Lethal Trajectories

by Michael Conley

  The room erupted in cheers, but Mustafa quickly got back to business. “Prince Hahad,” he asked, “please report on your activities.”

  “Thank you, King Mustafa,” responded Hahad ibn Saud, the new commander of the Royal Guards. “We were able to take out the top ranks of the Royal Saudi Guard leadership with relative ease; getting to the king was quite another matter. As you can see from the damage done to the palace, the Royal Guards were not about to change sides. The firefight lasted over an hour. Once word got out that this was a foreign-led coup attempt, however, it was easier to convince Royal Guard units outside the royal palace that we were fighting together against a foreign-led insurrection. They were, in fact, quite helpful in rounding up the ‘suspects’ we had identified—although many of them were prominent members of the house of Saud—and in executing those identified as traitors. The Royal Guards are now positioned outside the palace with orders to shoot anyone attempting to force their way in.”

  The cheers for Mustafa and Hahad were loud, and Mustafa once again stepped in to ask Prince Ali Abdullah Bawarzi to give his report.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty,” replied Bawarzi. “Major Riyadh roads, airports, and institutions have been secured. There is still moderate fighting in Jeddah with holdout loyalist forces, but we expect resistance to end no later than midafternoon today. The airports and other important facilities are secured, and we expect all port cities to be firmly in our hands by later this evening.”

  Smiling, Mustafa next turned to General Aakif Abu Ali Jabar for an accounting.

  “The helicopters flying overhead and the intermittent flyovers by the Royal Saudi Air Force are there to remind everyone, Your Majesty, that we are in complete control,” Ali Jabar said, bursting with pride. “As promised, all air force transport units were in place, and we have been airlifting our troops to all parts of the country. We have also moved our demonstration nuclear weapon to the test site in the southern wastelands for a detonation no later than tomorrow noon. All objectives have been accomplished.”

  Mustafa now looked over to his religious mentor, Mullah Mohammed al-Hazari, for his report.

  “King Mustafa, as you know, our most important work is just beginning. We have briefed educational and spiritual leaders on the insurrection. We positioned it as the birthplace of a great jihad that will soon follow. The follow-up work will begin once your announcement is made, King Mustafa. The infidel purges in Saudi Arabia will then commence, and the true ways of Allah will once again be reestablished in our country and throughout the world.”

  “Thank you, my brothers, for your wonderful work. May Allah’s will be done,” said King Mustafa with honest gratitude.

  An aide came into the room, bowed to King Mustafa, and whispered that the media hook-ups were now in place and he could broadcast at his convenience. He smiled and looked down at his notes.

  “My brothers, I will soon go on the air and read my prepared remarks. I would first like to read them to you, for your comments and approval. Please keep in mind that this early morning message, though addressed to our people, is really more for international consumption. We will advise the world we are now in charge and warn them of the perils of retaliation against us. These are critical hours. If anything seems to you to be in any way unclear or weak, we must revise it in the next few minutes. Here is what I will broadcast:

  “Fellow believers, may the peace, the mercy, and the blessings of Allah be upon you.

  “This is Prince Mustafa ibn Abdul-Aziz, speaking to you from the royal palace in Riyadh. There has been an attempt to overthrow the royal Saudi government. It was perpetrated by Zionists and CIA factions within the satanic American government, and it was beaten back at heavy cost by the brave loyalist forces of the royal Saudi government.

  “I am deeply sorry to report that our beloved king and many leaders of government and members of the House of Saud were assassinated by the infidel forces. You may rest assured these cowards will be brought to justice in the coming hours and days.

  “Accordingly, through no wish of my own, but as dictated by our Articles of Succession, I have become your new leader. This honor has been thrust upon me, and I must now do everything in the power given me to fulfill my duties and responsibilities. I am, therefore, your servant, King Mustafa ibn Abdul-Aziz.

  “There continues to be sporadic fighting as we eliminate the last vestiges of the Zionist and CIA infidel conspiracy, but the country and government are safely in our hands—or more correctly, the hands of the people and led by the will of Allah. In the meantime, I am asking that you remain in your homes until further notice to assure your safety. Anyone on the streets may be arrested as our forces strive to root out the last of this infidel insurrection.

  “To the Zionists, Americans, and all infidel leaders throughout the world, we unequivocally state that any retaliatory actions against the sovereign government of Saudi Arabia will be met with unrelenting force. The Royal Saudi armed forces are prepared to deal harshly with any aggression against our country. As an added precaution, we have planted dirty bombs in every Saudi oil field. Once detonated, any one of these bombs will release an enormous amount of toxic radioactive waste that will make the oil field unusable for decades. If any country acts against us, it will deny this oil to the world, and your economies will collapse. Our citizenry will bear this hardship with pride, for it will hasten the end of your decadent ways.

  “For the time being, we are suspending all oil shipments until the conspirators can be brought to justice. We have instructed all ships containing Saudi oil to return immediately to Saudi Arabia. Nations taking shipment of any Saudi oil do so at their own risk.

