“OK. Thank you, mam. You’ve been a big help. Please put the officer back on the line.” Dean then said to her, being sure that his lieutenants and Officer Perry heard. “Probably a cell phone or garage door opener trigger. Let us know if you find any evidence either way. My bet is a cell phone, which an accomplice could also use from a distance in case the perp got cold feet.”
Just then the engine of the van cranked up, and it started heading toward the command area by the gate.
Dean spoke into the microphone on his headset. “Sniper One, take out the engine. We want them alive.”
Immediately a single loud shot rang out and a .50 caliber round went through the engine block, ending its operation. . The van stopped twenty yards from where it had been parked.
“Perry, who are the cell phone providers in this area?”
“Tri-County, Prime, and USNet.”
Yusef cursed as the van stopped and would move no further. Wild-eyed, he looked over at the boy.
Lon Gibson was heading up the morning shift at USNet’s LA operations center, ensuring that the voice and data networks functioned properly for their customers. From the center console in a dimly lit command center, he and four other technicians monitored every aspect of their circuits.
Gibson’s phone rang. He answered, listened, and frowned. “I can’t shut down the entire USNet system in L.A. To do that I’d need approval from our Central Security.”
“Where is it?” Officer Perry asked.
“I’m not sure. I just have a phone number.”
Perry’s voice rose. “Did I give you the proper authentication code for today?”
“Yes.”
“Are you in charge?”
“I’m really just an assistant manager, on duty for the holiday. But, uh, yes, I guess so.”
“We have an emergency, Mr. Gibson. A police car is on the way there now with the written form, but we don’t have time to wait.”
“I’m not sure.”
Yusef motioned to the boy. “Start screaming.”
Everyone around the perimeter of the lot could hear the screams. Then there was a gunshot, and the screams grew even louder.
“What the hell?” Captain Dean asked out loud, trying to see with binoculars into the van through the glare on the windshield. Then he yelled, “Perry, what about those phones?”
Officer Perry turned from talking with two others. “Captain, two are going down. USNet is still talking.”
He swore. “We can’t wait. We’ll have to hope it’s a cell phone trigger, and it’s not USNet. Send in the TR2. If he gets out, Sniper 1 on his head. Sniper 2 on his knee.”
From behind the barricade came a tactical robot, about five feet tall, mounted on a four wheel drive platform, with four arms protruding from a central core, at the top of which was a swiveling video camera and antenna.
Yusef shot into the floorboard again, sending the boy into even louder hysteria. Then he looked up and saw the police robot coming across the lot. He cursed.
He grabbed the boy by the neck and pulled him to him. “We’re getting out. Don’t run or scream any more, and soon you’ll be free. Understand?’ The boy nodded.
Yusef opened the driver door and started to back out, one hand holding the boy, the other his gun. When he was standing on the ground, holding the boy around the waist with his left hand, he briefly put the gun on the seat and slipped the open cellphone into the boy’s back pocket. He held the boy around the waist with his left arm, hugging him close, both facing in the same direction. Then he picked up the gun again and held it to the boy’s head. Protected by the boy’s body, he moved two feet farther from the truck.
“Jimmy!” a woman screamed from the crowd by the police command post. The boy squirmed, but Yusef held him tightly. “Don’t move,” he said. “Or I’ll kill you like your friend there.”
Lon Gibson’s call to Central Security went to Akbar Kamali’s phone, but it had been incinerated in the missile explosion. So the call automatically cycled to the next number on its internal list.
David was giving Tanya the most important details when his phone in the bag began to ring. He opened the bag and realized that it was Mustafin’s phone. The readout was a number in Los Angeles. Tanya nodded. He answered.
The caller said, “Hello. Is this Central Security?”
David paused momentarily then said, “Yes.”
“Oh, good. You don’t know me, but this is Lon Gibson and I’m the Duty Officer at the Los Angeles Central Terminal. I hate to bother you, but the Los Angeles Police have ordered us to turn off all of our cell phone connections in the city. And I didn’t want to do it without—“
“Do it. Now.”
Gibson paused. “Really? You mean it’s OK?”
“NOW!”
The TR2 robot stopped twenty feet from Yusef, who was holding the boy in front of him.
Captain Dean’s voice came through a speaker on the robot. “Let the boy go.”
“No robot!” Yusef yelled angrily. “Come here yourself. We must talk.”
“Not going to happen. Let the boy go.”
“You stupid people!” Yusef took the gun from the boy’s head and shot at the robot.
Sniper 2, following his instructions, saw the gun move away from the boy and instantly fired. Yusef ’s right knee was blown away by the perfectly placed round.
Yusef dropped the gun as he fell back against the van and reached in the boy’s pocket for his phone. He let the boy go for balance, held the cell phone in the air, screamed and pressed Send.
The TR2 moved forward and hit him with a Taser blast as he slumped to the ground.
