The “E” Chronicles
What freedoms will citizens give up for their safety and their FINANCES in a time of
ECONOMIC MELTDOWN?
The “E” Chronicles
What freedoms will citizens give up for their safety and their FINANCES in a time of
ECONOMIC MELTDOWN?
J. Amory Forrester
This book can be purchased from Amazon.com. This and other books by J. Amory Forrester can also be purchased from Amazon.com, www.bestinternetfinds.com/amory and www.tribulationinstitute.com as well.
PROJECT TAG by J. Amory Forrester
Published by Createspace, a Amazon.com company
This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.
Cover Design by J. Amory Forrester
Copyright by J. Amory Forrester
2009
All rights reserved
First Edition 2009
Printed in the United States of America
About the Author
J. Amory Forrester was born in Amory, Mississippi, raised in Memphis, Tennessee and became a Colorado resident after being discharged from the US Army in 1973. He has been a resident of Colorado for 35 years now and is a resident of Gilpin County in Colorado and has been since 1991.
He attended a predominately black college (LeMoyne Owen) even though he is not black, in Memphis, TN. for three years on a golf scholarship with majors in Psychology and Social Science, which lead him into studying extensively all the major religions of the world, including Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Spiritism for many years in and out of college, and as a result he became a Zen Buddhist for nearly 10 years, until later becoming a Scientologist which is touted as being applied Buddhist philosophy and joined their Advanced Organization while in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1972 , and then became a Christian shortly after getting married in 1981, after reading “The Late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey.
Shortly thereafter he started Bible College and graduated 3 years later from the Word to the World Bible College in 1985 in Denver with a degree in Counseling, Missions and Pastoral and was an associate pastor for a while and published a small Christian magazine, “The Transformer Magazine” with a radio ministry and at one time built a huge internet presence, but has been an ex-pastor for many, many years now.
Having been an entrepreneur and self employed for most of his life, he has owned his own construction company, a shuttle transportation company in the gaming towns of Central City and Blackhawk, Colorado, a golf business and a Christian retreat and lodge business among others as well.
He has also spent a couple years on Mini Golf Tours scattered throughout his life, along the East Coast for the Hooters Tour, Senior Hooters Tour and did some Monday qualifying on the Senior PGA Tour as well but was plagued with back injuries.
Some of his works include one published and two unpublished non-fiction books, on which this novel is based on, and he is now working on two other fiction books currently, as well as another non-fiction book entitled “What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden”?
His hobbies include but are not limited to golf, camping, fishing, traveling, snowmobiling, and studying economic systems, religion and end time eschatology. He loves the mountains everywhere, as he has traveled to the European Alps, Hawaii, New Mexico to Canada and other mainland US mountainous regions as well including the Smoky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada’s, and the Ozark Mountains, including a mining expedition to Nome, Alaska in 2008, which explains why he like rocks, as his friends and relatives would say!
He has three beautiful grown daughters and two grandsons who are the loves of his life to which this novel is dedicated
Prologue
Power, sex and money do seem to run together. There are men in the world that are behind the scenes that are so powerful, that they control the politics and the entire economies of nations, and the US is no exception to them, and it begs the question “why have you probably never heard of them?”
That is because they like it that way and are able to keep themselves hidden from public scrutiny for the most part, as their underlings take the credit for their nefarious projects. From behind the scenes they meticulously manipulate those that are in power within the government to do their bidding, and money is the underlying strength of their power that yields its influence on men and women and causes them to execute these hidden agendas of these international kingpins.
On the other side of the coin, religious ideologies often move others to do unspeakable acts, that they would not normally otherwise do, such as horrible and oftentimes unspeakable terrorist acts, which they utilize and implement in an attempt to interfere with the plans of these powerful and obscenely wealthy men, but in actuality their interference is oftentimes used only to the benefit of these rich men allowing them only to continue to press ahead with their secret agendas.
And the regular hard working “Joe citizen” is caught in the middle of this ongoing war between these shadow governments and the terrorists, which only continues to make him only more vulnerable to the extent that he invariably continues to freely give up many of his freedoms in an futile effort to keep his freedoms in a race to save his material possessions and to stay safe in a world that to many has seemingly gone mad and who do for some reason, plainly understand the paradox of the dilemma they find themselves faced with.
Throughout history this endless cycle repeats itself, and those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat the past, until the current peril they try to so desperately escape from, lends itself to furthering their ultimate demise and the virtual completion of the agendas espoused by the richest men in the earth!
And sometimes some of those who know nothing of the agendas of the wealthy and powerful sadly learn that it is they themselves who have unwittingly and unknowingly always been at the very core of the insidious web that has been that hidden agenda all along!
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my three beautiful daughters Amberly, Andrea
and Adrianne who have made me so proud to be their father and my two
grandsons Makael and Layden, all of whom are the loves of my life!
=
It was a cold winter morning in Tehran which lies at the foot of the Alborz mountain range in Iran. The first decade of the 21st Century had passed and lurking somewhere in the harsh, unrelenting central desert region to the far south outside the bustling yet ancient city of Tehran, Iran, a most dramatic and ominous event would soon rock the other nations of the world. This event would be capable of not only destroying the advance of peace in the region, but the efforts at reconciliation that had made some progress in the Middle East recently.
After many years of U.S. sanctions and UN embargoes against the once overly defiant, fanatical and repressive government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the peaceful and freedom seeking younger college educated generation of Iranians were slowly making their dreams of peace a reality. It had appeared that through their numerous heart wrenching and painstaking hardships, they had finally achieved a long awaited measurable degree of freedom never before experienced before in their country.
