{"id":135,"date":"2008-09-21T10:32:07","date_gmt":"2008-09-21T15:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatsociety.org\/?p=135"},"modified":"2018-10-31T09:47:03","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T13:47:03","slug":"sunday-archive-xii-infidel-one-oscar-bin-laden-outtakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/?p=135","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Archive XII: Infidel One (Oscar bin Laden outtakes)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last Oscar Bin Laden article ended with a cliffhanger<\/a>.\u00a0 I wrote a very rough draft for the next story in March of 2006, which is below.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually the third part of a \u201ctrilogy of articles\u201d launched with Today \u2013 Silver Spring!.\u00a0 The second part was never written.<\/p>\n

In<\/span>fidel One<\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhere along Route 66\u2026<\/p>\n

The Arizona sun was no true friend.\u00a0 We had cleared the property of a modern day gold mine \u2013 barbed wire and security camera and signs warning that no stopping was allowed for any reason.\u00a0 Desolate and unpatrolled, there was still a strong sense that any delay would bring jeeps and helicopters down on us.\u00a0 Route 66 weaved and turned in the heat, a weird and lonely road picking its way through the property until it finally broke free to hug the mountainside and rise up high to \u2026\u2026 , a cramped tourist town with horses in the street and a strange, demented 21st century interpretation of the 1880\u2019s.\u00a0 The gold mine had begun in this boomtown, now a corporation had surrounded it with metal and an oppressive sense of possession.<\/p>\n

The boomtown still boomed, though.\u00a0 Outlet shops, sno-cones and rides for the kiddies.\u00a0 Hail, hail the American West, the American tourist.\u00a0 Drive, they said.\u00a0 See the USA in your Chevrolet.\u00a0 66 was a ghost road, the dying embers of old America, yet still it burned.<\/p>\n

I was with Infidel One, the sentient SUV created by Texas billionaire Oscar bin Laden for the purpose of \u201charm and pain,\u201d to quote the Iranians.\u00a0 But, by my race and social position, Infidel One obeyed me on an instinctual level.Resting in the wilderness on the way down from \u2026\u2026., a painted desert of lonely stone and alluring hills, I stared into the sun waiting for snakes or worse to visit my dark soul.\u00a0 Pain and release is what I had become used to, but the gentle wind of this grand place had other plans.\u00a0 It lifted me, eased me, brought me closer to the lifeblood that pumps along the backroads of this rushing, insane country.<\/p>\n

Humming softly, air conditioning bleeding through the open door, sitting as if ready to leap, Infidel One was several feet away, along the rocky shoulder of crumbling 66.<\/p>\n

Through the wrist communicator, it brought me back to my present life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNacho.\u00a0 I\u2019m detecting two vehicles behind us, approaching fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe they belong to Oscar bin Laden.\u201d<\/p>\n

I sat up, my spine electrified, then stood and peered along the shimmering road to the distant glints.\u00a0 Oscar had found us.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow might be a good time to get moving.\u201d\u00a0 Infidel One sounded vexed, emitted a mock, electronic sigh.<\/p>\n

So it begins.\u00a0 Oscar had come in search of his ultimate weapon.\u00a0 Start running now and my life would be spent running, with Infidel One constantly reading headlines from the Middle East, the ultimate irritating road trip companion.\u00a0 Even if I just dropped off the grid, what would I do with the SUV?\u00a0 Garage it?\u00a0 It was intolerant of such things, craving the road and the wind in its grill.\u201cWe can make a stand here.\u201d I suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cStart off strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is against my programming, Nacho.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo fight for your freedom?\u00a0 Look, what kind of armaments do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShall I arm my primary weapons, Nacho?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, goddamn you, yes!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, Nacho, my primary weapons are armed.\u201d Infidel One spoke slowly, softly, that child molester voice of his grating along my nerves.<\/p>\n

I gritted my teeth and turned towards the black sheen of its side window, \u201cWhat are your primary weapons?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI drive into the enemy and explode, Nacho.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWould you please disarm your primary weapons?\u201d<\/p>\n

Infidel One was silent for a moment, then replied in its inflectionless voice, \u201cBut, Nacho, is not the glory of Allah \u2013 \u201c<\/p>\n

I kicked its tire, \u201cStop it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be sorry, just stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

I stared into the distance for a moment, the cars still distant but clearly gaining.\u00a0 \u201cOkay, run it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last Oscar Bin Laden article ended with a cliffhanger.\u00a0 I wrote a very rough draft for the next story in March of 2006, which is below.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually the third part of a \u201ctrilogy of articles\u201d launched with Today …<\/p>\n

Sunday Archive XII: Infidel One (Oscar bin Laden outtakes)<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[137,193],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-archive","tag-archives","tag-oscar-bin-laden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}