The Coming Night
Copyright© 2007 by Dr. T. D'Manne
Chapter 3
Authorities are still puzzled by the death of an unemployed construction worker in the suburb of Kenner. Alvin Joseph Williams, no known address, was found on the lawn of the Kenner Emergency Help Facility Yesterday. He reportedly died of an extreme overdose of radiation. Police, and officers of the NRC, are searching a sixty block area of Old Town which Williams was said to frequent. The Atomic Energy Commission is offering a five thousand dollar reward for information leading to the collection of the material which killed him. Confidential access to the Information Hotline is available by dialing 468-4636.
New Orleans Times Picayune, 29 March.
OFFER, Organization For a Federated Earth Republic, consists of various and sundry smaller groups using acronymic names. Hidden behind these many militant 'repressed minority' groups it uses as soldiers, the organization strikes chills through the spines of counter operatives around the world. OFFER, though a very active group, somehow keeps its movements, motives, and major members hidden behind a screen of lower functionaries and impossible public goals. Each time someone uncovers a promising lead, an insight into any of the three fields, without fail it becomes a ' dead ' end without fanfare or noted histrionics. Interpol, and myriad governments' intelligence gathering agencies each have dedicated teams working full time and sharing any and every diverse bit of information concerning OFFER, but after a collective century of man hours expended they are further from a solution now than when they started. A full platoon of lives have been lost in the search for the elusive stars of the show, and thousands of the supporting cast have died to prevent exposure of those shadowy faces.
Many things are known about OFFER as a whole. It operates on a modified cell system. It's seemingly unlimited funding is funneled from faceless people through Zurich, Kingston, and Panama. People who, when finally found, are dead and buried, or exist only on paper and in the imaginations of people who die before they are found. OFFER is known to have ties with almost every violent left or right wing group, and there is unproven speculation showing connections with every political action committee and lobby in Washington, and every church or religious congregation in the free world. There are documents ' proving ' OFFER actually stands for ' Omniscient Faith Funding Every Religion.' One thing stands out of all the chaff these trillions of dollars create, OFFER can be monetarily traced to every major, and most minor, civil disturbance since the inception of the state of Israel in 1948. Prior involvement in civil disturbances is suspected, but no trace of the organization can be found prior to the birth of the Hebrew nation.
Ali ibn Accabarra, nee George Washington Carver Jefferson, is one of nearly a thousand open operatives for OFFER in the United States. A flair for criminal organization brought him to the attention of the ranking agent in New Orleans while he was in his teens. He was coddled and coerced into the group without his knowing exactly what was going on, or of what he was becoming a part. At thirteen he had become a killer. By fourteen he was being paid to kill. Physically he was not large, but then neither is a wolverine, and this was the name of the ragged collection of pushers, thieves, and petty racketeers he formed while still fifteen.
During his sixteenth summer the city of New Orleans was visited by a siege of violence continuing well into the fall. The 25th of July was a special day for him. It was the day he accepted, and completed, his first contract on a cop. The next day Martial Law was declared in Orleans Parish.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.