Three (10 page)

The way of the wicked is as darkness:

They know not at what they stumble.

-
Proverbs 4:19

After his phone conversation
with Forrest, who was obviously in a state of panic, Benton called his other
two local followers, Milford and Barry Smith, to tell them their final campaign
against the forces of evil had begun.  “Both of you need to burn anything you
have in your apartment that could be found by Satan or his agents.  We must
prevent them from trying to stop our holy mission.  Pack your small carry-on
bags with enough clothes and personal items for a week’s stay away from home. 
I’ll pick you up at 5:00 tomorrow morning.  Don’t tell anyone we are leaving.”

Next Spencer drove to the
church and parked his car on the hard, broken pavement of the remains of Main
Street.  Carrying cleaning supplies to the front door, he began the careful
process of removing all traces of their activities there, to include a complete
wipe-down of door handles, tables, and chairs in the church annex where he had
held his meetings for the last five years.  Moving to the sanctuary he repeated
the careful wipe down, cleaning the floor, the altar, the door handles, and
finally the church pews.  He double checked his careful cleaning and paused at
the front steps as he was returning the cleaning supplies and assorted papers
to his car.   He studied the marquee; it had contained the same theme and two
Bible verses for more than a decade, as he had waged his war against those who
had released the beast.  Now they would pay for their sins.

Setting the supplies down on
the steps, he returned to the church store room and gathered up an assortment
of letters.  Returning to the marquee, he removed the letters, including the two
Bible references.  After some thoughtful moments, standing with his hand on his
chin and studying the empty marquee, he inserted a new set of letters.

Once he had secured the
church and stored his cleaning supplies in the trunk of his car, he removed a
drag made of a piece of carpet attached to an old garage push broom and walked
to the rear of the church.  There, where the automobiles had been parked, he
swept away all traces of foot prints and tire tracks.  When he had finished no
evidence remained of his activities in this ghost town.  With a few gusts of
dusty wind and a couple of rain showers, common this time of year, it would
return to its long-abandoned state.

Returning home he removed the
forged passports for himself and the Smith brothers from his safe, realizing the
one for Forrest would not now be needed. 
Forrest will have to remain in
hiding
,
and avoid capture.  He is now a liability.
 Spencer disposed
of this last passport and other financial records and notes relating to his
activities of the past four or five years in a burn-barrel behind his house. 

Among these records were his
notes concerning Colonel Joshua Cohen’s court martial and the possible
tunneling into Temple Mount.  He had spent almost a full year scanning news
articles looking for the ideal partners to bring into his sacred mission,
knowing that each partner must share his concept of the End of Days.  This
Haredi soldier was ideal, and might just provide the access he needed to the
Foundation Stone when the time came. 

During this year of intense
searching Spencer had also become aware of the fact that ISIS fighters were
inspired and recruited, in large part by prophetic narration, to come to Dabiq,
in Northern Syria and join in the final battle with the crusader armies before
the End of Days.  He was not sure he wanted to bring this radical and chaotic
movement into his own fight, but he knew he could find a Sunni with the right
background to go against CERN, motivated in part by these prophesies.  From the
news items about the sabotaged centrifuges in Iran, he had eventually
identified his third partner: Ibrahim Gilani, a disgraced Iranian nuclear
scientist who had once worked at CERN.

In the past four or five
years Benton Spencer had cultivated both of these men to join in the final
battle and had succeeded in winning their confidence and support.  Earlier that
day Spencer had contacted these two and set his plans in motion to carry out
the final fight against the forces of evil. 

As he stood, stirring the
remaining ashes, and watching the photograph page of Forrest’s passport darken,
curl and turn into ashes, he thought to himself,
I hope Forrest can avoid
capture and arrest.  He’s been showing signs of instability since his mother’s
death, and if he’s interrogated he could destroy my holy mission.

Returning to the house Benton
turned on his laptop and using the false passports, booked flights leaving the
next day for himself and the Smiths from George Bush Intercontinental through
Paris, to Beirut, Lebanon.  Next he packed the things he would need for the
final days of his holy war against the temples of Satan worship and his
resurrection of the New Jerusalem.

Early the next morning he
drove to their apartment and helped Barry and Milford load their luggage into
the trunk of his car.  It was still dark as they drove southeast along the 285
to Ennis and turned south on I-45 to Houston. 

As they drove into the early morning
twilight, Barry asked, “Where are we going, Reverend?”

“We are going to the Holy
Land, where we will meet others who have joined in our fight against evil.”

“Who are they?” asked
Milford.

“They are important men who
are faithful to our cause.  They have hidden their identities from the forces
of evil.  Each of us must not know their names to keep Satan guessing as to our
identities and plans.”

“Will we see them?”

“Perhaps, but you must never
tell anyone who you see or what you hear as we discuss our holy work.”

“OK,” both brothers said, as
if repeating a familiar litany.

Spencer had proselytized
these two brothers, not because they had money, as did Forrest, but because
they were rather simple-minded and could take instructions without asking too
many questions.  He had been careful not to divulge any of the details of his
plans, but rather led them along by power of his charismatic speaking.

Arriving at George Bush Intercontinental,
they left Spencer’s car at a small, out-of-the-way park-and-ride and rode the
shuttle to the terminal.  Watching the two brothers as the three of them walked
through the terminal, Benton realized these two had never ridden a commercial
jet and had probably never been out of Ellis County.  He knew it would be a
challenge to keep Barry and Milford focused on the tasks at hand, especially
after they had arrived in Beirut.

