by Ira Tabankin
He watches the agents remove the car’s seats and everything from the trunk, while others put the car on a lift. They remove the wheels, tires then inspect the bottom of the car. Two hours later an agent comes to get Frank.
“Your car checked out, you’re cleared to cross the border.”
“Thank you.”
Frank drives across the no man’s zone to the Confederacy’s immigration booth which is only a series of large tents.
The agent walks over to Frank’s window.
“Hello, welcome to the Confederacy, how can we help you?”
“Hello officer, I’m operating under code word authority from the President. Feel free to check it, code word is Zebra two one alpha.”
“Sir, would you mind waiting a moment until I can get the security officer to join us?”
“Would you like me to pull out of the lane?”
“No, we’ll close the lane behind you. This shouldn’t take but a moment, we have a secure system connected to the President’s security system.”
The North’s agents watch the Confederacy’s agents close Frank’s lane wondering what they missed, the North’s senior agent watches the Confederacy’s customs, who is that? Why are they blocking him? Oh oh, a Confederacy security officer is approaching that guy’s car. Did we miss something? Oh shit, the security agent just bent over to chat with that guy, then he snapped to attention and saluted him. God Damn it! Who is he? Who did we have in our hands that we let slip through? Can I get him back? Is there a way we can drag him into no man’s land? I’m going to get skinned alive when D.C. hears we let someone important slip through.
Frank smiles and shakes the security officer’s hand who snaps to attention saying,
“It’s always a pleasure to meet one of the inner circle. Sir, do you require any assistance in your travels south? I can have a plane at Winchester Airport within an hour, we can have you at the President’s farm in three hours.”
“I thank you for your assistance, I think I’m going to take you up on your offer. It will save me eight or nine hours driving time.”
“Yes, sir. Why don’t you park behind the tent, we have fresh coffee inside, I’ll alert you fifteen minutes before the plane is ready.”
“Thank you.”
Frank hands the car keys to the security agent, he turns around to give the finger to the customs agents across no man’s land. He laughs all the way into the tent. They’ll have a secure phone, I’ll be able to call Tony and report in. Before he reaches the phone, he’s tapped on the shoulder,
“Frank, good to see you made it across no man’s zone.”
Frank turns around, he knows the voice, “Captain, it’s very good to see you. I assume we’re going to share a plane home?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good news, let’s not compare any notes until we’re in the air.”
“Agreed.”
Thirty minutes pass when the security officer enters the tent smiling,
“Gentlemen, your transportation is ready, my people will take you to the airport.”
Ten men get in a bright blue bus with the Captain and Frank, he notices the team are all holding their weapons, what a difference from the North, where most of the police have been stripped of their firearms. They have to rely on mace, a nightstick or a mini cattle prod. No one can walk around armed. Even their military isn’t allowed to carry weapons on their own bases, hell, their military isn’t even allowed to wear their uniforms off base, they’re afraid the uniforms might offend someone.
As the C17 climbs over Winchester, Virginia, Frank stands,
“I offer a toast to the brave men of the Confederacy’s Special Forces. Drinks are on me!”
The plane cheers.
Frank leans back dozing during the short seventy-five-minute flight.
When the plane lands, Frank sees Tony waiting for him on the ramp.
Tony slaps Frank on the back, “Did you know while you were on vacation the Lord struck a bunch of Northern Rivers? The rumor is their people are going nuts.”
“No shit!? What happened?”
“Their Rivers turned red, all of the fish died, we saw the images on the news, it’s horrible. I hope you had a nice vacation. By the way, here’s your back pay.”
Tony hands Frank fifty gold coins.
“Thanks, I wouldn’t want to not get paid.”
The two men laugh walking towards the shelter. Tony looks over his shoulder,
“By the way, we got a call from border security, you drove a Chevy Cruze? You brought back a damn Cruze? Of all the cars you could have selected you picked a Cruze? What am I supposed to do with it?”
“No one notices it, hell, given the price of gasoline which is over $15.00 a gallon, I wanted to make sure I got good mileage. If I took a different car, the cost would eat into my fee. What are you going to do with the car?”
“I gave it to the security officer at the border.”
“Good for him, he was very helpful.”
“Then he deserves a reward.”
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Jay coughs up his morning coffee all over himself watching the news about the Northern Rivers turning red. Tony and Nancy laugh looking at the expression on his face while he wipes coffee off of his shirt. And they said I was nuts, it seems to be starting to work, their people aren’t working, they’re not spending money, they’re jamming churches and asking God for forgiveness, even the Pope is getting into the conversation. It’s working better than I planned.
