Wonson, North Korea
The rain was horrible. It only made things appear worse than it was and Hon Li Yun felt nothing but sorrow as he stood at the mouth of an alley. God wanted him to go to America, but how was he going to do that? There was no way possible for him to get there. He had no money. What contacts he had were either his enemy or they were Christians who had already been executed for their faith.
The North Korean government had laid down a cruel gauntlet. Any Christian or subversive caught was immediately put to death. The government was not fooling around with it. The powers that be were out for blood. Yun was one of those they were after. It used to be because he was in the Black Market, but now it was because of his own mother and brother who were among the vanishing.
And what of his father?
Now Yun wanted to desperately find his father and tell him he can be saved. He, of course, had no idea that Roh Yun had indeed found Jesus Christ and accepted Him as Lord. That was before he was shot and killed by an agent who believed he was nothing but a terrorist.
Now, in the pouring rain, Yun stood in the alley, looking forlornly across the street. Just a few blocks away was the wharf and his only hope was to somehow get a ride to America. It was all he could think of. He had to become a stowaway.
Gathering up his courage, he grasped his newfound faith and took a step into the street.
Someone shouted in his native tongue, “There he is!”
He turned his head. Two government officials were racing toward him. He turned his head to the left and found three more. All five of them were running for him, their weapons held tight in their grips.
Yun scowled and had no choice but to turn around and flee. His only escape route was into the alley. Unfortunately, he had not come from the alley so when he ran into it, he soon found himself at a dead end. He stopped and glared as he looked for a way out.
“Stop!” one of the officials warned.
Yun turned around and then stood perfectly still as the five men spread out, blocking the only exit from the alley. He made eye contact with each one of them, knowing they were going to execute him. He felt strangely at peace. Unafraid. So he couldn’t help it. A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
The official who had told him to stop stepped forward. “You are known as Hon Li Yun…You are wanted in connection of the disappearances with your family and believed to be a traitor to the North Korean government!”
Yun couldn’t resist. “Praise the Lord,” he simply said.
The official glared. “Your obedience is to the Korean People’s Army!”
Yun pointed up. “My obedience is to Him.”
“Then you are hereby executed for the people!” He held up his arm.
The other officials all leveled their weapons toward Yun.
Yun just stood there, waiting to see what would happen. If God had placed it onto his heart that he should go to America, then he believed he would not die. These men intended to kill him, but they would fail. To give his would-be executioners a message they would clearly understand, he folded his arms across his chest and sat down onto the cold, wet ground. Then, he looked up at them and smiled.
The official in charge of the others was suddenly livid with rage. “Stand up!” he shouted. “You will die on your feet! Stand up!”
Yun did not stand up.
The man angrily waved at two of his men and ordered them to force the traitor to his feet. The men used the straps of their rifles to hang them over their shoulders. Then, they made their approach to Yun, who did not make one move since he sat down. However, as they reached down for him, he exploded into action.
He whipped his feet out from under him, swinging them around and knocking both of the men down to the ground like bowling pins. They hit the ground hard and tried to reach for their weapons. Yun moved over them quickly and rolled up onto his feet. Both weapons were in his hands when he turned to face the enemy. As the two men got back on their feet, they decided not to move when they realized their weapons were no longer in their possession.
The other three, however, were armed. Two of them leveled their rifles at Yun while the head official leveled a pistol at him.
Yun only smiled. Then, he tossed the rifles away. He had no desire to fire them at all. Firearms were a weapon made by man and he believed he was protected by God. He had no need of weapons. He already had what God had given him. He smiled once more and resumed to sit on the cold, wet ground.
The government officials glared at him.
After the two retrieved their rifles, they rejoined their comrades and waited for the head official to give them an order.
The head official raised his hand up.
Just before he gave the order to fire, a government car drove right into the alley, bouncing over the pot holes along the way. It came to a halt right behind the men and three more officials joined the party in the alley. One of them Yun recognized.
It was Han Si Chang, a man who had been his rival ever since he involved himself in the Black Market. Chang had made it his personal goal to torment Yun in anyway he could. Many of Yun’s friends had suffered at Chang’s hands because of the man’s hatred toward him and his father. Yun discovered once that Chang hated the Yun family because he was jealous of Roh Yun’s successes and wife.
Everything Roh Yun had once had, Chang wanted for himself.
Yun remained on the ground where he sat and watched Chang approach with his two personal agents.
“You will not execute this man today,” Chang snapped to the head official. It was Chang now who was higher ranking than the others. “This man is needed for questions only he can answer.” He raised his hand toward his men.
They understood.
Now they began to move toward Yun, as the other two had before.
