The monkey apprentice.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke


CHAPTER 3

Academy

Moon-Watcher and his companions had no recollection of what they had seen, after the crystal had ceased to cast its hypnotic spell over their minds and to experiment with their bodies. The next day, as they went out to forage, they passed it with scarcely a second thought; it was now part of the disregarded background of their lives. They could not eat it, and it could not eat them; therefore it was not important.

Down at the river, the Others made their usual ineffectual threats. Their leader, a one-eared man-ape of Moon-Watcher's size and age, but in poorer condition, even made a brief foray toward the tribe's territory, screaming loudly and waving his arms in an attempt to scare the opposition and to bolster his own courage. The water of the stream was nowhere more than a foot deep, but the farther One-Ear moved out into it, the more uncertain and unhappy he became. Very soon he slowed to a halt, and then moved back, with exaggerated dignity, to join his companions.

Otherwise, there was no change in the normal routine. The tribe gathered just enough nourishment to survive for another day, and no one died.

And that night, the crystal slab was still waiting, surrounded by it pulsing aura of light and sound. The program it had contrived, however, was now subtly different.

Some of the man-apes it ignored completely, as if it was concentrating on the most promising subjects.










JOURNAL ARCHIVE: - posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 11:42 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Friday 07 August 2015 - http://hvom.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-people-who-most-hate-americans.html


The People Who Most Hate Americans



All the other Americans.


[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 07 August 2015 excerpt ends]










JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Posted by H.V.O.M at 10:30 PM Monday, March 28, 2011


Making sense.





The thought occurs to me that the closer I get to the day, of which I have no real conscious awareness of, that I actually make my time travel jump then I am going to see more bizarre activity around me here in this area. I think often about the reality of what I describe I expect to happen. I think and concentrate about the crazy notion that a doorway is going to appear in my wall and I am going to walk through it and make a time travel jump. I concentrate on that because the actually reality of something so crazy becoming reality is also so crazy. So what I think is that I make observations that are not easily explainable, such as weather phenomenon, which is a good tool for just such activity, and those observations will make the craziness of a time travel appearing easier to comprehend. I believe that will happen and I want it to happen and I want to make that time travel jump. So I started thinking that as I get closer to the day I am supposed to make my time travel jump I am going to make more observations about bizarre activity going on around with, with the weather I would think, because I cannot think of much else that I could observe outside that I could not explain away by rational means.

God, I hope so. I am bored beyond belief.

But damnit these people are driving me crazy. Why the hell can they just not focus on their own self and leave me the hell alone.

Maniacs. Every damn where I go. These people are just looking to do anything possible to piss me off any where I go and at any chance they get.


[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 28 March 2011 excerpt ends]










http://www.tv.com/shows/stephen-kings-the-stand/the-plague-1178981/trivia/

tv.com


Stephen King's The Stand Season 1 Episode 1

The Plague

Aired Sunday 12:00 AM May 08, 1994 on ABC

QUOTES


Leanore: Rae, I think the soldiers did it, I think they made a bug that started killing people.

Rae: That wouldn't be very American [ of ] them, now would it?










From 10/11/1958 ( premiere US TV series "U.S. Marshal"::series premiere episode "The Fugitives" ) To 10/20/2015 is 20828 days

20828 = 10414 + 10414

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/8/1994 ( premiere US TV miniseries Stephen King's "The Stand"::miniseries premiere episode "The Plague" ) is 10414 days



From 5/16/1961 ( John Kennedy - Letter to Mrs. Alicia Patterson, Editor and Publisher of Newsday, Concerning the Nation's Response to the Cold War ) To 10/20/2015 is 19880 days

19880 = 9940 + 9940

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/19/1993 ( in Asheville North Carolina as United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess I was seriously wounded by gunfire when I returned fatal gunfire to a fugitive from United States federal justice who was another criminal sent by Bill Gates-Nazi-Microsoft-George Bush the cowardly violent criminal in another attempt to kill me the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) is 9940 days



