Land of Promise (23 page)

Rick then turned the microphone toward Meital, who said, “Hello. I’m Meital Akins. I was born in
Eretz Yisrael
, and by Grace I became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah when I was 20 years old.” She then switched to Hebrew and carried on for a few more minutes. In this part of her speech, Rick only recognized a few Hebrew words and “Yeshua,” “Israel,” “Ilemi,” “Rick,” “Mtume,” and “Blackhawk.”

Following their address, Rick and Meital were pinned down by an even larger throng of people in the Coffee Room, where they answered questions for more than 40 minutes and handed out a large number of Rick’s distinctive gold Mylar calling cards. Several people promised to contact friends with Blackhawk helicopter experience who might be willing to emigrate.

Rick and Meital spent Saturday catching up on e-mail, relaxing, and touring the George Washington Carver Museum, the Landmark Park living history museum, and the U.S. Army Aviation Museum. All through their day of playing tourist, many fast, quiet, and stealthy new UH-100 Ultrahawks zipped overhead. Like many other U.S. Military museums, the Fort Rucker museum was relocated outside the secure portion of the Fort, allowing accessibility to civilian tourists. Meital thought it ironic that they had both a MH-60L and a MH-60Q “Dustoff” on static display at the museum alongside two UH-1 Huey variants, and that these Blackhawks and Hueys were both venerated as the Army’s “Retired Warhorses.” The last UH-60 had left Army National Guard service just four years before Ilemi independence.

That evening they held their first interview with a candidate at the Red Lobster restaurant on the Montgomery Highway in Dothan. He was an Army Corporal serving as a “15 Bravo” Powerplant Repairer who had just recently cross-trained as a 15G Aircraft Structural Repairer. While he was too young to have worked on UH-60s, he did have a lot of experience with similar later-generation Sikorsky helicopters. The corporal had just two months of service remaining before his ETS date, he was a devoted Christian, single, and eager to relocate to the Ilemi. Their wide-ranging conversation with the 23-year-old covered much more than helicopter maintenance and repair. Over their two-hour dinner, they discussed Reformed theology and eschatology, his upbringing in the panhandle of Oklahoma, rifle scope reticles and illuminators (he was a deer hunter), and the general decline of liberty in the U.S.

On the subject of declining liberty the Corporal recounted how twice in the past six months he was stopped at DUI checkpoints and forced to submit to Breathalyzer tests and DNA cheek swabs at gunpoint. He lamented, “The American people are becoming little more than bleating sheep, and the protection provided by our Constitution is not much more than a fond memory. There is
de facto
Sharia law from coast to coast in America now, and blatant Sharia in some cities with sizable Muslim minorities. They passed a Federal law against offending another religion, but it is only enforced selectively -- upon those who speak out against
Islam
. Ironically, a few people still say, ‘It’s a free country.’ I’ve got news for them: It hasn’t been free since around 2002. I can’t wait to make a fresh start, in the Ilemi.”

Mobile, Alabama - July, Four Years After Declaration of the Caliphate

Getting a phone call at 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning put Traci in a foul mood, from the outset. It was her partner. He said, “We just got a special tasking. We’re driving to Fort Rucker this morning.”

Traci responded, in a sleepy voice, “Are you kidding me?”

Her partner, Special Agent Delon Jackson, laughed and said, “No, I wish I was. This tasking just came down from D.C. You need to pack for a week and be ready to roll by 6 a.m. I’ll pick you up outside of your apartment. I have a very slim file for you to read through. It sounds like another freakin’ wild goose chase. And get this: The subjects are diplomatic, so it’s purely ‘informational.’ They’re Teflon -- no prosecution, even if we dig up anything on them.”

Traci groaned, “You just ruined what was left of my weekend. Okay, I’ll be ready by six.”

FBI Special Agent Traci Charles was feeling even more perturbed by the time her partner wheeled the nondescript Toyota hybrid sedan in front of her apartment building. She was worrying about her house plants in the event she was away more than five days. After tossing her bag and briefcase in the back seat, she stepped into the front seat, fastened her seatbelt, and gratefully accepted the covered cup of coffee Delon brought her. He was always very thoughtful, but he was also very married, so they kept their relationship strictly professional.

She took a few sips of coffee as her partner drove toward the Interstate. The streets were empty. After she set her cup in the center console cupholder, Delon handed over the promised file folder. She leafed through it. On top was a print-out of an e-mailed tasking memo from the FBI’s Washington D.C. headquarters. The tasking was terse: “Two SAs required ASAP to track movements of Ilemi Republic Ambassadors Richard and Meital Akins. (Special Note SAs: Subjects are holders of diplomatic immunity. Do not approach, question, or detain, under any circumstances.) Last known location of Subjects: Dothan, Alabama. There is reasonable suspicion that they are at Fort Rucker to recruit helicopter pilots for military service in Africa. (Possible violation of UN treaty and the Pelosi Act.) Follow up on their movements with discreet investigation/interviews with any locals they contact. Full 24/7 surveillance not required. Prepare a report for the Director’s Office. Make no direct contact with State Department; Director’s Office will handle the subsequent brief. Hand off to another field office if movements of the subjects take them outside our FO’s geographical limits. If they linger, additional support will be tasked within 5 days. Normal per diem and travel reporting. Nothing follows.”