And one of those newly cherished freedoms was an open exchange of ideas via the once deemed illegal use of the Internet by their government. And although still not yet comparable to their neighbors to the bordering west, namely Iraq, a somewhat relatively better standard of living as compared to their years past was finally breaking through.
Yes, tremendous progress had been made so far, mainly due to the recent regime change in Iran and their amazing reversal of their previous and once long held stance, on not recognizing the legitimacy of the State of Israel, and their unrelenting pursuit towards achieving weapons of mass destruction, namely nuclear weapons to use against Israel and possibly the United States.
As a result, the once long held sanctions had been eased tremendously earlier in the year and there had been great progress towards once again achieving a flourishing food supply and a much needed supply of medical supplies. Both were severely diminished during the past embargoes and to the detriment of the deserving and peaceful ordinary citizens in Iran.
There were now smiles on the faces of the once angry and rebellious students as they sat at picnic tables in the lush city and in the vibrant IT Park in the center of Tehran, called The Milad Complex. It was located just outside the main square of Toopkhooneh Square in south central Tehran, where previously violent and illegal demonstrations against the repressive Islamic regime were once held. The blood stained cobble stoned square occasionally still reminded them of their turbulent and violent past.
The Milad complex with its a five star hotel, convention and world trade center also contained the world's 4th highest tower, which sported several great restaurants with western cuisine, which the younger Iranians loved. The complex also offered facilities combining trade, information, communication, convention and accommodations all in one place, hoping to respond to the needs of businesses in the highly globalized world of the 21st century.
Laughter and plentiful, lively conversations now filled the air instead of whistling bullets overhead by the brutal police that were equipped with riot gear. They now nibbled once again on abundant fresh fruits, and yes, even the smell of juicy, greasy hamburgers and French fries nestled in their nostrils, as the cool winter breeze carried the addictive aroma through the air to them from the nearby McDonald’s hamburger stand at the end of the IT Park.
Pepsi cola had already replaced the un-tasteful water as the choice of drink for the day for most citizens. And the once skinny and lanky Iranian populace had grown closer to resemble the overly fed and oftentimes obese populace of the U.S. Junk food and soft drinks had slowly become the food of choice with the Iranians as the “westernization” of Iran had slowly, but surely trickled in, to the displeasure of the old guard of the ruling Islamic regime.
Being able to get scores of many different news channels from around the world both on regular TV, cable and satellite, was probably the most drastic change and a once inconceivable freedom of which the Iranian people had now achieved and one in which they cherished the most like Habib, who was a high ranking diplomat out of the Ambassadors Office in Tehran.
He and his wife Hagar loved watching American television programs, as many of the homes in Iran now have at least one TV. And watching the world news on the Sox Network in Denver was one of their top priorities.
______________________________
“Hi, Sherri. How are you this evening?” asked Stephen Raines.
“Oh, I’m just a little tired, but I’ll be just fine, I think,” replied Sherri Foster, “After the news broadcast tonight I’m going straight home and right to bed. I could really use the sleep. I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I seem to wake up more tired than when I went to bed for some reason. It’s like I’ve been working out in my sleep!”
Both Sherri and Stephen were veteran nightly TV news anchors for the Sox News Network in Denver, Colorado, and sometimes found themselves getting extremely tired and overworked due to the extensive hours they oftentimes had to endure at the busy Denver TV station.
Sherri was 42 years young and had attended MIT in New York, which is where her grandfather always wanted her to attend for reasons that were not obvious to anyone but him, and where she also eventually met and fell in love with her finance’ Arnold Childers, and graduated with honors with a masters degree in Journalism.
She had English blood from her father and Israeli blood from her mother, who had died unexpectedly while giving birth to her. Unlike her father and mother though who were immigrants along with her grandparents, Sherri was born in the US just outside Phoenix, Arizona.
Her love for the outdoors began there in the serene desert landscape of her childhood home, and it grew intensely in the awesome, majestic snow covered high mountain peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where she now lived and worked.
Sherri and her father spent countless of hours walking around their small ranch outside Phoenix that was her grandparents, until they had passed it down to her father due to their untimely and tragic deaths that were the result of a tragic car accident that happened just miles from their ranch, when she was just a young teenager at thirteen years of age. Her enduring love for the outdoors stayed with her even to this day. And Colorado with its colorful and majestic mountains even heightened and sustained her love for the outdoors and all of nature for that matter.
As Sherri brushed her shoulder length fluffy, black hair with her fingertips, she sat down, positioning herself, waiting for the “on the air” light to flash green, which was to signal her to begin the nightly news broadcast.
Sherri was a very beautiful woman with a very smooth and somewhat darker complexion than her father, Jonathan Foster, evidently having gotten those particular genes from her Israeli mother. At about 5’7” she was also fairly tall with long slender legs as well; to match her slender and very well sculptured body.
She had a very down to earth, friendly and extremely calm personality and was well liked by all those who had the pleasure to meet her. She was very well mannered and respected her elders which was something that had mostly faded away with most others of her generation. Although being, very, very intelligent, you wouldn’t know it by her oftentimes playful and silly remarks along with her laid back and somewhat girlish attitude about life.
Steve on the other hand, as he was normally called for short, was extremely hyper, which was probably due to his love for and his lifelong surfing in the beautiful waters of Hawaii’s world-renowned surf, and he was extremely comical as well. He was well liked by his friends and peers with his outgoing personality, but he was somewhat shy when it came to women. He had never been married, but always seemed to have a girlfriend, but never for any extended length of time, as he had obviously not grown up yet and clearly was not ready to be tied down, even though he was in his late 40’s!
He was born in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii, as the only son to a low ranking Naval Officer there who was stationed at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, and who had moved his family to the neighboring island of Maui upon his retirement when Steve was still just a little boy.
