The Seventh Empire

By Romy Tomlinson

A novel that grabbed my interest. The author has penned an intriguing, chilling account of biblical truths on end time scenarios that make a gripping read. Its a sobering reminder of the tragedies and triumph of the days coming to planet Earth.

Dr. Jim Henry

Pastor Emeritus First Baptist Orlando

President Southern Baptist Convention 1994-1996

An ancient prophecy foretells of Jesus returning to earth and setting up his kingdom. When a man suddenly appears in Jerusalem and proceeds to conquer the nations of the world in one epic battle, people question if this was he.

Some claimed the man was actually an alien and used advanced technology to win the fight. Others claimed he was, indeed, Jesus and that his appearance was the fulfillment of the ancient prophecy. Either way, he established his rule over the nations of the earth, and people began calling his kingdom The Seventh Empire. What would the world be like under his reign?

The new ruler named Jerusalem as his capital, and built the city into one the likes of which the world had never seen before. Under his administration, mankind enjoyed unheard of peace and prosperity. Advances in medicine led to a tenfold increase in peoples lifespans and the virtual elimination of sickness and disease. Breakthroughs in science opened up new worlds, and man began to explore space again.

For nearly a thousand years, all seemed good. But what was life really like in this Millennial Kingdom? Some were not satisfied and began to think of rebellion. How would the rebellion end, and what would mankinds fate now be? Was there to be another war, another empire, or would The Seventh Empire and its leader survive?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512742442

Romy Tomlinson

Romy Tomlinson is originally from Vermont and became a Christian at an early age. Romy and his wife Diane, now married over 45 years, live in Orlando, Florida. Romy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont, a Master’s degree from the University of New Hampshire, and has always enjoyed studying, teaching, and discussing God’s word.

Book preview

The

Seventh

Empire

Romy Tomlinson

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Copyright © 2016 Romy Tomlinson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Cover Illustration: April Cocoroch, John8thirtytwo Publishing, Victoria, B.C., Canada

www.John8thirtytwo.com

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4245-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4246-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-4244-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016907956

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/30/2016

CONTENTS

Dedication

Recognition and Thanks

Chapter 1 The First Years

Chapter 2 A New Leader

Chapter 3 Into the Abyss

Chapter 4 Warnings

Chapter 5 Before Abaddon

Chapter 6 The NoIDs

Chapter 7 The Camps

Chapter 8 The War

Chapter 9 Marriage

Chapter 10 Order Restored

Chapter 11 New Assignments

Chapter 12 The MyPeeps

Chapter 13 Peace and Prosperity

Chapter 14 People and Choices

Chapter 15 Expansion

Chapter 16 A New Location

Chapter 17 Going Back Home

Chapter 18 The Final Rebellion

Chapter 19 Judgment Day

Chapter 20 A New Beginning

Post Script: Where Will You Be Living Next?

References

To Keep the Record Straight

Dedication

To YHWH, without whose Spirit I would not have had the perseverance, the knowledge, nor the ability to write this book. To Him be all the glory.

Recognition and Thanks

Recognition and the most sincere thanks belong to the following people, without whom this book would be less. Their wise advice, comments, and reviews have all helped me write this book. Thanks to each of them for their time, energy, encouragement, and generosity of spirit in reading a then unfinished work and providing extraordinarily valuable insights and suggestions.

Joe Binns

Nancy Cone

Jerry Eggebrecht

Loren Swingle

Chester Tomlinson

Diane Tomlinson

Kim Tomlinson

Kristen Tomlinson

Andy Young

Elaine Young

Special thanks also belong to Ms. April Cocoroch for so generously providing her time and talent to create the book cover, and to Pastor Jim Henry for so graciously taking time out of his busy schedule to review the book.

My deepest appreciation and thanks to all of these who have so freely helped in the making of this book.

The

Seventh

Empire

Chapter 1

The First Years

I didn’t do it! he shouted, but Judge Paul Redding could tell he was lying. Since Redding’s return, he seemed to have this uncanny ability to always know whether someone was lying or telling the truth. So it was with the man now before him. That man, a Mr. James Fortier, stood accused of brutally raping a young woman.

Fortier was well dressed in a freshly pressed suit, and well spoken. Regardless of Fortier’s well-behaved manner and outward appearances, however, it was Redding’s job to decide his innocence or guilt and, if guilty, to set the sentence. Redding didn’t look forward to this, but it was the job he had been assigned.

