Chaos; Rising: Chaos Series Book One

By Harold M. Wilson

Mark Maxwell traded in the high-octane life of an intelligence operative in the US Army years ago for a desk job as an analyst in the Defense Intelligence Agency, and he was glad to do it. However, a series of devastating terrorist attacks in the homeland aimed at destroying the church pulled him right back into the thick of things.

Mark must risk everything to uncover and foil a plot to stamp out the very existence of Christianity in American societya plot, which Mark learns, that reaches all the way up to the highest levels of power in the land. To succeed, he must defy some of the most powerful men in the world and kill the cancer of Islamic terrorism before it can metastasize.

During what becomes a trial of his faith, Mark must fight for his life, the lives of those dear to him, and the life of his church.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543410990

Harold M. Wilson

Harold and his family live in Sodus Michigan, where they are active in their local Church. Harold served in the U.S. Army’s signal corps for 7½ years, between 1983 and 1991, before attending Western Michigan University where he earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in 1994. Harold has since worked in the business world, served as a children’s pastor, youth camp director, associate pastor, and as a director of outreach ministries. He has been a long-time student of Bible prophecy with an emphasis on end-time events, and is an avowed news junkie who likes to see how the news of the day fits in the Biblical narrative. He has extensively studied the rise of radical Islam, and its impact on western society, and the Christian church. He teaches on this topic whenever the chance arises, and it is this study that has provided the impetus for writing the Chaos Series. Harold’s previous works include two pieces of historical fiction, a Christmas book, and a children’s book.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Columbus Ohio:

E MIR SALAAM SITS in front of a computer terminal at the Byte Time internet café, in Columbus Ohio staring at a figure shrouded in shadows. Emir knows this man only by the title of; The Sheik of Western Jihad. The sheik is the man Emir has been led to believe is one of the Grand Mufti of Islamic Jihad’s chief advisers, and who has been appointed by the Grand Mufti to be Emir’s handler. The Grand Mufti himself is the leader of a worldwide network of jihadists whose goal is to bring the world under the rule of Islamic law.

Is this terminal secure? the sheik asked.

It’s as secure it can be when you consider that I’m using Skype in an internet café in the middle of America. Rest assured Sidi, I have re-routed this signal through many proxy servers, and I’m using an iron key encryption device in this terminal. It will very hard for our enemies to listen in on this conversation. Emir assured his benefactor.

The sheik liked being called Sidi, because in Arabic Sidi means my master. He especially likes being called Sidi by people he thinks are religious nut cases, people like Emir.

The sheik isn’t a religious man. Truth be told he is an atheist to the core, something the Grand Mufti is aware of, but he doesn’t mind, because the sheik gets things done, and that is all that matters to the Grand Mufti. The sheik chooses to sit in the shadows when he uses skype to contact Emir, because he is a very well-known American, something Emir is not aware of.

The sheik, even though he is an atheist, doesn’t mind being a part of a religious organization, because the Grand Mufti has promised him a position of power in the new world order that the Mufti’s organization is in the process of building. The more the sheik produces for the Mufti’s organization, the more power he accumulates for himself, and the sheik is all about the accumulation of power.

The Grand Mufti has spent decades infiltrating his people into American society using the Great Satan’s lax immigration laws to his organization’s advantage, and he has put a lot of effort into recruiting American born jihadi’s for the for the first phase of the war he is about to wage. Now he is ready to strike at the heart of his American problem, which will allow him to fulfill his ultimate goals: the destruction of Israel, a world dominated by Islam, and a world governed by sharia law. The Grand Mufti gave the go order to his man in the States just over an hour ago, and now his man was giving the go order to Emir.

Good, the sheik said to Emir, Because the time has come Shahab. The time has come to strike a mortal blow to Islam’s greatest enemy.

As much as the sheik likes being called Sidi; Emir loves being called Shahab even more. Shahab in Arabic means a bright star that illuminates the heavens, Finally we get to bring down this disgusting nation of infidels, Emir said with joy in his heart.

I think you misunderstand me Shahab, we are not striking at the U.S. government, or its economy, directly, because it is something they would expect us to do. In this jihad, our target is the institution that prods the American government into supporting the Zionists, and otherwise meddle in our affairs, the sheik informed Emir, and then he began to lay out a rough outline of the plan.

