by Pam Funke
Richard was excited; he was learning so much. Richard looked at his watch, even though he could sit here and listen all day he would have to leave soon in order to get back on time. Pastor Henry glanced at the clock, time was almost up and he hadn’t gotten as far as he’d wanted to, but it was okay as he was sure that someone else had benefited from the questions as well.
“For tomorrow night’s Bible study we shall continue from Revelation chapter four. Take the love of God with you and let his glorious light shine through you. Have a wonderful and blessed evening,” Pastor Henry said.
Everyone gathered their things and got ready to leave. Richard couldn’t wait for the next Bible study. If Sunday service was anything like Bible study, he was looking forward to it as well. He went to the altar and said a prayer before going to his car and driving back to the base.
CHAPTER sixty-five
The group was in the process of leaving the room since Nicolaitanes had dismissed everyone. Serenity, however, had been staring at the monitors and hadn’t heard Nicolaitanes dismiss everyone. It wasn’t until a commercial came on the television that she looked around the room. Noticing that the room was nearly empty, she gathered her things and stood up to leave.
“Serenity? I wish that you remain behind for a moment,” Nicolaitanes said sternly as Serenity reached the doorway.
Startled, Serenity slowly turned around and walked back over to Nicolaitanes. Her heart was pounding; she was terrified. Does he know about my confession to General Ludlow? Of course, he must know. Why else would he call me back? What is he going to do to me? “Yes……….Nicolaitanes,” whispered Serenity.
“I want you to keep an eye on General Ludlow and report back to me. I have a feeling the General is going to do something stupid. If it comes to that, you know what to do. And Serenity?”
“Yes?”
“Do not disappoint me!” replied Nicolaitanes coldly.
“I….I won’t,” Serenity replied shakily.
She hurried out of the room quickly before he could ask her anything else. He knows, Serenity thought over and over again. What am I going to do?
CHAPTER sixty-six
Before Gage realized it, he had driven to the remains of the University of Haifa. He started to take various shots of the rubble, making sure to take in the bodies strewn everywhere and the rescue workers digging through the rubble looking for survivors, from inside the car. He doubted that anyone would be found alive. After he got as much footage as he wanted, he went to take shots of the rest of Haifa. He decided to take photos of everything until he was on the outskirts of the damage. He wanted to show the intensity of what had happened. Perhaps, it would make the world speak up and voice that this was not okay and do something about it. He really hoped so. He wanted to be able to do something good for once.
Gage was still thinking about what the man had said to him. He was still trying to figure out what he had meant. Gage was confused by it. He also had no clue as to who the man was either. Where had he come from and where had he gone? He still wasn’t sure whether or not he was going to share what had happened to him with Byron. Did it really happen? Gage put the camera on the front seat. He looked around him; it really was a very sad sight. Everywhere he looked he saw death and destruction. Gage was deeply saddened by this. He hated that it was always these kinds of stories that boosted his career.
“People don’t seem to care about good things in the news,” Gage sighed.
CHAPTER sixty-seven
After being dismissed by Nicolaitanes, General Ludlow walked back down to the lab. He was deep in thought and had walked right past the door to the lab. Frustrated he walked back down the hallway to the lab. What is wrong with me? He was feeling really lousy. Things were happening so fast now, and soon things would begin to happen even faster. He felt like the whole world was spiraling. What else will go wrong?
General Ludlow waited impatiently for everyone to arrive. Twenty minutes later, everyone had finally returned to the lab—well everyone except Charlie and Katy that is. They were all five minutes late which really annoyed the General. He was pacing back and forth.
“When you ladies decide to quit your babbling, we need to get on with the project!” General Ludlow barked.
Grant glared at the General and booted up the computers. He glanced around the room; it seemed a little empty. He noticed that Katy wasn’t there, but he hadn’t really expected her to be as she only worked until 5pm Monday through Friday. He noticed Charlie wasn’t there either; now that was strange. Two others from the night crew were in attendance, but he could never remember their names. Are they part of this project like me? It seems strange that they are allowed in the room now when they were not here during the initiation of Phase one. He supposed that was General Ludlow’s problem, but at least, James was back. He knew that he could count on James to get his job done. Grant sighed, he still was a little shaky from earlier.
General Ludlow looked around. He noticed the night shift had shown up for work. He was glad they had come, but he was a little uneasy about it as well. He did not know how much they knew and what they knew. At the same time, he couldn’t very well ask them either because if they knew nothing they might question what was going on. General Ludlow decided to play it by ear.
“Okay ladies and gentlemen, it is time for Phase Two. Please type in these coordinates, Grant, 32◦04’N 34◦48’E then call in the launch codes,” General Ludlow ordered calmly. He was still unsure of how he felt about all of this, but yet here he was again.
Grant stared at the General for a moment. “But, sir. Aren’t those the coordinates for Tel Aviv, Israel?” Grant asked nervously.
“Is there a problem, Grant? Just do what you are told.”
“Yes, sir.”