Steve went on to graduate from Maui Community College in Maui with a bachelor degree in journalism and soon thereafter grudgingly left the islands he loved following a short stint at a local newspaper in Maui, to move up the ladder in his chosen career of journalism.
“Not again!” the tall lanky anchorman exclaimed, “I swear this darn pen of mine only disappears just as I get ready to do my thing on the air.”
“Forget it!” shouted Jim Fent, the station manager, “You’re on in just 10 seconds. You don’t need the darn thing anyway. For Christ’s sake Steve, sit down and relax!”
“Relax! How can I do that sitting next to that sexy vixen?” Steve joked while glancing over at the calmly seated and very primped Sherri in her provocatively dressed attire.
Sherri always dressed businesslike at work, but sometimes her low cut blouses and high hemmed skirts sent the men in the room into a frenzy, and not just only Steve who always would give her some playful flack about her revealing wardrobe.
She was very much into fashion, but felt both at home within the New York high fashion scene, as well as dressing down in her stylish blue jeans and sexy colorful tank tops. She was certainly blessed with her “not too” overly endowed breasts to go along with her extremely long and beautifully fashioned legs.
Not only was she extremely beautiful and sexy, she was financially well off “to boot”, due to her own economic prowess as well as her father’s generosity towards her, being that he gave her anything she wanted, as Sherri was his pride and joy and the love of his life, paternally speaking of course. It was a wonder that she wasn’t spoiled, as she was everything but that, which was all that more to like about her.
Being from Arizona, she certainly fit the bill of a “Westerner”, even though the New York accent she had picked up from her earlier college days oftentimes filtered through and embarrassed her from time to time.
“Five, four, three, two, one,” whispered Jim as he counted down and pointed over to the anchor duo to begin.
“Good evening, I’m Sherri Foster,” announced Sherri first.
“And I’m Steve Raines, and this is the Sox News Network at ten,” added Steve. “And leading the news tonight is the massive storm system currently beating down on Denver with a vengeance,” exclaimed Steve as he continued.
“And the war drums are beating loud at the White House,” added Sherri, “As U.S. President George Rodney warns Iran that its nuclear ambition will result in dire consequences for the Iranian people, he said, to whom are not the blame and with whom we have no quarrel. He also said that it was the fanatical leaders of their nation whose policies were on the verge of bringing possible retribution on the unfortunate and peaceful Iranian people who have a rich culture and past.”
“Such a bad situation indeed, Sherri. And these stories and more, when we return with Sox News after a short station break for our sponsors,” noted Steve.
As the well hated advertisements began to air, Sherri then turned to Steve rather curiously and asked, “You seem rather a little less focused than usual, Steve, would you like to talk about it with me later after the broadcast?”
“That’s very astute of you to pick up on it, Sherri,” replied Steve, “Actually I would like to discuss it with you later. Something extremely weird happened to me last night on the way home from work that’s really bothering me. But I thought you were going straight home to bed? Are you sure it’s ok?”
“Absolutely! It’s not an extremely long story is it?” she asked.
“Well, it could be I suppose!”
“Well no matter, I can catch up on my beauty sleep anytime I suppose. You’ve always been there for me and I want to do the same for you, Steve,” she reminded him, “It is perfectly o.k., I promise.”
And while they were waiting to go back on the air, the wind continued to howl ferociously outside the station and they could see through the lone window next to the front door that the snowflakes had quickly become larger than the size of quarters and began to fall more furiously than either of them could recently recall.
And at about that time, Bogie the weatherman hastily burst through the entryway to the TV station franticly brushing mounds of snow off his trench coat and flinging small droplets of half frozen snow from off the top of his frozen and nearly totally bald skull in every direction.
“Damn this storm is worsening by the minute, I tell ya! You’d think we were at the darn North Pole,” stammered Bogie Ryan as he finally took his coat off and hung it up on the coat rack on the wall.
“Glad you could join us, Santa!” shouted Jim, “Nothing like the local jolly meteorologist missing the weather broadcast because he was caught off guard by the inclement weather for a news story. Having trouble with your reindeer again?” he asked.
“Hell, there’s wrecks everywhere. I mean the roads are atrocious, not to mention the stupid malfunctioning traffic lights everywhere. If I hadn’t traded my sleigh in and bought me a new four wheel drive truck yesterday, I’d still be on my way here, or even worst yet, I probably would’ve slid off the side of the road somewhere and would later have been found frozen to death!” exclaimed Bogie.
“Probably so, you’ve always been an accident just waiting to happen. And just so your frozen brain hasn’t forgotten, Bogie, you’re up in five minutes, you know!” Jim reminded him while making fun at him at the same time .
“Welcome back to the nightly news on Sox,” announced Steve, “And what a night it is. There seems to be no let up with the frigid temperatures and nasty blizzard conditions, as the center of this massive storm system continues to hover over the Denver Metro and surrounding foothills region. Three deaths have already been reported so far this evening which are being attributed to the worsening weather conditions. Please, if you don’t need to be out in this weather, stay home or stay put wherever you may be,” asserted Steve, “And our own Bogie Ryan will have an update on the weather report just a little later in this broadcast.”
“And the conditions are not much better at the White House nor in Tehran either,” Sherri added, “As tempers are heating up between the White House and Iranian officials, over Iran’s apparent underground testing of its first nuclear weapon ever, in the desert region of Iran.
U.S. President George Rodney has issued a strong warning to Tehran that any further nuclear testing by them would result in swift, stern and exact retaliation from U.S. warships patrolling in the Persian Gulf region including those off the coast of Somalia, that are still trying to eliminate the piracy problem in those troubled waters.
