Free Zero Point by Tim Fairchild Page B

in the hastily constructed parking area, a man paced back and forth beside an old Jeep CJ-5. Eli chuckled at the sight of the short, well-groomed man wearing blue jeans, a khaki safari shirt, and new white sneakers; making him look quite out of place in this rugged setting. Eli could faintly hear him talking to himself as he frantically paced back and forth, holding a piece of paper in his hand.
    Alton Burr was a man not accustomed to waiting for anything, or anyone. His years as a lawyer with the ACLU had hardened and fine-tuned him into a calculated master of intimidation. Now, with his newly established influence in many Washington political circles, and, the growing popularity of his Secular America Movement, he now garnered an arrogance unsurpassed by even the most pompous of Washington’s career politicians.
    Burr was on a mission. His practiced ideology of the separation of church and state had been twisted into a vendetta to persecute the religious community wherever, and whenever, he could. Fueled by the fires of anger, he and his legal assault teams left a trail of disillusioned and broken communities in their wake. Many state and local governments they litigated were forced to adhere to judge-mandated policies, limiting a community’s right to exercise religious acts or display religious art in public places. From crosses in Veteran’s Cemeteries to displays in town squares, they were all in his cross-hairs.
    Alton Burr’s anger-driven persecution of religion had not always been the case. As a young man, newly graduated from Harvard Law School, he looked to the future with a bright optimism and open mind. However, September 11, 2001 changed all that forever. His parents had been in the second of the Twin Towers in New York City. In stunned horror, he watched it collapse before his eyes on television, which also effectively collapsed a part of his mind and soul. When he attended their funeral service, something inside him snapped when the priest mentioned something about it being God’s will.
    “God’s will?” he had cried in a rage at their grave side. “What kind of God would let my parents die that way?” From that moment on, his anguish manifested into fiery hatred of God, and of those propagating any religious or spiritual reasoning. Oh yes, he acknowledged God, but only in the sense of blaming him for his parents unwarranted death. Thus, he’d set out on his personal crusade of punishing God and religion wherever he could find it.
    After a successful stint with the ACLU, Burr founded the Secular America Movement with support amassed through major donations from ultra-left groups and socialist organizations. He quickly became popular within its ranks through his fiery zeal and relentless tenacity. With vast support from his many friends, he had now begun focusing his aspirations on political office, where he could affect legislation to their benefit.
    He had come to Tenerife to make sure that any possible pro-religious agenda, brought about by the discovery of any religious artifacts, would be crushed and labeled a fraud, no matter what the cost. If some margin of authenticity to this archeology find became a reality, Burr felt that it could be a major setback in his dream of secularizing America.
    No, he thought on the ride to the dig site, I won’t allow that to happen .
    Eli and Maria reached the parking lot and walked over to the man, who now stopped his pacing and now stood next to his vehicle, glaring at them as they approached.
    The captain stood close behind, watching the man intently while the other three guardsmen watched in curiosity from the higher ground at their tent.
    “Are you Turner?” Burr asked, waving the piece of paper in his hand.
    “Last time I checked,” Eli replied, annoyed by the little man’s attitude. “This is my protégé Maria Santiago. What is it you wish to see me about?”
    “You have a lot of nerve sending me a telegram with your smart-assed reply to my