“There were several options. First, we could try to find you, but I don’t think you had arrived. Apparently something went wrong on their end, so we started chariot racing. I wanted to be a rich man when I returned.
“Or we could search for the scrolls among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scientists knew where they were hidden. Or we could steal them from Shale, but we didn’t know her whereabouts.”
“What did you know about me?”
“That your father was involved with the Illuminati. He had an interest in Biblical antiquities, was a world-renowned linguistics expert, and had been involved with the Vatican for years.
“But it also raised suspicions that he created the scrolls, faked them, and then claimed them as authentic. I heard he was deeply in debt and needed money. I never heard how that turned out, but it made getting to the bottom of the scrolls urgent.”
Nidal studied me. “No one could explain how you ended up in the first century. You were a mystery but being Brutus’ daughter—rumors circulated.”
Daniel interrupted. “When I started racing against you, that was your opportunity, wasn’t it?”
Nidal nodded. “When you had the accident, we thought that was our chance. Cynisca had already told us where you lived, but when we went to your apartment, the scrolls weren’t there. Then we found your gold.”
Daniel ran his hand through his hair. “Makes me wonder if your father was involved, Shale.”
I didn’t get the connection. “How so?”
“Your father suggested I race chariots. Could he have known Nidal and Tariq were looking for me, already racing chariots, and set this up so they could get the scrolls? We know they are real. Perhaps he wanted to make a profit and was using you to make that happen.”
Could it be true?
Daniel turned his focus back to Nidal. “As I said, you were too soon. I didn’t have Shale’s scrolls when I was in Caesarea. And you were one day too soon going to Qumran. I found you unconscious on Robber’s Road the day after I hid them on my way back to Jerusalem.”
Nidal cast his eyes on the temple courtyard.
Daniel began pacing back and forth. “What happened to my father after that?”
“The last time I saw your father was when a scientist met me at the Perlsea Castle and took me to the Shiva Temple.”
Daniel stopped pacing. “You left my father at the castle?”
“Yes, but I had a dream that the great white dog of the north set him free.”
“Who is the white dog of the north?”
Nidal’s eyes drifted as he reminisced. “Legend says the dog of the north helps the trekkers when they become lost on Everest, or comforts them if they become injured. Sherpas have heard the stories. One I know was helped by the dog when he almost died. I dreamed that the white dog of the north rescued your father.”
“He couldn’t escape on his own?” Daniel asked.
Nidal shrugged. “The last day I went to the castle, Tariq wasn’t with me. He met me at the temple. I didn’t lock the door. Your father could have escaped.”
I put my hand on Daniel’s.
“When was this?” Daniel asked.
Nidal thought for a moment. “We left in 2014.”
“Before the earthquake,” Daniel whispered to me. “Why did you wait until now to tell me this? Why didn’t you tell me this back in Dothan?”
Resignation crossed Nidal’s face.
A few people walked nearby breaking the spell of the conversation. Again, Nidal waited until they left before saying anything else.
“I’m sorry,” he confessed. “I really am.” Nidal wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “You saved my life when you brought me to the inn. If it wasn’t for Doctor Luke, I would have died, but I didn’t know it was you who rescued me. It’s hard for me to understand. I stole your money, and you saved my life anyway.”
Daniel pressed. “Why didn’t you tell me in Dothan about my father?”
“I was afraid. When the scientists find out I’ve abandoned the mission, I don’t know what they’ll do. They are opening star gates everywhere. By now other things have probably come through. The yeti were only the beginning. That’s what they said.”
“When Doctor Luke removed the chip, did you know what would happen?”
“I knew they could no longer track me. I could stay here and never have to go back.”
“Did you know they would send someone to look for you?”
Nidal shook his head. “No.”
“Don’t you have family in the twenty-first century? Don’t you want to go back?”
Nidal glanced away. “I’ve had dreams since I’ve been here, bad dreams. I’m afraid to return. I think the scientists are going to bring about the end of the world. They have opened star gates. At the Shiva Temple and other places, aliens are coming, worse than the yeti. I know it, and I don’t want to be there when they arrive.”
CHAPTER 28
I WHISPERED TO Daniel. “Ask him about the dreams.”
“What kind of dreams?” Daniel asked.
Sweat streamed down Nidal’s cheeks. “I don’t want to tell you, except”—Nidal covered his eyes—“maybe it’s starting to make sense.”
“What is?” Daniel asked.
Nidal wiped off the perspiration. “In one dream, I was racing. Heaven peeled away, and a chariot of fire shot through the sky and came alongside me. If I sped up, he sped up. If I slowed down, he slowed down. Four golden cherubim were on both sides of the vehicle. A radiant, dazzling man sat on a glassy ceiling riding on the wings of the angels. Precious stones surrounded what appeared to be a throne. His majesty was so awesome I scarcely could look at him.
“I asked the man who he was. He said, ‘I sit in the chariot of God. I speak as God, and I am God.’ The heavenly being shone with the intensity of glowing metal. I wanted it to be Muhammad, as a representation of my faith, but I knew it was Jesus.
