The Silent Armageddon

By E. C. Itnyre

The events about to unfold could have taken place five years ago or could very well happen a week from now. The origin could come from any of many sources, with slight variations in the onset, but each leading to the same inevitable conclusion. These multiple sources could be the results of an economic collapse, pandemic, solar flare or as in th

• Language: English
• Publisher: LitFire Publishing
• Release date: Dec 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9781641510141

E. C. Itnyre

Eugene Itnyre resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Received a B.A. in History at Aquinas College. Having worked at the M.G.M. Grand Hotel and Casino for nearly 14 years in the Security Department. I had the opportunity to work many various special details. Often this included the Security of various dignitaries. This allowed me to work alongside and in conjunction with various other security forces. This including: Secret Service, Scotland Yard, Mossad, Department of Homeland Security and Las Vegas Metro Police Department. Being a licensed Open Water Diver and avid snorkeler it was from these multiple experiences that assisted me in drawing various ideas for the construction of this novel, along with a lot of research. The majority of the book is based on fact with only a few cases of falling back on literary licensing. This is a wake-up call to the people that haven't had the time or opportunity to keep up on events taking place in the world today.

Book preview

Prologue

Steven Compton stared at his calendar, Wednesday, September 5th, just seven days till the most catastrophic event in the history of the world was going to take place. Even though this event was obvious to many, it was almost totally ignored by most. The Federal Reserve knew it as did the U.S. Treasury and all the politicians, in both houses of Nations Capitol in D.C., as well as the President of the United States. They all saw it coming and were responsible for it. But as it is with the current politicians of both parties, their top priority is getting reelected. As for national security that can go on the back burner.

What really amazed Compton was how easy it was to milk the system Quantitative easing or Q.E. one, two and three. Allowed the Federal Reserve to create trillions of dollars that were supposed to buy the bad debts that they lent out and also reinvest into mortgages and loans to new home buyers and small businesses, thus stimulating the economy. But that wasn’t happening. The banks weren’t loaning out the money. Banks being what they are, weren’t sitting on it ether. In the last year the Dow Jones market had hit record highs over forty times that year. Yet the markets components were all down. When earnings came out and companies lost money, but not as much as was expected, the values amazingly went up. Who in their right mind would buy into a company that was fundamentally down? Factories relocating overseas, stores closing and employees being laid off or cut from the staffs. All indicators pointed to the fact that the markets were contracting. So where was the money coming from? That wouldn’t be hard to figure if anybody took the time to follow the capital. Big companies weren’t investing, but holding on to and building their cash reserves. In some cases companies were buying their own stock back (at record highs) to give the appearance that the companies inflated price would keep investors in. Private investors weren’t buying because of the bad fundamentals of most of the larger companies. The banks on the other hand had hundreds of billions of dollars that they weren’t lending and weren’t about to let it depreciate though inflation. Sure they bought government debt and were making one to two percent interest on over a trillion dollars, but that wasn’t where the money was. It was like getting to go to a casino with a rich uncle’s credit card that had no limit. You gamble and if you win you keep the profits, if you lose no problem your rich Uncle Sam picks up the tab. The banks got into the markets though hedge funds and other sources, driving the markets to all-time highs. People thought things are great or the markets wouldn‘t be performing at these unprecedented highs. These billions of dollars were inflating the markets creating a huge bubble. The National Debt was out of control. With revenues going down because of a shrinking middle class and government expenditures on welfare going up. These would be the major factors that would lead to the decision of the government defaulting.

The White House arranged for the repercussions that could be expected with the collapse of the American dollar, once the United States of America reneged on its massive debt. Having now surpassed twenty trillion dollars, not including its obligations to Social Security, Medicare or Obamacare now, added another fifty trillion dollars. Combined they passed over seventy trillion dollars of debt and growing. Luckily most people had no concept of just how much a trillion was other than a huge amount of money. Most people understood that a person could retire comfortably on a million dollars, that’s a healthy some, but they really didn’t grasp just how much a million really was. But a Trillion was a million million. Let that sink in. It’s nearly impossible to fathom. In a shrinking economy and diminishing middle-class, dependency on government assistance growing, repaying this debt was going to be impossible. Numbers don’t lie politicians yes, numbers just add up or don’t.

