Candidate of the Apocalypse Episode 11

"The Return"

"You were held for three days by a group of armed men and freed by the FBI in a dramatic rescue.  What can you tell us about your experience?"

"Well, Matt, it was something for me to hear their voices as they came through the door!  But my perspective is a little skewed.  At the time I was hooded and tied to a chair."

"Tell me about those moments."

"There were four men.  They rarely talked to me.  They asked no questions and mostly kept to themselves.  I was brought food once a day and given a few minutes to walk around before being tied up again.  At the end there was a sudden argument.  They were speaking some foreign language that I didn't understand.  They got to fighting amongst themselves.  It got so bad my chair was knocked over.  I could hear them scuffling all around me.  Suddenly there was a blast and in came the cavalry."

"Were you able to meet those men?"

"Briefly.  They brought me back to headquarters so I could call my family and let them know I was ok.  I was debriefed there."

"I'm afraid those men were not available this morning,  But we are pleased to have as our guest FBI director Bill Torres.  Bill, I understand there was a surprising twist to this story."

"Yes, there was.  This case is most unusual in that the kidnappers made no effort to contact us with any demands.  We didn't and still don't know their identities or who put them up to it.  That put us at a severe disadvantage until we got an anonymous tip that led us to the right place..."

Franks turned the TV off.  He knew what was coming next.  Lies.  Why is it that the big dogs leave all the work to the underlings, then, when a camera crew shows up they swoop in to take the credit?  Well, no matter. The public would probably never know the true story...

The boy rarely looked up and never answered a question directly.  His dad did all the talking.  They lived alone a couple of blocks from the old Fulton River District.  Even though large parts of the area had been renovated in recent years, there were still a few abandoned and lifeless buildings.  Franks got the gist pretty fast.  The boy had wandered away from his home one evening and was hiding when a van drew by.

"Three men were carrying another out of the van into the building."

"But it was dark, how could he have seen it?"

"They were back-lit by a streetlight nearby."

"Why wasn't he seen?"

"Come on, he's pretty small.  Besides, it was night and he was hiding under some stairs."

"How was he able to tell you this when he doesn't speak?"

The man pulled out his cell phone and opened an app.  "Here. This is designed for autistic children.  I talk to my son using these symbols.  They give me an avenue into his world, and to him it's a game.  I save all our conversations so I can learn to better communicate with him."

He showed Franks a series of symbols.  A sad face, a man, the number 4, a horse with a rider, and a stick.

"He was sad because to him, the man they were carrying was sick.  He doesn't have a symbol for 'carry' so he substituted 'ride'."

"What about the stick?"

"I'm not for sure about that one.  I think he means - guns."  He whispered.

"When was this?"

"Two night ago, late."

"Does he remember where it was?"

"Of course."

"Tell the boy we want to help the sick man, if he can show us the place.  Will he do that?

The father touched a couple of icons on his screen.  In a moment the boy responded.
The icon was a happy face.

"Yes."

"Let's go."

It took a while for them to arrive at the building.  Chicago traffic being what it was.  They approached from an angle they knew wouldn't tip the kidnappers off to their presence.  The team formed up at the end of the building and the boy verified, through video cam, the doorway.  Franks had some other agents quietly take the boy and his dad away.  He took one last look at his men.

"Showtime!"

They were quick and deadly.  Each man carried at least three weapons and a couple of other tricks too.  Like a little fiber-optic camera that allowed them to peek around corners without being spotted.  The hallway was empty.  Quietly they checked each room using the camera.  It didn't take long.  The men used silent gestures so each would know his assignment, which kidnapper to take out.  Right then everything went south.  Screams burst from inside the room.  The agents thought they were made and Charles' life was in imminent danger.  Franks set the charge and blew the door.  Seconds later it was over.

Episode 10: Candidate of the Apocalypse

"Franks"

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen:  I am honored to stand before you on this important night.  By being here you are sending a message.  That message is simple.  You care about the United States of America and its future.  For the past several weeks our campaign slogan has been, 'It's my property, and it's my money.'  This is a theme which resonates with you.  I know, I've read your e-mails!  Thousands of them! (What he was saying was not far from the truth. He was a voracious reader.)  Our purpose is to point out a problem - an attitude that permeates our federal government today.  An attitude that says, 'What's yours is mine.' And they are perfectly willing to take it too.  If not directly through egregious taxation: then indirectly by endless regulation and mandates.  There is a word for taking something that does not belong to you - stealing!  Since when to the feds have the authority to tell a private enterprise to get rid of its chief executive?  Since when do they have the authority to take over a company?  And since when do they have the authority to order private citizens to buy something?  Or else! "

The standing room only crowd responded has he talked.  Charles continued:

"The implications of Federal interference in our personal and economic lives are clear.  If they can reach into a big company and order it around, they can reach into a small one and do the same.  If they can order you to buy something, anything, what is to stop them from ordering you to shop at certain stores, or send your children to certain schools.  I think you know this is an extremely dangerous direction for any government, and especially ours, to take.

Fortunately, we have a precedent established a little over two hundred years ago.  Our Founding Fathers put the idea to pen like this:  "...That when any government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..."

"Are you going to stare at that computer screen all day?"

Franks turned in his chair to see his friend and colleague in the doorway.

"Got a couple of interviews in an hour, Mike.  Thought I'd make use of the time with some research."

"Shouldn't you be researching the perps rather than the victim?"

"I know, but it's been three days and nothing has surfaced so far.  I thought something in these videos would give me a clue as to why he became a target in the first place."

"What have you found?"

"Nothing, really.  He seems to be an upstanding guy who's running out of a genuine desire for change."

