Lost in the Maze
International Thriller
Written by Gary William Ramsey
©2015 by Gary William Ramsey
Published 2016 by The Fiction Works
www.fictionworks.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission, except for brief quotations to books and critical reviews. Some of the stories in this book are fiction, and therefore the characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination—any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Some of the stories are true, and told to the best of the author’s recollection.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Epilogue
About the Author
Dedicated to:
Patrick Coyle, Bernie Namie,
Max Eury, Gene Doll, CT Henry,
Dan Garcia and Erwin Eury.
Each played an important role
in my life and I thank them.
Lost in the Maze
By Gary William Ramsey
In the maze of life I wander,
probing the sunlight of truth.
The maze is filled with confusion.
As I search for the essence of you.
The maze is consumed by darkness,
and your face is the light to behold.
But it fades and fades and fades,
as reality attempts to take hold.
So in the maze of life I wander.
Avoiding the confusion, quite lost.
I stumble blindly in the darkness.
Alone, paying the intimate cost.
You’re lost there in the darkness,
and I desperately cry out for you.
I feel abandoned in the maze,
as I vainly struggle to get through.
Your spirit is gone forever,
and I fear I’ll loose my mind.
Yet I blindly traverse the darkness.
Searching where the sun once shined.
I see the wondrous light of day,
as reality regains its’ hold.
I will do unspeakable things,
to free my forlorn soul.
Two should bear the burden of hope,
as we attempt to find,
a reason to live. a reason to love,
a haven for peace of mind.
I will stay forever alone,
amidst the throngs of man.
To share love in isolation.
Holding on the barren hands.
The loss of dreams unfulfilled
Is my present harbor in life.
Being alone is all I have
to insolate my mental strife.
My body now lives in reality,
but the maze destroyed my soul.
It left me a hopeless vessel,
in my world of lost control.
Reality is Lost in the Maze of Life
By Gary William Ramsey
Reality, Reality, where are you? Are you like me, lost in the unrelenting Maze of Life? Unveil your disguised face so I can comprehend you. Expose the colors of your emotions. Strip off the colors of your affliction. Reveal to me the colors of your imagination.
Expose your face and soul, so I can understand you.
Occasionally you briefly appear, displaying ravishing beauty. Other times you seem freakishly disfigured and violent. Show me your genuine face in all its colors!
Reality, I know that most humans want you camouflaged from their sight. The majority of mankind wishes you destroyed. Nearly everyone today renounces your existence.
I am not most people and I am compelled to know you. So I beg, please bare your imperceptible face so I can visualize the authentic you.
I am yearning to live in you, regardless of the consequences. I don’t want to die without knowing the clarity of your being.
Because I know, when seeing you and existing completely within you, I can gain an understanding of humanity, and therefore understand the meaning of my life.
Finding and joining Reality, is the only way mankind can escape the Maze of Life.
Prologue
When the birth of a human being occurs, we are all cast into the Maze of Life. The clarity of that Maze, and the various turns we take to construct a successful and happy life, are sometimes determined by the circumstances and locations into which we were born. A safe and normal birth to two loving parents, who guide their child with love and attention, simplifies the Maze and allows an easier path to happiness.
As for me, I was cast into the Maze without any guidance, and therefore, went down many paths, right and wrong, in my navigation of the Labyrinth. I ultimately found my way to a happy place in the Maze, but not without some agony experienced from venturing down the wrong pathways.
While navigating the Maze of Life, humans are also faced with Religious choices. Usually these choices are again heavily influenced by the guidance of parents or location of birth.
In some cases when an otherwise loving Religion is taken to the extreme, deadly conflicts occur in the Maze. An extreme Christian religion can worship snakes, be discriminatory, and instigate hardships on others. The same goes for intense devotees of other religions. These extremes of Religious beliefs have been the basis of most wars in the history of Human life. Death and destruction and the greatest atrocities have been instigated in the name of Faith.
