Wired (23 page)

A cold sensation ran down Graham's back and fear grabbed his throat. These two men were talking about a group like the New
Seekers, now considered subversive and vulnerable to arrest. His own son could get hauled in for nothing more than showing
up at the wrong place.

“Religious subversive corrupt normal people!” Pemrose spat harshly. “True believers always have started revolts. We've dot
to wipe these people out and I say the sooner we start the better!”

“Now, now, Jake. You're getting the wagon ahead of the horses. The whole plan has to unfold in stages, and our first step
is to get people acquainted with Carson's face. Tomorrow his portrait will be released–they'll be all over the papers and
television. We are on the verge of working out a petroleum deal with Royal Arab Petroleum that will be extremely worthwhile
for this city. At this moment I want to make sure both of you are fully aware of what's coming. It's time to buckle your seat
belts.” Bridges looked Graham squarely in the eye. “I haven't said it before, and I'm sure it's not necessary to say today,
but I want to make sure that you and Jake understand how serious these matters are. One breach of security and either of you
could be on the butcher table.”

Jake chuckled. “You're suggesting we'd get carved up like a side of beef?”

“You've got it,” the mayor said cynically.

Graham's eyes narrowed. “Either of you men really know anything about death?”

“What?” the mayor asked.

“You're talking about death like you and Jake have all the answers. I wondered what you knew.”

“I don't want to talk about death,” Bridges bore down. “I'm suggesting you boys keep your noses clean. Get me?”

Graham didn't move say anything. Bridges shrugged and asked Pemrose a question. As they bantered, Graham abruptly he had gone
back and forth on the question of the Anti-Christ, thinking maybe Borden Carson Wasn't that bad; maybe he was. This early
morning meeting had pulled the rug out from under his feet. If he and Jackie accepted Matt's invitation and went to the New
Seekers meetings tonight, they could be crossing a highly dangerous line. He could no longer stand along the edges and simply
watch.

“You with me, Peck?” the mayor asked.

“Yes sir,” Graham answered mechanically.

“Good! Now I want you and Pemrose to look at the materials I received from Carson which will be plastered all over this city
in twenty-four hours. We need to make some choices and get this matter in order. Nothing will happen today, but first thing
tomorrow morning the presses start flying. We're going to turn this city into Carsonland.” Bridges Chuckled. “Gentlemen, take
a look and see.” He pushed the photos forward.

Graham wanted to bolt out the door, but knew he couldn't. He would have to play this hand down to the last card, so he wouldn't
accidentally sell out his son and the boys friends. Worse still, he might betray his wife and their entire family!

“Carson is awesome!” Bridges grinned. “The man has an amazing heritage. While he looks sort of like a cross between an Arab
and an Italian, Carson's lineage goes clear back to the Caesars. No one is his equal.”

“Yeah,” Graham muttered and stared ahead. “I bet so.”

“Once of the most important facts you want to keep in mind is that Carson actually has names,” Bridges said. “He uses the
English name with the western world, but our leader has an unusual background. He has used many names in his rise to power
while still keeping the name he was born with.”

Graham's lips parted slightly. “He has another name?” he mumbled.

“Really!” Pemrose said.

Graham gawked. “I see,” he mumbled and prepared to scribble the name on a piece of paper. “An Arabic name?”

“Only the Inner Circle know he also has Arabic name,” the mayor explained. “His closets advisors also call him Hassan Jawhar
Rashid.”

T
HE UNUSUALLY HOT WEATHER
for late November did not subside. By early morning, Chicago felt like the Fourth of July with the burning moon appearing
to have joined the scorching sun in baking the entire United States. The heat only added to Graham's discomfort. Following
the early morning meeting with the mayor and Jake Pemrose, Graham didn't come out of his office all morning. He told Sarah
Cates to hold his calls, and she maintained a polite distance.

Shutting the world out. Graham anguished over what he had heard in the inner office. Not Knowing the Bible well enough to
reference any specific passages, he felt lost and bewildered, like a child wandering through a thicket in a dense forest.
By ten o'clock, he could wait no Longer and called Adah Honi. She agreed to take the express train and meet him halfway, at
a stop at California Park around 11:30. At the least, she might help him gain some smidgen of insight.

