by Lee Brainard
“You get an A for the day, Darleen. I wish my new hires fresh out of college had a memory like that. My job would be twice as easy. They have political correctness coming out their ears, and they can master video games like they were as easy as learning to eat pizza, but they struggle with applying the math and programming skills they supposedly learned, and they can’t even remember basic office protocol. My name isn’t Dude, it’s Jack.”
She smiled and departed with a little bounce in her step. He was pretty sure she was interested in him. But he wasn’t ready for another relationship. Besides, he had his eye on a different woman—a highly unusual blonde. He hoped their paths crossed again some day. He caught himself indulging fond memories of her laughter and her adventuresome spirit. Let it go, Jack . . . it probably isn’t meant to be.
While he ate his steak and fries, he turned his attention to the evening news with Geoff Seaworthy. “The Middle East is not, however, the only hot spot in the world. Europe is experiencing its own share of tensions. The tensest place this week is certainly Ukraine, where pro-Russia riots and violent insurgency are dominating the headlines again. Over the past three weeks, the violence in Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Donetsk has spiraled into full-blown war—the cease-fire is in tatters. The past week alone has seen many hundreds of Ukrainians killed, thousands more wounded, and the Ukrainian army in retreat. Officials in Kiev insist that the insurgency in Kharkiv and the Donbass has been transformed from ragtag units that were merely Russian-armed to full-fledged battalions that are strengthened with Russian troops, including veteran NCOs, and commanded by Russian officers. They claim that more than twenty thousand Russian soldiers are operating in these two oblasts alone. This has drastically changed the dynamics on the battlefield, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have proved no match for the Russian military. Again this morning Kiev issued yet another plea to NATO, begging for intervention from the West before it is too late—before Ukraine is absorbed into the Russian Federation. To this point, NATO has done little more than posture, send a few token companies to the Baltic states, and bolster the Marine Corps presence at the U.S. embassy.
“But the violence in Ukraine is no longer limited to the East. The once relatively peaceful pro-Russia demonstrations in Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odessa have intensified into widespread violence and armed insurgency. In all five of these oblasts well-armed separatist groups—so-called local defense forces—have engaged in fierce gun battles with Ukrainian police and soldiers who were attempting to break up demonstrations that had gotten out of hand—with the demonstrators overturning cars, breaking windows, and setting fire to buildings and piles of tires. Ukraine intelligence believes there are ten thousand Russian soldiers in these oblasts masquerading as local separatists, stirring up discontent, and gathering Ukrainian membership. But, they warn us, this is just the beginning of the nightmare. There is another hundred thousand Russian soldiers at Rostov, Russia—near the border—being trained in insurgency tactics and guerilla warfare, plus more than twenty thousand Ukrainians, who shall soon join their pro-Russia comrades in the local defense forces in the inflamed oblasts. If the West doesn’t respond adequately, in a few short months these oblasts will be under full-blown Russian siege like the Donbass and Kharkiv are today.
“We sought interviews with the pro-Russia protesters and members of the local defense forces, but few would talk to us. A regional defense force commander in Odessa, who was probably a Russian army officer, did agree to answer a few questions regarding the purpose of the protests and the local defense forces—but only if we came with no cameras or recorders. His answers were short and blunt. The primary purpose of the protests is the call for a referendum to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. The purpose of the local defense forces is to protect the protesters right to protest and defend them from the illegal aggressions of the Ukrainian police force and the Ukrainian army. When we asked why they wanted to secede, he was equally blunt. He insisted that the Ukrainian people have far more in common with Russia than they do Europe and America and that they are far more likely to find peace and prosperity under the watchful eye of Mother Russia than the empty promises of Europe and America.
“We asked Ukrainian officials what branches of the Russian military they believed were behind the upheaval in eastern and Crimean Ukraine. They insisted that not only are SVR agents and Spetsnaz behind the recent upheaval in the troubled oblasts, but Russian volunteers from infantry and airborne units comprise over fifty percent of the members of the separatist groups. Moreover, they believe that the number of genuine pro-Russia volunteers is greatly inflated. In their estimation, the majority of the Ukrainian volunteers are troublemakers that have been lured by free cigarettes, vodka, and the prestige of carrying a Kalashnikov.
“We spoke with representatives of the Kremlin and asked them for their view of the situation and their response to the Ukrainian charges. They staunchly objected to the claim that Russia is behind the recent violence and vehemently denied that there are Russian troops in Ukraine other than a few peacekeepers in the Donbass. The Kremlin lays the blame for the situation solely on incompetent leadership in Kiev.”
Jack mused, I wonder what Woody thinks about this turn of events in Ukraine? . . . he’s been skeptical of my warnings about the return of the Russian Bear . . . would be hard to stay skeptical in the face of news like this . . . sure looking forward to our time together this summer . . . gonna have lots to talk about around the campfires at night . . . wanna hear Jordy’s take on this matter too.
The broadcast continued with its stream of bad news . . . the drought in Africa . . . Islamic radicals in Sudan beheading Christians . . . Greenland’s melting glaciers and global warming . . . Russian involvement in Libya . . . five more states legalizing marijuana . . . another meteorite. Jack had just stood up to go pay for his dinner—he had heard enough unsettling news for a day. But when he heard the word meteorite, his ears perked up, and he sat back down. Meteorites and comets always caught his attention.
