by Mark Goodwin
Josh thought about the line Emilio had crossed in planting the pistol. Then he considered why he’d done it. “I’m not going to crack. If it comes out, I’ll take the heat. In for a penny, in for a pound.”
Emilio dropped his gaze. He took a plastic straw from the center console of Josh’s car and began chewing on it. “Honestly, bro. I was trying to help.”
“I know you were.” Josh resumed driving toward the DHS field office. “But you gotta learn when to stop. Holding on to that phone was the wrong move.”
CHAPTER 2
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Revelation 17:12-14
Certain that he was in trouble for shooting an unarmed man and covering it up, Josh walked into the SAC’s office. “You wanted to see me?”
Overweight and looking more like a politician than a federal law enforcement agent, Special Agent in Charge Brian Smith looked up from his computer. “Close the door behind you and sit down.”
Josh complied.
“You’re flying out this evening at 5:00—to Washington, DHS.”
“May I ask what for?” It seemed to Josh that the situation was rapidly deteriorating.
“The secretary is going to be addressing us tonight at 9:00 PM. I’ll be going as well as twenty other agents. We’ll be flying out of MacDill Airforce Base.”
Josh suddenly felt that his secret was safe, at least for now. “Any reason that we’re not flying commercial?”
“This is a high-level briefing. It’s part of the reason that I handed your case off to Don Nelson.”
“He’s not going?”
“So far, it’s only Homeland people who have been summoned. Other than that, I don’t know any more than you do. It’s going to be a long day, so you should go home and get some rest.”
“I shot someone at the raid this morning. I still have the paperwork to fill out.”
“Take it with you. It’ll give you something to do on the plane. Whatever this is, it’s big. It trumps your agent-involved shooting. You’re dismissed. Be at the base no later than 4:30. We’re leaving out of hanger three.”
“Thank you.” Josh stood up and let himself out.
On the way home, he called his wife, Stephanie.
She answered, “Hey, I’ve got a line out the door. It’s the morning rush. Can I call you back?”
“This will only take a minute. I’ve got to fly out to DC this evening. I should be back tomorrow or the next day.”
“Tonight is Micah’s football game. You promised him you’d be there.”
“Can you go? Tell him I’ll make it up to him.”
“Tonight is supposed to be a make-up game for you from last year. You went to exactly one game, remember? He’s a senior. His childhood is gone. If you can’t make it to more than one lousy game when he still lives with us, you’ll have no relationship whatsoever once he goes to college.”
“I know, I know. I’m going to turn things around this school year. I’m going to try to make it to the rest of the games this season, but this is serious.”
“Hold on.” The sound of Stephanie covering the phone could be heard. “Kelly, I need you to watch the register for two minutes.”
A distressed but muffled voice called back, “I’ve got six juices lined up!”
“I know, it’s only for a minute.” Her voice became clear again. “Okay, I’m back. Why are they calling you to DC?”
“I don’t know. They won’t tell us. I guess it’s something big. But I meant what I said. I’m going to make it happen with Micah. Us, too. Plus, I want to make time for church. Things were better when we used to go as a family.”
“I can’t get into this right now. Don’t worry about me. I’m used to it. I’ve got the juice bar and everything. I guess I’m as busy as you are these days. But I still make time for Micah.”
“We’ll talk about it when I get back. I love you.”
“Are you alright? What happened?”
“Why, because I told my wife that I love her?”
“It’s just that you don’t say that. And I can tell. Something happened.”
He paused for a moment. “I shot someone this morning—during a raid.”
“Okay, well, he was a bad guy.” She was quiet for a while, then said, “That was dismissive, I’m sorry. Are you going to be alright? I mean, it must be tough. I can’t even imagine what that’s like.”
“I’m fine.”
“Call me tonight if you need to talk about it.”
“Okay. I will.” He ended the call and continued home.
***
Later that afternoon, Joshua Stone walked through the hanger and boarded the government jet. Greg Richards, another HSI investigator who worked with Joshua waved for him to take the seat beside him. “Hey, Josh.”
Josh shoved his backpack and laptop bag in the overhead compartment. “Hey, Greg.”
“So what do you think this is about?”
Josh squeezed past Greg’s leg to the window seat. “I don’t know. The Defense Intelligence Agency briefings have led with the conflict between Israel and Iran for the past three weeks.”
“Israel made short work of that one.” Greg laughed and loosened his tie. “From what I understand, the conflict is officially over. The Israeli Defense Force took out Iran’s uranium enrichment plants, tanks, fighter jets, most of their airstrips, and the majority of their drones—including the assets Iran had positioned in Syria.” Greg pulled a small bottle of sparkling water and a mini bottle of Stolichnaya vodka from the bag under the seat in front of him. “Unless the Iranians are planning to keep up the fight with sticks and stones, that’s a wrap.” Greg opened the lime-flavored sparkling water and poured the vodka inside. “You want one? No flight attendants. It’s self-serve.”
