Prisoners of Paradise

by Brandon Lars Erikson

  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 f
ound 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 d
own 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!”