The 13th Enumeration (15 page)

Chapter 31

Manhattan, New York City

It took twenty-four hours before police detectives learned that Gerhard Schroeder had been using a fake passport and driver’s license. The medical examiner ran Schroeder’s fingerprints through their database and came back with Joe Douglas, a convicted felon still on parole. The New York Police Department was contacted, but due to the clogged streets, it was three days before they could dispatch a detective to Joe’s last known residence. When Jack Dunaetz arrived at what was left of Joe’s condo, he knew it was going to take some time to gather any evidence.

Jack was a thirty-year veteran of the New York Police Department. He was a short, stocky, and mean-tempered man, but he was one of the most experienced detectives on the force. His gut, and he had an ample gut, told him the fire was not just a coincidence. Seeing the wet debris of the burned-out building, Jack was not about to step into the rubble unless he had it checked first for radioactive contamination. It was still kept hush-hush, but the department had indeed confirmed radioactive contamination in the water system of Manhattan. There had been tens of thousands of gallons sprayed on this fire, and he sure as heck wanted it tested before he stepped a foot in the ruins.

Two hours later, a special-operations officer arrived to test the debris. He climbed into his special suit, and with his Geiger counter, entered the ruins of Joe’s condo. The readings spiked much higher than any water samples yet taken. After several minutes of climbing over the condo’s remains, he found in the swimming pool what was left of the four steel barrels with hardened puddles of lead on the ground under them. His meter was screeching at him, telling him this was more than just the background radiation from the water sprayed on the fire. The officer quickly climbed out of the rubble, and one of his assistants sprayed him down with a portable water canister. He undressed and called his superiors. They had found the source of the terrorist attack on Manhattan.

Jack Dunaetz walked over, and the
s
pecial
o
ps
officer explained what he had found. “My gut told me not to step into that mess,” Jack said with a satisfied grunt of self-congratulation. “Sure glad I didn’t. Looks like we found the source.”

The FBI was called in, and they began to dig into every piece of Joe Douglas’s background. Without much trouble, they found he attended one of the more fundamentalist mosques in New York. The mosque had been on their watch list for some time due to its connections to al-Qaeda and Iran. They weren’t able to find the origin of the passport or driver’s license, but they were able to trace the credit card to an offshore corporation of Iranian origin. Whoever had provided it had been sloppy. The ease of the trace seemed almost too convenient. Was Iran being set up? As of right now it sure seemed like all of the evidence was pointing to Iran and its al-Qaeda satellites.

With no other leads and the American people calling for retribution, the president, who had extremely low approval numbers, against his advisers’ recommendations spelled out the evidence so far against Iran and called on them to answer the charges. The inflammatory president of Iran responded by calling the attack a Zionist conspiracy to undermine the credibility and sovereignty of the Iranian state. Then, in a moment of extreme political stupidity even considering his normally inflammatory rhetoric, he said he was glad about the attack and that his only regret was that it hadn’t affected the entire
state
of New York.

The American people were enraged. Both Democrats and Republicans now had a common enemy toward which to direct the anger of the American people. With Congress’s approval numbers even lower than the president’s, they immediately drafted legislation that placed crippling sanctions on Iran. The president, with the backing of both houses of Congress, bullied America’s allies into following suit. For once even Russia, normally a supporter of Iran, stepped back and distanced itself. The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to impose crippling sanctions as well, effectively isolating Iran from any dealings with the Western world.

* * *

Arash was one of the few Persians pleased with the political and social pressure building inside of Iran. The leadership of Iran was blindsided by the events. Normally very canny in their dealings with the West, they had never pushed their hand too far—until now. There had been mounting pressure from the people of Iran ever since Darius Zarindast had offered each Iranian the shares of Aquarius Elemental Solutions. Now, with the events in New York, the pressure had reached a breaking point. The Assembly of Experts was called to challenge the rule of Ayatollah Khamene’i and the president of Iran. The special assembly was set for the end of the month Aciyadiay, or November, in the holy city of Qom.

Arash had already placed the 235X into trusted hands at the water bottling facility. The batch of water to be used in two weeks at the Assembly of Experts would be ready and waiting for the unsuspecting leadership of Iran. It was likely that many of the top military leadership would be there as well. They were never far from their political masters. With luck, a few weeks from now, Iran would no longer be ruled by religious fanatics. Iran would once again be ruled by a son of Hystaspes.