"For many decades now our unwitting allies in the American press, courts, and school systems have been laying the groundwork of this jihad for us. The press has been belittling Christians, questioning the validity of Christian values, and whether, or not, they have a place in American society. Not only have they been doing this on the editorial page, but recently they have been doing it in their hard news stories as well. The courts have been systematically limiting the freedom of practicing the Christian religion in the public arena making it harder by the day to be a Christian outside of the home, or church setting. Finally, the schools have been indoctrinating their children by being quick to point out the past crimes committed by the Christian church, and extolling the virtues of Islam, along with many of the eastern religions. The board has been set Shahab, and the pieces are ready to be moved.

When you leave the place where you are now the sheik continued, "You need to go to the Fayetteville Road mosque in Atlanta Georgia to pick up a package that will contain a detailed plan for your part in our jihad. Then you need to go to Philadelphia to brief our cell there, on their mission, all their contact information will be in the packet. The packet also has the contact information needed for all the cell members to be used in follow on attacks, and the code words needed to activate them, along with the timetable you need to follow when I get the go order for each new phase of attack from the Grand Mufti.

"Once you have briefed the Philadelphia cell you need to go to New York to scout the location of the first attack, and lay the groundwork for follow-on attacks from our safe house in Queens.

Do not lose that packet Shahab, the sheik admonished Emir, And don’t let it be compromised. The Mufti has given you a great honor, and responsibility; he has named you the military commander of the entire North American Jihadi movement. Much now depends on you.

I won’t lose it Sidi, Emir assured the sheik, Please tell the Mufti, the next time you speak with him, that I am grateful for the opportunity, and I won’t let him down.

He knows you won’t, but I will tell him. One final thing; I know you have Christian parents and relatives here in America, and back home; will that cause you any problems in carrying out this assignment? the Sheik asked his protégé.

No Sidi, they are all Kuffar to me, and they deserve to die, Mashah Allah (God has willed it), Emir said with conviction.

Mashah Allah, the Sheik agreed, Good luck.

Allahu Akbar, Emir said quietly as he signed off. Allahu Akbar, he said again to himself within the depths of his mind, this is going to be a glorious jihad!

One thing bothered him though, all his training told him that in this kind of jihad you needed to strike hard, strike fast, and strike as often as you can in a short time frame. Then you need to get out of dodge fast, before the authorities can clamp down on you; because if you pressed home the attack long enough, the enemy will eventually catch up to you. But then, maybe that was the end game for him anyway, maybe this jihad will send him to paradise.

If so, Emir was ready.

CHAPTER 1

Two weeks later in Alexandria Virginia:

M ARCUS (MARK) ANTHONY Maxwell Jr. woke up to the incessant drone of his alarm clock. It is Monday, he hates Mondays, and he knows that this Monday isn’t going to be a run of the mill Monday for him. If things run true to form this is going to be what he and his colleagues at work call a black letter Monday.

Mark is a man in his mid-thirties he’s six foot even with average looks sandy brown hair, and he has an athletic build, but his eyes are what people notice about him from the moment they meet him. When he is in a good mood they are a light grey, but when he gets angry they turn into a dark steely grey that tells everyone around him that a storm is brewing. His gaze is also quite keen, if you are on the receiving end of it, it is almost as if he can see right through you into the depths of your soul, and very few people can look him in the eyes for very long.

Mark Works as an analyst for the counter terrorism unit of the Defense Intelligence agency (DIA). Today he is scheduled to give the director of the DIA, one General Barton Alexander, an update on the recent successes of the resurgent Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) both on the battlefield, and in recruitment, along with an informational session on the recent activities of Al Qaida in the African continent. The briefing itself wasn’t going to be all that difficult, Mark did after all have his facts straight, and he feels well prepared, so that’s not the problem, the problem is the general himself.

General Alexander, a consummate military man, hates having civilians in his organization, and he especially hates civilians who are ex-military. Men and women who left the service for the sole purpose of continuing to work for the defense department, doing what they did while in uniform, but are now making more money at it, people like Mark. The general thinks it’s unpatriotic, and he thinks that people like Mark love money more than they love their country, so he makes it a point to ride his ex-military staff members extra hard.

