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Chapter Twenty-Nine--Two Witnesses

Chaim broke down when he was safely inside his room, but his grief was matched by a feeling of triumph. He had passed a test by not letting his emotions come in the way of what had just transpired. He knew that it was what had been required of him.

Someone would discover the body by morning, and even with the gun in her hand, an autopsy would show that Sheree had died from the lightning bolt and not from foul play. There would be no link to himself.

The next morning, Wednesday, Chaim went off to work again as usual, though he detoured around the local park on the way. At the library, he started by reading the newspaper.

Huge headlines announced the death of Xu Dangchao, shot in the head and in the heart by a crazed assassin in Jerusalem. It had happened late on Monday, Israeli time (Tuesday morning, Sydney time), which was why Chaim had not seen anything in the papers the previous day. Dangchao had been inspecting a huge statue in front of the Cathedral of the Divine Creation -- an achitectural twin for the Jewish Temple, located at the opposite end of the Temple Mount -- when the attack took place.

Chaim was not surprised by the news. It was what he and Rayford had been expecting. The media was filled with expressions of shock and praise from national leaders around the globe, who were freely lauding Dangchao as the greatest statesman the world had ever known.

Later that morning, an article by Rayford dropped into Chaim's inbox. It declared to the whole world that Dangchao was not really dead, that he would be revived, and that when it happened, people should understand that the body of Dangchao was inhabited by the devil himself. Rayford planned to post it on his website after approval from Chaim. In it, he predicted that Dangchao would desecrate the new Temple in Jerusalem, turning it into a palace for himself, where people could come and worship him. These were amazing predictions, but the two agreed on their accuracy, and after a few suggestions for minor changes, Chaim sent the article back to Rayford (and copies to the six judges). He then posted it on his own website.

Queries flowed in from the tribal judges about the news, and Chaim was busy responding to mail for the rest of the day. He said nothing to anyone about what had happened to Sheree.

Even before he reached the library on Thursday morning, Chaim overheard people outside shops talking loudly about the miraculous overnight resurrection of Secretary General Xu Dangchao. Some reports said that it had been a mistake that he was reported dead in the first place, while others said a miracle had, in fact, taken place. Either way, the world was rejoicing that they had their saviour back. At the library Chaim read further and learned that Dangchao had decided that the only place safe enough for the world's greatest leader would be the new Temple in Jerusalem. "Temporary" offices would be set up there for him and other U.N. leaders. The entire city would be placed under United Nations control.

Then, later in the day, an urgent email arrived from Rayford. It said:

I suggest you urgently sever links with your ISP. Our site seems to be secure. You can have mail forwarded through it. Neville (my assistant) will provide you with details.

Also, I must know whether you have had any experiences with fireworks happening when you speak. I mean literally. If you are who I think you are, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Chaim replied immediately:

Yes, I have. So where do we go from here?

What Rayford was referring to was something that Chaim had been thinking about ever since the incident in the cave.

Bible prophecy spoke of two "witnesses" during the final three and a half years before Jesus returns. They would be given super-natural powers, including power to call down fire from heaven on anyone who opposed them. It was common for some mental patients to imagine themselves to be one of the Two Witnesses; but it appeared that Chaim (and he assumed Rayford) had the fire-making credentials that the others lacked. If so, it would be a huge responsibility for them to use their power wisely and graciously... if there really is such a thing as a gracious thunderbolt.

The irony of a lifelong pacifist being given a job as God's executioner did not escape Chaim. Later, he wrote to Rayford:

It seems that this whole movement centers on getting people to change sides. We all get a chance to see how it feels to have the shoe on the other foot.

Chaim had been an outspoken critic, not only of war, but of the death penalty and of abortion. He did not go so far as to oppose the killing of animals for food, but he did believe that their treatment even when being slaughtered should be handled humanely. Now here he was being given the job of killing people for God!

Rayford wrote back:

Can you imagine how it would be if he had given this power to someone who was not a pacifist? Even his own disciples couldn't handle it. All we can do now is pray that we will use it wisely.

It was a huge relief to be able to open up to someone else about what he was going through. Chaim shared openly now with Rayford -- about what had happened in the cave, and about Sheree. Rayford shared similar confessions, and it bonded the two men as nothing else ever could have. They were, indeed, part of a very exclusive club!

