by Lars Teeney
Time passed and the Wynham-Schrubb partnership stood firm. As the government was transformed and the current Regime slowly took shape, the Wynhams stuck by the Schrubb family’s side. Subverting the Constitution, dissolving Congress, removing checks and balances—for the Wynham patriarchs, it was just part of doing business, a business arrangement that their competitors would not get a piece of. The Schrubb administration and the Church of New Megiddo had cemented power for all time and Wynham industries would provide the weapons to maintain that power.
Soon it was Graham Wynham who took the title of head of the household. Under his leadership, Graham had maintained all the old relationships and business arrangements. Graham was different than the rest of the patriarchs of the family. Graham stood on the monolithic stone balcony that jutted out from the master suite of the mansion. He stood smoking his cigarette and staring out pensively into the darkness. Graham knew what the stakes were in the upcoming months, and he knew what the result of the B.A.G., and Second Coming would be for New Megiddo. He was sure that the vast majority of the citizenry did not.
“It's all about the timing. It must occur during the B.A.G.,” Graham thought to himself. He ran possible scenarios through his mind.
“You can never account for every possibility—there is always something,” he thought with some degree of dread.
Graham had set about his household staff the task of packing his affects for a trip to the capital to visit Keir Schrubb and the Ministry of Defense. He was heading there for a social gathering but also for business. Graham did have ulterior motives for the trip. He felt knot in his stomach getting tighter. Graham thought that this would be the biggest gamble of his whole machination. It would be the crucial point at which he would finally show his hand and hope he was holding the winning cards. If it turns out he miscalculated it would mean a slow, torturous death.
Graham put his cigarette out on the gray, stone masonry on the wall near the balcony.
“What’s the difference? It’s all ash color anyhow,” he thought to himself, excusing how he extinguished the cigarette.
Graham thought it ironic that it was he of all the family members to have seen the error in the Wynham family’s ways. Providing the means for mass destruction in the Holy War; the war that the newly created state of New Megiddo instigated against a global coalition of nations. It had been a world war in everything but name. A decade of total war had ravaged the globe. Officially it was a war for liberation— unofficially, it was a war of aggression where New Megiddo wanted to demonstrate its military might and potentially carve out a sizable empire for itself. The war initially went well for New Megiddo—its Rangers had achieved major victories and knocked many coalition nations out of the war, but as the decade of war drew to a close, it was China who checked New Megiddo’s advance due to superior numbers. It took the the nuclear destruction of Chicago by the Chinese for New Megiddo to seek peace. It ceded all it’s gained territories and retreated into its borders.
It was around this time that the Church of New Megiddo took a much more prominent role in the lives of the people. The Reverend Wilhelm came to the forefront as John W. Schrubb retired from the spotlight after the disastrous war. He would rule from the shadows, devoted to God. The country shut itself off from the rest of the world, and the world was happy to accept this policy.
After the War and Climate Change had transformed the landscape and caused mass famine, the only thing the Regime could offer the people to maintain their power, was the promise of salvation. The Church of New Megiddo would give the people something to believe in, that their suffering was almost at an end, because the Return of the Lord was at hand, which would be a reward for those Virtuous citizens that stayed right with the Lord and the Regime.
“Yep, we’ve made a fantastic fucking mess of everything.” Graham thought. He walked into his quarters and looked over the fine clothing that had been set out for him.
A porter stood at attention, “Sir, do these suit you?”
“Yes, thank you,” he responded, with that the porter scooped up the clothing to be packed for Graham’s trip.
“Funny, the power that money gives you. The small things like serving staff, but also the big things, like a rebellion. The are no grassroots rebellions—that last long anyway. There’s always some self-serving, elite financing it from the shadows.” Graham tried to justified his actions.
Graham made the observation, if he had not had his massive fortune and the industrial facilities and personnel to alter his neural implant, which developed a prototype for an encrypted sub-neural network, none of this would be happening today. He would have been just another common citizen being ground down by the daily monotony of Regime life, and psychologically conditioned into oblivion by the Church of New Megiddo.
The Apostates would never have existed without his vision. His preparation and willingness to do things that others would judge as psychotic helped too. Faking people’s deaths, forcing them to live as part of a rebel, paramilitary group—when he thought of it like that it all seemed so absurd. But, the reality of the situation was absurd. The least popular President in history, with the social charms of a strewn turd in a toilet bowl, was able to carry out a coup and install himself as President for life, who then was bestowed with medical immortal, and set up an acronym-happy Regime headed by his friends and family? That’s the most absurd thing Graham had ever heard.
Graham had a family once: a wife and two children. Graham had their neural implants disconnected from the [Virtue-net], then he paid the Neo Railroad handsomely to smuggle his family overseas. He didn’t expect to ever see them again. Graham was always paranoid thereafter that Regime officials would get suspicious over the absence of his family from state events. So, the facade had held, but for how much longer? The Neo Railroad would be a key piece of his plan.
A member of the serving staff knocked on Graham’s open door, “Sir Wynham, your transportation is ready and your possessions have been loaded.”
“That is great to hear. I will be there, post-haste, but I must make a call. Please close the door,” Graham instructed.