Fortier’s advocate made all of the normal arguments. He offered alternative scenarios, saying the sex between his client and Ms. Melendez was consensual; that his client was the real victim. He said she had been in the bar and had led his client on, trying to make Ms. Melendez look like a hussy. He also put forth all of the other usual arguments ... that it wasn’t Fortier’s fault; it was instead his parents’ fault for not raising him properly and society’s fault for not giving him a proper environment. The advocate also brought in a paid expert who testified that Fortier suffered from a mental illness. All in an effort to shift the blame for the crime from Fortier to either Ms. Melendez or some nebulous third party and, thereby, exonerate Fortier.

Redding would have none of it, for he knew the truth, and believed in personal accountability. The rape by itself was crime enough, but Redding also needed to consider Fortier’s criminal history and the severity of the crime. Fortier had a previous rape conviction, and although his advocate argued that it was a simple youthful indiscretion, it had been far more than that. Now, Fortier stood accused of a second offense, one far more brutal. Fortier had not only raped Ms. Melendez, as if that were not bad enough, but he also severely beat her.

In the postwar government of 2046, the judicial system did not include juries. The judge was the sole person deciding the case and, if the defendant was found guilty, deciding the appropriate sentence. In the Fortier case, this responsibility now rested on the shoulders of Judge Redding.

There were guidelines for judges to use in sentencing. Seven years earlier, shortly after the war, the governing body, called the Council of 24, had issued the ‘Crime and Punishment’ statute, setting forth punishment guidelines for various crimes. To many, the punishments seemed extraordinarily harsh but, because of the punishments, crimes had diminished significantly and the government was able to quickly restore order following the war. The system worked, and because the judges like Redding all seemed to have the ability to determine the truth, the system made for swift and sure justice.

Before I rule, do you have any other testimony or statements you wish to offer? Redding asked Fortier’s advocate.

No, Your Honor, the advocate responded.

Fortier and his advocate stood silently before Redding, Fortier somehow sensing that his guilt was going to be punished.

Hearing no further testimony, I find you guilty of the charge of rape. I sentence you to thirty years in prison, without the possibility of parole. Sentence to begin immediately.

Even Redding drew back slightly as he handed out the sentence. But then he remembered the victim and what she had endured at the hands of Fortier, and knew the sentence was appropriate for the crime.

Redding ended the trial with the crack of his gavel. As the bailiff, Tony to his friends, began taking Fortier away, Redding heard Fortier shouting You will pay! and swearing that he would settle the score. Fortier was thrashing as Tony held him by the arm and dragged him to the door leading to the holding cells. Tony was a big man and had been a soldier in the war. As such, he was well able to handle himself in a tussle. So Fortier’s thrashing as Tony took him away didn’t faze Tony in the least.

As for Fortier’s threats toward Redding, like threats Judge Redding had received in other trials, he just ignored them. Since becoming a judge, Redding had handed out many stiff sentences. Some defendants, knowing their guilt, accepted them. Others, in spite of their guilt, fought. While threats like Fortier’s did occur, it had been many years since a convicted felon injured or otherwise hurt a judge. So Judge Redding simply turned to Alice, the court reporter, and said, Let’s call it a day.

Paul Redding lived in a town called Natick, just west of Boston. It was a reasonably small town, but a great town to live in, with easy access to restaurants, shops and, most importantly, to his courtroom in the city. As he rode the commuter train home that evening, Redding contemplated the day’s judgment and was completely comfortable with his decision, for he knew justice had been served.

After Redding got off the train, he walked the length of the platform and up the stairs to the street. He only lived about a half mile from the train station, so he usually walked home. He had lived in Natick before the war and had always enjoyed it. Although the war destroyed much of what had been there before, he still enjoyed walking past the old town hall and the combined police and fire station. The walk always gave him some quiet time to reflect, whether on the day he just had, on the things that had been before the war, or on the things that were changing in the area right before his eyes, always for the better.

It usually took only about ten minutes or so to walk home, but tonight he needed to stop at the corner grocery. Lisa was in town from her job in Washington, D.C., and whenever she was in town or he was in D.C., they made it a point to get together. They always looked forward to a nice, quiet evening together. Lisa and Paul had been married for a little over thirty years, and together they had two sons. Although they were no longer married, they remained best friends.

