Fifty Falling Stars Read online

  FIFTY FALLING STARS

  Copyright: Wesley Higginbotham 2012

  Dedication

  To my parents: For without their love and support, their sacrifices for me and my education, and of course life itself; this would definitely not have been possible. Thank you for everything and for teaching me to be the person I am today.

  To my wife: For her love and support that has carried me for the better part of this last decade. Thank you for motivating and inspiring me every day.

  Notes from the Author

  Now, “Why write this book?” That’s the question I have asked myself several times. The answer came back surprisingly simple. I wanted to take a very dark (and as I see it) a very real subject and make it entertaining. I threw in some basic survival tips along to way so that it wouldn’t be pure fiction and you might learn something as you read along. If you don’t think the things in this book are real or could happen, then I invite you to turn on the news and watch it for yourself. Droughts, terrorist plots, Iran, swine flu, bird flu, the Eurozone shenanigans, China, solar flares, monetizing the debt… take your pick. Any of these (or a dozen others that I haven’t mentioned) has the potential cause some serious problems. Individually, they’re not too tough for America to handle. But we’re not as strong as we once were. If one or more of them happen together, shit starts to get really interesting. What does that look like? How would you deal with it? What would you do?

  That’s why I wrote this. To entertain you and to get you to think about the questions above. I didn’t set out to scare anyone (although I think I scared myself a little bit). I just wanted to make you ask the most important question people often ask, “What if…” If I can leave you entertained and questioning, if just a little bit, “what if…” then I will consider it a win. If I entertain you and get you started thinking about researching some basic preparedness techniques and supplies, then I’ll chalk it up as a raging success.

  By the way, several of the places mentioned in this book are indeed real places. I hope that no one takes offense because I used their home town or current residence. Nothing was done with malice. These locations just happened to be in the right spot to pull the story together. All of the characters are obviously fictional. Any reference or identification to an actual person is pure coincidence. As for the public offices, and the people that hold them, used in the book…They’re all fictional too. I have never met any of these people in real life, nor are the characters in this book based on them. I’m sure they are lovely professionals that do their jobs to the best of their abilities, day-in and day-out, and I wish them the best.

  So, without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

  Chapter 1

  Jan Jenkins sat in his office at the First Illinois Credit Union, looking over the papers for his next appointment. Being a loan officer had had its ups and downs the last few of years, but things were looking up. Money trickled back into the banking system, and they were being encouraged to lend. He checked his calendar. The Morrisons were scheduled for three thirty, Tuesday, 11 March 2014. Jan looked forward to approving their first home loan. He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see his friend, Clayton Tomin, standing in the doorway.

  “Hey, JJ, I’m heading out for a smoke. Wanna come?” Clayton asked.

  “You know I quit three months ago. Why do you keep harassing me?”

  “Because you need a break, man. You’ve been in here busting your ass for weeks. You trying to outdo the rest of the office or what? I bet you haven’t even gone to the bathroom today.” Clayton teased.

  JJ looked up and sighed. Clay was more than just a coworker. He was one of Jan’s best friends. They had been friends since Clay started working as a teller at this branch four years ago. They made an odd pair since Clay was a tall, athletic black man, while JJ was an average height, skinny white guy who leaned a little to the nerdy side. They had bonded over the Chicago Cubs. That first common ground and their teasing, easy-going personalities had quickly developed into friendship. “Sure, bro, let’s go. I’ve got twenty minutes before my next appointment, but let’s be quick about it.”

  “Sure thing, man.” Clayton said as he turned to head out to the small smoking area behind the two-story, brink bank.

  JJ walked through the hallway toward the exit and passed the break room. He saw Tim Gennoski hanging out watching CNN. JJ asked if anything interesting was happening.

  “Nothing much.Just the same old stuff. Economy getting better, or so they say. Israel’s worried over Iran’s exercises in the gulf. Same old stuff, different day.” Tim stated.

  “Well, Clay and I are stepping out for some air. Wanna come along?”

  “Thanks, but I can’t.” Tim said. “I got a teller’s meeting in ten minutes. I’ll catch you next time.”

  “Sure thing.” JJ said as he turned to leave the building. He walked up to Clay just as he lit up a Newport menthol. Clay reached into his shirt pocket and handed the pack to JJ.

  “No thanks, man. I’m just out here to guilt you into quitting.”

  Clay took a drag and asked, “So, how are things with Sherry going?”

  “Better, I think… I think I’ve got her off of the divorce track, but she still wants to do counseling. I don’t know if it’s doing anything, but I go. It’s hard to believe she just up and left six months ago. Maybe I can fix this and get my family back together.”

  “How about the kids?They holding up with the separation?”

  “As good as can be expected, I suppose. Jimmy’s grades are slipping again. He’s throwing all his energy into trying to make the basketball team. I guess that’s better than getting bummed out and getting into trouble with drugs or gangs or some other crap.”

  “How bout my little girl?” Clay asked.

  “Lucy is any typical thirteen year-old girl. She’s always on Facebook or twitter or some shit. I swear, as long as she has her cell phone or an internet connection, the world could fall to pieces; and I don’t think she would care.”

