Save Him

by William M. Hayes

"What is it, Ray?" Carrie asked, her voice high, worried. She'd never seen Ray in the condition he was in now while out on a mission. In the last shafts of light receding from inside the stone passageway, Carrie could see that Ray's body was shaking.

  Kevin stepped toward Ray.

  "You okay there, Ray?"

  Ray fought to calm his trembling body—and did so for the most part—as Kevin took another step closer. Ray nodded to Kevin that he was fine, stepped around him, and stood in front of Carrie, inches away from her face.

  "Communication yet, Carrie?"

  "Yeah, I got hold of Todd. He's with the others, waiting for your orders."

  Ray reached into the pocket of his cargo pants and took out his Genesis-enhanced headset, adjusting it to his head with hands beginning to tremble again.

  "Todd…"

  Todd's voice came back immediately and urgently. "Hey, what’s going on—did you find Rydel already?"

  John joined Ray by his side, listening in. "Thought I saw him, but no. Stay where you are. We'll track you through your gun."

  "Sal's gun and our backup ammo are missing, Ray."

  "Just stay where you are."

  Ray removed his headset, and John walked him away from Carrie and Kevin to talk privately. The colonel turned and pointed back at Carrie and Kevin.

  "You two stay there."

  Carrie and Kevin stood where they were, watching John walk Ray out of earshot. Thirty feet away, John stopped and pulled Ray closer to him. Although dark, there was enough light to make out that John was furious.

  "Ray, you need to get your shit together, and I mean now. Carrie and Kevin can tell you're starting to lose it." John glanced back at Carrie and Kevin, took a few seconds, calmed down, and placed a hand on Ray's shoulder.

  Ray stared at John, lost and confused.

  "But what about what we saw? The woman? She—"

  "We saw nothing. Nothing, Ray. Now let's get the rest of your team together, find Rydel, and wait to be taken back."

  John turned away from Ray and walked back to Carrie and Kevin. Two of America's most elite operators now looked shaken, which was to be expected traveling back in time. But what worried John was they also looked leaderless—both staring at John for answers while Ray stood behind the three in the darkness. Carrie and Kevin glanced over John's shoulder to see where Ray was, the two looking like abandoned children.

  The colonel stepped closer.

  "Ray's coming, give him a second. You two follow me, keep your heads down, and avoid the people like we talked about. Got it?"

  Carrie and Kevin nodded.

  "Gonna need more than a nod when an order has been given by a colonel—so let's hear it, you two."

  Both stood erect and gave the colonel a "Yes, sir" at the same time.

  "I understand the situation we are in is unique, but remember the elite operators that you are—better than any in the world."

  The mini pump-up speech by John got Carrie and Kevin back and ready. Out of the darkness around them, Ray joined John without saying a word. It seemed to Carrie and Kevin that Ray barely acknowledged they were there. As the two waited for John to give the next order, Carrie and Kevin took in Ray's condition with his distant, faraway gaze.

  "You two follow me. Hoods over your heads, sling the duffel bags over your shoulders. Do not walk past me, and listen to everything I say," the colonel said to Carrie and Kevin with assuredness in his voice and eyes.

  Carrie and Kevin snapped out another "Yes, sir." Ray just stood by John's side, nodding distractedly.

  "Let's move," John said.

  The four moved toward the light of a fading day, the sunlight coming from the passageway's arched opening.

  Out of the passageway, avoiding scattered men and women inside the stone-pillared open area, the four kept their heads down and pushed slowly forward. No one seemed to give any notice to the tan duffel bags from the future that Carrie and Kevin carried on their backs—the bags blended in with Carrie and Kevin's wardrobe nicely. From under her hooded cloak, Carrie stared down at the slide-out screen on her concealed Smartround gun, tracking the rest in the Unit and getting a fix on them before the others.

  She lifted her head slightly and joined the colonel, who was leading the way out in front.

  "I have them, sir."

  "Stay by my side and lead the way," the colonel ordered.

