The New Reality

by Stephen Martino

  Jonathan took a deep breath and began to scour the code for any other discernible clues. He searched a few minutes, but only gave Alex a look of consternation in response.

  “Or maybe…” Marissa added, brainstorming aloud, “does it mention that old church we hid in while the Israelis and UAA soldiers fought?”

  Jonathan’s eyes immediately widened as if hit by an epiphany. What was so difficult to see for all these years now seemed all too obvious.

  Almost too ecstatic to speak, he finally said, “Marissa is a genius! I never noticed that these Hebrew letters crossed with the word Megiddo.” With a glint of boyhood excitement in his eye he explained to everyone in the room, “We were in the right spot at Megiddo the whole time! We weren’t supposed to be searching in the old stony ruins of the ancient city. The church was our true destination. The word translates into church—Megiddo’s church!”

  “So what did we see there?” Marissa frantically asked.

  “There’s one thing that really sticks out in my mind,” Alex quickly responded. “Unlike post-Constantine churches where an altar and crucifix are the center of attention, the first Christian churches at Megiddo boasted a communal table reminiscent of the Last Supper and a picture of two fish as their focal point.”

  Alex, Marissa, and Jonathan immediately began looking around the room for any of these features. Almost immediately, their eyes fell upon the same object. It was an old circular, wooden table, which William currently used as a seat.

  “William, what are you sitting on?” Alex asked curtly.

  “My ass. What else?” he responded.

  They all scurried over to the corner of the room and looked at the table. In the midst of priceless artwork and gold it seemed oddly out of place. It was old but certainly nowhere near the age of the church.

  “I bet this is a copy of the original table that once stood here in the Basilica,” Marissa said. “And probably every two hundred years or so another table has to be remade to replace the prior one.”

  “I bet you’re right,” Alex responded. “But after having William sit on this one it’ll probably need replacement in a day or two.” He gazed at his friend as if to say, please get off the table.

  “We’ll need to move it,” Jonathan said as William begrudgingly arose.

  Marissa looked underneath the table and saw that its large base had been bolted down to the stone floor. “Don’t try to move it yet,” she said. “This thing’s not going to budge.”

  Getting on her knees, she bent over and took a small surgical knife from her bag. The device looked like a pen with a red light at its tip. Taking the device, Marissa slowly sliced off the top of each of the four bolts. A trickle of smoke and a small spark accompanied her actions.

  Finished.

  Marissa stood back up and looked over to Alex, Guri, and William. “We’ll need to lift the table first before repositioning it. I removed each of the bolt’s heads, but their necks are still tethered to the floor through the table’s base.”

  The priest watched in silence with just as much enthusiasm as the rest of them. It was as if he was also learning of the church’s hidden secret for the first time.

  They all grabbed hold of the table. Before lifting, Jonathan came over and grabbed an edge.

  “I don’t think so,” Marissa admonished.

  Jonathan backed away with his usual smile. Unwilling to make a fuss, he obeyed the good doctor without an argument.

  “One, two, three, lift,” Alex said as they raised the table about a foot off the ground and slowly moved it onto the red carpet in the center of the church.

  “The two fish,” Jonathan quickly said, pointing to the floor that the base of the table had covered. “Just like the ones we first saw at Megiddo’s church.”

  Other than the four threaded bolts sticking up from its center, it appeared to be an exact replica. The two fish were situated on top of one another and swimming in an opposite direction.

  “I would bet that this part of the floor dates back to the original Basilica,” Jonathan commented.

  Alex instinctively walked over to the fish and grabbed two of the bolts. After straining his back, he turned to William. “How about a little help over here big guy?”

  With the aid of his friend, they pulled up on the bolts and lifted. A square portion of the stone floor where they were attached came with them. The two slowly moved the stone over to the red rug and lowered it next to the wooden table.

  Marissa took a flashlight out from her bag and looked through the hole left in the floor. “There’s an entire cave underneath here,” she said while illuminating different parts of the hidden sanctuary. Her eyes widened with excitement and she could not help but let out a little yelp.

  Marissa raised her head in amazement. After collecting her thoughts, she said, “You’re not going to believe what’s down there!”

  Chapter 34

  Green-colored aircraft with the UAA falcon painted on their sides began to arrive, quickly surrounding the old monastery. The assault on the old fortress had begun and this time SattAr amassed an entire unit of 200 elite soldiers for the task. It would all end here and now on Patmos.

  “Secure the perimeter,” SattAr commanded. “We must make sure there are no means of escape.”

  The soldiers knew their orders and had special assignments for such a rapid military attack. Usually a mission of this type would last at least ten hours. However, SattAr made an ambitious push for the entire operation to be no more than 30 minutes.

  He knew that giving Alex any more time than that would mean failure. After being thwarted twice before, he would take no chances this time.

  Every ten to twenty feet around the monastery’s outer wall a soldier pushed a long silver pipe into the ground. As soon as it hit the earth, the pole came alive with lights along its sides and a glaring red glow at its top. Four metal appendages snapped out from its lower portion, lifted the pole into the air and then slammed it back down into the ground, securing the pole tightly into position.

