by Tim LaHaye
“That’s him,” George said, stepping forward to embrace Mac.
Several others—mostly men, all ages and all armed—emerged from under piles of clothing. Only three women were there—one middle-aged, one elderly, and one in her late teens. The first introduced herself as Costas’s mother, Mrs. P. The older said, “My husband is K’s cousin.”
A thin, wiry man who looked to be in his late seventies said, “That would be me.”
George pointed at the teenager. “This one answered Elena’s phone a little while ago. Despite a very bad connection and a lot of static, she assured her partners I was still safely locked away.”
“Nice to meet you,” the girl said, adding the staticky sound as she spoke and causing the others to smile.
“Excellent work,” Mac said. “Now, brothers and sisters, we have no time. There is a massive manhunt for me, and it won’t be long before they find out Elena is dead and their prisoner gone. I have two compatriots on foot. K’s cousin, are you also a Kronos?”
“I am, sir.”
“Are you the one who lent your truck to the cause?”
He nodded solemnly.
“And is that truck available?”
“Two blocks from here.”
“I want to buy it.” Mac pulled a huge wad of Nicks from a pocket below his knee.
“No, no, not necessary.”
“Actually it is, because by the end of the night, it will be well known to the GC, and you will be unable to be seen in it again.”
“I do not need the money.”
“Does the Co-op? the underground?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Pappas said, and she stepped forward to take it.
“Tell me about the truck. Four-wheel drive?”
“Yes. But not new, not fast. Five-speed manual transmission, very heavy and powerful.”
“As soon as I connect with my other two team members, George and I will take the truck and pick them up. The GC expects us to head for the Ptolemaïs airport, but that’s a suicide run. We have a plane at an abandoned strip eighty miles west of here. If we can head that way without attracting attention, that’s where you’ll find the truck tomorrow. If we draw a tail, pretend you never saw that truck.”
“I want to come,” Costas said.
“I’m sorry, no. Unless you are going all the way to America with us, there would be no way for you to help us and to also escape.”
“But I—”
“We will accept all the ammunition you can spare. I would say if we leave now, our chances are only about fifty-fifty. Agree, George?”
“No, sir. I think that’s optimistic. But I agree it’s our only option and that we need to go now.”
Mrs. P. held up a hand. “There is nothing wrong with working while someone is praying. Someone put extra ammunition clips in a bag while I pray.
“Our God, we thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ and ask you to put around them a fiery ring of protection. Give them Godspeed, we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.”
George took the bag and got the keys and directions to the truck, while Mac huddled in a corner and tried to bring up Hannah and Chloe on his walkie-talkie.
Chloe was on the phone to Chang when she heard Hannah take a radio message from Mac and give their location—off the road and behind underbrush north of the city.
“This is urgent,” Chang was saying. “I don’t have time to call everybody individually, so get this. All Ptolemaïs GC Peacekeepers and Morale Monitors are on high alert. They have abandoned the woods and are beginning a sweep of the entire town. We’re talking hundreds of personnel and all working vehicles.
“They’ve found Elena’s body, know they were the victims of an impostor on her phone, and are tracing that phone with GPS. If George has it, they’ll know where he is, and if he ditches it, it needs to be far from the Co-op.
“The airport is crawling with GC, and though the Rooster Tail is sitting on the tarmac as if it’s ready to go, it has been drained of fuel. If you can’t get back to Mac’s plane, the best I can offer is to try to get Abdullah’s pilot friend to Larnaca on Cyprus tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Chang,” Chloe said. “Hannah tells me Mac and George are on their way. Forget Larnaca. We’d never get there. It sounds like the net is being drawn in all around us. Tell everyone we love them and that we’re doing our best to get home.”
Mac was driving toward the north road with George in the passenger’s seat when he got the call from Chloe about Elena’s phone. “That’s easy,” he said, stopping in the middle of the road. “Stick Elena’s phone under the front tire, George,” he said.
The truck flattened the phone.
As they reached the north road, Mac saw a sea of flashing blue lights in the distance. “We’re toast,” he said.
“They’re not looking for this truck,” George said. “Don’t do anything suspicious.”
“Like picking up two armed women?”
“Drive on. The women will see the GC and know we’ll have to come back.”
“When would we have time to do that?”
“What are you going to do, Mac?”
“They’re setting up a roadblock. Stick the weapons and ammo under the seats and get a cap on. There’s a better description of you than me out there. You can’t hide big but you can cover blond.”
Chloe and Hannah lay on their stomachs, watching the long line of GC cars, lights flashing. “There’s the truck,” Hannah said.
“Most of the GC are driving by them. Guess they don’t need all those for a roadblock.”
One GC car stopped on each side of the road, and a Peacekeeper held up a hand to stop the truck and wave through the rest of the squad cars.
“Hannah, if you can hear me, give me one click.”
Chloe looked at her. “Was that George?”
Hannah nodded and clicked her walkie-talkie.
“All right, I’ve got Mac’s radio on the seat here, and I’m staring straight ahead and pretending not to be talking, so I may be hard to hear. Listen carefully. If you have the DEW with you and can turn it on, give me a click.”
