"That's it!" Megan shouted. "I have seen an angel after all! Gus, pull the desk out away from the wall. There is a metal screen behind it that you can remove…you should be able to pull it off. It's a tunnel that will lead you to the wall opposite the elevator."
Gus removed the cover and shouted, "Nicole! Get in now!"
Nicole looked at Daemon who was still lying on the floor, half conscious, and Dorothy who was still weeping in torment at the Light that was invading her body and soul. "What about Daemon and Dorothy?" she asked.
Gus looked back at them and the door that was being bashed in and said, "There's no time. They're in God's hands."
But once again, time seemed to slow and everything appeared surreal as Nicole heard the sound of the alarm blasting warning to those in the room. She heard the striking of an axe against the door. And she listened to the cries of a woman in torment. Instead of running to the tunnel, she found herself kneeling down next to Dorothy as time resumed its normal velocity, and she knew that God was giving grace to one who didn't deserve it.
"Dorothy, you are experiencing the glory Light of the Holy God. If you will surrender to Him, the Light will become life to you. He loves you and is calling out to you, giving you a chance to repent from your sins. Please ask Jesus to forgive you and turn your life over to Him!" Nicole pleaded.
Suddenly the weeping stopped and Dorothy lifted her head toward heaven and shouted, "NEVER!"
Shots were now being fired at the locks on the door. They were seconds away from penetration.
Gus yelled, "Nicole!"
She jumped up and bolted towards the tunnel. He shoved her in, climbed in backwards behind her, and had just pulled the desk back against the wall when the door burst open. Thankful for the background noise of the alarm, he quietly pulled the screen back into place at the sound of three or four clones marching into the room.
Megan said, "I just remembered that the clones will be able to scan for residual heat waves. I hope they don't sense yours."
One gun shot rang out, and the alarm stopped.
Dorothy's stern voice commanded, "Put those guns down this instant! Do you hear me?"
More gun shots.
Daemon cried out, "No!"
Three more gun shots rang out, and then a moment of silence as the room was being scanned for signs of more life.
Gus and Nicole sat very still. "Blind them Lord Jesus," Nicole prayed silently. "Remove any traces of heat or molecules in the air that our bodies may have left behind…"
Nicole wondered why her lungs felt like they would burst, and then realized that she had been holding her breath. She slowly exhaled and tried to relax.
"I saw a man in here, and it wasn't Peter," one of the clones said. "Where is he?"
Nicole wondered who he was talking to, then remembered the three clone guards. It must have been one of them who answered. "There was a man and Megan was with him. They already left the room."
More gun shots, then the room was quiet. After what seemed like eternity, they heard movement. The clones were leaving the room.
Gus whispered, "Move." The tunnel was narrow and he was big, but he carefully worked himself around and crawled after Nicole.
It was pitch black, but Nicole saw a faint light a ways ahead of her and began crawling towards it. She refused to think about the pain in her knees. "Thank you for this way out Jesus," she whispered.
Megan said, "It's a bit of a journey, so I'll keep your minds busy and tell you how I discovered the tunnel.
"One night, I woke up to someone tapping me on the shoulder. There was a man standing beside me, dressed in a white robe. He didn't say anything, but he beckoned me to follow him. I remember wondering why I wasn't afraid. I got up and he led me to the control room.
"He opened the door and let me in, and then he closed it. There was another man also dressed in a white robe who pulled the desk out and opened the screen. My guide climbed inside and motioned for me to follow him. Again, I wondered why I wasn't afraid, but I truly wasn't. I climbed in after him, and the second man stayed behind and put the screen and the desk back in place.
"It was very dark, but I could see a faint light ahead of us, just as you do now. Part way into the journey, I was wondering if I was having a bad dream because my knees were hurting and I was beginning to wonder if I would be crawling forever, but I somehow knew I had to keep going.
"Finally, my guide stopped, removed another grate and we crawled out. We were standing in front of the elevator. He smiled at me, and then said, 'Not by might, nor by power. Thank you for accompanying me on my adventure. You must be tired. Go on back to bed.'
