The Last Day (25 page)

As tired as he was when he reached Amman, Feldman was unable to sleep. He felt a devastating guilt over the disastrous consequences of his
Origins
report. But there was to be no relief from the bad news, which continued dribbling in via Israel Radio news briefs.

It was apparent that Tamin was coming under increasing political pressure back in Jerusalem. In a rare live radio broadcast, the defense minister vehemently denied WNN's accusations regarding the nature of the Negev Institute experiments. He also defended his repressive police actions against WNN as necessary to safeguard nameless “state security secrets.”

And then, in his most outlandish and brazen act yet, the defense minister announced an all-out manhunt by the IDF to take the elusive Messiah into “protective custody.”

Feldman was beside himself. As the reporter was well aware, with the Leveque diary now in the IDF's possession, the only remaining evidence left to indict Tamin and Goene was embodied, quite literally, in the person of the little prophetess herself.

Despite WNN's
Origins
report, the large majority of Jeza's followers remained fiercely loyal to her. Many denounced the report altogether, but most simply discounted its importance, believing that the Millennium Eve phenomenon at David's Well purified any possible spiritual contamination from the laboratory experiments; that the lightning strike atop the temple ruins was the pivotal moment when God anointed Jeza and imbued her with her soul and her mission. To Jeza's faithful supporters, then, this current threat to their Messiah was an intolerable outrage that demanded immediate and forceful action.

But then at last, there came some good news. Perhaps as a token appeasement to the Knesset, the IDF finally released Bollinger later in the day without pressing charges. The exhausted, bedraggled newsman arrived shortly thereafter at the Amman airport to a hero's welcome. The large crowd that greeted him was led by a tired, but cheering, WNN news staff.

The message Bollinger bore from the IDF, however, was not good. WNN was barred from Israel indefinitely. All its properties had been seized under direct orders of Shaul Tamin. Sullivan had no choice but to immediately relocate all operations and personnel to WNN's regional headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, pending further developments in the Holy Land.

49

Mormon Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 8:42
A.M
., Saturday, February 5, 2000

I
t was the second morning of the first convocation when, at last, the meeting got down to its most controversial topic of interest: “An Evaluation of the Authenticity of a New Messianic Presence.” From an elevated lectern at the front of the huge auditorium, a tall, gaunt, bespectacled Mormon elder called to order the assembly of over five hundred religious leaders.

Delivering today's keenly anticipated focal presentation would be a scholarly young Mormon theologian who was introduced as Brother Elijah Petway, a foremost authority on Old and New Testament correlations. Brother Petway was a small, lean, light-complected man with thinning blond hair, compressed face and pale blue eyes that blinked mechanically behind wire-rimmed glasses.

Eagerly taking the podium, Brother Petway beamed at his attentive audience. “My fellow Judeo-Christians, Muslim and Buddhist brothers and sisters,” he began, in a prim and precise voice as thin as his physique. “I thank you all for the opportunity to bring before you the results of my exhaustive studies.”

After a somewhat tiresome explanation of the methodology and thoroughness of his research, Petway launched into the gist of his findings—a litany of both obvious and obscure parallels drawn between scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and the recent occurrences in the Holy Land. The bulk of his correlations consisted of such things as a comparison of the alleged meteorite with the biblical Star of Bethlehem; similarities between the Japanese astronomers and the Wise Men of the Orient; the significance of the December 25 date on which the institute was destroyed, and so forth.

He finished with a controversial pronouncement.

“Obvious to everyone now, in light of the World News Network's revelations,” he maintained, “is the unique and biblically relevant nature of Jeza's nativity. As you'll recall, Jeza was created through a process of conception known as polar body fertilization. This process precluded the introduction of sperm into the reproductive organs of Jeza's maternal donor. Indeed, the procedure circumvented altogether the need for male gametes.

“We have, therefore, a pure, virgin conception and virgin birth, in the truest sense!”

