#
As Milton Rogers entered Pendleton’s office, Pendleton smirked. “When are you going marry my mother?”
“Whenever she wishes, I’m game old man. She’s the one who’s holding back.”
“It’s bloody well uncomfortable.” Pendleton put down the speech he’d been preparing for the second anniversary of the establishment of the Global Realm.
“I don’t see why you’re uncomfortable. The Global Realm has no rule as to co-habitation. You specifically avoided that issue. Beside, gossip columns are a thing of the past.”
“She’s my mother. And she’s co-habiting with my Chief-of-Staff, my Number Two so to speak.”
“Like I said, I’m game. Have Lovey talk to her.”
Lovey—well he has his hands full there too. Lovey was pregnant again and snarly half the time. Her headaches were back, and Levi couldn’t identify the source. All the tests said the pre-cancerous cells were gone. Her brainwaves were unchanged from a year ago. Abnormal—yes, but for Lovey, abnormal was normal.
“I don’t think she’d be any help. Mum and she are best friends.”
At that moment, Lovey entered still sporting the scars from her adventure in the mountains over a month earlier, but looking wonderful to Pendleton. Love was blind. And, when it came to his wife, she could do no wrong.
“Speak to Mum for me, Sweetheart. I want to two to marry and make everything legal.”
“She’s a grown woman, if you recall,” Laverna interrupted. “Besides, I have talked to her. She’s thinking next June. What say you, Milton?”
“June’s a beautiful month.”
Pendleton shook his head. “I run the blooming world, and I can’t control my own family.”
An idea leaped to the front of his mind. He’d speak to Milton about it right away.
#
Peacock dressed in the Global Realm’s equivalent of a formal gown, black with gold stripes running down the sides and a gold stripe around her upper left sleeve. God, what a curse her wiring was. One encounter with Alan Loomis when she was crazy, and a connection formed she couldn’t shake. She’d live with it. She did know her love for her husband grew daily. He was safe with the team she led protecting him. Whatever the future held, they’d face it together. She rubbed up against her husband. “You’re getting your wish.”
“How so?”
“Tests confirm I’m carrying a girl.”
Pendleton gently kissed her forehead. “We’re blessed.”
“Will you zip me up, Darling?” she asked.
Without hesitation, the most powerful man in the world did as she asked.
“Ready,” he motioned toward the door. “This is the most important speech of my life.”
“I’m ready and proud to be at your side.”
#
Ammad rocked as he prayed in hiding in Mashhad. Head bowed and eyes closed, his thoughts focused on Allah.
“What is Your will for me?” he silently asked.
No response came.
His heart ached for revenge. His people couldn’t defeat Pendleton and the Global Realm. Centuries would pass before a realm this secure rotted from within, as they always did. He could kick at the peace of the Realm, but not overthrow it. Still kick he would and more.
One day, he, or an accomplice, would rise up within the Global Realm’s own system, be perceived as a friend, and strike at the heart of the lion.
#
Peacock ascended the stairs to the stage where Pendleton would speak. He held her hand and the both waved with the opposite one. Both networks covered this speech. The Realm silenced all other communications devices.
“Security reports no breaches here,” Loomis said, “and no breaches in coverage worldwide.”
She reacted comfortably to his voice in her ear, a good sign.
The Global theme played. Those on stage, the Twelve Provincial leaders and the military leadership, rose and applauded. The invited audience, all ranking first on the top level of their leadership tests, stood to their feet.
Tonight, Pendleton would deliver the First State of the Realm message. She stood tall, letting the scar on her arm from her encounter outside Mashhad show. Her body sported too many scars now to hide. Pendleton had told her they looked sexy.
For close to ten minutes, prepared video ran footage on each person onstage until the cameras focused on her. Her husband turned to her and said, “Ladies and gentlemen of the Global Realm, my wife, Laverna, tested remarkably well on the Global Security examination.”
Peacock flinched.
“I’m announcing a few changes. My second in command, Milton Rogers, has requested to step down from his position sometime in the next year. My wife is pregnant with our second child, but she will be ready for another assignment by the time Milton retires.”
Another assignment? Her team ran smoothly. They worked as if they’d been together for decades. She’d hoped to stay with them for a few years and see further improvement.
“When the time is right, Hans Van Meer will become my second-in-command. Laverna Smythe-Pendleton will head Global Security, and three yet to be named candidates will be interviewed for her position.”
Peacock gasped. Her eyes shot a glance at the monitor. No one viewing her reaction could doubt she didn’t have advanced knowledge of her pending promotion. No time remained for her to speak or acknowledge her gratitude. Pendleton moved to the podium. She and the audience sat.
Chapter 42
No more hand-to-hand combat for my wife, Pendleton thought. I have more to worry about than I can handle now.
“My fellow citizens,” he said. “I’ve never fully explained why forming the Global Realm in the way it was formed was necessary. I believe you have the right to know why over seven percent of the population of the world died from hostile action in the last two years.”
He moistened his lips with his tongue, then faced his audience resolutely. “The fact is mankind couldn’t do the things necessary to save this planet, and ourselves, while the former system remained. Greed destroys everyone greed touches. The effects of human pollution on our planet are still life threatening. Our experts say the chances of surviving as a civilized race two hundred years from now are less than seventy-percent. However, those estimates are changing for the better.”
A vacuum-like silence filled the Widder Hotel.
“The last evacuee from the former Maldives arrived in Colombo in the former Sri Lanka this morning. The airport in the city of Main has closed because of flooding. A few individuals made the choice to stay. May God have mercy on their souls.”
