The Castrator by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (short books for teens txt) 📕

ALL, BUT STILL FELISTER'S IDEA WAS STRAIGHT CONCRETE! EVEN IF HE LOST, IN THE FORM OF VARIOUS FEES AND BRIBES, ABOUT THIRTY PER CENT, THE OTHER SEVENTY REMAINED TO HIM. THE SHOW GOT EVEN BIGGER WHEN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGNS OF CONGRESSMEN AND EVEN SOME SENATORS STARTED - FELISTER OWNED TWO WHOLE ONES, WHO INCIDENTALLY PAID HIM BACK HANDSOMELY IN THE FORM OF LOBBYING, BUT THERE WERE ALSO SOME MORE COMPLICATED INTERCONNECTIONS - BORN IN HIS BRILLIANT HEAD, SUCH AS LAUNDERING SOME OF HIS MONEY.

DETECTIVE MORALES KNEW WELL THAT SOME OF THE THINGS WERE HARD TO PROVE AND HAD TO TINKER DIRECTLY WITH THE CHURCH DIOCESES, WHICH HE DIDN'T LIKE. IF THERE WAS EVEN THE SLIGHTEST SUCKERPUNCH, OR MORE ACCURATELY IF HIS ACTIONS LOOKED LIKE THE TINIEST FAILURE, HE WOULD SIMPLY BE RUINED. THE DIOCESES OF THE CHURCH WERE UNDER SPECIAL JURISDICTION, WHICH MEANT IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA TO INVESTIGATE A FELISTER RIGHT THERE. BY COMMON CONSENT, FAITH WAS NOT NEGOTIABLE. AND COULD NOT MEASURE THAT JURISDICTION BY THE STANDARDS OF ITS OWN JURISDICTION.

THE LIST OF CHURCHES IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WAS ALMOST ENDLESS, AND FELISTER HAD MANAGED TO SQUEEZE INTO EVERY ONE OF THEM. IT WAS A VERITABLE TAX HAVEN OUT THERE, AND IF A PARTICULARLY ENTERPRISING BUSINESSMAN LIKE MR. EMBANKS HAD DEVELOPED A DEFENSIVE STRATEGY - THIS WAS THE PERFECT PLACE TO IMPLEMENT IT. IF WE HAD TO BE SPECIFIC ABOUT THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WERE EXEMPT FROM INCOME TAX UNDER IRS CODE SECTION 501(A). THE SITUATION WAS PARTICULARLY AMUSING WITH THE CATHOLIC PRIESTS AS THEY WERE QUITE SUSCEPTIBLE IN THIS REGARD - THEY WERE EXCELLENT COLLABORATORS WITH THE BRUTAL BREEDER AND HE PROFITED HANDSOMELY FROM THEM AS WELL. FELISTER WAS A SUBTLE PSYCHOLOGIST AND UNDERSTOOD HOW THIS DEPRAVED WORLD WORKED - IT WAS THE SAME SLOP WHERE HE CAME FROM.

AGENT MORALES COULD SEE ALL THE FALSENESS ALL AROUND, BUT HIS PROFESSIONAL PRINCIPLES MADE HIM STICK TO THE ORDERS HE HAD RECEIVED FROM ABOVE. HE WAS EVEN THINKING, NOW THAT HE WAS DONE, OF JUST RETIRING - ONCE AND FOR ALL. MORALES WAS FAR FROM BEING A FIRST YOUTH, AND HE KNEW THAT THOSE CHERISHED TWENTY-SEVEN OR SO YEARS OF FEDERAL SERVICE HAD TO BE COVERED IN ORDER TO COUNT ON SOME SORT OF PENSION OF FOUR OR FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS A MONTH-YES, IT WASN'T BAD. BUT, WAS HE EVER GOING TO LIVE TO FINISH THIS CASE TOO.

AT FIRST, THOUGH PROFOUND, THE AFRICAN HEALER'S REASONING DID NOT SEEM TO HIM TO BE OF MUCH USE IN UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERY, BUT APPARENTLY HE SIMPLY HAD TO CHANGE HIS THINKING - THIS WAS A BASIC RULE IN THE WORK OF ANY PROFESSIONAL.

