Year One
Episode #9
The Deception (Part 2)
_______
“Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles?”
- Matthew 7:15 - 16
And one of the malefactors
which were hanged railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
But the other answering rebuked him, saying,
Dost not thou fear God,
seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly;
for we receive the due reward of our deeds:
but this man hath done nothing amiss.
And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee,
Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
- Luke 23:39 - 43
“And this shall be the plague
wherewith the LORD will smite all the people
that have fought against Jerusalem;
Their flesh shall consume away
while they stand upon their feet,
and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,
and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.”
- Zechariah 14:12
“Some people would rather believe the lie,
then to know the truth.”
- Albert Barrington
*******
Possibilities
“I’m sorry, Miss Dozois,” Ed Carr began as he watched the subject through the Plexiglas barrier protecting him from the enclosed quarantined room, “but we have to know…even if it means sacrificing you in order to accomplish what we need.”
Danielle Marie Dozois didn’t actually believe that he was sorry at all. She saw the truth in his eyes. With the words he had spoken to her, she realized with growing horror that he had just sentenced her to death. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. But the evidence before her also showed her that Ed Carr was a man who didn’t care about being fair either. She wanted to scream at him but knew it would do no good because he just didn’t care.
She stared at the smirk on his face. He enjoyed the position he had over her. In his eyes, she was nothing but a test subject to be used and discarded like tissue. Just like that.
With that arrogant, smug expression still on his face, he shrugged as if there really were nothing he could do to help her. “Besides, you are a criminal. No one will miss you when you’re gone.”
Danielle suddenly heard a soft hissing sound in the quiet of her room. She turned her head and looked up toward the air vent above her prison. Her eyes widened fearfully as she watched a greenish mist omit from the vent. Unknown to her or Carr, they weren’t the only ones who were aware of what was happening inside the hidden quarantined lab.
The Gatherers were also watching.
William Fronk, using his laptop, had tapped into the video feed coming from the lab and had the scene displayed on the monitor. His fingers danced rapidly over his keyboard, desperately trying to circumvent his way into the mainframe of the lab. If it was computer based, he was confident he could stop the toxin from entering into the woman’s prison. Unfortunately, he didn’t believe he was going to have enough time to save her.
Director Darren Fuller leaned over Fronk as he glared in frustration at the monitor screen. Keith LeBeau, Marc Shiva, Jeremy Bandjough, and Erin Greye were on the other side of the table, concern evident on their faces. Behind Fuller and Fronk, Albert Barrington, Michael Lenox, and Staci Cohen were gathered, watching the horror unfold on the monitor of Fronk’s laptop. They all knew what was happening and that there was nothing they could do in time to save the woman in Quarantine. They simply knew the toxin known as X-24 was going to kill her.
Barrington spoke the obvious. “If that truly is the toxin Carr was talking about, she’ll die within seconds.”
“Yeah, she will…” Lenox said, anger reflecting in his eyes. He casually withdrew his weapon as if it was something he did every day. “…but that doesn’t mean the descendant of the devil is going to get away with it.” He headed for the exit of their quarters with determination.
Several thoughts occurred to Barrington at once. It had not escaped his notice that his best friend - who as far as he knew had not accepted Christ - had just referred to Ed Carr as a descendant of the devil. He knew Lenox well. Lenox was hardly one to ignore using harsh language when he was agitated. Could it be that he had refrained from using strong language because he was exercising courtesy while in the company of Christians?
There was something else Barrington could not ignore. In times past in similar situations - when Lenox had exploded into action as he was doing now - it was due to the actions of Ed Carr and his team of Justice agents. Since Lenox had returned from his disappearing act, he had seemed to actually take sides with Justice, or at least tolerate them more than he had before. With Lenox reacting as he was at the present, it reminded Barrington of how things were before.
It reminded him of the Lenox he knew.
Barrington exchanged looks with Shiva and realized that the ex-wrestler was having similar thoughts. They both silently agreed with a slight nod to each other that they were glad to see this side of Lenox.
Yet the question remained…Where was Lenox’ heart? He had not yet come to salvation. Would he find redemption before it was too late? The only thing the Gatherers could do was to continuously pray for Lenox without ceasing.
