PmWiki | Tripocalypse / NoDeal

(Continued from http://mousehole-mouse.blogspot.com/2015/10/do-not-resist-cause-nicky-is-strong.html The blue text is from the original book)

"Are they going to televise Chloe's execution?" Vicki shuddered. It was a spectacle Vicki never wanted to see, but if her sister in Christ was going to be killed, Vicki wanted to witness the woman's last moments on earth.

As they walked farther, a robed figure walked toward them, the sun at his back. When they got closer, Vicki recognized Mr. Stein and hugged him.

"We've prayed for you for so long," Mr. Stein said, "and now you're here."

Vicki nodded. "Now we should pray for Judd."

The return of the light came to Krystall as a great surprise. A Global Community trooper had made his way into her office, told her that he had an important message from the boss - Carpathia, not the Foreman, obviously - and then the trooper made a weird noise, and all of a sudden she could see. The phone rang. She found herself so overwhelmed by the return of the light that she couldn't pick it up, and it went to speakerphone.

The bare and somewhat dirty wallpaper of her office would've been a heavenly sight for her if the word still had the same meaning.

"Krystall? It's Dr. Rose. Patrick. Close your eyes. Reach for your sonic hat and put it on. If you can hear me, do it now!"

She did just that, with fluidity born of practice, then finally picked up the telephone. "Ack that, Dr. Rose. The darkness lifted! What happened?"

"You're still there! Great! Negative on the darkness, it didn't. It's just you. You're unstuck in time. I am a medical doctor, OK?"

"...okay?"

"And I've been a coroner. So here's this case review: I thoroughly examined you, and you're not only merely alive, you're really most sincerely alive."

Krystall found herself giggling as the good doctor made a passable Munchkin impersonation.

"...Doctor what's going on? Are we due for another miracle?"

"You're alive. Tell yourself this now."

"I'm alive. Right. Uh, thanks for worrying?"

"Great. Now listen. Turn the sonic hat on and evac thee building with echolocation. Don't look at anything. Only open your eyes when you're out of the building, get to muster point Echo. You're being reassigned."

Krystall turned on the sonic hat, stood up, and moved her head around - the few seconds of unobstructed vision had done a number on her training, but soon she could get a feel for the obstacles in the room by using the ultrasonic ping sensors and vibration motors on her temples. She took a step... and fell face first against her desk. There was an obstacle. On the speakerphone, Dr. Rose heard the thump. "KEEP YOUR EYES CLOSED! Hold your breath. Listen to your heartbeat. You are alive."

"Ack that Doctor, I'm alive, there's something on the floor... let me just- Oh my land it's a body! But who is it? I heard the GC soldier leave!"

"Negative, we had to uh... deploy a remote defense system" lied Dr. Rose. "That's the trooper. She was there to kill you. Leave it there and evac. There may not be a lot of time."

"Ack, Krystall out."

Figuring there was no point in hanging up, Krystall held her hands out and let the primitive ultrasonic system guide her through the corridor to the elevator. The body's fabric felt like her sweater... and why was it so cold?

When she got out of the building, the desert sun, even setting, was so intense that she found herself using the sonic hat to walk on for the first block or so.

Wait, the GC trooper was a guy, wasn't he?

Judd stood at a secluded spot near the New Babylon runway with about thirty other believers from Otto's group. Zvi had become so scared he would be arrested that he, Westin, Gunther, and some others decided to take their chances driving a school bus through the desert. Before they had left, Westin shook hands with Judd and smiled. "Hope I can attend your wedding at Petra, but if not, I'll be thinking about you." Otto was now back at the palace for one last trip. As the plane circled for a landing, Otto returned, his face white.

"What's wrong?" Judd said.

"I went to thank Krystall for her help and found her body."

"She's dead? What happened?"

"I don't know. She was on the floor and the phone was buzzing. Perhaps the GC found out she was giving us information."

Judd shook his head. "Sounds like something Carpathia would do." He looked around at the sidewalks and doorways of the airport. There were dead bodies lying around. Some people were still alive, and Judd wanted to help them. They called out for food or water.

At a hesitant jog, Krystall made her way to the airport; radar was not reliable enough for GC vehicles to operate in the darkness, but the place was wide open - ordinarily, security was tight enough that only a fence and a windbreaker separated the airstrip from the desert - and this allowed a few GC trucks equipped with infrared sensors to move along the length of the airstrip by using the bright taxiway lights. CATS had, of course, kept a spare truck for its own use after performing the retrofit.

A group of Christian Remnant had landed a small airplane at the edge of the enormous taxiway; Krystall hid behind one of the electrical maintenance shack. It was the "Young Tribulation Force" group that she'd helped earlier. They stood around and loaded their belonging on the plane, talking about getting to Petra, while a few people who had made it to the airport were crawling about in the scorching darkness, begging for water. Krystall sneered. You can see, kids, there are water drums right there, help them! Realizing that there was no guarantee the pilot wouldn't just shoot her on sight if he realized that she could see, the former secretary bade her time until the plane left, then walked to the closest person who was crawling around. Most had given up; not this one.

