A Future History of the United States

Tim had pulled Thomas through the portal before the priest had time to react. As he stood beside Tim, and in front of the three men there to meet them, he felt nothing but shock. Looking behind him, he expected to see into his office. When he saw only a blank wall he let out a moan and collapsed.

Ron had been prepared for this reaction and caught Thomas before he fell. “That’s a common reaction,” he said, looking at Tim. “I was surprised you didn’t react this same why when I pulled you out of the Archbishop’s Cathedral.”

“I have to admit I came close,” Tim replied. “I think I’m more surprised to see the three of you here waiting for us.”

“Well, we had to monitor your performance to be sure things went as planned. We have it all right here.” Holding out his hand he displayed a small flat object about two cm square.

Seeing the puzzled look on Tim’s face, Claude spoke up, “Just because technology has been forgotten out there doesn’t mean we haven’t kept it alive down here. You should have realized that when we gave you a computer to help in your studies. When we get back to your apartment I’ll show you how this thing works.”

Thomas gave a slight groan and sat up. “Where’s my office? Where did you three come from? Where am I? What’s going on? When can I go back to my church? My people need me. I need my books!”

Ron replied, “Let’s take one question at a time. I know this has been quite a shock. Some of the things we tell you will be very hard for you to believe. For starters, your office is still right on the other side of this wall,” he touched the wall to his left.

“Your books are safe. We are taking you to a room where you will be comfortable and safe. We will bring your books to you before you go to bed this evening. Right now, we are the best friends you have in this world. In fact, the only better friend you have at all is Jesus.

“As to where you are, for years we have been building an underground society where we are trying to preserve the advances that mankind achieved over the past thousand years. I think you will appreciate this idea. You have been trying to do the same in your own way through the books you have saved from destruction.

“I know it will be hard for you to accept, but for now you CANNOT go back. Tim’s church service this morning has unleashed a power that most people out there cannot understand. That is the power of the true Gospel of Christ. When you think this through you will understand. In your younger years, you received excellent training in the Gospel. The Church of today has tried its best to wipe out that training, but all it has done is muddy the waters. We will help you refresh the memory of your training. You will then be of great assistance as we restore true Christianity to the world.”

By this time Thomas had recovered enough to respond. “Seems to me like you have taken on an impossible job. The Church has things in such a hold even God would have trouble breaking it.”

“Now Thomas,” chided Claude, “You know better than to question God’s power like that. He can do anything He desires, and that is the power we are calling on to lead us to success.

“I’m sorry, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Claude,” motioning to each of the others in turn he continued, “This is Ron and this is Dennis. Over the next few days we will fill you in on our plans for you.”

He turned back to Tim, “That was a great job. Your timing was perfect. When the flames came out of your hood the people were convinced they were witnessing the Holy Spirit taking control of you. They will spread the word throughout the city and things will start to get hot for Archbishop Rand. He will do his best to control things, but we have some ways to keep things stirred up.”

Ron interrupted. “I wish we could give you some time to rest up and spend with your family, but things are moving along rapidly. Your next assignment is in Dallas.”

Tim’s look of skepticism was obvious, “That’s over 2500 kilometers away. It’ll take me a month to get there so what’s the hurry?”

“No it won’t. We’ll have you there tomorrow.” Ron paused and waited for a reaction. When Tim remained speechless for almost a minute he continued, “You’ve only seen a small fraction of our facilities. I told you that with the automated equipment we managed to salvage when things got bad on the surface we’ve been continually enlarging our space. Some of the scientists we rescued have been able to improve on that equipment. That has enabled us to expand our system under most of the country.”

“I don’t believe that. To dig that many tunnels you would have to move enough dirt to build a whole mountain chain. There’s no way you could hide that much dirt.”

“We don’t have to hide it,” Dennis chimed in. “We use it. The tunneling machines that were used late in the twentieth and early in the twenty-first century did simply move the dirt. Those we have developed extract things we need and use the rest to reinforce the walls of the tunnels.

“Most people are surprised to learn that there are a lot of usable things in common dirt or rock. We get all kinds of metals and even water, wherever we dig. What is not needed is vaporized and infused into the walls of the tunnel we are digging. It penetrates into the surrounding area to make a super dense zone extending some meters that provides a protective shield and makes the tunnel virtually airtight. It also leaves the walls as smooth as glass.

“Years ago, some places used a system of vacuum tubes to move a small capsule from place to place in a store or factory. There were suggestions to develop this technology for tunnels to move people. Back then there were just too many problems to make this idea possible. Making the tunnel airtight enough for a vacuum to work and getting the walls smooth enough just could not be done with the tools they had. Our equipment solved both of these problems at the same time.

“We now have a network of tubes connecting every major city in the country. With the capsules being pulled by vacuum and with walls so smooth they offer almost no friction, we can reach speeds even the airliners of the last century couldn’t match. We can have you here in the morning, in Miami before noon and then in Seattle in time for dinner!”

All this time they had been standing beside a moving walkway like the one Tim had ridden on his way to the outside world. Tim had noticed it was running toward them and had wondered if they were going to have to walk all the way back to the commons area. He was about to ask Ron if there was some way to reverse the walkway when he noticed several men coming toward them. Some of them he had seen before his excursion.

“Here come our workers!” exclaimed Dennis. He turned to Thomas, “They’re here to get your books. If there is anything else you need from the office tell them where it is. If you have any other secret hiding places let them know where to find them. You won’t be going back there, so those secrets won’t do you any more good.”

One of the men had a diagram of the office drawn to exact scale. Thomas moved to the side with the men and began pointing out various things within the office he wanted them to collect. Talking to them about the books he pleaded, “Please try to keep them in the same order you find them. It could take hours to get them sorted out if they get messed them up.”

One of the men spoke up. “We’ll do better than that. That entire bookcase comes out a shelf at a time, books and all.”

Thomas found this hard to believe, but with what he had seen already this day he just shook his head, “If you say so.”

A number of large containers had followed the men up the walkway. Once these had been moved off to the side Ron turned to the men, “Have fun. It’s time for us to head home.” With that he tapped a section of the floor next to the walkway. It slowed to a stop and reversed directions.

He motioned to Tim, “You first, but grab Thomas by the hand so he doesn’t fall.” With that all five started back toward what Tim was now really beginning to think of as home.

As they moved along, Tim was wondering what his job would be in Dallas. He was also thinking, “I wish I knew what happened after I left the church this morning.”