  Within five minutes over fifty of these poles had been efficiently placed around the perimeter.

  One of the soldiers bearing two stars on his lapel approached SattAr. “Organic gate secure and activated, sir.”

  “Very good,” SattAr responded while staring at a holographic blueprint of the monastery next to him. “Once the gate is up to full power, we’ll commence with the air drop inside the walls.”

  “Yes, sir!” the soldier said and left after giving him a curt salute.

  SattAr examined the hologram. Usually he had hours to decide where to deploy his men for such an assault. Today he would make an exception. Alex was too formidable a foe to squander any time. Even without an army or weapons, the man proved more dangerous than an entire squad of Special Forces.

  He placed his finger on different places along the hologram. Small red dots formed wherever he touched. These spots would be the landing points for his men.

  The organic gate began to emit a low humming noise as the space between the poles began to blur and distort, creating a psychedelic effect along the monastery’s perimeter. The soldiers backed away as the gate began to pick up full charge. Hairs along their skin stood on end while a nauseated feeling cramped their stomachs. The closer they stood to the poles, the more the feeling intensified.

  The gate was intended to cause such an effect. Programmed to repel any organic matter, it created a biological energy field that would make even the strongest man drop to his knees in agony. The closest anyone could get to it without severe nausea and the loss of all bodily functions was about ten feet. Any closer and it would put a healthy person into immediate cardiac arrest.

  The field it generated also permeated fifty feet belowground, making an underground exit, like the one Alex and his colleagues pulled off at Megiddo, impossible. Most soldiers detested erecting this field because of its side effects. Even standing at a safe distance created enough discomfort to make them feel queasy for at le
ast a day after the mission’s conclusion.

  SattAr made final adjustments on the holographic schematic of the monastery and sent the coordinates to his men in the air. The assault planes would arrive in ten minutes and drop off the soldiers at the designated spots.

  Despite all his planning, he could not but help contemplating: Am I doing the right thing?

  Was he betraying his beloved country by following the Malik’s orders? Though he was not near the organic gate, his stomach churned with uncertainty.

  Chapter 35

  Marissa was the first to enter the cave. She used a wooden ladder that had been left under the opening in the floor. Alex followed next until one-by-one they all descended under the church. The ladder creaked and sounded as if it were about to give way at any second. Even so, the old wooden structure withstood the weight as they all slowly descended its rungs.

  Only Marissa held a flashlight. The rest procured one of the church’s candles to help illuminate the subterranean area.

  The cave offered nothing spectacular. Unlike the one they visited lower down the hill, this one had not been decorated with priceless works of art or adorned with any religious icons.

  Its rocky walls, however, were not bare. Etched carvings covered their surface in a mosaic of scenes that seemed to tell a story long forgotten.

  “I wonder if John did all of this?” Marissa said, pondering aloud. “Do you think this is the true cave of the apocalypse?”

  Alex wondered the same thing. “Father Kritikos,” he asked, “have you ever been down here before or even heard of this cave?”

  The priest’s expression said it all. He appeared just as mesmerized as the rest of them and clearly had never set foot below the church. He seemed to stumble upon his words as if trying not to say the wrong thing. “John’s mysteries still abound. Even after 2,000 years.”

  “It seems clear now why the original Christians built the Grand Royal Basilica on this particular spot,” Jonathan commented through chattering teeth. “It was not for any military or strategic purposes but instead meant to preserve one of the greatest Christian relics ever found—the carvings of John.”

  “Are you alright?” Alex quickly asked.

  With all of their eyes on the cave’s wall, they failed to notice Jonathan’s worsening medical condition. His skin had turned bright red while his whole body trembled rigorously.

  Marissa rushed to his side and put her arms around him. She wondered how he had the stamina to stand, let alone climb down the ladder unassisted. Upon her embrace he seemed to crumble down to the ground.

  Embarrassed, Jonathan said, “Do not waste your time on an old man such as me. My life has been full, and I cannot wish for anything else. You are all here to find a cure for The Disease. I have taken you far enough. What happens to me at this point is inconsequential.”

  Ignoring Jonathan’s request, William slowly moved him so his back rested comfortably against the wall.

  “What happens to you… ,” Alex began to say but suddenly curtailed his train of thought as his contact lens alerted him to activity outside the monastery. Ships bearing the UAA’s emblem began flying in so rapidly that it reminded him of a flock of geese landing in an open field. They had been discovered. Though he wondered how the ruse had been uncovered, his greater concern now was to decipher John’s carvings on the wall and escape with the information.

  Marissa directed her comment towards Jonathan, “Former President Andrew Jackson used to say: ‘One man with courage makes a majority.’ Your health is just as important to me as everybody else’s.”

  She knelt down and pushed the end of a syringe of medication into the side of Jonathan’s neck. The effect proved immediate as his tremors rapidly decreased. Feeling better, he then attempted to rise to his feet.

  Marissa placed a loving hand on his shoulder. “Sit,” she ordered. “If you want to help, you can do it from where you are right now.”

  He smiled and dared not put up an argument. Though far away from his family, he felt suddenly right at home.

  William gave Alex a quick shove to garner his attention. “What’s going on?” he quietly asked.

