Evolution

by Jim Reilly

  Pastor Charles shook his head. “I know that you’re just saying that for my benefit, and I pray that you’ll be OK, but can you do me a favor?”

  “Sure, anything, Charles,” answered Cardinal Polanski.

  “Please take good care of Sha’nay. She is a very special woman. Ever since she was a child, she has been a great source of wisdom for me and to the people around her. Her professors and teachers at school were impressed with her as to how knowledgeable she is with religious texts. One even said that she is so knowledgeable that it seems that she knows the texts as well as the people who wrote them. Even as a teenager, when we were able to organize Bible reading among the regional churches, she would conjecture about the writings with the best of them. She was a great resource if I needed a quote from the good book for a Sunday sermon. ”

  Cardinal Polanski admitted, “You don’t have to tell me. I’ve seen her in action at our council meetings. If you had a disagreement over a particular text, she was a formidable one to argue with.”

  Charles agreed, “Yeah, anyone could see she would be just as valuable here, but she talked her way onto the team anyway. She is bright; I have to give her that.”

  Then as he thought about her going on this mission, he thought about her qualities, “This child is innocent and good. She has no pride or wants and is happy just helping others. She is a rare find, and I hope a hard mission like this does not spoil such a good child.” The two old friends then hugged and headed to their rooms early.

  The next evening, the team embarked on the mission in some of the United Nations’ newest vehicles, utilizing much of the technology learned from the Ancient Visitors’ spacecraft. These vehicles could perform like a plane, a submarine, or anything in between. Invisible to all radar, the vehicles traveled at speeds that made them a blur to the human eye, but the passengers inside felt no jolts, even during sudden stops. There was a time that a flight from Hamburg to Jerusalem would have taken hours; now it took minutes. For the people on the team, there was not much time to over-think the mission or be nervous.

  The vehicles reached their destination outside of the Lions’ Gate of the old city of Jerusalem in an old Catholic cemetery. Once out of the vehicle, the squad leaders signaled without speaking to exit the vehicle and form a perimeter until the ships left. When the vehicles flew off, the team of forty, accompanied by Cardinal Polanski and Sha’nay Barnwell, entered the old city through the Lions’ Gate, where they met four individuals who had subdued the armed Followers of Divinity military personnel, who now lay on the ground unconscious.

  The team secured the gate entrance, and a squad leader brought the four over to Colonel John, who said, “Well done.”

  One of them said, “Thank you, and it is good to see you. We had an opportunity to get to them before they noticed your arrival. My name is Gabe, and the others are Mike, Ralph, and Uri. We do work at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Usually we do masonry work on the church grounds, and Father Ulrich asked us to help.”

  An appreciative Colonel John said, “Whoever you are, nice work. What can you tell us about Bishop Terapion and his security?”

  Gabe told them, “The bishop is about to hold a news conference outside of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The security is tight with many military personnel surrounding him, and the streets have security on every corner. At the moment he’s trying to gain the trust of the city’s people, and the military only have small arms with no show of powerful weapons.”

  Colonel John reacted, “Good, then maybe this is a good time to get to him.” Then he instructed Gabe and the others to fall back with Polanski and Sha’nay.

  When they reached Cardinal Polanski, he asked them, “I noticed new construction on the Temple Mount. What is it?”

  Gabe replied, “Rumor has it that Bishop Terapion is having the seat of their government moved there.”

  Cardinal Polanski then thought out loud, “Gee, it looks big enough to hold only one seat…hmm.”

  Colonel John then motioned that they head into the old city. As they moved down Lions’ Gate Street and were about to get on to Via Dolorosa, there was a sudden and hard shake felt through the ground. Colonel John held the team from advancing and said into his communication link, “Was that manmade or natural?”

  Back at the control center in Hamburg, Field Marshal Montgomery was monitoring the mission and watching every movement through the cameras mounted on each team member. She yelled, “What was that, people?”

