Location: Undisclosed.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0400 Hours.
Van Dien stretched his neck, by tipping his head far to the right. It was early in the morning. He had not slept in at least twenty four hours and was in a bad mood because of it. His mind was dwelling on a memory from the distant past. He remembered how, over ten years ago, he stood in a dark, sweltering room almost like this one, and angrily stared at a young human male, who had well defined muscles and long, platinum-blonde hair.
Van Dien remembered saying to the youth, “why don’t you tell me something about your friend, who was with you on the beach that night?”
He remembered how the young man was defiant as he said, “I told you everything I know about the son-of-a-bitch already.”
“Then why don’t you tell me something about your other friend who was on the beach with you that night. His name is Moke Kalapana. Why do you feel like defending him? Don’t you know he betrayed you? Why keep doing this for him?”
The memory made him grind his teeth as he recalled how the youth then spit on his shiny, black shoes and said, “Why don’t you…go to hell?”
Van Dien remembered how he slapped the young man with the back of his hand. The vivid memory was interrupted by a quirky voice over a crackling intercom system.
“We’re ready for you, sir.”
“Thank you, Schultz,” Van Dien said in a deep, serious voice as he put out his cigarette by crushing it into the compound’s gray concrete floor. Suddenly, there was a harsh, snapping noise, and the unmistakable sound of grinding metal. The black doors opened by sliding apart, Van Dien smoothed out his suit and took a deep calming breath. Steam rose from the floor. Van Dien stepped into a darkened room, where he heard two giggling, boisterous voices that seemed to almost have a pain-filled quality to them.
“Dude! That sucker had bay-leeeen! Huge bay-leeeen!”
“Screw you, man…that sucker had teeth! Big ass teeth! All the better to eat you with, my dear!”
Van Dien let the scowl on his face deepen into a frown that stemmed from disappointment and anger. He took three quick strides into the dim room, made a quick turn to his right and stopped.
“Shut up!” Van Dien shouted in a stern voice.
Both of their faces went blank. Darren McCalister and Rodd Templeton looked like emaciated skeletons with facial hair. Both men looked extremely sunburned and dehydrated. Saliva flew from Van Dien’s lips as he shouted, “that’s enough! Both of you! Shut up!”
“Yes sir,” Rodd said, as he drooled onto his chin. His eyes were wide open, yet they looked as if they belonged to a corpse. Both men looked as if they had been drenched with sweat for days. The two men were each strapped to tables that were set on hydraulics that allowed the tables to be tilted mechanically. Right now, the tables were set at a sixty degree angle, with the men’s feet were pointed down towards the floor. The two men were strapped down by their ankles, torsos and wrists. Their arms were set perpendicular to their bodies and strapped to extensions of the tables. However, the men’s heads were not strapped to the tables, and they swung around on their shoulders as if their necks had no muscles to support them. Both men had large gauged needles penetrating their bare forearms. These were attached to I.V. bags that contained a green liquid.
“Good morning, sir!” Darren McCalister said with an enthusiastic, drunken voice. “How are you today?! We were just talking about…”
“Shut up you bloody fool!” Van Dien roared.
“Sorry,” Darren replied.
Van Dien growled, “You were talking about the very thing you are not to discuss! You have been here for how long now? And you still speak of this nonsense that I am trying to cure you of?! What was it that you boys thought you found out there in the desert?”
“It don’t have teeth man, that sucker had baaaay-leeeeen….bay bay baby leen leen leen.”
“Shut up! Don’t you realize that you are simply crazy?” Van Dien roared as his hand shot out and hit a button on a nearby console causing Darren to shake and grit his teeth as he experienced an electric current passing through his body. After a few seconds, Van Dien released the button, and the man relaxed causing his head to flop over onto his left shoulder.
Van Dien continued speaking in a calmer, but still irritated sounding voice, “Do you idiots realize that because of the time I had to take out of my busy schedule, to find and capture you, that some of the most crucial players in my plan…were killed?”
“Sorry to hear that,” Rodd said with an honest voice.
“Sorry!” Van Dien shouted. “That second rate news and entertainment mogul, Loko Kalaheva went and switched careers on me! He decided to enlist the help of Marco Giraudoux and become a third rate Cutz smuggler by stealing a bunch of Cutz from under Makula Pilikoa’s nose! And apparently, planning that heist took up a lot of his spare time. Kalaheva was supposed to insure that Rammy Klunka got re-elected! He failed because he was a buffoon and I was not around to get him out of the mess he had made for himself! I entrusted that stupid bastard with a crucial part of my plan, I included him, I promised him a reward for his service to me and he turned around and stabbed me in the back. He knew of the plans I had for this planet and it drove him to madness and greed.”
