Prisoners of Paradise

by Brandon Lars Erikson

  “Again, I’m getting real tired of hearing words that aren’t a threat to me.”

  “Take this idea and think about it for a bit then, I just saw two local law enforcement officials…who I believe are undercover Ailanian CIA Agents, almost make an arrest that could have severely altered my plan, by giving you a tactical advantage over me…information that I needed to keep secret almost ended up in your hands. But alas…someone…some jerk, in a big, black truck, managed to crash into their car and stop them from arresting a local gang member, who they believed, could have provided them with all kinds of information that would be of great importance to whoever got to listen to it first…”

  “This is getting old…make your point…”

  Van Dien stomped his foot as he said, “The point is that I own you! There is nothing that you can do can to stop me. You had better get on board with me and do I as tell you to, or else this war of ours is going to get even messier…and are you sure that you can handle the arsenal of advantages I have over you at this point?”

  There was silence, before the deep voice said, “What you have just informed me of, will be taken into great consideration.”

  Van Dien closed his eyes as he inhaled slowly and deeply before he said, “You better take this into consideration as well, at some point, these incompetent agents might just get lucky…they have a nose for finding things…especially when I lead them straight to what I want them to find…and what they find next, might just be the death of you. So I would advise you to fly straight and don’t let me catch you doing something that you might consider brave. If you are still tempted to continue this little game of ours…feel free to make the next move, just make you sure that you take into consideration, that your next move…might be your last.”

  Van Dien felt his heart racing with anger as he heard the com hang up. Thoughts of anger and emotional victory swirled in his mind as he thought to himself, “Fine be that way…keep hunting Agents Hulumalu and Renolds…keep up the good work…”

  Location: The Kalapana summer home.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 0700 Hours.

  Moke Kalapana was currently a man with a lot on his mind.

  He remembered what she said, “If you are going through a rough time…trying thinking about something pleasant…try to remember a time when life was simple and not so hard…”

  In the memory, he was drowning. Moke remembered how the wave pinned him to reef when he was ten years old. He remembered how his father reached down and pulled him up from under the water just as he was convinced he was going to die. The memory of the beach soon became a bit more pleasant as Moke remembered how his father’s kind words sounded, in between his own gasps for air.

  “Moke,” His father said softly. Moke remembered how the sun shined off his father’s handsome, dark face, “You have to understand, that there will always be warriors that are better than you. They will be stronger than you, faster than you…and in certain cases, maybe smarter, or just more informed than you. And then, someday, you will learn, that you are stronger than most people…you will be powerful someday, Moke…and there will always be those people, who wish to destroy you, simply because you are more capable of getting something of great value than they are. They will desire to knock you down to their level, and they will want to hold you under, until you are just as weak as they are. Wisdom is to know the difference as to which situation you are in. Now go and play where the smaller waves are, my son…you are not ready for those big ones over there yet…”

  Moke sighed and thought, “I wonder which situation I am in now…”

  His eyes became wide as he admired how majestic Halawalachek Mountains rose up into the sky, looking like massive shark’s teeth. Their slopes looked treacherously steep, yet were lush with jungle vegetation. From their dizzying heights, the mountains stretched down into rolling hills and valleys covered with dense green trees. The jungle gave way to drier forests, which gave way to rolling yellow and green plains. Moke felt his heart beating anxiously as he contemplated how the plains and prairies became the massive agricultural lands that were owned by The Hydroplantations. His eyes narrowed and he nervously bit his lower lip as he realized how fifty five percent of all the land on Ailana’s lone island continent was now devoted to agricultural production, and nearly all of that land was owned and used by The Hydroplantations.

  Moke Kalapana had been up since before dawn, and watched them turn from the black of night, to the iridescent colors of the morning. He had not been able to get a good night’s sleep in several weeks. From the back porch of the house, he stared at the crisp, blue water of the warm, tropical ocean, with a look of sorrow upon his face. His head was filled with anxious thoughts. “Jacob was ready for us…he knew his time was running out…he knew we were coming for him. Damn it. I wish I could have talked to him…he had to have known something.”

  His heart jumped in his chest as the voice of an elderly woman emanated from behind him. “Moke, you didn’t finish your tea.”

  Moke turned his face away from the rising sun, and saw his mother behind him, holding a small, white cup of dark, steaming liquid in her frail hand. Moke’s mother had a gentle smile on her soft, stately face. Her gray hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She was dressed in a blue outfit that her younger sister, the Ailanian High Senator Ulu Jinkua, had bought for her a week ago.

  Moke smiled and took it from her as he said, “How are you feeling Mother?”

  She seemed perky as she said, “just fine, thank you.” Moke could tell right away that his mother was going to have a good day. Her medication was working properly, and the depression she suffered from wouldn’t wreak havoc upon her emotions. She seemed happy. Moke hoped that her upbeat mood would last for a while.

  She looked at him and said, “Moke, have you spoken with your sister Kara lately?”

  Moke felt another wave of shame wash over him, “No…she still isn’t speaking to me.”

  “I wish you two would put your differences aside and just make up already…life is too short to be angry and fighting and feuding with your own blood.”

