by Mark Romang
Tears filled Brooke’s eyes. “I barely recognize them. But yes, they’re my brothers.” She ran forward and opened her arms, hugging both men at once. Brooke’s body shuddered as she tightly embraced her brothers.
Banks unloaded the round in the Glock’s chamber and laid the gun down on the table. His eyes moistened and a lump formed in his throat as he watched the joyful reunion from a respectable distance. He wished he could have a similar reunion with Jenny, hug her as tightly as Brooke hugged her brothers.
But Jenny wasn’t coming back anytime soon. And even if she could come back she’d be like a ghost, a shimmering vapor with no flesh he could hold onto and caress.
Brooke finally pulled away from her brothers. She wiped at the tears in her eyes. “You two must have some incredible stories to tell.”
One of the brothers nodded. His brown hair flopped. “That we do, big sister.” He looked over at Banks warily. “Who is this guy? Is he your boyfriend? Is he someone we can trust?”
“Nathan is just a friend. I was totally lost in the wilderness when he found me. In exchange for getting to stay here, he helped me find the bunker. Nathan is a survival expert.”
“What’s his last name?” The other brother asked, stepping further into the room to eye Banks up close. Suspicion flared in his eyes.
“Let me make some formal introductions,” Brooke said, looking back and forth from Banks to her brothers. Her pretty eyes blinked away her remaining tears, and she placed a hand on one brother and looked back at Banks. “This is Tanner, and the guy standing close to you is C.J. And my friend here is Nathan Banks.”
C.J. turned and looked at Tanner. And then he whirled back around and lashed out. The punch caught Banks flush in the nose. He staggered back into the table.
“C.J., what are you doing? Have you gone crazy?” Brooke cried out. She rushed over to Banks. “Are you okay, Nathan?”
Banks dabbed at his nose. “I see a few stars, but I’m okay. It’s not even bleeding yet.”
Brooke turned to face C.J. “What was that all about?”
C.J. didn’t answer. He kept looking at Banks. Animosity masked his bearded face. His eyes didn’t blink. “What was your career profession before the Rapture took place?”
“I was a software engineer.”
“Does a software engineer write programs?”
Banks nodded. “We’re good programmers, but we do a lot more than just write code.”
“Did you ever program drones?”
Banks returned C.J.’s suspicious glare with one of his own. “Why do you ask?”
“Because Tanner and I were chased by a drone no more than two hours ago. The drone was hot on our heels. But then for some reason it veered off and crashed into the mountain. We went over and looked at the debris. We found a hard drive pretty much intact. A tiny placard on the hard drive said it was programmed by Nathan Banks.”
“You programmed the drones, Nathan?” Brooke asked, her voice incredulous. She looked like she’d been betrayed. He suddenly hated himself.
Banks nodded solemnly. “It’s not something I’m proud about.” He sat down at the picnic table. “I suppose I should tell you everything. So you three might as well join me at the table.”
They all sat down on the bench opposite him. Like jurors at a criminal trial, they studied him intently. He began his defense slowly, choosing his words with caution. He didn’t want to inflame C.J. His nose still smarted from the blow.
“I worked at a software company called Cyber-Tech Electronic Solutions. I designed and tested computer applications software or systems. Our company contracted out to other businesses. After the Rapture, when the world went haywire, work slowed down to a crawl. CTES almost folded up. But then Henrik Skymolt came along and paid us a lot of money to program his drone fleet.”
Banks sniffed and dabbed at his nose. He felt like his nose was bleeding, but his hand came away clean. “We did all our work onsite at a hangar in Sweden. I didn’t know at first I was working for Skymolt. I was told we were creating software and writing code for a company called Aeronautical Surveillance Logistics. I teamed up with Chris Perez, a hardware engineer. Chris installed the electronic hardware on a VR-96 prototype drone, and I installed the software and wrote the code for it. We worked on the drone for six months, and then were told our work was sufficient. ASL put on a big dinner celebration for us on our last day.” Banks paused as he relived the horror of that last day.
