A few moments became several hours. Lenox and Barrington had one simple task to perform, as per orders from Director Fuller. They were to go to Shallow Lane in Corinth, NY, pick up Joseph Canaan, and bring him back to the Federal Building in Albany. Unfortunately, due to the sudden attack against them, the ATD agents had another duty to perform. They had to make certain there were no other hostiles in the area.
This was a task obstructed by the presence of Alyson Moore and her camera man. Meers was very upset over the damage done to his camera, but he shrugged it off and replaced it with another one. It was as simple as that. He did, however, see to it that the distance between himself and Agent Lenox was far enough to his liking. Alyson made his job easier by telling him to keep his distance as she trailed behind the agents. She made no comments to them. She simply watched and listened, intending to get as close to them as she could.
For the most part, the agents completely ignored her. They kept their backs to her as they went about overseeing the search for any other hidden dangers. Lenox was hoping there were other terrorists in the area. He was itching for a fight, and who better to fight than terrorists?
Barrington’s cell phone rang, and he answered it as he glanced back behind them toward Alyson. “Barrington,” he replied casually. Then, he listened. He turned to Lenox. “It’s the Director.”
Lenox nodded. “Go talk to him. I’ll take care of the snoop.”
“You really do need a life.”
“I’ve got a life. Beat it.”
Barrington nodded and headed away from him. He was only aware of Lenox heading toward Alyson when he said, “Director, Canaan is in our custody.”
“Then, why are you still there?” Director Fuller’s voice responded from the cell phone. “You should have been on your way a while ago.”
“I’m sure you’re aware of the attack.”
“Which one? The attack that caused the explosion in the neighborhood you're in, or the attack on a news reporter’s cameraman?” There was a sigh. “You’ve been there long enough, Albert. It’s time to move on. Let the local authorities take it from there. Just bring Joseph here as soon as possible. Before something else happens!”
Barrington glanced around. “We’re just making sure the area is secure. We can’t leave if there are other terrorists around, can we?”
“I suppose not. What exactly occurred there?”
Barrington told him everything, from the time of their arrival up until the assault from the terrorists.
“And what happened with the cameraman?”
“Knox didn’t like being filmed. You know he’s camera shy.”
“The DEN called my office and complained. You tell him to stop spending my money on property he destroys. Especially when it’s not his!”
Barrington couldn’t help it. He grinned. “I’ll tell him, but you really do know how much good that will do.”
There was a pause. “Albert, William is on his way to the Bunker. If anything happens…” he trailed off.
Barrington frowned. “What could possibly happen, Director?”
“I’m just getting some very scary vibes here. Besides, anyone who can see the signs must know what's coming. I’m afraid the sky is going to fall and we'll not have the power to stop it. The entire planet is a powder keg. The fuse has been lit long ago, but I believe the explosion is very close.” There was a brief pause. “It’s going to happen. I can feel it.”
Barrington paused as he gathered his thoughts. The Director was not only his boss, but his friend. “Todd…I thought you didn’t give in to Nichole’s prophecies of doom.”
“I’m not talking about prophecy. She thinks she and all who believe will be caught up and taken into heaven before this storm hits. Or that's her hope anyway. I’m talking about our country and the enemies rising against her. We’ve been getting nothing but threats since 9-11 and everything we’ve discovered about the terrorist threat is leading to only one conclusion. There will be an attack. People will die. I fear the losses will be great.”
“What can we do about it?”
“I don’t believe we can do anything about it. Just get Joseph here and then we’ll all go to the Bunker.”
Barrington frowned. “Why don’t we just meet at the Bunker?”
There was a pause on the line. “Yes. Yes, that's what we’ll do. Alright, I’ll meet you there. I’ll head there tonight after I finish a few chores here.”
“We’ll see you there.”
“Albert, Michael isn’t going to like the change of plans. He won’t understand why you’re going to the Bunker, but we can’t tell him what we know. He doesn’t believe America can ever fall.”
“He won’t question your orders.”
There was a chuckle. “We both know that isn’t true.”
“Okay, Todd…he questions them, but he does carry them out.”
“To an extent.”
“I’ll drive. We’ll be up there some time tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll see you there.”
With the phone conversation ended, Barrington put away his cell phone as he looked for Lenox. He found him slamming the trunk of a police car closed.
“Ready to go?” Lenox inquired as he fell into step beside his friend.
Barrington glanced around. “Yeah…Where is Alyson Moore?”
There was a thump from the trunk of the police car.
Lenox headed for their car. “We need to head back with our prisoner, Al. I also need to requisition a new pair of handcuff’s. I lost mine.”
