Stung (33 page)

“But you don't feel the same for me?” Nada said, finally looking at Judd. Nada had deep brown eyes and brown hair that touched her shoulders.

“I don't know how I feel, especially if your dad is making us go away,” Judd said.

“I'll go with you,” Nada said.

“We only have a minute,” Judd said. “I just wanted to let you know I care about you. I'm not sure if this goes deeper than friendship or not, or if this is the time to—”

“You don't have to say anything more,” Nada interrupted.

“Please,” Judd said, “I want you as part of the Young Trib Force no matter what happens.”

“How can you hope to fight the Global Community when you won't even stand up to my father?”

Judd rubbed his forehead. “Right now the best thing for me to do is honor your father's wishes. Then, at some point, I hope—”

“Go,” Nada said. “Just go.”

Nada turned and retreated to her room, crying.

Jamal took him by the arm and led him into the hall. “You will have no further contact with her,” he said.

Judd didn't argue. He followed the others to the small car and got in the backseat. They stopped at a house that looked familiar. When the front door opened, Judd realized it was the home of Yitzhak, the man who had first helped them when they had arrived in Jerusalem. Yitzhak warmly greeted them, hugged Sam tightly, and ushered them into the dimly lit living room.

A bearded man sat in the shadows. His face seemed to glow.

“It is good to see you,” the man said.

“Mr. Stein?” Lionel said, moving closer.

“Yes, it is me,” Mr. Stein said, and he hugged Judd and Lionel. Judd introduced Sam and told Mr. Stein what had happened with Sam's father.

Mr. Stein put a hand on Sam's shoulder. “We will be your family now. Perhaps your father will come around. We will leave that to God.”

“Would you speak with him, sir?” Sam said.

“When the chance comes, I will speak with him.”

Mr. Stein asked them to sit. “My time away was incredible. Yitzhak and I were up until all hours of the night studying, praying. I would wake up after only two or three hours of sleep and be ready to go again.”

Yitzhak laughed. “I wanted to give him sleeping pills.”

“Were you affected by the cold?” Lionel said.

Mr. Stein smiled. “It was like living in a refrigerator, but God kept our hearts warm. He has confirmed to me that I am one of his witnesses. I believe I have been given a special mission.”

Judd looked at Yitzhak. Had Mr. Stein gone over the edge? “What kind of mission?”

“In our cabin was a huge map of the world,” Mr. Stein said. “I was drawn to it. I kept looking at the different countries, wondering what God was saying to me.

“I believe God has selected me to travel to a group of people I have never heard of and have never seen.”

“What?” Judd said.

“I prayed in front of that map every day. Sometimes for hours. Last night I had a dream. I was floating toward the ground. A huge desert stretched before me. And then I saw a river and people, hundreds of them, thousands who had no contact with the outside world.

“They wore strange clothing and talked in a language I have never heard. I asked, ‘Who are these people?' I sensed I was being called to tell them the gospel.”

“What country is it?” Lionel said.

Mr. Stein smiled. “I don't know. I can only surmise it is somewhere in Africa. I am leaving tomorrow.”

“What?” Judd said. “How are you going to go if you don't know what country they're in? How will you talk without an interpreter? A trip like that could take weeks, even months.”

Mr. Stein stroked his beard. “I gave my word to God that I would make myself available. If this is what he wants me to do, I know he will make the way clear to me.”

“The GC took all your cash!” Judd said. “How will you—”

“I have some,” Yitzhak said. “It should be enough to at least get you there.”

“Wait,” Judd said. “You need to plan this better.”

“I do not know how much longer before the next judgment,” Mr. Stein said. “I must go as soon as possible.”

Jamal looked at Mr. Stein. “There is one other thing, correct?”

“Oh yes,” Mr. Stein said. “In the vision I was not alone. There was someone beside me the whole time.”

“Who?” Lionel said.

Mr. Stein turned. “It was you, Judd. I believe God wants you to come with me.”

29

JUDD
blinked. It was one thing for Mr. Stein to go off the deep end, but another to drag him along. “You want me to go?” Judd said.

Mr. Stein turned to Jamal. “I understand from Yitzhak that my friends have caused trouble in your home.”

Jamal looked at the floor. “My daughter won't speak to me. My wife is upset. I am in a difficult position.”

“If you will care for Lionel and Samuel while we are gone, I promise to take full responsibility when I return.”

“And when would that be?” Jamal said.

Mr. Stein sighed. “I do not even know where I am going, much less when I will return. I suppose we could find another—”

“No,” Jamal said, “leave them with me. Before we came here I heard about an important job. I think they can help.” He put out his hand. “We will pray for your safety and that God will be glorified through this.”

“Thank you,” Mr. Stein said. He turned to Judd. “Are you willing to go?”

Judd closed his eyes and breathed a prayer. “If this is really what God wants you to do, and I'm supposed to be part of it, I'll go.”

