Space Knights: The Arrival by Gregory Samuelson (buy e reader .TXT) 📕

After they had completed their preflight checks the crew waited for the next stage in the preflight process. Minutes passed and then they were given the signal that they were to begin. They activated a small engine that would power them along the ground to their destination, a gigantic building a mile away. They directed the ship to get in line to head toward the building. It seemed like hours before they reached the entrance to the building, but at last they entered and waited to proceed.

A large group of techs carefully attached massive belts that hung from a huge crane and the ship was lifted up into the air far enough so that the booster system could fit beneath it. The crew was then instructed to raise the landing gear. They did and a few minutes later they heard something very large being placed under them. They knew that they were about to be attached to the booster system that would launch them into space and start them on their journey. The process of attaching the escape ship to the boosters was very meticulous. The crew heard numerous metals on metal noises as the connecters were fastened. Finally they were informed that they were attached and were now going to be moved to the next stage.

While the crew waited one of the men took a short nap. At last the signal was given that they were ready to start. They felt themselves move to their launch platform, ready to be placed in launch position. Suddenly the crew felt and saw the ship being slowly tilted to stand on its tail. Soon the crew found themselves facing the massive building’s ceiling.

Now the platform with the ship and its boosters was very slowly being moved to their designated launch pad. It was starting to get dark, evening was approaching, and the crew kept checking their readout screens, making sure everything was as it should be. They knew that there were yet more ships that needed to enter that building and have their boosters attached. Three and a half hours later they were at their pad and the crew made one last thorough check before they went to sleep and waited for the next morning and the coming launch.

The next day dawned and it would be a day nobody on Earth or in the escape ships would ever forget. Although the day began normally enough, no one was prepared for the events that were to transpire.

At exactly six o’clock Eastern standard time the crew of the Sparrow XIV were awakened and informed that they were to have their breakfast and start their main preflight checks, and that the official countdown for the first ship, Eagle I, was starting. The crew retrieved their breakfast packs and ate. They eyed the clock nervously as the minutes seemed to pass very slowly to six-thirty. Every minute seemed to take five to pass, but eventually they heard the announcement that there were five minutes left before Eagle I would launch. Then two minutes were left, then one, and then the final countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5… The anticipation in the cockpit of the Sparrow XIV was as thick as it was all around the world as the last few seconds ticked off: 4, 3, 2, and with a yell of triumph, 1. As Eagle I took off and the journey began the departure was broadcast worldwide and in all the other ships on the ground.

All the planning that had taken place seemed to be working. Yet three events were unexpectedly about to unfold. Time passed and the second ship blasted off followed by the third, each ship taking off precisely every fifteen minutes. Great cheers went up as each ship took off and the crew of the next ship got more anxious for their turn to take off.

Hour after hour passed as hundreds of ships from the United States and all over the world launched, and soon it would be time for the Sparrow XIV to launch. Gradually each Sparrow would launch, and the crew of the Sparrow XIV had long finished their final checks. They were ever so ready to take off. Then it was their time. They made sure they were completely fastened in their seats and their helmets were on correctly and watched their launch approach.

The last ten seconds ticked by, and they waited with practiced calm, as the first boosters were about to take them into space. 2, 1, Kavoom! The boosters roared violently and the ship shuddered a few moments before blasting off toward the stars and starting their journey, and that’s when the unexpected happened.

As the Sparrow XIV left the Earth, several groups of Karlonis Moberly’s men attempted to take over a number of nuclear missile sites in central Europe and some nukes were actually launched. The result was that other countries around the world with nuclear capabilities launched their missiles in retaliation and soon there were both escape ships and nuclear weapons flying around the world.

Yet unknown to those that had fired the missiles, the vast majority of them had been targeted to the approaching planet. In all the chaos that followed all of the escape ships and missiles launching a figure from Heaven approached and the last prophecies of the Bible started to take place and move toward fulfillment. Millions of people rose to join the figure from Heaven, and many even rose and left the escape ships to join him. There was then such chaos on Earth that nobody knew what to do. The way was clear for Karlonis Moberly to take over the world as the Anti Christ, and he would be as evil as the Bible said he would be. But nobody left on the escape ships in the deep sleep chambers would ever know what was happening back on Earth.

The crews on the ships worked frantically to make