The Called

by Justin Price

  Maggie sat up slowly and said, "Who are you and where am I?"

  The man stepped out of shadows and said, "My name is Rakeem. I am an agent for the Department of Homeland Security."

  "Well, what do you want with me? I am an employee of the World Council, but you have treated me like some terrorist."

  "We know very well who you are mam. It could have been a much more pleasant experience had you not put up a fight."

  "I was marched by armed men into an unmarked vehicle and blindfolded. Forgive me for not being comfortable with being abducted," said Maggie.

  We have protocol for situations like this. The subject is not to know where they are going or how to get there and you won't know how you got back either if we choose to let you go."

  "If you choose to let me go? Great! What am I in for warden?"

  "Maggie, we have some questions regarding your husband."

  "My husband? He has been dead for months. What questions about a dead man could be important enough to warrant this big display?"

  Rakeem stepped closer to her and pulled up a chair to sit down. As he sat down and leaned under the one single small overhead light in the room, he asked, "Have you had contact with John recently?"

  "Is this some kind of joke agent? Other than in my dreams and memories, no...I have not."

  "Have you received any phone calls recently from strange numbers?"

  "No, I don't believe I have. What is this about anyway?"

  "Mrs. Robertson, this is an ongoing investigation and I cannot give you any details at this time. Let's move on to a few questions about you. Do you adhere to any religion or have you believed in a deity in your lifetime?"

  "You ask me about the whereabouts of my deceased husband and now you are wanting to know my religious beliefs? What does this have to do with anything?” she demanded.

  "Just answer the question", said Rakeem.

  "No... No I have not and do not believe in a god. I had to take that pledge when I became employed with the World Council. That should be on record. Now, can I be taken home? I would like to enjoy my two days off before I get back to work."

  "I just have one more question for you today", said Rakeem.

  "For today? Are you implying that I am going to be here longer than one day?"

  "We are detaining you for your safety. Now Maggie, have you had any contact with any cult or religious organization? Has anyone approached you or have you witnessed any suspicious activity?"

  "No sir", she said. "Are we finished?"

  "Yes."

  "Good. Now why am I being detained?"

  "That is classified mam", said Rakeem as he turned around and headed toward the door. "We will keep you until we find what we are looking for."

  The door slammed shut behind him and locked. Maggie stood up and went over to a table that was prepared with food and water. It had roasted lamb, bread, and a vegetable medley. It was good to know that despite the dark surroundings, they were going to take decent care of her.

  With all of the uncertainty she had, it was good to at least know that she wasn't going to be starved. She had hoped that she would get more out of the agent that interviewed her, but the encounter only created more questions in her mind. As she sat down to eat, she kept thinking about the odd questions that were asked.

  The thoughts kept rolling around in her mind and it was driving her crazy. She sat and thought, 'Why would they ask me if I had heard from John? Is he alive? Is there at least a chance that he could be? If he is, then why would they be questioning me and where is he? Is he being held prisoner overseas by the enemy? What does this have to do with my personal beliefs? Do they think that John has been converted to Islam and become a religious traitor? Do they think that I have committed a crime? He said that they are keeping me here for my protection. What are they protecting me from?'

  All that she was left with was a headache and tons of questions that she didn't have answers to. She knew that she had to be persistent and if they planned on keeping her for awhile, she was going to find out precisely what was going on. She finished her meal and did some pacing. She wondered if al Assad or President Cain were aware that she would not be coming to work for awhile. If she was really being detained by the Department of Homeland Security, surely they knew about this. If they did know, what would that mean for her future employment?

  "Vice President Donnelly and I would like to thank you for meeting on such short notice. The reason I have called this cabinet meeting is that we are about to carry out our first directive as an acting member of the World Council. I spoke with Chairman al Assad yesterday and we will be taking part in installing some added security here in the States. We have a team that will be working with the World Council's Department of Technology over the coming weeks to install computer chips about the size of a lady bug into the environment across the country. I want you to understand that we will not be spying on or recording people's every word. They will be on standby at all times until certain key words of phrases are used. Once the words are picked up, they will be transmitted to the central computer in New York and also here in Washington. The central database holds the voice of every citizen in the United States. The voice recognition software will put the words into the person's file. Once that file has at least five instances of suspect words or phrases, they will be investigated and monitored for treason. This will be a learning experience for our agencies and the World Council expects us to enforce this wholeheartedly."

  The Speaker of the House, William Bernhart, was present and spoke up. "Mr. President, may I ask what specific words of phrases that we are looking for?"

  "Yes, I am glad you asked that question Bob. What we are looking for is anyone who can be a threat to civilized society. We will be looking for mainly religious names and words. It can recognize every language known to man and instantly recognize the voice of every person in the database."

  Speaker Bernhart just looked at the President and shook his head. "We do know that not everyone with a religious belief is necessarily a threat right? I do know that it has been a problem, but not everybody is a violent zealot."

