B018R79OOK EBOK

by Unknown

  The Pope’s face lit up. “Ah, yes, and you rescued all those Russian sailors. I said a special prayer of thanks for that the next day. I applaud your efforts, Commander,” he said.

  Rhodes nodded. “Thank you, Holiness, but there is a story there I feel you need to hear.” He opened the large folder and showed the Pope the contents. “This is the story of our chaplain, Father James Danner. Father Danner retired from his service in the navy many years ago, but always volunteered to come back to our ship to serve its crew. On the day we sank the Kirov, I asked him to take charge of the rescue of the Russian crew. Despite the huge numbers of men in the water, he sent the boats out to pick them up. As you will see by the testimony we have gathered, several crewmen saw him offering blessings to the men in the boats as he urged them to their task. During the air attack some time later, Father Danner was wounded, but he refused to seek shelter. Instead, he continued tending to his charges.” Rhodes began to get emotional and paused a moment to regain his composure. The Pope placed his hand on Rhodes arm to steady him. Rhodes nodded and continued. “During the second attack, he was giving last rights to one of my young crewmen when the bomb struck and killed both men.” He pulled out a photo that had been taken and showed it to the Pope. “Your Holiness, the bomb blast slammed them together at the last minute and the same cross of Holy Oil is on both men. The stole also ended up across them both. Our good Father had given the Last Rites to not only the young man but himself as well.”

  Rhodes stopped as the Pope said a small prayer for Danner. “That is so touching,” the Pope said with a tear in his eye.

  Rhodes continued. “That isn’t all. You see, the water temperature of the sea was only forty degrees. According to our doctor, all those Russian crewmen should have been dead in just a few minutes. Many stayed in the water over thirty before getting picked up. The ship we sank had a nuclear reactor aboard. Every dosimeter we checked showed that those men received a lethal dose of radiation. Yet, none showed any sign of hypothermia or radiation exposure. I firmly believe it was because Father Danner blessed the people before he died.”

  “Then there was another incident. We were tasked to go into Sevastopol harbor to try and arrange a truce. No one wanted to harm the civilian population and the cause for the Russians was hopeless. Although we had hoped that the armor on the ship would protect us from harm if the Russians decided to fire on us, I asked the crew to ask Father Danner to look after us in their prayers the night before. In the files you will see where the Russians had intended to try and sink the ship, but despite fifteen or more separate efforts, none worked. Motors failed to start, ammunition failed, accidents happened and equipment malfunctioned. None of it worked. We later found out that after the surrender, suddenly the equipment worked fine. In that short amount of time, somehow we were protected.”

  “Then more recently, crewmen aboard the Iowa have reported smelling roses. Most were experiencing some sort of difficult personal issue when they smelled it. Shortly afterward they began feeling better about themselves. Keep in mind, this is while the ship is at sea and out of sight of land. I didn’t think much of it until I got a copy of the report of the autopsy and interment for Father Danner,” Rhodes said. He handed a copy of the report to the Pope. “Then I saw this,” he said.

  In the box for the physician’s comments the physician stated that the body was not decaying like the others. In particular, it had the fragrance of fresh cut roses.

  The Pope closed his eyes. He held the paper to his chest for a moment. When he looked back at the men his eyes were full of tears.

  “Now you see why, as a Catholic, I felt we needed to bring this to your attention,” said Rhodes as he handed over the thick set of files which included the Holy Oils and Danner’s purple stole.

  The Pope nodded. “Thank you for bringing us this. I will discuss this with one of my Cardinals at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and tell him it has my special interest.” He reached out and took Rhodes’ hands in his own. “I envy you, Captain. Please let my secretary know how we may get hold of you. If this goes as I expect, I will want you here with us. God bless you for bringing this to our attention.” He turned to Hammond and took his hand. “And bless you, Admiral, for coming to see me today. You not only lifted my spirits, but gave me a revelation about one of my able priests. I will hold you both in my prayers.”

  The men stood and the Pope escorted them to the doors before he went to his private chapel for extended prayers.

  The White House

  The conference room was filled with about thirty men and women. All were members of the House and Senate. No one was sure why the meeting had been called, but they had been told it was vitally important they be in attendance.

  They all stood as the President entered with several men and made his way to his seat at the table. He noticed that the most senior of the representatives and senators had scarfed up the seats around the table, leaving the rest to find seating along the walls. They all appeared smug and self-confident.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, please take a seat. I asked you all here today to lay before you something I consider the most heinous problem we currently have in our government. As you know, come next January, I will be gone, but there is one last thing I wish to accomplish before I leave and I need you to make sure it happens,” the President said. “For decades now our two parties have bickered and fought simply because one was the majority and the other party was doing their dead level best to discredit them and become the majority themselves. Rhetoric has flown both ways and as a result, nothing has gotten done unless we were in a dire emergency. The Congress hasn’t even passed a budget since I have been in office, even though they are submitted every year. My goal is to bring this to an end,” he said.

  The Senate Minority Leader chuckled. “And what do you propose that will miraculously change the way we do things?” he asked.