Chapter 32

Dallas, Texas

Zane was back in his dorm room at college. His classes had not been too taxing. Everyone on campus was talking about the events in New York. Sam had filled him in on his conversation with David, who had been in both of their thoughts and prayers a lot lately. Zane sighed, thinking about how easy it had been for one person to cause so much havoc. Now there was a chorus of calls for retribution against Iran. From the evidence which had been shared with the public, it sure seemed like the country was rushing to judgment on this one. Sure, Iran was an enemy of America, but Zane couldn’t help but wonder if different decisions would have been made if Congress and the president were not in such disfavor with the American people. It seemed as if many times in history, when things were not so good economically or politically, the political class turned to war as a means of diverting the people’s attention and anger. They sure had the attention of the people now. And their anger was white hot and full of vengeance. This was not a good environment for making reasonable decisions.

Shaking his head again, he tried to focus on his research paper. Zane looked at the list pinned to the wall over his desk. He had accomplished the first item: identify the potential starting points for the prophecy of Daniel’s seventy weeks. Daniel 9:25 read in part,

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks.

When Daniel was given this prophecy, the First Temple had been completely destroyed. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar had looted and burned Solomon’s temple, leaving nothing except the scattered stones. Now, according to the text of verse 25, “Messiah the Prince” would come seven “weeks” from the “command to restore and build Jerusalem.”

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Chronicles, and Kings each gave details about “commands” to restore and build Jerusalem. The first recorded command Zane had found came from Cyrus, king of Persia. The book of Ezra recorded that Cyrus in his first year claimed YHWH had “charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.” So Cyrus’s decree was given in 536 BC.

The next recorded command to build Jerusalem came from Darius, son of Hystaspes, in his second year—about sixteen years after the first decree. From the account of Ezra, Zane had learned the construction efforts had stopped sometime during the sixteen years between the first year of Cyrus and the second year of Darius. Darius was petitioned by the settlers of Jerusalem to be allowed to restart construction of the Second Temple. Darius checked the records of Persia and found that, indeed, Cyrus had allowed construction of the temple, so he gave his own support and blessing to the project, and the construction resumed in 520 BC.

In the seventh year of “Artaxerxes,” Ezra, the “priest and scribe” was given a decree which allowed him and as many exiles as resided in the kingdom of Persia to return to Jerusalem. His decree allowed them to take whatever money they had and offerings they could gather and take them up to Jerusalem. Artaxerxes had also decreed that any money they might need for the restoration of the temple could be taken from the king’s treasury up to a certain amount. Zane had learned from his research that the term “Artaxerxes” was just a title which applied to Persian rulers. Since all available biblical evidence showed that Ezra and Nehemiah were contemporaries of Darius, son of Hystaspes, then the seventh year of “Artaxerxes” had to be the seventh year of Darius, son of Hystaspes, the great Artaxerxes of Persia. This decree was given in the year 514 BC.

Then, in the twenty-first year of this same Artaxerxes, Nehemiah was given the governorship of Jerusalem and the authority to rebuild the gates and walls of the city. This decree was given in the year 502 BC.

To Zane’s surprise, he had found one additional decree which was not mentioned in any of the popular writings on the seventy weeks. What surprised him most was that this one decree seemed the most contextually obvious choice—yet it was ignored by almost all commentators. The decree was the one given by YHWH himself. Not only was it given directly by YHWH, it was witnessed by two of the accepted prophets of that time, namely Haggai and Zechariah. Zane had noted two of the references in his research notes.

Ezra 6:14
:
 
“
And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished
it
, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the comma
ndment of Cyrus, and Darius, even
Artaxerxes king of Persia.
”

Zechariah 1:1
6: “Therefore thus saith YHWH; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith YHWH of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.”

Zane could not understand why this command had been overlooked by so many commentators. If any
“commandment to restore and build Jerusalem” marked the countdown to “Messiah the Prince,” it would be the one given by YHWH. Sadly, he thought, maybe they overlooked this decree because it did not fit their interpretation. But to not even mention it? He shook his head.

Taking the notepaper pinned over his desk, he set it aside and rewrote it with the new information:
 

Zane underlined point
C.
and pinned the list back over his desk. With growing satisfaction, he felt as if he was getting somewhere. He had always loved a good challenge. True, he did not know for sure which of these decrees, if any, was the correct one, but he believed the most reasonable choice was the one given by YHWH. Only time would tell. Well, he’d had enough for one night. In the coming days he would begin to work out the chronological details of the prophecy so he could answer point two on his list. He wanted to be sure he understood how the prophecy was broken down into its different time periods.
  He hoped his father was right and this search lead to a greater truth
.
 
But
w
hat if it didn’t
?

Chapter 33

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

His expression calm, controlled, and almost friendly, Darius Zarindast sat looking into the camera of a local CNBC affiliate in Dubai. He was being interviewed for the financial program
Squawk Box.
The producer gave Darius and Sarah Holloway, the anchorwoman, the fifteen-second heads-up. Then they were on the air.