“Last night the northern hemisphere experienced yet another large meteorite. Shortly after midnight Central time, a meteorite similar in size to the one that rattled Chelyabinsk made impact in the Canadian wilderness about seventy-five kilometers west of Churchill, Manitoba and ten kilometers south of the Seal River. Scientists are rushing to the area to search for the impact site, in the hope that they can recover fragments for study. This impact, which they are calling the Churchill impact, was accompanied with many reports of exceptionally brilliant meteors along the sixtieth parallel—in eastern Canada, Greenland, Scotland, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, and western Russia—including an exceptionally large, bright green bolide over Scotland.”
Jack had an ominous feeling about the sharply increasing numbers of meteors and meteorites. He was more nervous than ever that they were edging into the last days mentioned in Bible prophecy. It seems surreal . . . it’s starting to look like I might actually be around to see the end of the world. As he contemplated the situation, he sensed a familiar jumble of emotions—the intertwined excitement and fear that enervate the soldier facing combat. Let it come.
26
Ithaca, New York
Mid-September, 2018
Irina lay awake fretting about the situation unfolding in America . . . the pieces were starting to fit together . . . the cover-up was massive . . . the government was taking enormous steps to keep the public ignorant of the Rogue . . . they inaugurated their deception with three pieces of legislation in November 2017 . . . all blatant pretexts . . . their duplicity was working like a charm . . . the populace was oblivious to the subtle cover-up being foisted upon them.
The NASA Bill had vastly expanded NASA’s authority, giving them control over all of the nation’s observatories, even privately owned facilities. This included the prerogative to assign and deny research projects. The stated purpose of this intrusive management was eliminating research overlap so NASA could expedite the CNEOS’
s objective to find and catalog NEOs. But the real purpose was to ensure that no astronomer stumbled upon the Rogue. Only a tiny handful of elite astronomers—vetted with Top Secret clearance—were made privy to the comet and allowed to conduct research in Taurus. All other requests to conduct research in Taurus were turned down and the applicant was given their second or third choice.
The Homeland Security Act had given federal law enforcement agencies the legal muscle they needed to stop Rogue leaks dead in their tracks. It outlined broad definitions of domestic terrorism and espionage. It expanded the concept of sensitive information that posed a threat to the security of the United States. And it authorized the detention of anyone suspected of the unauthorized possession or dissemination of sensitive information. Moreover, those detained under the Security Act were treated like prisoners of war—no Miranda warning, no formal arrest, no formal charge, no due process, and no access to an attorney.
While arrests under the Act covered a broad spectrum of security issues, internet rumor suggested that more than sixty percent involved the threat which had precipitated the Act in the first place—the Rogue. To mask the true reason behind Rogue arrests, the government leaked reports to the media, which alleged that the arrested parties belonged to terrorist front organizations in cahoots with rogue nations like Russia, China, and Iran. Even CVN, the most conservative of all the major news agencies, had bought into this official version.
The Homeland Security Act had also made it a federal offense to disseminate reports which claimed or implied that the world faced an impending apocalyptic threat from the heavens. Such reports, per official communiqués explaining the Security Act, were regarded as a threat to America, liable to promote unrest and destabilize the nation. The media, at the behest of the government, further blackened the reports, portraying them as the subtle efforts of Russian agents, both SVR and GRU, to destabilize the country. This explanation seemed to satisfy the public.
The FEMA Bill was two-pronged. The first prong had enlarged FEMA and given it a directive to ensure that every state and local government was prepared for extreme-disaster eventualities like massive earthquakes, volcanoes, and EMPs from the Sun, chemical, biological, and nuclear terrorism, and nuclear war. They were required to take whatever steps were necessary to protect their infrastructure, services, and citizens in the event of such calamities. But they were on their own for funding. No federal subsidies were available. And penalties would be imposed for non-compliance.
This bill had kicked off a flurry of construction effort nationwide. State and local governments worked around-the-clock on underground shelters, government offices, supply depots, emergency infrastructure, water sources, and power supplies. Banks and technology companies moved their data centers and critical components underground. Here again the media—serving up endless stories that fomented concern over Russian and Chinese aggression, nuclear terrorism, and EMPs from the Sun—helped the government conceal the real reason for the construction, which was the Rogue.
The second prong had introduced FEMA camps as a convenient and inexpensive way to provide for the needs of the homeless. By the time the gates officially opened on the first dozen camps, however, the concept had been expanded to include the removal of the chronically unemployed from the government dole and the eradication of a broad range of undesirables infesting the cities—like drug runners, addicts, and prostitutes. Six weeks later FEMA opened its first white-collar camp to house non-violent criminals like tax evaders, embezzlers, gambling cheats, and Ponzi schemers. Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that FEMA was also using them to hold soft terrorists—who were guilty of either the unlawful possession or dissemination of sensitive information or the promotion of civil unrest with apocalyptic stories.
