Accelerant- Sixth Extinction

by James Morris Robinson

  Admiral Cooper nodded in approval. “I concur, commander. But there are several risks of tampering with the Apophis Tablets we seized. The first is that we do not know if we have all of them. There may be a sleeper we are unaware of. Secondly, the Apophis Tablet could send a doomsday signal to a satellite if we enter the code incorrectly. We could accelerate the nuclear blast and subsequent tsunami.”

  “Admiral, this is the captain of the Lorenzen. The communication scientists at intelligence, defense, and NASA are working on a solution as we speak.”

  Meanwhile back at Fort Stewart. the army's premier power projection platform on the Atlantic coast, Colonel Werner had advised Captain Parrish and Daniel that command had asked him to keep everyone together as an ad hoc military-civilian advisory team until the threat was quelled. He asked Sara to work with Daniel on making a call home from a secured line in case his wife had questions. Daniel nodded in agreement. Colonel Werner reminded Daniel of the confidential agreement he'd signed. He also reiterated that it was treasonous and punishable to the full extent of the law if he violated this agreement. Daniel headed back to his quarters. Captain Parrish tended to operational matters between her liaison duties and briefing.

  The MPs escorted Jeff back to his quarters. Jeff’s room was a bit sterile, but it was not a prison hold. He had a bed made of comfortable foam. There were no tables, lamps, or anything that might be used as a weapon. He had a pliable plastic cup for water that was given at different intervals. He asked for a copy of the Savannah News-Press. Harry the lead interrogator felt that Jeff could be looking for a signal in the paper from a comrade on the outside. Harry refused the request. So Jeff sat and read the Quran. He knew that Harry had bugged this Quran to tell when he opened it when he turned the page, and how much time he spent on a page.

  Genesis camps required a week of surviving torture because it teaches one how interrogators think.

  “Give them what they think they want, but chastise them if you can,” said the Genesis instructor. Jeff would repeatedly read out loud several chapters, suras, verses, or ayats that related to torture in hopes that it would aggravate Harry,

  “The Messenger of Allah said, ‘One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire for Jihad died the death of a hypocrite.’ I decided to order a man to lead the prayer and then take a flame to burn all those who had not left their houses for the prayer, burning them alive inside their homes. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are ruthless against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves.”

  Jeff sang “Harry Hippie” over and over because he knew his room was under surveillance. This was rhythm and blues singer Bobby Womack’s song that kind of went like this:

  Everybody claims that they want the best things outta life

  But not everyone, not everyone

  Wanna get through the toils and strife

  Like this particular fella walks around

  All day long singin’ this song

  Sha na lah...

  Jeff caught his breathe and then sang as loud as he could.

  Harry Hippie, lies asleep in the shade

  Life don't bug him ‘cause he thinks he's got it made

  He never worry about nothin’ in particular

  Oh he might even sell free press on sunset”

  Mary Hippie, she's Harry's lady

  Panhandles pennies just to feed Harry's baby...

  Jeff purposely added ridicule so that Harry would hear him. “Hear that, Harry? I would like to help your sorry butt.” Then he would sing again.

  Sorry Harry, think I'm gonna put you down

  Sha dah dah...

  Jeff never knew it, but it drove Harry insane. Outside Jeff’s soundproof room, the MPs were in stitches as they sang with Jeff and laughed at Harry.

  Late one evening, Jeff drifted off to sleep. He dreamt he was home and he could smell his mother’s lemon cake baking in the oven. When he looked up, his father was sitting next to him watching the Atlanta Braves baseball game. His daddy put his cigar down and reached for his young son. He picked him up and whispered in his ear, “Jeff, sometimes we lose our way as we seek the correct path in life. Listen to your heart. It will be your compass. Find your way back son.”

