Hammer of God by Mike Grist

Author:Mike Grist [Grist, Mike & Grist, Michael John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

24

STRIKES

"You think what?" Humphreys asked, as the convoy sped south through San Francisco, headed for the airport.

"It's worth considering at least," Rogers pressed. "It links together this man's name, Matthew, the symbol, the Orthodox Russian church, and a motive to attack Burning Man."

"What about Sharma? Are you suggesting we halt the Islamist raids and turn them onto, what, Christians?"

"Not Christians," Rogers countered fiercely. "I'm Christian, and I don't want to lock myself up in my house and never be allowed to read a book again. I don't want to stone people, or replace the Presidency with some kind of Supreme Leader. If Saikov is right about the meaning behind this symbol, though, then we're looking at ultra-extreme Christians, just like ISIS are ultra-extreme Muslims."

"And all of this came from a symbol remembered by Damocles Lysander, the Satanist? That's what you're telling me, correct?"

"Yes."

"Did it never occur to you that he was simply feeding you the target he wants you to take out? If anything, this would make me more suspicious of him."

"We have him in custody," Rogers countered. "We have all his data."

"But you're not going hard. You're treating him like a friendly."

Rogers was taken aback. "You want me to torture him?"

"You threatened to dump Mecklaren in a black site by way of an iron coffin! Why not the Satanist?"

"Because I think he's got a point. Director, you said to pursue every possible lead. This is one possible lead. Perhaps likely."

"To where? Do you even have any idea how many churches there are in this country? Tens of thousands! All creeds and ideologies find a home. How could we possibly-"

"Eschaton Sanctuary, Last Light Cathedral, Twilight Ark," Rogers said swiftly, reading from a list. "We have records on them all, Director, as you know. All have affinity with domestic terror groups, all have ideologies that are extremely troubling, all preach fire and brimstone and the end of the Republic as a good thing, because it heralds the return of Jesus and his Kingdom. It's not difficult to find people who believe this, just like jihadis believe they'll get 66 virgins in heaven. Those three churches are just from the most recent FBI terror watchlist. There are more. We do know these people, Director."

"So you want to start raiding churches, Agent Rogers?" There was a note of warning in his voice.

"Not yet. I can start pulling together intel on their funding, see if they have the capacity to buy an orbital weapon from Russia. I can see if any of them ever crossed paths with Faraday."

"Faraday," Humphreys breathed. "You think she converted?"

"I show her as always being a Christian, Director, just lapsed. We're talking now about extreme radicalization."

"So you want to go after churches on the say-so of a Satanist."

Rogers didn't like his tone. "You want to clear the fog? The Islamist raids must've started. How are your interrogations going? Have you found the kill codes to the Miest yet?"

Humphreys said nothing for a moment, then continued in a downbeat tone. "Half the raids are complete.

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