by John M Grier
Year Zero
A few short days later, they arrived in Canada off the coast of the same lighthouse. Hesitating at first, Jack said “Here goes nothing” and input the date for year zero. The machine made its normal popping sound and suddenly they were in a very dangerous situation.
First things first, they had to find a place to stash the boat. Jack and Paul both scanned the shore for a possible cove to make a temporary harbor. However, it was Suzie who found a likely spot. She pointed it out to them and they slowly made their way to it. As Jack piloted his boat into the small harbor, he became more and more concerned for their safety. They were unable to see into the harbor, which would be a good thing for the boat once they went ashore, but made for an uneasy approach.
Suzie took the liberty to scout the area for them and in a matter of a minute or so returned. “I didn’t see anyone or anything we need to be concerned about, Jack.”
“Thanks” said Jack, relieved at the lack of surprises. Dropping anchor, he said “Okay, from here on out, we’ll need to be very quiet. No unnecessary talking or other noises. This is a very dangerous time and I for one would like to make it back in one piece.”
Feeling secure after having ignored Rev. Franklin’s warnings and arrived armed, he drew his trusty Taurus Judge and stepped onto shore. They got their bearings and set out for the journey to the lighthouse and barn, which was now a few miles away. They slowly made their way through the dense brush, trying their best to be as quiet as possible. With all the fighting going on around them, it was a regular war zone. Jack was not at all happy to find himself in this situation, but he just couldn't make himself give up. They had gotten this close, and he was going to see it through!
“There, up ahead” Jack thought to himself “I was feeling a bit turned around, but that must be the clearing ahead. If I remember correctly, it’s about the right location for that barn.” Jack pushed on, motioning to the others to be still while he investigated. Coming to the edge of the clearing, Jack noticed right away that the battle had already gone through here. That was obviously why they were able to get this far undetected. It certainly wasn't due to their skills at being invisible!
There was a field ahead of him, with a large knoll on the right. “Funny shape for a hill” Jack thought. Suddenly, a bird flew overhead and dropped something. Jack watched incredulously as the object fell through the hill – not onto it, but through it!
“A hologram!” Jack exclaimed, immediately embarrassed for the outburst. He motioned for the others to come forward. Fortunately, there was nobody else around to hear him. “See that hill” Jack whispered, maybe a little too loudly “I believe that it's the barn, disguised as a hill by early holographic technology! Check this out!” Jack picked up a small pebble and threw it at the hill. Sure enough, the pebble disappeared into it.
“Come on, let's check it out” said Paul, ever the scientist. As they approached the hill it seemed just like any other hill, although shaped a little funny. Then suddenly, as they were close enough, the hill disappeared and a building appeared!
Startled, they jumped back and the building disappeared with the knoll there again. Stepping forward, they saw the building again. It didn’t look like what they expected, but Jack figured that it had to be the old barn. It was the right size and shape; it just didn't look like any barn he was familiar with. “Okay” Jack whispered, “Let’s go inside.”
As they approached the building, they couldn’t hear anything – that is until they opened the door. Then they heard him.
“Paul's heart broke for his people! They were dying and going to hell, and they didn't even realize it! Their Messiah, their Savior, Jesus Christ, had come and fulfilled their prophecies but they didn’t see it! All they needed to do was to accept Jesus as their Savior in payment for their sins, instead of the temple sacrifices which only illustrated Jesus’ sacrifice! If they only had confessed their sins to God and accepted Jesus as Savior, they would have been saved. In fact, that’s the same way you can get saved also!”
The man from the hologram, Jesse, was at the far end of the building on the stage speaking to a small crowd of people. They were all silent, listening intently, and didn't notice the group stealthily come in. That is, all but the guard. A gun suddenly appeared in their faces with a man asking in a hoarse whisper, “Just who are you, and what're you doing here?”
“We came to listen to Jesse speak” Jack responded quickly stashing his gun in his waistband, under his Hawaiian shirt. “We mean no harm. We heard that he is a wise man, and we want to learn from him.”
That seemed to appease the old duffer, who subsequently motioned for them to come on in. “Sit over there, but don't make any noise till he's done.”
“No problem, sir! Thanks a lot!” Jack replied, trying really hard to sound harmless. That’s when he noticed the gun in the old duffer’s hand. It looked kind of like a sawed-off shotgun, except it obviously wasn’t. “I remember seeing something like that on one of those Star Trek movies” he thought. “I don’t think I want to be on the business side of that thing, although I’d like to have one. Hmmm…I wonder why I didn’t see any in the storerooms back home.” He had to force his attention back to the speaker.
Jesse went on: “Paul the Apostle was much like the dad in the famous story that Jesus told called the ‘Prodigal Son.’
“In Luke 15: 11-13 Jesus said: ‘A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
“This boy is a lot like some of us…headstrong, willful, and under the mistaken impression that we know what we are doing! This boy thought he had it all figured out! Boy was he wrong! He found that all the friends he had when his pockets were full of money disappeared when he became broke! He was on his own, and nobody cared. His family figured he was dead, and nobody was coming to the rescue. He had to ‘man up’ as we used to say, and deal with the situation.