  They all kept their heads down, passing only scattered groups of people here and there as they traveled. At a barely noticeable narrow entrance leading into a stone passageway to their right, Carrie entered the tight space sideways, followed by John and Ray. Kevin trailed behind, making sure nobody followed. Satisfied they were now clear, Kevin quickly stepped inside the passageway.

  Led by Carrie, the four walked cautiously—two steps, stop, two steps, stop—slowly making their way ahead. Carrie turned on her flashlight, and the four gathered around one another, pulling back their hoods. Carrie pointed a finger in front of her.

  "They're up ahead," she said.

  Before John could give the next order, Ray spoke.

  "Unit."

  John turned to Ray, giving him a slight smile.

  "You're back?"

  "I am, John."

  Up ahead, the rest of Ray's Unit began to appear from out of the dark.

  Camp

  Logistically, it took over a day and a half to begin the search for Rydel. With a view through his binoculars, Ray looked down from a high ledge jutting out from the deserted mountainside that he and John commandeered. He scanned the city of Jerusalem, only a short walk away, then focused on the members of his Unit below. Sal, Ben, and Steve had set up three tents while Jack finished digging out a second fire pit. Janice and Kevin were away from the rest, searching for firewood. All were doing what they should be doing—all except for him, Ray thought. He had told John he wanted to look over the members of his Unit from above to make sure the pressure of being in another time did not get to some of them. And John bought it.

  However, he was standing high above for only one reason—to search for the healing man from the stone alley. He was now connected to the man and could not disregard what had passed through his body, mind, and soul by the simple touch of the man's hand—a hand that had healed a dead woman right before his eyes. He knew he was searching for a needle in a haystack, but it did not matter. All Ray wanted to do now was find Him.

  After three years together, the members of his Unit were a family he had adopted, a family that needed his protection. Right now, however, the healing man needed his protection more, for a reason he did not yet understand.

  Ray watched the members of his Unit dotting the i's and crossing the t's around the camp, getting ready to hunt Rydel down. Being who-knows-how-many years away from the time they belonged in, each member of the Unit still did not miss a beat. Perfect. Ray programmed his binoculars to search the hill where he had last seen the healing man and again found no human activity.

  Ray noticed Adriana a distance away from the rest. She was setting up a tripod-10 tracker—a small tracking system provided by Genesis—so they could better track Rydel and search for Sal's gun and the lost ammo at the same time. Ray scanned the hill once more for the man who had healed the dead woman. He lowered the binoculars and put them in the pocket of his cargo pants. He stared ahead for close to a minute, then turned and walked away with the sun on his back.

  __

  On a nightscape mountainside miles away from Ray and the rest of the operators hunting him, Rydel ran down a dirt path haphazardly, slipping here and there. He reached the bush where he hid what he had borrowed from the lab for his mission. Rydel felt a wave of relief, knowing he was lucky not to break an ankle on his way down the mountain. Thankful he did not cripple himself. Thankful that he was now only inches away from a weapon. Something was following him, watching him.

  He fell to his knees and pushed away a bush in front of him—the bush he had uprooted when he first arrived. He had dug a two-foot hole under it t
o hide all that he had taken from the present to aid him on his mission here in the past (the hole too far away from his camp, Rydel lambasted himself).

  Left in the hole to taunt him was the Smartround rifle he had taken from the lab, placed on two V-shaped branches stuck into the ground—the ammunition and the handgun gone.

  Behind him, someone laughed. Rydel spun around to see a shadowed man above him, outlined by the light of the moon. The man in the black cloak, who had been with Rydel from almost the time he had arrived, glared down at him from the mountain's precipice. The man in black lowered to his haunches, fixed on Rydel.

  Rydel's bladder failed him, pouring urine down his right leg. He got up and ran as fast as he could down the mountain to escape from the man above, never daring to look back.

  __

  The moon and stars lit up the mountainside where John and Ray stood. The two men scanned the stone city below with their Smartround guns, searching for Rydel.

  "Colonel Adams, Ray…"

  John and Ray turned to see Jack coming their way.

  "What is it, Jack?" Ray asked.

  "Got a slight hit from Rydel's chip. He's on the mountain across from us. And Adriana has tracked down Sal's gun and the lost ammo just outside that city we arrived at."

