Today’s meeting was about the latest economic reports coming out of Blue Creek. The new government had been elected in January and began work on March 1st. Governor Asher and the Council had gotten off to a fast start. In fact, so many bills were passed in the first week, many people suspected that they had been drafted before the government had been formed. Bao was convinced of this idea—not because he knew anything about politics—but because he had been spending a lot of time with Patton and Frank. Patton had some wild theories, including one that Charlie Henry was behind everything that David Asher was doing. Furthermore, Henry was instituting policies that liberals had dreamed about pushing on Americans.
However, as things progressed, Bao became convinced that Patton was right about everything. In the beginning of the summer, Bao wrote a report discussing Patton’s conspiracy theories. The report was passed up the chain. Many of the higher ups at Insight Resource took it as a joke, but the report had struck a chord with many of the scientists behind the experiment. That’s what was bringing Bao to work today. He was being asked to discuss his report in greater detail.
Bao approached the shack that served as the entrance and exit to Blue Creek. He slowed down and was about to give a nod to the security guard and then drive through. Luckily he looked up in time to see the closed gate that blocked the road ahead of him. Bao slammed on the brakes. He fish tailed, but luckily came to a stop inches from the gate. He swore and slammed his hands onto his steering wheel. He let out a deep breath and was about to start hyperventilating when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. It was the security guard. Bao glared at him angrily through his window, but rolled down his window. The security guard seemed embarrassed.
“Hey Bao,” he said nervously.
“Hey Bryan. What’s with this?” Bao asked, gesturing towards the large, white metal gate that nearly demolished his beloved car.
“New policy. Bill passed last week and they just installed it last night.”
“What bill?”
The kid—Bao thought of him as a kid, although they were probably the same age—straightened his dark uniform and looked around as if he was being watched.
“Asher talked about it on TV last night. No one can come in and out without checking in here. They have to register their vehicle. People from outside can only come into town for twelve hours.”
Bao exhaled deeply. He’d stopped watching any news or speeches or anything political. He was tired of the whole thing. Now it was starting to affect his everyday life, which was starting to piss him off.
“So how does this affect me?”
The kid shrugged. Bao rolled his eyes at the gesture.
“Well, what am I supposed to do then? I have to go out and talk to a client.”
The security looked around again and leaned in closer.
“You can leave for four hours without prior notice. You can leave for twelve hours with permission.”
“Permission? From who?”
The kid shrugged again. “Don’t know. I’m sure it’s on the city website. Anyway, it’s 9:34 AM right now. You’ll need to be back by 1:34.”
Bao looked at his watch.
“Back by 1:34 huh? Well, if I’m late, you can tell Asher to kiss my ass.”
The security guard smiled and walked back to his shack. He opened the gate and smiled wider when Bao did a Hollywood-style burnout and sped through the gate.
Bao cranked up his stereo again and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat. He looked at himself in his rearview mirror and grimaced.
“Patton’s gonna love this,” he said out loud. “Damn.”
Damn was right, but Patton already knew about the gate. One of his employees had gotten a job with the city in the planning department and she’d been leaking information to Patton ever since. He still paid her the full wage. It was well worth it to him. Not only had Patton known about the gate before Bao, he drove out and watched it be built. Everything that had come before had made Patton angry. The income taxes, the minimum wage, the talk of other policy ideas. Those were boiler plate ideas, typical of any government. And Patton had written about them in his blog where he explained their negative impact on the economy. However, he knew they would largely go ignored because they were policies that most people were accustomed to. This, however, was different.
When Patton was a kid, his father watched everything political—speeches, news conferences, and debates. During one particular news conference, Ronald Reagan was asked about his Berlin Wall speech. He’d said something to the effect that some countries build walls to keep enemies out, but other countries build walls to keep their own people in. Why would a country do that? The only explanation was because people would flee if they had the choice. Patton wondered what Asher and Charlie Henry were up to.
It had been a solemn moment for Patton and that feeling had carried on with him. He’d seen the evils of control by a nation’s elites, but that had been in someone else’s country, not his. These policies were now affecting himself and his friends. When Patton returned home just before daybreak, he sat at his computer and wrote a blog piece.
“I have long been a critic of David Asher and his puppet master Charlie Henry. I have been ridiculed as a conspiracy theorist for my continual claims that these men are connected behind the scenes of your new government. I am fine with this ridicule. This has always been part of politics. I would be a hypocrite for complaining because I have often ridiculed others, including the Asher regime. I have also tried to infuse humor and sarcasm into my blogs. However, today I do not feel humorous. Let me tell you why.
“Early this morning I drove out to the security gate that has been a part of this town longer than many other buildings. When we arrived here we all saw the gate. It’s nothing special. It resembles guard shacks at apartment buildings and businesses all over the country. However, Blue Creek’s front gate has a new feature.
“No longer can a person drive through the gate. A security guard has to verify that you have a reason to leave Blue Creek or to enter Blue Creek. Up until this morning, we residents could drive in and out at will. Scanners and cameras recorded your license plate to see who was coming in and out. Now, however, you have to have a reason to leave. Even worse, you have to justify leaving Blue Creek.
“During the Cold War, half of Europe’s population lived behind walls and fences. Those barriers were built to keep enemies out, but they were also there to keep those people in. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had these barriers. If they didn’t, how many people would have fled for freedom?
“I know I will be ridiculed for claiming that the government building a gate is the first step to establishing a dictatorship. But the question remains, why would the Asher regime put in a gate? The simple answer is, for the same reason why countries in the past, and present, build walls to keep people in—because their policies will drive them away, but they don’t want them to leave. This is particularly problematic for we residents of Blue Creek. To leave, we have to pay the penalty.
“This makes us a captive audience to whatever the government decides to implement. This is exactly why I fought against having a government and why I fought against David Asher and Charlie Henry. They don’t want what’s best for you and me. They want to build their power and control over us. Why do they want this, you ask? I have never found a logical reason why people seek power and control over others. There are theories about this in the field of psychology, but none of them are complete. One thing is clear, however—seeking power over others is evil and can only lead to negative outcomes.