by Sean Salazar
Ms. Churchill sighed. “Now that you two have made your extended greetings, I want you to know that we have a video conference with the President shortly.”
She turned to Vance. “I understand you were underground shortly after Al discovered the bomb?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Vance replied.
“And your assessment,” she asked sternly.
“Well, ma’am, if you’re asking me who I believe put it there, I have no idea, but dealing with the Brotherhood like we have been, I wouldn’t rule them out.”
“From what you observed,” General Burke said, “do you believe there are more?”
“Under Washington, D.C.?” Vance asked.
“Yes.”
“My personal opinion,” Vance said, “I would say hell no.”
“And why is that?” Churchill asked.
Ed took this opportunity to chime in. “Allow me,” he said, eyeing the computer-generated map on the wall and taking notice of all the blinking dots and small notes under each one. “I’m inclined to play worst-case scenario, and in due respect to the General’s statement, I certainly do not have all the answers.” He took his eyes off the map. “The most important, urgent, and pressing question at this moment is, where will they strike next? Or, more accurately, where are the other bombs?”
Ms. Churchill stepped next to him and said, “I’m listening.”
General Burke crossed his arms and stood there silently for a moment. He then said directly to Ed, “First, I want to confirm two rumors that have surfaced.” He paused briefly and continued, “I understand that you, sir, have been recently shot twice, almost died twice, and now have fully recovered.”
Ed laughed, not prepared for the conversation to focus on him. He straightened up, pressed his shirt down and answered, “Well, yes, I can simply say that it’s part of the job; and no, I am not fully recovered.”
The General chuckled and looked down, shaking his head. He looked back up. “Okay, I just have to say for an old dusty World War Two veteran, you are one tough hombre.”
“Me and my bullet wounds thank you.”
The General continued, “Other than your being bulletproof, I also remember reading an unassuming report by a British scientist a few years ago that proclaimed that absolutely nothing would happen on doomsday December twenty-first, 2012. I also seem to recall the sci-entist’s getting that information from a World War Two code cracker. I later found out that was you.”
Ed released a sly laugh, not entirely sure how to respond without giving away his secrets. He knew that this current crisis and the past 2012 dates were now colliding, but decided to punt on the question. “What I can say,” he reluctantly added, “is that the Mayans and other prophets knew the date was important, but weren’t aware of why. Although something did happen, which I may share with you someday, General; you may actually find the correlation of today’s crisis fascinating.”
“Fair enough,” General Burke grumbled. “Now let’s change the subject to right now. You were also down there, under the White House lawn, when the bomb was found?”
“Yes.”
“I heard reports that there was a gun battle?”
“Correct,” Ed answered. “From what Al Robek said, he believes the shooter was agent Jess Contreras.” He glanced at Ms. Churchill.
“The shooter or shooters got out before we had the complex secured,” she answered.
“Do you concur with Vance here,” General Burke asked, “that no other bombs are below D.C.?”
Ed nodded, “Most likely not.”
At that moment, the monitor on the wall came on, showing a person Ed did not recognize. He watched as the man stood up, stepped to the side, and another man sat down and adjusted his earpiece. Ed recognized him as the President of the United States. “Well, hello there, Mr. President,” Ed was the first to say, assuming that he could hear him.
“Pardon me,” President Burkholder said. “I was tied up in another meeting. You would be amazed at how many high-level meetings one can be scheduled to have in a flying office.”
Ms. Churchill stepped to the side, “We just began, Mr. President.”
Ed saw another person whisper something in the president’s ear. He turned to listen, and then turned back to face the monitor. He appeared visibly upset. “Now that we are all here,” he started, with sternness in his voice, “I am now more abundantly aware that we are in the dark on this whole mess because no one on my staff has made any progress or convinced me that they even have the slightest clue what is going on.”
An arm appeared on the screen from the right side and handed the president a sheet of paper; he paused to glance at it. He then placed it down and glanced back into the monitor, “Ed, I want to personally thank you and your team because you are apparently my only friends at this moment. I cannot tell you how much I despise playing this catchup business.”
“I know exactly what you mean, Mr. President,” General Burke said.
Ms. Churchill pressed a button, slightly rotating the monitor on the wall so the president could see the map.
She then glanced at the digital map on the wall screen. “Mr. President, there is no shortage of dire news all over the world.”
“Really!” President Burkholder said sarcastically. “It seems that every time I sit down for an intelligence briefing, the news gets more complicated and depressing. So if you have more news other than a dud of a nuclear bomb that has just exploded over our capital, please let me know.”
Ms. Churchill pointed to the digital map. “Mr. President, despite all our efforts to suppress the tragedy, the news finally broke of the first church massacres in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Rome. The news initially spread by word-of-mouth and the Internet, causing retaliatory attacks in over twenty other countries.”
“Are there casualty numbers yet?” the president asked.
