Chapter 40

Cathy and Mike were at his house watching an old black and white movie relaxing after a busy week at the Internet Cafe. It was a Charlie Chan film and the great detective had just solved the case in spite the help of his number one son. The world presented in it was so much simpler than the world in which they lived.

As the film came to an end, Cathy asked, “Was life ever that simple?”

“I doubt it,” Mike answered.

“You’re probably right,” Cathy said.

After a moment of silence, Mike asked, “How are the plans for the wedding going?”

“Good. I thought it was going to be stressful, but your mother and mother-in-law have been great,” Cathy answered glancing down at the diamond engagement ring that Mike had given her. She had been very fearful of meeting Mike’s in-laws, but they had embraced her like a daughter.

“That’s good,” Mike said. Knowing that one of the more stressful activities of a bride was finding a wedding dress, he asked, “Have you gotten a dress yet?”

“Louise and I went shopping and found one. I know it’ll be ready in time for the ceremony since Kim is doing the tailoring,” Cathy answered.

Despite the rushed nature of the wedding, most of the arrangements were complete. The church had been finalized, the reception hall reserved, and the flowers ordered. They were still working with the caterer on the menu.

“Sanjay told me that they received their invitation,” Mike said.

“Sally took care of that. She’s a wonder when it comes to those kinds of details,” Cathy said.

Her mother was taking care of the food and band. Mike’s mother was dealing with the church and the reception hall.

“It’s nice that everyone is working together so well,” Mike said.

“Yes,” Cathy answered.

She had watched a couple of shows about planning weddings and had nightmares about it for a week. After a short conversation with Kim, she had come to the conclusion that so long as she was the center of attention that the wedding would be a success. Everything else was just for show and didn’t have to be perfect. Kim had joked that the bride’s name had to be spelled correctly on the wedding invitation, but it didn’t matter how they spelled the groom’s name. No one read the invitation beyond the bride’s name. The conversation had actually relieved a lot of the stress.

“It’s in two months,” Mike said feeling like the event was rushing at him at the speed of light.

“We’re supposed to be moving in four months,” Cathy said.

Every time the moving date had approached, it had been pushed back because of the events occurring in the Middle East. They were scheduled to go visit Texas the next week to look for a house and to check out the facilities. She was looking forward to the trip.

Kim entered the living room and looked at the pair on the couch. Shaking her head, she said, “You two are pathetic. What are you doing sitting here talking about this and that like complete strangers? Go in the bedroom and engage in pillow talk like young lovers should.”

Cathy laughed at the shocked expression on Mike’s face and said, “She’s right.”

With the Americans moving through the Middle East like a hot knife through butter, the situation in Europe had taken a turn for the worse. At first, the radical Muslim elements located in Europe were divided in what should be done. Some wanted to return to the Middle East to fight the Americans, but the majority recognized the futility of doing that. There was no one to fight in the Middle East except for bombs that dropped from the sky.

The more reasoned option was to turn Europe into the new Middle East and use that new base as a foundation from which to strike out at the United States. After a great debate over the internet, that is what the radical elements decided to do. The Americans had intercepted the discussion and forwarded a warning to the leadership of Europe. The Europeans actually believed the warning for a change.

Across Europe the reaction to the warning was the same. National leaders sought out moderate Muslims to establish a dialog about how tensions could be reduced. The unfortunate thing was that the moderate Muslims had little or no influence over their radical brethren. As the talks progressed, the radicals prepared for war.

The war for Europe started with simple riots, but quickly escalated into armed battles in the street. Years of allowing individuals to preach hate within Mosques had produced a bitter fruit. Tens of thousands of men and women attacked the West without regard for their own life. Having been taught from birth that Allah would reward them in the afterlife for bringing Jihad against the infidels, the terrorists were fearless.

Buildings that had stood for four and five centuries burned to the ground. In Paris, the Cathedral of Notre Dame was firebombed. The stone of the cathedral was undamaged, but the interior was destroyed. This was the event that turned the French against the Muslims to a point beyond any chance of forgiveness. Parisians, who prided themselves on their sophistication and diplomatic skills, literally beat Muslims to death in the street with their bare fists.

A number of European countries found that they were on the verge of losing the battle against the fundamentalists. They had underestimated the ruthlessness with which the terrorists fought. They turned to each other for aid, but there was very little that the countries could do for each other. The situation quickly spiraled out of control. Families were getting killed in their homes. Desperate, governments turned to the United States for help.

