Enjoy the next 4 episodes in this sci-fi thriller, 120 through 123.
The United States is in slow-motion economic collapse. The Three Strikes Act funnels the unemployed masses into a national network of work camps for the most trivial of infractions.
Lando Cruz is a scrappy rebel who risks his final strike on the streets of Philadelphia by trading illegal currencies under cover of a burrito stand. He spends his days bribing dirty cops, fending off undercover federal agents and shepherding his little sister through adolescence.
Lando is getting by until beat cops seize his savings and kidnap his sister for ransom. He has thirty days to raise the hard cash he needs to free her before she is sold into sex slavery. His only chance is a lucrative job offer from the black market rebellion's paramilitary startup, the Core. He risks both his life and his principles to get his sister back before time runs out.
Episode 120: Stash
Lando pushed open the door to the office. “Don’t worry, guys. I’m going to make all of this right. Just send me a message if you need something from me.”
David and Ryan’s eyes followed him as he walked out.
Lando stepped into the late afternoon air. He walked towards South Street. Left? Or right?
Lando closed his eyes. He turned left and bumped into something soft. He opened his eyes and did a double-take. “Mari!” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Mari?”
Mariana hugged him.
He brushed the hair from her face. “It’s really you!” He frowned. “But how did you get here? How did you know?”
She smiled and laid her head against his chest.
Lando looked around. “Are they following you?”
“I don’t think so.” She stood up straight. “The house is right around here, isn’t it? Let’s go.”
“Are you kidding? I can’t — How did you even find me?”
She grinned and looked at the floor. “I grabbed your tablet when we were at the bus terminal and got your GPS data.”
“You got my GPS data?” Lando asked.
She grinned. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Anyway, what happened?” Lando asked.
She put a hand to her hair and looked behind her. “They might still be following me. Let’s get inside!” She picked up her bags.
Lando stopped her. “I can’t take you into the house.”
She dropped her bags. “Where am I going to stay then!” she yelled.
Lando grabbed her arm. “Quiet!” He looked at his watch. “I’ll have to stash you in a hotel for the night.”
“No! Lando! Let go of my arm!”
Episode 121: Mom
“Sister told me they were police,” Mariana said. She took a sip of hot tea. “How much longer is the food going to take?”
Lando looked around the hotel room. She deserves better than this dump. He examined the ratty bedspread and scowled at the vinyl shades. Outside the large window was a view of Center City.
A memory flashed into his mind. His mother sat on their bed. It wasn’t unlike this one. Mom …
Mariana cleared her throat and glared at him.
“Oh, any time now. Police? What kind of police?” Lando asked.
“She didn’t say. They were dressed in suits.”
“And they signed my name to the register.” Lando pursed his lips. “Bastards.”
“Watch your mouth.” Mariana smiled.
Lando laughed. “I’ve missed that smile of yours, you know.” He marveled at her sweet young face. It was tense now. “You remind me so much of mom.”
“I wish I could remember something about her,” Marian said.
“You are her,” said Lando. “Just like her.”
“I’m so hun—“ started Mariana.
There was a knock at the door. Lando looked out the peephole. It was a man in a business suit. He shivered.
The man knocked again.
Lando looked back at her.
Her eyes got big. “What is it?”
Lando looked through the peephole again. He took a deep breath. “Who is it?” he said in a deep voice.
“Delivery,” the man said without looking up.
Lando put the chain on the door and opened it. “Pass the food in.” He looked through the crack in the door. The man’s face was haggard and pockmarked. His eyes were blank.
He pushed the food through the crack in the door but it wouldn’t fit. He looked at Lando.
Lando grunted, opened the door, took receipt of the food and closed it again.
“Hey, how about the money, brah?” said the man.
Lando looked through the keyhole. The man was fishing in his pockets. Lando put a hand at the back of his waistband. “I already paid. With bitcoin. When I ordered.”
The man pulled something out of his pocket. “Oh, yeah, sorry, brah. Hey, how about a tip? Help a brah out.”
Lando gritted his teeth. “I already paid the delivery fee! Now go!” He locked the deadbolt and watched the man walk away.
Mariana opened the boxes of Chinese food. “Oh my God, this is so good,” She said through a full mouth.
“So, they were dressed in suits?” Lando asked.
“Eat something!” she whispered. “You’ve lost weight.”
He laughed. “Just like mom.” Lando took a bite of an egg roll. “If they wore suits then I doubt they were the beat cops that stole my bitcoin.” His eyes unfocused. “So they came into the school and got you?”
“No, Sister Margaret —“ she started.
“Is she the short one with the orange hair?”