  "The point is that these people can become violent or they can slow down progress and cause dissension and turmoil. These are preventive measures. We will still allow them to live amongst themselves in the prison camps like we have been doing already. They will still be treated humanely and given meals and a place to sleep. We just have to think about the greater good of mankind."

  "Call me an old-fashioned conservative, but I thought that the greater good of mankind was the ideals of democracy and freedom to believe and express yourself however you see fit. We invaded countries and unseated dictators for years over this stuff and now we are wanting to join in on it?"

  "You are completely right on one point", said the President. "We did fight wars in order to establish democracy and freedom in other countries. The operative word here is "wars" Mr. Speaker. Different beliefs and ideals lead to war. Most people in this country have seen enough of that. By removing the few remaining zealots from our society, we can now move on in peace and focus our energy on the good of all mankind. Fighting is counterproductive. We want more diseases cured, longer lifespans, and an overall better quality of life. We don't need the beliefs of some causing the individual rights of others to be ignored or trampled on anymore. This is just the reality of our changing world today and we need to follow through. You and your constituents don't really have a choice in the matter anymore. I called this meeting in order to fill everyone in on what is happening and ask for any ideas or feedback. I have heard your concerns and they are void of any substantial merit. Does anyone else have any comments?"

  The room was completely silent for a moment. "Nothing? Alright then, this meeting is adjourned."

  Rakeem Jackson stepped out of his car and put on his dark sunglasses. It had been awhile since he had been to a funeral. In fact, the last time he remembered attending an actual funeral service was back when he was f
ifteen. His brother had been shot on the south side of Chicago by a man whom the police had said was a nutcase. The man had been responsible for over a dozen deaths throughout the area before he targeted his brother. His brother's killer was finally apprehended and he would never forget looking into his hollow eyes in the courtroom.

  As the man was questioned, he explained that he did it because God told him to do it. They had found a bible with scribbling inside of it at his residence. He had believed that he was given a mandate to rid the world of unbelievers himself. The man was obviously a lunatic, but it still left a bad taste in Rakeem's mouth. After high school, he decided to go into law enforcement. He was one of the best young officers at the New York Police Department where he stayed for five years. He was then called up to be a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security.

  Rakeem never questioned whether he should go or not. He was put on a special task force whose main goal was to track down the most wanted men and women in America. The murder of his innocent eighteen year old brother had driven him every day of his life. Now, he was about to attend the funeral of his partner who he had gotten to know so well and become friends with over the last year. He was gunned down by John Robertson or perhaps someone else. Whatever the case was, he was not going to rest until he found out who and brought them to justice.

  As he walked into the Washington, DC funeral home, he saluted the men standing guard outside and walked in. He had done well at holding everything in up to this point. Even when he found his partner dead on the ground, he had kept it together and went through the proper protocol with no problem. He stayed with the body with his gun drawn until the hearse arrived. He made the long drive back to the main office and had helped apprehend the suspect's wife and question her.

  Through all of it, he remained calm and collected like a true professional. But, when he turned the corner and saw the body lying in the casket with the family sobbing, he couldn't take it anymore. He leaned against the wall and burst into tears. All of the old memories of his own brother's death and burial flooded him as he stood there wiping his eyes. His boss, the director of Homeland Security, walked up to him just as he was lifting his head.

  Rakeem stood up straight and said, "Hello sir".

  "Hello Agent Jackson. You were Tom's partner weren't you?"

  "That's right. He was a good man too. Tom was one of a kind."

  "Yes, he was one of our best. It's a shame this happened to him. Only a couple years away from retirement. Well, a man like him probably would have never retired anyway."

  "That's true sir."

  "How are you holding up? I understand you were on the scene after he was shot?"

  "I am doing as well as expected I think. I really just wish that I could have been there to back him up. My gut feeling said stay together, but I ignored it. This might never have happened."

  "You were just following orders Mr. Jackson. Don't regret that. Tom would have done the same thing if he was in your position. Well, you take care of yourself and thank you for your service. Your importance cannot be understated in a time like this."

  "Thank you sir", said Rakeem.

  As he approached the family, he looked down at Tom's body lying in the casket. In a way, he looked better than the last time he had seen him right after death, but at the same time he just didn't look like his partner. They could always do their best at the funeral home to make them look like they did in life, but even years of advanced techniques couldn't put life back into their cheeks or give them the warm look that a living person had.

  The thought of a public visitation or open casket funeral had always been a bit odd to Rakeem. Even though he knew a lot of it was for closure for the loved ones, it was still unsettling to him that people would walk through a line to get a glimpse of a corpse. Despite his misgivings, it was just one of those things that couldn't be turned from. He took a minute to look at Tom for one last time as he moved through the line.