There was a stir of rumblings from large sections of the audience, but Petway's enthusiasm was unabated. He took a large, self-satisfied breath. “I feel there is an inevitable conclusion this assembly must draw from the overwhelming body of direct and indirect evidence just presented. I submit to you that it is irrelevant whether Jeza be God-made through an immaculate conception, or man-made through artificial fertilization. God works in strange ways. If it be His decision to use man's folly to achieve His own objectives, who are we to question?

“I also submit to you that it is irrelevant whether the New Messiah be male or female. The apparent anomaly of Jeza's sex should not diminish her message. We must search for the higher meaning in why God has chosen a female to represent Him this time.

“And finally, I submit to you that, even if you agree with but a portion of the amazing correlations I've just identified, we must all of us now make the evaluation that this special presence among us, this saintly, godly creature known as Jeza, can be none other than the only begotten Daughter of God: Jeza Christ!”

This resulted in diverse reactions from the assembly, ranging from caustic outrage to merely appreciative applause, to tumultuous, standing ovations and enthusiastic Alleluias. Strong support emanated not only from the millenarian sections, but also from the Jewish contingent, which was made up of several excited rabbis, including the respected head of the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Lubavitcher movement, Rabbi Mordachai Hirschberg, who held a hand over his fluttering heart.

Petway vacated the podium convinced of the persuasiveness of his arguments.

Certainly, for one quiet, inconspicuous gentleman sitting alone at a more distant table, Brother Petway had scored far more hits than misses. Carefully capturing every word on tape recorder, making precise entries in his notepad and feeling completely vindicated was the revitalized Cardinal Alphonse Litti.

50

WNN regional headquarters, Cairo, Egypt 10:03
A.M
. Sunday, February 6, 2000

O
ther than Arnie Bollinger's safe deliverance from the hands of Shaul Tamin, there were few positive developments to help alleviate Feldman's growing frustrations with his exile. Over the last several days, removed from all the action in Israel, he and his associates had little to do but hang around Cairo headquarters, hoping for WNN to get their visas restored.

Trying to keep abreast of current events this morning, Feldman and Anke sat in an empty WNN editing bay scanning a dozen TV monitors on the wall in front of them. Each set was tuned to a different channel, the volumes muted on all but the one that happened to last catch their interest.

Abruptly, Anke gestured toward a particular screen. Feldman obligingly jumped to a program where an earnest-looking man was reporting on the growing world prominence of two opposing millenarian sects.

“The startling arrival of the female mystic Jeza has had a polarizing effect on the hundreds of millenarian creeds around the world,” the announcer explained. “In light of recent events, most millenarian sects have split into two distinct camps of pro-Jeza and anti-Jeza factions.

“Among millenarians within the anti-Jeza bloc, a majority have been gathering under the banner of a rather vocal organization known as the Guardians of God. In the pro-Jeza coalition, supporters have been steadily migrating toward an evangelical sect calling themselves the Messianic Guardians of God. Although these two factions represent opposite extremes of the millenarian movement, surprisingly both sects were once one and the same.”

“Damn,” Feldman exclaimed, “I've crossed paths with those Guardian weirdos before. They're a scary lot.”

“How so?” Anke asked.

“Hunter and I did a story on them shortly before Millennium Eve. They're a doomsday cult claiming to commune with the second order of the celestial hierarchy—the archangels. They consider themselves soldiers of Christ—self-appointed escorts of the Messiah for the Second Coming. Their thing is paramilitary training in preparation for the battle of Armageddon.”

On the TV monitor, a large group of men, women and children were shown holding a rally in front of a large bonfire. Many of the adults were bearing ceremonial swords and truncheons, waving them over their heads as they sang and prayed. The voice of the reporter announced over the footage, “This group of celebrants represents one of the oldest surviving millenarian sects in the world, dating back more than a thousand years to the first Millennium Eve of
A.D.
999.”

The footage on the screen was displaced by video of an ancient wall painting. The images on the painting were of men, women and children, clad in white robes, shown embarking from Europe on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. “Before journeying to Jerusalem,” the announcer explained, “these earlier Guardians of God gave up all personal belongings, devoting themselves to Spartan lifestyles, prayer and regimented military training. Their sworn objective was to serve as protectors of the Messiah upon His return on the Last Day. That this sect survived their perilous pilgrimage to the Holy Land was due in no small measure to their fierce militancy.”