Barrington, Shiva, and Staci followed Lenox outside. LeBeau and Bandjough were about to do the same, but Fuller stepped in their way. “You two remain here with William and Erin,” he told them.
Fuller left them to join the others.
LeBeau let out a sigh of frustration. “Man, just once, I’d like to sing with the band instead of gettin’ stuck as a backup singer!”
Bandjough frowned as he regarded him doubtfully. “You can sing?”
LeBeau just looked at him.
They had been searching for locations within the outpost to setup for filming her Pulitzer award winning story when she saw them coming. Ignoring Rick Meers helpful hints about catching the best scenes for her, Alyson Moore saw Fuller and Shiva, the ex-wrestler, walking with determined strides. A small grin begin to tug at the corners of her lips as she noticed the pretty red-haired doctor she had heard so much about, trailing behind the others. Barrington was also among the band, moving through the outpost and heading toward a destination she could only guess at…but her guess would be accurate. But it was the man leading the charge that her eyes focused on. Lenox lead them with his weapon held at his side.
She knew he was ready to use it. There was no doubt in her mind that things were just about to get very interesting.
“It’s show time, Rick,” she told her cameraman, anticipating the action about to unfold. “Start filming…and if you really want to continue working for me, you’d better not miss a thing.”
Meers wasn’t even bothered by her comment for two reasons. The first was that he was used to it. It would have bothered him if she hadn’t threatened to fire him. The second reason was because he was good at what he did and was always prepared. He pulled out his trusty portable Sony DV Handycam from his backpack and was already filming even before she had opened her mouth to issue orders. The two of them fell into step behind the ATD agents and followed them.
Alyson moved ahead of Meers and purposefully began to walk beside Staci. The redhead turned to look at the reporter with open curiosity. Alyson smiled at her as if she had a secret but wasn’t willing to share it.
They headed for the Headquarters of Justice. Instead of moving directly toward the entrance, Lenox abruptly turned and lead them along the left side of the structure, toward the rear of the HQ. Without a word, the others continued to follow him. Meers kept his distance behind them as he continued to film them.
Staci looked at Alyson again, and the blonde news reporter intentionally looked at Lenox, grinned mischievously and then winked at Staci. Staci frowned, wondering at the implications behind Alyson’s actions.
“Hey!” someone shouted.
Everyone but Lenox turned, searching for the source of the shout. Jerry Averill and several other Justice agents hurried toward them.
Lenox didn’t care about them. He focused on the side wall of the HQ. The entire outpost was designed to be set up and taken down in a limited amount of time. The walls of the HQ were thin. He tapped his knuckles on one section and moved on. Just before he got to the corner, the walls became more solid and when he tapped on them, there was no echo.
He looked around the corner. A long, blue tarp hung over from the fabricated rooftop, covering a section of the rear wall.
“Just stop right there!” Averill shouted impatiently.
Lenox continued to ignore him.
Averill and the agents with him attempted to move forward, intending to get in front of them and stop them from going any further. Unfortunately for them, Shiva was itching for a fight. He stood directly in their path and cracked his knuckles in expectation.
The agents abruptly stopped.
Averill cautiously backed up a step. “You can’t be back here.”
Lenox holstered his weapon and grabbed at one end of the tarp. Barrington grabbed the other end. Together, they pulled it from the rooftop, causing it to tear. They soon discovered that the tarp was hiding another entrance.
Barrington shook his head. “Amateurs.”
“You are interfering in matters that do not concern you!” Averill exclaimed, keeping his distance from Shiva.
Lenox and Barrington found themselves in front of the entrance to a large mobile Quarantine unit. The door was a man-sized hatch that was sealed shut. There were no door knobs or levers or any other obvious ways to open it…save for one. There was a small panel on the left side of the hatch with four rows of numbers. The numbers were from 0 to 9.
“Great,” Lenox grumbled, shaking his head. “Numbers. I hate numbers.”
Fuller turned around to glare at Averill. “I don’t suppose you’ll just do the right thing and give us the code.”
Averill folded his arms across his chest and shook his head in defiance. “Yeah, dream on, buddy. Like that‘s gonna happen.”