Religion is the most sensitive issue, and although every Religion encourages the idea of peace and tolerance, almost no one remains in peace or tolerates anything when it comes to their Religion. History is full of Religious wars and some of them have continued for years and killed countless numbers. These senseless wars continue today.
So a path in the Maze of life, which should lead to love and compassion, takes turns that lead to death and hate. Only insane humans can use Religion to kill and torture and behead.
Unfortunately the world today is
fill with these distorted humans, who in the name of Religion, perform unspeakable acts.
The story I am going to tell you is based on a current “Religious” phenomenon occurring in the world today. The rise of ISIS.
“The main and principal goal of the Islamic State that they tell their new members is to establish an Islamic State that will encompass the Arab world,” the ISIS Leader said in Turkey. “And after that, we go to other countries.” The ultimate goal is to take over the “Demon” Country of the United States of America, which will lead to worldwide domination of fundamental Islam.
The Islamic extremists known as ISIS are a great deal more dangerous than most of us realize. The reason for this is hidden in plain sight in the name itself: ISIS. In English, this stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but that’s not what it stands for in Arabic: ad-Dawlat al-Islamiyya fī’l-‘Iraq wa’sh-Sham: The Islamic State in Iraq and Ash-Sham.
The crucial difference is the word Sham, a word that resonates in the Arabic-speaker’s mind on multiple levels. It calls for the Islamic State to be worldwide.
It goes without saying that the majority of Muslims are peace-loving people. But the extreme elements led by Al Qaeda and ISIS are monsters capable of atrocities beyond anything civilized humans can comprehend.
With our porous borders, it is easily comprehensible that ISIS sympathizers can enter this country in massive numbers, and they have had that capability for years. There are also countless people converted who already reside in the USA.
As we speak, Americans are being radicalized. There is no typical profile of an American extremist and the experiences and motivating factors vary widely. Terrorist organizations and radical mosques seek Americans to radicalize and recruit because of their familiarity with the United States and the West, and because of their ability to integrate into the society in all levels of society, government, and law enforcement. The evolving extremist threat makes it more difficult for legitimate law enforcement or the intelligence community to detect and disrupt plots developed by these extremists. These organizations themselves are infiltrated.
It is also clearly conceivable that nuclear weapons can be smuggled across the southern border. Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of ISIS recruits and sympathizers would be catastrophic.
The basic concept of this Novel is that the worst has occurred, and converted ISIS extremist have infiltrated the highest levels of government. They have developed a massive plot to obliterate the US government, and establish the Islamic state in America. With the power and resources of the USA, they subsequently have the power to take the movement worldwide.
One man, a Senator from North Carolina with aspirations to be President of the USA, is the primary obstacle standing in their way. Therefore, he must be eliminated.
This Hero takes many turns and traverses many pathways in the Maze of Life to save his beloved country.
I sincerely hope you enjoy my story.
Chapter 1
Frigid water enveloped me and filled my nostrils, my open mouth and my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. I flailed about. Where was I? My eyes burned as though a lighted match was pressed against my pupils. My lungs threatened to explode.
Nothing but black ocean surrounded me. I was drowning.
Panic coursed through my veins and I pumped my arms and legs, desperate to reach air.
Just as darkness threatened my consciousness, I burst to the surface and coughed violently, vomiting. Drawing rasping breaths, I looked around, treading water. How did I fall off the cruise ship? Or was I thrown overboard? The last thing I remember was having a nightcap with my wife on the balcony of our stateroom, after a night of carousing.
Twenty feet away, the lights of the cruise ship Aladdin moved swiftly, widening the gap between me and, well, life.
Once more I sank, dragged down by fear and my shoes. They felt like cinder blocks on my feet. I fought to stay afloat as I frantically kicked to get rid of my shoes. Pain shot through my left temple, then turned into a dull, throbbing headache.
Something bumped my leg.
A shark?
A fin cleaved the water close to me, oh my God. Icy terror froze my heart. “Help!” I screamed. “Help!”
But the ship’s giant engines drowned out my cries.
