To the peoples of the world it mattered not what had caused the sign, only that there had been one. And that from out of the land of Great Britain, great things were surely now to come!
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“Tim…” the President spoke angrily to his chief of security and operations at the White House on the Monday night. “…I want you to implement your plan with the Cardinal as soon as you can. We need a really good PR programme to get people to stop believing that the return of the Messiah will happen in England. Get the Cardinal on board, and pull any strings you can to help get him elected Pope. I can’t think of anything better to help turn this round than a few press releases issued directly from the Vatican playing down the British fire show. As soon as he’s in office get him to start talking about the 'false signs of the devil' and ‘the real comet’ which has still to come...and arrange a few nukes to go off above America somewhere…create a light show in the sky the like of which has never been seen before, and make sure that the world believes it is the so-called holy comet marking out America as the chosen birthplace of the Messiah!”
“But Sir…an atmospheric nuclear explosion would lead to thousands of American casualties from radiation poisoning?”
“So? Just do it!”
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A week later the ceremonial white smoke drifted up into the air from the towers in Saint Peters Square in the Vatican, signifying that the Sacred College of Cardinals had elected a new Pope to become God’s appointed and anointed representative in His Church on Earth. All across the world, billions of people prayed for the new Pope Peter, formerly Cardinal Laurentin from France.
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Chapter Forty Four
Oxford, England
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It was a strange time for those in the Haissem team in Oxford. As they watched the affairs developing in the world around them the responsibility that they felt began to weigh heavily upon them. Their work became more serious, and an unspoken belief began to develop amongst them that they had been ‘chosen’ to complete a sacred task. Even Jason, who had never had any real religious beliefs in his life and had rebelled against his Jewish upbringing, began to ask some basic questions about life, and on the Sunday morning before the comet appeared above England later that day, he asked if he could accompany Don to the church he now attended regularly. When Louisa heard that Jason was going she decided to tag along too, and no one was really surprised when the Professor made an impromptu appearance in the congregation as well, spotted by Louisa arriving ten minutes after the service had begun and taking his place quietly beside a smiling, good looking, middle aged man dressed in black in the back row of the church. The Professor’s neighbour caught Louisa's gaze for a second, and she returned his bright, friendly smile.
“Look..” Louisa nudged Don quietly as the three of them sat listening to the minister welcoming them all to the service. “…the Prof’s just arrived!”
Don swivelled round in the pew to wave at the Professor, who gave Don a wink in reply. Just as Don was turning back in his seat, he recognised the man the Professor was sitting beside. He was the same man that Don had seen standing so suspiciously outside the lab a few weeks before, and twice since then.
"Ah…mystery solved" Don told himself. "He's a friend of the Professor's."
The sermon that day touched on the recent newspaper reports of a resurgence in belief throughout the country, about the religious gatherings and rallies in Jerusalem which had recently taken place and finally about how undoubtedly 'God was calling His people'. Although Louisa spent most of the time thinking about Mike, Don sat rapt throughout the thirty minute monologue by the minister. Jason didn’t follow much of what the minister had to say, but instead he found himself thinking seriously about God, Jesus and the whole religious debate. He was jealous of Don, who had obviously found something special in the past few months. And as he looked over his shoulder again at the Professor sitting at the back of the church, he noticed that once again the Professor was smiling. Since the treatment at the hospital had cured him, the years had started to drop off the Professor and if Jason hadn’t known that is was impossible, he could have sworn that the Professor was actually getting younger!
From the Professor’s perspective, as he watched the three members of his team sitting at the front of the church Mathew Wainright felt guilty that he couldn’t tell them of the miraculous events in his life. He wanted to tell them about his new found beliefs, about his personal experience of God…his cure…his new lease of life and the happiness that he’d found, but he felt that he couldn’t. He had an almost tangible feeling within him that God did not want him to say anything, and he wouldn’t. He just hoped that the people who knew him would see the change in him and would know that he was now following a God other than science.
When the service came to an end, the Professor spoke briefly with the man sitting beside him before making his way through with the rest of the congregation to the church hall for tea and biscuits. Oddly enough, the man seemed to know the Professor and spoke to him by name, even though the Professor was absolutely sure he had never met him before.
When the Professor joined the others who were huddled around the table with the free biscuits on them, the conversation turned to talk of the comet.
“Did you see it in the sky this morning? It’s amazing.”
“Strange that he didn’t mention the comet in his speech..” Jason pointed out.
“...It wasn’t a ‘speech’ Jason…it was a sermon. And actually, he did talk about it! He spent at least ten minutes talking about it, and about the rallies in Jerusalem, and the rest of the time he talked about the Second Coming, and what that should mean to us. Where were you? Were you asleep?”
“…Oops, maybe I was…I’m not very good at this Christian church thing...maybe I shouldn’t even be here…it’s just that I had this sort of compulsion to come, to see what the Christian perspective on all this was.”