"I was tired, and I wasn't sure that I would have called it an adventure, so I turned towards my quarters. I hadn't taken more than a step or two when I decided to ask him what that was all about. I turned back around and he was gone. There's no way he could have gotten in the elevator that fast, and there were no rooms close enough for him to have gone into. So I just went back to bed.
"I had forgotten all about that incident until you said, 'Not by might nor by power.' And then I realized that an angel had shown me the tunnel so that you and Gus would have a way of escape!"
"Wow!" Nicole whispered.
"You said something after you said, 'Not by might nor by power.' What was the rest of it?" Megan asked.
"But by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts," Nicole whispered. "It's from Zechariah 4:6 in the Bible."
"Who are the hosts?" Megan asked.
"Angels," Gus answered softly.
"Wow!" Megan exclaimed.
"I think we might be almost there," Nicole whispered. "The light is getting brighter."
The light from the hallway that was shining in through the screen was almost blinding after the darkness of the tunnel. Nicole stopped and looked out. She could hear noises in the distance, but it seemed quiet in this hall, at least momentarily. She glanced at Gus.
"Go," he motioned.
She pushed on the screen while holding onto it as best she could so that it wouldn't fall to the floor and make noise. It suddenly gave way, and she dropped it.
"Go!" Gus said, a little louder this time.
She crawled out of the hole and jumped at the "up" button on the elevator. She glanced down the hall and saw that no one was sitting behind the desk. "Thank you God," she whispered.
Gus was right behind her, and they stood impatiently waiting. It seemed like it was taking forever for the door to respond. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief as it gave way and she almost fell inside.
Gun shots!
Gus leaped inside as she pounded on the "close door" button and bullets ricocheted off the door and back into the hall as it shut and they began their assent.
"Lord Jesus, please help this elevator get us out of this pit of vipers!" Nicole prayed.
Sam's welcome voice said, "You two ok?"
"Affirmative," Gus confirmed. "We're in the elevator. Is it clear at the top?"
"Affirmative. Our men are waiting for you inside Rosie's. The building is surrounded and the militia has begun infiltration through the stairwell."
Nicole was beginning to feel faint. She must have swayed because Gus put his arm around her.
"Don't let go yet, Breeze. We're almost there. I wonder how my kittens are doing."
A soft smile lit up her face and she felt herself relaxing against his strength. "Kittens. How many were there?"
"Four."
"That's right. An orange, a grey and…." She was having trouble remembering….
The elevator stopped and the door opened. When Nicole saw the two men with guns that were standing to greet them, her mind and emotions began to shut down. She was unable to move or to think clearly. Gus urged her forward and she felt her legs move. The men saluted him and moved to the side so they could pass.
Megan suddenly burst through the door and ran to her. "You did it! God did it!" she said laughing and crying and hugging her. Nicole just stood there, unable to think or resp
ond. Megan stood back and looked at her. "Nicole, are you ok?"
"I think she's in shock," Gus said. "She'll be ok, but let's get her out of here."
Gus picked her up and carried her out of Rosie's to a car that was waiting on the street. As he was bending down to set her inside the back seat, she unexpectedly cried out, "Wait!"
Surprised, Gus stood up so quickly that he hit his head on the edge of the car roof.
"Owww!" he exclaimed as he gently probed the top of his head. "What?"
"I remember now. The other two were black! Isn't that right Gus?"
"The other two what?" He looked at his hand to see if there was blood.
"Kittens, silly! The other two kittens are black. Isn't that right?"
Gus said, "Yes, that's right. The other two are black." He helped her get her seat belt fastened and was closing the door as Sam approached.
"Good work, man. How is she?"
"She's emotionally drained and needs some rest, but she'll be fine. I’m not sure I can say the same about myself, though," he answered as he rubbed the knot that was forming on top of his head. "What's the plan?"
"I'll stay. You go and take Nicole and Megan to the safe house. You know where that is, right?" Sam asked.