Mark doesn’t think that it’s a fair accusation, at least not in his case. You see, Mark is independently wealthy, and has been for many years. When he was a young man in the army an uncle of his died, and left his entire estate to Mark. Thus, making Mark a part of a select breed of people, he has no need to work for a living, but he believes in what he is doing, which is why he continues to work for the DIA. He puts up with the general’s antics because he likes his job, he is a patriot, and he feels that he can be of more use to his country as a civilian contractor, than he could while he was in uniform. He’s even proven it a few times, but it seems that the general has a short memory.

Mark turned off the alarm, and went out into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. He then took a shower and shaved before getting dressed for the day. Finally, as is his habit, he sat down at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee to read his daily devotional, and a couple chapters of the Bible, to prepare himself spiritually for the day ahead.

After he completed his devotional he had a little time on his hands so he turned on the TV to catch the morning show on Fox News. The big headline of the day was about some pastor of a big Texas mega-church who announced to the world, via the internet, yesterday afternoon that he wants to hold a Koran burning service on Friday night, Islam’s holy day.

Bob Thorn is the host doing the story on the errant pastor, as he called him. The man of God is being eviscerated by the guest from the National Alliance for American Islamic Relations (NAAIR). Mark heard the pastor being called a Neanderthal, a racist, and an Islamophobe who needs to be jailed immediately for perpetrating a hate crime.

The NAAIR representative’s rant didn’t surprise Mark all that much, NAAIR has long been accused of being sympathetic with radical Islamic causes, and they are unindicted co-conspirators of what history calls the 9/11 attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. They deny it, but everyone knows that they were involved in moving money from banks in the Middle East, to banks in America, for the terrorists who flew the planes into buildings on that dreadful day.

While this Texas pastor is way wrong in what he wants to do, Mark does sympathize with his cause. But, he doesn’t have even a modicum of respect for NAAIR, nor does he give much credence to their representative who is currently spewing hot air on Fox. NAAIR doesn’t bat an eye when Islamist’ burn Bibles, prayer books, churches, or kill Christians all over the Middle East. The man on TV has hate filled hypocrite written all over his face, and Mark doesn’t know why Fox News wastes the time of its viewers by letting him have face time on television.

This pastor from Texas wants to burn a book, and the folks at NAAIR go absolutely nuts! It’s just a book get over it, Mark thought. He doesn’t like the ideas this particular book espouses, but it is just a book.

However, Mark grudgingly admits that this book shouldn’t be burned because a person doesn’t like what it says, and this Pastor in Texas should know better. You can’t win the battle of ideas by burning the other guy’s books; it just makes you look like a Nazi.

What surprised Mark most about the segment, was that there was no push back from the host interviewing the man from NAAIR. Just last week, on this very show, Bob was lamenting the fact that moderate Muslims never stand up to the radical elements of their religion, who are hijacking Islam for their own purposes. Today Bob has one of those radical Muslims on his show, and he says nothing about the hypocrisy of NAAIR, he just lets the man rant away, uninterrupted.

As this story was the big news of the day, according to Fox, Mark changed channel to see what CNN had to say about the situation in Texas. What he found was that they were even worse than Fox News in their coverage of the story. CNN’s guest was from the Nation of Islam. He was spewing the usual hate filled rhetoric about how the Muslim people are once again the victims of cruel disrespect at the hands of Jew loving Christians, the world over. He went further by saying that this Texas pastor’s actions are just a symptom of a much larger problem of hatred, and bigotry, inherent in the Christian religion.

The anchor at CNN’s morning desk, John Mix, chimed in by saying, Christianity is supposed to be a religion that’s all about love …

But where is the love John? the man from the Nation of Islam interrupted, How can anyone justify insulting the Muslim faith by burning a copy of the Koran, and call it an act of love? You can’t love someone, and insult them by …

Mark didn’t wait to finish hearing what the man from the Nation of Islam had to say, he flipped over to MSNBC to see what Looney Tune they were foisting off on their audience, and they had the biggest Looney Tune of them all. They had the pyromaniac wannabe pastor himself, and he was reveling in the attention the controversy he started was garnering for him, and his church.

