The Broadcast

by Liam Fialkov

  “How far back in time will the show go?” asked Jennie Scott of the magazine Entertainment News “and will we get to see the dinosaurs?”

  “At this stage,” Lindsey answered, “we don’t intend on going so far back, as there are technological limitations that I won’t get into. The current season of The Broadcast will go back in time until the year zero AD.”

  “Does that mean that we will get to see Jesus and the crucifixion?” asked Carlos Martinez, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune.

  “I don’t know,” Lindsey honestly answered.

  “Will we get to see the holy temple in Jerusalem?” Patricia Bernstein, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, asked.

  “If there was a temple, it is likely that we’ll see it,” Walter Lindsey replied.

  ***

  “Interesting,” Sarah said.

  “Walter’s answers?” Jonathan wondered.

  “I mean that they are going back in time toward the year zero AD, and the temple. Do you remember our trip to Israel and our visit in Jerusalem?

  “How can I forget?” he replied. “I especially remember the acute panic attack that I had by the Dead Sea.”

  “But we also visited Jerusalem, and we’ve seen the holy sites,” she said, “It seems to me like ages ago.”

  “More than fifteen years,” he said, “and the religions’ striving to gain control over those holy sites, has led to vicious wars and bloodshed.”

  ***

  The trip to Israel was their third trip outside the US. It came after their trip to Peru, where they visited Machu Picchu, and the trip to England, where Jonathan went to see Stonehenge.

  Although Sarah had severed her connection with the Christian religion, she was still fascinated by the image of Jesus, and she wanted to visit the places where he walked, taught, healed, and died. She detested the preachers and other religious messengers, but she continued to believe that Jesus, the man, had pure intentions, that he was righteous, and that he emanated compassion.

  Jonathan was attracted to the land of Israel because in the book Chariots of the Gods, author, Erich von Däniken used quotes from the Bible, which allegedly point to the presence of aliens from outer space in the ancient world. For instance, in the book of Genesis: “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4, English Standard Version).

  Von Däniken also quoted the book of Ezekiel and claimed that the description matched that of a spacecraft: “I looked and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of man.” (Ezekiel 1:4)

  Jonathan prepared for the journey in his erudite way, and read books about the history of the land of Israel during different periods of time. He learned about the Jewish wars against the Roman Empire, about the Crusaders and their battles against the Muslims, and about the more recent history and the return of Jews to their homeland.

  The couple flew to Israel in economy class. At the airport near Tel Aviv, they took a bus to Jerusalem, where they checked in at a modestly priced hotel. They spent five days in the famous metropolis, touring around the many sites, slowly absorbing the shades and fragrances of the unique, ancient city. They preferred touring without a guide, arriving at places that attracted them with a map and GPS. They walked in the Via Dolorosa from the Muslim Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and Jonathan mentioned that it was not known for certain what the actual path of the Via Dolorosa was. They visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, considered to be one of the holiest sites for Christianity, where, according to Christian belief, Jesus was crucified.

  Sarah kneeled down in front of the statue of the merciful Jesus, portrayed as being painfully crucified. She closed her eyes, prayed, and tried to sense the sacredness of the place. But she didn’t succeed in bringing the image of the crucified into her mind’s eye, as she used to when she stayed at the monastery. Her thoughts took her to another being, which she imagined to have blue eyes and curly black hair; her son Daniel, who accompanied her wherever she went, and he had come with her to the holy land as well.

  They visited the Wailing Wall, and Sarah didn’t know why she was overcome by emotions, and her hands trembled, when she inserted a note in the cracks between the big rocks, asking to embrace a child of her own.

  They joined a tour of the Temple Mount, and Sarah was impressed by the grand mosque, the Dome of the Rock, so she asked Jonathan to take a picture of her standing in front of the mosque.

  Jonathan, who had read about the complicated history of the Temple Mount, reached for his camera. “This is the place,” he said while aiming the camera, “where the Jewish temple used to stand, and from where Jesus drove out the money changers.

  When Sarah was in high school, she didn’t excel in history, though not necessarily because the subjects didn’t interest her. On the contrary, history had always fascinated her, and she used to imagine herself living in different earlier eras. But the school system and the continuous repetition over the same materials had usually made her bored; which was why she used to scribble in her notebook during the lessons, paying little attention to the content that the teacher tried to convey.

  “So if this is where the Jewish temple used to be, how come there are mosques here today?” she asked Jonathan.

  “The Jewish temple was destroyed by the Romans years before the Muslims showed up.” he answered.

  “And the Jews didn’t object to the Muslims building a mosque on the ruins of their temple?” Sarah continued to inquire into history’s complicated turns of events.

  “The Romans expelled a large portion of the Jewish population to be slaves in exile, and the few who remained were no match for the mighty Muslim army.” Jonathan continued to explain and show his knowledge.

  “But why didn’t the Jews rebuild their temple after the Romans left and before the Muslims arrived?” Sarah continued to wonder.