"DON'T WE ALL STRIVE FOR THE LIGHT?,“ MUSED AGENT MORALES, "AND IT IS OUR PURPOSE TO DISCOVER WHAT A MAN IS THINKING EVEN BY LOOKING AT HIS LIPS! BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGISTS HAD CONVINCED US THAT WE COULD TELL A REAL SMILE FROM A FAKE ONE, BUT NO ONE HAD TAUGHT US HOW TO READ THE SOUL IN THE AFTERLIFE!"

WE HADN'T BEEN TO ASHGROVE FOR A LONG TIME - THAT LITTLE COMMUNITY IRRITATED MY PSYCHE WITH ITS EMPTINESS AND LACK OF PERSPECTIVE, AND MOST OF ALL WITH THE HYPOCRISY OF ITS DECORUM, WHICH WAS DESIGNED TO CATCH OUT THE GULLIBLE OR PEOPLE WHO, JUST LIKE US, WANTED TO GET THE JOB DONE, AND MILBETH SARDON HAD GIVEN THEM HER INPUT IN THE WIRETAPPING - SHE HAD RECORDED US WITH A SPECIAL TAPE RECORDER, AND IN RETURN THE FEDS HAD PROMISED TO SETTLE HER WITH A SMALL PENSION - ESPECIALLY AFTER HER COMPLAINT THAT THIS PLACE JUST WASN'T GOING AND SHE HAD EVEN SUNK CREDITS TO KEEP IT GOING.

I WON'T GO INTO DETAILS, BUT I DO RECALL THAT FELISTER WAS MAKING A HEALTHY PROFIT FROM USURY AS WELL - AND IT WAS MASKED IN A HELLISHLY VILE AND IMMORAL WAY. THAT FARMER'S BASTARD AND INFERNAL SON OF A BITCH! FOR A LONG TIME, THIS BUSINESS WAS KNOWN AS THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS!

FELISTER WOULD BUY BACK NON-REPAYABLE LOANS FROM LARGE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND THEN FORCE THE DEBTORS TO WORK IN ONE OF HIS CRIMINAL SCHEMES, WHERE THEY WERE TECHNICALLY SUPPOSEDLY ON SALARY, BUT IN FACT WERE FORCED TO WITHDRAW - THIS TIME QUITE LEGALLY - SERIOUS SUMS OF MONEY - ALTHOUGH NOT VERY ORIGINAL IT ALSO BROUGHT HIM A SERIOUS INCOME, WITH WHICH HE MAINLY MAINTAINED THE ILLUSION OF THE FARMING IDYLL AND CARRIED OUT VARIOUS "ECO" PROJECTS AROUND THE FARM - SUCH AS WIND TURBINES, FROM WHICH HE AGAIN MADE SERIOUS MONEY, AS HE COULD ALSO SELL TO HIS NEIGHBOURS WHO WERE ALSO EMPLOYEES OF THE FARM - FELISTER COULD EVEN BUILD A SMALL TOWN LARGE ENOUGH TO HOLD A POPULATION OF TWO THOUSAND, BUT HE PREFERRED TO DISPERSE THE CONSUMPTION BETWEEN SEVERAL UNCONNECTED COMMUNITIES THAT HE HIMSELF HAD CREATED AND POPULATED - HE JUST DIDN'T WANT ANYONE SNOOPING AROUND THE FARM AND CAUSING HIM TROUBLE FROM AT LEAST TEN MILES AWAY, AS THIS WAS HIS WORLD! AND HERE HIS LAWS APPLIED! THE MAIN OBSTACLE TO THE EXECUTION OF THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN WAS NOT SO MUCH TECHNICAL, BUT PROVING THE COMMON USE OF THE POWER, SINCE OTHERWISE THE AUTHORITIES WOULD HAVE STOPPED THE WHOLE ENTERPRISE - THAT IS, FELISTER HAD TO RESORT TO THE SERVICES OF A POWERFUL TRUST TO PROVIDE HIM WITH THE TECHNICAL DESIGN, AND THEN TO A WHOLE COHORT OF LAWYERS WHO DEALT WITH POWER MATTERS.