“Wow…sounds real complicated…”
Van Dien slapped Rodd across the face and said, “You don’t know the half of it! Loko hired these idiot hit men so that he could screw over Makula Pilikoa and exploit his drug empire. Loko decided the deal that I had made with him earlier wasn’t enough…so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Loko hired some assholes who failed to kill Makula so he could take over his entire drug operation without my knowledge. But unfortunately, someone else discovered Loko’s plan before I did, and found a creative way to take advantage of the situation for their own benefit…and now Loko, along with so many other people are dead…and I am scrambling to figure out what the hell is happening on my planet!”
“Sorry to hear that…did ya know that sucker had b-b-b-bay…l-l-leeeeen?”
Van Dien paused and took some time to walk around his prisoners, giving them an icy stare before he said, “His actions, just like yours, have been making my plan a lot harder to implement that it should be! Damn you two! Damn you for your need to dig! To meddle! To uncover nothing! Thanks to you, I have too much going on with all these loose ends, and loose cannons, that I need to keep under wraps and under my control! What was it that you boys think you found out there in the desert anyway?”
Rodd seemed to be looking around the room. His eyes viewed the gray walls and followed the pipes that were attached to them. Behind him, a cloud of yellow smoke fell from a vent. The light seemed to change into shadows on his sweaty face, as he looked forward and said, “We found…”
“You found nothing!” Van Dien shouted with hostility as he pushed another button. Rodd shook violently and screamed through his tightly clenched teeth. Van Dien watched him rattle around in the restraints like a struggling fish on a hook. Van Dien then wrinkled his nose in disgust as the current ceased, and the man collapsed onto himself.
“You found nothing out there!” Van Dien said, shaking his fists, “Let’s face the facts here, your theories were founded by crack-pots like Dr. DeWolf Miller, and your evidence is shaky! Disputable! Better yet, ludicrous! This whole idea, this theory, and this dream that you have is nothing but a display of total incompetence! Have you no reason, no good common sense? Archeology is a useless endeavor! It has no meaning. Why? Because the past has no meaning! You deal with the past. Why? There is no such thing as the past, only the now and the whenever! You’re minds are sick! They always have been! Don’t you realize that you are both crazy? Don’t you understand that the sooner you realize you are crazy…the better you will feel?”
They hung in their restraints, looking like men who were suffering through a crucifixion. Then, as Van Dien stared in anger at the men he had just shocked into submission, he heard a low, tingling sound. It was laughter. It was laughter coming from the other end of the room.
“Excuse me for a minute, gentlemen,” Van Dien said to the two drained men before him. He turned to his left, and began walking. His footsteps clanked as he strode. The laughter got a bit louder, it seemed to be the laughter of someone who was teasing someone, making fun of them, and trying to bring them to anger.
Van Dien began to step lightly as he walked into a white cloud of smoke. He exited the other side of the smoke and turned to face another human man, who was strapped to another table. The man was middle aged, thin, and had a wrinkled face with deep laugh lines and creases by his eyes. His bruised face was covered with razor stubble. He had a full head of curly brown hair, and some of his teeth were crooked. The man wore no shirt, only pants. His half-naked body was thin and emaciated. He had a smile that stretched from ear to ear. It appeared to be the sort of strong willed smile that no one could erase.
“Hello…Pete,” Van Dien said calmly.
“I know what you’re doing,” Pete chuckled. “Ya ’all think you’re pretty damn smart, don’t ya?”
“Yes, Pete…I do.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Pete mumbled and grinned, “I’ve seen em’ come in here. I’ve seen em’ leave, just a bit more dead than when they arrived…you’re using the chemicals and electro-shock to kill it aren’t ya?”
“Kill what, Pete?”
“Don’t fuck with me! I know you’re trying to kill the very thing that makes these poor bastards tick!” Pete cried out, “People come in here, with hopes, dreams and aspirations. Like those biochemists…who worked at the Cedar Hills Institute of Technology!”
“You know about them, Pete?”
“Hell yeah!” Pete laughed. His eyes seem to roll in his head. “And I know why you’re doing this! It’s about power isn’t it?”
“Pete…I have no idea what you are talking about,” Van Dien said with a look of calm upon his face. His eyes showed indifference and his mouth showed contempt. He reached into his suit coat, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one cigarette from the pack, and looked at Pete with the same eyes of indifference as he lit up, and took a long, slow drag. He then exhaled a large cloud of smoke into Pete’s face.
Pete’s face contained a pain that could not be let known. In an attempt to keep his mind off of his discomfort Pete said, “I know why you’re making those people suffer…I know all about your secret plan and what you’re doing to keep it a secret. I know why you kidnapped those archeologists and biochemists. I know why you brought them down here! I know what you’re doin’ to them! You’re killing their spirits, and their ego’s because you are afraid of the change that might occur on Ailana if they succeed, you are afraid of losing your power to people like them!”