From 12/8/2003 ( premiere US TV miniseries "Battlestar Galactica" ) To 10/20/2015 is 4334 days

4334 = 2167 + 2167

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 10/9/1971 ( my biological brother Dr. Thomas Reagan MD becomes a United States of America board-certified surgeon ) is 2167 days





http://news.yahoo.com/man-admits-road-rage-killing-four-old-mexico-183145766.html

YAHOO! NEWS


Man admits road rage killing of four-year-old New Mexico girl: police

Reuters By Joseph Kolb

10 hours ago [ Thursday 22 October 2015 ]

By Joseph Kolb

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - A 32-year-old New Mexico man who was arrested following an anonymous tip to police has admitted to fatally shooting a 4-year-old girl in the head during a road rage incident on a major highway in Albuquerque, police say.

The girl, Lilly Garcia, was a passenger in her family's red four-door Dodge truck when she was shot on Tuesday afternoon by the driver of another vehicle who had cut them off on Interstate-40 and exchanged words with her father, police said.

The suspect, Tony Torrez, faces charges including murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and assault with intent to commit a violent felony in connection with Garcia's death, Albuquerque police said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Torrez is also charged with child abuse, child abuse resulting in death, shooting at or from a motor vehicle and evidence tampering, the department said.

The statement said that on Wednesday evening Torrez "confessed to investigators he was responsible for the murder."

Police said earlier that day an anonymous caller had reported knowing who shot the girl and gave detectives Torrez's name.

"With that information and multiple tips from the community, detectives were able to find the suspect," police said.

Police said that on Tuesday officers had received a 911 emergency phone call just before 3 p.m. from the girl's father saying his daughter had been shot.

"The father stated he had just picked up his daughter and 7-year-old son from school and were attempting to exit the freeway," the police statement said, before a maroon or red Toyota sedan cut across traffic and forced him out of his lane.

"The two drivers exchanged words when Torrez pulled out a gun and shot at the red truck driven by Lilly's father. Lilly was hit at least once in the head," the statement said.

Torrez is being held in the Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center on a $650,000 bond, police said.



http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/us/child-road-rage-killing/

CNN


Court papers detail road rage shooting that killed 4-year-old N.M. girl

By Michael Martinez and Faith Karimi, CNN

Updated 5:53 PM ET, Thu October 22, 2015

(CNN) - Road rage escalated into deadly violence when a motorist fired into another vehicle on a New Mexico interstate, killing a 4-year-old girl, according to newly released court documents and police records.

Illiana "Lilly" Rose Garcia was declared dead at a hospital after the incident Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 40 in Albuquerque.

Tony D. Torrez, 32, was arrested Wednesday and is charged with an open count of murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, assault with the intent to commit a violent felony, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, child abuse, child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence. He is being held on a $650,000 cash-only bond.

On Thursday, Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Judge Chris Schultz continued the bail amount, a court spokeswoman said. A public defender assisted Torrez, who appeared over a video monitor from a detention center. Torrez doesn't yet have an attorney, the spokeswoman said.

The episode of highway rage transpired as quickly as two vehicles can cover two miles of highway.

Alan Garcia had Lilly and son Isaac, 7, in the back seat of his red Dodge Ram pickup after picking them up from school. He told police he was attempting to exit the highway to go to a grocery store, but a car crossed two lanes of traffic and blocked him.

Garcia gestured toward the other driver and then called him a "f------ idiot," according to court documents that disclosed details of the shooting for the first time.

Torrez, whom a tipster would later identify as the other driver, pulled up beside Garcia's window and uttered "something towards Alan but he did not know what was said," according to police.

Torrez told an acquaintance that "he shot the girl on Interstate 40" and that Garcia's "red truck tried to run Tony off the road," the court documents said. The acquaintance later became an anonymous tipster to police, and his information was used in Torrez's arrest warrant.

'She's bleeding'

Garcia sped up to get away, but said he heard two shots strike his pickup truck.