“Yes, Sir Wynham.” The serving staffer closed the door to his chamber.
Graham tried to mentally prepare for what he was about to do. Hades-Perdition had left a message for ‘Sam’, that the Regime’s mole inside the group had been discovered and terminated. Now that the mole had been dealt with, Graham would reveal all to the Apostates: his identity, the stakes and his endgame. There was a risk that he would lose support within the group that Graham had fostered. He was fearful that everything he had sacrificed for would fall apart. Graham just hoped that the Apostates would remain reasonable, and stay dedicated to their mission.
Graham opened a communication channel to the Apostates. After a moment, the Apostates accepted the hail. They witnessed that in place of ‘Sam’, the obscured and voice-disguised enigma, was Graham Wynham.
“What the? Is this a joke?” Ravine could not believe his senses.
“Why are we talking to you? Has our source been compromised?” Hades asked calmly.
“Apostates, please before you do something brash please listen to what I have to say,” Graham pleaded.
“What if he’s stalling for the Regime?” Blaze speculated.
All the Apostates were gathered on the bridge, after being summoned by Hades in anticipation of ‘Sam’s’ call. They had been busy working with ship captains to prepare for their voyage. Ravine had been working on analyzing the L.O.V.E. encryption key that Gale had procured. He was on the cusp of distributing the data injections so that all the Apostates could eavesdrop on L.O.V.E. [Virtue-net] communications.
“Now, listen everybody, I could not reveal my identity because of the mole that had infiltrated the group. Now that the hurdle has been removed we can all be more honest and open, but I was not going to jeopardize my entire operation just to give you piece of mind. However, now you are getting the truth,” Graham explained.
&nb
sp; “You put us through hell. Now we’re locked into this outfit whether we like it or not. What make you so righteous?” Aqua-Deluge asked snidely.
“Aqua, do you think that I haven’t sacrificed for what I have accomplished? You have no idea what I have gone through, and the lie I have to live, with the evil people I am surrounded with. Living with the fear that I will be found out at any moment. Don’t talk to me about your inconveniences, when I have sacrificed my life!” Graham was furious.
“Motherfucker, I—” Aqua was overruled by Hades.
“Quiet everybody! We’ve been compromised and we are expecting an attack soon. We have to act fast, so listen to what the the man has to say!” Hades-Perdition barked out, sternly.
“Thanks, Hades. First up, I’ve heard that we procured a L.O.V.E. encryption key. Let’s have Ravine distribute the injection doses that were contained within the key case,” Graham instructed.
“Okay, here’s the deal. I’ll prick each of you with a dose. Everything else is automatic. So suck it up, I don’t want to hear about any needle phobias!” Ravine jested.
Ravine moved around the circle of Apostates, sticking a small injection apparatus that resembled ‘Database’ paraphernalia. He finished up and gave himself a dose. Inside veins, the microscopic, synthetic molecules swirled through bloodstreams, in search of the receptors on the neural implant devices. The molecules, encoded with encrypted data keys that resembled R.N.A., made contact with the neural implants. The proteins connected to receptor structures, then passed the data to a nano-computer, parsing it and then decrypting the L.O.V.E secured communication channels. All nodes then became eavesdroppers on communications through the network. The users were suddenly listening to communiqué between Rangers: orders being given, and reconnaissance reports being passed along the chain of command.
Graham and the Apostates were shocked when they overheard chatter from an operation that was already under way. The assault on the Mothball Fleet had begun. From the communication traffic, it sounded like the enemy was planning a two-pronged attack on the flanks of the fleet. They gleaned information that the attacking force consisted of L.O.V.E.R.s and regular armed forces troops.
“Well, there you have it everyone. We probably have a couple of hours before the attack hits us. So I will let everyone get to it, but first I have to touch on a few matters,” Graham sounded gravely serious.
“Okay, we’re listening,” Aqua said impatiently, tossing some of her hair out of her face.
“First, I’m embarking on a trip to visit Keir Schrubb at the Ministry of Defense. I am going to attempt to enlist his support in a coup against his father’s Regime. You may or may not know that he wants to succeed his father as president, but the Regime is planning for the end. Keir desires for the Regime to continue with himself at the head. But, Keir is also daft, I know him—I grew up with him. I believe I can manipulate him into doing the heavy lifting for us, then we strike to remove him at the most opportune moment. That’s how I hope it’ll work out, but you never can tell when dealing with the Regime. If for some reason, he does not go along with my plan, or I am discovered, they will surely execute me,” Graham confessed.
“If this were to happen then I need to make sure that you all know everything, and can finish this without me,” he instructed.
“Alright, let’s hear it,” Ravine said.
“You all may be aware of the extra security and scrutiny over the B.A.G. this year. The Reverend has been telling the faithful that the Second Coming will occur at the B.A.G. And, although I know that religious leaders numerous times throughout the ages have predicted the Rapture, there’s something different about this year’s announcement. If you have followed your history or have done the right strains of ‘Database’ you might have learned that the Regime was modeled on fundamentalist, Evangelical branches of Christianity. The most radical of the Twentieth century—they were essentially death cults. These Twentieth-century cults held a belief that the Jewish nation would be destroyed in a final battle between forces on Christ’s side and that of the Anti-Christ, in a place called Megidd: a hill in Israel. It’s the root word of Armageddon: “Har Megiddo”, which translates to “Hill of Megiddo”. Now, I’m pretty sure you can see where I’m going with this,” Graham paused to catch his breath and take a sip of water.
