SECRET SALVATION

by Chad Josey

  The new message in his inbox had the title, ‘You Are Invited to Speak at Our Next Meeting.’ Curious, he pointed his mouse over the message to open it.

  I hope they pay well?

  The flickering, fluorescent light provided an annoying shimmer on the computer screen as he read.

  Dear Dr. Bishop, we invite you to speak at our meeting in Denver, Colorado next month. You should be extremely proud of your breakthrough research in gene therapy. Our conference brings together the best minds in the world on various topics. We are excited to hear your presentation and share in an open exchange with our audience members.

  “Wow, someone’s kissing my ass here, aren’t they?” Joe asked laughing as he continued.

  Our organization will cover your travel expenses and compensate you in the sum of $50,000 for your time and presentation.

  “Fifty-thousand dollars!” Joe had to re-read the email to make sure he was correct.

  Compensate you in the sum of $50,000.

  Joe scrolled down the message and continued reading.

  Our organization is at the forefront of new technology. We only seek the best, most innovative thinkers across many industries and disciplines to attend. And, until our organization becomes well established, we are offering a competitive speaking fee.

  “Well, hell, you’ve got me,” Joe said as he pushed himself from the desk leaning in his chair which made a wicked creak with every move sounding like it was about to fall apart.

  “Shh,” Charlie said sticking his head in the doorway holding his finger in front of his lips. “You must have found a great deal on a car.”

  “Better than that, and talk about perfect timing,” Joe countered back. “Charlie, have you ever heard of the Eden Foundation?”

  “No… uh… um.”

  “Me, neither,” Joe said pausing for a moment still in disbelief at the timing. “Charlie, come over here and read this email I just got.”

  “I will but how am I going to get through Mount Paperwork to get over to you?”

  “Just get over here and read this, Smart Ass.”

  As Joe kicked the paper near his chair, Charlie lowered his glasses to the tip of his nose and leaned over Joe’s shoulder. Charlie read the email on the dimly lit screen, mumbling to himself while reading.

  “Fifty-thousand dollars,” Charlie said in disbelief.

  “I know, right?”

  “I don’t care if you’ve never heard of the Eden Foundation or not, fifty-thousand dollars is fifty-thousand dollars. If I were you, I’d contact them to confirm that.” Charlie placed his hand on top of his head and shook it side-to-side in shared disbelief. “And, if so, wow. I never get any offers like that. The only email offers I get are for those damn penis enlargement pills.”

  “Yeah, Becky asked me if you would ever get those?”

  “Ha, ha, Mr. Funny Guy.”

  “There’s a link at the bottom of the email to their website. I am sure there’s information about the Foundation.” Joe scanned the email one more time.

  “Well, congratulations. Talk about coincidences. I mean, you show up bitchin’ about not having money for a new car, and then you get this offer.”

  “Coincidences… Yeah, I don’t believe in them,” Joe said.

  “Okay, then Mr. Destiny, check out the small print and let me know as I’ll cover your classes those days.”

  “Thanks, Man,” Joe said yelling back as Charlie left Joe’s office.

  Joe clicked the link to the foundation’s website. The email disappeared. A webpage opened with a spinning icon of Earth. The words, The Eden Foundation, were at the top of the page. After a few seconds, the spinning Earth faded away. The slogan, The Future of Mankind Is Your Responsibility, appeared.

  Well, that’s an attention-grabbing statement.

  Joe clicked the ‘Continue’ button. An empty white screen loaded.

  Fifty-thousand dollars for me? Hell… use that money to build a better website why don’t ya?

  A few more moments had passed. A black, Arial-font text scrolled across the screen. Joe read the scrolling message, which matched the information he received in his email.

  “I knew it was too good to be true. This looks like some kind of spam. I’d be better off following up on the email from the Nigerian prince I got last week.”

  Joe leaned forward in his chair with a noticeable frown on his face. His hand held his forehead causing wrinkles to crease up to his scalp.

