The Mark

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Anna climbed into the passenger's seat and buckled her seat belt. She decided that if she ran into Thomas Larson at the office, she would ask about Isaiah's letter.

Mayor Wayne Durbin, on the other hand, was sleeping great. During the day, his mind raced with ideas and proposals, but at night he slept like a baby. Monday morning, bright and early, he drove to Indianapolis to the Indiana Government Center. Governor Slate had called a meeting of the 107 mayors in the great Hoosier state whose city populations were greater than 6,000 residents. The smaller town mayors would meet the following week, but Durbin knew all impor tant decisions would be made by his group.

Actually, he had only been to one other meeting with these may ors, and they technically didn't make decisions. They listened and facilitated what Slate wanted them to do. Durbin had heard about the occasional mayor who had his sights on the governor's mansion and got too vocal for his own good. He was warned the mayoral conclave was not a wise environment to stump for future votes. Slate had been there for thirty years and he wasn't going anywhere soon.

Hitler's resurrection and demands would most definitely be dis cussed and Durbin was teeming with excitement. He was a student of Magorum, which now made him a Hitler fan by rote. Aside from the whole h*******t debacle, Hitler had been a man who gave the people a voice. He was a powerful orator and had a remarkable track record of gaining the public's confidence. He just went overboard a bit. Durbin was sure he had learned from his mistakes-he even im plied that in his revelation speech.

Durbin pulled into the Lincoln Street parking garage just down the street from the Government Center and quickly parked his car in the first available space. The meeting would start in the Conference Center at nine sharp, giving him some twenty minutes to find a seat and settle in. He recognized a couple of the mayors from a meeting a month and a half ago. None of them dreamed they would be meeting again so quickly.

Inside the Conference Center, Durbin was directed into the larg est meeting room. It was set up as a lecture hall of sorts. Ascend ing tiers had tables and chairs set up all facing the front of the room where a single table with three chairs faced back toward the audience.

Durbin was pleased that individual microphones were in front of each seat, as well as nameplates, an empty legal pad, a bound notebook, a pen, and a cold bottle of water. Apparently they were going to be al lowed to speak.

Durbin found his seat and settled in with the rest of the mayors as the digital clock at the front of the room changed to nine o'clock. There was a bit of excitement in the air, but not much conversation. Durbin didn't want to comment on last week's events and then find he was on the wrong side of the fence. Washing egg off your face wasn't as easy as it sounded.

At 9:04, Governor Slate entered the room and the mayors respect fully stood and applauded. Once seated again, Slate began the meeting. "I appreciate you coming here on such short notice. I have spoken with many of you already and know your phones have been ringing off the hook, as have mine. The events of last week are of historic proportions that extend from Europe into our very own backyards. Today, your questions will be answered. Let me assure you, though many facets of this event were surprising by nature, this is a very well-thought-out, well-planned, and apparently well-executed pro gram that has major world support."

Durbin glanced around the room. Slate had the mayors in the palm of his hand. No one moved, no one even touched his notebook.

"If you will open your notebook to page four, I want to start by reading the Federation of World Power's Consolidation Projection Statement, which was issued three years ago at a summit in Oslo, Norway. Yes, Norway. Though the big ten of the FWP is mostly east ern European and Middle Eastern, there are many nations who have been supporting the international movement of a one-world govern ment and soon you will find that, as Americans, apparently we were not the last to know."

The forty-three page document laid out in generalizations the plan to form a united world. From leverage in the Middle East to opening the borders in North America, a system was set in place to make the world a much smaller place. Industry and trade regulations were stan dardized, benefiting both the service provider as well as the manu facturer. Medical co-ops were outlined, with the goal of bringing the greatest minds in the world together with the greatest equipment in the world. Research lab locations were determined, as well as health care provisions, with the goal of providing elite services at standard ized costs. Everything was in this brief document: education, govern ment, currency, manufacturing, trade, natural resource production, environmental care, as well as sustenance production.

That was the one that caught Durbin's eye. Granted, it was sim ply one paragraph long, but in those two hundred and thirty-seven words, Durbin found his niche. The FWP had high ambitions in ev ery field, and Durbin was ready and willing to lead the way in milk development and production. Well, at least he could provide a great support system. But now he had to figure out how to tap into a system that had the same goal and focus as he did-to make the world a bet ter place for all by working together.

After reading the short projection statement, Slate took a drink of water and looked up from his notebook.

"It is a very short proposal for a very lofty goal but it is not with out years of discussion and planning. Turn to section B in your note book and you will see the signatures and names of the men who have committed to this system over the past twenty years. World lead ers, Americans included, have prepared for the day when the world would unite as one."

