by Robert Boren
“We almost got hit in Baltimore’s inner harbor. The FBI figured out where the device was and got to it before it could be detonated. They caught the people who were going to do the deed, too, but the media isn’t saying anything about them. No names, no nationalities, nothing.”
“Wow, that would have had an impact on Washington DC,” Jane said.
“Oh, yeah, and some nutcase group has claimed that Venezuela has annexed Mexico,” Jeb said. He laughed. “I suspect Venezuela will be a smoking hole sometime in the next 48 hours, and if anybody is going to annex Mexico, it will probably be us.”
“Nothing from the Mexican government?” asked Frank.
“Well, a lot of bodies were found. The president, and half of their legislature, a bunch of judges, mayors, and police officials. Really nasty stuff. Beheadings and the like. But that news came out before the nuke attacks started, so not much is being said about Mexico anymore.”
“Anything else?” Jane asked.
“Yeah. China moved a bunch of its army next to the border with North Korea. Russia warned them to get away from there. Lots of harsh words going back and forth.”
“China doesn’t want us to nuke North Korea,” Frank said. “It’s too close to them.”
“That’s what the pundits are saying.”
“Is anybody making comments about China having something to do with this?”
“Not in the media, no,” Jeb said. “But the internet is on fire with that. Lots of people saying that they are the only major power who has anything to gain from all of this.”
“Uh oh,” Jane said.
“Yeah, uh oh,” Jeb said.
Frank finished his drink and set it down on the table.
“We better eat something before you drink another one of those,” Jane said.
“I’m not going to have another. I’m calmed down enough now. I want to stay reasonably sober.”
“Good,” Jane said.
Jeb got up out of his chair.
“I’ll get out of your hair now,” Jeb said. “Nice to know somebody here. Good talking to you.”
“Same here,” said Frank, standing up to shake hands. “Maybe Charlie and Chester will show up.”
“Oh, you know those guys, do you?” Jeb asked, grinning.
“Well, not well, we only just met them. Chester was with us in Williams, and on the road up north. He was going to stick around at the last place until Charlie decided to leave.”
“They left. I’ve already talked to them. They're coming here. I expect we’ll see them in a couple of hours.”
“Oh, so you know those guys too, huh,” Frank said.
“Yeah, we go way back. Hilda was part of our group too, by the way. It'll be like a reunion. I’ll let you know when they show up.”
“Great, thanks,” Frank said as Jeb was walking away. He looked back and waved.
“Well, there you go,” Frank said.
“Let’s turn on the radio,” Jane said. “I’m done just listening to other people telling me what happened.”
“Good point,” Frank said. He reached over and switched on the radio, and started searching for a news station. He found one pretty quickly.
“Russia has warned China to move its forces away from North Korean border within twenty four hours, or risk losing them,” the announcer said. “China responded by asking for the UN to take up the matter tonight. The US government has said it will strike quickly, and has told China that it agrees with Russia and will not be deterred by China or the UN in this matter.”
“Well, Jeb was right about that,” Frank said. Jane nodded.
“The FBI is continuing to look at suspicious freighters in US harbors at this hour,” the announcer said. “No official word yet on the identity of the people apprehended at the site of the Baltimore device. The president and key government officials have been moved to safe locations due to that incident.”
“I wonder if there is anything in LA harbor?” Jane asked. I should call Robbie and see what he is hearing.”
“Go ahead,” Frank said. Jane got up and went into the coach to retrieve her phone. She dialed Robbie’s number as she was coming out. She sat down, phone at her ear.
“Robbie?” she asked.
“Mom, you got through. I’ve been trying to call you for a while now. It’s nearly impossible to get a call to connect from here.”
“Well, it’s probably like when we have an earthquake,” Jane said. “You know how they tell you to call a relative out of state?”
“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Robbie said.
“You’ve been watching the news, right?”
“Yes, all of the nuke attacks. Geez,” Robbie said.
