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Chapter 4

In the Aftermath of Truth

Thursday, February 14–MD minus 25 days

The Secret Service had quite a time trying to hustle the president out of Williams before the large crowd left the memorial service. He was not in the mood to be hustled.

The president walked with Janet to the pews where the families of the victims lost in the terrorist shooting had been sitting. He wanted to spend some more time with them, seeking to comfort and encourage them one by one. He changed the return plans when a spokesman for the family group asked if they would stay and join the families on site for lunch. Janet smiled, for that was what she had wanted to do all along. The Secret Service was beside themselves, but understood that this president had a different agenda — and unfortunately, his personal safety was not part of it.

As they began to move through the tunnel to the educational facility where they had initially gathered, David Barnes was on his cell phone talking to Darrell Reed. Suddenly, it was as if a light switched on and Tom Campy remembered something. He turned abruptly to Sally Johnson, who was pushing his wheelchair, and asked, “Sally, did you remember my cell phone? Did you get Farsi’s cell number off it?”

“We checked out all the cell phone companies in the Williams and Chicago area, and no one had an account in Farsi’s name,” she replied.

“He had a cell phone,” Tom insisted. “I spoke with him on it. He must have had it in another name. Where is my cell phone?”

“It must still be at the hospital,” Sally answered. “We’ll look when I take you back.”

The president had avoided the press completely, with the exception of George Murphy, the writer for the Times Daily who had been invited to join the presidential party for the trip back to Washington. “Mr. President,” Tom Knight said, taking the president off to the side for a private conversation. “You cannot offend the Washington Press and ignore the national press and not pay a steep price. They are the ones who have the eyes and ears of the people. They’re going to paint you as a dangerous religious nut. You cannot lead if the people will not follow, and they must follow, or you cannot confront MD successfully.”

“Tom, I understand your concern, but these are not normal times, and ‘the normal rules’ don’t apply. What is important is not to worry about who the people follow. It is who I follow. Success against MD is dependent on God’s protection only, and I sincerely believe that if I follow Him, the people will be led by Him to follow me.

“The media does not concern me. Have you noticed the rise of ITN as a broadcast alternative? The people want more facts, and they want it presented in such a way that they can make a choice. ITN has filled that void and profited greatly by their different approach. And then there is this prayer website, seen all over the world. We have an audience now that we have never been able to communicate with before. Even George Murphy is giving us a fair hearing, and he will have the opportunity to watch for himself and report what he sees. The Creator of the universe even controls the media. The White House press corps need to understand that their position is a privilege, not a right. A good dose of humility might help them even if it is forced.”

“I hope you know what you are doing,” Knight replied.

“Don’t worry, Tom. I am not hiding from the press. I simply want to be careful how and when information gets out. I have offered Diane Conway an interview before we leave for the plane. She writes for the local paper. The Washington crowd can follow her lead. It is refreshing to converse with someone outside the Washington bubble. She listens without an ideological agenda.

“Enough business for now,” the president said firmly, but kindly. “I want to spend this time with the families.” Taking Janet’s hand, they walked to the group of waiting relatives and friends and joined them at a table for lunch.

An Unanticipated Result

The call between David Barnes and Darrell Reed was a report on Dr. Bristol’s bad day that had just gotten worse. The hearing with Judge Hightower had not gone as Professor Trice expected. One minute into the hearing, as Larry Jordan explained the government’s position and the immediate national security need for the documents and answers to relevant questions, the judge interrupted.

“Wait a minute, Mr. Jordan. Do I understand you to be telling me that the CIA has traced communications through a known terrorist website — one that is actually being used to communicate with American operatives in preparation for an attack within the continental United States — to the Harkins Graduate School of Education computer lab, and they are refusing to provide the government relevant information?”

“Yes sir, communications were forwarded through that website and had been used by others in the United States in connection with the recent attacks in Williams. Plans for others which are under investigation,” Jordon replied.

Turning his attention to Professor Trice, the judge said, “Your reputation surely precedes you here, but you better have a real argument on why your client is refusing to produce documents and answer questions. I am setting an evidentiary hearing on this matter in fifteen minutes. Mr. Jordan, I want the government to set up a conference line to my office, and in fifteen minutes I will expect a call. I want evidence that what you are telling me is correct. Dr. Trice, you produce whomever you want on that same call to provide evidence that the government is wrong — or whatever your client’s legal justification is for ignoring the subpoena — and for you instructing a witness not to answer questions. Fifteen minutes,” and he hung up.

“Jim, set up the conference line while I get a hold of Darrell Reed,” Jordan yelled.