Reverend Banks are you sure this is the message you want to send to over 1.1 billion Muslims worldwide? Natalie Huffman the morning show anchor for MSNBC asked.

It’s like this Miss Huffman, when you consider the myriad of crimes committed against Christians worldwide on a daily basis, by Muslims, all of them Justified, and even encouraged by passages in the Koran; the proposed action by my church is pretty innocuous by comparison.

What crimes? Natalie asked.

Are you serious? Did you just ask what crimes? the good reverend asked in an incredulous tone, "Okay how about Boko Haram in Nigeria raiding Christian compounds killing all the men and boys, and kidnapping the women and girls. The women are abused, then turned into sex slaves, while the girls are sold into marriage to Muslim men. ISIS is murdering Christians by the score, filming every gruesome detail of the executions to use as propaganda touting the righteousness of their cause.

In Saudi Arabia convincing a Muslim to convert to Christianity carries with it a death sentence for both the new convert, and the person who convinced them to leave Islam. And that doesn’t even scratch the surface Natalie; I haven’t talked about the hidden slave market in the Muslim world, the church burnings, etcetera… I could go on for hours listing all the stuff that has happened to Christians at the hand of Muslims in just the last month, he concluded.

I’m sure you could Reverend, just as I’m sure you believe that the Koran justifies it all, though I find it very hard to believe. Tell me Reverend Banks, have you even read the book your church proposes to burn on Friday? Natalie asked Reverend Banks in a snarky tone that sent waves of anger flowing through Mark.

But to the good reverend’s credit, if Natalie’s tone angered him he didn’t let it show.

"I know whereof I speak Miss Huffman. I have indeed read the Koran along with most of Muhammad’s other writings known as hadith’s, and believe me when I tell you that the man had no love for Christians, Jews, or any other religion that isn’t Islam. The Koran contains over 109 verses that call on Muslims to wage war with nonbelievers for the purpose of setting up worldwide Muslim Rule, and exterminating all religions but Islam, with Christianity, and Judaism being the primary targets of the Prophet’s vitriol.

Some of the verses are quite graphic too. One calls for Muslims to chop off the heads and fingers of nonbelievers, while others call for true believers to kill all the infidels of the world. The Koran also says that if a Muslim doesn’t join in the fight to rid the world of nonbelievers they are hypocrites, and it warns that Allah will send them to hell if they do not join the glorious slaughter… Reverend Banks informed the MSNBC audience.

And it looked as if he had more to say but Natalie barged in, Yes, yes, yes, we’ve all heard these generalities before reverend, and quite frankly I for one am quite sick of it.

If you would let me finish Miss Huffman, Reverend Banks sternly interjected, "Earlier you had asked if I had read the Koran, and I was in the process of explaining Islam’s holy book to your viewers. I even paraphrased a verse, but since you seem to want specifics I will point you to the previously paraphrased verse in the Koran it’s in the eighth surah and the twelfth verse which says, I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them."

Okay so you can quote one verse from the Koran…

No Natalie, that’s just one of many that I can quote. I just chose that one, because it really reaches out and grabs your attention, especially when you consider that beheading is the execution of choice used by ISIS. I can go on if you want me to.

No reverend, we’re running short on time, but I have one more question before you go. Is what you are planning to do an acceptable Christian response to these so-called crimes Muslims are committing against Christians? I mean it sounds more like an act of revenge to me, and isn’t Christianity supposed to be about forgiveness?

Natalie, our reasons for doing what we are doing aren’t about retaliation, or revenge; it’s about getting people’s attention and letting American Christians know what to expect if they fall into the hands of an Islamic jihadi. Our being so far removed from the turmoil in the Middle East isn’t going to protect us from Muslim extremists forever, 9/11 taught us that, and 9/11 was the tip of the iceberg. I believe that there is a wave of terror that is the mother of all terrorist waves coming our way, and we need to be ready for it when it gets here.

If you say so reverend, Natalie said sarcastically, Our time is up, thank you for joining us this morning.

Thanks for having me, Reverend Banks said as his video feed faded from the screen.

There you have it folks, he wants to save the world from Muslim extremists, but who’s going to save it from Christian fanatics like him? That is what I want to know, Natalie Huffman said as MSNBC segued into a commercial.