  “We will make another broadcast later today to clarify our position on a number of crucial issues. Foreign governments listening to this broadcast would be well-advised to listen carefully to what we will be telling you. To the citizens of our country and to believers throughout the world, Allahu Akbar!”

  Mustafa looked thoughtfully at the others as he set aside his speech. They erupted in cheers, and Mustafa accepted their approval with a smile before speaking.

  “That is it, my brothers. Are there any additions, corrections, or suggestions that you would have me include in my speech?”

  Before they began making their suggestions, which he had no intention of following anyway, he called in the media technicians and shortly thereafter began to broadcast his speech—a speech that would rearrange the power dynamics of the world.

  28

  Mankato, Minnesota

  27 September 2017

  Pastor Veronica felt hassled as she hurried through what she had dubbed her Wednesday Workout routine. The weekly church council and staff meetings added to her normal workload, and today she had been zapped with a request to attend an ad hoc fundraising group to upgrade her forty-five-year-old church building. With little time left to prepare for tonight’s Life Challenges group, she was nervous.

  She hustled home after the fundraising meeting to help Mandy with her reinstatement essay. She was still upset about her precocious daughter’s suspension from high school, but she tried to look at it as a learning moment for both of them. Mandy had worked hard on the essay, though, and Veronica was pleased with her efforts. She left the house again, now in a better mood, to run a few errands before the meeting.

  The car radio was still tuned to the talk-radio station. Not having had a chance to listen to the news all day, she was startled by what she heard.

  “For those tuning in late, this is Wellington Crane with a special update on the crisis now exploding in Saudi Arabia. The king of Saudi Arabia and members of the royal family have been assassinated, and fighting has spread throughout the country. A new leader, Mustafa ibn Abdul-Aziz, broadcast just minutes ago that a coup attempt had been thwarted. He blamed the insurrection on Zionist and American CIA forces and said all Saudi oil shipments would be suspended. He warned that foreign intervention would result in the detonation of dirty bombs in Saudi oil field
s, an action that would make them radioactive wastelands for decades to come.” The radio faded into static for a moment, and Veronica clicked the failing machine off and on again before getting Crane back on the air.

  “… and the White House has yet to comment on the accusations. Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but this is—pure and simple—terrifying news.”

  Veronica pulled in at the Printco Company to pick up flyers for the fundraising event. She rushed the poor cashier and almost ran back to her car, turning up the radio as she left the parking lot.

  “Foreign markets took a beating today as news of the Saudi uprising spread. For those who don’t know, Saudi Arabia produces close to twenty percent of the world’s oil and indirectly controls even more through OPEC. Disruptions in the tight oil markets are always cause for alarm, but this, ladies and gentlemen, is the grand-slam of all disruptions. The Dow Jones dropped about three percent today on early reports of the Saudi situation, and oil prices increased from $262 to $298 per barrel. Taking into account the effects of the Chunxiao Incident two weeks ago, the market has now lost almost twenty percent of its value. One can only imagine how it will react in the next twenty-four hours to Mustafa’s statement that Saudi oil will be cut off for an indefinite period of time. My advice to you, good people, is to fill up your gas tanks tonight, because you might see gas prices crash the $10 per gallon barrier tomorrow.”

  Veronica shuddered as she switched the radio down with the start of another commercial break. She noticed a line of cars forming near two gas stations and concluded the drivers were already preparing for the worst. The stock market’s loss, she knew, would weigh heavily on her Life Challenges group, as many of them had much of their net worth tied up in 401(k)-type plans. Coupled with rising gas prices and shocking news that President Burkmeister would soon resign due to a terminal illness, the bad news was almost too much to fathom. Too many things happening too fast, she thought, exceeding the human mind’s ability to process: a good topic for discussion tonight.

  Absorbed in thought, she was jolted back by a solid horn blast from the car behind her. She looked up to see the light was green; embarrassed, she accelerated while flipping back to the Wellington Crane show.

  “… and therefore, it’s time that all good Americans pull together, drop their petty differences, and work toward a common good,” said Senator Tom Collingsworth, probably as Crane’s guest again. Hmm, thought Veronica, this is a more conciliatory Collingsworth then the one ranting away last week on the show. Even Crane seemed more subdued. Veronica turned the radio off as she approached the church, surprised at the number of cars already parked there.

  Inside the church, the meeting room was packed. She took a deep breath. Winging it, she walked to the front and welcomed everyone to the Life Challenges group. After saying a brief prayer and laying out the ground rules for the benefit of the many new faces there for the first time, she opened the meeting.

  “Last week we had a tremendously helpful meeting about dealing with our fears. We talked about many fears such as fear of failure; fear of looking bad; fear of losing something or not getting what we want; fears relating to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being; and fears of all kinds. We talked about understanding and addressing our fears and the fallout from them such as anger, resentment, anxiety, stress, shame, guilt, and other emotions. As a starting point, would anyone like to comment on their fears tonight?”

