THE CRUCIBLE

By Robert Stetson

The President, the Cabinet and the Congress merge to form the Council of 12 known as the Galactic Empire.
Follow the classic journey of the Spencer family and discover the elusive Crucible.
This epic adventure begins in the near future and blossoms out from Ritz Village to Moon City.
The government secretly converts the cost of housing prisoners to a lucrative source of income by converting prisoners to lobotomized unisex Goons and then putting them to work.
See how the government tricks the people into demanding their own enslavement.
Can the Spencer family use the very government oppression designed to enslave them to set themselves free?
Watch for Crucible II as you keep this incredible secret ending close to your vest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Stetson
• Release date: Dec 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497793743

Robert Stetson

I am a retired person living in Massachusetts. My background is extremely diverse. I have worked a Computer Systems Design Engineer, an Auxiliary Police Officer, and many other jobs. I have been a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer working for 3 different fortune 500 companies, served as a representative at ANSI, ECMA and other standards organizations.. I was/am a licensed Private Detective in two states, a Licensed Real Estate Broker and now write as my full time occupation in books on a variety of fact and fictional topics.

Book preview

THE CRUCIBLE

Robert Stetson

Published by Robert Stetson, 2013.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

THE CRUCIBLE

First edition. December 20, 2013.

Copyright © 2013 Robert Stetson.

ISBN: 978-1497793743

Written by Robert Stetson.

THE CRUCIBLE

Robert Stetson

THE CRUCIBLE

Text copyright © 2012

Robert Stetson All Rights Reserved

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 OUR STRUGGLE

CHAPTER 2 LOSING LEO

CHAPTER 3 RITZ VILLAGE

CHAPTER 4 MOON WALKING

CHAPTER 5 VET IN THE HOUSE

CHAPTER 6 MOON CITY

CHAPTER 7 WHAT TERRORISM

CHAPTER 8 SEE NO EVIL

CHAPTER 9 MOOSE AND MOUSE

CHAPTER 10 WHAT OF RAMSEY

CHAPTER 11 HELLO DERECK

CHAPTER 12 MALL to MALL

CHAPTER 1 OUR STRUGGLE

It’s amazing what I have to put up with lately. My people are all a bit weird.

I’m reminded of the Devil and how he looks around at his staff, Sloth, Anger, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath, and Pride.

The Devil shakes his head in despair and says, It must be the wages.

Take Leo for example, we once, went undercover as street people and Leo showed up with the filthy ragged costume I gave him. The clothing was freshly laundered and pressed.

Leo lamented, I thought I’d never get all those stains out.

I stood there just looking at him in amazement and said, You look great, Leo. Go home.

Doug Ramsey, on the other hand didn’t need to be issued street rags.  He fits right in with the homeless crowd.

When he’s in a hurry he often forgets to shave. He always exudes a slight, but pleasant clean soapy aroma.

His clothes are a mess and if anything ever happens to him, we’re going to donate his wardrobe to the blind.

I never figured out how he can be so clean and look so scruffy.

As for me, my name is Clark Spencer. I’m a Private Detective working on my special project called the Polygon.

It’s a new day and waking from my slumber, I claw at the night stand seeking to find the clock and check the time. My groping is answered by a thud.

Damn, I grumble. Now I fumble around on the floor to locate the damned clock.

The search ends in success and I pull it up onto the bed. Finding the top I press down. The dial lights up.

The time displays in big blue numerals but before my eyes can fully focus, the clock speaks in a flirtatious woman’s voice, Six A.M.

You tend to think of a Private Detective as being a person with a rough exterior, both muscular and tall, with a commanding bark.

I am none of these things. I am short and slim. My hair is a soft red and thinning fast as the years go by.

My voice is somewhat soft, sounding more like a monk than a master.

My skin is smooth and of light complexion from years of avoiding the sun.

These meager attributes make me the perfect Detective, as you would never suspect me to be one.

As for my project, the Polygon, it is well on the way to being a secret society formed by companies owned by the members.

Our group consists of individuals who are pooling our few remaining resources to overcome the hardship of our times.

Nigel Eats and Warren Buggs are Lawyers with strong backgrounds in business and finance.

Since graduating from law school and hanging out their shingle, they have been wildly successful.

Nigel calls me and says, "Times are becoming more difficult every day with new gun legislation that only effects the legal owners of firearms.

"Now the insurance companies are clamoring for money from every gun owner and sharing their ill-gotten gain with the government as payment for raping the legal gun owners.

"They have passed a law mandating liability insurance on every gun.

"Like car insurance where every car is insured even if only driven by one driver, every gun is insured even if ten of them are owned by a single owner.

Criminals do not insure their guns, so what’s the point.

The government has mutated into a strange dictatorship.  They claim to be a benevolent dictatorship, but it’s killing the common folks.

Our nation has mutated and is being governed by the cruel and greedy megalomaniacs known as the Council of 12.

The identity of the 12 people who comprise the Council is a secret.

The Secrecy surrounding the identity stems from the election process that has mutated from the Electoral College who circumvents the popular election process into a process that is more like the election of the Vatican Popes has been through the ages.

The anonymity of the Council members has mutated from the concept of the Secret Service guard that watches over the head of state. It was determined that if no one knew the identity of the heads of state, no one could attempt an assassination.

The President, the Cabinet and Congress merged to form the Council of 12.

