Hallad
20-05-2005, 02:51
Part One: The Package
“Comrade! Comrade O’Connell? I’ve got the mail!” A young boy called out, approaching a comfortable cottage.
A man came outside the house, stepping onto a sky blue porch. He had one arm through the sleeve of a white long-sleeved shirt. Comrade O’Connell waved to the boy with his free arm.
“Abdul, shouldn’t you be working?” He called out, looking deadly serious.
“Oh, comrade, I finished my work. I thought it would be okay… But, honestly I-”
“You know I’m kidding.”
“Oh. I, uh – yeah.” Abdul said obvious flustered. “But, I have the mail.”
O’Connell buttoned his shirt and motioned the boy over to the porch. Abdul hurried up to the porch, where O’Connell had taken a seat in a chair. The boy reached into his satchel and put a few envelopes on the table, and then pulled out a thick, but still small, package.
“A letter from your cousin in Ryydra, a few messages from some Commissariats, and this,” Abdul said, holding the package, “from the Commissariat of Industry.”
“Industry? They realize this is New Hallad, right?”
The boy chuckled.
“Well, lets see what they’ve sent us.”
O’Connell took the package from Abdul. He tore the brown cardboard rapping off. There were several books tied together with a string, and an envelope on top of the stack. Comrade O’Connell took a knife from his pocket and cut the string. The envelope was labeled “To Comrade Governor Aiden O’Connell, From Peoples’ Commissar Anwar Hashim, D.o.U.”
“D.o.U.?”
“Department of Urbanization, Abdul. A department of the Commissariat if Industry.”
The boy looked confused. “Why would they send anything here?”
Abdul took a book, the top one was entitled “The Glories of Urbanization,” and underneath it was “Twelve Steps to Industrialization.”
“Comrade, what’s going on?”
O’Connell was reading the letter. He took a moment to finish.
“Something rotten, Abdul. Now, I need you to run home and get your parents.”
“But what about my news route?”
“This is more important, comrade.”
The boy grabbed his satchel and ran off. It took him nearly twenty minutes to get to his home. When he got to the door all he heard was screaming.
“It can work out, Hassan!” A female voice yelled.
“You know what, why don’t you go fuck yourself? You’ve done it to everyone else!” His brother, Hassan, answered. Hassan was even louder than the girl.
“Oh fuck you! You know that’s not true, you bastard!”
Abdul opened the door. Hassan was standing right in his view, and Abdul saw Hassan restrain himself from saying anything. Hassan’s girlfriend, Jasmine, was standing with her back to Abdul, but she turned around when the door opened.
“Oh, Abdul. How are you?” She said, in an almost motherly voice.
“Abdul,” Hassan interrupted, “Go away, we’re having an argument.”
“Where are mother and father?”
“Why?” Hassan snapped back, narrowing his eyes on Abdul.
“Oh, honey, they’re by the barn.” Jasmine said. “You should run along now.”
“Okay.” Abdul said.
Abdul wasn’t an idiot. He was thirteen, but his brother often decided to pretend that Abdul was ignorant of the world around him. But, Abdul was not. He knew what was happening, what those two were arguing about. But, he didn’t have time for that now. The Governor needed his parents, and he wasn’t about to let some petty argument get in his way.
He went on his way. Off the to barn, which wasn’t very far. It took him about two minutes to get there. His parents were busy milking cows.
“Mom, dad.” He said to get their attention.
His parents looked up.
“Comrade O’Connell wanted me to get you. He said it was of the utmost importance.”
“Are you sure?” His father said.
“Yes, honey, we’re kind of busy right now.”
“He said that could wait, this is really important.”
His parents stood up from the crouch they’d been in. They were still unsure about what this was all about, why O’Connell was taking them away from work. They went off, his father patting him on the back as he went out of the barn.
“Stay here, honey. We’ll be back soon.”
His parents went off. He still wasn’t sure what this whole thing was about. This is one thing he didn’t understand. Abdul reckoned he needn’t worry about it either, and he went back to the house, expecting Jasmine and Hassan to be screaming at each other, but the house was quiet. He went into the kitchen and no one was there. He wandered around the house, and didn’t find anyone.
Part Two: Bureaucracy
Myriam and Khali Bin-Rais road their bicycles to Aiden O’Connell’s home, at Aiden’s request. O’Connell was the elected leader of the New Hallad settlement, the “Comrade Governor,” officially. This was an important matter, after all.
