Ever-Life the Two Book Set: The C.P.T Incident and Time Trust (30 page)

“I am a private guard;
here at the request of my old friend; just as you are, I believe. He asked me to wear the uniform I wore when I met him. I would do anything for him; so, this request was easy. We are all brothers here, my friends.”

They turned a corner and walked down an unfamiliar beautiful corridor. Each man looked at the artifacts, mosaics and paintings representing all three faiths. Finally, the guard slowed
, and turned to the right. He took a small card out of his ballooning, pant pocket and waved it over the symbol above the door lock.

“‘S’ was moved to this special isolation suite, this morning.”

The door clicked and opened. They walked in and couldn’t help but notice a comforting feeling, from the room’s light. The guard led them to three chairs, in front of a large fireplace.

“Please, sit; I will see if he is appropriate.”

Minutes later, the guard returned.

“Gentlemen, you may come this way.”

He led them into an oval room, lined with empty bookshelves, and three high back chairs, facing a wide hospital bed. The bed was between two windows; and, above it, was a masterful fish, made out of cut stained glass. An elderly, gaunt man looked up, from his prone position, and smiled at the three men. It was ‘S’.

“How marvelous; you are here. Come; sit here
, by me, Kristos… Ahmir, James; come; come.”

Each cleric bent toward ‘S’ and kissed his right hand. For years, one of t
he three would alternate meetings, once a week with ‘S’. And, he regularly donated large sums of money to each of local churches, without preferring one over the other. If there were a need, he would fill it, before the question of help even came up.

“O ye men of the cloth,” ‘S’ grinned. “Thank you for coming
, on such short notice. Behold, three of the wisest men I know! I am so happy to see you, my friends. Please; forgive me, for not receiving you properly. I am weak today. I longed to speak with you together, because this is a very important moment for us all.”

“It is good to see you too,” Kristos said
. “But, I think I can ask, in our behalf, why are we to be here.”

‘S’ coughed a bit.

“The invitations, my friends; did you bring them, by chance?”

All three
dug into their pockets and withdrew their envelopes. They raised them; and, then, exchanged them, reading each other’s.

“They are all handwritten
; and they all say the same thing,” said Ahmir.

“Yes, they do
; and for a good reason, my friends.”  ‘S’ was obviously in distress, now; and, he pushed the call button, for the guard.

“M;
come please…”

“Yes Sir?”

“Would you give us all some wine?” ‘S’ spoke very softly. “And you may bring supper anytime, M. Thank you.”

“I have asked you three here to receive my last confession.”

“You are not dying. God would not hear of it.” James leaned into ‘S’. “Tell us, why the strange words on the invitations?”

“Yes;
why have you brought us together?” Ahmir gently squeezed the old man’s arm. “You do not need us three to confess anything.”

‘S’ looked sadly at the three;
and then he turned to look out the window, at the trees.

“I confess that I have been studying you three, of late, behind your backs
; and without your consent.”

The three clergy looked at each other and Kristos replied, “My friend, why would you do that?”

The guard entered, carrying in a food tray.

“Ah, the wine is here. Please, let us sip.”

‘M’ set the tray on the table and gave each man a wineglass, filled with a pearl white liquid.

“I remember,
‘M’, when all of you guards got that puffy uniform.”

“Yes Sir; me too, a long time
ago…You told us it was copied from ancient Roman jesters, to fool everyone into thinking we were not to be feared.”

“Yes
; thank you, ‘M’; everything looks tasty.”

‘
M’ closed the door and locked it, behind him.

James lifted
his glass, studying the drink.

“What is this, ‘S’? The glasses are exquisite. But the wine
; it looks like milky Champagne.”

“Let us toast, ‘S’ said. “T
o the unifying of the faiths.”

The three clergy froze, wi
th their glasses raised. They looked at each other, clinked their goblets together, and said, in unison, “To the unifying of the faiths.”

“Oh my goodness, I’ve never ta
sted anything like this,” Ahmir said, as his eyes sparkled.

“Nor I,” said Kristos.

James closed his eyes. “I can’t begin to describe it.”

‘S handed his drink to Kristos.

“I wanted you three at your best today. This helps. As for me; it does no good anymore. Whatever its benefits, I receive them no longer. Ah well, such is the way of things…James, help me sit up; will you? Now; to my confession: I know what you three have been up to. It is with a sad heart, that I say how disappointed I am, about your little ‘conspiracy of good’.”

The three men looked at ‘S’ with guilty eyes.

“I am to blame,” said Kristos. “I, alone, approached the others.”

“…For the sake of what, my friend?” ‘S’ put his hand on Kristos forearm. “And
, I know, also, that you were the ‘only one’ approached, my brother…I know this…He was the devil himself.”

The three fathers sipped the wine again. Then, Ahmir stood up, turned and brought the plate of bread and cheeses, offering it to the others
, as he spoke, “Do we not love one another? We all believed what we were told. We still believe. If it is true, the world will come together like never before; praise be to Allah. We can be one faith.”

“Ah
, but, alas, my friends, it was not to be. All is fallen sour,” Kristos said. “I am so sorry.”

“Well,” ‘S’ said, as he took another sip, “you
boys still have the $16 billion; and, in truth, I confess I know the Brock camp lied to you, about the serum.”

The three men looked perplexed.

“How do you know all this?” asked James.

“Please;
sit, Ahmir. Have one last toast with me, eh.”

‘S’ raised his glass again.