“Since the mainstream media news broke,” she continued, “fifty-two other attacks have occurred in even more countries; the most horrific in Indonesia just a few hours ago. The number of injured is expected to reach in the thousands. The number of dead worldwide is around six thousand and counting.”
“Is this your assessment, Ed?” the president asked.
“Yes sir, unfortunately, it is,” Ed said, stepping closer to the map and crossing his arms. He eyed the many small dots on every continent except North America. “Are these dots where the attacks have occurred?”
“Yes,” Ms. Churchill answered.
“Very well,” Ed said. “Mr. President, what I am going to tell you is something you have most likely already figured out. The Brotherhood has several missions. One of those missions is to massacre religious people, stirring up ancient hatred from their sworn enemies.”
“Go on.”
“We believe the massacres will result in an all-out war between the Muslims, Christians, and Jews.” He paused. “This I believe is the intended consequence.”
“That is what we are afraid of,” Ms. Churchill added.
Ed pointed to Lebanon, Medina in Saudi Arabia, and Rome. “As far as we know, Mr. President—and this is my question for you, Ms. Churchill—are we certain that the Brotherhood has only attacked the three congregations—two Muslim and one Catholic?”
“I am not one hundred percent positive,” she said. “But I have not seen any other reported massacres that fit the Brotherhood pattern of attack, which has been to dress as Christian Crusaders or Islamic warriors as they massacre religious groups. Although that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”
“Let me add then,” Ed said, “as I can see here on the map, there have been no religious Brotherhood attacks or retaliation here in North America. Therefore, allow me to offer this,” he paused as he scanned the map carefully, “we shall expect one here soon.”
“Is that a question?” General Burke asked.
“No,” Ed said.
Vance broke his silence. “I completely agree. I’ve seen the Brotherhood in action and I would not put i
t beyond them to stir the different religious groups here too.”
“Ed,” President Burkholder interjected, “I have not seen your final assessment or report of the Israeli Prime Minister’s assassination, so I will ask directly, do you suspect the Brotherhood was involved?”
Ed had his suspicions of who was involved, but decided not to speculate. “It’s hard to say if it was a Brotherhood attack or another retaliatory attack, but at this time, unfortunately, I do not know.”
“From what I am gathering,” Ms. Churchill added, “other than the old, usual, radical Islamic groups taking credit, I don’t believe the Israelis know either.”
“Before I make any suggestions,” said General Burke, “just so I am clear on things; I want to go over again how this crisis started and our current situation as of now. Therefore, my first question is about a rumor of an important transmission being intercepted that may involve the Israeli Prime Minister’s assassination.”
“Well,” Ms. Churchill began, “that rumor was delivered to you, General, directly by me.” She reached for a thin manila file, opened it, and retrieved a page. She glanced at it shortly and said, “This intelligence is about forty-five minutes old, so it’s dated.” She handed a page to General Burke, Vance and Ed. “Agent Robek asked me to look into this message agent Jess Contreras received before she shot everyone on the plane.”
General Burke grabbed the page, “In Lebanon correct?”
“Yes.”
“It states here,” General Burke read, “she received a message on her cell phone, then jumped up and shot the pilots, then Alex Pike, a Vatican representative named Badagliacca, our British guest here, Ed, and then Al Robek. He then reports that she jumped out of the plane while it was still on the ground. ”
“I am curious where this is leading,” the president said.
“Allow me,” Ms. Churchill said. “Following Al’s request—because he originally believed that message to be a smoking gun—we have begun coordinating with the Lebanese military and the Israelis to triangulate, and thereby generate, where the message originated.”
“Yes, and...”
“Moving backwards from the beginning,” she continued, “my team identified three identifiable key events that took place simultaneously that I, or we, think may have been related. Shortly after the bomb exploded under Baalbek, Jess Contreras got the alleged message to her cell phone while on a plane. Since the cell phone she used was not the one we issued to her, we couldn’t trace it directly. So based on information we had, we were able to roughly track the time the message was sent to her, and at the same time the Israeli Prime Minister was assassinated.” She glanced at Ed, “and your London headquarters was attacked and destroyed.”
“So what you’re suggesting is that the events are connected,” the president said.
She drew in a strong breath, and let it out slowly, “It’s a strong possibility.”
“How strong a possibility?” General Burke blurted out, almost yelling.
She pointed to the page. “Several other individuals in different locations may have received the same message.”
“Were there other attacks?” General Burke asked.
“We don’t know yet but the locations are believed to be India, Iraq, Ethiopia, and some place within the Gobi Desert.”
“In other words,” General Burke said, “this message is a smoking gun.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” she replied calmly.
The President sat back and sank slightly into his chair, “Dear God. If that is remotely true, then a rogue CIA agent may have had a part in the Israeli Prime Minister’s assassination.”
“I think we need to consider that as a possibility,” Ms. Churchill answered.
“The question is,” Ed stated, “can we keep this information quiet?”
Vance shook his head, “Probably not for long.”
