by Pam Funke
“Jesus was an incredible man if he really could do those things. Did he really do those things?”
“Yes Chaim, Jesus really did do these things and more.”
“Tell me more.”
“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judge.”
Sara spent the next forty-five minutes reading to Chaim from the Bible. She loved how he seemed to genuinely be interested in what she had to say. She noticed that he had taken quite a few notes. He had even answered some of his own questions.
They were both startled by the door to the café slamming shut a few feet away. Chaim nearly jumped out of his skin. I knew it wasn’t safe to discuss this here. Somebody must have heard what we were talking about. We are in so much trouble now. Chaim quickly put his notepad away and started to pick up his books when he heard a familiar voice.
“Hi guys, what are you doing out here?” Ahmad asked.
“Oh, nothing Ahmad. We were just waiting for you and Abdul to get out of class so that we could walk home together,” Chaim said closing Sara’s Bible and shoving it into her bag.
Sara looked at Chaim puzzled. Chaim lowered his voice and shook his head, “I don’t want anyone to know Sara. At least, not yet. Can we talk later?”
Sara nodded and picked her stuff up.
“Where’s Abdul?” Sara asked.
“He’s coming. He just had to stop by the men’s room. Thanks for waiting for us,” Ahmad replied. I wonder what they were talking about. Chaim seems really nervous about something. I wonder what. What is it that he hid in Sara’s bag? Oh well, I guess that it is none of my business.
A few minutes later Abdul joined them and they walked home together.
CHAPTER forty-nine
Serenity stopped at the cafeteria on her way to the lab. She sat down with a cappuccino to calm her nerves. She was a little nervous though she wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was the people from the group or maybe it was the fact that they were actually going through with the project—it was finally becoming a reality. Maybe that was it. She slowly sipped her cappuccino; Nicolaitanes could wait a few minutes. An older woman stood near her table staring at her.
“Can I help you with something old woman?” Serenity snapped.
“Sorry, I just wanted to know if you were finished with the sugar,” she replied.
“Sure, take it and go away,” Serenity replied practically throwing the sugar at the woman.
“Thank you,” the woman replied walking away.
Wow, what a rude person. “What ever happened to respecting your elders? This new generation has no manners whatsoever. They use curse words like normal words, the boys wear their pants showing their underwear and they think that it’s alright. What happened to yes sir, no sir and yes ma’am, and no ma’am? They are just so disrespectful,” she mumbled annoyed. She put sugar in the coffees then headed back down to the lab.
Serenity felt kind of bad. Perhaps, she should apologize to the old woman. She really hadn’t meant to be so mean to her; she had just wanted to be left alone. She got up and threw her empty cup in the trash then went down to the lab.
CHAPTER fifty
“General Ludlow?” called Serenity.
“Yes, Serenity?”
“Nicolaitanes sent me to ensure that all is well and that we can proceed on time. Is it?”
“Yes, Serenity. We launched fifteen minutes ago. They should be arriving on target soon.”
He had no idea why Nicolaitanes sent Serenity down to question him. She is a nobody, but yet Nicolaitanes wants me to report to her? How dare he! General Ludlow was very annoyed indeed.
Serenity watched General Ludlow very closely. She hoped Nicolaitanes was wrong about the General. Mind you, she didn’t really like the General it’s just that she didn’t want to be the one to take care of the General. It just wasn’t in her nature to kill someone. Serenity had never killed anyone in her life. Something did seem to be bothering the General, though. She sighed.
“Just what I wanted to hear. I would hate to have to report any bad news to Nicolaitanes. No telling what he would do,” Serenity replied.
She seems like a nice kid. But, I still don‘t trust her. “Thanks for the heads up Serenity. I will make it a point not to provide him with any bad news,” General Ludlow replied. He was silent for few moments. He looked unsure of himself. “Can I ask you something, Serenity?” he continued.
“Yes.”
“How did a nice kid like you get involved in all of this? I would think you would be modeling somewhere or an actress in a movie or something. You are a very beautiful young lady. You seem too smart for this.”
Why is the General being so nice to me? Why am I doing this? Is he trying to get me to say something that he can use against me? She did not trust General Ludlow, but then again she trusted absolutely no one. Serenity had to be careful how she answered his question.
“Thank you for the nice compliment, General,” Serenity replied shyly. She looked away for a moment. “Well, you could say that Nicolaitanes provided me with an opportunity I could not refuse.”
“Oh. Do you regret it?”
Now, why did the General ask me that question? He seems a little sad. Does he really have doubts about what we are doing? Why? What is the General up to? Is he trying to trick me and report me to Nicolaitanes? I had better be careful. “We all do things in life that we regret. Do we not, General? But it is too late now, too late for any of us,” Serenity replied suspiciously. I hope that he didn’t take my reply too seriously. Serenity tilted her head and looked at him curiously.
