Many countries had individuals under surveillance who were suspected of being terrorists. Treating terrorism as a crime, they were patiently waiting to acquire sufficient evidence that a crime had taken place before arresting them. In many of the European countries, evidence from outside the country was not deemed sufficient since it was often viewed as hearsay. Thus, even if it was believed that the individual had participated in training camps inside Afghanistan or Pakistan, the individual would not be arrested.
In too many cases, the evidence necessary to make an arrest was not available until after people had been killed. It was hard for the leadership and populace of civilized countries to view the terrorists as members of a standing army within their borders waiting for orders to attack. They did not wear uniforms or dog tags. They did not have membership cards. It was a stealth army. Until the orders came, there were no real violations of law.
This situation frustrated many members of law enforcement across all of Europe. It was difficult for someone who swore to uphold the law to sit by while someone they knew was a terrorist was planning to kill a lot of their fellow citizens. The public at large in the civilized countries insisted that due process be followed. It should be noted that with each suicide bombing there was a small but growing faction that started arguing for the American approach to dealing with terrorists.
The main problem was that the United States wasn't waiting for due process. Once sufficient evidence had been found that the individual had committed or supported an act of terrorism against America anywhere in the world, the individual was taken out in the most expedient manner possible. It didn't seem to matter to the Americans if they were violating international boundaries in the process. Needless to say, this offended politicians to their very core.
European law enforcement officials, at least those who had contacts with their counterparts in America, started slipping information to the Americans. Suddenly, suspected terrorists were dying when missiles took out the buildings in which they were living. As European politicians shouted in outrage that America was attacking people within their borders, the police and intelligence agencies were quietly celebrating. Despite growing political pressures to isolate the United States, an unofficial pipeline of intelligence data grew.
Nowhere was the tension between politicians and law enforcement greater than in Belgium. Part of the problem was the change in demographics in Belgium. In 2002, Muslims had accounted for approximately 4% of the population. In the decade leading up to 2012, the Muslim population in Belgium had exploded to the point where it comprised 20% of the population with the majority of the population living in Brussels. Representation within the government was nearly at parity with the size of the population despite the fact that almost 75% of the Muslims were not citizens. There were entire neighborhoods where the people did not bother to learn Dutch. Mosques held services in Arabic although Belgium law required that Mosques receiving state moneys hold services in Dutch.
Authorities within law enforcement knew that a coup attempt was being planned by individuals within the Schaerbeek district of Brussels. They had recorded many sermons in which radical Imams had been calling for a take over of the government for the establishment of a true Muslim state in Europe. They knew that young men were answering the call. They believed that there were training camps in neighborhoods where a non-Muslim had no chance of passing unnoticed.
At 2:00 on a pleasant summer afternoon, Islamic fundamentalists made their move in Belgium. Muslims working inside government agencies turned on their coworkers and took control in a bloodbath of murder. An army of Muslims headed towards the seat of government armed with weapons that had been smuggled into the country. Chaos erupted in every part of the city.
Initially, the Belgium military was paralyzed as a result of political interference. All attempts to lay plans for such circumstances had been sternly halted in the past and now, faced with the unthinkable, they had to improvise. Unwilling to drop bombs within their own capitol, the military approached the city with guns only to find their way blocked by children who were chained across streets. From behind the children, terrorists fired upon the soldiers.
Police, both Federal and Local, were not sufficiently armed to take on an army of highly trained troops carrying automatic weapons. Although Belgium did not have overly strict gun laws, there was less than one gun per ten people. Honest citizens trying to protect themselves with clubs found they were facing men armed with automatic rifles. It was no contest. The government was about to fall and no one knew what to do to stop it.
The Islamic Fundamentalists allowed or, in some cases, forced the news services to broadcast the coup. They wanted to show the world that Islam was regaining its former glory. It was to serve two purposes. One was to show the world that it was powerless to stop the march of Islam while the other was to recruit new followers.
At 3:15 that same day, GPS guided fuel-air explosive bombs started exploding over Muslim neighborhoods taking out entire city blocks. It wasn't just one or two of those powerful bombs that fell. It was several dozen bombs that took out entire districts of the city. In less than ten minutes, the Muslim population of Belgium fell to 3% of the population. Of course, half of the city of Brussels was on fire.
By 4:00, Belgium was in total chaos. The recognized leadership of the country had been killed during the coup. The Muslims who had moved in to take over were running loose within the city, but their army of recruits and civilian support was dead as a result of the American actions. As flames fed on the city, law enforcement was busy battling individual terrorists in the street while American missiles were taking out major pockets of resistance. The demoralized remaining members of the Belgium military reached the city and took out the minor pockets of resistance.
Belgium law enforcement was divided in its opinion of the events that had unfolded. They had done everything they could to prevent the situation from ever occurring. The political types had overruled them at every turn. They appreciated the help from America in stopping the coup, but wished it had come earlier. They knew that America had tried to warn the politicians and had been rebuked.
