Phoenix Rising: Read online

  PHOENIX RISING DAY OF JUDGMENT

  WILLIAM W. JOHNSTONE with J. A. Johnstone

  PINNACLE BOOKS

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Copyright Page

  Notes

  The End . . .

  When Mehdi Ohmshidi was elected President of the United States, he campaigned on the promise of “fundamentally transforming America,” and that is exactly what he did, carrying out that promise in a way that few could imagine. The result was devastating; a complete breakdown of America’s infrastructure, including a total rupture of the power grid, dissolution of the military and law enforcement, the destruction of all commerce, including distribution of food, clothing, and services, as well as the cessation of all newspaper, radio, television, telephone, and Internet access.

  Paper money lost its value and hundreds of billions of dollars lay undisturbed in worthless trash piles. Taking advantage of the collapse, Islamic terrorists detonated three nuclear bombs, and the United States ceased to exist.

  All across the nation millions of Americans died and their unburied, decaying, and putrefied bodies not only created a horrific landscape, but spread diseases that took millions of more lives. One third of the remaining population became homeless, while nearly as many turned to crime as their only chance for survival. Because of the actions of one self-absorbed, arrogant, and incompetent president who was elected, not on a basis of qualifications, but as an expression of open-mindedness and social experimentation, what had been the most powerful nation in the twenty-first-century world was thrust back into the eighteenth century.

  That time before the collapse of the United States, before Ohmshidi became president, was now referred to as the “pre-O” time.

  Here and there across the country, groups of Americans formed enclaves of mutual assistance and survival. One such team was headed by army veteran Jake Lantz, who took them to Fort Morgan. The fort is on the Alabama coast at Mobile Point, a little spit of land that separates Mobile Bay from the Gulf of Mexico.

  When Jake and his team showed up at the fort there was nothing there but old casements and stone walls. Jake chose Fort Morgan for a number of reasons, number one being the most obvious. It was a fort, and Jake knew that when conditions deteriorated even further in the country, it would spawn armed bands of hooligans to prey on anyone and everyone they thought might have something they could use. As Jake and his group were going to be well off, relatively speaking, he knew they would be a prime target. He knew, also, that the fort would provide them with protection against such groups.

  Inside the fort was a rather large area of arable land, probably the only place down on the beach that had real soil, rather than sand. Immediately after arrival, Jake and the team planted the seeds they had brought with them. There was also plenty of fish, and there was a considerable amount of game, from rabbits to possum to alligators.

  Once the group reached Fort Morgan, they encountered families who were living in beach houses next to the fort. One was Bob Varney, a retired army Warrant Officer and former helicopter pilot who had done three tours in Vietnam. Bob was also a successful novelist, who, in the pre-O time, before the collapse of the nation and currency, had been doing quite well. Now, however, money was useless, and Bob welcomed the invitation from Jake to join his team.

  After detonation of the nuclear bombs and the complete dissolution of the United States, a tremendous power vacuum was created. That vacuum was filled by a fundamentalist Islamic sect that called itself the Moqaddas Sirata, or the Holy Path.

  Initially those Americans who had survived the total collapse of the nation under Mehdi Ohmshidi welcomed the Moqaddas Sirata because they began to restore order across the country, punishing thieves and murderers. They also brought in fuel and food, re-established electricity, water, telephone service and the Internet. They even put radio and television broadcasts back on the air. Schools were re-opened and newspapers were printed. The American Islamic Republic of Enlightenment, AIRE, applied for membership in the United Nations, and though they were denied full membership, they were admitted in a nonvoting observer status. They were accorded membership in the OIC, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

  But there was a very dark side to the AIRE. Churches were burned and their pastors beheaded, women were stoned to death for being raped, a young boy had his arm run over on public television as punishment for stealing a loaf of bread. Youth Confinement and Enlightenment Centers were opened where every youth from six to eighteen was incarcerated so that they could be educated in the way of Moqaddas Sirata. In addition, all Jewish property was confiscated and Jews were incarcerated in “Ultimate Resolution” centers.

  Gradually the little group of survivors, they were now calling their operation “Firebase Freedom,” began to attract others. Tom Jack was the first to join them. In the pre-O time Tom had been a SEAL who had survived more covert operations than the law of averages should allow.

  Shortly after Tom joined the group they conducted a raid on the gas drilling rigs that were just off the Alabama shore. The raid was successful, the rigs were taken, and not only Fort Morgan, but all of Pleasure Island soon had a near limitless supply of natural gas. Their next operation was to steal a navy destroyer and use it to capture Khoramashur, a tanker ship that was filled with twenty-one million gallons of refined gasoline.