“Are they saying anything about LA Harbor?”
“Yes, they have been moving people out of the areas right around LA harbor, and Long Beach too. I hear that San Pedro is like a ghost town right now. And Wilmington, and Harbor city, and the western part of Long Beach.”
“Do you think you're alright where you are?”
“I think so. We're a ways away from the big harbors. The closest thing to us is Marina Del Rey, and there aren’t any large ships in there.”
“Good,” Jane said.
“Oh wow!” Robbie said. “Big flash to the north.”
There was static on the line, and it disconnected.
Chapter 3 – Special Bulletin
“Oh, no,” Jane cried.
“We don’t know what happened yet, honey. Don’t jump to any conclusions. Those flashes can be seen for a long distance,” Frank said.
“It’s our little boy,” Jane said, sobbing. That was too much for Frank. He broke down and cried too. He got up and hugged Jane.
“If it wasn’t real close like Marina Del Rey, he’s probably going to be OK, honey. The wind is going to blow the fallout to the east,” Frank said, looking at her face almost nose to nose, holding her head. She stared at him with wet red eyes.
“It'll be on the radio soon. Let’s turn it up,” Jane said.
Frank nodded and turned up the radio. It was on a commercial.
“Maybe we ought to have another drink,” Jane said.
“No,” Frank replied. He pulled his chair right next to Jane’s and sat down, putting his arm around her shoulder as they listened to the radio.
The commercials were over. The announcer came back on.
“We have received a statement from the White House that retaliation has started, and will be working its way from the closest perpetrators outward. Venezuela has just been rocked by nuclear attacks in all of its ports and all of its major population centers.”
“Good,” Frank said. Jane looked at him and nodded.
“This just in. A small device was just detonated in Southern California, in Ventura Harbor. This is a harbor that was not considered a threat, so now all of the municipalities with small harbors are on alert, and are searching all boats.”
“Oh, thank God,” Jane said. “He’s going to be alright.”
“Yes,” Frank said. He petted her head and her cheek, as she started to calm down.
“The Cities of Ventura and Oxnard have sustained large loss of life and catastrophic damage. The prevailing wind is to the east, which will cause problems for the rich agricultural area that lies in that direction. Authorities have said they will require evacuation of people as far east as Simi Valley due to the fallout danger. There are also plans to evacuate the nearby communities of Thousand Oaks and Agoura. At this time it appears that the nearest big population areas up and down the coast will survive and not need evacuation. These communities include Santa Barbara to the north and the cities along Santa Monica Bay to the south.”
“There it is,” Jane said. “He’s going to be alright.”
“I hope they do a good job searching Marina Del Rey and King Harbor.” Jane looked at him, worried.
“Do you think he’s still in danger?”
“Possibly,” Frank said. “Nothing we can do about it, though.”
“In other news,” the announcer continued, “Russia has started using the same strategy in their country to take out the radical Islamists, which is to take out the closest bases first, and then expand outward. They have chosen not to use nuclear weapons nearby their country. They are using a scorched earth eradication in areas of their country that are linked to the device in Vladivostok. At the current hour, they have leveled all mosques in Chechnya, and are searching house to house for Islamist leaders in that province. The UN and Amnesty International are already protesting the actions.”
“Interesting. Wonder if there are protests for what we've done in Venezuela? Seems to me that's worse,” Jane said.
“We probably are getting protests, but Venezuela’s government was an active participant, and they committed an act of war much worse than Japan did in 1941.”
“Breaking news,” the announcer said. “A device has been located in the San Francisco Bay area, on a large private yacht. There is a manhunt going on right now to find the perpetrators. The owners of the yacht were found below deck. All of them were murdered.”
“Wow,” Frank said. “That’s probably what they did in Ventura. It’s going to be hard to find all of them. There are thousands and thousands of private boats along all of our coasts.”
“The White House has announced a press conference for 9:00 PM EST tonight,” the announcer said. “And it is expected that the Russian president will join him for part of the briefing.”
