The Ark of Apocalypse

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Hot Line

Soon word hit Iran that Philip had defeated the German mobs without firing a shot. The president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, called a meeting of all the high command. Large numbers of radical communists that had been driven out of Russia and Italy now lived in Iran. Because of their hatred for the West, they had gone to the leaders of Iran and Syria in an effort to sell whatever knowledge they could. The Moslems were more than happy to accept any information that would help them to defeat the West.

President Ahmadinejad listened to these traitors, knowing in his mind that he was only using these communists for his own plans to welcome Mahdi into the world. As mayor of Tehran in 2004, Ahmadinejad spent millions on improvements to make the city more welcoming for the return of a Muslim messiah known as the Mahdi, To the majority of Shiites, the Mahdi will be the last of the prophet Muhammad's true heirs, his 12 righteous descendants chosen by God to lead the faithful to their ultimate reward. President Ahmadinejad hoped to welcome the Mahdi to Tehran by 2006 and now he waits with less patience.

“Gentleman,” Ahmadinejad declared, “What we thought as a minor nuisance has become a considerable problem. This man, who calls himself King, has united the entire German people and is setting up a new German government. He has done it without a real army, only private citizens. Word of his success has reached Poland and Hungary. I’m afraid we will have to stop him before his message of freedom infests too many. The people of these lands are actually welcoming him into their countries. They are proclaiming him a savior who has come to rescue them from the mobs and riots. If we don’t stop him, we will have a Catholic uprising in Poland, Hungary, and all the other countries in the world in a short time.

“We have planned these simultaneous civil wars and attacks among the West for over twenty years. It has worked well all over the world for the past two years. We are on the brink of victory and world domination. We cannot allow this man to give hope to these Catholic countries. If he succeeds in Germany as he did in France, we will lose Italy next, then Spain, maybe even South America. The Italian and Spanish people are already sending him letters of welcome. If South America is re-organized into real governments, we will have no chance of defeating the United States. Even though we have destroyed most of the governments of South America, the people are still Catholic, and if he can unite them around their faith, he could rouse their devotion to their God and an enormous number of martyrs will be born, since half the Catholic population of the world is there.”

Ahmadinejad looked worried for the first time in two years and spoke passionately,

“We must stop this self-appointed king.”

He continued,

“We cannot count on our allies, for as you know, there is no one that can be counted on to do what Allah needs to be done except a devout Muslim.” He paused, “It is time we stopped him ourselves. The Russian government is looking at him as one of their own since much of his army is Orthodox, some even Russian Orthodox. There is even a Patriarch with him, the man we forced out of Turkey. We must get on the phone to President Thomas and find out where he stands. We don’t want America in our way. Nonetheless, we will make it clear, we are going to stop this man, one way or another.”

After a short discussion of the possible ramifications, a vote was taken. The Iranian president went to the hot line. Terrorist headquarters in Europe were notified that direct intervention was being planned.

President Thomas was waiting by the phone and he knew from the system who was calling.

President Thomas: “What can I do for you, President Ahmadinejad?”

Translation was instantaneous by computer.

“This will be our first direct conversation, so I am assuming this is very important.”

“Mr. President, we have a problem that we can not let go of. Our Intelligence tells us that this man who calls himself “King”, this Habsburg, is planning to unite all Catholics in the world against us. We
have millions of Moslems in Europe who are afraid that he will kill them or make them leave. We must protect our friends in Europe. We must avoid the loss of so many lives on both sides.”

Thomas: “Since when have you cared about lives? One billion lives have been lost in the past two years, and we know you instigated all of it including the last pope.”

Ahmadinejad:

“You have no proof of that. If you did, you would have done something. You have sat back protecting yourself and have done nothing. You are more to blame than anyone else. I only called you to inform you that we are going into Germany with a small force to get this man. After we kill him, we will return to our border. We are not asking your permission. We are only informing you. We are not looking for problems with America, but we will be going after this man.”

President Thomas was silent on the other end of the phone. He thought about the situation. He knew that Philip von Habsburg in only a few weeks had become the Moslem’s number one problem. They would not be stopped from going after him. He also had the problem of thousands of preachers and Catholic priests shouting from pulpits and television shows that this man, Philip, was the antichrist. Even if he wanted to stop Iran and he could, he knew they had nuclear warheads. Ahmadinejad was crazy enough to use them. They were probably the ones who bombed Paris.

Since the Arabian oil had been cut off two years earlier, the American oil reserves, especially military reserves, were very low. Training flights, ship movements and transfer of troops were kept to a minimum. Transfer to natural gas was underway for all the military but it was a slow process. Some of the military was even being used to plant corn and grow ethanol fuel. Tax breaks and even government grants were given to companies to get oil shale production going in Colorado and neighboring states but this was also slow going. In short America was not ready for all out war with the Moslem world.

“Are you still there?” questioned Ahmadinejad.

“I am thinking,” said Thomas in a quite voice.

Ahmadinejad: “You do not need to respond. We are going to do what we have to do to protect our fellow Moslems in Europe. You do the same with Americans all over the world. We want nothing more that to protect Moslems and then we will leave.”

Thomas: “You and I both know that it was Moslems that created the riots in Europe and bombed the utilities.”

Ahmadinejad: “I guess we have nothing to talk about.”

Thomas: “We are not sure about this Habsburg yet. He could be an enemy even to the United States. We have no stance on this.”

Ahmadinejad was now the one silent for a long time. “We do not want a war with America or Europe Mr. President, I will be in touch.”

President Thomas hung up and called the President of Israel without letting go of the phone. “Prime Minister, this is President Thomas. We have a problem.”

The President explained his conversation with Ahmadinejad and asked his advice. The Prime Minister was surrounded by Moslems and knew that it was the Moslems that blew up the canals. Israel had been at war for two years but had been able to hold off every attack. No country was in greater danger but they had managed to defeat this madman in every battle so far and still retained a functioning government and army.

The Prime Minister was silent for a long time and then formed ideas out loud: “This Habsburg, many Christians are calling him the antichrist. --- He is bringing peace back to Europe. --- He could be helpful to us. In fact he is being helpful to us already. Yes! This is a great opportunity. Now listen! Iran has taken their attention off us and is focusing on Habsburg for the time being. If they move against him in Europe, well, no matter what happens we are better off. They might kill him but he will put up a good fight and many Iranians will be killed. Then again, he might fight them off and beat them. In either case, Mr. President, you and I will be a little better off. It will give both of us time to prepare for the war we both know is coming.”

Thomas thought about it and did not like it, but the Prime Minister was right, maybe not moral but right. This would bother Thomas, also a Catholic, for the rest of his life but he would stand down and do nothing except warn Philip what was said in the phone call with Ahmadinejad.

President Ahmadinejad sent a message to a 15 year old boy living in Damascus, Syria that his time was close. He was called Mahdi, the Prophet.