Hannah turned on the weapon and gave another click.
“These guys are going to check us out. I’ll leave the radio locked open. If it sounds like they’re going to look closer, incapacitate both of them. Understand?”
Click.
“Here they come. Stand by. If one comes to my side of the truck, please use very careful aim.”
Click.
Chang was exhausted and wished he could call it a night like most everyone else at the palace except Suhail Akbar and the literally indefatigable Carpathia himself, who did not require sleep anymore. Chang would not, however, be able to sleep anyway until Mac and Chloe and Hannah and George were safely in the air. He stayed at his computer, available to help. Meanwhile, he tapped into Carpathia’s office.
“I really must stay on top of this Greece thing,” Akbar was saying. “I’ll return as soon as I can.”
“Is it not something you can do from here, Suhail? The nights are so long, and there is much to learn from the daylight regions.”
“Forgive me, Potentate, but we have had a serious breach of security. I am on a secure phone to Ptolemaïs and on a secure e-mail connection. The situation is about to be resolved, and I will hurry right back.”
“And we can see how the morale effort is going in Region –6 and in Region 0?”
“Of course.”
“There should be audio and video feeds where I see the last holdouts taking the loyalty mark, worshiping my image three times a day, or suffering the consequences. They are suffering, are they not?”
“I’m sure they are, Excellency. I don’t know how you or I could have been clearer on that.”
“And the Jews? There are many Jews in both those regions who might be enjoying the sunshine right now, but who do not know that this is their last chance to see it. Am I right?”
“You are always right, Highness. However, few people a
nywhere are truly enjoying anything with the seas as they are. I don’t know how the planet can survive such a tragedy.”
“This is the work of the Judah-ites, Suhail! They tell the Jews they are God’s chosen. Well, they are my chosen ones now. And what I have chosen for them will taste bitter in their mouths. I want to see it, Suhail. I want to know my edicts are being carried out.”
“I will see to it, my lord. By the time I return, someone will hook up the monitor to reporting stations in those regions so you may be brought up to date.”
“This security breach, Suhail. It is here, inside the palace?”
“That’s all we can conclude, sir. If such misleading, wholly false information can be planted on our main database from a remote location, we are much more vulnerable than we imagined. Bad as it is, we are most certain it is coming from inside, and that should not take long to trace.”
“You remember, Suhail, what I have asked for in the way of treatment of the Jews, not to mention the Judah-ites. That would be retribution far too lenient for one under my own roof who would deceive me in such a way.”
“I understand, sir.”
“The perpetrator must be put to death before the eyes of the world.”
“Of course.”
“Suhail, have we not combed our entire personnel list?”
“We have.”
“And are there any employees of the Global Community, here or anywhere in the world, who have yet to receive the mark?”
“Less than one thousandth of one percent, Excellency. Probably fewer than ten, and all loyalists with valid reasons, and all—to the best of our knowledge—with plans to rectify the situation immediately.”
“But should they not be our primary suspects?”
“We have them closely watched, sir. And there is not one employee in the palace or in New Babylon without the mark.”
After Suhail was finally able to excuse himself and get back to the situation in Ptolemaïs, Chang kept listening to Carpathia’s office. Nicolae mumbled under his breath, but Chang could not make it out. Occasionally he heard banging, as if Carpathia was pounding on a table or desk. Finally he heard a clatter that sounded like Carpathia had kicked a wastebasket and stuff spilled out.
After a few moments, Chang heard a faint knock and Carpathia calling out, “Enter.”
“Oh, excuse me there, Potentate, sir. I’m to get your monitor hooked up to the United North American States and the United South American States.”
Carpathia ignored him until the man was on his way out. “Clean up this mess,” he said.
Mac decided to take the initiative with the GC Peacekeeper in charge of the roadblock and not wait to be asked for his papers. George was slouched in the passenger seat.
“Wow, whatcha got goin’ tonight there, Chief? I haven’t seen this many of you guys on the streets since I started workin’ road maintenance. All these guys are makin’ it hard on our construction zones, but you gotta do what you gotta do. What’re ya lookin’ for, anyway? Something I can be watchin’ for?”
“Confidential matter, sir. High-level manhunt. Long day for you guys, huh?”
“Tell me about it. We’re hardly ever out this late. Had to come back around the long way from the airport. That part of this deal? That place is locked up tight. Went through the roadblock there too. They cleared us even though we don’t have our papers on us, ’cause we had to work so late, asphalt and all. Goin’ back to the work shed now.”
“That’s no excuse to not have your papers. Everybody is supposed to have their papers all the time.”
“We know, and we both feel terrible about it. But we’ll have ’em with us on the way home.”
“They let you off down by the airport?”
“Yeah, nice guys. I mean, we aren’t Peacekeepers, but we’re all working for the people anyway, right?”
“That’s not by the book.”
“You know, I thought that very thing and really appreciated it that he wasn’t one of those hard guys that gives the workingman a bad time.”
“Well, I don’t want to make your life miserable either, sir, so we can make this real easy. How about you two just show me your marks of loyalty, and you can move it along.”