  Jeff woke up abruptly. He lay awake in deep thought and reflection. He came to the realization that maybe he had got it wrong. What he had been a part of over the last thirty hours had shown him that Americans need to be given a chance to prove that there was something bigger than themselves and that something was each other. He lay staring at the white wall as images of the last thirty hours or so danced on the walls. Jeff spoke out loud to himself, “When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.” Genesis commanders were required to commit this quote to memory because they could not look back. Jeff could not help looking back. Most of what he saw today made him realize that he was a part of a plot that would kill off everything that he knew was good. Jeff thought, Kyle played me. That bastard played me like a cheap video game. Jameela did not love me. She was manipulating me. I was madly in love with her. She knew this, but she manipulated me with her beauty and sexuality. How many men had she done this to before? I hate her.

  Jeff dozed off again. He felt the warm tears of his mother on his face. He hugged her and told her that everything would be okay. He found himself playing hoops with his nephew Tony. He saw himself teaching his niece Carla how to dribble better so she could make the cut on the girls’ basketball team. Jeff woke up again. The dreams didn't scare him. What scared him the most was that he realized that he did not need three million dollars to help his family. He did not have to kill innocents to change the world.

  Jeff drifted off to sleep again. He dreamt of his deceased grandmother Carrie holding him as a newborn. He saw his mother looking at him when his grandmother said, “With every newborn child comes a gift from God. Honey, do you know what that is?”

  Jeff’s mother kissed him on the cheek and answered, “Yes mama. God is giving mankind another chance.”

  They both looked at Jeff in a way that they knew he understood. They both told him “Jeff, God loves you. We love you. He has given you the capacity to make things right. You must redeem yourself.”

  His mother kissed him again and whispered in his ear, “Those of us who were brought up as Christians and have lost our faith have retained the sense of sin without the saving belief in redemption."

  Suddenly, Jeff father appears. He hugs Jeff and whispers in his ear, " "Without the grace of redemption, your sins will poison your thoughts and paralyze you. Jeff, ask God to restore your saving belief in redemption. The rest will take care of itself."

  Jeff felt his mother warm hands as she held his hand, "Jeff we love you. God loves you. You must fix this. make things right."

  Jeff woke up and jumped to his feet. He tapped on the door. The MP answered, “What is it?”

  “I need to see Captain Parrish immediately.”

  The MP opened the door. “What is the problem?”

  “No problem, just tell her I have new information.”

  The MP looked at his watch and said, “I will see what I can do.” He closed and secured the door to the prisoner’s quarters. About fifteen minutes later, Jeff heard a tap on the door. The MP motioned for him to stand while they secured him with hand and leg cuffs. He then followed them down the hall to a small room where Captain Parrish was seated. She had on jeans and a beautiful blue T-shirt with the letters NAVY and the navy logo.

  Captain Parrish smiled. “You wanted to see me?”

  “I saw something that I did not think mattered until today. As I said earlier, the event will happen on July 4th at 7:04 pm.”

  “Okay, you told us this. Have you changed your mind on this?”

  “No, but I now know how to ensure that they won't detonate those Fireships.”

  “Okay. Now I'm really listening. Go ahead.”

  “When I delivered the detonators in China to the factory,
I was led down a long hall and we passed a room along the way. The door was opened. It appeared that the meeting participants were on break. I am sure of this, as the computer projector was on and an image of South America with a port in Brazil was displayed.”

  Sara looked alarmed. “Can you think of the port.”

  Jeff replied, “The same port that the British intelligence agent spoke of.”

  “The Port of Vitória. Are you sure?”

  “Oh yeah, we have delivered containers there. I know that place. The map also showed Brazil and the other countries. It showed numbers written by these countries.”

  Captain Parrish was not getting it. Puzzled, she asked, “Expected casualties like Neil said, maybe?”

  Jeff shook his head, “No, no. I put it together just a few minutes ago. This room was occupied by high-ranking officials at Genesis. I know because a few minutes later I shook the hand of all high commanders as they congratulated me on the successful delivery of the detonators. The only member of the high council that was not there was the supreme commander. Captain Parrish, the numbers they were looking at were recruiting numbers.”

