Seven Bloody Years by Jerry Hatchett

Author:Jerry Hatchett [Hatchett, Jerry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red House Publishing
Published: 2020-08-13T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 48

OVAL OFFICE

THE WHITE HOUSE

"Thank you, Gladys," the president said. "Show them in."

Gladys nodded and stepped out of sight. Moments later, CIA Director Roy Coffman and SecDef Catherine Seeger walked in.

Cartwright motioned them to a sofa and sat in a chair facing them. "What's so urgent that it couldn't wait until our daily crisis meeting in the Situation Room that is bound to take place like it does every day?"

Coffman and Seeger looked at each other.

"Out with it, for heaven's sake."

Coffman cleared his throat. "Mr. President, there has been a series of disturbing developments regarding this chap in the Middle East."

"I saw that he finally gave his name yesterday in Rome. Hopefully that's allowed you to drill a little deeper into this character."

"I'm not keen to disappoint you, sir, but disappoint you on that regard I must. I have an entire floor of Langley working on that and thus far we've found bupkis about his history, his real history, leastways."

"Explain."

"While we find no evidence that this man has ever existed before a few days ago, the name he's now using, Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi, is well known in Islamic circles."

"How so?"

"Hujjat-Allah al-Mahdi was the name of the twelfth imam to follow Mohammed as the leader of the religion. Their legend has it that he vanished in the year 939, and Islamic prophecy holds that he will reappear at the end of days."

Cartwright held up a hand. "Whoa whoa whoa. You're saying this guy's claiming to be what, a ghost come back from the dead?"

"As far as we know, he has not yet specifically claimed to be the twelfth imam, also known by some as the hidden imam, but here we have a man who doesn't seem to have existed a week ago and is now drawing massive crowds and using the exact name of the twelfth imam."

Cartwright massaged his temples, begging the throbbing in his head to subside. He stood and started pacing a circle around the seating area. Coffman and Seeger turned their heads to follow him as he circled them. When he was facing them again, he said, "Damn it! Terror attacks and global realignment in the wake of a split country aren't enough? Now you bring me fairy tales? What in hell am I supposed to do with what you just told me?"

Seeger said, "We have two recommendations, Mr. President. First, we need to significantly increase our military footprint in the Middle East. Now. I'll let Roy brief you on the other one."

Coffman cleared his throat again. "I'd like your permission to seek out and employ eschatological experts, the best we can find."

"I have a pretty good vocabulary," Cartwright said, "but you'll have to define that one for me."

"Eschatology is the study of religious end-times prophecy."

Cartwright stared at him. "You want to hire what, soothsayers?"

"Not at all, sir. Scholars who are well versed in these studies."

"This is bullshit. Utter bullshit."

"While I tend to agree, sir, at this juncture, it is only prudent to gain as much understanding into what our adversaries, current and potential, believe.

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