Patriots Awakening

by R. M. Strauhs

  When he ran in the rear door, Burt yelled, “Living room, General!”

  Burt and his family sat in front of the big screen TV, which had suddenly gone blank, and then a message scrolled repeatedly across the screen. Please stand by for an important message from the President of the United States of America. Just as Parker sat down by his wife and daughters on another sofa and he started to say something to Burt, the screen turned blue and a male’s voice announced, “Two minutes until an important announcement by the President. Please stay tuned to this station.”

  Finally, the screen fluttered a bit, and the President of the United States was on the screen. Burt said, “Here it comes, General. Now, maybe we’ll know what’s going on.”

  Russell didn’t reply. His jaws were set tight as he stared at the television.

  “My fellow Americans, I regret very much that I have to speak to you today of a truly tragic thing that is going to happen within days. An occurrence over which no one on earth has the power or means to stop is happening. I want to show you a photo taken a few days ago by the Hubble telescope.”

  A picture of a huge asteroid filled the screen as the President spoke. “I received this information several days ago but waited until all the calculations were rechecked a number of times to determine if first reports were accurate. Sadly, they were. We now know this beast of an asteroid will impact earth directly. It is of such size, and moving at a speed unheard of; it will destroy our world. I’m told this asteroid is some forty miles across and nearly a hundred miles long. Its speed is beyond our imagination, and it will hit with such force as to split the earth into pieces. I’m sorry I was unable to give you more notice, but according to the experts, it will arrive in fourteen days. Although I have enjoyed but a short tenure as President, it has been a true honor to serve you. There is little I can say to comfort you. My family and I face the same devastating reality as you do. I guess there’s nothing else to say except goodbye, and God bless all of you.”

  That was it. The screen went blank, and then the network came back on with a special report reviewing the President’s speech. Half-way through the report, the newscaster stood. “I’m sorry. I have to go home to my family while I can still get there.” The frightened news man left the reporting desk.

  Burt stared at General Parker with a near-grin on his face. Both men shook their head.

  “Dad is it true?” Melissa asked.

  He swore in front of his daughter for the second time ever. “Hell, no, it isn’t true. That was a pre-recorded video. We know he’s already in a safe hole like a gopher. Jesus, how could the President do this?” He aimed the question at Burt.

  “He believes it, General.”

  “What do you mean, he believes it?”

  “I mean, he is not part of whatever these people are planning.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Look, General, it all makes sense. This is why they burned all the computers at the observatories and that’s why all the astronomers disappeared, probably all dead, like that group in Texas. They didn’t want anyone around who could dispel the asteroid story. It’s a ruse to invoke Martial Law."

  “Martial Law?” Evelyn choked out the words. She grabbed her husband’s arm. “How bad is it going to get?”

  The General looked his wife in the eye. “I’m not going to lie to you or the girls. It is going to be mighty bad.”

  ~ 5 ~

  The Holden home in Colorado, June 2, 2009

  “Come on kids! Lunch isn’t going to stay hot forever. Turn the TV off, and get in here to eat.” Michael, age 15, Simon, age 12, and Brittany, age 10, sat glued intently to the boob tube. Alice Holden, a bit upset that her kids were ignoring her, rushed past them lying on the sofa and sprawled on the floor. Just as she snatched the remote from the coffee table, a loud horn blared from the speakers, making her jump. “My God! What in the world is that?”

  Michael bounced up from a prone position on the sofa and shouted, “Aw, crap. What the heck are they doing and right in the middle of the darned movie?” He reached out to grab the silver TV remote from his mother’s hand, but she jerked it away.

  “Hush up, Mike. This has to be some sort of civil defense warning or something.” She kept her eyes glued to the screen, as she backed up and motioned for him to move over so she could sit down. “This is a different sound for an alert of some kind. I’ve never seen a blue screen associated with anything, have you?”

  “Yeah, once I heard some TV station did that for a tornado warning in Kansas or Oklahoma.”

