Laura 02 The God Code

by Anton Swanepoel

  “Fathers, welcome, what an unexpected visit.” Phil comes out from behind his desk to greet them.

  “Mr. President, I am Bishop Cortez Vicente and this is Father Gabriele Lopez. May we say how deeply sorry we are to hear about the kidnapping of the President, and convey our hopes that he will be found soon, unharmed.”

  “Thank you Father.”

  “We do not want to take up too much of your time, will you join us in a quick prayer?”

  “Well, yes, why not,” Phil replies hesitantly.

  “Are you praying with us?” Victor asks as he turns to Gerhard.

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you so much my son, the more of us pray, the better,” Victor says, placing his palms together. “Let us close our eyes.” Victor closes his eyes as he speaks.

  “I will pray with you, but I will not close my eyes,” Gerhard replies matter of fact.

  “That is perfectly fine my son, I understand,” Victor answers, while keeping his eyes closed. He then takes a deep breath before continuing. “Now say after me. Oh heavenly Father.”

  Gerhard looks at the old man in front of him with his eyes closed, palms together, praying, and then looks at the Acting President who also has his eyes closed. With a sigh, he starts to pray with Victor.

  “Oh heavenly F-” Victor’s first punch catches him perfectly in the throat; his second punch takes Gerhard in the sternum, and the third one on the right temple. Gerhard goes down without knowing what hit him. Quickly Victor jumps forward and tackles the Acting President before he can press the emergency button, while Ernest disarms Gerhard and starts to tie him up. Ernest places one of Gerhard’s own socks in his mouth just in case he wakes up.

  “What is the meaning of this, who are you?” William hisses as Victor presses him to the ground, using his forearm to half choke William.

  “Who we are does not matter, what you have done does.” Victor replies.

  “I have always dreamed of coming to the White House and seeing the President,” Ernest comments behind Victor, having secured Gerhard.

  “And how is that going for you?” Victor replies jokingly.

  “Well, I am in the White House, but the President is not here, only an imposter who sold out his country.” Ernest looks angrily down at William as he replies. Ernest is a man of honor, and Phil stands for everything he hates.

  “I have not sold out my country, Abraham has, and the Presidents before him who allowed the country to grow weak and be bullied by terrorists. I will make this country strong again,” William replies, spitting out the words.

  “By becoming a terrorist yourself, is that how? Killing innocent people in the process, people who trust you?” Ernest pulls William up as he speaks, and drags him to the couch near the wall, throwing him onto it.

  “Collateral damage, it is unavoidable,” William sneers back.

  “Man, but you have gone cookoo,” Victor answers, as he takes a fountain pen from the President’s desk, then walks over to where William is.

  “So what’s the plan?” Ernest is getting impatient.

  “You must be morons if you think that I will just spill everything, you can kill me. I will not talk.” William sits upright, showing no fear.

  “See, that is the problem with you lot, you are so dedicated, and that is cool, but you put your energy into the wrong cause.” Victor stands in front of William as he talks, then grabs him by the hair and pushes his head down on the couch, pinning him down with his right knee before continuing. “But, we are alike. We despise those who betray us. So, I am going to give you a little gift.”

  “What are you doing?” William looks at the fountain pen Victor has in his hand, which he is bringing to William’s forehead.

  “This is a fountain pen. I am going to use it to make a tattoo on your forehead that reads TRAITOR. You will really like it.” Victor pushes the tip of the pen into William’s skin, and then wiggles it around before continuing. “Got to get the ink in deep so that you cannot get it undone easily, hold still, or you will ruin my masterwork.”

  The Vice President is squirming under Victor’s hold.

  “Stop!”

  Victor pulls the pen back when William yells. Looking down at the man he waits for him to speak again, the pen only inches from William’s forehead.

  “It will not matter what I tell you in any case. The plans are already in motion.”

  “You mean the twenty suicide bombers and the training camp that are all destroyed?” Ernest answers back.

  “No, I think he means the failed attempt on the Pope’s life and the assassins he sent who are dead as well,” Victor chips in.

