Good Intentions - Jeff Thomason (paper ebook reader TXT) 📗

was forced to resign, and the Vice President sworn in in his place. No one thought anything of it at the time except for me. I found the whole situation a little too coincidental, and I had seen how fiercely he had gone after votes when they were for something he cared about. But I didn’t say a word, because I thought having a friend in such a powerful position would help the project move forward. To most of the country he seemed very nonchalant, so most figured nothing would change.

They were wrong. Very wrong.

In light of the scandal and financial crisis, he declared martial law and nationalized all food, labor, and production declaring himself the “people’s champion” and ushering a new era of equality. All wealth in excess of $10,000 now belonged to the “people” and was used to fund more spending. The budget was actually balanced for a couple of years until production sharply declined for some reason. The president signed an executive order increasing the workweek from 70 hours to 80 for each capable body (which consisted of only about 20% of the country because of all the conditions that qualified as legal handicaps). Several groups stepped forward and argued this was de facto slavery and explicitly banned by the Constitution. It went before the Supreme Court who decided it was legal, because it was for the common good and most of those affected were Caucasian. After all, a white man can’t be a slave.

To make up for the rapidly falling GDP from the 20% who refused to do their fair share, the president sold shares of the Asteroid Defense System to the rest of the world. I’m still not sure how he managed to talk anyone into investing in the project. Financially, they were in an even worse position than we were.

Finally the system was finished. While I was a little uneasy with the steps the government had been forced to take to complete it, I told myself the ends justified the means. Wasn’t saving all of humanity worth some sacrifice?

We had only one more component to install. I was at the launch site the day we sent the shuttle into orbit. If only we had known what else was part of that payload. There were protocols in place to prevent such a thing, of course, but when the scheme comes from the top, no amount of protocols is sufficient.

The real shuttle crew was found tied up in their underwear by the night crew in a storage closet. They sounded the alarm, but by then it was too late. We tried radioing the shuttle, but we knew there’d be no answer. We sent the backup shuttle with half a dozen marines to take them into custody. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

We had no idea the system was functional. Nor did we know it was pointed at the Earth. The same person who had replaced the shuttle crew had also manipulated the progress reports. That’s why the world was so shocked to see the backup shuttle explode just minutes after launch. We shouldn’t have been surprised when London, Beijing, and Moscow were then reduced to ash, but we were. And we continued to be stunned when the face of our new president—the so-called people’s champion—appeared on all television, computer, and smartphone screens declaring himself emperor of the world.

Of course the other countries were outraged, but what could they do? Any country that complained saw 20% of their population killed by a blast from space.

My gift to humanity, the salvation of mankind from a space borne threat, had been perverted into the ultimate tool of slavery. And my reputation? Hitler and Pelosi combined have a better chance of winning humanitarian of the millennium than I do.

My hour is almost up. The guards are coming. Several of us defected to Switzerland thinking it could maintain its historic neutrality and provide a safe haven. But no mountain is tall enough when your enemy attacks from space. My execution is a symbolic gesture by the Swiss to show their loyalty to the American Empire; otherwise their mountains will be sent crashing down on top of these beautiful cities. You see, I helped design the system, so I’m in the best position to figure out how to take it down. Unfortunately, the spy satellites in orbit can see everyone everywhere. They spotted us the minute we crossed the border and followed us every step of the way. The government here was given one hour to publicly end my life if they wanted to save their people. I don’t blame them. They have no choice. It would take weeks to find a vulnerability in the system and even more time to exploit it. No resistance is going to last that long, not against the system he has.

I hope you understand now that none of this was my fault. I was only trying to do what I thought was best. My intentions were good. I can’t be held responsible if some opportunistic dictator took advantage of the system. How could I have known a giant super laser in orbit would be misused? True, I’ve seen Star Wars so many times I could quote it in my sleep, but that’s just a movie. Things like that don’t happen in real life. At least not most of the time.

About the Author

About the Author

Jeff Thomason is the creator of the Cully Koala comic strip and the Wandering Koala tales. He has published two novels, illustrated two children’s books, provided covers for over a dozen titles, and written and drawn numerous comic books.

Jeff's dream has always been to be a rock star. Unfortunately, he can't sing, he can't dance, and he doesn't look good in tight leather pants. So he decided to pursue his second dream and become a writer and artist.

When he isn’t working on his own creations, he provides graphic design and web development for companies all over the country including Community Care; Southwest Specialty Foods, Inc.; World Prayer Room; Le Ritz Hotel & Suites; Big H Products, Inc; Galaxy Southwest; Mega Corporation; Members' Auto Center; The Arizona Group; Jefferson School District 251; Double Your Decompression; the American Back Pain Association; the American Academy of Pediatrics; Playground Hound, LLC; the Idaho Perinatal Project; Arizona Pain & Wellness Centers; the Arizona Lullaby Guild; the Idaho Immunization Coalition; IE Productions; and many others.

You can see more of his work at www.SkyFitsJeff.com.

 

If you enjoyed Good Intentions, then you’ll love these other stories:

 

Novels

The Scientific Method (a Wandering Koala tale)

Power Trip (a Wandering Koala tale)

 

Illustrated Novellas

The Caveman Conspiracy (a Wandering Koala tale)

The Green Bull (a Wandering Koala tale)

 

Short Stories

The Ohso Project: The Recruit

The Hook (a Wandering Koala tale)

Sign of the Fifth Dimension (a Wandering Koala tale)

Expiration Date

The Muses are NOT Amused

Good Intentions

 

Comic Books & Graphic Novels

Wandering Koala rides The Phantom Coach

Wandering Koala meets the Beast who came for Christmas

Euphony in E

Imprint

Text: Jeff Thomason
Images: Jeff Thomason
Publication Date: 05-15-2013

All Rights Reserved