The Belgium public was stunned by the sequence of events. They had seen their leadership killed on television. They had seen heads chopped off with swords in the halls of government. They had seen their neighbors die in the streets. It was impossible not to question how the situation had gotten to that point. The answer pointed directly at the primary victim of the coup  the government itself.
The rest of Europe had watched the coup take place in a state of shock. The leadership of Europe was paralyzed by the brutality of the radicals and shocked at the overwhelming response of the Americans. There was one point that no one could argue; Belgium had done nothing to trigger the coup, the Islamic Radicals had acted first, and the Americans had ended it. Complicating their reaction was that many asked why the Americans waited until after the coup had essentially succeeded rather than save the Belgium government by acting earlier.
At the same time that Belgium was burning, Tim looked around nervously while seated at the conference table. He felt guilty about what he was going to request, but the subject was a little too near and dear to his heart to ignore. Finally, he said, "I need your help. I want to get transferred to the African Section, but they won't take me without your recommendation."
The request caught Mike a little by surprise. Almost without thinking, he asked, "Why do you want to transfer to the African Section?"
"I grew up hearing stories about how members of my family had been slaves before the civil war. It may have been many generations ago, but my family wasn't going to allow any of us kids to forget it. My grandmother used to tell stories about what her grandmother went through when she was a slave. I found my mother telling my children those stories the other day.
"What is happening right now in Africa really bothers me. I can't sleep at night thinking about how people are being taken to the Middle East as slaves. I feel that I have to do something," Tim said looking down at his hands to avoid having to look at Mike. He felt disloyal to the man.
"I can understand that," Mike said nodding his head. He imagined that most Blacks felt that way about the situation in Africa.
Tim said, "I don't want you to think that I'm being disloyal to you. You've been the best manager I've ever worked for. It is just that slavery really pushes some of my buttons."
"I don't blame you. I'll make a call and see what I can do about getting you over there," Mike said.
"I appreciate it," Tim said rising from his chair. He went to the door and started to open it.
"Tim," Mike said realizing that Tim was the first of his team members to request a transfer.
Tim turned to look at Mike and asked, "What?"
"Because of you, our section is pretty quiet. You made a real difference here. We couldn't have achieved what we have done without you. Think about it. We've destroyed the terrorist network here in the states. We cleaned up the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand. I think you'll make a difference over in the African Section," Mike said.
"Thanks," Tim said standing a little straighter at the compliment.
Smiling at him, Mike said, "I expect to hear great things about you."
Mike pulled into the driveway at home narrowly avoiding a collision with the rear of Cathy's car. His attention had been diverted by the sight of Cathy, Ellen, and Kim having a discussion in Ellen's front yard. It wasn't so much that they were talking as the fact that all three of them were topless.
He parked the car and got out. It wasn't until then that he noticed Bob standing off to the side looking around as if afraid of being caught staring at Cathy or Kim. Bob headed over in his direction thankful at having someone with whom he could talk. As he approached, he said, "Hello Mike."
"Hello Bob," Mike said looking over at Cathy. There had been a time when he would have gotten very angry if a girlfriend of his had gone outside topless like that.
Noticing the direction in which Mike was looking, Bob said, "It takes a little getting used to, doesn't it?"
"I guess I'm not used to the idea of women running around topless," Mike said. It wasn't exactly as erection inspiring as he had thought it would be. A lot of the older women tended to have breasts with considerable sag.
"I know what you mean. When Ellen first mentioned that she wanted to do it, I was against it. She wants to show the world that she is an American woman and proud of it," Bob said. Like many husbands across the country, he finally capitulated to her desire to go topless.
"I guess. Although to me, it looks more like a scene out of National Geographic than out of Harpers Magazine," Mike said. He looked over at the three topless women and asked, "So what is really motivating them?"
Bob shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know what triggered it, but one day Ellen decided that she had come very close to having to give up her faith and having to wear a Burka for the rest of her life. The idea that to live she would have to become a Muslim angered her."
Despite having watched as Ellen struggled to cope with the threat of terrorism, Mike still didn't know what would have motivated her to bare her breasts to the world. He asked, "What convinced her that she was going to have to convert to Islam?"
Bob paused for a moment before he answered, "That speech by Mohammad bin Laden sacred the hell out of her, but I think it was the day when they had that big battle up in Jersey City and all of the non-Muslims were killed that made it all real to her. Of course, it could have been the day when we saw the news report that showed all of those Africans getting led away to be sold as slaves in the Riyadh slave market. I think that is about the time when she decided that the terrorists didn't see us as people, but as objects that they could own. She realized that the only chance of surviving if the terrorists won was to become a Muslim and the idea of that sickened her."