Yun braced himself as he narrowed his eyes. That’s when he felt the Lord’s presence like he never felt it before. It filled him with awe and his eyes filled with tears of joy. He didn’t understand why, but he knew without one shadow of a doubt that God wanted him to do nothing as the men approached. So when they got to him, he did not resist as they helped him to his feet. Then, they led him to the car and he climbed in. One of them sat with him as the other got in behind the steering wheel.
Chang climbed into the back on the other side of Yun and closed the door. Once they were all inside, the driver drove them all out of the alley and onto the main road. Silence filled the vehicle as they drove on.
Yun didn’t know what to make of it. When the silence was too much, he turned his head to demand of Chang what was happening. That’s when he was surprised to see that the man who was once his rival was unashamedly allowing tears to roll down his face.
Yun was speechless.
When Chang could speak, he said, “I…am sorry, my friend, for all of the pain I have caused you and your family…throughout the years. I do not expect any forgiveness, nor am I asking for it of you. Just know…just know that I am a new man. I do not have time to explain…only trust and believe that God is able to do all things. He has impressed upon me to come here to…to pick up a man believed to be a criminal of the People’s Army. I am to take this man to a place…already prepared to receive him. That man…is you, Hon Li.”
Yun couldn’t find the words to speak, so he said nothing.
The driver drove them along the wharf and finally stopped the vehicle before the docks. As Yun looked out the window, he noticed several people boarding a ship.
“It is going to America…” Chang told him. “The…People’s Army of Korea are sending it along to help America in her time of need, but I assure you, it is only a show. Nonetheless, as God has told me there was someone who needed to go to America, a way was made for you and now…you must go.”
Yun opened his mouth to speak.
Chang interrupted. “Please…just go. I have done enough harm to you and your family. I can never undo the things I did. I know He has forgiven me for so much…I do not fathom it. All I can do is help Him by helping you.” He wiped a hand at his face. “Look at me. I…I have never cried for anything in my life.” He looked at Yun. “I am, however, relieved and gratified to be a part of something greater than anything I’ve ever known. God is sending you to America. And you are going clearly by faith because you cannot speak their language. You truly shall be a foreigner in a strange land.”
Yun cleared his throat. “But where shall I go in America?”
Chang paused. “I do not know. I can tell you this…Your father was sent on a mission in Maine. Perhaps that is where you will start.” He regarded the young man for a moment. “I feel I must warn you…there are agents looking for your father. It has been reported by contacts deep within the United States that your father may have…he may have even been killed by a man named Michael Lenox.”
Yun closed his eyes.
“I am sorry. Please, these reports cannot be confirmed. I…I only tell you because you should know.” He placed a hesitant hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Just go with God, my son. He will lead you.”
Yun nodded. “Thank you.”
The officials let Yun out of the vehicle and they waited there until he boarded the ship, which would soon be headed for America. Yun felt as if all he had to do was follow the leading of God because he didn’t have a clue what lay before him.
Only His Savior did.
And that was good enough for him.
The only vehicles on the road in Albany, New York, were mostly military in nature or relief vehicles. There were a few scattering of vehicles in motion as Fuller and Shiva drove to the Thruway, but it did strike them as odd. It felt unnatural. They were used to bumper to bumper traffic, but they rode through the city without stopping and right onto the Thruway with almost non-existent traffic.
On the Thruway, there wasn’t hardly any traffic at all. A few vehicles here and there, but once again, it was mostly military. It was like driving into the set of a bad zombie movie where the world had come to an end and the dead were coming out of their graves. That isn’t what had happened, but something had occurred. Something with biblical proportions. They each knew what it was.
The Rapture.
The prophecies recorded in the Bible were coming to pass and they were going to be able to witness it all. That was if they lived through it.
As Shiva drove, Fuller sat in relative silence as he held the key in his hand, given to him by King. The key had the number 832 on it and it once belonged to Joseph Canaan. Canaan had been a friend. He had also been raptured just before the Islamic nation attacked the United States of America. The man had been trying to get the key to him in the event something happened to him, but it eventually fell into Barrington’s hands…and then into King’s hands.
Fuller finally had it…and he was hoping it would lead him to some answers.
But where did the key go to?
That was the question. Maybe once they got to Corinth, they would find out. It was the only option they had.
“People don’t know what they’re doing out there without Christ, do they?” Shiva finally asked as they rode on. “Kinda makes me think of what Jesus said when He was on the cross. ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 1’” He shrugged. “Man, without Christ, you really don’t know what you’re doing.” He nodded his head toward the window. “Look at that guy out there.”
Fuller looked.
There was a man sitting on a motorcycle on top of a hill overlooking the throughway. He appeared to be watching them.
“I wonder if he’s saved,” Shiva said thoughtfully. “I can’t help but wonder if he’s trying to figure out what it is he’s doing. Has he learned that Jesus is the only answer? Jesus is the only One who really knows what He’s doing and we need to do what He asks of us so we don’t have to wonder any more.”
