Aces High, Jokers Wild

Sometimes life deals a bad hand. But it’s all about how you play the cards. Solidarity in the face of oppression. Songs in the dark. Finding hope in spite of the odds. Thirteen stories set in the dystopian universe of the Aces High, Jokers Wild series keep fighting the good fight in the darkest of times.

Sex. Drones. Rock and roll. Aidan Headly never wanted to be the man giving orders. That's fine with the Democratic State Force base he's been assigned to command: they don't like to take orders. Nicknamed the Wildcards, they used to be the most effective base against the seven Corporations owning the former United States in a war that has lasted over half a century. Now the Wildcards are known for creative insubordination, chaos, and commanders begging to be reassigned. Aidan is their last chance.

What do you do when you’re assigned a commander that you can’t take orders from? If you’re the Wildcards, you put your heads together and get rid of him. After all, the Wildcards are known for creative insubordination, chaos, and commanders begging to be reassigned.

Seven Corporations rule the former United States with seven codes of conduct based on their ideas of morality. Comply with the code of the Corporation that holds your Citizen Contract, or suffer the economic consequences. Or fight back. For 60 years the Democratic State Force has been fighting to return representative democracy to the country. Living in the no man’s lands between cities and hanging on by their fingernails, the thinly spread guerrilla force hasn’t gotten far. But they have a secret weapon: their finest unit, Base 1407. Handle: The Wildcards.

Set directly after Call the Bluff in the Aces High, Jokers Wild universe, this novella lets readers hang out with the Wildcards for Christmas. When the nights are long and cold outside, there’s no better place to be than among the family you’ve found.

Seven Corporations run the former United States on the codes of conduct their founders set down. You're signed into a Corporate contract the day you're born. And the fear of dropping in the Citizen Standing Scores keeps people in line. What choice is there? The Democratic State Force has fought for the return of democracy for decades, but they need the restless population of America to fight beside them if they're going to stand a chance. But when your Score goes down, so does your life. It's time for a new strategy: Take out the Citizen Standing Score system.

The Day of the Dead has come, and the Wildcards are celebrating. Tweak gets a nickname. Naomi gets to lend a hand. The Wildcards get a little more than they signed up for. Maybe they'll think before they pull pranks next time...or maybe not.

Seven Corporations control what was the United States of America. The food supply and its production are controlled by American AgCo. All agricultural seeds in the United States have been genetically designed to fail outside corporate control. At least, that’s what the Corporations say. There’s a rumor that a seed bank has survived the destabilization that brought down old America, and the 75 years of Corporate ownership that followed. If it still exists, it would provide free, accessible food for the Democratic State Force and everyone in their care.

After their commander comes home bearing the wounds of what the Corporations who own America call ‘enhanced questioning’, logistics woman Yvonne and her wife decide to lay some payback on the Corporate officers who gave authorization to torture their friend. The plan they come up with will never get approved by their chain of command. Which is why they aren’t going to ask for permission.

In 2159, the Democratic State Force gains ground every day. As they fight to bring representative democracy back, they become heroes to the citizens indentured to the United Corporations of America. Widely spread guerilla units support the first civilian protests the country has seen in decades. Now it’s the Corporations on the defensive. And they are getting desperate.

In 2127, a young farmhand who calls herself Janice runs away from her corporate contract, her home, and everything in her past. Ahead of her is the Colorado desert, baking in a hundred and ten degrees of summer heat. But it’s better than what’s behind her.

America is waking up. People are standing up for each other and a future worth living in. But they can’t do it alone. Now, they don’t have to. The Democratic State Force is calling in favors across the nation. Members of Base 1407 and hundreds of other teams across the country are teaching the citizens how to fight back on their terms, with tactics that hit the Corporations right where it hurts–in the wallet and the pride.

In this short story from the Aces High, Jokers Wild universe, Tweak and Abigail put their heads together and find out if they can use unpatented seeds to resurrect something truly precious: a cacao tree. Along the way, they explore the ethics of genetic engineering and what it really takes to survive a drier, hotter world. Come see what can grow out of a few seeds.

Get up. Stand up. America is standing up. Armed with training and new confidence, people who’ve been owned by seven corporations for too long are forming workers’ unions, subverting corporate rule, spreading change, and demanding lives worth living. The Wildcards land the assignment of advising and supporting the workers in civic actions—a.k.a. playing pranks for a good cause. The crew is sure it’s the best assignment of their lives...for about five minutes. And then it starts to get hot.