Angry Jasper: Forty-four

Thomas stood before the gathered masses like some sort of perverse messiah. Like a corrupted Caesar he gazed over them. They would be the vanguard for the conquest of the solar system, the unsuspecting cannon fodder that would clear the way for his alien hordes. And though many of them would be only too eager to follow him from planet to planet until the Corporation was annihilated, they had no idea that their existence was just as negotiable. Thomas raised his arms and spoke. He knew the one weapon certain to seduce them into doing his bidding. His voice thundered through the cavern.

“The Lord gives us, not because he loves us. He shows us the way of hate to protect and guides us through dark days. We are his seed, spewed out onto the cold dead Earth that it may soak in and bring forth his armies, and dry clear. He is disgusted with us and cruel to us, as any good father must be if his children are to grow strong. God has a filthy mind. How else could he conceive of all this? He is a god of love, fear him or die!”

It was a mixed reaction to be sure. There were pockets of thunderous applause, and others who thought there was something not quite right about the whole thing. Of those, most just went along quietly.

Thomas continued. “You are all witness to history. This is a new day for the rebellion and the beginning of the end of the Corporation. Soon they will not be safe on any planet, nor any moon in the solar system!”

Now most of the crowd was with him. The conspirators, scattered throughout could only wonder what that would mean for the coup. They could only hope that they could be swayed by evidence that Thomas was not who he claimed, though just who he was they did not have the foggiest idea. There was no stopping now, though, even if the crowd turned and tore them all limb from limb. The plan had begun, they would have to act together or die alone. Their fates were sealed.

“By all that is holy,” Thomas’ voice cracked, “we gather in this inauspicious chamber to celebrate this marriage, the final ascension towards victory! Every great society must have a face to rally behind. Once the Earth rallied under the banner of my great ancestor, Yakov!”

The crowd was roaring now, surging towards Thomas and Kate. The conspirators were pulled along with the enthralled mass. It was all but certain the act they were about to commit would end in brutal reprisal , bloody sacrifices to Thomas’ oratory orgy.

“Rome had Caesar,” Thomas roared above the crowd. “And behind every great man is a great woman who will rule beside me, who will bear the next generation of my lineage. You may not know her name now, but she has served the rebellion, bravely working among the Corporation’s highest echelons. And now Katy-did will stand beside me for the final great battle! Humble servants, cockroaches, who will feed on the carcass of the Corporation, maggots of change, I give you Katy-did!”

He took her hand and pulled her to the edge of the alter beside him. Below her a churning mass of dejected humanity, rose in a frenzy at Thomas' thrown scraps of hope. Grown men wept and climbed upon the backs of others for a chance to touch his feet, or hers. Kate looked at Thomas with alarm. This wasn’t the rebellion she knew. They weren’t soul-numbed fools that could be manipulated and exploited for a single man. They were once a proud, individualistic lot, who found common cause in their common good. Now they were orgasmic slaves to a personality. Thomas was entranced, swelling at the sight and power before him...and not in a good way.