Slowly Grant picked up the phone and gave the launch codes; he then confirmed the new coordinates. Just what is going on here? Are we at war with Israel? Why? He looked over at the others; they were quietly doing their jobs.
Grant pulled the video feed up on the screen. He, however, had forgotten to send the feed up to the situation room. With great sorrow, Grant watched the screen. He decided that he was going to talk to Katy and James later; he wanted their opinions about all of this before he decided what to do.
CHAPTER sixty-eight
Back at the hotel, Byron called his wife to let her know that he was alright and not in any danger. At least for now, I’m not. Why did this happen? I don’t really know.
“I am a very lucky man,” he said smiling to himself.
He had a wonderful wife and family. He could not believe how much Karin loved him. He never thought that love could be like this. My marriage is great—because of the fact that we are both Christians and put God first. It felt good to hear her voice on the phone. It was almost as though she were there with him. She warmed his heart. She loved him with all of her heart and he her.
“I wish Gage could find a relationship like ours. I wish that he would, at least, consider a relationship with God,” Byron said out loud to no one.
He decided to take a quick shower before lying down for a nap. There was no telling when Gage would want him to go out and shoot some footage with him. The man was crazy when it came to getting a news story. No wonder he was one of the best reporters out there; he was good at what he did.
Byron took his shower and then crashed back on the bed. He wasn’t quite sleepy yet. He decided to turn on the television and flip through the channels hoping to find a good comedy to help him fall asleep.
“What the heck?” Byron said as he came across a news cast.
Surely he did not see what he just did. He sat straight up and scooted to the foot of the bed. This cannot be possible. No way. What in the world is going on here? So much for that nap, Gage is going to want to drive out to Tel Aviv, Israel. This is unbelievable. Byron paged Gage as he threw his clothes back into his suitcase. He then dressed quickly. He decided to take a cat-nap while he waited for Gage.
As Gage wa
s driving towards the hotel, stopping to take some footage here and there, his beeper went off. Now who could be paging me? He glanced down at his pager and noticed that it was Byron telling him to come back to the hotel immediately. Now, what could this be about? Surely nothing had happened while he was gone.
Gage drove immediately back to the hotel. He waited impatiently for the elevator to come down. He was really curious as to what was going on. While he was waiting for the elevator, he glanced around the lobby. He noticed that everyone seemed to be talking excitedly amongst themselves. He figured they were all just talking about the bombing of Haifa this morning. He knew that people would be talking about that for a very long time. Little did he know that they were indeed talking about a bombing, but it was not the bombing of Haifa that they were discussing. They were busy talking about a second bombing. Gage stepped into the elevator, he was puzzled. Something strange was going on here. A few minutes later, Gage opened the door to the room. He noticed that Byron was pacing back and forth across the room.
“What took you so long?” asked Byron. “I have been waiting for you for a while now.”
He walked back and forth across the room. He did this several times before stopping to look at Gage. He nervously chewed on the tips of his fingernails.
“You are going to want to drive down to Tel Aviv right now!” said Byron excited.
“Why? What is going on there?”
“You will see when we get there. You better hold on to your hat, this is going to be a bumpy ride.”
Byron gathered his stuff together. Gage walked over and picked up his suitcases. Byron must have packed them for me. Something important must have happened in Tel Aviv. Gage hated it when Byron did this. He hated being left out of the loop like this, but he knew that it must be one whopper of a story. He walked silently next to Byron. He knew that there was no point in asking him why they were going to Tel Aviv because he knew that Byron was not even going to give him a small hint. Gage knew Byron did not want him to know what anyone else was saying as it would spoil his view of the story. He smiled; they really did make a good team. They rode the elevator to the lobby in silence.
Gage stared at the chaos in the lobby as the exited the elevator—it seemed as though everyone had decided to check-out of the hotel at the same time. People were practically running out of the hotel. Outside was even worse. What is going on around here? Gage took in everything as he got into the rental car. Bryon was oddly quiet. Strange….very strange indeed.
Byron and Gage drove silently to Tel Aviv, Israel. Gage still had no clue as to what was going on. Why does Byron have the urgent need to drive to Tel Aviv? When they were less than three miles away, Gage had a sinking feeling that he knew why. They could see a lot of smoke rising up in the distance. The scenery looked oddly familiar.
“Byron, are you sure this is Tel Aviv?” Gage asked puzzled. It looks like we just drove back to Haifa.
Tel Aviv looked like a war zone. There was rubble everywhere. Buildings that were still standing looked like they were going to come crashing down at any moment.
“Yes Gage, welcome to Tel Aviv,” Byron replied sarcastically.
“What….what happened here? What the heck is going on around here?” Gage asked. “When did this happen?”
“Around 1230 hours this afternoon. The area was hit with multiple missiles, just like the attack on Haifa. So far, no survivors have been found according to the news report that I saw back at the hotel,” replied Byron. “We may as well set up here,” Byron added pulling the car over.