  I knew it was too good…

  He lifted his head off his supporting hand. A deep sigh escaped Joe as he moved his mouse to close the screen.

  As soon as he clicked his mouse, the piercing ring of the black, cordless phone startled the quietness in his office.

  “Stonehaven Laboratories, Dr. Bishop speaking.”

  “Hello Dr. Bishop, this is Gabriel D’Angelo from the Eden Foundation. I wanted to follow-up on our email invitation I sent you this morning.”

  Shocked in disbelief at the timing of the call, Joe said, “Yeah… um… hello. I’m sorry, what was your name, again?”

  “Gabriel D’Angelo… with the Eden Foundation… I’m the one that sent you the email invitation to speak at our conference next month.”

  “Oh… okay. So, yeah, I went to your website, and I must say that… um, uh, what’s the deal? I mean, your website looks so basic, and I have seen a lot of scams through email before.”

  “Dr. Bishop, my sincere apologies about our website. We are a new organization, and we really want to make a big splash on the research scene. In our excitement, to be honest, we’ve not spent a lot of time on our website."

  No shit.

  "But, I can assure you we are a legitimate organization, and we will make it worth your time. In fact, we are so confident in our mission, we believe it will completely change your life.”

  Joe listened to Gabriel speak as he opened the email invitation, again.

  “Our organization is committed to attracting only the best minds from around the world. We truly believe the ability to share your research with our audience, and their engagement, will help further your work.”

  “You’re a fantastic salesman, Mr. D’Angelo. I’ll give you that,” Joe said with a sarcastic tone. “Hell, as long as you send me a contract spelling out I’ll get paid, I’ll prepare a talk on my research. The worst case is I show up at some geek convention and we share information about comic books or something.”

  “I can assure you, Dr. Bishop, this meeting will change your life, forever.”

  “Send me the contract, and I’ll look it over and get back to you,” Joe said shaking his head, still in disbelief. “Thank you for the invitation.”

  “No, thank you for agreeing to consider attending. Our Foundation has been following your work for some time. We are excited to see how we can help you continue with your research.”

  “How long have you been following my research?” Joe asked as his eyes widened creating slight wrinkles to appear again on his forehead.

  “We’ll get into that when we meet. If you decide to attend, a limo will pick you up at your home and fly you to Denver in our private jet. We are backed by serious donors who are committed to our mission.”

  “You should have mentioned the private jet in the first place,” Joe said laughing into the phone. “Okay, you have convinced me. I’ll wait to review the contract and will be back in touch.”

  “Sure, the contract is in your inbox now. I’ll be touch with you tomorrow to confirm the arrangements. Thank you again, Dr. Bishop.”

  “Please, call me Joseph or Joe.”

  “Joseph, I’ll call you tomorrow.” The call ended.

  Crazy he called me just now as I was looking at their website. It’s almost like he was watching me and knew to call.

  Joe placed the phone back down on its charging base and jumped from his chair. His sudden leap created a domino effect on the stacks of paper falling in every direction from his desk.

  “Charlie. Charlie,
you are not going to…” Joe said, his voice trailing off as he left his office.

  10-Insomnia

  PRESENT - Stony Brook, New York

  1,831 Days Prior to Impact

  HOURS HAD PASSED since Mary had left for work at the high school on the day Joe had returned from Colorado. In that time, Joe had tossed in their bed replaying Gabriel’s voice. As his eyes grew heavy, fuzzy images of CIE57.20 flashed in a bright exploding light beneath his closed eyes. Like a bad, never-ending movie, his thoughts raced from one point to another. Nothing made sense to him.

  No matter how much Joe tried to calm his thoughts, he floated between consciousness and a dream world. Visions of everything he had known would come to an end.

  How am I going to explain this to Mary before we leave for Salvation?

  Feelings of grandeur overcame him thinking about space travel and Mars.

  Is this really going to happen?

