Читать книгу Nathaniel's Chorus - Gary Lightfoot - Страница 10

On the morning of the third day of the Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing, the Right Reverend Jeremiah Branch is sitting at his desk holding a transcript of the most recently produced tape by the tri-P. Branch looks over at his fellow senator and supporter, Senator James Bernard.

“Well Jimmy, thankfully I do declare, it looks like it’s going to be just you and me for the next few days.”

Senator Bernard sits solemnly in his chair and says,

“Sir, are YOU sure that you HAVE things planned OUT entirely?”

“Relax Jimmy, everything is playing out exactly as I have planned.” Branch walks over to his window. Washington’s skyline begins to glow in the morning sun.

“Yesterday was the end of phase one, today with this new tape, we start phase two.”

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Missing from the morning meeting is Senator Cindy Aaronson who was standing near the potential targets of the assassination attempt carried out by the tri-P yesterday. Among the targets were Senator Rowse and Senator Tillotson, both were uninjured but their aides were not as lucky. Senator Rowse’s aide, Russell Sikes, was walking in front of Senator Rowse and suffered a knife wound to the abdomen. He died in route to the hospital. Senator Tillotson’s aide, Shane Manygoats, a Native American from Shiprock New Mexico, was walking next to Senator Tillotson when the attackers ran toward them as they exited the Committee chambers. Shane pushed Senator Tillotson to the side and attempted to fight off the attackers. One of the two attackers, each wielding strange looking knives, had already stabbed Russell Sikes and was reaching out for Senator Rowse. When Shane pushed Senator Tillotson to the side, it caused Tillotson to stumble and fall into the first attacker before he could reach Rowse, knocking him to the ground. Shane continued to wrestle with Senator Tillotson’s attacker, eventually throwing him to the ground where he landed at the feet of Senator Aaronson who was walking with Chairman Branch and Senator Bernard as they exited the chambers after Senators Tillotson and Rowse. Senator Aaronson gasped in horror as the two attackers suddenly stopped their attacks by plunging knives into their own throats severing their carotid arteries.

After several moments of shocked silence, while blood spurted from the necks of the attackers, the crowd screamed as they watched Shane Manygoats stumble into the arms of Senator Aaronson. In the fight with Tillotson’s attacker, Shane had suffered several cuts to his forearms and one to his chest. As Shane began to bleed profusely from his wounds, he wrapped his arms around Cindy Aaronson. She struggled to hold him up as his strength gave out, but she collapsed under the weight of the 6-foot, former ASU football star. When emergency paramedics arrived on the scene they found Senator Aaronson covered in blood, still holding Shane Manygoats in her arms. The paramedics had to struggle with Aaronson to let them take Shane. She only relinquished her hold when the paramedics assured her that Shane was still alive and would likely survive. Senator Aaronson began insisting that she be allowed to accompany the ambulance to the hospital, but as the paramedics where arguing with her, she began to slur her words and then rolled onto her side unconscious. It was at that time that they discovered that Senator Aaronson had herself been stabbed in the back by what must have been a third attacker.

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Sitting at his desk, Senator Branch begins to read aloud the transcript,

“We the righteous arm of Allah, pronounce today through our bold cuts into the hearts of the evil ones, that the tri-P is everywhere, no one is beyond our will; every person, state, nation and region will bend their knee to us, they will tremble in fear and pay to us the respect we deserve or they will drown in their own tears.”

Senator Branch studies the words repeating them softly, he then says,

“Well they didn’t get who they went after, but they sure scared the hell out them.”

Senator Bernard adds, “They HURT Cindy also, surely SHE wasn’t a target, WAS she?”

Branch doesn’t respond but turns on the TV in his office,

“Let’s see if the media has the tape on the air yet.”

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FOX News reporter Shea Noble is sleeping in her hotel room in Long Beach California, when her cell phone wakes her, as she glances at the alarm clock she says,

“Hello, this is Shea Noble FOX News, who’s this?”