  Another who joined them was Chris Carmack. In the pre-O time, Chris had been an “off the books” agent for the CIA, handling only the most difficult and sensitive cases.

  AIRE destroyed the Washington Monument, the World War II monument, the monument to the Korean War, and the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the Lincoln Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Einstein Memorial, and the Holocaust Museum.

  In New York Harbor, Liberty Island was now bare, the Statue of Liberty being the first of the heretical symbols to be destroyed. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis had been taken down, and, on Mount Rushmore, the stone-carved faces of all the presidents had been obliterated, all this because these symbols of what had been a free America were deemed to be heretical under the Islamic law of Moqaddas Sirata.

  Every artifact in the Smithsonian Institution was destroyed. In addition the books, newspapers, photographs, sound recordings, videos and movies of the Library of Congress were removed from the building and burned. Soon, the only record of what had once been the United States, the greatest nation in history, became nothing but a memory kept alive in the minds and the hearts of those who still held the country dear.

  George
Gregoire, a man who had been a leading spokesman for conservative America in the pre-O time, was arrested by AIRE, and his public and televised execution was planned. Gregoire was rescued by Chris Carmack and shortly after his rescue, the conservative icon joined the group at Fort Morgan, where he agreed to give a speech to the rest of the nation. They were able to do that because Willie Stark, a member of Jake Lantz’s team, was a computer genius who hacked into the satellite which would send the broadcast to every television set in the North American continent.

  “Hello, America.

  “Yes, I’m still here, thanks to the bravery of some real heroes. And now, I am among these heroes, men and women who have not given up, men and women who have started a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the principles of personal freedom, self-determination, and sacred honor.

  “You need not accept what has happened to you. Be aware that help is on the way. There is a new movement on this continent, building a nation called United Free America. It will be a fully armed and totally self-contained nation of free men and women. We welcome anyone who wants to come join us, to help us attain our ultimate goal.

  “What is our ultimate goal?

  “First, I want you to see some of my friends here.

  The camera turned to show the men and women who were the heart of Firebase Freedom, and consequently, the heart of a United Free America.

  “These are the brave men and women who, by their courage, determination, and dedication to the principles of honor and duty, guarantee that we will reach that goal. I will let them tell you now what our real goal is.”

  All smiled, and raised their fists as they shouted the motto of the UFA.

  “Take Back America!”

  The Beginning . . .

  CHAPTER ONE

  Fort Morgan, Alabama

  As electricity was restored and fuel became available, life in southern Alabama was beginning to return to something that approximated normalcy. The motel-like structures that had been built inside the walls of Fort Morgan were all but abandoned as those who once occupied the temporary quarters were now moved into an area known as “The Dunes.” Here were thirty-eight large, multi-story beach homes built on stilts. In addition there were two seven-story condos each with seventy apartments.

  Bob and Ellen Varney owned a house here and were permanent residents, as were James and Cille Laney. The other homes and condo units were the property of absent owners, most of whom were trapped up north. That left their places empty, so Jake and Karen moved into a house next door to the one occupied by Bob and Ellen. The other members of the Phoenix Group moved into unoccupied homes so that now The Dunes had taken on all the appearances of a small community.

  With abundant fuel, a steady supply of electricity, and even more importantly, security and freedom from the oppressive SPS and Janissaries of Moqaddas Sirata, Gulf Shores began to come back. Once again stores were selling groceries, most of it locally produced vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, and meat.

  On this March evening the twenty three men and women of the Phoenix Group, plus George Gregoire, gathered on the beach. A pig had been cooking all day on one of the grills, and potatoes were roasting in a fire on the beach. Red and gold sparks were riding the rising heat waves into the sky to join with the stars that filled the black velvet.

  “Okay, folks, the meat’s ready,” Bob said, and everyone lined up as Bob began carving the pork.

  “Whoa, this is good!” Deon Pratt said as he took his first bite. “Where did you learn to cook like this?”

  “My dad owned a fish and barbeque market in Memphis,” Bob said. “I worked for him for a while after I retired from the army, until he fired me.”

  Jake Lantz laughed. “You mean your own father fired you?”

  “Yep.”

  “What for?”

  “You would have had to know my Dad. He wasn’t what you would call a very understanding man.”

  Ellen laughed. “You want to tell them why he really fired you?”

  “It wasn’t anything.”

  “Tell them.”

  “One day I wrapped up some fresh fish for a woman customer. I’m not that good at wrapping things, and she complained about it, said I had done a sloppy job. So my dad fired me.”