“I went into a restroom during the dinner. I was in a stall doing my business when two executives from ASL came into the room. I overheard them talking about what Henrik Skymolt planned to do with the drones. What I heard sickened me. And when we got back to Seattle I told my boss I was taking an indefinite leave of absence. The next day I purchased some camping gear and supplies and came out here.”
“So you got scared and fled?” C.J. asked.
Banks looked down at his hands. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. My wife liked to study up on the end times. She told me time and time again that in the Tribulation people would have to take a chip to buy and sell. So when I heard the ASL executives talking about how the drones were going to help track the population and determine who did and didn’t have the marking chips, I knew my wife had been right. This freaked me out.”
Tanner shook his head and entered the conversation. “You have to do something, Nathan. You know what makes these drones tick.”
“What can I do? It’s too late to do anything now.”
“You can do a lot of things,” C.J. said. “You can hack into Skymolt’s company and crash his servers, infect the drones with a virus, ground the whole fleet.”
“I don’t have a computer handy. And in case you haven’t noticed, there’s no WiFi in this bunker,” Banks argued.
“That’s a lame excuse, and you know it, Nathan. You could hike to town and go to a coffee shop or a library, anyplace with WiFi and computers and get this done,” C.J. continued.
“It’s not as easy as you make it sound.”
Tanner stood up and started pacing. As he paced he started talking. “God creates everyone for a purpose, Nathan. Everyone has something they’re good at. But some people God gifts with extra-special skills and extraordinary talents. And then there are a select group of people, a precious few he creates to be heroes.” Tanner stopped pacing and looked at him intently. “I believe God created you to be a hero, Nathan. You can help countless people all over the world by stopping these drones.”
Nathan sighed. This kid said things he didn’t want to hear. “You mentioned earlier that this drone crashed into the mountain for no reason?”
Tanner nodded. “The drone was ahead of me and was chasing C.J. And then all of a sudden it just veers wildly off and crashes into Mt. Deception.”
“Chris and I told the ASL people there might be some hiccups with the drones’ navigation systems. But they blew us off and said their tech guys could handle it and make all the necessary updates. I’m thinking they never made the updates. Maybe all the drones have this same glitch and will eventually crash,” Banks speculated.
“That’s simply wishful thinking, Nathan,” C.J. said. “Besides, Tanner isn’t telling you everything. This drone carried armament. It had a chain-gun affixed to its belly.”
Brooke sucked in her breath. “Did it fire on you?”
Tanner shook his head. “Luckily for us it didn’t.”
“Henrik Skymolt set a deadline for everyone to be chipped. We’re nearing that deadline. I fear he’s going to start mowing us down with the drones,” Brooke said.
“You have to do something, Nathan,” C.J. insisted. “The Bible says in James 4:17: So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is a sin.”
“Then I’ve sinned a million times.”
“We all have,” C.J. said. “You’re not the only one. I sinned just a moment ago when I punched you in the nose.”
Brooke touched Banks’s hand and squeezed it gently. “G
od is ready and willing to forgive and forget every one of your sins, Nathan. Just ask him to forgive you,” Brooke said, her voice taking on a pleading tone. “Jesus has already paid the ransom. Eternal life is yours for the taking. God is holding out his arms. Just run into them. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“I don’t think I can do that. I’m angry with God, and I always will be.”
“Anger never does anybody any good. It only harms us and those around us,” Brooke said softly.
Banks stood up. “I should just leave. It isn’t right that I stay here. I’m already a source of contention.”
Brooke stood up and put a hand on his chest. “You just got here, Nathan. Don’t go away like this. You’re welcome to stay here to the end. I made a promise to you. I’m not breaking it.”
He looked into Brooke’s eyes. She was so beautiful, and she stood so close to him. He wanted to kiss her, but was afraid C.J. might slug him again. “You better ask your brothers if they’re okay with me staying here.”