“Suddenly, lightning bolts flashed across the heavens, and a huge wind spiraled all around me. The chariot flew back into another dimension as the opening through which it appeared sealed. Terror seized my heart. Why didn’t I see Muhammad? Why did I see Jesus?
“Darkness blanketed the firmament. Electrical particles charged the hair on my arms, and I smelled rotten eggs. From out of the clouds, a UFO with flashing lights zigzagged across the heavens and shot towards me. Then I woke up.”
Nidal shuddered. “I keep having this same dream. A UFO is coming to get me. We passed dozens of them when we traveled here. The creatures inside the UFOs—they aren’t human. They are aliens.”
Daniel cupped his ear to block the background noise as more people and animals filled the temple mount. “You mean, when the scientists brought you and Tariq here, you saw UFOs in the tunnel?”
Nidal pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Yes. We traveled through different dimensions.”
“Is the real reason you don’t want to go back is because you’re afraid?” Daniel asked.
“Yes. It’s the truth. Without the computer chip, the scientists can’t track me. I’ve had many dreams. I asked Allah to take away this one but he hasn’t. Now I want to find Jesus.”
“Is Tariq a scientist?” Daniel asked.
Nidal shook his head. “He told me the scientists are using a powerful weapon to open star gates. They are opening portals between our world and another dimension. The tunnel was so cold I thought we would die of exposure before we arrived.”
Daniel leaned forward. “We’re in a spiritual dimension. In one sense, you’re right. The scientists are opening portals to another dimension—but it’s a spiritual dimension.”
“And we’re back in time,” I added.
Daniel squared his shoulders. “God is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He’s outside of time. Did Tariq tell you anything else about the scientists?”
“He said the scientists worshipped Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. He said they wanted to deconstruct the univer
se and recreate the big bang. The facility is based on the Swiss-French border. I asked him why these scrolls were so important. Tariq said the scientists wanted to erase history and rewrite it. They don’t want any historical record of Jesus.”
I interjected. “CERN.”
“What did you say?” Daniel asked.
The temple mount had become crowded, making it increasingly difficult to talk. I spoke up louder. “Can we go to another area where there are fewer people?”
Daniel motioned to Nidal. “Let’s take a tour.” He pointed to the temple. “The Romans destroyed this structure in 70 A.D. Some Jews want to rebuild it. Of course, the Dome of the Rock makes that impossible right now.”
The gold between the temple stones glistened in the noonday sun. Hundreds stood in line to make their fruit and grain offerings. Merchants had set up stands for visitors and travelers. The temple wasn’t just the center of worship. It was also the center for trade and business.
Nidal licked his parched lips. “I heard the disciple speaking in Nepali. I haven’t heard that language since I’ve been here.”
“You heard Peter speaking in Nepali?” Daniel asked.
Nidal nodded. “When I heard Peter speak, one thing impressed me.”
Daniel studied Nidal’s face. “What’s that?”
“How much Peter loved the prophet Jesus. He even quoted David, another prophet mentioned in the Quran, in relation to Jesus. I never knew there was a connection between the two prophets.”
Would Daniel take advantage of the opening? I wanted to jump in and ask questions, but I knew that would be inappropriate.
Fortunately, Daniel wasted no time. “David made many inferences in the Psalms to the coming Messiah.”
“Can you give me one?” Nidal asked.
“For example, David said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool.’ It’s in the Old Testament.”
I added, “And Peter said, ‘Jesus, who you crucified, was both Lord and Christ.’”
Nidal’s eyes focused on me.
“That’s right,” Daniel said. “That statement is from the New Testament.”
Nidal clasped his hands. “I don’t understand how Jesus could be both Lord and Christ.”
He raised his eyebrow and waved his hand, not waiting for a response from Daniel. “Thousands are in line to be—what was that word Peter used?”
“Baptized,” Daniel replied.
Nidal gestured. “All these people don’t seem to have a problem with it.”
“Three thousand are going to be baptized,” Daniel said.
“That many?” Drawing in a deep breath, Nidal shook his head. “I don’t understand all of this.”
The three of us gazed at the new followers of Jesus. What a defining moment in the history of the church, but was it enough to touch Nidal’s heart?
The Muslim nervously rubbed his hands. “Let me ask you a different question. Why DID Jesus die—if he did die?”
Daniel leaned forward. “Love motivated Jesus. He died for all of us. We deserve death, but Jesus died in our place, so we could spend eternity with him.”
Nidal glanced down at his sandals and pushed a loose stone aside. “You know, Islam tells us that Jesus didn’t die on the cross.”
Daniel scooted up closer. “Do you know that no one in history, out of the thousands who were crucified by the Romans, survived the crucifixion?”
“What do you mean?” Nidal asked.
“There isn’t a single recorded case of anyone ever crucified by the Romans who came down off the cross alive. Every person who was crucified by the Romans died. Don’t you think that if one person, especially someone as controversial as Jesus, had managed to survive, it would have been widely known and reported? Plus, think of the eyewitnesses who saw Jesus die. The scriptures also tell us the Roman guard speared him in the side to make sure he was dead.”
