by Lior Akerman
“Good evening, this is Captain Alan Jacobs of the NYPD. Sorry to bother you. May I speak to Ms. Alice Christy?”
“Yes sir, right away,” Bill answered without hesitation and he took the phone and headed to the corridor.
He knocked on Alice’s door but there was no response. He opened the door slowly and saw that the lamp near her bed was on. Alice was awake but staring out the window, as she had been doing all the time.
“Thank you, Bill,” she said, and he knew he should leave the room.
The conversation continued for twenty minutes and through most of it, Alice was silent and listened. She nodded occasionally and answered, “mmm, ok.” After hanging up, she had a smile on her face. She finally had hope and she fell asleep with this feeling.
41.
Boston, November 1st
At 06:00, she was wide awake. She had not unpacked the small bag she had brought with her from the hospital and all she had to do was go down to the ground floor, heat up water for coffee and make herself some toast. When Bill and Silvie awoke and came downstairs, they found Alice sitting in the kitchen, her bag next to her, ready to leave.
Bill looked at her with surprise:
“Is everything alright, Alice? Are you going somewhere?”
Alice stood up and went over to them.
“Yes, dear aunt and uncle, I am going with Jacobs to New York. You have been wonderful and so kind to me and I love you very much, but I have to be there now.”
Alice hugged them tightly, tears in her eyes. The coming hours passed slowly for her, as she waited tensely. She watched the news reports on television showing what was happening in Washington and around the world, as the ultimatum was nearing its end. She counted the minutes until Jacobs was supposed to arrive.
New York, Midtown, November 1st, 11:00
In the last three days he had been staying in Alice’s apartment in New York. At night, he wandered through the streets, his mind far away. When he walked through Central Park, he thought of Boston, where he knew Alice was, with her aunt and uncle. In her apartment, he saw the correspondence between Professor William (Bill) Christy and the hospital in Washington. Alice was also sent the emails but, without her phone, she had no way of reading them. He was reassured and happy that she was with her family but something in his heart ached, knowing she was far from him and that he was still alone.
He knew he was no longer wanted by the authorities. He looked on the FBI website and saw that his name and picture were no longer on the wanted list. When he saw this, he smiled and thought of the irony of the strange turn his life had taken in recent months. Just a few weeks earlier, the messenger became a public enemy and Moshe Yehoshua Messenger was wanted. Just a short while later, he was back to being the national hero, no longer wanted by the authorities. According to the official sites, he was now able to move freely but he still did not completely trust the authorities’ reports. These months had taught him to be suspicious and one of the scenarios he considered possible was that his name was taken off the wanted list in order to get him to relax and come out of hiding, only for the authorities to apprehend him. The thought of being trapped in a small and stuffy cell made him shudder and he preferred to continue to lay low. He only dared go outside late at night, walking through the streets and the park.
Despite his alertness, the figure sitting at the café on the corner of the street of the building he was staying at, followed him, reporting his every movement, believing Mike had not noticed him. The two men sitting behind a window on the 7th floor of the building on the other side of the street, watching him in the apartment with binoculars, also believed he did not notice them. They were not there to harm or threaten him. The orders they received were clear - follow his every move and report directly to their superior. In case of a threat to his life, they were instructed to intervene and disarm any such threat. They did not understand why they were given this task but they knew they had to carry out orders without asking questions.
Like everyone else, he was waiting that morning in suspense to see what was going to happen. But unlike everyone else, he was responsible for preventing it. He did not know what he was supposed to do and, even worse, he was not sure he would be able to do anything. The streets were empty. Beyond the window, he saw the continuous rain falling. An occasional police patrol or national guard jeep passed by but besides that nothing was happening. The dark clouds, blending with the falling leaves and the puddles on the empty streets, were a perfect setting for this day on which the horrifying prophecy was to be carried out.
Suddenly, he turned, went down to the street and disappeared into the alleyways. The man who came running out of the café and the vehicle joining him from the next block, lost him. He was gone. They were not pleased to give this report to their superior and when they heard his response, they knew why. They continued to comb the area around Alice’s house but he had disappeared, at the worst possible time for them, one hour before their commander was supposed to meet them there.
Boston, November 1st, 09:00
At 09:00, the blue Ford Crown Victoria arrived, stopping outside the house. Jacobs stepped out, standing there impatient. A few minutes later Alice appeared, smiling to him. She walked down the stairs and headed towards the vehicle. When she reached him, he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, opening the door for her to sit in the front seat. Jacobs sped across town, getting on the 90 west freeway, driving on the empty road. Later, he turned south onto Route 95, heading down the east coast. Three hours and 350 kilometers later, they were in New York. Here, too, most of the roads were empty and they headed quickly through Bronx to Brooklyn and from there, west to Manhattan, across the Queensboro bridge, on to 59th Street East.
