The Left Behind Collection: All 12 Books (113 page)

“If the potentate called the motor pool, you’d have a vehicle as quick as you wanted it.”

Rayford phoned Carpathia’s office. The secretary said he was unavailable.

“Is he there?” Rayford asked.

“He is here, sir, but as I said, he’s not available.”

“This is sort of urgent. If he’s at all interruptible, I’d appreciate it if you’d let me talk to him for just a second.”

When the secretary came back on the line, she said, “The potentate wants to know if you could drop by his office for a moment before you finish your assignment for him.”

“I’m a little short of time, but—”

“I’ll tell him you’ll be here then.”

Rayford was three blocks from Carpathia’s building. He hurried down in the elevator and jogged toward headquarters. He had a sudden thought and grabbed his phone. As he ran, he called McCullum. “Mac? Are you free right now? Good! I need a chopper ride to Baghdad. My wife’s coming in, and I’m supposed to meet Hattie Durham as well. Rumors about her? I’m not at liberty to say anything, Mac. I’ll be in Carpathia’s office in a few minutes. Meet you on the helipad? Good! Thanks!”

Buck was working on his laptop with his office door shut when the machine signaled that he had incoming, real-time mail. The message was from Tsion. He asked, “Shall we try video?”

Buck typed, “Sure.” And he tapped in the code. It took a few seconds to program itself, but then Tsion’s image flickered on the screen. Buck tapped in, “Is that you, or am I looking in the mirror?”

Tsion responded, “It’s me. We could use the audio and talk to each other, if you’re in a secure area.”

“Better not,” Buck tapped in. “Did you want something specific?”

“I would like a companion for breakfast,” Tsion said. “I’m feeling much better today, but I’m getting a little claustrophobic here. I know you can’t sneak me out, but could you get in without Loretta suspecting?”

“I’ll try. What would you like for breakfast?”

“I have cooked up something American just for you, Buck. I’m turning my screen now to see if it can pick it up.”

The machine was not really built to pan around a dark, underground shelter. Buck typed in: “I can’t see anything, but I’ll trust you. Be there as soon as I can.” Buck told the receptionist he would be gone for a couple of hours, but as he was heading to the Range Rover, Verna Zee caught him. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’m sorry?” he said.

“I want to know where you’ll be.”

“I’m not sure where all I’ll be,” he said. “The desk knows I’ll be gone for a couple of hours. I don’t feel obligated to share specifics.”

Verna shook her head.

Rayford slowed as he reached the grand entrance of Global Community headquarters. The compound had been set in an unusual area where upscale residences surrounded it. Something had caught Rayford’s attention. Animal noises. Barking. He had been aware of dogs in the area. Many employees owned expensive breeds they enjoyed walking and tethering outside their places. They were showpieces of prosperity. He had heard one or two barking at times. But now they were all barking. They were noisy enough that he turned to see if he could detect what was agitating them so. He saw a couple of dogs jerk away from their owners and race down the street howling.

He shrugged and entered the building.

Buck considered swinging by Loretta’s house and picking up Chloe. He would have to think of a story to tell Loretta at the church office. He wouldn’t be able to park or walk into the church without her seeing him. Maybe he and Chloe would just spend some time with her and then appear to be leaving the church the back way. If no one was watching, they could slip down and see Tsion. It sounded like a plan. Buck was halfway to Mt. Prospect when he noticed something strange. Roadkill. Lots of it. And more potential roadkill skittering across the streets. Squirrels, rabbits, snakes. Snakes? He had seen few snakes in the Midwest, particularly this far north. The occasional garter snake was all. That’s what these were, but why so many of them? Coons, possum, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, animals everywhere. He lowered the window of the Range Rover and listened. Huge clouds of birds swept from tree to tree. But the sky was bright. Cloudless. There seemed to be no wind. No leaf even shivered on a tree. Buck waited at a stoplight and noticed that, despite the lack of wind, the streetlights swayed. Signs bent back and forth. Buck blew the light and raced toward Mt. Prospect.