Trice turned to Dr. Bristol, and out of the earshot of Jordan quietly said, “You are our only witness. You will have to testify about what the president said in the call. Be careful not to conflict with your affidavit. Here, I have a copy. Read it quickly.”

“I don’t like this,” Dr. Bristol responded. “This is getting out of hand. It is one thing to play the media, but the media isn’t here.”

“Just leave it to me,” Trice answered. “You can’t win if you don’t fight.”

The Hearing

Before the hearing commenced, Jordan asked the court to seal the proceeding because of the national security disclosures that would be required. “Absolutely,” the judge responded. “This hearing is sealed, and the parties and their lawyers are instructed that nothing communicated in the hearing may be repeated to anyone without advance authorization by order of the court.”

“Mr. Jordan, call your first witness.”

The hearing was candid and chilling as Darrell Reed answered questions from Jordan and the court. The cross-examination was ineffective as there was no government effort to do anything beyond attempting to stop the planned attacks. The testimony of the connection between the communications from Cambridge and what was happening in Williams was particularly useful. The judge had taken a recess from pending matters to watch the memorial service, and it was during that service that Jordan’s call had come in.

Darrell was as careful as he was smart and disclosed nothing of substance about MD or Iran. No one from the government side trusted Professor Trice to honor the court’s confidentiality order.

After Reed’s testimony was completed, the judge turned to Professor Trice and said, “I have heard enough from the government. What is your response? Call your first witness.”

An unexcited and uncomfortable Dr. Harold Bristol then sought to explain how the president was after Arabs as a racial group. He shared that the disclosure of the alleged use of the Harkins Graduate School of Education computer lab by a possible terrorist student or faculty member would cause the university irreparable harm. Professor Trice then made his student record confidentiality argument, along with violating the civil rights of unknown Arabs argument, finally throwing in the danger of profiling argument as his conclusion.

“I don’t need to hear anything further from you, Mr. Jordan. I am ready to announce my ruling.

“I find that there is clear and convincing evidence of a threat to the security of the United States, and probable cause that a crime has been committed by use of the Harkins Graduate School of Education computer lab. Because of restricted access to the lab, I further find that the perpetrator was most likely either a Harkins employee, faculty member or student and that the government has an immediate need for information regarding those who would have had access and could be the perpetrator. I find that the call from the president was an attempt to obtain the needed information in a confidential manner in order to protect the university and speed the process so that the perpetrator could be identified and apprehended. Finally, I find no legal justification for the refusal of Dr. Bristol to produce the subpoenaed documents or for Professor Trice to violate the rules of civil procedure by instructing the witness not to answer questions from the government.

“I order that the deposition of Dr. Bristol be continued until 1:00 PM tomorrow, at which time it will commence in my chambers. I am to be present until it is concluded. The plaintiffs have until 1:00 PM tomorrow to produce all documents requested by the government. Dr. Trice is sanctioned by this court for his knowing and willful violation of the rules of civil procedure and is fined $1,000, which shall be paid to the government by 1:00 PM tomorrow for their cost and expense required to reschedule this proceeding and force compliance. The $1,000 is to be paid from the personal funds of Professor Trice, and not be reimbursed by his client or any third party. This is a personal sanction against him.”

Speaking slowly and deliberately, Judge Hightower continued, “Dr. Bristol, Professor Trice, listen closely. If this order is not fully complied with by 1:00 PM tomorrow, or if during the continuation of his deposition Dr. Bristol evades a question or is instructed not to answer a legitimate question, I will hold the violating party in contempt and send them immediately to jail. There will be no further delay. Am I clearly understood?”

“Yes, your honor,” all parties responded.

Disappointment in Carmen

In Carmen, Arizona, Seth Wilson had completed his interview with Juan Martinez, the High School Junior who had observed and reported suspicious activity at the old Craig place involving over the road trucks. Juan had given a sworn statement on what he saw, which Wilson took to the local police station as a basis for further investigation.

“Sergeant Thomas,” Wilson began, “I need for you and some of your men to accompany me to the Craig place to interview the occupants. Based on what Juan Martinez observed, and upon our continuing investigation, Homeland Security believes that the Craig place may be where terrorists sent over the border have come to be transported to their assigned places in the US for future attacks; perhaps like we have seen in Williams, perhaps part of something much larger. We simply don’t know for sure right now. Our real concern is that all Juan ever saw was Arab men. The men in the house, the drivers and the passengers were all Arabs. That is really suspicious in this day of terrorism on our shores.”

“Listen, you have more than enough evidence to get a search warrant from Judge O’Connor,” Sergeant Thomas answered. “Let’s go there first. If your suspicions are correct, we need to be prepared to move immediately.”

