CARLOS & KATRINA

A Novel by Charles Adrian Trevino
Copyright 2006, 2018
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Chapter 24

"Gentlemen, this insanity has obviously gone too far," said Dan Murdock, looking up at the video monitor hanging on the wall of his study.

Murdock clicked the remote control in his hand and turned off the television. They had been watching the evening news, broadcast from the most popular news program of the day, CNT; John Screwlucy, the National Security Counselor to the president, had given a fiery patriotic speech in which he had defended the insanely exorbitant, ever-increasing military budget as being absolutely necessary for the defense of the UFS and it's number one ally, the country of Usheria, due to the terrorist threat arising from enemies of both nations.

He had praised the effectiveness of the new radar-evading fighter jet The Eagle, which could be flown either by a pilot or as a remotely controlled drone, and was currently scheduled for mass production at a cost of over $100 million per jet. He had enthusiastically recounted it's recent successful attacks against targets that were threatening Usheria, and the impressive number of lives it had claimed in it's first deployment against the enemy country of Persiana. Then, his voice rising to a feverish pitch, he had promised "hellish" retribution against any Persianic combatants who threatened the UFS or it's sister country Usheria and their jointly vested interests in that war torn region, quoting his highest army commander Gary Schroin: "Our soldiers will beat these enemy combatants to death with their trench-digging shovels if they won't surrender. We will make it clear... surrender or face the awesome wrath of the UFS!"

His speech had been followed by an interview with Ben Webanyahoo, the president of Usheria, who had claimed that Persiana's neighbor country Urana was secretly trying to build a nuclear weapons factory in defiance of the recent international agreement which forbade any such action. He was urging the UFS to assist Usheria in a pre-emptive strike against the ailing country, and also on the country of Sirius that was harboring dangerous Persianic terrorists. Sirius's citizens were now in the midst of a devastating famine caused by an untimely drought, exacerbated by internal civil warfare amongst it's rival factions and drone missile attacks by the UFS and Usheria, combined. The program had ended with the announcer telling viewers to stay tuned for another patriotic speech by John Terraman, better known as "The Knee."

Murdock turned to face the small group of men seated in his large study. "To summarize, my friends, the current military budget of 5 trillion dollars has dwarfed the annual military expenditures of the last three years combined, and plans are in the making for more costly weapons experiments. At the same time Screwlucy is fanning the flames for even more military aggression against Persianic countries that supposedly threaten us and Usheria, which can only result in more terrorist reprisals against UFS citizens, both here and abroad, which of course will justify their reasons for even more necessary military expenditures. This non-stop flow of taxpayer's dollars to the military will cripple any attempts to stop the insanity, or to alleviate other problems occuring throughout the country. And there is no end in sight to this vicious cycle. Clearly, something has to be done."

For a few moments the men in the room remained silent, absorbing Murdock's speech; then Major General John Franklin of the High Chiefs of Staff spoke up. "First of all Dan, how do we know it's safe to talk about this here? These people have proven to me many times that they can see and hear me anywhere I go! How are you so certain your place is safe from them?"

Murdock picked up a glass of water and took a long drink before speaking. "John, I can't guarantee anything one hundred percent... all I can tell you is that I, and my trusted assistants, have the most up-to-date electronic surveillance detecting equipment available, and know how to use it. This is probably the safest place to talk we're going to find. But I admit, nothing is certain anymore, given the amount of money these people can generate. All I can do is repeat... something needs to be done to stop this descent into madness, and I'm willing to take my chances here, and accept the consequences if I'm wrong. This is something each of you are going to have to decide for yourselves. But if we can gain control of the major news media outlets quickly and completely, we might have a good fighting chance of success in this extremely risky endeavor."

Henry Rossenberg, the chief Media Advisor to President Wolfen, was the next to voice his thoughts. "Dan, I'm willing to trust in your expertise if the others will go along with this... I agree that we must at least try to do something to stop this madness before it's too late; I too will risk public disgrace and execution to bring about some sort of change in this government. I'm with you, Dan, whatever fate befalls us. If we can coordinate this thing right, and get the cooperation of the key people we need in the media and financial sectors, we just may succeed, yes."

"But what about the rest of the world? How do you plan to unite the various powers, which is what we'll have to do in the end... as I'm sure you've already realized," said Michael DuPont, one of the Wolfen Administration's top Economic Advisors.

"That's right... they'll just go to another country and use its own money to build up their military, the same way they do ours! We would need the cooperation of dozens of different countries and their leaders. How are we going to pull that off?" Arguments started to break out among the men assembled in the study. Murdock waited a little while before he answered.