When they were on the bridge his phone rang. The officer on the line said dryly:
“We lost him, sir. Sorry.”
He was silent for a moment, slowed down, staring at the river as he crossed it. Now he was less determined and optimistic and he lost his cool for a moment.
“You idiots!” he shouted. “Leave someone to watch the apartment and get to my office, now!”
The call ended and there was silence in the car.
42.
New York, Downtown, November 1st, 16:00
Inside the old and deserted train tunnel beneath Broad Street in south NY, it was mostly dark and moldy. Rats ran between the broken bricks between the tracks that was out of use for years. Thirty meters beneath the city, it was quiet and isolated enough for them. Here they could prepare for their next action, without any disturbance. There was no chance of anyone looking for them down there. Not a single human being had been there in the last 50 years. In the beginning of the previous century, this was where the train to Rochester passed but now nothing remained except for dust, rocks, darkness, spiders and decades of cobwebs.
They found a small room beneath the old railroad tracks that was used as a warehouse or engine room and they turned into their own space. This is where they came from and where they returned to. This is where they built the entrance to the new world they planned for. Their mission was not complete yet but they were making good progress. They had been working hard in the last few days planning their next actions, carrying out “the prophecy.”
This location was perfect for them. It had the right conditions for them to create a powerful energy center from which they would be able to carry out their threat. This was where the final explosion was to take place, the one to come after they completed their mission, their entire mission. The secret and abandoned underground site, connected to electricity and water infrastructures, was exactly what they needed. With a small effort, they also set up a communication link to the outer world. They were close to the Wall Street business center and to all the sources of power in the city. Located exactly at the center of New York, this enabled them to connect to the computer and energy networks.
They knew no o
ne would be looking for them there, at least that is what they thought. They were not planning to be there for very long. It would all be over that evening. The humans were stubborn, their honor not letting them surrender. History taught Samael and Charnbog that man never passed up the chance for a good war, even when it was a lost cause. The drive to show force, release their violent inclinations, shed the blood of others and often their own blood, was stronger than reason. They were well aware of this and prepared for it. They did not expect surrender or agreement. They knew they would have to execute their entire plan to gain control of the world and in this manner, quietly and determinedly, they completed their evil plan. They were not expecting any announcement from the world leaders and, therefore, they were in preparation for execution of the threat they had made in the prophecy. They were determined to prove to man that they were serious in what they had said and that they had the power to force their will on all.
At 20:00, the ultimatum given to mankind was about to end. The message they were going to send would be loud and clear. The earth was going to shake in many places in the world, with millions of houses collapsing upon their owners. The huge icebergs in the north and south pole were going to shatter into little pieces and flood the oceans, continents flooded and remaining under water. The non-active volcanoes on earth were going to erupt and shake everything around them. There would be a downfall of rocks and soot for days and then, after the dust settled and the earth was still, the cities abandoned and man no longer in control of his fate, the survivors would beg to live. When this happened, the black figures would become the undisputed rulers of the world. It was the great reward they had been waiting for, after waiting patiently for hundreds of years.
The time had come for evil to overcome good, power to control the weakness of humanity, animal over mankind. Man was to return to where it had come from and everything was about to start over but this time according to their terms. Life would be lived under their laws. Things would not be the same, a new world emerging, the next world.
43.
New York, Midtown, November 1st, 12:00
The telephone call made him change his plan. Instead of heading to Alice’s apartment, he turned the car south towards his office. The rain did not stop falling and the only sound was the windshield wipers moving back and forth in a monotonous swish. She was lost in thought, sadness in her eyes, understanding that she would not be seeing the man she loved yet. Jacobs was trying to come up with an alternative plan. He still didn’t know what he would do but he felt confident that by the time he got to the office, he would come up with something.
By 12:30, he was sitting in his office, Alice lay down on the faded leather couch. Detectives Carter and Jones came into his office, were surprised to see her there and sat down exhausted. They gave Jacobs an update on the occurrences of the day. Alice learned that Mike had been under surveillance. The orders of the National Guard were for all civilians to stay indoors, in safe places. The streets were empty.
“We have to find indications of suspicious activity in the city,” Jacobs said.
He was determined not to give in.
“In the current situation, with the streets empty, it should be easy to identify irregular activity outside. Maybe this will give us a lead.”
Jacobs did not realize how close he was to the truth. He instructed the police emergency call center to update him and his team of any unusual reports. At 14:00, Detective Carter walked into his office excited. He had a report of suspicious activity in the southern part of the city.
“Three civilians called, each separately, to report irregular movement in the abandoned train station on Worth Street,” Carter reported. “Passengers on train No. 6 passing by said they saw lights shining from the abandoned tunnel and heard irregular noises. It has been abandoned for over 40 years.”
Jacobs thought about it for a moment and said:
“It is probably some homeless people who were cold and wanted somewhere dry but it is definitely worth checking. Send a patrol over there now.”
