As the orchestra played the dirge, weeping broke out among the crowd until great sobs filled the courtyard. The Global Community vocal band filed in, singing praises to Nicolae. Eventually a troupe of dancers, who seemed to move in slow motion and show remarkable balance, emoted with the music and the mournful groaning of the audience. As they performed, the VIPs filed in to subdued but sustained applause.
David finally made his way to the seat next to Mr. Wong, who gazed beatifically at the stage, tears streaming, both hands clutching his heart. David shaded his eyes and wondered if he himself was prepared to sit in this kind of heat for two hours. They were stage left with a clear view of the podium and coffin, about thirty feet away.
When the music finally ended, orchestra, singers, and dancers moved out and Fortunato and the ten potentates, grim-faced, moved into position one row up and behind the bier. One more joined the three armed guards who had stood behind it, and they moved two to each end of the casket.
The great screens and monitors showed a montage of Carpathia’s life, beginning with his fifth birthday party in Romania, hugging his aunt at high school graduation while holding some sort of trophy in each hand, being presented an award in college, winning an election in Romania, taking office as president there, speaking at the United Nations three and a half years before, and presiding over various major functions after that. The music that accompanied the visuals was poignant and triumphant, and people began to clap and cheer.
They reached fever pitch when Nicolae was shown announcing the new name of the one-world government, cutting the ribbon on the majestic palace, and welcoming people to the Gala just the week before in Jerusalem. Now fighter jets screamed in from the east and rumbled low over the event as the montage showed Carpathia mocking and challenging the two witnesses at the Wailing Wall. The crowd shouted and screamed with glee as he shot them dead. Of course, the show did not include their resurrections, which had been denounced as a myth.
The crowd fell silent as the jets swept out of earshot and the music again turned melancholy. The screens showed Carpathia back at the Gala, beginning with a long shot that showed much of the devastation from the earthquake. As the camera zoomed in on Nicolae, it changed to slow motion as he responded to the welcome of the crowd, introduced Chaim Rosenzweig, and joked with the potentates. Gasps and moans greeted the super-slow-motion replay of his turning away from a white puff of smoke in the crowd, tumbling over Dr. Rosenzweig, and lying there as the crowds fled.
The montage showed Nicolae being loaded onto a helicopter, GC logo emblazoned on the side, and here artistic license came into play. The screens showed the chopper lifting off from the stage, banking left between scaffolds and past great banks of lights, and almost disappearing into the darkness. The aircraft seemed to fly higher and higher until it pushed past the clouds and into the vastness of space.
Higher and higher it went, to the delight of the largest live crowd ever assembled, until the helicopter itself seemed to fade. Now all they saw on the big screens were space and a large image taking shape. The fighter jets returned, but no one watched. They just listened and watched as the screen morphed into the image of a man wide as the heavens. Standing in midair among the planets in dramatic dark suit, white shirt, and power tie, feet spread, arms folded across his chest, teeth gleaming, eyes flashing and confident, was Nicolae Carpathia, gazing lovingly down on the faithful.
The image froze under Nicolae’s benevolent gaze, and the roar from the crowd was deafening. All stood and wildly cheered and clapped and whistled. David had to stand to avoid being conspicuous, and while he clasped his hands in front of him he glanced at Ming and Chang, who stood stone-faced, Chang with a tear rolling. David realized that no one was watching anyone else anyway, so complete was the devotion to Carpathia.
The symbolism could not be lost on anyone. He may have been murdered. He may be dead. But Nicolae Carpathia is alive in our hearts, and he is divine, and he is in heaven watching over us.
When finally the image disappeared and the music faded, Leon Fortunato stood at the lectern, his emotion-gripped face filling the screen. As Leon spread his notes before him, David noticed he was wearing a resplendent dark suit, white shirt, and power tie. It didn’t work as well for poor Leon, but he apparently assumed his succession to the throne of the world, and he was giving the look all he had.
“I want to know if it was Hattie who gave us away,” Chloe said as the Egyptian jet came into view.
“We can’t know that,” Rayford said, “unless she tells us. We can’t contact her, remember? It’s a one-way street right now.”
Once the jet touched down, the light in the tower went off and a fat, older man came chugging down the stairs and out the door. Here was a guy with a job to do, and he was going to do it. “You’re here to pick up GC personnel, am I right?” he hollered.
“Affirmative,” Rayford said.
“Your number match mine? Zero-nine-two-three-four-nine?”
“Absolutely,” Rayford said.
“Stay put, please. The airport is officially closed, and I must get the jet hangared and these people accommodated with dispatch.”
He hurried off to the edge of the runway and went through a series of gyrations with his clipboard that would have been more effective with a flashlight as he tried to guide Albie toward the hangars.
This amused Rayford, who figured Albie had hangared as many small craft as anyone alive, and he watched as the jet steered a course straight at the tower man. He ran off the runway as the craft whined past and finished his signals with a flourish as if Albie had done precisely what he asked.
As the man ran to be sure the plane got into the hangar, Chloe shot past him. Rayford headed that way too as Leah waited by the car. It didn’t take Rayford long to overtake the man, who clearly hadn’t run around like this in ages.
