Trafford Publishing: The Enterprise Zone

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The Enterprise Zone

by Michael P. Sakowski

218 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0980; ISBN 1-4120-0610-4; US$22.25, C$28.00, EUR18.20, £12.61

A physicist-businessman framed for murder is sentenced to a high-tech prison city run by private enterprise where he fights for his life and freedom.

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About the Book About the Author Excerpt Catalogue Information

About the Book

In the near future, the U.S. federal government turns over the remaining management of its over-burdened prison system to private enterprise. In a last-ditch effort to maintain solvency, states follow suit, and a tax-weary society goes along with the plan. But what happens when the dollar rules, and an individual's freedom becomes part of a profit equation? Is it the final victory of the haves over the have nots?

Jack Lusky, aka Jack Luck, is a down-on-his-luck Baltimore businessman-physicist whose bad luck multiplies itself when a routine visit to housing court lands him in the middle of a police shoot-out. He is shot, and wakes up in a hospital, where he finds himself framed for the murder of a police officer. Jack is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to a high security prison city in the Southwest Desert ; a prison unlike any our time knows. He finds himself in a parallel world, where he can have any thing he wants, except real freedom.

He finds friendship and romance, and appears to have made the best of his circumstances until his girlfriend dies under mysterious circumstances. This precipitates a personal investigation by Jack wherein he discovers an unrelated murder, and a drug ring. His investigation ultimately reveals who framed him, but not before he is visited by a series of further misfortunes. Finally armed with the knowledge to vindicate himself, he must flee for his life, and somehow survive, a desperate escape attempt.

About the Author

Michael P. Sakowski attended the University of Maryland at College Park, where he took a dual degree program in Electrical Engineering and Physics, minoring in Computer Science. Since then, he has been self-employed in several businesses including real estate renovation and development, and electronics sales and services. He later studied screenwriting at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore at the Homewood Campus, and has since written three screenplays that are now in development. He is also currently working on several novels and a guidebook to advanced industrial electronics.

Excerpt

Chapter 4 - The Prison City

"OPEN SHADES." SS guard, Robert Hess, sliced the silence, and the statues in the aisles sprung to life in a flurry of activity.

"GENTLEMEN, you will be wanting to know that to your left, is your new home," announced Hess.

Jack looked out the compartment window, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight. The train was driving along the lower face of a cliff on a slight downgrade. Spread out in front of him, for at least ten miles distance, and twenty miles width, was a gigantic, multi-colored desert plateau, ringed by high rising orange and purple mountains on the far sides. The train was still far above the plateau floor, giving an aerial view to the scene. Cactuses and yucca plants dotted the plain, their individuality blurring in the distance.

On the far side of the plateau, nestled between two mountain ranges, was a scene that looked like something out of "Tales of the Arabian Nights"; high-rising, radiant-white, tetrahedral and cylindrical towers, some with globe-shaped swellings at several points on their rise; needle-pointed, tall, pylons; an enormous, white-domed building, surrounded by smaller domes, a futuristic Taj Mahal. Beyond that, giant, sparkling hemispheres of unknown purpose, and an ocean of reflections from the farther side of the domes. High up on the mountain range's sheer walls, stood something looking like the polished shields of a phalanx of Roman soldiers. All, behind a gleaming white barrier wall; a dazzling city, shining in the sun.

"Your first look at the City of Enterprise, gentlemen. Beautiful, is it not?" Hess said proudly.

The compartment buzzed with whispering.

"Man, that looks like something from a science fiction movie," said Schmoke. "Look-it some of those weird-shaped buildings and towers. What is this place, a missile base?"

"You may be closer to the truth than you imagine," replied Kroeler. "Remember, Electro Dynamics is the biggest defense contractor in the country. We worked building circuit boards at Lorton, Virginia and this place is probably just an amplification of the Lorton facility. I'm sure it's loaded to the gunnels with defense projects."

The train had slowed to about fifty miles per hour as it made its way along the base of the cliff, and it turned, toward the city. Jack leaned to the window on his right, straining to see the city that loomed ever larger. Details were popping out now; guard towers along the barrier wall; a giant, solid steel entrance gate in the wall across the tracks; high-rise buildings built into the southern recessed face of a cliff. The ocean of reflections proved to be an array of solar collectors. They fed down to a focus point somewhere behind the city. This place was big, really big.

