The Gatherers
Year One
Episode # 6 - The Key
And I will clothe him with thy robe and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open and none shall shut, and he shall shut and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place, and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.
- Isaiah 22:21 - 23
I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death.
- Revelation 1:18
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth: I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My name.
- Revelation 3:7 - 8
“Here am I, Lord…
Where do you want me to go?”
- Hon Li Yun
“America.”
- A still small voice (God)
Prologue - The Bottle
Wonson, North Korea
Wonson was a port city in North Korea and it was also the location of one of their naval bases, particularly in the southeastern quarter of the city. In the year 2000, the population was estimated to have been 331,000 people. One of those numbers was now walking fast with determination in his heart to do what he had to do in order to survive.
Since the vanishings, he had been having a hard time coming to terms with the disappearance of his mother and brother. His father had gone away on a mission for the good of North Korea, but he had no way of knowing what had become of him. Even if he had known, he was certain he would not be too bothered by the old man’s vanishing because the relationship between father and son was estranged at best.
Unfortunately, there were questions that needed to be answered.
Finding those answers were becoming extremely difficult. Especially now that the police were searching for him, as well as other members of North Korea’s esteemed government officials. It had come to his attention through contacts of his own that the disappearance of his mother and sister had cast suspicions upon him. It seemed that although no one truly knew what the cause of the vanishings was but some people believed it was because a man who was nailed to a cross some 2,000 years ago had returned to take His people to heaven. He was not certain if he believed that or not, but many did. And the police and military were now suspicious that he was a dissident because of the disappearance of his family. It has even been suggested his own father was a traitor.
He knew that was preposterous. He may not have cared for his father but he knew that his father was extremely loyal to his country.
The unfortunate truth of the matter was that now the young man needed help. He knew he still had some friends who would take him in and hide him. They were friends of his family. They would take him in because they were loyal to his parents. He only hoped they would overlook his past ties to the black market. He had to make a living somehow and had vowed never to go in the same footsteps as his father. It was those thoughts and his lifestyle that had caused him to be rejected by his father.
In spite of the rain, he made his way through the back alleys, heading for a decrepit apartment housing unit in the eastern part of Wonson. The worst part of the city. He decided not to go in through the front of the building. He spotted the fire escape ladder, but it was locked in position and out of his reach. With a running start he moved toward a trash bin, pulled himself up onto it effortlessly and jumped up toward the fire escape. His hand caught a hold of the cold metal of the railing and he pulled himself over it. Once on the fire escape, he climbed up to the third floor. He peered into a window and saw the friends of his family.
However, they were not alone. They were being rounded up by the police.
One of the officers happened to turn at that moment and saw him in the window. He shouted a warning while leveling his weapon toward the window but the young man decided not to wait around. He pulled himself over the railing and dropped toward the alley floor from three stories up. He relaxed his body and allowed himself to roll once his feet hit the ground. When he came out of his roll, he was up and running without skipping a beat.
Shots were fired at him, but they missed. Once he turned the corner and ran across the street, the shots ceased altogether. However, he could hear men yelling and sirens blaring. They were coming for him and he desperately wanted to put distance between him and them.
Somehow he managed to put distance between them and he finally allowed himself to slow down. He looked back, but saw no signs of pursuit. Still, he heard the sirens off in the distance. Soon, the whole city would be looking for him and nowhere would be safe. He had only one other option.
There was a place just outside of town in the Songdowon where his mother and brother had met others like them for something they called church. The Songdowon was a famous sea bathing destination for North Koreans because there, the waters were exceptionally clear. Pine trees were abundant in that surrounding area and it had been designated a national sightseeing point. In that area, however, was a lot of ground to cover and he knew he could hide there for a while. But a church met there often in one of the huts that lined the northern end. That was where he decided to go.
It took him a while to get there. It was well into the night by the time he arrived and even before he saw the hut, he knew the authorities had been there. In spite of the rain, the hut was engulfed with flames. He stayed in the darkness and watched as two men were herded off by government officials. Two military men leveled their rifles at the men whose hands were tied behind them.
A government official ordered them to deny their God and return their loyalty to their country. The two men began to sing Amazing Grace. The young man watching was astounded. In the face of certain death, these two men showed absolutely no fear. And he knew both of them. Not well. But well enough through his own family. He felt for them at that moment, knowing their lives were about to end. These men had called him family even though they knew he had not accepted them or their God…and he was going to witness their execution because of their faith.
When it was clear to the officials present that the men were not going to recant, the government agent gave the order and the two military men fired their weapons. The victims fell to their deaths. To add to this horror, the men left them where they lay as the hut continued to burn. The young man watching had no where else to go. He was lost and remained in the cover of the pine trees as he wept for people he did not really know.