Aiden explained the situation to Myriam and Khali, Abdul’s parents. Premier Hasan Muhammad in Hallad had plans for New Hallad. He was a visionary and wanted to see New Hallad as something more than a farming colony. He wanted to see the first off-world Halladi city. It was all part of the grand scheme of things, a Halladi Workers’ Republic in the stars. There were already plans for the creation of a Halladi space fleet, and major funding was being put into the Halladi Space Programme. The push to a Republic spanning light years would be a tremendous feat for Hallad, a superpower on their planet.
New Hallad, at the moment, was rather backwards. They were an agrarian society, who lived without the newest consumer items of Hallad. Mail was carried by the former New Haven Socialist Republic, which had its capital close to New Hallad. New Haven was the opposite of New Hallad, modern, urban, industrialized, and bustling with activity. They were the reason New Hallad still existed.
“This is disturbing news, comrade.” Khali said after a long silence.
His wife Myriam nodded. “I don’t see how they could possibly make us into a urbanized colony.”
“Well, they want to do it, and I don’t think we’re in a position to stop the government. But, it will be difficult. The government hasn’t had much of a presence here since the beginning.” Governor O’Connell stated.
It was true, too. The government had almost no presence on New Hallad. There was a small central settlement, which acted as a town hall of sorts. Trade went through this area, which is called Capital Hill, and the mail came here. Aiden worked nights in the Capital structure, doing most governmental jobs with only a handful of Junior Commissars from Hallad. New Hallad also had no police force, and no crime for that matter. There was no standing army, but a small militia force that had access to old soviet equipment.
This was all about to change, though. One thousand workers from Hallad were traveling with equipment to help build a permanent settlement. Several Commissars were also going to be taking up residence on New Hallad. But one of the biggest changes of all was the order to form the militia into a standing force to act as both the police and military. Fifty military officials were on their way to New Hallad, with enough new equipment for the entire militia. New tanks, new weapons, new missiles, and radars were on their way. The Halladi farmers were being conscripted into the army, as though they were part of the unemployed back in Hallad.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come on in, comrades,” hollered O’Connell.
A group of people came into the room. There were six people, each of them on the governing Workers Council.
“Thank you for alerting us to the situation, comrade O’Connell.” One Ferran Shawqi said. “The Workers Council is very interested in Premier Muhammad’s plans for us in New Hallad.”
“As I expected.” O’Connell stated. “Well, basically the government is putting their foot down. I’ve already drafted a letter of objection, however, I expect Parliament to look over it. And the people of Hallad are enthralled with the idea of the Halladi Workers’ State in the stars.”
“It’s a threat to our way of life. We have lived on these collectives for six years now! Children have been born here, and workers have died here. We have eliminated crime, and lived under Communism. Communism, comrades. We have achieved what Hallad will never achieve on earth.” Fadwa Azi, a member of the Workers Council, said.
“Comrade Azi, I hope you do not honestly believe Hallad will never achieve Communism. After all, if it were not for Socialism in Hallad, would never have been able to achieve Communism here.” Myriam objected.
“But, you must understand that we started as a collectivist society, Hallad did not. The population is much more urbanized.” Khali added.
“Comrades, please, let us stay on topic.” O’Connell said. “We need to develop a plan. We cannot allow Hallad to over look our right to live how we like to.”
“Quite.” A councilman said. “But, what can we actually do to resist our comrades on Earth? Honestly, we are one with them; they are not part of us. They wish should be done out, if it means a greater good.”
“Omar, you’ve got to be kidding me. We’re practically our own nation, we should be getting more sovereignty and autonomy, not centralization!” Ferran exclaimed.
The group went on arguing nearly all night. They only took a break to eat breakfast at six o’clock. Then they continued arguing. Yelling from Abdul, the son of Myriam and Khali Bin-Rais, stopped the comrades before things got out of hand again.
“Visitors from Hallad are here!” Abdul yelled again and again.
O’Connell sighed and cursed under his breath. He looked out his window; others went on to the porch. Men in uniform, holding weapons marched in formation, however, they were surrounding men who looked like government officials from Hallad. Some were Commissars, which was apparent from their uniforms; others were mere workers and dressed more casually. Aiden’s fears were already in New Hallad.
----------------------
OoC: This is open to anyone, but please contact me before posting (unless your someone I've already talked to. This is just to make sure you'd be able to fit into the plot somewhere, since most of this will take place in Hallad, New Hallad, and possibly New Haven.