“You can stay here on one condition,” Tanner said quickly.
“What’s that?”
“You come up with a way to stop the drones.”
“And what if I can’t think of a way to do that?”
Tanner shook his head. “You’re just being coy, Nathan. I have a feeling you already know how.”
“Knowing how to take the drones down and actually doing it are two different things.”
“We can help you pull it off. Right, C.J.?”
C.J. grinned. “Absolutely we can. When do we start?”
Banks sighed yet again. “I’ll sleep on it. Tomorrow I will give you my decision. Is that fair?”
C.J. and Tanner both nodded their heads. “Fair enough,” they said in unison, like only twins can do.
Chapter 43
Jerusalem—that same moment
Inside the rebuilt temple, and inside the Most Holy Place, television cameras pointed toward the throne. The two cameras were on and filming and would soon broadcast a speech to the entire world.
The elaborate throne sculpted painstakingly from white marble, took the place of the Ark of the Covenant, and sat between two massive cherubim cast entirely from pure gold.
Standing behind the cameras and the men operating them, Vito Abbadelli checked the setting one more time, saw that it was perfectly reverent and left the inner sanctuary, disappearing behind two ornate wooden doors overlaid with gold. The wooden doors separated the nave from the Most Holy Place.
Abbadelli descended a set of steps and entered the nave and found Henrik Skymolt leaning against the golden altar of incense and looking pensive. Abbadelli dropped to his knees and bowed low. “Master, the cameras are on and ready to broadcast your worldwide speech.”
Skymolt turned and looked down at Abbadelli. “How do I look, Vito?” Skymolt asked as he ran his fingers through his golden hair.
Abbadelli looked up. “You are striking, Master.”
Skymolt nodded. “I am a handsome devil. There is no denying it,” he said, and adjusted the cufflinks on his Desmond Merrion bespoke suit. The famous tailor in London made the charcoal-grey suit exclusively for him and didn’t charge anything for his services. If the same suit were available to the public it would go for a price of 100,000 UWC dollars.
“Please forgive my boldness, but you shouldn’t say that word ever again, Master. You are trying to convince the world you are God.”
Skymolt patted Abbadelli on his bald head and walked toward the wooden doors, turning on his lapel mic as he went. Skymolt entered the Most Holy Place, which was a thirty foot cube. He walked with prim elegance up the marble steps and sat his six-foot-eight-inch frame down on the throne. From this elevated position, his head was level with the wings of the golden cherubim on either side. There was a time long ago when he stood near God in the inner sanctuary of Heaven, and cherubim hovered above and around the throne continuously.
Skymolt looked directly at one of the cameras. His blue eyes shimmered like wavelets undulating on the Mediterranean Sea. “Greetings to all mankind, wherever you may be at this moment. I come to you with declarations.
“For some time you have known me as Henrik Skymolt, your world leader. Tonight I have a confession to make, one you will likely find hard to believe at first. I admit that what I am about to say may come across as audacious. And this is precisely why I have refrained from revealing my true identity up until now.
“But I sense a restless stirring among the people of Earth. You fear the future and dread its advance. You’ve likely experienced hardships during the last three and a half years. And most likely you are still grieving the mysterious disappearance of a loved one.
“But this profound sadness need not weigh you down. And your fear of the future need not paralyze you. You have survived these hard times because you are courageous and strong. You have also survived because of my steady leadership.
“Do you ever wonder how I am able to lead all of mankind so effectively? My ability to reign with such wisdom and power is because I am not of this world. Although I live in a human body and appear to be a man, I am not a man.
“So what am I? If you’ve thought about it long enough and hard enough you may already know the answer. My actions speak for themselves.” Skymolt looked at the other camera and paused dramatically. “I am God. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I have always been. And now I have come to Earth to live amongst my most prized creation.