Arms flailing, I swam for the ship, but it rapidly outdistanced me. Waves slopped into my open mouth, but I kept yelling with as much energy as I could muster until my throat was raw.
Then the horrific thought crashed into my mind. Are my wife and daughter in the water too? I franticly looked around for any sign of life. Nothing but the dark ocean.
I shrieked at the top of my lungs, “Susan, Lisa!” I swam around and kept screaming over and over again, “Susan, Lisa!”
No answer, but the ever-dwindling sound of the ship’s engines.
Eventually, the ship lights were no bigger than the stars.
“Help. Please help me,” I whispered, as my voice escaped me and pain from the screaming filled my throat.
I yelled one last time as loud as I could muster. “Lisa, Susan, are you there? My dear God are you there?” My rasping shouts dwindled.
The only answer was the squawk of a seagull. Despair washed over me. The cruise ship was nearly out of sight, well on its way to into the endless ocean.
As it disappeared, it took all sound with it. Silence loomed, magnifying my desperation. Surely my wife, if she were still on the ship, would alert someone—tell them I’d fallen overboard.
Then the cold set in. I shivered and tried to stop my teeth from chattering. I needed to move if I were to avoid hypothermia.
The plaintive mew of a seagull interrupted the silence. It took my aching head a few moments to process the sound—and what it meant. If there were seagulls, land must be nearby.
Cleaving through the water, I headed west, going in the opposite direction of the ship. Within a few minutes, my strength waned. I trod water to conserve my strength and glanced at my Rolex—two-thirty. Miraculously my watch was still working. An hour ago, my wife and I had left the ballroom. Exhaustion dripped over me.
I was a Navy Seal. Yes. I was a Navy Seal. It had been twenty years since I was an active Seal, but that kind of training never leaves you. If I were to survive, I needed to buoy myself with encouragement. Before the Navy, and before Law School, I was captain of my University swimming team. I can do this. I am still fit.
Something brushed my leg again. Another shark?
Was I bleeding? I ducked below the surface and ran a hand over my leg checking for an injury. I felt nothing like an injury.
Another bump against the lower leg, and I jerked away. A five-foot sand shark swam three feet from me, I guess disturbed by my frantically thrashing legs. The fish was near the surface and I saw him clearly in the moonlight.
The left side of my head throbbed with a sudden intense pain. My instinct was to feel the injury, but I required both hands to stay afloat. I continued to swim west and I guess adrenaline set in and helped me endure the exhaustion.
Still no land in sight, and I’ve been in the water over an hour. My strength was waning. Once again I felt a bump on my back. I twisted; worried that another more aggressive shark was stalking me. To my surprise, it was a 6-foot piece of driftwood. I scrambled to grab it, and rested holding on to the floater for about twenty minutes.
With one hand free, I reached for the sore spot on my head. It was excruciatingly painful when I touched it. My scalp was split and I could feel that it was raw. There was no blood on my fingers when I looked at them. I guess the salt water had the effect of stopping the bleeding. Apparently someone had bashed me in the back of the head and threw me overboard. I have no idea who or why. I guess it was possible that I bashed my head on something as I fell off the ship. It was exasperating not to know.
Then the thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. If they did this to me, what did they do to Susan and Lisa if they were still on the cruise ship? I bit my lip and began swimming
again. The cruise ship was completely out of sight and if my wife and daughter were in the water, I would never find them.
I began kicking and holding on to the piece of wood. I kept moving in a direction I think is west. After about an hour of swimming and resting, I heard the squeal of another sea gull flying over me. Perhaps twenty others soon joined it. They began diving into the water not forty feet from me. Apparently schools of shrimp or finger mullet were gathered there. I watched and rested for more than twenty minutes while they fed.
Even though gulls can fly far out to sea, I knew that they’re land birds, and tend to fly inland further than they do out to sea. I watched until the school of bait departed or was dissipated, and the gulls moved on. I swam in the direction that they flew. It was a long shot that they were flying back to land, but it’s all that I have to go on.
Lost in the Maze Page 1