“Comrade! Comrade O’Connell? I’ve got the mail!” A young boy called out, approaching a comfortable cottage.
A man came outside the house, stepping onto a sky blue porch. He had one arm through the sleeve of a white long-sleeved shirt. Comrade O’Connell waved to the boy with his free arm.
“Abdul, shouldn’t you be working?” He called out, looking deadly serious.
“Oh, comrade, I finished my work. I thought it would be okay… But, honestly I-”
“You know I’m kidding.”
“Oh. I, uh – yeah.” Abdul said obvious flustered. “But, I have the mail.”
O’Connell buttoned his shirt and motioned the boy over to the porch. Abdul hurried up to the porch, where O’Connell had taken a seat in a chair. The boy reached into his satchel and put a few envelopes on the table, and then pulled out a thick, but still small, package.
“A letter from your cousin in Ryydra, a few messages from some Commissariats, and this,” Abdul said, holding the package, “from the Commissariat of Industry.”
“Industry? They realize this is New Hallad, right?”
The boy chuckled.
“Well, lets see what they’ve sent us.”
O’Connell took the package from Abdul. He tore the brown cardboard rapping off. There were several books tied together with a string, and an envelope on top of the stack. Comrade O’Connell took a knife from his pocket and cut the string. The envelope was labeled “To Comrade Governor Aiden O’Connell, From Peoples’ Commissar Anwar Hashim, D.o.U.”
“D.o.U.?”
“Department of Urbanization, Abdul. A department of the Commissariat if Industry.”
The boy looked confused. “Why would they send anything here?”
Abdul took a book, the top one was entitled “The Glories of Urbanization,” and underneath it was “Twelve Steps to Industrialization.”
“Comrade, what’s going on?”
O’Connell was reading the letter. He took a moment to finish.
“Something rotten, Abdul. Now, I need you to run home and get your parents.”
“But what about my news route?”
“This is more important, comrade.”
The boy grabbed his satchel and ran off. It took him nearly twenty minutes to get to his home. When he got to the door all he heard was screaming.
“It can work out, Hassan!” A female voice yelled.
“You know what, why don’t you go fuck yourself? You’ve done it to everyone else!” His brother, Hassan, answered. Hassan was even louder than the girl.
“Oh fuck you! You know that’s not true, you bastard!”
Abdul opened the door. Hassan was standing right in his view, and Abdul saw Hassan restrain himself from saying anything. Hassan’s girlfriend, Jasmine, was standing with her back to Abdul, but she turned around when the door opened.
“Oh, Abdul. How are you?” She said, in an almost motherly voice.
“Abdul,” Hassan interrupted, “Go away, we’re having an argument.”
“Where are mother and father?”
“Why?” Hassan snapped back, narrowing his eyes on Abdul.
“Oh, honey, they’re by the barn.” Jasmine said. “You should run along now.”
“Okay.” Abdul said.
Abdul wasn’t an idiot. He was thirteen, but his brother often decided to pretend that Abdul was ignorant of the world around him. But, Abdul was not. He knew what was happening, what those two were arguing about. But, he didn’t have time for that now. The Governor needed his parents, and he wasn’t about to let some petty argument get in his way.
He went on his way. Off the to barn, which wasn’t very far. It took him about two minutes to get there. His parents were busy milking cows.
“Mom, dad.” He said to get their attention.
His parents looked up.
“Comrade O’Connell wanted me to get you. He said it was of the utmost importance.”
“Are you sure?” His father said.
“Yes, honey, we’re kind of busy right now.”
“He said that could wait, this is really important.”
His parents stood up from the crouch they’d been in. They were still unsure about what this was all about, why O’Connell was taking them away from work. They went off, his father patting him on the back as he went out of the barn.
“Stay here, honey. We’ll be back soon.”
His parents went off. He still wasn’t sure what this whole thing was about. This is one thing he didn’t understand. Abdul reckoned he needn’t worry about it either, and he went back to the house, expecting Jasmine and Hassan to be screaming at each other, but the house was quiet. He went into the kitchen and no one was there. He wandered around the house, and didn’t find anyone.
Part Two: Bureaucracy
Myriam and Khali Bin-Rais road their bicycles to Aiden O’Connell’s home, at Aiden’s request. O’Connell was the elected leader of the New Hallad settlement, the “Comrade Governor,” officially. This was an important matter, after all.