  “Don’t worry, man. I believe you can get everything back together. And, if for some reason, you can’t, it’ll be all right. When Janie and I broke up and I moved back in with my folks, I thought my life was over; but I pulled through it. You can too.”

  “Speaking of your folks, how are Marcus and Linda?” JJ asked.

  “They’re good. Dad got his first social security check the other day. I don’t know if he was happy to have the money or sad that he was old enough to get it. Mom’s doing good. She stays pretty busy taking care of Mamma D.”

  “Ah, Mamma D. Man, I hope that when I’m, what eighty-four? That I’ll be that… lively.” JJ said.

  “She’s eighty-six and gets more full of herself each day. Eighty-four was back in the mellow years, man.” Clay joked. “She got all excited yesterday when she got letter from David.”

  “That’s your nephew, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one. He got activated in the Navy Reserves about a month back. He’s over there in the gulf, ‘playing with the Iranians’ as he puts it. Mamma D. is all worried about her great-grandbaby, but you should have seen her eyes light up when she got that letter. She’s been bragging to anyone that’ll listen about getting a letter from the other side of the world, like’s it’s something special. I guess now-a-days, an actual letter is something special.

  “Hey, what you got going on this weekend? “ Clay asked.

  “Nothing too exciting. Lucy’s got a ballet recital Friday night. Show up for that and then take it easy. It’s been pretty lonely since they moved out.”

  “Why don’t you come over Saturday for dinner? Mom and Pap would like the company, and it’d give you something to do. Then we’ll head out
and hit the bars later. Sound good?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not so sure that is such a……” JJ said. Tim cut him off as he burst outside.

  “Guys, you gotta see this. It’s the latest breaking news on CNN!” Tim exclaimed.

  “What the hell are you talking about, Tim?” Clay asked.

  “The Iranians attacked our ships out in the Persian Gulf. They’re saying that they sunk a couple of our ships! Can you believe it? We may be going back to war over there.” Tim said.

  “What the hell do you mean they sunk a couple of our ships? I didn’t think they had anything that could touch our ships.” Clay said.

  “Clay, weren’t you just telling me that your nephew was over there?” JJ asked.

  “Oh shit….” Clay trailed off. He flicked his half-smoked cigarette into the bushes and looked back up at Tim. “What else did they say, Tim? Any survivors? What all…..”

  “I don’t know, Clay!” Tim said. “Let’s get back in and see.”

  They made their way to the break room. No one spoke as they walked in and joined the other employees who had heard the news and stopped to see what had happened. The pretty, brunette reporter came on and started her report.

  “As we were reporting earlier, three US….. hold on, we’re getting some more breaking news out of Israel. We have confirmed reports just coming in that three missiles have exploded in Tel Aviv. No word yet as to casualties or damages. We will check back in few minutes to see if we can get one of our reporters in Israel online. We’ve already received this video, posted to You-Tube just minutes ago.” The TV cut away from the reporter to a choppy video of what looked like a party on the balcony of a building. The people seemed to be enjoying themselves when the streak entered the top of the screen and slammed into a building that looked to be several blocks away. The explosion rocked the camera man. He regained his feet and continued filming. The whole block where the missile stuck looked to be on fire. The reporter cut back in. “And there you see the video posted to You-Tube just minutes ago. We cannot confirm the authenticity of the video, but it does match confirmed reports we have had that at least three missiles have struck Tel Aviv.”

  Clay glanced over to Tim. “I thought you said the Iranians had sunk some of our…”

  The reporter began again. “We now take you back to our other developing story. We’ll bring you further details on the situation in Tel Aviv as they develop. As we mentioned earlier, two US Navy ships have been sunk in the Persian Gulf. Retired Admiral Jim Smith, a CNN military analyst, joins us now.

  “Admiral, can you elaborate on what we are seeing here?” The screen split into three parts, the two talking heads to either side of video that showed large floating fires on dark water.

  “Well, Pamela, what we know so far is that at approximately eleven fifteen PM, local time, three of our ships in the Straits of Hormuz were hit with a surprise attack by the Iranian Navy.” The Admiral started.

  “But, Admiral, we’ve been assured over and over again that our military forces are far superior to the Iranian Navy. What happened here?”

  “Well,” the Admiral explained, “as we have seen in the last couple of years, Iran has been vigorously developing new military capabilities. One of these has been the development of a shore-launched, anti-ship type of cruise missile. From the initial reports, we believe the USS Enterprise carrier group was hit with a surprise barrage of fifteen to twenty of these new missiles. Three ships were struck with these weapons. One AEGIS equipped destroyer, one supply ship, and the USS Enterprise itself were the apparent targets of the attack. Both the destroyer and the supply ship sank within minutes. The Enterprise sustained moderate damage. Minutes after the initial missile attack, eight ships from the Iranian Navy engaged the remaining US ships. Our Navy answered the challenge and returned fire, sinking six of the Iranian Navy ships. The Iranians then retreated back to safer waters.”

  “What about casualties, Admiral?”

