Location: Undisclosed.
Ailanian Standard Time: 1900 Hours
Van Dien walked down the gray hallway in an unhurried manner. He turned a corner as another door opened automatically for him.
“How are things going in here, Schultz?” He asked in a grumpy, sleep deprived voice.
“Very good, sir,” The man in the protective suit said quickly.
“Thank you for all your hard work, Schultz…this was definitely above and beyond the call of duty on your part,” Van Dien said casually. “Oh and by the way, I got you some glass cleaner and paper towels for your helmet.”
“Thank you, sir…the specimen is ready for you.”
The tubby man, who was strapped to the table, appeared quite eager to cooperate.
Van Dien looked at him for a few moments before he said, “so, Patrick…they tell me that you recently arrived on Ailana on a Star Cruiser that took off from Earth about three weeks ago. You apparently just got done with a tour of duty in the Steward Reserves, am I correct?”
“Yes,” Patrick said, “but sir, please let me tell you this one thing…I’m not the guy you’re looking for…I am still technically a civilian.”
“Do you have any Military training at all?”
Patrick said in a calm, but arrogant tone of voice, “Yes…and because of my training, I can scream, ‘help me! My ass is being shot at!’ just as loudly as any of those pricks in The Military can. But they told me I was here because I went AWOL…I’m a civilian…and that means I can quit anytime I want to.”
“Patrick,” Van Dien said, “you are one of those people, who does not desire much in life…you simply wish to live off the efforts of your fellow man. You simply wish to do the most you can out of life with the least amount of effort.”
“Uh…what do you mean by that?”
Van Dien inhaled with a hint of impatience as he produced his cigarettes, and lit one. He took a much needed drag as he said, “You are the kind of man, who lies and cheats…but somehow, you have the ability to get people to like you, despite of it all, because of the respectable manner in which you present yourself.”
Patrick was taken aback as he said, “Uh…hey man…that ain’t fair…you don’t know me.”
“You know yourself to be a dishonest man…but yet you take great pride in the fact that people believe you, because you present yourself as being believable…but for you, honesty has no meaning, and no value.”
Patrick felt his nerves twitching as he smelled the white haired man’s smoke, “Hey, man…why don’t you take that shit you’re spouting outside and talk to someone, who might understand it, and might actually give a shit? ”
Van Dien felt his patience wearing thin as he took another drag and said, “You don’t wish to burden yourself with tangible facts, good ideas, or working for a living. You only care about what people think about you…you are far too altruistic in your thinking…but at the same time, you are only concerned with yourself…”
“Hey man, screw you!”
Van Dien narrowed his eyes as he said, “But you wouldn’t harm anyone, would ya? You’re a pussy…you’d let someone else do the fighting. You’ve probably never had to pick up a gun because the Planets of Aurora and Earth have had such a long period of prosperity and peace. But you work on a military spaceship that delivers all sorts of things to the colonies, and you do it, at least in your opinion, for a very good reason. People like yourself, can just come to Ailana, and think that the rules don’t apply to them, however…they do. We suspect that you probably contracted a venereal disease from one of the local hookers? Am I correct?”
“Well…yes, but…I just gotta know one thing…you are a doctor right? This is a hospital…isn’t it? You can make it better, can’t you?”
“Patrick, the man in the protective suit, is a paranoid hypochondriac…and no, I am not a doctor…I work for a greater good.”
“So…can I get a shot or something? It hurts when I pee.”
“Patrick, do you know that vaccinations and synthetic antibiotics, are once again wearing at the glue that held a Moralist society together? And do you know why?”
“Uh…no, sir, I don’t know what the hell you are talking about…”
“Patrick, you do realize that you are on Ailana, which is a planet controlled by Moralists, don’t you?”
“Yeah…and so what?”
“And right now, on Ailana, we are having some problems, with some people, who believe that freedom allows someone to have immoral sex, with an acrobat prostitute, while swinging on a trapeze if one so desires. That’s why we let the Moralists take control of the government. We were hoping that they could pass laws that would stop to such selfish behavior. Too many people in this galaxy cling to this, ‘it’s my life and I’ll do whatever I please’ attitude. The Moralists enforce the Moral Codes, because people - such as you - need protection from themselves. But alas, simply being a buzz kill just doesn’t seem to be as effective anymore. And year after year, it seems that we need to implement, harsher consequences for the actions of our misguided Immoral population. We are now in a position because of the selfish ideals you people hold, where we must take drastic, almost draconian measures if Ailana is ever to become a prosperous world again, for it seems that cutting the government’s budget will simply not be enough. We need to do more, Patrick…we live in drastic times…and thus we need to take even more drastic measures.”
Patrick shook his head and held onto an amazed look in his eyes as he said, “Look, I was just hoping that I could get the cure for the clap before the trip back to Earth.”
“Yes, and I bet that you were hoping to have the consequences of your immorality paid for by the government as well?”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, Patrick, all that I’m saying, is that you…are stuck in a rut…you plan to have the good, tax paying citizens of Ailana pay for the medical care that you need in order for Mr. Happy to work properly again…and then you plan to go back to Earth and get laid again, and again, and again, until your willy starts to hurt again. The cycle will repeat itself, and you will keep crossing a square marked, ‘Go’. You just want to stay true to your little self, forever. Am I correct, Patrick?”
“What in the hell are you talking about?”
“Patrick, I just want to know if you really are worth your salt. Let me see, you had a cabin right next to a Captain Ronald James Harris…he was in your care, was he not?”
“Yeah…I knew who he was and spoke with him quite often.”