The United States provided a handful of advisers and some out of date weapons in the form of rifles. The rifles meant that men needed to fight men. The advisers just repeated the same advice over and over — kill the terrorists without remorse. Across Europe, men found they were fighting radical men, women, and children in brutal combat. Psychologically, the European soldiers were not prepared for that kind of engagement.

After three months of half measures, the leadership accepted the facts about the enemy they faced. This was an enemy that fought without rules. It was a trained army that didn’t fight as an army. Truces were used by the enemy as a means to regroup and attack with renewed vigor. Following the pattern established by the Americans, missiles and bombs replaced bullets and entire neighborhoods of Muslims were destroyed.

By the time the fighting wound down, the face of Europe was forever changed. Buildings that had withstood World War II now were in ruins. In places, the citizens had gone well beyond excess in their response. Few people felt they could hold the moral high ground and criticism of the United States for its actions in dealing with the terrorists ended.

Lisa looked at Mike with a studied expression. Concerned, she said, “You seem a little concerned about the wedding.”

Mike bit his lower lip for a second and then said, “I’ve been having nightmares.”

“Would you tell me about them?” Lisa asked.

Mike answered, “I’m back at the parking lot of the mall and the victims of the poison gas attack are on the ground in the going to die section of the triage area. I look around at all of the people there. I’m surrounded by everyone that I know. Karen is there and I’m holding her hand. This time, Cathy is there, Kim, Sanjay, Teva, Bob, Ellen, and ... well everyone.”

“How does it make you feel?” Lisa asked.

“Empty,” Mike answered. Shaking his head, he said, “I feel like my ability to care has been sucked out of me.”

Lisa wrote some notes on her pad and asked, “Is this a recent feeling?”

“Yes,” Mike answered.

She waited to see if he would volunteer some more information. After a few seconds, she asked, “When did it start?”

“I don’t know exactly. I guess it was when we were advancing on Iran and they were sending the women and children out to die. I kept watching the kids, some of them only eight or nine years of age, running forwards shouting, Allah Akbar, over and over. I was thinking that these kids should be playing with toy cars, not sacrificing their lives,” Mike answered.

Lisa scratched some notes into her pad and then said, “You’ve been involved in the war in a very direct manner. Are you afraid that your involvement in it, is killing your ability to feel?”

“This war has taught me to feel things that I never thought I’d feel. I hate this war. I hate what it’s doing to me. I hate what it’s doing to this country,” Mike answered.

“How does that make you feel?” Lisa asked.

“I hate it,” Mike answered with a snort.

Deciding that she had focused too long on the negative emotions he was feeling, Lisa asked, “Do you love Cathy?”

Mike was silent for a moment and then nodded his head. He answered, “I do.”

“Then concentrate on your love for her. Concentrate on your love for your friends. I think that will help the hate that you feel abate,” Lisa said.

President Archer’s announcement that he was not running for a second term shocked the nation. Members of his party were furious, but President Archer was unmovable on the subject. He recommended a far more moderate candidate than the Republican Committee had even considered.

After several brutal meetings with the committee members, he called Mike over for a private lunch in the White House dining room. Although Mike’s recommendation that he not run for a second term had rankled, a little thought had convinced him that Mike had been right. The fact was that he trusted Mike’s advice.

Tony looked across the table at Mike after the soup course had been served. In a serious voice, he said, “I need to convince the party to run a moderate candidate. They want to run a candidate who will continue as I have done.”

“I was afraid of that,” Mike said.

He had listened to conservative news analysts talk about the need to clean up South America and Africa. It was as though the country had begun to think about world domination.

“What can I do?”

Mike ate a little of his soup while thinking about the question. His thoughts turned his stomach and he pushed the bowl of soup away.

In a tired voice, he said, “They see your legacy as being pretty good. You’ve defeated terrorism at home. The war overseas is going very well. From their perspective, they want to build on that legacy.”

“I know.”

Mike said, “So show them the flip side of your legacy.”

“What do you mean?”

Mike said, “Show them the death and destruction that we’ve created in fighting this war. Force them to face the reality of what we’ve done. Convince them that the man they need after The Great Destroyer is The Great Constructor.”

“I suppose that I can show them some declassified film,” President Archer said thoughtfully.

“I’m not talking about film. I’m talking about taking them into Baghdad and Tehran,” Mike said.