  “There will be undoubtedly be many casualties from the damaged ships; but as of yet, we have received no casualty reports from the Department of the Navy. It is very likely that we will not see casualty reports for another couple of days. They will need time to notify families and next of kin.”

  “Are we looking at a new war now, Admiral?”

  “I cannot speculate on that right now, Pamela. However, I cannot imagine that we, as a country, will allow this attack to go unanswered.”

  “Do you think there is any connection between the attack on our ships and the explosions in Tel Aviv, Israel?”

  “While we haven’t had the analysis yet, looking at the timing of the attacks and the targets hit in the Strait of Hormuz, I believe they are part of the same coordinated attack. If this turns out to be the case, we may very well see military retaliation from Israel and future American involvement.”

  “Excuse us Admiral, we’re going to go back to one of our correspondents in Tel Aviv…”

  Clay walked out of the break room. JJ followed him into to the hall. “Hey, you all right, buddy?” JJ asked.

  “Yeah, I just need to get back home and keep an eye on the family. Mom, Pap, and Mamma D. are not going to take this well until we hear from David. Listen, I have one more appointment today at four. Can you take that one for me and I’ll catch up tomorrow?”

  “No problem.” JJ said. “Just need the files and I should be able to look through it by the time they show up.”

  “Yeah, they’re in my top, left drawer. Here’s the key. I was gonna approve them, but you can look at it and make your own decision. I’m gonna go let Mary know that I’ll be heading home. Think she’ll give me hell?”

  “Nah. Her brother was in the Army. I think she has a soft spot for military families. She should be cool.”

  “All right, bro. I’m off.” Clay said.

  “Tell Mamma D. and the rest I said hello.”

  JJ took the meeting for Clay and went about the rest of his day without any further interruption. He checked in on the news before heading home, but no important updates had come in.

  JJ pulled up to his house in the Chicago suburb of Lombard a little after six o’clock. It was a nice house: four bedrooms, two baths, and big kitchen. It felt empty since Sherry and kids had left. He looked forward to seeing them again, even if it was just for a little while at the ballet recital. “Well, time for dinner.” He said to Rocks, his seven year old beagle mix.

  JJ wandered to the kitchen and opened a can of dog food. He plopped the contents into the bowl on the floor. Rocks enjoyed his dinner. With his day’s last chore done, JJ opened the fridge and grabbed some leftover Kentucky Fried Chicken and a beer. He marveled at how quickly he had reverted to bachelor life. His fridge served as another sad reminder of how much his life had changed in the last six months.

  He sat down with his pitiful dinner and flipped on the TV. Fox News filled the screen. He listened to the talking head as he ate.

  “As we go back to visit today’s events in Israel, we are learning now how lucky Tel Aviv is tonight. We have confirmed with the military and news agencies in Israel that the three missiles fired at Israel today did indeed originate in Iran and were armed with nuclear warheads.” The talking head said.

  “Holy shit!” JJ whispered to himself. Nukes? Surely nothing would be left of Tel Aviv if they were nukes. He thought. He had seen the video earlier, and it didn’t look like any of the nuclear explosions he had seen on the Discovery Channel or in movies.

  The man on the TV continued to explain. “As best as the Israeli Defense Forces can determine, none of the three missiles that impacted Tel Aviv exploded as designed. The IDF has confirmed that two of the missiles were partially damaged by their missile defense shield, one penetrated into the city, and one was completely destroyed before posing any danger to Tel Aviv.

  “The missiles that did impact have created massive problems even though they didn’t explode as intended. We are joined now by our Israeli correspondent, Harold Shiraz. What c
an you tell us about what is going on there, Harold?”

  The scene changed to show a man wearing a flack vest and helmet standing on a street as fires raged in the background. “Things here are in absolute chaos. The fires are continuing to spread because the firefighters and other emergency workers are having difficulties getting close enough to the damage.” The Israeli correspondent stated.

  “Why are they having such difficulties reaching those in need?” The first anchor asked.

  “Well, Tom, as you reported earlier, these missiles did have nuclear warheads on them. Even though they did not detonate as planned, they have become what are known as ‘dirty bombs.’ The nuclear material has been released in the impact and the following fires. Firefighters and emergency crews have had to pull back to reequip with radiation-protecting suits and materials. To make matters worse, there have been several suicide bombers that have attacked emergency crew rally points across the city.

  “We also have attacks being reported from northern Israel, where small rocket fire has been coming out of southern Lebanon. Combined with the ongoing fires and general chaos going on in the capitol city, emergency crews are being stretched pretty thin. The Israeli Defense Forces are already being mobilized to come in and provide assistance where they can.”

  JJ found himself too down to pay much attention. Was it sad? Yeah. Did he really care? Not really. These assholes had been killing each other for thousands of years. This wouldn’t be the last of it. Things will be crazy for a few weeks and everyone will pay attention, at least until the next Hollywood starlet releases a new sex tape, goes to jail again, or skips out on rehab. He thought to himself. He flipped the channel and came across the latest reality TV show on MTV. He began watching, letting the chaos of drunk twenty-somethings play out their own special brand of stupid, take him away from reality. He didn’t like the show, but it gave him something to talk about with his kids. He needed as many of those subjects as possible.