Barrington shook his head. “Uhm, are you telling me…?”
“I’m not telling you anything other than I need a new pair of ‘cuffs. Let’s go.”
With their prisoner secured in the back seat of the car, Lenox and Barrington climbed into the front. Barrington got behind the steering wheel and began to drive them to their new destination. He decided he would let Lenox in on where they were going a little later into the journey, but even that ended up taking a back seat when he realized something was wrong.
They were being followed.
Bunker Island was located in the Adirondacks of New York. It was a parcel of land in a valley in the mountains. There was plenty of land for farming, and if any one trespassed, intentionally or accidentally, it would be assumed that they were trespassing on a farm. However, the area was remote enough where trespassers were far and few between.
The farmhouse and barn were constantly alive with activity. Several miles from the farmhouse was a small warehouse which housed a piper plane, and a few choppers, but beneath the farmhouse, the barn, and the warehouse, there were passages. One such passage led from the warehouse to the barn. A smaller passage led from the barn to the farmhouse. It was the farmhouse which was where the main operations of the hidden facility was located.
Every single man and woman on the property was an ATD agent, playing the part. They were all there for one single purpose. They were there to be a fighting force against terrorists in the event of an all out attack upon American soil. They were all of one mind. Most of them had hopes the day terrorists launched such an attack would never come, and perhaps a few of them believed it never would. But some of them believed it would happen, and they wanted to be in the fight.
LeBeau and Vogel flew their Huey into the valley and LeBeau shook his head, snorting in disbelief.
Vogel glanced at him. “What’s your problem?”
“Ya know, it just occurred to me that there ain’t no power lines through here.” LeBeau studied the layout of the farmland below them. “No wires. No poles. Nuttin’. So how is it we get power through here?”
“Duh, I dunno, Bullwinkle. Maybe those solar panels have something to do with it. They’re on the rooftops of all of the buildings. Plus this place has plenty of generators. Everything else is done by hand, just the way God intended it to be.”
“What? You sayin’ God didn’t want us to use electricity or somethin’? How crazy is that?”
“Oh, maybe He did want us to, but the people also tried to build a tower to heaven. Because of that, God confused them so they couldn’t understand each other.” He let out a chuckle. “Wish I could go back in time to see that.”
“Man, what are you talkin' about?”
“Keith, I’m saying mankind has run its course and it's time for God to step in. Look, I’ve been telling you for a long time that the day would come when the prophecies in the Bible would come to pass. I know you aren’t a Christian, but you have to feel something. Something in your gut has to be telling you that it’s coming and we may not be ready for it.”
“I thought you was ready.”
“Yeah…if the rapture happens, then, of course I’m ready, but not even I know when it will occur. No one knows the time. It could happen before a world wide tragedy, or it could happen later.”
“What world wide tragedy?”
Vogel shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m only saying.”
“You Christians don’t make a lick of sense.”
LeBeau and Vogel began to head for a landing pad outside the warehouse. Before they even began to touch down, Fronk got up from where he was sitting and opened the door.
“Crazy Man!” Shiva exclaimed, reaching for him.
Fronk leaped out of the chopper and hit the ground with a roll. He bounced back on his feet and headed for the side entrance to the warehouse. By the time he was inside, LeBeau and Vogel were shutting down the Huey. Shiva climbed out and headed after Fronk. He found him inside, working a crank clockwise. A chain hanging from the wall was slowly pulling open two large doors on the floor. Shiva began to help him out.
This was Shiva’s first visit to the Bunker. He looked curiously toward the opening they were making. “What’s down there?” he asked.
“What could very well be our only hope,” Fronk responded softly.
Shiva glanced at him.
By the time they had the large doors open, Vogel and LeBeau had joined them. They stood at the opening and looked down into a large room. LeBeau whistled at what he saw. It could only be described as a Gunship, a helicopter with plenty of firepower. It was one mean looking helicopter. It was black and had no markings whatsoever.
“Whoa,” Shiva said. “That’s awesome.”
LeBeau glanced at Vogel. “What’s this about?”
“This is your project,” Fronk told him.
“What project?”
“It’s a project I like to call Project Storm Breaker...But in order for this project to be successful, you need to pull out every computer component that thing has and rewire it completely. To put it simply, go back to the basics.”
“You serious?”
Fronk nodded. “The Director’s orders…upon my recommendations.”
“Man, computers these days is what makes these birds fly.”
“Not any more. Just do it. Do it quickly.”
LeBeau paused. “How quickly?”
Fronk looked into his eyes and leaned forward. “As fast as you can. When you‘re done with the Gunship, do the Huey.” With that, he turned and walked away.