The White House under Executive Order had arranged for the National guard, Homeland Security and FEMA to run a joint operation called Operation Dead End. Compton smiled to himself thinking, what an appropriate title for the operation. This wasn’t uncommon for the military to work with Homeland Security on various exercises. When approached by the media during some of these exercises, it was brushed off as a training exercise for social unrest in countries throughout Europe, that were having fiscal problems. Or issues with their Muslim populations (not far from the truth) that led to rioting. Should they be called in for assistance in the future. Of course the media bought it. After all after Greece defaulted on its massive debt, Italy, Spain and Portugal were not far behind.

The exercise was in fact supposed to be an organized effort in controlling the rioting masses throughout the urban areas across the United States. The higher- ranking officials had known of this plan for several months and worked with all the other parties involved to establish communications between these various units from different branches of service. The FEMA Camps had been established years ago, but were operated by skeleton crews that just maintained the camps. The Plan was to pull in the troops required to operate these camps in a slow manor, without raising any red flags to the media. The higher ranking officers were ordered to keep this operation covert, that any leaks could damage the credibility of the overall effectiveness of the exercise. The forces would be in position, at their assigned locations. The largest portion of manpower would be called in just forty eight hours before D-Day, by Monday, September 10th. That way suspicions would be dealt with after the fact, but once default hits the news it will be the last thing the media will be concerned with.

Once the banks close and the government subsidies come to a halt, the rioting will begin within hours, just as they did throughout Europe and Egypt. But these will be worse. There will be a panic and a rush on all the banks. With so many unemployed in the inner cities it would only take this small of a spark to ignite then pandemonium that would surely be the result. The President has already been briefed and will be prepared to declare a state of emergency and then to declare martial law. Civil Rights will be suspended and most of the urban areas would be cordoned off. By keeping people with in the city limits it would make it easier to control or suppress them. It was a given that there would be social unrest to a degree never before experienced in our history.

The irony was that in the last eight years the banks had been caught manipulating the markets, through insider trading, fraud and numerous other violations of the law that netted them hundreds of billions in profits and not one banker has went to jail. Although in the last couple years the Securities Exchange Commission has imposed penalties and fines of over seven billion dollars just to the single largest bank alone, not including the other top banks. They were still able to bag four hundred and twenty four billion in bonuses between the years of 2007/2009. And who said crime doesn’t pay?

Steve Compton was the new Head of the Federal Reserve. After Ben Bernakie retired from the position Compton was offered the post. Now he was having second thoughts as to why did he accept this position, having seeing the writing on the walls for years and knowing that a nation cannot spend its way out of a recession. That the government spending was out of control, with no attempt to change the status quo. How could government spending grow more rapidly than government revenues? Yet this path to financial destruction continued without restraint. The resulting collapse was inevitable. Will he now be considered the Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic of the banking industry or will that title go to his predecessor? Today was Wednesday, September 5th, by September 12th. The die will be cast. He had made arrangements to be at a speaking engagement that day. There was no way he was going to be in New York City when it hit the fan. He would cancel his speaking engagement on Tuesday and still be out of town.

The sad part is that he had acquired sizable estate and large financial portfolio. He couldn’t liquidate it afterwards, because the dollar would have no value. Once the dollar collapsed the Euro, Yen, Pound Sterling and every other currency would follow suit. All paper or fiat money would be totally worthless. This global economy would have a swift demise. Although this shouldn’t have been a surprise ether since the Federal Reserve had been financing these foreign banks for years. The PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) economies would crash, after over spending for years. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have moved away from the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency because they feared the economic policies being followed by the United States was leading to disaster. But they couldn’t break away totally. Investing in other currencies wouldn’t help because each and every currency was backed by debt. The global economy would be destined to fail. China and India had been collecting huge sums of gold and silver for the last decade and could have plans of a gold backed currency in their future. That could well be sooner than expected. But China still held over one point three trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds and their economy would take a hit. The advantage of being a communist nation is being able to call in the army to maintain the peace, Just like the good old U.S.A..

So the best Compton could do was purchase commodities and hope that they would retain value after a new economy was reestablished. Now how long could that take with today’s technology. Several months maybe a bit more. Gold and silver would be a hedge till then.

Friday, September 7th

Steve Compton was at his desk when his computer and lights in his office went out. It was only a little after three p.m., so walking past his window he happened to glance outside his office at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 33 Liberty Street in New York City and saw that all the billboards and traffic lights were out also. The traffic had come to a halt and the streets were jammed full of traffic trying to beat the rush hour out of the city. It seemed a bit early for that. Picking up the phone his landline was dead, trying his cell, it wasn’t working. Looking again at his calendar he thought, this isn’t part of the plan. We don’t have our ducks in a row and the manpower isn’t in place yet. Please let this just be another black-out. I can’t get stuck in this cesspool of humanity. But deep inside he knew it wasn’t a black-out, he realized that cell phones don’t require external power and were battery operated. Unknown to Compton and the vast portion of American society was that this was the onset of The Silent Armageddon.