“Yes. She told me they were kicking me out —“
“For what? And why did they call me —“ Lando started.
“Those nuns are old school. They don’t let you be free,” Mariana said. “It’s all sit-down, no-talking and memorize useless facts and figures. I couldn’t take it.”
“Did you deliberately cause trouble? Or can you just not help being a pain in the butt?” He grimaced.
Mariana took another bite and waved her chopsticks at him.
“So, this Margaret person kicked you out and you were on the street. Then what?” he asked.
“I got tired of waiting for you. Why did it take you so long!”
“I was down here and it takes a while to get up there,” he said.
“You should have come in taxi! I was all by myself,” she said.
“I did! What happened next?” he asked.
“I got tired. There were weird old guys walking around.”
Lando rolled his eyes. “There’s a nursing home next door to the school.”
“They were weird. So I crossed the street to that shopping mall. There’s a really nice Italian deli over there. And, as I am crossing that big street, these guys drive up in a black car and grab me,” she said.
“They just got out of the car and grabbed you? Just like that? In broad daylight?” Lando asked.
Mariana nodded and shoveled more food in her mouth.
“Did they say anything? Did you yell?”
“They showed me a badge,” Mariana said.
“What kind of badge? What agency?”
“I don’t know! I don’t remember and I’m really hungry. Can you just please stop with the questions for a little while. I’m about to crash.”
Lando rubbed his chin. “When did the nun tell you they were cops if they didn’t show up until after you left the convent?”
“Just wait!” She filled her cheeks with chunks of tofu. “They threw me in the car and took me back to the convent. They wanted to make sure it was me.”
“They wanted to make sure you were you? They already knew your name?” Lando stood up and paced.
“Oh yeah,” she said.
“What the —“ he started.
“Watch your mouth!”
Lando grimaced. “You’ve been around the nuns too long.”
She reached out and punched him in the shoulder. “Then they were taking me back out, so I kicked them. I ran back upstairs and climbed out a window onto a tree. I had to leave all my stuff behind. Speaking of that, I need money to go clothes shopping tomorrow.”
“You’re staying right here for the foreseeable future. I’ll bring you something when I can,” Lando said. “You’re not even to order takeout without me here to receive it.”
Mariana frowned. “I was going to call you but my tablet ran out of battery and then I had to take busses to get here.” She took a bite of an egg roll. “And that is what happened.”
Lando gazed out the window again. The darkened skyscrapers of Center City loomed over the warehouses of South Philadelphia. A hopeless and empty feeling welled up in his gut. The memory of Mom’s death came back to him.
“What are we going to do now?” Mariana asked.
“I don’t know.”
Episode 122: Protective Custody
“They got to her,” Ryan said.
Lando took a seat at David’s desk in the office. “No way,” he said. He waved his hand. “Impossible. Mari and I are tight. She would do anything for me and I —“
“Anything, huh?” asked Ryan. “Including passing information to the feds in return for immunity for the both of you?”
Lando looked at Ryan.
“She can live. But she needs to be in protective custody — my protective custody.”
Lando tensed his body. “That’s not going to happen. Don’t even bother —“
“I don’t want to kill anyone that I don’t have to. But we’re just hours away from the op. We’re going to kill the executive branch of the most powerful government in the world. I’m not taking any chances.”
Lando frowned and flexed his hand.
“How much have you told her about what we’re doing here?” asked Ryan
“Nothing!” said Lando.
“I don’t believe you.”
“You will have to,” said Lando. “If you think she is a snitch, then you have to either kill her or lock her up until the statute of limitations expires. Neither option is acceptable to me. This is my sister. I’m not just her brother. I’m her guardian now. I’ll rip anybody to pieces before I allow them to hurt her.”
Ryan relaxed. He looked down. “You’re that sure that she can be trusted?”
“Without question,” Lando said.
Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Of course you are. If she made a deal, then it was to get you off the hook. This is all win for you. But there’s no upside for me. It’s all risk.”
“I can leave. I can be gone right now,” said Lando.
“You can still testify to too much,” said Ryan.
“I would never snitch on you guys!” Lando yelled. “The agora is my life!”
David cleared his throat. “Lando has taken a lot of abuse from cops. He’s dedicated himself to this for years, even though his family has been against it. He’s sacrificed —“
Ryan silenced David with his hand. “That point makes some sense to me. I know Lando wouldn’t snitch.”
Lando’s eyes got big. “Even if I told her something and even if she snitched, it’s hearsay. It’s worthless in court!”
Ryan frowned in approval. “He has a point there,” he said to David. “But I still need to talk to her — in person. In fact, you’re going to bring her here right now.” He pulled his tablet out of his pocket and studied it for a moment.