“You were supposed to be checking up on him to see if he was taking his daily doses of medications…did you perform this task as you were ordered?”
“Uh…I might have had to do that, yes.”
“Did he take his medications, Patrick?”
“Look man, I made sure they got to his cabin…I really don’t know if he took them or not…look man, it ain’t my fault if the guy didn’t take his meds…that was his personal choice!”
Van Dien showed his teeth as he said, “Oh yes, there’s that phrase again…personal choice…freedom means doing whatever I want and shunning my duty to my fellow man. Patrick, you are someone who dances around the real issue at hand…you are someone who fails to take responsibility. I’ve known so many men, just like you, Patrick…and I have spent a great deal of effort…to make sure that they stay popular, so that they can keep working for me in the Ailanian High Senate. Too bad for you, your name doesn’t look good in lights…you could have really been someone, Patrick.”
“What in the hell are you talking about, man? Get me out of here! I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m just like everyone else!”
Van Dien rolled his eyes as he said, “Patrick, not only are you an Immoral, but you are also incompetent…and a waste of my precious oxygen.”
Patrick swallowed his fear as he saw the hatred in the white haired man’s face.
Spit flew from Van Dien’s lips as he said, “I’ve had enough of having to constantly deal with people like you…but I do it for a reason…it’s all for the plan I have to save this world. Every single nobody, that I have made into a somebody, has been all for the sake of the plan…mine is a plan that needs second hand people to be in charge of things…and I will never forgive myself…for what I have done to this world…so that I might save it.”
“What?” Patrick said with a voice that was both surprised and irritated.
“I’m sorry, my second-hand friend, but had you been assigned to another deck on the Star Cruiser, you would probably be swinging from that trapeze at this very moment…the immoral underworld is actually quite powerful on Ailana…and most law enforcement officers have simply given up trying to stop people from selling sex for money here. But you, unfortunately, got caught in a secret war between two spy agencies.”
“WHAT?!”
“Oh yes, Patrick…the men in black that you keep hearing about but never see. The black vehicles and aircraft that seem to come out of nowhere and take care of some event that never seems to make the news. We exist. We have become highly involved in a secret struggle, here on Ailana…we are committing black ops against each other…and we are fighting a war where there can only be one winner.”
Patrick’s face twitched a bit as he said, “What? What in the hell are you talking about?”
Van Dien sighed and rolled his eyes before he said, “there are a lot of strange, almost unreasonable events taking place on this planet…there is a constant, ideological battle between Moralists and Liberals…the Moralists have barricaded themselves in high-tech apartments hoping to keep themselves safe from the Immorals…drug dealers and criminal gangs have hatched plots to kill each other…and this world is basically falling apart at the seams because there are groups of people here, who have essentially misinterpreted the scriptures that were written by the Prophet Ayn…and I have been taking advantage of all the hatred and infighting within the current political climate here…because I need a grand distraction while I execute my secret plan to destroy this world.”
“WHAT?!”
“But there is one problem…my opponent in this fight, a man who I once could trust to do my bidding…is convinced that my plan is simply about enslaving the people of Ailana for the sake of the Moralists’ political ideology…but he is wrong…I know a terrible secret…and I have to destroy this planet in order to save it from the evil that threatens it. Mine is a terrible situation to be in, Patrick.”
“Whoa, dude…you’re losing me here.”
“My moral dilemma is actually heartbreaking, my opponent in this war…was once a man who I could expect to follow my orders, but now…he has decided that my plan was born of evil instead of necessity. And you might find this hard to believe, Patrick…but this man, who I must defeat, has now gained a terrible advantage over me all because you have broken the laws that I must enforce.”
“What? Dude, I just wanna break some Moral Codes…I don’t care about some bullshit, evil plan. Dude, if you just let me get on the next Star Cruiser back to Earth, I swear I won’t tell anyone how nuts you really are.”
“Oh, but that’s the problem…my enemy is a second hand person, just like you, Patrick. The fool was able to find himself a way to impress some local revolutionaries…and now, he’s managed to use his charming ways to reconfigure the Ailanian High Senate…and without those ass clowns, named Glik and Semnor, to cast their votes…my opponent has been able to impress someone else and make an alliance that could also potentially decrease the odds of my plan succeeding…”
“What the hell are you talking about?! I just wanna get out of here! I am a sovereign citizen of The Alliance! I have rights! I am a free man! You can’t do this to me!”
Van Dien sneered as he said, “Freedom? Such a strange word to be thrown around by those who have no idea the word truly means. As far as I am concerned, I am the only free man on Ailana. Why? Because a man, such as myself can do any damned thing I please.”
“Fuck you! Let me go!”
“Freedom? What has a man, such as yourself ever done to deserve it?”
“This is bullshit!”
“Freedom? Is it a right? Is it something that must be guaranteed for everyone because we were all created equal? Freedom? Equality? What do those words really mean? Do people, such as yourself, really and truly deserve those things that you refuse to earn, because you believe that everything should be handed to you…because you refuse to let go of the belief the rest of us owe you something? You were supposed to do a job…for me…you were supposed to help me ensure that a man took his medication on a daily basis…so that his brain would be in a specific, physiological state which would compel him to follow my orders without question. And, Patrick, you have failed me in that regard…and people who fail me…must pay the price for their arrogance.”
“Listen man! I have rights! I wanna see my lawyer! I am gonna sue your ass for this!”
“You have yourself a good day there, Patrick.” Van Dien stood up and began walking away. The door opened automatically for him and just as he had so quickly walked in from nowhere, he vanished.
