Prophet

by Frank Peretti

  “Stand by Cassette One.”

  Wendell went to full screen as he began his report. “Well, John, U.S. and foreign airlines have cut back delivery on 2100s and 2200s, and Benson has also been hit hard by defense cuts.”

  “Roll Cassette One.”

  A missile appears on the screen, blasting into the air. Title at bottom of screen: “Benson. Cutbacks.”

  Wendell Southcott’s voice over the video: “Benson took a big hit with the cancellation of the WeeWinder missile . . .”

  CARL AND MOM sat on the couch, watching anxiously as the newscast hurried along and the VCR rolled, recording the event. They sat through the Benson story, then a related story on the local economic impact of the Benson cutbacks, then a story about a police raid of a crack house, and then a story about a high-speed chase and a wrecked pickup truck.

  A commercial brought a chance for Mom to break eye contact with the television screen and ask, “Did John say when he would be doing the story?”

  Carl didn’t like the answer. “Well . . . he said they were going to bury it, and that meant they’d probably put it somewhere in the middle with other stories on either side, and definitely not right before or after a commercial.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “People might remember it if it’s the first thing they see after a commercial—if it’s the top story in that section. But you can’t have it right before a commercial either because then people can think about it during the commercial.”

  Mom was shocked. “They actually plan it that way?”

  Carl laughed but just a little. “Who knows? That’s just Dad’s theory.”

  “Well, we’ll see if he’s right.”

  “The point is, he’s doing it.”

  Mom gave a solemn nod and a proud smile.

  “I only wish Grandpa could see this,” Carl sighed.

  Mom patted Carl’s hand. “Dad saw this moment a long time ago. He knew this day would come.”

  THE NEWSCAST CONTINUED on through another section and another commercial break. Then more news: a house fire, a yacht sinking in the bay, an environmental fracas over a new garbage incinerator.

  Then came a quick update on the gubernatorial campaign, reported by Todd Baker. Challenger Bob Wilson was still coming on strong, at least in his rhetoric—“Slater says he cares about women, but I don’t see the family anywhere in all that talk!”—but the polls showed Hiram Slater well ahead, so the governor remained confident of victory: “Four years ago I received a mandate from the people, and I believe the people still believe in the causes for which they first elected me. I have no question that we will prevail.” It wasn’t anything new or startling. Same old, same old.

  Moving right along: “The cross-Bay bridge, a real possibility? A planning committee released its findings today.” Jim Eng had the story. Jim Eng did the story. John asked a scripted question: “Well, Jim, how many members of the committee really view the Meyer’s Point route as feasible?”

  “John, as a group the committee members would not commit themselves, but one member who asked not to be named felt the route would be approved . . .”

  Commercial break.

  Next section. The opening of the city’s new art museum. Consumer specialist Dave Nicholson’s investigation into a mail-order meat packing scam.

  Then Bing Dingham with sports. The Tigers and Cutters game. Some tennis. Another HIV-positive superstar admitting to having sex with hundreds of women and insisting the Administration isn’t doing enough.

  Hal Rosen with current weather and the national weather situation, the five-day forecast coming up later in the program.

  Then the teaser.

  Camera Two, two-shot of John and Ali, zooming back a bit. Their names appear under them: “JOHN BARRETT. ALI DOWNS.” Between the names, the NewsSix logo. Behind the anchors, the backdrop with the false monitor screens.

  Ali took the first tease: “Hate crimes in this area are on the rise, and a white supremacist group vows to make Waterton a national haven for whites only.”

  “Roll Cassette 530.”

  Video: A burning cross in the front yard of a nice house; white men with closed-cropped haircuts marching with banners and giving Nazi salutes.

  Title at bottom of screen: “AHEAD.” John’s voice over the video: “A local African-American family is threatened by still another cross burning but vow to stay, even as the American Aryans open a local chapter only blocks from their home.”