Shiva didn’t know what else to do, so he followed Fronk. From that moment on, the way he saw things began to change. He spent most of that day walking around the farmlands and noting the way things were. He walked around the farmhouse, and went below it to the underground facility. He took note of all of the dry goods stored there, and weapons. He began to feel like he was in a bad science fiction movie, or a Grade B film about the end of days.
Something was about to happen. He could feel it, and he didn’t like it.
Several hours later, he found himself back at the warehouse where Vogel and LeBeau were hard at work on the inside of the Gunship. He waited for a while, and his patience was rewarded by Vogel climbing out. Wiping sweat off from his brow with a handkerchief, Vogel looked up and noticed Shiva.
Shiva got right to it. “Can you take a break?”
Vogel paused. “Yeah. I suppose we could. What’s up?”
“We need to talk.”
Vogel nodded. “I’ll be right up.”
Staci didn’t have any strong desire to do any talking about what she had gone through earlier that morning. She felt more like going home and getting into her comfort food of sherbert than having a talk. She wanted to simply take her son home. Unfortunately the course was set, and Kate was not going to let her out of her sight so easily. Especially since her situation had already been on the news.
Staci let out a sigh. “I just want to be left alone,” she said to herself.
She looked up and saw Kate entering into the room with their coffee. She forced a smile and accepted the steaming, hot cup. “Thank you.”
Kate returned to her seat. “You’re welcome.” Then, she became all serious. “Now tell me everything. What happened to you today?”
Staci glanced down and let out a sigh. With a silent resignation, she began to tell her story. “Ishmael Musad was a patient who came into my care with chest pain. He had two sons with him. At least, I saw two men who said they were his sons, but for some reason, they didn’t like me.” She rolled her eyes. “And for some other reason, no one else but me saw the two men, but…but every one else only saw one of them. Go figure! Anyway, these two men, Mr. Musad’s sons, immediately took some kind of disliking to me.”
Kate smiled reassuringly. “Maybe they were just concerned and only seemed not to like you. How could they not like you? Didn’t you take care of their father?”
“That was just it, Kate. They...they wouldn’t let me.”
“What do you mean?”
“They wouldn’t let me near him. They became…they became angry and…and demanded for another doctor, but I was the only one available at the time. No other doctor could come, so when I…I told them that, they became even more upset and refused to let me near their father. I…” She shook her head. “Kate, I tried to help him. He-he began to have a heart attack, and yet he spoke out in their language--”
“What language?”
“I don’t know. It-it was foreign. Not American!” She sighed in frustration. “I just don’t know!”
Kate touched her arm. “Staci, it’s okay. Just go on.”
Staci regained her composure. “I don’t know what he said, but whatever it was, the two men didn’t let me near him. When I turned to go for help, one of the men grabbed me, held me up against the wall, and…” she swallowed at the memory of that morning, “and put a knife to my throat.”
“Oh, Staci, I’m so sorry.”
“He called me a pig.”
“What?”
“He…he said I was a pig. A filthy, wretched, little Jewish pig.” She blinked as her eyes began to water. “Oh, I hate this. If I do this one more time today, I’m going to scream.”
“Hey, it’s okay. You know, it isn’t good for you to keep anything bottled up inside, so just let it out.”
Staci took a deep breath. “Kate…they wouldn’t let me help their father be-because I’m Jewish. I-I never ever came across such hatred in all my life. I was…I was completely stunned. I still am.” She looked up toward the ceiling. “Oh, how I wish I had my sister’s strength. She would have handled it so much better than I did.”
Kate looked at her. “Sounds to me like there was nothing you could have done.”
“My sister would have karate kicked that guy into the middle of next week!” Realizing what she said, she chuckled. Then, with the image of that happening in her mind, she laughed.
Kate did, too. “Feel better?”
Staci paused. “Well…no. My-my nerves are really shaken.”
“I’m so sorry. This world is so filled with hate, but it’s only because we continue to ignore the love of God. We are human, after all, and all of us have a tendency to do just that. Leave Him out of our lives and ignore Him completely. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
“Well, so what if I’m Jewish? I’ve never been picked on before for being Jewish. Why now? A-and how could they know anyway? Because of my name? And, hey! Wait a minute. We don’t all ignore the love of God. I do go to church sometimes…when I can. I love God. Why…how could He allow something like this to happen?”
“You’re not blaming God, are you, Staci?”
Staci frowned. “Well…Kate, I don’t know. If He didn’t do anything to stop it, what am I supposed to think?”