Frank and Jane heard footsteps in the gravel, and looked towards the road. It was Charlie and Chester.
“Hi, Frank. Hi, Jane,” said Chester. Charlie was standing next to him smiling.
“Well well well, I suspected we’d be seeing you guys again, Frank said, standing up. He walked over to them and shook hands. Jane followed him, nodding and smiling at the two men.
“You want to sit down?” asked Jane. “We’ve been listening to the radio.”
“We’ve got a better suggestion. The clubhouse is set up with two flat screen TVs, and we brought as much food as we could carry from my park,” Charlie said. “Why don’t you folks join us? We have CNN on one screen and Fox News on the other…..on opposite sides of the room, so you can choose your poison.”
“Actually, that sounds great,” Frank said. “What do you think, honey?”
“I’m good with it, but I want to try to reach Robbie one more time,” she said.
“Good idea,” Frank said. “Okay, we’ll be along in a little bit. Thanks!”
Chester and Charlie nodded, and then turned to leave. Frank and Jane sat back down. Jane dialed Robbie’s number on her cell phone and put it to her ear. She gave Frank a thumbs up, because it started ringing instead of giving her a busy signal.
“Put it on speaker,” Frank said. “Jane nodded and pulled the phone from her ear. She pushed the speaker button and put the phone on the table.
“It’s ringing a long time,” Frank said.
“He probably just stepped away from the phone for a few minutes.”
There was a click.
“Mom,” Robbie said.
“Yes, honey, it’s your father and me. I’ve got you on speaker.”
“I’ve been trying to call you, but still can’t connect from here,” Robbie said. “You heard about what happened in Ventura?”
“Yes, son,” Jane said.
“We were afraid it happened in Del Rey,” Frank said.
“I’d be toast if that happened. They have pretty large crews looking through the boats in Redondo Harbor and Marina Del Rey. Also down south in all of the pleasure boat harbors. You heard about the yacht up in Frisco, right?”
“Yes, we’ve had the news on the radio,” Jane said. “We're going to go over to the clubhouse in a few minutes. They have a couple of big screens with CNN and Fox News on over there.”
“And a bunch of food too,” Frank added. “How are your supplies holding up there?”
“We’re in good shape, dad. We still haven’t gotten through even half of the food we had here, and now we can go to the stores, as long as it’s not past curfew. Some items are getting hard to find though. Fresh produce, for example.”
“I’m not surprised,” Frank said. “It takes constant truck traffic to keep SoCal stocked with produce, and the roads just aren’t what they were. There’s still a war going on in the Southwest.”
“Wow!” Robbie exclaimed. “A nuke just went off in Paris. They just put pictures up.”
“Oh no, Paris too?” Jane said. She was starting to cry again. “When is this going to stop?”
“It just got announced on the Radio,” Frank said. “Listen.”
“Robbie, we gotta go,” Jane said. “Take care of yourself. Love you.”
“Love you too, mom, and you too dad,” Robbie said.
“Love you, son. Be careful,” Frank said. Jane pushed the button on the phone to end the call.
Frank turned up the radio.
“The device was probably in a boat on the Seine river,” the announcer said. “This is the worst attack yet. It happened in a very densely populated area. This one is going to have a death toll in the million range.”
“No,” said Jane. Frank was unable to say anything. He just sat, staring at the radio.
“Frank, let’s go to the clubhouse,” Jane said. Frank nodded. They put Lucy in the coach and closed the door. Frank locked it up, and they walked silently to the center of the park. Light was flooding out of the windows at the clubhouse. A few people were standing outside on the veranda, smoking. They all nodded when Frank and Jane climbed the steps. One of them said “Hi Frank.” He nodded.
