Prisoners of Paradise

by Brandon Lars Erikson

  Kara put her hands in her lap, blinked rapidly for a moment and said, “But then again, I can’t say I know that for sure. After I got sent to that prestigious finishing school on Earth, I basically lost contact with Iki. Every once in a great while, my brother would send me am e-mail, saying how much fun he was having at his new school and how he and Iki went surfing a lot, and that he had learned to drive of all these different kinds of hovercars. He described how fast they could go, and what sort of stereo systems they had. I never understood his obsession with hovercars…I just thought he was doing it to be a show off. He never really told me much in those few e-mails he sent me. I guess that’s why the silence between us now doesn’t really bother me anymore…he and I haven’t really spoken to each other lately…why should we start talking now after our last argument…we’re just used to not talking to each other, that’s all.”

  Audrey felt a bit saddened as she asked, “What else do you remember?”

  “When I came back home, after I graduated from University on Earth…my brother was a highly respected government official, just like our Aunty Ulu and my parents wanted him to be. So I guess if he was a troubled boy…it didn’t affect him that much.”

  Kara held her eyes closed for a while. Audrey began to see the sadness she knew on her face. Audrey tried to lighten the mood and began looking at the menu again before saying, “Wow…I would love to have some deep fat fried worms, it’s really too bad they don’t have any at Zoppy’s.”

  Kara laughed as she said, “I always think it is so funny when a human says that, it seems that most people on this planet don’t care that their choice of food is keeping us slaves to the ration wagon of The Alliance. So many people just want Meals Ready To Digest because they are cheap and easy to make, they don’t understand the value of real food grown by real people.”

  “Yeah, I guess the fast food, which The Hydroplantations grow right now, is a hard habit to kick.”

  “Tell me about it,” Kara scoffed, “It’s like any kind of change…at one time in Earth’s history, people used to drive cars fueled by gasoline, which was produced by what were once known as oil companies. And I guess, according to the ancient history I studied, someone built an electric car, which could be charged up by plugging it into outlets where electricity was made by wind-turbines. It was a revolution in transportation technology.”

  “Really? Wind power? That makes so much sense…there is so much wind on Earth.”

  “Yeah, well, there was more wind than there was gasoline…but someone, with some kind of authority, made it impossible for the people of Earth to make the switch from gasoline powered cars to wind powered cars all because the oil companies were a monopoly owned by greedy people…and then, because greed squashed the innovation that could have brought positive change, the global warming started to get out of control and the Apocalyptic Wars happened because everyone was fighting over gasoline and water when they became scarce.”

  Audrey drummed her fingers nervously on the table.

  Kara smiled and said, “But I’m rambling, and I suppose you still want to talk about Ronald Harris…how cute he was and stuff like that. Damn, I wish I had brought my other com with me, I have a picture of them as teenagers…Iki looked real good back then…especially when he had his shirt off.”

  Audrey started to blush.

  Kara cocked her head to the side and said, “By the way, Audrey, didn’t Ronald Harris join The Military after he and Moke graduated high school?”

  “Yes, he did.”

  “Really?” She smiled and nodded. “I remember playing cops and robbers with the boys after school when we were little. I guess I always thought Iki would make a good cop, or a soldier. I bet he looks good in a uniform, he was always a handsome guy.”

  “Yeah, some women love a man in uniform,” Audrey held her breath for a few seconds, and bit the inside of her cheek. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she had read in the medical file. The information it contained perplexed her, and sometimes made her shudder.

  Kara looked at Audrey for a few seconds, and realized that her human friend was lost in thought.

  “So, just out of curiosity, Audrey, why are you asking me about Ronald Harris anyway?”

  “Oh…he’s coming back Ailana, early next week in fact.”

  “No kidding? He’s coming home? That’s great,” She said and glanced down at the menu again.

  “Well,” Audrey stammered, “I have noticed that Harris and I do have a lot in common…I mean…both our parents died mysteriously. I’m pretty sure my parents were in The Military…I bet he might have at least heard of them. Maybe he would know what happened to my father…and my mother…and he is really good looking…we’re about the same age…he actually does look really good in a uniform…”

  Audrey stopped as she realized that Kara was smiling at her in a teasing manner.

  Audrey placed her hands over her mouth. She felt slightly embarrassed as Kara said, “Well, I hope I’ll be able to see him while he’s here. I bet we could have a pretty neat little stroll down memory lane together.”

  “Yeah, we’ll have to see about that…” Audrey said as she bit her bottom lip. She felt too nervous to say anything more.

  Location: Manu Kula Storage Facility…Downtown Polynea.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 1130 Hours.

  Van Dien exhaled a long, billowing cloud of smoke as he looked down on the workers, who were on the floor below the catwalk he was standing on. He admired their determination and prudence as they loaded large boxes and crates onto trucks while moving them with precision along the storage facility’s main floor.

  Brawnsworth stood next to him and sounded worried, yet unafraid as he said, “well, there is all the proof you need to know that we’ve always done exactly as we have been told.”

