The Storm Breaker was on its way to its destination as ordered by Director Fuller, and LeBeau and Bandjough were glad to be doing something. Their destination was the John F. Kennedy Airport. Fuller had made arrangements by calling ahead. There was to be a landing pad available to them. They were to land and escort Danielle to her plane. She would have a ticket waiting for her at the counter.
Shiva rode with Danielle in the back of the Storm Breaker. They shared each others testimony.
Danielle sighed. “I can’t believe this is over. This has been a horrible nightmare.” She looked at Shiva. “And it’s not over, is it?”
He shook his head. “No. Not according to the Bible, it isn’t. It’s going to get worse. Soon, we’ll become the hunted.”
“You’ve studied a lot?”
He nodded. “Yeah. We study whenever we get the chance to. How about you?”
Danielle shook her head. “I don’t study as much as I should, but I don’t have a connection with other believers like you seem to have. I hope I can find people in London like you Gatherers. I know I need a lot of help studying. I’ve never been any good at it.”
“Well, don’t forget, you are one of us now. You’re a Gatherer, and if you ever come back this way, you can look us up. The Director instructed me to tell you that you’re welcome here any time. You can find us either at the Federal Building in Albany, or the shelter in Maine, just outside of Belgrade. That‘s where you can find us. Of course, when next we meet, we may have other locations, too.” He told her about the shelter found by Barrington. “If you know of anyone who needs our help, send them to us. We’ll help them all we can.”
Danielle nodded. “I will.” She paused. “I have a question if you don’t mind, since you‘ve been studying more than I have.”
“We have some time,” he assured her with a casual shrug. “Ask me anything you want, and if I can answer, I will.”
“This has to do with prophecy. I mean, we’re obviously living in the last days, right? Do you know who the Antichrist is, because just thinking about him gives me nightmares? I hope he‘s not like Ed Carr.”
Shiva let out a chuckle. “No, Danielle, I assure you, he’s nothing like Ed Carr. In fact, he is far more sinister.” He regarded her. “Have you been watching the news?”
“As much as I can. My husband…” She stopped. She took a deep breath and said, “I’ve been kept busy, but I’ve tried to keep informed about what’s been going on.” She paused. “If you want to know the truth, once the vanishings happened and the attack on our country…Andy forbid me to watch the news. He even took out every television we had to make sure I didn’t watch it.”
“Really?” Shiva looked at her with concern.
She shrugged. “I thought he was being overprotective. He wasn’t. He didn’t want to hear a word about Jesus having raptured His Bride and he thought I just lost it. So he tried to keep me away from what was happening in the world.” Her eyes met Shiva’s. “Anyway, I managed to get my hands on some news occasionally, either through a newspaper I could get my hands on, or listening to the radio in the car.”
He hesitated as he kept eye contact with her. “I’m truly sorry this happened to you, Danielle.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He paused. Then, he cleared his throat. “Do you know about the peace treaty signing in Israel?”
She nodded. “I heard about that, yes.” She looked at him. “Was the Antichrist there?”
Shiva nodded solemnly. “He was.”
“Really? Then…is it Judas Hannah?”
Shiva paused as he considered her question. “I’ve heard that name before, but…no, it’s not him. The AC’s name is Tristian Salvadori.”
“Oh. Oh, I saw him in the news. Some charismatic guy talking about bringing peace into the new age. Promising all wars to end…Some new world order.” She frowned. “Yeah. Come to think of it, he does sound like the one, doesn’t he?”
“Who is Judas Hannah?”
“He was there foreseeing the signing. At least, I heard he was. But maybe he’s just a representative for Israel. He’s also been in the news…He’s mostly been seen with Salvadori.” She shuddered. “This whole thing just gives me the chills. I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, the rapture…the Antichrist. What’s next?”
“Plenty,” Shiva told her, “and none of it is good. Except for the 144,000.”
Danielle paused. “What is the 144,000?”