"Change?  I thought the present regime was going to take care of that."

"Apparently they have, except it's all been in the wrong direction."  Franks turned his head back to the screen.  Charles was still talking.

"Let me ask a question, how many people are tasked with ruling over us?  What would that total be?  The House of Representatives numbers 435.  The Senate is comprised of 100 members.  Then we have to add the President, Vice President and the Supreme Court.  All in all that makes 546 people.  That's it.  You know, if those 546 people decided today to stop spending, it would happen.  If they decided to reform the tax code, explore oil fields within the continental US, reduce the size and scope of the EPA, or make any number of positive changes, they would happen.  Obviously that is not the case..."

Franks paused the video and turned to his friend.

"Time to go.  Hey, Mike, before I leave, let me show you something.  I got this really strange email yesterday.  I can't seem to locate it's source.  Might have some implications in the investigation. Can you help me with it?

"Sure.  Let me take a look."

A few minutes later he said, "Yea, this is a little strange.  May I use your computer?"

"I'd rather you didn't.  I've got a lot of things going on right now, but Hank (he nodded to the office on the right) is out on vacation for another couple of days.  He wouldn't mind."

Mike nodded, "Just give me a moment to get in."

Franks shot the email over to the other computer, gathered his things and strode down the hall.

Shortly the elevator doors opened and Franks walked briskly across the lobby.  He was mentally going over the questions to ask in his upcoming interviews.  To be honest, he wasn't optimistic.  Neither witness was able to come up with much specific info, but due diligence was required, and time was pressing.

He was almost out the door when someone grabbed his sleeve.  "Blast", he said to himself.  He was in a hurry.  The man was short with a pale be-speckled face.  Beside him was a slight boy who refused to look at him.  Something was in his hand.

"May I help you?"  Franks turned to face the man.  He wanted to get this over as quickly as possible.

"Well, er, y-y-yes," the man stuttered.  Franks sighed, this was going to take a while.

"What floor is the FBI on?"

"Eleventh floor, turn right and it's straight ahead."

"Thank you, Ummm, are you FBI?"

"I am.  Field Agent Tommy Franks at your service."

"Over here, Brian,"  The man guided the boy over to some chairs where he sat down while the men stood and talked.  Franks now saw that he held an iPhone in his hand.  Without looking up the boy started playing a game, oblivious to everything else.

His father turned to Franks and started talking.

Ten minutes later Franks pulled his phone and called the head of the strike team assigned to his case.  "Get your team ready.  Now!" he growled.

Interval Training: The Now Workout?

It was the late 70's and I was a sophomore at Liberty University.  On the first day of wrestling practice Coach Bonheim called us together and announced: "All right, this year we are going to do something a little different."  He went on to explain how practices would be organized.  Every other day we would be wrestling.  The in-between days were to be spent practicing moves.  This was my introduction to interval training.

Wrestling days began with body-weight exercises.  Coach was a bit leery of free-weights back then.  Afterward the real work started.  A typical session would go like this:  Wrestling for a 1 minute period, then 2 minutes, then 3.  Next:  3 minutes, 2 minutes and 1 minute.  Between we would circle the mat and check our pulse.  Once our heart rate fell below 120 we would start again.  Thus it would continue.  Each practice would include about 45 minutes of full-on wrestling.

Off days would serve two purposes:  Recovery from the previous day; and refinement of skills.  This was radically different from what I had known before and I was curious about the effects.  They turned out to be good.  The team had a winning season and we placed 3rd in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) tournament.  The previous year we had placed 5th.  The effect on me?  Unfortunately I had to leave the team for more pressing matters early in the season.  But the short time I had put me in arguably the best shape of my life.  I had a resting heart rate of 50.  I was strong with great endurance and flexibility.

That was then.  Today interval training and its numerous variations are among the most popular forms of exercise.  They promise all the usual benefits of training; weight loss, increased energy, muscle mass, etc, in a much shorter time frame.  I am speaking of a couple of studies which seem to show that short, intense bursts of energy can have the same effectiveness as longer, less intense sessions.

I decided to test this idea on a willing subject - me.  What kinds of changes would a high-intensity workout engender?  Not being a gym rat anymore, I own exactly three pieces of equipment.  Two 40 lb dumbbells and a NordicTrack bicycle.

On alternate days I do weights.  Back, chest (in the form of pushups), abs, shoulders and arms.  Three sets each with no more than 3 minutes rest in between.  I warm up with a quick sprint on the bike, and usually hit it again halfway through to keep my heart rate (way) up.  The in between days consist of bicycle sprints:  4 of them with 3 minutes rest in between.  This may sound like a short session.  It is.  I spend no more than 1 minute at a time riding, but my pace is furious.  Some days I go at my absolute max speed.  These last for about 30 seconds.  Other days I go at the highest rate I can perform for 1 minute.

The new workout had an immediate effect, mostly in a negative sense.  The pain in my legs by the end of each sprint was tremendous. I would be sucking air like crazy and my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest.  This is certainly not for the squeamish! It took a few weeks for my body to adapt to this new workout.  Now I'm developing some variations to make the sprints even more intense.  My heart and breathing are still through the roof when I'm riding, but I recover quickly and by the next start time I'm more than ready to go again.

The effects?  My muscles are tight and feel great.  I haven't lost any appreciable muscle mass even though I have to do more reps than before.  Sure, the intensity leaves my legs tight, but I remedy that with stretching on off days.  On the up side, I am rarely tired or out of breath.  And what about my resting heart rate?  It's not 50 anymore.  Actually, it's a bit lower.

This type of workout carries a high discomfort factor, that's true.  But the benefits are well worth the effort.