20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."
Bishop Rhodes said, "Good. What does that mean to you?"
"Well, if I remember my Sunday school lessons, I think it means that God took Enoch to be with Him."
"Very good. Now, where do you think that was?" the Bishop asked.
"Heaven? I have no idea, sir. I wasn't the best kid in Sunday school."
The Bishop laughed, "Neither was I at that age. Here, let me have you read another scripture. It is from the Book of Moses. You probably haven’t run across this book, yet."
The Bishop turned around again and handed him a worn, tattered, antique-looking copy of a book called by that name.
Jason took the book wondering where it came from and thumbed through it. He found there was only one book in it, and it was named Moses. Whew, he thought to himself.
"Turn to Moses 7. Read from verse 67 to 69."
After a minute, Jason read:
"67 And the Lord showed Enoch all things, even unto the end of the world; and he saw the day of the righteous, the hour of their redemption, and received a fullness of joy;
68 And all the days of Zion, in the days of Enoch, were three hundred and sixty-five years.
69 And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is Fled."
"Does that make it any clearer, Jason?"
"I'm not sure what you are getting at. But it seems that Enoch and his people were taken from the Earth to be with God."
"And where does God dwell?"
"In heaven, I guess."
"Actually, in the heavens, in this case. And aren't we, in a way, in the heavens, as perceived from Earth?"
"I guess so. It makes sense, since we look up into the heavens at night, so to speak."
"That's true. So what am I telling you?"
"Are you trying to tell me that you …are…Enoch, sir?" Jason asked.
The Bishop laughed. "Oh no, Jason. Enoch has been dead for thousands of years. But we are his and his people’s descendants. We are the people of Enoch. We were taken from the Earth to live on another planet until the end of days."
"What? I don't understand." Jason was getting a bit confused, to say the least.
"What the scriptures are telling you is that there was a man so righteous that the Lord wanted to spare him and his people from the flood. So before that, he removed them from the Earth to save them."
"But, uh, that was thousands of years ago."
"Actually it was about 4,500 years ago, more or less. There is some disagreement on the exact date. Nevertheless, that is our origin."
"Wow. That is a lot to take in."
Bishop Rhodes said, "And, Enoch didn't just have a city. He had a whole country! Have you ever noticed how circular the Gulf of Mexico is?"
"Yes, actually. From space it is quite circular,” Jason remarked.
"That is where the country of Enoch was. It was plucked right up from there and deposited on a planet we call Enoch today. The planet Enoch orbits what you call Alpha Centauri. In reality, the Enoch that was deposited there is just a small part of the planet Enoch. The planet Enoch was there for a long time before we got there. The Lord had prepared it just for us."
"Alpha Centauri is the closest celestial neighbor that we know of,” Jason said.
"Yes. This makes it quite convenient for us. We visit the Earth often."
"Wow. This is a lot to take in."
"I know, son. I can only imagine what you must think. That is why we only wanted a few men to come to Mars so we could see how you would react before making ourselves known to the rest of Earth. You see, we have a real crisis on our hands, and it has Earth right in the middle of it. Actually, we have two crises on our hands."
"Crises, sir?"
"Yes Captain, er, Jason. Earth has been invaded." The Bishop looked serious.
The Bishop let this sink in for a few minutes. He could see Jason, although an intelligent man, still had to sort all this in his mind. He needed to be able to relate to it, and then he could process it in a way that made sense to him. His known universe had just taken a sudden turn!
Jason decided to wait before asking about the invaded part.
"So, tell me about your people. You say you came from Earth, so you are human, right?"
"As human as you. Only we are far more advanced technologically, and we have been a more peaceful people than we find the people of Earth to be."
Jason admitted, "Yeah. We are involved in the Vietnam War now. Beyond even that, some countries are always stirring up trouble."
"We are quite aware of that. It is one reason you had to come to us before we could make ourselves known to you. We don't really trust you, uh, Earth, that is, to make the right choices. But things have changed, and Earth will have to make some changes itself, or it is going to get very bad there. And there is little we can do about it!"
Jason thought for a minute. He decided to go ahead and ask.
"You say we are about to be invaded? By whom?"
"Actually, you already have been invaded,” the Bishop said. “As far as who, well, that is a story in and of itself. But I think you have had enough for today. I am going to have you take the Bible and a few other books to read, and let's get back together in a few days. You need some time to digest all this, and I need to meet with the Commander from the OLS Adam, another ship in our space fleet. Let's get together Thursday after breakfast, say 9:30? Oh, and today is Monday, in case you have lost track."
