by Justin Price
John laughed but David just glanced back at him and said, “I told you that you should have gone before we left. We can’t stop now.”
John had butterflies in his stomach. He was so nervous about the situation. Mainly, he just didn’t want any harm to come to Maggie. But, he was also feeling excited about possibly seeing her again. It had been so long and he thought about her every day.
“Guys, if I don’t get a chance to say this later, I want to say it now. Thank you all for taking me in and helping me find my wife. You are putting your lives at risk here and I appreciate it more than you will ever know.”
“Hey man. No greater love can we have than to lay our lives down for a brother. That’s the essence of what we believe anyway”, said DeShawn.
“Well…I am really starting to consider everything that you all are saying. Your belief system is different than the one I encountered in Iran. It seem like every other religion was just trying to make men good enough to where they could be in God’s good graces, but with this Jesus… it was all about God lowering himself to us and extending grace where it wasn’t deserved or earned at all.”
David smiled. “I think you are getting it John.”
They five men kept driving along until they reached Newark. The neighborhood was in a decent subdivision. The perfectly manicured grass and landscaping stood out as the quintessential American dream was on full display. The van slowly crept up to the house.
John’s fears seemed to be confirmed as he noticed that Maggie’s vehicle wasn’t there and the living room light was still on. “Alright…let’s go”, said John.
“Hold on just one second there John. We’ve got to proceed with caution here. You can’t let your emotions get the best of you. Okay?”
“Alright…”
They waited for a minute, trying to detect any movement around or inside of the house before they approached. It was a very still night. There wasn’t a sight or sound that seemed out of place. After David was satisfied, all of the men got out of the van and began to approach the home.
They walked up to the door and knocked with weapons raised. There was no answer at the door. John tried the doorknob. It wasn’t locked! David did a silent three count and the men came bursting in with guns pointing both directions. The house looked to be completely empty, but they would search around for any clues they could find.
John and David headed down the hallway toward the bedroom to start there while Bo stood guard at the door. Chaim and DeShawn both walked to the kitchen to search for clues.
David opened the bedroom door with John on the other side of the doorway. The door flung open and both of them stood in shock at what they saw.
CHAPTER 11
The yellow cab pulled up at JFK International Airport early in the morning when it was still dark. Eric and Nick stepped out and the cab driver met them at the trunk to remove their luggage.
“My goodness you guys pack heavy. Where are you flying to again?”
“We are going to Damascus, Syria for a couple of days,” said Charles.
“Damascus? That’s where Assad is from. Are you there on government business?”
“Kind of, but not exactly. We really aren’t at liberty to say. It’s more of a business trip really”, said Nick.
“Ah…I see. Well safe travels!”
“Thanks”, they said in unison.
The two scientists set off for the terminal where private flights were being flown out. They talked as they headed to the place where they would board the plane.
“You know, Charles. This is going to change our lives forever if they decide to purchase this device from us. Something like this could make us instant billionaires.”
“Yea…exciting thought…,” said Charles with as much manufactured enthusiasm as he could muster. The truth was that he had enough. He lived in a nice part of town and had been financially secure for several years due to his other patents and breakthroughs. The thing that he wanted the most couldn’t be bought.
Erica had always said that the nice house and cars didn’t matter. The prestige and influence that came with his accomplishments didn’t either. He recalled toward the end of her life how she started to talk about God a lot. She thought that she had found something that would save her, but it didn’t. He had always discounted it as her being fearful of death and just wanting some peace of mind to cling to.
After her death, the notion became even more sickening to him. If there was a God, then he wasn’t some malevolent being. He had to be a dictator that didn’t really care about anyone. He allowed a self-professed believer to suffer and die just like he would anyone else. What good was it to believe? His heart had been hardened with each passing year as he had to raise his two girls by himself. He was left alone.
Eric finally backed out of his thought process as they went outside and headed toward the lavish private jet that Assad had sent them. “Wow”, he said. “Assad isn’t one to hold back is he?”
“No… I have to say that I’m impressed. I think it will be the nicest flight I’ve ever had”, said Nick.
The two were met by the pilot and two armed guards who greeted them and ushered them onto the plane. As they stepped into the cabin, they were awestruck by the craftsmanship and expense of it all. Charles had gotten a tour of Air Force One years before when he met the President, but that was nothing compared to this.
All the chairs were made of the finest leather. The aisle down the middle of the plane was made of pure gold and the finest champagne and wine was on display in the back of the plane for them to choose from. A big screen TV was mounted on one side of the plane with a couch and recliner on the other side. It was an enormous luxury plane that made most other planes look cheap in comparison.
A flight attendant showed them around to the sleeping quarters in another section of the plane as well as the two private restrooms and bar…”and if you need anything at all, just push any of the buttons in the corners of the rooms and I will be here to help you.”