Mark turned the television back to Fox News. He was rather disgusted with the way Natalie Huffman handled most of the interview, especially the end. He had however, developed a new-found respect for Pastor Banks, he still doesn’t agree with what the good reverend is about to do, but at least the man isn’t shooting from the hip; his actions are well thought out, and rather pointed.

Mark just wished there was another way for Pastor Banks to make his point, as there are very few ways to make a group of jihadists angrier at you than desecrating their holy book on their holy day.

Nothing good is going to come of this, he thought.

CHAPTER 2

New York City:

E MIR SALAAM MADE his way through a very crowded Grand Central Station, New York City’s busiest transportation hub next to JFK airport, and, in his opinion, the perfect place for the new jihad against America to begin. It is one of the country’s most beloved landmarks, it is almost always full of commuters, and tourists alike, even at this early hour. So he was assured of a high body count when his soon to be martyrs for Islam begin their much-anticipated attack.

The plan is a work of genius. The first of two bombs will detonate in the main concourse near a popular morning hot spot for coffee and pastries, then two of his men armed with AK-47 assault rifles will begin firing at the survivors, herding them to the 42nd street exit, where another bomber will be lying in wait to set off a second explosion which will drive the people back towards the men with rifles. His shooters will then keep killing until they run out of ammunition, they are overwhelmed by the crowd, or the members of the port authority police department catches up with them, and kills them.

Very soon there will be four martyrs in the loving embrace of Allah, there will be hundreds of dead infidels, and if all goes according to plan it will be Christians, not Muslims, who will be blamed for the attack.

What the jihad Emir and his colleagues have planned isn’t going to be aimed at toppling the U.S. Government, nor is it their plan to cripple the U.S. economy, their plan is to destroy the credibility, and legitimacy, of the Christian religion altogether. If they succeed they will, hopefully, put an end to its influence over American society, and government. The fact that what his organization is about to do will also bring American society to its knees is just an added bonus.

The Christians don’t know it yet, but they are about to have their very own terrorist group, and it is going to wreak havoc all over the place. Which is why none of the members of the cell that is about to go active are of Middle Eastern descent, they are all American converts to Islam with European ancestry, and they were chosen because they look like they are just a bunch of regular people who could be from any town USA. More importantly, they look like they can be the most faithful members of any congregation in any church in America, which is precisely the plan.

Each member of the cell is wearing clothing full of Christian symbolism, they are also carrying membership cards identifying them to be members of local churches, and they are wearing jewelry that further identifies them as Christians. One of the shooters even has on his person literature from one of the more radical, and militant, right wing Christian organizations out there. One that has in the past called for the violent overthrow of the United States government, The Army of God.

The timing of the proposed Koran burning in Texas, couldn’t be more perfect for Emir and his group. Allah was gracious in that the Texas church was unwittingly playing into the hands of the Islamist movement in America. The planned Koran burning, along with the string of terrorist attacks that are about to be carried out, will create a lot of sympathy for Muslims all over the country. More importantly, it will cause the American populace to turn on the Christian community.

He looked at his watch, it was 7:29, and the first bomb was set to go off at 7:45, when the station is expected to be full of morning commuters. Emir saw the first bomber moving into place at the back of a long line at Zaro’s Bakery just off the main concourse. It is time for him to move to a safe spot so he could view the handiwork of his shahid’s, or future martyrs, as they did their work for Allah. Emir’s vantage point was to be a secluded out of the way nook in Vanderbilt Hall, where most of the carnage is to take place.

As he moved into place Emir saw his two riflemen moving to take up positions in opposite corners of the hall, and he trusted that the second bomber was already in place. She needed to be, because once the first blast goes off things would begin to move at a rapid pace.

Emir looked at his watch again, it was 7:43, two minutes to jihad.

He feigned looking at a directory to keep from arousing suspicion, but he was having trouble fighting off the anticipation of the moment, the efforts of many long years of training and planning were about to bear fruit, and the enemies of Islam are about to reap the just deserts of their unbelief.

7:44 one minute to Jihad.

The building shook. One of the bombs went off too early, but which one, and was everyone else in position? Screams of horror filled Vanderbilt Hall as a mass of humanity began to pour into it looking for the nearest exit.