He said that the U.S. would not under any circumstances allow Tehran to develop nuclear weapons and he also called for an emergency meeting of the UN in New York. Additionally he has put U.S. Armed Forces on it’s highest alert since 911, and put the Homeland Security on red alert as well, which is it’s highest level of alertness and warning. The President said that their testing of a nuclear device was a serious matter and that the US must be prepared to put all of its options on the table to address the serious situation head on!” Sherri reported.
“Sure, that’s what they said about North Korea,” whispered one of the cameramen under his voice to the set director standing next to him.
An eerie feeling of anxiety and worry seemed to permeate the Sox station as the station hands and crew listened to the words stream out from Sherri’s seemingly calm and cherry red lips that made you want to kiss them every time you gazed upon them.
___________________________
Meanwhile, at the White House an emergency meeting of the President and his cabinet, including top military commanders was quietly being held in response to Iran’s defiant act against the US and previous UN resolutions.
“Damn it!” shouted four stared General George Perez, “I knew we should have destroyed Iran’s nuclear capacities long before now. We are at a very dangerous crossroad here, now, Mr. President. I feel that if we do not act immediately within 24 hours, our credibility within all regions of the world will be severely damaged and we run the risk of loosing support from our allies, and furthermore we run the risk that Iran has many more of these particular bombs already mounted on its long range missiles that are aimed at Israel, just waiting to see if the results of this their first nuclear testing is successful, so they can immediately use them against one of our staunchest allies. It seems to me that at this point, Mr. President, we cannot wait much longer to take decisive action against Tehran!”
“And just what do you recommend we do?” asked President Rodney.
“I suggest we take out all known nuclear facilities, communications networks and annihilate all top military targets that we know of within Iran!!” asserted Gen. Perez as his usually calm demeanor turned unusually aggressive.
“You know that would be tantamount to initiating World War III, don’t you, General? Are you prepared to do that, and are our armed forces ready to carry out such orders?” asked President Rodney as he searched for answers.
“Hell, Mr. President, Iran has already started World War III themselves! And we need to engage them before they attempt to bomb Jerusalem! If they do, then there is no turning back and the road to Armageddon will have been paved with untold and massive causalities!” the General responded, “And yes our troops are loyal and will do whatever you command them to do.”
“Now calm down there General, show a little restraint and please, let’s not use the “A” word. Evoking the words World War III is bad enough, I think. I’ve never seen you like this before, are you all right? Using the term Armageddon is absolutely not appropriate at this time. We will meet this current challenge with resolve, but we must be extremely careful with our rhetoric and our ultimate decisions. I say we take a recess for about four hours while I meet with the UN Security Council, as my helicopter is ready and waiting to take me to New York, and this meeting will reconvene at 2:00 a.m. Thank you gentlemen and I’ll see you then,” assured the President as he postponed the rest of the meeting.
__________________________
“And on an economic note,” Steve added, “Economists warn that if something isn’t done soon about the decreasing government revenues, the ability of the U.S. government to pursue its continuing war efforts in Afghanistan, and to sustain its peace keeping and training forces in Iraq and to engage in a likely prolonged war with Iran, will be drastically diminished, if not unsustainable and the U.S. will endanger its ability to protect not only the U.S. mainland but its other global interests as well.”
“And if that is not enough bad news about our money difficulties within the government,” added Sherri reluctantly, “Identity theft is becoming a nightmarish reality with more than 33% of Americans these days falling victim to it, costing our economy nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars each year and growing. Both political parties are calling for new drastic measures to thwart off this looming and increasing threat to the stability of the U.S. economy and to its citizens!”
Steve immediately furthered the admonition by announcing, “And Senator Bob Patterson from Indiana says that with the mounting underground economy siphoning untold billions of dollars from the Treasury coffers by their avoiding paying their taxes, because of their untaxed activities and businesses such as waitressing, bartending, babysitting, lawn mowing businesses and a list too long to mention, not to mention the billions of tax dollars lost in the underground drug trafficking, etc., it is resulting in the inability of the U.S. government as well as other governments around the industrialized world, to fund their necessary programs that insure the welfare, peace and security of its peoples. We must find a way to stop this serious issue from quickly becoming a foreboding reality.”
“And raising the taxes of the already heavily tax burdened American people is not a viable solution or option any longer as the President has already just previously done that,” said Sen. Patterson, “But demanding and assuring that equally taxing all business transactions and the people who conduct them, must and can be the solution! By all the experts’ calculations, nearly 50% of the economy through the businesses I already mentioned is not taxed by the US, and other countries in the entire world have the same dilemma.
Making available a comprehensive plan to bring those guilty into compliance is the solution to our under funded tax program, and one that we must find and execute. This is the fix the US needs, I am sure of it! But how to achieve this is allusive and the crux of the problem.
It is truly the duty of all Americans and other peoples of the world to pay their fare share of taxes to their respective governments, and those who would hide their incomes by not claiming their revenues in these businesses, are committing what is tantamount to treason.
Let us put our heads together and find the proper solution and make sure all citizens pay their fair share. Let us find the answers to getting all the tax revenues from this extremely large segment of society, whom are essentially getting away with robbery by not paying their part. Actually if this could be accomplished, we could then drastically reduce the high taxes that people are now already paying. The numbers don’t lie, and the people shouldn’t be allowed to either!!!”
“And on that serious note, and thank you Senator Patterson for your insight into the matter, we will be right back with the local and national weather forecast in just a moment,” announced Steve before going off camera.