#
As her husband continued, Peacock mulled over her situation. Take Van Meer’s place? She desperately wanted a challenge. She’d fought for Van Meer’s job until told she wasn’t ready. But now that the job was hers, she balked. She hadn’t been consulted. A deep sigh of resignation escaped her lips. Yes. She would obey her husband. Her team would still be watched with a thoughtful eye.
Peacock glanced out into the hall. Near the back wall, stiff and straight, stood Felicia Lange. My replacement, she thought. If her husband wanted her in Van Meer’s job, he would have to agree to let her name her replacement.
The broadcast ended, Pendleton rose. “Give thanks to God for His guidance and help. Give thanks to our leadership—and to yourselves for the part you all are playing. From our service people to our brilliant inventors, we will prosper as a race.” He moved to the front of the stage. “For the citizen, our laws are clear, written down, and the penalties meted out uniformly, no exceptions. A citizen enjoys optimum educational opportunities, free services, excellent healthcare, and a bright future. A non-citizen may join us at any time by pledging allegiance, taking the necessary testing, and obeying the rules. We will hunt the rebellious and kill them. The peace of the Realm requires this. Thank you, and thank God.”
“Ode to Mankind” played over the broadcasting networks as the scene from the Widder Hotel faded. Pendleton leaned up a
gainst the podium as the bias audience left.
“83 percent of the globe watched,” Peacock said. “I’m amazed at the accuracy of our data recording system. I suppose the naysayers will always be with us.”
Pendleton hugged her close. “The naysayers are toothless.”
“I’m not,” she whispered. “You sprung this promotion on me. So I choose Felicia Lange as my replacement. No argument.”
Arthur’s broad smile greeted her. “Right you are.”
#
Lying in bed late that night, Peacock’s stomach churned. Not from her pregnancy, the thought of heading Global Security still grieved her. From the time she first joined Hercules, she hungered to fight. She loved her role in espionage. She loved leading her team, but heading the whole Global Security Organization brought doubt to her mind.
She knew who she really was now. However, if she could adapt to her husband’s wishes, she might grow into a loving, feeling human being. Her resolve stiffened. Peacock pushed thoughts of failure or terrorists breaching her security teams out of the realm of possibility. Seduction, combat, and deception had driven her career-path up to now. Her new role required help.
For the next few minutes, Peacock actually prayed. “I can’t change by myself, Lord. Guide my heart and urges. Stabilize my mind. Remove my rage. I pledge my allegiance to You and the Global Realm. Help me be what my husband needs. Amen.”
Strange, she thought. The ground did not tremble. God did not strike her dead. A peace came over her. “Show me what to do, and I will follow You.”
Everything you do, do with love.
“How can I guard the world and not break a commandment?”
Was she talking with God? No, she must be hallucinating.
In one thing, your husband is right. David sinned, but he repented.
“But . . .” Speaking was useless. Whatever she’d experienced had past, and she was alone.
#
Six months passed since his father died. Ammad put a broad smile on his face and stepped up to a Global Realm induction station. He said, “I wish to become a citizen.”
The administrator glanced upward, “One moment, let me finish closing my last transaction. The man before you is heading to his testing booth, and the sign-in must be complete before he begins testing.”
Ammad swallowed his disdain, knowing patience brings great rewards. Once processed, he headed to his testing booth. Forty well-briefed followers would enroll with him and embark on a long-term mission in the hopes of eroding the Global Realm from within. Ultimately, Ammad planned to end the reign of the First Citizen and replace him over time.
His upbringing gave him a unique understanding of the racial and religious viewpoints in his region of the world. He selected career paths in communications and negotiations in Core 412, Pacification of the Non-Citizen World, Division 51-Sociology.
As he answered the questions, thinking as a good citizen would, he reminded himself that all prior human governments began with good intentions and eroded into chaos, evidentially falling into ruin. Why, because they were human governments. Only a government run by Allah’s rules was sustainable.
He and his followers knew where his white garments were. One day, however Allah worked things out, Ammad would emerge to bring this world out of darkness. He finished his test and the results posted him in the top 85 percent, qualifying him to select one of three open positions within the Global Realm’s Social Sciences Research and Implementation Division.
He turned and followed the signs, still written in both English and Arabic, through the far doors to his left. As he opened the door, a guard examined his papers and pointed him to an official with the silver stripes of an upper level supervisor.
“Are you married?”
“No, my family died in the war. I’ve wandered the mountainside until I came to my senses that under this Global government people seem happier.”
“So you have no family and no ties to this province?”
“No.”
“Very well, Ammad al-Sistani, you will go through six months training here in Mashhad.”
This man wasn’t Persian, maybe Mongolian from his facial structure. The name al-Sistani didn’t leave an impression on him. Ammad refused to hide his background. The Global Realm forgave the enemies who cooperated. Admirable, he thought.
“After six months, you will be relocated. Do you have a preference between Irkutsk, Bern, or Philadelphia?”
“Bern, Switzerland, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“I would prefer, Bern.”
“So noted. Here is a housing list. Pick any blue location for housing while you are in training.”
“This one,” Ammad pointed to a unit near Malek Abad Park. “I’m familiar with the area.”
The park served as a meeting place. He and his friends could make their plans from there.
The government provided Ammad a uniform, a stripe indicating a trainee, and a room key. Security thoroughly searched his bag. They found nothing of a suspicious nature.
Ammad remembered the faces of his enemies. He would find them, and with time, kill them all. The advantage he had over his father was his age.
Allah Akbar, He keeps me strong.
The face of one person embedded deep in his mind, a fierce fighter with red hair. She killed without hesitation and seemed to enjoy the act—find her and he would find the others.
The End
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedications
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Madness Page 25
