“Becca, if I had to do it all over again, I would have fought harder. At the very least, I should’ve told you the truth. I’ve committed a lot of sins, but the worst was trying to convince you that you were crazy. I was afraid of the General and what he could do to Gamification…to all of us.”
Samantha and Becca hugged. It was a start.
*
The General and Lin exited his office suite, and walked down the gray and blue hallways of the Top Deck of the NSA headquarters building.
“The crypto-geeks think their lattice-based cryptographic algorithms are bullet-proof. They guarantee me that they’re truly quantum resistant. I’m anxious to switch out the crypto-keys in the Swarmbots and get them re-deployed. I want to track Rahmati and see if the Swarmbots can help us locate his quantum computer. Fischer says that the 5Gen Swarmbots are almost ready, just another week or so. Josh is getting closer to enabling eM to function as the Swarmbot’s AI.
“All of this should help us to manage Rahmati. We also have a promising lead. We’re working to develop an asset. He says he’s a part of Rahmati’s inner circle. Even if all the spy gave us was the location of the quantum computer, we’d be in a better place than we are now.”
“And how are you, General?” asked Lin. “From the looks of it, you’ve been sleeping in your office for the past few weeks.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because I’m female. And your toothbrush is on your wet bar.”
“I’ve been better. I hurt the most important person in my life. I’m a success to everyone from the outside-in. From the inside-out, I know I’m not. I used my moral compass to stir my scotch.”
Chapter 44 – The Last Visit
10:00 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, August 21, 2021 – Memphis, TN
Elisha Robert’s House
Becca flew to Memphis for a quick weekend visit with her dad. She wanted to catch up. It was the first time she’d seen him since the events in Jerusalem.
Elisha served Becca breakfast. After grace, Becca dug into the bacon. She loved her dad’s crisply cooked bacon. It was nice to talk with him without worrying about whether the NSA was eavesdropping.
“I don’t understand why General Shields hasn’t told anyone about what Rahmati did to the Professor and the others?” said Elisha.
“I’m pretty sure it’s because he doesn’t want to talk about the Swarmbots,” answered Becca. “He’s certainly made everyone aware of Rahmati’s hack of our encryption.”
“The press is eating Rahmati up. It makes me sick to my stomach,” said Elisha. “Professor McMillan’s death hit our church hard. Rahmati is a thief and a murderer.”
“That he is, Dad. But he’s uniting Sunni and Shiites. He’s altering the history of the Middle East. And, he’s probably the most transformational international politician of our generation, maybe longer. I can’t tell you everything I know, but I can say that it’s all incredibly scary.
“Dad, something happened to me when I grabbed that menorah. Josh and I were going to end up just like the Professor. We were seconds away from death. Then, it was like someone whispered—right in my ear.”
Elisha smiled. “In my opinion, I’d say that was the Holy Spirit, or maybe an angel.”
“I hadn't heard that voice since I was a little girl…before mom died. Through the stress of leaving Gamification, hiding from the NSA, digging for the Ark, the murders—all I could do was trust God. The pressure was so intense. The stakes were so high. I couldn’t handle it on my own.”
“My dear, that’s a powerful testimony. You should preach the sermon tomorrow.” Elisha and Becca giggled in unison. For the first time, in a long time, Becca and her father were going to attend church together.
Becca hadn’t felt this at ease with her dad, since the ovarian cancer ravaged her mom. Elisha told Becca that he was preaching at four different services on Sunday due to the massive growth in church attendance. The press had dubbed the spiritual revival in the US as the ‘New Great Awakening.’
“That’s exciting, Dad. But it must be so tiring! How’s the quantum faith sermon coming?”
“It’s a book,” replied Elisha.
“Well, how’s the book coming?”
“Slow. The minute I write a word, I can’t tell what chapter I’m in.”
“Dad, really? Quantum humor will never catch on.”