Patrick’s eyes moved about rapidly as he heard a soft, buzzing sound. There was a loud snapping sound.
“AH SHIT!” Patrick screamed as he felt something sharp stabbing into his neck.
“What the hell?! Holy shit!”
Patrick violently shook his head and screamed as a robotic syringe injected an acidic substance into his carotid artery.
“Oh my gods! It hurts! It hurts!”
After a few moments, Patrick’s screaming abruptly stopped. He moaned and gurgled as he felt the poison eating away at his brain.
The closing door silenced his cries for help. As Van Dien walked into the hallway his thoughts turned to more pressing matters, “Thanks to that fat, incompetent boob’s apathy and lack of work ethic there is no way for me to locate Captain Harris. This could be a potential problem…he was an important part of my plan to defeat Kalapana. Oh well, I’ll just have to find a way to work around it. Very few things now lie between me and my victory…and my plan will still succeed despite this newest turn of events…”
Location: The NorthShore of Sacred House
Ailanian Standard Time: 0600 Hours.
Harris stood on a sand dune, above the beach, wearing a wetsuit that exposed his muscular arms. He held a long, white surfboard as he stared off towards the horizon, which seemed to be several shades of blue blended together.
He heard his father’s angry voice yelling drunken obscenities from the darkness of his memories.
“Goddamn it! Quit crying, Lauren! I didn’t hit you that hard! It’s your fault you made me hit you, Lauren! All I want is to come home, and find that the kid has learned some shit! Why is he so goddamned below average at everything, Lauren?! And why is this goddamned house such a mess?! For Christ’s sakes! They make a man risk his life working in this great, goddamned military and they can’t even give him a house that ain’t bug ridden and falling apart! But shit, Lauren…the least you could do is keep this shit-hole clean!”
“I just want it to stop…I want all of it to just stop…” Harris thought as he shut his eyes tightly, trying to tune his father out. Harris shook his head slowly, as another voice from the past, crawled into his mind, like a poisonous spider. Harris felt the venom flow.
The voices and flashbacks would not stop tormenting him.
“You’re not a very talented little shit aren’t you? You’re a total retard, ain’t ya, Harris?!”
Harris inhaled deeply as he heard the voice of one of his Military Commanders. The man’s voice seemed loud, yet calm as he said, “things on Ailana got real bad after the Moralist Revolution, Harris. Ah hell, you weren’t even born when the Moralists took control of the Ailanian High Senate…but let me tell you all about it anyway. That world proceeded to go to the dogs after the Moralists took control. Hell, they outlawed damn near everything they could and it backfired on em’ because the government corruption made law enforcement a total joke. And consequently, they opened up an avenue for the black-market when they started passing their zero tolerance legislation. Suddenly, young kids, who should have been in boys scouts, were becoming criminals! And do you know why, Harris? Do you know why? It’s because of all that dammed Cutz!”
He sighed and shook his head back and forth with great disappointment as the Military Commander’s voice kept on bombarding him, “All those Socialism-loving Liberals on Ailana keep talking about personal choice and personal freedom, they keep trying to tell all the races of the worlds that we should be able to make the choice as to what we do with our own bodies, minds and lives…that’s a bunch of hogwash when it comes to drugs like Cutz! You remember how that stuff sucked your mother right out of reality, don’t ya Harris? The Ailanian government may have a whole bunch of problems, and it seems that the Moralists want to control every aspect of their citizens’ lives, but drug dealers sell death, Harris. And thus, those drug dealers that have holed themselves up on Ailana are deserving of the judgment we are placing upon them.”
Harris took a deep breath as he remembered something that another one of his Military commanders had told him right before he was sent on this mission. “Some people should die…that’s just unconscious knowledge. If ya want a barrel of apples to stay good, every once in a while, ya gotta go in there and get rid of the bad ones from time to time. Bad seeds should not be sown to grow more bad seeds. Natural selection is a way of life, and sometimes we in The Military, we have to do our part to cull the sick of mind and weak of morals from the herd, if you know what I mean. And on Ailana…if we are going to protect the sheep, then that means we need to hunt down the wolves…and kill them. Remember…we only want the sheep…and we only want to kill the wolves that are a threat to our sheep…”
He gashed his teeth as his mind was suddenly plagued with images of explosions and the sounds of terrifying screams.
“I just want it to stop…I want it to be over.” He closed his eyes tightly as he thought to himself, “I guess it’s inevitable that the slave gets to a point where he thinks…I don’t want this life anymore…”
There was a slow, warm wind blowing from the behind the sand dunes. Harris felt the sun beating down upon his back. The ocean looked like a giant, blue jewel in front of him, while the desert of Kahalu, appeared as a sparkling streak of artist’s paint from behind him.
Harris had parked the hover-truck about fifty meters away and had walked quickly across the pearl-white sand to get to the water. He had been lost in his thoughts for over twenty minutes now and he didn’t notice the popping sound in the distance, as a small sphere flew off the vehicle and landed in the soft sand.
The egg-like device opened and a small robot on rotor tracks began to inch its way forward. The camera on the robot fixated itself on Harris’ imposing figure.
Harris gazed at the ocean and looked for places along the reef where the surf was not breaking.
His thoughts were a tangled mess.
“Oh lead me to deeper waters…where the ocean cradles me gently…oh lead me to a place, where she will let me play.” It might have been a poem he wrote in a High School Basic Earthen class, he didn’t know. It was simply a thought that came into his mind.
