It is late twenty second century. The population on planet earth is approaching thirteen billion. The population of the fifty-one-state United States of America is approaching five hundred million. Puerto Rico had recently joined the union.

Oil resources have just about been depleted. A little coal is still available. The whole world is depending on nuclear power. Hydroelectric and Nuclear plants supply our cities and industries with all their energy needs. Some energy suppliers depend on Solar and Wind resources. The transportation industry depends on hydrogen fuel cells and nuclear fuel. Some vehicles utilize electric batteries for fuel.

At one time the United States of America was the wealthiest nation on earth. Through some mediocre leadership and bad political judgments, that no longer is the case. That is now shared with China, United Europe, Russia, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

The military of the United States of America remains very powerful on earth. Superiority over other militaries is due to the strategically placed military space station bases that were established during the exploration of space. The bases are equipped with the most modern laser beam weaponry.

Small nations are struggling to survive. They’re trying to forge unions with others in hopes of forming another power. The powers on earth continue to cooperate and to ensure that food supplies are adequate to help and support the less fortunate nations. The sea as a source of food is beginning to make a come back. Poor management and oil spill pollution had just about wiped out the fisheries and aquatic plants as a source of food.

Over the years the ethnic and religious face of the United States had undergone a major change. The changes resulted from an influx of legal immigrants and from the illegal ones that walked in through the open borders. The predominantly white population in the early days of the Republic changed to an ethnic mix where the “whites” account to only forty percent. The remaining sixty percent encompasses the descendants of those with African, Hispanic, and Oriental backgrounds.

Similar changes had taken place on the Religious face of the nation. The once dominant Protestant worshipers are now tied with those that profess Catholicism as their faith. Also, those that identify Islam as their religion increased from under one percent to five percent.

The Executive, Legislative, and the Judicial Branches of Government have seen a lot of change from the early years. The first forty-three Presidents and Vice Presidents were all white men of European heritage. Since then, a dozen men and women of Hispanic or African linage were elected to hold one or both offices.

The composition of the legislators in the U.S. Congress paralleled the population’s makeup. In the Senate, two members belong to the Moslem faith and fifty men and women are descendants of African or Hispanic immigrants. In the House of Representatives, besides the ten Moslem men and women, over fifty percent of the remaining Representatives are of African or Hispanic backgrounds. As to the nine Justices in the Supreme Court, the split of two white men, two white women, two black men, one black woman, one Hispanic man, and one Hispanic woman really indicates the level of ethnicity in the United States of America.


JOSHUA

Joshua Xavier Bedman is a muscular and handsome twenty one year old man. Both of his parents are descendants of Scottish immigrants. While giving birth to her son, Mrs. Bedman had a vision about the Biblical walls of Jericho tumbling down. She even could hear the name “Joshua” being called. She believed that the vision was an omen and a message for her to name her newborn “Joshua”.

Joshua was very special. He graduated from college at the age of twelve with a perfect four-point average. He’s a member of the Magna Cum Laude National Scholars Honor Society. For the last five years he worked as an interpreter at the World Peace Center. The Center replaced what in previous years was known as the United Nations. He is a walking encyclopedia. He speaks many of the languages that are spoken on the surface of this earth. His IQ is the highest ever recorded. Very few people know him. He is a practitioner of the martial arts. The Central Security Agency (CSA) is interested in hiring him as an agent.

The interview process for CSA employment requires that he appear in front of a panel of scientists and religious people to evaluate his employability, to determine his level of knowledge, and to determine his ability to deal with stressful situations. No one seems to know why he possessed an excessive amount of knowledge. He knows the secret and would share it with them. The question is, “Would they believe him?”