  John and Ray followed Jack back down to the camp. Ray ordered the rest of his Unit to gather by a fire now burning high and snapping, sending swirling sparks into the air.

  "Everyone take a knee," Ray quickly said.

  The members of Ray's Unit took a knee around the fire. Ray glanced over his shoulder at John standing behind him. John nodded and walked away. Ray turned his attention back to the men and women in front of him.

  "Two groups going out. Sal, Todd, you two are coming with me to the city, where Adriana has tracked down the lost ammo and Smartround gun."

  Ray waved his index finger in a back-and-forth arc over the others.

  "The rest of you will join Colonel Adams and track down Rydel. We leave in ten."

  The members of the Unit rose to their feet and hurried back to the tents.

  Not seeing John anywhere, Ray began to run. In just under a minute, he stood on a mountain ridge, watching the city below again, a city lit by various methods of fire. The conflicting feelings he was having between leading the members of his Unit and running off in search of the man in the alley were hindering his abilities to focus. Something inside had been altered when the man touched him. Ray could feel the goodness of the man flowing through him—and suddenly he became unequivocally aware of who the man was—it was Jesus Christ. He now knew it was not just some chance encounter with the Messiah; it was meant to happen. He had been chosen.

  Earlier, he had tried dismissing what he saw in the alley. But the feeling of what passed between the two had now grown stronger. He was being drawn to Christ.

  "Ray?"

  Ray turned to see John, not ten feet away, walking toward him. So deep in thought, Ray lost track of time and didn't hear John approach until he was just about on top of him. Normally, Ray could hear and sense a person from over fifty feet away. Now, almost face-to-face with John, Ray knew he could not hide what he was doing up here. It didn't matter. It was time to be honest about the man they encountered in the alley and what He did.

  "Ray, what—what the hell is it now? I thought you got your shit back together. You look half-fucking mad. You have any idea how long you've been up here? Your Unit is waiting for you!"

  "You know who the man in the alley was, John. You saw what He did," Ray calmly said.

  John started to speak but then stopped. He walked toward a ridge overlooking the camp and glanced down, making sure all in Ray's Unit were where he had left them. He walked back to Ray and stood inches away from his face.

  "I'm not sure what I saw, Ray. Okay, yeah—saw something messed up, but it doesn’t matter. We need to find Rydel before he's able to save this man."

  "Rydel wants to save Him?"

  John rolled his eyes in frustration and nodded.

  "Why?"

  "Because Rydel is losing his frigging mind, that's why!"

  Ray turned away from John and looked down at the city aglow in candles, fires, and torch-flame.

  "So you knew when we were going back in time, and you didn't tell me?"

  "Yes."

  "Why keep it from me?"

  "Because look how you're acting now. I know you have your beliefs, but we cannot let Rydel do this! The devastation could be catastrophic if he succeeds. We have to stop him. Lives back home are at stake here. Please, please do not fucking forget that, Ray."

  The tug of war inside Ray eased—the conflict of what he should do fading away. Lives back home may very well be in harm's way if we change anything in this time, Ray reminded himself. He knew John would do anything to protect American lives. The man truly loved the people he protected.

  "Okay, John. Let's find Rydel and take him home."

  Clopas

  On the mountain he chose for his camp, the rocky terrain now half-lit in moonlight, Rydel sat tucked away in the darkness. The city of Jerusalem below him glowing, the Lower City homes dotted in candlelight and the Upper City palaces blazingly aflame with the use of ornate oil lamps.

  Rydel stared at a small fire in front of him, the hood of a second cloak he had had to confiscate covering his face, down to his nose. The superficial bite wounds from the man-dog were no longer painful. The wind cried out, moving over the fire, chilling Rydel, goose bumps spreading over his skin.

  A man's deep voice spoke from behind Rydel: "I'm here for you."

  Rydel recognized the voice and did not move. He waited for his translator to translate the words. He turned his hooded head around, eyes searching the darkness behind him, seeing no one.

