“They killed me!” cursed Hornn, as he made rude hand gestures up at the sky, “God, how could you kill me?”  A voice inside of him whispered, why did you try to cause discord?  Why did you not keep peace?  That is what you did wrong.  “No, it can’t be!  Why have I done these things?  Everyone stood there shocked as they saw the bald man kneel on the floor, begging.  There were eight members of his cabinet, and all of them were there.  One man was not shocked, though.  He was trying his best to keep from smiling.  His name was George Norjham. 

 

The Idea

 

Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  The sound of computers at work was normal at the Democratic Intelligence Agency (DIA).  It is responsible for the duties of both the former FBI and CIA.  In 2057, the United States had come apart.  One side was under a rule of a dictator, while the other was still a democratic nation.  The schism had occurred ten years ago.  In 2047, Mark Hornn, the dictator, secretly convinced the people west of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota by running campaigns, to separate themselves from the United States.  They called themselves The Western Republic of the New World (WRNW).  WRNW’s capital was in Carson City, Nevada, but The Democratic States of America’s (DSA) capital was still Washington D.C.  Each of the two countries had their reasons for choosing their capitals.  Washington D.C. was chosen for three main reasons.  First, that is where the government of the United States of America’s had been.  Second, it located the farthest away from WRNW.  Last, there was no chance of an attack by sea, because the WRNW had no allies near the Atlantic.  The WRNW picked Carson City because of its location more than anything.  It is located far away from the border between the two countries, and it is not at the coast, so the DSA won’t launch an ocean attack from Japan.  The DIA was planning to unite both halves of the former U.S.  However, how could they unite a dictatorial nation with a democratic one?  On August 5, 2057, they had finally found an idea

 

“Today is the big day,” Michael Srone, a middle-aged agent for the DIA with chestnut brown hair and a face showing some signs of aging, announced at a DIA conference, “Mark Hornn has over used many of his powers to deceive the people of the former U.S.A.  He has tried to split the democratic nation that we have once lived in.  We have enjoyed the freedoms of democracy, but the people ruled by Hornn do not.  They cannot criticize the flaws of Hornn’s ruling.  I know this because we have spies that tell us about the ‘happenings’ in Carson City.  Know we have to stop Hornn from making more allies.  Once he does, we might become over powered, even though we have all of Western Europe on our side.  We must unite the U.S.A.  In the constitution, it says that we are allowed to abolish a government that has over used its powers.  We are going to do just that.  Killing Hornn is the only solution, and to do this, we are going to have to murder him in the most secretive way possible.”

 

Michael Srone made his way down the endless corridors of the intelligence office after his speech to his office.  He was the head of the “anti-Hornn” program, and he was supposed to meet with a group of American scientists to see if they had any ideas for getting rid of Hornn.  Ever since the spies in Nevada had come back with the surprising news of the cruelty of the dictator’s reign, Michael Srone had been working overtime.  Everyone was depending on him to get an idea for killing Hornn.  After he got his papers ready, he made his way to the labs. 

 

The Murder

 

Rrrring.  Rrrring.  Rrrring.  George Norjham’s phone was ringing.  He was used to getting calls in the middle of the night, for it was the only time that the DIA could contact him.  He got up drowsily and walked sheepishly toward the phone.  “Hello,” He couldn’t keep from yawning. 

 

“Hello George.  Can you do me a favor?”  Michael asked over the phone.

 

“Yes,” answered George.

 

“Can you be sure that no one is outside your door?”

 

George was staying in a hotel, and there was a night shift.  He opened the door and found no one.  “There isn’t anyone,” he whispered, “You can talk.”

 

“Well,” began Michael, “We have analyzed your reports sent about the civil rights issues, and we have come to a decision.  We will give you all the equipment you need to kill Hornn.  I will leave the job up to you now.  Bye, bye.”  Michael hung up, and George was standing there speechless.  He had just been briefed of a mission that would be his most important in his life. 

 

The next morning, George went to check his mail, waiting for something to come.  Nothing was there, so he decided to plan.  He would ask Hornn for dinner when he met him, he decided. 

