“Is there any way to tell if the darkness has affected it?”
“I'm sure it has, but let me check. Look, you and your friend must come with us to Petra.”
“Right,” Judd said. “Get back with the time of the flight as soon as you know.”
Judd started to dial Vicki to give her the good news, but Zvi tapped on the window. “I think I'm ready.”
“You are?”
“I've actually read Dr. Ben-Judah's Web site more than once. When he came on television and said that all the prophecies pointed to Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah, I laughed. My whole family scoffed at his statement. But God brought back much of what he said while you were talking. I can't believe I've been so blind.”
“You can give your life to God right now and live for him the rest of your life.”
“That's what I want to do.”
“I'll pray with you.”
“Yes, please.”
“God, I thank you for my new friend, and right now we come to you with grateful hearts that you've helped us live through these terrible days. And I thank you that you've called Zvi to be your child.”
Zvi picked up the prayer. “Lord God, I'm sorry for rejecting you and your Son for so long. I know that I've sinned and I've gone my own way. But now I want to choose your path. I believe Jesus died for me, that he was the Lamb of GodâI just remembered that from Dr. Ben-Judah. You are the Lamb who took my sins and paid my debt. And I believe you did rise from the dead, not like Carpathia, but you came back to give life. Lord God, change me. Help me to live for you. Help me to tell others about you and follow you for the rest of my days.”
“Amen,” Judd said.
“Yes, amen.”
Zvi opened his eyes and gasped. “I can see! I can finally see!”
AFTER
Judd gave Westin and Gunther the good news about Zvi, the group rejoiced. Judd also told them about the meeting the next morning.
“I'd like to sit in on that,” Gunther said.
Westin smiled. “No reason we can't.”
It was late and everyone was tired. Westin suggested they backtrack to a hotel he had seen on the way and get some sleep.
While they drove to the hotel, Judd phoned Vicki and explained what had happened. She was overjoyed that Judd was safe and that they had helped a new believer, but she hesitated when Judd told her about the meeting the next morning.
“Why aren't you trying to get out of there?” Vicki said.
“Vick, listenâ”
“No, you don't seem to care about what I think.”
“I do care. It's just that it's so clear. I don't know why God has turned out the lights in New Babylon. I don't understand everything about the prophecies. But I do know that we might have a chance to save a bunch of lives and help them come to know God.”
Vicki was silent on the other end.
“Vick, put yourself in my place.”
“I'm trying.”
“This doesn't mean I love you any less. And your support means so much.”
“I'll pray. I can do that much. But I can't hide the fact that I'm ticked at you.”
“Ticked at me, or ticked that God would put me in this place?”
Vicki paused. “I guess I'm ticked at both you and God.”
“Then I'm in good company.”
Vicki chuckled and sighed. “Be careful, Judd.”
“I love you.”
Judd's car was the last of the group to pull up to the hotel. New Babylon was half ghost town, half freak show. There were people on the street, crying and moaning, looking for some relief from their pain. Others seemed to have hidden away.
Westin grabbed Judd, and they ran to the hotel office.
“We need a bunch of rooms. Okay if I put Zvi with you?”
“Sure,” Judd said.
The lobby of the hotel was plush, with thick leather chairs and expensive rugs. Westin stepped to the front desk, looked around, then vaulted it with one leap. He rubbed his hands together. “Let's get some rooms.”
“What do you think you're doing?” a Middle Eastern man said. Judd turned and saw a nicely dressed man in a doorway by the front desk. His eyes were wild. “Who are you?”
“Sir, we're with the Global Community,” Westin said. “There's a big meeting tomorrow morning near here, and we need a few hours of sleep.”
The manager sighed with relief. “And you are able to see?”
“Special optical lenses. It's another one of those solar things. The potentate anticipated this, but we weren't able to outfit the population. Hopefully we'll be handing these out if the darkness continues.”
A look of hope came over the man and he walked forward. “I was afraid this was some kind of ⦠well, let me try to help you. We have many guests. How many rooms do you need?”
Westin told him.
“I can't see the computer, but most of our top floor is empty. If I gave you a master key ⦔
“That would be fine. We'll just slip in and get some rest and be gone by morning. When the lights come back on you can bill us.”
“We have had many GC guests stay with us in the past.”
“Good. Then you know the billing procedure.”
The man hesitated.
“What's wrong?” Westin said.
“Nothing. It's just that you don't sound like any Peacekeepers I know.”
“No, we're actually escaped Judah-ites from the local facility.”
The manager laughed. “Yes, I suppose if you weren't GC, you wouldn't be staying here. And you wouldn't have those special lenses to help you see.”
The man gave Westin two master keys, and Judd helped lead the group quietly to the elevators.
Judd had never seen such luxurious rooms. The room he and Zvi found was so big it even had a grand piano in it. A television screen took up most of one wall.
Judd fell asleep quickly and minutes later, or so it seemed, Westin and Gunther were standing over him, telling him to wake up.
“You've got time for a quick shower,” Westin said.
Judd showered, dressed, and met them downstairs where the same manager was still on duty. They tiptoed out the entrance and headed for the meeting.
Something had bothered Judd about Westin since they had teamed up to rescue the people in the Indiana library. He seemed to have no problem lying to the GC or to members of the Tribulation Force. Judd tried to bring up the subject.
Westin frowned. “Look, this is war. Life or death. These people will chop our heads off. And pretty soon they'll be gunning for us with nukes.”
“The GC is one thing, but to lie to Rayford Steele about meâ”
“I was trying to do you a favor and keep you out of trouble.”
“I know, and I'm grateful you wanted to look out for meâ”
“Then drop it. If you have a problem with it, let me go my way and you go yours.”