Rayford was ushered into Carpathia’s office. The potentate had several VIPs around a conference table. He quickly pulled Rayford aside. “Thank you for stopping in, Captain Steele. I just wanted to reiterate my wish that I not have to face Ms. Durham. She may want to talk to me. That will be out of the question. I—”

“Excuse me,” Leon Fortunato interrupted, “but Potentate, sir, we’re getting some strange readouts on our power meters.”

“Your power meters?” Carpathia asked, incredulous. “I leave maintenance to you and your staff, Leon—”

“Sir!” the secretary said. “An emergency call for you or Mr. Fortunato from the International Seismograph Institute.”

Carpathia looked irritated and whirled to face Fortunato. “Take that, will you, Leon? I am busy here.”

Fortunato took the call and appeared to want to keep quiet until he blurted, “What? What?!”

Now Carpathia was angry. “Leon!”

Rayford moved away from Carpathia and looked out the window. Below, dogs ran in circles, their owners chasing them. Rayford reached in his pocket for his cell phone and quickly called McCullum. Carpathia glared at him. “Captain Steele! I was talking to you here—”

“Mac! Where are you? Start ’er up. I’m on my way now!”

Suddenly the power went out. Only battery-operated lights near the ceiling shined, and the bright sun flooded through the windows. The secretary screamed. Fortunato turned to Carpathia and tried to tell him what he had just heard. Carpathia shouted above the din. “I would like order in here, please!”

And as if someone had flipped a switch, the day went black. Now even the grown men moaned and shrieked. Those battery-operated lights in the corner cast a haunting glow on the building, which began to shudder. Rayford made a dash for the door. He sensed someone right behind him. He pushed the elevator button and then smacked himself in the head, remembering there was no power. He dashed upstairs to the roof, where McCullum had the chopper blades whirring.

The building shifted under Rayford like the surf. The chopper, resting on its skis, dipped first to the left and then to the right. Rayford reached for the opening, seeing Mac’s wide eyes. As Rayford tried to climb in, he was pushed from behind and flew up behind Mac. Nicolae Carpathia was scrambling in. “Lift off!” he shouted. “Lift off!”

McCullum raised the chopper about a foot off the roof. “Others are coming!” he shouted.

“No more room!” Carpathia hollered. “Lift off!”

As two young women and several middle-aged men grabbed the struts, Mac pulled away from the building. As he banked left, his lights illuminated the roof, where others came shrieking and crying out the door. As Rayford watched in horror, the entire eighteen-story building, filled with hundreds of employees, crashed to the ground in a mighty roar and a cloud of dust. One by one the screaming people hanging from the chopper fell away.

Rayford stared at Carpathia. In the dim light from the control panel he saw no expression. Carpathia simply appeared busy about strapping himself in. Rayford was ill. He had seen people die. Carpathia had ordered Mac away from people who might have been saved. Rayford could have killed the man with his bare hands.

Wondering if he wouldn’t have been better off to have died in the building himself, Rayford shook his head and resolutely fastened his seat belt. “Baghdad!” he shouted. “Baghdad Airport!”

Buck had known exactly what was coming and had been speeding through lights and stop signs, jumping curbs, and going around cars and trucks. He wanted to get to Chloe at Loretta’s house first. He reached for his phone, but he had not stored speed-dial numbers yet, and there was no way he could drive this quickly and punch in an entire number at the same time. He tossed the phone on the seat and kept going. He was going through an intersection when the sun was snuffed out. Day went to night in an instant, and power went out all over the area. People quickly turned on their headlights, but Buck saw the crevasse too late. He was heading for a fissure in the road that had opened before him. It looked at least ten feet wide and that deep. He figured if he dropped into it he would be killed, but he was going too fast to avoid it. He wrenched the wheel to the left and the Range Rover rolled over completely before plunging down into the hole. The passenger-side air bag deployed and quietly deflated. It was time to find out what this car was made of.

Ahead of him the gap narrowed. There would be no going out that way unless he could start going up first. He pushed the buttons that gave him all-wheel drive and stick shift, shifted into low gear, crimped the front wheels slightly to the left, and floored the accelerator. The left front tire bit into the steep bank of the crevasse, and suddenly Buck shot almost straight up. A small car behind him dropped front first into the hole and burst into flames.