“I’m not really sure. In our studies, we think they could be 12,000 members from each of the twelve tribes of Israel who will be witnesses during these last days. But we really need to study some more into that to be certain.” He shook his head. “We don’t want to be wrong when we study His Word so we try to be careful about it. Pray earnestly, asking Him for direction. It’s all we can do, you know?”
“I guess there’s really so much to learn. How do you find the time to it?”
Shiva pulled out a small New Testament from the inside pocket of his jacket. “I try to carry a Bible with me wherever I go. Are you up to a little studying now before we land?”
“Yes.”
He took a hold of her hand, to which she appeared hesitant at first. When she realized he was only praying, she relaxed and smiled as the peace of God fell over them. After Shiva prayed, they read from the Book of Revelations together.
As Barrington was getting out of his suit, Lenox decided to have a talk with Carr.
“Is there somewhere we can go?” he asked Carr. “I need to have a word with you.”
Carr glared at him. “I was entertaining the same idea myself. Come with me.”
Lenox followed him out of the unit. Outside, they began to walk away from the Outpost and out toward the landing pads. Lenox saw that the Storm Breaker was gone, but the Bell ARH’s were there. The two men went behind one of them.
Lenox looked around, making certain they weren’t about to be interrupted.
Carr spun around and glared at him, pointing in his face. “I thought we had an understanding. You came to us, Michael, to be a part of something grand, but perhaps I was rash in thinking you had come around to our way of thinking. That woman was ours! You had no right to -”
Lenox grabbed his finger and pulled it away from his face. At the same time, he brought his other fist up and connected hard with Carr’s nose. Something snapped, blood spilled out, and Carr fell backward against the Bell ARH. Dazed, the man slid to the ground, favoring his nose in both hands.
Finally, he glared up at Lenox. “What are you doing?”
“Who was responsible for the toxin in Allentown, Carr?”
“What?”
Lenox was losing patience. “Who released the toxin in that town? Hmm? Do you have any idea who is responsible for the deaths of everyone who lived there?”
Carr swallowed. “No.” He didn’t make eye contact.
Lenox looked at him for a long time. “Was this a test? Your people set this up to test the toxin, isn’t that what happened here?”
“No.”
“I want to believe you. I really do, but I’m having a hard time with it.” He pulled out his gun and held it directly in front of the mans face. “One more time…who is responsible for what happened here in Allentown? Who released the toxin?”
Carr stared right into the barrel of the gun. It made him look cross-eyed. “I swear to you, I don’t know!”
Lenox let out a sigh and put his gun back into its holster. He looked at Carr with disgust. “Let me swear something to you.” He leaned over the Director of Justice and glared into his eyes. “If I find evidence that you were behind this in anyway, I will hunt you down and put a bullet in your head. Don’t believe for one second that I won’t because I am capable of having a good nights sleep right after I end your life.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Carr just stayed there for a long time. The victory he had felt when all of this had begun had deflated and he soon discovered he had run out of steam. But deep down inside, he vowed if only to himself that he would make Lenox pay for this atrocity. And the best way to attack Lenox was to go through Staci.
A grin slowly began to spread across his face as a plan began to take shape.
Staci had trouble getting out of the suit. Alyson saw this and was completely amused by it, but she didn’t let it show on her features as she approached the red-haired medical doctor.
“Let me help you,” Alyson offered as she took a hold of the sleeve of the environmental suit. “It seems you’re having some trouble getting out of this thing.”
“Yes, thank you,” Staci replied, turning her head as she tried to see where the arms of the suit loosened. “This thing is heavy and bulky…and it’s making me dizzy trying to get out of it.”
Alyson went behind her to release the clasps keeping the suit secured. “Have you ever been in one of these before?”
“No.” Staci sighed. “I don’t think I ever want to be in one again.”
Alyson continued to help her. She intentionally paused before she strategically brought up the next subject. “This day has been full of surprises, hasn’t it?”
Staci agreed with a nod, thinking of how she made a fool out of herself by running up to Lenox and kissing him. She blushed thinking about it.