HE SOLD THEM A HUGE AMOUNT OF THE ELECTRICITY HE WAS GENERATING WITH THEIR MONEY.  A SIMPLE WIND TURBINE HAD THE CAPACITY TO PRODUCE AT LEAST A MEGAWATT AND A HALF OF ELECTRICITY - AND THAT WAS ASSUMING THE WIND SPEED WAS WITHIN TWENTY-FIVE MILES A PART, AND THERE WERE OVER A HUNDRED TURBINES NEAR THE FARM, AND YET THEIR NOISE DID NOT DISTURB THE ANIMALS - THE PIGS THEMSELVES COULD WALK FREELY AMONG THEM. THE ELECTRICITY PRODUCED BY ONE ALONE WAS QUITE SUFFICIENT TO SUPPLY ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED HOUSEHOLDS-THAT IS TO SAY, TWO TURBINES WERE AMPLY SUFFICIENT TO SUPPLY THE NEEDS OF THE FARM AND THE ADJOINING UNCONNECTED COMMUNITIES, AND THE POWER THAT WAS GENERATED BY THE REMAINING NINETY-EIGHT WAS DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE ELECTRIC GRID. BUT FOR THE CRAZY FARMER, THIS DUPLICITY WAS PERFECTLY IN ORDER. IF A CURIOUS PERSON DID SHOW UP, WHICH HAD HAPPENED EXACTLY ONCE OR TWICE, THE HISPANIC WORKERS GREETED HIM WITH ANGRY AND FRANTIC SHOUTS:

- ¿QUÉ TRABAJO TIENES AQUÍ? VIVIMOS Y TRABAJAMOS AQUÍ[8].

AFTER THIS "INCIDENT" NO ONE EVER CAME TO THESE PLACES AGAIN. JUST IN CASE, HOWEVER, FELISTER INVENTED SOME BIZARRE CRIME AND OBTAINED A PROSECUTOR'S RESTRAINING ORDER TO STAY AWAY FROM THE FARM. THIS BANAL, BUT SEEMINGLY DOOR-OPENING TO ANOTHER UNIVERSE, FEELING OF UTTER EMPTINESS WAS ALSO KNOWN AS THE "DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL" - AFTER ALL, OUR SALVATION WAS IN OUR OWN HANDS, AND THAT WAS PERHAPS THE DEFINITION OF THE LOVE OF THE ALMIGHTY. AND THE NEXT STEP WAS A COMPLETE VOID OF THE SPIRIT. SOMETIMES, TO BE SURE OF THE PATH WE HAD TAKEN WE JUST HAD TO CLOSE OUR EYES AND TRAVEL IN THE DARKNESS.

- "THE DURATION OF OUR LIVES CONSISTS OF STEALING SOULS - IN OTHER WORDS, FOR US TO LIVE OR EXIST IN THIS WORLD, OTHERS SIMPLY HAVE TO DIE," FELISTER ONCE THOUGHTFULLY ADDED - SUCH WAS HIS SIMPLE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE, WHICH HE DEFENDED WITH ALL HIS MIGHT DURING HIS LIFETIME - "AND EVEN IF SOME ACCUSE ME OF HYPOCRISY - IT WILL BE SO AS LONG AS THE WORLD LASTS!"

WE BOTH STOOD AND WATCHED THE WONDERFUL OVERFLOW OF THE SKY. OVER THE ENDLESS LUSH GREEN GRASSES THAT COULD BE SEEN IN THE DISTANCE, SWAYED BY THE GENTLE TOUCHES OF THE WIND THAT SEEMED TO CARESS THEM, FOLLOWED AN INTERMEDIATE STREAK OF GOLDEN ORANGE THAT SEEMED TO SYMBOLIZE ALL FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, THROUGH WHICH WE HAD TO PASS IN OUR EARTHLY LIVES, AND ABOVE IT, AS IF LOWERED BY AN ALMIGHTY HAND, WAS SEEN A MASSIVE MASS OF GREYISH BLUISH CLOUDS, WHICH PERHAPS SOUGHT TO CRUSH IT ALL, OR PLUNGE IT INTO OBLIVION! WE STOOD GAZING THUS, AND FELISTER TURNED TO ME:

- MY DEAR ELIZANDER, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO OR DON'T DO IN THIS LIFE - ONE DAY IT WILL ALL BE OVER, BUT TRY TO WALK YOUR PATH WITH DIGNITY - AT LEAST FORMALLY. UNTIL THEN, YOU WILL WAIT AND HOPE THAT THE NEXT TIME THE CARDS ARE DEALT, YOU ARE NO MORE SCREWED - IF EVER!