  Captain Parrish looked even more puzzled, “Recruiting numbers?”

  Jeff continued. “South America and its states are prime recruiting targets for terrorist organizations as many populations are fleeing the Roman Catholic Church because of widespread accusations of sexual abuse. Parents of molested sons feel alienated from the church and are converting to Islam. Currently, Suriname is the largest Muslim country in South America. It's a tropical paradise and it's 20 percent Muslim. Other countries like Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia are growing increasingly Islamic as people seek release from a religion that has hurt, shamed, and embarrassed them and their loved ones.”

  Captain Parrish rudely asked, “Where are we going with this?”

  Jeff tried to get up and walk to the whiteboard to draw a crude map but the MP pushed him back down. Annoyed, Captain Parrish yelled, “Take the damn leg and handcuffs off. Take them off now.”

  All of a sudden, they heard a voice over the intercom. “You heard the commander, gentlemen. Take them off.”

  Jeff smiled as he said, “It is nice to know the old man is listening.”

  Colonel Werner yelled, “I heard that, young man!”

  Jeff thanked the MP and Captain Parrish for being most considerate under the circumstances. He walked nervously and rubbed his wrists. He drew a map of Brazil. “We must bring the ships to a dead stop near Port Paramaribo, Suriname. The container ship and supertanker coming through the Panama Canal must pass Aruba as they head north toward the convergence near Puerto Rico. Pull them farther East near Guyana and Paramaribo. Bring them to a dead stop at or near Port Paramaribo. We have a fleet . . .”

  Captain Parrish interrupted Jeff, “You keep saying ‘we.’ Are you saying ‘we’ as in you and I as Americans or you and Genesis?”

  Jeff looked amazed. “I mean we as Americans.” Jeff nervously took a deep breath, paused and sat down. “That is exactly what I mean. I am an American.”

  Captain Parrish looked at him in disbelief.

  “I have had my moments.”

  Captain Parrish, with a smirk on her face, said, “Jeff, that’s an understatement.”

  The MPs in the room actually smiled before snapping back to attention.

  “Captain Parrish…”

  “Jeff, you can call me Sara.”

  “Sara, if the US Navy is already parked out at sea near Aruba, make the Fireships coming through the canal move further east past Guyana to Paramaribo, and bring them to a dead stop. Do the same with the supertankers headed north from Brazil’s Port of Vitória. Do not let these Hellburners turn towards the North Atlantic”

  “Why, Jeff? Tell me why?”

  “Because it is very unlikely the Genesis operatives will detonate nuclear bombs near countries they are heavily recruiting from, particularly Muslim countries. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 250,000 people. They have Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, and synagogues all right next to each other. It is a diverse country. Genesis would not want to incur the wrath of other freedom groups recruiting in South America. That is a war that they do not want.”

  Sara was stunned. She jumped up and kissed Jeff on the forehead.

  Jeff turned and pointed to the map. “Sara, if we allow the Hellburners to go farther north, they will detonate with nuclear rain and subsequent tsunami waves that will have an impact on the entire southeast coastline. Hell, they might destroy Florida with tidal waves while Georgia or South Carolina suffers minimum damage to property and population.” Jeff looked up at the walls. He knew Colonel Werner was watching, “Colonel, we must stop this.”

  At that point, Colonel Werner and Daniel were buzzed into the small conference room. Colonel Werner looked at Daniel and nodded with approval. He asked Jeff, “So you think this can work?”

  With a serious look, Jeff replied, “Yes, sir, I do. I will bet my life.”

  “Son, you already have.”

  Jeff sat back down. He was in deep thought, almost as if he was in his room by himself again.

  Sara spoke to Jeff. “Look at me, Jeff. Look at me.” Jeff looked up at Sara. She smiled. She rubbed his head where she kissed him. “You have something else, don’t you? You know the location of the sleeper, don’t you?”

  Jeff looked worried. “No, I don’t, but I recognized several guys from the photos we viewed from those satellite shots earlier. You had a photo of Kyle with several guys I don't know but met briefly at a survival camp. In fact, one of those guys and I dug a tunnel together. If they are in Charleston, then that is your sleeper.”