_______________________________
Meanwhile moving hurriedly with his security team, the President was scurrying into the US101 team’s, next generation VH-71 medium-lift helicopter, built by Lockheed Martin, which is part of the Marine One Fleet, providing a safe and secure "Oval Office in the Sky" for the President. This high tech helicopter, which is just one of a projected fleet of 23 by 2014, was finally made available to the new President in 2009.
This Presidential helicopter with three, 2,500 shaft-horsepower CT7-8E engines that can easily lift itself to 15,000 ft., was awaiting him to be transported to Rockefeller Plaza, which is the home of the United Nations Building, to meet with the dignitaries who are awaiting his immediate and timely arrival there.
As the helicopter lifted off, the President remarked, “This copter is a thing of beauty, isn’t it General?” And he also remarked as to how nasty the weather conditions were in Washington D.C., and asked for the weather report in New York City.
“Hell of a machine Sir. And yes, the weather certainly is quite nasty Mr. President, and the weather in New York is much the same as it is here, I’m sad to say,” reported the General, “And it looks as though it might be a bumpy ride here on in Mr. President. I know you don’t like too, but you should buckle up the rest of the way in Sir!”
As they continued on to New York the thunder was deafening at times and the lightning lit up the darkened sky over Washington as the howling wind and the heavy rain continued to pound the helicopter as it swayed and shifted back and forth mercilessly in its attempt to stay its course and not fall out of the sky with its precious cargo inside.
And about that time, as the President began to open a large packet of material supplied to him by his National Security Advisor, Bill Bates, he noticed out of the corner of his eye an extremely large blast of bright light in the background of the dark night sky over Washington.
“What the hell was that?” he asked while holding on to his packet of material that he almost dropped due to his being startled.
“I don’t know!” answered Gen. Perez, “I couldn’t quite make it out in the dark, but it didn’t seem as though it was lightning, Sir! Not quite sure what it was, but not lightning though! I’ll look into the matter shortly Sir.”
“Mr. President, you have Bob Marshall on the phone, Sir. He says it is extremely urgent!” the President was informed by Mr. Bates as some lightning was flashing in the background of the night’s skyline, that was quite different from the one that startled the President moments earlier.
“Now what?” murmured the President under his voice, “What on earth could the Homeland Security Secretary want right now? He should be busy preparing to brief me when I return to D.C. later this morning. Hell, put him through I suppose and please get me a cup of nice hot coffee, would you, Bill?”
“Here’s your cup of coffee, Mr. President, I had already just poured one for you seconds ago, Sir,” offered Mr. Bates as he handed the President the coffee he had ready for him in his favorite coffee mug, with the logo of the Chicago Bulls basketball team.
As the President began to sip hurriedly on his cup of coffee, Bill handed him the secure phone and the President lifted it to his ear rather slowly and no sooner than the phone was up to his ear, it seemed like only seconds later when the President then dropped his steaming cup of hot coffee and it began to spill onto the seat right between his legs.
Immediately the President jumped up so as to not let the coffee run down the seat and collect between his legs to both scald his inner thighs and ruin his pants. As he was rising from the coffee drenched seat he shouted in a screeching tone, “Shit! You must be kidding me, are you sure?” he asked? “Son of a bitch!”
Thinking it was the spilled coffee that the President was referring to, one of his staff jumped up promptly to soak up the hot coffee before it could do any more damage than it had already done, but little did they know that, that was not what the President was referring to with his loud cursing remarks.
Only, if it were that, indeed? But much worse news was about to come to light without much delay!
About that time one of his aids turned up the volume on the TV that was playing silently in the background tuned to the Sox News Network, and lightly tapped the President on his shoulder as he was pointing to the TV screen and remarked, “Mr. President, Sir, you need to see this!”
As the President leaned slightly to his left to get a better view of the TV screen, he told Mr. Marshall who was still on the phone continuing to advise the President about an ongoing situation in Atlanta, “Just a minute, hold on for a second please, Bob.”
And from the TV the words were being uttered, “And we have breaking news from Atlanta,” announced Sherri from Sox News as the pictures from Atlanta continued to roll on the screen, “This just in! We have reports as you can now see, that a tremendously large explosion has taken place at the CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta, Georgia just moments ago.”
The scene at the CDC was frantic as First Responders arrived on the scene scurrying around to get into position and to assess just what they were up against. Huge flames were pouring up from the partial roof that was still left somewhat intact and through some of the windows on the front of the building. Firefighters were franticly attempting to extinguish the flames that were shooting hundreds of feet high into the night air from what little was left of the entire building.
“Can you tell what has and is happening there Todd?” asked Sherri, “ Todd Christenson is our Atlanta correspondent by the way,” she added.
“Yes, Sherri, I can. It appears that just moments ago a huge explosion rocked one of the CDC buildings here in Atlanta. There are, however, no reports as of yet as to just what caused this massive explosion, as it was tremendous as you can see. It is very dark here, with the smoke and all and the weather is just horrible, limiting just what we can see, but it looks like the entire building is now gone, except for part of the face of the building.
Also, Sherri, there have been no reports as of yet, of any fatalities, as normally at this time of the night I am told, there is only a skeleton of a crew here. But whoever may have been in there at the time of the explosions, I’m sad to say, possibly may not have made it through alive! There will most definitely be some fatalities unfortunately, I’m almost certain of that,” continued Todd as he gave his take on the possibility of their being causalities or not.
“Just how big is, or in this case was, this particular building at the CDC, and are there any other CDC buildings there that may be threatened as well, Todd?” asked Sherri.
“I’m not really sure just how big this building was,” replied Todd, “But I do know that it was a massive building, possibly tens of thousands of square feet, but just how big I am not sure, to be quite honest with you Sherri. I’ll have to get back with you on that one later.”