His next thoughts, were not so poetic, “I can’t believe it…the joke really is on me. I used to be proud of what I did. I used to fight aliens in hand to hand combat. And now…all I do is sit in a chair and wait to press a button…so that I might bring the sky down on top of someone. I thought I told them I didn’t want to do this job anymore…but they won’t let me stop…for some reason, this shit never stops…I hate war now…I have to draw the line sometime…I refuse to kill my fellow Ailanians…we didn’t deserve this shit…I just want it all to stop.”
Harris stood there and his heart raced as adrenaline fueled his horrified thoughts. “I can’t believe what they did to this planet. Why should I have to be part of the clean-up crew that takes out the Ailanian trash? There is no honor in this…and now they want me to kill my own people…but I won’t let them…if there is just one thing that I want from this life, it would be the end of it.”
Harris felt as if his eardrums were about to rip apart from the thundering sounds of crashing waves. He held his breath and opened his eyes as wide as he could with amazement as he watched the crumbling walls of water turn to foam that seemed to wash away the very sand he stood on. Suddenly, new thoughts replaced the ones that had been haunting him for what seemed like hours, days, weeks and years.
He rapidly blinked his eyes for a few moments and then imagined what it would be like to slide down a ramp of water and glide over the crystal edge between the calm waters of the shallow bay ahead of him and the crumbling wave behind him.
“I know I did this once…my body should know what to do…it’s probably like riding a bike. This is what I wanted to do with my life, before they took it from me. I say we should end it on a good note.”
Harris smiled felt the ocean spray clinging to his face. It made his eyes burn, but he felt nothing but pleasure because of it.The waves were peaking at nearly fifty meters on a reef that out in the torrid, storm swept ocean. Harris stood there in complete awe and reverence to what he was witnessing, until his thoughts turned back to the task at hand.
“I now have in front of me, the biggest waves in the known universe…and one more bullet in the gun,” Harris said out loud. “Let’s play Russian roulette.”
He changed his tone of voice to make it seem as if he was barking out orders to his troops.
“Captain Ronald James Harris, on this mission, you are to paddle this vehicle out into the surf that is breaking past that reef. Your mission is to catch the biggest wave of them all. If you succeed, you’ll finally have an accomplishment to be proud of, and if you fail, if you fall off this surfboard…you will be vaporized on the reef…and end up a statistic that would be worth talking about…so either way…you win.”
The waves were washing up on the shore twenty more meters higher than they normally would on this particular this morning. Harris had been using his access to a weather satellite to track a big storm that had hit about one thousand miles out to sea. Storms on the open ocean make waves of various sizes when they hit the open ocean.
The biggest waves in the birth order were now rolling in.
Harris was amazed as he watched a wave grow and grow, until it appeared to be the size of a mountain. He watched, with his lips parted, as the wave seemed to stall momentarily before it broke and created an avalanche of foamy white water in front of it.
He then said in a proud, booming voice, “Ya see the problem with the dickheads, who built this empire, was that in their minds, they saw a whole lot of wasted, empty space. They must have thought, ‘we need to make enormous shopping malls and condominiums to dominate all that empty, useless space.’ But look at those beautiful freaks of nature coming straight at us, boys. That is proof that there is still some shit out there that is bigger than we will ever be. Let’s go out there and see just what they can do!”
Harris jumped from the sand dune and ran with his surfboard under his arm, howling like a barbarian warrior charging into battle. He when he reached the swirling, milky white water, he hurled himself over the first wave that was racing up the beach like a charging bull. With the stinging spray relentlessly striking his face, he paddled as fast as he could and began making his way out towards the monsters roaring in front of him.
Location: Audrey’s Parent’s House.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0615 hours.
Audrey thought of what the middle-aged man, with the large, beer gut had said to her, “Ronald James Harris…yeah I was one of his physical education teachers. I was also his coach in about four different sports he participated in, while he attended middle school here. But that was before he got shipped off to that reform school. It was such a crying shame… the kid had so much potential. He won every race and tournament he entered. He was just so much stronger and faster than all the other kids. He could have gone real far if he hadn’t decided to go and screw up his life by teaming up with the wrong people. What ever happened to him? We always wondered about Ronald James Harris…”
Audrey opened the door to her old bedroom. She began crying once she turned on the light and noticed how every wall in the room was covered in blue ribbons and every shelf had a sports trophy on it.
“Audrey?” Her foster mother’s voice called to her from the hallway, “Why it’s so nice to see you! What a pleasant surprise.”
Audrey turned around and noticed the look of shock on her foster mother’s green face. Audrey kept on sobbing as she said, “It is true isn’t it? I was always so different from all the other kids at school.”
Her foster mother smiled and said, “You were different…in a special way, Audrey…but you were no different from anyone else. All of Ailana’s children are special.”
Audrey gasped and sobbed as she said, “I met a man today…a man from Earth. I had this man’s medical file…and I read things in there…things that were just so disturbing. And what’s worse…we have so much in common…there are things about him…and things about me, that just seem so similar…we have so much in common…but we are also so very different from each other.”