"I guess that would be a pretty scary realization," Mike said feeling rather uncertain about the connection between those events and baring breasts. He had watched the topless rebellion from the beginning, but didn't understand it at all.
"I didn't quite believe it until I had talked to you. You echoed what she was telling me when you said that she was liable to end up a slave and I was liable to end up dead if the terrorists won," Bob said.
Mike wondered how many other women had come to that conclusion. Judging by the number of women running around topless, he decided that it was quite a few. He said, "I still don't understand what prompted her to go topless."
Bob answered, "She kept watching other women proclaim that an American Woman wouldn't submit to Islamic law that required them to cover up with a Burka. Ellen decided that she would rather die than submit to Allah's law. She says that going topless is her way of announcing to the world her decision."
Mike was reclining in the bathing pond with his eyes closed while listening to some soothing music. He had spent the past two days reviewing surveillance tapes from the mall trying to locate the shooter. It had been brain numbing watching videos from the hundreds of cameras that were covering the area. The detective who had given him the tapes had warned him that there wasn't anything to see, but Mike was thorough.
Before coming home that evening, he had stopped by the mall to check out the possible locations from which the shots might have been fired. It was at that point where he found the first discrepancy between the tapes and the site. One of the tapes had captured the barest outline of a construction crane in the dark. The crane was not at the site when Mike visited it. He was going to go back and request tapes capturing the area in the day time.
Sighing, he tried to work some of the tension out of his neck. The sound of someone entering the pond caused him to open his eyes. Expecting to find Cathy, he was surprised that it was Kim. The woman sat down across from him and said, "I'm going to relax for a few minutes and then I expect you to make long passionate love after we get out of the water."
Unable to believe what he had heard, Mike said, "Excuse me?"
"I expect you to make long passionate love to me after we get out of here," Kim said looking Mike in the eye. She didn't want there to be any doubt about what she was asking him to do.
"I don't feel comfortable doing that," Mike said trying to be gentle. He didn't want to offend or insult Kim, but he wasn't interested in her in that way.
"Why?" she asked in a demanding tone of voice.
Mike held up his hands in an attempt to placate Kim and said, "I'm in a relationship with Cathy."
"You going to marry her?" Kim asked in a matter of fact manner.
"I don't know," Mike answered.
"Then you can make long passionate love to me every night until you decide to marry her. Do me like you do it with her," Kim said.
"I wouldn't feel right about doing that," Mike said. He didn't even feel all that comfortable about the happy endings to his massages.
"Why?"
"Because I'm in a relationship with Cathy," Mike answered.
Kim shook her head and said, "It must not be much of a relationship if you don't know if you want to marry her. Maybe you would rather fuck me before you make long passionate love to me."
"I love her," Mike said.
Kim smiled at the admission and asked, "Then why haven't you asked her to marry you?"
"I don't know," Mike answered wondering how they were suddenly talking about marriage.
Shaking her head, Kim said, "I know because I am old woman."
"Why?"
Kim said, "Because you are a man. Men are very stupid when it comes to women. They don't know when it is time to ask woman to marry them. It is long past time you ask Cathy to marry you."
"Oh," Mike said staring at Kim.
"You get dressed and go to Cathy. Ask her to marry you."
"Uh," Mike stammered.
Kim said, "Go!"
She had used the voice, but Mike didn't move. It was remembering that it was likely that someone out there was trying to kill him that made him pause. He looked at her and said, "You're serious."
"Very. You need Cathy in your life to make you complete," Kim said. She found it a little sad that he didn't really need her. She took comfort in the knowledge that Cathy would need her.
There was no way that he was going to get married until he had taken care of the threat to his life. Mike leaned his head back on the stone and closed his eyes. In a quiet voice, he said, "When I ask her, it will not be a spur of the moment decision."
With a very satisfied expression on her face, Kim sat back in the pool and said, "See. You know that you want to marry her. Foolish man requires old woman to show him what he already knows."
It took Mike almost a full day to find an image of a man approaching the crane that had been parked by the mall. He had gone through the images captured from the security cameras of three dozen businesses scattered around the mall. The image was not as bad as most since it had been stored on a DVR rather than a VHS tape, but the man was too far from the camera to make out much detail. It was obvious by his actions that he was scouting the location for the attempt on Mike Bowman's life later that night. Every attempt to get sufficient detail from the recording to be able to automate a search for the man failed. Nighttime videos from the same cameras didn't show anything other than dark on dark.
Everyone in the office had occasionally turned to watch him hard at work wondering what he was doing. They had assumed that he was trying to locate one of the terrorists on the most wanted list, but the scope of the investigation looked too focused to be that. Finally it was Charlie who asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find a good image of the person who tried to assassinate Mike Bowman," Mike answered.
Frowning, Charlie asked, "Why didn't you tell us what you were doing three days ago?"
