October l8 , 20l3 Then He said to Thomas , Put your finger here ; see My hands . Reach out your hand and put it into My side . Stop doubting and believe . John 20:27 Nicolae Chapter 2 Part ll As the Learjet made its initial descent into the Dallas/Ft. Worth area , Fortunato ducked into the cockpit and knelt between Hernandez and Rayford . Each slipped the headphone off the ear closest to Carpathias aide . Anybody hungry ? he said . Rayford hadnt even thought of food . For all he knew , the world was blowing itself to bits and no one would survive this war . The very mention of hunger , however , triggered something in him . He realized he was famished . He knew Amanda would be as well . She was a light eater , and he often had to make sure she remembered to eat . I could eat , Hernandez said . In fact , I could eat a lot . Potentate Carpathia would like you to contact DFW tower and have something nice waiting for us. Hernandez suddenly looked panicky . What do you think he means by something nice? Im sure youll arrange for something appropriate , Captain Hernandez . Fortunato backed out of the cockpit and Hernandez rolled his eyes at Rayford . DFW tower , this is Global Community Three , over . Rayford glanced back as Fortunato took his seat . Carpathia had swung around and was in deep conversation with Amanda _______________________ Chloe worked with Loretta in fashioning a terse , two-sentence statement that was sent out by phone to the six names at the top of the prayer chain list . Each would call others who would call others , and the news would quickly spread throughout the New Hope body . Meanwhile , Buck recorded a brief message on the answering machine that simply said : The tragic news of Pastor Bruces death is true . Elder Rayford Steele saw him and believed he may have died before any explosives hit the hospital . Please do not come to the church , as there will be no meetings or services or further announcements until Sunday at the regular time . Buck turned the ringer off on the phone and directed all calls to the answering machine , which soon began clicking every few minutes , as more and more parishioners called in for confirmation . Buck knew Sunday mornings meeting would be packed . Chloe agreed to follow Loretta home and make sure she was all right while Buck was calling Donny Moore .Donny , Buck said , I need your advice , and I need it right away . Mr. Williams , sir , came Donnys characteristic staccato delivery , advice is my middle name And as you know I work at home , so I can come to you or you can come to me and we can talk whenever you want . Donny , Im not mobile right now , so if you could find your way clear to visiting me at the church , Id sure appreciate it . Ill be right over , Mr. Williams , but could you tell me something first ? Did Loretta have the phones off the hook there for a while ? Yes , I believe she did . She didnt have answers for people who were calling about Pastor Bruce . With nothing to tell people , she just turned off the phones . Thats a relief , Donny said . I just got her set up with a new system a few weeks ago , so I hope nothing was wrong . How is Bruce , by the way ? Ill tell you all about that when you get here , Donny , OK ? _______________________ Rayford saw billowing black clouds over the Dallas/ Ft. Worth commercial airport and thought of the many times he had landed big craft on those long runways . How long would it take to rebuild here ? Captain Hernandez guided the Learjet to a nearby military strip , the one Rayford had visited so recently . He saw no other aircraft on the ground . Clearly , someone had moved all the planes to keep the strip from being a target . Hernandez landed the Learjet as smoothly as man can land a plane that small , and immediately taxied to the end of the runway and directly into a large hangar . Rayford was surprised that , indeed , the rest of the hangar was empty too . Hernandez shut down the engines , and they deplaned . As soon as Carpathia had room , he put back on his disguise . He whispered something to Fortunato , who asked Hernandez where they would find the food . Hangar three , Hernandez said . Were in Hangar one . The plane is in hangar four . The disguise proved unnecessary . There was not much space between the hangars and the small contingent moved quickly into and out of small doors at the sides of the buildings . Hangers two and three were also empty , except for a table piled with catered lunches near the side door that led to hangar four . They approached the tables , and Carpathia turned to Rayford . Say good-bye to Captain Hernandez , he said . After he has eaten , he will be on assignment for me near the old National Security Agency building in Maryland . It is unlikely you will see him again . He flies only the small craft . It was all Rayford could do to keep from shrugging . What did he care ? He had just met the man . Why was it so important for Carpathia to keep him updated on personnel ?He had not told Rayford of Earl Hallidays involvement in helping design a new plane . He had not told Rayford that he expected to need a new plane . He had not even sought Rayfords input about the plane he would be flying , Rayford would never understand the man . Rayford ate ravenously and tried to encourage Amanda to eat more than usual . She did not . As the group made its last move between hangars , Rayford heard the characteristic whine of the Learjet and realized Hernandez was already airborne Interestingly , Fortunato disappeared soon after they entered hangar four . There standing at attention in a neat row , were four of the ten international ambassadors who represented huge land masses and populations and reported directly to Carpathia . Rayford had no idea where they had been or how they had gotten here . All he knew was that it was job to get them all to New Babylon for emergency meetings in light of the outbreak of World War lll . At the end of the row was Earl Halliday , standing stiffly