“All the gods who were worshipped throughout history were only idols and mythological inventions created to wrongly take my place. Even Jesus Christ was a cleverly produced fraud, a hoax rivalled only by the claim that the Bible is my spoken word. Jesus was only a man, a mere Jew who spoke in riddles and allegedly healed a few sick people.
“The legend goes that Jesus was my son and that he was crucified by the Romans, and that Jesus rose from the dead three days later. But I can tell you unequivocally that Jesus was never my son, that the tomb of Jesus was robbed, and his body taken to a hiding place by his grieving followers. “I can tell you this because I watched it all take place while sitting on my throne in Heaven.
“Not too long ago I was shot in the head by an assassin.” Skymolt pointed to a spot just above his left eyebrow. “The bullet entered my head right here and tunneled through my brain. I died and was placed in a tomb. And just like this speech, my funeral was broadcast all over the world on television. But then I arose three days later, as alive as I have ever been.
“Jesus couldn’t do this, but I did it. I cheated death because I am eternal. I came back to life because I am supernatural, and because I am God. Now you must understand my reluctance to confess my identity. But I do it now because your tears have saddened me. Your cries for deliverance have reached my ears, and I want only to comfort you.
“I want to reassure you that Earth’s best days are ahead of us. But for Earth to truly prosper again, the rabble must be eliminated. I cannot live in the presence of sin because I am holy. All criminals and unbelievers and rebels hiding under rocks and in caves will be hunted down and eliminated.
“But do not fear. Do not let your heart be troubled. If you believe that I am God and take my marking chip as a seal that you are my child, I will give you eternal life.”
Skymolt allowed sternness to settle on his face. “But let me be perfectly clear. You must have your wrist or forehead chipped. My deadline for doing this has expired. But I am a patient God. I will grant you a little more time.” Skymolt looked at his diamond-studded Rolex watch. “All unchipped people have exactly six days, six hours and six minutes from now to get themselves chipped. After this deadline expires, all unchipped people will be exterminated on site.
“Finally, by now you have seen my images. The statues have been placed in every town, in every village, and in every city in every nation around the world. I demand that you bow to a knee in worship when you pass by my image. If you are caught not worshipping my image you will be e
xecuted. All images of me are monitored by hidden cameras. I am also monitoring the images. You cannot go unnoticed. I am omniscient. Fail to worship me and you will suffer in eternal torment.
“Lastly, on a more positive note. A mission is being planned to rescue the millions of people who were abducted from Earth three and a half years ago. I know where these people are being held. Let me assure you, your loved ones are fine and in good health. But their captors are from another world and must be punished severely.
“Some of what I have said tonight may have shocked you. But all I ask from you is your obedience, and your love and devotion. I hold the whole world in my hands. I destroyed this planet once before with water. But I give you my holy word that this planet will never again be shaken.
“My love for you is boundless. My sheep hear my voice and I know them. They will never be snatched from my hand. To all who are watching and obey my commands, I give you my blessings. Goodnight.”
Henrik Skymolt stood up and walked down the throne steps as gracefully as he walked up them. He passed by the cameras and left the Most Holy Place. Stupid humans, he thought to himself. They’re so gullible. They believe my lies with such enthusiasm.
Chapter 44
Olympic Peninsula
Nathan Banks sat on a rock outside the bunker. It was a warm day for winter. The snow that fell yesterday had melted everywhere but in the darkest shadows.
Banks took a deep breath and let it out. He closed his eyes and allowed the Pacific breeze to tickle his face and muss his hair. He could almost trick himself into believing he was back in Seattle and at a park, enjoying a rare sunny day with Jenny.
Almost, but not quite.
Banks opened his eyes. And when he did he saw two men walking in the forest. They approached him. And he knew in that instant they came for him.
One man stood much taller than the other. He almost seemed to glow. But Banks quickly realized it was only the sunbeams shining through the forest canopy that illuminated the taller man.