The green-skinned woman embraced her human foster daughter, and softly patted her back as Audrey said, “It just seems so unfair, mother…I had it so good growing up. I had so many good things happen to me…this man on the other hand…his life was just so unfair. His parents were abusive…they beat him constantly and injured him. Then something happened at school…he was accused of doing something immoral, and his friends all turned against him. He’s been living with such shame for what he’s done. He was conscripted into The Military and seen horrible things and done horrible things…and he’s had such terrible things happen to him. I just wanted to help…I just wanted to be nice to him since it seems that he just needed someone to talk to…”
Her foster mother hugged her tightly and said, “Oh Audrey…you always did care too much about people. Your only flaw is also your special gift…”
The green-skinned woman nervously bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling as she caressed the back of her daughter’s head. She became lost in a memory of her and Audrey, in the family kitchen, many years ago when Audrey still wore skirts and pigtails. She remembered how she had let Audrey try using a kitchen knife for the first time. She painfully remembered how, despite her warnings to be careful, Audrey let the knife slip accidentally. Her foster mother closed her eyes with torment as she remembered how the blood was everywhere and how a hand towel wouldn’t contain the blood spilling from her hand.
“Oh gods! Oh my dear child…” She thought about the little girl screaming in the car all the way to the emergency room. Audrey’s foster mother remembered cursing to herself in the waiting room as a doctor took her back to an examination room. An hour later, she remembered the doctor’s pale face and blank expression. The only mother Audrey had ever known made a remorseful face, as she remembered her surprise and horror that day, when she saw the nurse remove the bandages and everyone, but Audrey, seemed to realize that the deep cut was gone, like the injury had never even happened.
“You are so special, Audrey…but I pray you never learn…just how special…you really are…”
Audrey felt a bit of drool escape her lips as she said, “It’s not that, mother…there is something about this man…something that I just can’t explain. Those things I read about him in his medical file…they are just so awful…and I feel as if I should be scared for him…and I feel as if I should be scared for me! I am so scared of something I read about in his file…there is something about him that I can’t explain…something terrible happened to him…all I know is that he needs my help! And I think if I help him…he can help me…”
“Oh there, there dear…” Audrey’s mother said as she patted her muscular back.
Audrey’s thoughts became introspective and sorrowful as she glanced around her room and took in the sight of all those trophies and ribbons, “Who am I? What am I…and why am I making all this sacrifice…for someone else’s cause…that I don’t completely understand?”
Location: Moke’s House.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0630 hours.
In the dream, Moke found himself standing in the kitchen of a man he had never met in his life. The man was handcuffed to a chair, and had a terrified expression on his face. In the dream, Moke remembered how the fat, Ailanian man slowly paced back and forth behind the man who was handcuffed to the chair. The large, Ailanian man did not look the least bit worried as the man, who was handcuffed to the chair, began sobbing.
In the dream, Moke recalled how the large, Ailanian puffed on a fat cigar as he said, “some people gotta learn respect the hard way, boys…this guy here…he owes me money. He owes me a lot of money…money, that I would really rather give to you guys, since you have both been so good to me.”
The man in the chair appeared to start crying as the large, Ailanian man said, “Ya see, boys… HE hasn’t been good to me. And just think about this for a minute boy, it is guys, like him, that stand in the way of you and your goals that you have set for yourself.”
Moke remembered how the man, who handcuffed to the chair, seemed to plead with him as the large, Ailanian man said, “he is that person, who tells ya that ya gotta be patient, that ya just gotta wait your turn, and that more important people, than yourselves, have been waiting longer than you have. Waiting for what? Is he the kind of man that you must ASK politely in order to receive what he owes you? Why do you need his permission to get something that he OWES you? He’s got what you want…and if he won’t give it up…then you have every right to do what is necessary, to make sure that you get what you want. Which one of you boys wants to take the first swing at this guy, eh? Who wants to convince him to pay up?”
In the dream, Moke didn’t know who beat the man bloody, making him beg for his life as they drove their fists into his face. He just remembered the sound of a fist hitting flesh and bone as the man cried out;
“NO! NO! PLEASE STOP! NO!”
It was like accepting an invitation to join the legions of hell. They didn’t know this man; they didn’t care one bit about him. They didn’t care what they did to him. In their minds he deserved every bit of the abuse and pain they inflicted upon him.
In the dream, Moke remembered how the cigar smoke parted with the words, “that was impressive, boys…I got another job for ya…just do as I say, it will be the best thing for everybody. Ya see, what we have here…is family. We have a tremendous respect for each other. And because we are family, each of us, are bound in the honor that comes with being a part of this family. Well, apparently, some of us have it easier than others. Some people in this world just don’t know how to appreciate a good thing when they got it…they just get greedy and when that greed starts to affect the well-being of everybody…well then, that certain somebody, has got to go. I got a job for ya boys. I need to know just how far you are willing to go to keep these dreams we have together, alive and well…I need ya to take care of something for me. This guy, who I need you boys to help me out with, could jeopardize everything…ya know what needs to be done…now go do it…go make me proud…”
In the dream, the voices of the young men echoed as if they were coming from a great canyon. “Iki, do we have to do this?”
“Yes…we do.”
In the dream, the images of blood flowing everywhere were accompanied by the sounds of gunshots.
“Oh my gods! Iki! What have we done?!”
The ringing of the com jolted Moke out of the nightmare as he sat up in bed.
“Huh?” He cried out as he reached over to his bedside stand, feeling for the small, thin plastic com. He found it on the second swoop of his arm, and answered it, “Yeah?”
Pete seemed a bit despondent as he said, “Moke, we got ourselves a problem here.”
“What it is?”
“I can’t say…just get here as soon as you can.”
“I’ll be right there, Pete!” Moke leapt out of bed and began picking his clothes off the floor.
“Moke?” Malia said as she rolled over and gazed at him. “Where are you going?”
“To see and old friend,” Moke said as he rushed out of the room while his mind fixated on one terrifying thought, “I sure hope this plan of mine works…this might be my only chance…and Ailana’s only hope!”
