Lopez - The Cyber Shadow

THE
CYBER
SHADOW

VINCENT LOPEZ

Copyright 2019 Vincent Lopez.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any meanswhether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronicwithout written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9834-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9835-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 2/15/2019

DEDICATION

Americans day in and day out are constantly putting themselves on the line to save others. Our brave soldiers, police, firefighters, and first responders are those men and women who so courageously each day serve protecting and saving others. When we rise for our National Anthem and the red, white, and blue, it is not always about the wars we fought, nor is it about the politics of our nation. Standing for America is about those Americans and so many others: nurses, doctors, teachers, inventors, artists who, each day, brings all of us health, happiness, hope, and joy. Lost in todays media are what we Americans truly represent. Let us see through the clouds that filter Americas beauty and let the sunlight brighten all our days.

PROLOGUE
BLOOD STORM RISING

A short time ago, the world found itself on the brink of a global war threatening mankinds very existence. America was confronted with its own civil war pitting two religions and two ideologies against each other. Facing increasing terrorist attacks at the hands of Islamic extremists, non-Muslim American citizens fed up with the constant violent terrorist attacks, began taking matters into its own hands. With the devastating bombings in New York and Los Angeles, initially blamed on Islamic extremists and the belief the government had not protected its citizens from terrorist attacks, these ordinary citizens fought back. But as we learned, the attacks were the work of a Reverend who believed he was the next John the Baptist preparing the way for the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture.

In the 1960s, Charles Manson, in what was known as Helter Skelter, attempted to orchestrate a civil war between blacks and whites by brutally murdering well-known white people in Hollywood. The Manson family wanted the murders to be blamed on the black community with the purpose that whites would retaliate leaving Manson and his family at the top. The plot failed. Man and his cult were later found guilty on seven counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

In a similar plot, the Reverend Graydon Gryffydd and his Church of the Holy Sword, using mysteriously acquired state-of-the-art technology that gave the church media access to a billion people, began preaching to a global audience the Rapture and the apocalypse as written in Johns Revelation in the New Testament. Little did the world know at the time that the tragic and devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Los Angeles, thought to be conducted by Islamic extremists, were the work of the Reverends loyal apostles? Initially, the Reverends plot began by ordering his men to eliminate the immoral role models in society such as young performers and entertainers believing they were corrupting the innocence of youth.

As several young superstars were thought to have died accidently, it took a failed assassination attempt on a rising superstar rocker from New Jersey, Jack Bautista; by two of the Reverends apostles did the Reverends plot begin to unravel. Jersey Boy is the son of a Navy Seals captain killed while on a secret special operation somewhere in the Middle East. Captain John Bautista taught his son the way of the world and how to defend himself. Unlike the young stars, Jack survived that assassination attempt but the severe wound to his guitar hand took him out of rock superstardom. But as destiny would have it, the ill-fated assassination attempt brought Jack to Hailey Lane, counter terrorist agent for the FBI.

Like Jack, Hailey was a rising star in the FBI. She was strong, intelligent, young, and very beautiful. That night, at what was thought to be a simple robbery at a Jersey Shore convenience store, was only the beginning of what Jack and Hailey would describe as falling into the rabbit hole. Believing that the Second Coming of the Lord was near and with technology to project his eerie but godlike image, millions of people were turning to the Church of the Holy Sword and the Reverend Graydon Gryffydd for hope and salvation. As riots were escalating around the world, terrorist attacks intensifying, and the heightening of major wars, Jack and Hailey also found love in a world heading toward an apocalypse.

Iran promised to defend American Muslims who were being attacked near Mosques in many American cities. Extremists in the Middle East were attacking and murdering Christians in places of worship. Israeli warplanes, with the support of the new United States President, Max Jayden, took out Irans nuclear facilities after the Iranians fooled the world into believing it had given up their quest to acquire nuclear capabilities and were set to deliver a nuclear missile strike into the heart of Jerusalem. Irans expansionist attitude moved beyond the Middle East and into Central and South America. It was sending missiles and warships to Venezuela. Not only was America fighting within, it was learning quickly that Islamic extremism bent on Americas destruction was forming a noose around America.

With the Reverends plot taking shape after the attacks in New York and Los Angeles, non-Muslim citizens in America frustrated by the constant deluge of attacks and a decade-long perceived administrations failure to recognize this threat had no choice but to defend themselves. America was finding itself in a new civil war.

President Max Jayden ordered a blockade of Venezuela. The naval action would prevent Iran from delivering nuclear warheads to that nation. It was reminiscent of the Cuban Missile Crisis when John F. Kennedy ordered a blockade in October 1962 that brought Russia and the United States to the brink of a nuclear war.

The U.S fleet would destroy several Iranian warships attempting to cross the blockade of Venezuela. Other Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz were also sunk as they aggressively approached U.S. warships in the waters. Russia and China warned the U.S., but the American president stood firm believing the time is now to make a stand. The Reverends plot was coming into perfect alignment.

The world was about to explode as the last grain in an hourglass was running out of time. It was critical that Jack and Hailey, and a special select team led by another former Navy Seals officer, Nick Acosta, find answers.

Nick Acosta was a neighbor and close friend to Jacks dad. Nicks son Dante, also a former Navy Seals officer, and daughter Alexis, a media and computer whiz joined the team to help foil the plot. While the world turned its desperate eyes to the Reverend for salvation, his daily ghost-like sermons and very real yet haunting 3D holographic image would transform the world.

As the team was falling through the rabbit hole, the Reverends plot was discovered. Refusing to surrender peacefully, the FBI surrounded the churchs compound with cameras broadcasting the event live to a billion viewers. The spectacular and incredible visuals were sent globally on XNN News Network (XNN), the leading communications network in the world. In the end, the world would witness the Reverends horrific and violent demise. By an act of God, lasers were used to project his global image, burned and scorched the Reverend Graydon Gryffydds body to fallen ashes. The haunting images were seen live on television and social media. As the compound was collapsing, tensions around the world began to ease.