Van Dien simply stared at Pete for a few seconds, without any sort of expression on his face. “I don’t really understand the true extent of your obsessions just yet, Pete. But this mysterious conspiracy that you have spent your pathetic life trying to solve…is really nothing more than history repeating itself. Weird people change history, Pete…there was no second sniper on the grassy knoll…the CIA didn’t kill Kennedy…just like the guy who shot Lincoln, acted alone…because he was bat shit crazy…there is no secret society trying to influence the outcome of anything…and everything, happens just by chance and by chance alone.”
“I’m not crazy!” Pete shouted, “Soon the whole world…the whole freakin’ galaxy is gonna know what I know!”
Van Dien sighed and said, “Why do you people, who love these conspiracy theories, feel the need to revise history? Here’s what really happened, there was a war that needed to be won…and the Ailanians agreed to help. We didn’t colonize this planet, Pete…we were invited, and when we landed our city ships, the modernization of Ailanian civilizations that came afterward was actually quite welcome. Believe me…all the creatures in this universe actually want what the people of Earth and Aurora have. Things like indoor plumbing and electricity make shopping malls possible, Pete…don’t forget that. We didn’t need to coerce anyone…nor did we need to undertake some sort of secret plan to overthrow the Ailanian monarchs…they realized that their survival was dependent upon their cooperation with us.”
“We know what you did to this planet!”
Van Dien rolled his eyes and said, “Ah yes, all these conspiracies about how we made this planet into a War Machine. Pete, the modern Ailanian society that grew from the War Machine effort, was embraced by the Ailanian people…they came out of the jungles and from the plains and deserts to participate.”
“Bullshit!”
“It’s true, Pete…when we arrived the Ailanians were starving, their civilizations on the decline…and we not only revived their livelihoods…we basically threw a big party here. We had all kinds of things for the natives to do in the factories and cities we built. Then, because we needed even more workers, we shipped in a whole bunch of human colonists from Earth and gave them, and our new Ailanian allies, opportunities for work and recreation. And Pete, the beauty of it all, nobody was forced to do anything they didn’t want to do.”
“You created slavery here! You turned what could have been paradise into a prison!”
“Working for the War Machine effort was completely voluntary because free beer and food, along with the opportunity to sustain a drug habit, will keep most people interested in doing just about anything. If slavery exists on this planet today, Pete…it’s not our fault. And the reason why, is due to the fact that the Ailanian people put on their own chains when they found out how nice it was to not have to think and fend for themselves anymore. And as far as my secret plan goes…I don’t have one. As far as you and Kalapana are concerned, I don’t have patience for your misguided efforts to fix something that ain’t broke…and as far as power is concerned…”
He took his cigarette, and turned it in his fingers so that the butt end was pointed towards Pete’s face. He stretched his arm out, so that the cigarette was centimeters away from Pete’s lips. However, being strapped to the table, Pete was unable to reach it. Van Dien grinned when he saw Pete’s nostrils twitch as if he could smell the cigarette’s sweet aroma. Pete’s lower lips seemed to quiver.
“You’re still a pack and half a day smoker…am I right, Pete?” Van Dien said as he noticed Pete’s eyes flutter and his head shake just a bit. “I’ve had you strapped to that thing for about a week now, the fluids entering your bloodstream keep you hydrated so you feel no thirst…the fluids provide all your nourishment, so you don’t feel hunger. Every twelve hours a sedative knocks you out, until you wake feeling rested. So really, there is only one thing that you are going to crave right now. Your hands are tied, your feet are bound. I have a pack of cigarettes…and I am smoking one…right in front of you. Isn’t it driving you nuts?”
Pete felt his mouth involuntarily salivating as his lips started to smack.
Van Dien said, “I’m going to make you a deal, Pete. Just tell me the truth, tell me that you’re crazy…that your mind is sick with delusions and conspiracy theories, which are simply the result of the jealousy you feel towards those, who you see as being better off than you, because they are more gifted than you, smarter than you…more capable than you. You are a man, who could never become anyone extraordinary by your own meager talents and accord, and you know that all too well…thus the need for the lies and fantasies.”
“You don’t know me! You don’t have any right to judge me! Look at you, walking around on this world twisting the facts and molding peoples’ perceptions to fit your own needs! I’m not the second hand person in this story!”
Van Dien narrowed his eyes and said, “I tell you what, Pete…if you admit that these feelings of animosity are the reasons for your rude behavior…I’ll let you come down off your cross. We can go outside and smoke a cigarette together, maybe even have a drink, and afterwards, maybe we could make some peace out of this horrid mess that your crazy friend, Moke Kalapana, has help to create. Tell me, Pete…is this power?”
“Go to hell.”
“Pete, come on…let’s be friends. How about you do something for me?”
“I said go to hell!”