  “Yes, Mother?” He said softly.

  “Moke,” She said with a calm voice that caused him to look at her again. “Do you know who I was thinking about the other day? I was thinking about Iki.”

  Again he replied, “Who are you talking about?”

  “Iki,” She said with a glimmer of nostalgia in her eyes.

  Moke tried to make a face that suggested he did not understand what she had just said.

  “Who?”

  “When Ronald James Harris was little…I used to call him Iki,” She said thoughtfully, her eyes were filled with an undying love. “I was thinking about him the other day, and how you two used to play so nice together when you were little. I thought the nickname Iki suited him well, since it is the Kupano word for sunshine. Yes…he was my little beam of sunshine, that boy was so happy. Whatever happened to that little human boy I used to take care of? I remember he had the cutest little face and the prettiest blonde hair…I remember how nice he was to you.”

  Moke made sure his face didn’t betray any emotion as he saw his mother’s sad eyes gazing at him.

  She said, “It’s so hard for me to recall anything else about him. I guess things just got really hard for me when your father died Moke. After he was killed, in that terrible war…my mind became ill…and I never saw Iki again. Being stuck in that mental institution…I missed out on your teenage years, and sometimes I just wonder about what you and him did together while I was away…whatever happened to my little Iki?”

  Moke gave her the most honest look he could muster as he said, “He joined The Military and went to Earth. He’s been living there for many years now.”

  “Do you ever miss him?”

  Moke looked at his mother with sympathy. He felt so guilty because the level of honesty that he wished to
have with her just seemed impossible because his secrets, which had to be kept at all costs. As his mind recalled the past, his facial expression never flinched, and he remained stoic.

  She asked again, “Do you ever miss him?”

  The lying had become easy at this point for Moke Kalapana, even when such horrific memories caused him unbearable feelings of shame and anger; he never lost control of the face he had to wear. But this time, for some reason, things were a bit different, Moke looked compassionately at his mother and was about to answer her, when he suddenly realized something.

  His face remained stoic, yet slightly compassionate, as he thought about the last lie he had to tell her, all for the sake of keeping her feelings from being hurt. In that moment, in the bright sunlight, Moke thought of how he had drove past a cultural center, located in the town square of a township known as Koala-Kea. Many years ago, this once vibrant, small village had been assimilated into the corporate structure of a Hydroplantation and a series of factories that created MEALS READY TO DIGEST for The Military and other contractors. For many years after the occupation, as long as she could remember, his mother liked to travel to this village’s town square to watch the town’s children dance in a religious ceremony honoring the local gods.

  Then, the years went by, and the children got older, and the buildings around the cultural center seemed to grow so tall that they actually blocked out the sun as progress was made.

  Moke sighed internally as he realized how many times, over the years, his mother had asked him, “Moke…do the children still dance the Amakua in Koala-Kea?” When she became too old and mentally ill to travel by herself, his simple answer seemed to give her hope that her world was not changing without her being there to see it happen.

  Moke swallowed the lump in his throat as her voice rang in her head, “Moke…do the children still dance the Amakua in Koala-Kea?”

  “Yes, Mother…they still do.”

  Moke felt his stomach becoming twisted in a knot of guilt as he realized that he had driven through Koala-Kea just the other day and didn’t notice any children in their vibrant, traditional costumes dancing in a manner that would please the gods of the harvest. He noticed the dancers becoming fewer, and those that did manage to show up to dance, seemed to be getting older.

  The lies he told were burning under the first layer of his brain and stabbing him behind his eyes.

  “Moke,” She said, assuming that he did not hear her because of the wind, “Do you miss him?”

  He closed his eyes and sighed as he said, “I miss him every day.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Location: The Alulukai Nightclub in downtown Polynea.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 2330 Hours.

  Agent Renolds and Agent Hulumalu drove in a most inconspicuous manner as their hovercar floated down three lanes of traffic and ended back on the street level. This time, Hulumalu was driving as Renolds drank the last of his coffee and expressed his bitter displeasure with tonight’s assignment.

  “Goddamn it, ya screw up one time, just one time…and they demote ya to hooker duty,” Renolds stared into the bottom of his cup, wishing he could urinate in it and serve it up to his CIA supervisors.

  “Hey, this ain’t so bad,” Hulumalu said as he got more comfortable, “at least the hookers don’t carry guns, most of the time.”

  “Yeah, you might not get shot doing this shit, but them bitches carry diseases and crotch crabs…if one of em’ spits in your eye, ya might as well check into the hospital for a series of infection control protocols…”

  “Oh baby!” Hulumalu said with his thick accent, “We got ourselves a tall, slender hoochie mama all up in this bitch…”

  “Pull over, pull over!” Renolds said as he snapped a picture and started frantically typing on his laptop. “Oh shit, boy…we got one, we got ourselves a hot mama who belongs to Allu Kimukala…”

  “That freakin’ pimp is still in business? I thought someone shot his ass…”

  “Naw man, the dude is still active and still operating under the protection of Makula Pilikoa…this could be it man, we might have ourselves an informant here!”

  “Naw man, to hell with that…we ain’t gonna get no bitch to give up her main man.”