“There’s more,” she continued. “Immediately after the Israeli Prime Minister was killed, several militant Islamic groups suddenly came out of hiding and claimed responsibility.”
“Obviously looking to capitalize on all the mayhem,” the general added.
Ms. Churchill opened her folder again, pulled out another sheet of paper, and handed it over to Ed. “You might find this interesting,” she said. “It may answer your question about future attacks here in North America. It’s right up your alley.”
“Oh,” Ed said. He read it over and glanced up, “This is exactly what I expected.”
Ms. Churchill closed her file. “Armored knights shooting it out with hunters?”
“I suggest keeping an eye on this,” Ed said.
The president spoke up, “Did you just say armored knights?”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Ms. Churchill answered.
“This is what I expected,” Ed said, confirming his statement to the president.
“Ed,” said Burkholder, “before I issue any direct orders of what I want done, please give me an honest opinion of what is happening.”
“Very well,” Ed continued. “I am fairly certain that we are dealing with three separate groups. First the Brotherhood.” He turned to the general. “Which is a group focused on triggering Armageddon. Second, we have the Freemasons. Their involvement, as best as we can gather, has primarily been to stop the Brotherhood from fulfilling their apocalyptic agenda.” He stopped his explanation to ensure that everyone was with him.
General Burke indicated that he was following along by nodding his head slightly. He then asked, “Armageddon, eh? I understand it has been confirmed that this Brotherhood has been massacring Christians and Muslims.”
Ed glanced at the digital map on the wall and chose his words carefully. “I believe...as I said earlier, that the initial church massacres were intended to incite extreme religious violence...and in addition, death. What I am not sure of is why? Is it a ploy of some sort? A decoy for a master plan? At this point, it’s difficult to say.”
Burke continued, “Wouldn’t the people simple figure out that they were being massacred by the same group?”
“General,” Ed said, “the Brotherhood is re-lighting the flames of religious hatred, and in fact if they are not stopped we will be experiencing a massive repeat of Biblical genocide stories.”
President Burkholder leaned into the screen. “Ed,” he said calmly, “I am not going to pretend to fully understand what is going on, and based on the earlier briefing you gave us, I would not normally question you. But are you going to tell me that massive genocide is going to happen?”
“Yes, Mr. President, and let me add that when the true fighting begins, it won’t matter who started it.”
“You’re kidding!” Burke exclaimed.
“Unfortunately, no, General,” Ed said, and then continued, “Allow me to explain in a way that would make it easier to understand what I am saying.”
The President leaned back, “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Ed cleared his throat, contemplating how deep he should go with his
explanation. He pulled his leather bag closer to him, opened it, and began. “Biblical stories are believed to be either history or myth. ‘History’ as you know is regarded as documented fact, whereas a myth on the other hand is dismissed as irrelevant and often treated as fantasy. My team and I treat every book of the Bible and many extra biblical books as factual history.
For example, in the book of Joshua, it is abundantly clear
that Jehovah or God commanded the Hebrews to take the lands of Canaan. Now virtually every city’s inhabitants were slaughtered down to the last man, woman, and child. You may wonder why they didn’t simply surrender or flee the area instead of being butchered by an overwhelming army.”
The general crossed his arms and replied, “As a military man I can think of a few reasons, but I’m listening.”
Ed reached into his bag and pulled out the worn Bible, flipped it open to Joshua 11:19-20 and began reading, “As a military man, General, you may find inter
esting what I am about to read.”
“There was not a city that made peace with the sons of Israel... They took all in battle. For it was Jehovah to harden their hearts, so that they might be destroyed, so that they might have no favor, but that he might destroy then, as Jehovah commanded Moses.”
Ed lowered the Bible, “There are other examples of this nature where Jehovah essentially instigated both sides of the conflicts...”
“The only problem is,” Burke said, “you’re comparing the Brotherhood to God.”
Ed put the Bible back into his bag, “General, in our years of research we have learned to take the Bible seriously because the story I just relayed to you is identical to what the Brotherhood is attempting to accomplish. That is, pitting one religious group against another by an outside third group.”
“This is disturbing information,” President Burkholder replied.
General Burke turned to the CIA director. “Not the tactical situation that I am accustomed to.”
“Don’t feel bad, General,” Ms. Churchill added. “This information caught all of us off-guard after the bomb was dropped in Iraq.” She turned to Ed, “Please continue.”
“Third,” Ed said, placing his finger on the map directly over Rome, “there is a possibility—and let me emphasize possibility—that another group is involved that we suspect is part of the Catholic Church.”
Silence filled the room as his words sank in.
“The Catholic Church?” the president asked, surprised.
Ms. Churchill leaned over the table. “That is new information.”
“It’s primarily speculation at this time,” Ed added. “I received a message from my colleague about a secret location in Spain that not only may have answers on the Catholic Church’s involvement, but may also be where my friend Alex Pike is being held.”