  Video: A wild rhinoceros rams a safari jeep as the passengers scurry in all directions, screaming, hollering.

  Ali’s voice over the video: “And a frightening incident at the Wildwood Animal Safari as a rhinoceros goes on a rampage, all captured on home video.”

  A banner graphic wipes onto the screen. “Business. The Dow Jones Averages, up 5.59.” Then six local stocks and how they did.

  Commercial break.

  John flipped the pages of his script in Section Five. There were only three stories slotted for this section: the hate crimes/white supremacist story, the home video of the rampaging rhino, and . . . the Slater Story, sandwiched between the other two.

  “Three . . . two . . . one . . .”

  Ali began Section Five. “Another cross burning, this time on the front lawn of an African-American family in the Waterton district . . .”

  John watched the monitor in the news desk as the video played and special assignment reporter Valerie Hunter did the reporting. It was impressive stuff, even scary. The frightened family, the charred cross still on their front lawn, the mother and father voicing their fears and concerns, followed by the grandiose and hateful boasts of the white supremacists.

  A powerful story. A disturbing story. And it would be followed by . . . what? John’s nonstory? His after-the-fact indulgence in finger-pointing? For just a moment he even considered calling Rush and canceling the story, but of course by now that was impossible. The newscast was rolling; the scripts, teleprompters, and cassettes were all in place. The story was going to air, and he was going to read it.

  MOM AND CARL knew the time was passing. The newscast had already been going for forty minutes. The Slater story had to be coming up soon.

  Mrs. Westfall, Cindy Danforth, and the two volunteers were beginning to wonder if the story would air at all. They felt they’d been sitting an awfully long time.

  RACHEL WAS ONLY inches from turning the television off and going on with her life. She figured she’d give the show just a few more minutes and that would be it.

  SHANNON AND HER parents were discussing whether they’d been told the wrong date, and Shannon was beginning to have serious doubts whether she’d heard Carl correctly.

  MAX AND THE kids were getting restless and hungry, and Max was muttering phrases along the lines of, “All this waiting for two lousy minutes . . .”

  Deanne began setting the table and heating up the leftovers. If something came on, she would hear it and be able to run over to watch.

  JOHN HAD THE script ready in front of him, the anchor lead-in highlighted. Ali would be doing a closing tag on the hate crimes/white supremacists story facing Camera Two, and then, on her outcue, “. . . there are no suspects, but the investigation continues,” John would begin.

  John could see Camera Three positioning for his anchor lead-in. He got ready.

  In the control room Tina eyed his face as it appeared in the Preview Monitor. She could read the tension in John Barrett’s eyes.

  “You just had to push it, didn’t you?” she muttered. “You just had to push it!”

  Rush and Susan were too busy directing the newscast to hear her.

  Ali closed the hate crimes story, looking into Camera Two. “The American Aryans deny any involvement in the cross burning, and so far there are no suspects, but the investigation continues.”

  The red light on Camera Three lit up. John remained in professional mode, facing the camera and reading from the script mirrored in front of its lens. He let his mind run a
utomatically as he detached himself from the story. This was nothing special, he told himself, nothing different, it wasn’t his story. It was news. It was his job. He had no intention other than to do it right, to do the best job he could do.

  Camera Three, head-on. No pan, no box, just John.

  “Stand by Cassette 540.”

  “A week after Governor Slater went public with the abortion death of his daughter Hillary . . .”

  THE BREWER KIDS all squealed, “Mom! Mom!” and Deanne came running.

  “. . . NEW QUESTIONS ARE being raised: Did the governor know from the beginning how his daughter died, and if so, was he involved in a cover-up that may have cost at least one more life?”

  “Roll cassette,” said Susan.

  The package began.

  Video: The governor, addressing the Women’s Citizen League. An excerpt from his great announcement a week ago. Title at bottom of screen: “October 9th.”

  Governor: “. . . she willingly and gladly chose to terminate her pregnancy . . .”