Alyson noticed. “Well, imagine my surprise when I saw Michael here today. I thought I was in seventh heaven.” She grinned mischievously behind her back.
Staci stopped moving as she realized what the news reporter had just said. “Uhm…You know Michael?”
“Yes, I do. And I have to tell you, as soon as I can, I’m going to wrap my arms around him and give him a great big kiss. I wish I had known he was going to be here. I haven’t had time to really get his attention, but I will when the time is right.”
Staci swallowed. “Oh.”
Alyson moved around her so she could see her. “Are you okay? You sound like your in pain.”
“Oh, no…I-I just think the suit is tight. Too tight, and I’d really like to get out of it.” Staci took a deep breath to mask her true feelings. “Are…uhm, are you and Michael dating?”
“Oh, no! No, don’t be silly. It’s really a casual thing we have between us. You know…Neither one of us want to settle down, so we have absolutely no strings attached. He does what he pleases, and I go my way. But…sometimes we hook up and,” She grinned, “you know, have a little fun.”
“Oh, that’s nice!” But it really wasn’t.
Barrington had his suit off and he approached to help with Staci’s. He had seen them together as he was getting out of his suit, and knowing Alyson to be a conniving, manipulative person, wanted to get her away from Staci.
“Having trouble, Doc?” he asked Staci.
“Oh, she’s fine,” Alyson assured him. “She’ll be out of this in no time.”
They helped Staci out of the suit, but the medical doctor’s body language told Barrington that Alyson had said something to her. Alyson smiled at them both and made her way out of the unit. Staci used that moment when she was gone to wipe at a tear that had trickled down her cheek.
“What did she say to you?” Barrington asked.
Staci tried to put on a smile. “Nothing.”
“Staci…whatever it was, it wasn’t ‘nothing’. You can tell me.”
“Albert, it’s ridiculous, okay? It isn’t worth it.”
Barrington paused. “She said something to you about Michael, didn’t she?”
Staci shrugged. “So what if she did? I’m not going out with Michael. He-he’s got no interest in me.” She sighed. “According to Alyson, he likes blondes.”
“Don’t let the devil use this against you. Michael had a brief relationship with Alyson but it was years ago. He’s not interested in her.”
“Albert, we shouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Why not?”
“Because even if he were interested in me…how could I even hope to have a relationship with him if he hasn’t come to Christ? Wouldn’t we be...unequally yoked?”
“What are you talking about?”
She paused. “I looked it up. It’s in the Bible...and it says, 'Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 1’ ” She let out a sigh. “I think that’s pretty painfully clear enough to understand, don’t you?”
She got up and headed out of the unit before he could respond.
Fuller had watched the Storm Breaker leave with a lot of mixed emotions. He had stood there watching as it took to the skies and didn’t move until it was completely gone from view. When it was, he decided to head back to their quarters and wait for the Storm Breakers return.
He believed what they had come there to do was done. There was nothing to do now but call it quits. He walked into the quarters that had been set aside for him and his agents, and when he did, he saw Fronk and Erin watching him with concern.
He frowned when he saw the looks on their faces. “What’s wrong with you two?”
Erin and Fronk exchanged glances.
Fronk slowly got up from the table and approached Fuller. “Director,” he said.
Fuller let out another sigh. He knew this was going to be serious because the Crazy Man had used his title. He hadn’t called him ‘Skipper’.
“Erin and I discovered something about Danielle,” Fronk continued.
“I know,” Fuller said softly.
“We know who she is and thought you should know before…well, before you find out some other way. Anyway, I guess it would be best if it came from us.”
Fuller held up his hands. “William, Erin…I know. I appreciate your concern, but…I know.”
They regarded him for a moment.
“You know who she is?” Erin asked.
Fuller nodded. “I knew the second I saw her.”
Again, Erin and Fronk exchanged looks.
“Well…where is she?” Fronk wanted to know.
Fuller hesitated. “She’s gone.”
“Gone? But where did she go?”
“I sent her home. Where she belongs.”
“But, sir,” Erin began, “if you know who she is, why did you send her away?”
