JAA Ch. 03: The Kings Undoing

"John, if I might ask, what made them... ," Agent Peters started.

"All the cameras in here were on, broadcasting every word, every action, to the public."

"How did you accomplish that?"

"Friends in low places," John told him as Susan pushed him out the door.

Chapter 5

"How long do you think it will take for them to find him?" asked Michelle.

"Who?" Susan returned.

"The police."

"They will never find him. They will find his...his...him in the here and now. The one in Texas, the one who left three years ago."

"Oh. Does he know?"

"No. Now be quiet while I listen to his heart."

"Fine."

It took John two weeks to recover enough strength to be able to sit up. At the end of the third week, he was getting up on his own.

"Time for me to turn myself in, I'm sure the other me is tired by now of the harassment he is receiving."

"No, you can't..."

"I can and I must Chelle. Call the FBI, tell them you know where the shooter of the president is staying."

"You want them to pick you up here?"

"No, the hospital would be a better place. There you are just doing your jobs, not harboring a fugitive from the law."

"Ah, yes. A much better place," said Susan.

John was transported to the hospital. Records would show he had checked in the day of the shooting and hadn't left. A call was made to the FBI and two days later, they deemed to show up and check out the report. Agent Peters was the first man on site.

"So you are the man that shot the president?"

"Yes, I am. You will find my fingerprints are the same as John Abernathy from Texas as he is the younger version of me."

"Younger version?"

"Yes, I am from the future. I came here on a mission, which I have finished."

"I see. Listen, pops; I don't have time for bullshit..."

"The rifle used was a custom Accuracy International with an extended barrel. The caliber was .338 Lapua and the rifle was found five thousand feet from the target. Alongside the rifle was an unspent round with the number two engraved on it. I evidently didn't need that one. Under the butt plate, you found a folded piece of paper with the words good luck written in pencil, no signature."

"How..." Agent Peters turned walking out of the room into the hall where he was talking frantically on his cell phone.

For the next three days, they questioned John non-stop. As the days wore on, he became weaker and weaker, until he was once more confined to a wheelchair.

Chapter 6

Once again, John was wheeled into the chambers with the ten senators. The room was devoid of other people. Even Susan and Michelle weren't allowed to accompany him. Agent Peters rolled him in, patted him on the shoulder then retreated back through the massive doors. John looked up at the ten senators. Today they were alone. No assistants, no lackeys. Alone. With John.

"Now Mister Abernathy, the last time here you claimed to be the person who murdered the president, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And you say you did this with a single shot at a distance of five thousand feet?"

"Yes."

"How old do you claim to be?"

"81."

"And yet you claim to be able to make a shot that most snipers I have interviewed say is almost impossible for them to make?"

"Yes."

"How is that sir?"

"Fifteen years from now a serum will be discovered that stops and sometimes reverses the aging process. I just happen to be one of the lucky few whose age was reversed. I have the reflexes and the vision of a twenty-year-old. You wouldn't believe that now, but the temporal shift I have been through is wreaking havoc with my body."

"Age reversing? You expect us to believe that bullshit?"

"I don't care if you believe it," John told him flatly.

"Could you make that shot today, Mister Abernathy?"

"Yes." A murmur went through the dais.

"If I was to hand you a loaded gun, say with ten bullets in it, could you kill all of us before we could get out of the room?"

"Probably, but I don't need a gun to do that."

"What do you mean?"

John tossed what looked like a piece of gum out on the floor between the dais and himself. Then holding a device that looked like a cell phone, he pressed a series of buttons.

"What is that?"

"That Senator, is the version of the future of C4 explosives."

"And what will be the blast radius of that miniscule amount?"

"Twenty city blocks, don't try and run, you will never make it."

"You would have us believe you can level twenty city blocks with that?"

"You misunderstand; this amount will obliterate twenty city blocks. There will be a twenty-block crater when this goes off. A smaller amount of this has been planted at the White House and will detonate at the same time."

"Why?" Mc Coven asked as four senators made a break for the door behind the dais.

"Why? Because I knew, just killing the president wouldn't stop the reign of terror that our government has caused us in the future. You see I really am from the future. A future that is miserable for its citizens, except the ruling class."

"I see," said Mc Coven pulling a revolver from under his suit coat. "What if I just shoot you?"

"What I have in my hand is a dead man switch, we will both die anyway."

"Well then Mister Abernathy, I will say good-bye. Yet I don't think you will want to cause the death of your friends and doctors or their children."

"They are out of harm's way. Why do you think they both goaded you, why do you think I goaded you? So we would be alone. Good-bye Senator Mc Coven."

Mc Coven's eyes widened as John removed the ring from his finger. The senator watched as John faded away and the detonator dropped to the ground triggering the device on the floor.

"...reports from the capital are that a number of terrorists infiltrated the Senate hearings and the White House detonating small nuclear devices."

"This just in, the devices were not nuclear, yet the destructive power was the equivalent of small tactical nukes. Latest reports are the death toll has reached one hundred and ninety-five. Other injuries have been minimal due to the day of the week, most people were out of the capital."

"The provisional government, lead by the speaker of the house has been established in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Their first act will be to announce a date for new elections."

"Elections were held yesterday across the county. The final tally is still not in, but projections show a strong win for..."