by Tim LaHaye
Buck wondered if One Who Knows was Rayford’s and Mac’s new brother inside GC headquarters. “Intriguing,” Buck said. “Now are you ready for some good news?”
Tsion put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “The daily improvement in this precious little one is good news enough for me. Unless you are talking about Israel.”
Chloe said, “I’ll forgive that condescending remark, Tsion, because I’m sure no insult was intended.”
Tsion looked puzzled.
“Forgive her,” Buck said. “She’s going through a twenty-two-year-old’s bout with political correctness.”
Chloe leveled her eyes at Buck. “Excuse me for saying this in front of Tsion, Cameron, but that truly offended me.”
“OK,” Buck said quickly, “guilty. I’m sorry. But I’m about to tell Tsion he’s going to get his wish—”
“Yes!” Tsion exulted.
“And, Chloe, I don’t have the energy to fight over whether you’re going.”
“Then let’s not fight. I’m going.”
“Oh, no!” Tsion said. “You must not! You are not nearly up to it.”
“Tsion! It’s not for another month. By then I’ll—”
“Another month?” Tsion said. “Why so long? I am ready now. I must go soon. The people are clamoring for it, and I believe God wants me there.”
“We’re concerned about security, Tsion,” Buck said. “A month will also allow us to get as many of the witnesses there as possible from around the world.”
“But a month!”
“Works for me,” Chloe said. “I’ll be walking on my own by then.”
Buck shook his head.
Tsion was already in his own world. “You do not need to worry about security, Cameron. God will protect me. He will protect the witnesses. I do not know about other believers. I know they are sealed, but I do not know yet if they are also supernaturally protected during this time of harvest.”
“If God can protect you,” Chloe said, “he can protect me.”
Buck said, “Chloe, you know I have your best interest at heart. I’d love for you to go. I never miss you more than when I’m away from you in Jerusalem.”
“Then tell me why I can’t go.”
“I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. I can’t risk it.”
“I’m just as vulnerable here, Buck. Every day is a risk. Why are we allowed to risk your life and not mine?”
Buck had no answer. He scrambled for one. “Hattie will be that much closer to her delivery date. She’ll need you. And what about our child?”
“I won’t even be showing by then, Buck. I’ll be three months along. You’re going to need me. Who’s going to handle logistics? I’ll be communicating with thousands of people on the Internet, arranging these meetings. It only makes sense that I show up.”
“You haven’t answered the Hattie question.”
“Hattie’s more independent than I am. She would want me to go. She can take care of herself.”
Buck was losing, and he knew it. He looked away, unwilling to give in so soon. Yes, he was being protective. “It’s just that I so recently nearly lost you.”
“Listen to yourself, Buck. I knew enough to get out of that house before it crushed me. You can’t blame that flying roof on me.”
“We’ll see how healthy you are in a few weeks.”
“I’ll start packing.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Don’t parent me, Buck. Seriously, I don’t have a problem submitting to you because I know how much you love me. I’m willing to obey you even when you’re wrong. But don’t be unreasonable. And don’t be wrong if you don’t have to be. You know I’m going to do what you say, and I’ll even get over it if you make me miss out on one of the greatest events in history. But don’t do it out of some old-fashioned, macho sense of protecting the little woman. I’ll take this pity and help for just so long, and then I want back in the game full-time. I thought that was one of the things you liked about me.”
It was. Pride kept him from agreeing right then. He’d give it a day or two and then tell her he’d come to a decision. Her eyes were boring into his. It was clear she was eager to win this one. He tried to stare her down and lost. He glanced at Tsion.
“Listen to her,” Tsion said.
“You keep out of it,” Buck said, smiling. “I don’t need to be ganged up on. I thought you were on my side. I thought you would agree that this was no place for—”
“For what?” Chloe said. “A girl? The ‘little woman’? An injured, pregnant woman? Am I still a member of the Tribulation Force, or have I been demoted to mascot now?”
Buck had interviewed heads of state easier than this.
“You can’t defend this one, Buck,” she added.
“You want to just pin me while I’m down,” Buck said.
“I won’t say another word,” she said.
Buck chuckled. “That’ll be the day.”
“If you two chauvinists will excuse me, I want to try Hattie again. We’re going to have a telephone meeting of the weak sister club.”
Buck flinched. “Hey! You weren’t going to say another word.”
“Well then get out of here so you don’t have to listen.”
“I need to call Ritz anyway. When you reach Hattie, be sure and find out what name she was admitted under there.”
Buck went to follow Tsion up the stairs, but Chloe called out to him.
“C’mere a minute, big guy.” He turned to face her. She beckoned him closer. “C’mon,” she said. She lifted her arm, the one with the cast from shoulder to wrist, and hooked him with it behind the neck. She pulled his face to hers and kissed him long and hard. He pulled back and smiled shyly. “You’re so easy,” she whispered.
“Who loves ya, baby?” he said, heading for the stairs again.
“Hey,” she said, “if you see my husband up there, tell him I’m tired of sleeping alone.”