“…Me too.” Louisa chirped up. “ …I wanted to pray and get some divine guidance on what clothes I’m going to buy this afternoon…I’ve seen two fantastic blouses in this shop in...”
The others burst into laughter. Trust Louisa to bring the topic back to the most important topic in the world - shopping for clothes.
After the free tea and biscuits Jason invited everyone over to the Lamb and Flag for a bit of liquid refreshment and Sunday lunch.
They were still there at three o’clock when there was a loud scream from the street and everyone in the pub ran outside to see what was happening. The Haissem team emerged from the bar to find that the comet had just passed directly overhead and that the sky was ablaze with glowing fire, which the comet had left in its path through the upper atmosphere. For a good eight seconds the burning atmospheric gases continued to burn and radiate light and the people in the streets below stood watching in awe and fear.
To some, the heavenly signs were a source of real excitement, and they laughed and joked and shouted in amazement to each other. Others though, were so scared by the mysterious signs in the sky above that they began to cry.
The Professor just looked at Jason, Don and Louisa and smiled.
“Well, looks like it's official then! The Messiah is going to be born in England...you can’t beat that for an official vote of confidence, can you? God has announced the result before we’ve even done it! Let’s hope we don’t let him down.”
“Somehow I don’t think we will. But...and I say this with all due respect, Sunday is our day off, so let’s not talk about work anymore. Let’s talk about the fact that it's your round again, and I’m really thirsty.” And with that Jason put his arm around the Professors shoulder and guided them all back into the pub and up to the bar, leaving the rest of humanity out on the street staring excitedly at the sky above.
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&nb
sp; The Professor had just returned to the group with the next round, who were sitting alone in the room at the back of the pub making quite a lot of noise, and had just finished handing out the drinks, when a slow, deep voice interrupted them.
"May I join you?"
They all looked up to see where the voice had come from. The man standing in the doorway was about thirty-five, about five foot eight, slim, dark haired and quite handsome. The smell of expensive cologne added to his dark suit to create an air of sophistication.
It was Don's mystery man, the stranger who had been sitting beside the Professor in Church earlier that morning. There was an awkward silence as the members of the team looked at each other to see if anyone was going to welcome the man to the group. When no one volunteered an invitation, the Professor spoke for them.
"I'm sorry, but we're having a private celebration at the moment, and…"
"Oh, I understand. Normally, I wouldn’t want to intrude but I believe I have something to tell you that may be of interest to you all."
Don was next to speak. He wanted to know who the man was.
"May I ask who you are, and what it is that may be of so much interest to us?"
Without waiting for the invitation which was obviously not going to be forthcoming, the man smiled charmingly and sat down at the table.
"Please don’t consider it rude of me if I refrain from admitting my true name. Shall we just say, my name is Patrick? Don't worry. I'm a friend…one of the good guys."
As he spoke he pulled out a wallet, flicking it open to reveal a shining silver badge, and a plastic coated identity card which he handed over to the Professor to examine. The Professor took it, examined the card and whistled quietly.
"MI5? I didn't know they existed anymore..." The Professor said, handing back the wallet.
"Oh...well I can assure you we do. Mathew, would you mind please closing the door?"
The Professor looked slightly surprised as the stranger addressed him by name again, but obliged by reaching for the door and closing it tightly behind them. They were alone in the room now.
"I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself to you, since you’re all together. It's been difficult catching you all like this outside the lab."
"I've seen you around, standing outside the lab...and at the church this morning..." Don broke in.
"Yes. I've been watching you. I wanted to let you know I was there, but it's never been the right moment to introduce myself. Until now that is. I have something to tell you, but the church wasn't the best place..."
"Why have you been watching us?" The Professor asked coyly, making it clear to the rest of the group that it would be best to pretend as if they weren't doing anything special that might be of interest to the British intelligence forces. On the other hand, they needed to know exactly what 'Patrick' knew.
"I wanted to talk to you about the 'Haissem Project'. It's got a lot of attention. From us, ...and the Americans."
The stranger studied their faces, looking for recognition of his words. The Professor, Don and Jason feigned ignorance, their features becoming automatic masks of confusion. Only Louisa let the side down, looking automatically at the Professor for guidance, the change in the light in her eyes signifying recognition.
"I'm sorry? The what project? And who are you exactly?" Jason spoke for the first time.
"All I can say is that I work for a small group of people in the, shall we say, the 'government', who know all about the work you are doing. A small but powerful group of people who support your efforts...and want to protect you so that you can get on with it."
"I'm sorry. We're not getting you at all..." The Professor tried to interrupt him, but the stranger immediately raised a hand and spoke over him.
"Let's not play games. Have you heard of the Echelon system? I think you have, and that’s why you have the most up-to-date private encrypted network money can buy. In spite of your precautions we know what the Haissem project is. We know...."
At the back of his mind, the Professor made a mental note to congratulate himself later. He knew all about the Echelon system: the UK government's hybrid electronic surveillance spy network which made it possible for the government to listen to and record every phone conversation, email and electronic transmission in the country. Except those at the I.G.E.G.G.M. labs.
