Arrived

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  The people around the table tried to stand and salute, but only half of them could make it out of their chairs. Judd wondered what difference it made, since none of them could see each other.

  The general staggered to the table and sat.

  The others collapsed in their chairs, and a woman pushed a weird-looking phone forward. “Chief Akbar wants us to call as soon as the meeting begins.”

  “Yes, I know. The potentate won’t be here?”

  “In this blackness?” a man to his right said. “We’re lucky to have found our way from only a few blocks away.”

  The general punched the numbers slowly, and Judd recognized Suhail Akbar’s voice on the speakerphone.

  “Chief Akbar, can you give us an update on the situation?” the general said.

  “I just returned from a meeting with the potentate. It appears that he is the only one we’ve found who can see in this most recent … phenomenon. You’ll be pleased to know his presence actually provides a glow.”

  “How much of a glow?”

  “Only about three feet around him, but it is quite comforting to know he has this situation under control. You will be encouraged to know that New Babylon is, at the moment, the only area affected by this blackout. Other countries have reported no loss of light, so it appears this is an isolated incident.”

  “Does anyone at the palace know why this happened?” someone said.

  Akbar paused. “It may be a side effect of the heat wave, or it could be another electromagnetic phenomenon. No matter what the cause, the potentate assures us that it will pass very soon.”

  “Does the potentate know about the suicides?” another man said. “We can’t work in this cursed darkness. It took me two hours just to find my way here, and it’s only a ten-minute walk. And the pain. Are we to believe the pain we feel is caused by leftover effects of the sun?”

  “I understand your concerns, and believe me, everyone at the palace is doing their best to provide relief. We are using your idea of loudspeakers here near the palace and should have a message from the Most High Reverend Father to calm the fears of those who have been affected.”

  Akbar cleared his throat. “The current concern is with the Island facility. As you know, the potentate has considered closing this, and now he is anxious about the prisoners there.”

  “Why is he anxious?” the general said.

  “The Island is the only camp for Jews in the blacked-out area. He is requesting that you go ahead with extermination plans of all prisoners immediately.”

  Judd glanced at Westin and Gunther who both looked horrified.

  “How do you propose we do that since we can’t even see the prisoners?” a man in front of Judd said.

  “We have every confidence that you will find a way. Shoot them. Gas them. Burn them. The potentate doesn’t care how you accomplish this, just that it gets done.”

  “If that is the potentate’s wish, we shall oblige,” the general said. “We will communicate with the guards there and inform them of our plan.”

  The phone clicked and went dead. The general dialed the number again, but there was no response. Judd noticed Gunther had knelt and was doing something at the wall. He motioned for Judd and Westin and held up the phone cord he had pulled from the wall. Then he held up his cell phone and pointed toward the group at the table.

  He wants us to take all the cell phones! Judd thought.

  Judd moved to the end of the room and began collecting the phones placed on the table.

  There was a flurry of activity in the room as they tried to get Akbar back on the line.

  “Someone just took my cell phone,” a woman said.

  “Mine’s gone too,” a man shouted.

  Gunther motioned to the door, and Judd and Westin moved quickly toward it. The general dialed his cell phone, but before Suhail Akbar answered, Gunther grabbed the phone from the general. Gunther raced outside and closed the door. “Terribly sorry about the technical difficulty, Chief Akbar. We’ll get on the Island operation right away.”

  “Good,” Akbar said as Gunther held the phone out for Judd to hear. “I’ll inform the potentate that this matter will be cared for today.”

  “It certainly will,” Gunther said.

  10

  WHILE Westin returned to the hotel, Judd and Gunther blocked the conference room door. The general screamed and two Peacekeepers came fumbling toward them, their guns raised, but Gunther disarmed them quickly and sent them running.

  Gunther returned with a hammer, nails, and blocks of wood he had found in a workshop area. “That should give us some time.”

