Prisoners of Paradise

by Brandon Lars Erikson

  “And she’s pushy…yet she seems a little naïve. Is she just another shrink they sent to make me talk about my feelings and find out just how screwed up I really am in the head? I’d like to find out…because I’d love to be that person…who gets to screw with someone’s head for fun…”

  Her smile disappeared and she lowered her eyes as she said, “I’m sorry…if this sounds abrupt…or I’m saying it wrong…but sometimes…I just feel so alone on this world…”

  He tried to ignore her and for a few moments while he contemplated not saying anything. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he thought, “Who am I kidding…I hate being a jerk…I hate a lot of the things I’ve become…”

  He looked her in the eye and tried to remain serious, like a well-rehearsed actor as he said, “I know what you are talking about. It’s that feeling of never really knowing if you belong somewhere…and never really knowing if you can trust the person you’re talking with. I feel guilty for feeling that way…it’s not fair to think that way.”

  “You’re right…it is.”

  “I could play this up, as if I was the guy, who is just talking to her, just so he can to get laid…the kind of guy that doesn’t have any plans to leave a note…or call her back the next day…I wonder what it would be like, to be that guy…” Harris let out a convincing sigh with a well-rehearsed look of compassion on his face as said, “Let me assure you, moving to Earth, where you can walk down endless streets of people, who look exactly like you…isn’t the answer to filling that void. Well, at least I can say that for myself…it didn’t work for me. It seems people always want to know something about you…something that you would rather just keep a secret.”

  “I understand…”

  “No, silly girl…I don’t think you do…” His mind fell backing into the realization of how he simply didn’t want to be here and talking about this sort of thing. “Who am I kidding? I hate talking to people about my feelings… so many people have used them against me…”

  Her voice sounded so innocent as she said, “Ailana…is home for me…I can’t imagine myself leaving…even if it was to be around other humans…”

  “Oh gods…this is so ridiculous,” He tried to appear polite as he changed the subject. “Has working for the Ailanian CIA been a good experience for you?”

  “Absolutely,” Audrey smiled as she looked at him. She realized how his profile was stunningly handsome. Audrey bit her tongue, and nervously let it go again before she said, “It makes me feel as if I am part of the solution.”

  Down the beach, a group of Ailanian people were being arrested by a Morality Squad. Audrey could hear the squad leader saying, in a rather loud voice, “skipping work to go lie around on the beach, eh? I guess you people are going to have to learn that sick days are to be used only when you are sick! My gods, people! What would happen if all Ailana’s citizens decided to act as immoral as you? We’d all be going straight to hell in a hand basket!”

  Harris felt himself laughing involuntarily, in a cynical manner.

  Audrey looked at him and asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “Part of the solution eh,” Harris watched as the beach goers were rounded up. “Do you ever think that you just might be part of the problem?”

  “No, I don’t,” She really didn’t know what he meant by that.

  “Then you haven’t been doing this sort of thing long enough.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she cocked her head to the side and said, “What do you mean?”

  Harris looked to the horizon. “Agent Winters, I don’t want to make it sound as if I am against authority. I believe that authority is necessary; it serves a good, civil purpose. But sometimes, I think that some of the worst mistakes I have ever made were the result of me wanting to impress someone with authority, who also had motives that I did not fully understand…and probably should have objected to. What I regret most in life are the things I did for people with power, just so that I would be accepted, and approved of. It’s strange, no matter how noble you think that someone with authority is, or how noble their cause is…people such as ourselves, simply serve as the means to bring about someone else’s objective. By the time the picture of that objective gets to us, it is always a bit fuzzy, if not down-right distorted…but yet, we need to serve them…it’s what we do. We know nothing else but service.”

  “Oh trust me, Captain Harris,” Audrey seemed to just brush him off, “I know in my heart that WE are doing the right thing.”

  Harris looked at her and tried to keep the contempt from his gaze. He suddenly realized how fun this game was to play. “Why don’t you and I go get something to drink, Agent Winters…it’s just too damned hot out here today.”

  Location: The Kalapana Family Summer Home.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 1800 Hours.

  The moon illuminated the beach, and made the water appear to have a deep, dark blue tone to it. Moke sat in the sand, with his legs folded up to his chest. His crossed arms were resting on his knees. He didn’t look behind him when he heard the sound of someone walking on the grass.

  “Captain, may I join you?” Audrey said, shattering the silence.

  “So how did it go?” He asked quietly.

  “He seemed to regret that you were not there to greet him.”

  “I’m sure he’ll get over it,” Moke said. “So is he at the barracks now?”

  “Yeah, I helped check him in a couple of hours ago.”

  Moke sounded almost seductive as he said, “So, what did you two talk about?”

  “Not much really,” Audrey then stretched the truth a bit by saying, “but he did say that he was disappointed that you were not there, he really wanted to see you.”

  Moke began to ignore her as he thought, “She doesn’t know of my plan…she can’t know…not yet…”

  Suddenly, his eyes opened a bit wider with the realization that he had just thought of a good way to keep her from finding out the truth he had been hiding from her. “Another simple distraction might work.”