Van Dien began to look angry. He dropped the cigarette and stomped on it when it hit the floor.
“Pete, I would like to hear some respect come out of you today. I control your physiology with that machine. I can starve you to death, dehydrate you to the point of no return…or simply cause a whole lot of unpleasant aches and pains for the next couple of months if I so desire.”
Pete grumbled, “I told you already, I am going to win this round…even if it kills me!”
“Pete, the only reason why I don’t kill you…is because you are useful to me…sometimes in your delirium…you become a useful liaison between me and your contemptible boss.”
“Moke is getting closer to you…he’s gonna get you soon enough, pal.”
“Wrong, Pete.”
“He almost got Marco Giraudoux and Makula Pilikoa…he almost got High Senators Glik and Semnor on corruption charges…that could have caused problems for you…he’s trying to smoke you out.”
“He’s got nothing, Pete…you know it, and he knows it.”
“He knows what’s going on, he busted Glik and Semnor! Moke found out about the racket they had going on with the Spaceport Mechanics’ Union. And I’m sure that he’ll soon find out how a bunch of that money, which was made from that racket, went to you and your secret research!”
“He knows nothing, Pete…and do you know why?”
“I ain’t got the slightest idea of what you’re talking about,” Pete said as he began to gasp for air.
Van Dien became calm, his face expressed arrogant confidence. “Oh I think you do. You see…deep down inside, Kalapana wants to believe that he can make a difference in this world…he wants to believe in your cause…but Kalapana is just like all the others you mentioned, he’s afraid to say it, because he is afraid of what people might think of him. He not a man who has inner peace…he is man who knows that he must gain the acceptance of others in order to exist.”
“Moke is a good man!” Pete felt his breathing become difficult. His face was dripping with sweat.
Van Dien said sternly, “don’t you understand how it works, Pete? I use you…to defeat him slowly. Like I said, he wants to believe he can defeat me…but deep down, he knows he can’t. Why? Because I have you to come running to him about things like, the sky is falling, the worms are dying in the farmers’ fields, people are missing and becoming drug addicts, and somehow the Cedar Hills Institute of Technology must be to blame for it all. This has all the trappings of a good, old fashion conspiracy. It’s always in the back of his mind, somewhere. He tries to ignore it, but he can’t.”
“He’s gonna take you down soon enough!”
“Pete, you don’t understand the reality of the situation…Moke Kalapana feels the need to follow his heart and satisfy his ego by sticking to his ideals in an attempt to uphold an utter facade of self-respect. This motivates him to find out some things. For instance, he found out about the rackets between some esteemed High Senators and the Mechanics Unions in the Ailanian Space Ports. He uses logic and reason to find out about how smaller space ships are being damaged by the illegal sound and shock waves caused by allowing too many big ships to launch at one time.”
“You used your whores at the media to sweep the facts under the rug…Independent Ailanian business people were having their spaceships damaged by huge, corporate owned space cruisers and the Unions were allowed to overcharge for repairs because of corporate bribery!”
Van Dien smiled as he said, “My gods, like anyone had to do the math to prove that. I’d just chalk that one up to Glik and Semnor being sloppy. But why Kalapana does these sorts of things is beyond me…anyone who understands how governments really work, simply looks the other way and profits from it. Why do you think Kalapana is any different…why must you keep insisting that he is any more noble than the rest of the corrupt thugs your people wish to expose?”
“You killed the economy on purpose! You killed peoples’ dreams! You killed their egos…you killed their ambitions to make this world a better place…and you’re gonna burn in hell for your crimes!” Pete shouted as he started to gag and cough. Pete gasped and collapsed onto the table he was strapped to.
Van Dien took some time to stare at Pete’s rugged, angry face. Pete had the look of someone who was desperately holding their ground, but still losing it little by little. Van Dien gave Pete a slight smile and said, “You know what, Pete…you are right, I do kill. And I do divide and conquer, but better yet, I unite and rule!”
Pete gasped and said in a weak voice, “Moke knows exactly what you are trying to do. He knows about your desire to kill the individual…to destroy the ego…to create people whose slavery stems from their need to conform…to create a society that is stuck in space and time because it will never evolve for the better.”
“Again, Pete,” Van Dien smiled as he said, “enough with the conspiracy theories, let’s stick with the facts. Kalapana will never be the hero you need to right this supposed wrong. Think about it, Pete…he could have apprehended a lot of other people, who operate like Glik and Semnor, but the truth is Pete, his actions, aren’t even making a dent in the problem of government corruption this planet faces. Don’t get me wrong, Kalapana would like to catch bigger fish, and slay more dangerous dragons…but ya know what, Pete? He is too scared to all because he lives in a world where he needs to look good in the eyes of others and be accepted by them.”
