Destroyers

by Dave Mckay

  "Did you come to see me?" he asked.

  "No," they both replied simultaneously. "We had other more important business," Kyme finished off.

  "Are you the aliens?"

  "Do we look like aliens?" Kyme asked with a big smile.

  Moses paused before he said, "I don't know what aliens look like. You're my friends."

  "We are teaching people about a different world," Kyme explained. "A world where God is the king, and where people love each other."

  "Can I go there?" Moses asked, without showing any serious interest.

  "You can if you will just follow your heart," Ray responded.

  "I don't have a heart now," Moses said, with something close to sadness in his voice. "I have no feelings. I died, you know. I went to hell. Dangchao was there."

  It took ever so long for Moses to say all of this, speaking very slowly as he did, with a slight spastic slur; but neither of the men interrupted, and the crowd was totally silent as he spoke.

  "Do you want to see this new world?" Rayford asked, compassion showing in his voice.

  "I don't want anything. That is the way I am now," Moses replied.

  "Oh but you do want things," Kyme said. "Why are you here now? Why are you talking to us? Isn't it because you wanted to talk to us."

  "But I know you," Moses said.

  "And you can know God too," Kyme answered. "Have you tried talking to him?"

  "I did when I was dead," Moses answered more quickly than had been his earlier responses. Then he reverted to his slow drawl. "But it's too late now."

  "It may be; but have you tried?" Kyme continued.

  Moses remembered something from his death dream. He had felt something very strongly then. In the dream he had remembered with the deepest regret that he never even tried to talk to God when he had been alive. And it dawned on him that he had not tried to talk to God since either. He knew of one time when he had tried to do something good after coming back to life, but that was not the same as talking to God.

  "What do I say?" he asked.

  "Anything you want to say," Kyme replied. "And take time to listen too. God doesn't always use words, but he has ways to let you know he's there."

  "Just don't try to tell him what to do." Ray interjected.

  "That's true," Kyme went on. "Some people want God to do what they say, before they'll become his friends. But even when he does do what they ask for, they don't usually change their ways for him."

  Just then a message came over the chauffeur's two-way radio.

  "Sorry, sir, but we have to return," the driver said to Moses over his shoulder.

  "We are going now," Moses announced to his friends, with no sign of disappointment.

  Ray and Kyme stood to their feet and looked on sadly as the limo pulled away.

  "Please try it!" Kyme shouted as Ray waved. Moses just rested his chin on the window ledge and looked blankly back at them.

  Then he sat back in the seat and in the short drive to the Palace he decided to do what they had suggested. Words formed in his mind:

  Hi God. This is me. I want to be your friend. I don't know how to do it. Can you show me?

  He sat and waited. He saw nothing and felt nothing.

  That's OK, he said after a brief pause. I still want to be your friend.

  Table of contents

  Chapter 34. The Press Conference

  Back at the Palace, Moshe was waiting at the curb when the limo pulled up.

  "We must move quickly," he said. "The press conference is back on... We're due there at three o'clock."

  It was pointless telling Moses that anything needed to be done quickly. He had one speed, and it was slow. But he made no protest at Moshe's prodding, and took the script that was handed to him as he was marched off toward the conference room.

  "In here first. Comb your hair and tuck in your shirt!" Moshe was pointing him toward the men's room, as he handed him a comb. Moses took the opportunity to use the toilet as well, and he was characteristically slow in finishing his ablutions.

  Then Moshe sat him down on a couch in the hall, just outside the room where members of the Press were already interviewing Dangchao on another matter.

  "You don't have to read it out loud here and now, but can you go over it in your head one more time before we go in?" Moshe asked. "Just so it will be fresh in your mind and you won't stumble on the words."

  Moses agreed, and proceeded to read the script, although he kept getting distracted and had to be directed back to the paper. There were little smilies written into the script, as reminders for Moses to "smile". If he should forget, or if his eyes should stray from the page (since he had memorised much of it by now), Moshe had a gadget that would send out a high-pitched signal, almost imperceptible to the human ear, which would cause Moses to smile almost involuntarily. The young man had endured three sessions a day for the past two weeks in order to develop this skill.

  I want to be your friend. Please show me how. Inside his own head, Moses was still working on what Kyme and Ray had told him to do earlier, and it was interfering with his concentration. Moshe could see that Moses was distracted, but today was D-day, whether they were ready or not, and so they would just have to hope for the best.

  They entered the room quietly, without disrupting what was already underway. Media representatives were quizzing Dangchao on something that had happened just before he let Kyme and Ray go free to walk the streets of Jerusalem.

  "How many soldiers were killed?" a reporter asked.

  "No one was killed, although there were a few injuries from the earthquake."

  "But the flames. What about the flames?" asked the same reporter.

  "Next?" Dangchao said calmly as he looked for questions from other members of the Press corps. It was like he never heard the other man's second question. An aide approached the reporter and quietly asked him to leave the room.

  "I'm sorry. I meant nothing by it," he protested in a whisper.

  "Come outside and we can discuss it. We will only be a minute."