“Thank you mam”, said Charles still in awe of what they were seeing.
“I can’t believe this is all for us”, said Nick. “I am liking Assad already.”
The two of them kicked their shoes off and leaned back to relax with a glass of wine. They heard the engines start up and a few minutes later, they were hurdling down the runway. It was the smoothest takeoff they had ever experienced and they wouldn’t have known that they had taken off if it weren’t for the slight incline as the nose of the plane was being pulled up.
The screen in the room came on and there sat Samyaza al Assad himself. Nick started to speak and stumbled over his words until he realized that it was a pre-recorded message. He sat back in relief of being saved an embarrassing moment and listened to him speak.
“Charles and Nick… I want to welcome you aboard one of my private planes as you travel to meet me here in Damascus. I trust that you are finding all accommodations satisfactory so far. When you arrive, you will be meeting me at my palace for a visit and we will take a limousine from there to a predetermined place in the desert for safety purposes. I look forward to your visit. Have a nice flight and help yourself. What is mine is yours.”
Joanna and Ryan woke up early in the morning with a thick fog covering the ground as far as they could see. Both of them were shivering in the chilly morning air. Joanna rolled over on the arm that had been shot and she gasped in pain. Tears flooded her eyes as she struggled to sit up.
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Yes Ryan. I am fine. Just a little sore from yesterday, that’s all.”
She took the makeshift wrap off of her shoulder area and saw that it wasn’t just soreness. An infection seemed to be setting in as the area around it was red and puffy. She needed to get to a doctor soon or else she could lose her arm or even worse.
“Alright Ryan. We need to go when we can. Let’s get out of this forest. We need to get closer to the main road or we may never find your dad.”
; Ryan started crying. It was all too much to take at this point. The boy could only be a man so long in a situation like this. “Mom, I am so cold and hungry”, he said.
Joanna had never felt more helpless in her life. Here they were in the wilderness of northern California and she didn’t have anything to feed her son or make him warm with. She stood there looking at the poor kid, trying to subdue the panic that was rising up inside of her. ‘God…if you’re there…’ she thought. ‘Please get us out of here or provide a way for us to eat.’
“Let’s start walking honey. We will get to food and shelter as soon as we can. It’s going to be alright.” She knew that last statement was as much to reassure herself as it was him. The two of them began to walk southeast to try to pick up the road a little closer to where Noah was the night before.
Joanna wondered at this point how widespread the search for them would be. She wondered what kind of chance that they would have if Noah had already been picked up by the authorities. They didn’t have any choice though. It was either press on and try to get to safety or die out here.
“Mom, I had another dream last night.”
“Oh really?” Joanna was intrigued and sincerely hoped that it had at least brought comfort to Ryan. “What was it about?”
“I saw dad here in the forest and he was walking toward us. There were men running behind him about to grab him. But then I saw fire come out of the sky and stand between dad and the men that were chasing him. He got away and found us.”
“Wow Ryan. What do you think that means?”
“I think that God is going to protect dad and bring us all together again.”
Joanna smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Me too honey…me too.”
As they kept walking, they came to a small clearing in the trees. Right in the middle of that clearing was an orange tree. Joanna looked at it in amazement. These were more common farther south, but up here in the forest you just didn’t see oranges growing.
“Look Ryan! Food!”
The two of them took off across the clearing and they each came to the tree to pick an orange. Joanna took two of them off the tree and she examined them. They were perhaps the most healthy looking, ripe oranges that she had ever seen. “Thank you God,” she whispered.
The two of them sat against the tree and ate until they were satisfied. They sat talking for a little while about God, Ryan’s dreams, and what they would do once they found Noah. Joanna had felt like she had gained her strength back and she asked, “Are you good to go now son?”
“Yeah mom. I’m ready to…”
“Shhhh…,” said Joanna as she put her finger up to her lips.
She thought she heard something at the edge of the clearing. It sounded like footsteps. After a few seconds of silence, she heard it again. This time much more distinct and it was getting closer.
They were out in the open with very little to hide them. They had both frozen, hoping that it was just a deer or some other animal. Joanna pointed down to the ground and they both crouched down. The footsteps continued until she saw the figure of a man through the trees on the other side of the clearing. She knew that they had been caught…
Liam Cain’s life had changed in the last twenty-four hours. What was once a cloud of confusion in his mind had become very clear. He had spent the entire previous day searching through old scriptures and finding answers that he never could have imagined that he would find. He read much of what was called the “New Testament” and found some startling answers…especially in the book of Revelation.
All of the symbolism and spectacle of the story held some meaning for what was going on in the world today. He was thoroughly convinced that the ten nations in the World Council were in fact the ten nations described in that book. He also knew that if this was true, then three of those nations would have to rebel.