  Judd followed Gunther to an electrical box a floor below, and the two spent a few minutes tearing out all of the phone wires. When they were through, they raced upstairs and locked the front door. A crowd had gathered at the aid station below as people pushed and jockeyed for food and water.

  An hour later Westin returned, and Judd squeezed into a squad car with Gunther and the others headed for the Island. Judd dialed Chang Wong and told him their plan.

  “I support your efforts,” Chang said, “but I’m worried you won’t get back in time for our flight to Petra. Captain Steele is on his way now.”

  “I’ll have to take my chances,” Judd said. “This mission we’re on is a matter of life and death.”

  Gunther made a phone call of his own, informing their other contact in New Babylon, Otto Weser, about the deaths of Rainer and Klaus. Judd could tell Gunther was trying to smooth over the rift the group had had with Otto.

  “Let us know when you and the others are planning to get out of here,” Gunther said.

  Because of the distance to the Island and the fact that they had to drive so slowly, it took them a few hours to make it to the concentration camp. They drove by an open field, and Judd noticed towers that seemed to reach into the sky. “Is this thing surrounded by razor wire?”

  Gunther stopped the car, stepped out, and picked up a stick. “Worse than that. Watch.”

  He heaved the stick toward the field and it stopped in midair, sizzling, crackling, and falling to the ground.

  “It’s a new kind of electric fence. Anyone who runs past the checkpoints and heads for this thing is toast.”

  “So there’s only one way in?” Judd said.

  Gunther nodded. “And one way out.”

  The car stopped and the group got out. Zvi asked to join the rescue since he had known some of the men inside.

  Gunther pursed his lips and nodded. “First we go in and disarm the guards. Hopefully they know nothing about the order from Carpathia. Stay calm and let me do the talking.”

  Judd’s heart pounded like a freight train as he and the others quietly walked the perimeter to the front gate. Two guards, one tall and lanky, the other shorter and smoking a cigarette, stood near the gate.

  “Wonder when our relief will get here,” the tall one said, scratching his head. “I can’t see my watch, but we’ve had to have been here more than eight hours.”

  “I don’t know how they can expect us to work in this,” the shorter one moaned.

  “Attention!” Gunther yelled.

  One guard pointed his rifle toward Gunther’s voice, and the other stood straight.

  “General Showalter and his group are here for the inspection. You did get the message from the palace, did you not?” Gunther shoved an ID card into the man’s hand and the guard looked down, a puzzled look on his face.

  “We haven’t heard a thing, sir,” the short one said, flinging his cigarette to the ground. Judd wondered how the man had lit it without being able to see the flame. “We’ve had some communication problems, General, my apology.”

  Westin took up the ruse and lowered his voice. “I understand. You boys are doing a good job out here.” He patted the short one on the back. “Prisoners are still here, right? You haven’t let them get away?”

  “No, sir,” the short one said. “We’ve been right here all night … or day. Whichever. I can’t tel
l anymore.” He paused. “Uh, sir, are you able to see?”

  “New goggles,” Westin said. “We should have a shipment for you in a day or two.”

  “Where’s the motor pool?” Gunther said. “You still have transport vehicles here, right?”

  “Yes, sir,” the tall one said. He started to point, then bit his lip. “They’re at the north end of the compound.

  Outside the fence.”

  “Good,” Gunther said, grabbing a radio from the guard shack. “Radio us immediately if there’s any kind of problem.”

  “Yes, sir,” the tall one said. “Do you want us to notify—?”

  “No, this is a surprise inspection. Not a word to anyone.”

  “Yes, sir. Not a word, sir.”

  “You, come with us,” Westin said.

  “Me, sir?” the short one said.

  “Yes. We’ll need you to show us around.”

  “But, sir, I can’t see.”

  “No problem. Just give me your gun so you don’t trip and kill us all, and tell me where to go.”

  Judd squeezed past the other guard and followed Westin, Gunther, and the guard down the paved road that led to the prison. Zvi followed.