The prison city was directly between two mountain ranges, built across the mouth of a gigantic box canyon, which lay behind it. The white barrier wall in front of the city linked the two mountain ranges together. The front of the city was about a mile across, but Jack couldn't tell how far back it went into the canyon. Judging from the distant cliff walls beyond the city, he guessed that the canyon was at least ten miles deep. He couldn't tell yet how wide it opened, but if it was similar to the one they were riding through now, it was probably at least five to ten miles wide at its broadest point.

The train slowed to a crawl, and the giant steel doors that crossed the tracks slid open to admit the waiting leviathan. It glided in to a readied platform lined with squads of SS guards. The living cargo was unloaded, one compartment at a time, and transported by moving sidewalk to a giant, domed amphitheater. It was built partially into the wall of the same cliff that held the high-rise buildings on its face. A United States flag flapped noisily in the afternoon breeze over the amphitheater's entrance.

The cargo of Jack's compartment, now handcuffed man-to-man, arm-to-arm, was led into the amphitheater. Hushed whispers hissed along the curved rows of chairs, and necks craned upwards at the transparent, mobile dome roof. It was halfway open, and a dry, softly-scented desert breeze fanned up through the galleries. Jack looked up and could see the high-rise building in the adjacent cliff. It was a good eight stories high, and gleamed white-clean in the late afternoon sun. It looked like a desert resort.

The design engineers had taken a lesson from the Indians. Being nestled under the rim of a mammoth cliff and built into its face, the apartments would be in the shade of the cliff rim in the summer, when the sun was high in the sky, and would receive heat in the winter, when the sun was lower and its rays hit the absorbent walls of the building.

People were out on the concrete decks of what appeared to be apartments, a few sun worshippers catching some rays, high above the amphitheater's dome. Jack wondered if they were prisoners, or civilian workers. Robert Hess interrupted his thoughts.

"GENTLEMEN, you will be wanting to rest easy. The president will soon be here to make the indoctrination speech. You will be wanting to be quiet and observant to his speech, since no interruptions or distractions will be tolerated."

"The president! Schmoke vociferated. The president's going to be here!"

"I doubt that," decried Kroeler.

"You heard him, man! The president. He said so."

"You think the president's going to waste his time on a bunch of cons. We don't have any vote Schmoke. Use your head."

"Yeah, but you heard him. He said--"

"Yeah--well, we'll see," Kroeler skepticized.

The entire cargo of the train had now been seated, and more men were being led in from the opposite side of the amphitheater; earlier arrivals. They had already been fitted out with the standard uniforms; khaki shirts with short sleeves and no collars, matching pants with no cuffs, and canvass topped sneakers.

Jack became lost in reverie, wondering what happened to the man with the hand. The amphitheater stage was filling up with men in suits and ties and a few well-dressed women. SS guards were in the theater aisles, ringing the stage, and at all entrances and exits. Robert Hess was up on the stage. He and another guard, were taking turns blowing into the podium microphone to test the volume setting. Kroeler whispered to Schmoke.

"Hey Schmoke, look what's coming in now. Do my salty eyes deceive me, or do I see ladies down there?"

"Hallelujah brother, you're right--and plenty of them, too!" Schmoke sang.

About two hundred and fifty women prisoners in the same khaki uniforms as the men were being brought in on a level below them in the amphitheater. Schmoke and Kroeler began talking excitedly, dividing up the women between them. Jack was still thinking about the man with the hand, and was oblivious to it all.

Soon, everyone was seated and Robert Hess, who was, as it now became apparent, head of the guards, or at least very high up, walked to the microphone and introduced the mayor-warden of Enterprise. A balding man of medium height and athletic build stood up from the seated suited men on stage and took the microphone. He welcomed everyone, which drew a mixed response of moans and laughter, and then went through a brief orientation speech describing what the new arrivals could expect over the next several days. After about fifteen minutes, he ended his speech and introduced:

"The person responsible for Enterprise, our president!"

