Stung

by Jerry B. Jenkins

  “You and Conrad look for her,” Vicki said. “We’ll do chores the rest of the afternoon.”

  “Maybe she’s just on some rock, chanting to Nicolae,” Mark said, “but I’d feel better if we found her.”

  Lionel was cautious around Jamal the next day. Finally he decided to talk with the man. When the two were alone, Lionel said, “I know you don’t like what happened with Judd and Nada, but I have to know if that’s going to affect us.”

  “I have no hard feelings for you personally,” Jamal said. “If you become a father someday, perhaps you will understand.”

  After the conversation it seemed like a weight was lifted from the house. Nada came out of her room and talked. Jamal’s wife appeared less upset, and the conversations seemed lighter.

  Sam asked how to talk about God with others. Lionel showed him transcripts from Tsion’s messages. Before long, Sam asked to set up a meeting with his father.

  “Let’s take it slowly right now,” Lionel said.

  “But Tsion says the next judgment could come at any time.”

  “I know,” Lionel said, “but let’s give your father time to cool off.”

  Monday afternoon, after Jamal had dropped off Judd’s clothes at Yitzhak’s house, Jamal took Lionel, Sam, and Nada to an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Jerusalem. “This is the important job I spoke about last night,” he said. He put a finger to his lips and knocked on the door four times. There was a faint sound of a machine running inside. It stopped, but no one came to the door. Jamal led them inside. The metal door clanged shut behind them.

  The room was nearly empty and eerily quiet. Jamal grabbed one end of a desk that sat in the middle of the room. Lionel and Sam took the other end, and they slid it toward the wall.

  Jamal bent down and lifted what looked like a paperweight on the floor. Lionel gasped when a trapdoor opened. There was modern printing equipment, and a dozen workers were packing small boxes in the basement. The workers were of different nationalities, but all had the mark of the true believer.

  Jamal hugged one of the men leading the operation. They talked in a different language. Lionel scanned the boxes. “Property of the Global Community” was printed on the side. Lionel looked in an open box and saw pamphlets. The stack was printed in weird characters, like Chinese. The next set of pamphlets was printed in Spanish. Another in French. Lionel had taken a semester of French and recognized words from the Bible.

  “It’s all stuff about God,” Sam said, picking up a stack printed in Hebrew.

  Jamal introduced the kids. “The material in this room will be sent around the world.”

  “How?” Lionel said.

  “With the help of the Global Community,” Jamal said.

  “What?” Sam said. “They would never—”

  “They don’t know we’re sending it,” the leader explained. “These boxes all go to the airport. Some people on the inside sneak it onto the Condor 216.”

  Lionel’s mouth opened wide. “You mean Carpathia’s plane?”

  “Christian literature is flooding the globe, and the potentate has no idea it’s his own plane spreading it!” Jamal said.

  Judd was amazed at the busy airport. The freezing temperatures had grounded most flights. Now, hundreds of people were trying to get out of Israel. Judd looked at the monitors for flights to the U.S. Many big cities like Chicago weren’t listed.

  “Which airline?” Judd asked Mr. Stein.

  Mr. Stein looked at the row of ticket agents. “We need to find someone who can be used by God.”

  Judd shook his head. “We don’t know where we’re going or if we have enough money to get there. People back home would call me crazy if I did this.”

  “Yitzhak explained it this way,” Mr. Stein said. “These are incredible days when we must have incredible faith in an incredible God. Since the Rapture, God is showing his miraculous ability in new ways. Don’t underestimate the power and the love of the Almighty. He cares for the people we’re going to.”

  “I believe that. I just wish we knew more.”

  “Faith means taking one step at a time,” Mr. Stein said. “If we knew the whole plan, we might trust in ourselves or become scared.”

  Mr. Stein had come a long way in a short time. It seemed only a few weeks ago that he had been so against his daughter, Chaya, and her belief in Jesus.

  They chose a counter with only a few people in line. When it was their turn, the ticket agent smiled and asked if they needed to check baggage.