"She's bleeding," Isaac said of Lilly.

Garcia heard a third shot after the car approached the truck's passenger side. When Garcia slammed on his brakes, the car began to pass him.

Garcia heard a fourth shot, and the car sped away.

Garcia pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway and gave aid to his daughter. She had been shot in the head.

Two nurses stopped as they passed by. They tried to help the bleeding girl on the tailgate of the pickup: one held her head, and the other her feet, according to police and court papers.

Suspect 'confessed'

When a sheriff's deputy arrived in response to Garcia's 911 call, the girl's pupils appeared dilated, according to the police affidavit and criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

After he was arrested, Torrez "confessed" to the shooting, said police Chief Gorden Eden.

The anonymous tipster told police that Torrez's address on his driver's license and registration weren't correct, and gave two other addresses for Torrez on the same street.

It appears the family did not know the suspect, police told CNN affiliate KOAT.

The police chief expressed shock at the shooting.

"To have your child in your hands in such circumstances is going to live with the father for the rest of his life," Eden said.










http://www.tv.com/shows/stephen-kings-the-stand/the-plague-1178981/trivia/

tv.com


Stephen King's The Stand Season 1 Episode 1

The Plague

Aired Sunday 12:00 AM May 08, 1994 on ABC

QUOTES


Rae: (to another caller) Hi there, you're on the air.

Caller: Hey Rae, you alright?

Rae: Well to tell you the truth, honey, it doesn't look very good to the kid right now. Several soldiers have just broken into they studio, they're fully armed and dressed in some kind of protective clothing, they're wearing respirators on their faces.

(soldiers bust into the studio room)










http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884328/quotes

IMDb


The Mist (2007)

Quotes


Amanda Dunfrey: You don't have much faith in humanity, do you?

Dan Miller: None, whatsoever.

Amanda Dunfrey: I can't accept that. People are basically good; decent. My god, David, we're a civilized society.

David Drayton: Sure, as long as the machines are working and you can dial 911. But you take those things away, you throw people in the dark, you scare the shit out of them - no more rules.










http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1509/27/cnr.03.html

CNN


TRANSCRIPTS

CNN NEWSROOM

Pope Francis's Last Celebration of Mass in the United States. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 27, 2015 - 16:00 ET


POPE FRANCIS: Let us pray. Lord -- lord God, manifest your almighty power










http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102216/quotes

IMDb


King Ralph (1991)

Quotes


Sir Cedric Willingham: It is far easier to whisper advice from cover than to risk it's merit at the point of attack.










http://www.tv.com/shows/stephen-kings-the-stand/the-plague-1178981/trivia/

tv.com


Stephen King's The Stand Season 1 Episode 1

The Plague

Aired Sunday 12:00 AM May 08, 1994 on ABC

QUOTES


Soldier: Shut it down!

Rae: Hey Bluto, you ever hear about a little thing called Freedom of Speeech? The Bill of Rights? Any of that ring a bell? Folks, I've just been ordered by my uninvited, facist guests to shut down, but I've refused. I think -
(gunshots ring out over the radio)

Rae Flowers: (to a caller) You say you saw these G.I.s gunning down unarmed civilians?

Soldier: Open up in the name of the United States army!

Rae: Tell you what, Portsman, it looks like the Marines have landed and they don't look too happy.

Fran: This is a joke right? It's got to be a joke!

Mr. Goldsmith: I really don't think so.










http://www.tv.com/shows/stephen-kings-the-stand/the-plague-1178981/trivia/

tv.com


Stephen King's The Stand Season 1 Episode 1

The Plague

Aired Sunday 12:00 AM May 08, 1994 on ABC

QUOTES


Rae Flowers: There's only one topic on everyone's minds today. You can call it the superflu or by its west coast name, Captain Trips, it means the same thing either way. There've been some horror stories about the army clamping down on everything.

Fran: The army?