  Simon and Brittany immediately jumped up and ran for the kitchen. “I get the drum stick,” Brittany yelled, in the dash to beat her brother to the table.

  “Man, to heck with it. I’m gonna’ go eat dinner too. Enjoy watching the blank blue screen, Mom.” Mike laughed, patting his mom on the shoulder as he rose from the sofa.

  Then, a message scrolled across the screen: Please stand by for an important message from the President of the United States of America.

  Mike, catching the words across the screen from the corner of his eye, looked startled. He sat back down on the sofa beside his mother. “Mom, what could it be? Are we at war or something?”

  The TV screen did a few squiggly lines, clearing to show a somber looking President. Clarence Lawson III had been sworn into office only six months previously and was the youngest President in the history of the country.

  A picture of a huge asteroid filled the screen as the President gave his message of doom to the public and said his good bye.

  The screen went blank for a moment, and then it switched to a well known national news anchorman sitting before the camera. He had evidently been as surprised by the announcement as the entire population who had their television or radio on. After faltering in his speech he made his apologies, got up from his news desk, and walked away.

  ~~~

  Deep in the Alps, ten men sat with their eyes glued to a bank of television sets. They had watched the leaders of all the leading nations make almost the same announcement to their people. “Gentlemen, I propose a toast.” Laughing even louder, Jarmain Euclaid rose slowly to his feet. The nine men lounging on leather sofas picked up brandy snifters and sprang to their feet. “To Our New World and all it shall give us. And, gentlemen, I emphasize; OUR New World.” Euclaid held his glass high.

  “Hear! Hear!” the others chimed in unison.

  “Gentlemen, it couldn’t have been easier.” Jarmain waved toward the bank of televisions. “You’ll have to forgive me for my boisterous laughter. It was just too easy to fool these idiots. You see for yourselves every head of State is thoroughly convinced the asteroid story is one hundred percent true. Now we sit back and watch the games begin.” Jarmain broke into a loud laugh, and the chorus of nine immediately joined in.

  “We are ready,” interjected Kolerad Klaus.

  “All the men on my team are ready and know what to do as soon as I give the order,” stated Cholera, a tall man with broad shoulders and a shaved head.

  “Good, good.” Jarmain glared one more time at the frightened faces of the world leaders before turning the bank of television sets off. If only you knew what I have planned for you in the coming days. He smiled to himself and emptied the glass in one gulp.

  The ten men, a diverse group, were made up of wealthy, radical, power-hungry men of many nationalities. Having put all nationality issues aside among themselves, they had but one goal; to control the entire world. They had worked nearly ten years and invested close to a hundred billion dollars to put it all together, but this was a small pittance to these men. To them, ten billion apiece was like a middle-income family buying a new toaster.

  Of course, most of the lesser investors had already been eliminated, along with many of the trusted people who’d worked for him for years to make sure everything went according to plan. The only people who knew the truth and still lived were the ten in this room, a few major politicians, a few well-placed military officers
in each country and the Secretary of the United Nations. Every time Jarmain heard ‘United Nations’ he thought, United Nations, indeed. And all mine. Once he had control of all the industrialized nations of the world, he had an untimely death planned for each of his cohorts.

  ~~~

  Alice Holden sat frozen, almost in a state of shock, after listening to the President’s announcement. Her eyes were glued to the screen. She thought she must surely be living a nightmare, and this would all disappear when she awakened. It couldn’t be real!

  “Mom, are we going to die?” Michael tugged on her arm.

  “Uh . . . what did you say, Michael?” As she spoke, she reached out and took his hand.

  “I asked if we are all going to die.” His voice broke.

  Alice threw her arms around Michael and held him close. Her throat tightened. “I don’t know, baby. I just don’t know. But I swear I’ll do everything I can to take care of you.” Pushing away, she stood up on shaky knees that wouldn’t support her, and her entire body refused to move. “Mike, we both have to be really brave. You’re the man of the house now. I’m depending on you to help me. You have to help protect Simon and Brittany.” My God! How can I ask him to be a man?