Chapter 1

Who was it that said, a little bit of paranoia was a good thing, was so right. Probably saved my life numerous times. But more so now, in the last several months, than ever thought Nick Conrad reflecting on the events that had transpired just months ago. This is what evolved on that unanticipated Friday afternoon on September 7th. A day that would radically change not only his future, but the future of the nation and what effects the U.S. is felt around the world.

Nick Conrad was a tall man standing six-two and had an athletic build. Having grown up enjoying sports throughout high school and one year of college competition. With brown hair and piercing emerald green eyes. He had a swimmers build, even though he tipped the scales at 190 lbs. he felt eight pounds too heavy. That’s from years of swimming and track, when his standard weight was 180lbs. for most of his life. As with most guys pushing forty the metabolism was slowing down and even though he was still active those empty calories could creep up on a guy.

Having moved to sunny Florida, with the moderate temperatures and white sandy beaches a couple years ago. But all good things have a few write offs, one of them is the potential of hurricane season. Observing how people react to the possibility of being hit by an oncoming hurricane leaves grocery stores counters bare within hours. And seeing the news reports following hurricane Katrina with the rioting, looting and lawlessness showed the ugly nature of the human beast. The everyday Joe becomes the hoarder. So learning my lesson it’s become common practice for me to have several months of food and water along with water purification tablets on hand. Food and water won’t help if you can’t keep them from others that didn’t prepare, so firearms are vital to protect yourself along with your goods. Sure I can defend myself against most men, but when the possibility of several or more crazed hungry people come at you from several sides you better be armed. The thing I hadn’t planned on was the amount of supplies one would need in the crisis that I was about to experience. The common sense guy planned on a month or two for emergency services, then the National Guard or military would come to the aid of a disaster stricken area. Surely Katrina taught us that the government reacts slowly to these catastrophes so my thought was better safe than sorry. This precaution as well as several others would allow me a better chance to survive. What was to transpire came totally without warning. Isn’t that always the case?

Day One

On a sunny Friday morning in early September, I met with my new friend John Carpender at his house in New Port Richey. We originally met a couple months ago when he moved to town and was looking for a house to purchase. His cousin referred him to me as his Realtor and I was able to find him his castle on the water. Just a quarter mile from the Gulf. The waterfront property was on a canal with his own private dock that he required for this personal 52 ft. yacht. During the weeks of the search for this dream estate we got to know each other pretty well. It was my job to probe and understand just what it was that he prioritized, in that way finding the property that would best suit his needs. During this process he was also noting my recommendations and analyzing my manor of logic. As it turned we shared many common interests. So it wasn’t unusual that if he wanted to get out and wanted company he would give me a call. We could talk about various topics that we both shared a common interest in. It was on a Thursday John called me at home and said, Nick Conrad, what the hell are you up to tomorrow?

I responded nonchalantly, Johnny a whole lotta nothing, my social life has bottomed out.

John responded, Lets meet Friday morning about eight in the am. at my place and plan on an afternoon on the water.

Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it. Need me to bring anything? Na. Just don’t be late. I want to be on the water by 8:30. OK.

It helped that we both enjoyed deep sea fishing and as well as recreational diving and or snorkeling. We usually take a date along. John enjoyed showing off his yacht to the ladies especially when we went fishing and could have the bar open. But on Friday it was an afternoon of snorkeling at some secluded reef.

The trip out to the gulf was always a treat. Passing some of the many million dollar plus properties, that lined the canal on our way out to the Gulf of Mexico.

After finding a great location near a small island that was surrounded by a reef, we threw on our gear and were in the water. It’s so easy to lose track of time when you are the swimming over the colorful coral and the thousands of fish that inhabit the reefs. After a couple hours we met back on the yacht for a break and to shoot the breeze before diving back into the water for several more hours. Returning to the yacht and kicking back for a while we sucked down a few drinks to rehydrate. After an afternoon on the water you get so caught up on all there is to see that you just forget all about hydrating.

John looked at me smiling, Darn it, I wish I brought the spear gun. I saw several big time grouper that came within several feet. That could have been dinner for four with leftovers.