DETECTIVE MORALES WENT THROUGH A SIMILAR PERIOD, REALIZING THAT SOMETHING WAS ELUDING HIM. YES, THEY HAD FOUND MANY CLUES AND REACHED SERIOUS REVELATIONS ABOUT FELISTER'S ABUSES IN THE LABOR UNIONS, HIS ILLEGAL ANNEXATION OF FARMLAND THAT HE USED FOR ALL SORTS OF PURPOSES, HIS INTERFERENCE IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE INDIAN BURIAL AGENCIES THAT RAN THE DRUG TRADE IN CANADA - BUT NOTHING SEEMED TO HAVE CHANGED.

THEN HE TURNED SPECIFICALLY TO JAKE, ME - ELIZANDER BARNAIN, ZONER AND ARLO.

- "DOES THIS MEAN WE'RE AT THE END OF OUR JOURNEY? THAT WE HAVE NOTHING MORE TO UNCOVER AND DAMAGE TO REPAIR, OR ARE WE JUST GOING TO REPORT SOME ACTIVITY," HE UTTERED IN A STRANGE TONE, "I'M NOT GOING TO HIDE THAT YOUR FORMER BOSS TOOK ME ON THE MOST UNUSUAL TRIP ANYONE COULD EVER HAVE IN THEIR LIFE.

 

[1]  Sparrows are a symbol of hope, fertility and resurrection.

[2]  Mir Faizal, "Time crystals of minimal time uncertainty," published in The European Physical Journal C.

[3] The heroine's name is a play on words - Milbeth means "Lover of Travel" or "Trustworthy," and Sarden means "Honeybee," which symbolizes society.

[4] Li Hongzhi, Zhuan Falun, Sofia, 2013, Ciela Norma AD

[5] The idea comes from British computer scientist Alan Turing, who shows that a certain computer program can stop on its own, but here it is combined with the esoteric idea of spiritual work on many levels.

[6] It is the Psalm of David (23:2) where the allusion is made to the sheep and the shepherd.

[7]   Antakarana is the connection between personality, soul and spirit and is also known as the spiritual bridge.

[8] What job do you have here? We live and work here.

THE CONGRESSMAN

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: THE CONGRESSMAN

 

EVEN THOUGH WE WERE COOPERATING, THE FBI STILL HADN'T GOTTEN THEIR SUSPICIONS OFF OF US AND DECIDED TO DOUBLE-CHECK THEIR VERSIONS-JUST IN CASE. FEDERAL HEADQUARTERS HAD MOVED TO WASHINGTON, AND THIS WAS NECESSITATED MAINLY BY THEIR INCREASED STAFF, AND AGENT MORALES COULD NOT AFFORD TO HAVE US SPREAD BACK AND FORTH LIKE UNWASHED PANTIES. THE INTERROGATIONS TOOK PLACE IN ONE OF THEIR MANY OFFICES AROUND THE COUNTRY, WHICH WAS IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN. A BASIC PRESUMPTION FOR CONDUCTING AN INVESTIGATION WAS WHETHER ANY FEDERAL LAW HAD BEEN VIOLATED, AND EVEN THE ROOKIES IN THAT SECTOR KNEW IT. BECAUSE FELISTER'S CRIMES WERE OF A DIFFERENT ORDER OF MAGNITUDE - THEY ALSO HAD A DIFFERENT INVESTIGATIVE STATUS. AGENT MORALES REASONED SOBERLY ENOUGH TO REALIZE THAT, FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, A GOOD NUMBER OF THE CRIMES COULD NOT BE REOPENED BECAUSE SOME OF THEM HAD LIMITED FIVE-YEAR INVESTIGATIVE STATUS. THERE