Byron wanted to hurry up and get out of Israel. Something was happening and he was desperate to get home to his wife and family. He got out of the car and set the camera up.
“Ready whenever you are, Gage.”
Gage made a quick call before collecting his things. I just do not believe this. What is going on around here? Has someone declared war on Israel? He walked in front of the camera.
“It is 1340 hours in the afternoon in Tel Aviv, where less than an hour ago missiles rocketed overhead targeting yet another Israeli city. I am standing in front of what is left of the city of Tel Aviv. The Israeli people are terrified and afraid to leave their homes. This is the second attack on Israel today. Two major cities have been taken out within four hours of each other. The people of Israel are wondering why this is happening. It is still unclear as to who has done this horrible thing. No one has yet claimed responsibility. Is this a single terrorist group? I am not so sure. Prime Minister Olmert had this to say, ‘I come before you demanding that the culprit be man enough to come forward and take responsibility! No matter where you are, we will find who you are and hunt you down like a dog. I will not stop until we have you executed! You will not get away with this. The Israeli people will be avenged. I promise you that.’
Israel is on highest alert. The borders have been shut down. No one is allowed into the country, but they are allowing people to leave the country with proper papers. We will keep you updated as we find out more. This is Gage Cameron, ICNN news.”
Gage shook his head as he finished the broadcast. He still couldn’t believe what was happening.
“I am going to take a quick look around. Go ahead and pack the car. I will not be long, I promise,” Gage said heading for the rubble. He wanted to poke around a bit; see if he could find some answers.
“Something strange is definitely going on around here. I am going to find out just what it is. There have been two devastating attacks in less than 24 hours’ time. Neither has been explained nor has anyone claimed responsibility for them. The facts just don’t add up,” Gage said to himself.
Byron packed up the car. He then walked around and sat on the hood of the car to wait for Gage. He looked up at the sky watching for more of those red spore-like things. He didn’t see any….at least not yet. Something strange was about to happen—he could feel it. Byron decided to pray while he waited. He prayed for his wife and children, the rest of his family, for Gage, for their safety while abroad, and for the people of the world in general. Life was becoming really strange and he feared that things were about to get a lot worse.
CHAPTER sixty-nine
“Hmmm,” said Nicolaitanes pressing his fingertips together.
He really had not expected such a detailed news report on Tel Aviv’s bombing, but he was pleased none the less. This could be more interesting than he thought. It could very well play into his plans and make things much easier in the long run. He leaned back in his chair and smiled.
****
“Sampson! Return back to the situation room,” the voice said.
Sampson was startled but returned nonetheless. He bumped into Serenity as she was leaving the room. Not so much as an excuse me or I’m sorry. That really annoyed Sampson. He entered the room quietly; he wasn’t sure why the voice wanted him back in this room. Nicolaitanes turned away from the window and looked at Sampson.
“Sampson, I wish for you to keep a close eye on Serenity and General Ludlow. And Sampson? No one is to know about this. If she catches you watching her, just say that you are interested in her. Am I clear?” Nicolaitanes said.
Sampson wasn’t surprised much; he figured General Ludlow would need watching, but Serenity? Now there’s a twist. But he was not about to question Nicolaitanes. Besides, he didn’t really mind anyway.
CHAPTER seventy
Serenity saw General Ludlow’s driver, Robert, hurrying down the hallway. She decided to catch up with him.
“Excuse me,” she called out. “Robert is it?”
“Yes?” Robert replied.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
Okay, what business is it of yours? I do not trust her. “General Ludlow asked me to bring the car around if you must know,” Robert replied a little rudely.
“Oh. Do you think that he would mind if you gave me a lift to my hotel on your way to wherever you are going?”
“Miss, I am sure that I do not know. You will need to ask the Gen
eral.”
What is she up to? Robert knew she was one of the ones who had come for that meeting. They’ve been in it all day. He continued walking towards the General’s car. He could not wait to get away from her. He glanced back—thank goodness that she was not following him. It was bad enough he did not think that he could do this, but if she were watching him he doubted he’d go through with it. He checked the trunk of the car; it was still safely cradled in the trunk. He had no clue what was in the package. Robert did not even know how it had gotten into the trunk of the car. He knew enough not to open the package to see what it was. The voice had threatened to harm his family if he so much as looked into the package. He closed the lid of the trunk and walked around to the driver’s side of the car. He started the car up and pulled away from the parking lot.
So many things were running through Serenity’s mind as she hurried through the building. Serenity still was not sure what she was going to do, but she knew that she had to get as far away from here as she could and she had to do it now. She did not know if Nicolaitanes suspected anything; if he did then it would not take long for him to send someone after her. She walked outside in the sunshine to wait for General Ludlow by the car. When she got outside she noticed that Robert was driving away and not headed towards the entranceway with the car. Now, just where is he going in such a hurry? And without General Ludlow. Why did he lie to me about the General needing the car? Now, what am I going to do? Serenity decided to walk over to the shoppette to see if she could get a taxi to the hotel. She would walk all the way to the hotel if she had to.
