[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
she succeeded in pushing from her mind. Soon, she told herself, she would be
dining at the banquet table of the King of kings.
Page 89
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Most gratifying was that she had fewer doubts and more assurance as the hours
passed. She had put all her eggs in this basket, she had always liked to say.
If she was wrong, she was wrong. If it was all a big story, she had bought it
in its entirety. But for her the days of questioning and misgivings were gone.
Chloe had seen too much, experienced too much. She had been shown, like
everyone else on the planet, that God was real, he was in control, he was the
archenemy of Antichrist, and in the end God would win.
Early on in her spiritual walk, Chloe had entertained a smugness, particularly
when people berated or derided her for her beliefs. She was too polite to
gloat, but she couldn't deny some private satisfaction in knowing that one day
she would be proved right.
But that attitude too had mercifully been taken from her. The more she learned
and the more she knew and the more she saw examples of other believers with
true compassion for the predicaments of lost people, the more
Chloe matured in her faith. That was manifest in a sorrow over people's souls,
a desperation that they see the truth and turn to Christ before it was too
late.
She didn't even know what to do with her feelings of love and concern and
sympathy for people who had already taken Carpathia's mark and were condemned
for eternity. They were beyond help and hope, and yet still she grieved for
them. Flashes of humanity in Florence, in Nigel, in Jesse, in Jock ...
what did those mean? She couldn't expect unbelievers to live like believers,
and so she was left without the option to judge them-only to love them. Yet it
was
hopeless now.
While Chloe couldn't understand how there could still be uncommitted people in
the world, she knew there were. Those were the ones she would try to reach
with whatever freedom God made the GC give her to make a last comment. How
someone could see all that had gone on during the last six years and not
realize that the only options were God or Satan-or worse, could know the
options and yet choose Satan-she could not fathom.
But no doubt this was true. Ming had told her of Muslims who were anti-
Carpathia because they were so devout in their own faith. Some practicing Jews
who did not believe in Jesus as Messiah also rejected Carpathia as god of this
world. George knew of militia types who refused to give allegiance to a
dictator yet had not trusted Christ for their salvation either.
Was it possible, after all this time, that there were still spiritually
uncommitted people who simply hadn't chosen yet? Chloe couldn't imagine, but
she knew it had to be true. Some simply chose to pursue their own goals, their
own lusts.
Chloe wondered about the others in Stateville who would die that morning.
Many would be bearers of Carpathia's mark, but surely many would not. Would
she, as the prize arrest, be last on the docket?
"Clarity, Lord," she said. "That's all I ask for. You have already promised
grace and strength. Just let my mind work better than it should under the
circumstances."
Mac dug through his luggage and found his wino outfit. No one cared to look
for the mark of Carpathia under the stocking cap of a smelly man down on his
luck. It had become the only ensemble Mac dared go out in during the day.
He found his scooter where he had left it in the underbrush near the airstrip
and rode to the outskirts of Al Basrah, chaining it securely before staggering
into town.
Mac was greeted only by real drunks. He acted as if he was just wandering, but
he was on a clear route. And when he got to within a block of his and Albie's
place, he ducked into an alley and found himself alone. He jogged the rest of
the way and started up the stairs when he heard voices. Mac stopped and sat on
the landing at the top of the stairs. Two men stood in front of his and
Albie's dingy rooms.
Page 90
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"You can't be in here, old man!" one of them shouted. "Get out."
Mac mumbled and let his head fall back, snoring.
The men laughed. "Anyway," one said quietly, "I'm guessing he'll come after
dark. Double-M wants him alive."
Mac recognized the nickname.
"I got two guys who can watch the entrance starting about an hour before
sundown. You're sure he wouldn't come earlier?"
"He's got no mark, man! Who would risk that?"
When the men moved on and Mac was sure the way was clear, he sprang to his
feet and unlocked his door. The place was empty. Not a lick of furniture.
None of their stuff. Now it just sat as a trap for him to return to.
Mac bounded down the stairs and ran back to his scooter, sped to the airstrip,
and headed for New Babylon. He had arranged with Otto that he bring his people
to the New Babylon airstrip. "Better to load up where no one can see us," he
said.
The thirty or so men and women in Otto's charge tried individually to thank
Mac, but he just smiled and kept moving them into the plane. He wasn't going
to feel at ease again until he was in Petra. Then, with a new identity
courtesy of
Zeke, he'd be ready for any caper Rayford could think of.
Otto was bouncing on the balls of his feet at the back of the crowd. "Once
you're on," Mac said, "we're off."
"Mac, we can't go yet."
"Why? What now?"
"She's dead."
"Who?"
"Krystall."
"What are you talking about?"
"Go see for yourself. After I was here this morning, I went back to our
underground place and helped get everybody ready to meet you. When we got
here, I told them to wait for you and that you would be the only person who
could see enough to land. I went to thank Krystall, and that's when I found
her."
"How do you know she's dead?"
"I'm not a doctor, sir, but there was a stench like someone had tossed
something in there. She was on the floor with the phone buzzing. I let it lie.
I
checked her pulse. Come see for yourself."
"Mr. Weser, we don't have time. If she's dead, she's dead, and I'm sorry.
And Rayford getting her mixed up in all this may have caused it. But there's
nothing I can do for her, and we might jeopardize this mission if you and I go
running off with all your people waiting on the plane."
"You think they were on to her? Sent somebody to kill her?"
"I don't know how they would do that if they couldn't see."
"I was thinking maybe they had someone who knew the palace come back and feel
his way up there, make sure she was there by talking to her, and then toss
poison gas or something in there."
"Could be. That explains why Rayford never heard from her. Did you let him
know?"
"I should have, shouldn't I? I didn't know what to do. I was so upset."
"Get aboard. I'll call Rayford."
Buck looked on as Rayford took a call from Mac and covered his eyes with a
hand. "What is it?" Buck said.
Rayford held up a finger to tell Buck to wait, and his knees buckled.
"What? Is Chloe already gone?"
"No, Buck," Rayford said, on his knees in the grass. "But she might as well
Page 91
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
be." He told him the news.
Buck sat and pulled his knees to his chest. "I can't believe I'm stuck here in
the middle of nowhere, waiting for my wife to die, not even knowing where she
is."
Rayford looked ashen. "We should get started for Petra."
"But what if someone-"
"No one who knows is going to tell us, Buck. It's time to give it up."
"Give up, you mean."
"Yes, Buck," Rayford said, standing, emotion in his voice. "I have given up.
She's in God's hands now. If he chooses to spare her somehow, he's apparently
decided to do it without our help."
As Rayford boarded, Buck stood and spread his palms on the fuselage of the
aircraft, his head hanging. "Chloe," he rasped, "wherever you are, I love
you."
After a long night of praying, Chloe actually drifted off. She was awakened,
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]