  “I guess I can understand why you were so afraid and so unsure…don’t worry, High Senator Brawnsworth, you’re loyalty will be rewarded…just as long as you, or your people, never pull a stunt like that behind my back again.”

  Brawnsworth sighed with impatience and a bit of disgust as he said, “the products in those boxes not only represent loyalty…they represents us taking an enormous risk for reasons that were never made very apparent to us. You can’t blame my people for taking the, precautions, that that did when they helped Loko to no avail.”

  “The events I oversee on Ailana, usually go as they are planned…they have for nearly fifty years now. Tell me, why the change in heart all of the sudden?”

  Brawnsworth’s eyes narrowed with a bit of anger that he did not want to let show, as he said, “Do you realize how many citizens of this planet had to lose their jobs and go onto a welfare system, that they despise, because of what is in those boxes? Do you realize how many trillions of dollars this economy lost because our party allowed those businessmen to make risky investments with money we acquired for them by raising taxes on the common people? We created a bubble, and when it burst, the recession that resulted caused millions upon millions of our citizens to lose their jobs, lose their businesses, their homes…and lose what we require from them the most right now….respect for us.”

  Van Dien sighed as he said, “I feel your pain, but you must have faith.”

  “Faith? Because of the ideology you made us force down the throats of millions of Ailanians, both human and native, we have a lot of people losing faith. I get hundreds of angry e-mails on a daily basis…some of them describing how there are people who want our heads delivered to their doorstep on a silver platter. You demanded we help you with your plan. You ordered us to create a suitable situation so no one would be able to find out what your plan really entailed…and we gave you one. Some of us just want assurance that what we did back then…and what we are doing now …is the right thing.”

  Van Dien scowled as he said, “that is not your place to ask…but I must admit…things are not takin
g the turn I thought they would…so your faith will be tested once again.”

  “I’ll be honest with you,” Brawnsworth said through shallow breaths. “Because of the election that you failed to stop from happening, I don’t know how much longer we will be able to keep this up. The natives…are getting restless, as you might imagine.”

  “It might be a while before I can guarantee you the results you want,” Van Dien said as he took a long drag. “You see, I had Marco in my sights as well…I had been spying on him for months now, taking stock of his every move. He was quite useful to me, but then, he started talking to people…and some of these people, I have captured, and some of them I have killed. But the other day, in the morgue, I saw the burned body of a man named Tim Gallagher, who I thought we had been keeping close tabs on. I remember that he was a handsome man…he was a bald man, who was rather good-looking and charming before the explosion, at any rate…but his exact role in this plot eludes me now. However, Jacob did mention him in those files I had a chance to look over after we retrieved them from his apartment that night.”

  “Your lack of omnipotence is beginning to worry me. Are telling me that this bald guy, named Tim, or whatever, was simply a diversion to keep you from finding out who is really behind this mysterious person’s plan, who you are competing with now,” Brawnsworth said in a disparaging tone.

  “I was hoping this person, who wants to become rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams, would just join forces with me…but, I have no idea who they are since so many people have passed through that morgue…but, this fellow named Tim, at one time, he must have spoken with the ring-leader of this plan I have stumbled across. It’s a shame. He must have had intimate knowledge of their plan, which ultimately cost both Loko and Marco their lives since they were wrapped up in it as well. Another ironic aspect to all of this…is the fact that Kalapana came so close to arresting both Loko and Marco…but then again, if he had, my plan would have been in jeopardy. Oh how this has become so confounded and complicated.”

  “And so after all of this violence and turmoil, the only thing that we have found out, is that we have yet to discover the true identity of this person with the plan to make themselves rich and famous beyond their wildest dreams…but what about your plan? How does their plan assist your plan? Isn’t your plan for our world the real reason why we are here and doing what we are doing? Isn’t our role in all of this to assist you?”

  Van Dien was stoic as he said, “My plan is still on track, but is still in danger of failing, because of this unforeseen set of circumstances we must now deal with. My plan is in danger as long as those who are carrying out this other plan continue with their own ambitions. I have to find them…I have to stop them…or at least convince them that their plan will only succeed if they join forces with me.”

  Brawnsworth slouched his shoulders and said, “By the gods…I don’t know what to make of this anymore.”

  “Fear not, my loyal friend, I was getting so close to finding out who is doing all of these things behind my back…and this bald fellow, who I spoke with on the com after I found those archeologists…he’s dead…and I have no idea who had him killed…even though I know, all too well, what killed him. Someone’s desire to make money is what killed him. Which is something else we might have to worry about, it seems…that there is very little loyalty left because money is the object of everyone’s desire…it seems that we are living in a time, when the almighty dollar truly is something to worship.”