  “Oh, nothing. Just looking around the cave.”

  “Don’t give me that bull!” he said in a hushed tone, not to draw attention. “The only time you don’t complete a sentence is when you’re preoccupied. You see anything on that videre lens of yours that you haven’t told us about?”

  William had called Alex’s bluff.

  “Let’s just say, it’s all under control.”

  “Don’t tell me it’s the UAA,” he quickly, yet quietly said.

  Alex watched as the troops assembled outside the monastery and created a secure barrier. They had been surrounded. The only means of escape now was through the air and unfortunately, their Stratoskimmer would be shot down immediately if it flew within a mile of the monastery.

  “I just contacted Tom,” Alex explained. “He’s sending three of my aero-bikes under stealth that I had on close stand-by in case of an emergency to land right outside the church. They’ll be here in five minutes. Let’s use the time to figure out what’s carved here on the walls before we get everyone in a panic.”

  William tried not to hyperventilate. Because his music player had short-circuited in the electrical blast back at Megiddo, he had nothing to comfort his nerves. Hugging Guri was out of the question while sucking his thumb would look a little juvenile.

  Before he could ruminate any longer about the impending danger, Alex grabbed his shoulder. “I need you right now to keep a cool head. We don’t have much time to figure this thing out.”

  “Figure what out?” Marissa asked, only hearing the final part of the conversation.

  “Oh,” Alex said, surprised he had been talking too loudly. “Figure out what all these carvings on the wall mean. Presumably John must have placed them there for some reason.”

  “I agree,” she said.

  Guri and Father Kritikos also had been scouring the walls for clues since their entrance. Oblivious to anyone else’s conversation, they had their candles held at eye level to better examine the engravings.

  Jonathan continued to rest against the cave’s wall. Despite his sedentary position, he had enough light from the candles and flashlight to visually inspect the area.

  Pictures had been chiseled into the rocky walls all along the cave. No words accompanied them, and none appeared at all uplifting. Uniformly, they all depicted different catastrophic events that could possibly end all life on earth.

  “‘When he broke open the seventh seal’,” Jonathan quoted from memory, “‘there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angles who stood there before God were given seven trumpets.’”

  “Is he beginning to hallucinate?” William asked. “Because he’s starting to talk a little weird right about now.”

  “‘The seven angels who were holding the seven trumpets began to blow them,’” Jonathan continued to say with eyes wide open and scanning the carvings around him.

  “It’s the Book of Revelation,” Marissa said. “He’s quoting straight out of the New Testament.”

  “It’s all here,” Jonathan said with his eyes wide open in awe. “He carved out all of his visions.”

  Never had he seen something before that brought him so close to God. Though his body was dying, his soul felt more alive than ever.

  “What do you mean?” Alex asked.

  “Don’t you see?” Jonathan answered. “The Book of Revelation written by John is not about a single cataclysmic event, like most believed, but is instead a vision of both past and future apocalyptic events.”

  Jonathan tried to rise, but Marissa’s kind hand kept him seated. Without enough strength to defy the doctor’s request, he remained on the floor.

  He pointed to a carving not far from his position. Marissa illuminated the area better for all to see.

  “‘When the second angel blew his trumpet, something like a burning
mountain was hurled into the sea’,” Jonathan again quoted, “‘a third of the sea turned to blood, a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were wrecked.’”

  The crude carving showed a large rock impacting the ocean. Along the beaches, bodies in the form of stick figures laid on their sides with their eyes closed. Fish depicted as a sideways number eight were dispersed in between them.

  “Do you think what John saw was an asteroid impact?” Alex asked.

  “I am neither a prophet nor a soothsayer,” Jonathan said, “but I must agree it seems he saw some type of cataclysmic impact.”

  “So why doesn’t he just say that?” William asked. “Instead of writing about trumpets and angels, why doesn’t he just say that a big rock hit the earth and a lot of people died?”

  “That’s not how they wrote,” Marissa interjected. “If you wanted to communicate an apocalyptic event in the first century A.D., you would have to use symbolic and allegorical language of the day, taken directly from the Old Testament books of Daniel, Ezekiel and Zechariah. It’s how a person told a story back then.”

  “Then I’m glad I was born in the twenty-first century,” William grumbled.

  “Did you hear Grecco stole three bases last night in the baseball game?” Alex asked slyly.

  “He did!” William said. “That’s a record!”

  Alex shook his head. “I lied. But what I wanted to show you is how we just did the same thing. Stole a base is symbolic language.”

  William understood Alex’s point but still felt disappointed that Grecco had not stolen three bases. He loved baseball and knew all the players and their statistics down to the decimal. You could joke with him about almost anything—but baseball was off limits.

  “‘I heard a loud voice speaking from the temple to the seven angels’,” Jonathan again began to quote from memory. “‘Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s fury upon the earth.’”

  He pointed to a carving with a large crack down its center. To both of its sides people lay on their backs while the buildings around them stood in ruins. Rain and lightning also filled the apocalyptic scene. “‘Then there were lightning flashes, rumblings, and peals of thunder, and a great earthquake. It was such a violent earthquake that there has never been one since the human race began on earth. ‘”