"All I can say is that we are the most powerful country in the world, and if we can get this country back under control, get control of the the central bank, the military and the media, the rest of the world's leaders may see the light... if we stop threatening them! But all this would have to be done with lightning speed in order to prevent social and economic turmoil... what we don't want is for everybody to run to their bank and try to withdraw their money all at once. History has shown us what will happen in that event. We have already seen how they use the power of panic to control us, so speed is of the essence here."

"Dan, we're dealing with people who have been subjugating countries for centuries now," said Franklin. "They have genius financial and political experts under their thumbs... they know a lot more about this kind of thing than we do! It's not just a military thing now. How can we possibly..."

"We can get control of their geniuses!" Murdock abruptly interrupted Franklin's question.

"And we have geniuses of our own who will simply follow the leader once we gain control! Once we have control of certain key entities, the rest will have to submit..."

"But everything is secret! We don't know who their geniuses are! What's going to stop them from re-assembling and coming back at us? There are secret elitist societies, we don't even know who or where they are... and then there are the trade issues... everyone is suspicious of each other, everyone is fighting, paranoid..."

"We can trace their so-called geniuses, by following the money trail... it's an academic detective endeavor, John... it can be done, but it would have to be done fast, as I said before." Murdock looked at Michael DuPont the economist, awaiting his input on the matter.

DuPont spoke again. "It would lessen the trade confusion immensely if we could somehow get back on a strict monetary standard... that would simplify the exchange rate fluctuation problem, which the Ushers use to cause total trade confusion that results in mistrust, tariffs, taxpayer-bailout government subsidies to major corporations... there will always be trade issues, there always have been. But if we force this thing through, the other leaders might be more inclined to follow our example, once they see the method behind our madness... if sanity prevails in the world's strongest economy, the major powers can start to repair their economies as well. If we can stop the bickering and the distrust, we just might have a chance in hell of getting the entire world back in some semblance of order. Dan is on the right track!"

"But won't going back on a gold standard hamper us, when they can go somewhere else and simply inflate the money supply as much as they want? We will have our hands tied with our goddamned honesty, while they'll be printing as much money as they need to pay the charlatans, get them to do exactly whatever they want... it seems like this whole thing is on an impossibly huge scale, to big to deal with in one fell swoop..."

"That's where the military comes in... once the top world powers come to reason and join us, we will be able to force everybody into accepting a world-wide monetary standard, based on precious metals, or whatever else. We'll have to start with Longlandia, then Nordmandia, then Gaulica, before negotiating with the Asiatican countries, whose distrust of us is understandable, given our history... but as I say, once we stop intimidating them and interfering with their policies, as well as their cultures, they will be more likely to join us." Murdock took another long drink of water, then put down his glass. "Of course, we'll have to deal with Longlandia first..."

"Oh, good luck! The Rothman banking dynasty has had them completely under their thumbs for over a hundred years now, and they're in league with their decadent international secret societies, the Freebuilders, the Illuminators, etc." said Henry Rossenberg. "And... the Ushers are experts at dumbing down their society with their mindless sports and entertainment offerings, as well..."

"That's true," said Murdock. "But the old resentment is still smoldering under the surface... their monarchs and aristocrats don't like to be manipulated by these financial wizards anymore than we do, or the Nordmandians do, or the Gaulics... we can capitalize on that resentment!"

"Speaking of capitalizing... what about Ivania? Their socialism, their ideaology will always clash with ours... and they have enormous military might!" said Franklin, leaning forward in his chair.

"It wasn't always like that... that socialistic ideaology was forced on them by the Ushers, and they can be persuaded to abandon it, if the western nations stop threatening them... they have repeatedly stated they don't want to have to keep spending their money on weapons in order to stop our Ushers from getting us to take their country from them," said Murdock.

"This whole thing is madness. You're asking the entire world to stop fighting! I tell you, that cannot ever be done! It never has, and it never will... it's in our natures to bicker and fight with each other, and always has been," yelled John Franklin. "Its a hopeless, futile endeavor... admit it, Dan..."

"No, John... it couldn't be done in the past because of the lack of communication! And this is something the Ushers have long been experts at capitalizing on. But with today's technological breakthroughs, it might be possible now to at least lessen the infighting just long enough to get the goddamned Satanists out! Then we can return to our old ways," said Murdock with a wry grin. The others burst into laughter, relieving a little bit of the tension that had been building up all afternoon. Murdock took the opportunity to make another suggestion.

