Prisoners of Paradise

by Brandon Lars Erikson

  “Someone left this room in a panic,” Audrey thought as she realized how the words on the monitor continued to scroll on with implications of someone double crossing someone else.

  Jack followed close behind. “CLEAR!” He shouted to the team behind him, “THE HALLWAY IS CLEAR!”

  With a stern look on his face, Jack quickly entered the room, rapidly pointing his gun in every direction he could, until something caught his eye.

  “Look at that monitor…” Jack said as he strode quickly across the room, his gun leading the way.

  Audrey shouted “NO JACK! STOP!”

  Jack was less than a meter away when the monitor exploded in a blaze of blue and orange flame.

  Location: The street below the Wailuki Apartments

  Ailanian Standard Time: 1800 Hours.

  “SOMBODY HELP ME!” Ignesia screamed as she ran down the dark alleyway. Her heels ached as she pounded her feet down on the pavement. “SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

  In this undesirable part of Polynea, the first twenty floors of the residential buildings were solid cement blocks. A multitude of elevators allowed the residents of these low-tech buildings, to get to the floor they lived on. Ignesia saw that one of the elevators was rising. She jumped up and down, waving her arms as she screamed.

  “DOWN HERE! HELP ME!”

  Ignesia began to feel her panic growing as she saw the people inside with their backs still facing her. No one turned around or looked down as she screamed.

  “PLEASE! HELP ME!”

  As she saw the elevator get farther and farther away, she became despondent when she realized that they could not hear or see her. She began running as fast as she could. She felt pain in her chest as she gasped for breath, her Bontune lungs could not cope with the dryness of the air.

  She started crying and began running again until the alley suddenly became darker, and Ignesia found herself looking at an immense wall. The alley had ended blindly.

  “DAMN IT!”

  She became silent and her eyes became wider as she heard the heavy footsteps behind her.

  “NO!” She screamed and whirled around.

  She saw the man in black coming toward her. His long strides seemed to make him glide out of the darkness. The shadows completely engulfed his face, but a thin slash of light fell across his chest and made the metal parts of his clothing glimmer.

  “NO!” She covered her face with her arms in fear.

  His eyes glowed red. He said nothing as he approached. When he was within arm’s reach, he stopped, and remained silent. He held out his left hand, and handed her a small monitor that was the size and thickness of a playing card.

  The monitor was turned on and she heard a strange voice coming from it.

  Ignesia froze. She didn’t make a sound as the voice from the monitor said, “Do you people have any idea what you have really done? We have no more time for such useless prattle! Don’t you see what is going on? Someone on this planet has to cover up their mistakes…they need to have someone to blame…and YOU have been chosen to be the lucky winner of the patsy prize because you have made our lives so very difficult. So here is the deal…you might be useful to us…if you are…you get to live…if not…well, let’s just say that we are reasonable people.”

  She began wailing, “PLEASE! DON’T HURT ME! LET ME GO!”

  The man in black, backed up, spun around on his heels, and began to stride away. Suddenly, but quite expectedly, his internal cranial com began buzzing. He activated it by blinking his eyes. Instantly, he heard an angry voice shouting, “DO IT!”

  The man in black, stopped dead in his tracks, and sighed as he let his shoulders slouch a bit.

  “DO IT NOW!” The voice from his cranial com said, “I just found out we need her dead! She knows too much! Kill her and destroy the body!”

  The man in black simply stood there for a while longer. The voice in his head became more irritated, and a bit frantic, “Look man, she knows too much! We can’t have any witnesses!”

  His deep, raspy voice was nearly sympathetic, “She’s just a kid…they were all just, kids…”

  “What?! Don’t tell me you’ve never killed a civilian before! Don’t start this compassionate bullshit now! Look, she’s a witness, and she could be very dangerous to us all! We know that you only care about the money! She could jeopardize our ability to pay you! KILL HER NOW!”

  Ignesia suddenly realized that she might have a chance as she reached into her pocket and grabbed her small, pink com and began dialing as fast as she could. Less than a second later, she was whispering frantically into the com, “If anybody can hear me, I’ve been compromised! You have to proceed with Plan Seven! Do you hear me? Plan Seven! Someone has to stop this shit from happening before it’s too late!”

  The man in black picked up on her voice with his sensitive computerized ears.

  “That must mean there are more of you people…a sleeper cell exists somewhere on Ailana,” The left of his human brain registered a sad, disappointed emotion. “Shit…why did you have to go and do that?”

  She screamed as she saw him turn his head. She cried out, “OH MY GODS! HELP ME!”

  The man in black unholstered his side arm with lightning speed. He extended his arm and shot Ignesia in the head, splattering her brains all over the wall. Her lifeless body flopped to the ground like meat in a slaughter house.

  “Sometimes…I wished this life could just be over…” His thoughts were mixed with brief sensations of guilt and remorse as he tossed a couple of metal spheres from his utility belt to the ground. The balls exploded, and instantly, the girl’s body and the garbage that surrounded it were ablaze. Moments later, the fire began creeping up a large pile of scrap lumber that was piled up at the end of the alley.