  He smiled at her as he said, “So, you two hit it off pretty well, eh?”

  Audrey seemed a bit stunned by his tone of voice, “uh…yeah, I guess so.”

  “Oh come on, Audrey,” Moke scoffed playfully, “You spent the entire afternoon with a tall, handsome fellow, and that is all you can say?”

  Audrey paused to hide her embarrassment. “Well, to tell you the truth,” she said. “He is rather good looking. He has beautiful eyes.”

  “How would you like to spend some more time with him?”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, go ahead,” He said. “You’ve been working like mad for much too long now. I think it’s time you took a break. We’ve decided to let him and his team acclimate for a bit before we start the mission together. Why don’t you check out a government sport utility hover-truck, and show him around. Take him shopping for a surfboard. Take him to the beach and let him catch a few waves…I bet he’d like that.” Moke paused and then decided to slip in, “I bet you two have a lot in common, you should really hang out with more, people…like yourself.”

  “Humans?”

  Moke blinked a few times and nodded, “Uh, yeah….don’t you ever feel a bit disconnected from them? Growing up on Ailana the way you did…the way he did. It seems as if you spent most of your life around Ailanian people…rather than your own people.”

  She pressed her lips together and said, “I guess it would be neat to be able to do that…ya know, I haven’t spent a lot of time with…human men,” Audrey suddenly became suspicious. “Wait a minute, why don’t you want to take him surfing? I can’t even swim. Why don’t you take him?”

  “Uh…I can’t…Malia and I gotta keep working on a few more things.”

  “You are going to talk to him, aren’t you?”

  “I sent an e-mail to the barracks that he is
staying at. I told him that I am really busy, and that he should take a break and go surfing with you. I told him that you would be a great tour guide, and you two should go and enjoy the time off while it’s available. I also told him congratulations for preventing that civil war from breaking out in the North Africa Sector, and that I’d get in touch with him as soon as you got back from your vacation.”

  Audrey sensed Moke pausing, and jumped on him softly, and carefully, “did you tell him that your sister died?” She used a more relaxed tone of voice. “And what I mean by that is, Captain Harris knew your sister…he deserves to know that one of his childhood playmates passed away while he was in route from Earth.”

  Moke sighed and paused for a bit, the words were not coming easy. “I’ll tell him…when I finally see him face to face…let’s not concentrate on that now, Audrey…just go have some fun, you look like you need to get away from all this trauma and stress we’ve had to deal with lately.”

  Audrey felt as if she had stepped out of line, she decided to be careful. “So, you want me to take him surfing?”

  “I want you two to go out and have a good time. Audrey, you deserve to take some time off, go lie around on the beach and read a good book for a few days while he plays in the water. How about you leave tomorrow?”

  “Well,” Audrey suddenly began daydreaming about the possibilities. “I guess I could do that.”

  “Trust me…you’ll have a great time.”

  “Promise me this one thing, Moke,” Audrey said sternly. “Promise me that you will spend some time with him by yourself…have a good long talk with him, and make sure that things are all right between you before we start this mission…promise me you’ll tell him that you are sorry for not speaking to him for all these years.”

  “I will…I’ll be doing that, soon enough,” Moke said softly, and stared back out at the ocean. The waves slapped against the beach and pushed the bubbling foam into the glowing sand.

  Location: Downtown Polynea.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 1905 Hours.

  Kenny bit his fingernails as he nervously looked over his shoulder as he walked into the alley. He gulped down his fear as the streetlights behind him began to fade and the darkness between the enormous buildings began to engulf him. He tried to slow the beating of his frightened heart and jumped as he heard the sound of metal banging against the concrete.

  “Were you followed?” A stern voice called from the darkness.

  Kenny jumped with fear as he turned around and saw the white haired man standing in a small swath of light. “No,” Kenny stuttered. “No one knows where I am.”

  “It sounds so cliché’…but I always get a kick out of asking people that question,” Van Dien said as he handed Kenny a piece of paper. “I hope you are good at reading instructions and figuring things out for yourself. I am far too busy right now to give you any sort of assistance. Are you still up for this job?”

  “Are you still going to help me get my family out of that government building?” Kenny said.

  Van Dien said with a coy tone, “If you help me steal what I need, your wish is my command.”

  “Good,” Kenny said as he took the paper. “Then we have a deal.”

  “And remember,” Van Dien said with an evil grin. “Making deal with the devil means that you better be ready to give the devil his due.”

  Kenny swallowed the lump in his throat as he thought, “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

  Location: The HanaPaloiFederalBuilding

  Ailanian Standard Time: 0900 Hours.

  Moke stood silently in the elevator, and watched the numbers above the door increase. His head was full of troubling worry. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

  Van Dien appeared like a ghost. He stepped into the elevator, crossed his arms, and stood next to Moke, face was serious as he stared at the rising numbers above the door said, “You are going to fight them in court, aren’t you?”

  “And I assume you’ve come to talk me out of it,” Moke replied.

  “Actually, I’ve come to try to talk some sense into you.”

  “You are much too late for that.”

