Not good. “Does this document actually exist?”
“That’s what you and I are going to determine. It did once, and we think it still does.”
She now understood why Stephanie Nelle had been so tense. Sure, political unrest existed in the United States, as it did in other parts of the world. Calls for radical change were nothing new. But having the legal means to actually effect that change was an entirely different matter.
She got it.
This was a problem.
But knowing its extent changed nothing.
She still intended to do this her way.
FIFTY-TWO
MALONE WAS STRAPPED INTO THE REAR SEAT OF AN F-15E Strike Eagle, cruising over the southern tip of Greenland. An air force pilot out of Germany occupied the front seat, flying the aircraft. But Malone had taken the controls a bit, once again in command of a fighter. It had been twenty years since he last flew one, thanks to a switch in career paths while in the navy that sent him to the JAG corps.
Stephanie had arranged for a helicopter ride from Salzburg to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. There the Strike Eagle had waited, engines running, and they’d immediately headed west across Europe toward the open Atlantic. It was 4,600 miles to Des Moines but, at Mach 2 the flight time was less than five hours. Of course, that meant an in-flight refueling, and a KC-10 Extender tanker now hovered ahead of them, its aerial boom captured by the fighter’s probe.
“I appreciate this ride,” he said into his mouthpiece.
Stephanie was on the radio’s other end. “I thought you’d like that.”
He listened as she told him about what they’d found at Montpelier. The channel was scrambled and secure, the best place for them to talk, the pilot’s headset switched off for the time being.
“Rowan is trying to dissolve the United States,” she said. “And he just might be able to do it.”
She filled his ears with more bad news about what Rowan and Salazar were after. A document signed by the Founding Fathers.
“The White Horse Prophecy,” he said. “Did you check it out?”
“I did, as I’m sure you did, too.”
“The whole thing is regarded as crap by the Mormon Church. It was officially disavowed in 1918. The church today doesn’t even recognize it as credible. Just a fable, nothing more.”
“But Rowan believes it’s real, and what he’s after is also real. Unfortunately, the Mormon Church knows more about this than we do.”
He agreed. That was a problem.
“We’ve done some research on this end,” she said. “We think Salazar may be after something in a traveling Lincoln exhibit that’s currently in Des Moines.”
“Research my ass. You tapped somebody’s phone.”
She chuckled. “Of course we did. Rowan and Salazar spoke about the exhibit a few hours ago. They think a watch owned by Lincoln might hold the key.”
He gave that some thought. “The reference to Romans 13:11 is all about time. And I specifically remember reading a few years ago about a Lincoln watch in the Smithsonian with something etched inside.”
“That memory of yours comes in handy sometimes. The watch in Iowa is a second Lincoln timepiece the Smithsonian owns. It’s never been opened. It’s on exhibit at a place called Salisbury House, until tomorrow.”
He checked his own watch. “We’re going to be on the ground there, with the time difference, around 1:00 P.M. Salazar’s Learjet won’t make it until around 5:00 P.M. Iowa time. That gives us a chance to scope things out.”
“Luke’s there by now. I’ll have him meet you.”
“We’re going to land north of Des Moines at a place called Ankeny Regional Airport. Its runway is only 5,500 feet. This fighter requires 6,000 feet, but we’ll do it. We’re going to need a waiver so we can land there.”
“I’ll handle it. They’ll be no problem. Luke will be waiting.
“We’ve studied the images Luke made of the Rushton journal,” Stephanie said. “Research tells me that it was probably written post-1890. That’s fifty years past when Smith first uttered the White Horse Prophecy. So you’re right. The whole prediction about the Constitution is suspect, most likely written long after everything happened.”
“When you read the prophecy, it’s just too right. The references are nearly dead-on. Like at one point it specifically says that You will go to the Rocky Mountains and you will be a great and mighty people established there, which I will call the White Horse of peace and safety. Why say Rocky Mountains? Why not you will go west. Supposedly, Joseph Smith said that years before anyone thought of migrating. No seer is that good.”