Last War (2 page)

     A shield which is divided
into three sections covers the chest of the eagle. The shield contains main elements that represent the American homeland: air, land, and sea.

    
The top element, a dark blue sky, contains twenty-two stars, which represent the original twenty-two entities that have come together to form the department. The left shield element contains white mountains behind a green plain underneath a light blue sky. The right shield element contains four wave shapes representing the oceans alternating light and dark blue separated by white lines.

They promise to protect…

~Excerpt from Wikipedia.

"
Without the pen of Paine
, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain."



Prologue:

Tameka Washington



THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2003

CURRENT HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISORY SYSTEM: YELLOW—ELEVATED TERRORIST RISK

     The click from Tameka Washington’s tape recorder had ended another classic speech from John Kennedy. She had recently become intrigued with a collection of speeches she had of his. Something about the things he would say hit home with today’s day and age. It was like he knew something. She was baffled by his death mystery and figured there had to be something in the things he spoke about that gave it all away.

     What she had been
told
about his killing had seemed true. The ranks she had very recently elevated into was a new world to her, and the things she had learned were startling – almost urban myth-like.

    
The projects she had worked on, were like science fiction. Her life felt like one enormous, continuous, dream.

    
A familiar premonition began to aggravate her body. Something was about to happen, and it made her anxious.

     Amidst her attempts to penetrate common logic, Tameka noticed a flicker of light come from her doorway. Her heart began to pound through her voluptuous chest. As a woman who lives alone, there was no worse feeling than being stalked. The hallway to her front door was dark, so her dark clothes paired with her deep chocolate skin would provide enough stealth to  make her comfortable enough to check – or so she thought. She reached in her purse and pulled out a small gun. After she slowly crept to her front door, she peeked out of the window.

     “Tameka Washington.” The man said in the instant she reached the door. “I have a package for you to sign for.” When she looked out, it was a man in a postal uniform. The man stood still. He wasn’t moving. It seemed that, not even the fabric of his clothes blew in the spring air. He had a huge scar on his creamy tan face, and though Tameka didn’t know him, she recognized him enough to know he did not work for any delivery company, at all.

     “Leave it on the porch.” She said.

     “It requires a signature.”

     “Then come back later!” She shrieked out, slamming her back against the wall away from the window. “I can’t take it now!”

     She sneaked a look back through the small foggy window on her front door. The man was nowhere in sight. It was like he just evaporated.

     When she became afraid, the atmosphere’s air against her skin felt like needles.

     She dialed the local police.

     “MPDC what’s your emergency?”

     “I’m being stalked by strange men who claim to be government employees.”

     Her voice quivered as she explained her terrifying experiences. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little shaken up."

     "It’s ok ma'am. Take your time, and then start from the top. I know you’re shaken up, but try to remember I'm recording; so state the dates and approximate times as best as you can. Take your time, sweetie."

     Tameka's whole body
 was shaking. Her heart raced three-times faster than usual. She pulled all of her thoughts together as she quietly, and slowly, started into her story.

     "There was two of’um. They were both black. The first visit, only one of them came to my door, the other stood out of my view until--" She found that her air supply was short. Her chest was tight, and she couldn’t find the ability to squeeze out full sentences without gaping for more air.

     “I was sitting here on Monday, May 20th 2003 at around 6:30 p.m., or so. I was goin’ through my laundry, when I noticed some strange shadow of a person standing at my front door. I knew something wasn't right because usually when someone is waiting on the other side of the door there is, at least, a
little
bit of noise. He didn’t ring the doorbell, or knock. He was just there."

     "Who was there? Did you know the person?"

     "No, I had no clue. When I went to the door he was standing there—dead still."

     "Did he say anything?"

     "That’s the thing, officer: I walked softly to the door and as soon as I reached the window he said my full name." She imitated, to the best of her ability, the sound of the man’s deep rugged voice. "
'Tameka Washington.
' It was very, very, eerie, officer. When I answered he said,
'FBI I've come to talk to you for a moment, if I may.'
"

     "Well, I guess, it’s a good thing you didn't open the door, he—"

     Tameka interrupted.  "Could have been anybody."

     "Right. Did it end there?"

     "Well, being that I work around agents a lot, I know what an official badge looks like, so I asked to see a badge—he had one."

     "Ok, so he did,
indeed,
have one?"

     "Yes, but it just didn’t seem right, so I
 asked him to come back with a warrant."

     "Oh, ok, well ma’am an FBI agent—or anyone else of authority wouldn’t need—“

     “He wouldn’t need a search warrant, because he didn’t ask to search the house, I know. But, that’s how I know he wasn’t a real agent. He would know that, right?”

     “I suppose he should have, yes. What did the man look like?”

     “This one—the first one--was dark, and he had a bald head. He was wearing shades, too. His head looked like a Milk Dud. He didn’t smile, and he didn’t –
he didn’t move
.” Tameka emphasized.

     “Well, what happened, then? Did he leave? Did he return?”

     "Well that's the scariest part: He left and I kept watching out of the peephole, when I saw the second guy with the terrible scar on his face. He came from the right and followed him to the left."

     “Ok, so they came to your door, but you didn’t know them, and they knew your full name. Correct?”

     “Yes.”

     “Then after the first interaction, you saw another man—the second guy with the facial scar--follow him?”

     Tameka scanned through her head with the details of the event before she confirmed.

     "Did they return?" the officer asked.

     "The other man did today, May 22nd around the same time, six-thirtyish, posed as a postal employee. He said that I needed to sign for this box he was holding. He had the same eerie door bell stance—same routine."

     “The men, for sure, didn’t work for the MPDC, right?”

     “No. I mean, I don’t  know. And I’m positive they aren’t postal employees, either. He just wasn’t actin’ right.”

     "Ma’am, is there another place you can stay until we sort
 all of this out?"

     "There is. I can stay with my friend Clareese, or my mom, Betsy. But she lives outside of the city. Officer, do you have any clue who could be targeting me?"

     "Ma’am, I don’t have a clue. This is the first report, like this, we’ve gotten at the capitol. Could be someone attempting to sexually assault you, you could be a target of theft, could be anything.” A small clicking over the phone’s earpiece was followed with the woman’s stern voice. “Where do you work, ma’am? Usually people target based on car, house, or work."

     Tameka paused, "I’m a physicist at a local college lab, and I work in the DHS."

     There was an awkward silence. The keyboard tapping in the background on the other end of the phone stopped.

     "Homeland Security?" the officer asked.

     "Yes."

     T
he officer seemed to be confused as to whether she should probe into this or not.

     The men had
FBI
badges, but then, why did they come back?

     Moreover, why did they disguise the second time? How did they know Tameka’s name? Who were they? All questions Tameka knew the officer on the other end
of the phone wondered, as well.

     "Ma’am go stay with your mother and someone should be contacting you soon."