by Justin Price
“We had better be careful”, said Liam with a smile. “People may think that we are on the same team.”
“Oh, we can’t have that”, said William as he reached out to shake President Cain’s hand.
“Have a seat”, said Liam. “So, what brings you here today?”
“Sir, we have two other regions that are joining us against Assad and the World Council.”
“Great news! Who are they?” asked Liam.
“We have definite interest from Great Britain and Australia. We also have some in Israel who are interested. Although they have largely welcomed Assad; there are still many skeptical about his intentions. If anything comes to light that would compromise them as a nation, then they will side with us. I have no doubt about that.”
“This is great news”, said the President. “Are we at the stage of being able to plan an attack?”
“Well, not so fast. Britain and Australia are wanting to peacefully resign from the World Council and use force only as a last resort. I suggest that we try to do the same. There will be enough unrest here at home over this decision. We don’t need to run headlong into a war if it isn’t necessary.”
President Cain tapped his pen on his desk and laid his head back in his chair. He took a deep breath and exhaled. “I only hope it is that easy. My gut tells me that we will have to fight for our independence. Assad’s ego is too big to just allow three or four nations leave him. That’s what it is really about now anyway; him. Not the council, not world peace; just him.”
“I really hope that isn’t the case, but if it is then we will be as ready as we can be. We will plan for the worst and hope for the best as they say.”
“I have decided on the first order of business Speaker Bernhart. In one week, I will hold a press conference to announce our intentions to break away from the World Council in favor of our sovereignty. We will have our entire military on standby while we wait for Assad’s response. We will try to go through the proper channels to secede, but we will also be ready to defend ourselves. I would like you there with me in this conference as a show of solidarity. With us being from opposing parties, maybe we can get more support in our government as well as in the general population.”
“I would be happy to do that Mr. President”, said William solemnly.
“I appreciate that. I will assign secret service detail to you and we will depart next Sunday.”
“Where are we going?”
“I will let you know when we are on our way. Not that I don’t trust you, but this information cannot leak to anyone. There may be chaos after this announcement and we will need to be protected to maintain order within our government.”
“I am just having so much anxiety over this right now”, said Speaker Bernhart. “It is one thing for the population to be split on politics and for politicians to be split, but this is perhaps the most polarizing issue that we have had in at least one-hundred years. The stock market will crash. Every company in the United States that is based overseas or has their factories over there will go under or be severely crippled. The liberal institutions that have been pulling for this for years will start riots. Sir, this could end up being like the Great Depression, World War 2, Civil War, and Revolutionary War combined. Unless this is kept under control, I don’t know how the United States will survive.”
“Are you a praying man?” asked Liam.
President Cain didn’t even take the time to think over the question before he asked it. He was surprised at what was coming out of his own mouth. He wasn’t really sure what even prompted him to ask that question. All he could do was sit there in the still silence.
William cocked his head to the side and looked at President Cain intently; wondering if he should answer that question truthfully. ‘Maybe I can be honest’, he thought. ‘Cain wouldn’t ask me that to trap me. Not at this point.’
“Yes sir. I am”, said William with his heart feeling like it was going to pound out of his chest.
“Relax”, said Liam. “I am too. In fact, I am not ashamed to say that I believe in God.”
William took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief as he loosened his grip on the arms of the chair. “I have for a long time. I could never admit it to anyone, but a large part of why I so vehemently opposed some of your policies was that my beliefs have come from the bible. I know it sounds archaic, but just here me out…”
“William, I know. I found out the same thing a few weeks ago in my study. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord.”
The Speaker of the House stood up with tears in his eyes. “Then you are my brother.”
―――――
Maggie threw gravel everywhere as the chopper peppered the area with bullets. She headed back through the winding road in the midst of thick trees. She couldn’t believe that she was once again separated from John and that both of their lives were in danger again. As she sped down the highway in the national park, the sound of the helicopter became faint.