  “That’s why we go after the main man, ya numb nuts. What are ya thinking with your dick over there, ya shit for brains? Ya thinking if ya get real close and cozy with that big-legged bitch over there…and make her come for real one night…ya think she’ll just open up to ya and hand deliver Ailana’s most wanted gangster to us on a silver platter?”

  “Holy shit, would you look at that?” Hulumalu said as he ducked down and grabbed his camera. He zoomed in to the street corner and moments later got real excited as he said, “Did ya see that, man? That’s Allu walking up to that ho’ over there, man! That’s the guy who’s close to Makula!”

  “That’s the guy? You’re kidding me, how can you know that’s him?”

  “Check your mug shots, limp dick, that’s the guy…he’s our next informant…”

  “Naw…bullshit, man…what do we have on him? What do we have? Nothing, that’s what! We can’t arrest this asshole unless we got pictures of him committing a crime.”

  Hulumalu began breathing harder as he peered through his camera and nearly shouted, “Bingo! Don’t just sit there holding your dick, get your camera ready!”

  Renolds became excited as he began snapping pictures of what he was seeing take place on the street corner, “Oh shit! Oh my gods! He just popped that bitch in the jaw didn’t he?”

  “Allu, you ho’ beatin’ son-of-a-bitch, we just got you on the candid camera with some assault and battery…oh shit! He just did it again, he slapped her!”

  “She’s handing him a wad of cash, man! Did ya get that! We got extortion!”

  Hulumalu was nearly bouncing out of his seat as his camera snapped pictures at an even faster rate of frames per second, capturing all kinds of criminal activity that could be used in a court of law. “Oh yeah you ho’ smacking son-of-a-bitch, take that money from her!”

  “Oh yeah!” Renolds shouted, “We got assault, battery and robbery in the form of harassment and racketeering…he hit her and now she’s giving him money for it! The man is a slime bag and we are taking him down tonight Hulumalu, Jack is gonna give us promotions tomorrow morning after we flip this pimp into an informant for him tonight!”

  “He’s walking into that bar, I’m shutting the car down, we gotta got nab this bastard right now!”

  “Make sure you pack some big heat my brother from another mother, this guy is sure to have a couple of pieces on him.”

  “I will blow his woman beatin’ brains out if he tries anything!” Hulumalu said as he cocked his gun and unholstered it. The two wiry agents jumped out of their parked hover car and jogged through the crowd and slowed down just a bit as they got to the door of the pink neon colored club. They barged their way inside and quickly walked up to the tall, dark-skinned Ailanian man in the white, fur coat.

  Hulumalu tapped the man in the shoulder and put on his meanest CIA Agent face as the man in the fur coat slowly turned around.

  The pimp’s eyes were glazed from drugs and face was flush from alcohol as he said, “And you gentlemen are?”

  “Here to arrest you, punk! Hands above your head!” Renolds shouted as he thrust his handgun into the pimp’s stoic face. “Ya like abusing those girls that slave for ya, Allu? I’m sure I could get a few of em’ to testify against ya!”

  The pimp began to chuckle as he said, “Oh shit, my brothers…you dumb ass cops done screwed the pooch now…”

  Agents Renolds and Hulumalu both filled their lungs with a nervous gasps as they realized that they were now looking down the barrels of about a dozen, very large laser blasters that were being held by some very large Kupano men wearing red bandanas on their heads.

  “Ah sh
it, my nigga…” Hulumalu shook his head with an apologetic tone, “Don’t ya know we were just playin’ with you?”

  Hulumalu felt the air being knocked from his lungs as his partner tackled him to the floor.

  “What the hell, man!” Hulumalu squeaked with surprise.

  Renolds shouted, “Stay down, man!”

  Lights flashed like lightning bolts, glass broke and wood shattered as the room erupted into a full on fire-fight between the gang members in the red bandanas and those who had just walked into the club wearing black bandanas.

  Blood began to spray everywhere as the bodies began to hit the floor.

  Renolds closed his eyes and hugged his partner as the screams of laser blasts tore through the air and pierced the chests and heads of the gang members in red.

  The bar patrons ran in all directions and screams erupted as the two rival gangs kept exchanging shots and taking casualties. Hulumalu’s eyes grew wide with horror as he saw the pimp’s white coat becoming soaked with the blood of gang members from both sides of the fight before he took a laser blast to the chest and fell to the floor beside them.

  “Ah shit, man!” Hulumalu shouted as he closed his eyes and prayed that this would be over soon, “Jack is gonna kill us for this, man!”

  “Yeah! That is if they don’t kill us first!” Renolds shouted at his distraught partner as he motioned towards the back door, “let’s get the hell out of here!”

  Location: A warehouse in downtown Polynea.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 0130 Hours.

  The explosion was just large enough to make everyone in the room hit the deck.

  “Goddamn it!” Makula Pilikoa roared as he brushed himself off and stood up, “What the hell are you idiots doing over there?” Makula was not a tall man, but his angry Kupano eyes always made those around him nervous. He shook the dust out of his long, gray hair and gave the younger men in the room an angry look.