"There are so many questions I have for you, sir. But I would like to read what you have given me, maybe it will answer some of them for me."
"Good. Here. I think you will enjoy this one, The History of Enoch. I think that one is self-explanatory. And take the Bible with you and The Book of Moses. Read the whole of Chapter 7. It tells you what kind of man our forefather, Enoch, was."
“Oh. Bishop. What is the other crisis, sir?” Jason asked.
“Well, Jason, Enoch is coming home.”
“What?” Jason asked.
“Enoch is going back to where it started–right smack dab in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico!” he said.
“Really? When?” Jason asked.
“That is a conversation for another time, Captain,” the Bishop said with a wry grin.
"OK, Bishop. Thank you so much for your time and patience. I promise to be a better student when we meet again."
"I'm sure you will, Captain, er, Jason. Dr. Vickie, maybe the good Captain would like to see the observation deck?"
"Good idea, Bishop,” Vickie said excitedly! “It is one of my favorite places. And the rest of the crew will be coming on board later this evening at the loading dock. Maybe he would like to meet some of them?"
"Also a good idea, sweety. Jason, does that seem good to you?"
Vickie looked at Jason and smiled. Then she asked, “What do you think, Sir?”
Jason smiled. "I would be very interested. Maybe I could get a tour of the Gilead?" Jason acted like he didn’t notice the sir.
The Bishop added, "How about after Thursday's lesson? You will have more time, then."
"Perfect, sir," Jason said enthusiastically.
Jason followed Vickie to the door. He turned and said, "Thanks again, sir, for everything."
"You are more than welcome, Jason. By the way, Captain, we have transferred Colonel Kelly to another ship to take him to Enoch right away. We have better facilities there. He is not doing as well as you did. Dr. Vickie seems to think it would be best
for him.’’
“I hope he will be OK,” Jason said with a worried look.
Vickie jumped in and said, “He will be fine. I was just worried that there might be some damage to his internal organs, we couldn’t detect with the equipment we have board, so I wanted him back on Enoch as soon as possible. They can treat him more effectively there. The Gilead isn’t quite ready to leave orbit yet.”
Jason offered, “Well thank you both for taking such good care of us.”
Bishop Rhodes answered, “It was our pleasure, my boy. I am so glad we got there in time. After all, we do have to do one good deed a day. Then we can be as mean and nasty as we want the whole rest of the day. We learned that in Boy Scouts!”
Jason responded with a straight face, “I was an Eagle Scout, sir, and I don’t quite remember the Scout Motto that way.” Then he smiled.
Bishop Rhodes laughed, “I might have gotten that a bit messed up, I suppose.” He then said, Doctor Vickie, you may need this?”
Vickie said, “Oh, yeah. Thanks Bishop.” He gave her a small glass jar and lid.
With that, Jason and Vickie went out the door. It closed automatically behind them.
“What’s that for?” Jason asked.
“Oh, that’s just for a little project that I have to do, later.”
As they walked along the hallway to the observation deck Jason kept glancing at Vickie when he didn't think she was looking. When she didn't think Jason was looking she did the same. Jason thought to himself, am I in Jr. High, again?
They reached a hallway where Vickie signaled to turn right. She headed for some stairs and indicated for him to follow her. He enjoyed following her…
At the top of the stairs stood an especially large room almost completely surrounded by viewports including one larger window.
She led him instantly to the largest window and stood in front of it. Looking out the window she said, "This is my most favorite place in the whole universe. And believe me; I've seen a lot of our part of the universe!"
"Wow. That's Mars. I can't believe it. I'm orbiting MARS!” After choking up a bit he mumbled softly, “This is like a dream come true."
Vickie looked at him and smiled. "I know what you mean. I get that feeling with every planet we visit." You could tell she was touched by his emotional response.
"How many planets have you been to? Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Wow," she said. "Where did that come from?"
"Well how many?"
"No, the one about the boyfriend."
"Oh, that one," Jason said with a grin. "Well, do you?"
"Actually, I had a boyfriend once, but he was killed," she said sadly.
Jason mumbled, "I'm so sorry." He tried to sound comforting while celebrating inside.
"Don’t apologize, you didn’t know. It has been three years," she said.
"How did it happen, if you don't mind me asking?"
Vickie paused and then said, "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but there is a conflict going on."
"Conflict? Like a war? Is that what this crisis is about? Is that why I was brought here?"