They weren’t following her. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. She may escape for now, but her husband and the three men with him could be meeting their end. In her mind, nothing was worse than losing her husband again. ‘Not now. Not this way’, she thought.
Maggie slammed on her brakes and turned the car around. If he was going to go down, then she would go down with him. She sped back to the beach where she had left them and the van. As she saw the break in trees, she slowed down to get a view of the scene.
She could see the helicopter flying down the coastline. This produced an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. ‘Whatever they did is finished’, she thought. Frantically, she raced the car back to the parking lot next to the van and got out. In the distance, about fifty yards down toward the water was a man lying motionless on the ground.
Her stomach turned as she instinctively ran toward the body. As she approached, it was apparent that it wasn’t John. She looked down at the body of Bo with tears in her eyes. She wondered where the other three were. Maggie surveyed the surrounding area to no avail.
She ran back to her vehicle, not knowing what she was going to do after that. As she approached, she noticed the sound of a man groaning. DeShawn had managed to roll out from under the van enough to be in view. He was clearly wounded on his right shoulder, but very much alive.
“DeShawn! Are you alright? What happened?” asked Maggie.
“Help me get in the car. I’ll explain on the way. They will be back with people on the ground any moment to comb the area. Let’s go!”
They both got in the car and Maggie floored the accelerator. The tires squealed until they gained traction. She was frantic. “We need to get you some medical attention!” she said with a shaky voice. “I can’t believe that they have taken John. After all that he went through to rescue me…I’ve lost him.” She hung her head in defeat with tears spilling over her eyelids. She quickly wiped away her tears and put her focus back on the road.
“Maggie, I’m sorry this has happened. We just got too brave with what we did. Going out in broad daylight like that in the open, we were just asking for it”, said DeShawn.
“It’s not your fault”, said Maggie. “I don’t want you to think that.”
DeShawn sat there wincing in pain; holding his bloody shoulder. “You’re right”, he said. “I just can’t help but think this could have been prevented.”
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Could you tell me what happened back there?”
He looked over at her, debating in his mind on whether he should give details.
“Go ahead”, said Maggie. “I can take it.”
“Alright. We all heard the helicopter coming, but by the time it got there it was too late. We had nowhere to go and they were already firing. It was obvious that they didn’t want to hit John and we were all so close together that they didn’t concentrate fire on the middle of the group. The purpose of their first round of fire was to get us to run and spread out so they could take John. I re
alize that now.”
He stopped right there and fought back tears so he could continue. “Go ahead. It’s okay”, said Maggie gently.
“So we ran as fast as we could for cover by the vehicles, but that was several meters away. Within a few seconds, they had three men repelling from the chopper and we all took battle stances. We started to return fire as they came down. We hit one of them, but the other two started firing just as the helicopter began firing again as well. I saw Bo get hit first. He went down immediately. Then, I saw Chaim go down and start crawling toward the water. That second, I felt a terrible stinging pain in my shoulder. I knew I had been shot and the next one could have been fatal so I went down immediately and laid there still while they took your husband and cuffed him. They were all gone within a minute. I crawled toward the van to call for help when you came back. Bo has gone on to heaven and I assume Chaim has as well.”
“I should have never left. I could have gotten to you and we could have made it out”, said Maggie regretfully.
“No…no you couldn’t have. Even if we would have made it in the car with you, they would have chased us down. There was no escaping. You are fortunate that you weren’t pursued. For all we know, they could be doing that very thing right now.”
“I really hope that isn’t the case”, said Maggie. “I guess we will find out soon. What do you think we should do?”
“We need to get back to base as soon as possible without being detected. It would be catastrophic if they followed us”, said DeShawn. “I wouldn’t want the guilt of everyone else’s blood on my hands.”
Maggie’s breathing became quick and shallow as she gripped the steering wheel; her knuckles turning white and her face becoming a crimson red.
“Maggie? You alright? It’s okay. Just pull over and breathe.”
Through her shallow breaths, he managed to hear her say, “panic attack”.
