Green Dreams

by Gary W Ritter

  He’d never had a conversation like this before and was fascinated. “You think what these guys did to you when you were young, kind of activated this hidden sin of homosexuality within you?”

  “That’s a reasonable way of looking at it. Regardless, I turned against men and toward women, hoping to find fulfillment and peace.”

  Jason examined the contented expression on Nancy’s face. “From that Bible verse you quoted, I take it that didn’t happen?” He repeated, “’and such were some of you.’ You’re no longer a lesbian?”

  She reiterated her earlier statement. “Because of what Jesus did for me.”

  “I don’t understand. I don’t have enough background in this. What does Jesus have to do with you coming out of the lesbian lifestyle?”

  “He died for my sins on the cross of Calvary. When He did that, He took all my sins upon Himself. When I began to comprehend that act, and that to partake of it I had to repent of my sins—including my homosexuality—and trust in Him, I grasped that like a drowning person clutches a life preserver. Jason, the moment I did that, I became a new creation. I was still Nancy Evans, but no longer Nancy, the lesbian. I was Nancy, a child of God, and I’ve never looked back.”

  Jason sipped his cooling coffee and motioned to the waitress for a refill. Once she’d topped him and Nancy off with the hot brew, he said, “This is all great for you, I guess, but what does that have to do with me and my family issues?”

  “How do you think my family responded when I became a lesbian?”

  “Umm, not real excited?”

  “To put it mildly. My father was long gone from my life, but my mother and siblings treated me like someone who hadn’t bathed for a year. They wanted nothing to do with me.”

  “That had to be tough. Were you close to any of them?”

  “One of my two sisters. After I came out, I felt like every time I saw her, she had a sneer on her face because of what I was.”

  “Then she and the others had to be happy when you became a Christian.”

  A sad smile crossed Nancy’s face. “Believe it or not, that made it worse. My family have been professing atheists for years, so it didn’t go over well at all. Plus, when I told my lesbian lover I could no longer be with her, she blew up and used all kinds of vile words to describe me. That was a pretty low point in my life.”

  Jason shook his head. “So, your family excoriated you when you celebrated the inner you and became a lesbian, and they drew farther away when you exited the lifestyle. Then you found out what the one you were with was really like. I don’t know what to say.”

  “The bottom line is that in Christ I finally found the peace and fulfillment I’d been seeking. Jesus told us we’d have trouble in this world. More than that, He told His disciples that they would face tribulation because they love Him. Because the world hates God, it also hates those who follow Him.”

  “You’ve experienced all that.”

  “I have, but I wouldn’t change any of it. One other thing. You know that I also lost a partner on this job, just like you lost Charlie Bennett. Thankfully, that partner also knew the Lord, so I have comfort that he’s in heaven right now. It’s difficult to lose someone you’re close to, but when they’re a true believer in Christ and all He’s done, you and they have the assurance of God Himself that they’ll be with Him.”

  “I don’t have any sense that Charlie was a Christian, or at least a real one. Kind of like me. I’ve been to church, read a little of the Bible, but never believed in a true and deep way. At his funeral, I did begin to question and wonder about where I’d go when I die. I do believe in heaven and hell, so the question is, how do I get to heaven? Hell sounds like a nasty place.”

  “It is. Would you like to know for sure that you’ll go to heaven and not hell?”

  Jason wanted that but didn’t have a chance to respond because his cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number. Holding up one finger, he signaled for Nancy to wait. “This is Jason.”

  A breathless voice on the other end said, “Jason Ruger?”

  “Yes.”

  “My name is Clarence; I work with Gaiatic Charities and have something important to tell you. Can we meet?”

  Chapter 41

  On the way to meet with Clarence Short, Jason was of two minds. He was intrigued by what Nancy Evans was saying and wanted to hear more, yet feared to do so for what might be required of him. The interruption saved him from what Nancy might have asked him next, and it excited him, too. This meeting might be the break he was seeking in the Gaiatic Charities case.

  Clarence had been very specific; Jason alone was to come. The man sounded extremely paranoid, and Jason didn’t want to spook him any more than he already was.

  He pulled into the parking area off Lake Shore Drive that Clarence had mentioned. Fortunately for the two of them, Clarence was in Chicago for the day. Jason exited his car and walked onto the bike path to the children’s play area nearby and sat on a bench watching mothers chat while their kids frolicked. He had copies of both the Tribune and Sun Times that Clarence had instructed him to carry for identification.

  Soon, a dumpy, balding man walked up to the play area. He glanced around and spotted Jason, who had the two newspapers prominently displayed. The man seemed to gather himself and sidled up to the bench. “Jason Ruger?”

  He nodded. “Are you Clarence?”

  Short eyed their surroundings, a fearful look on his face. “Yes, can we walk?”

  “How about by those rocks?” Jason pointed to a jumble of small boulders near the lake.

  Clarence Short never stopped swiveling around, looking first this way, then another. Jason suggested they step down a couple of feet closer to Lake Michigan, so they wouldn’t be quite as visible. Over the edge of the berm, they sat apart on the rocks facing the water.

  “You probably deal with distrustful people like me all the time,” Short said.