  The entire alley was soon awash in the light of the quickly growing fire. The man in black felt the heat intensifying as he walked away from the flames. Within a few moments, he stood next to a large pole that was attached to an elevator lift. According to his sensors, no life forms were in it. He looked up and noticed the lift was about twenty meters off the ground and rising quickly. Without hesitation he produced a tightly wound, steel cable from under his coat sleeve. He attached the cable to a spear tip, and inserted the device into the barrel of his gun.

  He raised his arm and took a shot. With a bit of relief, he saw how spear-tipped device flew upward and pierced the bottom of the elevator. The cable became taunt as the elevator lifted him off the ground just as the flames that were creeping down the alley were about to singe his boots.

  Location: Mele Entertainment Headquarters…Uptown Polynea…Ailana.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 0100 hours

  The party that had started after the last live news broadcast continued to rage in the Penthouse suites.

  “I’ll be out in a minute!” Grant shouted to his friends as he ran through the entrance. He entered the next room and the thick door slid shut behind him. He became a bit giddy as he saw how the bathroom was an electric blue colored spectacle that looked more like a lounge, complete with a private wet bar.

  “The executive piss-room,” Grant cheered to himself. “I’ve finally made it.”

  Grant strode into the first available stall. He saw how the walls that surrounded the toilet were wall-papered and the floor was carpeted. Everything was immaculate. The toilets gleamed with a sparkle that suggested very few people ever used them. They matched the spotless sinks and the mirrors were completely streak free. The lighting was soothing and soft music played in the background.

  Grant made sure the quiet that he now heard was from the fact that he was alone before he closed the stall’s door. He blinked a couple of times, and produced a small glass vile from his suit coat pocket. This was a time of personal celebration for him. He was celebrating the fact that he looked stunning. His suit was smooth, shiny, and completely pai
d for. His hair was perfect, his eyes glimmered, and when he smiled, people noticed. Women adored him, men feared him. His newly acquired life had just become the perfect ruse. He now had the perfect cover story and the perfect fortress in which to hide his stratagem for his newly acquired ulterior motives.

  It was time to celebrate all he had accomplished. Grant opened up the vile and snorted its contents. His heart raced, his pupils dilated, and the room spun while time seemed to stand still.

  “What a rush.”

  “I’ve got an idea for a story,” A voice said from the next stall.

  “I’m so sorry!” Grant said in a loud, apologetic voice. “I thought there was no one else here.”

  “Do you want to hear the story?” The soft voice said, “It’s about a group of young scientists who think they have stumbled upon a secret plan by a shadow government agency to enslave the people of their home world. They discovered how someone, with a lot of power, had convinced the local government to hand over the planet’s food production to a handful of very large, multiplanetary corporations.”

  Grant’s ears perked up as the strange voice said, “The young scientists learned how this shadow government’s leader also has another secret plan, which could cause the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. These young scientists decide to team up with a group of cyberspace terrorists and hackers to stop this evil plan before the men in black get a chance to pull it off. Does that sound like a story you would like to make into a movie to show to the millions of families who live on Ailana?”

  “I don’t know if this is the best place for a meeting,” Grant said. He stumbled a bit as he walked to the door. “But that does sound like an idea for a good script…we should talk…now that I am the President of this company…it could be your story’s lucky day.”

  Grant chuckled to himself. All these so-called writers in the universe made him laugh.

  The voice replied, “but this could be an even better story…imagine this…Makula Pilikoa, a notorious Ailanian gangster, pays a boot-licking, junior executive, a hundred thousand dollars, so that he could have the pleasure of killing Loko Kalaheva himself.”

  Grant gasped as he felt his heart suddenly beating a lot faster from anxiety.

  The voice continued speaking, “Loko hated gangsters…his monitor programs like, ‘Ailana’s Most Wanted Immorals’ were always putting Makula’s sons, daughters, nephews and nieces in prison. Which some people find rather odd, because Loko actually did some business with Makula. Loko also helped to bankroll another gangster, named Marco, who was planning on putting Makula out of business. To make a long story short, Marco helped us out tremendously when he tricked Makula into thinking it was Loko who was stealing from him…it was so much fun watching everyone kill themselves off…it made things so much easier for us to sneak into this game without being noticed.”

  Grant felt himself unable to breathe normally as the voice said, “And we need to give you some credit as well, Grant…you helped us out tremendously, since it was your jealousy of Loko, which helped convince you to open the door for his killer. If Loko had lived and gotten caught by the CIA…he might have spilled his guts about what he knew about the Prisoners of Paradise…and my plan to become rich and famous…”

  “Yeah right, pal. What the hell would you know about that?” Grant said as he walked out of the stall and saw a big man, dressed in black.

  “Holy shit,” Grant said softly as he saw how the man stood at least two heads taller than he did. Grant’s eyes became wide with fear as how saw how the man’s shoulders seemed immensely broad.

  “Oh my gods,” Grant gasped as he looked up and saw how the man’s face was covered with deep, red scars.