The news about Dangchao having been "mistakenly" reported as dead, and about his release from the hospital with only the loss of sight in one eye to show for his ordeal, let Chaim know that there was no turning back. Dangchao definitely was the Antichrist. He and Rayford definitely were the Two Witnesses. And the last three and a half years before the return of Jesus, known as the Great Tribulation, definitely had begun. They were crossing over that line where prophecies stop being fanciful theories and start becoming part of history.

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Chapter Thirty--Using the Media

Rayford's prediction had not been on the Internet for 12 hours before it became a reality. But in that time, the right people had seen it, including Geoffrey Baum.

Geoffrey had been forced to sever his links with the BBC two years earlier, after his "experiment" with Vaishnu's tribe had finished. His refusal to accept the implant had made it impossible for him to stay on the payroll. But he had compiled a list of media contacts, and he dusted it off to send them tips on Rayford's prediction the moment he heard about it. Most of the media was too busy chasing down eulogies from world leaders to be bothered with some religious fanatic saying Dangchao would rise again. But the BBC had it from Baum that this was the figure behind the free work movement happening all over Asia, and so they pulled out file tapes and squeezed in a mention of the strange prediction along with all their other reports of Dangchao's death.

Of course when it turned out that Dangchao was not dead, everyone wanted to review what had actually been said on the Twelve Tribes website. Rayford was there, anonymously, feeding them with more information, and telling the people what else was going to happen. As far as the media was concerned, it was too good to pass up. But for Dangchao it was a disturbing distraction from what he had wanted to be his grand moment. He thought that his agents had tracked down the worrisome dissidents, using their London website to do it, but something had gone wrong. Efforts to locate the group and its leaders became a personal obsession for him over the next few years.

* * *

"We got a big mob askin' to join now," Molly said with a smile of satisfaction. "Same like you said it would be, Chaim."

Chaim had gone to Newcastle to see Molly and Bess, even though it was getting harder to travel now that he could not buy petrol. Sometimes he would hitch a ride, but this time he managed to sneak on a train without paying the fare.

The two women were camping in the bush, outside of Newcastle, and would periodically trek to town, where they would pick up discarded food, and plug in their laptop computer. Their meeting with Chaim was happening in a quiet corner of a fast food restaurant on the outskirts of Newcastle.

"There's a lot more just visiting our home page," Chaim reported, based on information that he had obtained from Rayford, in England. "It's starting to happen: People are starting to see through Dangchao," Chaim added.

"They gotta be blind not to," Bess added. "The man's sick... that's what he is. Makin' kids... little kids... kill each other! It's sick. Just plain sick."

She was talking about the entertainment that Dangchao had brought in after transforming the Temple into a palace for himself and his most loyal supporters. At first it was just rude and blasphemous music, comedy, and dancing. At intervals in the festivities, it became traditional for revellers to prostrate themselves before Dangchao. This even included political dignitaries and members of the Press, who hardly raised a word of protest. Then the program changed, to include the most perverse sexual orgies, and finally gladiatorial contests in which opponents fought to the death, both with each other and with wild animals. Of late, even children were being given weapons and forced to kill one another.

"Dark times," Molly said, half to herself. "It's happenin' Chaim, just like you said. Dark times."

Molly had also seen it coming, but Chaim had added clarity, with predictions made privately to members of the Twelve Tribes that, as things got worse, more people would be drawn to consider the movement as an alternative. It was becoming more and more difficult for anyone with any integrity to believe that Dangchao was not, in fact, a 'beast', as members of the Twelve Tribes had claimed. Only a tiny fraction of the world's population had the courage to opt out of the new world order, especially in the early stages, but their numbers were soon to be measured in the millions.

"It's going to cost these new believers," Chaim said sadly. "It'll cost them everything." The original members of the Twelve Tribes appeared to have miraculous protection, but circumstances were such now, that contact between the inner circle and the rest of the world had to be highly secretive. People joining during this period might have access to the Twelve Tribes website or to printed material, but they were left to fend for themselves outside of the refuges that has been established for the 144,000 leaders in this worldwide movement.

Chaim had come to Newcastle to discuss with Molly and Bess his plans for going public with specifc warnings to the world, so that people would have no doubt about where his message was coming from.

"You tell 'em," Molly said, when she heard the plan. "And you know you don't need me to tell you that. You just keep listening to the Spirit, son."

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