Hunted (44 page)

“We should start calling him Nicolae the blowtorch.”

Chang laughed. “Leon said Nicolae's shoes smoked. There were sparks in his hair. Even the buttons of his suit had melted.”

“It just shows he's not really human.”

“You won't believe what happened after that,” Chang continued. “I listened in to a conversation between Smoky Shoes and Technical Services. He wanted a telescope set up so he could look directly at the sun at noon.”

“What could he possibly want that for?”

“He said he wanted to record whether the sun has grown and if bursts of flame from its surface would be visible.”

“Don't tell me he actually did it.”

“I watched him. He looked at the sun for several minutes. He left, and when he came back the telescope had melted. That night he told the technician he had seen the flares dancing on the sun's surface. The techie laughed, thinking it was a joke, and Carpathia turned mean.”

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘The sun, moon, and stars bow to me.' ”

Judd felt a chill. He knew Carpathia was the Antichrist, but he was more than that now. Since Nicolae had risen from the dead, Dr. Ben-Judah and others believed that the man was literally indwelt by Satan. God's enemy would be defeated, but not before he did everything he could to hurt God's people. Satan, as Jesus had said, was a liar and a murderer from the beginning. He would use all his weapons to try to block God's plan.

“Carpathia has to know his time is running out,” Judd said.

“Don't think the guy will ever think logically. He's trying to convince everyone around him that he's still king of the world.”

“Even though everybody's burning up? Chang, this is the perfect time for you to get away. Think of what they'll do to you if they find out who you really serve.”

“There's still too much to do with the Tribulation Force. Besides, nobody suspects me.”

“Just don't make any mistakes. The first could be your last.”

Vicki was pleased with the progress they were making with the cabins. Clemson Stoddard turned out to be a great carpenter. When he wasn't helping repair old cabins or construct new ones, he was reading Tsion Ben-Judah's Web site or sitting in on classes Vicki and the others offered newer believers.

Clemson had gone from looking like a hermit to being neatly dressed. He was always polite, and he had as many questions as anyone about the end of the world and what was going to happen next.

Vicki was answering one of his questions by drawing a time line of the Tribulation when she turned and noticed Judd had slipped into the back. She continued, trying to keep her focus on the class.

Marshall called everyone to dinner, and Judd walked with her to the main cabin.

“Don't do that again,” Vicki said.

“Do what?”

“It makes me nervous when you're back there.”

Judd stopped her and turned to face her. “You are one of the best teachers I've ever seen. I was only in there a few minutes, but the way you explained the time line was incredible.”

Vicki blushed and rolled her eyes.

“I mean it. You don't know how proud I was when we were in Israel and you showed up on the video screen above the stadium.”

“Bet you were surprised too.”

“You bet and a little bit scared for you. But when ‘Vicki B.' started talking about God and telling people how to become a believer, I was in awe.”

“So you didn't think I could do that kind of thing?”

“I didn't take the time to think about anybody else back then. But it's clear now that God had something more planned for you, and if I hadn't gotten out of the way, it might never have happened.”

Vicki smiled. “Care to escort the teacher to dinner?”

“I'd be honored.”

As the sun went down, Judd and Vicki met with Marshall and Zeke. Judd was excited because he knew Marshall had had a phone meeting scheduled with Rayford Steele earlier in the day.

“The Trib Force heard from the group you stayed with in the library, but they haven't been able to get back in touch with them,” Marshall said. “They're wondering if you could meet them and help lead them to those people.”

“I'm there,” Judd said.

“Before you agree, you have to understand that we don't have any idea when this plague will lift. You could be in the air when it gets cool, and the GC could converge on you.”

Judd bit his lip. “In that case, I have one request.”

“What's that?” Marshall said.

“That Vicki goes with me.”

41

AS SOON
as the sun came up two days later, Judd drove Vicki south in the Humvee to meet a Tribulation Force plane. The small airport lay in ruins, skeletons of planes smoldering under the wrecked hangar. The runway was still in good shape though, and it wasn't long after they arrived that the plane touched down.

Judd had hoped Rayford Steele would be aboard or perhaps another of the higher ranking Trib Force members. Instead, the door opened and Westin Jakes appeared. Judd introduced Vicki, and Westin shook hands with her. “So you're the reason Judd was so eager to get back to the States.”

Vicki smiled. “And you're one of the reasons he made it back in one piece.”

“Have a seat. We'll get in the air, and I'll explain our mission.”

“This is an awfully big plane for the three of us,” Judd said.

“Hopefully on the way back we'll have the thing full of your friends from that library,” Westin said. He asked Judd the specific location of the library, and Judd told him.

Westin went to the back of the plane as Judd buckled in behind the pilot's seat. He told Vicki more about what Westin had been through and the episode in Paris.