Judging by the strange visitor he had the morning before, he was guessing that the United States was tasked with that duty. Now, he just had to figure out how to turn the ship around privately without literally losing his head. Many members of Congress that had opposed the doing away with the Constitution were already being served letters dismissing them from their elected positions.
He sat in the chair of the Oval Office in deep thought when the secretary called. “Mr. President, I am sorry to disturb you, but Speaker William Bernhart is here to see you.”
‘Oh boy…,” he thought. “Here we go.”
He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Go ahead and send him in Trish.”
“Thank you sir.”
After a few very long moments, the Speaker of the House entered the room and approached the President’s desk with an obvious scowl on his face.
“Please sit Speaker Bernhart. What can I do for you?”
“Well, for starters Mr. President…you don’t have to call me ‘Speaker’ anymore considering that I no longer have a job.”
“I’m sorry to hear that”, said Cain.
“I’m sure you are. You made it pretty clear in our last meeting that you wouldn’t let anyone stand in the way of the new ‘world’ agenda. So much for the last three-hundred and fifty years of our nation’s history… In fact; what makes you think that you are even going to keep your job? You basically just gave up the rights of every citizen and government employee, including yours.”
The President stood up and walked over to the window behind him and looked out across the back lawn. He was grasping with the right words to say in this situation. He couldn’t give away his new found faith and he also had to be careful about saying something that could get him convicted of treason by the World Council.
“Mr. Speaker…,” he paused…”let me be as honest as I can be with you right now.”
“Please do”, said William.
“I was wrong about going along with this whole charade. If I had realized what I do now, then I wouldn’t have done it. William, I believe…sincerely believe…that we are facing an evil like the world has never seen before. We have been duped into joining the World Council in the name of peace and collective prosperity, but it’s all an illusion. Only the people who agree with Assad are going to thrive. Everyone else will be in prison or dead within a year. That’s not freedom. That is dictatorship and genocide.”
William looked at him in shock. He wondered if he had even heard him correctly. “So, you mean to tell me that you no longer think that we should be in the World Council and that we should have kept our constitution?”
“Yes. You heard me right.”
“Well…I think it’s too late to go back on that decision now Mr. President. This has already thrown our whole system in disarray. How are we going to be able to oppose Assad and the rest of the world?”
“Mr. Speaker, I have reason to believe that we are not the only ones who will oppose him. He is getting too carried away with himself and this allegiance that everyone has to pay him now. We aren’t the only ones who will oppose him. In fact, I think that two other members of the council will as well.”
“I really hope you are right. It looks like we are going to go into World War 4 if this happens though. It’s going to be messy.”
“I know…I know. It’s either this or let the whole world go down the drain.”
“What do you need me to do right now, sir? I no longer have any power.”
“I want you to gather your colleagues and friends. Everyone you know that opposed these measures and let them know I have had a change of heart and we are going to wait for the right time and go from there. We will need our military strength and something tells me that most of them sided with you anyway.”
Assad and Adnan Bahar had returned from their pilgrimage to the new temple in Istanbul and they sat discussing how they could ensure that everyone swore their allegiance to Assad and the World Council. “Adnan, it is becoming frustrating to me knowing that there are still people fighting our changes even unto death. They are all clinging to the dead religions that were passed down
from generation to generation and for what? What are they gaining?”
Adnan shook his head in agreement quickly. “Yes, yes sir. We are doing our best now to catch the traitors in the act and remove them from society.”
“There are still people living off of the grid. I know there are. They’ve been able to fly under the radar and continue to buy and sell and go about their daily lives while secretly rejecting my rule and believing in other gods. It’s because of that ability to survive undetected that I make a proposition.”
Adnan leaned forward in his chair and said, “Yes your majesty. What is your plan?”
“People have been carrying vital records and the ability to make financial transactions with the small microchips embedded in their hand or forehead for years now. We already have information on virtually everyone alive. They need to register in our database by whether they swear their loyalty to me or not. Those that do can continue to buy and sell freely. Those who do not, will be executed or simply starve to death if they choose to elude me.”
“What an idea!” Adnan said in a fit of excitement. “That coupled with our current efforts with the listening chips should help us to separate the good apples from the bad. You never cease to amaze me sir.”
“Very good. Let’s put that on the agenda. We will need to contact our technical department to have that process started. I want it up and running as soon as possible.”
“Yes sir”, said Adnan.
“We will cause both small and great to bear my mark. From you Adnan all the way down to the poor and destitute. I will be their god and they will be my people. They will all belong to me.”
CHAPTER 12
Noah knew he could hear voices in the distance but couldn’t see anyone yet. As he got closer, he knew it was his family. He ran through the trees as quickly as he could go and came to a clearing just in time to see an officer in front of him raise his gun toward his wife and son. Without hesitation, he ran and leapt into the air to tackle the man.