Posted by gznork26 in Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: disaster, investigation, manipulation, narrative, performance, power, singer/songwriter, subversive
“Stage Fright”
by P. Orin Zack
[5/21/2012]
“Pardon me for asking, Mr. Welch, but you’re not having stage fright, are you?”
Feeling very alone in the empty limo, Evers Welch gazed through the darkened window at the big display over the row of doors across the street. People were still streaming into the concert hall, eager to experience his latest work. He caught the driver’s eyes in the mirror. “Maybe so, Jimmy,” he said, a bit perplexed. “That’s what’s so strange about it.”
“What is?”
The demand-pricing list on the display washed out to gray while the iconic photo of the disaster that had so traumatized the city years before faded in. It was followed by a series of rapid-fire overlays that turned it into the end-card from the trailer for the live cinema-cast of tonight’s performance. The stage in question extended well past the wooden one across the street.
“I haven’t had stage fright since the night I played my first song cycle in public. That was what, fifteen years ago?”
Jimmy nodded as the limo crept a few more feet. “The one about that Pinkerton guard in the Homestead Steel strike. I’ve seen the pirate video. You had stage fright? Could-a fooled me.”
Across the street, the giant end-card dissolved to the house concert photo of a twenty-something Evers Welch that had gone viral after that video was uploaded, and then to the cover art for the commercial release of the Pinkerton song cycle, which used it.
“Uh huh. I was petrified. Up ‘til then, I’d never laid my soul bare to tell a story. That was the first one I wrote about a real person. Before that, they were all made up. Fictional. Safe.”
“Then what’s different about tonight’s story? It’s about someone real, too, isn’t it?”
Evers turned away. “It was supposed to be,” he muttered. (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Topicality, Writing.
Tags: battlefield, control, medical, military, subversive, terrorist
My writing owes a great deal to current events, because I frequently build them from an idea or a problem that’s brought out in the course of reporting on something in the news. But those ideas and problems return again and again, which is why blogging short stories is different from posting observations or commentary directly about whatever it was in the news. In this case, it’s a growing story about the misuse of drugs by the military in order to keep those in uniform on the job far longer than is wise, or even safe. The Los Angeles Times’s piece about a pilot taking excessive amounts of amphetamines to stay alert through a 19-hour flight, and then beating his friend up from the delayed delirium, directly relates to “Infantry Hack“, a story I wrote five years ago.
In that story, I postulated that soldiers would be fitted with uniforms that included battlefield medical assistance to help keep them alive until they could be transported to a field hospital. But military technology always has other uses, and that’s what I explored in that story. Give it a read.
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Posted by bankshotblogger in Bank Shot Blogger, Business.
Tags: banking cartel, corporate incarceration, Fremont-Wayfarer, FW Diner, international bankers, military-industrial-congressional complex, speaking truth to power, subversive
Let me tell you a story.
I was on the road the other day, looking for signs that the bankers’ hold over the big events that we allow to shape our world might be slipping. You know, little things, like people stopping to question the stories getting all the face-time on the news. It’s not an easy thing to do, either. (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Bank Shot Blogger, Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: 9/11, astroturfers, corporate incarceration, corporate personhood, corporate rights, credit, federal reserve, free speech, international bankers, mainstream media, mortgage, murder, parole officer, prison, protest, repugnican, subversive, terrorism suspect, union, World Trade Center, WTC
“Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“Bank Shot”
Part 10 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(12/07/07)
“Did you hear? The ‘Bank-Shot’ blogger’s here tonight!”
Leovar Agrolkin turned to the stranger seated beside him in the union hall, a trucker, judging from the logos on his jacket. “Who?”
“John Frachetti… the guy in those pictures with the company’s parole officer. You know, the one who started all the talk about taking the bankers down a notch. They say he had something to do with Reese’s murder.”
Edward Reese had been the CEO of Fremont-Wayfarer before he was found shot to death in one of the chain’s dingy motel rooms. He was also responsible for turning the FW Diners into faux prison chow halls, complete with bright yellow jumpsuits for the servers. Leo hated yellow.
“Sure. I know him. I was there.”
This was Leo’s first union meeting. The graying waiter had managed to reach fifty without ever taking a job that required it, this one included. But then the company was sentenced to a three-year imprisonment for a massive theft orchestrated by the executives, and Judge Clary wanted a union rep on the reformulated board of directors. Only thing was, it wasn’t a union shop. So they went and formed one, signed everyone up, no questions asked. Which was fine with Leo. His background wasn’t something he was too thrilled letting folks know about. After all, who wanted an accused terrorist in their midst? (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Bank Shot Blogger, Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: activist revolt, blogger, conviction, corporate crime, corporate rights, first amendment, international bankers, parole officer, penal system, riots, subversive, supreme court, suspected terrorist, war on terror
The important moments in your life don’t always seems so at the time. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“Unvarnished Siding”
Part 8 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(11/29/07)
“You wanted to see me, Your Honor?” The woman’s voice was breathy. She’d been running.
US District Court Judge Wilfred Clary, who noticed such things because he often ran to meditate on big cases, sat back in his leather chair and peered over the monitor at the backlit silhouette in his office doorway. He tended to leave it open when he wasn’t meeting with anyone, a practice that reflected his annoying willingness to be interrupted. This quirk had been mentioned repeatedly in “Corporate Crime Wave”, the new book about two high-profile cases he had ruled on in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to extend full rights of citizenship to corporations. The increased foot traffic it caused was beginning to irritate him. This visitor, however, was not only welcome, he was eager to speak with her.
“Claire,” he said gruffly, “Good to see you. Come in and close the door.”