As they walked through the
lobby the brothers noticed a replica of an astronaut in a complete space suit
holding a Texas flag.  The two brothers approached the figure and exchanged
brief comments as they examined each part of the spacesuit.  It was obvious to
Spencer that the brothers had learned little about NASA’s man in space program
and the role Houston had played.  They were beginning to attract funny looks
from passing travelers.   Fearing any more unwanted attention, he quietly
reminded them that their flight had just been called and they needed to go
straight to their departure gate. 

The three eventually entered
the aircraft and found their seats.  It became apparent to Benton that the
brothers were again experiencing something new.  They exhibited the same mix of
apprehension and excitement seen in children taking their first flight.

Benton decided to engage them
in conversation to make all three of them less conspicuous. “We’ll first fly to
Paris, France, where we will change airplanes for a second flight to Lebanon. 
When we reach Beirut, we’ll visit a beautiful section of the city on a hill
that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.  It was established many years ago by
faithful Greek Orthodox Christians.  Some of their old churches can still be
seen.  Here are some pictures of that part of the city,” he said as he handed
Barry and Milford some pamphlets.  The two brothers occupied themselves by
looking at photographs while the aircraft filled with passengers.

“How long will it take for us
to get to the Holy Land?” asked Milford.

“About eight hours.  You can
sleep during the flight, and we will be given something to eat before we
arrive.”

After some obvious tension
during takeoff, the brothers settled into their seats and were soon asleep. 
The early morning trip to Houston had cut into their normal sleep period, one
that usually extended almost to lunch-time.  They slept through the first round
of drinks and snacks, but eventually awoke, earnestly, but quietly discussing
with each other whether either could make it to the Holy Land without a potty
break.

“I really gotta pee!” Barry
whispered to Milford.

“Me too,” replied Milford
looking as distressed as his brother.

Amused, Benton let this
conversation go on for a time before he pointed to the illuminated sign at the
front of the cabin and said, “There is a toilet in the front and some more in
the rear.  If the red x is not lit, you may use one.”

The two then took turns
visiting the toilet, returning with amused expressions having experienced these
“flying Porto-potties” for the first time.

When Milford finally returned
to his seat he asked Barry, “Did you see that tiny kitchen.  Those ladies are
fixing dinner right there in the front of the cabin!”

“I thought I smelt food, but
I couldn’t see no stove up there,” replied Barry. “Do you think we’ll get some
vittles?”

“It is approaching supper
time,” said Benton. “We will each have a hot meal when the flight attendants
bring them down the center aisle on a cart.”

From beginning to end, this
flight was a learning experience for the brothers and a continual source of quiet
amusement for Benton Spencer.  It helped him relax and rest.   Ahead would be a
busy and tension-filled week in Beirut carefully laying out plans for all the
coming attacks.

After a change of air carrier
in Paris, they finally arrived in Beirut at 3:00 in the morning, something that
Benton had failed to explain to the brothers, who were oblivious to the change
in time zones anyway.  Benton decided to skip a tutorial on world time zones,
but would eventually have to tell Barry and Milford how to reset their wrist
watches, and why it was necessary. 

They claimed their bags and
made their way through customs with no delays.  Because of the early morning
hour it took some time for them to find a cab, but eventually they made their
way into the eastern part of Beirut.

Spencer had made a
reservation for them at a convenient hotel near the Sassine Square in the
center of the Greek Orthodox area now called Achrafiea. After unpacking they
all bedded down for the remainder of the early morning.  As he drifted off to
sleep Benton ran through the coming week’s schedule of important meetings,
including a secret rendezvous at the top of Saint Nicholas’ staircase.

The following morning after a
Middle-Eastern breakfast of strong coffee, cheese, and fresh figs, Benton Spencer
took the two Smith brothers on a walking tour of Achrafiea.  The late morning
air rising from the Mediterranean was cool and filled with the aromas of onions
and garlic being browned in olive oil with hints of cumin and za’atar, as the
surrounding homes and restaurants began to prepare lamb and chicken dishes for
the daily meals.  They stopped to admire the nearby Saint Maroun Cathedral near
their hotel, as Spencer gave a detailed account of its history sounding like a
seasoned local tour guide.  Most of the surrounding buildings were newly
constructed high-rise offices and apartments, hiding the fact that this area
had been almost completely leveled by three decades of fighting.  Spencer said
nothing of this constant Middle Eastern conflict until he heard Barry exclaim
to Milford, “Look Milford, somebody shot at the side of that old building over
there!” pointing at one of the few remaining old structures.

“Yeah. I see where the
bullets chipped them bricks!”

“How do you two know those
are bullet holes?” asked Spencer.

“Because they look just like
them we made in the side of the old brick school in Boz,” replied Barry.

“You shot at the Boz
schoolhouse!?”

“Why not?  There weren’t
nobody around,” explained Milford.

Benton just shook his head
and rolled his eyes, thinking to himself,
what have I gotten myself into,
bringing these two along on this critical mission?
  He quickly continued
the tour, pointing out the on-going repairs of war damage, and finally stopped
at the foot of the Saint Nicholas Staircase. 

He first pointed out their
historical significance, watching to make sure no one was nearby, and then
motioned the two brothers to come closer to him.  Lowering his voice he said,
“I have a very important mission for you to carry out tonight.  Just before
midnight I will bring you to this spot.  You must climb the steps to the top
where you will find a man standing in the darkness holding a suitcase.  He is
expecting you and will say, ‘God is great’. This is a code.  You must answer,
‘Power and might are in your hand’.  He will then give you the suitcase to
bring down to me.”