“Sure Todd, and I know it is difficult for you to hear me with all the commotion of the several fire engines and police sirens blaring there, but are there any other buildings that you can tell that may be threatened there as well?” she asked.
Holding his hand over his one ear that didn’t have an earpiece in it, Todd answered, “I can barely hear you Sherri, due to the noise as you said, but yes there are several other huge buildings here as well that belong to the CDC, but it doesn’t seem that they are really in any danger of catching fire, because they are not too extremely close to the one currently on fire, and at this point these courageous fire fighters seem to be keeping the fire contained to just this one building in front of me.”
“And do we know anything about what may have been in that specific building, Todd?” Sherri continued probing.
“No, Sherri, we don’t know much about this building,” he replied, “but wait just a minute Sherri, hold on, I think someone from the CDC is here right now. Hold on I’ll see if I can get him on camera!”
Todd then walked over to a very dignified looking man in a white shirt and thin black tie with eyeglasses, just a few feet away from him and asked, “Sir, what is your name and are you with the CDC?”
“Yes, I am with the CDC,” the person answered, “And my name is Dr. Bob Samuels.”
“And in what capacity are you with the CDC?”
“Oh, I am the Assistant Director of Operations here at the center.”
“Well, Dr. Samuels, can you tell us anything about this specific building, like what it is used for, etc. and if anyone would normally be inside the building at this late time of the night, sir?
“Sure, yes I can. That building happens to be the Infectious Disease Laboratory building which is just one of four major buildings here at the Center for Disease Control facility.”
“Infectious Disease Laboratory, huh? Can you tell us just what goes on there, Dr.?” asked Todd.
“Sure, I think it is ok now. Medical research is done in there. Pathogens that require the highest levels of safety precautions are being extensively researched in there. Such pathogens as Ebola, viral hemorrhagic fevers, monkeypox, and avian influenza and many more as well.”
“That sounds just a little dangerous, Dr., is it?”
“Well, it could be, I suppose.”
“You suppose it could be?”
“Yes, it could be, but I don’t think so, at least not at this point, I believe. Because extreme precautions are taken here to insure public health and safety, should anything like this fire for instance, should occur there. It is highly improbable, or I should say it is impossible that any pathogens could escape from the safety containers they are kept in. Actually, I would say nearly impossible”
“Nearly impossible, but possible, right Dr.?”
“Well anything is possible, I suppose, but like I said, highly improbable!” the Dr. reassured him.
“Sounds to me like there’s some mighty dangerous stuff in there that could ruin a person’s day or night in this case, isn’t there Dr. Samuels?”
“Yes, certainly there are highly dangerous pathogens being studied in there indeed, but like I said, I don’t think there is anything to worry about, as normally during this time of the evening, none of our scientists are usually working in this building and all pathogen containers are safely secured at all times anyway.” The Dr. added reassuringly, “Once we have a chance to talk to the night security people, who would be on duty during this time, as well as at all times, we would certainly be able to confirm what I have already told you, I’m sure.”
“Thanks Dr. for taking the time to speak with us at Sox News. And I’m real sorry for the destruction the fire has caused to your building as well as any injuries that may have occurred to any of your employees. Thanks again Dr. for taking the time to speak with us about this tragic event.”
“Oh sure, you’re very welcome. Anytime.”
“As soon as more information comes in we will have more continuing coverage,” replied Todd, “And now back to you Sherri.”
“Thanks for your report Todd, and we will be right back with more in a few minutes after these sponsors,” replied Sherri.
_______________________________
And back in the Presidential helicopter the mood was exceptionally somber as the horrible images on the TV played out the unfolding drama in Atlanta. It was so quiet in the helicopter you could hear a pin drop, which is extremely rare inside a helicopter, but of course this was the Presidential helicopter, which had a custom modified insulating system installed to cut down on the high inside noise levels.
But amidst the relative quietness, the snapping of the President’s finger could be heard like the thunder outside the helicopter as he slammed down the phone on which he was talking to Bob Marshall, at the Homeland Security Headquarters in Washington.
“Turn the channel to the TBGC network,” the President demanded.
Blurting out from the commotion on TBGC came the words, “The Pentagon has also just been hit by a massive explosion as well, just moments ago!”
“The Pentagon? No way, not again,” murmured one of the aids standing nearby the President, “Shit, that can’t possibly be!!”
“That’s the bright light we saw just moments ago, Sir,” immediately exclaimed Gen. Perez, “ I knew that wasn’t just some typical lightning that we both saw back there, Sir. What do you want us to do Mr. President? Do you want us to have the helicopter turn around and go back to Washington, Sir?”
“No, I don’t think that is necessary right now, General. Let’s proceed on to New York. I’m just thinking we are only minutes away, aren’t we? I’ll get my briefings there, besides, I don’t like the looks of this, and additionally no one knows that we are en route to New York in the helicopter, but only my top cabinet officials. I think we’d be much safer in New York under these circumstances, don’t you?” asked the President confidently.
“Yes Sir, I concur,” replied Gen. Perez.
“I do as well, Sir,” quickly agreed National Security Adviser Bill Bates.
About that time, the emergency alarms aboard the helicopter began sounding as emergency lights began flashing, and suddenly the voice of the pilot screamed nervously over the loudspeakers saying, “Mr. President, we have just been informed that an explosion at the New York Stock Exchange building on Wall Street has just occurred, and the central control tower at La Guardia has restricted all flights coming into New York air space, Sir. What would you like for us to do, Sir?”
“Damn, what’s next? What in Jesus’ name is going on? Is the U.S. under attack again or what?” blurted out the National Security Advisor Bates as he began to lean over the back of the President’s chair and whisper into his ear.
