She stopped and nodded at the President, then said. “It was not an easy decision to turn to weapons and violence. We both struggled with the implications it had when we finally decided to team up with the resistance. The President and I cried for hours after we authorized the use of weapons to demonstrate what would happen if the corporate regime didn’t stand down.” Tears began to well up in both of their eyes as she continued. “Our decisions got people killed, destroyed lives, yet we had to endure. We had to overcome. It was our last resort.”
A silence came over the auditorium and we watched as the president walked over and embraced Harley. The two giants of revolution, allowed us to see the human side of a decision made during war. Tears began to flow down both of their cheeks and nearly everyone in the auditorium followed suit. It was a time for all of us to remember those who sacrificed everything so that we may be free. I had never felt so guilty and yet so alive at the same time.
Abby reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it as if she needed me to pull her to safety, I turned, opened my arms and she buried her head in my chest. Looking over her shoulder, I could see that the whole room was embracing someone. In that auditorium that day we were all trying to heal, to erase the scars of war and the bitter taste of loss. Despite most of the younger students not being alive during the revolution, all of them knew someone who was, and all of them had heard the stories of their relatives and loved ones who lost so that we may win.
The class that day was different from the previous sessions, The addition of Harley gave the discussion a different tone and approach. Mrs. Verduzco used history and quotes to justify most what the revolution and subsequent continental congress had done, while Harley used emotion and passion. Harley Matthews was a warrior who led the battles, and unlike the leaders of the twentieth century, took part in them on the front line. We didn’t need her to recount her battles, because we had all seen them. The new revolution had all been caught on the surveillance state cameras and made public in an effort to demonize the resistance. Unfortunately for the Corporatists, the videos had the opposite effect and were used for years afterwards to remind us how much loss we had endured to get to where we were.
For the first time in my life I understood why we had to abandon non-violence to defeat the corporatists. I could see and feel how hard it was for the leaders of our revolution to do so.
President Verdusco gave everyone a few moments to collect themselves before she gave us our new assignment and wrapped up the class. She assigned us a book called Corporate Control and urged us to partner up with someone to come up with some good questions for the next class. She gave us the opportunity at the end to show our appreciation to Harley Matthews, and we all gave her a standing ovation that seemed to last forever.
Read more of The Freedom Files in the next book Corporate Control
***********************************************
Sneak Peak of Corporate Control
Chapter 1
The new assignment was the last of the books used to justify the changes made to the original constitution. Abby and I were both relieved to be done with The Gun Games and the emotional roller coaster it took for us to come to terms with the reality of war. Corporate Control had been described in lore as the last book ever published, but it was really broadcast in audio format sixty years after the fall, and not published in paper until after the second revolution. The time period the story was set in was critical to the corporate takeover, six years after the 2016 election. Everything had to fall in place for the corporations, but something stood in the way, freedom on the Internet. Large publishers were all owned by the same two entities that also owned all of the TV stations, radio stations, and news outlets. For years, this worked perfectly, giving the top one percent multiple platforms to espouse their agenda. However the Internet’s reach was unexpected and nearly derailed the plan to take over the country and ultimately the world. Self-publishing, blogging, posting, sharing, and social media, all gave voice to those who didn’t fit the corporate model.
Internet freedom gave rise to a new movement that for the first time in history gave the power of the press to people beyond the filter of the wealthy. Information was seen as the enemy, because the conspirators realized that if the populace figured out that they were slowly being turned into slaves, the people would surely revolt. At first they used everything in their arsenal to discredit self-publishers, but it didn’t work, because people started to recognize that they were being duped. The first four books we read in the class were all self-published on the Internet. For this reason all books were made illegal and only corporate-approved media could be produced. I heard stories as a kid about the riots that were caused when an old man locked himself in a broadcast booth and played a tape of himself reading Corporate Control.
That night I sat down and began to read out loud. Abby was sitting next to me in bed, and we were taking turns reading the short chapters to each other.
Chapter 2
Jodi McPherson was the personal assistant to Brock Stellar, the CEO of Wamsamyes. Fifteen years of dedicated service and the ability to turn a blind eye landed her the top job for her position. On this day, it was her job to set up the seating and refreshments for the top CEO’s in food production companies from around the world. After pleasantries and introductions and a few drinks, Jodi’s boss began his presentation.
“As you all know, we have been approaching the tipping point when our population growth can no longer be sustained.” He paused and hit a click on a controller, a slide flipped, and he pointed with a laser at the words, “GMO can solve the problem.” He began to speak again, “Our scientists have been diligently planning for this and believe we can humanely start to reduce the population while increasing our food supply.”
“What about the links to cancer GMO foods have?” the CEO of a large corn consortium asked.
“We have two choices: feed the people food that in some rare cases will cause cancer or let them starve.”
“Some of us are wondering if this isn’t just another way for you to increase your pesticide sales,” the head of the Corn group fired back.