As Redding checked out from the store with his groceries in hand and started home, a very nice sensation of anticipation came over him. He hadn’t seen Lisa in over a month and was looking forward to seeing her again. Redding strode up his walkway and opened the front door. As he entered the house, he took his shoes off, an old habit from the days when he and Lisa were together. Lisa had always kept their home immaculate and required everyone to take off their shoes at the door. Redding closed the door and went to the kitchen, setting the groceries on the counter.

Although Redding’s home was somewhat modest compared to many before the war, it was still quite nice. The kitchen area opened up into the family room, and the open floor plan made the home seem bigger than it really was. The upstairs held the master bedroom, with a separate master bath, and a study for Redding to review cases and do prep work while at home. The main floor had the kitchen and family room, and also a second bedroom and a second bath.

Compared to most others’ living arrangements, Redding’s was far more than nice. Most people lived in temporary housing provided by the government. People had heat, running water, food to eat, and clothes to wear, but the furniture was minimal and the accommodations sparse. Things such as televisions or personal electronics were rare, and luxuries such as boats, expensive jewelry, cruises, and vacations were virtually nonexistent. Everyone did have work, though, and people were starting to rebuild their lives from the war.

Redding quickly started getting dinner ready. Lisa would be here shortly, and he wanted everything to be ready, to be perfect. Soon the doorbell rang, and as Redding opened the door, he saw Lisa standing there with a bottle of wine in tow. He looked at her and thought to himself how beautiful she was. Not necessarily by worldly standards, although even there she was quite good looking. Though she was only a little over five feet tall, she had a great face, accented by her constant smile, her brunette hair, and hazel eyes. But Redding wasn’t thinking of that kind of beauty. He was thinking of her inner beauty, the kind that shines through even after a hectic day of work. A vibrant personality, that reassuring smile, a constant willingness to help anyone in need, and a quiet strength of character all attested to the beauty of her spirit inside.

Redding himself was no hunk. He was a short man, only five feet six inches tall, and not particularly handsome. When he had first met Lisa, he wore glasses. Even though he was personable and had a good sense of humor, he often wondered how he was ever able to attract a woman such as Lisa. Just lucky, he used to think to himself, but then he would quickly change that thought to blessed. For although Redding had believed in his own abilities and maybe a little in luck, there were things in his life that neither of these could explain, and getting Lisa to marry him was one of those things.

Hi, Paul. How was your day? Lisa asked as she entered the house and gave him a hug.

Fine, as always, he responded, not wanting to burden her with the details of the day’s case or the threat that Fortier had made against him.

Lisa knew that Paul would always be okay, but threats against him were still disquieting to her.

As Paul finished the remaining dinner preparations in the kitchen, he couldn’t help thinking of all the years they had been together.

Have you talked to Sam? Paul asked.

Samuel was the older of Lisa and Paul’s two sons. The younger was David.

I talked to him last night, Lisa answered.

Lisa had always been closer to Sam than Paul was. Although Paul loved Sam with all his heart, Sam’s behavior growing up had taken its toll on their relationship. Sam was the rebellious son. He had gotten off track as a teenager and as a young man. While Sam had started his journey back, he was still dealing with some significant issues. But neither Paul nor Lisa ever gave up on Sam, and they both continued a relationship with him.

David had been just the opposite from Sam. A quiet boy, David never got into any trouble. Paul had often contemplated how two boys from the same parents could be so different. The old debate that psychologists called ‘nature versus nurture’ seemed very clear in his family. Both boys grew up in a nice home, in a safe town, with loving parents. So the ‘nurture’ was the same. It seemed that only the ‘nature’ could account for why Sam was so rebellious against Paul and Lisa, against school, and against almost any other kind of authority.

David was also not as outgoing as Sam, and didn’t seem to have as many friends. That was okay with Paul and Lisa, though, especially given the types of friends Sam had. Sam’s friends brought a certain degree of misbehavior and misguided peer pressure into his life, and tended to lead him even further into trouble. Paul would tell Sam to remember, you reap what you sow, but that seemed to have little effect on him. While Paul and Lisa always held Sam accountable for his own actions, they also clearly saw the influence Sam’s friends were having on him.

With the table now being set and dinner ready, Paul and Lisa sat down for their meal together. After saying a blessing, giving thanks, and asking God to give Sam wisdom in his decisions, they began their meal. It was nothing too fancy. Paul had made a salad and roast chicken. Added to that was a glass of white wine and good conversation. Both looked forward to having an enjoyable evening, as they always did when they got together.

As Paul and Lisa talked about the boys over dinner, they thought of what it would have been like if they had had more children. Both of them had wanted at least one more child, hoping especially for a daughter.