"This is personal," Mike said not wanting to explain his actions. He didn't have proof that he had been the real target.
With a very angry expression on her face, Cathy crossed her arms and looked at Mike. In a voice that was hard enough to cut diamonds, she said, "You think that whoever shot the other Mike Bowman was trying to kill you, don't you?"
"Yes," Mike said knowing that as soon as the word was out of his mouth that he had made a mistake.
Cathy looked around the room and said, "You heard him, Ladies and Gentlemen. Someone tried to kill our boss. Are you going to sit there and let them get away with that?"
Mike looked up at the sudden increase in noise level. Everyone had turned to their computers and was in the process of pulling up Mike's notes on the investigation. He rubbed his forehead at the idea of trying to explain this to Chip and said, "Folks, this is personal."
"You can say that again," Shirley said receiving a nod of confirmation from Cathy.
The rededication ceremony for the CIA Memorial Wall was held in the Headquarters Conference Room on the old CIA grounds. Mike recalled the other two times he had been in 'the bubble.' The first time had been to listen to the previous President tell the analysts that their lives were about to get miserable. The second time had been to warn law enforcement about the rail gun. Now he was seated on the raised platform awaiting President Archer's arrival.
He looked out across the audience and realized that very few of the men and women who had been present the day the Original Headquarters Building had been attacked were in attendance. He wondered how many of the absent people were too ill to attend. He knew how many had died. He spotted the woman who he had seen holding her shirt over her mouth and showing her Caesarian scar as she made her way out of the building. He smiled thinking that it was good that she had survived.
James Wentworth the Third leaned over to Mike and said, "I was told this was your idea."
"It wasn't my idea to put it in here," Mike replied looking around the room.
"I think it is fitting, though," James said with a smile.
"I guess. I don't have very good memories of this building," Mike said. Walking around on the grounds of the old CIA site had brought back some pretty bad memories.
"Are you ready?" James asked.
"No, but I'll do it just the same," Mike said. The butterflies in his stomach were definitely swarming.
At a signal from the side, James said, "It's time for me to introduce the President."
"Okay," Mike said.
James went to the podium and cleared his throat. Looking around the room, he said, "We are gathered here to rededicate the CIA Memorial Wall that honors the individuals who worked for that fine organization and sacrificed their lives for this country. I know that for many individuals who lost friends, family, and coworkers on that horrible day that this ceremony is long overdue. I want everyone to know that the man who I am about to introduce wants everyone to see that American honors its heroes. He demanded that we give honor to those men and women by bringing the Memorial Wall and the Book of Honor out of their radioactive tomb and into the light. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the President of the United States, Anthony Archer."
When 'Hail To The Chief' started playing, Mike stood up. He wasn't the only one in the room who stood when the President entered. President Archer walked to the podium and shook James's hand. James returned to his seat winking at Mike.
President Archer waited for the music to end. He leaned over to the microphone and said, "The Director of Homeland Security has quite graciously given me credit for wanting to bring the Memorial Wall and the Book of Honor from out of their radioactive tomb. He gives me too much credit for this. I will admit that it was I who called him and demanded that it be brought out of the Original Headquarters Building and put in a place of honor. The fact is that I did not know that honoring our fallen had been slighted in such an egregious manner. If I had known, then it would have been the first thing that I would have done upon coming to office.
"The fact that our country's leaders acted in such a dishonorable manner was brought to my attention by Mike Bowman. To say that I was dismayed to learn that no one had thought to honor our fallen heroes would be an understatement. There is no excuse for that."
President Archer gestured to one of the walls and a cloth cover fell to the ground. He said, "There were two Memorial Walls inside that building. I asked that the Memorial Wall for the Office of Strategic Services be removed from inside the Old Headquarters building and placed here. There is just a single star upon that wall, but we must never forget any man who gave his life for this country."
He gestured to another wall and another cloth cover fell. There was the CIA Memorial wall complete with stars for each person who had died in the attack. He said, "In a moment, Mike Bowman will read the names of the four hundred and three men and women who died as a result of the attack on the CIA Headquarters Building. Their names have been added to the Book of Honor and a star cut into that white marble for each of them."
He gestured to a third wall and a third cloth cover fell to the ground. He said, "A third wall has been added as well. This is the wall for the Department Of Homeland Security. It was my greatest desire that it should never come to pass that a star ever had to mar that pristine marble surface. Alas, my desire went unfulfilled. As you can see, it contains nineteen stars for the men and women who've fallen in service to their country."
President Archer turned to Mike Bowman and asked, "Mike, will you do us the service of reading the names of the men and women who fell the day that our intelligence services came under attack and since then so that we may honor them?"
Mike stood and walked to the podium. Nodding his head, he said, "Yes, Mr. President. I am proud and honored to serve in that manner."
Facing the audience, Mike began to read the names.