  “No, the submarine,” William answers, his voice sounding tired.

  “What submarine?” Victor eases up some of the pressure on William’s chest as he speaks.

  “The President had a special submarine built in secret. The submarine has experimental weapons technology onboard. With it we are going to put all the other countries back into the Stone Age. Only the President can communicate with the submarine by using voice recognition and secret access codes from a top secret encrypted radio, specially built to communicate with the submarine. The system is designed so that no other party can ever track the submarine or send commands to it. I managed to get the codes, but the only way to get control over the submarine was to have the President give the commands I needed to the submarine.”

  “And America will be the only country with modern technology, right. So where does killing the Pope come in?” Ernest comes closer to the President, but still keeps an eye on Gerhard.

  “With a sudden crash of modern technology, people will start to riot and panic, naturally many will turn to a leader for guidance, and for many that will be the church. By eliminating the Pope, we can create chaos, and by blaming the death of the Pope and our attacks on selected countries, on terrorist groups, no one will blink an eye if we then drop nuclear bombs on those countries, wiping out terrorists, and those who harbor them, for good. That is why I need to be President, so I can give the order to drop nuclear bombs.”

  “So you use the submarine to frame countries that you think harbor terrorists, by attacking other countries and causing chaos, just so that no one blinks an eye when you nuke the countries that you do not like?” Victor has hatred in his eyes as he speaks.

  “Basically, yes,” William answers, looking from Ernest to Victor.

  “Kind of a novel idea, except for two things. One, you are killing many innocent people in those countries to kill but a few terrorists, while at the same time missing many terrorists in other countries you cannot bomb. And second, you are not changing human instinct and behavior with bombs. There will always be terrorists if your solution is killing. People will always disagree with each other, and if the solution is not politics, each side will always revert to better ways to kill the other side. You may get the upper hand now, but in five or ten years’ time, another country or group will invent better technology, and overpower you. Only by stopping the killing and reverting to politics will you stop terrorism.” Victor is standing, sadness in his voice as he speaks.

  Ernest wants to reply, but cannot. He is stunned that a man such as Victor sees the world in such a way. Silence falls upon the men, each occupied with their own thoughts. After a few minutes, William finally speaks. “I think I’ve made a mistake in going along with the plans.”

  “You think?” Ernest answers, but Victor holds up his hand, stopping Ernest from venting his anger any more, then asks, “Where is the President?”

  “He is being held at an abandoned house I own, not far from here.”

  Victor gives William the fountain pen, and then brings him some paper from the desk before replying. “Write down the address, including the layout of the place and exactly where the President will be held and how many guards there are.”

  William does as asked, while explaining the layout and possible guard positions as he draws, then gives directions on how to reach the house. When he
is done, Victor takes the paper from him, gives it a quick glance over, and then hands it to Ernest.

  “So, now what are we going to do with you?” Victor taps his chin as he speaks.

  “He can come with us, help us find the President,” Ernest replies.

  “Nope, not going to work, even if he wants to help, there are people under him that are just as dedicated as he is, but not as smart. They would rather kill him than allow him to help us. We will need to stay with our disguises.”

  “Victor is right. There are many of my men in the building as security, and they will kill you on sight if I am seen trying to leave with you,” William comments sadly.

  “Well, I guess we will have to trust him. You know you are going to prison right?” Victor looks at William as he speaks.

  “I will not stop you, but I am not going to prison.” William has a determined look in his eyes as he replies.

  “Well then, call your secretary and inform her that muscles over there is staying to discuss important matters and that she needs to escort us out, then also inform her that you are not to be disturbed. Where you go when we leave is entirely your problem.” Victor pulls William up and pushes him to his desk as he speaks.

  “Thank you,” is all William says before dialing his secretary and doing as he is asked. Victor and Ernest right their robes, then leave the President’s office, where Dora greets them and leads them to the President’s elevator. She opens the doors with her access card and rides the elevator down with them. At the ground floor, she takes them to the security desk, where she signs them out, and then returns to her office via the elevator. Victor and Ernest make their way as fast as they can to the exit of the building, just as the phone on the security desk rings. Both turn their backs to the guard as he answers the phone, and head for the exit.