John and I were both in our early 40’s in great shape and had good eating habits. John is six-two and weighed in at 195 lbs.. He had a slightly buffer looked and spent more time on the heavier weights, when working out. His hair was a darker brown and he had intense blue eyes. We both worked out at the same gym and grew up enjoying sports. Although both of us were extremely disciplined, we did take time to reward ourselves on weekends. My reward was a good rum and coke. John liked his Jack Daniels and coke.

John had just broken up with Judy, after several months of thrills and was now back on the market as he liked to put it. But I was still watching to see how he was taking this split. Guys put up a front because that’s how we are raised, but he was still down and that’s why he didn’t try that hard to find a date for this outing. This worked out for me since

I wouldn’t have wanted to be the third wheel or have to attempt to find a last minute date.

So is the bar open? I asked.

Hope you stocked up on some Cruzan this time?

Of course it’s open and stocked. You take me for a barbarian?

After finishing our drinks John went to the wheel and tried to turn over the engine. Nothing. Then again. Nothing. After a half dozen times the same results.

Well Nick looks like we raise the sails. I don’t get it. The engine turned over right off this morning.

John did the food seem a bit warm to you?

I went down to check again and it was and none of the lights would go on.

John check the generator see how it’s working.

John came up and told me it’s down and he has no idea why. It was working just fine on our way out.

We raised the sails and were on our way back to New Port Richey. That was fine by me since I loved sailing over motoring anytime. At about several miles from land we both saw the same thing, smoke in the distance. There were several different locations all of them to the east, coming from the coastal area. The closer we got to land, the number of fires increased. After getting with in less than a couple miles from land John mumbled, We should be seeing lights from one of the many harbors by now.

I was thinking the same thing; with the sun setting the lights should have been vivid by now.

Do you think there has been a power outage or blackout? asked John. Beats me. I just hope you can get back without your normal land marks that are no longer visible.

Let’s make a call to see what’s going on. It’s a no go with my phone. It’s dead. So is mine.

Let me try the radio like duh! He hit the switch. Nothing not even static. And it’s got its own backup battery so that the generator isn‘t needed, so what gives? mumbled John scratching his chin.

Isn’t this about the time Rod Sterling pops out to explain how we have entered the Twilight Zone? I kinda whispered to myself.

I’d laugh if it was funny, but this is getting beyond strange. John mumbled back.

As we got closer to the coast I could make out a few scattered lights, but they weren’t lights in the normal sense. These were different. Once we got closer we would be able to identify just what they were.

Sailing along the coast seeing none of the lights that set off the many of canals along the shore line was bizarre. To the south was Tarpon Springs, there was nothing. To the north was Port Richie still nothing. There was what appeared to be some distant lights, but after closer views they looked like scattered fires.

Should we cruise the coast and see if this improves at all? asked John.

Na let’s head back to your place and make some calls on your landline.

Then it started, we were about 30 minutes from John’s dock when we heard the first gun shots fired off in the distance. What the hell was that? Gun fire? Questioned John. There was no doubt in my mind it was gun fire coming from inland. Then we were also able to recognize that the lights we saw in the distance were large fires. They were scattered up and down the coast. Although there were only several shots we heard, it was the indicator that this peaceful coastal community was about to erupt into an every man for himself venture.

John what firearms do you have at your place? I asked. Couple 9mm Glocks. Why?

Mind if I borrow one tonight? Hopefully it’s just a precaution, but better safe than sorry. Let’s get on the phone first and hope there is a simple explanation to this black out, that’s if the land lines are working? After docking the yacht we headed to the house we noticed all the lights were out even those set on timers. John grabbed the first phone he found and put it up to his ear hoping that this would provide the answers to the questions we had sweeping through our heads. He just looked up at me and nodded no go. I went to the T.V. turned it on blank. No power.

Then tried the radio, no luck there. John left the room and came back with a couple flashlights and they did work.

What could possibly affect every electrical apparatus both in my house, throughout the city and on the yacht out at sea? John asked me.

I don’t know, but I do know who might know and he’s close by. Do you know your neighbor David Honeywell lives four houses down from here.

Not really. Why?

He’s a retired electrician I set up a lease for him while he’s looking for a property. If anybody would have a clue it would be him. Let’s drop in on him and have a chat.

We went out to my car and I tried to start it up and nothing. Let’s try mine, said John getting out of the car.

Same results with his car no connection at all. Looking down the street in the dark, we then noticed that there were several cars just stopped dead in the road. Not parked, but just left there abandoned in the middle of the street.

Let me turn on the generator that will give us power and take us out of the dark, said John.