  "Let me see you," Rydel said in Aramaic. Peripherally, from under his hood, Rydel caught movement to his left. The darkness around him shifted, and the tall shape of a man walked out of the dark. Rydel kept his head lowered and spoke again through his translator.

  "Come…sit with me by the fire."

  The black shape emerged from the darkness and walked closer. The firelight reached the man as he moved near, lighting his tall body and face. The forty-year-old man with his sunken, skull-like, deep-tanned face looked down at Rydel with eager eyes that wanted to please.

  "Come, Clopas."

  Clopas cautiously walked forward and sat on the ground opposite Rydel. The man nodded at Rydel and lowered his head, waiting to be spoken to again.

  "Word of where Jesus is now?" Rydel asked Clopas.

  "No," Clopas answered.

  "His followers?"

  Clopas shook his head. "No. When Simon comes to see me again, I will know more."

  Rydel leaned closer toward the fire and pulled back the hood of his cloak. There was no need to hide his translator from the man; he was under the influence of S-7, and Rydel had told him to never see it. "Clopas, you told me you knew all there is to know about Jesus!"

  Rydel stood up and started pacing back and forth, glaring down at Clopas each time he passed the man seated by the fire.

  "Shit," Rydel said to himself. Frustrated, he began to think that he might have wasted S-7 on the wrong person to help him find Jesus. Clopas had helped locate Jesus once, but maybe that was all the information the man had.

  Clopas stood, sensing and seeing the anger coming from Rydel. He took a couple of steps toward Rydel, holding his arms out straight with his palms up.

  "No one in the city can tell me where they stay during the night. Most only want to talk about the healed one."

  As the words translated back, Rydel came to an abrupt stop in front of the fire.

  "The healed one?" Rydel asked.

  Guarded, but very much wanting to please Rydel, Clopas ventured a couple of steps closer and lowered his head submissively.

  "Clopas, lift your head."

  Clopas lifted his head. He had a look on his face that was both nervous and eager.

  "What you
need to do right now is tell me all you know about the healed one people are talking about."

  "Lazarus. I know him. A friend. And a very close friend of Jesus. He had passed, and Jesus brought him back, filling his body with life again. I was there. I saw. Lazarus is in hiding now. Many seek him out, wanting to see the miracle of being reborn into the world after death. Others seek him out for different reasons."

  Rydel took a couple of slow, deliberate steps and put a hand on Clopas's shoulder, smiling at him. And Clopas returned the smile, eager to please Rydel under S-7's control.

  "You know where this man is, Clopas?"

  "Yes, he's a friend."

  "Take me to him. Now."

  The Overlook

  At the lab, seven men were seated at a table in a white room called the Overlook. These scientific laboratory technicians, handpicked by Will, sat in front of security monitoring screens overlooking the entire lab and everything around it. From cameras inside the lab to outside cameras tracking the roads leading up to Genesis—and anything closing in from the sky with its miles of restricted airspace—it was all monitored here. The Overlook also tracked weather conditions.

  Will entered the room and walked down the line of techs facing their screens. Not one of the men turned to face him; all kept their attention focused on their appointed posts. Will walked past the seated men, making three passes as he studied each screen, and then stopped, staring over one man's shoulder.

  "Remember, even the slightest change in the climate, any storm moving in—I need to know."

  "Yes, sir."

  Will continued looking over the man's shoulder, leaning closer—so close the tech could feel him breathing on his neck. Will stared at the tech's screen for another minute, pulled himself up straight, and walked out of the room.

  Outside the Overlook, Will waited with his ear pressed against the door, listening. Handpicked or not, he trusted no one. Will stayed that way for two minutes, satisfied that the seven men in the room did not speak a word of disrespect toward him. He walked down a white hallway leading away from the Overlook and entered his office a few doors down, locking the door behind him. Will's office at the lab was stark white, spacious, and impressive. What made it seem so grand was the ceiling—at least forty feet from the floor. A black sofa and one large desk reaching thirty feet across faced a window with a view of pine trees on a sloping hill. On Will's desk, three white computers lay idle. Will placed his hand on the computer screen in the middle, and it came alive in a deep red glow.