“If Judd and Lionel hadn't been there to help, my head would be in some bread basket in France right now,” Westin said when he returned to the cockpit. “I heard about Lionel's arm. Tell him I've been praying for him.”

“He'll appreciate that,” Judd said. “Have you heard anything about Z-Van lately?”

Westin smiled. “You didn't hear about the concert a few days ago?” He held up a hand, taxied the runway, and got them airborne.

When it was safe, he put the plane on autopilot and turned. “Z-Van was doing his pro-Carpathia show, I guess trying to make people think there's really nothing wrong with the world, when it starts getting hot onstage.”

“This was the day the heat wave started?” Vicki said.

Westin nodded.

“And you were there?” Judd said.

“I was delivering supplies to a group of believers near the event. It was a night job, real secret kind of stuff. I had dropped the supplies off and was heading back to the plane when I found out about Z-Van's appearance. I couldn't help myself.”

“Don't tell me you showed up at the concert!” Judd said.

“I kept a good distance. I was wearing my fake GC outfit, so nobody paid much attention. Normally Z-Van doesn't perform in the daytime, at least he didn't while I was with him. But the GC must have convinced him to do this late-morning gig.”

“I don't guess they needed a warm-up band.” Judd laughed.

“Good one,” Westin said. “I noticed people in the crowd were getting restless way before show time. They were wiping their faces and shielding their eyes from the sun. Some held blankets or umbrellas over them. Well, the music started and Z-Van came out, but people were getting so hot that they couldn't pay attention.”

“And you probably had no idea what was going on,” Judd said.

“Right. I was a little warm, but these people were going crazy. Z-Van runs out expecting some kind of ovation, and there are nothing but screams. He reaches for the microphone and then drops it on the ground like he's picked up a poisonous snake. That's when I noticed something funny about the video screen onstage. Images of Nicolae and Leon Fortunato were flashing when all of a sudden the screen started rippling. Then a big brown spot appeared in the middle, and it burst into flames.”

“I'll bet that got Z-Van's attention,” Judd said.

“He was still trying to pick up the microphone, but the thing had melted. He pried it up with a drumstick, but it was fried.”

“What did the crowd do?” Vicki said.

“Everybody panicked. It was as if the heat just descended like a swarm of bees, and they ran for cover. Problem was, they ran over each other. Hundreds were killed from being trampled before the first person ever caught fire.”

“How awful!” Vicki said.

“One of those miracle workers came onstage and tried to calm the crowd. He was wearing a long, black robe and had a lapel microphone on. The speakers started crackling and popping like something was wrong with the lines, but when I looked closer, it was the miracle guy with flames licking at his outfit. He ran screaming to the back with the rest of the band members.”

“You think Z-Van survived?” Judd said.

“The GC hasn't said he's dead, but they also didn't report anything about the concert. There must have been thousands on the ground, their bodies just piles of ashes. The stage, lights, all their instruments—everything went up in smoke.”

As they flew, Westin told them the other things he had experienced while flying for the Co-op. Judd was amazed at all God had accomplished through this man he and Lionel had reached out to.

When they neared their destination, Westin outlined the plan for the group at the library. He handed Judd a printout of a message the Tribulation Force had received two days earlier.

Dear Captain Steele or anyone else in the Tribulation Force,

A young man named Judd Thompson gave us this address and told us if we felt in danger in any way we should contact you. The power has been spotty in our area, but there have been sightings of GC near us at night. If you could please get back to us with an escape plan, we would be grateful. I don't feel I should give you our location in case this gets intercepted by the GC. Below you'll see Judd's e-mail, and he can tell you where to find us
.

The group signed the note, “Waiting in the stacks.” Judd thought of the people he had met at the library. “How are we going to get from wherever you'll land to the library?”

“Good question. You'll have to ask God that one. We have people praying about the transportation question right now.”

Westin used his phone to call San Diego and confirm the nearest landing strip that could handle their large airplane. “I was right. The nearest strip is about twenty miles from your friends.” He glanced at his watch. “If everything goes as planned, we can get back to Wisconsin with a couple hours to spare and have your friends at the camp meet you with another vehicle.”

“What if we don't get back before sundown?” Vicki said.

“That's why we have people praying,” Westin said.

As they flew close to the ground, Vicki looked out the window at plumes of smoke rising from buildings. There were no other planes in sight, which was an eerie feeling. The earth looked like a shell that had been used and thrown away. The most drastic change had come with the wrath of the Lamb earthquake, but even with that, the GC leaders had found a way to bounce back and restore services. With this plague of heat, the earth had come to a standstill during daylight hours. It was an advantage Vicki had never dreamed of for believers, but she couldn't help feeling sad for the poor people who had chosen Carpathia.