From 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record ) To 7/13/2000 is 2032 days

2032 = 1016 + 1016

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 8/14/1968 ( the Disneyland passenger helicopter crash - Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 ) is 1016 days



From 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 also known as Matthew Kline for official duty and also known as Wayne Newman for official duty ) To 7/13/2000 is 3465 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/29/1975 ( the evacuation of Saigon begins ) is 3465 days



From 1/17/1991 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) To 7/13/2000 is 3465 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/29/1975 ( the evacuation of Saigon begins ) is 3465 days



From 9/23/1962 ( premiere US TV series "The Jetsons" ) To 7/13/2000 is 13808 days

13808 = 6904 + 6904

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/27/1984 ( from my official United States Navy documents: "UA from class from 0600-0800" ) is 6904 days



From 6/8/1874 ( Cochise deceased ) To 2/17/1909 ( Geronimo deceased ) is 12672 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 7/13/2000 is 12672 days





http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=1600

The American Presidency Project

William J. Clinton

XLII President of the United States: 1993-2001

Remarks on Presenting the Congressional Gold Medal to Father Theodore M. Hesburgh

July 13, 2000

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker; Senator Daschle, Senator Thurmond, Senator Bayh, Senator Lugar, Congressman Roemer. Thank you all for your efforts today. Chaplain Coughlin and distinguished Members of the Congress and, of course, Chaplain Ogilvie. I'd like to say a special word of welcome to the Notre Dame Glee Club, who sang the national anthem without benefit of musical background. Most of us need the music to cover up the mistakes we make, and they were wonderful.










http://www.tv.com/shows/stephen-kings-the-stand/the-plague-1178981/trivia/

tv.com


Stephen King's The Stand Season 1 Episode 1

The Plague

Aired Sunday 12:00 AM May 08, 1994 on ABC

QUOTES


Leanore: (calling in to Rae Flowers' show) Listen Rae, I just want everyone to know that there's soldiers burning bodies across the state line, also, my little girl died this morning, (crying) I guess she's with Jesus.

Rae: Sorry as hell Leanore.

Leanore: Rae, I think the soldiers did it, I think they made a bug that started killing people.

Rae: That wouldn't be very American on them, now would it?

Leanore: No, I guess not.

Rae: Of course that's never stopped the real patriots among us, has it? You try to hang in there Leanore.

Leanore: I'm trying, Rae, but have you ever smelled bodies on fire?

Rae: Can't say that I have.

Leanore It's awful, Rae.










http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8128

The American Presidency Project

John F. Kennedy

XXXV President of the United States: 1961 - 1963

185 - Letter to Mrs. Alicia Patterson, Editor and Publisher of Newsday, Concerning the Nation's Response to the Cold War.

May 16, 1961


Dear Mrs. Patterson:

Many thanks for your wire of May fourth. I appreciate your interest in our nation's needs and the spirit that motivates your telegram.

Apparently the demands of the "cold war" are not as dramatic, and thus not as well-identified, as the demands of the traditional "shooting war"--such as rationing (which we do not need), a doubling of draft quotas (which would not help), or an increase in personal income taxes (which would only impede the recovery of our economic strength).

But that does not mean that nothing is being asked of our citizens. The facts of the matter are that all the programs I am seeking--to strengthen our economy, our defenses, our image abroad, our balance of payments position and our foreign policy tools--all make demands upon one or more groups of Americans, and most often upon all Americans jointly. All of them involve some effort, some inconvenience or some sacrifice--and, indeed, they are being opposed in some quarters on that basis.

For example: I have asked that we provide a leaner, more efficient defense establishment by terminating certain projects and closing a good many bases, although there are many protests from those who want economy practiced in someone else's community. I have asked that a major effort in Foreign aid to other nations be maintained for many years to come, as burdensome as some regard it. I have asked young Americans to serve without pay or comfort in a Peace Corps for under-developed countries; I have asked many talented individuals to give up a higher income to serve their country in public office (and not all have been willing to do so); and I have asked all government officials to give up any incompatible financial interests.