They entered the large room. There was a big screen TV by the door, on the wall to the right. Across the room was another TV. There were people huddled around both of them, most having plates of food. To the left of the door, along the wall, was a long table with lots of food. Frank and Jane walked over to that, and each of them loaded up a plate. They walked over to the TV on the side of the room away from the door, and pulled up chairs. It was on CNN. There were pictures of the devastation in Paris on the screen. No commentary at the moment, just video. The bottom of the screen had headlines flowing by, and the CNN logo was at the bottom right side of the screen. Several people watching had tears in their eyes.
Charlie walked up to Frank and Jane. He was standing next to Hilda. They both smiled.
“So this is the famous Frank and Jane?” asked Hilda.
“Yep,” Charlie said with a grin.
“We aren’t famous,” Frank said. Jane looked over at Frank and smirked.
“You two look like you know each other,” Jane said to Charlie and Hilda.
“Yes, we go back a ways,” Hilda said. “I used to date this old troublemaker way back when.”
“Then she came to her senses,” Charlie said, laughing.
“No, then you met the real love of your life and got married,” said Hilda. “But that’s good. I had a love of my life too. He left me two years ago. Cancer got him.”
“So sorry to hear that, Hilda,” Frank said. “So I suppose you know Chester too?”
Hilda got a grin on her face.
“Another old reprobate that I dated when I was young and stupid.”
“Yeah, but you almost married him,” Charlie said.
“True. That would have been interesting,” she said, smiling.
“Really,” Jane said. “So this really is old home week for you guys.”
“Oh, we see each other pretty often, actually,” Hilda said.
The commentators came back on the screen. It was a young woman and an older man. They both looked exhausted.
“We have received a video from an Islamist leader in Iraq,” said the male commentator. “It arrived on YouTube less than half an hour ago.”
“We bring it to you now, uncut,” the woman said.
The video displayed on the screen. There was an old man in a white robe, with a long beard and a round hat. He was sitting on a rug. On either sid
e of him stood younger men with long beards, dressed in black, holding automatic weapons. Behind them was the logo of the terror organization that had recently taken over a large chunk of both Syria and Iraq.
The old man started to speak, his lips starting to move with no sound coming out. Then an English translator started to speak.
“By the grace of Allah, I am here to announce a new Caliphate. We have taken the battle to the Infidel in every corner of the western world, and we have just begun. Truly all praise belongs to Allah. We and our partners have placed agents in every corner of your free societies, and will use your own laws to bring you under the control of the Allah and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) His slave and Messenger. I have been declared the new Caliph of the global Islamic State.”
“Hey, spinach chin, stuff it,” yelled a man behind them. Somebody asked him to be quiet.
The Caliph continued.
“The peoples of the world will agree that they will submit to Allah, or accept dhimmi status.”
“What’s dhimmi status?” asked Charlie.
“I’ll tell you after this idiot is done talking,” Frank whispered.
“The attacks will not stop, as you are not yet convinced that you cannot defeat Allah and his armies…..Allah willing, and nothing is too great for Allah.”
“Turn this jackass off,” shouted somebody from the other side of the room.
The video ended abruptly.
“It looked like the end of that was missing,” Jane said.
The commentators came back on the screen.
“We now take you to the White House,” the woman commentator said.
The screen displayed a briefing room with an empty podium. The presidential seal was on the front of it, and there were flags on either side.
“Hey, that’s not the White House,” said somebody over to the right.
“Right, they are operating from a secure location,” somebody said. “I’m surprised the CNN commentator didn’t mention that.”
Frank turned around to see who said that. It was Jeb, standing behind him about ten feet away. He nodded, and Jeb nodded in return.
“So what is dhimmi status?” Charlie asked again.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” Frank said. “It’s a status that Muslim countries place Christians and Jews into. It is supposed to allow you to live and practice your religion freely, but you have to pay a special tax that Muslims don’t have to pay, and there are a lot of restrictions. You don’t have the same rights as a Muslim in court, for example. But they aren’t supposed to kill you, since you are also considered ‘children of the book’ and retain some protection.”