“Go!” yelled Captain Dean.
Five SWAT Team members and a Medic sprinted forward.
One member grabbed the crying boy and ran toward the perimeter. The rest surrounded Yusef on the ground and used his scream to stuff a rag into his mouth, then turned him and cuffed his hands. Within ten seconds the Medic had a tourniquet on his leg. Then they picked him up and moved quickly away from the van.
Captain Dean had followed right behind the first six and picked up the cell phone on the asphalt. As he moved away with his team, he noted in the display that the phone was on the USNet system, but with no signal.
“Thank God,” he said.
When he caught up with the latest American terrorist, who was being transferred to a stretcher, Captain Dean looked around at the mayhem, swallowed hard, and said, “You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. You have the right…”
Epilogue
FRIDAY, JULY 8TH
It had been a long four days.
An hour after answering the USNet call and giving a preliminary statement to the police, David was allowed to leave with Tanya Prescott. Mustafin was under house arrest in the nearby regional hospital.
David called Elizabeth, but he had been cautioned by the police not to say much, so all he could tell her was that he was fine and would be home soon.
“David, Callie just called. You wouldn’t believe what she’s been through.”
“Actually, I might.”
They talked for thirty minutes while the SUV drove back to the Kremlin. David learned for the first time that Callie and Kristen had been on the plane that was targeted by the terrorist, whose identity was still unknown.
“They’re saying that commercial air travel may be out for weeks, even months. No one knows. Callie and Kristen may have to drive, or take the train,”
“But she, Rob and Kristen are OK. That’s the main thing.”
“Yes, thank God.”
“I’ll be home as fast as I can. But if airlines are still flying over here, I have to make one stop on the way.” David explained to Elizabeth where he was going, and she said that she understood.
There followed an early meeting on Tuesday morning with a very grateful President Harper, Tanya Prescott, and several other advisors. David explained all that he knew, both about the previous day’s events, and
what he knew about RTI. After answering all their questions and giving them Todd Phelps’s number, he asked the President for help on one personal issue. She agreed and instructed Tanya to take care of it.
An hour later they had a second meeting with President Temirov, who expressed his country’s gratitude. That afternoon NovySvet surrendered to the Russian police.
On Wednesday morning, when Tanya gave him his travel documents in the hotel lobby, she told him that the FBI had raided the RTI control center, as well as other locations around the world, and they were just beginning to sift through all that they found, with help from Todd.
He gave her a hug. “Let’s keep in touch, and thank you for your help on the flights.”
She smiled. “I think we may see a bit of each other. As you said, the investigation is just beginning.”
Now it was late on Friday afternoon, and the small Air Force corporate-size jet that Tanya had commandeered for David was making a very fast, low level approach into a U.S. Air Force Base.
Thirty minutes later he walked out of the arrival hall with Goli clutched tightly under his left arm. There to greet them were Elizabeth, Callie, and, in a wheelchair, Rob. Kristen was there, too, along with Paul Burke and Todd Phelps. And the press, because much of the story had leaked out, including David’s role in stopping a terrorist attack on President Harper.
There were hugs, tears and smiles all around. Rob had been telling his friends what he knew about his father’s exploits. Callie and Kristen had found two seats on one of the several passenger trains quickly pressed into service across the country. Since returning home, Callie and her mother had spent hours talking and crying, sometimes with Kristen.
Goli, exhausted, hugged each of them in turn, and nodded sadly at the mention of Omid’s name.
David gave Callie a long embrace. “I’m so glad you’re home,” he whispered in her ear as he held her tightly.
“Me, too, Daddy. And I’m not the same. God has really changed me. Ask Kristen.”
David loosened his grip and looked into her eyes. “Maybe me, too. I think so, but I’m not sure. I need to hear more. I know that I never understood forgiveness until this week—when you called me. But someone has certainly been watching over both of us.”
“And over Rob,” Callie added.
“Yes, yes.” He smiled, looking at his son talking with Goli. “And over Rob.”
Twenty minutes later the family loaded into a special van. They talked non-stop, their joy tempered by the loss of Omid. Kristen rode with them. Everyone wanted to hear David’s story, which he promised to tell them as soon as they got home.
Callie, sitting next to him, asked, “Can Kristen join us?”
Turning to face all of them and nodding to Kristen, David said. “Absolutely. In fact, before I tell my story, Kristen and Callie have someone even more important to talk about, and I want all of us to listen carefully.”
Callie smiled and nodded, and David hugged her.
At Trevor Knox’s mountain retreat his personal computer, failing to receive Knox’s special daily code for five straight days, automatically began transmitting all of the RTI encrypted files of information, contacts, and strategies to Saeed Zeini in Saudi Arabia. Even with the fastest possible transfer speeds, the download took three hours.
“Serious Christians in Germany were at war with something that was unrepentantly evil, that would not listen to reason and would not compromise.”
