The Illuminati (34 page)
At the great assembly hall in Beijing, the Chinese leaders were gathered to hear their president make an announcement to the World Press, which was represented by every major network.
The ambassador from China stood before the assembly: “I have the great honor of presenting our great leader, Chang Lo Tung, president of all China.”
Chang had been just forty-three when he was elected in the first free elections held in China in more than sixty years. At fifty-three, he was still youthful by Chinese standards. The elections were hailed by the West as a sign that China was finally joining the community of nations. In reality, what had happened was Chang had become the strongest dictator in China since Mao Tsetung. Under the tutelage of the Japanese, he had made China into the second most powerful nation in the worldâ militarily.
Speaking perfect English acquired at Stanford, where he had earned his master's in international law, Chang addressed the assembly.
“My brothers, as you know, the Zionists have stolen the world's greatest economic treasure and the life blood of our people, and are now trying to blackmail the world. If we allow this, our economy will collapse even before we get started. For centuries China has been struggling just to feed its people. Now, as we are developing the means to do so, the Jews threaten to stop us. We will not be stopped. Our people are willing to die to defend our right to progress.”
As if by an unseen signal, the assembly thundered with applause.
“Even as I speak, the Chinese Republic is moving its army into position to recover the oil stolen by the Israelis. We do not wish war. We do not wish anything from Israel except peace. But if Israel persists in holding the oil so needed by our allies to help China, we will fight. And let there be no mistake: we will scrape Israel clean when we attack! There will not be one blade of grass left growing and not one brick left standing. We will tear down every building and cast the bricks into the sea. We will destroy the Zionists until their land will be uninhabitable for one thousand years.
“If the United States interferes, we will launch an attack that will end its ability to wage war. We have two billion people ready and willing to die for their right to feed their children. We will survive any war. The Zionists and their allies will not.
“This conflict can be avoided if Israel will relinquish the rights to the oil they have stolen. I pray that the United States will use its influence to accomplish this.”
At the Pentagon in Washington, General Louis Gorman, chairman, called an emergency meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Gentlemen, we cannot take this threat lightly. Our intelligence reports show that the Chinese have nearly five hundred long-range missiles capable of reaching the U.S., and more than one thousand capable of reaching Israel. I have read your reports and concur with the overall analysis: We could lose as many as one hundred million people in a nuclear exchange. Without question, we could inflict massive damage on the Chinese, but it is not an option as far as I am concerned. The United States should not go to war over Israel's right to Saudi Arabia's oil. We'd have a revolt from the American people.”
“General, I recommend that we confront the president and her staff on this issue. I will not be a party to starting World War III. The president lacks the authority to launch any attack without the approval of Congress. And since the Congress is still on furlough that means no war. . .”
“I agree, Ray,” Gorman broke in to say as he closed the file before him. “I'll see the president immediately.” General Gorman was addressing Lieutenant General Raymond Abbott, Commanding General of the Air Force. It was Abbott who had planned the strategy for ending the hostilities in the Middle East during the 2010 war. He was a cool thinker and absolutely committed to his job. He believed in the constitutional form of government and was determined not to allow the politicians to run the military or the military to run the government.
Known only to General Gorman and a very few select military leaders, Lt. General Raymond Abbott had uncovered a plot within the military to take over the government and remove President Hunt because of his abuse of power. He suspected the sentiment against President Alton was running even stronger since the military police were being used to help round up and detain American citizens without right of counsel or arraignment. It was all Gorman could do to keep Abbott from storming the White House and confronting Alton and her group of bootlickers.
Gorman had gotten some bad vibrations from the White House. He had argued vehemently against President Alton's declaring martial law. Obviously there were problems in California with bandits and drug runners, but nothing that warranted the suspension of civil rights for the general public. In fact, since martial law had been declared, more troops had been engaged in transporting and detaining the so-called “terrorists” than in stopping the crime sprees. Now he had reports that local units had been authorized to arrest and detain women and children, families of the Constitutional Rights Committees, to force them out of hiding.
Eventually we'll have a revolt
, Gorman thought.
Many of those people being detained are friends and relatives of soldiers. They will eventually put it all together. Then watch out! Soldiers in China might follow blindly, but not Americans. Praise God for that
.
“I have scheduled a meeting with the president today,” Gorman said in response to Abbott's comment. “I will tell her the joint chiefs are in disagreement with Israel's actions and we recommend strongly that Israel return the confiscated oil and defuse this situation. I'll make it clear that we will not allow Israel to use nuclear weaponsâunder the threat of U.S. retaliation. Are we in agreement, gentlemen?”
Unanimously, each member signaled his or her total concurrence. Most had thought Israel's actions were meant to give them a better negotiating position for the oil their country needed. Until the Chinese actually began deploying troops in Afghanistan, they had all assumed real negotiations would start. But when Israel had taken an uncompromising position, they realized that a conflict was inevitable unless the U.S. acted quickly. President Alton seemed to be stalling. In the face of such a potential holocaust, stalling was not an option.