  Sara had one of the MPs bring the file to her. Jeff pointed out the two guys. She made a call to naval intelligence right in front of Jeff and Daniel. She completed the call with, “This needed to be done an hour ago.”

  Sara then made a call to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Charleston and the local Federal Bureau of Investigation.

  Daniel was stunned. He looked at Jeff proudly, yet a piece of him did not believe his eyes. “Nicely done, Jeff. Nicely done.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two — Continent Killer

  The next morning, Sara rose early. She asked for a room at Stewart Army Lodging, which was very nice. It was a warm morning in late June in Hinesville, Georgia. Sara was on her way to her early morning briefing by video conferencing with Naval Intelligence. On her way over, Sara noticed a sign from Fort Stewart’s Fish and Wildlife Division reminding everyone of the upcoming annual children’s fishing derby for children from Savannah, Hinesville, Statesboro, and Rincon. Sara smiled and thought to herself: this reminds me of why we do what we do. Her thoughts were interrupted when a young soldier’s wife drove alongside the military escort vehicle Sara was getting into. The soldier’s wife honked and waved along with her three little girls. Sara was in full uniform and the little girls were waving at her.

  Sara’s briefing was several floors above where she was to meet the group. When she was done, she simply took a rather long walk through the building and caught the elevator down to the floor where Colonel Werner, Daniel, and Jeff were already waiting for her.

  Sara began the update without much ceremony as they had a lot ahead of them. “I was very pleased with the outcome of NCIS and the FBI investigations. They processed the facial images of the Genesis operatives through the FBI’s next-generation identification system and it led us to a location in Charleston, South Carolina.

  Suddenly, Jeff jumped up and yelled, “Yes, I knew it!” Jeff realized what he had just done and embarrassingly sat down and hung his head low. Sara continued as if Jeff’s embarrassing outburst had never happened.

  “Naval intelligence worked with the FBI and Interpol and we got hits on several subjects. We ran these suspects through the Interpol Fusion Task Force database. We used this database because counter-terrorism specialists who represent more than 120 countries contribute to
criminal databases that contain millions of records. Our bet paid off and it led us back to the owners of a bed and breakfast in Charleston.” Sara directed their attention to the images on the conference screen. “The owners of the bed and breakfast are Taseen and Khazin. They are native to Gujarat. They are from the Narmada district located in the southern part of Gujarat, a state in India. They were educated in India and the UK. Both of them speak Gujarati, Hindi, and English fluently. Taseen and Khazin are from families that work in the production of banana and cotton. Interpol files revealed Khazin’s thesis in college was on how Indian Muslims, both educated and illiterate, rich and poor, suffered insults and humiliation from India’s majority groups. Khazin’s thesis also makes a case for the occupying Indian government to vacate Kashmir. Both believe that India is still a puppet for the British Empire and its slave colony, the United States.”

  Sara swiped the touchscreen and an image of a storefront appeared. “It looks like Taseen and Khazin have set up a legitimate currency exchange store to handle traffic for Genesis hawala activities. The storefront is located in North Charleston.”

  Jeff raised his head. He looked at Daniel and bragged, “Didn’t I tell you? I knew it would be a hawala dealer. I’ve been saying it. We work in cells with fragmented intelligence…but I knew it all the time.”

  Sara patted Jeff on the shoulder. “Yes, you did Jeff. Yes, you did.” Sara swiped the touchscreen. “As the saying goes, money has no reason to sleep. Taseen and Khazin also handle narcotics operations in the southeastern United States using young beautiful women as mules to smuggle drugs across the borders from Mexico into the United States. These gorgeous mules transport huge money deposits back to Mexico and deposit them in bank accounts at a large bank with ties to China. Their drop off and pick-up points include the most expensive destination spas and resort-hotel spas in Mexico where they travel under the pretense that they are frequent wealthy guests.”