  “This is not entirely clear to me,” he admitted. “Maybe because the Byzantine Christians prevented them and maybe because they believed they should wait for the Messiah.” Jonathan shrugged his shoulders.

  “It’s a pity that humanity didn’t have cameras in ancient times,” Sarah said. “That way we would be able to look at our past directly.”

  Jonathan was surprised at his wife’s unexpected wish. “The historians and archeologists did most of the work for us,” he said. “And to a large extent, they recreated the historical occurrences.”

  After a few days in Jerusalem, Jonathan wished to go and visit the Dead Sea, and he knew to tell his wife that the Dead Sea is the lowest place on Earth. He told Sarah that the sea is considered to have medicinal qualities due to the unique chemical composition of its water.

  Sarah was glad to leave Jerusalem. After a few busy days of visiting ancient archeological sites, the reality of the city started to burden her, and she began to sense the charged emotions of people of different religions, and the hostility between them.

  They made a reservation for two nights at a hotel in the area of Ein Bokek and took a bus to the salted sea.

  On the way, Jonathan told Sarah that according to Erich von Däniken, the event in which God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with brimstone and fire, was actually an atom bomb that was dropped by aliens from outer space who visited planet Earth in ancient eras.

  “And why would they do such a thing?” Sarah wondered.

  “The truth is that I don’t agree with all of Von Däniken’s claims,” Jonathan acknowledged, “But I’m still curious to see the place.”

  “And I’m looking forward to a relaxing vacation over there,” Sarah smiled.

  They checked in to a hotel not far from the waterfront, and o
n the following day they went down to the sea, dressed in bathing suits and carrying towels on their shoulders. At the end of the winter, they could enjoy warm and pleasant temperatures, without the unbearable heat typical of that place during the summer.

  They dipped in the sea and floated on the salty water, enjoying the unique experience. When they stepped out of the calm water, they washed off the salt in showers that were located on the beach, and then they laid in reclining plastic chairs under a large sun umbrella. Sarah rubbed her body with the unique mud, promising to contain medicinal qualities that she’d bought at a nearby kiosk.

  Jonathan was absorbed by the serenity and quietness of the place. He bought a bottle of cold grapefruit juice and slowly sipped it, enjoying the taste. He was grateful that the site didn’t have mighty loudspeakers that would disturb the calmness with annoying, loud music.

  Sarah dug in her bag, looking for the book she had brought with her, a psychological thriller. The sun sparkled at them, sending its caressing light from the sky, from the water, and from the salt that accumulated on the shores.

  Jonathan’s ears caught a muffled sound of thunder, far away. He gazed upward and wondered about the source of the rumble because there were no clouds in the blue sky. His wife slowly turned a page in her book. Perhaps the noise came from a passing airplane, he thought to himself. He watched the people around, some of them floating leisurely on the water, others covered with the unique mud, which is known to remove toxins from the body and give the skin a shiny, fresh look. Everything was immersed in tranquility, and no one was in a hurry to go anywhere.

  And then he heard another thunderclap, closer and much louder than the first one. Once again he looked up at the clear blue sky.

  “Where is a sound of thunder coming from?” He turned to his wife, who was absorbed in her book.

  “What thunder? I haven’t heard anything,” she casually answered.

  Her voice sounded bizarre and muted, as if breaking through an invisible wall. He immediately became tense. He looked all around; supposedly nothing had changed, and still, he felt the strange ambiance that trickled and penetrated the site. Were the people around examining him through the corner of their eyes? Were they hostile toward him? Did they know something negative about him?

  Another crash of thunder exploded right above him in an enormously loud blast, and he frightfully jumped off his chair.

  “What happened?” Sarah lifted her head from the book.

  “You don’t hear it?!” he yelled at her. A few of the people who were nearby curiously turned their heads.

  “Jonathan, what don’t I hear?” Sara laid down her book.

  All of a sudden he was gripped by panic. His breathing became strenuous and cold sweat covered his body. Now he knew for certain; some terrible thing was going to happen. He groaned under a muffled chest pain. He fearfully stared into the distance, trying to assess where the catastrophe would come from. Maybe a huge water wave will flood them away, here, at the lowest point on earth? Maybe brimstone and fire would rain from the sky, as it had already happened in this area, when Sodom and Gomorrah were demolished. And what kind of place is it which is called ‘The Dead Sea,’ if not the place where they would reach their demise.

  He suddenly got the message; he must warn them so they would save their lives.

  “Run! Run away!” he started screaming while moving frantically among the startled people, who were leisurely lying in their plastic recliners. “Run! Something is going to happen!” A frightened Jonathan disturbed the tranquility of the place.”

  “Jonathan, that’s enough!” Sarah came after him, still covered with mud, and wrapped a towel around his shaking body. “Stop screaming,” she softly said. “Nothing is happening, and you are worrying people for no reason.” She fondly embraced him. “Let’s go back to the hotel,” she said. “You just had a panic attack, try to take deep breaths.”

