Ming, still masquerading as Chang Chow and living essentially as a man when away from the underground shelter, was constantly on edge. Her brother offered to set it up in the computer that she was a full fledged employee, ent.i.tled to a paycheck and benefits.
She refused for his sake, knowing how intense the scrutiny had to be in New Babylon. A little money would allow her to complete the ruse and live in her own small place, but it would not be worth it if it left Chang vulnerable at the palace. And so she sc.r.a.ped by on the meager pool of resources among the believers.
Ming tried to keep her distance from other Peacekeepers, though some wanted to be chums and invited her to various places with them. She always found excuses. Hardest for her was being randomly a.s.signed duties by anyone superior to her in rank. She herself had been a top official at the Belgium Facility for Female Rehabilitation (BFFR), a women"s prison better known among the GC as Buffer. But now, in her male Peacekeeper uniform, Ming was just a grunt, someone for most of the others to boss around. At least this gave her some access to information, and she was able to warn fellow believers about raids and surprise canva.s.ses.
At two o"clock one morning the local GC had planned a raid not of Christ followers but of a small Muslim contingent who lived in the northeast corner of the city in caverns where the subway once ran. Ming was surprised to hear of this group, as she had been largely unaware of holdouts against Carpathianism besides the so called Judah ites and the mostly Orthodox Jews. At a meeting rallying the GC troops to root out the dissidents, Ming learned that these "zealots" still read the Koran, wore their turbans, almost totally covered their female population, and practiced the five pillars of Islam.
She had not seen anyone bowing toward Mecca five times a day, but Intelligence had determined that this group still followed that dictum in private. They also contributed alms a communal giving and sharing of resources that would have been necessary anyway, given the current political climate It was not known whether these adherents more prevalent in western China still fasted during Ramadan. It seemed everyone was fasting in one way or another since the seas had turned to blood. There was no getting to Mecca at least once in a lifetime anymore either, not since the Global Community and Carpathianism had leveled the Muslims"
sacred city.
The pillar of their faith that so enraged the potentate and thus the Global Community Peacekeepers and Morale Monitors was the first and foremost tenet of the Islamic religion. Their profession of faith declared a monotheistic G.o.d "There is but one G.o.d, Allah. . ." and the high status of the founder of the religion ". . . and Muhammad is his prophet."
Of course, that flew in the face of Carpathianism, which was also monotheistic. Neither were the Muslims idol worshipers, so not only were there no statues a.s.sociated with their practice of faith, but they were also loathe to pay homage to the image of Carpathia.
"That will be their choice in about half an hour," the local leader, a thick man named Tung, told the GC troops. "We"ll storm their little enclave, fully armed and prepared to shoot unmarked people on sight. But our wish and our hope are that they do not resist. I have it on good authority from high levels in the Global Community Palace that a certain someone at the highest level wants these people used as living examples.
"We will march them to the loyalty mark application site about six blocks from their hideout, and there they will spend the night deciding what they will do in the morning. As the sun rises on the beautiful, jade, life size image of Supreme Potentate Carpathia, these infidels will either bow the knee to him prepared to accept his mark of loyalty or they will be executed in full view of the public. Little do they know that regardless of their decision, they will be executed anyway. GCNN plans to air this live."
The GC all around Ming burst into cheers and applause. They then lined up to be issued weapons; hers turned out to be a grenade launcher she would not use, no matter what. If that meant the end of her life too, so be it.
Rayford found Abdullah Smith warming himself by his fire. Smitty, who had become much more expressive and emotional over the past few months, rose quickly and embraced Rayford. "It is as if I am already in heaven, my friend,"" he said. "I miss the flying, but I love all this teaching. And the food! Who would have guessed that the same meal three times a day would be something I so looked forward to ? "
Rayford didn"t know how Abdullah could sit so flat and comfortably cross legged. He made it look normal and easy, yet Rayford seemed to creak and groan going down, and cramped up as he sat. He always gave way to unfolding himself and leaning on one hand with his legs out to the side. This amused Abdullah to no end.
"You westerners brag so much about working out, and yet it has not made you limber."
"I think you sit on a magic carpet," Rayford said.
Abdullah laughed. "I wish Mac were here. He inspires me to think of earthy . . . of earthy what? Comebacks? Is that what he calls them?"
"Probably. With Mac, you never know. Did you see him today?"
,.,.Of course. He and Albie always look me up when they get here, tease me about getting fat on the manna, and want to know when I will join their little band of fliers. The day will come soon, I hope. For now, the elders think it is too dangerous, but my guess is that you too are eager to get going."
"More than you know," Rayford said. "And while I am content to submit to the authority here, still I wonder. "
"So do I! G.o.d is clearly supernaturally protecting those who fly in and out of here, despite all the efforts of the enemy. You would think that would give the GC an idea to stop wasting bullets and missiles. Have they hit anyone or anything?"
Rayford shook his head. "Not yet. And the stories. Have you heard the stories?"
Abdullah let his head fall back and gazed at the stars. "I have heard them, Captain. I want to be part of one. I want the Lord to once again protect me from harm and death by sending one of his special visitors. The flight here, when the GC were shooting right through our craft? That was like living in the Bible days.
I felt like Daniel in the den of the lions. I could see the missiles coming and I knew we were in the way, yet they pa.s.sed right through.
"Captain, what must the GC think when they see this happen in the light of the sun almost every day?"
Chapter.