  “We simply need two tickets,” Mr. Stein said.

  The agent entered their information. “Destination?”

  “We’re not sure.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Mr. Stein smiled. “This is rather difficult to explain. But I think there’s a desert nearby.”

  The agent stared. “You’re kidding.” She looked at Judd. “He’s kidding, right?”

  Judd shook his head. “He’s serious.”

  “I know what the people look like, what they wear, and that—”

  “Sir, we’re very busy. Why don’t you figure out where you need to go and then come back—”

  “Africa,” Mr. Stein said.

  “Africa,” the agent said. “That’s a continent. I need a city.”

  Mr. Stein scratched his beard. “Is there someone who could help, a pilot or a manager?”

  People lined up behind Judd. Some shoved suitcases forward with their feet and sighed. Someone said, “This guy is loony.”

  The ticket agent took a deep breath. “You said there was a desert nearby? The biggest desert in Africa is the Sahara, so we’re probably talking about northern Africa.”

  “Very good,” Mr. Stein said. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

  “The Sahara is three million square miles, sir. We’re not even close.”

  Judd spotted a man in uniform talking with a baggage handler. He had the mark of the believer on his forehead. “Perhaps that man could help us,” Judd said.

  The agent shook her head. “That’s my boss; he’s much too busy—”

  “What’s his name?” Mr. Stein said.

  “Mr. Isaacs is in charge of all the daily—”

  “Mr. Isaacs!” Mr. Stein yelled. “Please, come help us!”

  There was more grumbling behind Judd as Mr. Isaacs slowly walked forward. He was stocky, in his late forties, and had a round face. He smiled when he saw that Judd and Mr. Stein were believers.

  “Is there a problem, Vivian?” Mr. Isaacs said.

  The agent spoke through clenched teeth. “These gentlemen want a ticket but don’t know where they’re going.”

  “Let me take them down here,” Mr. Isaacs said, motioning Mr. Stein and Judd to an empty spot. The man hit a few computer keys, then shook hands with Judd and Mr. Stein. “How can I help?”

  Mr. Stein explained his dream and their need to leave as soon as possible.

  Mr. Isaacs studied the monitor. “We’re definitely talking northern Africa. My guess is west of the Sahara.” He pulled up an on-screen map and turned the monitor so Judd and Mr. Stein could see. The man pointed to lines on the screen.

  “This area is known as the 10/40 window. Many people who have not responded to the gospel live between ten and forty degrees latitude. Missionaries had broken through to the area before the Rapture, but there are still people who haven’t heard.”

  “That is why God is sending me,” Mr. Stein said.

  “And others like you,” Mr. Isaacs said. “We’ve had about a dozen witnesses looking for flights to remote areas in the last few days, but no one to this specific area. It’s incredible what God is doing.”

  Mr. Stein described the people in his dream.

  Mr. Isaacs nodded as he listened and pulled up a smaller map. “I’ve heard of nomads in this area taking their flocks wherever they can find food and water.”

  “How could they have survived the recent cold?” Mr. Stein said.

  “Good question,” Mr. Isaacs said. He p
unched in some data and pointed to a small dot in a country called Mali. “We can fly you into the capital, Bamako, but from there you’ll have to find a way into the countryside. Maybe a chartered flight or a Land Rover could get you to those people.”

  Mr. Stein pulled out a wad of cash. The cost of the ticket was more than they had. “How much for two tickets?”

  Mr. Isaacs smiled. “But you have come on the very day we’re offering a discount. I’ll make up the rest of the money.”

  “We couldn’t let you—”

  Mr. Isaacs leaned over the counter. “It is a privilege to be involved in some small way in God’s work. Don’t take this away from me.”

  Mr. Stein beamed and looked at Judd. “I told you our God would provide.”

  Judd shook his head. He couldn’t believe it.

  Mr. Stein took the tickets. His eyes filled with tears. “How can we ever thank you?”