After a couple of seconds of Gen. Perez and Advisor Bates whispering into the Presidents ear, the President answered, “Pittsburg please, Captain. Head to Pittsburg and in a hurry too if you would! Air Force One will be there waiting for us and we’ll change ships there. Thanks Captain.”
“Damn Al Qaeda!” furiously shouted the President, as his face began to turn a deep red color, “Damn them all! Damn them all to hell!”
As the pilot changed direction to Pittsburg, Air Force One that was already standing by since the first explosion in Washington, had by now taken off from Washington to intercept the President in Pittsburg and take him to an undisclosed safe and secure location elsewhere.
“I agree Mr. President, even though we have no intelligence to affirm it at this time, these all definitely have the mark of Al Qaeda and they may in fact, certainly be responsible for these seemingly well coordinated bombings and attacks on our nation and our way of life, Sir. Only another government or Al Qaeda has the resources with which to coordinate these types of attacks and carry them out with such precision. These terrorist attacks are irreprehensible and merit our absolute immediate attention and a heavy-handed response indeed,” insisted Mr. Bates.
“Just a minute Mr. President, I have the Pentagon on the phone,” came the voice of Gen. Perez in the background again.
The air was quiet again as the mood was expectant but solemn. The TV had been turned down as the words from Gen. Perez were being anxiously anticipated.
“Damage at the Pentagon is minimal Mr. President, the blast from the explosion never got past wedge one, which is the outer wall and the first wall of defense of the building. As a matter of fact, Sir, the blast never got beyond the Kevlar in between the steel beams in the windows. The Kevlar did its job, which was to catch any fragmentation that would result from a blast event, such as the one in which has just occurred. No casualties are reported and I repeat the damage is minimum,” Gen. Perez happily reported.
“Yes!!” screamed off the lips of all those present in the Presidential helicopter, but you could tell by looking at their faces that a deep concern still prevailed as news from New York and Atlanta was still coming in over the airwaves.
Chaos seemed to be the norm for both the Atlanta and the New York firefighters as they cautiously but methodically persisted in their attempt to extinguish and contain the fires that were a result of the explosions at both the CDC and New York Stock Exchange buildings.
Although the fire at the CDC facility in Atlanta was contained, and no other buildings seemed to be in danger at this time, the situation in New York was markedly different though. Not only was the 3-alarm fire at the Stock Exchange spreading, but also reports of human causalities had quickly begun to stream in.
So far eighteen deaths were being reported including the death of one New York firefighter and numerous other injuries. The crowds became ever increasing as NYC police tried in earnest to move the crowds back as danger, from the increasing volatility and the integrity of the Stock Exchange building as well as the continual spreading of the fire to adjacent buildings, still existed.
“I bet this is the work of terrorists,” muttered one of the bystanders.
“I believe so too,” remarked another standing next to him.
“I’m glad I took all of my money out of the stock market last month,” replied yet another person in the crowd while covering his mouth in awe of the ongoing disaster.
“Yeah, me too,” responded another who had heard some of the others comments, “I bet the market plunges dramatically, whenever it reopens!”
No sooner than the last person spoke, dust and debris came billowing rapidly out of the location of the burning Stock Exchange building as hundreds of terrified onlookers turned away from the ensuing cloud of stuff coming at them and scrambled to get out of the way of the deadly flying objects.
“Oh, my God!” could be heard as it echoed from many of those in the crowd as police yelled, “Run, run, hurry, run!!”
The scene had become increasingly ugly and morbid as the crowd stampeded and dozens fell to their deaths as they were mercilessly trampled under the rushing feet of others fleeing from the unexpected debris hurdling at break neck speed towards them.
Fire engines seemed to be coming from all directions, and the police on the scene had difficulty in clearing pathways for them to maneuver their vehicles into position.
As the dust began to settle, it was evident that the entire building had collapsed into a gargantuan pile of smoking ruble.
“Oh no!” cried one of the Fire Chief’s who had just arrived on the scene. He leaned over to another Chief who was apparently in charge since the very beginning and asked him with deep concern, “How many of your men were in the building, Chief?”
“Twenty six,” slowly came out of his mouth as tears fell from his eyes in response, “Twenty six brave men. Twenty six of my brothers were in there!”
Meanwhile the rain continued to shower down in Pittsburgh as the Presidential helicopter landed, and the swirling blades from the chopper flung raindrops like darts into the clothing of the Secret Service Agents, sworn to protect the President.
As the President and those accompanying him filed out of the chopper and ran up to the staircase leading up into Air Force One, one of the head Secret Service Agents in charge yelled into the ear of the President, “Hurry up, Mr. President, you must hurry, Sir!”
And as they entered the entryway aboard the plane, the head pilot greeted them and said, “Welcome aboard, Sir, we’re ready to take off immediately, as soon as you are comfortably seated.”
“Thank you, Commander,” replied the President, “Good work, and your timing is impeccable. Thank you so much.”
Each member of the President’s entourage quietly seated themselves once the President removed his trench coat and sat down in his executive recliner, specifically fitted to him. As he sat down and then slowly slid downwards comfortably in it, he remarked, “Jesus, what a night, and one that we shall not soon forget either I’m afraid.”
He then raised his hands to cover his face momentarily, as a deep and concerned sigh billowed from between his fingers. Almost as quickly, he then withdrew his hands abruptly from his face revealing his eyes to be enlarged and red, exuding the frustration and the exhaustive condition of his mind and body.
And just as quickly, these words fell from his lips, “Gentlemen, let’s get to work, it’s going to be a long night, and you might as well fire up the coffee pots. We’re going to need coffee and lots of it, too!”