Durbin, with the rest of the room, flipped over to the signature page and scanned the hundreds of names. "Now, let's talk about the elephant in the room. Hitler and his

minions."

Durbin heard a collective "uh-huh" from the mayors, the first

sound from them all morning.

"I'll be the first to admit, the sight of Adolph Hitler on the stage was alarming. Then came the... well, for lack of a better word... demons. I call them demons because Hitler himself does not claim to be from God. Instead, he is empowered by Satan and we all know Satan has demons at his disposal."

Durbin felt a bit uncomfortable with this part of the discussion, and though he was not a religious man, there really was no other ex planation for the creatures that aided Hitler.

"The spiritual realm is no longer in question. It is a reality. And it is here to help us, not to battle against us. Look at the polls-before March fifteen, seventy-three percent of Americans believed in the spirit world and now it's one hundred percent. There is no denying its existence, since seeing is believing. And whether or not you are happy about this, in order to accomplish a one-world government, we need the help of the spirit world. Enter Hitler."

Durbin heard the mayors shift in their seats, but his own dis comfort was diminishing. He knew where Slate was going and he completely agreed.

"In order to rule the world, one needs a unique set of skills. He needs to be a visionary. He needs to be charismatic and appealing. He also needs to have a firm grasp on reality and Adolph Hitler has been there. Even in his first life, his goals were right, he just communicated them improperly. It's not that he hated Jews, but the God of the Jews. Having now spent time in hell, he knows the wrath of a hateful God and has lived to tell about it. His true goal is to save mankind from God's wrath. And with the help of Satan, he will accomplish this."

At this point, Slate stood. He was wearing a wireless mike so he could be mobile. He walked from behind the table and stood before the room.

"As leaders of Indiana, the way you respond to this event will make all the difference for our state. We have been given huge incentives to get our cities on board with the new system. Wayne," Slate pointed to Durbin as he spoke, "the new equipment you have been drooling over for your dairy farms-it's all yours if you comply. Steve," again, pointing to another mayor, "that new bridge you've been asking for. it's a done deal if you comply."

Durbin felt the mood change a bit. He needed to know exactly what "comply" meant.

"As we speak, the Currency Act is being facilitated throughout America. The banks are receiving the new software and soon the dol lar will be obsolete. On the federal level, chip implant systems are being delivered to banks, making it easy for your citizens to receive their identification numbers and account chips. But they will not re ceive anything until they get Hitler's mark. That's the cost. And it's a pretty cheap one, if you ask me.

"Once everyone in your town has taken Hitler's mark, the flood gates open and we quickly move into a whole new world. As may ors, you will be held accountable for your citizens. If your citizens don't mark up, then your city will not be able to access the funds for improvements. I know this seems a bit silly-does Hitler want us to mark up because he has a huge ego? The answer to that is no. It's so that we can see that we are all on the same team. It's like a soccer team. Everyone needs to be wearing the same color jersey, or else you don't know who to pass the ball to. The mark unites you with the mayor of Paris or the mayor of Barcelona-you belong to the same cause, the same purpose."

Slate turned back to the table and reached for his water. He took a drink and then, still holding the water in his hand, he continued.

"Give me just a few more minutes and then we'll take a break. Af ter the break, I'll field questions. I know this is a huge responsibility as mayors of your cities. Rest assured, I am not leaving you alone. I spent the weekend with the heads of law enforcement, as well as the National Guard. We have decided to provide you with training facili ties that will educate those in your town who refuse the mark. We believe with a proper understanding, everyone will want to be on the team. There are some brief schematics of our proposal behind tab C in your notebooks. Take a look at it and after the break we will dis cuss it further."

Monday turned into a very long day. Durbin had no need to be convinced of the process to get his citizens marked. He was well aware of the benefits and he also understood the terms were nonne gotiable. There were a few disgruntled mayors, however, who wanted to live in the past rather than look to the future. Eventually, Durbin knew they didn't buy into the system, they would be replaced. The United States as a whole, let alone the world, was moving in a direc tion that would not be stopped. Either get on the train, or go to a training camp.

As the hours passed, Durbin grew weary of the discussion and decided it was born-again believers who were going to be his greatest obstacle. The four most outspoken mayors all claimed to be just that and every concern they voiced he had heard the other night at the re ligious forum he attended or from his buddy, Thomas Larson. So, to make the time pass more quickly, Durbin began to sketch out a plan for dealing with the Christians. He would have to get the Christian support in town-get a big name to mark up first and then the rest would follow suit. After all, Christians like the sheep analogy.