“Can I just have a sparkling water?”
“Sure.” Greg passed him a small bottle. “But it’s going to be a long night.”
Josh opened the bottle and took a sip as the plane taxied to the runway. “Al Jazeera is claiming that Israel used tactical nukes against Iran.”
“Self-preservation.” Greg gulped down his drink. “They gotta do what they gotta do.”
“Al Jazeera is also claiming those nukes came from us.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Greg said.
“That doesn’t make us any more popular in the region.”
“I think they’ve already burned all the American flags in the Middle East, so I don’t know what else they can do.”
“I hope you’re right.” Josh thought about the passports he’d discovered earlier that day.
***
The plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base and a bus shuttled everyone straight to DHS headquarters. Josh and Greg followed the others to the large auditorium where personnel collected their telephones in exchange for a ticket, similar to a coat check.
Greg looked at Josh with worried eyes. Once they were past the check-in, Josh said, “This is a bigger deal than what I thought.”
Hundreds of other agents filled the auditorium. “What do you think it could be?” Greg looked around.
Josh motioned toward some seats near the back. “I don’t know, but it’s not good. I’m guessing this is going to be bigger than Pearl Harbor and 9/11 put together.”
Soon, the auditorium was filled to capacity. The doors were closed. A huge Department of Homeland Security emblem was projected onto a screen behind the podium. The crowd of agents murmured loudly in speculation of the coming brief.
Finally, The Secretary of Homeland Security, Myra Austin, walked out onto the stage. Her face looked grim as she approached the podium. She forced a smile as she adjusted the microphone
. “Good evening. Thank you all for joining us on such short notice. As you can imagine, the information I’m about to share with you is grave. Those of you who are here have been pre-screened and fully vetted for top-level security clearance. To whom much is given, much is required. With your new clearance classifications comes the highest expectation of confidentiality. Keeping critical information confined to those who need to know is nothing new for anyone in this room. I hope none of you will let down your country by sharing anything that is said in this room tonight. What is said here, stays here. Sharing with people outside of this room will be considered an act of treason. That includes colleagues at work, spouses, parents, children—no exceptions.”
The secretary paused to look at the men and women in the room. Then, she continued. “Most of you have been following the conflict in the Middle East. It has come out that the US supplied Israel with tactical nuclear warheads after those weapons were used against Iran. Israel is one of America’s strongest allies.
“Another of America’s allies is Saudi Arabia. The newly crowned king of Saudi Arabia sees this as a slap in the face. He has requested that America sell him tactical nuclear warheads also. Congress and the president have held emergency hearings over King Abdulla bin Mohammad’s request but have denied him on the basis of intelligence, which suggests he may use the weapons pre-emptively against Israel.
“You may be wondering why the Saudis and the Israelis are suddenly on such bad terms after what has seemed like decades of relative cooperation. The truth is, they’ve never had more than a tolerance for one another and even that was based primarily on their mutual distaste for Iran. With Iran out of the way, the my-enemy’s-enemy relationship is quickly deteriorating into hostility. Those of you who are students of history will recall that Saudi Arabia never supported the formation of the Israeli state.
“In retaliation for America refusing the king’s request for tactical nukes, the Saudis are reneging on the deal negotiated by then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger back in the 70s. We agreed to provide military backing and sell military hardware to the Saudis in exchange for their influence over OPEC to settle oil contracts in US dollars. That system has been hanging on by a thread anyway, so trying to salvage it by arming the most radical Saudi monarch in modern times seemed like a bad deal.
“The Saudis have begun pricing all future contracts in gold. With nothing else to back the dollar except a reputation of profligacy, our currency is expected to go into a tailspin. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, all global currencies are expected to get caught in the downdraft.
“So why all the fuss? Well, the lead economists at the Fed and Treasury, not to mention those at the World Bank and Bank of International Settlements, believe the sky is really going to fall in this time. We’ve had periods of massive hyperinflation before, but they’ve always been contained to individual countries or regions. Here at home, we’re likely to experience massive food and fuel shortages. Prices will hit astronomical levels before finally, the dollar becomes completely worthless. Without a functioning global currency, worldwide trade will come to a screeching halt.
“If you’ll direct your attention to the screen behind me, the Federal Reserve has put together some graphics to help us understand the anticipated timeline and severity of the crisis. The timelines are vague because the analysts who put this together are attempting to predict herd behavior. Essentially, it’s like trying to guess how long it will take ten-thousand head of cattle to run off a cliff after they hear a gunshot. It’s probably more of an art than a science. What we do know is that when cattle get spooked, they’ll run. Similarly, the coming stampede in global markets is unavoidable.