“Yes, I suppose it is. We may as well have a seat and watch from here.”
“Okay. I hope will be over soon. I hear my pillow calling me.”
Serenity was beginning to see how the General could be a problem for Nicolaitanes. But she hoped that he was wrong. She really did not want to have to kill the General, although she would if she had to. Better him than her.
CHAPTER fifty-one
The woman watched Serenity from her work station. She really did not like her. Serenity reminded her of a snake in the grass. Like my mom used to say you have to keep an eye on those quiet ones. Her feel for people was usually dead on. She would have to be careful around her. Not to mention the woman was downright rude. What was the other saying? Oh yeah, don’t let the cover fool you.
****
The light blipped faster on the tracker console as the missiles drew closer to their target. General Ludlow stared at the blinking light on the screen.
“Those poor people. May God forgive me for my involvement,” General Ludlow mumbled.
“I’m sorry. What did you say, General?” asked Serenity.
“Nothing Serenity. Just thinking out loud.”
“Okay.” Serenity looked at him suspiciously.
“General? We are arriving on target. The picture should be coming in crystal clear in just a moment,” said Grant fiddling with something on the computer.
“Thanks, Grant. Put it on screen.” General Ludlow was a little afraid of what he was about to see. Do I really want to watch all those people die? He was not so sure now.
“It is coming up now, sir,” said Grant sending the video stream to the plasma screen.
On the screen, they could see the lights of Haifa off in the distance. It looked like it was going to be a dreary rainy day for them.
“Hopefully, they will not feel any pain,” General Ludlow whispered. He suddenly felt very guilty about what he was doing.
“I cannot believe that I agreed to do this. What on earth was I thinking?” Genera
l Ludlow mumbled under his breath. He suddenly wished that he could stop this massacre. Why do those people deserve to die?
CHAPTER fifty-two
The screen showed the missiles rapidly deploying towards their targets. Within seconds, they would find their marks and terminate. Thousands of peoples’ lives were about to be snuffed out by the blast and the few survivors left would die shortly afterwards from the BTX strain. Not a one in the room seemed in the least bit upset by all this. Unbelievable. You would think that at least one person or two would be upset a little--ever hear of the word empathy? Look it up. Whatever happened to people caring about each other? There was absolutely no emotion in the room whatsoever. This is what happens when God is not a part of it. She looked away from the screen for a moment.
Although none of them showed any emotions outwardly, a few of them were a little saddened by what they were doing, but it did not stop them from doing it. Their eyes and hearts were too filled with greed. It was all about the money to them. May God help us, General Ludlow thought.
The moment seemed to go on forever. Everything was surreal. It seemed as though they were not the ones sitting there calmly watching the horrific scene unraveling before them, but someone else. Time seemed to have simply stopped. For those people in Haifa, it certainly had—it had stopped permanently.
In the next second, the missiles reached their target and exploded upon impact. One second the city was there, the next most everything in the area was leveled. There was no way there could be any survivors. There were bodies everywhere. It was a horrible scene to watch take place. They all stared at the screen blankly. General Ludlow couldn’t believe that no one whatsoever showed any feelings at all. He, himself, had mixed feelings about what he had just witnessed. It was like a bad nightmare, only he wasn’t sleeping. He had to keep his emotions in check as he couldn’t afford for anyone to see his true feelings. Not now. He turned his head briefly away from the screen and watched Serenity. Something odd was going on with her.
Serenity turned away from the screen and slowly walked out into the hallway. She felt so numb, as though nothing in the world was real. Perhaps, how one feels when their spirit realizes that they are no longer living in their body, but dead. Serenity couldn’t believe that she had helped take so many people’s lives. Her. She firmly believed that God would definitely make her pay for this one. What am I going to do? She had really messed up this time. There was no way she could receive forgiveness for this, right? How could she ever look her pastor or her parents for that matter in the eyes again? What she had just done was unforgivable. She suddenly felt very lonely and afraid. She felt dead inside. Tears started to stream down her face. She had to get out of there.
Katy saw this distraction as an opportunity for her to leave. She had to get out of there before she broke down completely. She was simply horrified by all that she had seen. She wanted out of this whole situation and now. She gathered her things together as she glanced up at the clock.
“Goodnight everyone. See you tomorrow,” Katy called out as calmly as she could muster while she shut down her computer.
“Leaving so soon?” General Ludlow inquired suspiciously.
“It’s the end of my shift, sir. I always leave at this time,” Katy said trying her best to remain calm. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was scared out of her wits.
“Goodnight Miss Farnsworth,” General Ludlow said coldly. I will have to ask the voice about her.