Judd slept at Yitzhak's home and awakened early the next day. Though Nicolae Carpathia had promised that believers in Christ could move about freely, they didn't want to take any chances. Mr. Stein had his photo taken, and a new fake passport was made for him.

Monday afternoon they pooled the money they needed and traveled to the airport. Yitzhak drove Mr. Stein and Judd and hugged them both.

“May you have great success!” Yitzhak shouted over the roar of a jet engine.

Judd and Mr. Stein waved and walked through the GC security.

Monday morning in Illinois, Vicki set up the room for the first day of classes since the judgment. Melinda hobbled into the room and put her foot on a chair. “Figured I'd get here early to get a good seat,” Melinda said.

Conrad came into the room, shaking his head.

“What's up?” Vicki said.

“It's that safe I found in the bell tower,” Conrad said. “I poured water in the lock and left it outside in the cold. Thought the freeze might bust it. Nothing. I've drilled a hole in the lock, tried to saw it off. It simply won't open.”

“Forget the lock and work on the box,” Melinda said.

“It's solid steel,” Conrad said. “This thing was made more than a hundred years ago, and it was made to last.”

Vicki counted heads as the others came into the room. “Where's Janie?”

“I saw her after breakfast,” Shelly said. “Said she was going for a walk to meditate.”

“Okay,” Vicki said, “we'd better get started.”

Vicki pulled together material from Tsion Ben-Judah's Web site. She also included much of the daytime teaching the kids had recorded from the Meeting of the Witnesses.

When lunchtime came, the kids took a break. Mark checked for a message from Carl but found none. While the others ate, he went outside. A few minutes later he returned out of breath and took Vicki aside. “Janie's not back, and I've looked all around the house and by the river.”

“This is her choice,” Vicki said. “I can't make her study with us. Besides, the class went better without her. Charlie and Melinda are actually paying attention.”

“That's not the point,” Mark said. “What if she wanders off and the GC find her?”

“We can't baby-sit her—”

“But she could lead them back here,” Mark said. “You know she'd trade her freedom for a chance to watch some music videos.”

Vicki stared out the window. She had known it would be a risk allowing Janie into the schoolhouse. She had hoped the girl would be a believer by now.

“I feel like this is my responsibility,” Mark said. “I was the one who brought her here.”

“You and Conrad look for her,” Vicki said. “We'll do chores the rest of the afternoon.”

“Maybe she's just on some rock, chanting to Nicolae,” Mark said, “but I'd feel better if we found her.”

Lionel was cautious around Jamal the next day. Finally he decided to talk with the man. When the two were alone, Lionel said, “I know you don't like what happened with Judd and Nada, but I have to know if that's going to affect us.”

“I have no hard feelings for you personally,” Jamal said. “If you become a father someday, perhaps you will understand.”

After the conversation it seemed like a weight was lifted from the house. Nada came out of her room and talked. Jamal's wife appeared less upset, and the conversations seemed lighter.

Sam asked how to talk about God with others. Lionel showed him transcripts from Tsion's messages. Before long, Sam asked to set up a meeting with his father.

“Let's take it slowly right now,” Lionel said.

“But Tsion says the next judgment could come at any time.”

“I know,” Lionel said, “but let's give your father time to cool off.”

Monday afternoon, after Jamal had dropped off Judd's clothes at Yitzhak's house, Jamal took Lionel, Sam, and Nada to an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Jerusalem. “This is the important job I spoke about last night,” he said. He put a finger to his lips and knocked on the door four times. There was a faint sound of a machine running inside. It stopped, but no one came to the door. Jamal led them inside. The metal door clanged shut behind them.

The room was nearly empty and eerily quiet. Jamal grabbed one end of a desk that sat in the middle of the room. Lionel and Sam took the other end, and they slid it toward the wall.

Jamal bent down and lifted what looked like a paperweight on the floor. Lionel gasped when a trapdoor opened. There was modern printing equipment, and a dozen workers were packing small boxes in the basement. The workers were of different nationalities, but all had the mark of the true believer.

Jamal hugged one of the men leading the operation. They talked in a different language. Lionel scanned the boxes. “Property of the Global Community” was printed on the side. Lionel looked in an open box and saw pamphlets. The stack was printed in weird characters, like Chinese. The next set of pamphlets was printed in Spanish. Another in French. Lionel had taken a semester of French and recognized words from the Bible.

“It's all stuff about God,” Sam said, picking up a stack printed in Hebrew.

Jamal introduced the kids. “The material in this room will be sent around the world.”

“How?” Lionel said.

“With the help of the Global Community,” Jamal said.

“What?” Sam said. “They would never—”

“They don't know we're sending it,” the leader explained. “These boxes all go to the airport. Some people on the inside sneak it onto the Condor 216.”

Lionel's mouth opened wide. “You mean Carpathia's plane?”

“Christian literature is flooding the globe, and the potentate has no idea it's his own plane spreading it!” Jamal said.