“Alright now, Mag. Let’s pull over here. We don’t want you to pass out while you’re driving.”
They pulled over to the side of the road as Maggie struggled to take a breath. “No! John! This can’t be happening! Why God? After all we have been through, how could you have let this happen?”
Maggie sat there with her head on the steering wheel wailing and cursing between breaths. DeShawn hated to see things come to this, especially after all the progress they seemed to be making toward John and Maggie accepting Christ. He just laid his head back, wondering if it would have been better if he had been killed. He thought, ‘At least I would have been with Jesus now and not in this reality.’
CHAPTER 7
John was face down inside of a helicopter with his hands behind his back. There was no more running. After being one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, he had finally been caught. All he could think about was his wife that he had been reunited with just days before. He didn’t know if she was alive or dead or if anyone else was for that matter. It all seemed so final yet so incomplete.
The handcuffs were cutting into his wrists and the side of his face was swollen from landing on it when they threw him on the floor. ‘I wonder if this is going to be as bad as I have imagined.’ It was the first time he had been in a Blackhawk helicopter since he had been in the military himself. Being on his belly made the experience quite a bit different.
Just in front of him, there was a commotion going on as one of the soldiers that were shot was being attended to. He could smell blood and soon saw the source of it running like a stream toward him. As he looked up, he could see them inserting a breathing tube. The sights and sounds brought back terrible memories from war. This experience was like all of his worst nightmares coming true at once.
He closed his eyes as tight as he could and tried to block out everything going around him. All he could see when he closed his eyes was the face of his wife. That image was so much better than the alternative, but still heart wrenching considering he may never see her again. His thoughts quickly drifted to what he may experience when they arrived to their destination.
‘What do they have in store for me?’ he wondered. ‘Prison? Torture? Cerebral reconditioning? Death?’ The possibilities kept playing through his mind; worse than any horror movie he had ever seen. This wasn’t a small band of third world fighters that he was up against this time. Apparently, it was the World Council government. There wasn’t going to be any escaping this time. They would be able to do whatever they wanted to him for as long as they wanted and there was nothing he could do about it.
As he was lamenting over his situation, John felt the helicopter slowly descending and finally touching down. The blades slowly stopped spinning and the soldiers pulled him off the floor with a sudden jerk. They dragged his fatigued body by both arms as his feet scraped across the ground. “Stand up soldier!” exclaimed one of the captors. ‘At least he called me soldier’, he thought. ‘Maybe there is a little respect left for what I did for my country.’
He wasn’t blindfolded and he could still see out of the eye that wasn’t swollen. He looked up just in time to see the Department of Homeland Security seal above the door. They walked him down a dimly lit hallway and into a room with a table. “Sit right there”, said one of the men.
“Since you have your guns pointed directly at me and there are three of you here, would you mind taking the cuffs off of me?”
They all looked at each other for a second and looked over at the mirror on the wall. A voice came over the intercom system. “Yes, go ahead. He’s not going anywhere.” They took the handcuffs off and sat him down at the table. The man behind the one way glass came into the room.
After his eyes adjusted, John could see that it was Adnan Bahar. John figured that he must have been an important catch for the second in command of the World Council to show up and greet him personally. Bahar slowly walked to the other side of the table and sat across from John; crossing his legs and relaxing. John just stared at him without flinching or blinking. The two of them sat there across from each other, silent and completely still before Adnan spoke.
“You weren’t an easy man to catch Mr. Robertson. We knew we would get to you sooner or later. We even had the added bonus of killing some of your new comrades. Speaking of which, let me just be straightforward. If you give away their hiding place then you will be able to live.”
John’s face became red as he leaned forward in his chair and looked at Adnan directly in the eyes. “Are you kidding me? I will never live again unless I am free. We both know that will never happen, so what’s the use? Why would I betray my friends? So I will have earned the right to sit and rot in prison for the rest of my life? You really are delusional Adnan. I can see why that psychopath wanted you as his partner in crime.”