Claire Fuller had the dubious honor of being the first of a new kind of parole officer. He had picked her to oversee the three-year imprisonment of Fremont-Wayfarer Corporation for stealing from its employees’ self-insurance fund. That was the second of the two cases in the new book. The first was Consolidated Communications. It had been terminated for the deaths it had knowingly caused, so there was nothing to oversee except employee outplacement and asset disbursal.
“Sorry I’m late, sir. I got tied up with —.”
“All I want to hear right now is an explanation. Why are the news feeds running a picture of you having dinner with a suspected terrorist?” (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Bank Shot Blogger, Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: Arbusto, bankruptcy, corporate media, corporate rights, first amendment, free speech, George W Bush, imprisonment, insolvency, Jefferson, prison, riot, sentence, spooks, subversive, supreme court, war on terror, World Trade Center, WTC, WTO
Richard Bach once wrote, ‘Live never to be ashamed if anything you do or say is published around the world, even if what is said is not true’. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“Unplanned Outing”
Part 7 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(11/24/07)
The attractive cashier behind the counter flashed a smile as cheery as her uniform was drab. Her key-shaped nametag had ‘Barbara’ scratched into it. The contrast of woman and wardrobe only heightened the disconcerting sense of unreality broadcast by the glowing ball-and-chain sign outside, the big plastic window bars, and the waitstaff’s sunny yellow prison jumpsuits. “Welcome to the FW Diner,” she said. “Table for one, ma’am?”
Claire Fuller didn’t usually frequent chain restaurants, preferring instead to encourage independents, but tonight she was on a mission. On the drive over, she’d debated whether to volunteer her identity, but chose instead to let them treat her as any other patron. And that might have happened if the place weren’t so crowded, or maybe if she hadn’t been distracted by the sight of Fremont-Wayfarer CEO Edward Reese’s perverse idea of a family restaurant. She nodded.
“Probably about ten minutes. Your name?”
The last syllable had scarcely passed her lips when she realized what she’d done. (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Business, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: bankruptcy, corporate incarceration, free speech, prison, solidarity, subversive
Surround yourself with the kind of people you wouldn’t mind being locked up with. (This sequence started in the story, “Logical Conclusion“)
“Going Down”
Part 6 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(11/16/2007)
Barbara Woods felt freer than she had in years. Her discharge papers had come yesterday, an official release from the lengthy confinement she had suffered as a result of a seemingly innocent act while still in college. Sitting there in her drab uniform, staring out at the morning mist through barred windows, she thought back to the day it had all started, alone with her memories for the moment or two it took for her customer to dig out her credit card. ‘It’s funny’, she mused as she watched the woman draw it through the reader, ‘how much power a little bit of plastic can wield.’
While she handed the customer a receipt and thanked her for coming in, a man wearing a warm-up jacket over a hoodie, who looked no older than she had been that fateful day in college, opened the door and froze, mid-step. He was still holding the door open when Barbara’s customer sidled past him to leave.
“Excuse me, sir?” she said, stepping from behind the counter. “Are you all right?”
He finished his stride and let the door swing shut behind him. “Sure. I’d heard about this place, but I never imagined…” He raised a hand limply to indicate one of the people serving, a grey-haired man in a sunny yellow jumpsuit. Looking again at Barbara, he said, “How does it feel? Aren’t you all embarrassed about being in this place?” (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Fiction, Humor, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: epidemic, health insurance, PAC, subversive, terrorist
Sometimes, I scare myself. How about you?
“Patient Zero”
by P. Orin Zack
(10/21/2007)
“It’s still spreading, Kaia,” Dennis Furlin whispered breathlessly to the woman he edged past just before reaching his fourth-row seat.
Kaialia Loffia kept her eyes on the speaker, lest they disrupt the meeting, and whispered back, “Do they know why?”
“Not a clue. Only that it might have started somewhere in Appalachia. But at this point, the call centers serving most of the country are flooded. People are canceling their health insurance in droves.” (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: AFL, bankruptcy, big labor, C.C.C.P., checks and balances, communist sympathizer, double agent, intelligence agency, IWW, Pravda, protected speech, revolution, sabotage, subversive, supreme court, terrorism, treason, wobblies
What do you do when ‘right action’ conflicts with your job? (This is part of a series related to my novel, “Burnout Fever”, which is available for the Nook reader and app. Catch up from the links listed here or here.”)
“Double Agent”
Part 6 of a series
by P. Orin Zack
(9/27/2007)
Ron’s doodle was beginning to look like a mobile, so he scribbled it out and started over. The momentary distraction from ignoring the meeting he was in was timely, though, because someone was calling his name.
“Craig. I asked for your assessment.”
He looked up. The balding section chief at the head of the table had the stern look reserved for a repeat offender. “Oh. Sorry, Mr. Kulya. I was re-evaluating what I’d observed.”
“And? You’ve attended two of their meetings, now. This practice we’re doing is essential to developing your field skills. You may not get much time to infiltrate a suspected terrorist cell before you have to make action recommendations. What did you find?” (more…)
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Posted by gznork26 in Fantasy & SF, Fiction, Politics, Short Stories.
Tags: battlefield, control, medical, military, subversive, terrorist
With all the press about military tech they’re willing to admit to having, you have to wonder what all those black development projects are about…
Infantry Hack
by P. Orin Zack
(June 2003)
“If you don’t back off right now, I’ll tighten your LifeSkin tourniquet the rest of the way. You know I can do it!”
That’s Edgar Brannock screaming in my earbud. He’s been rocking back and forth behind that grimy warehouse window over there for the past ten minutes. See the glowing smudge in the infra-red overlay of my gunsight? Yeah. That’s him. For someone responsible for a major terror attack on New York, you’d think he’d be geek enough to know not to yell at a bugged window. (more…)
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