  “There’ve been a few,” Jason admitted. This was the other man’s meeting; he needed to open up on his own schedule.

  After several minutes of silence save for the screeching of a flock of circling seagulls, Short said, “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “The beginning is always good.”

  He rubbed his shiny head. “Should have worn a hat. It’s warm out today.”

  When Jason remained silent, Short sighed and began, “I told you I work for Gaiatic Charities. Because of what they’re connected with, and whom, if anyone learns of this meeting, I’m a dead man. I heard about you; that you’ve been looking into Gaiatic. People were concerned. Because of these meetings, I decided I couldn’t live with myself unless someone else knew what is being planned.”

  He outlined his initial involvement with Gaiatic and what that had become in his role of Director of Funding Allocation. “I’m in charge of all the money we give to other organizations. We promote many environmental causes. We’re sort of a clearing house for donors. We rate most of the environmentally friendly charities and enable people to give through us so they can do so with confidence. What isn’t known is that we’re also deeply connected with Green Liberation and a major drug cartel.”

  The sun had lulled Jason into a light lethargy. Clarence’s last statement brought him back completely aware. “Tell me more about Gaiatic’s association with Green Liberation.”

  “We’re their major funder, and their founder, Stephen Moriarty, basically controls all we do.”

  Moriarty!

  “How does the funding happen?”

  Clarence’s face took on a pinker tinge than the sun could have made it in this brief time. He directed his attention to the sea gulls. “Gaiatic insures our donors and volunteers without their knowledge. When they die, the proceeds all come to us. We then invest significant funds into illicit enterprises to juice our returns.”

  Bingo! The mafia connection with the Gianellis. Jason held back his excitement. “Have you noticed anything unusual about the money coming in?”


  “The amount seems to have increased, but I can’t say why.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  The informant’s hands rose in a defensive posture. “Look, it’s not my part to question that. I got enough problems right now without adding a possible moral issue to my conscience.”

  Because he sensed that Short was on the edge of abandoning this whole enterprise, Jason was reluctant to press him, but he needed to go deeper. “But you suspect foul play?”

  “That’s it, I’m not incriminating myself. I’ve said more than enough.” He rose on unsteady legs, almost having to sit back down.

  “If you weren’t planning on telling me everything, why are you here?” Jason hadn’t gotten to some of the specifics about Gaiatic’s relationship with the Gianelli family’s drug empire.

  Short took a step away and turned. “I’m concerned what might happen to Senator Toomey. Something’s being planned—I don’t know what—but I think he’s going to suffer for it. I like him for some strange reason, even though he’s clueless about people like me—”

  “Homosexual?” Jason ventured.

  With raised eyebrows, Short said, “It’s that obvious, huh? I suppose it is. Yeah, Toomey is ignorant about such things, but I like his passion for environmental causes. The thing is, he’s being used—big time—and I think whatever might happen will harm him. I want him to be president, and Moriarty who’s behind this could care less. He’s all about himself. Everybody else around him can be collateral damage as far as he’s concerned.

  “One more thing. Go to Elbert County, Georgia and visit their famous display. You might be surprised.”

  Jason scribbled a note.

  “I gotta go.” Short boosted himself up from the boulder. “Don’t contact me. If the wrong people caught wind of my meeting you…”

  He shook his head and rapidly walked away.

  Chapter 42

  At the Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, Jason rented a car and headed northeast on I-85. He turned toward Athens and continued on his two-hour drive to Elberton, the county seat in Elbert County, Georgia. It hadn’t taken him long to determine what Clarence Short had cryptically referenced about this location. The fame of the place, or infamy depending on one’s thinking, had spread worldwide. On the next Saturday following his meeting with Short, when Jason confronted the display he had come to see, it was obvious why the monument was such a source of controversy.

  What had become known as the American Stonehenge, the Georgia Guidestones were comprised of six granite slabs and stood almost twenty feet tall. Ten messages, or commandments were written on the stones in eight different languages. A shorter set of messages was inscribed at the top of the structure in several ancient languages. Various website commentators had warned of the potentially sinister nature of the monument, attributing occult origins to it. Not greatly familiar with such things, Jason discounted those concerns.

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead. Overhead, a brilliant yellow orb hung in the clear, cloudless sky. The steamy June day hadn’t taken long to dampen Jason’s light shirt. He wished he’d worn a pair of shorts rather than jeans.

  Jason had previously read what the inscriptions on the monument said, but it was only upon viewing this massive set of stone slabs that their import affected him. Let These Be Guidestones To An Age Of Reason written on a tablet set in front of the Guidestones introduced him to their purpose.

  The saying made him wonder, Whose reason? He was all too familiar with the attitudes of many in government who thought they knew more than the common man. The source of the funding of the Guidestones was an enduring mystery. The speculation about the benefactors behind them that Jason had read included some number of prominent, wealthy people, many of whom had government ties. Might be worth writing a book about it someday, he mused.

  He read the first of the rules:

  MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000 IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE.

  Although he’d seen this online, reading it in person took his breath away. The last statistic he’d seen about the earth’s population was that it was closing in on 7.8 billion people. To reach this minimalist goal of half a billion meant that well over ninety percent of the people living on the planet had to disappear. Who would even dream of such a thing? Why would the Guidestones originators think this was such a great idea? Was such a thing possible?

