by Pam Funke
“Richard, be very careful around him,” a voice said.
Richard looked around him, but he didn’t see anyone within the group that had spoken to him. The others looked at him strangely but kept walking quietly. Richard still wasn’t sure about a lot of things. He was going to have to find someone that he could trust to talk to.
“Lord, send me the direction that You want me to go. Please send me someone trustworthy whom I can talk to and learn more about you from,” Richard prayed silently.
He sensed Rosalind and Nicolaitanes staring at him. He just smiled and kept walking. He was definitely going to have to be more careful. Rosalind gave Nicolaitanes a knowing nod then walked away.
Adolph got to the situation room ahead of everyone else. Aaah, a moment’s peace and quiet. “This room is extraordinary,” he said.
Adolph looked around the situation room. It was enormous. The outside wall consisted entirely of floor to ceiling glass. The view out of them was spectacular. The inner wall held, at least, twenty 42” plasma televisions. A half circle shaped table angled away from the wall in front of the televisions. A podium stood at the center of the room amidst all the speakers. The room was magnificent.
He chose an elegant green chair and sat down enjoying the view out of the windows. What he would give to have an office like this. The room was completely and utterly amazing. Adolph imagined watching an NFL game in this room. It would be an amazing experience. He still could not believe the view out of the windows. You can see the entire post from here—and Fort Stewart was definitely not a small post.
“It is quite remarkable is it not, Adolph?” Nicolaitanes asked.
“Nicolaitanes, I did not hear you come in. Yes, it is quite remarkable. It is quite breathtaking actually. The architecture is amazing. I have never seen anything quite like it. Who designed it, do you know?”
“Actually, it is a hobby of mine. My company designed the building. I like to be able to see everything going on around me.”
“Huh? I thought you lived in Rome.”
“One is not confined to living in just one place, Adolph. But no, I do not reside here. I do come to the United States quite often for various meetings. My company has designed buildings all over the world.” Nicolaitanes patted Adolph on the shoulder, “You’re welcome to come see them anytime, my friend.”
Adolph could just imagine the different buildings that Nicolaitanes designed, he was sure that everything would be beautiful. He has a real eye for beautiful things.
“Is this room taken or can anyone come in?” asked Annamaya laughingly.
“Come on in. We were just shooting the breeze,” said Adolph.
Annamaya smiled and sat down next to Adolph.
“Am I in time for the festivities?” asked Annamaya.
“But of course, my dear. It is now 0920 hours in Israel. The missiles should arrive there in approximately twenty minutes if they were launched on time and without any issues,” said Nicolaitanes while turning on all the televisions except for two to various news channels. “These two channels will be showing the video feed from the missiles until impact.” He pointed to the black screens.
“We should be seeing something soon,” Nicolaitanes said smiling.
They were about to witness history in the making. The world would not forget the events that were about to happen. Tara, Victor, Richard, and Andrew came into the room carrying trays of coffee and food.
“We figured we would be here awhile so we brought up some food from the mess hall,” said Tara placing a tray onto the table and taking a seat.
Sampson and Caitlin came into the room laughing quietly amongst themselves. Rosalind came silently into the room a few minutes later. She was no longer as perky as she had been earlier. She quietly took the chair furthest away from Nicolaitanes and stared out of the window. She was still a little upset with Nicolaitanes for the way that he had treated her earlier, but she knew better than to say anything. He was capable of anything. Nicolaitanes glanced at Rosalind but said nothing. She would be back to her normal self soon he knew. She never mopes for long, not that it matters much to me. As long as it doesn’t interfere with what we are here to accomplish, I don’t care what she does.
CHAPTER forty-five
Sara Ben-Gurion was enjoying her break from class in the café at the University of Haifa in Israel. She was enjoying an iced mocha and going over her homework for class. Chaim Hakim and his brother Abdul walked into the café and Sara waved them over.
“Hi Sara,” they said together.
“What are you guys up to?” Sara asked.
“We don’t have class until this afternoon. We are just going to hang out here for a while. Do you mind if we join you?” Abdul asked.
“Of course not. There’s plenty of room here,” Sara replied moving some of her things over.
“I’m going to go get a mocha latte. Do you want anything, Abdul?” Chaim asked.
“Just my usual, okay?”
Chaim nodded and walked over to the counter. He looked at the display of various pastries. Everything looked so good. He decided to just stick to getting the drinks.
“Have you seen Ahmad lately?” Abdul asked. “I haven’t seen him around. Do you think that he is avoiding us?”
Sara thought about it; it had been at least a week since she had seen their friend, Ahmad Caspi. She hoped he had not gotten caught up in all those anti-US rallies going on around the school. She knew that he had been hanfing around with Namir Hafeez a lot. She really did not like Namir—he was such a negative person. She thought he was a bad influence on everyone around him.
