Persecution: God's Other Children. Book 2

by Rob Mclean

  In Africa and South America, it appeared the opposite was happening. Highly militarised zones in those continents were being reinforced by New U.N. troops and material. None of the major arms dealers wanted to fall foul of the new world government and miss out on any new technologies, so they were now only supplying the New U.N. forces. The religious were relying on a dwindling supply of captured weapons and ammunition, but had overwhelming numbers of fanatical soldiers on their side.

  The news feed froze on an image of a naval flotilla patrolling the Mediterranean. One of the aliens, wearing his brother’s form appeared.

  “This is not how we intended it to be,” Tarek said, his normally serene face marred by concern as he waved away the newsfeeds.

  As far as Akil could tell, he wasn’t actually in the room with him, only some sort of mind conference, but he couldn’t be sure. Since all of his intravenous lines had been removed, he figured they couldn’t instantly sedate him, so he wondered if they actually trusted this ‘gorilla’ enough to be in the same room.

  “The birthing process in difficult and painful in many species,” Akil’s father said from the other side of the room. Akil had not noticed him arrive, further confirming his suspicion that it was all in his mind. But then he remembered the way the walls of the envoy’s vessel had silently remoulded themselves. “It seems yours is no exception.”

  “Birth?” Akil asked.

  “Birth and death, they are constants throughout the universe,” his father said without emotion. “For a new birth, such as this, some things must make way.”

  “But it doesn’t have to be like this, does it?” Akil asked.

  “It is their choice.”

  “But can’t you help?”

  “We have asked for all the killing to stop,” Tarek stepped forward. “But our pleas fall on deaf ears.”

  “But can’t you make them stop?”

  “Make them?”

  “Force them.”

  “We could,” his father said with a look at Tarek, “but if we did, would their choices be their own? And would they continue to make the same choices if we weren’t here to force them?”

  “If not, then we should abandon this planet now and save everyone the pain.” Tarek’s face showed sorrow and regret.

  Akil realised the pain they spoke of was their own. He felt certain the human suffering would continue unabated.

  “But you must know that if you take away their belief in God and give them nothing in return, you will cause them to fight against you?”

  “No one has asked them to stop believing in their Gods.” Yasmin appeared behind the other two. She seemed to glow with a soft radiance. Akil peered closer, but couldn’t tell if her luminance was real or just the lighting.

  “You said for everyone to give up their religions…”

  The three smiled in unison, conveying understanding, benevolence and empathy all at once. Akil felt it wash over him as pity and compassion.

  “…but our religions haven’t got a lot to do with God,” Akil voiced his understanding.

  “Or Allah, Buddha, Zeus or any of the hundreds of ‘Gods’ humans have named,” said Yasmin.

  “Throughout the hundreds of thousands of civilisations in our galaxy, there must be billions of names for God,” Tarek said.

  “Nine billion names of God?” Akil smiled as he remembered a short sci-fi story he had read long ago.

  “Probably,” his father said, “but the whole concept of God is beyond the understanding of any entity trapped in this four dimensional physical universe.”

  “Too big? Even for you to grasp?” Akil asked of the trio of aliens.

  Yasmin ‘spoke’, but it was her thoughts Akil felt thrust like a tip of a spear into his head. The tip inserted itself painlessly. Akil felt there was an unstoppable force behind it that would overwhelm any resistance he could offer.

  He then found himself immersed in an aerial view of the pyramids. Tiny vehicles laboured at forging a path into his devastated home city. The scene pulled back to show flotillas of ships in the waters around, but these too shrank as the scene pulled back with increasing speed.

  Smoke haze covered the Syrian and Turkish lands, but that also fell away as the view gained altitude. The dark ribbon of the Nile could be seen clearly against the stark desert. Akil followed it south, but lost it to the curvature of the planet.

  The African continent receded, swallowed up amidst the rest of the planet. The moon appeared from behind as his viewpoint receded.

  Akil felt a flutter of panic as the Earth shrunk away from him, vanishing into a bright bluish point of light. He had to consciously remind himself that this was just a realistic vision implanted by the alien Yasmin, but the loneliness and sense of isolation was unsettling.

  ‘Peace brother,’ Yasmin said. He felt a reassuring humour coming from her disembodied voice. ‘We have only just begun our journey.’

  With that Akil saw the solar disc shrink before his eyes. A close fly past of the giant planet Jupiter startled him, but he had barely noticed the Jovian system before it too shrunk to a pinpoint of light.

  The sun continued to diminish until it too was just another bright star in an infinite sky.

  Akil knew he was hanging somewhere out beyond the furthest reaches of his home planet’s system. Everyone he had ever known were all within that point of light which, if he let his eyes drift, could be so easily lost amid the millions of other stars.

  ‘Ready?’ Yasmin asked, but didn’t wait for an answer before the star-scape blurred. Akil felt his head spin as the universe shifted about him.

  The star he felt almost sure was the sun was now only a very ordinary point of light awash amid a sea of light. Strangely his unease subsided as the vast distance became, for him increasingly unimaginable.

