“It’s all unconfirmed, but a mile-high tidal wave formed in the mid-Atlantic right where the George HW Bush task force was and pretty much capsized most of the ships in that fleet,” Admiral Zimmerman said. “We still don’t know what happened to the USS Ronald Reagan though some of the survivors of that carrier group are claiming they were attacked by a gigantic sea serpent in the Pacific near the Korean coast. I just can’t believe those reports.”
The Secretary of Defense pounded his fist on the table. “Those were our two newest carriers too!”
“There have been numerous unconfirmed sightings of gigantic sea creatures and other strange phenomena on all major oceans,” Major Cochran said. “Not to mention sightings of antique ships manned by creatures that the British encountered in London just before all communications with them was lost. The UK government in exile is currently at their embassy in Washington DC, though they are only a skeleton crew since their prime minister and most of his cabinet ware holed up somewhere in Falsane. That was when we last heard from them two days ago.”
“What’s the status of the evacuation of all US forces overseas?” the president said. It was a recognized fact now that the whole world knew that the United States was withdrawing all of its military forces back to North America.
“Very slow,” Admiral Zimmerman said. “We’ve been concentrating on getting the troops back first and the heavy equipment in later. We can’t airlift them out in large numbers due to the fact that we keep losing a huge amount of aircraft every single day. Those monster birds that brought down Air Force One have extended their range out to the coasts, and every single military aircraft now has orders to avoid and evade those things at all cost. Our air transports are vulnerable as hell. All we can do is get our troops on ships, but like the previous report said, our boats are getting sunk as well, so we’re withdrawing them too. If you want to commit more carrier groups out to sea, I would advise against it at this time until we know what exactly it is that we’re dealing with.”
“So you’re saying our troops overseas are trapped until further notice?” the president said.
“I’m afraid so, Mr. President,” Admiral Zimmerman said.
“Goddammit,” the president said. “What’s the situation in the Middle East?”
“No change, sir,” Major Cochran said. “Most of Iraq is pretty much lost. The Saudis are begging for aid. We have reports that the Iranian government is facing both an internal revolt from its own people as well as the unknown, external threat coming from Iraq. Turkey has lost most of its southern border. They are urgently requesting assistance from all NATO members but it looks like we will lose them too. Israel has approached us about the possibility to help evacuate their citizens, but we do not have any available assets to even consider that. Our troops in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been cut off, and we have not heard from our commanders there in days. Something is happening in Egypt as well that may be similar to the situation in Iraq, but since worldwide communications are down, we are only getting in second-hand information, most of it unconfirmed rumors. Needless to say, we’ve lost contact with most of our embassies overseas. The ones that we are in contact with have been ordered to evacuate immediately.”
A four-star Marine general of the Joint Chiefs raised his hand. “Going back to NORTHCOM for a minute here, are there situations in any of the other states that require urgent attention?”
“New York City is becoming an acute problem, sir,” Major Cochran said. “The mayor and the governor have begun the evacuation of Manhattan Island. They’re saying that some sort of killer cult has taken over that part of the city, but so far it’s unconfirmed. Most of our northern states bordering Canada have been hit by massive snowstorms and blizzards, cutting off most the people and our bases there. The Canadian refugees trying to head south have compounded the problem. The other states in the Midwest are in some form of anarchy as quite a lot of people are demanding food and water supplies. Most of the country’s electrical grid has been destroyed, and a number of anti-government militia groups have sprung up all over the place. With Hoover Dam gone, there was a chain reaction and almost every town that was along the Colorado River has been flooded over. California and the West Coast are largely cut off west of the Rocky Mountains. Provo River has also been flooded due to massive rainstorms sweeping that part of Utah. Las Vegas has no power or water and we are getting reports of large scale rioting and starvation over there. Also, we are receiving reports of large scale desertion from police and emergency services from all states. Military desertions are at an all-time high as well. The calling up of all military reserves has been met by numerous delays because of this as well as the near complete destruction of our national transportation and telecommunications infrastructure.”
A number of sighs and groans emanated from the people sitting by the table. Everyone realized it, but nobody wanted to admit it. The United States was slowly being torn apart.
Major Cochran continued. “Due to communications being down, and the withdrawal of our naval assets, EUCOM and AFRICOM have been cut off from our chain of command because they are based in Germany. Most of our troops over there have not reported in. The few survivors that we evacuated and debriefed have told us of some sort of ghosts and monsters running rampant in the major cities as well as heavy fog that is obscuring long range visibility. We are trying to consolidate the remaining Combatant Commands into NORTHCOM here in Virginia, but it will take time.”
“How secure are we here in Virginia right now?” the president said as everyone quieted down again.
“US Army North is still in the process of reorganizing and reforming. It will take another few weeks, Mr. President,” Major Cochran said. “There are numerous problems of getting the National Guard and Army Reserve units to full strength. Also, we have had numerous reports of supposed ghosts and demons in the Virginia area as well as in other parts of the continental United States. We’ve lost contact with a number of military bases and units stationed in just about every state. Unit commanders reported encountering some sort of devil, or giant, or spirit and then we never hear from them or their unit again. We’ve had similar reports from state police departments saying the exact same thing. We’ve obtained video and sound footage from a number of these encounters and we are still evaluating as to whether the evidence we have is real or not.”