Fuller nodded thoughtfully. “I hear you, Marc.” He paused. “Even as a Christian, we still don’t know what we’re doing because we find ourselves waiting on Him to tell us what the next step is.”
“And is this the next step, Director?”
“It’s the only step I know. We need to find out what this key will lead us to. It was something Joseph was trying to tell me before he…before he vanished.”
Shiva nodded. “I’m sure Jesus will lead the way.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
They drove on into Corinth and after they were cleared by the military road blocks, they eventually made their way to 17 Shallow Lane. They pulled into the drive way, climbed out of their vehicle and then slowly made their approach. The house that the Canaan’s had lived in was no longer there. In its place was a fallen pile of debris. Flames started by an arsonist had destroyed this home and taken the lives of four innocent people. Two of those people had been children.
Fuller stopped as he stared at the wreck. “Children,” he said softly.
Shiva looked at him. “Director…?”
Fuller turned to look at him. “Joseph had two children, Marc. One of them…his name was Joshua. Joshua was starting high school.”
“What about him?”
“Joseph told me that his son was given a locker in school that reminded him of John 8:32. ‘And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’”
Shiva shook his head. “But I don’t get it. How can a locker assigned to his son remind him of that verse.”
Fuller couldn’t help but smile. “His son was given a key with the numbers 8 - 3 - 2 on it.” He held up the key to show the numbers to Shiva. “Joshua’s name starts with a J. Hence…John 8:32.”
“Oh, I get it.”
“No, Marc…I’m telling you that this key goes to Joshua’s locker at the Corinth High School. Do you know what I’m hoping to find in that locker?” He paused as he turned to look at the remains of the Canaan’s home. “The truth.”
“I can’t believe this game - of all games - is in this shelter,” Saint replied as he helped Erin and King set the board game up on a table. “I grew up on this game. I played this game until I knew the rules backwards and forwards. I got to know this game so well that no one…and I mean no one could beat me at it. Pretty soon, I became so good at it, no one would even play any more.”
Behind his cage, McLaughlin folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. “You’re bragging.”
Chris, who watched the others set up but did not participate in helping, shook her head knowingly. “No, he’s not. I was there. He really couldn’t be beat.” She narrowed her eyes at her husband. “But I’m also sure that you’re right about him bragging.”
Saint grinned at her. “Thanks for vouching for me, honey. But don’t forget. There was one person I could never beat.”
“You could never beat me because I never played. Risk is the most boring game ever created. I can’t understand how you can get into it. It has always been so hard to follow.”
McLaughlin tapped his knuckles on the frame. “Let me out of here and I’ll beat him.”
King smiled at him. “Not to worry. I’ll move your pieces for you.”
“I don’t need your help, terrorist.”
Erin pointed at him. “No name calling.”
“What are you going to do, lady? Shoot me?”
“No. I’m going to take over your country.”
McLaughlin looked at her as if she were out of her mind.
“What color do you want to be?” she asked him.
“Are you out of your mind?” McLaughlin demanded. “Do I look like I want to play a game of Risk?”
“We’re all playing.”
Chris waved a hand. “I’m not.”
King snapped his fingers. “Then, you’re elected to move Chuck’s pieces for him.”
“Don’t use my name,” McLaughlin warned King. “I don’t like it.”
King regarded him. “What would you like me to call you?”
“You can call me nothing. I’d prefer it if you stop talking to me altogether because all I want to do is snap your neck like a twig.”
“Well…you certainly do look like you can do that. I have to admit I’m really glad you’re in there and not out here.”
“Why don’t we make a deal with him?” Saint inquired as he put some pieces of the game onto the table.
All eyes turned to him.
“What do you mean?” Erin asked. “What kind of deal?”
Saint paused. “Do you trust me?”
Erin shrugged. “Yes.”
He looked at King.
King smiled. “Brother, I feel as if we are of a kindred spirit. After all, ‘Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in the same steps? 2’ You have my trust.”
Saint looked at his wife.
Chris returned the look. “Do you really have to ask?”
He grinned at her. “Just checking.”
She showed him a fist. “I oughta…” She purposefully trailed off, teasing him to think about the rest.
Saint winked. Then, he said, “This is what I feel the Lord would have us do.”
McLaughlin let out a sigh. “Does this have anything to do with me? Because I want no part of it.”
“It has everything to do with you. All you have to do is win the game.”
McLaughlin stared at him through the cage. “Are you serious?” He regarded his captors for a moment. “You want me to play this game…for whatever reason. And if I do, and I win…what then?”
“You leave.”
King, Erin and Chris each looked at Saint with surprise.
McLaughlin snorted. “Yeah. Right.”
“Look…the four of us are Christians.” Saint pointed at him. “You’re not. You have already mentioned that you can’t come to Christ. You won’t let Him in to your life to save you from your sin. You don’t want to be here and we can’t in all honesty keep you here against your will for an indefinite period of time. So I believe that God has placed on my heart to allow you a way out. Beat us in this game and you’re free to go.”
