complete for almost four years. All of what was once New
England as well as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of
Maryland have become territories of the United Arab Nation. For
many months, our soldiers rounded up American refugees, but there
has not been one seen since the very end of 2012. In addition, the
dates of your journal entries and the major events listed in those
entries seem to correspond with your time lapses.”
“Then you believe me?”
He shrugged and took himself back behind his
desk. “I do not disbelieve you.” He passed over a piece of paper. I
took it and looked at it. It was a print out of an old news article
from England. The pilot of a British jet insisted that his co-pilot
had disappeared for just a second, and then reappeared. The
description of the incident reminded me very much of my first
experience, with the spilled coffee. I handed the paper back to
Samud.
“You see,” he said. “There are many of these
articles, describing people disappearing and other such incidents
which allude to your condition in others.”
“Can you help me?” I asked, showing perhaps a
bit too much desperation.
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, it would
be impossible for me to bring this to my government for research. I
would be laughed out of my position. However, I have some friends
who may be interested in doing some research while we put up the
appearance of integrating you in as a regular refugee.”
“How do we do that?”
“Under the treaty signed by our two
governments, no United States citizen is to be held in United Arab
territory for any length of time in excess of the time it takes for
his government to receive him.”
Shaking my head, I began to laugh a little.
“What does that mean?”
He smiled at me. “It means that you will be
added to a manifest immediately. Your government receives manifests
at irregular intervals, depending on how long it takes to process
the previous manifest.”
“How long is that?”
“It varies, depending on the people. First,
your government has to do an identity check for every name on the
list; they don’t want to admit spies or terrorists. Once they’ve
cleared all the names, the manifest is placed into a queue for
delivery. Upon delivery, the United States does whatever it does
with the manifest and the people on it. It can take years to clear
a new manifest. As you may have noticed, there are still thousands
of United States Citizens in United Arab territory. Since there has
not been a new refugee for some time, I have added your name to the
last manifest, which is almost twenty months old. It will not clear
for some time.”
“And what do I do until then?”
“We will have to conduct our research in
secret. You will have to appear as a transfer from one unit to
another. As soon as we can insert you into a new unit, you will
work just like everyone else.”
Chapter III
In 2009, when I had been roaming the city of
New York with Jennie, the United States was trying desperately to
hold its borders in Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, Virginia, and
even further down south. There were Arab troops moving into
Florida. Resources were so low that police and private security
firms were enlisted to aid in the fight. Meanwhile, the bulk of the
army was trapped overseas fighting in Iraq, Iran, and Israel (the
three Is). United States forces held out just long enough for the
recalled troops to make their way home and save the deep South. The
United Arab Nation was contained and held to the northeast. Peace
talks began.
While all of this was going on, Arab troops
were also rounding up American citizens caught in the invaded
territories and placing them into internment camps. There were some
twelve million of these refugees when all was said and done. As
treaties began to get written, the Arab Nation collected
information on the refugees and released that information to the
United States officials. Thus began the counting and collating
England as well as New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of
Maryland have become territories of the United Arab Nation. For
many months, our soldiers rounded up American refugees, but there
has not been one seen since the very end of 2012. In addition, the
dates of your journal entries and the major events listed in those
entries seem to correspond with your time lapses.”
“Then you believe me?”
He shrugged and took himself back behind his
desk. “I do not disbelieve you.” He passed over a piece of paper. I
took it and looked at it. It was a print out of an old news article
from England. The pilot of a British jet insisted that his co-pilot
had disappeared for just a second, and then reappeared. The
description of the incident reminded me very much of my first
experience, with the spilled coffee. I handed the paper back to
Samud.
“You see,” he said. “There are many of these
articles, describing people disappearing and other such incidents
which allude to your condition in others.”
“Can you help me?” I asked, showing perhaps a
bit too much desperation.
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, it would
be impossible for me to bring this to my government for research. I
would be laughed out of my position. However, I have some friends
who may be interested in doing some research while we put up the
appearance of integrating you in as a regular refugee.”
“How do we do that?”
“Under the treaty signed by our two
governments, no United States citizen is to be held in United Arab
territory for any length of time in excess of the time it takes for
his government to receive him.”
Shaking my head, I began to laugh a little.
“What does that mean?”
He smiled at me. “It means that you will be
added to a manifest immediately. Your government receives manifests
at irregular intervals, depending on how long it takes to process
the previous manifest.”
“How long is that?”
“It varies, depending on the people. First,
your government has to do an identity check for every name on the
list; they don’t want to admit spies or terrorists. Once they’ve
cleared all the names, the manifest is placed into a queue for
delivery. Upon delivery, the United States does whatever it does
with the manifest and the people on it. It can take years to clear
a new manifest. As you may have noticed, there are still thousands
of United States Citizens in United Arab territory. Since there has
not been a new refugee for some time, I have added your name to the
last manifest, which is almost twenty months old. It will not clear
for some time.”
“And what do I do until then?”
“We will have to conduct our research in
secret. You will have to appear as a transfer from one unit to
another. As soon as we can insert you into a new unit, you will
work just like everyone else.”
Chapter III
In 2009, when I had been roaming the city of
New York with Jennie, the United States was trying desperately to
hold its borders in Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, Virginia, and
even further down south. There were Arab troops moving into
Florida. Resources were so low that police and private security
firms were enlisted to aid in the fight. Meanwhile, the bulk of the
army was trapped overseas fighting in Iraq, Iran, and Israel (the
three Is). United States forces held out just long enough for the
recalled troops to make their way home and save the deep South. The
United Arab Nation was contained and held to the northeast. Peace
talks began.
While all of this was going on, Arab troops
were also rounding up American citizens caught in the invaded
territories and placing them into internment camps. There were some
twelve million of these refugees when all was said and done. As
treaties began to get written, the Arab Nation collected
information on the refugees and released that information to the
United States officials. Thus began the counting and collating
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