  “Look, Mikey, we have less than two weeks to prepare ourselves the best way we can. I have no idea yet what to do, so I need any suggestions you can think of.” I wish your father were here. Why’d you go and get yourself killed, Blake? As much as she wanted to be brave in front of her children, Alice broke into tears as she thought back to the time her husband bought this place.

  Blake Holden had died in a plane crash a year earlier, returning from a short tour of duty with the Rangers in some hot spot in South America. Alice, a strong and independent person, was the one who always had to hold the family together due to Blake’s long absences. But now, she just plain needed her man more than she would have ever imagined. You were right to move us here, Blake. Maybe we have a better chance of surviving than in a major city. She thought back to the day Blake told her he’d bought a great place high on the side of a mountain in Colorado.

  “Honey, you’re gonna’ love it,” he’d said while twirling her around in the kitchen. “It has a large home, giant barn, chicken house, sheds, and land galore for your vegetable gardens. The kids can play in a creek or go exploring up the mountain, and they can have all the pets they want.”

  Blake, having a Top Secret clearance, had learned of so many more dangers about real war and the nuclear threat than the general public. He insisted his family move to a farm with a natural water supply, caves, and out of the major blast zones. He’d said, “Honey if nuclear war ever occurred, very few, if any, people would survive, and I want to give my family every chance possible.”

  Alice was raised a country girl and hated living on base, so she was tickled pink at the prospect of moving. She tackled the packing and moving with a vengeance. Her thoughts jumped to plans for the new place . . . putting in a large vegetable garden, an herb garden, having horses to ride, and fresh chicken eggs everyday.

