen everyone else from me, but you’re not getting this lot.”
    Saarien’s smile didn’t lose an erg of energy. “Sister Padma, you really think they’d be better off in Brushhead? Cleaning out sewage? Where’s the fulfillment? Where’s the advancement? I can offer them positions that they’ll be able to move out of quickly and easily. How many people do you have toiling away in the same Slots?”
    “That’s beside the point! I made the recovery, and that means I get to add these people to my headcount.”
    “But you recovered them under false pretenses,” said