Code name; Thunder: Or the Canadian 007

By Vasile Herta

This is the life story of a young orphan boy born the night his father, grandmother and older sister (or did she?) died in a vicious house fire accident.

At a young age he is introduced to the martial arts (aikido) that will help him stay alive in a world of drugs, crime and conspiracy. Many times young Ben Severin will have to face a big dilema; his faith.
Since his birth, his loving mother, a strong believer in God, taught her son the fear of God and the power of prayer.
But in his teen years, and later in life he faces the big challenge; What to do in a life and death situation? Should he do nothing and let the victim (sometimes his own colleagues, or even his own country) die, or intervene and only hope that God will understand and will forgive him?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Nov 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781773704999

Book preview

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Contents

Code Name: Thunder

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Copyright

Code Name: Thunder

That was one of the warmest winters that the small community of farmers close to Edmonton had seen. This was the cause of joy and comfort for the young Helen Severin, who was pregnant and ready to deliver at any moment. For young Helen, this was the first winter in her sixteen years in Canada that she had seen the holidays without snow. Because of the stress and tiredness, and because of preparations for all of the guests who would be reunited in their house for Christmas, Helen suddenly thought her time of delivery had arrived. She was almost ready to call her husband Teofil, to bring her to the hospital; but after a few minutes of rest, she felt better. She entered into one of the empty rooms, locked the door behind herself, and kneeled beside the bed, asking God for enough strength to hold that child for a day or two – until all of her guests were gone. As a response to her prayers, she felt better; the pain stopped instantly. When she felt her prayers were answered, she began thanking God with such dedication and intensity that it took a while before she heard the loud knocks at the door. When she finally opened the door, she found her husband with a worried look on his face.

Are you OK, darling?

I couldn’t be better, she answered, moving into his open arms.

He knew how tired and overstressed she had been these past few days, and had been worried about her. But now, when he saw her all smiles and in such good spirits, he was puzzled. Actually, it wasn’t the first time in the four years of their marriage that he saw such changes in her behaviour. He knew this change was an answer to her prayers. He admired her faith, her courage and her wisdom, which she had shown many times. Suddenly, their little daughter, Rachel appeared in the hallway. She came running with her little arms wide open.

Mommy! Daddy! she said, grabbing their legs. Teofil picked her up and kissed her loudly on the cheek, and all three of them went together to meet the others in the living room.

Even though they had expected the newborn before the holidays, it was now New Year’s Eve. Immediately after eight o’clock that evening, the young family left home in their old car and stopped at Teofil’s mother’s house to leave the little girl with her grandmother, while mother and father went to the church.

Maria Severin arrived in Canada about fifteen years before. She and her husband, Mihai, along with two of their children, immigrated to Canada from Romania. Maria’s parents, two of her younger brothers, and three of her sons, Adam, Moses and David, had all been killed during the Second World War, along with others from their village in Transylvania. They were brought to the centre of the village and were all shot to death by German soldiers. Their crimes: they were Jews.

For a very long time, Maria couldn’t forgive herself. Why had she left her three older children with her parents that day? She and her husband, with their two young boys, had been hiding in the mountains at a friend’s house, because of the German soldiers who were hunting Jews all over Europe. Every day, they thanked God that it wasn’t their last. Even though Adolf Hitler decreed no one should hide or help the Jews, there were many who risked their lives to help Jews escape. First, Maria and her family escaped to Greece; from there, after a long and dangerous journey over the Atlantic, they arrived in Canada. Together, with other Jews from Eastern Europe, they formed a small community which, in the last few years, grew to more than 200 families. Other immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, were accepted into the community.

Two years earlier, in the spring, when the snow melted and the river spilled over the banks, Mihai, together with a few other men, left to help with the evacuation of some families. While he was helping to take a full load of persons, their boat overturned, and all twenty people, went under water. Some people, who knew how to swim, got over to the riverbanks. The children were lucky to have such a brave man like Mihai with them. All but one was accounted for. Looking behind him, Mihai saw a small boy trying to hold onto a floating branch. With his last bit of strength, Mihai jumped back into the water, and a few moments later, he was beside the little boy. When Mihai realized that he wouldn’t be able to swim back to the riverbank with the little boy, he picked the boy up, and placed him on the fallen tree. With his last strength, he tried to hold onto a branch, but it was too much for him. He lost grip of the branch and went underwater. Mihai’s lifeless body was found more than a kilometer away from there, down the river. But the little boy was saved.

At the age of fifty-two, Maria Severin went into a depression and total isolation from the rest of the world. She had respected and loved her husband very much, and even though the whole community considered Mihai a hero, she became depressed and discouraged; many people said that she lost her faith in God. Only the veneration she had for her husband and his strong belief in God, still in her memory, kept her from taking her own life. Some people from the community said that she had talked to God in person. Others said she was visited by angels. But nobody knew for sure.