It didn’t take long to get the warrant, and soon two Carmen police cars raced to the old Craig place, one approaching from the front while the other came up the street behind the house to cover any attempted escape out the back. With guns drawn, Sergeant Thomas knocked on the front door, announcing, “Carmen police. We have a search warrant. Open the front door now!”

When there was no answer, the door was forced open, and the police entered as trained, setting up fields of fire and making sure they were ready for a fight. They immediately dispersed throughout the house, quickly doing a visual search for anyone remaining inside. They saw plenty of evidence that people had been there, but no current occupants. The refrigerator contained spoiled food, and there was trash strewn everywhere.

“We’ll watch it,” Sergeant Thomas said, “but it looks like we’re a little late. This place has been abandoned.”

“Jeff, you and Steve tear this place apart and see if you can find any evidence of who was here or what they were doing. Make sure you give whatever you find out to Mr. Wilson to help with the national investigation.”

Unknown to the frustrated crowd of lawmen present in Carmen that day, the decision had been made some time ago to abandon the house. No more drivers for MD were being brought into the country. The required number were already positioned and prepared for the attack. The men that had been coordinating the distribution activities had returned to Mexico to help with the truck invasion, which would commence immediately before MD was launched.

The Answer to the Question Not Asked

After lunch, the Bookseller stood and turned to the friends and families and said, “Before you leave, I’d like us to share in the Lord’s Supper together. But first, I need to answer the questions I know all of you are secretly asking — why did God allow this, and why did it happen to my loved one?”

Every eye in the room was attentive to the Bookseller, and there was absolute silence as people strained to hear the answers.

Speaking slowly and deliberately, the Bookseller continued. “There are no accidents in God’s economy, particularly when it involves His children. This tragedy is not a case of good people being in the right place at the wrong time. This is a case of people being exactly where God wanted them to be, at the exact time He wanted them to be there, for His purposes.

“The first question is actually easy. Jesus Himself provided the answer immediately before He served what we have come to call the Lord’s Supper. Do you remember what He shared with the disciples in those moments? John wrote about it in great detail starting with the thirteenth chapter of his book, continuing all the way through Jesus’ prayer in the seventeenth chapter.

“Jesus spoke words of warning and hope. They were what we as believers must expect because of our association with Him. Do you remember?”

Searching their memories or grabbing for their Bibles, the group sought diligently to find the answer. They somehow knew that it was important — not just to them in their difficult circumstances, but to the greater family of God around the world. It was a subject that they had never heard any pastor address.

“Not once, but on three separate occasions during those moments, Jesus warned of suffering simply because a believer was associated with Him. It was even one of the subjects He specifically addressed in His closing prayer after serving the Lord’s Supper. Let me read those three passages.

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: “no servant is greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you in this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me.16

… a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They do such things because they have not known the Father or Me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at the beginning because I was with you.17

“And in His prayer,

I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world… As You sent Me into the world, I have sent them into the world.18

“The Father allows believers to share in the sufferings of Christ. The answer to the second question tells us why these particular brothers and sisters were chosen to suffer in this way.

“Shortly before he was to be killed by the Romans, Paul answered the second question in a letter to his young student Timothy. You may not like the answer, because it speaks of the future of which Jesus warned. Paul wrote, ‘In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.’19

“The real question we should be asking today is not ‘why them’ or ‘why was this allowed,’ but rather, ‘why not us’ and ‘why not more often,’ for we too are part of the ‘everyone’ Paul referred to. It applies to us if we truly want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus.

“In the Book of the Revelation, there is a repeat of the warnings of Christ. There, Satan is pictured as a dragon, defeated in his attempts to destroy Jesus. The twelfth chapter describing that event ends with this chilling reality.”

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring–those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.20

“Have you thought about those who were killed or wounded last Sunday? Every one of them fits within the warnings of Jesus, the statement of Paul and the conclusion in the Revelation. These men and women were selected by God because of the purity of their faith to suffer as a witness to the rest of us. They were not Christians by name only; they were men and women whose lives were identified fully with Jesus Christ.”

Pausing at the sound of weeping, the Bookseller cleared his throat, wiped tears from his eyes and continued. “Now beloved, as we turn to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, I want you to remember something else Jesus said before He served the first such supper.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you may be where I am.21

“Last Sunday, the Lord Himself came and fulfilled that promise for your loved ones. It was sealed by His blood on the cross for them — and for us — and for all who will ever be born again. It is the sacrifice we remember as we share the cup and the bread together.”22