  “Fathers, stop!” The voice makes them freeze in their tracks, but neither turn around to face the voice.

  Ernest has Gerhard’s gun, but that will not help them much as they are in the White House, staffed by many armed Secret Service agents. Heavy boot footsteps on the tile floor approach them from behind, yet both men still do not turn around. Victor and Ernest quickly look at each other, and then Victor whispers, “The only way out will be to take hostages. Take a girl, men are afraid to get a girl killed.”

  “Okay,” Ernest replies, and then scans the people around him for the nearest female to grab.

  “I am so glad I caught you before you left.” The voice behind them startles them, but neither men show any indication of it. Slowly Victor turns, now recognizing the voice. Keith is standing right behind them, his face filled with happiness.

  “How can we help?”

  “No, it is I who want to help you. It is my daughter, the hospital just called a few minutes ago. Her fever is gone and she is recovering very fast, they say it is a miracle. She will be able to come home tonight. Thank you so much Father.” Keith grabs and shakes Victor’s hand as he speaks.

  “I am glad my son, maybe you can help us. We need a ride to our hotel. Can you arrange a taxi for us please?” Victor is still holding Keith’s hand as he replies.

  “Taxi, no way, I will take you myself. Come, my vehicle is just outside.”

  Victor and Ernest follow Keith outside to his truck, the same one they came in. Keith personally drives them to their hotel where he dropped off their luggage earlier.

  “Your hotel is only a block from here, we will be there shortly,” he comments as he pulls out of the White House grounds.

  “Thank you my son.” This time Ernest replies, getting into the rhythm. Victor thinks of taking the man’s truck, but he does not want to raise any more suspicion by having more agents not reporting in. He allows Keith to drive them to their hotel and escort them to their rooms, where they wish him and his family well, congratulating him on his daughter’s recovery. As soon as Keith leaves, they order a taxi and quickly take off their robes, changing into normal clothes that are packed between the spare robes in their suitcases. They asked the cab driver over the phone to meet them at their hotel room, saying they have luggage, but in reality, they did not want to stand in the street and be noticed.

  When the cab driver arrives, they ask him to take the car around and meet them at the rear entrance. Victor and Ernest use the service stairs to make their way down and out of the building, where they find the confused taxi driver in the back parking of the hotel waiting for them. Ernest gives the driver the address that William gave them, and then sits back in the seat before whispering to Victor, “So, what’s the plan?”

  “Rescue the President,” Victor replies matter of fact.

  “Make it up as we go I presume?”

  “Exactly.”

  Ernest closes his eyes and imagines Shayna and his kids. He is playing with them on the beach. He really misses them. Beside him, Victor also closes his eyes and thinks of Laura.

  After the gruesome death of his last girlfriend, he thought he would never love a woman again. He had had a few women in his life, but none had ever touched him like Laura. Making him feel human again, not just a trained killing machine. A tear forms in Victor’s left eye as he thinks of Arabel, his previous girlfriend, and how she died.

  “Do you have family?” Ernest’s voice next to him rips Victor from his thoughts.

  “No.”

  “Girlfriend?”

  “You ask too many questions.”

  Ernest immediately understands. He had seen it in troops before. Men who lost someone close to them due to a criminal activity. Some crash and kill themselves or become criminals, others take out their hate by signing up for military or police service. Those who sign up for police service due to a loss of a loved one, almost always try to make up for not being able to save their loved ones by trying to save others from what happened to them. Those who sign up for military service are normally trying to rid the world of evil.

  From the devotion he has seen Victor has to his work and the loneliness in his eyes, his girlfriend’s death must have been unnatural, maybe a mugging gone wrong.

  “How did she die?” Ernest chances.

  Victor looks out of the side window of the car, then replies.

  “It is not the time for a conversation like this.”

  Ernest waits a minute for Victor, in case he changes his mind and wants to talk.