  His viewpoint rotated. He knew that without help, he’d never be able to find the sun again, but his worries vanished before the vista now below him.

  A blue-green planet hung before him. After all the emptiness of deep space, it looked impossibly vulnerable and inviting. Shrouded in white cloud swirls that partially obscured unfamiliar land masses, it looked to be the Earth’s not quite identical twin. A second moon and a glittering necklace of twinkling lights strung around in equatorial orbit marked it as different.

  “Orbital habitats,” Yasmin’s voice told him. With it came computer screen-like rotating images of the inhabitants – reddish hued tripod creatures with three arms, three slender in-folding legs and three areas that Akil took to be eyes. The front of the creature was defined by the opening between two of its arms. Four worm like fingers at the end of the triple jointed arms waved like fronds.

  “These are the Yareshni,” Tarek’s voice sounded in Akil’s head. “What do you think they would make of your ‘Mohammad’ or ‘Jesus’ or ‘Krishna’?”

  Akil looked at the red skinned alien species and wondered what sort of Gods they worshipped, if any at all?

  “The Yareshni are the most recent additions to our galactic community. They achieved unity only 500 of your years ago.”

  “Unity?” Akil asked.

  “Harmony, togetherness, openness,” Yasmin offered.

  Akil thought of all the disharmony, divisions, and secrecy in his own world and wondered if these lofty goals were beyond human abilities.

  “Not in their current form.” Tarek’s voice had an edge to it.

  “Certainly not all of them,” Akil’s father’s voice added, “but we think that there will be enough to make it work.”

  “To make what work?” Akil asked.

  “Unity,” Yasmin said. Akil could feel the optimism in her voice.

  “Or at least a workable approximation of a prototype version of it,” his father added.

  Tarek said nothing.

  Chapter 52

  John’s thoughts drifted. He found it hard to concentrate on the tedious paperwork before him.

  There were more church closures to oversee as well as escort dutie
s, assisting in the relocation of religious objectors and stubborn holdouts. Apparently the grass on the Utah side of the fence wasn’t as green.

  He found that his mind kept drifting back to Angela. Despite all that had happened and how he had been used, he still found himself daydreaming about her. In his mind, he tried to find some way, perhaps in some alternative reality where they could be happy together. Most of them involved a variety of unfortunate accidents for a certain rival.

  The yellow bear that Maddie had played with at Angela’s had arrived in the post. He had passed it onto Maddie, who bounced with joy and promptly renamed it ‘Angel Bear’.

  He had rung her to say ‘thank-you’, but she had not picked-up or even replied to his texts. Was she just being nice, or feeling guilty about her dreadful mother’s behaviour, or possibly, even maybe trying to keep in touch?

  His thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone rang. When he saw it was Angela’s landline, he felt his head spin. He had just been thinking about her, and now here she was calling. What would Jarred and his Human Consciousness Project say about that?

  “Lo?” John tried to sound casual.

  “Ah, just the person I wanted…”

  “Mrs White?” John felt his heart sink.

  “Well, yes. Of course it is. Look, I wanted to talk to you, if you have the time.”

  “Sure, okay…”

  “I’ve been talking with my Angela…”

  “And how is she?”

  “She’s fine, but I didn’t ring about her…”

  “Oh? Okay, Is it Geoff, um, Mr White?”

  “No, no… it’s…”

  Her hesitation roused John’s curiosity, but he held his tongue, knowing that you couldn’t rush some people.

  “I don’t know if you’re the right person to be talking to about this…”

  “Try me,” he said, glancing at the clock on the wall. He had a meeting with Eloise soon and she was one person he didn’t want to keep waiting.

  “It’s just that we’re a bit worried about young Ezekiel.”

  “Zeke? Really?”

  “Yes…”

  “Now what could I possibly do to help you with the chosen one?” John asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm, all the time wondering why she could possibly think he’d ever want to.

  “Hopefully you might be able to help,” she continued, oblivious to John’s tone, “it’s just that he’s in danger of getting himself involved with the wrong sort of people.”

  “I’m not really following you here, ma’am.” John bit back a few speculations as to who she might see as the wrong type.

  “He’s a very dedicated Christian, probably a bit too dedicated at times…”

  “Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing?” John tried to keep the sarcastic edge from his voice. After all, he didn’t know if his calls were monitored or not, but since he suspected that being a security based company, they probably were and it wouldn’t pay to be too openly hostile.

  “Yes, but he might be taking it a bit too far, at least, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Oh? And how so?” John had always thought Zeke might be up to something more proactive than just protesting at a few church closures.

  “Well, you know how the fine, upstanding God-fearing people of Los Angeles are expecting a visit from the ‘Ambassador’?” Clarice didn’t make any effort to hide how she really felt about the alien envoy or the folks of L.A.

  “And you think Zeke’s going to cause some sort of trouble?”

  “I don’t just think it, young man. I know it. That’s why I’m ringing you.”