“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s the truth.”
Erin shook her head. “John, we can’t do that. Albert would want us to keep him here until he gets back.”
Saint looked at her. “I know you’re in charge here, but I’m not acting as one of your agents. This is the Lord’s army we’re in and He’s telling me that this is what we need to do.”
She looked into his eyes. “You really believe God is leading us to play this game and if Chuck wins…we let him go? That’s what God has pressed on your heart?”
He nodded.
She paused as she bit on her lower lip. She looked at King. “What do you think?”
King shrugged. “I believe the Lord works in mysterious ways.”
She nodded. “Okay…Then, if that’s what we’re all agreed to do, then…let’s do it.” She looked at their prisoner. “If you play and you win…you’re free to go. You’ll give us no trouble and just leave. Okay?”
McLaughlin paused. “If you’re on the level, I won’t be any trouble. I’ll just leave. You have my word on that.” He leaned forward. “But I’ll play on a couple of conditions. You let me out of this cage so I can play out there with all of you, you don’t try to convert me…” He pointed at Chris. “…And she plays, too.”
Chris stared at him. “What? Hey, wait a minute! I’m not an ex-terrorist or a federal agent. Why do you have to throw me in?”
“Because you don’t want to play. Don’t worry, I’ll take over your country first.”
“Gee, thanks a lot.”
Saint couldn’t help it. He tried to hide the smile on his face, but she saw it and glared at him.
“Do we have a deal?” McLaughlin pressed.
Erin checked with the others who appeared to be in agreement, except for Chris. “Yes,” Erin replied as she moved to the cage’s door. “We have a deal.”
She unlocked the cage and McLaughlin stepped out.
The ride to Belgrade Hospital in Belgrade, Maine, didn’t take LeBeau and Bandjough long. But through the short flight, Sumter remained unconscious, Moore and Donna conversed together and that gave Staci a chance to try to talk to Barrington.
“Where is Michael?” she questioned him, a concerned look in her eyes. “Why isn’t he with you?”
Barrington shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea where he is.”
She frowned. “Wasn’t he with you…?”
“He was. He went after the North Korean hit team that was hunting for President Ballou. Pa there was the last to see him.”
“I…don’t understand. What…? He just disappeared?”
Barrington paused. “I think he did what he thought he had to do. Now he doesn’t want to be found.”
Staci considered what he was telling her. “Is it possible that God could be at work in his heart?”
“That is my prayer.”
She paused. “I think I’m in love with him.”
Barrington looked at her. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“Are you sure?”
“I never felt like this with my…my ex. This is different. I don’t know what to do with it and…and I don’t know what God wants me to do about it. I mean, I’m saved and Michael isn’t. I’ve been asking God and asking Him, but…I don’t know.” She hesitated. “I’m telling you because you’re his best friend. So pray for me.”
Barrington nodded. “I will. And when we have a chance, I’ll tell you all about him.”
“You will?”
“Yeah…But he might not like it.”
The Storm Breaker made it at the hospital, but it was disappointing to the pilots because it was small. There was also no landing pad on the rooftop. There was only the parking lot in the rear of the hospital that there was an area big enough for them to land.
LeBeau, disappointment on his face, shook his head. “Only in Maine, man.”
“Don’t like Maine?” Bandjough inquired.
“The only thin’ good in Maine is the lobster.” Something caught his eye. He pointed. “What’s that down there?”
Bandjough looked down, trying to locate what his friend was pointing at. “There’s some people down there.”
“Yeah, I can see that. But look at that!” He pointed again.
“What are you pointing at?”
“The traffic light.”
Bandjough shrugged. “So. Never seen a traffic light before?”
LeBeau frowned at him. “Boy, are ya dense? The light is red.”
Bandjough grinned. “No, it’s not. It just turned…” He stopped as it dawned on him. “Wow. Belgrade has power.”
The pilots set the Storm Breaker down in a clear area in the parking lot of Belgrade Hospital.
They were on the move again. He had followed them all since they had left the Federal Building in Albany. He had followed them to what used to be the Canaan residence on 17 Shallow Lane in Corinth and watched them. He waited for the right time to make his move, but the opportunity never arrived. Still, he waited.
Once they were on the move again, the man who had many names - one of those names was Ari - climbed back onto his motorcycle and followed them at a safe distance. They hadn’t noticed he was following them. Or at least he didn’t believe they were aware of him. He favored a few tattoos on his upper arms and one of a blue star on his neck. The man with the tattoos followed his prey to Corinth High School.
Something told him that an opportunity would arrive for him to make his final move there. And if no one opposed him, he was going to succeed.
1 - Luke 23:34
2 - II Corinthians 12:18
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