Aiden explained the situation to Myriam and Khali, Abdul’s parents. Premier Hasan Muhammad in Hallad had plans for New Hallad. He was a visionary and wanted to see New Hallad as something more than a farming colony. He wanted to see the first off-world Halladi city. It was all part of the grand scheme of things, a Halladi Workers’ Republic in the stars. There were already plans for the creation of a Halladi space fleet, and major funding was being put into the Halladi Space Programme. The push to a Republic spanning light years would be a tremendous feat for Hallad, a superpower on their planet.
New Hallad, at the moment, was rather backwards. They were an agrarian society, who lived without the newest consumer items of Hallad. Mail was carried by the former New Haven Socialist Republic, which had its capital close to New Hallad. New Haven was the opposite of New Hallad, modern, urban, industrialized, and bustling with activity. They were the reason New Hallad still existed.
“This is disturbing news, comrade.” Khali said after a long silence.
His wife Myriam nodded. “I don’t see how they could possibly make us into a urbanized colony.”
“Well, they want to do it, and I don’t think we’re in a position to stop the government. But, it will be difficult. The government hasn’t had much of a presence here since the beginning.” Governor O’Connell stated.
It was true, too. The government had almost no presence on New Hallad. There was a small central settlement, which acted as a town hall of sorts. Trade went through this area, which is called Capital Hill, and the mail came here. Aiden worked nights in the Capital structure, doing most governmental jobs with only a handful of Junior Commissars from Hallad. New Hallad also had no police force, and no crime for that matter. There was no standing army, but a small militia force that had access to old soviet equipment.
This was all about to change, though. One thousand workers from Hallad were traveling with equipment to help build a permanent settlement. Several Commissars were also going to be taking up residence on New Hallad. But one of the biggest changes of all was the order to form the militia into a standing force to act as both the police and military. Fifty military officials were on their way to New Hallad, with enough new equipment for the entire militia. New tanks, new weapons, new missiles, and radars were on their way. The Halladi farmers were being conscripted into the army, as though they were part of the unemployed back in Hallad.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come on in, comrades,” hollered O’Connell.
A group of people came into the room. There were six people, each of them on the governing Workers Council.
“Thank you for alerting us to the situation, comrade O’Connell.” One Ferran Shawqi said. “The Workers Council is very interested in Premier Muhammad’s plans for us in New Hallad.”
“As I expected.” O’Connell stated. “Well, basically the government is putting their foot down. I’ve already drafted a letter of objection, however, I expect Parliament to look over it. And the people of Hallad are enthralled with the idea of the Halladi Workers’ State in the stars.”
“It’s a threat to our way of life. We have lived on these collectives for six years now! Children have been born here, and workers have died here. We have eliminated crime, and lived under Communism. Communism, comrades. We have achieved what Hallad will never achieve on earth.” Fadwa Azi, a member of the Workers Council, said.
“Comrade Azi, I hope you do not honestly believe Hallad will never achieve Communism. After all, if it were not for Socialism in Hallad, would never have been able to achieve Communism here.” Myriam objected.
“But, you must understand that we started as a collectivist society, Hallad did not. The population is much more urbanized.” Khali added.
“Comrades, please, let us stay on topic.” O’Connell said. “We need to develop a plan. We cannot allow Hallad to over look our right to live how we like to.”
“Quite.” A councilman said. “But, what can we actually do to resist our comrades on Earth? Honestly, we are one with them; they are not part of us. They wish should be done out, if it means a greater good.”
“Omar, you’ve got to be kidding me. We’re practically our own nation, we should be getting more sovereignty and autonomy, not centralization!” Ferran exclaimed.
The group went on arguing nearly all night. They only took a break to eat breakfast at six o’clock. Then they continued arguing. Yelling from Abdul, the son of Myriam and Khali Bin-Rais, stopped the comrades before things got out of hand again.
“Visitors from Hallad are here!” Abdul yelled again and again.
O’Connell sighed and cursed under his breath. He looked out his window; others went on to the porch. Men in uniform, holding weapons marched in formation, however, they were surrounding men who looked like government officials from Hallad. Some were Commissars, which was apparent from their uniforms; others were mere workers and dressed more casually. Aiden’s fears were already in New Hallad.
----------------------
OoC: This is open to anyone, but please contact me before posting (unless your someone I've already talked to. This is just to make sure you'd be able to fit into the plot somewhere, since most of this will take place in Hallad, New Hallad, and possibly New Haven.