at the shore, but beyond it was Orkney. Beyond it was her only chance of seeing Violetâs face again.
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I NVESTIGATORS FROM the city worked quickly to piece together what had happened. Services had started at 8:30 a.m. as usual. At 8:42 during the opening sermon, a brown Chevy truck (identified by the security camera on Elm and Hanover) drove into the parking lot of the small white church. It paused for a few seconds then backed up into the front doors, obstructing them.
The assailants, both dressed in black cloaks, then took four Molotov cocktails from the truck and threw them through the glass windows of the nave, lighting fires across the interior. The Molotov cocktails were made with frozen orange juice and gasoline, producing napalm that stuck to several patrons. Most of the victims died of burns, a few of smoke inhalation.
With the front door obstructed, patrons ran for the side door by the pulpit, the only other door to the building. At this point the assailants took guns from the truck and positioned themselves outside the door. At least one 12-gauge shotgun and one 9mm weapon were used. The lab would rush results for the exact types. The assailants fired over forty-nine shots (counted on the first pass, likely more), most hitting their victims.
Many of the laity died on the scene of gunshot wounds. The clergy died⦠differently. Pastor Cody Sparks and his son Ryan Sparks, police chief of the town, were found burned to death, nailed to two of the three crosses standing out in front of the church. Backward, facing the wood. They had burned slowly, succumbing to the wick effect, likely without losing consciousness until they died. The third cross held the burnt remains of Margaret Clay.
The truck left at 8:59 a.m., only five minutes before first responders arrived at the scene. The security camera was unable to identify the license plate, but an APB was issued for all brown Chevy trucks in the county. The targeting of Margaret Clay proved the most critical information, as when officers went to inform Andrew Geki and his wife Jessica of her motherâs death, they were missing, as was their brown Chevy truck.
Investigators swarmed the house and surrounding lot. In the lot they found a recently buried infant, severely mutilated. The biggest manhunt in the history of the state began. The Geki couple were branded terrorists, and the Department of Homeland Security became active in the hunt. But the trail was utterly cold. There was absolutely no sign of the couple until the next Sundayâwhen another church was attacked.
Thirty seven died in the attack, committed in much the same manner but almost a hundred miles northeast in the big city. The brown Chevy was found parked at the doors, and it took a day to ascertain which of the laityâs cars was stolen. By then it had already been found in the neighboring state. Security at every church in both states was exceptional the following Sunday. The next church they attacked was all the way out in California.
By the time of the fourth attack in Texas, Homeland Security was shamed by their inability to catch the couple, who appeared and disappeared without a trace, as if by magic. Their reign of terror lasted three years and killed hundreds. Dozens of churches attacked.
But after their capture, after the famous revelation of their motive, after debate and anger and blame ran their course, after the copycats and after the creation of the House Of Worship Defense Infantry, what people remembered most was the tremendous fear the Geki couple had caused across the nation. The image of two black cloaks, for a time, was the very quintessence of fear in America.
Politicians adeptly played upon that fear to suit their agendas. In the following years, the first antiheresy laws were passed in violation of the First Amendment. Criticism of Protestant Christianity was classified as hate speech. Under the guise of persecution, practitioners of the religion
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I NVESTIGATORS FROM the city worked quickly to piece together what had happened. Services had started at 8:30 a.m. as usual. At 8:42 during the opening sermon, a brown Chevy truck (identified by the security camera on Elm and Hanover) drove into the parking lot of the small white church. It paused for a few seconds then backed up into the front doors, obstructing them.
The assailants, both dressed in black cloaks, then took four Molotov cocktails from the truck and threw them through the glass windows of the nave, lighting fires across the interior. The Molotov cocktails were made with frozen orange juice and gasoline, producing napalm that stuck to several patrons. Most of the victims died of burns, a few of smoke inhalation.
With the front door obstructed, patrons ran for the side door by the pulpit, the only other door to the building. At this point the assailants took guns from the truck and positioned themselves outside the door. At least one 12-gauge shotgun and one 9mm weapon were used. The lab would rush results for the exact types. The assailants fired over forty-nine shots (counted on the first pass, likely more), most hitting their victims.
Many of the laity died on the scene of gunshot wounds. The clergy died⦠differently. Pastor Cody Sparks and his son Ryan Sparks, police chief of the town, were found burned to death, nailed to two of the three crosses standing out in front of the church. Backward, facing the wood. They had burned slowly, succumbing to the wick effect, likely without losing consciousness until they died. The third cross held the burnt remains of Margaret Clay.
The truck left at 8:59 a.m., only five minutes before first responders arrived at the scene. The security camera was unable to identify the license plate, but an APB was issued for all brown Chevy trucks in the county. The targeting of Margaret Clay proved the most critical information, as when officers went to inform Andrew Geki and his wife Jessica of her motherâs death, they were missing, as was their brown Chevy truck.
Investigators swarmed the house and surrounding lot. In the lot they found a recently buried infant, severely mutilated. The biggest manhunt in the history of the state began. The Geki couple were branded terrorists, and the Department of Homeland Security became active in the hunt. But the trail was utterly cold. There was absolutely no sign of the couple until the next Sundayâwhen another church was attacked.
Thirty seven died in the attack, committed in much the same manner but almost a hundred miles northeast in the big city. The brown Chevy was found parked at the doors, and it took a day to ascertain which of the laityâs cars was stolen. By then it had already been found in the neighboring state. Security at every church in both states was exceptional the following Sunday. The next church they attacked was all the way out in California.
By the time of the fourth attack in Texas, Homeland Security was shamed by their inability to catch the couple, who appeared and disappeared without a trace, as if by magic. Their reign of terror lasted three years and killed hundreds. Dozens of churches attacked.
But after their capture, after the famous revelation of their motive, after debate and anger and blame ran their course, after the copycats and after the creation of the House Of Worship Defense Infantry, what people remembered most was the tremendous fear the Geki couple had caused across the nation. The image of two black cloaks, for a time, was the very quintessence of fear in America.
Politicians adeptly played upon that fear to suit their agendas. In the following years, the first antiheresy laws were passed in violation of the First Amendment. Criticism of Protestant Christianity was classified as hate speech. Under the guise of persecution, practitioners of the religion
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