“Something changed,” Ryan said. “The job is tomorrow at noon. Bring her before then.”
Episode 123: Crackdown
Lando awoke in his bunk. It was pitch black. His ear tingled. He never noticed I turned off the cell blocker. Lando smirked. He tapped his ear. “What?” he whispered.
“Lando, it’s Henry.”
“What time is it and where have you been?” Lando asked.
“You shouldn’t have harassed Freddy like that. He’s a good kid but he can’t handle the stress,” Henry said.
“Who is Freddy?” Lando asked.
“The kid at the counter in the shop. Remember?”
“Oh, right,” said Lando. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting days to hear from you about the documents!” He heard David roll over in the other bed. He rolled away from him. “You convinced me to come back in here,” he whispered. “I’m counting on you for support.”
“Relax,” said Henry. I’ve —“
“You’ve been on some kind of drunken-drugged bender. I just know it.”
Henry was silent a moment. “I’m going to let that pass. I have been working hard. I’ve been consulting sources.”
“And?”
The line was silent.
“Fill me in already!” said Lando. “You’ve been off working this whole time so fill me in!”
“Relax. Okay?” Henry paused. “Maybe we should talk about this in person.”
“No, I want to know what the big discovery is. What’s the conclusion? What did you find out? Come on, let it all —“
“Alright! Nobody knows this Ryan guy. Not Harold either. Never heard of them. And Logan’s friends say he is on vacation in Europe.”
Lando was silent.
“This plan you told me about? It doesn’t make sense to any of us,” said Henry. “Radabaugh and Sanchez tolerate us. They know that we’re absorbing the people the corporations lay off. Hell, we’ve saved their asses from violent revolution. The small agorist gardens and community farms are keeping people fed!”
“What do you mean? Why wouldn’t it make sense? We can cause disarray, confusion, chaos.” Lando shrugged.
“Come on. Look deeper.”
Lando took a deep breath and let it out. He thought for a moment. “Who wins if our plan succeeds?” he asked.
“‘Our’? You can’t support this. This is insanity,” said Henry.
“Who takes over!”
Henry sighed. “The Speaker of the House.”
“And what are his politics?” asked Lando.
“He’s a patron of the IPEC,” said Henry. “A rank crony corporatist.”
“What? That makes no sense,” Lando said.
“My thoughts exactly,” said Henry.
David got up, turned on the bathroom light and closed the door behind him.
“Let’s recap,” said Henry. “We have a guy who is impersonating me. No one in our community knows him. He wants to kill the leaders of the federal government and bring to power a corporatist yes-man who supports the intellectual property lobby. I smell a false-flag attack.”
“Easy on the tinfoil. I expect a deeper analysis from the Raven.”
“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” said Henry. “You’re working for a fed, or for a fed-controlled patsy. Or maybe you are the patsy. Have you considered that? Jesus and here I am calling you on the phone. That’ll make a great headline: ‘Agora Leader Raven Controlled President’s Assassin.’ Oh, I’m so looking forward to —”
“Stop whining like an old woman. Ryan is legit. I am sure of it,” said Lando.
“But will you bet your life on it?” asked Henry. “What about mine? Will you bet the entire agora on it? All the progress we’ve made? Twenty years ago, we didn’t exist and now we’re approaching twenty percent of the economy. A lot of people sacrificed themselves for that.”
“Don’t —“ started Lando.
“Because when the Speaker comes to power, that will be the end of it. The corporations are looking for a crackdown and he will give it to them. He’s in their pocket!”
Lando was silent.
“You should get out now. Save yourself and your sister while you can,” said Henry.
“Gee, that’s what I was going to do until you stopped me. Now I can’t,” said Lando.
“Hey, you —“
“Don’t feed me a line of bullshit, Henry. You’re in this till the end now, just like me. There’s no escaping this.”
“Just get —“ started Henry.
“To where, Henry?” Lando asked. “I’m on the most wanted list. I’m into a loan shark. And the feds can get me anywhere. Do you really think they won’t pursue a President-killer to the ends of the earth? My best bet is to follow through and ride the wave. Ryan has got my back, even if you don’t. I know Ryan has a plan here.”
Henry sighed. “An agorist plot,” he said, “to bring a corporatist to state power. It makes no sense Lando. It’s a setup. And you’re the only genuine agorist in the mix. Get —“
Lando cut the connection.
What Next?
I’m working on a couple stories right now, a post-apocalyptic zombie thriller and a cyberpunk detective story called Scorched Myelin. Stay tuned!
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