In the cover of the night and the pine trees, he fought a different kind of fight. The war was being raged in his soul. He couldn’t help but recall all of the conversations he had in the past with his mother, his brother, and the men who were just executed. They had wanted him to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, but he had always refused. But now, it was as if this very Lord was present with him, knocking ever so gently on the door of his heart.
The young man wept bitterly. He allowed everything he had faced to pour out of him and the Lord took it from him…accepting it. Accepting him.
By the time the morning came, the rain had stopped. The hut was nothing but a dead husk. The fire had long since died, but the smoke and ashes still rose to the sky.
Hesitantly, the new young man made his way out of the woods. He slowly approached the men who had been executed and understood fully where their faith had come from. He wished he had known them better than he did.
He looked up to the skies. “What do I do now?” he asked softly in the language of his native tongue, for it was the only language he knew. “Where do I go?”
That’s when the wind touched his face and from the ashes of the fire, a small piece of paper drifted right to him. He caught it and puzzled over it as he examined the burnt edges of the paper. He soon discovered it was from a Korean Bible and a bible verse could be read.
He read it out loud.
“‘Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ 1”
He looked at the men lying at his feet and then at the remains of the hut. He could not help but feel as if he was just told a powerful truth. The enemies of God may have ended the lives of two men whose faith had given them hope. But within himself, something had just been unleashed.
“Here am I, Lord…” he whispered, directing his words heavenward. “Where do you want me to go?”
And a still small voice said to him…America.
So Hon Li Yun went to America.
* * * * * * *
Staci Cohen wanted to give into that impulse to cry, but somehow she didn’t. She focused on her task, which at the moment, was to make Hank Sumter as comfortable as possible. She didn’t know if she was doing any good. The man was delirious, in and out of consciousness. When he was conscious, he spoke unintelligibly. Nothing made any sense.
Staci was afraid for him. The only thing she was thankful for at the moment was the smooth ride in the Storm Breaker as they headed for Maine. At the start, the ride hadn’t been smooth at all. One of the Justice’s state-of-the-art Bell ARH’s tried to blow them out of the skies but because of Keith LeBeau’s expertise at flying and Bandjough’s help using the Chief of Justice’s laptop, they were able to escape from Albany unscathed. Staci rode in the back of the Storm Breaker with her patient and David King.
King had placed one hand on Sumter’s forehead and his other hand held Staci’s during the rough part of the flight as he prayed over them. His prayer had a calming affect on Staci. However, she was only human and still had concerns for her patient. She was also concerned over one other thing. She didn’t know what she could do to help Sumter and it made her begin to second guess herself. She was used to working in a hospital where she knew what to expect. This was something totally different. She didn’t know how to help Sumter without being in a facility where technology could be of help.
Then again, with the power outage all across most of the United States of America, what could possibly be done for Sumter‘s serious injuries? What other ailments was he facing? What was causing this state of delirium?
Staci didn’t know and she didn’t even know how to begin to find the answers.
“Oh, I can’t do this,” she muttered under her breath.
King placed a reassuring hand on her arm. “Yes, you can,” he said encouragingly. “Don’t listen to the Devil’s lies. You can help him. God has brought Hank Sumter directly into your life so you can. What God has caused to happen in our lives, Staci, cannot be undone.”
She looked at him, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. “Everything has been happening so fast. Like a roller coaster without any control.” She let out a weary sigh and tried to smile. “It’s been so hard to…to be able to maintain any sense of sanity, David. There hasn’t been much time to even give what has happened any real thought. It…it just happens and we keep moving. I…I haven’t even had time to grieve for my son…and for Sherri. It’s been scary. Aren’t you scared? How can you be so calm?”
King smiled wryly and shrugged. “To be honest, I really haven’t had time to be afraid. I find myself praying more than I have ever prayed before and also trying to be of help when I can. There is plenty of reason to be afraid, but Jesus said in the Word of God, ‘In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.’ 2 This is what we must hold onto because it is all we have. Jesus Christ, Staci, is all we have. The rest of the good things we receive because of Him, but everything we do and everything we have is because of Him. We cannot ever forget that.”
“Then what you’re saying is…tribulation comes to us because of Him.”
He nodded his head. “Yes. But, my sister, tribulation is what every Christian must endure for the sake of Christ because ‘…we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.’ 3 Listen to Romans 5:1-4. ‘Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope…’” He smiled. “Tribulation helps us to walk as we should. We stand in the grace of God as we learn how to walk through the tribulations we face in His strength…not ours.”