Bonhoeffer
By Eric Metaxas
Page 289
Reprinted by permission. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, Copyright 2010, Thomas Nelson Inc. Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Afterword
The earliest strands of this novel were already woven two years before September 11, 2001. Over the ensuing years I wrote, re-wrote, put the manuscript down, wrote Ten Lies and Ten Truths, prayed, sought advice, changed details, and then wrote again.
During that period there occurred the Iraq and Afghan Wars, the Iranian Green Revolution, the rise of the internet as social connector, the Arab Spring and ongoing tumult across every part of the Middle East, worrying about leadership in Russia, longing for leadership in America, the Fort Hood shootings, the Boston Marathon bombing, NSA eavesdropping, the surge of secularism and statism in our post-Christian world, and the general triumph of technology in daily life, for good and for ill.
Through all that I wrote and re-wrote. But, I kept asking myself, with all of this going on, what will the world be like for our children and grandchildren?
On the one hand, I am not encouraged. Our culture is a moral and spiritual vacuum, created by a constant media/ government drumbeat against faith in general, and against Christianity in particular, the faith which was foundational to America. It will be much easier for Islam to triumph in Europe and America if there is no strong faith pushing back.
On the other hand, I know that God is in charge, and whatever is coming is His will. My personal decision is to write and to speak, not trying to create a theocracy, but rather to re-weave Christian wisdom back into the basic fabric of our thoughts and ideas. With God’s help, and courage on our part, that re-woven fabric will include our families, schools and universities. It will also empower a new group of national leaders with the humility and grace to find ideas and solutions that bind us together. And that fabric will be strong enough to provide the understanding and courage to stand up to those who genuinely want to destroy the very idea of a free America.
Many people participated in helping to write this book, and it is impossible to thank all of them by name. But some made specific contributions at crucial points.
My Iranian-American friend, Iraj Ghanouni of the Christian Center for Islam Awareness, helped with innumerable details, from locations to Islamic doctrines and rituals. Thank you.
Bryant Wright, senior pastor at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, has been a long-time supporter of my writing and commented on an early version of the manuscript.
The same thanks goes to Pastor Roy Smith and his wife, Carla, at True Lite Christian Fellowship in Midland, Texas. They have a powerful ministry and a church filled with readers.
John Yates, minister and teacher, and his wife, Susan, speaker and teacher, have both authored several books, and their enthusiasm for the story sustained me as I wrote.
Caroline and John Dean gave a great boost at just the right time.
MaryAnne Sirotko-Turner knew where to shop, and Lee Ward is a reader focused on details.
My brother Jim provided important technical advice.
Jessica Lalley was the final sprint Encourager-in-Chief.
It was a joy working again with our son, Marshall, who focused his many talents on the cover design and graphics details.
Thank you, Danelle McCafferty, for helping me focus and prune wisely; you are an amazingly gifted editor and communicator. Of course, any mistakes or oversights are my responsibility alone.
None of these books would have been possible without the love, encouragement and constructive criticism of my wife and best friend, Alida. She is the one who taught me about relationships.
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ALSO BY PARKER HUDSON
On The Edge
ISBN 978-0-9666614-0-8
Edge Press, LLC
As I read the last chapter of On The Edge, I found my heart so full of the Holy Spirit that I thought I would explode. When I closed the book for the last time, I realized that I was crying....I cannot tell you how this book has changed my life and my husband’s.
Lori Wells
I finished your book On The Edge a few months ago and reflect on its content often. I can honestly say that no novel has ever had as much real and emotional effect on me. I fin
d myself praying more....The final few pages put me in the presence of God...I finished those pages overcome with emotion and sobbing with joy.
Jim Ezell
Available at ParkerHudson.com
The President
ISBN 978-0-9666614-1-5
Edge Press, LLC
“I just finished The President after being unable to put it down for the past six days. It is a great book!”
Phyllis Trail
“The President really overwhelmed me. It is possibly the most powerful book I’ve ever read.”
Lee A. Catts
“I just finished reading The President. Thank you for such a stirring, challenging work. I just wish it were a work of history and not fiction.”
Thomas McElroy
Available at ParkerHudson.com
Ten Lies and Ten Truths
ISBN 978-0-9666614-2-2
Edge Press, LLC
“My sense is--most people today don’t want to be challenged to think. If that describes you, don’t read this book! But if you enjoy being confronted with new perspectives, and truly desire to know the truth--this book is for you.”
Jim Reimann
“The book shows the power of fiction to draw the reader into a topic by touching the heart as well as the mind. Hudson’s purpose is to break up the concrete around “truths” that people believe without thinking, or without considering the consequences, and he succeeds in a way that keeps the reader turning pages. ‘Parable’ may be too strong a comparison, but Hudson certainly confirms that fiction can teach truth in a powerful and memorable way.”
Enemy In the Room Page 42