  “Thank God,” Mr. Isaacs said. “He is the one who brought you to me, and he is the one who will lead you to the people who need to hear your message.”

  “Amen,” Mr. Stein said.

  30

  CONRAD and Mark searched the woods for Janie. When Phoenix lost her trail, they headed toward town on the motorcycle.

  Conrad knew it was dangerous anytime the kids got near other people. If the authorities knew the kids lived alone in the country, the GC social services would be after them. The fact that most of the kids believed the message of Tsion Ben-Judah and that they housed a wanted Morale Monitor and an escaped prisoner made Conrad feel queasy.

  Mark stopped as they neared the town. Something in the road caught Conrad’s eye. “That’s a person!”

  Mark hid the cycle in some brush. “They must have been trying to find firewood or food during the freeze.”

  Conrad shook his head. The sight and smell of the body in the road was awful. He counted five people and several animals alongside the road as they walked into town.

  Conrad gave Janie’s description to a mechanic at a gas station. The man shook his head but said he’d watch for her.

  Conrad turned a corner onto the main street and saw Janie a block away, talking with a woman. Mark pulled him back quickly. A GC squad car passed on another street.

  “We have to get to her before they do,” Mark said.

  Judd’s plane left Israel Monday evening. He sat by a window and didn’t notice any other believers on the flight. Mr. Stein sat in the middle and talked with an African man. When he brought up the subject of God, the man said he wasn’t interested.

  The plane landed after midnight in Bamako, Mali. Judd and Mr. Stein passed through the GC checkpoint and wandered into the terminal. Many people had used the airport for shelter during the cold. Clothes and personal belongings sat in piles in hallways.

  “What now?” Judd said, feeling a little helpless.

  Mr. Stein turned, put a hand on Judd’s shoulder, and closed his eyes. “Father, you have led us this far and we thank you. Now we ask you to direct us to the people you want us to reach. We pray in Jesus’ name and for his glory. Amen.”

  Judd looked around. People were staring at them. They moved to the baggage carousel.

  “We will wait here,” Mr. Stein said.

  Judd stretched out on the floor. He was tired and hungry. I wonder where we’ll be this time tomorrow?

  Conrad raced to Janie and pulled her into a nearby alley. Mark kept watch for the GC. The woman with Janie stood near the street, crying. She was holding something under a blanket.

  “What’s the big idea?” Janie said.

  “I can’t believe you’d be this stupid!” Mark said.

  “I had to get out for a little while,” Janie said. “I needed a smoke like you wouldn’t believe.”

  “You didn’t see the GC?” Conrad said.

  “They’re here?” Janie said.

  “A squad car just passed a block away before we got here,” Conrad said. “Come back to the school.”

  “I can’t leave her,” Janie said, pointing toward the woman. The woman was pale and had long, stringy hair. Her ragged clothes hung on her, and the quilt she carried was filled with holes.

  “Lenore,” Janie said, “these are two of my friends I was telling you about.”

  “What?” Mark said. “You told her—”

  “She needs a place to stay,” Janie said.

  “Are you nuts?” Mark said.

  “I told her how nice you guys were,” Janie said. “Other than the religious stuff, it’s okay. Plus there’s plenty of food.”

  “I don’t believe this,” Mark said.

  The woman, sobbing still, put a hand on Mark’s arm. “Please, let me come with you. We have nothing. My husband went to find food last week. …” Her voice trailed, and she put a hand to her face and wept.

  “She found his body this morning,” Janie whispered.

  “What do you mean, we?” Mark said. “Is there somebody else with you?”

  Conrad put a hand on Mark’s arm and pointed to the edge of the quilt. Sticking out was a tiny, still hand.

  “That’s her baby,” Janie said.

  Conrad gasped. “Is it … is it dead?”

  Lenore pulled the quilt back, showing the baby’s face. It was a boy, his tiny hand holding tight to a button on his mother’s shirt. Conrad moved closer and noticed the child’s chest rising and falling.

  Conrad sighed. “I thought he was dead.”