and staring straight ahead . Carpathia shook hands with each of the four ambassadors in turn and ignored Halliday , who seemed to expect that . Rayford walked directly to Halliday and stuck out his hand . Halliday ignored it and spoke under his breath . Get away from me , Steele , you scum ! Earl ! I mean t Rayford . I have to bring you up to speed on this plane , but I dont have to pretend to like it . Rayford backed away , feeling awkward , and joined Amanda , who had been left alone and looked out of place herself . Rayford , what in the world is Earl doing here ? she asked . Ill tell you later . Hes not happy , I can tell you that . What was Carpathia talking to you about on the plane ? He wanted to know what I wanted to eat , of all things . That man ! Two aides from New Babylon entered and greeted Carpathia with embraces . One motioned for Earl and Rayford to join him in a corner of the hanger as far from the Condor 2l6 as they could get . Rayford had purposely avoided staring at the monstrous aircraft . Though it sat facing the door that would open to the runway and was more than l50 feet from where they stood , still the condor seemed to dominate the hangar . Rayford had known from a glance that here was a plane that had been in development for years , not just months . It was clearly the biggest passenger plane he had ever seen , and it was painted such a brilliant white that it seemed to disappear against the light walls in the dimly lit hangar . He could only imagine how difficult it would be to spot in the sky . Carpathias aide , dressed just like Carpathia in a natty black suit , white shirt , and bloodred tie with a gold stickpin ,leaned in close to Rayford and Earl and spoke earnestly . Potentate Carpathia would like to be airborne as soon as possible . Can you give us an estimated time of departure ? Ive never even seen this plane , Rayford said , and I have no idea-- Rayford , Earl interrupted . Im telling you , you can fly this plane within half an hour . I know you ; I know planes . So trust me . Well , thats interesting , Earl , but I wont make any promises until Ive put through the paces . The Carpathia want to be turned to Halliday . Are you available to fly this plane , at least until Steel here feels hes-- No sir , I am not ! Halliday said . Just let me have Steele for thirty minutes and then let me get back to Chicago . _______________________ Donny Moore proved more of a talker than Buck appreciated , but he decided feigning interest was a small price for the mans expertise . So , youre a phone systems guy , but you sell computers-- One the side , right , yes sir . Just about double my income that way . Got a trunk full of catalogs , you know . Id like to see those , Buck said . Donny grinned . I thought you might . He opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack , apparently one of each of the manufacturers he represented . He spread six out before Buck on the coffee table . Whoa , Buck said , I can see already there are going to be too many choices . Why dont you just tell me if you can deliver ? I can tell you right now I can deliver , Donny said . Last week I sold a guy thirty sub-notebooks with more power than any desktop anywhere , and-- Excuse me a moment , Donny , Buck said . Did you hear that printer quit ? I sure did . It just stopped now . Its either out of paper , out of ink , or done whatever it was doing . I sold that machine to Bruce , you know . Top of the line . Prints regular paper , continuous feed-- whatever you need . Let me just check on it , Buck said . He rose and peeked into the inner office . The screen on Bruces laptop had already suspended itself . No warning lights on the printer told of shortages of ink of paper . Buck pushed a button on the laptop and the screen came alive . It indicated the print job was finally over . Buck guessed there were about a hundred pages left from the five-thousand-page box Loretta had run through the printer . What a treasure . Buck thought . Whens Bruce gonna be back here ? Buck herd Donny ask from the other room . _______________________ Rayford and Earl boarded the Condor alone . Earl held a finger to his lips and Rayford assumed he was looking for bugs . He checked the intercom system thoroughly before speaking . You never know . he said . Tell me about it , Rayford said . You tell me about it , Rayford ! Earl , Im much more in the dark than you are . I didnt even know you were involved in this project . I had no idea you were working for Carpathia . You knew I was , so why didnt you tell me ? Im not working for Carpathia , Rayford . I was pressed into service . Im still a Pan-Con chief as OHare , but when duty calls-- Why didnt Carpathia tell me he was aware of you ? Rayford asked . He asked me to find somebody to fly Global Community One into New York . He didnt know I would choose You , He must have , Earl said . Who else would you pick ? I was asked to help design this new plane , and I thought it would be fun just to test it a little bit . Then I get asked to fly the original plane to New York . Since the request came from you , I was flattered and honored . It was only when I got on the ground and realized the plane and I were targets that I got out of New York and headed back to Chicago as fast as I could . I never got there . I got word from Carpathias people while I was in the air that I was needed in Dallas to brief you on this plane . Im lost , Rayford said . Well , I dont know much either , Earl said . But its clear Carpathia wanted my going to New York and winding up dead to look like your decision , not his . Why would he want you dead ? Maybe I know to much . I have been flying him all over the place , Rayford said . I have to know more than you , and yet I dont sense hes thinking about doing me in . Just watch your back , Rayford . Ive heard enough to know this is not all what it seems to be and that this man does not have the worlds beat interests at heart . Theres the understatement