"Who is there..." The woman sounded like a mummy would sound if it could talk.

"I'm here to help. Get up."

"... Water... "

Krystall kissed her right on the mouth, pushing precious saliva over. "There are water drums fifty yards from here. I can see. I'll lead you to them, we can make a hole in one. Once you've drank you can help me roll the others to the other people. With me?"

"... yeah." The grip on the woman's remaining hand was stronger than Krystall's two good ones.

Between the second and third drum, Krystall put the sonic hat on the woman's head, and managed to call CATS and explain the situation. "I can be of more help here. There are people literally dying of thirst feet away from water."

"Then you can drive the truck. We have to get as many people as possible out of the city, there's something incoming. Up to it?"

"Biggest thing I've ever driven is a Ford Explorer..."

"Get good quickly then. We're bringing a Tatra T815 in, bus coach, water tank, fuel pod, and you're going to fill it with whoever you can, and run. Having someone who can see properly will help immensely. Your reassignment has been delayed. Important note, though: Don't try to interact with any believers. Quantum reasons. Dr. Rose will brief you when you get to HQ."

"Got it, Foreman."

The woman had figured out the rangefinder enough to use the maintenance building's ping and the sun's direction as reference points, and was dragging people towards a tarp they filled with water from the drums. Above, the Christian Remnant airplane circled one last time before heading West.

"I just got here," Judd said.

"The head of this whatever you call it, Jock something, was about to execute ten people in a row who had refused to take the mark. But before he could ..." Chang paused and clicked on a computer. "I'll show you."

While the main feed continued, Judd watched a replay of what had happened. Something bright appeared in the middle of the courtyard, and an angel towered over Jock and the others. Judd guessed the angel had to be at least fifteen feet tall. His clothes were so white the crowd had to shield their eyes.

The camera shook when the angel spoke. "I come in the name of the most high God," he began. "Hearken unto my voice and hear my words. Ignore me at your peril. 'Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"

"They do show up on camera. Record this with the highest resolution we can, and pass it to Rider."

"Man, that's a big guy."

"Five meters tall at least. Rider says that the one she caught outside Petra was person sized."

That hadn't gone as well as they had hoped. Armor prototype two - Chainmail Bikini, because that's basically what it had amounted to, due to time constraint - had fulfilled its purpose; Hasina Kamen had caught an Empyrean outside Petra, wrestled it down, and saw it stop fighting when it touched her hip to "freeze" it and win the fight but was prevented from repeating that particular Bible verse by the iron bandings. The Empyrean had said something in Ye Olde English indicating that it thought that its magic trick worked, then disappeared the moment Hasina turned around to call for backup.

The control room team watched the large Empyrean give its speech in the prison camp courtyard. A few people watching did go along with the cheer track as the first batch of people due to be executed, for murder, were guillotined without the angel being able to interfere.

Chloe came last. Her eyes were dull and her voice stentoreous. She enunciated like a BBC anchorwoman.

"Did she take the pills?"

"No, that's just what she sounds like after they've had a prayer meeting, or... I guess the angel showing up counts. You know. Divine interference. She sounds a lot more lively when she's herself."

Divine narrative control wouldn't play nice with operating a logistics infrastructure that had ended up being larger than CATS itself, the Christian Co-Op. Chloe Williams-Steele had shown signs of a repressed personality for years, but every one of the handful of times when a field agent had tried to snap her out of it had all failed. Now, it was too late.

Her own little speech was genuinely moving, and most people in the control room took their hats or headphone off at the passing of an ally.

Notably, not the Foreman. He was still trying to strike a deal with the person who would fill Chloe's shoes. Someone turned off the feed from the execution grounds when the video whited out, leaving only silence and the Foreman's conversation.

"... Look, Mr. Whalum, just - read Chloe's message again. My death or hers are covered by contingency agreements. We have provided cover for your group for three and a half years, and-"

" 'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us ... and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.' "

"Yeah, I heard Mrs. Williams say that just now. Is that all you have to say? You won't keep her deal?"

"There is no dealing with unbelievers. She renounced the unequal yoke at the end. I have no deal with you. Repent, if you still can, and contact us no more."

The Foreman hung up. No point in arguing, at least not without any leverage. "You heard Mr. Whalum. The deal with the Co-Op is off. We'll have to plan accordingly."

The control room staff crossed out a number of warehouses and resupply routes, and relayed the information to the people in the field.

Outside Petra, Hasina deciphered the Morse code message, raised a middle fingers at the heavens, and opened a can of dog food.

THE first thing Vicki wanted to do after the broadcast was see Chloe's son, Kenny. She found him with Chang's sister, Ming Toy. Kenny came to Vicki right away, and she held him tightly for a long time. The boy was still asking where his mother was and when he would see her....