Fuller paused as he regarded them. “Does anyone else know about this?”
Fronk shook his head. “As far as we know, it’s only the two of us.”
“Keep it that way. The less who know, the safer she is. Because to answer your question, Erin…” He paused. “…I sent her away because I didn’t want Ed Carr to find out.” He looked at each of them. “This conversation is now closed. I would appreciate it if neither one of you brought it up again.”
“Of course,” Erin said.
Fronk saluted. “Aye aye, Skipper.”
Fuller grinned and shook his head. “I knew I could count on you.” He pointed at the laptop. “You might as well pack up your gear. We’re leaving just as soon as the Storm Breaker returns.”
Fronk held up the video cam he had received from the ex-wrestler. “That’s good, ‘cause we’re done with this video Fury wanted us to make. This is going to be the best news story ever. We think you’re gonna like it. Yeah, you’re gonna like it a lot.”
Fuller didn’t doubt him. He just hoped the world would like it, too.
For a moment, King remained silent as Hoag stood before him with his gun pressed against his head. King saw the anger in the Sheriff’s eyes and silently began to pray. Not for himself, but for Hoag. He prayed and asked God to help Hoag get past his anger. The man seemed to have a lot of rage bottled up inside, and it was threatening to explode.
King didn’t move. “If you have come to shoot me, Sheriff, perhaps it would be wise to do so away from here so that the people do not have to be witness to it.”
“How can you be so calm?” Hoag demanded. He was so angry, his hand that was holding the gun was trembling. “Don’t you think it would be easy for me to pull the trigger? You’ve killed many. Killing you wouldn’t be a problem for me.”
“And yet I still stand here as you debate with yourself the pros and cons of murdering me in cold blood.” He paused as he carefully regarded Hoag. “The first time you pointed a gun at me and pulled the trigger, Sheriff, you gave in to your anger. You don’t have to do it this time.”
Hoag pulled the gun away and took several steps away from him. He faced away from the man he had wanted to kill. “You have no idea just how easy it would be to pull the trigger.”
“Perhaps.”
“It wouldn’t do any good, would it?” He turned to look at King as if he were a ghost. “I shot you at point blank range and yet here you stand. I know I didn’t miss.” He paused. “Why did God spare you? Are you really a servant of His?”
King shrugged. “I cannot truly stand here and explain to you why God spared me the day you came into the office at Willow Creek Baptist Church. I believe I know God as all His children know Him...but we cannot know why He does the things He does. Sometimes, He reveals to us why. At other times, He doesn’t. Perhaps it is just as simple as Him wanting me to continue doing His Will.”
“You changed.”
“Yes.”
“You were a terrorist. You’ve killed innocent people in your crusade as a member of the Islamic nation.”
King nodded once. “Yes.”
“Yet you converted to Christianity.” Hoag studied his face. “The guilt of what you’ve done...the crimes you’ve committed...That must have been going through your mind when you cried out to God.”
“It was, Sheriff. But God took that guilt from me and He has enabled me to do His Work.”
“Well, I’m angry. I’m so furious I can’t trust myself to do the right thing!”
King watched him. “Are you angry at me?”
“No, but I am envious. You seem to be able to turn from your past, but I give in to mine. That night when people I knew as friends and family surrounded the Dell’s home and set it on fire, I stood there and watched. I let them do it. I made no moves to stop them. And I was so angry, all I wanted to do was kill you in cold blood.” He took a deep breath and looked at King. “Well, I did kill you. At least, I would have if God hadn’t spared you. So let me ask you, David King...how do you forgive yourself?”
“The first step is to accept that you are not perfect. Then, you must realize that God loves you and you need Him in your life. He will help you with your anger. But then comes the tricky part. You must not only allow God to forgive you, but you must also forgive yourself. Only then will you be able to free yourself from this bondage of anger.”
Hoag hesitated. “Will you help me?”
King held out his hand. “I will.”
The two men shook hands and then prayed.
1 - II Corinthians 6:14 (NIV)
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