  It was now his turn to offer his condolences to his wife and children. He would much rather stare at a dead person all day than go through the awkwardness of greeting the family of the deceased. There was really not much that one could say at this point. The fact that he felt a guilt over Tom's death didn't help things either.

  He stepped over to greet his wife. "You must be Lori. Tom talked a lot about you. I am so sorry for your loss. If there is anything you ever need, don't hesitate to contact me."

  "You must be his partner", Lori said. "Thank you so much for coming and showing your support." She gave him a hug and wiped more tears from her eyes as the next one in line stepped up. Rakeem continued on and gave the standard "sorry for your loss" condolence to the remaining family members.

  He walked to his seat and sat down waiting for the service to begin. About ten minutes later, the last person went through the line and a small man with glasses stepped up to the podium next to the casket. He looked so much like Tom that it was scary. It had been so many years since he had attended a funeral that he wondered what he was going to say.

  The man began to speak. "If you don't know me, you are probably wondering how I know Tom because we bear a striking resemblance to each other. I am his brother, Lester. I first want to thank you all for coming to both celebrate Tom's life as well as send him off into the permanent place of our collective memory. He would be happy to know that so many people honor, respect, and love him. When we were children, we would often play cops and robbers together because he had always wanted to be a police officer. He never gave up on that dream, and sure enough, he became a police officer. Luckily, I gave up on the dream of being a robber."

  There were chuckles throughout the room. Lester continued to memorialize his brother and wrapped up his speech.

  "With all of this being said, I want to remember Tom as he was. He was a quick witted, intelligent man whose bravery served him and others until the very end. For all of us here, I am sure that he will never be forgotten and his contributions to society and to each of our lives will live on. That is all that he ever wanted to accomplish and his work is done. May you rest in peace little brother."

  Noah had been getting progressively nervous as they were exiting the prison camp. He felt like all eyes were on their family and he wondered if too much had been said in their conversation with Uncle Fernando. Just as the checkpoint was in site to exit the building, the booming voice of a guard behind him echoed through the halls.

  "Sir... wait!"

  Noah and his family froze for a moment, looking at each other with grave concern etched on their faces. In this moment, he wondered if they could make it out if they just ignored him and kept walking at a fast enough pace. If they made a run for it, could they make it out or would it draw even more attention? He looked at Joanna and Ryan and said, "Don’t worry".

  The guard came up quickly and said, "Sir, I believe you forgot something."

  "Oh?” said Noah.

  "Yes. Did this envelope fall out of your pocket?"

  Noah looked at him for a minute. He didn't recall having an envelope of any kind with him. Just as Noah was about to say it wasn't his, Joanna spoke up and said, "Oh thank you sir. I am so glad that you picked that up before we left. We appreciate it."

  She took the envelope and they walked out of the doors and through the outside gate to their car. They all got in the car and for a couple of minutes, there was nothing but silence. They exited the parking lot and drove for a couple of minutes. Finally, Joanna spoke up.

  "Were you as nervous as I was?"

  "Yes. That was definitely a scary moment", said Noah.

  "What are you guys talking about?” asked Ryan.

  "Oh nothing honey", said Joanna. "It's nothing for you to worry about."

  Noah looked over and asked, "Was that envelope really yours?"

  "No!” she laughed.

  His mouth hung open in surprise. "You lied to that man Joanna! We need to go back and tell them it was a mistake."

  "No way honey. If y
ou think we are going back there, you are crazy. After that whole ordeal, we may never go back. Not willingly anyway. Besides... I picked my words carefully. I never confirmed it was mine. I just said thank you for picking it up and I was glad he caught us before we left."

  "Well, alright. I think it's still less than honest, but we are definitely not going back. Since we do have it though, don't you think we should see what's in it?"

  Joanna said, "Absolutely! We can't just keep it without being nosy."

  She took the envelope out and began to open it up. She pulled a paper out of it that had some scribbling on it. "Well, it's a little hard to make out, but it looks like there is a name and address on here. There are also a few other things written on it too."

  Joanna leaned over and showed the paper to Noah. He said, "That looks like my uncle's handwriting!"

  "He must have had this information on him when we were in there. He either dropped it or intentionally tried to slip it to us", said Noah.

  "It says 'Lion of Judah' at the bottom of it. I wonder what that means. It may be some kind of code. Do you have any idea what that is Noah?"

  "I don't have a clue, but I think we definitely need to try to figure it out."

  They continued to try to read the paper as they drove on to their destination at the edge of a forest of redwoods. Hopefully, they could locate what Fernando was trying to point them to and get some answers.

  Abbie and Jenna had been dancing for two hours, but it didn't seem it had been that long. The alcohol had definitely done its job.

  "I am so glad we decided to come here", said Abbie. "I really needed this night. It reminds me of the reasons I like Nashville so much."

  "No doubt about it girl!"

  "I think we should take a little smoke break and take a walk in the fresh air though. It's getting stuffy in here."