Prisoners of Paradise

by Brandon Lars Erikson

  “What am I supposed to do until them?” Audrey huffed.

  “I understand they have one of those electronic bookstores that sell coffee now…why don’t you go find a magazine and just relax.”

  “How about a trashy romance novel? One where the heroine gets DUMPED!”

  “Hey it better than being duped, Audrey…at least now ya know that he just isn’t that into you.”

  Moke hung up before Audrey could begin swearing at him. He then paused for a few moments before dialing his com again. He closed his eyes as he waited for the person to answer.

  After what felt like an eternity, Pete answered in a groggy voice, “yeah?”

  Moke bit the inside of his cheek and said, “He’s all alone now…let’s get this over with.”

  “I’m ready to go.” Pete replied, “I’ll check back with you as soon as I make contact.”

  “Pete,” Moke sighed, “I can’t emphasize enough that we only have one shot at this…we need to do this right…and nobody, I mean nobody can find out about what we are doing.”

  “Don’t worry, Moke…we’ve taken every precaution to make sure he doesn’t discover what we are doing, or that anyone else finds out for that matter. We’ll get this over with as soon as we can.” Pete then paused and sighed before he said, “But, Moke…there is just one thing. My daughter…she’s gonna be safe…after all this shit hits the fan and all…you’ve some kind of plan to ensure that she’s gonna be alright?”

  “She’s strong, Pete…I have faith that she’ll be just fine.”

  “Moke…ya gotta promise me…if I don’t make it through this plan of ours…you have to be the one who tells her the secret I’ve been keeping from her all these years. She needs to know who her father really was, not just the bullshit she’s been told…she needs to know who she really is…”

  “I promise…I will tell her. Good luck, Pete.” Moke said as he hung up the com.

  Moke sighed and rubbed his face as he felt his mind turning over with troubling thoughts. “So this first test was definitely an indication of something…Audrey obviously failed to connect with him and he didn’t take the bait. Rejecting an offer for female companionship…that could be interpreted as a red flag according to the data we have. There is something going on inside the man’s head…I’m willing to be it’s something troubling…and I have to figure out what it is before it’s too late.”

  Chapter 34

  Location: Undisclosed.

  Ailanian Standard Time: 1900 Hours

  Van Dien walked down the gray hallway in an unhurried manner. He turned a corner as another door opened automatically for him.

  “How are things going in here, Schultz?” He asked in a grumpy, sleep deprived voice.

  “Very good, sir,” The man in the protective suit said quickly.

  “Thank you for all your hard work, Schultz…this was definitely above and beyond the call of duty on your part,” Van Dien said casually. “Oh and by the way, I got you some glass cleaner and paper towels for your helmet.”

  “Thank you, sir…the specimen is ready for you.”

  The tubby man, who was strapped to the table, appeared quite eager to cooperate.

  Van Dien looked at him for a few moments before he said, “so, Patrick…they tell me that you recently arrived on Ailana on a Star Cruiser that took off from Earth about three weeks ago. You apparently just got done with a tour of duty in the Steward Reserves, am I correct?”

  “Yes,” Patrick said, “but sir, please let me tell you this one thing…I’m not the guy you’re looking for…I am still technically a civilian.”

  “Do you have any Military training at all?”

  Patrick said in a calm, but arrogant tone of voice, “Yes…and because of my training, I can scream, ‘help me! My ass is being shot at!’ just as loudly as any of those pricks in The Military can. But they told me I was here because I went AWOL…I’m a civilian…and that means I can quit anytime I want to.”

  “Patrick,” Van Dien said, “you are one of those people, who does not desire much in life…you simply wish to live off the efforts of your fellow man. You simply wish to do the most you can out of life with the least amount of effort.”

  “Uh…what do you mean by that?”

  Van Dien inhaled with a hint of impatience as he produced his cigarettes, and lit one. He took a much needed drag as he said, “You are the kind of man, who lies and cheats…but somehow, you have the ability to get people to like you, despite of it all, because of the respectable manner in which you present yourself.”

  Patrick was taken aback as he said, “Uh…hey man…that ain’t fair…you don’t know me.”

  “You know yourself to be a dishonest man…but yet you take great pride in the fact that people believe you, because you present yourself as being believable…but for you, honesty has no meaning, and no value.”

  Patrick felt his nerves twitching as he smelled the white haired man’s smoke, “Hey, man…why don’t you take that shit you’re spouting outside and talk to someone, who might understand it, and might actually give a shit? ”

  Van Dien felt his patience wearing thin as he took another drag and said, “You don’t wish to burden yourself with tangible facts, good ideas, or working for a living. You only care about what people think about you…you are far too altruistic in your thinking…but at the same time, you are only concerned with yourself…”

  “Hey man, screw you!”

  Van Dien narrowed his eyes as he said, “But you wouldn’t harm anyone, would ya? You’re a pussy…you’d let someone else do the fighting. You’ve probably never had to pick up a gun because the Planets of Aurora and Earth have had such a long period of prosperity and peace. But you work on a military spaceship that delivers all sorts of things to the colonies, and you do it, at least in your opinion, for a very good reason. People like yourself, can just come to Ailana, and think that the rules don’t apply to them, however…they do. We suspect that you probably contracted a venereal disease from one of the local hookers? Am I correct?”