"Anyway, I think we should break for dinner... then we can continue our brainstorming session!"

The small assembly of provocatives immediately concurred. "Hear, hear... let's get some chow, some drink, and we can continue this discussion later!"

**************

"...and we can continue this discussion later!"

Bet Bader punched a button on his remote control, silencing the recording as the small crowd of insiders in his sitting room burst into raucous laughter. This time Bader didn't join in, as he usually did. "It seems a shame... he has brains, and courage. We could have used him..."

"What should we do with them?"

"They must be dealt with, and quickly. I'm glad our earnest friend Mr. Lukelew finally got to him, with our brilliant strategy. If we hadn't found out until later, it could have caused an enormous problem. Yes... they must be dealt with immediately." Bader sighed, leaning back in his chair, touching his two index fingers together.

Meyer Goldhider stood up from his chair, beaming proudly. "Don't forget who thought up the plan to bug Murdock!" he crowed. "'Twas I... the artful Mister Meyer. And don't any of you forget it!"

The others laughed again, raising their glasses in a toast to the elfin little man who had suggested the best way to monitor the very capable and suspicious Major General. It was a brilliant notion, and Goldhider really did deserve much credit. He had told Federal Agent Lukelew to pose as a crippled begger lying in the dirt in the large park where Murdock frequently took morning walks. Murdock had stopped to talk with the pitiful homeless man, and had given him some money. Using this opportunity to get close to Murdock, Lukelew had been able to fire a dart from his tiny instrument into Murdock's leg at close range as he walked off, implanting a tiny eavesdropping microphone into his body. Murdock, barely feeling the extremely small impact, had merely thought that a mosquito had bitten him and had bent over to slap his leg, then continued to walk unsuspectingly away.

"Yes, Meyer... that was a very good suggestion indeed. Now we can avoid a very large amount of problems we would have had to deal with, had these conspirators' plan gained traction... and more adherents," said Bader.

"But gentlemen... we still have to worry about the great Carlos Fontana, don't we?" said financier J.P. Chaser. Another round of laughter erupted, reverberating throughout the large room. This time Bader joined in the merriment.

"Yes my odious friends, it appears that the very knowledgable Mr. Fontana is still working on his informative tractates, in spite of his increasingly busy schedule. And now that he appears to be earning even more money, he will no doubt use it to continue his earth-shattering quest to subdue the devil. However... let us not panic! We will continue to closely monitor this dire threat," said Bet Bader, a large ear-to-ear grin spreading over his lean face. Rising from his seat, he stood before the laughing group of political/financial manipulators.

"And now, my friends... may I suggest that we partake of some chow and some drink! Then we can continue this discussion later."

**************

Katrina accelerated her car down the busy street in her hometown of Westview, weaving through the dense traffic at a dangerously unsafe speed. She was furious.

She had just talked with David Slasher, who had warned her to be careful when she was with Carlos, and to be on the lookout for troublesome people who might try to harm him.. and her. David had told her that recently, by an amazing stroke of luck, he had managed to foil an obviously well-planned hit on the rising young musician. He had mentioned the name of the person whom he suspected was behind the attempted attack.

Katrina slowed her speed, as she heard the sound of several car horns honking loudly at her. In her anger, she had just run a red light. Realizing that she could have killed someobody, or her own self, she quickly pulled over to the side of the road to get herself together and think things through.

David hadn't needed to tell her who he thought had paid the hit man; she could figure it out for herself. Only one person would be jealous, venomous and rich enough to do that... her old friend Jacob Rosenberg. The insect just wouldn't stop.

As she sat in her car in the shade of a large oak tree, Katrina's mind raced. She had just realized that she was the reason Jacob had set Carlos up to be beaten... perhaps even killed. It was his insane jealousy that drove him on and on; the worm actually thought that Carlos had stolen her from him! As if he had ever had a snowball's chance in hell of winning her heart, especially after she had discovered the sordid truth about him and his ignoble quest to destroy Carlos. And the rich young sociopath might try it again... in fact it was highly probable that he would, after being informed of the way in which David had saved Carlos, humiliating his paid goon the way he had. She had to do something to show this wealthy, foul monster that she would not tolerate such despicable actions any more. And she knew a way to do just that.

Katrina's childhood friend Gina Richards had stayed in touch with her after she'd left school to pursue an acting career, sadly making cheap and disgusting low-grade movies. It was a shame; Gina was talented and should not have sold herself so cheaply. And things had not worked out well for her, either.