  The entrance to the camp was a looming, creepy archway with a likeness of Nicolae carved into it. Climbing up a few steps, they faced a series of doors.

  “How do we get inside without announcing our arrival?” Westin said.

  “I can use my key, sir,” the guard said.

  “Let me have it,” Gunther said.

  He put the key in and the doors clicked. A few paces and they were inside. “Looks like your friends in here aren’t as alert as you are,” Gunther said.

  “The others are probably near the prisoners, sir.”

  “Take us to them. Are they all in one area?”

  “The cells run in a horseshoe shape around the outside of the building. In the middle is the common area where the prisoners are now. And then there’s the …well …”

  “The torture area?” Westin said. “Come on, man. You’re not used to that yet?”

  “No, sir, I can’t get used to the screaming. That’s one reason why they put me outside.”

  “Take us to this common area then,” Westin barked.

  The guard told them which way to go, and Westin and Gunther led the way. As far as Judd knew, the guard didn’t know he and Zvi were there.

  Through thick Plexiglas, Judd spotted the common area. There were no chairs or benches, basketball hoops, or anything he would have normally thought of as being in a prison yard. It was simply an area filled with dirt. Men stood leaning against the building, some lying down. He noticed some scratching and moaning in pain.

  With Westin’s help, the guard led them down a flight of stairs and through a security area. Two more guards stopped them.

  Westin put on his General Showalter act again. “I want you to round up all the guards who are inside and have them meet us in the torture room.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Within ten minutes all the guards had gathered near a door. At Westin’s request they put their guns down outside the room and went inside. Judd couldn’t believe how easily the men gave up their weapons.

  When Westin had the door locked, they went into the common area and walked through the prisoners. Judd saw no one with the mark of the believer and only a few with the mark of Carpathia.

  Gunther turned to Judd. “You did such a good job with Zvi, I’m going to give you the opportunity to speak with these men.”

  “Me?” Judd said.

  “Westin and I are going to try and get the juice turned off on that electric fence. Gather them up and do your thing.”

  Vicki awoke and looked around the room. They were back to sleeping during the day and staying up at night, and Vicki hadn’t adjusted yet. She had finally fallen asleep after her conversation with Judd, but now she was wide awake.

  The first person who came to mind was Chloe Williams. Odd. With Judd in New Babylon and going into such a dangerous situation, why would she think of Chloe? Was God trying to tell her something?

  She lay back on her bed and tried to get to sleep, but Chloe’s face kept coming to mind. Vicki prayed for her, for little Kenny, for Buck, and for the others who were living underground in San Diego.

  Before she fell asleep, she prayed again that Judd would receive wisdom from God about what to do in New Babylon.

  “Gentlemen, if I could have your attention,” Judd yelled. He had moved to the end of the horseshoe-shaped area. Zvi stood nearby. “Walk toward me. I have something important to say.”

  The men hobbled forward, some tripping over those on the ground. A few fell to the ground and crawled. Judd wondered how these men had kept from being burned during the heat wave. Most looked like walking skeletons, with hair falling out, and wearing ragged clothes.

  “What will you do to us next?” a toothless man shouted. “Haven’t you tortured us enough?”

  “I’m not here to torture you,” Judd said. “I come with good news. Your cries have been heard. This day you will have your freedom.”

  The men stared into the darkness, unable to understand what Judd was saying.

  Finally, the toothless man spoke again. “Do you mean you will finally let us die?”

  Judd took a breath. “My friends and I aren’t with the Global Community. We heard about your struggle and have taken advantage of the plague of darkness. We come to offer you sight, both physical and spiritual.”

  A murmur rose from the gathering. Some didn’t believe Judd and thought it was another GC trick. “They’re going to kill us all!” a man said.

  “That’s what you’ve been begging them to do for weeks,” another said. “Shut up and listen.”