Rayford listened through the bugging device as Peter Mathews and Leon Fortunato spent the last hour and a half of the flight arguing over protocol for their arrival in Dallas. Mathews, of course, prevailed on nearly every point.
The regional ambassador, the former U.S. senator from Texas, had arranged for limousines, a red carpet, an official welcome and greeting, and even a marching band. Fortunato spent half an hour on the phone with the ambassador’s people, slowly reading the official announcement and presentation of honored guests that was to be read as he and Mathews disembarked. Though Rayford could hear only Fortunato’s end of the conversation, it was clear the ambassador’s people were barely tolerating this presumption.
After Fortunato and Mathews had showered and changed for the occasion, Leon buzzed the cockpit.
“I would like you gentlemen to assist the ground crew with the exit stairs as soon as we have come to a stop.”
“Before postflight checks?” Mac said, giving Rayford a look as if this was one of the dumbest things he had ever heard. Rayford shrugged.
“Yes, before postflight checks,” Fortunato said. “Be sure everything is in order, tell the cabin crew to wait until after the welcoming ceremony to deplane, and you two should be last off.”
Mac switched off the intercom. “If we’re putting off postflight checks, we’ll be the last off all right. Wouldn’t you think priority would be making sure this rig is airworthy for the return trip?”
“He figures we’ve got thirty-six hours, we can do it anytime.”
“I was trained to check the important stuff while it’s hot.”
“Me too,” Rayford said. “But we’ll do what we’re told when we’re told, and you know why?”
“Tell me, O Supreme Excellent Pilot.”
“Because the red carpet ain’t for us.”
“Doesn’t that just break your heart?” Mac said.
Rayford updated ground control as Mac followed the signalman’s directions to the tarmac and a small grandstand area where the public, the ban
d, and dignitaries waited. Rayford peered out at the ragtag musicians. “Wonder where they got this bunch?” he said. “And how many they had with them before the quake.”
The signalman directed Mac to the edge of the carpet and crossed his coned flashlights to signify a slow stop. “Watch this,” Mac said.
“Careful, you rascal,” Rayford said.
At the last instant, Mac rolled over the end of the red carpet.
“Did I do that?” he asked.
“You’re bad.”
Once the stairs were in place, the band was finished, and the dignitaries were situated, the Global Community ambassador stepped to the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced with great solemnity, “representing His Excellency, Global Community Potentate Nicolae Carpathia, Supreme Commander Leonardo Fortunato!”
The crowd broke into cheering and applause as Leon waved and made his way down the steps.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the personal attendants from the office of the Supreme Pontiff of Enigma Babylon One World Faith!”
The reaction was subdued as the crowd seemed to wonder if these two young people had names, and if so, why they were not mentioned.
After a pause long enough to make people wonder if anyone else was aboard, Mathews stepped near the door but stayed out of sight. Rayford stood by the cockpit, waiting to start the postflight check when the folderol was over. “I’m waiting,” Mathews sing-songed to himself. “I’m not stepping out until I’m announced.”
Rayford was tempted to poke his head out and say, “Announce Pete!” He restrained himself. Finally Fortunato trotted back up the steps. He didn’t come far enough to see Mathews just beyond the edge of the door. He stopped when he saw Rayford and mouthed, “Is he ready?” Rayford nodded. Leon skipped back down the steps and whispered to the ambassador.
“Ladies and gentlemen, from Enigma Babylon One World Faith, Pontifex Maximus Peter the Second!”
The band struck up, the crowd erupted, and Mathews stepped to the doorway, waiting for several beats and looking humbled at the generous response. He solemnly descended, waving a blessing as he went.
As the welcoming speeches droned, Rayford grabbed his clipboard and settled into the cockpit. Mac said, “Ladies and gentlemen! First officer of the Condor 216, with a lifetime batting average of—”
Rayford smacked him on the shoulder with his clipboard. “Knock it off, you idiot.”
“How are you feeling, Ken?” Buck asked over the phone.
“I’ve been better. There are days that hospital looks pretty good. But I’m a far sight better than I was last time I saw you. I’m supposed to get the stitches out Monday.”
“I’ve got another job for you, if you’re up to it.”
“I’m always game. Where we goin’?”
“Denver.”
“Hmm. The old airport’s open there, they tell me. The new one will probably never be open again.”
“We pick up an hour going, and I told my client I’d pick her up by noon.”
“Another damsel in distress?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. You got wheels?”
“Yep.”
“I need you to pick me up on the way this time. Need to leave a vehicle here.”
“I’d like to check in on Chloe anyway,” Ken said. “How’s she doing?”
“Come see for yourself.”
“I better get goin’ if you’re gonna keep your commitment. You never schedule a lot of play time, do ya?”
“Sorry. Hey, Ken, did you check out that Web site I told you about?”
“Yeah. I’ve spent a good bit of time there.”
“Come to any conclusions?”
“I need to talk to you about that.”
“We’ll have time in the air.”
“I appreciate your giving me so much flying time on this trip,” Mac said as he and Rayford left the plane.
