by Cliff Ball
“Thank you, Mr. Benson, for your insight. Now, we’ll take you back to your regularly scheduled program already in progress.”
A few hours later, UETN broke into programming again. “Good evening, citizens of the global community. We interrupt your program to bring you a special event. As you know, the asteroid wiped out a considerable portion of the Asian and parts of the Australian regions. With that in mind, the authorities have arrested who they feel is responsible for this tragic event. The authorities blame Fred Travis, the current and last head of the Chinese Space Agency. His team led the efforts to bring the asteroid to Earth, which, of course, resulted in the tragedy we saw earlier today. He is being prepared for his punishment and we’ll soon see the Union of United Earth’s swift retribution live on this network. Okay, I’m being told he’s being led out, so let’s go to our live feed at the location to watch this special event.”
The camera followed Travis being led to a guillotine and being placed into the contraption. Next, the camera focused on Administrator Li, who was saying, “We’re here today to witness the execution of one Fred Travis, who is guilty of crimes against humanity. His crime – bringing death and destruction upon us by unleashing an asteroid upon Earth that could’ve been an extinction-level event....”
“That’s not my fault, I’m not to blame! Let me go!” Travis interrupted, with everyone around the world hearing his pleas, but the camera continued to focus on Li.
“He has been tried and his punishment is death by beheading. Guillotine Master, are you ready?”
The camera turned and focused on a man in all black, including a black hood over his head, who replied, “I am.”
Next, the camera panned the audience in the stands as they cheered. After focusing on the crowd, the camera returned to show Li, who said, “Fred Travis, you are hereby punished for your crimes. Let loose the blade!”
The camera returned to filming the Guillotine Master as he released a lever, and the blade, which gleamed in the sun from being polished until it was almost mirror-like, dropped. The crowd roared with approval as Travis’ head bounced into the basket that was there for dismembered heads.
Li was smiling as he walked over to the guillotine, picked up Travis’ head by the hair, and said, “May all who witness this punishment remember that this is what we do to all who defy their Patriarch, Jahangir Karimi. You will not be able to hide from his all-seeing eyes, for he is our Lord and Master! All hail to the Patriarch!”
Everyone assembled began praising Karimi, including the assembled media. In what looked like a scene from 1930’s Germany, the assembled crowd stood in lock step as they showed they were devoted to their magnificent leader, Patriarch Karimi. Back in Texas, the group of Preppers and those who were with Dave Abbot were shocked and disgusted by the scene. Others finally made up their mind which side they should follow.
“I think this solves the question I had about which side I think we should choose.” Jeff Michaels told his wife, Diana. They were watching the execution by themselves, away from the others.
“I think you’re right. I’d rather be on the winning side, than be caught up with all these people who choose to defy the authority of the Patriarch. When are we going to leave?”
“I think we should slip out in the middle of the night. These people wouldn’t understand, especially since they think their God will rescue them from all of this. I personally don’t see the problem with taking the marks of loyalty and commerce. I think the others are getting worked up for nothing. Go get the children ready and we’ll leave around midnight.” The Michaels family quietly left the church property at midnight with no one being the wiser.
Chapter 9
The Michaels family, the two adults and their three children, from seven to fifteen, made their way to San Antonio, where the nearest Universal Congregation building was located. They drove through a ruined San Antonio hit hard by the earthquake, which killed thousands of people, while ninety percent of the remaining population died from lack of food and clean water. Very few people remained in the city, which looked like a ghost town to the Michaels family.
They found the newly constructed Universal Congregation building and went inside right after nine in the morning. The five stopped at the help desk that was in the lobby. “How can I help you?” asked the man sitting behind the desk.
“We’re here to take the marks, where do we have to go?” asked Jeff.
“I’m glad to hear more are willing to follow the Patriarch and participate in our new all-inclusive religion. However, when you say you want to take the marks, does this mean you have yet to receive the mark that will enable you to buy and sell?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what it means. Do we need to go somewhere else to get that?”
“No, there’s no need to go anywhere else, we can do that here too. Let me call the person who assists you in getting the marks, and you’ll go from there.”
“Thank you.”
A few minutes later, an older woman dressed as one of the lower echelon priests in the Universal Congregation of the Union of United Earth appeared. The woman extended her hand for Jeff to shake, which he found to be cold, and her demeanor to be chilly. “Good day, I’m Priestess Joyce Edwards. I understand you would like to receive both marks today. Correct?”
“Yes, that’s what we’re here for. I’m Jeff Michaels, this is my wife, Diana, and my three children, Carly, Nikki, and Bobby. We were around a group of people recently who were claiming all sorts of things about what would happen if we took these, but these disasters and how the Patriarch deals with those who fail him have convinced my wife and I that we should be on the winning side,”
“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses. Once we get you and your family fixed up with the marks, you’ll have to tell us about these people you knew, all right?”
“Suits me. What do we have to do now?”
“Follow me and I’ll take you to the machine that’ll implant the marks.”