"Yep. I was just there…"
"Oh right. I'll come as soon as this war is over," Sam promised.
Megan went around the car and climbed in the back seat next to Nicole. She looked like she was asleep already, but once Megan was settled, Nicole reached over and took hold of her hand. Megan smiled contentedly. A sister. A real family.
CHAPTER 28
DAY OF REDEMPTION
"Nicole, wake up. Nicole!" Someone was shaking her and she groaned. She didn't want to wake up. She turned over, hoping they would leave her alone, but the shaking continued.
"Nicole, Jake's on the phone. He wants to talk to you." Her mind was trying to make sense out of those words. "He's been so anxious to talk to you and so patient. Come on now. Wake up."
Jake wanted to talk to her. Her husband…why wasn't he here with her? Blood began flowing through her body as her mind began to wake up as well. She opened her eyes and saw herself sitting on the edge of the bed smiling at her, holding the phone out to her.
Oh yeah, Megan. Good. For a second there she was afraid she was seeing another little girl part. She wasn't sure if she smiled back or not, but she pulled her arm out from under the blanket and accepted the phone.
"Hi hon," she said in a groggy voice.
"Hey! I'm sorry to wake you but I just couldn't wait any longer to talk to you. Are you ok?"
"I think so. I'm really thirsty….Oh thank you Megan," she said as she sat up. "Just a minute Jake…" She drank down the whole glass of water Megan brought to her. "Oh, that was good. I was really thirsty!"
"I'll bet! You've been sleeping for sixteen hours!" Jake said.
"What? What day is this?" Nicole asked.
"It's the Day of Redemption!" Jake and Megan both exclaimed at once.
Several hours later, Nicole, Megan, Sam and Gus sat at a table in an Italian restaurant celebrating God's goodness, His mercy, faithfulness, protection, deliverance, and redeeming love.
When dinner was over and they were enjoying after dinner coffee, Nicole said, "Ok, now, since I slept through the end of the war, tell me what happened."
"Well," Sam reminisced, "In disabling the program, the clones went into mass confusion that was similar to the confusion God brought upon the enemies of Israel in the Old Testament on several occasions. They went on a killing rampage, even turning on each other and their handlers. By the time the militia was in place, many were already dead. The orders were for them to only shoot if fired upon, and unfortunately, they had to take out almost all of the rest that were alive."
"Tell her about the others, Sam!" Megan insisted.
"I'm getting to that." Sam was clearly enjoying the telling of the tale. He sipped his coffee lazily as Megan tapped her fingers on the table. Gus sat expressionlessly waiting.
"When everything was quiet and the clean up crew went in, two clones were found alive. They were discovered hiding in the back of a closet in the gym."
"Tell her how they were sitting when they were found!" Megan enthusiastically demanded. "It's the best part!"
Sam looked at her. "Do you want to tell it?"
"No, you go ahead," she smiled sweetly and patted his hand. Nicole looked from Sam to Megan and back to Sam.
He looked at Megan with an impatient, barely tolerant expression and….something else…. Hmmmmm. Was she imagining a spark here or what?
Sam shook his head, and then continued. "When one of the crew started clearing out the closet, there behind the gym clothes were a man and woman, clinging to each other for dear life."
Megan couldn't contain herself any longer. "Do you know what that means?" she asked. And before anyone could think to answer, she said, "It means that they weren't like the others! It means that there was a seed of love in their hearts! It means that they can live! I’m going to teach them all about Jesus and His love."
Nicole understood Megan's joy. She glanced at Sam and saw that he was looking at her with…were those dreamy eyes? Hmmmm. "What about Daemon and Dorothy? ....Sam?"
"Oh." He looked down at his coffee cup. "Their bodies were found on the floor of the control room, shot to death." He looked at Megan to see her response to this declaration. She didn't flinch.
"And what about the GWEN and cell phone towers?" Nicole asked.
"Mission accomplished on that front as well," Sam confirmed.