Pete gasped for breath as Van Dien lit another cigarette, took a drag and said, “You have the audacity to tell me that that I am trying to create some kind of dystopia. Pete, everyone on Ailana is contributing to the creation of this nightmare you wish to stop…and Kalapana is actually leading the way. He’s not trying to act like an individual at all. Did you ever once notice that Glik and Semnor had fallen out of political favor with his Aunt Ulu? That’s the only reason he succeeded as far as he did. She’s a very powerful figure in the High Senate. He’d never go after her friends, like Wram Karamotzain, now would he? And he knows he couldn’t. Kalapana never gets beyond the achievable victories that I allow him to have. And do you know why? It’s because of you, Pete. It all boils down to what he sees in you, the messenger. He sees the heretic that is in you. If you, Pete…represent what an individual truly is…then he will gratefully drop the banner of the ego and allow the collective villagers to burn the Joan of Arc, and slay the Frankenstein, so that he can remain a hero in the eyes of the mob…a mob…that I control.”
Pete felt his teeth grinding in agony while the white haired man smoked before he said, “I allowed Kalapana to become the commander of the Ailanian CIA, and I allow him to remain the commander of the Ailanian CIA, because he does what I tell him to, without me even having to say it. He’s seen my face just a few times in his life…but he’s seen faces like yours damn near every day. And ya know what, Pete…it scares him. He will do as I tell him because he doesn’t want to end up like you…useless, immoral, and outcast. For him to imagine himself losing everything…and ending up in your position…all because of some virtuous desire to be an individual…to become an outcast all because of some desire to be a hero…that is pure horror beyond what anyone can imagine.”
“Bullshit!” Pete wheezed.
“Come on, Pete…do you think for one minute that Kalapana wants to lose what I have given him? Right now, he has power, money, prestige…a safe place for himself and his mother to live…all which come from the luxury of being popular. Trust me…he knows what believing in yourself can do to a person. He sees how chasing a dream can just lead to nothing but chasing and chasing and chasing some more. He is a man with respect, admiration, and position, all of which comes from those who he must impress, and maintain a false face of self-respect for. You, Pete, are the nobody that results from not wanting to be anybody, but yourself. Believe me, Pete…Captain Moke Kalapana doesn’t want that…he truly wants the acceptance of those who hold his leash and fill his bowl.”
Pete looked stunned. His lungs ached for nicotine. His eyes began to tear up. Van Dien walked up next to the table and pressed a button. The table began to recline and in a few moments it was totally horizontal. Pete was trying to wheeze and gasp for breath. He suddenly felt tightness in his chest. Van Dien pressed another button on the table.
“Schultz,” Van Dien said loud enough for the intercom to pick up his voice.
“Yes sir?” The tin can sounding voice replied.
“Give me some juice…on table number three.”
“Yes sir.”
“Pete, like I said before, you’re not dead just yet, because you’re usefulness is just not quite over…but first, I need you to explain a few things to Captain Kalapana for me…for instance, what I am going to do to him if he continues to defy my orders.” Van Dien pressed the only red button on the table and Pete screeched in pain and his body shook violently for about thirty seconds. When it was over, Pete began to cough and gag, the skin of his forehead, appeared to be letting off a white smoke.
Van Dien then said coldly, “First of all, Pete…can you tell me how you are going to explain your recent absence to your boss?”
“I’m gonna tell him to put a laser bolt through your skull!” Pete screamed in anger. The room seemed to echo as Pete began to cough loudly and gag as he gasped for air.
“Ya know what, Pete?” Van Dien said in a voice that suggested he had run out of patience. “I was just going to erase the memories you have of this place, and of our conversation we just had…but you leave me no choice.”
Van Dien pressed the red button again, and Pete screamed like a child being beaten. His violent convulsions twisted his face into expressions of chaos and horror. Van Dien watched the green fluid seep into Pete’s vein after the electricity was cut off. Pete gave off a high pitched moan and made gurgling sounds.
Pete coughed and looked at the white haired man and said, “I know all about that monster you released into the ocean…I know it’s a genetic freak, an abomination of nature! You haven’t been restocking fish…you’ve made a top secret, biological weapon. Why has it been modified to have a highly advanced sonar unit? What is if for? Was that beast you created in your lab worth bankrupting this planet and destroying its peoples’ dreams of creating their own paradise? I know what you’re doing…I know about The Penitentiary….I know about the Prisoners of Paradise…”
“Well, those are memories that we are going to have to delete,” Van Dien said as he pressed the button again and let the current flow.
Pete clenched his teeth and tried to muffle his screams as his body shook like someone who was having a seizure. When it was done, Van Dien leaned over a bit and said, “That’s damn near a week gone down the tubes, Pete. Do you want to cooperate with me now? Your memories about what you think you saw being loaded onto that truck outside the laboratory…they are gone. Your memories of The Penitentiary…gone. People like you, you’re your conspiracy theories…oh they must be turning people into robots in The Penitentiary…that’s where they brainwash people and turn them into zombies. Hogwash! Don’t you realize that the good citizens of this planet demanded that we build The Penitentiary because our Penal Units just don’t have the ability to convince certain types of criminals to stop their anti-social behavior?”