  The man in black handed Grant a small, plastic card, which had a tiny monitor in it. Grant reluctantly took the card and stared at it with eyes that could barely focus. As he held it between his thumb and index finger, the monitor came to life. Grant almost lost control of his bowels as he saw Loko Kalaheva’s face and heard his voice.

  “Grant,” Loko said. “I just wanted to be one of the first people to contact you, after the cops dragged you to jail. It’s too bad your little plan failed eh? Well, I wish you luck in your future endeavors, but I am sad to say, that I must terminate your employment with Mele Entertainment.”

  Grant’s face froze as he heard a sharp noise that sounded like a sword being drawn from a scabbard. He felt a jolt of pure adrenaline sting his heart as a silver blade pierced the center of the card he was holding.

  “Holy shit!” Grant shouted and came down from his high immediately. His heart leapt from his chest when he saw how the blade had emerged from the top of the man’s fist. The man in the black flexed his bicep and withdrew the card from Grant’s trembling hands. He stood there for a few menacing moments, before a spring loaded device withdrew the blade back into his fist.

  “Oh my gods…” Grant’s brain pulsed with fear as he saw how he pierced monitor floated to the floor. He began breathing faster as he saw how the monster in front of him then presented him with another card.

  The man in black stood there silently as Grant began to breathe harder and harder. The monitor came to life. The first image was the serious face of a tight-lipped man. Grant dropped the card on the ground after he noticed the white hair.

  The voice from the monitor then proceeded to say, “Or we could spin the truth a little more…I say we make a headline that explains how the death of Loko Kalaheva, is still being investigated? What a strange turn of events…I suppose you want to know what this BULLSHIT been all about anyway? What the hell has been happening on this planet?”

  Grant’s eyes felt as if they were drying out as he took a slow, steady breath.

  “Well, if you haven’t noticed yet…there appears to a secret war being fought out there…and the winner of this little war is going to determine the fate of your insignificant, little planet. And what is the greatest weapon of all in a war such as this one? Well, public opinion of course! The pen is mightier than the sword, Grant…and do you know why? This is a war of words!”

  Grant tried not to breath. He tried not to think as he realized he would need to put on his best game face and bluff his way through this newest assault by this latest, unknown opponent.

  “It’s going to be up to you to make sure this war of words doesn’t have to become a war with guns and bombs. What do your headlines say, Grant? Do they mention that Chief Tipsy was killed by a terrorist group in retaliation for the deal he made with Loko Kalaheva? Did you know Loko was paying Chief Tipsy to distract potential voters by getting them to attend his concert festivals all day long while the voting stations were open? I guess anyone can be bought off, but for some strange reason, WE have a problem because those concert goers decided to vote anyway. Could you explain to us why that happened? What do you know about this situation, which has forced us to rethink our plan? That election set us back a bit, Grant…and we are not happy about that.”

  Grant felt his throat getting tighter. He found it harder to breath as the voice said, “Be honest with me, Grant…are you really on our side? After all we did for you it would be a shame if you did something to screw us over. Remember, we brought you to this dance…you aren’t secretly planning to step on our toes and go dancing with someone else now are you? What’s going through your head right now?”

  “This shit is getting complicated…but there is still a chance my plan could still work…”

  Grant’s eyes became hazy and his brain began to ache as he remembered the e-mail re had received a few days ago from someone, who had written a note in pen, and then scanned the note into a computer that he couldn’t identify. He remembered how the communication, from the unknown source, had clearly stated;

  They are going to call us terrorists…but some of us believe we deserve a lot more credit

  than that….

  We started this whol
e thing with a brilliant idea and lots of determination.

  It was easy to find the guy who could smuggle the bombs here for us.

  The feelings about how we were going to use those weapons were not mutual.

  We’ve suddenly found a new power within ourselves to do what has become necessary. The freedom of the Ailanian people lies within the Prisoners of Paradise. Since we are all about to die for their freedom…we also figured that telling our story would be quite therapeutic for those that decide to write this chapter in history.

  Grant stopped thinking about the cryptic writings he had read as he realized that the out of focus face, on the tiny monitor, was still talking to him in a threatening tone, “Again, Grant…this is a war of words…and we would love to keep it that way. Our operation on this planet depends a lot upon what people think. Do your headlines say anything about how we calculated that the latest mass exodus of Independent voters, who were fleeing Ailana for Earth, in order to find jobs, would free High Senator Klunka of his political rivals in the High Senate?”

  Grant swallowed his fear and closed his eyes as he thought, “Oh gods…did I get stuck in the middle of the wrong fight? It’s starting to look as if these two opposing forces might just crush me…”

  The voice from the monitor said, “Do your newscasters talk about how our political rivals were going to undermine Klunka and Karamotzain’s plans to gain power and personal wealth from the Economic Revampment Program that the planet Aurora is offering your people? You need to explain this to us, Grant, despite those missing and distracted voters, why did High Senator Klunka lose one of the most important elections of his career? The Moralist party did everything they could to ensure his winning reelection. We can’t piece together what happened. Can you help us figure it out? Who did this to us? We don’t want to have to resort to using guns and bombs if we don’t have to…and speaking of bombs…do you have any idea who blew up that stadium full of innocent people?”