I have asked that our excise and corporation tax rates not be permitted to fall as scheduled by law--that trucking companies and jet airline companies pay a higher tax for the highways and airways they use--that our business corporations pay a higher payroll tax for improved Social Security, unemployment compensation and health insurance-and that certain taxpayers give up their privileges of expense account living, in yachts, hunting lodges, night-clubs and all the rest. I have asked all Americans to help meet our deficit through higher postal rates. These requests for sacrifice are being strongly resisted by some unwilling to pay the price of national greatness.

I have asked other Americans to contribute to the strengthening of our economy by paying a decent minimum wage--or to give up their rights to purchase as many duty-free goods when they are traveling abroad--or, if they are farmers, to accept the limitations of our feed grain program. I have asked our businessmen and labor leaders, .through my Advisory Committee, to adopt price and wage levels consistent with our economic goals and need to compete; and, more directly, I have asked them to take steps that will avoid harmful work stoppages in our missile and space effort.

I have asked the newspaper industry, without much success, to exercise more self-restraint in publishing intelligence data helpful to any enemy. My messages on education, urban affairs and natural resources have all stressed the role the local community must assume if we are to make the most of our schools, our cities and our water and other resources. We have made clear our very strong request to employers, labor unions and indeed all citizens for an end to racial discrimination.

I have tried to make the whole tone and thrust of this office and this Administration one that will demand a higher standard of excellence from every individual in his private life--in his education, his physical fitness, his attitudes toward foreign visitors, his obligations as a citizen, and all the rest.

And finally, each time we make any move or commitment in foreign affairs, I am in need of the support of the American people, their understanding, their patience, their willingness to endure set-backs and risks and hardships in order that this country can regain leadership and initiative.

So I have asked quite a lot of the American people--and I have been gratified at their response. There is much more to be done. But I do not wish to be misinterpreted. I think we have the will as well as the resources to prevail. And I think we will.

Sincerely,

JOHN F. KENNEDY

[Mrs. Alicia Patterson, Editor and Publisher, Newsday, Garden City, Long Island, New York]










http://www.azlyrics.com/c/creedenceclearwaterrevival.html

AZ

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

album: "Willy And The Poorboys" (1969)



http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/creedenceclearwaterrevival/fortunateson.html

AZ

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

"Fortunate Son"

Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they're red, white and blue
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief"
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh
But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one

It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no










http://www.e-reading.org.ua/bookreader.php/80261/King_-_The_Stand.html


Stephen King

The Stand - The Complete & Uncut Edition


Chapter 26


The highest-rated morning program in Springfield, Missouri, was KLFT’s morning phone-in show, “Speak Your Piece,” with Ray Flowers. He had six phone lines into his studio booth, and on the morning of June 26, he was the only KLFT employee to show up for work. He was aware of what was going on in the outside world and it scared him. In the last week or so, it seemed to Ray that everyone he knew had come down sick. There were no troops in Springfield, but he had heard that the National Guard had been called into K.C. and St. Louis to “stop the spread of panic” and “prevent looting.” Ray Flowers himself felt fine. He looked thoughtfully at his equipment—phones, time-delay device to edit those callers who lapsed into profanity from time to time, racks of commercials on cassettes (“If your toilet overflows/And you don’t know just what goes/Call for the man with the big steel hose/Call your Kleen-Owt Man! ”), and of course, the mike.

He lit a cigarette, went to the studio door, and locked it. Went into his booth and locked that. He turned off the canned music that had been playing from a tape reel, turned on his own theme music, and then settled in at the microphone.

“Hi, y’all,” he said, “this is Ray Flowers on ‘Speak Your Piece,’ and this morning I guess there’s only one thing to call about, isn’t there? You can call it Tube Neck or superflu—or Captain Trips, but it all means the same thing. I’ve heard some horror stories about the army clamping down on everything, and if you want to talk about that, I’m ready to listen. It’s still a free country, right? And since I’m here by myself this morning, we’re going to do things just a little bit differently. I’ve got the time-delay turned off, and I think we can dispense with the commercials. If the Springfield you’re seeing is anything like the one I’m seeing from the KLFT windows, no one feels much like shopping, anyway.

