Edge of Apocalypse by Tim Lahaye, Craig Parshall Page A

you took to fly secret intel missions over Iran to help us determine the extent of their nuclear ambitions. We all have a copy of your impressive resume: your activities after leaving active military duty, your graduate degree from MIT in applied physics, and your brilliant work as a defense contractor. So let me say thank you, sir, for your courage and your service to this nation."
    Joshua nodded politely, bent forward slightly to the microphone, and answered with a simple "Thank you."
    Senator Hewbright continued, but as he did, his tone changed. "However, not everyone is as enthusiastic about your recent weapons achievements as I am. As I see it, this special committee is tasked to address several questions. First, there's concern about the use of so-called Return-to-Sender weapons technology, especially when it involves reversing the trajectory of a nuclear warhead, and whether that violates the Six-Party Missile-Defense Treaty, a treaty I personally opposed, and vehemently, I might add. The treaty didn't include, as signers, the world's biggest nuclear threats, namely North Korea, Iran, India, and Pakistan. On the other hand, it did include nonstate entities like the United Nations and the European Union, which I didn't think was appropriate. But worse yet, to me that treaty represents just one more major erosion of American national sovereignty--"
    "With all due respect," Senator Straworth interjected with only a thin veneer of restraint, "I'm going to ask the senator to stick to the issue at hand. Namely, the use of Mr. Jordan's weapons technology, which was unauthorized by the White House on the day it was used, and which had not been properly approved through the appropriate congressional channels or through the Defense Department's own vetting. In short it was completely untested and frankly dangerous--"
    "Mr. Chairman," Senator Hewbright shot back, "this man's technology saved the City of New York and its inhabitants from a nuclear holocaust--"
    "Senator," Straworth cut in, "I believe that this hearing is going to show that the Air Force jets dispatched that day were quite capable of stopping those warheads in midair, without detonating them, without using Mr. Jordan's highly experimental Return-to-Sender laser weapon, without any loss of life, I might add, and without creating an international crisis--"
    "May I continue?" Senator Hewbright stopped Straworth's speech dead in its tracks. "I was under the assumption I had the floor..."
    Straworth's eyes flashed, and he squared his shoulders like a boxer. "You do, provided that you give deference to this committee by staying on track."
    Senator Hewbright had won that round but just barely. His voice was firm but measured. "As I was saying, I'm concerned less about any perceived chain-of-command issues and more about our loss of national sovereignty, and with it, a large measure of our national defense. This incident with the North Koreans should force us to evaluate where our nation is right now. How did we find ourselves in such dire straits? How? Well, I have a pretty good idea, and it didn't start with foreign policy or military defense. No. It began as a matter of simple economics. When OPEC decided to cut our oil imports so that India and China could get increased allotments, we all know how that caused an energy crisis here at home. We had failed to make sufficient gains in alternate energy sources so we had to go crawling on our knees around the globe searching for other sources from equally unsavory providers: Russia, Venezuela, Brazil. Now I suppose we could have weathered all of that, but the fates, or the hand of Providence, or Mother Nature, whatever you want to call it, had other plans. A twoyear drought in the Midwest, together with devastating livestock diseases, have had a catastrophic impact on our agriculture. And we've all seen the Dow, the tumbling numbers on the Standard & Poor's index, the closest thing to a stock-market crash since the Great