Fuller frowned.
Fronk was acting quite strangely and it was really beginning to tick him off. What had gotten into him? Ever since the man had come out from his closet, he was leaping up and shouting. He was hugging people. He was even making hot cocoa for him. Now Fuller would never turn down a good cup of hot cocoa. He loved his hot cocoa and drank it like a coffee lover drank coffee. Yet when Fronk happily offered him a fifth cup before he even finished his third, it was time to realize enough was enough.
“William…” he said with a weary sigh, sitting back behind his desk. “You’re wearing me out!”
He was in his personal den behind his desk. A woman with long, blonde hair and glasses, which seemed to highlight her blue eyes, sat in a chair before the desk. She was extremely nervous, not just because of the recent events of the world, but also because of added responsibility due to those events. However, the more Fronk acted the way he did whenever she saw him, the more she was able to overcome her nervousness.
There was something about William Fronk.
Fuller saw it in a different light. “If you don’t stop acting like this, William, I’ll see to it you’re locked in your closet for good!”
Fronk actually let out a whooping holler, which made both the woman and Fuller jump. “That’s great, Skipper! I’ll be able to stay in there and tell Him all about you and He can start showing you how to find the Way.”
Fuller looked at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh…I can’t tell you that. It’s, ah, still a secret.” He looked innocently about, whistling a tune.
The woman almost laughed, but when she saw how severe Fuller looked, she tried to force the grin off her face and pretended to busy herself with the notes she had been making.
Fuller sighed. “Can you at least tell me, William, if you're getting anywhere with that computer of yours?”
“Portals, Skipper,” Fronk corrected.
I really wish he’d stop calling me that! “Portals?”
“Portals.”
“What is Portals? Or do I really want to know?”
Fronk leaned toward him. “It’s kind of like Windows…only better.”
“Why is it better?”
“Why? Because I designed it, Skipper. I've managed to get it up and running, but it hasn’t connected yet with any of the satellites in space. You know, some satellites may have also been affected by the EMP. I’ve got power into the computer thanks to the generators, but all I can do on it is basic functions. There's no online activity, but I’m confident once we get in line with a working satellite, I’ll be able to get it to work. Then, we’ll find out what the rest of the world is doing.”
Fuller nodded. “Great.”
“Say, Skipper…what are you and Erin talking about?”
Fuller nodded his head toward Erin Greye. “Erin is going to be taking over for Nichole. She’s my new assistant.”
Fronk regarded Erin with renewed interest. “Re-e-eally? Hmmm.” Finally, he shook his head. “Well, this just can’t do.”
Erin blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“I can’t call you a Mary Jane, or a Ginger, since you don’t look like either one of them. And you’re much too young to be referred to as Mrs. Howell!”
Erin had no idea how to respond to that, so she didn’t.
“William…” Fuller began, “would you please get back to work…and take that hot cocoa with you! I’ve had enough.”
Fronk made a tsking sound with his tongue. “There’s just no being nice to you, is there?”
Fuller opened his mouth to reply, but the radio on his desk came to life with Barrington’s voice. “The eagle has risen from the ashes and vanquished his enemies.”
Fuller was greatly relieved at hearing his voice. He picked up the radio. “Albert, it’s great to hear from you. Are Michael and Joseph with you?”
“Knox is…Joseph Canaan, however, is not.”
The Director let out a weary sigh. He glanced at Fronk and Erin, who were watching him. “I’m sorry to hear that. What happened to him?”
There was a pause. “He disappeared.”
Fuller considered Barrington’s response. “Say again?”
“Canaan vanished, Todd…like a thief in the night. All that was left of him was a pile of clothes in the back seat of the car. He’s not the only one who vanished either. It’s happened throughout Albany. I’ve seen clothes here and there, in the streets…inside of cars. A lot of people have vanished.”
Fuller sat back. “Well…it happened here, too. We’ve lost at least nine good people. Kevin among them.”
Barrington knew he was referring to Kevin Vogel. “That’s got to have been hard on Ace. He and Kevin were good friends.”
“It is. Keith is working on getting the Storm Breaker going. If I keep him busy enough, he won’t have time to grieve.” He sighed. “So you’re inbound then?”
“Yes…And we do have a visitor.”
Fuller rolled his eyes. A visitor. Just what they needed. “Look, Albert, I’m sending plenty of reinforcements in to Albany to help restore order there until we can do more. We’re not about to bring refugees to Bunker Island.”