“That there are other people in this world who don’t know Him and will act contrary to His will whether we want them to or not. And I'm sorry to say this, but many of those people don't understand the relationship God has with your people. With the Jewish nation. That's why there is such hatred, because they don't understand it. Even if they did, God is still in control. You have to know that He is! Even if you’re in a very terrible place right now, God is still who He is, and He will still do what He does.” She set her cup down. “Staci, God loves you. This isn’t His fault, but He was there with you, and I believe He was reaching out to you. Maybe you weren’t listening. Maybe you didn’t see Him.”
Staci sighed. “No, I didn’t see Him. And, of course, I didn’t hear Him. I had a knife to my throat and a maniac in my face, calling me names. How can I see Him when my life is threatened like that? And what am I supposed to do now? You’re telling me this was already on the news, so my career may very well be ended if there is any type of investigation.”
“The investigation will reveal the truth, Staci. That you’re a very competent doctor who--”
“Oh, none of that will matter! My reputation will be severely tainted. I-I’m already the talk of the hospital. What happened has already spread, and by the time I get back in there tomorrow morning, who knows what other things will be said of me.”
“I thought you weren’t going in tomorrow.”
Staci sighed. “I will not stay in my apartment and sulk. I'll go back there and do what I was born to do. Kate, this is what I have to do. If I don’t, then I will lose.”
“Let me pray with you, Staci.”
She hesitated. “Oh…alright. Yes, I…I could use all the prayer I can get right now.”
Kate took her hand in hers and began to pray. Staci felt uncomfortable and wished David would wake up. That way, if he did, they could leave and go home, and Staci wouldn’t have to talk any more about her day. But it didn’t happen. Kate prayed, and Staci continued to feel even more uncomfortable.
Staci would understand later that the reason she was feeling uncomfortable was because the Spirit was working on her heart.
The red cell phone rang.
Fuller didn’t even hesitate. He had just finished speaking with Barrington from the phone on his desk, so as he was hanging that up, he was reaching for the red cellular phone just within his reach.
Only one other person had a red cell phone like he did. The phones were set up only to receive a certain signal, as well as give. No other calls could be made from it. Fuller didn’t understand the significance of how it worked, only that it did due to the genius of William Fronk. It gave him direct access to the President of the United States, and vice versa.
Fuller answered the call. “Mr. President,” he greeted.
There was a sigh. “Todd, for the love of Pete…How many times do I have to remind you not to use formalities with me when we’re on the red phone? I hear it every day. ‘How are you, Mr. President?’ ‘Can I get you anything, Mr. President?’” A snort sounded from the red cell phone. “Even my wife calls me that when she gets snippy with me. How hard is it to say, ‘Good evening, Walt. It’s wonderful to hear from you.’?”
“If I drop all formalities with you, Mr. President, then proper protocol would be easily dismissed.”
“Rubbish! That’s just an excuse. We’ve been friends for more than forty years, so you can call me by my God-given name. I may be the President of this country, but I am still the same Walter J. Ballou from Upstate New York that grew up in the same neck of the woods you did. So say my name!”
Fuller let out a sigh, but inside, there was a part of him amused by his old friends familiar antics. “Fine…Walt. Now what is the purpose of your call?”
“That’s more like it.” The President paused. “I’m getting aboard Air Force One in about an hour, and we’re gonna take us a little trip to the designated area you and I spoke about with that friend of yours…What’s his name? The fellow who started that crazy campaign to save Gilligan?”
“That would be William.”
“Fronk, isn’t it? Or was it Frank?”
Fuller glanced out the window. “It’s Fronk.”
“Right. So anyway, we’ll be heading to that designated area just in case. You may not hear from me for a while, and if this thing hit’s the fan, then you won’t. Period. We’ll be unable to communicate for only God knows how long. This is bad, Todd. I’ve just been informed by my sources that it's going to hit and very soon. I’d say within a day or so.” There was a pause. “I always believed this day would come, but not while I was President.”
“Do your sources say how we’re going to get hit?”
“They tell me that a large number of terrorist cells have been preparing for a coup de grace. They’ve been arming themselves with automatic weapons, rocket launchers, and who knows what else. Our sources say there will be firefights in major cities wherever a cell is located. They’re just gonna come out shooting. Our major concern, however, is those other smart bombs we’ve yet to discover. Sure, we can say New York and Washington are safe, because your boys got to them first…but of the seven smart bombs we were told about, that still leaves us five.”
“They’re going to go off, aren’t they?”
There was a pause. “Yeah. Probably.”
Fuller let out a groan, and rubbed at his eyes. “God help us.”