“Son of a bitch,” Aqua-Deluge spouted.
“The Church of New Megiddo and the Regime are planning something big at the B.A.G. I have reasonable suspicion that they plan to sacrifice those gathered there, or possibly more, but I have no specifics. All I know is that they are going to create a man-made Rapture,” Graham warned.
“What? That’s nuts. Why would they kill their own citizens? They maintain power through control,” Blaze questioned the logic.
“Because, they are losing their grip on power. Fifty years ago a group such as ours would have been destroyed already. I mean, look at the state of technology. The tech that created the [Virtue-net] is nearly eighty-five years old. It hasn’t been upgraded since then. We use pre-war firearms. The economy and innovation stagnated long ago. And settlements and groups have started to develop autonomy. Not good for totalitarianism Regimes,” Graham explained and concluded his analysis of the state of the Regime.
“Well, shit, Graham, that’s a real downer. So, what now?” Blaze-Scorch asked.
“As soon as matters are settled here, sail to Southern California, Long Beach. There are more members who will join you there. They have additional ships that will join the fleet. You will then sail the combined fleet down to the Strait of Panama, which should be unobstructed. Continue on through the Caribbean, and if all goes according to plan, drop anchor in New Megiddo City, what was once Washington D.C. A core group of Apostates will enter central government buildings to take down key players. We will coordinate with operatives already in cities all over the East Coast, to collect as many refugees as possible, and escort them to the waiting Neo Railroad ships. The idea is to ferry these refugees out of the country until such a time that we can form an interim government and clean up the rest of the Regime holdouts,” Graham explained his ambitious master plan.
“Holy shit, Graham. This has tons of moving parts. A real long shot we’ve got here,” Ravine commented.
“I know it sounds complicated and risky. But we have sleeper cells throughout the East. I wish I could make you understand the extensive efforts I have taken to make this happen, but there’s not time,” Graham cut himself short.
“Alright everybody, time’s up. We have to deal with what’s coming our way,” Hades instructed.
“Good luck everyone. Assuming I am successful in my mission, I will contact you when you’re underway on your voyage. Graham out.” Graham cut the communication off.
Graham grabbed his overcoat and secured his quarters. He descended the stairs into the main foyer of the mansion. A grand, crystal chandelier, centuries old, hanged in the center of the space. Paintings of deceased family members lined the walls, and a black and white veined, marble floor shined with resilience. Graham looked around and thought that this might be the last time he’d see his family home. He absorbed the spectacle, then walked out the massive, dark wood, front door and locked it.
⍟ ⍟ ⍟
THE SETTING SUN
He sat smoking a cigarette and tilted a ceramic vessel up to his mouth. The taste of green tea poured over his tongue. He stood and walked over to a map that was spread out, displayed on an easel. The map depicted the Far East and the Pacific Islands, with the land mass of Australia near the bottom. From the nexus point in the center of Japan, red sun rays dispersed across the map, terminating in the west on the borders of Russia, and in the East the Mariana Islands and as far north as the Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. They spread to the waters around Australia in the south. It was a truly vast stretch of Earth. The Roman Empire took four hundred years to forge, the British Empire took two centuries, but the Japanese Empire was established within a decade. He
admired the map, but Toshihira Inoguchi had always known that the Japanese expanded too far, too fast, and had made very dangerous enemies of the most powerful states in the world.
Most militant Japanese were wrapped up in God-Emperor worship, which was their main reason for fighting. The Inoguchi clan had always been different. From the early feudal period, since coming into contact with Dutch missionaries they had been ardent Christians. In more recent times, they had become masters at concealing this fact from the Japanese state. But, Toshihira Inoguchi only fought for his belief in Jesus Christ and God the Father.
Inoguchi was a captain in the Imperial Navy and commanded a Yamato class, super battleship, the Musashi. He had just recently been promoted to Captain. After heroic action in the service of Japan, as well as the previous captain being killed when an American fighter shot down his transport plane. Nothing fast-tracked promotion quite like the assassination of a commanding officer by the enemy.
Captain Inoguchi was a tall man when it came to his national average. He wore a well-maintained mustache on his upper lip that did not extend past the corners of his mouth. Spectacles for reading teetered precariously on the end of his nose, but he had good long distance vision. Inoguchi found it difficult to entertain a sense of humor—he had experienced too much in war and his sense of duty governed his life. But, he was by no means and short-sighted man. Inoguchi had a keen understanding of many things of military significance. He knew that the Japanese position was untenable at this point in the war. Inoguchi was a pragmatist, and that is why he advocated for a negotiated peace before he was censured. It depressed him deeply that the Imperial leadership was so unyielding that they would bring ruin to their own people before surrender. He found it quite disturbing that many of his people would pay the price.