MING MARCHED through the streets with the other local GC to the northeast corner of Zhengzhou. Few citizens were out and about, but the Muslims were known to have one of their worship and lecture periods at this time of the morning.
The GC leader, Tung, fanned out the armed group of around thirty Peacekeepers and sent them to four entrances to the old subway that marked the borders of the area the Muslims occupied.
Apparently the group had never been bothered after midnight, because it was guarded merely by a lone man at each entrance at the bottom of the stairs. The guards were quickly and quietly overtaken, and none could produce a mark of loyalty to show the GC. They were taken to the surface by a couple of GC who would walk them to the mark application site. The rest of the Peacekeepers silently moved in on the meeting of about four dozen men and women. The Muslims immediately realized their security had been breached and no resistance was possible.
So they simply stayed where they were, listening to a speaker, one of their own. Tung had foreseen this possibility and had instructed his people to merely wait and listen themselves, gathering evidence of treason and disloyalty to Carpathianism.
The speaker seemed to quickly a.s.sess the situation and began to close his remarks. But often looking directly at his captors, he was devout and defiant to the end. "And so," he said, "we view G.o.d as more than the creator of all things, but also all knowing, full of justice, loving and forgiving, and all powerful. We believe he revealed the Koran to our prophet so he could guide us to justice and truth. We are his highest creation, but we are weak and selfish and too easily tempted by Satan to forget our purpose in life."
He paused to gaze at the GC once again. "We know that the very word Islam means to submit. And those of us who submit to G.o.d, repenting of our sins, gain paradise in the end. Those who do not will suffer in h.e.l.l."
The Muslims then bowed toward Mecca and began to pray all but three. These sat together at the back of the a.s.semblage, and when Tung stepped forward to call a halt to the proceedings, one of the three stood and pointed at him and held a finger to his lips.
"Wait," he said quietly, but with such strength of character and Ming couldn"t put her finger on it conviction, perhaps, w that Tung stopped. His people looked at him and back at the standing man.
The Muslims looked up from their prayers and turned to sit again.
The three men carefully stepped through the crowd and made their way to the front where the speaker had been. "This meeting is not over yet," one of them said.
Ming was puzzled. The three were not armed. Though they wore garb somewhat similar to the Muslims, it was not the same. They wore sandals and robes, no turbans. Their beards and hair were relatively short. They did not look Asian or Eastern. In fact, Ming realized, she would not have been able to guess their nationalities from their look or the speaker"s accent. He spoke just loudly enough to be heard, but again, with a certain quality everyone found riveting.
"My name is Christopher. My coworkers are Nahum and Caleb. We visit you on behalf of the one and only true G.o.d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Holy One of Israel and the Father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Messiah. We come not to discuss religion, but to preach Christ and him crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected after three days, now sitting at the right hand of G.o.d the Father."
Suddenly Christopher spoke with a voice so loud that many covered their ears, yet Ming believed they could still hear every syllable. "Fear G.o.d and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment has come! Worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water! " Christopher seemed to let that settle with everyone, then in more muted tones said, "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
"If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and faith in Christ is also vain. We testify of G.o.d that he raised up Christ. If Christ be not raised, men and women are yet dead in their sins."
Ming searched the faces of the Muslims, whom she expected to rise in protest. Perhaps it was because their captors were at hand, or because they realized that this preaching also defied Carpathianism, but they did not object. They appeared mesmerized, if only at the audacity of an outsider disregarding their beliefs and preaching his own.
Christopher stepped back and Nahum stepped forward. "Babylon shall fall," he said. "That great city, because she has made all nations drink the wrath of her fornication, shall surely fall.
Hers has been a system of false hope not only religiously, but also economically and governmentally.
"G.o.d is jealous, and the Lord will have his revenge. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserves his wrath for his enemies.
"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. He will have his way in the whirlwind and in the storm. The clouds are the dust of his feet." The GC seemed to tremble, and Ming looked to Tung, whose lips quivered. He gripped his weapon tighter, but he did not move.
Nahum continued: "G.o.d rebukes the sea and makes it blood. He can dry up all the rivers. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yes, the world, and all that dwell in it.
"Who can stand before his indignation? Who can abide the fierceness of his anger? His fury will be poured out like fire, and the rocks shall be thrown down by him.
"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows them that trust in him. But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place that opposes him, and darkness shall pursue his enemies."
Everyone in the underground sat or stood unmoving, arms close to their sides. It was as if they were folded in upon themselves, made fearful by Nahum"s p.r.o.nouncement. When he stepped back, Caleb moved up, but rather than address everyone, he turned and stared directly at Tung.
"If any man worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, that one shall drink of the wine of the wrath of G.o.d, which is poured out into the cup of his indignation. The one with the mark shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb, who is Christ the Messiah.
"The smoke of his torment ascends forever and ever, and he will have no rest day or night, he who worships the beast and his image and receives the mark of his name."
At first no one moved. Then one GC and another, then one more, raced from the underground, taking the steps to the street two at a time. Tung shouted after them, called them by name, threatened them. But two and then three more followed.
The Muslims had not moved. Finally some stood, but the GC who watched Tung did not know what to do. He raised his weapon toward the three outsiders but appeared unable to speak. Finally finding his voice, he said, "To the center! "
The GC began surrounding the Muslims, who, except for a half dozen, allowed themselves to be led out and up the stairs. Tung nodded to two of his men and signaled that they should join him to round up the final six. But as they approached, Christopher merely leaned toward the GC and said, "It is not yet their time."