Location: Audrey’s Office in Hana Paloi.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0630 Hours.
“Yeah…” Cindy said in between thoughtful pauses. “That shit is weird. I have never seen a physiology report like this before. What’s the deal with this guy?”
Audrey sat down beside Cindy with two cups of steaming, hot coffee and shook her head as she said, “That’s what I have been trying to find out…that medial file, which the Captain had us decode for him, has been giving me the creeps and I just can’t stop thinking about it.”
Cindy stared at the data on the monitor screen for a few moments and said, “Wow, this is very peculiar. I assume these Military people go through some kind of training and conditioning, but I don’t think any normal human being could withstand this sort of electronic stimulus input…their brain would just melt.”
Audrey took a drink of her coffee and said, “I don’t know what to tell ya, Cindy…I don’t even know why I’m obsessing over this. I guess I have this, feeling, in the back of my mind…it’s like a voice screaming about how something is just not right. Have you ever done something because you truly believed what you were doing was righteous and moral, only to wake up one morning and start doubting everything you once held to be truthful and right?”
“I usually wake up every morning with a headache until I get my coffee and a cigarette,” Cindy said sarcastically as she took a long drink.
Audrey shook her head as she spoke, “It’s like someone isn’t telling me everything. I keep getting this nagging feeling that some crucial information is being held from me…and sometimes I just can’t help thinking that Captain Kalapana is up to something that he just refuses to tell me about. I mean, why does he need this stupid medical file in the first place? What is he doing with this this information?”
“Wow,” Cindy said as if she had been ignoring Audrey the whole time, “They had this guy on some serious medication…and he was a candidate prescribed for mental modification…”
“What’s that?” Audrey said as she looked at the screen, unsure of what she was even looking at.
“What do you mean? You don’t know what mental modification is?” Cindy said as she gave her a strange look. “Are you telling me that you’re involved in law enforcement…and you don’t even know what happens to the people you arrest?”
Audrey frowned and said, “I’m usually not the one doing the arresting…I coordinate field operations…I compile data from my agents and make decisions…”
Cindy interrupted her, “Yeah, I get it, you’re a bureaucrat and not a cop…but Audrey, don’t you realize what happens to people, who get arrested for crimes that they committed because they were drug addicts?”
Audrey seemed honestly dumbfounded as she said, “They go to jail? I don’t know…I don’t deal with petty criminals, I never have. My job is to infiltrate and shut down the big players in organized crime operations. I mean, I know that there are jails in every police station on Ailana…I know how they keep people locked up in cells with bars and locks on the doors. I’ve visited a few of our prisons, and I’ve seen people walking around in orange jump suits and sitting behind bars…but I don’t spend a lot of time in jails and prisons. I have agents that go to those places if we need to ask a prisoner questions in order to compile data.”
Cindy smirked as she said, “Well, I understand that you are too high on the totem pole to deal with the little people, but for every big time criminal that you are trying to bust, there are thousands of small time crooks and thieves, who steal and commit petty crimes, just so that they can maintain their drug habit.”
“Yes, I’ve seen the reports…but what is your point?”
Cindy giggled a bit before she said, “Cutz is incredibly addicting and it tends to make people want more of it. And not too long ago, the Ailanian government decided to deal with these people differently since putting them in jail wasn’t working. Cutz addicts tend to reoffend. The government decided to go another route with these people, rehabilitation.”
“Ya mean like consoling and twelve step programs? I’ve read reports about the various means of rehabilitation…”
Cindy chuckled, “Well forget what you’ve read! Apparently your friend Harris has gone through something similar…only his prescribed mental modification wasn’t for Cutz addiction, but the technology used to treat him uses the same principles…plus, he needs to be on medications.”
Audrey bit her lower lip and made a fist as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
Cindy’s voice rose in pitch as she said, “And look at this data here…holy shit…this guy has been through all kinds of treatments…this guy must have some serious mental problems. Tell me, Agent Winters, what do you see in the guy exactly? I mean, I can tell he’s really cute and all…but a girl has to think about some other stuff when a guy catches her eye…I mean if the guy had his brains all scrambled…what if he’s some kind of weirdo…what if he’s got some really fucked up emotional problems because of the shit he’s had to see and endure. I’ve about these guys…at first, the find they can’t sleep at night…they feel depressed…they don’t want to talk about it…and they just seem normal, until one day, when ya least expect it…they just snap…”
“Shut up, Cindy…” Audrey hissed as she got up and left the room.
Cindy looked a bit perplexed as she said, “Wait! Was it something I said?”
Location: The Penitentiary Wing of the Hana Paloi Federal Building.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0700 Hours.
It had taken her quite some time to gain access to the ward, but once the guard let her in, Audrey found herself surrounded by small cells that looked more like tiny rooms in a hospital. The clean, white tiled floors and slowly flashing lights, which were mounted on the plastic lined walls, did not appear as the sort of interior design she expected to find in a prison.
Audrey walked slowly down the clean, white corridor and read the names and numbers on the narrow cell doors. A couple of them made her gasp as her mind started wrapping itself around a new set of possibilities.
“Andrea Halaku, Tango Moluki, Hanasi Montulu and Babana Kumtoli…”
As she read the names on the cell doors, Audrey slowly looked into the frosted window of the closest cell and remembered what Pete had told her, on a chilly night many months ago, when he appeared at her office door, drunk and in a panic. “Those people were scientists…how do scientists become drug addicts? Why would they need to be legally enrolled into a government program in order to make them change how they think and do things?!”
