IMAGINATION'S PLACE
FICTION
JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT
By; Speaker Gerald Polley
All rights reserved.
Chapter 14
Carol had the most wonderful night's sleep she had
ever had! She even dreamed of having good times with her mother
and father. There had been a few, though they had been far
between. She woke and found the house in a bustle.
Everybody was getting ready for the next Tests. About an hour
before The Speaker was supposed to arrive, one of her husband's
officers came in with a man she'd never seen before.
'Scuse me, ma'am," the officer began, "this
gentleman is with The United Nations. He works with something
called The Civil Liberties Union in The United States. He seems
to think there's something amiss with your situation and wants to speak
with you. He's rather insistent. Would you mind? We'd really like
to get rid of him."
Carol smiled. "Certainly!" she answered.
The man came forward. "I'm Nathaniel Spock,"
he announced. "I've been checking with young women from your
locality concerning a Professor Daniel Green. While you were
working as a prostitute did you ever visit Green's residence and watch
a video then take some tests?"
Carol remembered those sessions perfectly. Green had
been one of the nicest people she had ever met. Having to simply
sit and watch some videos and get fully paid for it hadn't bothered her
at all.
"I think I remember such sessions," she answered,
not wanting to give a definite answer. "What seems to be the problem?"
"We believe," her guest answered, "you have been
exposed to subliminal programming that has taken away your will to act
freely, that many of the things that have occurred to you since are the
results of those criminal actions. We are trying to get women
that were so shamefully used to testify as to what happened so we can
bring action against the Republic government for the violation of
peoples' rights. Many of these women turned on their employers. One
group of them took over their native country and had turned it into a
Spiritist Republic executing many people involved in prostitution
operations. This is a flagrant violation of peoples'
rights! We would like you to join in the suit.
Unfortunately only a couple of the women that had been used in this
manner are willing to come forward. We cannot really build a case
until we can get more witnesses."
Carol stared at the man and then looked at the
security officer. "He's deranged, right?" she asked, "Completely over
the hill? Lost a major assembly?"
"I'm afraid he's quite sincere!" the guard answered.
Carol sighed and turned back to her visitor.
"Get out of my house!" she snapped, "Now! And don't ever come
back! I have no use for an idiot like you, whatsoever! Now
get out!"
"Dammit!" the man screamed, "What's the matter with
you people? Can't you understand what's been done to you? They've
filled your brain full of nonsense, full of crap, full of this God
shit! You can't believe this crap! You're being used.
You could make a fortune with the abilities you're said to have. You
could make millions! They're using you!"
"I told you to leave!" Carol snapped.
"No!" the man answered, "You must stand up for those that have been used!"
Carol grabbed the man by the hair, and as he
screamed and hollered dragged him out the door and then out the gate,
throwing him on the ground. "You can't do that!" the man screamed
"I'll sue you! You can't manhandle me! I'm a
representative of The UN. I have a right to question you."
"You try to go back in that house again," the guard
snapped, "and I'll put handcuffs on you and take you to
detention! The lady told you to leave! In this country,
mister, when you're told to leave someone's house you instantaneously
and without question leave! You do not violate their right of
property! Now get back in the car! I'll take you to
arrivals and you can get a bus into the city. The lady has told
you no, and that's it! Now, get up!"
"You'll pay for this!" the man snarled, "No bitch
does this to me! I'm a man! You'll pay for this,
bitch! You'll learn your place!"
The man had gained his feet and Carol punched him,
and he went down again. "Arrest her!" he screamed "Arrest her!"
The guard took out his handcuffs, picked the man up
and cuffed him. "What are you doing?" the man screamed.
"I heard obscene language used," the guard snapped.
"I heard what I would consider threats against a person, crimes
here. I'll let a magistrate decide rather or not you should be
detained. But I would strongly advise you to keep your mouth
shut. As a matter of fact," he took out a card and read the man
his rights. "Just to be on the safe side!" the guard growled.
"Don't wanna give you any legal exit. Now, I'm warning you, shut
up or you may find yourself spending ten to twelve years here!"
"This is unacceptable!" the man growled, "This is
unacceptable! I have diplomatic immunity! This is
unacceptable!"
The guard shoved him towards the car and the man
became quiet. The guard leaned close to Carol and whispered "Good
punch!" Carol returned his smile. When Carol got back to
the door all the children were standing in it.
"I'm sorry you saw that!" Carol apologized.
"Why, mother?" her youngest asked. "That man
was crap! I wouldn't be surprised if he likes boys! He had
no right to talk to you like that! He's a chauvie!"
Carol smiled. "Let's get some breakfast," she
suggested. They all did so. The Speaker came, Carol took
The Test, and passed without question. They went to The Temple,
Carol took the bread and wine again and was asked to speak.
She got up to the podium and looked around.