“Good lord,” a four-star US Army general said. “Where the hell are our front lines?”
“At this stage, sir, we have no idea if there are any safe areas within the country, or for the rest of the world. We are still assessing the situation,” Major Cochran said. “It is best to assume that we are vulnerable from all sides and we recommend setting up a three hundred sixty-degree defensive perimeter for every installation and location that we still have under our control.”
“We’ve lost our overseas allies, we’re under siege by an unknown enemy or enemies, and we don’t have a clue as to what’s going on,” the Secretary of Defense said. “Gentlemen, unless we do something, then we are about to lose America.”
Now the murmurings around the table were getting louder. An Air Force general began to openly pray while another Army general started shouting and cursing to no one in particular. Major Cochran looked down on the carpeted floor, then walked back to the chair by the side of the wall and glumly sat down. John Smalley got up, walked over until he was behind the president and began to whisper something in his ear. Paul was still going over his notes when he felt a tap on his arm from Captain Niven, who indicated that he needed to get ready. The president pounded on the table with his fists and the commotion rapidly subsided as John Smalley walked back to his chair and sat down.
“Alright, enough of that!” the president said. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. I’ve been given word that we have an additional briefing from someone who might have first-hand knowledge of what exactly is going on. John, can you introduce this man to us?”
“Thank you, Mr. President,” John Smalle
y said as he looked at Paul. “Professor Dane, could you please go up, front and center, and brief us as to what you’ve experienced?”
Paul bit his lip, got up and walked up to the front of the video monitor. “Mr. President, gentlemen, and ladies,” he said while briefly glancing at Captain Niven, who maintained her rock-like composure. “My name is Paul Dane, I’m a professor of anthropology at Harvard.”
“A mythology professor, what in the hell?” the Air Force general who was previously praying said.
“Pipe down and let him talk, goddamnit!” Admiral Zimmerman hissed.
Paul cleared his throat. “Most of you, if not all of you, will probably find what I am about to say hard to believe, but from everything that has happened, it seems that the unthinkable has come true. I just came back from London a few days ago where I witnessed an attack on a modern day city by an army of mythical creatures. I’ve interviewed over two dozen survivors, both civilian and military, from attacks that have occurred here in the United States, and I have seen countless video footage of some very different creatures in the area, but they were also thought to be mythical in nature.”
“So what are these things?” the president said.
“They are mythological gods and creatures of ancient civilizations that once inhabited the earth,” Paul said. “It seems that the myths that have been handed down to us were not imaginary at all, these ancient legends were in fact, real and the gods and demons depicted in these stories are actually in existence.”
The entire room was silent. One could hear a pin drop if not for the low static noise emanating from the video monitor and the slight hum of the ventilation system.
“Wait, are you talking about the old Norse gods like Thor, and Odin, and the Greek gods like Zeus?” Admiral Zimmerman said.
“Although we have no confirmation that any of the deities from the Norse or Greek pantheons have been sighted yet, a number of gods from other parts of the world have revealed themselves,” Paul said. “I saw with my own eyes the Fomorians, which are demonic creatures from Celtic mythology, devastate London. I barely got out of there with my life and a number of people died getting me back here.”
“So what kind of gods are we dealing with in Mexico then?” the president said.
“It seems highly likely that we are encountering gods and demons from Aztec myths and they are coming up north,” Paul said. “The Aztecs worship some very malevolent gods, from Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Tlaloc, these gods we would consider highly evil and destructive in our modern day views of morality due to the fact that they demanded human sacrifices in order to be satiated.”
An Army general began chuckling in disbelief. “Wait, are you expecting us to perform human sacrifice in order to prevent them from invading the United States?”
“No,” Paul said brusquely. “What I am saying is that we have to find a way to send them back to whatever other dimension or afterlife that they came from. There must be a reason why they appeared just now, we need to find what that reason is.”
“What about the monster birds that took down Air Force One, are those things Aztec as well?” the president said.
“They are from Native American mythology and are called thunderbirds. We had thought that these creatures were dreamt up by Native Americans as an explanation as to where the sound of thunder came from,” Paul said.
“Okay then, how do we kill it?” the Secretary of Defense said. “We’ve sent in our Raptor, Viper, and Eagle squadrons against those things and we’ve lost all of our aircraft and most of our pilots. Heck, our drone fleet is pretty much useless. What about nukes?”
“I don’t think you can kill them,” Paul said. “Mythical creatures cannot be fought by ordinary weapons.”
“So you’re saying is then we’re as good as dead?” Admiral Zimmerman said. “We’ve no chance against any of these gods and creatures?”
“No, I’m not saying that,” Paul said. “We need to develop a plan to find their weaknesses and deal with these things.”
“If these gods are real, then where the hell is our god, the Lord Jesus Christ?” the Air Force general said. “Shouldn’t he be coming back to save us from these devils?”