Audrey gasped as she looked in through the glass and noticed a green skinned woman lying in what appeared to be a hospital bed. She was unconscious and her life functions were attended to by machines she was attached to through wires and clear, plastic tubes. The machines allowed her to breath and feed. A dialysis machine made sure that she would never have to wake up to use the bathroom. Audrey gasped as she noticed how the woman’s eyes were open and blinking from time to time. However, the woman’s eyes were not awake and conscious. Audrey bit her lower lip as she realized that the woman lying on the bed inside the cell was being forced to stare at a monitor that had blinking images on it.
The woman appeared to be trapped.
Audrey held her breath and her heart raced as she recalled what Pete had told her, “Don’t you know what is going on around here? Don’t you know what they are doing? Don’t you realize that you are a part of someone’s plan to enslave the people of Ailana?”
Audrey remembered how she angrily replied, “Pete, I don’t have time for your conspiracy theories! I am investigating a drug cartel and we are on the verge of a break in our case! You need to leave before I call security! Sometimes people just get addicted to drugs and need our help to get clean and sober again…there is nothing wrong with what the government is doing to combat this problem we have here!”
A chill seemed to pass through room as an icy voice said, “It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?”
Audrey gasped as the voice behind her caused her to jump in fright. She whirled around and saw a white haired man, in the black suit and tie, standing directly behind her.
“Agent Winters,” the white haired man said. “How lucky of me to be able to find you here…you’re such a hard person to get a hold of.”
“I’m not supposed to be talking to you,” Audrey said calmly.
Van Dien passed his fingers through his white hair and smiled as he said, “Yes, I understand…but would you be speaking with your boss anytime soon?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Audrey, I suggest we drop the bullshit now…I’ve been trying to reach your Captain…and he doesn’t seem to want to answer his com…where is he?”
Audrey suddenly realized something. She had no idea where Moke was, and that bothered her as she realized the question sounded accusatory.
She said, “I don’t know where he is…and I’m about to run out the door. I’m taking some personal time off.”
“Well, I don’t blame you, with all the things you folks have had to put up with…I can imagine that you need a vacation from it all. Just tell your Captain, that I have some information he might want to have…it concerns the leader of the Special Forces Team that just got here from Earth, and it is kind of important.”
“Well, I’ll try to get ahold of him…but first, I have some paper work to finish up, if you don’t mind.”
“And does that paper work require you to be up here?” Van Dien said as he took a few steps forward and looked in through the cell’s small window. “It’s such a good feeling…knowing that these poor drug addicts are getting the help they need.”
“I don’t know about that, sir,” She said as she backed away from him.
Van Dien turned to face her again. His face was stoic as he said, “I can’t believe that you’ve never been to The Penitentiary before, Agent Winters. They told me that someone with a high priority access pass was in this wing…I just had to see who it was.”
“What is happening to these people?” Audrey said as she felt the blood draining from her face. The air had suddenly gotten cold.
“Rehabilitation, of course,” Van Dien said with a smile, “and why do you act so surprised to see this sort of thing? Your Moralist government approved of this treatment. Of course, I suppose it is easy to forget this sort of thing was approved to take place on Ailana…a planet, with a government so dedicated to humanoid freedom and civil liberties. But here these people lay…all because most people don’t pay attention to the news, and Loko Kalaheva probably buried the story in the headlines on a Friday.”
Audrey felt the pressure building up within her jaw.
Van Dien inhaled deeply and said, “That’s the beauty of it all, Agent Winters. Most of the High Senators didn’t even read the bill that allowed this facility to be built on this planet, nor did they read the one that legalized this treatment option last year. Having a Moralist majority in the High Senate helps get bills passed into law so quickly that the common man or woman on the street might not even know what is going on…however, since Klunka lost his re-election bid, and Glik and Semnor might be the next to go…that majority might not be around for much longer. That new High Senator, Keiki Karatau, I suppose he might have been someone, who might have objected to this sort of thing at one time or another during his political career. Had he been in office last year…this place might not exist since he has a different set of priorities. But you…what is your excuse, Agent Winters? Are you so busy that you don’t even have the time to smell the roses, and take notice that your government is actually involved in reprogramming people?”
Audrey gulped down some nervousness in her throat; her eyes looked an animal trapped in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.
“Why?” She said meekly.
Van Dien smiled again as he said, “What is taking place here is for the betterment of society. These people had their liberty taken away because they made poor choices. They decided to become drug addicts…and their actions have a very negative effect on our society as a whole. You might even compare their actions, and personal decisions, with those of…terrorists. These people need to be stopped…their thought patterns need to be redirected so that they can become productive citizens again. That woman in there, she will be done with her detox program and rehabilitation in six months. She might even be able to be trained to be a cashier at the new Megamall the Aurorians will be building here…”
Audrey turned away from him and began walking down the corridor, “I have to go…”
“Oh yes…about your boss, Captain Kalapana…would you please tell him that I would love to speak to him sometime. Tell him that I know about the machines.”
“What, machines?”
“The machines, which we brought here from Earth, in order to help your government build this facility…I know that a few of them are missing. And lastly, be sure to tell him…that no matter what he is planning on trying next, there is nothing he can do to stop the future he wants to prevent.”
“Tell him yourself!” Audrey said as she darted out the door.
Location: Audrey’s Office in Hana Paloi.
Ailanian Standard Time: 0705 Hours.
“Goddamn him! What is he thinking? What happens if these treatments are not successful?” Audrey thought to herself as she quickly tapped a few buttons on her Ready File Computer. The words she read from the medical file made her hair stand on end. Harris and a therapist had been having a conversation some time ago when this dictation was recorded.