Graham arrived before Adah's train pulled in, forcing him to wait on the station platform while the sun bore down. Fortunately,
he had only worn a cotton pullover sweater, but it still felt like he was sitting under a heat lamp. Glancing up and down
the platform, Graham noticed the strange assortment of people waiting for the next train. By and large, they were a poor,
surly group, avoiding all conduct and conversation with anyone. Most of them wore badly worm clothing, torn pants, shoes cracked
and ragged at the toes. The indigent looked at him with accusing eyes as if he was far, far too well dressed for their lot.
Graham turned away uncomfortably and started up the tracks.

The Metro Express came flying into the station and pulled to a screeching halt. Passengers hurried off and the disheveled
commuters pushed to get in. Adah Honi was among the last to break through the crowd.

Wearing a long black dress that buttoned at the neck, Adah didn't look like anyone on or around the train. Her straight, black
hair pulled back revealed her elegantly chiseled profile that lent her a haunted appearance. Her black eyelids were half closed,
but Graham realized she was surveying everyone on the platform with computer-like precision, checking all their fasces. The
woman looked like a polished spy in the midst of an unkempt world.

“Adah!” Graham walked quickly towards her. “Here I am.”

The Jewish women smiled thinly and only nodded slightly.

“Thank you so much for coming, Adah.”

“Let us quickly walk away from the platform.” Adah spoke low, almost in a whisper. “We need from any cameras to stay away.”

“Of course.” Graham pointed toward the steps. “We can find a place to sit down at the bottom of the steps.”

“Please go ahead, and I will follow you.”

Graham hurried down the stairs and spotted a bench a few feet away. He immediately sat down, and only then realized Adah was
not following behind him. She seemed to be coming down the step at a snail's pace, leisurely catching up with him almost as
if she didn't know him.

“We must not look like together we came,” Adah said. “Once can never tell when they are being followed or observed.”

Graham looked around at the trees around them. “I don't see any cameras around here.”

“Good. On the phone you said you had something important to share with me. You can tell now me.”

Graham shoved a piece of paper into her palm. “I discovered that Carson uses a second name in Arabic. I have written it down
for you.”

Adah took a deep breath. “I see.” She exhaled slowly. “Very surprising.”

“The name is Hassan Jawhar Rashid. I have no idea what it means to have two names.”

After several moments of quiet reflection, Adah said, “I can tell you that Hassan means handsome and Jawhar is a jewel. It
is like saying this man is a handsome or beautiful jewel. Anyone who knows the Arabic language would this meaning understand.”

“But does this refer to the Anti-Christ?”

Adah pursed her lips. “I am not sure. I will need to spend the rest of the day working on this meaning. I can say no more.”

“I am coming to the New Seekers meeting tonight. I want to hear what your members think about the president's speech.”

“You must be very careful. Nothing is safe.”

“You're telling me! Groups like yours are the new targets for instant police investigation. I fear for all of you, including
my son.”

Adah nodded. “I will hope to have an answer for you about this name by tonight.” She stood up and looked around carefully.
“We shall see. Goodbye.” Adah quickly walked toward the steps on the other side of the tracks to return to Evanston.

Feeling like a pawn in a strange chess game, Graham watched her disappear. He waited a few minutes and then went back up the
stairs to return downtown. When he came it had not occurred to him that he might be observed but a camera or someone following
him. He glanced around the station, feeling naked and vulnerable. For the first time, Graham realized an unseen spotlight
might be shining on him.

G
RAHAM AND JACKIE PECK
pulled up to a dilapidated restaurant on the outskirts of Skokie, a perfect place for a secluded meeting. The drive from
Arlington Heights down Palatine Road toward Interstate 94 had not been difficult, but they made sure they arrived slightly
after the announced starting time, wanting to look as anonymous as possible. They had been told to instruct the waiter that
they were with the Paul and Harriet Seeker party in the back room. The attendant at the door wore a black vest over a white
shirt, but his black khaki pants were on the smudged side. The waiter walked them through the old steak hose that looked like
it hadn't been painted since 1990.