“She’s not a refugee. Her name is Staci Cohen. She’s a doctor, and she can help us.” There was a brief pause. “Todd…Staci is Nichole’s sister and we have it on good authority that Nichole has also vanished.”
Fuller couldn’t believe it. Then, just as quickly as he found it hard to believe, he suddenly knew he could believe it. Since the vanishings, he vowed in his heart not to call on God unless He showed him that he could be truly forgiven. After all, he was in charge of many people and felt responsible for their safety. He felt badly he had let them all down by not getting the truth for all of them before the vanishings occurred.
He had promised Nichole he would find her sister and see to her safety. When the vanishings and the terrorists attacks began, he didn’t see how it was possible to keep his promise. Yet here was God, bringing Staci directly to him.
“Todd…?”
There was a catch in Fuller’s voice when he spoke. “Al…” He cleared his throat. “Is Staci alright? Is she hurt?”
“No. She’s fine. A little scared, but unharmed.”
Fuller nodded, although he was aware Barrington couldn’t see him. “You tell her I look forward to meeting her. I…I need to take care of something. I’ll see you when you get here.”
“We’ll be there soon.”
When the transmission ended, Fuller looked at Fronk. “About that closet…”
Fronk regarded him. “You can’t go into my closet, Skipper.”
“I don’t want to go into your closet, William. I just want you to…help me.” He looked across his desk at Erin. “Help us.”
“Seeking the truth, are ye?”
“Aren’t we all?”
Fronk shrugged. “Some look under rocks, but all they discover are bugs.” He peered at Erin. “Are ye seeking?”
She hesitated. “I am.”
“I can pray with you guys.” Fronk brightened. “Hey, this is awesomely cool. I think it deserves a rasping squeal.” He put his hands to his mouth and let out such a loud squeal, Fuller clasped his hands over his ears.
“Erin…could you please close the door before he does that again?” Fuller inquired.
Erin closed the door and then joined Fronk and Fuller in prayer.
*******
A short time later, while the sun shone high above in the sky, Fuller, Fronk and Erin were there when the first Huey arrived. As it shut down, Shiva was the first one out, followed by Barrington, Staci, Lenox and then Willon. Barrington, Staci and Lenox approached Fuller, Fronk and Erin. Fronk was grinning like a mad man.
“Staci, it's so good to meet you,” Fuller greeted.
Hesitating, Staci nodded. “Thank you, uhm…I’m glad to meet you, too.”
“I’m Darren Fuller. Your sister was my assistant. She told me a lot about you.”
“Oh. Nothing bad, I hope.” She smiled to show she was trying to be funny, but at the same time wondered if her sister would have said something bad about her.
“I’m sure she’s shared with you her position on what happened earlier today. I mean, before it happened.”
Staci nodded. “Yes…she did, and…well, I missed it.”
Fuller paused. “We all did.”
Lenox narrowed his eyes.
“We won’t miss the truth this time, will we, Staci?”
Staci smiled. “No.”
Lenox looked at each one of them closely. Fronk, Erin, Fuller, Barrington and Staci all seemed just a little different and he knew it had to do with the vanishings. Even Shiva and Willon seemed out of place.
Fuller noticed his reaction, but didn’t press the issue. “Why don’t we get you situated, Staci? We’ll have a full debriefing in an hour and go from there.”
“Wait…” Staci looked panicked. “A…a full debriefing? You mean, like…like a meeting about what happened? Don’t you talk about classified things? I mean, I-I’m just a civilian, and I-I…I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Fuller smiled at her. “You’ll be okay.”
Lenox shook his head. “She has a point, Director. She is a civilian.”
Fuller regarded him. “Well, Michael…I know you’re not yet aware of it, but the Rules of Engagement have changed. As of today, no one is a civilian. We are all soldiers. We're either soldiers of the Cross, or soldiers of the enemy. There are no civilians.”
“You've got to be kidding me.”
“There'll be a meeting in one hour,” Fuller reminded him, dismissing him.
Lenox shook his head and then walked away.
Shiva turned to go after him, but Fuller stopped him. “Marc…you can’t push him.”
Shiva scowled. “Director, I have to tell him. He’s got to be shown the truth.”
“If you push him, he won’t accept it.”
Barrington nodded in agreement. “He’s right. Our best shot at getting him to listen is to pray for him.”
