The Assassination of a Broken Democracy Epub

By Michael E Kelley

Michael E Kelley's third novella, The Assassination of a Broken Democracy, is a futuristic fictional thriller. Three individuals are running for their lives. You will follow their adventures, read many predictions, and learn how to fix our broken democracy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9781304724885

Book preview

The Assassination of a Broken Democracy

A Novella

By Michael E. Kelley

Copyright @ 2024 by Michael E. Kelley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Published by Noble Edwin Publishing

Distributed by Lulu Press

Printed in the United States of America

`First edition, 2024

Kelley, Michael E., 1954-

The Assassination of a Broken Democracy /

Michael E. Kelley / First Edition

ISBN 978-1-304-72488-5 (EPUB)

www.MichaelEKelley.com

#assassinationpr

To my Grandpa Dye who told an exciting story nearly every time I saw him.

To Michael Pollack, co-founder of the 99% Declaration.

To the Continental Congress held in Philadelphia, PA from July 2-4, 2012

To the petition for redress of grievances, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution and created by the Continental Congress in 2012.

To all the Americans from the past and into the future that had stamina enough to pass Constitutional Amendments.

And most of all, to my wife, Sue,

who gave up precious quality time for this book.

The Assassination of a Broken Democracy

Prologue

The question that comes to mind, but not often enough, is what is wrong with American Democracy?

Another related question is why is the most copied form of democracy so polarized? People say the reason is conservatives versus liberals and that neither side wants to give an inch.

But American Democracy is a capitalist democracy. There is a constant tug-of-war between capitalism and democracy. The real question might involve which is more important: capitalism or democracy. Haven’t they both contributed to America’s success? Is this government for the people or for the corporations?

The following is the story of one large capitalist organization that is trying to control everything around it.

How did it get so big? When did it start making decisions purely based on the company and not the people around it?

How can the little guy fight such a large Goliath let alone stay out of its way?

The following events are about a quintessential random group of people. They came from different places with different backgrounds, and yet they ended up dealing and, in some cases, running from the same large company.

But there is hope for this group and for American Democracy.

Broken_Capitalist_Democracy_Figure

1 – Wednesday Morning

The skies over Houston, Texas were sunny and warm as usual with no clouds in the sky for as far as the eye could see. But the normal hustle and bustle of a sunny Houston morning was just disrupted.

To the west of downtown, a major six lane freeway could be seen going north and south. Along the right side of the freeway was a narrow access road. Heading north on the access road was a bicyclist pedaling as fast as possible.

Junior Ruiz, an 18-year-old Hispanic kid with dark, wavy hair blowing in the wind leaned forward on his bicycle. He was wearing dark jeans and a blue sweatshirt with a backpack. Junior’s heart was pounding so loud, he could not hear the six lanes of traffic on the freeway to his left. The dry breeze passing through his hair felt good and cooled the sweat before it got in his eyes.

Suddenly Junior realized how hard he was pedaling. He immediately eased up and said to himself, Just pedal casually like nothing happened. You know, just like you did on this route twice before. He slowed down but kept peddling north.

Junior's parents had always been proud of him because he was self-sufficient. Similarly, Junior had a goal and was intent on completing it.

***

In downtown Houston one of the tallest skyscrapers was emblazoned on the top in bold letters with the name, Benson Oil. On each side of it was another high-rise building but not as tall. These three buildings plus the two-story building below it made up the Benson Plaza. All the buildings had mirror-like windows to reflect the light and keep the insides cool. Not far in front of the Benson Plaza was Centennial Park, one of the largest in the downtown area with large, green trees around its perimeter.

At the east side high-rise in one of the office building's 10th floor windows stood a six-foot-two African-American ex-college football player. Tyrone had a shocked look on his face and had not moved in over a minute. The scene was like something you only saw on the news. He just witnessed the drone explosion into the 12th floor windows of the Benson Oil Tower to his right. As a result, smoke rose to the sky and shattered glass fell to the building below. As he gathered his composure, Tyrone picked up his phone and called 9-1-1.

At the busy Houston 911 Command Center, an operator answered the phone by saying, Hello. 911. What is your emergency?.

Tyrone replied, There has been an explosion at the Benson Oil Tower. A ,uh, a drone with a bomb attached has crashed into the 12th floor.

Okay, sir., she acknowledged. Some personnel are on their way. Can I call you back at this number?

Yes, Tyrone replied.

Sir, the dispatcher continued, Do you see any fires?

Tyrone answered, No, ma'am. Just some smoke went up and a lot of broken glass fell to the lower roof.

Sir, what is your name?, she asked.

Tyrone Jefferson, he replied.

Okay, Tyrone, the dispatcher continued, Are you in your office?

Yes, he replied.

What is the name of your company?, she asked.

Dynamo General, he answered.

Anything else that might help the police?, she asked.

Yes, I saw someone leave the lower roof in a white sweatshirt and white sweatpants, he answered.

Thanks, she said as she wrapped up the conversation. We will contact you if we need more information.

Tyrone had always been responsible. He had been one of the best salespeople at Dynamo General in Los Angeles. His boss, Leo, was impressed with Tyrone who showed great leadership when he was football team captain at UCLA. But in his senior year Tyrone suffered a career ending injury that prevented him from playing in the pros. Lou jumped at the opportunity to hire Tyrone, making him the youngest drone salesperson at their company. Because Tyrone was so successful in LA, he was promoted and transferred to the Houston office.

Tyrone felt relieved to have made the 9-1-1 call which was an impulsive act like the time he tackled the would-be assassin at the President’s speech many months before.

***

On the Houston access road, Junior continued to peddle at a more normal rate. He wondered how much damage the Benson Oil headquarters endured. But it did not matter. What was done was done. He thought, Those bastard executives at Benson Oil took his dad's job away because he was a Dreamer, which forced him to work in the Florida citrus orchard only to have him killed. Meanwhile, he, along with his mom and sister, had to give up everything they had in Houston including friends and move to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Those asshole executives deserved whatever they got.

Junior said to himself, Forget it. You should be at the truck stop in about 15 minutes. He started thinking about the first time he was at the large truck stop. He remembered that he went to the coffee shop and asked the waitress where all the trucks were going. She told Junior that the trucks facing south were headed to Mexico and the trucks facing north were headed north, mostly to the Midwest. The waitress also told him that most of the car carriers going south were taking used cars to Mexico. And most of the car carriers going north had brand new cars recently built in Mexico.

Junior remembered the second time he was at the truck stop when he stayed through the entire lunchtime. He noticed that there were fewer drivers walking around at 11:45 when most truck drivers were already having an early lunch.

***

With their sirens blaring and their lights flashing, two fire trucks and two Houston Police cars pulled up to the main Benson Plaza parking