Chloe thought Mac had nearly talked his way out of the situation. But if he was no threat, showing his mark would not have been a problem.
“Don’t hesitate, Hannah,” Chloe said.
“I wish that other guy would get out of his car.”
From the walkie-talkie: “You just want to see our marks?”
“Yes, sir. Hand or forehead?”
“Mine’s on the forehead here, under the cap. My partner’s is, ah, where is yours, bud?”
“Hand,” Sebastian said.
“Let’s have a look,” the Peacekeeper said.
“Where’s yours, by the way?” Mac said. “You got the image of the potentate too?”
“Nah. Just the number. I’m kinda military that way.”
Chloe glanced at Hannah, then back at the truck, where Mac slowly unlatched his seat belt and took off his cap. He leaned forward.
“I don’t see anything.”
“What? Look!”
From the walkie-talkie, George in a quiet singsong: “Now would be the perfect time.”
The Peacekeeper spun in a circle, slammed back against the cab of the truck, and dropped, screaming. As he slowly started to rise, Mac said, “Say there, fella, what was that all about?”
“I don’t know, I—ah, fire ants or something.” He rubbed his back gingerly, now standing. He motioned to the officer in the other GC car, who quickly stepped out.
“What’s the trouble?”
“Pain in my back, like I backed into a hot pipe or something. I think a blister’s rising.”
He leaned toward Mac again, then grabbed the back of his leg and howled, falling and writhing. The other officer drew his weapon. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re not doing anything!” Mac said. “What’s his problem?”
The inside light of the truck came on, and George got out and went toward the front with his hands raised. He must have had the walkie-talkie in his pocket now, because Chloe could still hear him on Hannah’s radio. “Can I help in any way?” he asked.
“Stay right where you are,” the second Peacekeeper said, just before he flopped in the road, dropping his weapon and trying to cover his face.
Mac jumped out to help George. “Yank the radios in their cars,” he said. “I’ll get the ones on their uniforms.”
By now the officers were delirious, glassy-eyed, and wailing. “Ladies,” George radioed, “come help us with these cars.”
Mac disarmed the officers and tossed their weapons into the bed of the truck. He took their radios and put them in the front seat. “Once you’ve got those car radios disconnected,” he told George, “pop the trunks.”
Chloe and Hannah came running. “Chloe,” Mac said, “you two are going to give us an escort. Once I get this guy in the trunk of his car, I’ll pull the truck in behind you. Hannah, you fall in behind once we get the other guy in his trunk.”
The GC were whimpering. “You boys hush now,” Mac said. “You’re gonna hurt awhile, but you’re not gonna die unless you make us shoot you. We’re just going for a little ride.”
With the GC ensconced in their respective trunks, Mac carefully turned the truck around and told George to give the women extra ammo from the bag they had gotten at the Co-op. With the truck and the two GC squad cars pointed west, one of the GC radios crackled. “North roadblock, acknowledge, please.”
“North roadblock,” Mac said, while only half mashing the transmit button.
“Repeat?”
“North roadblock here,” he said, careful to make sure he was heard, but not perfectly.
“Status?”
“Busy.”
“Carry on.”
George hopped back into the truck, and as Chloe pulled away and Mac followed, George said, “Looky
here. I knew there was something about that old gal I really liked.” In amongst the ammunition, Mrs. P. had had Co-op people pack bread, cheese, and fruit. “Chloe and Hannah took most of it,” George said. “And I’m gonna take most of what’s left unless you grab now.”
Mac grabbed. And the unlikely convoy rolled west into the night toward their ride home. How long the ruse would hold was the mystery. For now, Mac enjoyed the food and the hope that they had beaten the odds.
CHAPTER 11
The report from Mac allowed Chang to breathe easier for the first time in hours. He checked back in to Carpathia’s office, where Akbar was debriefing the big boss.
“We’ve had a setback, but there’s no way this bunch can—”
“A setback?”
“Without going into all the details, sir, the hostage killed one of our people—a woman—and has escaped. We assume he’s on the run with the three who—”
“He killed one of his captors?”
“Yes, Highness. We assume—”
“My kind of a man. Why cannot he be on our side?”
“We assume, sir, that he is reconnecting with the three who came for him, and we’re hoping they will be foolish enough to try to get back to the airport. We have that sealed tight.”
“Yes, well . . .” Carpathia sounded distracted, as if the rest of the story was not as interesting. “Suhail, how was damage control today?”
“Too early to tell, sir.”
“Come, come, I count on you as one who does not try to simply appease me. They heard the pilot’s report, and my telling them he was mistaken, that the bombs had missed their targets. Well, what are people saying?”
“I honestly don’t know, Excellency. I have spent my entire day between your office and my own, trying to ride herd on this Greece thing.”
“Let me tell you this, Suhail: The disc from the plane clearly shows direct hits and those traitors burning! Whatever is the magic that allows those people to survive simply cannot extend outside that area.”
“Begging your pardon, but not that long ago we lost ground troops outside—”
“I know that, Suhail! Do you think I do not know that?”