  There was a look of terror in the reporter's eyes, while fellow journalists and camera people averted their attention away from him, acting as though they were unaware of what was happening.

  "What are your plans for the aliens?" another reporter asked cautiously.

  "We will give them some time to consider their options before we act. They are completely under my control at the moment," Dangchao said confidently. "Their reign of terror is over... finished, and they know it.

  "But we have some other good news," the Secretary-General announced, looking up at Moshe and Moses, who were standing by the door at the back of the room. "For three weeks now, the young man who has been the face of the new economy has been living here in the Palace with me, as my own son. As you all know, like me, Moses Chikati miraculously returned from certain death, and he is here today to talk to you."

  Dangchao still wore a black patch over his left eye as a reminder of the assassin's attack three and a half years earlier. The world mourned for him for almost 24 hours, before he miraculously revived.

  "It is ironic that Moses Chikati, who encouraged so many millions of people to face their 'apprehensions' and get the microchip implant over the past seven years, is now the only person on earth unable to have a mark, either in his right hand or in his forehead. But, because of his great service to the new world order, I have made him a member of my family, and, like myself, he need only show his face and utter my name, and business people all over the world should provide him with whatever he needs. This is my decree, and I expect everyone to honour it."

  Dangchao motioned for Moses to come join him on the small stage where he was sitting. He continued to speak as the young man weaved his way through the reporters.

  "When I first visited Moses in Kenya, the hospital authorities said it would be many months before he would be able to talk, and then it would be almost unintelligible. B
ut I want the world to see what my powers and the best technology that money can buy have done to bring life back into someone who lost more than twenty percent of his brain in a horrible hunting accident earlier this year."

  Dangchao and others had been successful in hiding from the world the real reason for the "accident" and how the wound had been inflicted; and the media knew better than to ask questions which might uncover it.

  Moses stepped up onto the small stage.

  "Moses has a speech which he has prepared for you today. Come here, Moses." And Dangchao stood to greet Moses and to give him more room on the couch. Moses took a seat, shielding his eyes as he adjusted to the bright lights, then placed the paper in his lap, and waited for a signal to begin.

  "Go ahead, son," Dangchao said in his kindest voice.

  Moses cleared his throat.

  "It is a miracle that I am sitting here today," he read, followed by a wide smile, which he held for just a second or two, as the cameras flashed. Moshe and Dangchao shared the momentary success through a secret glance at one another. It was working already. The media loved Moses. He was speaking even more clearly than he had in his latest practice runs.

  "I was as good as dead when I arrived at the hospital in Kenya."

  And then Moses stopped. This was where he was supposed to tell the world that Dangchao's spiritual presence in the hospital, even before he arrived there in person, was what pulled him through. It was not time yet for a smile, but Moses seemed to be stuck. Moshe waited for a few seconds and then clicked his signal. Moses smiled, but it did not have the same effect as the first one. It did, however, kick Moses into action, for after he held the smile for a few seconds, he started speaking again, although he was not reading from the script how.

  "I am only here today because of the interventions I received from my friend," he said.

  Not the exact words, but close enough, thought Moshe and Dangchao simultaneously. They could see that if Moses used his own words, the speech would look even more convincing.

  "I want to tell you about my friend," Moses said. And here he managed to insert a smile without help from Moshe or from his notes. He was performing perfectly.

  "I think that my friend has the answers to all of our predicaments... my predicaments... your predicaments... and the predicaments of the whole world."

  His voice was still emotionless, and his speech was slow, but in some ways it added to the impact of what he was saying. People watching would be trying to experience for themselves the feeling behind his words, even as Dangchao and Moshe were doing in the press room.

  "My friend is... is all-powerful... He is with me here now. He is helping me to say what I am saying. I do not deserve a friend like this."

  Moshe thought this was a good place to insert a smile and so he clicked his gadget and Moses responded, holding the smile until he was ready to start again.

  "You can find help from this friend too... where you are. But first you have to ask. Just ask. That is all I did. I asked."

  Moshe and Dangchao both registered confusion on their faces, about what Moses was getting at, and about where he was taking the worldwide live audience. The arrival of the two aliens in Jerusalem had been the biggest news since the asteroid, and so every network in the world was linked in to this broadcast. This was far more than the usual weekly press conference for Dangchao.

  "The aliens are my friends too. They told me that God can be my friend. I asked him..."

  Dangchao jumped off the couch and out of camera range. "Stop it! Stop it now!" he whispered loudly, as his face started to change. "Turn off the cameras."

  "I asked him, and he inspirited me to say this," Moses continued.

  What was happening to the camera people? They seemed unable (orunwilling) to move. Was it their instinct for news... in particular, the shocking news that Dangchao's adopted "son" was now supporting his enemies? Or was there some supernatural power holding them back from obeying the order?

  "Kill him! Kill him!" Dangchao shouted, so loudly now that it would have been picked up by every microphone in the room. The cameras continued to roll. Some even turned to catch the world ruler's demonic rage, and then swung back to Moses, just as Dangchao shouted again, "Shoot! Gaddamit! Shoot him!"

  Three shots rang out just as a smile spread across Moses' face. It was not his usual mischievous grin. Instead, it was the contented smile of an angel.