Jared laughed. “The book is good. I'll let you read my third draft. How’s Josh doing?”
“He’s well. I’m extremely proud of him. We’ve become very close. He’s very special to me.”
“Do you think y’all will get married?” asked Elisha.
“I love him a lot. We do need to work through how we’d raise kids. He seems open to my faith, but he’s still working through Judaism. The quest for the Ark definitely made him hungry for spiritual things.”
“Becca, that’s a very mature approach. I think most people forget that Jesus was an observant Jew. I believe when He returns, it won’t be any different.
“I think his primary language will be Hebrew. He’ll keep the Jewish feasts, holidays, and calendar. And he’ll reign from Israel. We’re not going to look to Washington D.C. when Jesus comes back; we’re going to look to Jerusalem.”
“Dad, do you think that day is close?”
Chapter 45 – Trumpet Blasts
Tuesday, September 7, 2021 – Babylon, Iraq
Prime Minister’s Palace
Dusk fell upon on Babylon.
Hadi Hadari walked into Rahmati’s office overlooking the sparkling Euphrates River. The Euphrates River and Tree of Life were the only geographic features named in the first and last books of the Christian Bible—Genesis and Revelation.
Rahmati peered into the receding red sun. “There will be a new moon tonight. That means a new Islamic month.”
Hadi grinned. “Muhammad, you’re on top of the world. You’ve established yourself as the voice of the Middle East. There hasn’t been a ruler as strong as you, since the Ottoman Empire.”
Rahmati sighed. “The Ottoman Empire was the last recognized Islamic Caliphate. But they didn’t adapt to the times, and the West slowly consumed their rotten flesh—like the buzzards that they are. We must avoid that fate. I’d rather die than be another Ataturk.”
“The same thing is happening in Saudi Arabia,” said Hadi.
“Yes, the monarchy will collapse in a matter of days. They’ve called for elections. They’ve lost the military. Right now, inertia is the only thing holding up the House of Saud. I’m going to turn up the heat on the King. I’ll announce that Saudi citizens will share in oil revenue, when Ghawar Field and Mecca fall.
“With the instability in the region, and the Shiite workers’ strike on the Saudi oil fields, oil hit $325 a barrel today. Gas is over $11 a gallon in the US, and nearly double that in Europe. Gold is going crazy; it closed at $6500 an ounce.
“It’s like we have a license to print money. Petrodollars are pouring into Iraq and Persia. You know it’s good when even the Russians are ecstatic. With the price of oil, their economy is booming.
“We’ve frozen Saudi oil out of the market. The American’s are still trying to fix their fracking infrastructure. When we confiscate the Saudi fields, we’ll be the largest oil supplier in the world. Bahrain is now under our protectorate. We’ve got complete surveillance of the 5th Fleet base, and could bottle them up, if needed. All of our plans are working.”
Like Saddam Hussein, Rahmati began to restate Iraq’s historic territorial claim to Kuwait. Rahmati’s proxy war, pitting the Kurds against Turkey, was also advancing.
“With all this oil money, I can invest in the future of this region. I’m implementing a trial program in Babylon. To receive next quarter’s oil dividend check, all residents of Babylon must agree to implant a microchip into their hand. After we work the kinks out of this trial program, I want to spread the system to all of I
raq.”
“What will the chip do?” asked Hadari. “I don’t understand.”
“The chip will handle all payments. We need to be able to identify and track all citizens. That’ll help reduce the threat of terrorism. The Caliphate may be dead, but its Jihadist ideology is still very dangerous. The microchip will include a unique identification code for every man, woman, and child. We can tie this identifier to the Blockchain, so everyone’s purchases will be recorded and protected. Iraq will then possess one of the most advanced and efficient financial systems in the world.”
*
An hour behind Babylon, Jews in Jerusalem, and all over the world, readied themselves to attend synagogue. They would celebrate the holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
In Hebrew, Rosh Hashanah meant, ‘head of the year.’ Both Jewish and Islamic calendars were based upon phases of the moon.