It was moments like that when Fuller truly desired to drop all of his inhibitions and become like Lenox just long enough to deck the Justice agent one. But somehow, the Director of the ATD kept his cool.
Alyson and Staci remained silent, watching everything. Behind the Justice agents, Meers continued to capture everything on film. No one seemed to notice him.
Fuller took out his cell phone from his jacket pocket and speed-dialed a number. After a brief pause, he spoke into it. “William…we’ve got a problem. We’ve come up against a sealed hatch with a panel of numbers. Do you think you could find a way to crack the code and get us in…? Great. Just make it fast.” He snapped his cell phone closed and regarded Averill. “Is there anything you want to tell us about the woman your people have locked up in there?”
Averill snorted. “You’re out of your tree. There’s no woman in there.”
“We know there is. We know your boss is playing games with her life right at this very second. If she dies, Averill, you and your boss will be held accountable. I will personally see to it. You could help yourself out right now by opening that door for us.”
“I’m not opening that door and neither are you.”
“You’re wrong about that. We’ll get it open.” But Fuller was afraid they were already too late to save the woman trapped inside.
David King recognized the man climbing down the ladder from the hayloft, but it was the last person he had ever expected to see just outside of Belgrade, Maine. The last time he had seen this man was under a warehouse in Albany, New York, when he had been about to stone Nichole Parkhurst to death. He had never even expected to cross paths with him again. For the first time in a long while, King was absolutely speechless.
The man’s back was facing toward King as he climbed down the ladder. He finally leaped down the last two steps and turned around, a big grin on his face. He spread his arms wide, as if performing in a drama before a live audience. “Well, here I am, Darwyn, old buddy!” he exclaimed. “Did you miss me?”
King just stared at James Bollinger, too stunned to speak.
Bollinger dropped his arms to his sides. “What’s the matter, Darwyn? Cat has your tongue perhaps?”
King shook his head, replying softly.
Bollinger leaned forward. “I’m sorry…Did you say something?”
“I said my name is David. Not Darwyn.”
Bollinger nodded his head as he took a step forward. “Oh. David, is it? What was wrong with Darwyn? Wasn’t Darwyn your God-given name?” He snapped his fingers as if he had just found the answer and pulled it out of thin air. “Oh, I’m sorry! That’s right. I meant to say that it was your Allah-given name.”
“My name is David King,” he snapped. “Darwyn Musad is no more.”
“Why? Was he raptured with Nichole?”
King just regarded him with a look.
Bollinger paused. “Right. Okay, then. If you say so.”
King took a deep breath as he forcibly tried to keep from getting angry. He was fully aware of the deceptions Bollinger was capable of. “Why have you come here?”
Bollinger turned to his left and paced a few steps as if he were giving the matter serious thought. “Let me ask you a question…David.” He paused. Finally, he turned about to face King. “Would it be too difficult for you to believe…that a guy like me could ever come to salvation?”
Now it was King’s turn to pause as he looked closely at Bollinger. He considered his words carefully. “It would be no more difficult to believe than a Muslim coming to Christ.” He wanted to believe that Bollinger had in fact turned to the Gospel and found Christ, but he had his doubts. Bollinger had already tried to sow discord, but did he do so willingly or without being aware he was doing so? “The disciples asked this very question to Jesus in regards to a rich man, and He said to them that ‘It would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When His disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 1’ ” He regarded Bollinger. “Are you telling me that the impossible has happened then? That you have come to Christ?”
Bollinger smiled. “Yes,” he almost shouted. “I did! But not only that. I came here deliberately looking for you, David…because I want to serve God right here with you. I want to become a Gatherer.”
King considered carefully what he was hearing. He wanted to believe it was true, but was aware that sometimes wolves wore sheep’s clothing to get close to its prey. He wasn’t the only one who had doubts.
In one of the empty stalls close to them, Sheriff Robert Hoag kept himself hidden from their view as he listened in on their conversation. He doubted the sincerity of both men, or at least he wanted to. He was determined to discover the truth one way or the other as he continued to listen, hoping that the truth would soon be revealed.
1 - Matthew 19:24 - 26
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