  The President looked at the man with disdain. “I want a constitutional amendment passed by the November election to limit terms to four in the House and two in the Senate.”

  There was almost a roar in the room, especially around the table. No one was even willing to listen to such things.

  “I believe you can see that this will not happen,” said the Senator.

  “I believe it will,” said the President. “Since just before the war began, there has been an investigation regarding former CIA Director Harman and the attack on the United States. The FBI was called in and a special prosecutor was assigned. Director Harman had been suborned to believe he worked for the House and Senate Intelligence Committees instead of me. During the attack, his staff saw the launch of the missiles a good ten minutes before they struck their targets. Instead of putting out a warning, he called Senator Maynard of the Senate Intelligence Committee on his private line. Upon investigation, we found that the Senator called Senator Ross, Senator Hughes and Senator Kelly, all of the minority party. We also found that Congressmen Yelton, Strauss, Bennington and Stone of the House Intelligence Committee were called. Harmon later told investigators that he had been told not to do anything about the attack. But the worst was that a member of Senator Hughes and Congressman Kelly’s staff contacted a Demetri Cronin a suspected agent of the Russian government. This is important because they relayed to the man that the warning was provided by a secret satellite system called Eyeball.”

  The men in the room gasped. Most knew about the program because they were on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. The President reached back and was handed a thick folder.

  “This is an investigation and its findings. It names times, dates, places and people. You either get the legislation passed or the public will find out,” the President said.

  “You can’t do this!” yelled Senator Hughes. “It’s blackmail! You can’t tell us what to do and you would undermine this government if you did so,” he shouted, pointing his finger at the President.

  “Oh I am not releasing the information. But these men ar
e,” the President said. He motioned toward one of the agents at the door and two men came in the room. Everyone knew Bob Kelso and Brad Freeman. They walked to a spot beside the President.

  “Congressman, Senators, in case you don’t know me, I am Bob Kelso of CNN. That investigation he just showed you was not from the FBI. I’m sure theirs is much thicker than that. This is the information we gathered at CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, the AP and the Washington Post. In all, we have been contacted twelve times about the Harmon case and have been told about Eyeball from you and your people. You yourself contacted one of my reporters recently Senator Hughes. So did staffers from several of your offices. In the middle of a war, where our men and women were dying, you were out to play politics as usual. You would have had the media in this nation take part in what we consider a traitorous act that we are convinced would have killed many of our service men and women and might have caused us to lose the war. As far as we are concerned, you are all guilty,” he said solemnly. “We will not destroy the nation we serve for your politics.”

  “I am Brad Freeman. Both Bob and I have come here to let you know it will no longer be business as usual with you or anyone else in the Congress. We no longer trust you. We are going to be skeptical of anything you send us. The days of calling on you for comments is over. There are a number of media outlets that agree with us. The bickering in Congress has to end. The American media system is changing. We are returning to days when objectivity was the norm. So don’t come to us to help or hurt a candidate. Don’t come to us to get something across that you want. We agree with the President that term limits is the key to change, so I suggest you make it happen. If not, the American media will see to it that you are all brought before a judge and never receive those pensions you have fought so hard to finagle. And remember, you have no control over what we say or do. Nothing we report will be a lie, but the circumstances will insult every American,” Freeman said.

  The room remained silent. “Do you realize what this will do to us?” asked the Minority Leader.

  “Once it is passed, the legislation must be ratified. That means you may get one more term before you retire with dignity,” said the President. “But along with the amendments, I also want all people in government service to have the same insurances and retirement packages. That means members of Congress will have to get by on the same medical and retirement benefits afforded the average citizen. That will include people like me as well. We have all gotten so used to the perks of office that we don’t understand what the average American faces in these and a few other areas. So if we are going to do this, we need to do it right,” he said.

  “One more thing,” said Kelso. “You need to make sure these things are passed even though the President will out of office. You see, we are not bound by term limits, only retirement. And for my part, I will make sure the information is held until the measures are passed. Once that happens, it will be destroyed and you will never hear of it again. I speak for all of us.”

  “What about the FBI investigation?” asked another Senator.

  “I’m afraid Senator Maynard may face some charges,” the President said. “So will the staff members of Senator Hughes and Congressman Kelly,” said the President holding up a small set of papers. “You see, this is a report from Mister Cronin back to the Russian Intelligence Service. It reports on what these two men told him. Fortunately, it does not go into what Eyeball can do, it simply says there is a new satellite that we are using. Early in the war the Russians destroyed one of our older KH-14s over the area, thinking it was Eyeball. Luckily we dodged a bullet. I am told that our media will not report on the trial. When you return to your offices, you may find they are already in custody.” Both Kelso and Freeman nodded.

  O’Bannon could tell by the look on their faces that he had won the argument. He didn’t want them to leave empty handed. “Ladies and Gentlemen I am not going to dictate legislation. I ask you to please draft it so that few are hurt and it benefits the people of our nation. Done properly, you will all be known in history as possibly the saviors of our great republic. I believe the people we serve will approve. Thank you for meeting with me.”

