Revolutionary Chapter 1 (revised)

The Revolutionary
© Donald Styer 2006

By Don Styer



“It’s not until you lose everything that you are free to do anything” -Chuck Palahniuk

Chapter 1

Treachery

It was noon on capital hill. The senators were gathered for a speech by a young upstart who’s name no one had cared to remember. The senate hall was noisy with the voices of men who would do anything to keep their jobs. They lived a luxurious life, all they had to do was show up, smile at the right people and vote on things they seldom ever read. Soon enough the young politician Alexander Hugo walked into the hall. Every set of eyes locked onto him with a reluctant gaze. It only took a few moments for the whispers to start.

“Barely 25 and he walks in here like he owns the place.” One senator whispered to another.

“Just a young idealist trying to make a name for him self. “ Whispered another.

Alex walked up to the podium and began to address the senate.

“Good afternoon fellow politicians, Americans. I stand before you today with goals in mind. I love this country, and I love the idea it was built upon. But over the years we seem to have lost our views. America has become a stagnant cesspool breeding hatred and oppression. We have not had a single president make an effort to improve this planet, or to improve living conditions for a vast majority of the people in this country and all over the world. Now don’t get me wrong, there have been many feeble attempts to help, but the reasoning behind these attempts were always political expansion, or oil. We stand on the doorstep of a world teetering on the edge of chaos. We have countries pointing nukes at each other while we ourselves point them at everyone. There is no right way to start the healing process, but I do have an idea. I stand before you with a plea. As a token of faith to the rest of the world, America must disarm all nuclear weaponry.“

As he finished the sentence, an enormous wave of outbursts poured from the hall. Half of the senators jumped out of their chairs, pointing and throwing accusations at Alex. Eventually, the senate leader regained order.

“Quiet down all of you! Have you no respect for order? You will be seated until he is done speaking, and then the floor will be open.” Said the leader.

Alex continued.

“As I was saying. America must disarm all nuclear weaponry as a sign of good faith to the rest of the world. Out of all the countries with this technology we are the only ones who have willingly loosed this power upon a human population. We are the biggest threat in the world when armed with nuclear weapons. I strongly believe if we do this, the rest of the countries would follow suit. We could use NATO to facilitate terms for the entire process. I believe this is the first step to improving American relations with the rest of the world and to try to regain some of the respect we once were given. This could be the first step toward a worldwide peace. Furthermore we can start mending the wounds we opened when we tried to start policing the world, as you know…!?”

Alex was cut off by the impact of a coffee mug hitting him in the face. The impact brought him to a knee; he finally regained his composure and stood up.

Alex rubbed a cut that had opened on his face and cast a glare towards the senate. “It seems as if my ideas are disagreeable to some people in this audience. Do you really think a coffee mug is going to make me stand down?”

The senate was in total chaos; insults were being made towards Alex. Then the Secretary of Defense walked into the hall with a full police guard behind him.

“Arrest that man.” Said the Secretary

“The man who threw the coffee mug?” Asked the police captain.

“No, the speaker. He is to be put under arrest for treason, and for consorting with known terrorists.” The secretary explained.

“Treason? Terrorists? This has got to be a sick joke.” Said Alex, with a perplexed look on his face.

Alex was placed under arrest and no real reason was given. He was lead out through the hall in handcuffs, while many interested politicians watched. As they approached the steps towards a police car, Alex turned to face the crowd and dozens of reporters that had gathered. He looked into a camera and began to speak. .

“I would like to let it be known today, that I Alexander Hugo have been charged with treason and consorting with terrorists. I would like to define terrorist for the wonderful crowd that stands before me. A terrorist is someone who is open minded, someone who sees problems in a corrupt system, and tries to think of ways to fix it. So before I am carted away like a common criminal, I would just like everyone know that I am in fact a terrorist.”

“Put him in the car, this is turning into a circus.” Said a police officer.

Alex was taken to the local penitentiary and given a cell to himself. He sat on the bed, put his face to his knees, and began to cry. Alex had goals and ambitions he had been waiting his whole life to accomplish, and he feared that all of his work was in vain. He had his chance in front of powerful decision makers, and he blew it. Alex laid in his bed and fell asleep.

Alex awoke to the sound of keys thrashing back and forth. A guard was opening his cell.

“You have a visitor.” Said the guard.

It was Alex’s lifelong friend Albert who had came to see him.

Alex got up and greeted Albert with a respectful handshake. “Alex my friend, what ever were you thinking today?”

“Albert, I got tired of petitioning and trying to convince these other politicians, they are all corrupt. I had a chance to speak and I took it, what a rebellious way to go down.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I understand your goals, I believe in them myself. You had a reputation you could build on, after a couple of years you could have had a lot of pull in Washington.”

“Albert, I don’t have a couple years. This is something that needs to be done now.”

“I just hate to see you go down like this. What are you going to do now? Your political career was pretty much loaded into a cannon and shot into the sun.”

“Nice analogy” He said with a little smirk. “Well, I am thinking about leaving the country, moving somewhere quiet so I can be away from this place. In my heart I have worn out my welcome here, and besides after what happened I want nothing to do with it right now.“

“I can help you get out of here, the treason thing is a bum rap, and I’ll have it thrown out of court without question. The consorting with terrorists rap is also a complete joke. They traced your computer and found that you visited a couple pro “hippie” movement sites. It seems they were willing to do anything to put you in here. But no worries, you’ll be out by tomorrow.”

“Good thing you’re my lawyer. Lawyer, say that a couple times, it’s almost like saying a bad word.”

“Don’t remind me, I could be the only honest lawyer in America. Well anyway, I’m going to call the judge and get this all sorted out, Wherever you go make sure you keep in touch with me, I’m with you until the end Alex.”

“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had Albert, as soon as I land I’ll be contacting you. Be safe until we meet again.”

The two hugged each other in a warm embrace. Albert exited the cell and headed home. Alex decided that now was a good time to get some rest.

“I hope that I can find my path and make a difference. I won’t stop until humanity is united, and we can find a peace between it all.”

Just as he was about to doze off, an idea struck Alex. He rushed over to the wobbly table and grabbed his pencil and a sheet of paper. Deep in concentration, Alex began to write…