“However, the economy was bad, his work experience didn’t exist, and he couldn’t find a decent job. The only thing he could find was feeding pigs, which he found especially disgusting since he was raised to never have anything to do with pork of any kind! How humiliating! And, it didn’t pay enough to keep his belly full! He was constantly hungry. Man, what a mess he found himself in! Have you ever been there, my friends?”
Jack found himself captivated by this story. He had heard it many times before, but there was something about the way this guy told it that made it interesting. In fact, he could identify with the boy. After all, he had been on his own for many years now, and he had to ‘man up’ many times. Fortunately, he was gifted with money and a time machine, but he was still alone. Even with Paul and Janet, and yes even Suzie, he was still lonely. He was glad to have his new friends, but was still missing the closeness of a mate.
Jack shook himself. He didn’t like traveling down that mental path, and his attention went back to Jesse:
“Luke chapter 15 and verse 20 says ‘So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.’
“Every one of us, at one time or another, has failed our parents. We all had rules to live by…the rules were different (sometimes drastically different) from household to household, but they were rules nonetheless. We have all been disobedient to those rules and had to face the consequences. I remember being in that very situation. My siblings had it much harder than I did, but I still had my consequences to deal with. I remember being afraid of getting dad angry, for fear of what he would do. Facing that situation is not desirable, and tends to guide our actions to avoid getting into those situations. Sometimes, we choose the wrong means to do just that.
“The young man in this p
arable did exactly that…he went against all of his country's customs, his family's honor, and his dad's heart to waste a bunch of money in a distant land. When he was broke, working at the worst job possible and starving, he decided to go home and face his dad. He didn’t have great expectations from the encounter. He was hoping to get hired on as a worker, figuring that he was already disowned.
“His dad's reaction was shocking! He showed unmistakable love, compassion, mercy, and joy at his son's return. His son did not deserve any of that, but got it anyway! That is true compassion! That is exactly what God wants to do for us, if we only let Him! Jesus loves you, died for you, and is standing on the pathway waiting for you to turn to Him, so that He can welcome you home! Won’t you accept Jesus as your Savior right now?”
Just then the old guard shouted out “RAID!” and everybody scrambled. Shockingly enough, however, it was not mass confusion! The buildings' walls opened up to reveal many exits simultaneously which had the effect of completely changing the look of the place. Many of the people, however, pressed something on their persons and simply disappeared!
Jesse noted the newcomers and shouted “This way! Hurry!” The group followed Jesse without question. He led them into a room that must not have survived the centuries, or they had simply not yet found. He touched a control on his wrist and the wall closed up behind him as if a door was never there.
Jack said “Now that is a pretty cool trick!”
Jesse said in a stage whisper “Quiet! We’re not out of the woods yet!” He motioned for them to keep moving to the back of the room. Pressing a button hidden underneath a desk, he opened yet another door. This room was the strangest of all. The walls emitted an orange-ish glow, and the room itself was completely devoid of furnishings.
“What is this?” asked Paul.
Jesse said “Matter transfer, surely you have used one before?” Unsure of what to do, they simply followed Jesse, trusting in the fact that he sent them the letter in the first place.
Once they were all inside, Jesse closed the door and punched a few buttons on the control panel by the door. An odd mist covered their feet and then slowly climbed to the ceiling of the room. Suddenly they felt nauseous, but the feeling went away just as quickly as it came.
The mist vanished and finally Jesse said “Wow! That was certainly close. Usually we have a bit more notice before a raid, but they’re closing in on us. Who are you, by the way?” As he said this, he noticed Suzie for the first time and said “Young lady, you certainly look familiar to me. Should I know who you are? I’m afraid my memory isn’t always up to par.”
Suzie said “I assure you sir that we have never met before. My name is Suzie.” Gesturing to her companions, she said “This is Jack, Paul and Janet. And actually, we came to meet you.”
Looking momentarily concerned, Jesse said “Are you with one of the government factions? No, I guess you wouldn’t be, would you. Silly question I know. If you were with one of them, you would not have sat down. You would have started shooting us on sight. So, what can I do for you?”
Jack spoke up and said “Is there somewhere we can sit and talk? Our story is not quick, but is vital to begin our conversation.”
“Certainly, come with me” he said. He then led them into another room with a large picture window overlooking what was obviously not Canada. The view was that of a vast desert plain, complete with palm trees.
Paul said “Just where are we, by the way?”
“Morocco. This is a ‘safe house’ provided by a friend for our use in extreme emergencies. We can stay here for weeks if the need arises.”
Paul said “Fascinating! I would never have thought it possible. The science behind it must be, well, complex just doesn’t seem to do it justice.”
Jesse said “You have never used matter transfer?”
"Only in science fiction novels or on Star Trek" said Jack with a grin.
"This is very interesting indeed," Jesse mused, "Where did you say you’re from?”