  “Well…yes, but…I just gotta know one thing…you are a doctor right? This is a hospital…isn’t it? You can make it better, can’t you?”

  “Patrick, the man in the protective suit, is a paranoid hypochondriac…and no, I am not a doctor…I work for a greater good.”

  “So…can I get a shot or something? It hurts when I pee.”

  “Patrick, do you know that vaccinations and synthetic antibiotics, are once again wearing at the glue that held a Moralist society together? And do you know why?”

  “Uh…no, sir, I don’t know what the hell you are talking about…”

  “Patrick, you do realize that you are on Ailana, which is a planet controlled by Moralists, don’t you?”

  “Yeah…and so what?”

  “And right now, on Ailana, we are having some problems, with some people, who believe that freedom allows someone to have immoral sex, with an acrobat prostitute, while swinging on a trapeze if one so desires. That’s why we let the Moralists take control of the government. We were hoping that they could pass laws that would stop to such selfish behavior. Too many people in this galaxy cling to this, ‘it’s my life and I’ll do whatever I please’ attitude. The Moralists enforce the Moral Codes, because people - such as you - need protection from themselves. But alas, simply being a buzz kill just doesn’t seem to be as effective anymore. And year after year, it seems that we need to implement, harsher consequences for the actions of our misguided Immoral population. We are now in a position because of the selfish ideals you people hold, where we must take drastic, almost draconian measures if Ailana is ever to become a prosperous world again, for it seems that cutting the government’s budget will simply not be enough. We need to do more, Patrick…we live in drastic times…and thus we need to take even more drastic measures.”

  Patrick shook h
is head and held onto an amazed look in his eyes as he said, “Look, I was just hoping that I could get the cure for the clap before the trip back to Earth.”

  “Yes, and I bet that you were hoping to have the consequences of your immorality paid for by the government as well?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, Patrick, all that I’m saying, is that you…are stuck in a rut…you plan to have the good, tax paying citizens of Ailana pay for the medical care that you need in order for Mr. Happy to work properly again…and then you plan to go back to Earth and get laid again, and again, and again, until your willy starts to hurt again. The cycle will repeat itself, and you will keep crossing a square marked, ‘Go’. You just want to stay true to your little self, forever. Am I correct, Patrick?”

  “What in the hell are you talking about?”

  “Patrick, I just want to know if you really are worth your salt. Let me see, you had a cabin right next to a Captain Ronald James Harris…he was in your care, was he not?”

  “Yeah…I knew who he was and spoke with him quite often.”

  “You were supposed to be checking up on him to see if he was taking his daily doses of medications…did you perform this task as you were ordered?”

  “Uh…I might have had to do that, yes.”

  “Did he take his medications, Patrick?”

  “Look man, I made sure they got to his cabin…I really don’t know if he took them or not…look man, it ain’t my fault if the guy didn’t take his meds…that was his personal choice!”

  Van Dien showed his teeth as he said, “Oh yes, there’s that phrase again…personal choice…freedom means doing whatever I want and shunning my duty to my fellow man. Patrick, you are someone who dances around the real issue at hand…you are someone who fails to take responsibility. I’ve known so many men, just like you, Patrick…and I have spent a great deal of effort…to make sure that they stay popular, so that they can keep working for me in the Ailanian High Senate. Too bad for you, your name doesn’t look good in lights…you could have really been someone, Patrick.”

  “What in the hell are you talking about, man? Get me out of here! I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m just like everyone else!”

  Van Dien rolled his eyes as he said, “Patrick, not only are you an Immoral, but you are also incompetent…and a waste of my precious oxygen.”

  Patrick swallowed his fear as he saw the hatred in the white haired man’s face.

  Spit flew from Van Dien’s lips as he said, “I’ve had enough of having to constantly deal with people like you…but I do it for a reason…it’s all for the plan I have to save this world. Every single nobody, that I have made into a somebody, has been all for the sake of the plan…mine is a plan that needs second hand people to be in charge of things…and I will never forgive myself…for what I have done to this world…so that I might save it.”

  “What?” Patrick said with a voice that was both surprised and irritated.

  “I’m sorry, my second-hand friend, but had you been assigned to another deck on the Star Cruiser, you would probably be swinging from that trapeze at this very moment…the immoral underworld is actually quite powerful on Ailana…and most law enforcement officers have simply given up trying to stop people from selling sex for money here. But you, unfortunately, got caught in a secret war between two spy agencies.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “Oh yes, Patrick…the men in black that you keep hearing about but never see. The black vehicles and aircraft that seem to come out of nowhere and take care of some event that never seems to make the news. We exist. We have become highly involved in a secret struggle, here on Ailana…we are committing black ops against each other…and we are fighting a war where there can only be one winner.”

  Patrick’s face twitched a bit as he said, “What? What in the hell are you talking about?”