  The farm, located in a remote area, had no close neighbors. Alice held a teaching degree and decided to home school the kids. Blake brought several guns to the farm and taught the three kids how to clean and shoot them. Alice was a crack shot. Blake insisted the family be able to defend themselves from four legged animals and two legged ones, if need be. After all, he was gone for months at a time.

  ~~~

  Simon and Brittany sat apart on the dark blue sofa while Alice stood before them trying to answer questions. They had taken the news of the asteroid in disbelief. “That just couldn’t happen here,” and “Our missiles could shoot it down, or military men could fly up and explode it like in the movie.”

  Oh, to be so young, Alice thought. “No kids. I’m afraid this is real and the President himself said nothing can be done to stop or move it away. He should know, don’t you think?”

  Mike said, “Mom, I was watching the news a while ago when you were still in the kitchen. Do you know riots are already breaking out, and people are getting killed? It’s awful. Take a look.” Mike clicked the remote, and the wide screen came to life.

  Newsmen, standing in the midst of total chaos, were screaming for everyone to stay home and stay calm. “Do not go out in the streets,” the reporters yelled, into the microphones. Film footage rolled, showing hordes of people breaking windows in stores and running out with arms full of stereos, TV’s, jewelry, and fur coats. Traffic was jammed on all the streets and highways. No one was getting anywhere and fistfights or guns and knives were pulled on others, trying to force them to move their vehicles so they could get by. Cars were being turned over by throngs of people, and many were set ablaze.

  “See, I told you, Mom,” Mike said in an angry voice. “Like a new television or stereo is going to help them stay alive. People are so stupid. They should be taking food if they’re going to steal. And they should be helping each other instead of killing one another. Did you see them setting the buildings on fire? What a bunch of stupid idiots” He clicked the TV off and dropped the remote on the sofa. “Don’t guess there’s much sense in watching any more of that.”

  The shrill ring of the phone broke the silence. Alice hurried to answer it. Clearing her throat, she picked up the receiver on the third ring and listened. “Sure Martin, no problem. Please be careful,” she said and gently hung up. Taking a deep breath, she turned toward the children. “That was Stephan Martin. He wants to try to get his family here for safety. Remember him? He was your father’s best friend. We can’t turn him and his family away. In fact, that’s one of the reasons your father wanted this place. It has room for quite a few people in an emergency. I never dreamed an emergency like that would happen but now it has.”

  Simon asked, “How will they get here, Mom? The roads are full of cars.”

  “Stephan told me they’d be coming in a helicopter, so they’ll be safe. I bet the kids will love flying here in one of those.” She smiled at the children and did the best she could to keep the trembling fear out of her voice.

  Simon whispered, “I hope they have all boys and one my age.”

  Brittany couldn’t let Simon’s statement go without a comment. “I hope they have a dozen girls. So there!”

  “Now, we’ve work to do. Let’s go change the bedding in the guest rooms. I’m not sure when Stephan will arrive, but I want things clean and ready for them. Simon you grab dust rags. Brittany you get the broom. Mike you drag the heavy vacuum cleaner upstairs while I get sheets and blankets.” Oh, God in Heaven, please bring the Martin family here safely. Not only did she want Stephan and his family to be safe, it would be a real blessing not to have to face this all by herself, with no one but her children to lean on. Thank God for that.

  ~ 6 ~

  June 2, over the Atlantic, half-way between N. Y. and London:

  Worldtrans Pilot, Captain Howard Saxton leaned back in the left seat of the 777 cockpit, rubbed his face, and sighed. He was tired. Not only was he exhausted from the last forty-eight hours, in which he broke every rule in the book about the number of hours he should fly, but he was also tired of his job . . . tired of the stress. Sure, the old story was, if he slept with as many stews as his wife thought, drank as much as the passengers thought, and made as much money as the public thought, well, hell, this would have been the best damned job in the world. But that fairy tale existence was far from the reality of the job. At least for a person who gave a shit about not only his marriage but his job as well.

  And, there was much about his job that stressed a person out big time. Like all the hazardous cargo in the belly of the plane against all the regs and of which the passengers were never aware. He had lost count of the times they were in real trouble and had managed to fly their way out of it, unbeknownst to the passengers and, at times, even their boss. One learned to keep his mouth shut about certain things. It was always too damned easy for the powers-that-be to cry pilot error.

  As equally unc
ountable were the times he flew a double route, because someone’s wife was about to pop another human out of her womb to face this ugly world. Or, the crew of a flight partied a little too long the previous evening and couldn’t hit their ass with both hands, much less fly a damned 300 ton aircraft.

  Howard was a balding man in his mid-fifties and had thought about retiring for some time. In fact, he’d thought of little else for the last year, knowing he was suffering from burn-out, which could lead to making the wrong decision one day that would cost a bunch of people their lives. There just plain came a time to quit, and he had reached his time.

  His co-pilot, John Peeler, said, “You look beat, partner. When you taking your vacation?”

  Howard smiled at him and asked, “Does it really show that badly?”

  “Yup, sure does.” John and Howard flew together quite often and had become close friends. John grinned widely and added, “Hate to say it, old timer, but you and I are both ready for the scrap heap.”

  Howard chuckled and rubbed his tired face with both hands. “Truth is, I’ve been thinking real hard on retiring for some time now. Haven’t said anything to Josie about it, but I know she’ll bend down and kiss my stinking feet for quitting. She’s wanted me to find another line of work longer than I’ve thought about it. I think she knows how burned out I am.”

  “Howie, you’re only what? Fifty-four? What the hell would you do with yourself?”

  Howard looked around carefully at the engineering and flight control instruments. “You know that trout stream up in the mountains close to our little summer house? I’m going to spend at least a third of my time in that stream trying to outwit those tricky little bastards, another third sitting on my ass in the porch swing doing absolutely nothing and; the remaining third I’m going to spend doing stuff with Josie to make up for all the times I haven’t been around. What about you? What would you do if you told them to shove it?”