“No, Abdul I haven’t seen him in about a week. Why?” Sara asked.
“No reason. I just wondered where he was.”
Chaim walked back to the table carrying their drinks. “You won’t believe this. I just saw Ahmad,” Chaim said sitting down.
“Where?” Sara asked.
“He just walked past the window with that kid. What’s his name? Oh yeah…Namir something I think. They were carrying a bunch of papers.”
Abdul and Sara just looked at each other.
“That cannot be good,” Abdul said.
Sara gathered her things together. “We had better go after him.”
CHAPTER forty-six
Ahmad Caspi and Namir Hafeez were headed to the courtyard. They were going to hand out all of the flyers at the event. Ahmad wasn’t really sure what it was all about, but he was curious. He had hoped that Sara and the gang had not seen him when they walked past the café. He really did not want to hear about it. He had been avoiding his friends ever since he started hanging out with Namir. He knew they would not understand.
“Namir, do you really think people will listen to us?” Ahmad asked.
He was a little excited; he just knew that things would be better if he could get people to support the United States’ attempt to stop terrorism. Perhaps, if he had actually read one of the flyers he was carrying he would not be here at the rally.
“Just wait, Ahmad. You will see,” Namir replied.
There was a little area set up already—with streamers, balloons, and free snacks. There were some other college kids there already helping to set up.
“Come on. I will introduce you,” Namir said hurrying along. Ahmad was in for an event that he would never ever forget.
CHAPTER forty-seven
Tzahala Aviv stood up and started talking into a megaphone. People started gathering around to listen to what she had to say. Kids were cheering and getting really excited. Tzahala really had a way with words. Ahmad stopped handing out flyers to listen to her speak.
“Why do we allow the big Satan to come here into our country and murder hundreds of our people? But yet they call us the terrorists. We are not the terrorists, they are!” Tzahala yelled into the megaphone. “It is time that we take a stand and get these pigs out of our beloved country. They destroy our homes, rape our women, execute our men and kill our children. And this they do on
a daily basis. How much longer are we going to tolerate it?”
A few of the young students started cheering in the crowd. Tzahala paced back and forth; she was getting more excited. This is a good turnout. She noticed the new kid had stopped handing out flyers and was listening to her intently. She smiled and waved to him.
Tzahala took a deep breath before picking the megaphone up again. “Why do our people starve while their people get fat as cows? Why do our people have to live in fear daily while their people live in peace? Why do our people die from the simplest diseases while their people can afford medical care? Why do our people live on the streets eating out of the garbage while their people live in nice homes? They came here with all these promises, but I don’t see them doing any of what they said. They are liars and demons. They came here for one reason and one reason only—to control our country’s oil and nothing else. We live here in this country, not them. We should be the ones who have a say about our country’s finances; who we do and do not sell the oil to. They are outsiders and do not belong here. Let us make them go home!”
Tzahala picked up a flyer and waved it before the crowd. “Help us spread the good news. Each of you take some of the flyers and pass them out to everyone you see.”
Ahmad could not believe what he was hearing. This was not how he felt. What am I going to do?
CHAPTER forty-eight
Sara, Abdul, and Chaim stood by the edge of the crowd watching unbelievably. They could not believe that their friend was helping out at an anti-US rally. What had come over Ahmad?
Ahmad stood listening; he finally sat down and read one of the flyers. He could not believe this. This is not what Namir told me. Did you lie to me Namir? He was most definitely angry with Namir.
“Namir? Hey, Namir!” Ahmad called.
“What is it, Ahmad?”
He was trying to listen to Tzahala’s speech.
“I thought you said this rally was to help?”
“It is helping, Ahmad. See how excited everyone is? Perhaps this will help to get the big Satan out of the Middle East. They aren’t helping us; instead, they are just making things worse. They kill hundreds of us daily and they say that we are the terrorists. All they want is our oil.” Namir was very angry.
“No, Namir. That’s not right. That is not what the United States is trying to do,” Ahmad yelled and threw down his stack of flyers. He was very angry with Namir. What kind of friend was he? Namir had lied to him. How could he have tricked him like that? Ahmad turned and ran away from the crowd.
“Where’s Ahmad going?” Tzahala asked.
“Not sure,” Namir replied shrugging his shoulders.
Tzahala nodded and continued her speech. Namir was getting pumped up by what she said. It was invigorating to him. He knew that he would have to do something drastic and meaningful, but he wasn’t sure just yet what it was that he would do. Chaim noticed Ahmad running away.
“Should we go after him?” he asked.
Abdul just shrugged his shoulders and started after Ahmad. Chaim and Sara followed as well. After running for a few minutes, Sara and her friends finally caught up with Ahmad. He was extremely upset. Sara wasn’t sure what to say.