  “To do what? Lock him up? I can’t do that.” John said, as much as he wished he could.

  “You work for them,” she spat out her words. “You must know someone…”

  “What do you want from me?” John felt resentment rising. “Zeke not playing the game the way you want him to?” It was so typical of her and her manipulations to get the whole world ordered to suit.

  “He wants to kill the Ambassador, you fool.”

  “Oh…”

  “At least that’s what he’s telling my Angela.”

  “Maybe I should talk to her about it?”

  “Hmmm, well, no one’s going to stop you,” she said as if she didn’t care, “but I don’t want her getting in trouble.”

  “I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be involved with something…”

  “With Zeke,” she said. “I don’t want her getting in trouble with Ezekiel.”

  “But…”

  “If he asks her, she can truthfully say she had nothing to do with it.”

  “With what, exactly? John realised how hard this must be for the old girl. Her golden haired boy was not as perfect as she had hoped and it must really suck to have to ask for help, especially from him.

  “I want your security people to pay him a visit.”

  “Okay, but we need some sort of proof. As much as I can take your word as gospel, it won’t wash with those upstairs.”

  “I can’t give you anything definite, only what I’ve heard him bragging about with Angela. I can’t help overhearing some of what they talk about sometimes, you know.”

  “And you’re certain Angela isn’t involved?”

  “Of course she isn’t. Don’t be a fool. She would never do anything like that.”

  “Sure,” John said. He didn’t find that hard to believe. “But I need more to go on…”

  “All I can give you is his address…”

  “I know where he lives.” John had checked that out long ago.

  “He’s not at his parent’s place anymore…”

  “Okay, that’s news…”

  “Yes, he’s moved out now and he keeps moving around from week to week, paying cash.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find something if you raid his home.”

  “Sure, okay. So where’s he at now?”

  Clarice gave John the address and as he wrote it down, he asked, “but I don’t see why you’d want him arrested?”

  “Not arrested,” Clarice said in a tone that implied to John that he had totally misunderstood the whole situation. “Just… well, sort of scared off.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Or given a warning. Nothing too serious. I don’t want him hurt.”

  “That’s not how it works…”

  “He’s a good person you know,” she insisted, “and he’ll make a fine husband for my Angela one day. It’s his friends, or accomplices you can take away…”

  “Excuse me, but even if I can organise a raid before he moves again and if we find anything incriminating, it won’t be up to me to decide what happens to him.”

  “I know. I’m not sure this was such a good idea,” she said, sounding like she was genuinely regretting making this call. “I’m sure you won’t find anything much. He’s most likely all talk, but I just want him to get a scare… to keep him out of any real trouble, at least until the Ambassador has left town.” John could hear a pleading tone in her voice as she added, “For Angela’s sake.”

  ‘If you really wanted what’s best for Angela, you’d get the hell out of her life and let her make her own choices,’ he thought, but kept it to himself. Angela had made it clear that he wasn’t part of her life anymore. He had to accept that now and try to keep it professional.

  “I’ll pass on your concerns to the relevant authorities, ma’am,” John said adopting a formal tone.

  “No, don’t you ma’am me, young man. I want you to do the raid…”

  “Me?”

  “Yes.”

  “But I can’t…”

  “Think about it.” Clarice wasn’t asking. She spoke to him like he was a particularly obtuse six-year old.

  John suppressed his anger and took the time to try to work it out. He wished he had his brother’s smarts, or could talk to him about it all, but that wasn’t an option, so he tried his best to reason it out in his head.
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br />   ‘So,’ he thought, ‘if Zeke does try to kill the Envoy… and if he succeeds, then we’re all in the shit. He’ll cause a whole lot of trouble and probably get a whole lot of people killed, most likely himself as well, which wouldn’t be so bad… except Angela would blame me, cause her mother would have told her she tried to warn me… And, even if he tries and fails, he still might get himself and lots of others killed…’

  ‘On the other hand, if we raid him… and stop him, either by arresting him or scaring him off, people won’t get killed, well, maybe not nearly as many. Also, I get to look good to the company higher ups…’ and, John had to admit, busting Zeke’s ass held a certain revengeful appeal. ‘But Angela,’ he thought, ‘will hate me, even though it was her mother’s idea… Still, she’s not with me now, and if that loser gets incarcerated, it might delay the wedding long enough for her to wake up to herself and get over him… maybe?’

  Pretty desperate logic, John conceded, but he felt, at the very least, he owed it to the people of Los Angeles and the company to do the right thing. As much as he would love to tell the old girl to get lost and go find someone else to do her dirty work, he knew he was duty bound to do what he could.

  “Okay, Mrs White, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I want you personally involved, you understand?”

  “I can’t make any guarantees…”

  “You know,” Clarice’s voice softened almost to a whisper, “I would hate for people to find out how my Geoffrey just happened to get his hands on…”

  “Hey! No need for that.” John cut her off. “You’re kidding me right? After all I’ve done for you…”

  “Just like to be sure I’ve got your co-operation.”