To ensure the security of all the goings on at the I.G.E.G.G.M. and protect against all forms of unwanted electronic surveillance, he had installed the very best Virtual Private Network in his lab. At the cost of almost a hundred thousand euros, this ensured that all the computers and phones in the labs and the offices of the I.G.E.G.G.M belonged to a private secure network. This meant that all internal and external calls terminating on the phones within the I.G.E.G.G.M. would utilise the latest form of holographic neural network encryption algorithms, thus making normal conversation and data transmission possible without worrying about anyone being able to electronically eavesdrop on their conversations or data transmissions. The I.G.E.G.G.M. was a state of the art research institution and could not afford for anyone to steal their knowledge. At the I.G.E.G.G.M. 'private' meant private.
So how exactly did MI5 know about the Haissem project then? And what did they know?
Patrick continued, "…but we are worried that perhaps you are not aware of one thing...and we wanted to tell you...I'm afraid the Americans, God bless their cotton socks, stole the Crown of Thorns from you, and replaced it with a fake. The Crown you gave back to the French was not the real one…"
The stranger could see that behind the masks the group before him were so obviously wearing, that their minds were working fast and furiously. This was a game of bluff. And double bluff. In actual fact MI5 knew only the basics about the Haissem project. They needed to find out more...
"It's okay, I know you are all pretending not to know what I'm talking about, but let me assure you for the last time that we do already know all about your project. But don't worry, we haven’t been listening to your phones, or tapping into your computers or anything. We couldn't even if we wanted to, your security system certainly prevents us from doing that. But we did pick up a few transmissions from the American embassy to Washington. We cracked their codes a long time ago...and I'd be pleased if you didn't tell anyone that…" Patrick deliberately admitted, hoping to gain their trust.
"....After all, we're all on the same side here, aren't we? " The stranger paused, letting his words sink in.
"Why are you telling us this? It's no secret we were working on the Crown of Thorns to authenticate its origin for the French Catholic church?" Jason asked.
"…Or were you trying to clone Jesus Christ?…" Again, the stranger paused theatrically, then continued. "…the point is that we want you to succeed. We are completely behind you...of course, there are those in the government who would be absolutely horrified if they found out what you were doing, so we've kept general awareness of the Haissem project pretty restricted…only a small, select, group know. Powerful people who would like to ensure that the clone of Jesus Christ is born in the UK and not in America. Or that at least we have one too…our own, home grown, British Jesus Christ, if you will..."
"...The thing is though, you must understand that the United Kingdom is the chief signatory to the World Guidelines on Cloning, the international agreement Britain championed in 2004. What you guys are doing breaks most of the rules...It's not exactly 'PC ' is it? So we can't support you openly. It has to be a bit secretive. I'm sorry."
No one spoke. The group were giving away nothing. For a second Patrick considered asking them some questions about the Haissem project. There was so much his team needed to know, but his highly trained senses could tell that the group were not about to tell him anything..
"…Okay, but I just wanted to let you know. Just in case it influences any of your work, and I wanted to assure you that if there was anything I could do...anything....I will! You can call me on this number if you need me..." He handed a card to
Jason, on which was printed a telephone number in blue ink.
"…But please deal only with me. We don't want anyone else finding out about this, do we? Well, apart from that I just wanted to assure you that we won't interfere with you guys at all. We think you’re doing a fantastic job, and obviously somebody else thinks so too…" the stranger tried to crack a little joke, waiving his arm in the air and referring to God and the comet's display in the sky outside the pub only moments before. No one laughed.
"Fine, well, that's me then. Don't forget, ‘anything’ I can do for you. In the meantime, I may be keeping an eye out for you from time to time...you can think of me as your guardian angel if you want to...yes, I like that. Your Guardian Angel!"
The stranger rose from his chair, looking around the table and smiling at each of them, one after the other. Then he turned, and walked slowly out of the door.
No one spoke. Jason got up and followed the man out, checking that he had definitely gone. He came back into the room and closed it behind him.
"Okay…he's gone. " He sat down again at the table, his voice suddenly quite serious. "This doesn't change anything. Fine, okay, so MI5 know. At least we don't have to worry any more whether or not we should tell the British government, but it's obvious even though they know something, they don't know much. He was hoping to trade information…'I'll tell you something if you tell me something'. But he didn't tell us anything new, and he won't get anything from us. We carry on as normal, but from now on we just make sure that we're doubly tight on security. We don't trust anyone, especially MI5. Remember what we agreed! We're not going to let anyone get their hands on the infant clones. We have to protect their rights to grow up as free as possible…"
A round of nodding heads.
"Come then children, let's get back to the serious business of the day...'Cheers!' ", the Professor lifted his beer in salute to the others, "...and here's to our little secret!"
The Messiah Conspiracy - A gripping page-turning Medical Thriller - [Omnibus Edition containing Book 1 & Book 2] Page 22