“Hey, Ahmad,” Sara said gently sitting down next to him. She laid a hand on his shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Abdul asked.
He was truly concerned about his friend. Ahmad should have known that it would be them and not Namir. Incredible. Here it comes—the lecturing.
“I’m sorry guys,” Ahmad sighed. “I should not have been avoiding you. Will you forgive me?”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Chaim asked.
“No, not really.”
“Do you want us to go, Ahmad?” Abdul asked.
They’re not yelling at me and telling me how stupid I’ve been. Why? “If you guys don’t mind, I would really like to be left alone.” Ahmad stared down at the ground. I feel like such a fool.
“Okay. Let’s go, Chaim,” Abdul said dragging his brother away. Sara stood up to leave as well.
“Sara, will you….will you sit here with me for a while?” Ahmad asked.
“Sure.”
Sara sat there quietly; she figured if Ahmad wanted to talk that he would say something. She draped her arm around Ahmad’s shoulders.
Isn’t Sara going to say anything? They sure are acting oddly. If it had been me, I would be very angry with me right now. “Sara. I’ve been such a fool. I should have listened to you about Namir. He tricked me, you know. He knew that I was very passionate about getting people to understand that the United States really is trying to help us and not hurt us. I thought that’s what Namir wanted also. At least, that’s what he said he wanted,” Ahmad said quietly.
Sara did not know what to say to that; so she remained quiet. She thought he really just wanted her to listen anyway. Ahmad was feeling pretty stupid right about now and his pride was hurt. He was angry with Namir for tricking him, but he was even angrier with himself for allowing Namir to trick him. He had to make this right somehow. He had to undo all the damage that Tzahala and Namir had done.
“Sara, will you help me to create some flyers to help undo all the hatred this rally has put into the minds of all who went?”
“I think that would be a good idea. Rallies should not be one sided, Ahmad. The people have a right to hear both sides. It would be my pleasure to help you. In fact, let’s get started on those flyers right now.”
She stood there smiling at her friend and offered him her hand. Ahmad just looked at her. Sara was a really good friend; why had he treated her so badly? He nodded and took her hand. They walked to the library to get started on the flyers.
****
Sara and Chaim were sitting in the courtyard near the café at the University of Haifa. It was a beautiful day. Blue skies, not a single cloud in the sky, a mild breeze and relatively warm weather. Unusual for this time of year, but they did not complain. Sara sat quietly enjoying her white chocolate raspberry espresso. She and Chaim were enjoying the afternoon as they had gotten out of class early and were waiting for the rest of their friends to get out of class before their walk home together.
Chaim sat unusually quiet for a while.
What’s wrong with Chaim? Why is he so quiet today? “Is everything alright Chaim?” Sara asked.
Chaim looked at her blankly for a moment, as if wondering where she had just come from.
“Sorry Sara, I was just thinking. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. What were we talking about?”
“We were just enjoying the afternoon. What’s on your mind?”
Chaim looked around. He wasn’t so sure that he wanted to have this discussion with Sara out in the open like this, but no one was around.
Lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, “Sara, would you tell me more about the God of Israel? Who was Jesus really?”
Sara looked at him excitedly. She had been dying to share the good news with her friends, but she didn’t want to force it on them. She was happy to share with Chaim. Perhaps the others would come ask questions as well soon.
“Well Chaim, first of all, I must tell you that there is only one God. All these other things that humans have come up with to worship are ludicrous. Some religions worship inanimate objects, like statues. While others worship ideas, animals and people. These are all false gods and cannot do anything for you. They cannot forgive you of your sins. They do not provide for you. They did not create life. They cannot nourish and feed your soul. As God is a jealous god, worshipping these other gods will cause you to miss out on living in heaven with Him when this life is finished.”
Sara looked through her bag and took out a notepad and her Bible. She placed the notepad and a pen in front of Chaim.
“In case you want to take any notes or think of any questions. Do you have any from what I’ve told you so far?” Sara said.
“Well, you haven’t really told me about Jesus,” Chaim replied.
Sara laughed, “T
hat is what I was about to do.”
She opened her Bible to the book of Matthew and began to read out loud to Chaim, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”
“What do you mean that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Ghost? I’m not foolish Sara; I do know where babies come from. How could she possibly have a baby without having had…you know,” Chaim said curiously.
“That’s just it Chaim, Jesus’ mother, Mary never did that. God impregnated her through the Holy Ghost. Jesus was a miracle baby.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I suppose it seems that way, but nothing is impossible for God. He did create the heavens and the earth. He also created every living thing on the earth. God is simply awesome.”
Chaim doodled in the margin of the notepad. He looked as though he had a question, but he remained silent.
Sara waited for a moment. When Chaim remained silent she continued reading from the Bible, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.”