  Images rushed over him in manic-depressive states. His emotions ranged from excitement about their selection to go to Mars to deep sadness for his friends left behind. As quick as those thoughts had entered, they had disappeared replaced with a sense of pride his work held in its importance to support future life. Pride fled, as fear of the unknown and of everything familiar to him destroyed had returned.

  The time on the alarm clock teased him.

  How will I ever sleep, again?

  At 8:25 p.m., keys rattled against the front door downstairs signaling Mary’s arrival home. Joe pulled the cover over his head and pretended to be asleep when she entered their bedroom.

  Mary came out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where Joe lay. “Oh… sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” Her voice was soft and comforting to Joe.

  He rolled toward her pushing down the covers and yawned. “Ahh… that’s okay. I need to get up anyway.”

  “Did you get a good nap?”

  “Yeah… um… it was okay.” Joe rubbed his face hiding his lie. The redness and puffiness of his eyes were evidence of five nights of no sleep.

  “Hope you don’t mind. Tomorrow’s the first day of classes, that’s why I’m running late. So, I brought pizza home tonight.”

  “Fantastic. I’m starving.” Joe kissed Mary passing her to put on a pair of sweatpants from the dresser to go downstairs.

  “Let me change, and I’ll be right down,” Mary said.

  A few minutes later she came into the kitchen joining Joe. To her surprise, he had made a place for them at the table. The smell of the hot, melty cheese smothering the thinly sliced pepperoni engulfed the tiny kitchen.

  Steam rose from the box and their mouths. “You know, these last five days have been the longest we’ve ever been apart,” Mary said.

  Between bites, Joe grunted “Ahem” acknowledging his agreement. With his last slice on the plate, his focus changed from the pizza to Mary.

  “What about the time I went to that conference with Charlie?”

  “No, that was only three nights.”

  His last slice entered his mouth resting on his tongue. Joe did not bite down.

  Awe shit, Charlie.

  At that moment, Joe realized Charlie would die with everyone else in 2020. The past several days with Gabriel, not once did Joe think about his best and only friend.

  Joe’s face lost all its color. The pizza dropped from his hands slamming on the plate below him on the table. Mary’s face appeared blurred. Three of her appeared. The light from the kitchen dimmed. His body slumped down from his chair to the floor.

  “Joe… Joseph… Are you okay?” Mary yelled as he opened his eyes. Her worried face came into sharp focus.

  “Uh… I’m fine. I’m just so tired… guess I have gotten little sleep over the last few days.” Joe lay on the cold, tile kitchen floor shaking his head of whatever it was causing him to faint.

  “You scared me. One minute you’re talking. The next, I see your face go blank and you hit the floor.” Mary helped Joe sit up where he had fallen. “You feel better, now?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” he said, embarrassed.

  “You need anything? Water?” She rubbed his upper back reassuring him.

  “Yeah… um… help me up.” Joe pulled himself to the chair and rested his head in his hands with his elbows on the table. “I guess I got light-headed or something from not sleeping.”

  Mary came back to the table with a glass of water sitting it between his elbows on the table. “Do you want to sleep down here on the sofa, or do you want me to help you back to bed?”

  “I’ll stay down here tonight. That way, if I can’t sleep I won’t keep you awake.” Joe sipped from the glass. The water refreshed him.

  “Why haven’t you been able to sleep?”

  Joe paused. He wanted to confess everything to Mary. “Uh… um… so much happened at the conference. A lot of new information. And, it kept me up at night thinking about it.”

  Because everyone's going die and we're going to Mars.

  “Did the nap help this afternoon? When’s the last time you slept?”

  Joe took another sip of water. “It helped. Probably a couple days ago?” A lie said to not worry her since it has been five nights without sleep.

  “Well, maybe the pizza will put you in a food coma.” She laughed. “Let me go upstairs and bring you a pillow and a blanket. I’ll make you a nice, comfy spot on the sofa.”

  Mary kissed the top of his head as she went upstairs. After she left the room, in a low, whispery voice Joe said, “Okay, you saw that. I almost told her. But, I promised I wouldn’t.”