But the original and underlying purpose for the FEMA camps, as internet rumors had long insisted, was segregating individuals with knowledge of the Rogue from the rest of society. The other camp programs, derelict and white-collar, had originally been designed as a cover for this effort. They had worked so well, however, that they had gained a life of their own and were accepted by both sides of the political aisle as a brilliant solution to several long-standing problems.
Irina sighed. While there had been significant minority opposition to recent legislation on hate laws, homeschooling, alternative medicine, and gun rights, there was little uproar over the Homeland Security Act and the FEMA Bill. She could understand why most Americans wouldn’t be upset if they saw the homeless and criminals being removed from the streets and placed in FEMA camps. But didn’t it bother anyone that Bible-believing pastors, radio personalities, and internet-media moguls were disappearing into the abyss of the FEMA camps? How could this be happening in the land of the free? How did this sit right with the average Joe? Was the public entirely in the dark on what was really going on? Would her family and friends believe the Russian-agent nonsense when she was eventually taken into custody?
She shuddered . . . and longed for the America that she had enjoyed when a teenager . . . where nobody disappeared over vague security infractions. Freedom was slowly going down the drain on the pretense of making America more secure, and men didn’t seem to notice or care.
Weary of the cover-up and tired of thinking about it, she tried to put it out of mind. But she couldn’t escape its ugly tentacles. Though trying to picture herself in a cabin in the Rockies with a fireplace, a grand piano, and a ballet barre, she found herself fretting about tomorrow morning, when she had to sit through yet another two-hour training session on domestic terrorism, espionage, and security—a quarterly requirement for all employees of the Cahill Center since the Security Act. But exhaustion overwhelmed her worries . . . her eyelids grew heavy . . . and consciousness fled her.
***
She woke up again in the wee hours of the morning . . . still thinking about the cover-up and impatient with herself. It had been eight months since she had confirmed her fear that the government was covering up the approach of the Rogue, and she was still waiting for the right opportunity to get the information into good hands. Part of the problem was that she didn’t have a workable plan. Who should she send the information to? When should she send it? How should she send it? And how could she access the information? The last hurdle was her biggest. Her usual means of access—work computer, laptop, and cellphone—were being monitored, so she couldn’t access her documents without exposing their existence. Nor could she easily use an alternative means of access like a public computer or one belonging to a friend, for she was being trailed.
But thinking about her need to come up with a plan touched the nerve of another problem she faced, the question of whether it was right for a Christian to engage in the kind of illegal activity that she was contemplating. She had been grappling with this moral dilemma off and on for months, and every time she had come to the same conclusion—civil disobedience, active disobedience, and evasiveness were all commendable when dealing with governments that were severely corrupted. Then it was a right, even a duty, to do so.
There was no question that the French Underground was right to do so under the Nazi puppets of Vichy France. And she was convinced that activities like smuggling Bibles into countries that banned them or preaching the gospel in nations that ban evangelism were praiseworthy in God’s eyes. But the efforts of the present administration to cover up the evidence that a comet threatened Earth with an apocalypse of biblical magnitude didn’t seem to be quite the same. It did seem wrong. But was it wrong enough? The agents and the education officials certainly had a way of making her feel wrong—guilty—for her concealed desire to buck the ban and let the world know. Sometimes she wished she could just forget about the comet and go on with life. But she couldn’t. Surrendering to convenience or taking a path that reeked of quisling-esque principles was not in her blood.
Her father’s advice challenged her, “It never feels right to do right when everyone thinks that right is wrong. You can’t trust your feelings in a firestorm. Righ
t isn’t a feeling. Right isn’t comfortable. Right is a path—a path often difficult and reproached.” Irked at herself, she resolved that she was done worrying about the matter. It was time for action . . . time to seize the day. Just suck it up and own it, girl. She just needed to start going forward . . . and God helping her . . . do whatever needed to be done. There was too much at stake, including innocent lives. She prayed that God would open doors and coordinate things—that part was out of her league. If he opened doors, she would take them. If he coordinated, she would capitalize. Immediately, she felt bathed in peace—the calm that comes with resolve—and soon drifted off to sleep once again.
***
Two days later, Dr. Goldblum called her into his office and informed her that she was going to be allowed to take a Thanksgiving vacation after all. As of that morning—he waved a letterhead in front of her—she was officially removed from Homeland Security’s “Orange One” list. That meant that she was free from her domestic travel restriction.
She nodded and silently thanked God. She had acted unwisely in the matter of the congratulation letter from the MPC, and that indiscretion had led to her demotion at the time of the Sci-Fi Today raid. Since that time, she had gone to great lengths to improve her image and be a model employee. The efforts had paid off. Now she might actually get an opportunity to repay their duplicity with her own.
He snapped his finger and caught her attention. “Are you still with me, Miss Kirilenko?” He paused for a moment, then continued. “I am glad that you have been removed from ‘Orange One.’ However, you are still on ‘Orange Two.’ You are still regarded by the FBI as a threat. Please exercise caution. Don’t abuse your freedom. One misstep and you’ll be back on ‘Orange One’—permanently. One big slip-up and you’ll be living with the lowlifes in a FEMA camp . . . eating horsemeat and outdated hotdogs.”