“Within a few days, we predict drastic price increases will make some items in grocery stores unavailable. Within two-to-six weeks, we expect that rioting will break out in the major cities of America due to the public’s inability to obtain gasoline and basic food staples. As it becomes increasingly obvious that things are only going to get worse, we anticipate utilities and public- sector employees will cease showing up for work. Police, fire, EMS, electric company workers, internet service providers, water companies, you name it.
“I see a lot of handwringing going on in the auditorium already. Don’t panic just yet. We do have a silver lining to this ominous cloud of apocalyptic desperation.
“A consortium of ten world leaders, international bankers, and technology gurus have anticipated this problem, and a substitute financial system is already in place to take over once the dollar has collapsed.
“Heading up this project is Lucius Alexander. Most of you know him as the creator of the AI quantum computer Omniscience. His Omni machine-learning software is what powers Silicon Valley 2.0. Google uses it for their enhanced predictive search, Facebook uses it to weed out non-authoritative news, even PayPal employs the program for better security. Since the backbone of the new system is already integrated into their networks, the CEOs of these companies will have a seat at the table along with Lucius Alexander.
“Chairman of the Bank of International Settlements Hans Wilmer, Natasha Carver of the IMF, German Chancellor Rebeca Schulz, French President Bruno Bucher, then, our very own President Keith Winter, and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Jones round out the consortium. This balances the group with three bankers, four tech gurus, and three world leaders familiar with governing. Together they will form a technocratic oversight board for the new global financial system.”
Talking amongst the attendees grew from a low roar to an overwhelming sound of heated discussion.
The secretary banged her hand on the podium. “People, please! I understand that this is very upsetting news but you folks are supposed to be professionals! If you can’t keep it together long enough for me to finish my presentation how do you expect the American public to weather this storm?”
A man near the front stood up. “Madame Secretary, with all due respect, are you suggesting that this…this… technocratic consortium is going to sit back and watch society melt down before they lift a finger to help?”
“If you’d let me finish, I’ll get to that.” The secretary crossed her arms and stared silently out at the crowd until the room returned to quiet.
“The new economic coalition will be known as the Global Union. So far, Israel, most countries in the Americas, as well as the European Union have agreed to be signatories. The UK hasn’t consented to come back into the fold yet, but they’ll be begging within a month. China, Russia, and much of the Middle East have yet to accept the invitation. All signatories will continue to be sovereign nations except where monetary policy is concerned.
“Now, about your concerns. Initiating the new system is something of a conundrum. Every cardiologist on the planet will tell you how much easier it is to get a patient to exercise more and change their diet once they’ve already had a heart attack. I understand that it sounds sadistic, but consider how resistant the American public has proved to be on simple challenges like gun control and health care. Those problems pale in comparison to what we are up against.
“Try to imagine what the far-right conspiracy theorists would do to this process if we announce tomorrow morning that we’re doing away with the dollar and converting to a cashless global currency. We have religious zealots in this country that actually believe this is one of the prophecies leading up to the end of days. Instituting this change too early could spell disaster for the entire process. If the American people don’t understand how bad they need this, they’ll be just another patient who drives through McDonald's on the way home from their cardiologist appointment. I wish there were another way, but this is how it has to be. Besides, it’s not up to me.
“Finally, why have you folks been chosen to be informed prior to the collapse? One of the stipulations to membership in the new Global Union is open borders, much like in the EU at present. Citizens of any member country will be free to work, live, and move about the GU without interference from customs or immigration.
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“That means most of your departments are going to be downsized. However, you are all highly-trained assets, and we’ve invested too much in you to simply turn you loose. Tomorrow morning, you’ll be meeting with regional directors and human resource workers to be reassigned for roles in the new system.
“Considering most of our neighbors have much more stringent gun laws than the US, we’ll be expected to fall in line with the rest of the world on gun control. We have no intention to incite a civil war by rolling out gun confiscations overnight. Rather, we’ll begin to incrementally scale back certain types of weapons and reduce legal magazine sizes on a federal level.
“Many of you will be re-tasked with ensuring compliance with the new firearms laws. Others will be receiving more covert missions. We’ll need people to identify and monitor groups who may be a threat to our new directive.”
A woman on the far right of the room stood up. “Madame Secretary, how do you know Congress and the president will pass these incremental gun laws that you’re talking about?”
“Oh, they’ll pass. Part of the agreement to join the GU requires the president to be given special emergency powers, and he has to consider recommendations by the other member countries as well as the ten-member Global Union Council.
“I know I’ve given you all a lot to think about, but go back to your hotels and get some rest. You’ve got a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 3
Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
Luke 21:21-22
Joshua walked into Homeland Security Headquarters early Saturday morning. Brian Smith caught him just inside the door. “Did you sleep okay?”