Jason knew the war in Vietnam had never been popular, mostly because it wasn't actually a war at all, it was a policing action that grew into a conflict where over 50,000 American soldiers lost their lives. Kennedy had done what he could to scale the conflict down, probably for no other reason than realizing that America was never going to be able to win it without using nuclear weapons, and that would have meant war with China. And even at that victory against a trained, supplied, and creative guerilla army was almost impossible. History has proven Kennedy to be 100% correct on this subject several times since.

Jason was still absorbing all of this when Heller added, "Kennedy had also failed to weaponize the space program, which got a lot of military types angry with him, too. These guys wanted nukes mounted on space satellites, and on the moon, too. They wanted a war to test out their new nuclear 'toys' and Kennedy wasn't going to ever give them that, so they decided to stage a very quiet coup d'etat and take control of the United States by killing him instead."

Very few people know that the U.S. military had put together a number of different plans for putting weapons in space, and this included everything from testing nukes on the moon, to testing them in space just above the Earth’s atmosphere. This was back in a time when the full impact of nuclear weapons wasn't properly understood. That didn't stop projects like 'Operation Fishbowl' going ahead though, a project that resulted in 5 separate nuclear weapons being detonated in Earth orbit. It also allegedly didn't stop various factions from weaponizing space through a series of covert programs in the years that followed.

"Jesus...he never had a chance.”

Heller shook his head. "None. John F. Kennedy was a dead man a long time before that day in Dallas. That decision had been made months beforehand."

Chapter 7

Dallas, November 1963

The entire morning had been just like every other morning for him over the last few months. He'd gotten up around 6am, done a quick workout even though it was still dark outside, and then had breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and coffee - a lot better than he was used to, and it hit the spot every time. Sometimes, the simple meals really are the best.

After breakfast came two smokes to kick start his day. There’s been no excitement, just a lot of waiting around for a call he'd been waiting on for months. He was almost willing the phone to ring, but silently hoping that would never happen. The anxiety was starting to get to him just a little bit.

There was no sign of Marina this morning, so he figured she must have gone out early shopping for one thing or another. He was pretty sure he'd have left for work before she got back, but he'd catch up with her later on in the day. His job was boring as hell, but it was still a job. It was the job "they’d" given him, so he had no choice in the matter. He knew that boredom was part of his story, part of his cover to throw the scent off.

He knew that he had to play the part if he was going to stop what was about to happen. It had taken him years to convince these lunatics that he was one of them, and now, as a result, the very life of the president of the United States could be in his hands. It made him sweat like crazy every time he allowed that entire thought to form in his mind. The plot to kill President Kennedy had been uncovered a few months back, and he just hoped they’d made their move in time to stop it.

The entire world was balanced on a knife edge of nuclear violence right now, but only a handful of people knew where and when the button might be pushed. He was one of them, and having that stuff inside your head was enough to drive most folks crazy. Maybe he’d come close a few times himself already?

His coffee was just starting to cool down when the phone rang. His heart skipped a beat. Maybe it was just another of those new goddamned telemarketing people. I mean, who the hell buys washing soap over the phone? That whole idea was never going to take off, he figured.

He knew he was going to have to answer it, so he swallowed down the ball of fear in his throat, picked up the phone up, and said, "Hello?"

A single high-pitched tone played for several seconds, which was followed by some music. Was that 'Twist Again' by Chubby Checker? He'd always liked that tune. He liked hearing it now, too.

The music stopped and a series of words spoken in a monotone voice followed.

"63. Magic Dragon. Go. Go. Go".

That was the last he would remember of that conversation, or any other conversation that day. The next time he remembered anything, the whole world would have changed forever.

Lee Harvey Oswald calmly replaced the phone on the receiver, picked up his jacket, and left for work. Anyone looking at him would see a blank but relatively human look on his face. Almost like a robot wearing just the hint of a smile.

He never knew it but he'd been lied to on a scale he could never imagine. His programming wasn't to stop the president being killed. In fact, it was just the opposite.

Chapter 8

"Okay, I hear what you're saying, but how could a group of people conspire to kill Kennedy and then for no one to ever find out the truth about it? People are dumbasses, Heller, someone was bound to blab sooner or later," Jason said.

"The simplicity of it was beautiful. None of us knew the other gunmen in any way at all. No names. Nothing. We just knew that we had to be at a specific spot, at a specific time, and that we had a designated target on Kennedy's body. That was all we needed to know,” Heller said.

“I was the gunman for the CIA/black ops element of the hit, but I do know there was one mafia shooter, and a local radical, too. The two others are still a mystery to me. Oswald was, like I said, a distraction and nothing more,” Heller explained. “If he managed to hit Kennedy, then well and good, but if he didn't, then we didn't care. Christ, that Carcano rifle he was using was so poorly made, it could have backfired and killed him just as easily. That's why it all worked so well though - people would see and hear shots coming from everywhere. We had plausible deniability by the bucket load!"

"But what if Kennedy had been hit by several bullets, and they found evidence. Wouldn't that show that a conspiracy was involved because more than one gunman took Kennedy out?" He realized he was actually reasoning with himself here as much as he was with the old man. It was all too easy to start believing another person’s lie when they told it convincingly enough. Jason didn’t want to get so deep into this story that he could never climb out of it.

Heller smiled and laughed quietly to himself. It still never ceased to amaze him just how useful a lie can be if you simply told it over and over again until people recognize it as the truth. Any lie told often enough, and with enough conviction, can eventually become the truth, especially if no one tries to disagree with your lie.

"Jason...Kennedy was hit by several rounds. The first one hit him in the throat, that shot came from the front. It was a small caliber, low velocity round put together by the ZR Rifle team, so it didn't do much collateral damage. The first few rounds had to leave neat entry and exit wounds or we'd have people and police panicking far too early in the game for our liking. We didn’t want Kennedy getting blown apart in front of people until the time was right.”

The old man was eager to fill in the blanks here. “The 'Magic Bullet' theory that the Warren Commission came up with wants you to believe that the first shot came from behind, but if that was the case, Kennedy's throat would have exploded outwards as he was blown forward by the impact. That shot that came from the grassy knoll, the same shot that 21 different police officers reported hearing, and even seeing. That one was to shut Kennedy up. He wasn't going to be talking to anyone ever again after that."