Rosh Hosanna began this evening, at first sight of the new moon.
The Hebrew Bible referred to the holiday as Yom Teruah, the day of blowing or shouting of a battle cry. This was because a shofar, a ram's horn, was blown during the holiday. In fact, the festival was also known as the Feast of Trumpets.
The new moon on September 7, 2021, and the blows of the shofar, would inaugurate the new Jewish year of 5782. Hebrew sages also taught that the God created the world on this day and that Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac, were it not for an intervening angel.
Muslims too, traced their lineage to Abraham. Abraham rebuilt the Kaaba. They also believed that the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures regarding the identity of the son to be sacrificed were corrupted. The Koran indicated that Ishmael was the child nearly sacrificed, not Isaac.
*
General Shields and POTUS met at noon in the Oval Office.
Shields’ brief highlighted the latest quantum-resistant encryption breakthroughs. He also wanted to get the President’s approval to deploy the updated 5Gen Swarmbots to track Rahmati. Their comms would be encrypted using the new quantum-resistant keys. They’d also include the first version of eM. Swarmbots could still be manually controlled from the SWARM Op Center.
“Mr. President, thank you for meeting with me on such short notice. I wanted to detail to you a TOP SECRET project we’ve been working from our new startup accelerator. Then, I want to inform you as to the updates we’ve made to our encryption algorithms.”
“Alright Bernie,” said President Goodson. “I’ve always—”
General Shields felt a surge. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. It seemed electrical. But, it also felt like a strong wind. It blew in an instant. His vision blurred in a phosphorescent hue. It seemed like an hour, but was closer to 180 seconds. Shields lost all sense of time.
Secret Service agents rushed through the door.
“Where’s the President?”
The still blinded Shields struggled to make his mouth form sentences. “He’s right here. I’m talking to him.”
*
Josh readied the table setting at Fiola Mare in Georgetown, the site of his first date with Becca. He adjusted the dozen red roses he laid on Becca’s chair, one more time. He wanted everything to be perfect. It was a beautiful, nearly fall afternoon in Georgetown. Orange and red leaves blew into the Potomac.
Josh paid photographers and VR videographers to strategically film the scene. He didn’t want to miss a moment. Or an angle. Or one second of the experience. The couple both enjoyed reliving important moments with VR. They could return to the memory whenever they wished.
And this was an instant that Josh wanted to remember forever.
Becca should’ve been here a while ago. Josh didn’t know why she was taking so long. Maybe she knew?
From his breast pocket of his sports coat, he pulled out a seven-carat, emerald cut, diamond ring. He reached for his polishing cloth. Josh prepared the ring, one last time.
*
The 100th blast of the shofar bellowed in Jerusalem.
When she recognized her mom, Becca ran as fast as she could. The cancer was gone. The disease was conquered. In the moment it takes a star to twinkle, Elisha Roberts grabbed Becca’s hand. Together they dashed forward. Becca squeezed her mom, as tightly as she did when she was a little girl. Elisha wrapped his arms around both his daughter and his wife.
Out of the corner of her eye, Becca saw Professor McMillan. “Ello Luv.”
About the Author
B. Michaels is an entrepreneur, executive, technologist…and now…a new author. He's spent a number of years working in the US Government and Fortune 1000.
B is passionate about technology, business, and geopolitics. Right now, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and cybersecurity fill his days. In his free time, he studies the Bible, Koran, and prophecy. And plays with his dog!
B would very much like your feedback about Chasm Waxing!
In particular, he’d like to know your ideas for the rest of the Chasm Trilogy:
Chasm Waxing details the years 2020-2021
Chasm Waning will cover 2025 to 2032
Chasm Eclipsed will deal with 2032-3032
You can find B. Michaels at:
Blog: https://bmichaelsauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMichaels_Authr
Email:
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