“I solemnly swear to you that, upon my death, I bequeath…”

Without warning ‘S’ coughed up blood and fell back on
to the pillow, spilling the drink on the bed sheets. Kristos picked the glass up and patted the sheets with a clean cloth. Ahmir reached to ‘S’, and held his hand on the pillow.

“
Dearest friend…”

“My three wise men,” ‘S’ said.

James squeezed his other hand.

“Please let us help you. What can we do?”

“My friends, you can be at peace; and do not let what appears to be my pain or anyone else’s euphoric promises, cloud your thinking, or deaden your ears and mind to what you must understand…Kristos, in the night table next to me, there is a book. Get it, please?”

Th
e priest opened the small door and lifted out a heavy, pearl white, book; 20-inches long by 15-inches wide by 4-inches thick. It had three letters embossed in gold leather, GGM. The three had never seen anything like it. They all touched it. Kristos looked at ‘S’.

“What is this, my friend?”

“I have decided to give this to you three. My last wish is that you study it, and decide if you should make it public. I trust you, with all my heart. It belongs to all of you. It is very old. Protect it. Learn from it. It speaks my truth. Even now, at this moment, I tell you; I will always be with you.”

With those last words, Great Grand Master 1-000 Gordon G. Swanson died. The three clergy were spellbound and void of comment. They looked at each other.

“What do we do?” Ahmir said.

“We should go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and read this,” said Kristos. “It must be very important.”

Then, the three knelt beside the bed. After a moment of prayer, each kissed the GGM on his forehead and stood up. The guard came in, walked to the bed; and, with tears, he also kissed ‘S’.

“Gentlemen, please; it’s all right;
I will handle this. Everything has been arranged. I will have someone contact each of you, regarding ceremony.”

The three bow
ed and shook the guard’s hand. They turned and walked out of the room and down the hall.

“What a loss,” said Ahmir.

“He was truly a great man,” James said with a tear. “I wonder how he knew so much about our effort. To my knowledge, we three have never even been in the same room, at the same time, with him.”

Kristos paused in the hallway.

“Well my brothers; let’s be honest; our faiths don’t have a history or reputation of cooperation, especially here in Jerusalem.”

“Yes, I suppose
that’s true,” Ahmir smiled politely but shook his head, “…which is why our effort, if successful, would have been so remarkable and important. Can you imagine if we three were the ones to bring all our brothers together, praise be to Allah?”

As they faced each ot
her, Kristos caressed the book.

“I wonder what secrets this holds.”

“Yes. I too would like to know,” said Ahmir. “Let me hold it. I think each of us should read it individually; then, we should study together, at Al Aqsa Mosque, at the Temple on the Mount, where we can tutor all our brothers.”

“Kristos, do you think ‘S’ had something specific i
n mind, giving this to us?” asked James. “He seemed to know everything we did, everything that happened. My people engaged the strictest security measures.”

“The more reason we should each study this gift,” Ahmir said. “Please, I will take it first
, and then contact each of you.”

Ahmir bowed before Kristos and extended his arms, expecting the book.

“Here and now is not the time to discuss this, my friends,” James interrupted. “I know ‘S’ was planning on lecturing at my local synagogue; and I’m sure he would want us to study it first, along with those related sections of the Talmud.”

“Please,” Kristos insisted, “let us not forget
, my brothers; our combined effort was to prove the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was the point of trade, in the first place.”

Kristos pulled the book tightly to his chest, turned and walked toward the villa’s front doors. “We should remember what just happened here and in respect, let us go in peace.”

Ahmir stepped in front of Kristos pleading, “I beg you, my friend. My people trusted you; and you led us through this ‘failed effort’. They will not sit still for you to take this gift first. As a gesture of good will, give me the book.”

James stepped in front of the both of them and opened the villa’s front double doors. Kristos looked at the two and said simply, “No, my brothers, I will take the book and pray
, at the Church of Our Lord, for guidance. Then, I will contact you.”

The three began arguing
, in earnest, as they walked out, onto the stone front stairs. They noticed two men, getting out of a white stretch limousine. All three fell silent, as the men in suits walked toward them, up the cobblestones. Suddenly, each looked startled, as if shocked by thunder. The men walking toward them had to stop directly in front of the three fathers.

“Excuse us;
please, kind Sirs,” said Kristos. “We three have been visiting an old, dear friend here, who, just a moment ago, passed away. We couldn’t help but notice you two.”

The one man i
n front of Kristos interrupted, “How do you do…Our apologies...Please excuse us…You say your friend just died?”

They both couldn’t help
, but see the bright book, Kristos was holding close to his chest. One turned to the other and said, “My God, Gordon; it couldn’t be?”

He looked at the clergy and spoke, “My friends, my name is Dr. Mathew J. Bellos. We are here to visit an old friend, also.”

Bellos looked to his right.

“May I introduce
, Master Gordon G. Swanson?”

“Hello gentlemen.”

They all shook hands. Then, holding the book, Kristos said, “It is an honor to meet you both. Forgive me, please. Are you a relative of our friend? We couldn’t help but notice; you have the same name, the same identical look. It is truly remarkable?”

Swanson looked at the three men and smiled.

“Not exactly, my brothers, if you have that book, you were given a great gift. Read it, and learn that I am he who gave it to you. Be well.”

He smiled at all three
; and, before anyone could react, Bellos and Swanson walked between the clergy and into the villa, leaving the three men speechless, and in quiet indescribable awe.

Chapter 34