No hold off on that for now. I think darkness just might be out ally for now. Let’s walk to Dave’s, he’s less than half a block down the street.

When we got to Dave’s door I tried his doorbell, it didn’t work, John just nodded shaking his head. So I gave a loud knock on the door.

Step away from the door and leave the property now! I am armed and dangerous. bellowed a voice from inside.

That’s him. I said.

Dave it’s me Nick Conrad. Can we talk, buddy, I have a friend of mine here and we are wondering what’s going on here. We aren’t armed or dangerous.

Stand back from the door Nick so I can see the both of you and raise your arms for shits and giggles.

As we stepped back the door opened and a shotgun barrel came out first then out came Dave with a big grin on his face.

Hey guys what’s up?

Dave, put that thing down you scared the crap outta me. And you tell me what’s up, I haven’t got a clue.

We all marched into Dave’s living room. I noticed him lock the door and dead bolt it. As we walked over to his dining room table I saw he had several candles lit and several guns out. One was field stripped and it looked like he was just cleaning it. So I turned to Dave as he returned to the room and asked, What’s going on here Dave? We just got in from the gulf after having to sail in because all the electronics on the boat were out and both of our cell phones were fried. Then we get to Johns’ home. Oh oops! Sorry Dave this is John, John this is Dave. You guys are neighbors.

Glad to meet ya, said John shaking hands with Dave.

Anyway after getting back here it’s like blackouts-ville. Have you got any clue to that’s going on?

Sit yourselves down. I think I have a handle on the situation, but I hope I am wrong. I first recognized the power outage at about 2 o’clock this afternoon; I was in the pool for an hour or so. It was then I noticed aircraft just falling from the sky. There were dozens of them. They weren’t even trying to glide to the airport, it appeared as though the engines had shut down at the same time and the pilots had no control at all. As soon as I came inside I noticed the a. c. was off as well. So I checked out the fuses and they were all out, then I went up to the roof, to the air conditioner and found the circuits sizzled. While up there I can see cars around the block stopped in the middle of the road. Going back down to the house to check the fuse box again. Not having all the extra parts, I tried to think this out. Now the clogs were going into overdrive. What could have produced such a powerful electronic surge that it takes out everything in the house as well as the surrounding area even the sky. So next I took a walk and got to U.S. 19 and as far as I could see both north and south, cars were abandoned. Of course when I got back home I tried the cell phone and land line again, that confirmed my fears. Now I could be wrong, but this is something we learned in advanced training in the Army it’s called E.M.P. or Electro Magnetic Pulse or the other possibility is a Solar Flare. Both have the same effect. In simple terms it’s when a nuclear device is set off in the atmosphere or a Solar Flare erupts on the sun and gets to the earth, the results are very destructive. It burns out about every modern electronic device used or made in since 1980, with a blast of gamma rays. Especially solid state electronics or anything computerized, modern day vehicles included. Let me explain, the EMP damage comes in two basic forms. The first strikes directly to exposed circuit boards, as in radios, transmitters, transistors, diodes, solar panels controllers as well as ignition circuits in vehicles. The second form is the accumulation of an overload of electricity on power lines or the electronic grid. That would mean lights out.

Both John and I just stared ahead both of us considering the potential effects this would have on each of us and our friends, relatives and future or lack thereof.

John asked, Are you sure about this, it seems really out there. No I am not. If I am wrong we will know soon enough, it will be on the news, only problem is we can’t pick up the news. If I am right we won’t know much of anything for quite some time, because all communications are out and will be for a long time.

How long are you talking about if you are right? I asked.

"That’s a good question with no exact answer. How long would it take to replace the infrastructure of the state of Florida? But it gets better, sorry to say. If this is the case the entire East Coast, Midwest and the West Coast are all in the same condition. Because when a nuclear device is set off in the atmosphere its range could well be over 1500 miles. Should two devices be set off near each coast the whole country would be affected. Or a single cruise missile launched from the Gulf of Mexico and detonated over Kansas or Nebraska at an altitude of two hundred and fifty or three hundred miles altitude. A one hundred kilo nuke would knock out the power of the entire US, Southern Canada and Northern Mexico. If that’s the case the transformers for substations are massive pieces of equipment that are no longer manufactured in the U.S., would take years. That’s under normal conditions. Present conditions? Unknown.

Were you guys close enough to notice the smoke coming from Tampa?"

"We didn’t get close to the coast till sunset. We did notice a lot of smoke and fires from several areas, in