General Gorman spent several frustrating hours trying to get an appointment with President Alton. Each call was met with the same response from her appointment secretary, “I'm sorry, General Gorman, the president is in a special closed door meeting with the Cabinet and members of Congress. She has your message and I'm sure she will see you as soon as possible.” Gorman was furious. He had been in Washington long enough to know a stall when he saw one.
But why?
he wondered.
Is this another case of Nero fiddling while Rome burns?
What he didn't know, but soon would, was that President Alton had another agenda in mind; one that did not include the joint chiefs or their chairman. Her meeting was not with the Cabinet, but with just one personâ Amir Razzak.
“Is everything in order?” Razzak asked Kathy Alton as they dined in the blue room.
“It is, sir,” she replied comfortably. “I will appoint you special envoy to negotiate the Israeli crisis tomorrow. Do you anticipate any difficulties from the Jews?”
“Naturally,” the dark man replied as if he were discussing the purchase of a business. “The Jews are always a problem. You will give me sealed orders authorizing the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary. But we need to allow this conflict between China and Israel to develop further. We must bring the entire world under threat. Only then will they recognize Israel as the menace that she is. The harlot must be obliterated along with the Christians.”
“They will be,” Alton promised her benefactor. “But we may have some problems with the military. General Gorman has already been to see me about the detention of so many Americans. Now he wants a meeting about confronting Israel immediately.”
Razzak's eyes narrowed. “Nothing must stop the roundup of the Christians! Do you understand? They represent the only true threat to my power. We will begin eliminating them soon. The Jews will become the key to solidifying our power. They have made themselves hated already. We will draw upon that hate. We will destroy them also, once and for all. Nothing must stand in the way. This is the time. I will succeed.”
Kathy Alton was frightened. She had pledged her devotion to the Society as a young woman, but she had never truly understood how they could rule the world until now. “I will do as you ask, my lord,” she replied. She was the president of the most powerful nation that had ever existed, and yet she cowered before one small man.
“I am but the servant of the prince,” he said as he focused on her eyes. In them he saw what he wanted to see: fear and total devotion. “The prince of darkness will rule the world when the Christians are gone. We will defeat that pathetic band of groveling misfits who claim Jesus as Lord. The prince will be lord. This kingdom will be ours!”
The Israeli Knesset was designed much in the fashion of the British parliamentâ a governing body made up of elected members and representing a balance to the powers of the Israel prime minister, at least in theory. In function, the Knesset had become the ruling body since the two opposing parties had been united under the leadership of the Zionists. They called themselves the “Zealots.”
Under the total domination of Rabbi Moshi Amitt, the Zealots dictated government policy, rather than approve or reject it. Any public official openly opposing the Zealots, including the prime minister, was instantly subject to a no-confidence vote and recall.
It was to this group and this mentality that Prime Minister Jacob Estine was making a desperate appeal.
He stood in the speaker's box addressing the hundred-plus group of men, the majority of whom wore the scarlet and black robes of the Zealots.
“You fools! You are leading us into a war we cannot win. Even if we were willing to use nuclear weapons on the Chinese, we could not kill them all. They have two billion people! If one hundred million survive, they will still outnumber us twenty to one. Are you willing to kill a billion human beings?”
“If it will help us to fulfill our destiny,” Moshi Amitt boasted. “But they will not attack when you tell them about the doomsday weapon.”
“You fools!” Estine shouted again at the men assembled there. “We evaluated the cobalt bomb thoroughly. It is a weapon that cannot ever be used. The device would contaminate the planet if it didn't destroy the earth itself.”
“I am told the yield from this weapon is greater than the largest hydrogen bomb. Is that correct?” Amitt asked smugly.
Estine replied, “In theory, yes. But it may also create a chain reaction that could burn off the earth's atmosphere. We learned the technology after the Americans gave up the project in the late 1960s. Dr. Heinz said the device was beyond the capacity of mankind to control.”
The other members of the Knesset looked at Amitt. It was clear they had not been told all the facts. “Just how powerful is this bomb, Prime Minister?” one of the members asked.
“We can only calculate its yield. The computer simulations suggest it would have a yield of one to two gigatons.”
“Define, please,” the bearded rabbi requested.
“A gigaton is the equivalent of one billion tons of TNT. As a comparison, the largest hydrogen bomb yet constructed has a yield of approximately one hundred million tons of TNT.”
A murmur went through the room as the members considered the enormity of the weapon that Amitt proposed using.
“But that is the beauty of the weapon,” Amitt said to his peers. “It is so destructive that no one will dare oppose us while we have it.” Even as he spoke, Amitt knew he had a plan that required a “demonstration” of his doomsday weapon.