  And then, just as the last vestiges of life flowed from his face, a tear magically appeared at the corner of one eye, and trickled slowly down his face. He then slumped forward and fell in a heap on the floor.

  The master TV camera finally stopped with just the image of Moses, the smile, and the tear somehow frozen on the screen, as though someone had hit "pause" when they should have hit "stop".

  Table of contents

  Chapter 35. Kakamega Forest

  The world had become worse than numb to the sufferings of others; many, like Jiddy, had come to actually find pleasure in it. However, there was something different about Moses' death, watched by hundreds of millions, if not billions, both on the live broadcast and on replays over the next few hours, before Dangchao succeeded in getting it taken off all but the most remote stations.

  There were a few hundred people (a tiny percentage in the bigger picture) who made an eleventh hour decision to stand against the Dangchao regime, even if it meant being beheaded. They each did what Moses had done. They dared to talk to his Friend, asking if they too could become Friends with the one who had brought peace to Moses Chikati. It was the young man's calm acceptance of his fate, the beatific smile, and that one tear. The world needed what he had.

  But for these other converts, the newly discovered Friendship was far more emotional than it had appeared to be for Moses. They had been hardening their conscience for years, closing their ears to the truth. Those tears of remorse that Moses had shed in his near death experience were multiplied manytimes over in the prayers of sincere repentance that issued from those final citizens of the heavenly City.

  The killings went on, right up to the end. Kyme and Ray were also killed, just six days after Ray had arrived in the unholy city of Jerusalem. Many of the secret hideouts of their followers around the world were discovered as well, with tragic consequences.

  But there was one hideout back in Kenya that remained secure right up to the end, thanks to something Moses had done earlier.

  * * *

  "Tell us the story again, Josh!"

  It was raining outside the cave, and all the children (most of them grown now) were huddled together inside the main room, with a few candles illuminating them. Three days earlier, they had buried Amy, who died peacefully in her sleep, from an unknown illness.

  They all knew about the Two Witnesses (as Ray and Kyme were known amongst the underground movement that had been led by them over the past seven years). They didn't know their names, what they looked like, or that Moses had anything to do with either of them, but they did know that the Two Witnesses had both gone to Jerusalem over the past few days. They also knew that they were nearing the end of the suffering and persecution that believers in God had been facing for the past three and a half years.

  About the time that Ray had left London and Kyme had left Sydney, each on their separate way to Jerusalem, Josh and the older children had returned to the forest, knowing that they would not leave again until their salvation arrived.

  Destruction of the forest had continued, right up to the end, and it had become harder and harder for them to grow enough to feed themselves. They were totally out of food now, and had been so since burying Amy.

  This tiny young army believed that a cosmic event marking the end of an era of evil and corruption, was going to turn the tables, and make them rulers over a new world of peace and love. It was a laughable fairytale in a world that had lost all faith in God and almost all ability to tell right from wrong. Nevertheless, the young people (and one not-s
o-young man) had been waiting in the cave for several days now, counting the hours.

  "Please, Josh!" Karla repeated. "Tell us the story about how you saw Moses." Karla was 13 now.

  The boxes of literature were long gone, but the children seated themselves on old rabbit skin rugs in anticipation. Rosy always enjoyed hearing this story the most.

  "I knew they was looking for me," Josephat began. "And I figgered they knew I was in the forest. I had to do something real quick, to stop them coming here."

  "How did you know they were looking?" asked Jane, one of the twins. No matter how many times he told the story, there were always new questions... things that had been left out in previous tellings.

  "Good question," Josephat replied. "I didn't know for absolute sure, but I was walking through Ileho in the middle of the night, headin' toward the forest. It's so dark there I never had problems with being seen before. But I tripped over someone sleeping off a drunk on the side of the road. He woke up scared real bad; then jumped up to fight me. I was already on the ground from the fall, so I just barely got away. But he sayed or did something in the scuffle that made me think he knew me... maybe from the cane or from something that I sayed."

  "Tell about Moses," Karla said.

  "He will. Just be patient," 13-year-old Jo-Jo chided.

  "So the next night, I sneaked into Shinyalu to see what I could learn. I was thinking about turning myself in, if they knew and if they was coming this way... you know, to stop them coming here. That's when I saw Moses sitting in his matatu all alone, outside the pictures.

  "I got in and told him to take me to Kakamega. I just wanted to get out of town, away from the people, and see what I could learn from him.

  "Sure enough, they was talking about a search of the forest, to start the next day.

  "But Moses sounded different... like he wanted to help us. He asked how Amy and Rosy was, and if I had hurt them. I sayed you was all safe, and God was helping us. Then he asked if he could help us in some way.

  "That's when the idea popped into my head."

  "You mean it really just came like that, all at once?" Lucy asked. Lucy was 17 now.

  "Kinda. I was thinkin' 'bout a lot of plans. Like when Moses pulled away from the village, some people came out of the theater and so I let them see me. I wanted them to think I was in Kakamega... anywhere but in the forest. But I was open to them catching up and killing me too, if it would stop the hunt.