When the performer appeared, Storm was stunned. The diners pulled back the benches and stood to whistle and cheer. A popular Australian singer and songwriter who had hit the charts some time ago when that kind of thing mattered. When there was an internet with all the latest music videos. It might as well have been a lifetime ago.
With the guitar dangling from a strap over his shoulder, the performer fiddled with the pedal boxes at his feet. He pressed the buttons with the toe of a sneaker until he was satisfied he had the sound he wanted. All the time, he engaged the audience in effortless banter. This was going to be his best performance he promised them.
His fingers run up the frets of the guitar and he began the rap, accenting each beat with a pull on a string.
And all of us
yes, we asked for bread
the good women said
we need you to break
from the factory machines
once we unite
black, yellow, and white
the parasites won't rule over us again
they don't ever rule us again
"I never thought I'd get to see him live," Storm told Cameron excitedly when the performance was over.
Cameron had been singing along with the others.
"He's not bad," Cameron replied cheerfully. "Not bad at all."
"Why did you join the army?" Kelly asked him.
"A family tradition," Cameron replied. "My father joined up, and before him, his father. So, it seemed a natural choice."
"My mom and dad were in the army," Storm told them. "Yet, they went ballistic when I told them I wanted to enlist."
"They knew what it really offered you," Tilford said.
"We will never stop warring," Cameron told her. "It might be difficult for you to accept, but you need an army to protect this country."
"What makes you think that?" Smiler asked.
"Because people are greedy," Cameron told him. "So are our leaders. There needs to be people like me between you and others who would take what they could."
"Unless you happen to be on the side doing the taking," Tilford said with a dismissive wave of a hand.
Cameron took a breath and plunged into his main argument. "Some of us are plumbers. Some of us are farmers. And some of us are soldiers."
Tilford looked at him in surprise. "Life isn't all about doing one's job, you know?"
Cameron smirked. "It is if you're a soldier."
"Don't soldiers, of all people, know the value of life?" She asked.
"Doesn't a revolutionary embrace war?" He returned with a triumphant smirk.
"War is an enormous setback to a revolution," Tilford replied. "A true revolutionary knows the historical role they play. And, revolution is necessarily progressive. A war is simply regressive. It's a reactionary response."
"It's primitive," Smiler added, grim-faced. "We may as well be still throwing stones and hitting each other with sticks."
"War can be a distraction too," Storm mumbled.
"Did Michael tell you that?" Cameron asked him sharply.
"Martyn Boas did," Storm replied.
"Saying it's a distraction doesn't explain anything, does it?" Liam asked. "Distracting us from what exactly? War is the only solution the ruling class offers us when the capitalist system breaks down. They don't have anything else to offer."
"The economic collapse was timed to happen now," Storm blurted out. "Before the Dark Star is on us. We're all being played!"
Smiler turned to Cameron with a look of surprise. "What's he talking about?"
"Changes in our solar system may or may not coincide with the global economic collapse," Tilford cut in before Cameron could explain. "But, we can be certain the decay in the capitalist system has developed for over one hundred years. The social, political, and economic system we live in exhausted its usefulness more than a century ago. The collapse was always inevitable!"
"It was predicted by Marxist scientific analysis over a hundred years ago," Smiler added.
Storm could see Cameron had already reached the end of his patience. "So, where's Alistair?" He asked Tilford. "How come we haven't seen him yet?" Storm persisted.
"I can't tell you," she said with a shake of her head. "We need to maintain a high level of security..."
"Is that another way of saying he's gone operational?" Cameron suggested.
"That phrase better describes what happens when a terror cell is activated," Tilford said with a frown. "That's how we think about the reactionary security arm of the state. That's not what we are about."
"Okay," Cameron replied evenly. "If you say so."
Storm slumped back in the chair. His attempt to lead the discussion elsewhere had failed.
"We analyze the situation, in terms of what has happened over decades," Tilford said feeling her face flush. "Then, we act with the positive interests of the working class in mind. We try to push aside the rotten irrational system that serves only to increase the wealth of the few."
"We want a revolution," Smiler said. "We don't want anarchy and unending wars. We want to change things fundamentally—so there are no more wars."
"We want a world serving human need and not greed," Tilford added.
"It sounds good," Cameron said with a sardonic grin.
Tilford sighed. "It's socialism or unending war."
"Or the Dark Star..." Storm muttered. "So, none of you know where Alistair is?"
"Sam wants us to listen to what you have to say about that Dark Star," a voice said behind Storm.
"Hello, Taras," Tilford said to the tall thin man who had come up behind them.
Taras Chovnik looked like a man who hadn't slept for days. His eyes were set too deep in his skull and they were circled in blue. He turned to Tilford. "The committee is ready for their address," Chovnik said.
She nodded and Chovnik gestured to Storm and Cameron. "This way."
"Do you think Alistair is in there?" Storm asked Cameron as the two hurried after Chovnik.
"I haven't a clue," Cameron replied. "I'm justhappy to escape more lectures from the comrades. Now you get a chance to do thesame to them."
YOU ARE READING
May Day (The Erelong Trilogy Book II)
Science Fiction[WATTYS 2018 Longlist] For fans of The Atlantis Gene, The Hunger Games, and Red Rising, this high-suspense, action-filled, sci-fi novel continues the story of a teenager from the outback who finds himself fighting for his survival. In a race against...