Do you ever think about what it would be like to kill yourself Captain Harris?
No, but I do think about what it would be like to die.
What do you mean by that?
I’ve been to war……I’ve seen what it does……I’m ready for it……I’ve seen so much death, that I’m not afraid of it anymore…but I gotta admit…I don’t want to burn to death……and I do want to go out feeling proud……I want my death to be an accomplishment…let me ask you, have you ever seen how ten billion liters of water, can come falling out of the sky, all at once?
Are you referring to a monsoon rain?
No, I’m talking about an ocean wave; they can get enormous on Ailana. Let me tell you……those waves are capable of doing some serious damage. There is so much power in the universe……there is so much energy…..the theory of potential and kinetic energy just absolutely fascinates me. Mankind has the ability to harness all that power that a bomb produces, and stick it inside a shell that is just big enough to fit in the palm of your hand. I just love the idea of seeing destructive power unleashed. I would like to see the power of a fifty meter wave unleashed all at once. I’m thinking all that power, could kill someone rather quickly, and painlessly. That would be the best way to go…trying to harness the power of one of those monster Ailanian waves. If you tried to surf one of those waves, you would either live and be a hero, or die and be a hero. If I am to die…I want to go out like that…
Audrey just couldn’t stand the thought of sitting here anymore, she was wasting precious time. She grabbed her com off the desk in one quick motion and dialed it. The beeping sounds took thirty seconds to complete before her computer technician answered.
A voice that sounded like it just woke up said, “Yes?”
“Tavin, get online with one of those IBOX satellites, I need to find someone.”
Tavin sounded annoyed as he said, “no, you first need to find an object that person might have been associated with a lot…you need a location…you need…”
“Look, I need you to find Captain Kalapana, use your retroacts. I planted a homing device on his hovercar last night.”
“OK…wait a minute…I think I found him. What the hell is he doing way out there?”
“Give me the coordinates!” Audrey said, “I will need to them for the NAV computer in my hovercar!”
“I’ll need a few minutes.”
“Get it done, Tavin…and I’ll give you whatever you want!”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Audrey slammed her com back on her desk and her fingers began flying all over her keyboard as she opened files and logged onto a secret spy satellite that only Moke, Jack and herself had access to.
“Goddamnit, Moke!” Her mind began to drown in a torrid mixture of fear, anger and feelings of sense of undying loyalty. “What are you doing? Why are you doing this?! Why won’t you just come clean with me already?! I can help you! I know I can help if you just let me in…I can help…if you just let me get close to you!”
Location: The NorthShore of Sacred House
Ailanian Standard Time: 0706 Hours.
“What is a surfboard, but a ship to navigate the torrid waters of one’s soul?”
After a long, hard fought paddle out to sea that was fueled by pure aggression and hate, Harris had managed to push himself through the big, choppy shore break, and out to the enormous waves that were breaking past the reef. He now sat there on the ocean, watching it rise and fall. The noise of the waves breaking in front of him, nearly made it impossible to hear himself think.
“Who am I kidding, my life is a joke. This bullshit mission will be the same ordeal as last time. The marching orders are not ever going to change.”
Harris felt the wind drive the ocean mist into his face. He squinted his eyes as they stung with salt water. In front on him, he heard another deafening roar that sounded like the angry cry of one thousand dragons. Harris watched the light blue horizon touch the sapphire shaded water. He watched the horizon rise and fall as he bobbed up and down in the torrid water. He turned his head and looked at the beach; it seemed to be many kilometers away.
“Things are so much clearer now. It’s like looking through a window, and a mirror…I see my future; I know exactly what will happen. I’ll get a another chance to deliver death to someone, and find out why they deserved it later…I guess their excuse will be the standard one about how we could stop something terrible by ending the lives of some defiant people again…and then the hospital staff will have a chance to probe me for three months after the explosions go off…the doctors will tell me what they think…and I’ll go on being a soldier, playing this role of the angle of death over and over. Maybe, just maybe, my so called wife will still be there when I get back…and she’ll help me find peace with myself again…and maybe, just maybe…those who I have put into their graves…will stay there.”
The hallucinations started again without any warning.
Harris looked at the gray clouds that were advancing towards him. In the rolling clouds, he saw faces forming. They appeared to be screaming in pain and agony. The clouds began to wave as if they were mimicking flames. Harris felt his pulse racing as he saw those same tortured faces begin to swirl around in the choppy waters around him. Their terrified eyes pierced his.
“Or maybe not,” Harris thought as he began to lay prone onto his board. He clenched his teeth and began to paddle as hard as he could towards the shore.
“You can try to pull me under if you want! But you will all have to catch me first!” He cried. “Come and get me you maggots! Come and get me! I’ll see you in hell!”
Harris felt his stomach drop as the wave picked him up, causing him to become suddenly vertical and looking towards the rushing blue streak below.
He pushed himself up and got to his feet.
The wave began to roar like the engines of a space-freighter as it rolled over onto the reef below with the force of an enormous waterfall. Harris felt his feet slip from underneath the board. His heart started to pound even harder as he suddenly felt himself falling towards the torrid waters below.
The initial impact with the churning waters was painless. Harris felt as if several tons of rock and debris from an avalanche had fallen on top of him. He felt his lungs burning for just a moment as he was forced underwater and sucked into a dark void.
The water rumbled for a few moments before his body went limp. The watery space he floated in soon became silent, and moments later, everything went black.