Looking down at his stained shirt and pants, he says,
“Damn it. I’m going to have to change again.”
“It’s usually better if you don’t watch the news when eating.” Responds a laughing Tony.
“Yeah, but I so enjoy spilling my meals on myself. The networks are shitting themselves, they have no idea what’s going on or what caused the river to turn red. Some of the networks are even going so far as to televise demonstrations of people holding signs saying the end is near, and God is angry with America. It’s so funny I can’t help it. I expect the President to try to close the churches which will drive more people into the streets. He’s helping us destroy them. He’s helping me get my revenge. When I’m done, he and his entire administration will be finished. They’ll be in a secret prison, or six feet under. I’m going to change and spend some time with Lacy.”
“Jay, we need to discuss your town hall meetings, you’re not really still planning on going through with them are you?”
“Damn right I am. I’m not going to be kept locked up here. If I’m the acting President, I owe it to the people to see and hear what I stand for and explain my plans. If I stay locked up here, I’m as bad as every other politician, a class of people I hate. It’s time to break the mold.”
“Be careful, you’re one of the people you hate now.”
“Not for long. I told you I don’t kiss babies, and I’m not going to run for office.”
“We’ll see. When will you be ready to discuss your schedule?”
“How about in an hour in the shelter?”
“I'll assemble the team.”
Nancy says, “I’m coming to the hospital with you, my shift is going to start soon.”
“Nancy, thank you, but I’m fine, I really am.”
“We have so many injured, I need to help wherever I can.”
“Okay, I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
Chapter 10
The Pope paces his private office; he doesn’t know what he’s going to say to the millions of people waiting to hear him. On one hand he feels the rivers and dead fish, dead animals who drank the water could be a sign, they could be the sign. The one sign that shakes him to his core is the deaths in Chicago of the Cardinal and the young girl he was baptizing. These two events worry him the most. Is it possible the Lord is sending us a message? Is he unhappy with us? Did he pick America because she moved away from the Lord? Is he telling the Americans they are due for seven very hard years ahead of them? Is he
going to repeat the plagues from Egypt? Is he going to sentence America to suffer like he did the Israelites after they sold Joseph into slavery? Did America break it’s covenant with the Lord? What should I tell the people who are waiting to hear my words, words they expect are coming from the Lord. I don’t know what to tell them, I’ve checked the old scrolls, the old texts, I even asked the team to review the hidden scrolls, which have been hidden from the public for over a thousand years. My conclusions upon the review are very concerning; more than half say these could be signs of the second coming, yet other scrolls don’t mention them. Although, the Lord may have changed his plans over the past two thousand years. Not everything may stay the same. He hasn’t communicated with us in a while, maybe he looked down and decided he doesn’t like what he’s seeing.
The Pope’s Chief of Staff enters his private office,
“Your holiness, it’s time. There are over two million people overflowing the plaza area. I’m afraid if you delay, things may turn ugly.”
“My son, I’m ready. Let’s address the Lord’s people.”
The Pope stands in the window over the plaza, spreading his arms open, the two million in the square cheer seeing the Pope. He raises his hands to quiet the masses so he can address them.
“My children, I’ve come to address you today concerning the events occurring in America. Their rivers are turning red, the fish are dying, people ingesting the red water are dying, you want to know if these are signs our Lord Jesus is preparing to return. My view of these events is our Lord IS sending us a message. Why did he select America, when America didn’t exist in his time on Earth? He’s choosing America because America, more than any other country, was founded on religious freedom. America has been the world’s beacon of freedom, from freedom of speech to their Second Amendment on gun ownership and their founders mandate regarding freedom of religion and worship. It’s been the land where the average person could break through any ceiling, they could be poor on Monday and rich on Friday. America has a special place in God’s heart. Recently America has broken our Lord’s heart. Their political class has turned their backs on the Lord. They spend time discriminating against Christians, they fall over themselves supporting Islam, they cover up Islam’s attacks against the faithful. America’s own President wrote in his book that in a conflict between Israel and Islam, he would support Islam. Our Lord told us that the Jews are his special people, he told us in Geneses 12;3, "I (God) will bless those who bless you (Israel) and will curse those who curse you.”