Paul had often thought how nice it would have been to have had a daughter, someone to be ‘daddy’s little girl.’ He would go to weddings of friends’ daughters and see his friend giving away the bride. Her, so beautiful, standing beside her father. Or them having the father-daughter dance and him looking so proud. Paul’s mind had formed this image of what his daughter would have been like, unblemished by the realities of actually raising a daughter and the inevitable difficult times. All his mind saw was a daughter in all her perfection.

But that was not to be. Complications during David’s birth had left Lisa unable to bear any more children. They had both struggled mightily with that reality. The struggle had lasted a long time, and kept them from other alternatives such as adopting. To them, the medical complications had cruelly, but simply, limited them to a family of two sons.

Paul still vividly recalled that time in their lives, and thought of Dickens’ famous opening line in his book A Tale of Two Cities: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. To Paul and Lisa, it was a time of great happiness, as they welcomed their second son into the world. But it also was a time of great sadness, as both he and Lisa wrestled with the reality of never having another child, no less a daughter.

Sam sends his love, Lisa said, interrupting Paul’s thoughts of past times, bringing him back to the dinner conversation. Have you spoken to him lately?

No, Paul said.

It was the same response he had given her countless times before, each time feeling disappointed in himself for not making a better effort to call Sam.

I haven’t spoken to him in a couple weeks.

He’s doing well, Lisa said. He’s got a new girlfriend! Her name is Kaitlin, and he seems to really like her.

While their younger son David still lived in the area, Sam had moved away. Both Lisa and Paul worried more about Sam than David, as Sam was far more likely to be the one getting into trouble.

After dinner, they watched the news. The war had been devastating, and the news still reflected the consequences of such massive destruction. It started, as it always did, with the latest stories about the damage and the recovery efforts. Radiation from the bombs had destroyed whole areas of the planet and rendered them uninhabitable. Most of the major cities on the planet had been devastated, but they were slowly being rebuilt and coming back.

Then the weather segment. The climate patterns had also shifted significantly, leaving formerly lush parts of the earth now dry deserts. The planet had cooled by an average of three degrees from the dust thrown into the air by the nuclear bombs, reducing the sunlight and leaving parts of the earth to experience a mini ice age. Nevertheless, things were getting better, and newly developed technologies were helping to restore the environment.

Redding remembered the lead-up to the war, with all the promises of a golden era. Leaders in the Middle East had just signed a peace accord and, even though previous treaties had proven ineffective and disregarded, this one seemed to offer real hope for a lasting peace.

Israel and its neighbors, both Arab and Persian, seemed to have finally had enough conflict. They had worked out an agreement that recognized Israel’s right to exist, stopped the threats and terrorist attacks against Israel and, at the same time, provided real and meaningful concessions to the Palestinian state and its Arab allies. Additionally, after allegedly developing a nuclear weapon, Iran, under pressure from its Arab neighbors, agreed to dismantle its nuclear facilities in order to avoid a Middle Eastern arms race.

While all played a part in the achievement, the major credit went to President Enzio Gibrialti of the European Union. He had been the one to finally convince Israel, Palestine, Iran, and Syria to lay down their weapons and to develop a workable compromise for the Palestinian state that all could accept. Called the Middle East Peace Accord of 2031, he even got Russia and China to cooperate with the West to bring it to conclusion. Not that all of a sudden they had become the West’s best friends, but they did see it in their interests to finally have a stable Middle East. Russia had significant economic and military interests in the region, and China got most of its oil from the Arab states, especially Iran.

It seemed that the world had finally come together, and the world’s economies were showing it. Markets were up, countries were at full employment, and everyone had a confident sense of hope that they had finally turned a corner for the better. That was, until the war. It seemed to come out of nowhere. One minute, the world was at peace and enjoying the best prosperity in decades, and then, suddenly, it was all gone.

Chapter 2

A New Leader

Enzio Gibrialti had been elected to the Presidency of the European Commission in 2029. He was a tall, charismatic man. His straight dark hair, brown eyes, and olive skin were indicative of his southern Italian heritage. But, in fact, he had spent most of his youth overseas from Italy. His father was a politically powerful, well-connected diplomat. His mother was a beautiful, well-educated Iranian woman whom his father had met while serving in the Middle East.

Gibrialti’s father had served in many Muslim countries and because of this, Gibrialti had grown up in Muslim nations around the world, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. When he became college age, Gibrialti got his undergraduate degree in political science at Cairo University, and later received postgraduate and doctoral degrees from the prestigious Lomonosov Moscow State University, where he specialized in studies of the Middle East and its influence on Russian culture.