Underneath the tasking memo were hard copies of three news articles about the formation of the Ilemi Republic. One of them included a photo of the Ilemi flagraising. The faces of Rick and Meital Akins were circled in red ink.

At the bottom of the stack was an “Alert” memo from the People of Color Law Center (POCLC.) It was titled: “The Ilemi Republic: Neocolonialism Infests Africa.” Seeing the POCLC’s letterhead made Traci groan. This think tank was notorious for its hyperbole and poorly-supported assertions about right-wing groups and pundits.

Traci looked over at her partner and asked, “So they call this ‘intel’?”

“Yeah, pretty skimpy. We’re almost flying blind here.”

Traci sighed. After a moment, she fished through her briefcase and pulled out her laptop comp. After opening it and grabbing a roaming wireless connection, she said, “Well, we’ve got a long drive up to Mother Rucker, so I think I’ll take this opportunity to dig in deeper. There’s got to be some better open source intel on these ‘neocolonials.’ The validity of
anything
coming out of the POCLC is questionable, at best.”

Delon nodded. “Yeah, good idea to dig up some more background. Do you mind if I put on some tunes?”

“No prob, just no rap, okay? I’d prefer instrumentals. I can only handle one voice in my head at a time when I’m doing research.”

“Okay. I hear you. I’ve got a bunch of instrumental jazz on my MP6 player. I’ll only use that playlist.”

Delon and Traci were born just two years apart and had similar backgrounds: She was from Alabama, and he was from Georgia. Both were law school graduates in their late 20s and were “paying their dues” with an assignment at a backwater field office. They were both itching for an assignment at one of the big FOs. Both of them were Democrats, and both were agnostics. But Traci was still single, whereas Delon had been married while still in law school.

After surfing from website to website for nearly an hour, Traci declared, “This whole thing is pretty messed up, Delon.”

“Whatcha you find out?”

“Well, supposedly -- at least according to the POCLC -- the Ilemi Republic is the creation of a bunch of racist neocolonialist corporate lackeys who set up a bunch of sell-out Uncle Toms in Africa to be their front men. But then I dug into blogs and Internet forums and chans, including some on Tor. Nearly everyone there seems to think that the whole Ilemi thing will be a libertarian paradise, with
no
taxes, minimal government, and racial harmony. And get this: They gave all of the settled local tribesmen
ten votes
in all elections, but the settlers from other countries will only get
one
vote.”

“That doesn’t sound very racist to me.”

Traci thought for a few moments and then said, “I think I’d better call my brother Antoine. His law firm does a lot of tax planning and stuff like that for rich people. Mostly rich
white
dudes. I’ll bet he’s heard the real story about this Ilemi Republic. But please don’t mention to anyone that I’m pinging him on this.”

Delon laughed and said, “My lips are sealed, Trace.”

Later that same morning, Rick and Meital drove to St. Luke United Methodist Church in Enterprise. It had been difficult to pick a church to visit, since there were more than 40 churches in and around Enterprise, and 28 of those were Baptist. In the end, they chose St. Luke from among five churches with congregations numbering more than 300 people.

At St. Luke they met a very friendly integrated congregation. Meital estimated that there were about 250 people attending that morning. Some of them had already heard from their Messianic friends about the Akinses.

There were already guest speakers scheduled for the day: a young Methodist missionary couple touring the Bible Belt, raising support for a newly planned mission school in Malawi the following year. Rick would have been content to hand out a few calling cards and shake a few hands. But when the young missionaries got up to speak after an opening prayer, the husband said, “I’m here to ask for your prayers and request your support for our little mission in Malawi. But a few minutes ago, I had the privilege of meeting two diplomats who were instrumental in creating an entire new Christian
nation of refuge
, the Ilemi Republic. I’m sure that most of you have heard of it, and that some of you must have the Ilemi nation as part of your prayer life, as I have. We are living in perilous times, and there is tremendous persecution ongoing, mostly at the hands of the World Islamic State. I feel convicted to set aside half of my allotted time to allow Ambassador Akins to address y’all.”

He motioned Rick to come up to the microphone. Rick thanked him and quickly repeated most of what he had said at the Messianic meeting -- including his need to recruit aviators -- but then transitioned into an appeal to support American missionaries, specifically the couple that stood beside him. He closed by saying, “For the Ilemi Republic, all that we ask is your prayers. But this couple deserves both your prayers
and
your regular financial support. Missionaries like these who are committed to long-term overseas missions are the embodiment of the Great Commission that Christ gave his disciples and all Christians in future generations until his return, in Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20. Please consider that prayerfully.”