  Governor’s voice drops as John’s voice-over begins.

  “Governor Slater claimed he had just learned Hillary did not die from mislabeled drugs but from abortion malpractice.”

  Video: Dr. Harlan Matthews sitting in his office, talking to the off-camera interviewer, his voice muffled under John’s voice-over.

  “Pathologist Dr. Harlan Matthews confirms the cause of Hillary’s death, but insists the governor knew the cause of death the day after it happened.”

  Title at bottom of screen: “Dr. Harlan Matthews, Pathologist, Bayview Memorial Hospital.”

  Matthews’s voice comes up to volume. “. . . it was an abortion, performed quite hurriedly and clumsily.”

  John’s voice off-camera: “And was the governor made aware of this?”

  “He knew his daughter died from an abortion, yes. I’m the one who told him.”

  Video: The exterior of the Women’s Medical Center.

  John’s voice-over: “Hillary received an abortion at the Women’s Medical Center on the 19th of April.”

  Video: Shannon DuPliese talking to an off-camera interviewer.

  “Shannon DuPliese, a close friend, drove Hillary to the clinic and then home to the governor’s residence, where Hillary died a few hours later.”

  Video: Old clip of Shannon receiving the scholarship from Governor Slater.

  “When Shannon was awarded the Hillary Slater Memorial Scholarship, she soon realized the scholarship came with a price—her silence.”

  Video: Back to Shannon being interviewed.

  Title: “Shannon DuPliese, friend of Hillary Slater.”

  Shannon: “Well, first it was the governor. He came over to visit me after Hillary died, and kept saying things like, ‘Well, we want to protect Hillary’s memory, don’t we?’” A shot of her hands wringing nervously in her lap, something Bill found near the end of the tape and used to cover the cut. Shannon continues, “But after I started school”—viewers see her face again—“Martin Devin started calling me on a regular basis, and I realized that . . . hey, these people didn’t trust me. They were going to keep an eye on me and make sure I kept my part of the bargain—”

  Video: Exterior shot of the Women’s Medical Center.

  John’s voice-over: “After the death of Hillary Slater, the Women’s Medical Center continued business as usual. There was no investigation of malpractice.”

  Video: A shot of Annie Brewer’s senior picture. The camera zooms in slowly to heighten the intensity.

  “A month later Annie Brewer, a high school senior, also died from an abortion she received at the Women’s Medical Center.”

  Video: Cindy Danforth in silhouette. Title on bottom of screen: “Mary, witnessed abortion.”

  Cindy: “Annie was right across the hall from me, and I could hear her screaming, and after we got out of there, I knew something wasn’t right. She was hurting.”

  Video: Max and Deanne, sitting on their couch. Title: “Max and Deanne Brewer, Annie’s parents.”

  Max: “’s long as your daughter’s alive you got no right to know what she’s doin’, or what somebody’s doin’ to her. Only reason we could find out what happened to Annie was ’cause she was dead, and I think that’s a little late.”

  John’s voice-over: “Max and Deanne Brewer had to take legal action to obtain Annie’s autopsy report.”

  Video: Dr. Mark Denning. Title: “Dr. Mark Denning. Performed the autopsy.”

  Denning: “The primary cause of death was generalized septicemia, due to septic abortion, something for which the abortionist is responsible, in my opinion.”

  The package was over.

  Camera Three, head-on to John.

  John spoke his closing tag. “The Women’s Medical Center refused to comment, and Governor Slater was unavailable for comment. Ali?”

  Ali spoke to Camera Two. “Well, a drive through the Wildwood Animal Safari turned into a real nightmare . . .”

  “Roll Cassette 550.”

  Video: The rhinoceros stamping and lumbering about in the tall grass, charging a Land Rover, making it jolt and rock as tourists run for cover, screaming, the camera shaking and jerking. Exciting stuff.

  Ali’s voice-over: “. . . when one of the wild animal park’s rhinos went on a rampage . . .”