“Okay—if you’re spo’s to be up and around, as my mother used to say, let’s get going. Our toll-free numbers are 555-8600 and 555-8601. If you get a busy, just be patient. Remember, I’m doing it all myself.”

There was an army unit in Carthage, fifty miles from Springfield, and a twenty-man patrol was dispatched to take care of Ray Flowers. Two men refused the order. They were shot on the spot.

In the hour it took them to get to Springfield, Ray Flowers took calls from: a doctor who said people were dying like flies and who thought the government was lying through its teeth about a vaccine; a hospital nurse who confirmed that bodies were being removed from Kansas City hospitals by the truckload; a delirious woman who claimed it was flying saucers from outer space; a farmer who said that an army squad with two payloaders had just finished digging a hell of a long ditch in a field near Route 71 south of Kansas City; half a dozen others with their own stories to tell.

Then there was a crashing sound on the outer studio door. “Open up!” a muffled voice cried. “Open up in the name of the United States!”

Ray looked at his watch. Quarter of twelve.

“Well,” he said, “it looks like the Marines have landed. But we’ll just keep taking calls, shall w—”

There was a rattle of automatic rifle fire, and the knob of the studio door thumped onto the rug. Blue smoke drifted out of the ragged hole. The door was shouldered inward and half a dozen soldiers, wearing respirators and full battledress, burst in.

“Several soldiers have just broken into the outer office,” Ray said. “They’re fully armed… they look like they’re ready to start a mop-up operation in France fifty years ago. Except for the respirators on their faces…”

“Shut it down!” a heavyset man with sergeant’s stripes on his sleeves yelled. He loomed outside the broadcast booth’s glass walls and gestured with his rifle.

“I think not!” Ray called back. He felt very cold, and when he fumbled his cigarette out of his ashtray, he saw that his fingers were trembling. “This station is licensed by the FCC and I’m—”

“I’m revokin ya fuckin license! Now shut down!”

“I think not,” Ray said again, and turned back to his microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have been ordered to shut down the KLFT transmitter and I have refused the order, quite properly, I think. These men are acting like Nazis, not American soldiers. I am not—”

“Last chance!” The sergeant brought his gun up.

“Sergeant,” one of the soldiers by the door said, “I don’t think you can just—”

“If that man says anything else, waste him,” the sergeant said.

“I think they’re going to shoot me,” Ray Flowers said, and the next moment the glass of his broadcast booth blew inward and he fell over his control panel. From somewhere there came a terrific feedback whine that spiraled up and up. The sergeant fired his entire clip into the control panel and the feedback cut off. The lights on the switchboard continued to blink.

“Okay,” the sergeant said, turning around. “I want to get back to Carthage by one o’clock and I don’t—”

Three of his men opened up on him simultaneously, one of them with a recoilless rifle that fired seventy gas-tipped slugs per second. The sergeant did a jigging, shuffling death-dance and then fell backward through the shattered remains of the broadcast booth’s glass wall. One leg spasmed and his combat boot kicked shards of glass from the frame.

A PFC, pimples standing out in stark relief on his whey-colored face, burst into tears. The others only stood in stunned disbelief. The smell of cordite was heavy and sickening in the air.

“We scragged him!” the PFC cried hysterically. “Holy God, we done scragged Sergeant Peters!”

No one replied. Their faces were still dazed and uncomprehending, although later they would only wish they had done it sooner. All of this was some deadly game, but it wasn’t their game.

The phone, which Ray Flowers had put in the amplifier cradle just before he died, gave out a series of squawks.

“Ray? You there, Ray?” The voice was tired, nasal. “I listen to your program all the time, me and my husband both, and we just wanted to say keep up the good work and don’t let them bully you. Okay, Ray?



- posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 01:03 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Friday 23 October 2015