  “For that?”

  “No, it was for what he said to the woman,” Ellen said. “Tell them what you said.”

  “What I said was . . . ‘What the hell, lady, you plannin’ on mailin’ those fish somewhere?’ ”

  The others laughed.

  “Well, I’ll remember not to have you wrap any fish for me,” Tom Jack said. “But you can barbeque for me anytime you want.”

  “So, Major, where do we go from here?” Marcus asked.

  “He’s not a major, he’s a general,” Willie corrected.

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot,” Marcus said. “And I’m a captain. Nothing like getting in on the ground floor when you start building a new army. But that brings me back to my question. What are we going to do with this new army?”

  “Well, our primary mission is the primary mission of any army, and that’s to protect the people,” Jake said.

  “But in our case, I think you have an expanded mission,” Gregoire said.

  “What would that be?” Jake asked.

  “The mission hasn’t changed. It’s to take back America.”

  “Well, yes, that would be the goal,” Jake said. “But for now it is more of a rallying cry than a reality.”

  “We can make it a reality,” Gregoire said.

  “Tell me, George, how many other groups have you heard from that are like us?” Bob asked.

  “I have heard from survivalist groups all over the country, from as far away as Washington state, and as close to us here as Pensacola, Florida,” Gregoire replied. “But I know of no other group that is quite like this one. That’s why I say that we can make take back America a reality. You people, that is, we,” he said, making a circular motion with his hand to take everyone in, “can be the core of the movement. I think we should expand, invite others to join us.”

  “What do you think, Jake?”

  “I know that there are pockets of military gathered on the old military posts,” Jake said. “If we could get all the other military groups to join us, we could probably put together an army that was big enough and strong enough to resist anything Ohmshidi might try.”

  “I think we should go beyond just contacting the military,” Bob said.

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “The birth of a nation,” Bob said.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I’m very serious. Right now we are calling ourselves United Free America, I say we make it a reality.”

  “Oh, yeah, I see it now. You’re the president of UFA, so you’re getting power hungry.”

  “Well, let’s face it, Jake, it’s no fun being a president, unless you have something you can be president of,” Bob said, laughing.

  “How would we go about doing something like that?” Tom asked.

  “First thing is, we are going to have to come up with a concept. And a constitution.”

  “What’s wrong with the constitution we have?” Chris asked.

  “Nothing that a few amendments won’t cure,” Bob said.

  “What kind of amendments?”

  “I tell you what, I’ll write up a few amendment proposals, and a code. Then I’ll run them by all of you and see where we might go from there,” Bob suggested.

  “Good idea,” Jake said.

  “Before I go any further, I’d like to get a feel from this group. If we are going to start a new nation, then I look at you people as George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Thomas Paine. You’re our founding fathers.”

  “Where does that leave me?” Deon asked. “There weren’t any brothers who were founding fathers.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Deon. There were as many as a thousand black soldier
s who were wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill and one, Salem Poor, performed so well that he was given a citation signed by fourteen officers. No, if we do this, we are all in this together.”

  “May I make the motion?” Sheri Jack asked.

  “Absolutely, you may make the motion,” Bob said.

  “I move that we reach out to others like us, and that we band together to form a new nation.”

  “I second that motion,” Julie Norton said.

  “All in favor?”

  The vote was unanimous.

  “Good,” Bob said with a broad smile. “Our future is laid out for us.”

  “Now,” Jake said. “As long as we are gathered here, I’ve got an announcement to make, and an invitation to issue.”

  Everyone stopped eating and chattering, and looked toward Jake.

  “Karen has decided to make an honest man out of me. So one week from now, we are going to be married. You are all invited.”

  Jake’s announcement was met with an enthusiastic response, and congratulations.

  Holy Spirit Episcopal Church, Gulf Shores, Alabama

  Judge Roy Moreton had made national news back in the pre-O time by allowing the Nativity scene to be erected on the courthouse grounds. When he refused to remove it, even after a federal court order, he was arrested, and removed from the bench.

  He was one of the first judges to offer his service to the fledgling group of freedom fighters once the Phoenix Rising group broke away, and it was he who issued marriage licenses to Jake Lantz and Karen Dawes. Father Ken Coats conducted the wedding at Holy Spirit, which was particularly meaningful since it was a meeting at Holy Spirit that had allowed the little group of survivalists to expand beyond their initial base at Fort Morgan, to encompass all of Pleasure Island.

  After the wedding, a reception was held in the parish hall.

  “Hey, Major, I’ve got something for you,” Deon Pratt said. “It’s a wedding present.”