  Brawnsworth was nearly furious as he said, “Again, all this cryptic, cloak and dagger crap that is happening behind the curtain is becoming hard to take. Remember, I am the one who must stand in front of the curtain and keep a straight face while I lie to my people. I am trying very hard to keep what is really happening on Ailana, a secret, so that the truth behind the lie we are selling will not panic the masses. The bottom line is this job of mine is becoming quite difficult…because so many people on this planet are just so frightened and angry now. I did my part, I gave you my conspirators…those men, who you found speaking to each other at Hana Paloi, they have might have known this bald fellow…Gallagher, or whatever his name was. But my guess is that those men in my inner circle were just like this Gallagher fellow, they were victims being played by someone else, who has decided to take their involvement in this game to the next level…and that is why finding this unknown person is so very crucial for me right now.”

  “And your people…do you have them under your complete control?”

  “They have been given the one and only warning that you give people before you start killing them. My people are all too afraid for their lives to stand up against you, and thus, you can cross them off your list of suspects. But all these other actions, from these other players, I cannot control. You need to find out who is this new opponent of ours is? That way, their slippery actions will not get my people killed in this complicated feud that appears to be developing on Ailana. This could not be happening at a worse time.”

  Van Dien’s nicotine fueled brain thought up the perfect lie to bait Brawnsworth with as he said, “I don’t plan on killing any of your people in the High Senate…just these unknown players who they had been unknowingly conspiring with. You’re people are simply being used by someone they don’t completely know about and who’s plan they don’t completely understand…finding out who these unknown players are and what their plan details…will be a lot more difficult than I previously thought.”

  “And what if this, chaos, that killed Loko and all those other people in that morgue, is not the work of a group of people, but the work of only one person?”

  “Like I said, any assistance you can give me would be appreciated.”

  “I’ll see what I can do from my end…but the only thing I can do, is put some more pressure on some law enforcement officials.”

  “You will put some more pressure on Kalapana.”

  Brawnsworth sighed as he said, “I wish it were that easy. I don’t think you appreciate just how complicated our overbearing government is, my friend. It took nearly a decade to implement and pull the needed strings to get you all of those commodities down there. We passed legislation that took years to draft and pass in the High Senate…not to mention the tax cuts, the high risk loans we allowed to happen because of the deregulation of corporations we were able to cause…what we did for you was not easy.”

  Van Dien’s smile was menacing as he said, “not to mention immoral…governments are supposed to protect their citizens…and the laws you passed…and didn’t pass…caused your citizens great harm by greedy bankers and investors, who wanted to make a very large profit very quickly.”

  Brawnsworth banged his fist against the catwalk’s railing and said, “It also allowed the market to be flooded with agricultural products…just so that you could use them to make those emergency rations down there without the public knowing about it. What are you planning on doing with all those boxes of food rations down there? I’m afraid that there are certain people, who you don’t want having such knowledge, running around Ailana right now, telling everyone they meet that the sky is falling…”

  Van Dien’s smile became angry as he hissed, “then let’s hope that Loko Kalaheva’s news programs did a good job of making sure that no one believes them just yet…”

  “Loko said it best…you can only believe your own lies for so long before the truth sends your mind into a tailspin that can only lead to madness.”

  “And that’s why you must remain strong, Brawnsworth. Thanks to you, and the efforts of your people…I am sure we will be fine. The plan will proceed as I have ordered. Now, find me whoever it is that has their own plan to write the future history books of Ailana…and get Kalapana to play ball!”

  Location: The Madalahara Iron Works…an abandoned metal factory…Downtown Polynea.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 2300 Hours.

  While he was
in the hazy, drug induced state, Wallace remembered what had gotten him to this moment. In the back of his mind he saw the AilanianUniversity that he attended, and he remembered the people he had met there.

  “We’ve decided to start a revolution…the people of this planet deserve freedom from the Moralists and the pseudo-capitalists who enslave us. What is your University specialty Wallace?”

  “I’m a semester away from getting a Doctorate in biochemical engineering,” Wallace remembered how young and naïve he had been, and how he thought these three young men were such important figures in his life.

  “What do you plan on doing with your degree, Wallace?”

  “Check this out, this is radical! Some friends of mine and I have been hired by the Cedar Hills Institute of Technology. We’ve all heard that some strange, top secret stuff is going on in there. We’re helping a professor expose what the government is really doing. We believe we have found out the truth about The Hydroplantations. We know the government is involved…we know they want Dr. Miller silenced.”

  “We know of Dr. DeWolf Miller…we know of his work.”

  “Can you help us?”

  “We can, Wallace…and we will. My name is Landra Bernhart. I just received my Doctorate in chemical geology, which means I know quite a bit about rocks and minerals.”

  “That’s an interesting field. Tell me, Landra, why would a geologist want to join this anti-government movement? Why risk your life and your career to help these people with their conspiracy theories?”

  “Wallace…there comes a time in everyone’s life, when they realize that what they know about the world around them needs to be put towards a higher good. In my case…the things I know about a certain type of Ailanian rocks cannot be ignored any longer. There comes a point in your life when you have to stop believing the lies they are telling you…and start telling the truth…”

  In his woozy state of mind, which had been caused by the Cutz and truth serum they had injected him with, Wallace could hear those very friends speaking now.