One day by chance, as Katrina was taking her morning jog at the beach, she had come across Gina walking sadly along the shoreline, looking out at the ocean. Concerned at her forlorn looking expression, she had greeted her friend and asked her if anything was wrong, and Gina had tearfully confessed a shocking story about her acting career, and how it had turned out. Gina had taken up with the director of one of her B-movies, thinking that he was a gentlemanly sort of guy, but had soon found out that he was anything but. He had slowly revealed himself to be a psychotic woman-beater who flew into a jealous rage over the merest imagined transgression, and had begun to berate Gina in front of people for things as small as glancing momentarily at another man. The verbal abuse had gradually turned violent, and the scumbag had begun to hit Gina, first in the arm, then the stomach... anywhere but her face, as he didn't want her bruises to spoil his idiotic film.

Gina had felt humiliated and trapped; she had signed a contract and was legally bound to work with the brute, and her financial situation made it impossible for her to back out of his movie project. So she had continued to take one hit after another, until one night in a drunken rage this disgusting monster had gone overboard; as they were driving along near a deserted park, he had pulled over, forced her out of the car and had proceeded to beat her severely for several minutes with complete impunity, until she had finally managed to free herself with a lucky kick to his groin. She had then limped to the nearest house, where she had to wake the occupants and tearfully beg them to call a taxi to take her home.

She had told her brother, a drug dealer with mob connections. Her brother had furiously gone after the director, but had been unable to get him isolated long enough to give him his just deserts -- so he had brought in a very professional hit man to finish the job for him. He had introduced Gina to the man, who called himself Cain.

Cain was a very soft-spoken, polite and gentlemanly person, but he had proved himself to be extremely dangerous, capable of inflicting great injury upon anyone unlucky enough to merit his hired vengeance. The director had been accosted as he exited his car to go into his house; he had been whisked away in a van to a more suitable location, and had been beaten to within an inch of his life by Cain's very experienced underlings. He had also been instructed to release Gina from her contract and pay a very stiff penalty. Needless to say, the repugnant director had never dared to bother Gina again.

Gina had told Katrina that if she was ever in need of protection, or wanted to revenge herself on anyone at all, Cain was the man to call. She had wanted to give Katrina his telephone number, but Katrina had of course declined to take it at the time; things like that frightened and disgusted her.

But times had changed, and so had Katrina. After falling in love with Carlos and learning of his loathsome enemies, and the insane vendetta he had been forced to endure for so many long, painful years, Katrina had changed... for the worse. She had slowly begun to turn vengeful herself.

Katrina sat for a long time in her car, thinking about the chain of events that had transformed her from an innocent, non-violent pacifist... into a bitter, angry hellcat who was now fighting for justice... and revenge. Jacob had invoked her undying enmity, and he was about to learn a hard lesson about the unfortunate fate that could befall him when he hurt someone Katrina loved.

Katrina re-started her car and began to drive slowly down the street looking for a public telephone, which gradually and unfortunately had become a relic of the past as portable phones increased in popularity. She drove for several minutes looking around, until she finally spotted one in a small park. Pulling over, she searched through her purse until she had collected enough change to make a call, then got out of her car and walked over to the telephone. Patiently depositing several coins, she dialed Gina's number.

"Hello... Gina?"

Gina sounded overjoyed to hear from her friend. "Katrina! How are you, dear? I haven't heard from you in months! What's up, honey?"

"Oh, not much... I was down by the beach and I started thinking of you! I wanted to know if you had time, if you wanted to take another nice walk with me along the seashore, like we did the last time I saw you... of course, if you're too busy we can do it another time..."

"Oh, I had a date with my new boyfriend, but I will gladly cancel out to see you again! Oh don't worry, he's a perfect gentleman!" Gina began to laugh.

"Oh, don't do that," Katrina said hurriedly. "We can do it another time! Can we get together anytime soon?"

"Are you kidding me, doll? I'd much rather walk by the seashore with you than have sex with any of my boyfriends anytime, ha ha! Where are you, honey? Do you want to meet me at The Spot?"

"Uh, no, actually I don't like to go there that much... can we meet at the restaurant on Westview Beach pier? I'll buy you lunch!"

"What, are you joking again? I'll buy you lunch honey, for saving me from my boring boyfriend! When should I meet you? Anytime is fine with me..."

"Oh, how about in half an hour? That is, if you can make it then... don't rush on my account, honey..."

"Don't worry babe, I've got great auto insurance... I'll be there in a flash! Bye now!"

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Copyright 2006, 2018 by Charles Adrian Trevino.