"The most precious thing in the world," she began,
"is friends and family. Sometimes it's pretty hard to distinguish which
is which. Friends become like family. Sometimes they become
as much a part of you as those that share your blood. I have been
extremely fortunate. I have blundered into a situation where I
have acquired the most wondrous friends, and some of them have become
far more than that. I shall be forever grateful for those
circumstances, for that flow of time that brought me to this
place. If anyone was ever capable of changing that, if they were
to say to me 'Well, look, I can take you back in time and I can
make things better! You will be much better off. You will
have much better circumstances, you will be rich and powerful.' I
would tell them no thank you, don't want it, don't need it! I've
got all I want, all I need, right here and now. And I would
never, under any circumstances, give up what I have, even if I was
offered the entire world, it wouldn't be enough to surrender what I
have here and now. I don't particularly care how I got here, if
somebody helped me along the way and made it so I could do these
things, I wish a message sent to them, a message that says 'Thank
you! Thank you for giving me the ability to do these
things.' I look into the stars and I find wonders. I look
into books and I find secrets that others missed, that others
forgot. Looking at the faces looking back at me and smiling
because they like what I'm saying, because I enjoy where I am and what
I'm doing, because I'm doing it with them, fills me with the
greatest joy and happiness. I wouldn't trade that for anything, not
anything at all! And if anybody should ask me to I hope there's
an ambulance nearby, because they're going to need it! Anyone
that tries to take me away from this is gonna need all the help they
can get! Because I'm not gonna be alone. I've got family
and I've got friends, and they're not going to let anyone take me away."
"And how!" her daughter cried. Everyone roared with laughter.
"Thank you!" Carol concluded. "Thank you very
much. Bless all of you! Two celebrations in one week! I'm
beginning to feel important!" She smiled again and left the
podium. As she got to her family her daughter looked up with her
biggest eyes and said,
"I love you, mommy!"
Carol only returned her smile. Sometimes there was
just no need for words. They were an absolute waste, a nuisance.
You didn't need them. Just looks, just feelings were all that
were necessary. A thought entered her mind. "My God!
They wouldn't have been able to feel this."
Her husband understood what she meant. "Of course
they would," he answered, "they would feel it through us. That is
why they need us. That is why they can't go out there without
us. Because they need to feel."
Carol returned his smile. Mr. Asad came
over. Carol took him aside. "If you're ever in contact with
Professor Green," she whispered, "do me a favor. Tell him one of his
students says thank you. And it works!"
The man smiled broadly. I will put that message in my next communique! he assured.
The Speaker came over. "I would like to ask
one more favor," she began. "Even if I must stay another
day. I would very much like to be with you when you do the
procedure for Jerry. I understand the donator went to The Lords
last night, and they're keeping him alive artificially. But there isn't
much time. Could we make it tomorrow? I really should be
getting back to other things, but this has been so enjoyable!"
Carol sighed. "Tell them to set it up!" she
instructed. "We can't let what is offered go to waste."
The Speaker nodded. Carol went home.
"Oooh!" Knuckle remarked as they came in, "That guy that was here this
morning was on the news. They're putting him out of the country.
He says he'll be back with UN Forces."
"I don't think so!" Carol's husband snarled. "I don't think so!"
Carol looked at her friend. "Why didn't you come to the ceremony?" she asked.
"I watched," her friend answered, "but.." she
hesitated a moment. "The Children are very good. I
understand why they do things. But when we were arrested my
cousins were killed resisting. It still hurts. I
understand, but it still hurts. You're different. You're
not cold. I hope you understand."
Carol nodded and answered "Of course I do. I understand perfectly!"
Later that night she asked her husband "I know
you're not supposed to say, but if I don't find out I may go out of my
mind. What did The Foos do?"
Her husband grinned. "It wasn't really that
bad," he answered. "He was a government administrator. He got a
little bit too attached to government funds, took far too much of them
for personal use. His government thought it would be better if he and
his family spend some time here and learn to live on what they make
themselves. They've done quite well! The cousins thought
they were untouchable, thought they were the elite, and no one could
act against them. They tried to start an uprising. It
didn't go well for them.
Carol nodded. "Sometimes very nice people can
go the wrong way," she remarked. Her husband grinned again.
"I have definite proof of that," he teased,
"definite proof of that! Now I'm the one just about going out of
his mind. What in the hell have you found?"
"Another asteroid," Carol answered, "but it's not
coming for Earth, it's headed for Mars and it's gonna come awful
close. It may hit it! It could knock it out of orbit!"
"Ow!" her husband moaned. "That could mess up a lot of peoples' plans!"
"It sure could!" his wife agreed, "It sure
could! Now I've got to get some sleep. It's going to be a hard day
tomorrow."
Her husband took ahold of the waistband of her
pajamas. "In a little while!" he teased. It was more than a
little while!