“Today we are joined on
Squawk Box
by Darius Zarindast, president of Aquarius Elemental Solutions. Mr. Zarindast, welcome.”

“Thank you, Sarah, glad to be here.”

“Mr. Zarindast, the past several weeks have seen some incredible events take place at Aquarius Elemental Solutions. You have gone from an almost unknown quantity to a major player on the world financial scene in a very short amount of time. It is estimated by some that you are the wealthiest person on the planet right now. How has this newfound wealth and fame affected you?”

Darius smiled, hiding his disdain for the newswoman. She was just eye candy who could read a teleprompter without making it look obvious. He doubted she had ever had an original idea.
Dumb blonde,
he thought, his smile growing with his private insult.
             
“Sarah, it has allowed me to put in motion some of my own personal goals to change the world. We all know that under the current circumstances, the world cannot continue as it is. Take the tragic events in New York. Again, religious fanatics have released mayhem and havoc on innocent people. When will humanity grow up and work together for the common good? When will we have leaders who have the guts to make the painful decisions that are needed for the common good of all mankind?”

“What painful decisions to you mean, Mr. Zarindust?”

“For starters, how about outlawing hate speech in the name of religion? Another concern of mine is the overpopulation of the world. The current growth curve is not sustainable. Some experts say the world is overpopulated by several billion people right now. Another issue is the world’s broken financial system. The world is awash in debt, and the banking cartel is thriving off this servitude. When are the people of this world going to throw of
f
the bankers’ chains?”

Sarah, nodding her head in uneasy agreement, tried to steer the conversation away from such controversial issues. “It is understood you are building another production facility for your elemental separators. How is that coming?”

Darius smiled. “We are currently a few days ahead of schedule. My production team, headed by Ralph
Scholz
, says the factory will likely be ready in late December or early January. At that time we will be able to increase our production almost tenfold. So far there have been over five thousand preorders for the AES-100s and one thousand for the AES-1000s. It will take some time to fill all these orders. If the demand keeps up at the current rate, we will likely need to build another factory within six months.”

Sarah asked her next question. “What are your thoughts on the market events that have transpired over the last couple of weeks? As I’m sure you are aware, the market has been open for four days now since the events in Manhattan, and there is a lot of fear out there. As of right now, the major markets indices are down about thirty-eight percent from where they opened on November 1, almost two weeks ago. Do you think the fear is justified? What do you see going forward? AQES appears to be one of the few stocks that has not suffered severe price loss.”

“Sarah, first let me say, my sincerest sympathies go out to all the people of New York for the terrible events that have happened there over the past couple of weeks. I am ashamed to admit my own nation seems to have been involved in this tragedy. I have authorized my team to make the first two AES-1000 elemental separators from our new factory available free of charge to New York City. That will provide two million gallons an hour of low-cost water to New York. This is my way of showing the people of New York my empathy.”

Sarah looked pleasantly surprised as she replied, “Correct me if I am wrong, but those machines are each worth one-hundred-million dollars?”

“Yes, Sarah, each machine would cost New York City one-hundred-million dollars if they were to purchase them. This is just my way of trying to help. Let me also address your question on the markets. I believe that while terrible, the events of the past couple of weeks are only transitory. The people of America in general and New York in particular are fighters. The market sell-off is way overblown in my opinion. And just so you don’t think this is all Pollyannaish talk, let me tell you what I have told my financial team to do this week. I have instructed them to purchase one-hundred-and-fifteen-billion dollars worth of stock in some of the most beaten-down sectors.”

Sarah looked shocked as she stuttered out the number in reply.

“Yes, Sarah, that is correct. I believe the best days for our generation are ahead of us. I believe Aquarius Elemental Solutions will be at the forefront of reshaping the world into a more sustainable future. I have dedicated my life and fortunes to that purpose.”

“Mr. Zarindast, you and your company already changed the world as we knew it several months ago. Tell us about your Aquarius Fund. I understand Alexandra Riley is directing the efforts of your fund. How is she doing?”

“Alexandra is doing a superb job. As most know, she has dedicated her life to making this world a better place. She was at the forefront of the social and environmental movement long before she came to work for me. In the past two weeks, the Aquarius Fund has provided major infrastructure support for several of the world’s poorest cities. Within the next week
or so
, we will be turning on our machines in eight of these cities, forever solving their fresh and clean water needs. Alexandra’s goal in the next four months is to begin installing five of our elemental separators per day in impoverished cities of the world. Within the next several months, when the new production facility comes online, she intends to double that. These are very ambitious goals. As you can imagine, the logistics for an effort of this size can be quite challenging. The Aquarius Fund will be spending several billion dollars every week for the foreseeable future to accomplish our goals. I have personally guaranteed my own fortune against this effort. If at any time more funds are needed to accomplish our goals, all Alexandra has to do is ask me. To us, the true beauty of the Aquarius Fund is that the nations who can afford our machines are paying for the freshwater of those who cannot. We are using capitalism to redistribute the wealth of this world to those who need it most.”