Staci took a deep breath as she considered his words.
“It’s okay to be scared. It’s a very scary world out there. But even so, there is hope and we stand on that hope. We are secure in that hope. That hope is Jesus Christ. There is no other name above that name.” King paused as he looked at Staci, knowing her faith needed strengthening and prayed for her continuously. “We have all rejected Him, spurned Him, ignored Him, blasphemed Him, and we’ve all sought to place Him on the periphery of our lives. Yet time and time again, He is always right there to hear our cries and to save us from ourselves. Tribulation draws us to Him and makes us stronger so that we can endure the next tribulation.”
“Sometimes…I don’t believe I am strong enough.”
He placed a reassuring hand on her arm and smiled wryly. “You are stronger than you realize.”
She returned the smile. “Well…thank you for saying that. If it weren’t for you, I…I wouldn’t even be here. You’ve saved my life and I don’t believe I’ve even had time to thank you for what you did.”
“It was God who led me to you.”
She nodded. “Yes. I believe that. But you followed His leading. If you hadn’t, they would have killed me…like they killed Sherri.” There wasn’t a day that went by where she didn’t remember that frightful day in the rain on the rooftop of the apartment building she had lived in. Two terrorists had her trapped. If King hadn’t shown up when he had, she would have met a horrible death. She reached up and touched the necklace of the cross she was wearing around her neck. “You brought me this…from my sister. The only link I have left to her. There is no way I can ever repay you for this.”
King nodded. “Oh, but there is. You can live for Christ because it was He who has found you and saved you. I didn’t do anything.” He hesitated. “I was nothing but a man who hated Jews and wanted to see them all suffer. I was your enemy.”
“But you’re not now. You’re my friend.”
He took a deep breath. “Oh, Staci…if you knew what I was capable of before we had met, you would not say that now.”
“You’re slipping, David. Haven’t you been saved from your sins? Doesn’t God forgive you and take away your sins?” She shrugged. “Wouldn’t it be like you’ve never sinned?” She waved a finger at him. “You keep bringing those sins up, God is gonna ask you where you got all that baggage from because He had it all tossed into the sea of forgetfulness.”
He let out a chuckle. “Oh, you are a gem, my sister!”
“No. I’m not. I’m your friend. And you are my friend. I love you very much and am so grateful God has brought you into my life.”
Sumter groaned.
Staci leaned over her patient and wiped a cloth against his forehead. “Oh…he’s burning up.”
“He complained about pain in his head,” King told her. “It seemed to bother him more than the wound in his knee.”
She nodded her head with conviction. “Well…I don’t know how we’re going to save him, but if God can save people like us, then He can save Hank Sumter, too.”
“Amen to that, sister.”
Suddenly, there was a series of loud popping sounds from outside the Storm Breaker. Staci and King both found themselves fighting for balance as the helicopter suddenly banked hard.
King moved toward the cockpit. “What’s happening?”
Keith LeBeau concentrated on his flying as he said, “Somebody below is shootin’ at us…and I have to tell ya…saved or not, it makes me plain mad!”
King looked out the window and below them, he saw nothing but trees as they continued on their flight to Maine. Then, he saw movement. There were people down there. He glimpsed them, and then they were passing them. “That popping noise…” he began.
“Yep,” Jeremy Bandjough said with a nod. “Bullets hitting the side of the chopper.” He paused. “I wonder if those guys were terrorists or just people taking shots at us.”
LeBeau snorted. “What difference does it make, ya dope? They still took shots at us whether they were terrorists or not!” He looked below, wondering if there were others somewhere down there who wanted to take shots at them. “Whoever it was, I ain’t going down there to ask questions. But I’d sure be glad to drop you off if yer so inclined!”
“Thanks, but I’ll pass.” Bandjough looked back at King and made a circle around his ear, indicating that LeBeau was out of his mind.
LeBeau ignored Bandjough. “We’ll be fine,” he assured King. “Even if there are terrorists below us, we’ll be over them and gone before they can do any real damage.” He scowled. “Makes me mad though. Those scumbags were coming into our country even before 9 - 11 to prepare for this attack…and we let them! I’m sure there are whole pockets of them all over the place. Makes me hope Knox is on the hunt, ‘cause if he is…” He shook his head. “Well, there just ain’t a better man to go out a huntin’ with, I tell you what!”
King wondered if the pilots had any idea who he was. As far as he knew, only Marc Shiva, Darren Fuller, William Fronk, Albert Barrington and Staci were the only ones who knew about his past. They knew he was a terrorist before he reformed. The President of the United States also knew he was a terrorist. How would the pilots react if they discovered the truth about him?