The American President blocks Christian refugees while opening the country’s borders for Muslims. I believe that while not all of the signs follow the Bible, maybe our Lord has decided that after two thousand years he needed to update some of his plans. I’m sure that all of us, over the course of two thousand years, would modify our plans, isn’t the Lord able to do so too? Our Lord is able to discern our apathy and decide how he should talk to the world in terms we understand. I hope you didn’t think he’d show up on the television evening news to give interviews. Our Lord spoke to us in a language he knew we’d understand.
I speak now to the American Government, it’s clear to me the Lord, our God, is speaking to you. He’s telling you to change your ways, he’s telling you to look into your souls and do what’s right.
“I don’t know if our Lord will send us additional messages or wait to see how we respond to the current event. He might quickly follow up, or he might wait before responding, I feel in my soul he will communicate to us in additional ways. Keep your eyes open, open your souls, open your hearts to the Lord’s message. Thank you and may the Lord bless us all.”
The Pope waves to the mass of people hanging on his every word. He waves to the masses before backing away from the window. He’s very tired and weary. Looking at his CoS,
“I hope I did the right thing; I hope my message was on target.”
“Your Holiness, I think your words set the exact tone required and told the story as clearly as possible. I don’t think the American President will be happy. However, I’m sure our Lord will be happy with your choice of words.”
“Thank you. I’m going to take a short rest. Wake me if something happens.”
“Yes, your holiness.”
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The Northern President is frustrated and getting angrier by the second from the lack of answers he’s getting from his advisors. He’s furious over the Pope’s address. He’s placed five calls to the Pope, he’s been told that the Pope is resting and can’t be disturbed pissing the President off more than he was before the Pope’s address. Looking at his advisors,
“Let me make myself very clear, I want to know why the rivers turned red, why the fish are dying and why people who drink the red water are either dying or getting very ill. I don’t want to hear anything more from that mad man in Rome. I don’t accept this is an act of God, this is an act of war. Somehow Tolson is behind this, he attacked us, he ruined our natural resources, he destroyed our natural and national treasures, he killed American citizens, I want a plan to pay him back. I want to respond in kind. He’s not going to get away with attacking us with a WMD! Am I clear?”
The Secretary of Defense looks at the President,
“Sir, we have no proof any WMD was used against us. The chemical analysis of the rivers isn’t complete; we should wait until we have the chemical report to make sure this wasn’t something natural. There have been many rivers around the world which have turned red. China has seen their major rivers turn red, no one said anything about that being an act of God, I’m sure we’re going to find it’s nothing more than some industrial accident or chemical spill. I don’t think we should plan any attack on the Confederacy, if we attack and it turns out to be a natural event, we’ll be handing Tolson everything he needs to strike us back, he’ll have the upper hand, something we can’t afford to give him. Sir, remember my report from last week, more than 65% of our military has crossed the border to side with the Confederacy, his military now outnumbers ours.”
“I know he did it! I know his hand is behind the attack on us. He’s playing with us; I want to show him I know how to play too. I want him dead!”
“Mr. President…”
“NO! I want to see a plan to strike Tolson.”
“Yes, sir.” Said the Secretary of Defense. “I’ll put the Joint Chiefs on it.”
“You can include WMD in your plan.”
“Sir, I don’t agree with you, those are still Americans, if you strike them with a WMD, you’ll lose the support of the media and the people. Also remember there are many Northerners who have family and loved ones in the South. You’ll also lose the good will you’ve built in the world.”
“I want him crushed!” The president screamed; his face red, his hands shaking.
“Sir, please give us a little time.”
“You have a little time; you have 72 hours!”
“Mr. President, that’s not enough time to plan a major strike.”
“I thought we had plans for attacks all over the world, dust one off and use it.”
“Sir, we didn’t create war plans for attacks on our own soil.”
“It’s no longer our own soil.”
“Sir, I hear you.”
The Secretary of State frowns, looking at the President he asks,
“Mr. President, what are your plans on a revised date for new elections? Many people are getting upset with the delay, there are rumors floating around that you don’t intend to hold new elections. The media is starting to question your motives.”
“No one has the right to question my motives! I don’t have a choice! I’m working 24 hours a day to hold what’s left of our country together. I need just a little more time to cement the country before we hold elections. We have to draw up new districts, there’s a lot of work to do to ensure we have the correct representation, the parties have to select their candidates, I believe it will be possible to hold new elections in a year or two. I promise, no more
than two years.”
“Mr. President, I suggest you find a way to hold the new elections within nine months.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible. I’ll ask the DNC to look into the timing question.”