“This place needs more than a coat of fresh paint,” Graham said quietly.

“Yeah,” she answered.

The waiter shot both of them a dirty look, but didn't stop walking. Entering through a door at the back, they found a group
of thirty students sitting around long tables. Across the room from them stood an old large-screen television. A tattered
menu with the evening specials was thumb-tacked to the wall. Most of the New Seekers group were eating quietly. Adah Honi
sat next to a baldheaded man with puffs of white hair on the sides of his head. His dark, suntanned face was covered with
white stubble. The older man looked up at them with black eyes twinkling with warmth and hospitality. Adah leaped to her feet
and rushed toward Graham and Jackie, hugging them both.

“Bless you!” Adah effused. “I am so glad you could come tonight.” She hugged Jackie. “I want your to meet my good friend Eldad
Rafaeli.”

“Hallo. I am Eldad.” He extended a dark pudgy hand with thick fingers. Eldad might have been somewhere between forty and fifty
years old, but his face seemed to be almost ageless. He could be much older. “Glad to meet you,” he said in a heavily accented
voice.

“My pleasure.” Graham shook his hand.

“Me, too,” Jackie said.

“Eldad recently came here from Rosh-Ha' Ayin, a town near Tel Aviv,” Adah explained. “He worked in a Pil tobacco factory for
many years.”

“Yes,” Eldad said. “For many years.”

Graham glanced around the room. Sitting with some friends and next to Jennifer Andrews, Matt watched them. He winked at his
father, but didn't move. Graham smiled back.

“He sees us,” Jackie said. “Play it cool.”

“please sit down with us.” Adah pulled a chair out. “The program on television begins in just a moment.” She leaned over and
spoke into Graham's ear. “Eldad is a new believer and one of us. You can trust him implicitly.”

Graham nodded and sat down next to Jackie. One of the students at the head table stood up and welcomed everyone on behalf
of Paul and Harriet Seeker. The young man paused and winked knowingly at the group; he noted that they had gathered to hear
the president of the United States speak and that the program would begin momentarily. One of the students got up and turned
the television on. The set flashed pictures of Washington, D.C., and the group became silent.

Graham leaned back in his chair and studied this unusual group of students. For the most part they didn't look different from
any group of kids in Evanston. They had a typical university demeanor and seemed well-mannered enough. They hadn't overwhelmed
Graham and Jackie and kept a polite distance. He liked their restraint. Everything felt in order.

“Looks like the show's about to start,” Jackie said.

“
The big show
,” Graham added, softly.

“My fellow Americans,” the president began in his usual familiar tone, “let us begin by reviewing what has happened in the
recent military incursions unfolding in the Middle East and with the Russians.”

Graham listened attentively, but he had already heard most of what was said. Borden Carson had given them inside information
with explicit details on the extent of damages and thee serious nuclear fallout problems stemming from the Russians' attack.
Graham watched Eldad and Adah. Their faces were stoic, giving no hint of what they actually thought of the speech.

“The time has come for the United States to stand with Borden Camber Carson's efforts in Europe,” the president said. “World
petroleum interests must be protected and our armed forces will support this effort. On a personal basis, I have known Mr.
Carson for many years and I believe this is a man we can and must trust. Recently elected the prime minister of Turkey, Borden
Carson has stepped on the stage of world leadership in the role of an overseer and a visionary.”

Here it comes
, Graham thought.
We are about to receive an exhaustive list of Carson's credits, then he'll ask this country to accept him as their savior.

As Graham expected, the president continued an almost unending recitation of the accomplishments of Carson as well as the
Royal Arab Petroleum empire. The president pushed for the United States to line up behind Carson because his surveillance
systems offered the nation an even higher level of security. The president appeared certain that more terrorist attacks would
hit America. Abruptly, he held up a portrait of Carson, wearing a tie and black business suit.