Shaken (27 page)

Late Friday afternoon Vicki climbed into the bell tower to relieve Janie. Janie gave her a pair of binoculars, scooted to the other side of the small enclosure, and pointed. “They'll come from that direction.”

Vicki wiped away a bead of sweat. The intense heat of July and August had given way to a sweltering September. She closed her eyes and thought of her home in Mount Prospect. Her family had lived in a trailer that had only one air conditioner. On hot nights, the family crowded into the cool room or sought refuge in a screened-in porch her father had built. The constant hum of the air conditioner would put the others to sleep, but not Vicki.

“What are you thinking?” Janie said.

Vicki told her and Janie smiled. “At Northside we used to put wet towels over us on nights like this. We only had one fan per floor.”

Vicki told Janie she could go, but Janie said she wanted to stay. “I've got a bad feeling I'm going to mess things up.”

“What do you mean?” Vicki said.

“I've done a lot of bad stuff. From booze to drugs, stealing to, well, you name it. What happens if I go back to any of that?”

“Do you want to go back?”

Janie cringed. “Never.”

Vicki sat back and smiled. “God's working on you.”

“What?”

“I know you think I'm some kind of saint, but the truth is, I was pretty messed up myself. I did bad stuff and didn't care, because it was fun. After I came to know God, I wondered if I'd ever go back.”

“Did you?”

Vicki shook her head. “I'm not perfect, by any stretch. But after I understood how much God loves me, I didn't want to do any of that. It's like God opened a door. When I saw what was on the other side, I didn't need the booze or hooch or anything else to make me happy.”

“Sometimes the stuff I did comes back on me and I think maybe God made a mistake. He couldn't love somebody like me.”

“But he does. All I have to do is look at your forehead, Janie. That mark is God's seal that says you're his child.”

Janie sat with Vicki and talked until dark. When Mark relieved Vicki a few hours later, Janie was still there.

Carl Meninger made sure no one was in the control room very early Saturday morning when he checked the system a final time. He had asked Conrad and Mark to leave the camera on at the schoolhouse. He punched up the satellite feed and saw a volleyball with a face drawn on it. Underneath someone had written, “Hail, Potentate Nicolae Carpathia.”

Carl grinned and tried the button below the console. He raised his knee a few inches and pushed it. No one would be able to tell he was the one allowing the kids to have their say.

It was still dark when Vicki awoke and checked her notes for the broadcast. She couldn't wait to tell more people the truth.

Dr. Damosa walked swiftly to center stage of Teddy Kollek Stadium, beaming in the late-morning sun in Jerusalem. When he spoke, Conrad punched a button on his watch. “We're on in exactly seven minutes.”

“How do you know that?” Shelly said.

“Carl's instructions,” Conrad said. “He can't communicate by phone, so we're supposed to go on exactly seven minutes after Damosa begins.”

Vicki took her place in front of the camera. Dr. Damosa welcomed everyone around the world and in Jerusalem and explained that some would be watching by tape delay. “Only two days from now we will experience the most exciting event in the history of the world. Already more than a million people are here to enjoy Potentate Carpathia's Gala. We will celebrate without limits. Young and old alike are gathering. But you don't have to be here to enjoy the party. You can participate wherever you are.”

Damosa paused. “I need to mention something that happened at our last gathering. Someone illegally broke into our satellite signal. This is a criminal offense and will be treated accordingly. We believe the young Judah-ites are the ones responsible, but we have fixed that problem.”

The crowd cheered.

“I wish we could go on right now,” Vicki said.

“Five minutes,” Conrad yelled.

Carl Meninger checked monitors and different audio and video meters. The control room was crowded and getting hot. He asked someone to turn up the air-conditioning.

Carl's boss walked in and surveyed the scene. “Everything all right?”

Carl nodded but kept his eyes on the equipment. “We've checked out every possible way they could get in. There's no chance they'll do it this time.”

Carl took a deep breath. He hoped he could get away before the GC arrested him. He glanced at his watch.

Three more minutes.

Vicki sat straight and pulled her hair behind her ears. It had been a long time since she had cared about her looks. Shelly applied Vicki's makeup and said, “Perfect.”

Dr. Damosa announced the special musical guests and said they would be performing at the Gala the following week. The crowd cheered again.

“But first, the real reason we are here. We have been talking about your responsibility as citizens of the Global Community. In order to live in peace, you must help us work for peace.”

Damosa's speech slowed. The camera focused on the man's eyes, and Vicki felt uneasy. He spoke softly, as if he wanted to put his audience into a trance.

“This is getting weird,” Shelly said. “You think he can do what Carpathia did?”

“You mean put people under some kind of spell?”

Mark said.

“I wouldn't put it past him to try,” Vicki said. “How much time?”

“Two minutes,” Conrad said.

“We need to start now. Is there any way to call Carl?”

Carl watched Dr. Damosa and sensed a change in the room. People behind him stopped talking. Damosa's voice was mellow, inviting, and evil.

Carl breathed a prayer for the kids in Illinois. He couldn't let this go on a minute longer. He raised his leg slightly and touched the button underneath the control board.

“You're on,” Shelly whispered to Vicki.

Vicki looked up and saw herself on the monitor. She smiled. “Hi, it's Vicki B. again. I know many of you heard about me from the last meeting, but you didn't get to see me, so the Global Community invited me back.”

Vicki stood and crossed her arms. “Actually, that's not true. Right now, there are technical people trying to figure out how we're doing this. I really don't understand it myself, but I do know this. Dr. Damosa and the other GC leaders don't want you to hear what I have to say.”

Panic. Chaos. People in the control room went into a frenzy when Vicki came on the screen. Carl's boss grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Get that girl off there!”

Carl glanced at a side monitor and saw Dr. Damosa at Teddy Kollek Stadium. The man glared at the screen behind him and ran off the stage. Seconds later the phone rang.

Carl shouted orders and hit switches on the control board, but nothing worked. Vicki Byrne was on the air.