As the hall filled to near capacity shots began to ring out, and the crowd stampeded towards the 42nd Street exit as planned. There was a mass of humanity crowding around the door, that’s when the second blast went off, pushing the terrified masses back into the waiting arms of his two riflemen who by now were taking up new positions to maximize their fields of fire.

The blood, and carnage, was glorious in the eyes of Emir Salaam.

Dismembered body parts from the second bombing flew back into the hall, and onto those trying to escape. There were dead and dying infidels all around him. The cries of agony from the wounded, intermixed with the screams of panic from those trying to flee the carnage filled the air, and was sweet music to his ears. The fear stricken mob began trampling the wounded, the otherwise infirm, and those who were just plain too slow, into the marble floor, in its mad rush to find safety. It was more than he could have hoped for.

Though he nearly gagged when a woman who was running by him was shot in the head. There was a pinkish spray of blood from the entry wound in the back of her head, then a whole lot of bone, and brain matter, exploded out of her forehead. While beautiful for Emir to behold, the debris landed all over him, covering his legs and feet, with blood, bone, and brains, which made the death of the woman unnerving at the same time.

Her death, right in front of him, was too close to comfort.

It was now time for Emir to leave, before his shooters got so caught up in their bloodlust that they forget that he is not to be shot, but he was too late. Just as he reached the exit he felt a hot piercing stab of pain in the back of his thigh, and another in his lower back. Emir knew it could mean only one thing, he had been shot, but by whom, the police who were now engaging his shooters, or did one of his own men get him?

He went down and hit his head on the marble floor, and he remembered no more of the events of that day.

Within five minutes of Emir being injured the police put down his two shooters, had Emir been conscious he would have been proud of the job his shahid’s did. New Yorkers will be comparing this attack to the 9/11 attacks of 2001 for years to come, and when they see what was done they will fear, and hate, the terrorists who did this.

CHAPTER 3

Alexandria Virginia:

M ARK WAS ABOUT to turn off his television and leave for work when the Fox News Network announced a breaking news bulletin.

Cathy Thompson another host of the morning show said, We have a Fox News Alert from here in New York City, where there are reports of explosions and gunfire at Grand Central Station. As we understand it the incident is ongoing, and we have few details other than reports of mass casualties. We have a crew in route to the scene, and when we have more details, we will pass them on to you. Bob… she said throwing it over to her co-host.

Oh, my God, not again, Mark said as he rushed out of his house, and sped off to the office.

He turned on the satellite radio in his car, which was already tuned to the Fox News station, as Mark is a news junkie, and he was just in time to get the first update from New York City. A field reporter named Amanda Roberts was confirming, There has indeed been a terrorist attack in Grand Central Station. Hundreds are presumed dead, and hundreds more are injured, witnesses have confirmed that there were two explosions one in the main concourse, and the another near the 42nd Street exit, and there were at least two shooters involved, all the terrorists are presumed to be among the dead. There is no official word from the authorities as the situation is what they call fluid, but they have informed us that there will be a press conference within the next two hours to give us an update.

Amanda, can you get inside the building? Bob Thorn asked her.

No Bob, the police have sealed off the entire area, and they have set up a two-block perimeter around the station, so that the rescue workers can treat the wounded, and recover the bodies of the dead. The trains that would normally pass through Grand Central have been stopped, and their passengers have been told to disembark, and take buses or taxis, to their destinations. As of now the entire train, and subway system in the city has been shut down, and the mayor’s office is asking everybody to stay clear of the area around the station, Amanda answered.

Has anyone claimed responsibility for the attack? Bob asked.

No Bob, as of now, no one has claimed responsibility for what is the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, but it has all the hallmarks of an Al-Qaeda style attack. We must also keep in mind that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has recently promised to begin attacking the U.S. in earnest, and they claim to have the resources in place to pull this kind of attack off, but all that is pure speculation at this point, Amanda told him.

Thank you, Amanda, Bob said, Now we will go to the White House where Jim Porter is standing by with the initial reaction from the Rutherford administration, Jim.

"Thank you, Bob. We have been told that President Rutherford has been informed of the attack in New York City, almost as soon as the story broke here on Fox News. At the time he was notified, President Rutherford was in the middle of a breakfast meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan discussing the near record trade deficits