“I have a question…” Staci began hesitantly. “Is everybody here…except for Mr. Lenox a…believer?”
Fuller looked about. “It would seem to be so.”
“Well…what do we do now?”
“Now…? Now we do what we can to get the truth out to other people. Our primary mission has become gathering souls for Jesus.”
Fronk clapped his hands together and let out a hoot, startling Staci, Erin and Fuller. “Hot diggety dog, Skipper! We’re no longer hunting for terrorists! We're the Hunters no more. Because now…now we shall be called…the Gatherers.” He rubbed his hands together. “Great! I’ve got work to do once we get online.”
Fuller regarded him suspiciously. “What are you planning on doing?”
“I’m gonna start up a website about our new mission. And I’m-a gonna begin a campaign online to be a thorn in the AC’s flesh!”
Shiva looked at him, puzzled. “The AC?”
“He means the Anti-Christ.” Fuller sighed. “William, we don’t know anything about him just yet.”
Fronk nodded. “Yeah…but we will soon enough.”
They headed for the road which would lead them to the farmhouse. Barrington purposefully traveled behind so he could walk with Willon.
“What’s up?” he asked.
Willon cut right to the heart of the matter. “Bear, I had Darwyn Musad in my sights. I had him, when he was on the rooftop…with Dr. Cohen. So where is he now?”
Barrington hesitated. “I…don’t know what you mean.”
The man let out a chuckle. “For a new Christian, you make a terrible liar.”
“Look…he was there. You saw him, but he isn’t the same man as the profile reports him to be.”
Willon paused. “Well, the Director did say that no one is a civilian anymore and that the rules had changed. I, for one, believe him, so I think it’s only fair you tell him about Darwyn Musad hiding at your place.”
Barrington stopped. “How do you know he’s hiding there?”
“I just know. Hey, I’m not against you. I don’t think the Director will be either. I believe Darwyn isn’t the terrorist he once was.”
“How do you believe that?”
Willon looked him in the eye. “Because every time I had him in my sights, some other guy appeared there. And whoever he was, he just seemed to be looking right at me. When I scanned the rooftop for him, he would be nowhere in sight. But then I would again put my sights on Darwyn and he would be right there again, blocking my aim. I seriously believe if I had fired, I wouldn’t have hit him.” He paused. “It appears that Darwyn Musad had a guardian angel.”
Barrington continued walking with Willon, deep in thought. It suddenly occurred to him that he must have forgotten something.
Something important.
*******
Darwyn took a deep breath as he sat on the fire escape with the wall at his back. He was completely astounded by God’s complete forgiveness. God’s love was beyond comprehension, for while He forgave him, there was a large part deep within himself, which kept him from forgiving himself. Look what he had done. He had murdered innocent lives in the name of something he had once believed in. He had spread terror to his enemies in the United States of America and Israel and throughout the world.
He sat there wondering how this could be that he could be so guilty and yet the ATD agent named Barrington refused to take him in. To go one step further, the man had told him to stay in his apartment and out of sight.
Why? How could he be so trusting?
And the answer came to him.
The times were different now. The true Church of Christ, the Bride of Christ, had been taken from off the earth and were now with Jesus. The days ahead were going to be extremely difficult. Darwyn had once read the scriptures before and in his mind, they were coming to him about what was next. The judgments were coming. The seven seals were coming. It was all written in His Word and what God said He would do would be done.
If anyone came to Christ during these times, now was the time to unite and stand fast together. It was the only way. And Barrington had to have recognized that for him to be willing to keep Darwyn Musad hidden.
The man who was once a terrorist looked at the Bible in his hand. It had been handed to him by Barrington. He began to flip through it and as he did, he realized there was a bump in the pages the closer he got to the Gospels. When he got to the book of John, something fell out onto his lap. He picked it up, but from where it had fallen, he noticed a passage in scripture, which had been highlighted.
He read it out loud. "'Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’*”
He looked at what he held in his hand. It was a small key with a number on it. The number was 832.
Was Barrington aware of this key? What did it unlock?
Darwyn frowned in thought. He turned to the front of the Bible and discovered the Bible belonged to someone named Joseph Canaan. Why is that name familiar to me? He sat back and tried to remember.
Coming Soon...
Episode #3 - The Remnant
The Gatherers begin their first mission in the new world...
Their mission; Find President Walter J. Ballou.
Yet as they set out,
nothing could have prepared them for what they discover.
_______ _______ _______
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