So, that night, New Year’s Eve, Maria was very happy when they asked her to take care of her little granddaughter, Rachel. The little girl came, bringing along her best friend: a teddy bear half her size. The two of them were inseparable. Day and night they were together. At night, the teddy bear would sleep in the same bed with Rachel, and during the day she would carry him, drag him, or push him, but they were always together.

When her parents left for church, Maria went to the kitchen where she was preparing a few kinds of cakes. Little Rachel, with her best friend in her arms, was watching grandma. Without warning, a strong sound was heard in the backyard; it was thunder. Lightning had hit a tree just beside the house. The tree caught on fire. The sound of the thunder was so powerful that Maria, who was holding a frying pan filled with hot melted chocolate, lost grip of it, and the hot chocolate fell over little Rachel and her teddy bear.

At the same time, both Maria and Rachel let a frightening cry; one was crying because of the physical pain, the other from the emotional pain felt when she saw the little girl covered in the hot melted chocolate.

Maria reached for a towel to clean the little girl, but she accidentally pushed a frying pan full of cooking oil over the lit burner, and the next second, a huge flame covered the whole stove. Maria’s clothes caught fire. When she saw that she was burning to death, with a last effort, she grabbed the little girl by her shoulder and brought her to the front door, pushed her outside into the dark, and closed the door behind her. She took two or three more steps before falling onto her knees.

With her last breath she said, Lord Jesus, into your hands I put my soul, and fell dead on the floor. The flames filled the kitchen, then the living room, and soon the whole house was on fire. At the same time, outside in the backyard, an old walnut tree was also burning because it had been hit by lightning. Little Rachel, in unbearable pain, but with her little teddy bear in her arms, started walking along the road, deeper and deeper into the darkness. At that moment, a torrential rain started, the water easing Rachel’s pain. Without knowing where she was going, Rachel wandered away from the house.

At the same time, people in the church were praying and singing. Suddenly, somebody ran inside and said, Maria Severin’s house is burning.

The news pierced Helen’s heart. Followed by Teofil and others from the church, she hurried outside. She immediately knew it was true because she saw flames in the direction of their home. They jumped in the car and, a few moments later, stopped in front of the burning house. Teofil got out of the car, ran to the house, opened the front door, and went inside the burning house. He took a few steps inside and stumbled over his mother’s burned body.

Rachel! He let out a powerful cry before the whole house collapsed over him. At the same moment, outside in front of the house, another human collapsed.

Teofil, Rachel.

Far away, the fire trucks were heard coming, with the sirens on.

1

John and Elizabeth Wayne were returning from the party at the Wagner family’s home. The Wagners were Elizabeth’s parents. They had a wonderful time, until Suzanne Wagner, Elizabeth’s sister-in-law, her brother David’s wife, made a few remarks, which Elizabeth considered inappropriate.

There had always been a rivalry between the two women. First, for the title of beauty queen in high school; then, at University in Edmonton, and finally, for John. All of these were won by Elizabeth. Not only did she possess exterior beauty, but also wonderful character. Suzanne always ended up on second place, so she picked David – also a very wise choice.

That night, after a few glasses of liquor, Suzanne started talking about their youth years, then about their high school years, and on about their time at the university, accusing Elizabeth of flirting with the teachers and professors.

And that’s how she always won the beauty contests.

All of these remarks Elizabeth had heard before, but tonight Suzanne crossed the line when she suggested that she could have made John happier, alluding to the three children she had with David. John and Elizabeth had no children although they had been married for six years, and they were upset about. Suzanne’s remark hurt Elizabeth so much that even though they had a few glasses of liquor, she decided to return to Edmonton right then. The others insisted she stay, but she refused to listen. She was too hurt.

Outside, it was raining very hard, and there was lightning and thunder, but nothing could make her change her mind. Elizabeth and John started on their way back to Edmonton. Their village was an hour’s drive from Edmonton. It was past two o’clock on the first day of the year 1960. They were on the road for half an hour, each one absorbed in their thoughts. Neither had spoken a word since they left. John was concentrated on the road; Elizabeth was praying silently, asking God to give her a child.

What was that? asked John. Did I hit an animal or something?

They both felt the car shake. John pulled over, grabbed a flashlight, and got out to look around.

He walked back a few metres and, to his relief, saw it was just a small teddy bear, which, from the impact of the car, was torn open, and the cotton inside of it was scattered over the road. When John bent to pick it up, his light stopped over a small shadow a few meters away. It looked like a big doll. He went to see what it was, and turned it over. The doll drew a sigh. John was astounded; it was a small girl. She was covered in paint, or tar, or some kind of sticky material. He picked her up and then