  A few moments later, a major said, “That was an earth tremor. They are frequent in that area. The World Earthquake Warning Center issued a warning. The seismologists say that earthquakes take place all the time in the Rift Valley, and a major earthquake is due in the next few months when the Jordanian Plate moves a few inches. It is estimated to be about a 4.0 on the Richter scale. Minor building damage and no life loss is expected. What they felt is a small initial jolt before the bigger one in a few months. They should be OK to continue.”

  Field Marshal Montgomery instructed, “Colonel, proceed with the mission.”

  Back in New York at the United Nations’ building, the Secretary General and his staff listened in on the mission and watched it through a satellite video feed in a secure conference room. He turned to his Science Minister. “Jennifer, do you concur with the field marshal?”

  After looking at her miniature computer screen on her eyeglasses and viewing the up-to-date information, she said, “I concur with the field marshal and will let you know if there is a change.”

  He said, “There are a million things that can go wrong with this mission, and even though we looked into each one, it’s the one we didn’t think of that will screw everything up. So please let me know if anything changes.”

  As Colonel John motioned his people to advance through the Muslim sector down to Via Dolorosa, Bishop Terapion began his news conference. “People of the world, I am here in Jerusalem, the city of God, to offer the world peace. I stand before you with an olive branch I want to offer to the Secretary General of the United Nations. It is time for peace, and we would like to negotiate a truce so that our two sides can put down their arms and live together in peace.”

  At that point the Secretary General spoke up to the people in the conference room and at the control center, “Do we scrub the mission and talk peace terms with him? We might be able to save lives, and it can give us more time to figure out how to deal with this alien imposter. What do you advise?”

  While many on the staff leaned toward discussing peace, Cardinal Polanski was heard over the communication link: “Mr. Secretary General, I implore you to continue with the mission. Whether you believe in what is written about the end of days or not, the coincidences here are too much to ignore, and we must see this through and capture this alien being. We have seen him build where he wants to rule, on the temple of God.”

  Imam Rashoni and Rabbi Wolmetz were in the city and linked into the conversation. Imam Rashoni added, “We are at the Noble Sanctuary or, to some of you, the Temple Mount, and we can see the construction. We agree wholeheartedly with Cardinal Polanski. Bishop Terapion is definitely building himself a throne to rule on.”

  Cardinal Polanski then reentered the conversation: “The antichrist is a master deceiver who is one of Satan’s angels of evil and will con his way to the leadership of the world. You should stay the course and show the world what he is and not talk peace with him.”

  The Secretary General paused to think for a minute and instructed, “Please proceed with the mission and issue the statement now!”

  Bishop Terapion finished his declaration, and all the newscasters were given the response to Bishop Terapion’s news conference. Each put it up on the virtual screen for all to read. It said: “Even though we welcome Bishop Terapion’s offer for peace, we can’t accept it from him until we can confirm his origin. We have information that Bishop Terapion is in fact an Ancient Visitor sent here to disrupt our development, and he is not who he claims to be. Le
t us test him to put the question to bed, and then if he is who he says he is, we can go forward.”

  Seeing that on the virtual screen like everyone else in the world, Bishop Terapion went into a rage and accused, “This is why we are at war with the United Nations. Their treachery has no bounds, and they make up lies just to be deceitful in order to trick you all into staying in your sinful ways. I extend my hand in peace, and these evildoers throw it back at me. So you see, they don’t have the capacity to know what is good.”

  Then the Secretary General came on live. “People of the world, don’t listen to this fraud. He is not human and does not have your best interests at heart. He is using his charismatic way of speaking and manipulating people’s personal religious faith for the purpose of dividing us. Together we are strong, but they don’t want us to be strong. They want us to submit.”

  Bishop Terapion attacked back, “Maybe you’re the alien, and we should not be listening to you.”

  An assured Secretary General countered, “No problem. I will agree to a blood test, but will you?” At that moment the evidence was put on the virtual screen along with a recording of Monsignor Grazzani’s testimony.