King took what LeBeau had said to heart. There were radical Muslim terrorists throughout the entire United States and they would not be easily defeated. They had a goal and that goal was to bring the Big Satan down anyway they could. America to them was that Big Satan. They would gladly give their lives in their cause to carry out their holy Jihad. To kill infidels whether they were Americans or Jews only guaranteed their place in Paradise.
He shook his head in sorrow. What poor misguided fools, he thought. Youmud… please come to the truth before it’s too late.
“We’ll be fine, David,” LeBeau assured him. “We’ll be at our destination within the hour so just go on back and pray for us.”
King clapped him on the shoulder. “I will.” He turned and rejoined Staci who was watching him with concern. “We were shot at.”
“Really?” She frowned. “By who?”
He shook his head. “We don’t really know.” He sat down. “We may never know. The important thing for us to do is to get your patient to a safe harbor. We should be at the shelter within the hour. Let‘s pray we get there in one piece.”
* * * * * * *
Chuck McLaughlin did not fully realize what he was doing. He had been taking all of his pent up rage and shoving it into a bottle. This bottle was just about ready to explode. For most of his life, there wasn’t much that could ever get him to react in anger. He performed his duties as a Secret Service agent with distinction. But since the occurrence of what some were calling “the Rapture of the Church”, McLaughlin was beginning to reach that breaking point.
He simply wasn’t yet aware of it.
Craig Moore, however, could tell the man was right on the edge. He tried to warn him. “Son…you need to tell your ole’ pa what’s troubling you because if you don’t, you’re going to end up hurting someone.”
McLaughlin kept his eyes focused on the skies above the Perkins farmland where beneath the barn was a hidden shelter. Several people had been staying there, the agent learned and he couldn’t help but be suspicious of them. They often regarded him as if he were an outsider. They were keeping something from him. He didn’t know what it was, but was willing to find out no matter the cost.
Moore regarded him with concern. “Chuck…? Son, are you listening?”
“I heard you,” McLaughlin responded.
“Well, do you want to talk about it?”
McLaughlin paused as he continued to watch the skies. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You’re angry, son. I can tell.” The older black man pointed at McLaughlin’s forehead. “Your temples twitch. Something tells me that’s not good.”
“Our country was attacked and as far as I know, we’re still under attack. I don’t know where the President is. The only suspect I had was taken from me and you say I’m angry?” He shook his head. “You’d make a poor psychiatrist.”
“We’re living in bad times, son.”
“Yes, we are.” He indicated the shelter below them as they remained on the hill overlooking the farm. “There’s people hiding out in a shelter, Pa. Two FBI agents…a couple from Willow Creek…the woman who owns this property and burned her own house down…” He shook his head. “The thing is…they all act like the devil himself is gonna come out and hunt them down.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I’m not liking the way they watch me…like I don’t belong here. Like I’m not one of them.”
“Son, these people have lost a lot…just as you have.”
“You have no idea what I’ve lost.”
Moore regarded him curiously. He was about to respond when a sound reached his ears. It was the sound of rotors turning in the air. He shielded his eyes from the sun and sought out the source. A helicopter in the distance was fast approaching their location. “I’ll get the others,” Moore replied as he started down the hill. “That has to be the chopper Albert’s been waiting for.”
McLaughlin simply nodded as he watched the helicopter approach. The man had a game plan. It wasn’t much of a plan for all it detailed was to simply watch these people and somehow get back to the President so he could continue with his job. If he found a chance to bring the traitorous scumbag who had a hand in compromising the security of the President’s ranch in Penobscot County, he would do it in a New York second. At the moment, all he could do was greet the people from the helicopter.
He watched it set down in a field behind the barn. He headed for it as he became aware of Moore at the mouth of the shelter, calling for the others to come out. McLaughlin made his way toward the helicopter. He would be there before the others would.
The rotors on the helicopter were slowing down as the side door came open. A man and a woman were inside with what appeared to be man who was wounded. McLaughlin decided they might need his help and moved toward them. That’s when he recognized the wounded man as the traitor. The wounded man was Hank Sumter.
But that wasn’t all he recognized.
The man who had opened the door was a terrorist named Darwyn Musad.
The bottle he had been stuffing with rage could be stuffed no more. It exploded with a vengeance.
McLaughlin didn’t hesitate. He withdrew his sidearm and leveled it at the occupants of the helicopter. Without mercy, he pulled the trigger until his weapon clicked empty.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
1 - Matthew 16:18
2 - John 16:33
3 - Acts 14:22
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