  He let her take him without resistance. His breath started to return to normal, and he calmed down, although he still felt tingling in his body.

  “I embarrassed myself,” he said in a subdued voice.

  “It wasn’t so bad,” she said lightly. “They probably think that an American tourist had smoked something.”

  “I don’t know what took hold of me,” he felt the need to explain himself. “Everything was so peaceful, and suddenly, out of the silence, I felt a horrible panic, as if something fatal was about to happen.”

  “Let’s get something to eat,” Sarah suggested. “I’m sure that after you eat, you will feel much better.”

  It was the couple’s last trip outside the US.

  Chapter 41

  Michael

  The curiosity about The Broadcast and what was behind it didn’t subside and continued to dwell in Michael’s mind, even after he withdrew from the detective task that Stewart McPherson had handed him.

  Like many in the American public who wondered about the source of the films, Michael didn’t stop trying to figure out the question. But unlike the general public, he worked at TXB, where the show was produced, and he was also close to the show’s producer. More than once he had considered simply approaching Walter and asking him, but for some reason, he felt that it would be a breach of the trust that was established between them. He hoped that Walter would initiate sharing the information with him—that he would reveal to him what he had hidden from the whole world. But Michael saw and accepted that the producer drew a clear line between his personal and his professional life. Maybe his band members knew? And maybe he could extract the information out of them? If only to satisfy his curiosity.

  The only one among Walter’s close friends and band members who, like Michael, worked at TXB, was Julian; a friendly person who was known as a talented film director. Julian was the rhythm guitar player and lead singer of the band. He was always accurate in singing the right pitch, and although his voice was somewhat raspy, Michael thought that his vocal sound was pleasant.

  One day, Michael went to eat lunch late. The cafeteria was almost empty, and the employees were busy cleaning and organizing the place. When Michael finished getting his meal and paying for it at the cash register, he noticed Julian, who was sitting at a table by himself. Michael decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

  “May I sit with you?” Michael politely asked Julian.

  “Always,” Julian answered, and raised his eyes from the paper he was examining, having a wide, welcoming smile on his face. He looked like he was about fifty years old, a tall man, his hair was a light and faded brown, and his face had several deep wrinkles.

  “May I ask you about something I’m very curious about?” Michael decided to approach him directly and not beat around the bush.

  “Always,” Julian nodded when he repeated his answer.

  Do you know what the source of the films of The Broadcast is?”

  Julian contemplated the question for a few seconds. “Yes,” he unequivocally replied, and looked directly at Michael.

  Michael hoped that he would volunteer more details, but Julian just continued to examine him with playful eyes.

  “Could you be more specific?” Michael asked.

  “No,” Julian explicitly said, and somberly looked at Michael. “My friend, you are asking the wrong person,” he said. “If you feel that you must know the answer, then you should turn to Walter.”

  “I don’t want to take advantage of my connection with him,” Michael honestly said, and he thought that Walter was not only a friend and a band member, but he was also the father of Melanie.

  “I understand,” Julian said, “but I cannot help you in this matter.” He started to collect his dishes, preparing to leave the cafeteria.

  “Could you just tell me if the films are authentic?” Michael tried a different direction.

  “Define what you mean by authentic,” Julian got up, looked at Michael and seemed amused.

  “Do they show the events as they took place in real time?”

  �
�Definitely,” Julian put on his jacket.

  “Are you involved in the production?” Michael questioned.

  “Who said there was a production?” Julian solemnly gazed at him, and then went on his way.

  ***

  As a little child, Michael was not happy when his sister Lily came into the world and joined the family. He was worried that he would have to share his parents’ love and attention, which until then was mostly dedicated to him. When he expressed his apprehension to his parents, they did their best to assure him that their hearts were big enough to love both of their kids and that he had no reason to worry.

  And indeed, within a short time his fears subsided and he fell in love with his little sister, who astounded him with her innocence, her beauty and sweetness, and brought a new light to his life. Even as a small child, he felt that it was his duty to protect her and that the world could be a dangerous place for the innocent, joyful, and fragile little girl.

  “Lily, you are such a good girl, and you’re so beautiful.” The kindergarten teacher was delighted with her. From an early age, Lily knew that the surrounding environment had assigned her the role of being the good, beautiful girl. That’s what she absorbed from her parents, and that’s what her teachers told her. And little Lily was not comfortable with that assertion, and with the expectations that came with it.

  Lily knew, of course, that she was a pretty girl. When she was brushing her straight, blond hair and looking at her image that reflected from the mirror, she recognized what everyone saw, her beauty. She liked to look and examine her delicate facial features, her big and clear green eyes, her little pug nose, and her cute mouth.

  But Lily didn’t know whether she was a “good” girl. Deep inside, she suspected that she was not truly good. She recognized her selfishness, her ability to manipulate those around her, and the resentment that she held every once in a while toward her parents, her brother, her girlfriends, and her teachers. She was aware of an inner need to rebel against the world around her. She recognized the desire to go wild, unrestrained, undisciplined, and be a bad girl.