  There was silence as people and Bishop Terapion’s security guards around him watched Monsignor Grazzani tell his story. When it was over some of the people around him were asking, “Can you please tell us this is not true?”

  Without warning, the ground shook again, lightly but noticeably. The people in the crowd paused again as they were startled, but when it was over, they pestered him again about the Secretary General’s accusations, and that was when Colonel John’s team surrounded the news conference.

  After seeing himself surrounded, Bishop Terapion fired back, “Look at the treachery right before you. They lurk in the darkness and sneak in among you. How can you trust such deceitfulness? You have not seen that from me! For I have led you and let your voices be heard in this sinful world. Go now and battle these forces of evil, and even if you fall, you will be rewarded in heaven with riches beyond your imagination.”

  That was when Colonel John spoke out, “We don’t want anyone to get hurt, and only came here to test Bishop Terapion’s blood. We have a doctor here who can do the test on the spot. If any of you have medical training and want to witness the testing, we would welcome it. Our only purpose is to make sure Bishop Terapion is of this planet, and if he is not, then to take him into custody. If he is human, then we will accept being kept as prisoners.”

  Cardinal Polanski spoke up, knowing the crowd as people of strong religious belief, “It is written that you should beware of a deceiver, or a false prophet that will seemingly provide for your needs and will proclaim himself the risen Messiah. Do not follow the beast, for he will bring on the reign of Satan.”

  Sensing that the crowd would accept their testing of him and with Colonel John’s team getting closer, Bishop Terapion reacted as one who would not be taken. He threw straight up into the air what looked like a small ball. About fifteen feet into the air, it seemed to implode, and then exploded outward. There was no loud noise, only momentary disorientation of the crowd and Colonel John’s team. As the team tried to gather their senses and aim their weapons toward Bishop Terapion, he took out a device in one hand, pointed it at those closest to him and fired heartlessly into the crowd, sending out a pulse that fanned out fifty feet, melting flesh and bone. Bishop Terapion’s other hand was covered by a metallic glove that projected a type of force field in front of him, repelling shots fired from the team’s weapons.

  As the exchange went on between the team and Bishop Terapion, Sha’nay ran over to Cardinal Polanski, who was now lying on the ground in pain, his lower leg melted away. As she pulled him from the killing zone, he thought about what Charles had asked him and he yelled to her, “Leave me, child, and find cover. Save yourself.”

  But she did not listen, and with the help of Gabe and Mike, she pulled Cardinal Polanski safely behind a building and placed his back to the wall as he sat there holding his leg.

  Since the force field only covered one side of Bishop Terapion, the members that were left of the team spread out, firing on him from different sides. Forced to retreat, the bishop ran toward David Street with the six remaining team members in pursuit. As he started running, the ground began to tremble under their feet. It was stronger than the previous jolts. People ran for cover away from shattering window glass and small pieces of the old building as they started to crumble off the sides. Colonel John, though he still led his team, had been injured and had lost vision in one of his eyes.

  While still next to Cardinal Polanski, Mike peered around the building and turned to Sha’nay as if he were reporting. “He is on the move and most likely heading toward Jaffa Gate. If we go down this road, we can outflank him at David Street.”

  As they were leaving, Cardinal Polanski yelled, “Where are you going? It’s too dangerous! Stay here!” Unhearing, Sha’nay ran down the narrow street with Gabe, Mike, Ralph, and Uri in tow. As Imam Rashoni and Rabbi Wolmetz finally reached the team, Cardinal Polanski called them over to help carry him.

  When Bishop Terapion reached David Street, he headed toward Jaffe Gate, but Colonel John and his people had run down an adjacent street to block the bishop from the exit. As the bishop aimed his weapon toward them, the ground shook again even stronger, and part of a building standing between Bishop Terapion and Colonel John’s team collapsed, forming a barrier between them. Bishop Terapion turned to head the other way when Sha’nay, leading Gabe, Mike, Ralph, and Uri, ran toward him as he pulled up his weapon.