“Will we profit? Yes, but if we do nothing, millions will die a miserable starving death. Our new strains will sterilize 50% of the population and allow for a more humane reduction.”
The head of the farmers’ union interceded. “You have our attention, so what’s the plan?”
“As you know our lobbying efforts and strategic political donations have opened the door for a new dawn in our country. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision that ruled that corporations are people and the McCutcheon vs. FEC decision which equate money to speech and implies that money is a necessary tool to engage in the political process, each one of our corporations is now protected by law. Look beyond that and it also opens the door to a whole new political action. What? You ask. What if I told you we're revving up to run Wamsanyes for president?
“Hold up,” the corn guy said, “you want to be president?”
“NO, I don’t, but our legal counsel has determined that corporations can run for office. This would allow the Board of Directors access to the Oval Office. When this happens, each one of your corporations will be given a positon on the cabinet.”
“Congress will block any move you try to make.”
“Let them try. We have several states in martial law and the country is decaying around us. The people want to be safe; they want to be secure. If we ramp up the fear factor, I’m confident the population will force congress into doing whatever it is we want.”
“So how do we accomplish this?” The CEO of Google asked.
Brock smiled, “Our friends in the CIA are very good at destabilizing countries so America can go in and save them. Essentially we are going to ask them to continue to do their dirty work here at home. How does that look? You may ask. It depends. We have a couple of mass shootings and peopl
e will call for gun laws, more drugs in schools, and people will call for drug laws. A global pandemic that kills millions of people will scare many. Show the association that regulations on big business is a fast track to socialism or worse communism and people will be clawing their way toward the door. At that point we offer a new solution driven by the free market. I’ve sat down with the brass at the IMF and they are eager to see a regime change and a new emergence of a vast war machine similar to the early WWII operations that saved our country from the great depression. No one really knows that the America that once was, no longer is, and hasn’t been since the assassination of JFK, MLK and Bobby Kennedy. It has taken many of our families nearly ninety years to get here. We have ridden the wave of manipulation and fear and it has paid off. Our population is ready and the time to strike is now,” He shouted slamming down his fist.
“Why now? It seems to me that we are all pulling in record profits. The unions are nearly busted and we are seeing a resurgence of cheap labor in the some states where we’ve got the right to work legislation to pass.” spoke up one of the members.
Brock reiterated, “We have to act now because if we don’t the planet’s population will grow so large we will risk the chance of complete extermination. This is about preserving the human race.”
Chapter 3
Detective Viloria strolled past the yellow caution tape and stopped at the first body drooped over the end of the kitchen table. He reached into his pocket, pulled out some rubber gloves, and stretched them on before carefully picking up the victim’s hand. Pooling blood obscured the view and he wanted to see if there was anything in his hands.
A tall thin woman leaned down, saying, “Nothing there, I already checked.”
She pointed at the base of the skull and said, “Two entry wounds with.”
Detective Viloria finished her sentence, “Burn marks.”
She said, “So this must have been a hit.”
Duane asked, “Why would someone take out a dairy owner?”
“Maybe it’s a front for a laundering operation, who knows? Whatever this guy was caught up in got his whole family killed.”
“Where are the others?” Duane asked.
She walked him out of the study and down a long hallway. The wooden floors creaked as they passed the stairs.
“There is more to see down here in the kitchen,” she said.
They stepped to the side as they came through the door. He scanned the room, taking a mental picture of the woman’s last moments. A pan on the stove with half cooked eggs, two plates, a half-filled glass of wine and an open bottle of the same. She lay at the base of the island, with one shot to her upper abdomen and two in the back of the head. She still had the spatula in her hand.
They made their way upstairs to the little boy’s room and found his body hiding in the back of his closet. “Wow, pretty ruthless, shooting a defenseless boy in the head,” said Detective Viloria.
They agreed and she walked him down the hall to show him to the teenage girl’s room. Her hands were still under the bed and her face was down. “They must have dragged her out from under the bed,” she said.
Duane walked around the bed, plopped down on his back, and slid under it. He pointed up at the slats under her mattress. The corner of a book was protruding out.
“Maybe our friend here left us some answers,” he said.
He reached up and pulled out a 5” by 7” hard-backed journal, “Which he carefully placed in a bag and continued to look for clues.
This novella is an original creation by a Native American artist. Duke Kell is a member of Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Tribal ID number 89RD101025.
Published by:
Two Ton Productions
Kona, Hawai’i, USA
www.twotonproductions.com
About the Author:
Duke Kell, Author, Poet, Philosopher, resides in Kona on the big island of Hawaii. He and his wife Nancy, own and operate Two Ton Productions. Disillusioned by the corporate dumbing down of popular entertainment, their company is dedicated to publishing works of substance.
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Freedom Files Books
The Cancer Culture
The Weed War
The Surveillance State
Gun Games
Corporate Control
Other full length novels:
The Point of Origin, by Duke and Nancy Kell.(2010)
Hawaiian Heart. The Soul Warrior's Journey, by Duke and Nancy Kell(2013)
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