The Religion War by Scott Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

outside the door. The note described the scene they hadjust discovered at I-Wing: two dead, door wide open.Waters looked into the room, deciding to say nothing for now, and put the note in his pocket before dismissing the guard.
    "You see," explained the Avatar, "I asked myself what I would do if I had your military assets, your nearly pathological need to control your environment, and only an average level of awareness of your own delusions.Then I sorted through the news stories that speculated on your various possible plans, and focused initially on the ones that were obviously leaked by your own people."
    "I'm going to ignore your description of me for a minute," said Cruz. "Tell me how you could tell which battle plans were leaks?"
    "Those were the ones that gave away too much information and would allow an enemy to prepare," said the Avatar. "And they were the uncreative ideas. The leaks allowed me to eliminate many alternatives. From there I focused on the one best option for gaining your political and military objectives, the path with the greatest certainty."
    "Clever bastard. But you're wrong. Completely wrong."
    The Avatar smiled.
    "I'm not talking about your real plan. I'm talking about your counterfeit plan—the one you sold to your own generals and to the Christian governments."
    Cruz put on his best poker face. He didn't like the direction this was taking. No one else on Earth knew that his real plan was extermination. Never before had a general hidden his war plans from his own staff until the onset of war. How could the Avatar have guessed?
    "Deducing your real plan was easier," answered the Avatar to the question that wasn't asked. "I simply imagined what I would do if I were you and wanted to be one hundred percent sure of permanent victory. And of course I ignored the impact on enemy civilian populations, as I know you will, since you believe that your own civilian population is at risk if you lose."
    Cruz stayed quiet, trying to reveal nothing with his look or his tone of voice. His silence was an invitation to elaborate.
    "Yourplan is extermination," said the Avatar.
    The word hit Cruz like an electrical shock. It was his private word—the one he used only in his thoughts.
    "First your armies will knock out communication in the war zones. The media will be banned. And then you will systematically annihilate the civilian and military populations."
    Cruz needed to change the direction of the conversation. The Avatar's predictions were rocking his confidence. Was it that easy to guess his moves? If so, did al-Zee already know? Then it hit him. "That's enough about me. Tell me what al-Zee plans to do after we attack. Ifyou're so smart, you must know."
    "As we speak, al-Zee's sleeper cells have moved massive amounts of biological weapons into every major American and European metropolitan area. They're operating independently now, having already received instructions that when your bombers make their first run, they'll unleash their weapons, destroying much of Western civilization in less than a week."
    Cruz's face went pale.That wasn't even a scenario his planners had considered. The long absence of chemical and biological attacks had made everyone believe that that sort of thing was behind them. "If al-Zee has that capability, why wouldn't he have used it already, or at least threatened to use it?" asked Cruz.
    "Al-Zee understands that a few bombings a week are good for morale on his side. But a massive biological attack on the West would bring certain annihilation to his people, his family, and himself. He's saving the final move until there's no other option. He's betting that your army will stop cold when your people realize their homelands have been decimated. And if he stops you in your tracks, with your one-hundred-to-one advantage in firepower, as you say, his prestige and power will reach new highs. He will become a superpower overnight."
    Outside the door, Waters strained to hear every word. He was