  Joe looked straight ahead as he sat in the same spot as Mary when he had seen her in Colorado. “I know you bastards can see me.”

  “What did you say?” Mary asked walking down the steps, hugging pillows and a blanket.

  “Oh… uh… I was talking to myself. You know, Mr. Brain Damage over here.”

  “Well, at least the lack of sleep hasn’t taken your sense of humor away, Mr. Damage.”

  She unfolded the blanket and fluffed the pillows. The smell of fabric softener caressed the air.

  “Come here, and let me get you comfortable.”

  Joe joined Mary on the sofa, a familiar place for him. Many a late-night home from the lab, Joe had slept there often.

  “Here are your pillows.” Mary gave them one last good fluff and placed them behind his head. “Now, if you need anything, just yell for me. Do you want the TV on?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll put it on the news channel since that usually makes you doze off.” She placed the remote on the coffee table within his reach and kissed him, goodnight.

  Mary went into the kitchen. Sounds rolled into the living room. The refrigerator door opened and closed. An empty pizza box crumpled into the garbage can under the sink.

  She turned out the lights going back upstairs. At the top of the steps, Mary told him goodnight and that she loved him. Darkness crept through the living room.

  Streetlights peeped through cracks of the curtains interrupting the downstairs shadows. The greenish glow from the LED lights on the appliances filled the kitchen behind him. Random reflections danced on the furniture and freshly painted walls from the flickering television.

  In July, Joe and Mary had moved into their new rental townhouse. They had decided it was time to become adults moving from their college apartment, which they had called home for nearly fifteen years.

  Their landlord had the home painted before they moved. This was a perfect opportunity for the Eden Foundation to install cameras and microphones in doorknobs, smoke detectors, mirrors, light switches, and even two televisions. Eden knew they would not get rid of the free gifts left in the home.

  With no light except the television, the cameras switched to night mode. On duty tonight was Joe's usual Monitor. She observed Joe lying on the sofa, both arms under a blanket, his eyes closed.

  The cameras in the upstairs bedroom captured Mary as she entered the bathroom. Her routine was the same every night
: remove her make-up, wash her face, brush her teeth, and apply moisturizer before slipping into bed completely naked. The Monitors had created a checklist to quickly identify any abnormal activity from her. Joe was less predictable in his routine.

  Several minutes had passed. Joe fell into a light sleep lasting an agonizing few moments. His eyes opened again to the images on the television. This pattern repeated well into the deep hours of the night.

  Mary’s voice came to him in a dream. That was the longest we’ve ever been apart. Promise me you will never leave me that long again.

  Joe jolted awake unsure if the conversation was real. He collected his thoughts and recalled their earlier conversation when he came home.

  Frustrated, he watched television. The news programs had ended hours earlier. Joe became lost in an infomercial for the latest, weight loss gimmick.

  The program numbed his mind compelling him to not change the channel. Between states of reality and dreams, he awoke again. This time on the television was a man in a pale, blue suit. His white hair slicked back, and he had the most devilish wide grin on his face. The man was a televangelist barking through the screen.

  “Brothers and Sisters. I’m here today to tell you the end is near. Come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You will enjoy everlasting life with him in heaven.”

  Joe released a heavy sigh.

  “Let’s pray together.”

  The man closed his eyes in an over-exaggerated attempt to show he was praying. After a few moments, an incredible smile etched across his face contradicting the tone of his prayer. “Now, Brothers and Sisters, call our number below. Make a donation. Let God into your heart. Give what the Lord commands in you. Amen… Amen.”

  Joe listened to the televangelist and laughed.

  God? What God will let this happen? Heaven? Well, you’re all going there soon enough. That’s for damn sure.

  Joe’s arm tangled in the cover attempted to reach for the remote. Before he could turn the television off, the televangelist disappeared. The screen turned blood red. White letters scrolled across… Breaking News.

  A few seconds had passed. The red screen changed to a view of a newsroom from the local television station.