  “Captain, I have known you for a long time now. It seems that you never change. Don’t you realize that all of us have a role in life which we must play? Why is it that you refuse to accept the one that you have been given?”

  Moke turned his head quickly and began to verbally assault Van Dien. “Listen, asshole, I had no idea what sort of deal I was getting myself into! I didn’t choose this life, it chose me!”

  “Oh, I see you have mastered the role of the victim of circumstance…I pity you, Captain, I really do…you are a man, who knows that he is trapped.” Van Dien began to look even more stoic as he said, “Let me ask you a question, Captain Kalapana…do you long for something you can never have? Would you like to have some self- respect? Do you wish to…make atonement for something?”

  “Go to hell.”

  “You are pathetic, Captain,” Van Dien hissed. “There is nothing you can do to change the past, there is no way to redeem yourself from the shame and grief you feel for the choices you have made. Why don’t you just go in there, and throw yourself at the mercy of those who hold your leash? WE have a much bigger goal to achieve here, that YOU are part of whether you want to be or not.”

  Moke gathered the entire strength of the rage that burned inside of him and lunged at Van Dien, who immediately extended his arm, and planted his fist into Moke’s chest knocking him to the floor of the elevator.

  Moke groaned and rolled onto his side. His face contorted in pain. He felt as if he had been hit by a truck.

  Van Dien slowly knelt down beside him and began to speak in a gruff voice.

  “Don’t you ever try that again!” He said through gritted teeth as he showed Moke the small stun gun he had hidden in his palm. “You do not know your enemy. I have no idea what you are trying to accomplish, and I really don’t care anymore. But just remember this…I was there to see the deals that you made. And even if those devils, who you sold your soul to can’t pin you to the ground…I will.”

  Moke opened his eyes and gasped for breath, “Wram and his people can’t win! They know what they are doing is against the law! And right now, they may have the political power and the access to money to keep themselves one step ahead of me, but they’re gonna run out of time soon enough!”

  “And what do you think is going to happen, when you announce to the entire world, the evil intentions of your enemies? They are going to throw you into the lion’s den.”

  “They can’t prove any of their accusations against me!”

  “And you can’t prove any of your accusations against them, how ironic…a stalemate,” Van Dien said as he clenched his fists. “Don’t you see the futility in all of this? Why don’t you just accept the rules that they have made, and play ball? You know you can’t win…trust me, Captain Kalapana, I can make it worth your while to join the winning team…just like you did all those years ago.”

  “I won’t do their bidding anymore!” Moke spat. His voice betrayed the fact that he was on the verge of breaking down. “I accepted your deal, all those years ago, because I needed a temporary solution to what has become a very long term problem! Yes, I was coward! Yes, I wanted to take the easy way out! At first, I thought working for those people wouldn’t be so bad! But I never did feel right about it…and I didn’t realize to what extent they were going to take their plan. But I have always known that I couldn’t help them do what they’re doing. And I won’t help them do what they’re doing now if I can still help it!”

  “WHY?!” Van Dien shouted, “We had a deal, Captain! We gave you a kingdom, we gave you power, we gave you wealth…”

  “None of that matters if you’re a fraud! I made a promise to my sister that I would do whatever it took to ensure that our people rem
ain free!” Moke cried out, “and I am going to keep it!”

  “Captain, doing this won’t bring her back!”

  “I don’t want to bring her back!” Moke screamed, “Someday…I am going to be joining her in the after-life, and when I do…I want to be able to look her in the face when I speak to her. I want to be able to tell her that I honestlytried to save this world! Just like she did…”

  Van Dien then stood up straight, and smoothed out his suit coat with his palms. “At the rate you’re going, Captain…you might be joining your sister sooner than you think.”

  There was a beeping sound.

  The elevator lift doors opened, and Van Dien walked out as he shouted, “Just remember, Captain, we made a deal and you’d better be able to keep your end of the bargain!”

  Location: A hoverbus traversing across Polynea’s H-3 Laser Highway

  Ailanian Standard Time: 0930 Hours.

  Wallace closed his eyes and took a nervous breath as the petite, Hokupi woman sat next to him on the bus. Dark sunglasses hid her eyes and dark shawl covered her purple hair. The frown on her face suggested a mix of fear and anger as she said, “There are some of us who think that we need to give up this quest of ours. We’re scared, after Daren and Rodd went missing in the desert we started to get worried. After Andrea, Tango and their friends were captured, we became really scared. And now, after what happened to Landra and Ignesia…that was the final straw…some of us think that going to Earth would be the best plan.”

  Wallace exhaled slowly and said, “We’re not going anywhere. I still have to reach my contact…we still have someone on the inside, who can create the effective change, that we are going to need for our plan to succeed. We just have to wait a little bit longer.”

  She began to shake with fear as she said, “Some of us don’t know how much longer we can hold out…we are getting tired of looking over our shoulder. We’re tired of holding our breath when our cell phones ring…as if we’re waiting to see if that next phone call could spell our doom. Wallace, I have to warn you…your face is all over the Internet. People with coms and cell phones with web access would be able to report your position at the touch of a button…you are not safe anymore…we will not be safe anymore if we get caught helping you.”