  CARL LEAPED FROM the couch and let out a whoop, then a loud “YES!,” then danced a little, then shouted, “He did it! He really did it!”

  Mom just sat on the couch, quietly clapping her hands, tears in her eyes, praying, “O Lord, my dear Lord, Johnny’s come home. He’s come home!”

  Carl pointed at the television, oblivious to the rhinoceros video and then the car commercial. He had only one thought on his mind. “That was my dad! That was the man!”

  MRS. WESTFALL AND the two volunteers all gave Cindy a big hug.

  “You did great, honey.”

  “God bless you—you’re very brave.”

  “Good job, good job.”

  RACHEL FINALLY RELAXED. Two minutes. Well . . . okay. He did okay.

  SHANNON AND HER folks got up and went to eat dinner. They knew better than to expect any more than what they had just seen, but they were satisfied. They had to give John Barrett credit for saying as much as he did.

  DEANNE LOOKED AT Max, trying to fathom his brooding expression even as the kids got up and babbled in excitement.

  “I saw both of you!” said George.

  “I wanna be on TV!” said Victoria.

  “Well, sugar, aren’t you going to say something?” Deanne asked.

  Max drew one long, slow breath and looked at his wife. “Well . . . it wasn’t much.” Then he broke into a smile. “But it wasn’t bad!”

  They embraced.

  THE RHINOCEROS STORY ended, and NewsSix went to a commercial.

  Susan the director swiveled around in her chair and let out a quiet cussword of amazement. “How come I never heard about this before?”

  Tina stood against the back wall, staring at John Barrett’s face on the Camera Three monitor. “Heard about what?”

  “This thing about Slater’s daughter!”

  Tina seemed to ignore the question and addressed Rush. “That story took too long. We hardly had room for the rhinoceros video.”

  Rush glanced at his script. “Yeah, well, you might want to drop it from the Seven O’clock.”

  “Oh no, you don’t—drop the rhinoceros!” said Susan.

  “You just do your job!” Tina snapped. “I’ll decide what gets dropped!”

  Susan closed right up, knowing better than to say another word. She took a deep breath, swiveled back to the console, and went back to doing her job. “All right, Camera Two, head-on to Ali. And, Camera One, you’ll be doing Barry’s commentary . . .”

  JOHN COULD FEEL the chill coming from Ali’s side of the news desk, but he stayed professional, getting ready for the next section. He’d delivered the story, but the adventure wasn’t over yet. There was still the
rest of this newscast, and there was still the Seven O’clock.

  CHAPTER 34

  GOVERNOR HIRAM SLATER said good evening to Bryan the chauffeur and went in the back door of the mansion, carrying his coffee-stained overcoat over his arm.

  He found Alice the maid busy in the kitchen, putting dinner together. She was a very sweet older gal, a widow. She and her late husband had been friends of the family for years.

  “Hi, Governor.”

  He didn’t look her way when he said, “Hi, Alice.”

  She noticed his sullen mood. “Oh, tough day?”

  He stopped and softened enough to chuckle at his own misfortune, unfolding the overcoat for her to see. “Spilled coffee on my coat . . .”

  She immediately took it from him. “Well, don’t you worry. You just let Alice take care of it.”

  “Where’s Ashley?”

  “Oh, out shopping for plants and bulbs, I think. She should be home any minute.”

  The governor almost felt stupid asking the question, but he had to ask. “Uh . . . where’d she go—Warren’s Nursery?”

  “Oh, right. That’s what she said. They’re having a sale right now.”

  “So she . . . well, she wasn’t going anywhere else—to buy clothes or shoes or anything?”

  Alice laughed. “Oh dear, I wouldn’t know, Governor.”

  “Mm. Any mail?”

  She pointed to the kitchen table where all the mail was routinely placed for his perusal. He could see there were no packages of any kind.

  “Have any packages come today—anything from UPS?”

  “No. The mail on the table is all there is.”