Judd felt frustrated that the conversation had turned into a fight, but he still felt bad about Westin's lies.
Gunther got them focused on the task ahead and explained that the meeting would most likely be in the first floor conference room they had passed the night before.
Not wanting to arouse suspicion, they parked a few blocks away and headed for the facility on foot. The streets looked the same as the night before. They passed several bodies. Those who were alive were in agony.
The ones who could walk looked like they were drunk, tipping one way, then the other. Judd noticed one man walking quickly toward a building, heading straight for a descending stairway. Judd called out, but it was too late. The man fell like a rag doll to the bottom. Judd shouted and raced down the stairs.
“Who is that?” someone said behind him. “Are you with the Global Community?”
Judd kept quiet and felt the man's neck for a pulse but found none. He guessed the man had broken his neck on the way down.
Then he heard it.
The sound began as a soft, crackling noise wafting through the streets. As Judd reached the top of the steps he made out the strains of a recorded version of “Hail Carpathia,” sung by the 500-voice Carpathianism Chorale:
Hail Carpathia, our lord and risen king;
Hail Carpathia, rules o'er everything.
We'll worship him until we die;
He's our beloved Nicolae.
Hail Carpathia, our lord and risen king
.
Judd's stomach turned when he heard the song. Then a voice Judd didn't recognize came over the loudspeakers. The man sounded like he was in pain as he said, “Loyal subjects of the Global Community, please move toward the sound you're hearing for food and water. We have a supply station nearby where you can find rations.
“Also, for those attending the joint staff meeting, please come to the aid station and move directly up the stairs to the conference room. The meeting will begin in ten minutes.”
Westin came up beside Judd. “You notice anything about these people?”
“They're in a lot of pain,” Judd said.
“Yeah, but they're not singing along. Usually they'd be chirping with the choir, praising Carpathia.”
Westin was right. Some were even grumbling against the potentate. “Carpathia's always told people the big advantage of worshiping him was that he was a god you could see,” Westin said. “I guess the real God took care of that for a while.”
Judd found the aid station, which was a couple of tables set up with water bottles and pre-made sandwiches. Those who found the tables grabbed food and ate hungrily.
Others cried out in the distance. “What's happening here? Why can't we see?”
“How long will this darkness last?”
“Why am I in such pain?”
The aid workers, who were GC Peacekeepers pulled into service, were in just as bad of shape as those on the street. They had no answers.
No one blocked Judd's path as he walked up the steps. He passed a man in uniform crawling. The man had several stars on his shoulders, and medals clinked against the steps.
Gunther motioned them silently past an armed Peacekeeper. The Peacekeeper clutched his stomach and was nearly doubled over in pain. Despite his anguish, he repeated a phrase every few seconds. “Only authorized GC personnel past this point. Joint Chiefs meet directly across the hall.”
Judd moved to the conference room where several people sipped at water bottles and moaned. Judd, Westin, and Gunther spread out around the room.
The man who had been crawling walked into the room, stopped, and announced, “General Showalter!”
The people around the table tried to stand and salute, but only half of them could make it out of their chairs. Judd wondered what difference it made, since none of them could see each other.
The general staggered to the table and sat.
The others collapsed in their chairs, and a woman pushed a weird-looking phone forward. “Chief Akbar wants us to call as soon as the meeting begins.”
“Yes, I know. The potentate won't be here?”
“In this blackness?” a man to his right said. “We're lucky to have found our way from only a few blocks away.”
The general punched the numbers slowly, and Judd recognized Suhail Akbar's voice on the speakerphone.
“Chief Akbar, can you give us an update on the situation?” the general said.
“I just returned from a meeting with the potentate. It appears that he is the only one we've found who can see in this most recent ⦠phenomenon. You'll be pleased to know his presence actually provides a glow.”
“How much of a glow?”
“Only about three feet around him, but it is quite comforting to know he has this situation under control. You will be encouraged to know that New Babylon is, at the moment, the only area affected by this blackout. Other countries have reported no loss of light, so it appears this is an isolated incident.”
“Does anyone at the palace know why this happened?” someone said.
Akbar paused. “It may be a side effect of the heat wave, or it could be another electromagnetic phenomenon. No matter what the cause, the potentate assures us that it will pass very soon.”
“Does the potentate know about the suicides?” another man said. “We can't work in this cursed darkness. It took me two hours just to find my way here, and it's only a ten-minute walk. And the pain. Are we to believe the pain we feel is caused by leftover effects of the sun?”
“I understand your concerns, and believe me, everyone at the palace is doing their best to provide relief. We are using your idea of loudspeakers here near the palace and should have a message from the Most High Reverend Father to calm the fears of those who have been affected.”
Akbar cleared his throat. “The current concern is with the Island facility. As you know, the potentate has considered closing this, and now he is anxious about the prisoners there.”
“Why is he anxious?” the general said.
“The Island is the only camp for Jews in the blacked-out area. He is requesting that you go ahead with extermination plans of all prisoners immediately.”
Judd glanced at Westin and Gunther who both looked horrified.
“How do you propose we do that since we can't even see the prisoners?” a man in front of Judd said.
“We have every confidence that you will find a way. Shoot them. Gas them. Burn them. The potentate doesn't care how you accomplish this, just that it gets done.”
“If that is the potentate's wish, we shall oblige,” the general said. “We will communicate with the guards there and inform them of our plan.”
The phone clicked and went dead. The general dialed the number again, but there was no response. Judd noticed Gunther had knelt and was doing something at the wall. He motioned for Judd and Westin and held up the phone cord he had pulled from the wall. Then he held up his cell phone and pointed toward the group at the table.
He wants us to take all the cell phones!
Judd thought.
Judd moved to the end of the room and began collecting the phones placed on the table.