Pete gagged and coughed. After he caught his breath he wheezed and said, “Soon the whole world is going to know what is really happening in that place…”
“I don’t think so!” Van Dien opened his lips and exposed his grinding teeth as he pressed the button and made Pete scream again. Van Dien released his grip on the button and said, “Be reasonable, Pete…you don’t have that many brain cells left. How about if I make you forget which channel the Jalapo show in on? How about I make you forget where you live? How about I make you forget your daughter’s high school and University graduations? I’ll take all that pride you felt on those days away from you!”
“N-n-n-nooo…,” Pete moaned with tears in his eyes.
Van Dien went in for the kill as he said, “What is your daughter doing now, Pete? I understand she tells everyone about how much of a lousy, dead beat father you were. Would you like me to erase all your happy memories of her from your skull? Huh? Would ya like that, Pete? Does that scare you yet? Tell me, Pete…is this power?”
Pete screamed in intense pain as Van Dien pushed the button again and watched him shake in the restraints like he was having a sever seizure. Van Dien then cut the power and Pete seemed to collapse into the table. Pete’s deep throated and raspy gasps suggested that he had fluid in his lungs. Tears streamed out of his eyes. He coughed and made moist choking sounds.
“Come on, Pete,” Van Dien said. “You have a part to play in my plan…I have some things that you need to communicate to Kalapana for me. You need to act as a smokescreen for me, you must help me confuse and undermine his efforts to stop me. You need to be my decoy, Pete…you will fill Kalapana with all kinds of misinformation to lead him down the wrong path and away from any clues that might help him uncover my plan…you and your desire to be an individual…will be what makes him want to give up and put on his own chains.”
Pete began choking on his own saliva as he heard Van Dien take a drag from his cigarette. Van Dien remained stoic as he said, “He must not discover what I am doing. So you need to help me keep him on track while Harris blows up drug dealers and further distracts him from what is really happening on this planet…and there are quite a few things happening on Ailana, that I do not want him to know about…but don’t worry, Pete…your job will not be that hard, since Kalapana is essentially nothing more than a man who will never be…and already knows it.”
Pete wheezed as his head bobbed and rolled around on his shoulders.
“Now, Pete…he probably still has illusions of being a hero, and since he’s probably still clinging to the notion that he still thinks for himself, he’ll probably wonder why he hasn’t seen you in a while…so just tell me why you’ve been gone for the last few days?”
Pete coughed a few times and uttered a couple of high pitched squeaks as he gulped air down. “I…I was at home…sleeping it off…”
Van Dien smiled with cold emotion as he said, “And what had you been doing all that time?”
Pete felt the warm drool drip off his lower lip. His mind ached as he thought to himself, “We used the word GOLDENROD to code our GPS location in the desert. We found it…we found the proof!”
“Pete?” Van Dien said, “What were you consuming?”
“Some real smooth Tennessee whiskey…one hundred percent proof…and a great, big, fat joint…the best Makani leaves on the planet come from village gardens on the Sacred House Reservation. No wonder all those gang members and lowlife’s are killing each other for the right to make Cutz from it and sell it to all these Immoral citizens of The Alliance…”
“Thank you, Pete…we need a starting point for the next round of memories I am going to have to shock out of your skull…I’m going to make your eyeballs bleed.”
“Just remember one word! Just remember one word! GOLDENROD! Mission control! GOLDENROD! Prepare for assault! 20 degrees lat by 120 degrees long! 20 degrees lat by 120 degrees long! OH GOD! HELP ME!”
The electricity began cracking like thousands of whips. Pete felt his molars crushing themselves as his jaw muscles contracted with the force of a vise. His body lurched forward. He felt the straps digging into his flesh. Moments later, he blacked out after inhaling the smell of his burnt flesh.
After Van Dien was convinced that Pete was truly unconscious, he sighed and took out another cigarette. He stared off into space for a moment and lit it. He inhaled slowly and allowed the sensation of nicotine to relax the tense muscles in his neck.
For just a few moments Van Dien felt a bit of remorse as he said, “Do you think I actually like doing this to you, Pete? Do you think I enjoy doing this…barbaric treatment…to all those misguided people who pass through the doors of this secret dungeon? I hate it, Pete…I hate having to do this…but you selfish people leave me no choice.”
Pete gurgled and moaned as his eyes blinked rapidly.
Van Dien felt his teeth grinding as he said, “Do you think I am happy about this plan that I have to carry out? Do you think I am happy about the mess we have made on this planet? Do you think that I am happy about how bad things have gotten, and how desperate the situation has gotten on this planet? Do you think that I like the fact that I must resort to what I am doing so that I can make things right again?”