As they spoke, patrol 358 was heading south on West Broadway, near Chambers Street, when they heard the call. Just two hours earlier, Sergeant Steve Carl and Sergeant Harvey Stanhoff were at the police station at the corner of Erikson and Warwick, opposite Tribeca Park where they received their daily briefing from the on-call officer, before receiving the patrol vehicle, checking it and setting out on their shift. The call center reported irregular activity at the closed and abandoned train station on Worth Street. Carl, who was driving, took the call and reported they were heading there. Harvey turned on the siren, made a U-turn and sped north to Worth Street. He turned right onto the street and headed east to Lafayette Street and then south towards Foley Square, pulling over on the sidewalk of the Federal Plaza. When they arrived, they turned off their siren, locked the vehicle and went on foot to check the location. Carl called it in:
“It is 14:10. We are at the site and going in to check it out.”
When they came up to the metal fence, they found the chain locking the fence broken. Carl removed the chain and pushed the gate. They turned on their LED flashlights, making their way over to old opening north of the building, where the old station used to be. The cold and dampness made it hard for them to move and they were slow. After a few minutes, Carl managed to find a convenient entrance to the station, and they headed down the old stairs. When they entered, there was a musty smell and their bright flashlights blinded them when the ray of light hit the cobwebs blocking their path.
They moved forward cautiously and slowly, Carl in front, finding the entrance to the old platform. The stairs headed down to the stone platform that was 50 meters long. Carl stopped and listened. They heard knocking sounds and there were occasional flashes of light coming from the railroad tracks. They aimed their lights at the bottom of the stairs and slowly headed towards the noise and light. When they got down, they saw the cracked stone platform. The left tracks were completely dark but there were flashes of light from the right track. They stopped again and listened. The sound was louder and the light clearer. They now could see that the light was coming from a large opening in the tunnel, leading beneath the tracks. Carl turned right, carefully walking on the platform. Stanhoff followed behind him, aiming his flashlight behind them and to their sides. When they reached the opening from the other side of the tracks, they tried to find a way down. The platform was very high. Carl looked around and said to Stanhoff:
“Hold my flashlight and give me a hand. I will go down to the tunnel and you come down after me.”
They helped each other down but when it was Stanhoff’s turn, he lost his balance and Carl could not prevent him from crashing. The sound of his fall was loud and clear. Stanhoff let out a cry. His right rib was broken when he hit the sharp stone. Carl bent down to him and put his hand on his mouth, attempting to quiet his cries of pain but he could not stop his suffering. He sat down near his whimpering friend and took out his mobile phone. He preferred it over the noisy radio but assumed there would not be reception so deep underground. As Carl thought, his phone was not any help, he had no reception. Carl was desperate but, in this situation, he did not have much choice. He was on his own and he had to get inside the area beneath the tunnel to see what the source of the noise and the light was. He noticed that the noise and lights had stopped. What troubled him even more was that line 6 of the subway was supposed to pass through on its way north from Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall. Despite the cold air outside, he was sweating. He placed his flashlight on the ground and helped Stanhoff back on his feet. He was in terrible pain but they managed to get to the edge of the tunnel, where they had seen the opening. He lay Stanhoff down, took off his police jacket, folded it and placed beneath his head. Stanhoff was in terrible pain.
Carl took the flashlight and got up. He kept his eyes on the dark opening, slowly headed towards the opening and when he reached it, shined his light inside but h
e did not see anything besides dust and steam coming from below. He started to squeeze through the narrow entrance heading down, discovering that this was actually stairs from the tracks down below. He continued down the stairs until he came to a rusty steel door that was slightly open. When he tried to push it open, it creaked loudly. He had his gun out and ready, his flashlight lit the walls of the room. When he looked around, he was shocked. He turned and tried to leave but a heavy object was thrown at him hitting him in the head with great force. Carl didn’t hear anyone coming up to him. He also didn’t hear the huge rock raised and thrown at his head. He heard the sound of it hitting him and felt his skull shatter and then he no longer felt or knew anything.
Stanhoff remained lying in the tunnel. He heard the sound of the shattering of the rock, aimed his flashlight at the narrow entrance and shouted:
“Steve!”
There was nothing but blackness and silence. He called him repeatedly but there was no sound. The sound of the train passing through the nearby tunnel silenced him. He tried to stand up on his feet, screaming in pain. He was desperate to drag himself outside, even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to get up to the platform. Suddenly, he felt someone standing behind him. He turned around and managed to see the red eyes looking at him before he went up in flames and turned to dust blending within seconds with the dirt on the ground and the tracks.
44.
New York, Downtown, November 1st, 15:30
Patrol 358 did not send an update on the status of the call they were sent to check. According to procedure, after an hour the call center tried to reach them to see what their status was.
“358 from call center, what is your status?”
Silence. They tried again:
“358 from call center, what is your status?”