“Either he hasn’t appeared yet or perhaps it was the Abrahamic god that was the imaginary one,” Paul said.
John Smalley sighed. “So you’re saying we’ve been worshipping the wrong god all this time?”
Paul tried his best to keep composure. “There is that possibility, yes.”
The president looked at him closely. “Professor Dane, do you have any suggestions as to what we do now?”
Paul let out a deep breath. “First of all, we need to find out and identify which of the gods and supernatural creatures we know of has appeared and are walking the earth. Since there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ancient gods and creatures that we know about, then we need to establish a database of what they are and where they are. Then, we will need to know just what is the extent of what their capabilities are, and what their intentions will be for us. Also, we will need a team of scholars and researchers who can find out whether these gods have the exact same power and behavior as they do in these ancient stories.”
The president looked at John Smalley. “John, I want you to give Professor Dane every resource and asset that he needs to get this team up and running as quickly as possible. Also add him and his liaison as part of the National Security Staff, effective immediately.” Then he turned his attention back to Paul. “Make sure you prioritize these Aztec and American Indian gods first on your list, Professor. Now, assuming you’re able to get this done then what is the next step?”
“For every evil god that was depicted, there were also benevolent gods and creatures that helped mankind as well,” Paul said. “We need to find these so-called ‘good gods’ and perhaps make them our allies to help us fight off their evil counterparts. There were also a number of mortal men and women who were able to outwit and sometimes defeat the evil gods and monsters and they were called heroes. Since these mythical gods and monsters apparently exist, then perhaps these so-called heroes might be around as well?”
19. Devil’s Advocate
Beersheba
It was just after lunch when his distant Uncle Ariel called him up and said that he would be dropping by for a visit, so David Zim was able to make a quick trip to the nearby store and bought a box of baklavas. When he got back to the house, he washed the dirty dishes in the sink and placed them in the cupboard before preparing the freshly ground coffee. David’s wife Tzipi had wanted to meet their old uncle, but she had to be back at the university for an emergency staff meeting. So by the time he got there, she just kissed her husband goodbye, and left Ariel a note instead. As he looked at his watch, David knew that the drive from Jerusalem to his place would take about an hour and a half under normal circumstances, but he knew there wasn’t much traffic these days. He still had some time to relax so he sat down on the sofa. The afternoon sun cast yellow shafts of light past the open windows, and into the cream-colored living room.
Almost immediately, he heard a car pull up in the street below. David quickly got up and walked over to the front door and opened it. Peering outside, he saw a white Toyota sedan parked along the side of the street. As he walked down the steps, he saw his Uncle Ariel being helped out by a younger man who was obviously his driver. Short and stocky, with a balding scalp and a silvery beard, dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and grey slacks, Ariel Weizman was already pushing seventy. But he still had an appetite for good food and pastries, hence the reason why David had made a last minute purchase for some snacks to go with the coffee, since he normally didn’t eat any sweets.
“Uncle Ariel, shalom,” David said as he ran up to the old man and shook his hand.
“Shalom, David,” Ariel said as he closed the car door behind him. “Is your lovely wife here?”
David smiled and gave him the note. “I’m sorry, Uncle Ariel, she had just left because t
hey needed her back at the university.”
“Ah, just as well,” Ariel said as he put the note in his shirt pocket. “It’s you I wanted to talk to anyway. You’re not too busy are you?”
“Not right now,” David said as he put his hands into the front pockets of his royal blue slacks. “In fact, I’ve been waiting for the call up these last two days, but I’ve heard nothing. All my other colleagues have already been deployed, but I’m still here.”
Ariel winked at him. “That’s partly my doing. I need you to go with me.”
“Oh, do we have time for coffee?” David said to him and looked at the younger man too. “I’ve got a freshly brewed pitcher in the house along with some baklava.”
Ariel chuckled. “Ah, you still know my weakness. Okay, let’s go upstairs,” he said before turning to face the younger man. “Ory, you stay here. You can have your refreshments when we leave in awhile.”
“No problem, sir,” the younger man said as he leaned on the hood of the car while taking out a pack of cigarettes.
David helped him upstairs so Ariel didn’t need to use his walking cane. As the old man sat down on the sofa, David brought out a tray with the promised baklava, then started pouring two cups of steaming black java that had a hint of cardamom. By the time David had sat down, his uncle had already eaten two pieces of pastry and was munching on a third.
David smiled as he began to sip his coffee. “Too much of that will give you diabetes, Uncle.”
Ariel took a break from the baklava and started on the coffee as well. “At my age, diabetes is the least of my worries. Are you still keeping in shape?”
“You know we do, Uncle. My unit requires that even when I’m not on assignment. There’s an apartment block nearby that’s ten stories. I run up and down the stairwell every day,” he said. David was part of the Mossad, Israel’s feared national intelligence agency. After serving in the military, he was recruited as he was taking advanced classes in Ben-Gurion University. It was at the college where he also met his future wife Tzipi. Although they had been trying hard to have children for the past four years, luck was against them so far.
The Glooming (Wrath of the Old Gods Book 1) Page 22