“Shea, this is Robert Jolly.”

“Good morning Bob, you do know it’s 4:30 out here.”

“Sorry ‘bout that honey, I need to know if you made contact with the Foot brothers.”

Shea sits up blinking her eyes to clear her vision. She then says,

“I went by their place last night, but no one was there. I’ll be heading back over there right after breakfast.”

“Shea, you need to put your face on and get over there. We’re running the tape we got from the tri-P within this hour. I want you to get their reaction, I feel there’s a story there.”

Shea flips open her note pad and says,

“Bob, Nathan will go running in about an hour. I’ll head down to the beach and try catching him there.”

“Sounds like a plan. Oh by the way, how do you like staying on the Queen Mary?”

Shea looks around her stateroom and then says, “I was going to say, thanks for booking me here sir, it’s really nice, wish I had time to enjoy it.”

“Ha, don’t worry, if you get this story, I’ll make sure you have an extended stay on her.”

“Mr. Jolly sir,”

“Yes Shea,”

“Did you know that I watched the Queen Mary come into Long Beach on her last trip?”

“I didn’t know that Shea, must have been quite a sight back then. That was what, 1967?”

“Yes sir, I was only a kid, but I remember it. I sat on Mr. Foot’s shoulders . . .” Shea catches herself, but Robert Jolly had already heard her.

“Did you say you knew the Foots when you were a little girl?”

“Sir, I better get going if I’m going to catch up with Nathan.”

Robert Jolly allows Shea’s slip to pass, but he files it in his memory to be used later.

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The President of the United States, Gale Biscoff, whose closest friends called “Magic”, sits quietly at his desk watching the TV as the FOX News reporter begins the morning news,

“We are about to air an exclusive this morning, late last night we received a new tape from the tri-P terrorist group. The original tape was sent to the FBI for analyses, what we will air now, is a copy of the original. We haven’t altered its content, but we will not run it in its entirety due to National Security concerns.”

The screen changes from the high-tech FOX News “News Desk” to a scene from the inside of a dimly lit room revealing only the silhouette of a man wearing a head wrap covering his entire head. In the background is what resembles to be, the inside of a tent draped from a rod that spans the entire width of the screen. A penlight is turned on illuminating only the man’s eyes. As the man sits still, a large triangle containing a “P”, slides up through the scene. The man adjusts his indigo head wrapping, only allowing his pale green eyes to show, he then begins to speak,

“We the righteous arm of Allah, pronounce today through our bold cuts into the hearts of the evil ones, that the tri-P is everywhere, no one is beyond our will; every person, state, nation and region will bend their knee to us, they will tremble in fear and pay to me the respect I deserve or they will drown in their own tears.”

As the tape continues, President Biscoff calls out for his Chief of Staff, Markus Burroughs, a naturalized citizen of Egyptian heritage.

“Hey Markus, did you see that?”

Markus, who is sitting on the couch in the Oval Office with President Biscoff, looks away from the TV and toward the President and says with a slight aristocratic Mid-Eastern accent,

“I’m not sure what you’re asking sir.”

President Biscoff holds up the transcript and says,

“That’s the break we’ve been hoping for!”

“I’m still not sure what your saying sir.”

President Biscoff waves the piece of paper in his hand and says,

“This time he went off script,” pointing at the screen he continues, “that’s got to be the head honcho, the chief, the el presidente. Only the main man would adlib.”

Markus looks quickly down at the copy of the transcript on his lap and then back at the screen, “I did not catch it sir.”

President Biscoff scribbles a note on his pad, inserts it into an envelope, seals it and then calls for his personal assistant, Travis Tripp, the son of one of his childhood friends.

“Travis, you out there?”

Travis jogs through the door, “Yes sir.”

“Travis, take this to my wife.”

Travis turns and heads out the side door on his way to the First Lady. President Biscoff then calls his wife and tells her that Travis is on his way with a note.

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