 

“Hello Mr. Horn,” greeted George as he went into Hornn’s office.  He was one of Hornn’s advisers, and always told him false information about the DIA.  Hornn was a short man who always had a cigarette in his mouth no matter if it was lighted or not.  He had a raspy voice, and a wrinkled face. 

 

“Hello Mr. Norjham, we are going to have a conference about my safety at 10:00 A.M.”  Replied Hornn.

 

At ten o’clock, he made his way to the conference room.  Hornn had eight cabinet members.  All of whom were there.  Hornn started, “Well friends, you all know why we have come here today.  I have a hunch that I am being spied on,” He looked at everyone in the room, “I am not saying it is you, it might be someone who works for me.  I want every one of you to tell me what you think about the situation.  Ronald, how about you first,” Hornn called on the short plump man who was considered the wisest.

 

“Well sir, I think that you are completely safe with all of your bodyguards, I don’t think that anyone would hurt you,” answered Ronald.

 

“Me too,” agreed an eager woman, “you will have no problem defending yourself.”

 

“What about you Norjham?” asked Hornn, for George was his most trusted adviser.

 

“I too don’t think that you are in any danger, sir,” replied George, “And, may I talk to you after the meeting is over.”

 

“Yes Norjham, and right now, you are dismissed.”

 

“Well,” started George, “I was wondering if you could come with me to Pablo’s, you know the famous Mexican restaurant.”

 

“Oh, yes,” replied Hornn, “I would love to.  How about today?”

 

“I am afraid I am busy.  Why don’t I call you to confirm the date?  If I can, I will call you and we can go today.”

 

“Fine,” answered Horn, and he walked away.

 

George walked back to his car and drove back to the hotel in which he was staying.  There, he checked the mail.  Along with his mail was a large packet that said “To George Norjham.  From Cure for Cancer” the DIA always had ways for sending secret supplies.  George read the note that came with it over and over again, being sure not to forget it.  After he burned it, he called Hornn to tell him that they were going to have dinner that day.

 

Pablo’s was a very big Mexican restaurant.  It had a huge deck, playground, and building.  The waiting there was usually very long, but luckily, they had reserved seats.  Hornn came there disguised so that no one would think that it was the dictator.  They walked to their seats, and started to talk.  “So how are you doing?” began Hornn?

 

“Pretty good, how ‘bout you?” answered George.

 

“Well…Oh!  Here’s our food!”  Exclaimed Hornn.  The dinner was silent, but when Hornn was done, he pulled out a bottle with one pill. 

“Hey!  What kind of pill is that?”  Shouted George before Hornn could swallow it.

 

“Oh!  It is just some medication,” replied Hornn.

 

“Can I see it?” asked George.

 

“Sure,” Hornn handed over the bottle.  George read the description, then gave the bottle back to Hornn, and watched as Hornn swallowed it.

 

“They killed me!” cursed Hornn, as he made rude hand gestures up at the sky, “God, how could you kill me?”  A voice inside of him whispered, why did you try to cause discord?  Why did you not keep peace?  That is what you did wrong.  “No, it can’t be!  Why have I done these things?  Everyone stood there shocked as they saw the bald man kneel on the floor, begging.  This was Hornn after George had poisoned him, and George was acting completely innocent.  None of the cabinet members could believe that he had done it when he told them.  Of course, they were not angry, for they were all spies for other countries.

 

The Investigation

 

           Though all of his advisers were spies, there were some men who remained loyal to Hornn.  These people had formed the RIO or the Republic Intelligence Organization.  Coincidentally, they specialized in forensic sciences.  Before any media could see the body, the RIO took the dead body, and froze it.  This let them study it without letting the body decay.  They already knew that Hornn had died of radioactivity, but how could the killer use a radioactive toxin with out dying himself.  They were almost completely sure that the DIA were the culprits behind the murder, because they had the most sophisticated lab in the world.  After cutting open Hornn’s lungs, they found out that the poison was ingested, not inhaled.  Inside Hornn’s stomach was a pill that had the radioactive toxin called Polonium-210.

After Hornn’s painful death from Polonium-210, the United States of America was united.  Marches took place on almost every street in the country, and so many fireworks went off, that the sky looked as if a volcano erupted.  They hoped never to have to go through such a hardship again, but they would never know what would happen until it already had.

 

                                                                 

NOW UNITE US

Anshul P.