Sunrise: Wrath & Righteousness: Episode Ten

Read Sunrise: Wrath & Righteousness: Episode Ten for Free Online

Book: Read Sunrise: Wrath & Righteousness: Episode Ten for Free Online
Authors: Chris Stewart
people knew, the conspirators had decided to let him live.
    Sara looked intently at her old friend, searching for the bit of life that used to shine in his eyes, her mind flashing back to dinner parties around Washington, D.C., where he used to argue, his deep voice booming, for the oppressed and the minorities.
    Was that patriot still alive inside him?
    From the blank look on his face, she didn’t know.
    She searched herself a final time, seeking desperately for the right words to say. But nothing came. Her mind was blank.
    She stared vacantly at her trembling hands, then cleared her throat and looked at him again. “This is the Promised Land, Daniel. I don’t know any other way to say it. It isn’t perfect—far from it, I know—but there is nothing else even close. God has guarded His work in this magnificent cause, for He knew it was essential for this country to survive so that it might guarantee the same freedoms to other people. Think about it, Justice Jefferson. It started as early as Jamestown. For years they struggled against starvation, disease, hunger, danger, a sometimes hostile Indian population there. Eighty percent died in the cause. Yet, despite this overwhelming failure, God saw that it was good and He helped the seed survive. Within just a couple of generations, the United States had the highest per capita income of any nation in the world.
    “Think of the original thirteen colonies against the entire British empire. I mean, come on. The battle of New York during the American Revolution. No way Washington and his army should have survived, but the fog came and gave them shelter, and they lived to fight another day.
    “Think of our Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg. Even in the face of utter failure, Lincoln knew God had taken the whole business into His hand.
    “But it’s a new day now, and like it has happened during the rise of fascism we’ve seen so many times before, I have to wonder why free men don’t speak out. An amoral society can’t exercise moral judgment. If we are no longer able to see the difference between right and wrong because we don’t believe they exist, then we have failed as a nation.
    “Our Founding Fathers believed our government could survive only if the Constitution ruled over a moral people.
    “Are we a moral people, Daniel? Are we worthy of the fight? Is any of it worth fighting for? I’m here to tell you that it is. I love my country. I know you love it, too. Now it’s time to man up and find the courage to join us in this cause.”

SEVEN
Offutt Air Force Base, Headquarters, U.S. Strategic Command, Eight Miles South of Omaha, Nebraska
     
    Brucius Marino was in his office. The lights were turned down, the shades drawn, the door open. He had three computers on the credenza behind him, all of them glowing, and a pile of papers across his desk, most in red folders marked “TOP SECRET—SPECIAL BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION.” He had to sign for each red folder and he couldn’t let them out of his sight.
    Although he was sitting at his desk, Brucius was asleep. He hadn’t meant for it to happen; he’d only closed his eyes to rub them, but his wire glasses had fallen into his lap, his arms slumped awkwardly across his lap, his chin heavy upon his chest.
    Sometime after 10 p.m., one of his assistants had poked a head into the room and called his name, but Brucius hadn’t moved. The captain had repeated his name, this time more softly, but again had gotten no response. He listened to Brucius’ breathing for a several seconds, then silently left the room.
    Brucius slept in his chair for almost three consecutive hours, the longest period of uninterrupted sleep he had had in almost two weeks. At 1:13 a.m., two men walked into the office without knocking. “Sir,” the four-star general said softly. Brucius didn’t move. The general took a couple of steps toward him and raised his voice. “Secretary Marino.”
    Brucius finally woke. He looked up groggily and shook

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