"Do you know what happened to Darth and Roj?"
"Unfortunately, no. They were last seen when you were dropped off in front of Rosie's."
Megan said, "Speaking of Rosie's, what's going to happen to the Bar and Grill?"
"We're not sure what it means in the long run, but it will be shut down at least in the short term," Sam said. His phone vibrated and he answered, "Sir?"
"Hopper's body was found this morning. I don't know who this is or what they're after."
"Do you think it had something to do with this case?" Sam asked.
"Possibly. But maybe not. At this point, I don't have any leads and we'll just have to wait. I will be taking extra precautions and I suggest you do the same."
"Yes Sir. Will this change the plans for the remnant?"
"No, and speaking of that, I'd like to talk to Nicole," Joel said.
Sam handed the phone to Nicole.
"Hi sir."
"Breeze, you did great. I am so proud of you! Congratulations."
"Thank you sir, and all without injury, programming, torture, or mind control gobbledygook," Nicole said.
He laughed. "You can go home now, Nicole. Sam will arrange your flight and Gus will be accompanying you to ensure your safety on the trip before he heads home to his wife and kittens," he said with a chuckle.
"You heard about the kittens then," she said as she laughed too.
"Sometimes our brains need something normal to ground us. That's God's way Nicole. Do you realize that you didn't dissociate?"
She was quiet a moment as she thought about it. "You're right! I didn't! But about that sir," Nicole paused and he waited for her to continue. "I think that maybe the gun shots triggered Zera's, I mean, my emotions concerning that other event that I was hoping to avoid dealing with."
"That's a very real possibility. You know that the Holy Spirit will guide you through that process, don't you?" Joel reminded her.
"Yes, I do believe that," she said. "He has always been faithful to do so in the past."
"And Nicole, you don't have to deal with them right now. Give yourself permission to rest. Get home and settled. Of course we never know God's plans for certain, but unless He shows you differently, for now, just rest in His presence."
"Thank you sir. I believe you are right and I needed to hear that," Nicole sighed with relief.
Joel changed the subject. "Have they told you about Meg
an and the remnant?"
"Yes sir…excuse me sir, but aren't we talking too long?"
"It's ok this time, Nicole. I'm on a different line."
"Oh good! And yes, I heard about the remnant. That's awesome. Where will they go?" Nicole wondered out loud.
"They didn't tell you that part? Well I won't rob Megan of the joy of telling you. Nicole, I just want to say thank you. Words can not express my joy at the privilege of knowing you and our Great God of Love."
"The privilege is mine, sir. Will I see you again?" Nicole suddenly realized that in going home, as much as she longed for that, she would miss her new friends that had come to play such an important part in her life.
"In this life, Lord willing, my dear girl, Lord willing. But rest assured that I shall see you on the other side no matter what. Now you go on home and take care of your gracious husband and those that God has given you to love and care for. You have been given a job to do, Breeze. Fix your eyes on the Lover and Redeemer of your soul; keep yourself hidden under His wings; allow Him to guide you, and you will be protected from the evil one and blessed with His presence, perspective and power."
"I'll do my best. God be with you, sir."
"And with you, Breeze."
Nicole suddenly remembered something. "Sir, I just realized that I haven't learned your pseudonym. Will you tell me now?"
He paused, "Nicole?"
"Sir," she replied.
"Yes."
"Excuse me sir?"
"Yes. It's Sir," he answered.
She laughed in spite of tears. "Right under my nose all this time and I didn't know it. Just like where you live!"
"Goodbye Breeze."
"Goodbye, Sir."
Nicole couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her cheeks. Everyone sat quietly a moment, allowing her to compose herself. Then she looked at Megan and asked, "So tell me. Where are you going from here? It seems that everybody knows except for me."
A grin broke out on Megan's face and she said, "Robert and Resa are coming with me and we are going to Joel's to stay with him for awhile. He's going to help us get deprogrammed and learn to enter into real life with real jobs."
The Soul Redeemer: From Victim to Victory Page 39