"Again, I have said too much. You need to talk to the Bishop about those things. Maybe we should go back to whether or not I have a boyfriend."
"Nice diversion. Well, do you, now?"
"No, not now. I have had no time. And it’s slim pickings on this ship. Did I use that idiom correctly?"
"Slim pickings? Yes. That is correct. But I think we like to say slim pickins, just to be funny. But going back to my original question. Am I not on this ship?"
"Captain Hotson. Are you making a pass at me?"
"Well, if you have to ask, I must be lousy at it," he said sadly.
"I guess you don't get much experience at NASA and with all those MIT chicks."
Jason was surprised. He had to ask, "You know about MIT?"
"Oh yeah. It's the safest place on Earth for a girl. Nerds pretty much look the other way when you look at them."
"Hey. I was one of those nerds,” Jason said with a fake frown.
Vickie laughed, "Yeah, and it has taken you nearly three months to hit on me. I sent you to rehab to work on your muscle tone. I had you take extensive physical therapy to build your strength. I’ve run all sorts of tests. I’m running out of medical things to do to you, so that I can be around you. And you didn’t even get it! The Bishop has been holding Mars orbit for over three months waiting for you to notice me!"
"Well I didn't even know you the first three weeks. I was in a coma,” Jason said shyly. “I guess I’m rather new at this. Wait! The Gilead has been sitting here for three months waiting on me to hit on you?”
"No. Not really. Boy, are you gullible! We are on patrol, and this is our assignment. So, back to us. You say you would have hit on me sooner? Sir, I must warn my father about you."
With that, she pouted.
Jason just stood there for a moment. He didn’t know what to say; he was quite confused.
Vickie poked him in the ribs with her index finger.
“That is for taking so long.”
"Ouch," he said. “I need to learn to parry.”
“So. Ben ratted me out about my fencing,” she said frowning.
“Well, I did twist his arm around his back and forced him to give me classified information,” Jason remarked smugly.
“I rather doubt it. Ben is a 5th degree Black Belt,” she retorted. I’m only a 3rd.”
They both stood looking out the window. When Jason reached over and took her hand, Vickie didn't resist.
After a few minutes, Jason asked, "Where is your Mars base?"
"It's underground. Your astronomers have named the area Cydonia Labyrinthus. It is in that complex of intersecting valleys that is popular with your astronomers. The gateway is in that valley there." She pointed to the spot. "We are concerned that soon you will be sending satellites that might allow you to see something you shouldn't. We aren't ready for you to see us just yet–well, maybe you–but not the rest of your planet. You know what I mean. But that is one reason you are here."
Jason noticed she hadn't let go of his hand yet.
Vickie squeezed his hand and rushed him toward the door. “Let’s hurry to the loading dock. The shuttle should be coming back soon.
They arrived at the docking area just as the outer door was opening.
"Look! Here comes the shuttle," she exclaimed!
Jason looked but it took him a minute to see the small speck moving against the landscape.
"How many of you are on board the Gilead?"
"Actually, there's only one of me," she replied.
"You know what I mean," Jason grumbled playfully.
"Oh. Of course," she said with a fake confusion.
"I believe we have about 200 crew members on board when we are doing operations, and they are all clones of me."
"Clones of you? Really?"
"Yes. Many of us on Enoch look exactly alike. I was born in a test tube on Alpha Centauri. My life began in an artificial womb," she said matter-of-factly.
Jason quickly withdrew his hand from Vickie's. He stared at her beginning to worry that their people may not be as alike as he believed.
"Oh, Jason. You are just too dorky to believe. I'm just kidding. Remember, we came from Earth. We are just like you. No clones. No artificial wombs."
Jason was visibly relieved.
Vickie continued, "But you know we only live 10 years. The Bishop is the oldest one on board and he is 18. We don’t think he will last much longer."
Again Jason looked worried.
"You’ve got to be kidding me!" she said. "Boy, this is just too easy."
He said, "I don't know what to say. Ever since they put in an artificial heart in me I'm very careful about being surprised. The doctor said to keep an even keel or it could be fatal. All astronauts have to have their hearts replaced for long-term space travel, otherwise we could not last for more than a few months."
"I am sooo s
orry," Vickie said with a worried look. “I should have more carefully scanned you, when we brought you in. Some doctor I am!"
"Boy. You Martian girls are so gullible. And you call yourself a doctor?"
This got Jason another poke in the ribs.
"Alright. We're even." Jason paused and added, "Truce?"
Enoch's Challenge Page 17