  “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has caused this blackout,” Judd continued. “He foretold this day in his holy Word, warning people about the leader who would rise and come against his people, the Jews. That leader is Nicolae Carpathia, and he’s persecuting you because of your Jewish blood.

  “God caused everything from the disappearances, to the earthquake, to the stinging locusts, and all the rest, including this plague. It’s one of his final acts to get you to repent of your sins and come to him through his Son, the Messiah.”

  “This is another Judah-ite!” a man yelled. “We’ve had your kind in our midst before, trying to get us to pray to Jesus.”

  “We don’t want your religion,” the toothless man said, turning his back.

  “Listen to me,” Judd screamed. The men calmed as the hum of the electric fence shut off. “This may be your last chance. We are trying to get people to safety, but we won’t force you. If you want to hear more about the God who loves you and gave his life for you, please stay. We’ll provide you with food and shelter and safe passage to Petra when we can.”

  “And if we don’t want to listen?”

  “You’re free to go,” Judd shouted. “But I beg you not to squander this chance.”

  To Judd’s astonishment, hundreds of men scurried forward past him. They clawed at each other, cursed and spat upon those who fell in their way, and rushed away in a panic.

  When he turned back, only forty or fifty remained. Judd wondered how many of these were simply too scared to walk into the darkness.

  Judd gave the same message he had heard from Tsion Ben-Judah and Bruce Barnes. It was the same one he had seen transform old and young alike. He spoke of the prophecies that foretold the coming of the Messiah and how Jesus had fulfilled these verses. His heart welled up as he looked at the gaunt faces of the men.

  Zvi stepped forward and told his story. Before he had finished, several men asked, “What do we have to do?”

  Judd led them in a prayer, much like the one he had prayed with Zvi the day before. Several received the mark of the believer. They were shaking hands with each other, slapping each other’s backs, and praising God. Others who stood nearby asked why they were so happy, and the men told them they could see.
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br />   Westin walked up to Judd and pointed to the transport trucks. Judd told the new believers to follow Westin and said if any more were interested, they should grab on to him and follow. Like a winding kindergarten group, the men trudged through the darkness clinging to Judd.

  If only Vicki could see this, Judd thought.

  11

  JUDD stared at the odd mix of believers in the parking lot of the hotel. It was morning and they were all together now. Those who weren’t believers when they left the prison had since become convinced of the claims of Jesus. Judd wandered through the group while they ate breakfast or rested, catching the smiles of the men he had helped.

  Westin and Gunther knelt together by the front of the transport truck. Judd walked up as Gunther patted Westin on the shoulder. “It’s decided then.”

  “What’s decided?” Judd said.

  “We’re going to take advantage of this new manpower and put the Global Community on its heels,” Gunther said.

  “What are you talking about?” Judd said. “We have to get back to the airport and get to Petra.”

  Gunther stood and put an arm on Judd’s shoulder. “I understand, but we have pressing matters here.”

  Westin stood. “There are a lot more guillotines to destroy, and if we can get in Nicolae’s palace before this darkness lifts—”

  “But you can’t do that,” Judd said. “You might destroy valuable stuff the Trib Force needs.”

  “I don’t understand,” Gunther said.

  “We’ve had a guy on the inside for a long time, giving us information. You destroy their computer network and you’ve hurt the GC for maybe a week. But you’ll cripple the Trib Force’s efforts to know what’s going on.”

  “I had no idea there was someone on the inside,” Gunther said.

  Judd looked at his watch. “And he’s supposed to fly out of here sometime today.”

  Westin pursed his lips. “I still like the idea of staying and doing as much harm as we can while the lights are out.”

  “Agreed,” Gunther said.

  Judd rubbed his eyes and sighed. This trip to New Babylon was supposed to have been quick, in and out, but here he was, days after he had first arrived. He had helped men escape the clutches of the GC, and some had become believers, but he couldn’t help thinking about the safety of Petra.