  Back at the control center, Field Marshal Montgomery shouted over the communication link, “Colonel John, what is your status?” as a cloud of debris blocked her vision.

  Colonel John replied, “We had part of a building fall in front of us, and we are now attempting to climb over it.”

  On the other side, Bishop Terapion aimed his weapon toward Sha’nay and the four behind her, but it did not fire. She ran right up to him, and he looked at her for a moment. Then he screamed with surprise and fright, “It’s you!”

  Then a split-second later, more of the building collapsed on Bishop Terapion, killing him. Sha’nay went down on one knee beside him and said, “Rest now,” with her hand on him.

  Colonel John’s team climbed over the rubble and held their weapons at the ready, pausing at the sight of the body of Bishop Terapion with his dark green blood pooling in the street. Coming up behind Sha’nay were Cardinal Polanski, Imam Rashoni, and Rabbi Wolmetz. When Cardinal Polanski arrived, he was thrilled Sha’nay was OK and relieved that the false prophet was no more.

  The Secretary General anxiously asked, “What’s going on? We can’t see anything through the cloud of dust. Field Marshal Montgomery, Colonel John, or anyone, please tell us what is happening! Can anyone tell us?”

  Colonel John answered, “The target is eliminated, and from what I could see, our fears were correct, and he was not who he said he was. He is right now lying on the ground in a pool of green blood.”

  Montgomery asked, “Colonel John, how did he meet his demise?”

  Cardinal Polanski cut off Colonel John and said, “God got him. I mean, it was an act of God. The earthquake caused the building to come down on him.”

  While Colonel John asked for medical assistance for all the wounded, people walked up to view the blood and the alien the lying on the ground. Within seconds, they used their personal communication devices to broadcast images of the alien around the world.

  Back at the control center, Montgomery ordered, “Send in the help they need, and let’s get our wounded people back here.”

  The UN Secretary General added, “Please make sure our people are taken care of, and let’s get our condolences out to the people we lost. Field Marshal, please contact the military leaders of the Followers of Divinity to show them the truth of their former leader. Let them know Bishop Terapion deceived them, and as a matter of fact, he deceived us all. Then advise them t
hat we want to talk about ending this conflict and living together in peace.”

  The Secretary General asked all media outlets to give him airtime, and within seconds he was addressing the globe. “People of the world, all people of the world, we have seen how, when we don’t respect the belief of others, it leads to conflict. Since the beginning of time, people have looked at others, and if they were different then they were in conflict. Whether it was politics, religion, or race, we seem to look at any other who is different as the enemy. Today we learned that an Ancient Visitor made himself out as one of us as a way to deceive us and cause havoc. He made us fight brother against brother. What he really did was take our fear of others who are different and add to those fears so that action would be taken. Action that he justified as needed, but in reality, it hurt others unnecessarily and many lost their lives.

  “However, this Ancient Visitor did nothing we have not done ourselves. Our history is filled with examples of one group taking advantage of another. We have enslaved, raped, stolen, lied, and killed for our selfish gains. This should not be the reality for our descendants. We need to say today that from this moment forward we are one people, and respect for others should be the number one aspiration for us all. The energy we used in conflict with each other would be best served working together. Man has a future, and I believe it is a bright one. We can accomplish anything together. Thank you, my brothers and sisters, for listening to me today, and please go live in peace.”

  Later, back in Hamburg, Pastor Charles visited Cardinal Polanski at the hospital to see how he was doing.

  “Hey, Charles, it is good to see you,” the cardinal said.

  “How are you, Dan?”

  “I’m fine. Losing part of my leg was a small price to pay. The alternative would have been much worse if the beast had grabbed control of the world and put us all into slavery. Besides, with technology today, I will have a new leg in a few weeks, toes and all. But Charles, you didn’t come here to talk about my leg, did you? So, what’s on your mind?”