Katy walked out of the lab without looking back. General Ludlow followed her out into the hallway. Katy prayed that she would be able to get out of the building without any further incidents. She hurried down the hall to clock out. General Ludlow watched Katy walk down the hallway to the employee lounge. He thought about following her further to see what she was up to. Katy is definitely up to something. He glanced at Serenity in the hallway. She was behaving oddly. What’s with Serenity? What is she doing? Should he be concerned? Maybe he should go up and have a chat with Nicolaitanes. He glanced at his watch but decided that he wouldn’t have the time to and returned to the lab.
****
Katy was calm as she hurried past Serenity. She didn’t want to cause any more suspicion. Serenity certainly seems preoccupied with herself. Were those tears on her cheeks? Katy couldn’t be sure, but she was almost sure that they were. What is wrong with her? She couldn’t stop now to find out. If she did, Katy was afraid that she would lose her nerve to get out of Dodge while she could.
****
Serenity waited until the woman was a good ways down the hall before turning and running the other way. She had no idea where she was going, but she had to get away from there. Serenity needed a moment to herself. She only made it as far as the women’s bathroom when she felt her legs give away. She slid down wall to the floor as her body became wracked with grief. She felt so alone right now. There was no one that she could talk to about this. She dared not discuss this with anyone from the project—there wasn’t anyone outside of the project either. What am I going to do?
CHAPTER fifty-three
General Ludlow stood quietly watching the smoke rising from the destruction. His heart was heavy. Now, what? He looked at his watch. The next Phase did not start for quite some time.
“You may all leave for a meal break. But be back in three hours,” General Ludlow ordered then got up and left the room.
He was still wondering about Serenity’s quick departure and Katy’s calm one. Both seemed a little odd to him, but maybe it was just him. He was not behaving like himself either. How could he? How could anyone who had just participated in mass murder? Maybe he had feelings about this after all. General Ludlow headed up to the situation room before going home to grab a bite to eat.
On his way there, Alexander decided that he would definitely have to check up on Katy later. Something wasn’t right with her. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it was nothing.
CHAPTER fifty-four
Katy was relieved when she clocked out. She knew that General Ludlow had watched her walk down to the employee lounge; she thought the woman in the hallway did as well. She was glad that General Ludlow hadn’t followed her into the lounge. She was almost sure General Ludlow suspected something. He had never talked to her that way before. She peered down the hallway. No one was in the hallway, so she hurried out to her car. She looked back at the building in her rear view mirror as she drove away. Katy was relieved that she had gotten away.
“Thank you, God,” she said as she quickly drove to the bank.
****
Gage and Byron’s flight arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel on time. Gage was still hyped up from the story about Nicolaitanes Balac coming true. His source had been right. He still wondered how she had known, but in a way, he didn’t really care. His career was taking off rapidly—Gage could see that news anchor position becoming his someday soon. He could not wait. He wondered what the story was going to be here in Israel. Whatever it was, Gage knew that it was going to be something exciting.
Byron looked around the airport. “Well, where do we go from here, Gage?” Byron asked.
Gage just shrugged. He wasn’t sure where they should head just yet.
“Why don’t we go pick up the rental car then we can decide from there?” Byron suggested.
“Okay. Maybe by then we will know where we are going.”
They went to the baggage claim and gathered their bags before heading to customs. The customs agent eyed their equipment warily.
“What is your purpose here in Israel?” he asked.
“I’m a news reporter. We are here to cover a story,” Gage replied smiling.
The agent did not smile. He looked down at their passports. “What was your business in Italy?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, but what does that have to do with anything? How is that any of your business?” Gage snapped.
The agent raised his eyebrows and peered at Gage questioningly. “What was your business in Italy?”<
br />
“He was covering the story about Italy’s new President,” Byron said calmly.
The agent looked over at Byron. “Was I talking to you, sir?”
Byron closed his mouth and was quiet. He looked at Gage.
“I was covering the story behind Italy’s new President. Anything else?” Gage said.
“Do you have anything to declare?” the agent asked.
“No sir, we don’t.” Gage was getting annoyed.
“Enjoy your stay,” the agent replied stamping Gage’s passport.
Byron walked up to the agent handing him his passport. The agent looked him over.
“Do you have anything to declare sir?” he asked.
“No sir, I do not,” Byron replied.
“Enjoy your stay sir,” the agent replied handing Byron back his passport. “And sir? I would stay out of Haifa if I were you.”
“What?”
The agent just looked at him. “You’re holding up my line sir. Please move on.”
“That was strange,” Byron said to Gage.
“What was? The fact that the guy was a complete jerk?” Gage replied.
Byron looked at him. “Didn’t you hear what he said to me?”
“Yes, he said the same thing to you as he did to me.”
Strange. “You didn’t hear him tell me to stay out of Haifa?”
“Huh? What are you talking about Byron?”
He stopped walking and turned to look at his friend, maybe it is nothing. “Never mind, let’s just go pick up the rental.” Perhaps it was a warning from God. I wonder why, though.