  When Victor does not respond, Ernest continues. “When you are ready to talk, I will be there for you.” There is a few minutes silence before Victor replies. “Thanks, I will remember your offer.”

  The rest of the trip goes by in silence, as each man occupies himself with his own thoughts.

  ***

  Laura rolls over as she peacefully sleeps in the soft bed, unaware of the killer standing over her. Andrea looks Laura up and down, admiring her slender figure and long flowing red hair. Andrea looks at her own body. She is built stronger and more athletic than Laura, and men fall over their feet to talk to her. She has a larger bust than Laura, and can kill without remorse, so what is it about this girl that Victor would choose her above Andrea? If Victor had not fallen for her, Andrea would have done anything for him. Now that he has betrayed his company and her, he will die, as will this girl.

  Andrea slowly takes out her pistol, checks that the silencer is still screwed in tightly and that a round is chambered, even though she knows one is. Leaning carefully forward Andrea brings the barrel to Laura’s head, just as Laura smiles. Laura’s smile infuriates Andrea, for she thinks that the only reason Laura is smiling is because she is dreaming of Victor.

  “Well, this will be your last dream of him, let’s see how you dream with a hole in your head,” Andrea whispers, then slowly pulls the trigger. Just as she has the trigger half pulled, she stops. Carefully she releases the trigger, and then brings the pistol back, before holstering it.

  Andrea stands for a few seconds thinking, deciding on what to do, and then takes out a double edged knife clipped behind her back. Andrea is filled with hatred for Laura
and Victor, and seeing Laura smiling in her sleep is poison to Andrea. How dare Victor refuse Andrea? No man has the right to turn her down when she wants him, she has the perfect body, and she works hard to keep it that way. He has no respect for the effort it takes her to keep in shape, while this bitch is naturally slim. Andrea decides to make a personal statement for Victor to find. A sadistic smile spreads on her face as she lifts the knife, aiming for Laura’s heart, the blade glittering in the light coming in from the window next to the bed.

  “Die bitch,” Andrea whispers as she brings the knife down, aiming for Laura’s heart. Suddenly her cell phone in her pants pockets starts to vibrate, set to silent mode. Andrea immediately freezes, the knife coming to stop just in time, touching Laura’s chest at her heart. For a moment Andrea stands motionless, deciding if she is going to answer the phone first or kill Laura first. Suddenly Laura turns in her sleep and the knife cuts Laura’s shirt two inches before Andrea can pull it away. Andrea lifts the knife away from Laura, but holds it in position to cut Laura’s throat if she wakes up, and then pulls out her phone. Andrea looks at the number shown on the phone. It is Phil. What the hell does he want now? Shaking her head, Andrea walks a few feet away from Laura, and then angrily answers the phone in a whisper.

  “What?”

  “Laura did not leave the pictures with the computer. She must have it on her or have it hidden somewhere. Do not kill her unless you find the data.”

  “Phil, I do not have time to go searching for data.”

  “Then leave her, we will get her when she continues her search again tomorrow.”

  “As you wish, but the price just went up.”

  Andrea looks at Laura with jealousy in her eyes as she starts to put the phone away, then slowly walks forward and brings the knife up to Laura’s throat, deciding if she is going to follow Phil’s wishes or not. Finally she lifts the knife up and cuts a lock of Laura’s hair for satisfaction, and then walks out of the room to return to Phil’s room to hide.

  ***

  Victor lets the taxi driver pass the address, asking the driver to drop him and Ernest off a block farther down the road by giving an excuse that they have to see another friend first. Walking back to the address, they find it to be an old wooden house with a broken porch and bleached walls. A picket fence surrounds the yard, missing its gate. The grass has not been cut in years, and all the windows are broken. Feeling the hood of the Chevrolet Impala standing in the driveway, Ernest gives a nod to Victor that the engine is still warm. Victor indicates to Ernest to go around to the back, while he will enter from the front. As soon as Ernest disappears around the house, Victor slowly goes up the porch and tries the front door, it is unlocked.