  Van Dien sighed and rolled his eyes before he said, “there are a lot of strange, almost unreasonable events taking place on this planet…there is a constant, ideological battle between Moralists and Liberals…the Moralists have barricaded themselves in high-tech apartments hoping to keep themselves safe from the Immorals…drug dealers and criminal gangs have hatched plots to kill each other…and this world is basically falling apart at the seams because there are groups of people here, who have essentially misinterpreted the scriptures that were written by the Prophet Ayn…and I have been taking advantage of all the hatred and infighting within the current political climate here…because I need a grand distraction while I execute my secret plan to destroy this world.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “But there is one problem…my opponent in this fight, a man who I once could trust to do my bidding…is convinced that my plan is simply about enslaving the people of Ailana for the sake of the Moralists’ political ideology…but he is wrong…I know a terrible secret…and I have to destroy this planet in order to save it from the evil that threatens it. Mine is a terrible situation to be in, Patrick.”

  “Whoa, dude…you’re losing me here.”

  “My moral dilemma is actually heartbreaking, my opponent in this war…was once a man who I could expect to follow my orders, but now…he has decided that my plan was born of evil instead of necessity. And you might find this hard to believe, Patrick…but this man, who I must defeat, has now gained a terrible advantage over me all because you have broken the laws that I must enforce.”

  “What? Dude, I just wanna break some Moral Codes…I don’t care about some bullshit, evil plan. Dude, if you just let me get on the next Star Cruiser back to Earth, I swear I won’t tell anyone how nuts you really are.”

  “Oh, but that’s the problem…my enemy is a second hand person, just like you, Patrick. The fool was able to find himself a way to impress some local revolutionaries…and now, he’s managed to use his charming ways to reconfigure the Ailanian High Senate…and without those ass clowns, named Glik and Semnor, to cast their votes…my opponent has been able to impress someone else and make an alliance that could also potentially decrease the odds of my plan succeeding…”

  “What the hell are you talking about?! I just wanna get out of here! I am a sovereign citizen of The Alliance! I have rights! I am a free man! You can’t do this to me!”

  Van Dien sneered as he said, “Freedom? Such a strange word to be thrown around by those who have no idea the word truly means. As far as I am concerned, I am the only free man on Ailana. Why? Because a man, such as myself can do any damned thing I please.”

  “Fuck you! Let me go!”

  “Freedom? What has a man, such as yourself ever done to deserve it?”

  “This is bullshit!”

  “Freedom? Is it a right? Is it something that must be guaranteed for everyone because we were all created equal? Freedom? Equality? What do those words really mean? Do people, such as yourself, really and truly deserve those things that you refuse to earn, because you believe that everything should be handed to you…because you refuse to let go of the belief the rest of us owe you something? You were supposed to do a job…for me…you were supposed to help me ensure that a man took his medication on a daily basis…so that his brain would be in a specific, physiological state which would compel him to follow my orders without question. And, Patrick, you have failed me in that regard…and people who fail me…must pay the price for their arrogance.”

  “Listen man! I have rights! I wanna see my lawyer! I am gonna sue your ass for this!”

  “You have yourself a good day there, Patrick.” Van Dien stood up and began walking away. The door opened automatically for him and just as he had so quickly walked in from nowhere, he vanished.

  Patrick’s eyes moved about rapidly as he heard a soft, buzzing sound. There was a loud snapping sound.

  “AH SHIT!” Patrick screamed as he felt something sharp stabbing into his neck.

  “What the hell?! Holy shit!�
��

  Patrick violently shook his head and screamed as a robotic syringe injected an acidic substance into his carotid artery.

  “Oh my gods! It hurts! It hurts!”

  After a few moments, Patrick’s screaming abruptly stopped. He moaned and gurgled as he felt the poison eating away at his brain.

  The closing door silenced his cries for help. As Van Dien walked into the hallway his thoughts turned to more pressing matters, “Thanks to that fat, incompetent boob’s apathy and lack of work ethic there is no way for me to locate Captain Harris. This could be a potential problem…he was an important part of my plan to defeat Kalapana. Oh well, I’ll just have to find a way to work around it. Very few things now lie between me and my victory…and my plan will still succeed despite this newest turn of events…”

  Location: The NorthShore of Sacred House

  Ailanian Standard Time: 0600 Hours.

  Harris stood on a sand dune, above the beach, wearing a wetsuit that exposed his muscular arms. He held a long, white surfboard as he stared off towards the horizon, which seemed to be several shades of blue blended together.

  He heard his father’s angry voice yelling drunken obscenities from the darkness of his memories.

  “Goddamn it! Quit crying, Lauren! I didn’t hit you that hard! It’s your fault you made me hit you, Lauren! All I want is to come home, and find that the kid has learned some shit! Why is he so goddamned below average at everything, Lauren?! And why is this goddamned house such a mess?! For Christ’s sakes! They make a man risk his life working in this great, goddamned military and they can’t even give him a house that ain’t bug ridden and falling apart! But shit, Lauren…the least you could do is keep this shit-hole clean!”

  “I just want it to stop…I want all of it to just stop…” Harris thought as he shut his eyes tightly, trying to tune his father out. Harris shook his head slowly, as another voice from the past, crawled into his mind, like a poisonous spider. Harris felt the venom flow.