Chapter 48
8:25 PM CEST Brussels - The Waldger Group Corporate Headquarters, 42nd Floor
David was listening to the announcement from Bear News on the monitor. “Jack was right again,” he heard John Roddenburg say. “He had challenged the panel and won, yet again. That was impossible, yet he did it.
They had heard from Aafre after the panel interview, and learned that the person owned by The Waldger Group was the Hindu. It appears he was trying to get Jack to say that it was either his God or no God, and all the rest will go to hell. Well, he did not quite pull it off, but there was damage.
They had thought the cleric would capitalize on the next session, but he did not. In fact, he had probably helped Jack out, especially with the challenge. Jack and his God, if there was one, had pulled off another exact prediction. Fortunately, it was in a remote area in the Pacific and damage to property or people was not a concern. It was just a show of power or, as Jack put it, of his God.
Aafre began addressing everyone, so David turned his thoughts to what Aafre was saying. “Gentlemen, we now know for sure he is our man and we also know that the plan that we have worked on for years must now go into play. That means events as we think they are going to occur will allow us to start taking control of the world’s affairs at the insistence of the countries themselves. However, before all that happens, we need to start moving our assets out of harm’s way. The first, obviously, is the Transatlantic. Traffic will be difficult for the next few weeks due to the predicted hurricanes, so we need to reroute everything to minimize damages.”
“Stevenson,” referring to the U.S. President on the monitor, “you may have to declare martial law in your country very soon and start moving things like the stock market and the government to other cities, temporarily. New York will certainly be uninhabitable for sometime it appears. In addition, I am sure that Jack is not through with the U.S. He may well unleash more carnage and damage on North America. However, if the hurricanes he has predicted are all category fives and fours, it will paralyze the Gulf coast states, your refineries, and major ports. I would suggest that at the first start of trouble, you start gas rationing and shut down unnecessary transportation in general, at least until things stabilize.”
Richard Stevenson said, “We will have our best people working on scenarios regarding the eastern seaboard and the Gulf coasts, along with the expected rainfall in the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, which usually follows hurricanes. Within the next few days we should have a plan to evacuate these areas, sooner than later. Regarding our oil facilities and refineries in the Gulf, they are a matter of national security and we need to figure a way to handle the lack of fuel that, as you well know, runs our nation. This matter is of the utmost importance to us. We are also concerned that many of our seaports will either be closed temporarily or severely damaged. This means, most likely, airfreight will become the primary source for some time. This also means that with the shortage of fuel, we may have even more problems.” The President stopped for a moment, and then asked, “Aafre, do you have any idea why we are being singled out?”
“No. We do not know the answer to that.” However, Aafre did have an idea on why, but was not going to share that at this time. It would not be in anyone’s best interest.
“Thanks Aafre. In light of what’s happening here, I think it will be best that we move the U.S. government to Cheyenne Mountain as soon as we can to make sure our government is secure. However, I really think we need to move on Jack, or this so called witness, and put him through a questioning session to get information from him. I don’t think he is telling us everything he knows.”
“No, Mr. President. That would not be wise. If we were to take him with the power he has, it would possibly unleash disaster that we could not contain or be unable to control our losses. In time, he will be taken care of. I am only going to repeat this one more time for everyone. This person is hands off. The people themselves will hate him in a month, along with his other witness, wherever he is. Do I make myself clear?”
The President said “yes” and a formal nod of heads and murmurs were heard.
The President of Venezuela spoke up and said, “Do you know if he is planning any other rallies other than the Kansas City one in the States at this time? I really do not want him in my country.”
“No we do not know his plans, but he is free to go wherever he wants to go, including your country. We cannot afford to have the entire world rise up against us, not this early in the game. That is what will happen if we try and contain him, at least for now.”
“Alright, sir, we will comply. Also,” the President of Venezuela continued, addressing the U.S. President, “We will be suspending shipping oil to you through the Gulf and Atlantic until these disasters are over, to protect our ships; but will resume once the ports are reopened.”
“Thank you,” the President said. “I appreciate that.”
David thought that that was interesting. In the public eye, these two countries acted as if they hated each other, yet in here, they were all like best friends. Amazing!
Aafre then said, “We need to have a meeting scheduled very soon, maybe right in Kansas City after Jack South’s speech. There we can introduce our new champion to battle Jack and the other witness. I would like to thank all of you for attending on such short notice. However, I need to take care of some other business and see what else these witnesses may have in mind. This is the end of the meeting today.”
As David got up to follow everyone out, he overheard Aafre quietly asking the Cardinal to stay.