Adnan huffed, “We have ways of making people like you talk. You can live out the rest of your life in relative peace or be tortured until you die or speak. It’s up to you. I won’t beg or plead and I won’t bargain. That’s the deal Mr. Robertson so you can take it or leave it. At any rate, we will start that process now. Gentlemen…”
John immediately felt metal clasp his wrists and ankles. It was a trap. One of the men came toward him with a taser and poked him directly in the chest. He could feel the current surge through his body as pain shot through his limbs. He sat there shaking as he took another shot to the chest. His heart rate became uncontrollable and he began to sweat just as he blacked out.
“We will see if he is ready to talk when he wakes up”, said Adnan coldly as he walked out of the room.
―――――
Several hundred people had camped out overnight in Jerusalem on the temple mount to see history being made. For thousands of years, the Middle East had been in turmoil. From the ongoing war between Israelis and Palestinians over the Gaza strip to the constant threat from Israel’s Muslim neighbors; peace had eluded the holy land. Somehow, the policies and international popularity of Samyaza al Assad had brought the nations to Israel to sign a declaration of peace.
As the sun ro
se over the Mount of Olives early that morning, hundreds of people rose to their feet at the sound of the blowing of a shofar. Assad suddenly appeared on the large screens that had been set up on the temple mount. A spotlight illuminated him as he stood on the Mount of Olives with his arms outstretched to the crowd.
“Are you ready for a new day?” asked Assad.
The crowd roared with approval. Several rabbis, Jewish Priests, Muslim Sheikhs, and Catholic leaders were peppered throughout the mixed crowd that represented about every tribe and nation on earth. After basking in the glory for a few moments, Assad turned and got into a helicopter that had him on the temple mount in just a couple of minutes.
A large table was prepared in front of the Dome of the Rock mosque for the signing of the treaty. Several leaders from the region had arrived and were taking their place at the table just as a rush of swirling wind began to blow. In a small area that had been blocked off from the public, the helicopter carrying Assad had arrived from the east.
A few of the leaders had to chase their head wear after the wind blew it off of their heads. Many in the crowd laughed at their expense as they tried to recover and once again look dignified. Everyone took their place and another sound of shofars blowing heralded the arrival of Assad. He took a bow and walked by the crowd that stood behind a barricade and a wall of security personnel.
He waved to the crowd as he passed by, seemingly focusing on each and every one of them for a moment. He made a sharp right turn and walked over to the table where the legally binding documents sat prepared. He took turns shaking the hand of every leader before being seated in the middle of the table, facing the crowd.
They all sat there for a minute until the crowd noise died down. Then, Assad leaned forward to speak.
“I cannot put into words what it means to me that those of Jewish and Muslim heritage have met here today in our presence to support that greater good of peace, mutual respect, and prosperity. For hundreds, even thousands of years, the people in this region have been torn apart by hatred for one another; resulting in unnecessary bloodshed. This very place where we stand has been the epicenter over and over again for some of history and legend’s greatest moments and man’s greatest failures. Among Sunni Muslims, the Mount is widely considered the third holiest site in Islam. Revered as the Noble Sanctuary and the location of Muhammad's journey to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven. In ancient mythology and religion, it is considered to be the place where Adam was created and also where Abraham’s son Isaac was nearly sacrificed to the Jewish God. It is the site of the first and second temple in Judaism and rumored to be the site of the third temple at the coming of the Messiah. It is with that revelation that I would like to reveal to you my plan to build the third temple right here next to the Dome of the Rock. Many never would have thought this to be possible with the animosity among the Abrahamic religions. However, it is now a reality in the twenty-second century. No longer do we hold our religious backgrounds to be the most important part of our lives, but the peace and harmony that we can live in with our fellow man. With the advancement of humankind, what we have learned is that nobody has the perfect belief system and nobody is completely wrong. For centuries, the people of Islam and Judaism have sought a Messiah or the al Mahdi. With my heritage in both cultures as well as my intentions of resurrecting the Jewish temple, I can confirm to you that I am he.”