Then one of his two aides accompanying him turned on the TV to Sox News, as the other turned on their computers, to access the information they instinctively knew that would be required for the President to accurately make the necessary decisions on this dreadful and somber night.
___________________________
Meanwhile back in Tehran the normally bustling city that was usually awake already at this time of the morning with its citizens busy planning out their day’s activities while having their morning coffee, seemed to be eerily deserted this particular morning
However, it wasn’t quiet as sirens blared in the streets throughout the capital city. The populace, evidently being extremely fearful of what the U.S.’s retaliation might be for Iran’s testing a nuclear bomb, had seemingly headed for the many bomb shelters, that had been built throughout the city since the time the U.S. invaded Iraq many years earlier, when the then President, George Bush, called Iran one of the three “axis’s of Evil”, along with Iraq and North Korea.
The situation there seemed bleak as the brave citizens of Iran hung on every word that flowed from the U.S.’s President mouth as they were glued to the huge televisions that were inside the shelters, just waiting to hear if he would declare war against Iran, or if he would resort to diplomatic avenues, as he promised US voters during his Presidential campaign?
An occasional old and aging car or two could be seen racing speedily down the empty streets that were usually highly congested and in gridlock by now, where reports say that over two dozen people die each day and every day from pollution-related diseases, but for the most part today, the city seemed to be nearly uninhabited.
And there would be no skiing today just ten minutes outside Tehran at Tochal Ski Resort, the world’s fifth highest ski resort at 12,240 ft. at its highest 7th station, near Tochal's peak, as the five mile long gondola lift was empty and shut down. No one would be eyeing the 18,606 ft. high Mt. Damavand, a dormant volcano, which is usually seen from Tochal’s peak on a clear day.
And just so as in Iran, millions in the rest of the world would be awaiting the eventual reaction of the U.S. government to Iran’s defiance of UN resolutions against their nuclear ambitions, that had previously been touted by the Iranian government as discontinued, which led to the previous loosening of the embargoes and sanctions against them by the UN!
Every television set that was in working order in the whole of Iran was tuned to the various news channels around the world. Some were listening to and watching the official news channel of the Iranian government, but most were listening to Sox News, to see what the U.S. President had to say about the nuclear testing scenario, as well as what was going on concerning the several current explosions in the US!
“Ha ki, Ha ki,” which is Arabic for shit, shit, stammered Habib in broken English, to his visually disturbed wife, “They going to blame us for explosions in U.S.. I know it. Ha ki, Ha ki! All progress we make in last few years in relations with U.S. now going down toliet. And plentiful food be gone too. McDonald’s burgers and french fries all be taken away!”
Then suddenly the loud roar of military vehicles echoed between the tall building as they were coming down the nearly empty streets of Tehran just outside Habib and his wife’s downtown apartment.
“Anti missle batteries coming down streets everywhere,” he shouted to his wife, “Preparing to shoot down American missles if they come, I think!”
“I’m frightened, Habib,” his wife replied as she began to shake all over, “I’m very scared, Habib. Why do our government do this thing? Why they provoke American government? No need to do this thing. No need!!”
“Yes dear, I know. We been safe for years now. No need, I know, no need. Not good. Not good.”
“Maybe they catch who blow up buildings in America quickly, yes?” Habib’s wife wondered, “Maybe we be o.k. after all? Maybe it not be us, who blow them up.”
“Yes, maybe so, I hope too, it not us, for I fear bad things happen if it be!” Habib spoke as the both of them continued to peek out the basement window of their modest downtown apartment, not far from Toopkhooneh Square, that was given to them by their government, as the stream of troops in military vehicles and anti missle batteries continued to flow incessantly, as emergency sirens continued billowing again and again after short pauses, through the mist of the cool morning air in Tehran.
“Come my dear, let us move away from window and watch more news. Maybe some good news come soon, and let us also gather candles and blankets, should missles come. Come, come, let us do this now,” insisted Habib as he motioned to his wife with his hands flung high in the air.
The television quietly blarred in the background as they both went about doing what was necessary to prepare themselves for what looked to be a compromising scenario that was continuing to mount. Their lives, if they made it through the seemingly probable attack from U.S. missles, would never be the same for years to come, or maybe even ever!
Silently in the background in Habib’s apartment you could hear on the television, “It’s going to be a long night or should we say morning, now,” replied Steve, “And we’ll have continuing coverage of today’s events as they continue to transpire, but let’s turn now to Bogie for the weather in Denver, as promised, and Sherri and I will be back tomorrow at the same time.”
“Have a good evening,” spoke Sherri as she began to unfasten her mic, attached to her revealing low cut blouse.
“And good evening,” replied Steve as well.
As Steve undid his mic too, he slowly turned to Sherri, while his wandering eyes unintentionally dropped down and momentarily glanced at her half exposed breasts, and then quickly back up to her eyes, as he asked, “Still up for a talk tonight, Sherri?”
Steve knew it wasn’t polite to stare down at a women’s breasts unless it was your girlfriend, but Sherri’s attire sometimes just simply made that impossible to do all the time. Eventually your eyes would succumb!
“Of course, Steve, maybe it will take my mind off today’s events,” she replied.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen, I’m afraid,” Steve immediately replied as his head shifted to the right and his eyes fixed on hers. And the confounded expression on Sherri’s face was priceless as he walked towards her and grabbed her hand in earnest and tugged on her as he began to quickly walk towards the exit door of the broadcast stage.
“What do you mean by that?” she asked while being drug towards the door.
“Oh nothing. It’s just a private joke. See ya tomorrow,” he said to Jim Fent, the station manager as he hurriedly opened the door with Sherri attached and being drug behind him like a rag doll.