With time running out for the interview, Sarah asked one more question. “Mr. Zarindast, how has the response been for your public stock offering? You stated that you have reserved sixty billion shares for this private offering. That is ten shares for every individual on earth. Last time I checked, your share price was in the $35
-
40 range even with the rest of the market tanking. For those availing themselves of your offer, this is about a four-hundred-percent increase on their money at today’s prices, and at a time when most all other companies’ share prices are substantially down.”

“Sarah, the response has been overwhelming. We have had to hire five hundred additional personnel just to oversee this part of our efforts. As of yesterday, my team has informed me that eight-hundred-million people have signed up for our private share offering through their brokers. Another two-hundred-million people have requested we send them paper certificates because they do not have a brokerage account. Needless to say, it is gratifying to see the little people of this world avail themselves of an opportunity once only reserved for the wealthy.”

“Mr. Zarindast, I thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to talk to us here on
Squawk Box.
Hopefully we can get you to come back in the future to keep us up to date on your company and your efforts.”

“Sarah, absolutely, I will gladly come back anytime. And I thank you for the opportunity as well.”

* * *

Sam watched the interview with interest. He’d sold twenty thousand shares of stock over the past couple of weeks. He had eighty thousand left to sell, and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable about Darius Zarindast. He couldn’t put a mental finger on it, but there was something that just didn’t seem right about the man. Was it his continual use of the term “religious fanatics” and the implication that it included Christians as well? Or the fact that everything had gone perfectly for Darius Zarindast since he had first announced his new invention? Obviously, Zarindast was a very intelligent and patient man. He had waited ten years to bring his technology to market until he thought the conditions were just right. After waiting so long, why did it now seem as if he and his team were in a rush? Were they just concerned that they needed to make the most of the opportunity before someone stole the technology?

Sam was infamous among his friends as a conspiracy theorist, but it seemed obvious to him that something more was going on here than was plainly evident. Clearly Darius didn’t need money any longer—he had more money than he could ever spend. There seemed to be an unspoken motivation guiding him. Was he truly just a benevolent man concerned with making the world a better place? In the interview, he’d made a big point about the overpopulation of the planet. Yet his technology would revolutionize the existence of every person around the whole world. Once uninhabitable regions were now habitable. Food could now be economically produced anywhere within one hundred miles of any ocean. The ocean covered seventy percent of the earth’s surface, and now every gallon of that water could be economically mined. There were enough resources in the ocean for several hundred years even at the current population growth rates. One hundred years from now at the current pace of technological advance, mankind might be capable of mining resources on the planets in the solar system. His concern about overpopulation did not seem congruent.

Sam gnawed the end of his pencil. When a person had more money and power than any other person on earth, what was left to accomplish? Was one man capable of using that power for the good of mankind? Even more important, what would someone with that power consider to be “for the good of mankind”? There were thousands of years of history to show that whenever men set out to play God, it always ended in tears. Was Darius the exception to the rule?

* * *

Dylan watched the markets as Darius spoke on
Squawk Box.
He had been buying everything he could get his hands on for the past two days. Others had seen his buying, and the market was already firming up. Downside pressure was falling, and divergences were showing up in the charts. The retail investor, aka the dumb money, had shorted stocks to an extent not seen since the 2008 bottom. Dylan’s buying had put a floor under the market, and it was primed for Darius’s announcement of one-hundred-and-fifteen-billion dollars in stock purchases.

After Darius’s announcement, the overleveraged shorts had to cover. Three hours later, the market had one of its largest daily gains in history, closing up by 10.3%.

Dylan had purchased over eleven billion dollars in options across the spectrum. He purchased outright another one-hundred-and-five
billion dollars in the stocks of twenty-five different companies which would benefit from the future activities of Aquarius Elemental Solutions. By the end of the day, he had sold his options for an average of eight-hundred-percent gain. This netted him a cool seven billion, and Darius almost seventy billion. The stocks Dylan had purchased outperformed the general market that day by almost double, increasing the value of their purchases by about nineteen percent.

Over the next six months, those companies would benefit from AES’s incredible growth. By spring, many of those companies would see their share prices triple. Dylan shook his head in amazement as he watched the financial programs talk about Darius saving the markets. They were equating it to the efforts of J.P. Morgan in the 1907 panic, which helped avert a complete collapse in share prices. They were sitting at the top of the financial world, and he, Dylan Gallos, was the one making this happen. God! What an incredible feeling.