The door of the plane, which was parked next to the Gulfstream, popped open, and Albie was the first one off. Rayford couldn’t believe it. Albie had a presence, a strut. He looked a foot taller. Carrying his big leather bag, he pointed at the man and said, “You in charge here?”
“Yes, I—”
“Zero-nine-two-three-four-nine, GC, Deputy Commander Marcus Elbaz, requesting service as arranged.”
“Yes, sir, Mr., er, Captain, Commander Deputy Commander, sir.”
Albie said, “These people are with me. Let them help with my passengers. Refuel the plane overnight, check?”
“Oh, yes, check, sir.”
“Now where can I change clothes?”
As the man pointed to a dark office at the end of the hangar, Chloe met Buck coming off the plane. “Careful, babe, careful,” he said, as she wrapped her arms around him.
“Let’s go, Buck,” she said. “We’ve got to get to Kenny.”
“Aliases,” he whispered. “Help with Dr. Rogoff. He’s had surgery.”
Rayford climbed aboard to help with Chaim, who grinned stupidly at everyone and kept pointing to his forehead. “Welcome to the family, Doctor,” Rayford said, and Chaim’s grin turned to a grimace as he put weight on sore limbs and was helped off the plane.
Rayford noticed that everyone was on edge with the tower man around, but that was quickly taken care of when Albie emerged in uniform. Amazing.
“We’re all set then, are we, sir?” Albie said.
“All set. I’ll secure the door. We’re not expecting any more air traffic tonight. I stay on the grounds, so I’ll personally be responsible for the security of your aircraft.”
“Both of them. The Gulfstream is ours too.”
“Oh, I was unaware of that. No problem.”
“Thanks on behalf of the Global Community. Now we have to go.”
Leah had driven the Land Rover across the runway and into the hangar. She stayed behind the wheel while Rayford got in behind her and pulled Chaim in from the other side as Albie pushed. Chaim was plainly in agony as he slid across the seat, but once in and supported on both sides, he laid his head bac
k.
Chloe sat next to Leah in the front with Buck on her right. As Leah backed up to pull out of the hangar, Chloe put her arm around her. “Thanks for bringing the car over. And forgive me.”
“It’s all right, Chloe,” Leah said. “Just tell me you didn’t get the potassium chloride idea from any of my texts.”
“I did, but right now I’m glad I know Tsion would never hurt Kenny.”
Leah sped back the way she had come and headed for the exit. Rayford turned to see the tower man securing the hangar door, and as they reached the road, the runway lights went out.
“OK,” Albie said, “we need to get a few things out of the way first. Madam driver?”
“Leah, sir.”
“Yes, ma’am, could you turn on the overhead light back here?”
Leah fumbled for it, and Buck reached to flip the switch. Albie took off his uniform cap and turned toward Rayford. “With little time to talk, just look, Captain.” Rayford stared and blinked. The mark. “Don’t say anything right now,” Albie said. “There’s too much to do. You can turn the light off. All right, next order of business. Captain Steele, will you surrender command to me, just for tonight?”
“You have a plan?”
“Of course.”
“Carry on.”
“How far are we from the safe house?”
“Less than half an hour.”
“All right. Here’s the plan.”
CHAPTER 18
David was struck by the fact that Leon, for all his sanctimony, seemed genuinely moved. No doubt he revered Carpathia and was more than the typical sycophant. Clearly he was jockeying for position as new supreme potentate, but here also was a man who grieved the loss of his friend and mentor and champion. And while he did not have the polish, the panache, the charisma of his predecessor, Leon knew how to milk the moment.
“If you’ll all be seated, please,” he began, his voice so thick with emotion that thousands seemed to involuntarily cover their mouths to contain their own crying. David, his own uniform heavy with sweat, lifted one foot to cross his legs and felt the stickiness on the ground. The heat had made his rubber soles tacky.
Fortunato made a show of collecting himself and smoothing his notes with meaty hands. “Nicolae Jetty Carpathia,” he began in just above a whisper, “excuse me.” He wiped a hand across his mouth. “I can do this. I will do this, with your patience. Nicolae Carpathia was born thirty-six years ago, the only child of two only children, in a tiny hospital in the town of Roman, Romania, in the eastern foothills of the Moldavian Carpathian Mountains, a little more than two hundred kilometers north and slightly east of Bucharest.”
Fortunato paused again to clear his throat. “The young Nicolae was a precocious and extremely bright child with avid interests in athletics and academics, primarily languages, history, and science. Before the age of twelve he won his first election as president of the Young Humanists. He was a stellar high school student, a celebrated debater and speaker, and valedictorian, repeating that honor at university.
“Mr. Carpathia excelled as an entrepreneur and began public service early, becoming a member of Romania’s Lower Parliament before age twenty-five. His devotion to pacifism brought both criticism and praise and became the hallmark of his life’s work.
“Mr. Carpathia once told me that he believed the zenith of his career, even after being swept in as president of Romania as a young man at the behest of his predecessor, was his invitation to address the United Nations some three and a half years ago.