  “I’m scared to death,” said a long-time attendee, “I don’t understand the things that are happening in this world. I’m absolutely shocked that we’re going to be losing our president to cancer. If it can happen to the most powerful man on Earth, how vulnerable am I? Maybe it’s a fear of death, I just don’t know….”

  “I’m afraid for my family’s pocketbook,” said another, “In only two weeks, gas prices have shot up to seven bucks or so a gallon. It’s a killer for us; we can hardly make ends meet as it is now.”

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” rasped crusty old Jake Hawkins. “I just heard on the news tonight that some A-rabs in Saudi Arabia took over the country, and that Wellington Crane fellow said that gas will cost over ten bucks a gallon tomorrow.” There was a loud gasp following Jake’s comment, and it opened a floodgate of concerns as to what might lie in store for all of them.

  Margie Schulstad repeated the fear she had expressed last week about living in end times. “What have we done wrong, Pastor Veronica? Why is God punishing us?”

  “Margie, that’s an excellent question and something I’d like to share a thought or two on if I may. I’ve often wondered myself, is God punishing us for our sins, or are we instead being punished by our sins?”

  “If we can agree that God gave us free choice, and we have made bad choices that have led to negative consequences, is this God punishing us for those choices, or are we being punished by the effects of our poor choices? For example, if one of us gets behind the wheel of a car after becoming totally intoxicated and hits another car, killing several people, are we being punished for our bad choice, or are these consequences of the poor choice we made to drink and drive?” She had their attention now.

  “The Bible is consistent in saying that if we do right by God, things will go well for us, but if we don’t, we will experience hard times. The history of Israel demonstrated that time and again. They were warned, but they walked away from God and His teachings, and sure enough, things went badly for them. Is that what’s happening now? I don’t know, you tell me.” Again, she paused to let her comments sink in.

  “Maybe in some ways, God is like a parent telling a teenage daughter that if she messes with drugs, she’ll get hurt. The teenager disobeys, does drugs, and suffers a paralyzing accident. Did the parent in this case deliberately cause the accident to happen because of the choice that was made? I don’t think so. The teen suffered as a result of that choice, not because of it. Does that make sense?” At their affirming nods, she continued.

  “The concept of poor choices and adverse consequences is not just an individual thing. It happens to entire nations and cultures. Nations get greedy, take from their neighbors—even conquer them—and try to benefit at the expense of other nations. More often than not, they pay a price as a result of that choice.

  “Sometimes I wonder if maybe God isn’t really saying ‘Believe me, people, I created you, and I know what is best for you. If you don’t follow my advice on healthy living, you will set yourself up for hard times. I won’t have to punish you for your deeds; the deeds themselves will punish you.'” As more heads began to nod in agreement, Veronica continued.

  “In America, we have led the abundant life for as long as any of us can remember. We’ve wasted vast amounts of food, water, energy, and natural resources in our consumption-based lifestyles. In all honesty, we’ve not been good stewards of the resources we have been given. Now it appears our gluttonous ways are catching up with us; we may no longer have the physical and financial resources to continue the opulent lifestyles we’ve always had. We’ve become accustomed to having everything in America, and we’ve taken our bounties as a right—an entitlement. Maybe God doesn’t see it that way. Is this God punishing us for our gluttony, or are we now about to suffer the consequences as a result of the way we have lived our lives?” Veronica sensed that some of her listeners were starting to appreciate the cause-and-effect relationships of everyday life choices.

  “My apologies for the lengthy outburst, my friends, but I think this is an important distinction for us to make as we deal with our fears of the unknown. I think we need to factor our own behaviors into the discussion and take a good hard look at our own lives and how we are living them. We are not entirely the innocent victims. God holds us as accountable for our actions as anyone else on Earth.”

  Veronica had hit a hot button, and a loud and vigorous discussion followed. By the end of the evening, a consensus had emerged that regardless of whether or not the world was in the
end times, the signs were not good. The group could see they were entering uncharted waters, and maybe, just maybe, they were both victims and perpetrators of whatever was to come. It was a fruitful meeting and a huge first step. Toward what, Veronica wasn’t entirely certain.

  A thousand air miles east of them, another meeting was about to start, one that would influence the agenda for the months of Life Challenges meetings yet to come.

  29

  New York City

  27 September 2017

  Wang Peng was spent after an exhausting day of meetings, but the vigorous self-designed physical workout he completed in the living room of his suite had its desired effect. Buoyed by a hot shower and anticipation of dinner with his college friend, the fatigue he had felt earlier was replaced by an abundance of newfound energy.

  He kicked back on the sofa and reflected on the astonishing series of events that had transpired since his touchdown at Kennedy International Airport less than three days ago, events that had quickly relegated his original Chunxiao mission to secondary status.

  It blew his mind to think the man he had spent so many pleasant evenings with at Stanford would soon become the new president of the United States. The astonishment was amplified when he learned that his friend Jack would become the new White House chief of staff.

  It couldn’t be happening—not in a million years—and yet it was. The idea that two friends would become chief confidantes and advisors to the two most powerful men in the world was beyond his comprehension. Stranger yet, they represented countries on the opposite sides of a decade-long cold war.