The family followed Priestess Edwards through the building until they came to a room that had a kiosk with some hardware attached to it. A few feet away, a guillotine stood silently. The Priestess stood in front of the machine, and said, “I’m sure you have questions about how this works. First, we’ll implant the chip and stamp the barcode on your arm. The procedure will not be painful since the device applies localized painkiller. When the computer notes that the arm is ready, it stamps the arm and places a chip under the skin. It takes less than five minutes for the first stage, since you’re getting both marks. You’ll see a series of numbers on your arm, I’ll give you a brochure that will explain what it means, which will also explain how the embedded chip works when you buy or sell. The next mark, which will show your loyalty to the universal church and the Patriarch, will be tattooed on your forehead, and is also relatively painless. This stage also takes about five minutes to complete. If you need to see a how-to video to see how this works, I’ll be glad to play that for you,”
“I don’t need to see a video. Do you need to, Diana?”
“No, not really. Children, would you prefer to see the video before we start?” The three silently shook their heads no, mostly because they were too frightened to say anything, even the fifteen year old.
“All right, I’ll go first.” Jeff replied, letting Priestess Edwards guide him to the machine.
Even though Diana and the children were worried about what might happen to Jeff during the two procedures, Jeff remained calm and acted like it wasn’t a big deal. Ten minutes later, Jeff had both marks, went over to his wife, showed them to her, and said, “See, nothing to it, and it doesn’t hurt a bit.”
Diana had been holding her breath, but released it, and replied, “Thank goodness. I guess it’s my turn. Let’s do this.”
The children watched their mother go to the scary looking machine, but weren’t nearly as apprehensive as they were, since their father had come out unscathed. Diana left the machine ten minutes later, went over t
o the children, and said, “See, nothing to worry about. Bobby, you’re the oldest, do you want to go next?”
“Sure, whatever.” Bobby replied nonchalantly, acting like he hadn’t been afraid before, and then went to the machine to have the procedure done. His two sisters followed and the entire family were chipped, barcoded, and stamped with the loyalty tattoo in less than an hour.
“All right, now we come to the nitty gritty. Mr. Michaels, I’d like you and your family to come with me so we can talk to a very important person about those people who are resisting joining the rest of the world in peace, harmony, and unity.” stated the Priestess.
“All right, lead the way.”
The next room they came to looked like the communications center of the building, with a large monitor on one wall, a digitized map of the North American region on another showing the locations of each Universal Congregation building, and various people with head mounted microphones talking to someone on individual monitors. Priestess Edwards walked over to a computer, accessed a few programs, and the main monitor on the wall activated, with the new logo of the Union of United Earth showing in the center of the screen. A few seconds later, a face appeared, and said to Edwards, “Administrator Davis’ office, how can I help you?”
“I have some important information that I’d like to tell Mr. Davis, if he’s not too busy at the moment,”
“Just a moment, let me check.” The screen went back to the logo, indicating to Edwards that she’d been put on hold.
A minute later, the screen reactivated, this time Administrator Davis appeared on screen. He smiled when he saw Priestess, and said, “Hey, Joyce, nice to see you. It’s been a long time. What can I help you with?”
Without cracking a smile and still maintaining her somewhat chilly persona, Priestess Edwards replied, “I’m pleased to see you too, Wayne, and it has been a while since we’ve seen each other. I’m calling you today because I have a man here who wants to turn in some people who are resisting the Patriarch’s authority. He, his wife, and their children took both marks today, and are eagerly looking forward to serving the Patriarch,”
“Excellent. May I speak with him?”
Jeff appeared in front of the camera and said, “Hi, Administrator Davis, I’m Jeff Michaels. I’d like to tell you about some people that may be of some interest to your administration,”
“Go ahead, Mr. Michaels,”
“Yeah, okay. We just came from near College Station, where we found a group of people hiding in a church, trying to avoid being seen by your people. They refuse to accept the Patriarch as their leader and claim that everything you’re doing is going to bring destruction and plagues upon the Earth. They’re waiting for their supposed god to come back and destroy the Patriarch. But, from what I see, the Patriarch is very powerful and doesn’t look to me like anyone could beat him. To prove their point, they plan on committing terrorism, and are weeks away from doing it. So, we decided to inform the authorities about these troublemaking malcontents,” Jeff lied, hoping Davis believed him.
“That’s very noble of you. One question – why were you there to begin with?”
“Why? Um.... when the earthquake happened, our house collapsed, the neighborhood fell apart, and our grocery stores collapsed, so we had nothing to eat. My wife and I once heard that churches had lots of food, so we decided to go find one. Once we learned about the people who were at this church, and my wife and I found out that we don’t agree with any of their crazy ideas, we left,”
“I see. So you feel by coming here and getting your marks, that you’ve joined the winning side. Correct?”
“Yes, sir, but we also feel that the Patriarch bringing the world together is wonderful and having an all-inclusive religion is a great too,”
Wayne really wanted to roll his eyes with the obvious butt kissing this character was trying towards him, but decided to resist the impulse. “Very well, I’ll send my security forces to round up these malcontents. Thank you for helping us, Mr. Michaels,”
“You’re welcome, Administrator.”