“Yeah, well, don’t forget. It’s those Bible thumpers out there who claim God has warned about this since day one.” The President snorted. “What do we know, Todd? Maybe He has been warning us. It doesn’t matter now. It’s upon us and we have to do what we can to give our enemies a fight they’ll never forget. So you get to your Bunker and see to it your boys bring along Joe there.”
“Joe is safe, Walt. We already have him and he's on his way to the Bunker now. In fact, I planned on heading there myself in a few hours.”
“Well, good for you! Then, you’re more ahead of the game than I am. Once you get set up…well, all I can do is wish you luck. When this hits, we’ll be out of communication for quite a while.”
“Yeah. I know.”
There was a pause. “Godspeed to you, my friend. Let’s take as many of them with us as we can.”
“The same to you…Mr. President.”
“Todd…we’re going to have us a heart to heart talk when this is over.”
Fuller couldn’t help but grin as he put away the red cell phone.
She was dead. In fact, she had died a long time ago, so there really was no further need to dredge up unwanted memories from a past that was long gone. And yet there it was, like a tapeworm in his mind, continuously coming back to haunt him.
The van came to a brief halt as someone outside pulled open a warehouse door. Once the door was open, the van drove through the opening and entered the massive area.
“Brother, you look troubled,” Youmud said softly, watching his brother like a hawk seeking for prey.
Darwyn glared at him. He knew all too well what his brother was searching for. A sign of weakness. “It's you who are the troubled one, especially if you pull another stupid stunt like that again!”
Youmud lowered his eyes, feeling defeated. “I will leave the Jewish doctor alone.”
Darwyn grunted and opened the side door. He stepped out, followed by Youmud and two others. Two other men climbed out, one from the driver’s side of the van, and the other from the passenger side. They all filed out behind Darwyn, following him through a doorway and then down a set of stairs.
Darwyn contorted his face with rage. He had to. It was the only way to keep the memories at bay. Why must this continue to torment me? he thought angrily to himself. What’s done is done? The betrayal has ended! He led the men down a long corridor, lit by single bulbs. The light bulbs were spaced far enough apart to keep the corridor mostly in shadow.
The corridor turned to the left, but he stopped at the corner and simply kicked at the wall sharply three times. Then, he dug his fingers into the corner and gave the wall a tug. The wall moved, and a small space opened up, big enough for a man to enter through. He did, and the others followed. The last man in resealed the wall.
On the other side of the wall was another corridor, which led down a decline. The men followed it and eventually came into another area where there was activity. Several men were checking on weapons, or going over plans for their triumphant attack. The excitement of the day to come was in the air. As Darwyn led the men deeper into the underground lair of the cell, men everywhere stopped briefly to pay him tribute with a salute or with a manic grin of joy. They were looking forward to killing Americans, and hopefully Jews.
She deserved it, Darwyn thought, gritting his teeth. And so do the American infidels! Their blood will flow and I will bathe in it! He came to an area where a raised platform overlooked the entire enclave. He stood up there and waited.
The wait wasn't long. All activity stopped, and all eyes turned to him. A hush literally fell over them.
“My brothers,” Darwyn said, looking Youmud in the eyes before he began to make eye contact with every one else, “I will not stand up here and bore you with a pitiful speech of honor and glory.”
Chuckles of mirth spread.
He smiled grimly. “But we have waited for this day, haven’t we? Well, it has finally come. Today is the last day.” He paused to let that sink into their minds and into their hearts. “The last day,” he said a little louder. He looked at the men below him, searching their faces. “The last day for freedom in America. The last day for picnics in the park, and ice cream on a hot summers day, and baseball, and American pie. It is the last day!” He raised a fist.
The men cheered, raising a fist of their own.
“Today is the last day for America…And soon to follow…” He smiled. “Israel. The Jews. When they see the so-called Americans fall, they will fear us. And then, they will suffer worse than America.” He nodded, smiling triumphantly. “So…today is the last day for peace. And tomorrow…Tomorrow is the first day of our victory. Tomorrow, the streets of America will fill with blood and we shall strike at their hearts, bringing them to their knees. Then, we shall take their heads and destroy them!”
The men cheered.
Darwyn raised his hands and smiled. “Sleep tonight, my brothers. Keep your strength for tomorrow. For tomorrow we shall dance on the corpses of our enemies!”
The men continued to cheer, and Darwyn went about inspecting them and their weapons. He spent the majority of the day doing just that, occupying his mind with the task at hand to keep the past at bay. But unfortunately, that time came even for him when he was alone in his own place, preparing for the night. He thought he would be too excited to sleep, but he was wrong. He did sleep.
And in his sleep, he had a dream.