  The Senators and Congressmen quietly left the room. A member of the President’s party stopped him and asked, “Why did you include us with all this?”

  “Because it was something we all needed to hear. Something like this hurts both parties and I doubt the public would differentiate between the two.”

  The man smiled. “You know, it might make serving much simpler,” he said as he shook the President’s hand. “We’ll get it done.”

  Bowling Green, Kentucky

  The blue Rolls made its way through the streets without a whisper. The top was down and Jeffers was enjoying the warm breeze blowing around the car. Following the GPS unit, Jeffers was led out of the city to a more rural area. Along the way he thought about all that had happened. With the end of the war Iowa had made several more stops to show the flag and to be available in case anything happened. Although the surrender had been signed, there were still some who worried there could be more trouble, so Iowa and Wisconsin made the rounds.

  The first stop for Iowa was St. Petersburg. She had arrived with three container ships full of food and supplies. Most welcome were the panels which were set up on each building. Once hooked up, they each fed not only the building but the rest of the city as well. The Iowa dressed ship and invited the residents for tours. They had berthed the ship at the cruise ship terminal which allowed ample space not only for visitors but concerts as well. The Iowa’s band played as she entered port and on one evening they gave a concert. Nearly twenty thousand people showed up for it.

  The next stop was Murmansk. To Jeffers, Murmansk was a dull, dreary place. The ship anchored in the middle of the river and boats were used to get people back and forth to the ship. It had meant extra work for the Deck Department, but it had to be done. Then there was Helsinki, Stockholm, Gdansk and Kiel. Kiel was Jeffers’ favorite. While there, he took a few days and went to Berlin where he was able to get up with Hammond and his family.

  Then Iowa pulled into Portsmouth, England. He was surprised when an officer came aboard one day with a request from Buckingham Palace. King William had meant what he said. The dinner was amazing and both he and Prince George wanted to hear about all that had happened. Jeffers could not imagine living his life in a place like that.

  Shortly afterward, Iowa was ordered home. Then came the second surprise. Upon arrival in Norfolk, he had been ordered to the White House for a ceremony. There, standing with his family and some of his shipmates, the President presented him with the Medal of Honor. He remembered the look on his family’s faces. Most were in shock just to be in the White House, but when the President put the medal over his head they all looked stunned. All but Great Grandma Hattie, who just smiled and winked at him. They were also surprised later on when the President treated them like good friends instead of something he had to do for diplomatic reasons.

  A few days later and Iowa was headed home. It took a week to get back to San Pedro, where the celebration lasted for three days. Mayor Hammond came aboard personally to welcome them home. A month later he received orders. He would go to Prospective Executive Officer School and afterward, become the Executive Officer aboard the John Paul Jones, a guided missile destroyer out of Norfolk.

  He turned the Rolls down the street where the Chambers’ home was. The homes here were larger and much further apart. Trees lined the streets and everything felt more laid back like the horse farms nearby. Turning into the driveway, Jeffers pulled up behind two other cars and stopped. He was dressed in his white uniform and grabbed his cover and the guitar.

  He was a little nervous, but it was something he wanted to do. He knocked on the door and waited. He could hear someone coming.

  Jeffers’ eyes flew wide as Evan Chambers answered the door. “Well, hello,” said Chambers.

  Jeffers felt his head get light. His knees buckled and he dropped
the guitar case. Suddenly he felt a strong pair of arms grab him and practically drag him into the house before everything went black.

  Something cool was placed on his forehead and he heard a female voice say. “Okay, come on. Wake up now.”

  Jeffers’ eyes fluttered pen and he saw what he would later say was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was fair complexioned and had strawberry blond hair cut mid length so that it curled up just above her shoulders. Her bright blue eyes sparked. There was some concern on her face that changed to a radiant smile when she saw his eyes open and focus on her. Dimples appeared on either side of her mouth as she smiled. “Well, look who’s back from the dead,” she said as she turned the cloth over and dabbed it on the side of his cheeks.

  Jeffers tried to sit up but she kept him down. “Sorry, but I just saw…”

  “It wasn’t Evan,” she said. “It was his brother Ethan. I’m his sister, Ellen. I guess he didn’t tell you we were triplets,” she said.

  “Triplets?” Jeffers asked still a little groggy.

  She smiled again. “Ethan and Evan were identical twins, but I was the tag along. Evan was always a little strange talking about us. He rarely told anyone. Sorry about that,” she said.

  “Is it safe to come in now?” came a familiar voice from in the kitchen.

  “Sure, come on in,” she said.

  She was right. They were identical, down to the curl of hair on their forehead. Ethan walked in with a smile and took Jeffers’ hand. “You must be Rod Jeffers,” he said. “Sorry about the scare.”

  “No problem, it just stopped me for a second.”

  “Stop you, hell, you passed clean out on me,” Ethan said as he handed over a glass of ice water.

  After taking a few sips, Jeffers sat up and looked around. “I hope you don’t mind that I dropped by. I wanted to return something to you, but I see you already got it,” he said seeing the guitar sitting on the end of the couch.