It was there that he had met his wife Katya, the daughter of an influential Russian Cabinet member. Katya Tokarev was a tall, stunningly attractive woman with great ambition; second only to Gibrialti’s own. Her blonde hair, blue eyes, and overall charm were the perfect complement to Gibrialti. They seemed to be an ideal match for each other, an Italian and a Russian, destined for great things. She and Enzio had fallen deeply in love and got married shortly after he finished his postgraduate work. The wedding was a lavish affair, full of pomp, ceremony, and influential guests.

Over the years, though, Katya and Enzio began to drift apart. She was always busy planning social events and other activities designed to nurture and grow her political connections. He was always busy working toward his next political career advancement. To the outside, they continued to look like the perfect power couple. Always smiling and always looking in love, hiding the underlying problems between them well. They spoke of each other fondly, being still very committed to keeping their marriage together. In many respects, they still cared strongly for each other. But, for the most part, it had become a marriage of convenience and ambition more than one of love.

Even though both Katya’s parents and Enzio’s parents had always wanted grandchildren, Katya and Enzio never had them. Rumors were whispered among Gibrialti’s political enemies that he couldn’t have children, but those were unfounded. The facts of the matter were simply that they never wanted any children, thinking of them as a distraction from their political goals.

After completing his postgraduate and doctoral work, Gibrialti followed his father into the Italian diplomatic corp. With his father’s money and connections, it had been relatively easy to get him placed in prestigious assignments, including a four-year assignment in the United States, a five-year assignment in China, and his most recent ambassadorship to Russia. He later became Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Italian equivalent to the U.S. Secretary of State. His ambition still unsatisfied, he then set his sights even higher, on the Presidency of the European Commission. Obtaining this would make him the most powerful person in the European Union.

Everyone in the European Parliament liked Gibrialti’s promises of moving Europe back to the forefront of world leadership, even if some were not quite comfortable with what they saw of his methods. They felt he was a political cutthroat, destroying his opponents not only politically, but also personally if that’s what it took. He singularly focused on whatever his goal was at the time, and anyone who opposed him or stood in his way paid a heavy price. Some even alleged that his tactics went beyond political hardball; that he had used covert illegal actions to obtain his goals, but no one was ever able to produce any proof of this.

In his bid for the European Commission Presidency, Gibrialti had run against a more conservative candidate, Gunther Benz from Germany. It had been a close and hard fought race.

Throughout Gibrialti’s campaigning in the Parliament, rumors had hounded him that he was actually a Muslim, instead of a Christian as he professed. Gibrialti’s opponent used his upbringing in Muslim countries to fuel the rumors, along with the fact that his maternal grandfather and his mother, both of whom were Iranian Shi’a, had played a large part in his childhood. Although Gibrialti vehemently denied being Muslim and had released various documentation, including church membership records, baptismal records and so on to prove it, because he did not regularly attend church or speak of his faith, conspiracy theories abounded.

The Europeans had a large Muslim community, but because of a recent string of Islamic terrorist acts, they were simply not ready to have a Muslim leader. Beyond this, most Europeans and almost all of the E.U. commissioners liked Benz much more than Gibrialti. Benz’s far-right rhetoric made him popular among the public, fed-up with the liberal policies of their governments, particularly on immigration.

As a result, Gibrialti had been running behind in getting the various commissioners’ votes over his opponent Benz. Then, with only two weeks left before the vote, news outlets broke a story from an anonymous source claiming Benz had a secret homosexual partner.

The story made front-page news in all the tabloids and newspapers across the European Union. Benz denied that he was homosexual and argued that someone had set him up, but he had little time to correct the damaging press. Even if he was homosexual, in the generally liberal Europe, the public could probably have overlooked this by itself. Benz, however, had positioned himself so far to the right, railing that homosexuals were violating nature itself and calling for their imprisonment, that even if the people could overlook his alleged indiscretion, ultimately they couldn’t overlook his apparent hypocrisy.

The political pressure on the commissioners grew to such a level that many felt they had little choice but to vote for Gibrialti as President. Even with this, the election remained close. Gibrialti asked for a meeting with Steffen Maürer, an influential, right-wing commissioner. If he could garner Maürer’s support, it would not only add a vote for Gibrialti, but also swing a number of other right-wing commissioners to Gibrialti’s corner. When Maürer agreed to meet, Gibrialti flew the next day to Maürer’s office in Berlin.