Van Dien nearly felt a small tear forming in his eye for a moment as he said, “You self-righteous people make me sick…you have no idea what you are doing or why you are doing it. You think that you are trying to save this world from these so called, evil forces that are threatening to ruin your image of how the world should be. That’s all you are doing, just wishing the world was a utopia which you created with love, equality…and all those happy-go-lucky feelings that makes everyone feel so good about themselves. That is not the way to save the world, Pete…only I have the ability to save the world! Only I know what is right for Ailana! Let’s face facts here…sometimes, the only way to protect something good…is by doing something that is truly evil!”
Pete felt nothing but disbelief, “if you believe that what you are doing…is right…then you truly are mad…”
Van Dien clenched his fist with conviction as he said, “Don’t you people realize that I am trying to save this planet from certain destruction? Why won’t you just stay out of my way and let me do what needs to be done? Don’t you people realize that I am one step ahead of all of you?”
Pete started gagging as saliva fell from his tingling lips.
“My plan involves playing on the emotions and motives of each group involved…when it is all said and done, the desires of the street gangs, the pseudo-capitalists, the politicians and the revolutionaries who wish to bring down the government, will all clash together and create the perfect storm. I need to bring about the destruction of this world as we know it, so that it can be reborn…and recreated in a form that will serve all of our needs. This world has been divided for far too long among racial, socio-economic and ideological lines. My plan is to use the hatred, which these people have for each other, and exploit the secret desires they have to destroy one another, in order to unite everyone, who lives on Ailana, into the perfect world they all have envisioned but have been too selfish to create! Let’s face it, Pete, when it is all said and done, those who are allowed to inherit this world will finally be able to look to the heavens and realize they have a future and a place within this universe…and they will thank me for it. You need to realize something, Pete…it’s not possible to save something good…unless you do something…evil!”
Van Dien turned his attention towards Pete again and said, “And when these drugs I am pumping into you combine with the electrical current, I shall reprogram your brain to do my bidding and bring about the destruction of the one man who thinks he can still stop me. Come on, Pete…let’s be friends, when it is all said and done, and I have restored this world to its proper order, there will be a place for you in my palace! You’re reward is coming, Pete. Just do exactly as I say and help me destroy Moke Kalapana!”
Van Dien pushed another button and Pete screamed as if his skin was being ripped from his body while he was being torn limb from limb.
Location: An alley behind the Malawala Apartments…downtown Polynea.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0430 Hours.
“I am really getting sick of the hours you keep, Agent Charlie,” Jack sighed as he leaned against the brick wall.
From the darkness around the corner Charlie said, “Ya think I like it?”
“We should have pulled your plug months ago…Kalapana is starting to give me heat again, saying we need to relocate our agents to suite our new plan of attack.”
“And what is that?” Charlie asked suspiciously.
“I have no freaking idea,” Jack glumly. “I am just about to lose my patience with that man. All this shit is happening…and I can’t make any sense of it.”
“Gee,” Charlie sighed, and scoffed, “And I was under the impression that not being able to make sense of anything, was a qualification for your job.”
Jack sighed as he said, “Do you have any good news for me? Do you have some bit of intelligence that I can go and use to convince Kalapana not to pull you from this assignment that he thinks is going nowhere?”
“I’ve developed the trust of a low level worker bee in the organization that Awa Pilikoa took over after his father died.”
“The Pilikoa family is still operating?”
Charlie said, “Despite the death of their patriarch, the Pilikoa family is alive and well…and they are about to make another attempt into the world of Cutz production. If I keep the pressure on this kid, who I’m now a bodyguard for…I might be able to get him to tell me where their labs, storage areas and distribution centers are. But it might take some time.”
Jack sighed as he said, “Time is not a luxury we have anymore, Agent Charlie. Tell me…does your contact know why the Makani shipments from the reservations have slowed down to a trickle? I’ve got agents who claim that they’ve seen gangsters drive into the jungles and never return. Does he know why this is happening?”
“No…I don’t think he would,” Charlie replied softly.
“Kalapana is going crazy about the possibility of a bomb that’s been stolen from The Military ending up in the hands of suspected terrorists…would your contact know anything about that?”
“No…probably not.”
“Does he have any contacts with that organization known as The Evil?”
“He used to…but he hasn’t spoken with them in a long time since he’s gotten all the computer viruses he needs for our purposes now.”
Jack spoke with hushed rage as he said, “Agent Charlie, you need to coax this young man to give you some evidence of some serious illegal activities that we can bust this crime family for. That is the only thing that would convince Kalapana to stop this wild goose chase he has us on right now.”