Nidal reflected on Daniel’s words, but remained quiet.
“Crucifixion is torture,” Daniel said, “and if by some chance Jesus did survive the crucifixion, do you think he could have made a full recovery based on the crude medical methods of this time period?”
“But how can you be sure?”
“As far as I know,” Daniel said, “there is very little dispute among most historians that Jesus died on the cross.”
“I wish I had a computer. I’d search it on Google, but I have a counterargument.”
Daniel brushed his hair back from his forehead. “What’s that?”
“I heard an Imam claim that Jesus’ body was replaced with the body of Judas.”
Daniel shook his head. “That would be impossible. Judas had already died when Jesus was crucified. The betrayer’s entails spilled out on the ground. That’s why the Jews had to sell the land. His blood had defiled it. Besides, dozens of people witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion, and Roman guards were present at his crucifixion the entire time.
“They took down Jesus’ dead body and gave it to his friends so they could prepare it for burial. They would have declared Jesus dead before they delivered his body to Joseph of Arimathea and the women.”
Daniel added. “Believe me when I tell you this. There is no way the Roman soldiers could have removed Jesus from the cross alive, retrieved the body of Judas that had been ripped wide open when he hung himself, and then nailed Judas to the cross in place of Jesus. That contradicts the historical record, and there were many people who stood by and watched. History would have recorded events differently.”
“I see what you are saying,” Nidal said, “but somehow the Muslim Imams make it sound so probable, so certain, that he didn’t die. They said it happen supernaturally. Allah did it without anyone knowing, but after hearing what Peter said, I’m not sure what to believe.”
Daniel crossed his arms and tilted his head. “People can sound very convincing, but when you study the historical record, when you look at the scriptures, when you find so many different sources that say the same thing, you have to examine more closely the authenticity of what they say.”
That seemed to satisfy Nidal.
Daniel gestured with his hand. “Also, if Allah exchanged the body of Jesus for Judas, the body would look different. The Roman guards would have recognized they were taking down a different man than the one whom they crucified.
“The Roman soldiers handed the body of Jesus to Joseph of Arimathea per order of Pontius Pilate. The mother of Jesus, who was with Joseph, would have recognized that the body the Roman guard handed them wasn’t that of her son if it was the body of Judas.”
I wasn’t sure if Nidal was going to ask any more questions until Daniel asked Nidal one.
“Did you know that all of the disciples were martyred except for one?”
Nidal’s eyes brightened. “Muslims also die for their belief in Islam. What makes Christians different?”
Daniel mulled over Nidal’s words. “That’s true, someone can be sincere and die for what they believe, but even Muslims wouldn’t die for a lie. They are only willing to die for something they believe is true. If the disciples knew that Jesus didn’t die on the cross, do you think they would have been willing to die?
“Probably not,” Nidal replied.
“They were willing to die because they knew Jesus had died on the cross. He had also predicted his death. When he died, the disciples remembered Jesus had said he would rise again in three days.”
“He said that?” Nidal asked.
“He did,” Daniel responded.
“How could anyone make a claim like that?”
“Only the Messiah,” Daniel replied.
CHAPTER 29
NIDAL REMAINED SKEPTICAL. “Christians say Jesus was God’s son.”
Daniel nodded. “That’s true.”
“Why would God allow his son to die on the cross?”
“God rescued us, as we rescued Shira. We risked our lives to save her and have adopted her. Would a loving father not do everything
in his power to take care of his child? Would he ever abandon his child on the streets? Or in the twenty-first century, sue her in a court of law?”
“Of course not,” Nidal said. “No loving father would do any of those things.”
Daniel pressed the point one step further. “If human fathers, who are imperfect, love their children imperfectly, would not a perfect God, who loves perfectly, sacrifice himself on the cross for his children—for you and me, whom he adopted, to the point of death on the cross?”
Nidal swallowed hard. “But how could Jesus be God and his son at the same time?”
Daniel held up his hands. “Nidal, I’m not an expert in these things, and some things are very hard to understand. The most learned experts debate these difficult concepts and have for the last two thousand years. But this much I do know. I’m a sinner, and it’s only by God’s grace I’m saved. That kind of grace is not free. God can’t ignore or excuse sin.
“God is so holy that no one can see him face to face. Only through Jesus can we see God. While our heavenly father deserves our utmost respect and honor, he doesn’t demand our worship. We worship him because he first loved us, and he showed us his love by sending Jesus, his only son, to die in our place on the cross.”
Nidal turned away, as if to hide his deeper feelings. “I’ve always had this longing for more. Hinduism left me empty. I thought Islam would fill me. I wanted to be acceptable to God. That’s why I did the Haj, to earn Allah’s favor.”
“You can’t do anything to earn God’s favor,” Daniel said.
Nidal’s eyes narrowed. “Then what can you do if you can’t do anything?”
“Jesus has already done it for you, when he died on the cross.”
Nidal still seemed unconvinced. I began to see how lies from false teachers had deceived his thinking. Instead of anger at his failings, I began to have pity on him. Here was a man in search of the truth, and perhaps at last, he had found it in Daniel’s words.
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