The camera zoomed in on a section of me painting, targeting a pennant one of the pilgrims bore at the front of the procession. Emblazoned on the standard was a simple coat of arms: two human femur bones in the form of a T, flanked on each side by a sword and a battle ax. Latin words were inscribed in golden arcs above and below the cross. The top read “Custodes,” the bottom “Dei.” “Guardians of God.”

The video then dissolved back to a modern-day Guardian who was busy brandishing his sword in a mock fight against evil. As the Guardian fronted the camera, raising the sword high above his head, the image froze and the camera zoomed in to focus tightly on his chest, exposing an identical coat of arms embroidered on the man's robe over his heart.

“These present-day Guardians of God,” the announcer continued, “like their predecessors, pledged themselves as soldiers of Christ for the battle of Armageddon. However, last month, with Jeza's appearance at the Mount of the Beatitudes, the Guardians became bitterly divided over her validity as a messiah. Unable to accept Jeza's sex, the main body of Guardians declared her a fraud. They created for themselves a leadership role among the general pool of anti-Jeza sects.

“In response, the pro-Jeza Guardians broke away to form a countermovement, declaring their support for Jeza with an expanded name, the Messianic Guardians of God, complete with their own heraldry.” Up on the screen came a flag bearing the Messianic Guardians’ new insignia— the initials MGG in silver on a yellow shield with palm leaf clusters. “And at this time, the Messianic Guardians appear to have emerged as the popular standard-bearer for the entire pro-Jeza movement.”

Feldman and Anke shook their heads at one another and he jumped to yet another newscast. This one was reporting on how Israel's Ben-Miriam administration, blindsided by Tamin's recent actions, was still reeling from the public relations fiasco. Worldwide, Israeli embassies had been picketed by pro-Jeza malcontents who saw foreboding biblical implications in any attempts to arrest their Messiah. The situation had deteriorated in many areas to actual attacks on the embassies and several fire-bombings, instigated by an increasingly militant Messianic Guardian faction.

“I can't understand how they can keep Tamin as defense minister,” Feldman complained to the TV. “Eziah Ben-Miriam is a decent man—why doesn't he dump the bastard and rid himself of these problems?”

“Ben-Miriam isn't in a strong enough position,” Anke explained. “His coalition government is too weak, and Tamin is powerful, with friends in high places. It will take an act of the Knesset to bring Tamin down, and Tamin's friends will fight that. There are rough times ahead for Israel, I'm afraid.”

“And all the while,” Feldman fumed, “we're sidelined here on the damn bench, right in the middle of the championship game!” He tilted his head upward, calling out in exasperation to the heavens, “Hey, Coach! If you're up there, it's time to put the first string back in!”

It was as if divine providence were listening. At this precise moment, on the opposite side of town, several members of WNN's number three field crew happened to be shopping in one of Cairo's large open-air markets. Attracted by the noise of an excited gathering in the middle of the square, they elbowed their way through to suddenly find themselves in the presence of none other than the Messiah herself.

Jeza, encircled by a throng of exhilarated worshipers, was busy comforting a hyperventilating young mother and her crying baby.

The WNN crew was stunned. No one had had the slightest suspicion Jeza was in Egypt. The crew rushed back to their van for their equipment and alerted headquarters. But by the time Feldman and company arrived, the Messiah had pulled her signature vanishing act. Feldman, however, was simply thankful for the impossible good fortune that had put him back into the contest. Jeza was in Cairo. And, once again, WNN had the scoop.

Although the crew was able to capture only the final scene of the episode on camera, the video they took was priceless. In it, Jeza was shown speaking in Arabic to an adoring audience, many on their knees, their foreheads touching the ground before them in complete devotion.

Through WNN's staff translator, Feldman learned from witnesses that what had transpired here was yet another Jeza miracle. Supposedly, a hysterical woman had come shrieking out of her home into the marketplace carrying her lifeless baby. It was said that the baby had died in his sleep. Sudden infant death syndrome, Feldman presumed.