“Kalapana needs to take his head out of the sand and look around. I don’t like what Kalapana is doing either…and you should know that no one has more of a personal interest in seeing the Pilikoa family go down than me…but you’re sounding a bit obsessed.”
Jack winced as he said, “I’m just getting sick and tired of this shit.”
Charlie said, “Please tell me that you are not trying to undermine Kalapana’s authority…he does have the final say. And ya gotta admit…there is some weird shit going on around here lately. Most of the common folk don’t seem to notice what is going on out there…but believe me…criminals have a different mindset…and I take notice when they start talking about how they are getting nervous, because they just have this, feeling…”
Jack tried not to shout as he said, “Agent Charlie…we ultimately get our orders from the High Senate…Kalapana seems to be acting like a rouge general, don’t ya think?”
“I don’t know, Jack, all I’m saying is…be careful, sometimes in this spying business we’re in…ya can’t trust nobody…but Kalapana is the Captain of our ship…and most of the time, the Captain don’t want to do anything that could damage his ship and hurt his crew. I mean, we are all in the same boat, ain’t we?”
Jack interrupted him with a harsh tone of voice, “We need to find targets for Operation Shade…and he is still insisting on a different course of action because this case of ours has yet to produce results. Now please, Agent Charlie…if you could at least do your job to the best of your abilities until we have reason to do think otherwise…”
It was Charlie’s turn to feel insulted as he said, “I’ll see what I can do to help, Jack. Now go home and get some sleep. You look like hell. Something big is about to happen soon…just trust me, I’ll get this kid to talk.”
Location: Wailuki Apartments. Room 23-876C.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0630 Hours.
Wallace slammed the door behind him as he rushed into the room. His mind was flooded with memories from the previous night. He didn’t remember passing out when they had him tied to the chair, he only remembered waking up in the alley, somewhere downtown, with Landra looking at him with soft eyes. He gasped as he recalled how she placed something in his hands and said, “Some of us in our cell believe that Jacob could be wrong about his decision to put this plan into action. I convinced the others to let you go…but they don’t know that I am going to give you this. Hold onto this thing, Wallace… guard it with your life…just in case we are wrong…this is our insurance policy. Now take it and run! Get the word out as fast as you can!”
Ignesia looked grateful as she got up from the desk and ran over to him. She noticed how Wallace was breathing hard and shaking as he locked the door. He turned around and started walking into her outstretched arms.
She put her hands to his face and cried out, “Oh my gods! You have a black eye!”
“It’s alright…our former friends decided to play rough at first. But Landra made them come to their senses.”
She looked a bit relieved, yet worried as she said, “Did you get it?”
Wallace panted and smiled as he said, “Yes….Landra was able to steal what we needed from them…she gave it to me…and yes, I have it with me.”
“Thank the gods!” She said with a joyful voice.
Wallace tried to control his shaking hands as he presented her with a small, metal box, which she took from him and immediately tried opening to no avail.
“Here, let me see it,” Wallace said as he took the box from her and slid a couple of buttons towards each other. The box opened with a light hydraulic hissing sound. He looked inside and felt his face going numb.
Ignesia felt the bit of joy that she had growing inside of her die as she heard his frustrated voice saying, “Shit! Ya gotta be kidding me…Landra tricked me! She only gave me this to get me off their trail! Goddamn it! This is bad, real bad!”
She looked at him and said, “What’s bad? What do you mean? You said you got it…right?”
He looked at her with cold eyes and said, “I did get it, but there’s a problem. It’s a universal lock decoder…those things they bought from Marco…they are not decoder specific.”
“Oh shit…”
Wallace’s green face was nearly pale as he said, “That means…those, things…that I helped them bring to this planet…can accept other decoders.”
Her nervous lungs could barely take in air as she said, “Wallace? What are you saying?”
He said, “Landra and her friends are the engineers…they tricked us to buy themselves the time they needed.”
“But Wallace, you said they gave you the decoder…”
“Yes, this is our original decoder…she gave us back the data we stole…the data we were hoping to show the world…now we have no way to prove what we know to anyone.”
The guilt was about to make her cry as her quiet voice sobbed, “Wallace…we didn’t want any part of this…we just wanted to send a message…I never knew they were going to do this…”
“I know Ignesia, I know,” He tried to remain strong for her as he said, “And the message we wanted to send is encrypted into this device. However, if they have another duplicate of this device with some basic modifications and safeguards removed…that means they now have a detonator…”
“Oh my gods!”
“Something terrible is about to happen…and I don’t think we can stop it.”
She bit her lip with fright and closed her eyes as she said, “and our plan to save our world…should we just abandon it now? Wallace, we are in danger here…if we get on a space ship for Earth tonight we might just be able to escape with our lives…”
“NO!” Wallace shouted as he threw the piece of computerized metal onto the floor. “We still have a chance to stop this!”