of the ages , Rayford thought . I dont know how you got me into this , Rayford , but-- I got you into this ? Earl , you have a short memory . Youre the one who encouraged me to become the pilot of Air force One. I wasnt looking for that job , and I certainly never dreamed it would turn into this . Piloting Air Force One was a plum assignment . Earl said , whether you recognized that at the time or not . How was I to know what would come of it ? Lets stop blaming each other and decide what were supposed to do now . Im going to bring you up to speed on this plane , but then I think Im a dead man . Would you tell my wife that-- Earl , what are you talking about ? Why do you think you wont make it back to Chicago ? I have no idea , Ray . All I know is that I was suppose to be in New York with that plane when it got obliterated . I dont see myself as any threat to the Carpathia administration , but if they cared a whit about me , they would have gotten me out of New York before I had the idea Id better get out of there . Cant you get yourself some sort of emergency assignment at DFW ? There has to be a huge need for Pan-Con personnel over there , in light of everything . Carpathias people have arranged a ride back to Chicago for me . I just have this feeling Im not safe . Tell them you dont want to put them out . Tell them youve got plenty of work to do at DFW . Ill try . Meanwhile , let me show you this rig . And Ray , as an old friend , I want you to promise me that if anything does happen to me-- Nothing is going to happen to you , Earl . But of course Ill keep in touch with your wife either way . _______________________ Donny Moore fell silent at the tragic news . He sat staring , eyes wide , seemingly unable to form words . Buck busied himself leafing through the catalogs . He couldnt concentrate . He knew there would be more questions . He didnt know what to tell Donny . And he needed this mans help . Donnys voice came hoarse with emotion . Whats going to happen to this church ? I know this sounds like a cliché , Buck said , but I believe God will provide . How will God provide anybody like Pastor Bruce ? I know what you mean , Donny . Whoever it is wont be another Pastor Bruce . He was unique . Im still having trouble believing it , Donny said . But I dont guess anything should surprise me anymore . _______________________ Rayford sat behind the controls of the Condor 2l6 . What am I supposed to do for a first officer ? he asked Earl . Theyve got somebody on his way over from one of the other airlines . Hell fly with you as far as San Francisco , where McCullum will join you . McCullum ? He copiloted for me from New Babylon to Washington , Earl . When I went to Chicago , he was suppose to go back to Iraq . I only know what Im told , Rayford . And why are we flying west to go east , as Carpathia says ? I have no idea whats going on here , Rayford . Im new to this . Maybe you know better than I do . The fact is , most of the war and devastation seems be east of the Mississippi . Have you noticed that ? Its almost as if it was planned . This plane was designed and built here in Dallas , but not at DFW where it might have been destroyed . Its ready for you just when you need it . As you can see it has the controls of a 777 and yet its a much bigger plane . If you can fly a seventy-seven , you can fly this . You just need to get used to the size of it . The people you need are where you need them when you need them . Figure it out boy . None of this seems a surprise to Carpathia , does it ? Rayford had no idea what to say . It didnt take long to catch on . Halliday continued , Youll fly straight line from Dallas to San Francisco , and my guess is you wont see any devastation from the air , and you wont be threatened from attack heading that way either . There might be militia people somewhere out west who would like to shoot rockets at Carpathia , but there are precious few people who know hes heading that way . Youll stop in San Francisco just long enough to get rid of the copilot and pick up your usual one . _______________________ Buck touched Donnys arm , as if rousing him from sleep . Donny looked at him blankly . Mr. Williams , this has all been hard enough even with Pastor Bruce here . I dont know what were going to do now . Donny , Buck said gravely ,you have an opportunity here to do something for God , and its the greatest memorial tribute you could ever give to Bruce Barnes . Well then , sir , whatever it is , I want to do it . First , Donny , let me assure you that money is no object . I dont want any profit off something that will help the church , God and Bruces memory . Fine , whatever profit you build in or dont build in is up to you . Im just telling you that I need five of the absolute best , top-of-the-line computers , as small and compact as they can be , but with as much power , memory , speed and communications ability as you can wire into them . Youre talking my language , Mr. Williams . I hope so , Donny , because I want a computer with virtually no limitations . I want to be able to take it anywhere , keep it reasonably concealed , store everything I want on it , and most of all be able to connect with anyone anywhere without the transmission being traced . Is that doable ? Well Sir , I can put together something for you like those computers that scientists use in the jungle or in the desert when theres no place to plug in or hook up to . Yeah , Buck said . Some of our reporters use those in remote areas . What do they have , built-in satellite dishes ? Believe it or not , it is something like that . And I can add another feature for you , too . Whats that ? Videoconferencing . I want all of it , Donny . And I want it fast . And I need you to keep this confidential . Buck thought money would be no object , but this was one expense he could not lay off on Carpathia .
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 13:23:43 +0000
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