“I had an ulterior motive. I know the FAA rules are out the window now that Carpathia is a law unto himself, but I still follow the maximum flying hours rules.”
“So do I. You going somewhere?”
“As soon as you teach me how to get around in the Challenger. I’d like to drop in on my daughter and surprise her. Buck gave me directions.”
“Good for you.”
“What are you gonna do, Mac?”
“Hole up here awhile. I got some buddies I might look up a couple hundred miles west. If I can track them down, I’ll use the chopper.”
Ken Ritz’s Suburban came rumbling around the back of the house just before nine.
“Somebody wants to see you when you’re halfway conscious,” Buck said.
“Find out if he wants to arm wrestle,” Chloe said.
“Aren’t you getting frisky?”
Tsion was on his way down the stairs when Buck met Ken at the back door. Ken wore cowboy boots, blue jeans, a long-sleeve khaki shirt, and a cowboy hat. “I know we’re in a hurry,” he said, “but where’s the patient?”
“Right here, Dr. Airplane,” Chloe said. She hobbled to the kitchen door. Ken tipped his hat.
“You can do better than that, cowboy,” she said, extending her good arm for a hug. He hurried to her.
“You sure look a lot better than the last time I saw you,” he said.
“Thanks. So do you.”
He laughed. “I am a lot better. Notice anything different about me?”
“A little better color, I think,” Buck said. “And you might have gained a pound in the last day or two.”
“Never shows on this frame,” Ritz said.
“It has been a long time, Mr. Ritz,” Tsion said.
Ritz shook the rabbi’s hand. “Hey, we all look healthier than last time, don’t we?”
“We really need to get going,” Buck said.
“So nobody notices anything different about me, huh?” Ken said. “You can’t see it in my face? It doesn’t show?”
“What?” Chloe said. “Are you pregnant too?”
As the others laughed, Ken took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “First day I’ve been able to get a hat on this sore head.”
“So that’s what’s different?” Buck said.
“That, and this.” Ken ran his hand through his hair again, and this time left it atop his head with his hair pulled out of the way. “Maybe it shows on my forehead. I can see yours. Can you see mine?”
CHAPTER 16
Rayford made the approach for yet another landing in the Challenger 3. “They’re getting tired of me hogging this runway. If I can’t get it right, you may have to fly me to Illinois.”
“Dallas Tower to Charlie Tango, over.”
Rayford raised an eyebrow. “See what I mean?”
“I’ll get it,” Mac said. “This is Charlie Tango, over.”
“Tango X-ray message for Condor 216 captain, over.”
“Go ahead with TX message, tower, over.”
“Subject is to call Supreme Commander at the following number. . . .”
Mac wrote it down.
“What now?” Rayford wondered aloud. He put the screaming jet down for his smoothest landing of the morning.
“Why don’t you take her back up,” Mac said, “then I’ll take over while you call Captain Kangaroo.”
“That’s Supreme Commander Kangaroo to you, pal,” Rayford said. He lined up the Challenger and hurtled down the runway at three hundred miles an hour. Once he was in the air and leveled off, Mac took the controls.
Rayford reached Fortunato at the ambassador’s residence. “I expected an immediate call,” Leon said.
“I’m in the middle of a training maneuver.”
“I have an assignment for you.”
“I have plans today, sir. Do I have a choice?”
“This is straight from the top.”
“My question remains.”
“No, you have no choice. If this delays our return, we will inform the respective ambassadors. His Excellency requests that you fly to Denver to
day.”
Denver?
“I’m not ready to fly this thing solo yet,” Rayford said. “Is this something my first officer can handle?”
“Intelligence sources have located the subject we asked you to communicate with. Follow?”
“I follow.”
“His Excellency would appreciate his message being delivered as soon as possible, in person.”
“What’s the rush?”
“The subject is at a Global Community facility that can assist in determining the consequences of the response.”
“She’s at an abortion clinic?”
“Captain Steele! This is an unsecured transmission!”
“I may have to fly commercial.”
“Just get there today. GC personnel are stalling the subject.”
“Before you go, Cameron,” Tsion said, “we must thank the Lord for our new brother.”
Buck, Chloe, Tsion, and Ken huddled in the kitchen. Tsion put a hand on Ken’s back and looked up. “Lord God Almighty, your Word tells us the angels rejoice with us over Ken Ritz. We believe the prophecy of a great soul harvest, and we thank you that Ken is merely one of the first of many millions who will be swept into your kingdom over the next few years. We know many will suffer and die at the hands of Antichrist, but their eternal fate is sealed. We pray especially that our new brother develops a hunger for your Word, that he possesses the boldness of Christ in the face of persecution, and that he be used to bring others into the family. And now may the God of peace himself sanctify us completely, and may our spirits, souls, and bodies be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that he who called us is faithful, who will also do it. We pray in the matchless name of Jesus, the Messiah and our Redeemer.”
Ken brushed tears from his cheeks, put his hat on, and pulled it down over his eyes. “Hoo boy! That’s what I call some prayin’!”
Tsion trotted upstairs and returned with a dog-eared paperback book called How to Begin the Christian Life.
