Armageddon?? Read Online Free PDF Page A

them adrift.” Secretary Rice paused for a moment. Coming
from a religious background herself, she could empathize with the degree of
bewilderment that was paralyzing so many governments around the world. “The
Middle East is a mixed bag. We’d expected the area to be virtually depopulated;
after all the word Islam means submission to the will of god and we assumed
that the populations there would just lie down and die according to demand.
Well, that hasn’t happened, not universally at any rate. It’s hard to work out
exactly what is going on but it seems as if, with radical Islam being
discredited by The Message, the alternative philosophy of assertive Arab
nationalism is returning. The largely socialist Arab nationalist movements have
been eclipsed by the Jihadists in recent years but now, they’re coming back and
coming back strong. Of course, the Sunnis are blaming the Shia and the Shia are
blaming the Sunnis for The Message and they both blame us. Business as usual
there. Equally predictably, the Israelis have gone to work with a vengeance.
Apparently one of the Russian Baldricks appeared there, homing in on Jerusalem
and the Israeli Defense Forces shot it to pieces. According to the Israeli
Ambassador, 120mm shells are much more effective than sounding trumpets.
They’ve sent word by the way, don’t use armor piercing shot to take the
Baldricks down. Just whips straight through them. HEAT, high explosive and
canister all work much better.”
    “You
like the term Baldrick then Condi?” Department of Energy Secretary Bodman
seemed to favor the expression as well.
    “I
do Sammy, it has a nice, contemptuous ring to it. But, much more importantly I
think it is very important to distinguish between the mythological demon and
the creatures we face in reality. There is little doubt that the monsters we
face today are the source of the myths we have all read about but I believe we
must make the difference between the two very clear. There is nothing ghostly
or ethereal about the Baldricks, they are very solid reality. As to what their
powers are, that we must find out.”
    “On
that note, we need some scientific input. Thank you Condi. I have asked the
Department of Defense to coordinate the scientific research into these
Baldricks. Secretary Gates has resigned from his position as head of Defense, I
have appointed, subject to confirmation by the Senate, Senator John Warner to
be the new SecDef. John?”
    “Thank
you Mister President. At the moment we know very little about these creatures.
Factually, we have identified three separate types which have very different
characteristics.
    “The
first are the flying Baldricks we shot down off California. They’re the same
ones that were whacked in Singapore and Bangkok. Working on camera gun footage
from the F-18s, we can size them at around 30 feet long from tip of horns to
root of tail with a wingspan of around 60 feet.” Warner gestured and a picture
was projected onto the screen at the end of the Cabinet Room. “As you can see,
they look rather like the traditional depiction of a demon or a cartoon devil.
Horns, tail pointed beard. Two arms, two legs, two wings. This raises an
interesting point, the combination of weight and musculature mean these things
can’t possibly fly.”
    “Just
like a bumblebee?” Education Secretary Margaret Spellings tossed the quip in,
one that gained her a reproachful glance from the President.
    “In
a way yes. You see, the musculature of the back doesn’t give any great strength
to the wings, it can’t the bone structure won’t support it. The only way this
thing can fly is if it weighs virtually nothing so its wings provide propulsion
and lift, not steerage. The only way we can think of doing that is if the body
contains a lot of very light gas, probably hydrogen. We think that is why they
burned so fiercely when they were hit. The pilots reported that the creature’s
blood set them on fire, we can only think that there’s