  As these questions swirled around Jason’s brain, the criminal investigation part of it kicked in. He was used to scrutinizing criminal enterprises. It often made him unduly distrustful, but that was a hazard of his job in CID.

  Another, more sinister question, surfaced. Was this objective currently being pursued? And if it was, what would it look like? Thinking of why he’d come in the first place, he wondered what Clarence Short was implying by directing him here.

  Jason shook his head to clear it. He was much too suspicious. Maybe a little paranoid? Surely, this was the brainchild of some eccentric billionaire with too much time on his hands, who’d decided to mess with people’s heads because he could.

  For the next minute he slowly perused all ten of the messages before him:

  MAINTAIN HUMANITY UNDER 500,000,000 IN PERPETUAL BALANCE WITH NATURE

  GUIDE REPRODUCTION WISELY – IMPROVING FITNESS AND DIVERSITY

  UNITE HUMANITY WITH A LIVING NEW LANGUAGE

  RULE PASSION – FAITH – TRADITION – AND ALL THINGS WITH TEMPERED REASON

  PROTECT PEOPLE AND NATIONS WITH FAIR LAWS AND JUST COURTS

  LET ALL NATIONS RULE INTERNALLY RESOLVING EXTERNAL DISPUTES IN A WORLD COURT

  AVOID PETTY LAWS AND USELESS OFFICIALS

  BALANCE PERSONAL RIGHTS WITH SOCIAL DUTIES

  PRIZE TRUTH – BEAUTY – LOVE- SEEKING HARMONY WITH THE INFINITE

  BE NOT A CANCER ON THE EARTH – LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE – LEAVE ROOM FOR NATURE

  Each of the items had implications that bothered Jason. As the first commandment had, the tenth with its repetition also brought him up short. Don’t be a cancer on the earth? This referred to humanity? That mankind was a cancer? Thus, so many people living on the planet obviously interfered with nature. And they had to be eliminated by over ninety percent to comply with the directions on these monoliths.

  Jason walked over to a nearby tree and sank down with his back against it. From this vantage point, he watched as tourists wandered around the behemoth. Some gawked and shook their heads, while many spent serious time in contemplation of what they saw.

  A medium-built man wearing a broad-brimmed straw hat and using a wooden walking stick meandered toward Jason.

  “Howdy. Hot one today.” He took out a large handkerchief, removed his hat, and wiped the sweat from his face.

  What Jason noticed immediately was the utter forgettability of the forty-something-year-old man. His nondescript face could have been any of thousands. Aside from the hat and stick, he had no memorable features.

  “What do you think of those stones?” the man asked.

  “I guess the best word to describe them would be interesting.” Although he had no reason to think of the man as anything but another tourist, something tingled inside Jason that there was more to him. Over the years, Jason had come to trust this discernment, which more than once had saved his life.

  “Right. Mind if I join you in the shade?”

  Jason gestured toward an adjacent tree and the man sank lightly into a cross-legged position. He gazed at the Guidestones for several minutes before speaking again, still not looking at Jason.

  “You’re being watched, Jason Ruger. Certain people are very concerned about your investigation.”

  The blood in Jason's veins froze despite the sweltering heat of the day. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “My name is unimportant. What’s more significant is who I work for.” He paused, apparently waiting for Jason to respond.

  “Okay, I’ll bite.”

  The man flashed a grin. “Good. I only have a couple minutes, but I want to tell
you a quick story.”

  Jason flicked his hand in a go-ahead motion.

  “All my life I’ve been deeply involved in the Green movement. I bought the doom and gloom hook, line, and sinker. We had only limited time to do something, or the planet would perish under the weight of human neglect. My zeal caught the eye of some highly placed individuals. That led to a cushy government job that quickly morphed into something more. A group that spans government entities across the globe recruited me. They soon initiated me as an apprentice in their order, and I began working my way up the ranks.

  “This group is highly secretive. It has goals that are completely rooted in the belief that the earth has conscious awareness, and that it—she—is greatly troubled at humanity; in fact, not simply troubled, but angry.”

  Jason interjected, “This would be the thinking of the planet as Mother Earth, or Gaia?”

  “Correct. As I said, this is a worldwide movement. The people in charge have reached the point where talking is unproductive. They’ve warned, cajoled, needled, even taken some drastic action at times; but the vast majority of people in the world aren’t inclined to change their lifestyles in such a manner that our earth mother can heal. As a result, they’ve decided they must step up their game. Drastically.”

  Jason nodded toward the Guidestones. “Is that where those come in?”

  “They surely do. Back in 1980 when they were erected, the commandments inscribed on them were largely a pipe dream. There was an idealism, and a hope, but how to get there was the seeming impossibility. That’s changed. What is championed on that granite is now a reality, and plans are moving ahead rapidly to achieve those goals.”

  “Why are you telling me this? If you’re part of this cabal, wherever it leads, what are you doing talking to me?”

  The man sat silently for a moment. “Things have changed in my life. They cause me to be at odds with the movement.”