  “This is Tolan,” Lenore said weakly. “He’s all I have left.”

  “I’ll help her,” Mark said. “There must be some kind of shelter around here. You and Conrad get to the motorcycle.”

  Janie shook her head. “I’m not leaving her. I’m supposed to do unto others and all that, right? I mean, what if I don’t help this lady and her baby dies? You think God would let me into heaven with that on my conscience?”

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Conrad said. “God doesn’t let you in because of the good things you do—”

  “I don’t care what you say,” Janie said. “I’m not leaving her.”

  A car approached. Mark pulled the group behind a huge Dumpster. A GC squad car drove by slowly.

  When it was gone, Lenore turned to them and whispered, “I won’t be a bother. I promise to work for any food we eat. The place this girl told me about sounds wonderful. Please.”

  Mark pulled Conrad aside. “I don’t think we have a choice.”

  “If we take her, we’ve opened ourselves up again.”

  “We have to chance it,” Mark said. “If the GC pick Lenore up, she might say something about us. Or she could try and follow us. We can’t leave her and the baby alone.”

  Conrad nodded. “Maybe Z can take her to a shelter on his next run through here.”

  Conrad went ahead of the group, watching for any sign of the GC squad car. When it was safe he motioned to the others. When they found the motorcycle, Lenore and the baby rode with Mark while Janie and Conrad walked.

  “Our spiritual guide back at the prison said we’re all God’s children,” Janie said. “Anything we do to another child of God will be repaid in the next life. If we don’t do good, we come back as an ant or a snail.”

  Conrad scratched his head. “God did make all of us, but we aren’t all his children.”

  “You don’t think I’m God’s child?” Janie said.

  “God created you and loved you enough to die for you, but until you receive—”

  “I can’t believe you don’t think I’m a child of God,” Janie said. “And that woman and her baby aren’t either? No wonder they call you people narrow-minded.”

  “What you believe is that we’re all a part of God and that God rewards and punishes people simply by what they do.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “God’s not like that. He wants to be our friend, but we sinned, and that separates us from God.”

  Janie interrupted Conrad several times before he gave up. The girl simply wouldn’t listen to the truth.
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  Judd awoke early Tuesday morning with a pain in his neck. He was sore after sleeping against the wall all night.

  Mr. Stein sat beside him. “I brought you a donut and some coffee. You like cream and sugar?”

  Judd nodded and rubbed his eyes. The donut was stale and the coffee watery, but they still tasted good. He stretched and leaned back against the cold wall. The airport was quiet. A few baggage workers and flight crews walked the halls. Passengers waited for flights in the terminal. A businessman lugged a suitcase up a flight of stairs.

  “So what’s up?” Judd said.

  Mr. Stein smiled. “The sun, for one. And we are both well. We can be thankful for that.” Mr. Stein leaned against the wall and cradled his cup of coffee. “If you could have known me before, Judd, you would see what a miracle this is. I am the least likely candidate to be a messenger of God, and yet, here I am.”

  “But what are we supposed to do?” Judd said.

  Mr. Stein closed his eyes. “The psalmist says, ‘Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.’

  “I think that is the most difficult task we have as followers. Believe. Wait. Let God work in his own time. It must have been very difficult for my daughter to know the truth and still have to wait for me to understand it and believe it.”

  Judd thought of Chaya and how much she had prayed for her father. “I wish your daughter were here now.”

  Mr. Stein nodded. “She would be thrilled to see how God has changed my life. Just that I have memorized Scripture would make her laugh with glee.”

  Mr. Stein said he had read Scripture throughout the night and kept coming back to another passage in the Psalms: “‘You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.’ And at the end of the psalm he says, ‘I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.’ That is what I want to do more than anything, Judd. Tell people of the wonderful things God can do.”

  Judd sipped the coffee. He noticed a man in uniform near the baggage carousel watching them. “We have company.”

  Mr. Stein stood. When the man came closer, Judd saw that he was a pilot and had the mark of the believer.