Come in, Enzio, Maürer said. Would you like some coffee?

No thank you, Gibrialti responded.

What can I do for you? Maürer asked, although he fully knew what Gibrialti wanted.

I’d like to talk to you about gaining your support and your vote for me as President. I know we differ on a lot of the issues, but I hope there is some compromise we can reach that will allow you to support me in the upcoming vote.

I don’t see how, Maürer replied. You stand for everything that I stand against. Further, quite honestly, I don’t like your strong arm tactics, your approach to governing, or you.

Gibrialti was a little surprised at the bluntness of Maürer’s comments, but it made his next move clear.

I’m sorry to hear that. I was hoping that we could work cooperatively, but I can see that isn’t going to be possible.

With that, Gibrialti pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Maürer.

What’s this? Maürer asked as he opened the envelope.

He soon knew, for inside was a set of very revealing and erotic photographs of him with a gorgeous, albeit very young lady.

Where did you get these? Maürer yelled angrily.

That doesn’t matter; I just thought you might like to see them, Gibrialti said calmly. Did you know that the girl you were with is only thirteen? We’ve questioned her. She’s willing to go public and say you invited her back to your hotel room for drinks when you were in Rome two weeks ago. She will swear that once you got her back to your room, you offered to pay her for sex and when she refused, you raped her. You’ll notice the bruise marks on her in the pictures.

That’s all a lie! Maürer screamed. "We did meet in a hotel bar, but that is all. I was feeling a little tipsy after my first drink with her and so I just left to go back to my room, alone. It had been a long day and I thought I was just tired, but someone must have put something in my drink, because the next thing I remember was waking up the following morning. I didn’t know she was only thirteen, but it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t with her, and I certainly didn’t rape her."

Well, the photos tell a different story, Gibrialti said expressionlessly.

He continued, with no emotion in his voice at all.

What is going to happen when your wife and children see these pictures plastered all over the front page of every Berlin newspaper? Are they going to believe nothing happened? By the way, how is your wife? Isn’t she currently battling breast cancer? What will their lives be like when all of this comes out? And what about your political career? What are your moral, self-righteous supporters going to do when they find out that their stalwart of virtue raped a thirteen-year-old girl? Then, of course, the Polizei will want to talk to you. Wouldn’t it be better if this all just went away?

Maürer felt he had no choice, no way out.

I’ll vote for you, he conceded.

I assume I can also count on you to persuade your fellow conservatives to support me as well? Gibrialti asked rhetorically.

Yes, Maürer said, and with that assured Gibrialti’s election to Commission Presidency.

After his election, Gibrialti moved quickly to consolidate and grow his newly won political power. He started by arguing that the European Union should have only one leader, instead of the current cadre of E.U. leaders that included not only himself as Commission President, but also the European Council President and the leaders of the individual E.U. countries. This one leader would hold an office that the European Union had never had, that of E.U. President. The new position would have authority over all of the other E.U. leaders, with the other E.U. leaders reporting directly to the E.U. President. Using this approach, Gibrialti argued that the European Union would be much more effective and influential around the world, speaking with one voice rather than many individual voices that often didn’t align.

Through his usual tactics of persuasion and coercion, Gibrialti systematically gained the support of the E.U. commissioners and the leaders of the individual E.U. nations for creating this position. Any dissenting voices seemed to simply disappear. Of course, Gibrialti ran for this new office and, within a year, he became the first true President of the European Union.

After becoming E.U. President, Gibrialti quickly moved to eliminate any remaining positions that could threaten his new authority, consolidating their offices and duties into his own. He also argued that because Brussels, home to the E.U. headquarters, continued to have Islamic terrorist cells hidden among the population that carried out random bombings, he couldn’t keep the E.U. commissioners safe there. Consistent with this rationalization, and even more so with his ego, he moved the headquarters of the European Union from Brussels to Rome, where he established his office.

Paul Redding remembered that time well. The newspapers and television media were full of stories about this new leader, and how he promised to make Europe, and indeed the world, a better place. Paul and Lisa, still married at the time, would talk about how Gibrialti was even capturing the headlines in the United States, and how Europe seemed to be taking the lead in world events more and more, often ahead of the U.S. This seemed especially true in trying to establish a Middle East peace.

Gibrialti had been keenly interested in bringing a lasting peace to the Middle East. If he could accomplish that, he would have accomplished