Jack said “Please, allow me to explain. We are obviously not from here, or Canada, for that matter. I am from your past and Paul and Janet are from your future. It is a very long story that we will be happy to tell.” He paused a moment while trying to gauge how his crazy story of time travel will be accepted. “Basically, you asked us to come here.”
“I can assure you I have done no such thing. However, I am willing to hear you out. With the world as chaotic as it is these days, we need all the allies we can muster” Jesse smiled as he continued “even if the story is as fantastic as yours promises to be. If it is to be a long story, perhaps I should bring my companions in to hear it as well. They are safe, I assure you.”
He picked up a rather old fashioned desk phone and spoke into it. In a few minutes, a lady came into the room. Jack was immediately taken with her beauty. She bore a remarkable resemblance to Suzie, but appeared to be several years older than Suzie’s apparent age. She spoke saying “Hi there. I’m Susan Webber.” Only then did she look around the room and finally noticed Suzie. Her mouth dropped open and she seemed to be speechless. Finally she said “My goodness. Please pardon me if I’m wrong, but are you by chance a hologram?”
Suzie said “Why yes, as a matter of fact I am. And to my knowledge, I was activated first about twenty years from now. I served for several centuries as a military flunky but consider myself ‘discharged’ finally. Jack found and re-activated me after a few hundred years in storage. You wouldn’t by chance actually be from Australia, would you? I have always wondered about my accent, since I was an American military hologram.”
Susan laughed and said “Yes, I am. I have been here for so many years now that the accent is all but gone, but I was born and raised in the Australian Outback. My parents were both Americans, working for the Central Intelligence Agency and I spent most of my youth there. I was in my teens when we finally moved to America. Apparently, the government took some liberties with my brain while I served. Sadly, I am not surprised.” She paused in thought before continuing “I’m sure there is quite a story coming if you were activated as you said ‘twenty years from now and have spent several centuries active.’”
Glancing at Suzie, Jesse said “That certainly explains why you look so familiar. Susan here is a former military liaison who finally left the service of the government to join our cause.”
Janet said “We’ll get to the time travel aspect of this in a moment, but first a question, if you don’t mind. What exactly is your cause, if I may be so bold?”
“Why, the future of Christianity of course. That is why you are here, isn’t it?” Jesse looked puzzled as he asked his question.
Jack said “Well, that certainly explains the Bible you left us. But no, you were rather cryptic in your messages.”
“To be brief, the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency of the United States, is trying to take over the world. They already gained control of most of North America and are trying for everything else now.
“One of their goals is to completely eradicate all religions with a special emphasis on Christianity. And, they’ve done a pretty good job so far. In fact, we may very well be all that is left. It was our plan to save what we can for some future group of people to find, hopefully during a time that will be more open to hearing what we have to say. It is imperative that we once again get God’s word out to the people who so desperately need it.”
Paul said “I have only recently even heard of the concept of God and have begun reading the Bible. I find it very fascinating indeed, and with our travels into the distant past, find it amazingly accurate! I have to assume that it is the truth, but I have no idea how to proceed.”
Jesse said “I don’t know how much you have read, but to be brief, Jesus is God’s son. God sent him to us as a sacrifice for our sins. The book of Romans tells us that ‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.’ Sin is simply disobeying God. You see
, God is the creator of the world and the universe. He made the laws that we should follow. When we do not, we have sinned. What this scripture means is that we are all sinners and are doomed to an eternity in hell… that is unless we accept God’s gift of salvation through His son, Jesus Christ.”
"How do I do that?" Paul asked.
“All you need to do is pray and ask God for forgiveness. Ask him to change your life and He will. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and guide you through life and he will.”
Paul said “Jesse, I have never even heard of how to pray before. I had been reading about it, but I don’t know what to do.”
Jesse took Paul by the hand and knelt down. He then bowed his head and simply started talking to God. Paul followed suit and heard Jesse say “Heavenly Father, please guide this lost soul to your bosom. He needs your guidance and protection if he is to follow you in this crazy mixed up world we have today. Thank you for sending your son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you for his resurrection three days later, thereby conquering sin, hell, and death itself. It is in His name we pray, Amen.”
Paul stayed in the position he was in and started talking to God for the first time. He simply said “God, I know for a fact that you are real and that you are the creator of the world. I understand that I am a sinner and need your son Jesus to save me. Please forgive me of all the sins I have committed in my life and thank you for Jesus. Lord Jesus, I accept your gift of salvation and ask for your guidance to do what is right. Amen.”
After a moment, he rose and Jesse said “Welcome to the family brother! All you need to do is trust God and his word. If you are unsure of what to do, read the Bible. It’s in there. We’ll always have disagreements about minor things, but the important things are what you just prayed.”
After a few moments of silent pondering, Jesse then said “Well, all this has made me hungry. I’m sure you are as well. Let’s see what we can rustle up here in the desert.” He then led them to the kitchen. After we eat, we can hear your story…I’m looking forward to it!”