“Priestess, have someone escort them to some private rooms, I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
The Michaels family was escorted away and when she was sure they were out of earshot, she asked, “What do you need to talk to me about, Wayne?”
“When we round up these malcontents, I think we ought to have more creative ways of dealing out their punishment, instead of just beheading them within an hour or two after their capture. I think some should be put on trial to show the rest of the region how wrong they are to resist the Union of United Earth. Others, I think, should be made to go through some type of game of survival, which would be broadcast on television, just for the whole entertainment angle. Of course, the rest will be beheaded outright just to stay consistent. What do you think?”
“I think you’ve been reading or watching too many dystopian novels or movies. However, you’re the boss, so you should do what you think is necessary to maintain an iron grip over this region,”
“I am the boss, so we’ll do everything I suggest. By the way, any thoughts on what we should do with the Michaels family?”
“The parents should go with the security forces when they take that church, show the people we’re arresting who sold them out, and then execute the mother and father using one of the ideas you just suggested. We’ll keep the three kids here and I’ll make sure they’re completely indoctrinated to follow the Patriarch wherever he wants to go,”
“You have some excellent ideas, Joyce. We should collaborate more often. I’ll send the security team to you and I’ll have them follow your orders, all right?”
“Okay. I look forward to their arrival,”
“Is there anything else before I sign off?”
“No, Administrator, I think what we discussed just about covered everything I could think of. Thank you for promptly speaking with me, since I’m sure you had much more pressing matters to deal with,”
“It wasn’t a big deal. Have a good day, Joyce. Peace and blessings on you.” Wayne ended the transmission and the logo of the U.E. appeared on screen. Priestess Edwards began preparing for the arrival of the security forces and the next phase in the plan.
A couple days later, the security forces were ready to go. Shortly before dawn, they made their way to the church where Abbott and the others were staying, and quietly surrounded the building before making their intentions known to those inside. Jeff and his wife were eager to show Dave and the others that they couldn’t get away with defying the world and its leader, but were told to stay in the Humvee while the security forces rounded up the supposed malcontents.
Powerful floodlights suddenly lit up the area and Priestess Edwards would be the one who make the announcement for the people in the church to leave. Putting an amplified megaphone to her mouth, she said, “Attention people in this building, you’re surrounded by the security forces of the Union of United Earth. Come out with your arms up and no harm will come to you at this time. If you choose to resist, we will have no problem burning this place to the ground with all of you in it. You have five minutes to comply.”
Inside the church, everyone woke up, startled by the sudden light coming from outdoors and the woman who spoke over a megaphone for them to come out. The one hundred who used the church as a sanctuary slowly came out, still in their night clothes, and sleepily stood in front of the Priestess with their arms held high above their heads.
Dave was one of the last to come out, briefly contemplating the idea of loading his guns, and trying to shoot his way out, but when he saw the church was surrounded by what looked like military forces with their heavy military hardware, he knew he would have no chance. So, like the others, he came out of the church, in surrender.
“That’s more like it. Now, who’s in charge here?”
No one spoke up, until Jeff got out of the Humvee, walked over to Priestess Edwards, and said, as he pointed at Dave, “That guy over there is sort
of in charge. He’s got the weapons and he’s teaching the others to do the same.”
Jaws dropped when they saw Jeff speak to the woman and point towards Dave, and they were shocked to see the loyalty tattoo on his forehead. Dave was astonished that Jeff seemed to be accusing him of leading the others to revolt against the U.E. That would be really a futile thing for me to do, because only Christ could destroy the Anti-Christ and the Union, Dave thought as the woman pushed aside the others to approach him.
“You, who are you?” asked Edwards.
“I’m nobody,” smirked Dave.
“Oh, we’ve got a smart guy here. Tell me, Mr. Smart Guy, what’s your name?”
“Why should I? You’ve already found me guilty of whatever it is that you think I’m guilty of. Execute us already and be done with it,”
“You think you’ve got things figured out, huh? You know, it would be far too easy and much too boring to execute you or these others right away. Now, don’t get me wrong, some will be made an example of as soon as we can get the guillotine setup, but we have other ways to entertain ourselves before we rid the world of the likes of you. Mr. Michaels, what’s this man’s name?”
“His name’s Dave Abbott, Priestess.”
“Why’d you do it, Jeff? I thought you were a believer, like us.” Lindsey spoke up, with tears running down her cheeks.
Jeff laughed. “A believer? Are you kidding? My family was hungry, so we did what we had to do to survive. Now, there’s a new power around, and I felt it was advantageous to join them. I’m glad I did too.”
“Anyway, Mr. Abbott, you and a couple of your friends are going to explain to the rest of the region why you’re such malcontents. Some of the others are going to entertain us by being featured in a little survival game before their punishment is meted out. The rest, we’ll behead. You look like a man who would do well in a game of survival, so that’s why we’ll put you on trial. Let’s see, who to put on TV to entertain the masses. Hmmm....” Edwards looked around, saw Lindsey and some other women huddled together, pointed at them, and said, “Yes, I think they’ll do nicely,”