"WOW," puffed Schmoke, "You see, it is the president!"

"I don't believe it," said Kroeler cynically. A tall white-haired man in a black suit and tie took the microphone.

"Hey, who's that guy?" said Schmoke.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN; CITIZENS; As president of Electro Dynamics, the parent company of Electro Dynamics Security Systems, I welcome you to a bold new concept in correctional facilities: the City of Enterprise."

"Aw man," groaned Schmoke, "I thought we were going to see the man. This guy ain't nobody."

"I told you mate," Kroeler said knowingly, "We got no vote. The presideouldn't waste time on people with no votes, citizens or not."

The president continued:

"In the past, our country's, and in fact, the world's prison systems were more representative of something out of Dantes' Hell, than of correctional facilities, and could have justifiably had engraved over their entrance ways: 'ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE'. But that was the past, and this is the future. We are gathered in the Warren E. Burger Memorial Amphitheater, and over my head, above the stage, you will see a quotation from Warren Burger that symbolizes the principles upon which this city is run."

Above the stage, carved in stone, was:

"WHEN SOCIETY PLACES A PERSON BEHIND WALLS AND BARS IT HAS AN OBLIGATION--A MORAL OBLIGATION--TO DO WHATEVER CAN REASONABLY BE DONE TO CHANGE THAT PERSON BEFORE HE OR SHE GOES BACK INTO THE STREAM OF SOCIETY." - Warren E. Burger

The president extended his arm toward the inscription, read it, and continued:

"We do not intend to rehabilitate anyone here, because by definition, rehabilitate means to restore to a previous state. Many of you here have probably never reached a state that allowed you to successfully participate in society. We will help you reach that state. You will all be required to read and pass a literacy test before leaving this facility."

Murmurs and whispers ran through the amphitheater, and a few sarcastic remarks were heard.

"To paraphrase Warren Burger, opportunities for rewards and punishments permeate the lives of all free people and these opportunities should not be denied to prison inmates. At the core of the American private enterprise system is the idea that good performance is rewarded, and poor performance is not. So it shall be with your stay at Enterprise. You will cooperate in education and production. You will receive a salary, of which some will be put into trust, for the time of your release. The bulk of your salary will go toward payment of the daily living expenses that you incur here, just as it would if you were living in the outside world. The small remainder of your salary will be yours to spend as you see fit.

"So, for those of you who thought you were going to receive a free ride at society's expense--forget it.

"You will work here. Many of you, will also go to school here. However--the demands that will be made on you of time and energy will be no more than the demands on an average university student."

A few members of the audience became more vocal and a guard made a warning sign to a man in Jack's row.

"Not everyone," continued the president, "arrives here equal. Some of you, have committed heinous crimes. Some, have proven yourselves to be violent and extremely dangerous. To put you on the same level as others who have committed non-violent crimes would in itself, be a travesty of justice. It would also be a security risk, and you will find that Enterprise is a very secure city. Instead, just as the burden of the seven sins was erased from the transgressor as he progressed through each stage of purgatory, in Dantes' trilogy, so each prisoner shall be purged of his sins as he progresses through his sentence.

"Your placement at this facility will initially be dependent largely upon your previous crimes, and also, upon your current abilities and skills. Those of you who have exhibited violent tendencies in the past, will have to earn the right to be trusted."

The last part of the statement threw a man in the row in front of Jack into a vehement display of profanity and the nearest guard responded instantly. He pulled out what appeared to be a nightstick from his belt and touched it against the man's shoulder. There was an electrical arc, and instantly, the prisoner reared up in pain and involuntary muscular contraction, which shoved him half out of his seat. The two adjacent prisoners cuffed to the man's arms also jumped up in their seats, although not as high as the first man, and then the rest of the row in both directions could be seen to lift out of their seats in succession, each man coming not quite as high out of his chair as the previous one. The guard removed the end of the electrostick from the wrongdoer who was already unconscious, a crooked rivulet of spittle sliding down his face, and the rest of the row of men slid back down into their seats.

"Holy shit," cried Schmoke.

"Thunderation!" joined in Kroeler.

The guard turned round and smiled at them.

"That's the Enterprise wave! You boys want to try it?"

Catalogue Information