From this group came all the laws by which we live.

I’ve been in the gumshoe business for twenty two years.

My company is Metro Net Investigations which was doing fine until the banks started falling like dominos and I, like so many others, have now lost all of my investments and savings.

No one can pay the cost of investigative services any more.

It takes a difficult downturn of events in life to reveal who your friends really are. The ones you take for granted can be the first to go, much like my recent divorce.

Although I’ve lost all of my cash reserves, my most valuable assets are my loyal people, Leo and Ramsey, who are the only two employees left at Metro Net Investigations. They remain steadfast. Their loyalty is unquestioned.

Leo Sardis and I go back to our college days when we would sit around and talk about the evils of organizations.

Leo was known for saying that companies and governments do things that a person could never do.

He would say that, "With organized evil, there is no accountability.

With organized evil, there is no forethought, and or guilt. Everyone is just doing their job.

The other guys around campus nicknamed Leo the braineac.

Leo is brilliant in every way, except where keeping a low profile is important.

He has always been one to stand up and be counted. This is an admirable trait, but not in the stealthy business of underground investigation.

Leo is the quintessential geek from his big black rimmed glasses to his messy black hair. He is athletic and graceful when in motion.

If not for being one of my investigators, Leo could have been a dancer. While his hair is always a mess, his clothing is immaculate, neat and tidy.

In the business of taking control of your finances, you need muscle.

Doug Ramsey has always been a bit of a bull in a china shop. When a bad situation threatens to develop, you can always count on Ramsey to escalate it.

On the surface you might think Ramsey is a bit of a dullard. He is big, in both height and girth. His hair is cut, standing about a quarter inch from his scalp all over. I’m not sure what color his hair is, it’s too short to tell.

His saving grace is that when things go very wrong, Ramsey springs into action. When the smoke clears there is no one left standing and we realize Ramsey is on the job. He’ll be the big guy with the stupid grin.

Ramsey has been my friend for as long as I can remember.

I like Doug Ramsey because he is genuine. He puts it on the line and stands by it.

I’d bet he could singlehandedly clear out a whole biker bar in short order if it came down to fisticuffs.

Metro Net Investigations is acquiring and hiding the wealth and resources required for the betterment of the group.

The mission is to each maintain our balance of ownership while not creating a public record.. For this we need the skills of no nonsense legal professionals, such as the likes of Buggs and Eats, Attorneys at Law.

Their specialty is circumventing some seemingly impossible legal nightmares by artfully finding alternative legal solutions.

Nigel and Warren have been friends of mine since we met at the university.

We would exchange talk about the implications of new legislation and how it can be legally circumvented.

Sometimes Leo and Ramsey would join in on the conversations and it would become an electric experience.

We were young idealistic college kids who were voted the most likely to be arrested at a rally. For all the madness we portrayed we never actually ever attended a rally. Our cause was too serious in nature to protest openly.

We prefer to quietly plot ways of circumventing the obstacles in our lives.

These strategies were devised for fun. But now, in today’s economy, they are life sustaining.

The first time I saw Buggs and Eats I would have sworn they were twins. They are always together and don’t think people didn’t wonder about that.

I can only wonder how they manage to be married with infant children and spend more time together than with their families.

They are both rotund with ruddy complexions and they walk with a slight waddle. They dress in suits, white shirts and ties which all tend to be a bit unkempt.

Their appearance could have impacted their business over the years but there is no evidence that it ever did.

Members of the Polygon don’t partner with these men for their stylish exterior. Their success is entirely linked to their ability to take hopeless legal situations and turn them around.

Al Akken of Akken CPA Financial Services is in no danger of going under even though all of the businesses around them are disappearing fast.

They are victims of the economic disaster that is plaguing the world. The economic recession is deeper than ever before. Banks, are failing.

Akken CPA has managed to hang on with no seemingly visible way to sustain the company even though investments are drying up without warning.

Everyone seems to be aware of Al’s genius when it comes to handling and manipulating money.

I know Al very well. He and I have been friends for a few years and in that time I have watched Al perform miracles. The problem is that almost no one has any money to manipulate.

Al is a funny looking little man that passes very well as a CPA with his immaculate manner of dress and fussy personality. He is small, blond and wears the stereotypical horned rimmed glasses.

He always has a snow white handkerchief that he uses to periodically clean his eyeglass lenses. He drives me crazy with his fussy neat nick personality.

He is essential to our success and I have learned to tolerate his personality quirks.

Metro Net Investigations is being kept afloat with the financial ashes of the Spencer estate.

I am selling off everything including real estate holdings which drop in value as a natural consequence of bank failures.

I’m selling at a loss, but when you look at the financial trends, I seem to be liquidating my assets just ahead of the falling economic curve.

Property is a financial anchor. It holds you down. When the wolves are at the door, you need to be mobile and have plenty of liquidity. Cash is king. If they can’t find it, they can’t take it.

The process of forming a secret society consisting of companies is easy. It has to be conducted so that to an outward observer it would appear to be a simple business alliance.

When pooled liquid resources such as cash and other holdings are kept under wraps, it becomes a secret society.

We’re looking for legal ways to circumvent the damage we’re suffering at the hands of new legislation.

We did this for fun back in college, but now it has become serious business.

There is a saying among the wealthy, When they change the rules we change the game.

The Polygon is a microcosm of the Japanese strategy