“Honored beyond expression, the young head of state worked hard on his presentation, outlining the history of the UN, employing every one of its languages, and memorizing his speech in its entirety. Little did he know that just prior to his appearance at the General Assembly, the earth would suffer its greatest calamity, the tragedy we all know now as the day of the vanishings.
“Stripped of our children and babies—” Fortunato paused again—“and countless friends and relatives and neighbors, the world family grieved as one. We were not aware then of the truth that only a man such as Nicolae Carpathia could bring to light: that the phenomenon that brought such bereavement was preventable, one rooted in our war technology. All we knew when the Romanian president stepped to the podium at the United Nations was that we were terrified to the point of immobility. Despairing of the future, regretting the past, we prayed in our own ways to our own gods for someone to take us by the hand and lead us through the minefields of our own making and into the blessedness of hope.
“How could we have known that our prayers would be answered by one who would prove his own divinity over and over as he humbly, selflessly served, giving of himself even to the point of death to show us the way to healing?”
The crowd could not contain itself and burst into applause. Several times Leon held up a hand, but they would not be silenced. Applause turned to cheering, and then they rose, sector by sector, until again everyone was standing, clapping, cheering, mourning their slain leader.
David was nauseated.
“Give me the rough layout of the safe house,” Albie said, “where it stands, what’s around it, any other buildings, roads in and out.”
“I don’t know if you have anything similar in your country, Albie,” Rayford said. “But picture a subdivision, a housing development maybe thirty years old that has been tossed into a blender. The roads were ripped up and twisted out of the ground, and so many of the homes and businesses in that area were demolished that after rescue efforts, the area was abandoned. Best we can determine, no one lives within three miles of the place. We took over half of a badly damaged duplex, two homes in one. We expanded a cellar to make an underground hiding place, which we didn’t need—at least that we knew of—until now. We rigged our own makeshift well and solar power plant, and took various routes to the place that made it look as if we could have been headed anywhere.”
“What else is on the property?”
“About fifty paces from the back door is a barnlike garage that originally served both halves of the duplex. We hid our vehicles in there. We are now down to one, and this is it, so the garage is empty.”
“And the other half of the residence?”
“Empty.”
“Other dwellings in the area?”
“Pretty much piles of rubble that have never been hauled away.”
“What hides you?”
“Besides that no one comes to that area except by mistake, there are mature trees and lots of open fields beyond our place.”
“And the usual route from the airstrip takes you into the area from what direction?”
“We use various routes to keep from attracting attention, almost always travel by night, but usually find ourselves coming in from the south.”
“Miss Leah,” Albie said, “if you find an inconspicuous place to stop, please do.” Away from paved roads already, Leah pulled into a shallow gully between two small groves of trees. “Thank you. Now, Captain Steele, your best guess of how the GC would approach the house, if they wanted to surprise.”
Rayford searched for a scrap of paper and drew an aerial view of the place. “They’d come through the trees at the north,” he said. “Buck, what do you think?”
Buck studied the schematic, then showed it to Chloe and Leah. They all nodded.
“All right, Leah,” Albie said. “Come in from the south as usual. As far away from the safe house as you can, drive without lights. Stop about half a kilometer away, ideally where you can see the safe house but someone there would not likely see you.”
“Half a kilometer?” Leah said.
“About three-tenths of a mile,” Chloe said. “There’s a little rise about that far away, isn’t there, Dad? Just past where we turn to head toward Des Plaines?”
“Yeah, and we notice it because the rest of the whole area is so flat.”
“Let’s get there quickly,” Albie said. “Lights off as soon as you’re confident.”
As Fortunato h
eld forth, alternately bringing the masses to their feet and making them weep, David surreptitiously pulled his binoculars from a side pocket. Leaning forward, elbows on knees, he trained the glasses on the great crowds seated just past the courtyard. He found the placard that read Sector 53 and carefully panned, looking for Annie. At first he didn’t see her but was then intrigued to see a pair of binoculars pointed his direction. Despite hands and glasses covering her face, he could tell it was Annie.
They stared at each other through the lenses, then tentatively waved with just their fingers. David, with his hand still on the binoculars, held up one finger, then four, then three. She mirrored the message, their code for the number of letters in each word: I love you.
“I shall have some closing remarks as well,” Leon said, winding down. “But I want to give your representatives from every global region the opportunity to express their thoughts before interment in the palace mausoleum. We’ve requested these be kept brief due to the weather, but we also want these potentates to speak from their hearts. First, from the United Russian States, Dr. Viktor . . .”
“Captain Steele,” Albie said, “call Tsion and tell him who I am so I may speak to him without his suspicion.”
Tsion answered on the first tone. “Tsion, it’s me. We’re within a half mile of you. Are you OK?”
“So far. Kenny is asleep. I’m packed and ready to go and feeling claustrophobic. I want out of this place.”
“Tsion, I’m giving the phone to my dear friend and new believer, Albie. You’ve heard me mention him before.”
“Yes! And he is one of us now?”
“Thanks to your teaching, which we can discuss later. He is using the name Marcus Elbaz and posing as a Global Community Peacekeeping deputy commander.”