Rayford stepped out, and Hattie nearly lunged at him. "Let me see, let me see!" she said, staring at him. "I can see yours!" she said. "That means you can see mine! Can you?"
His eyes were still adjusting to the sun, but as she pulled him out of the shadow by the door, it hit him. His knees buckled and he almost fell. "Oh, Hattie!" he said, reaching for her. She leaped into his arms and squeezed him around the neck so hard he finally had to push her away so he could breathe.
"Does mine look like yours?" she said.
He laughed. "How would I know? We can't see our own. But yours looks like every other one I've seen. This is worth waking Albie for."
"Is he decent?"
"Sure. Why?"
"Let me."
Rayford unlocked the door and Hattie burst in. "Albie, wake up, sleepyhead!"
He didn't stir.
She sat on the bed next to him and bounced. He groaned.
"C'mon, Albie! The day is young!"
"What?" he said, sitting up. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing will ever be wrong again!" she said, taking his face in her hands and pointing his bleary eyes toward her. "I'm just showing off my mark!"
NINE
Buck awoke at dawn and made the rounds, checking on everyone. He smiled at Zeke's domain and was grateful it was private. Zeke had worked until after midnight arranging his area, getting his computer and other equipment set up. Zeke snored loudly, but when Buck peeked in, he found Zeke on the floor next to his bed. Each to his own.
Lean's door was shut and locked. She had been up late on a call from Ming Toy, who had returned to Buffer frantic about her parents' staying in New Babylon until her brother could find a position with the GC.
Chloe had been on her computer until after Kenny was in bed, coordinating the international co-op. She urged the tens of thousands of members to watch for Tsion's next missive, wherein he planned to discuss the importance of their readiness when the buying/selling edict would go into effect. He would also be asking volunteer pilots and drivers to bring small planes and vehicles into Israel for a secret mission.
The only other two Trib Force members were awake and working. Chaim was hunched over a stack of books, several of them open, assigned by Tsion. He looked up with twinkling eyes when Buck poked his head in. Buck seemed to understand his constricted speech better than the others.
"Miss Rose, the redhead," Chaim said. "Leah."
"Yes, she is a trained nurse, you know." Buck nodded.
"She tells me she can remove the wires when I am ready. Well, I am more than ready. A man my age cannot lose this much weight this fast. And I want to be able to speak clearly!"
"How is everything else?"
"On my body, you mean? I am an old man. I've survived a plane crash. I should complain? Cameron, this building is a gift from God! What a luxury! If we have to live in exile, this is where to live. And what young Tsion has given me to read, well… I call him young because he was once my student, but you knew that. There are times, Cameron, when the Scriptures are like an ugly mirror to me, showing me again and again my bankrupt soul. But then I rejoice at the redemption, my redemption! The story of God, the history of his people, it is all coming alive to me before my eyes." "Did you remember to eat?"
"I don't eat. I drink. Agh! But yes, thank you for asking. I am now drinking in the truth of God."
"Carry on."
"Oh, I will! Tsion was looking for you, by the way. Did he find you?"
"No. I'm on my way to him now."
Buck moved up a floor and found Dr. Ben-Judah with his fingers flying over the computer keyboard. He didn't want to disturb him, but the rabbi must have heard him. Without looking up or slowing, he said, "Cameron, is that you? So much to do. I shall be busy all the day, I fear. Dark as the days are, my joy is complete. Prophecy comes alive by the minute. Did you see what Master Zeke did for me? A precious lad!"
Buck looked again. Tsion had not only a main computer but also two laptops networked to it on each side. "No more switching back and forth between programs," Tsion sang out. "Bibles on one, commentaries on the other. And I am writing to my people in the middle!"
"Glad to get back to it?"
"You cannot imagine."
"Don't let me slow you."
"No, no! Come in, Cameron. I need you." He finally stopped and hit the Print command. Pages began piling in the printer output tray. Tsion swiveled in his chair. "Sit, please! You must be my first reader today."
"I'd be honored, but-"
"First, tell me. What news from our brothers and sisters in the field?"
"We know little. We haven't heard from David Hassid, except secondhand through Rayford, since the Carpathia resurrection."
"And what did you hear then?"
"Only that Ray and Albie had trouble raising him. They needed him to pave the way for a scheme they were pulling, trying to get Hattie Durham back from the GC. At the last minute he must have gotten their messages, because the stuff came through and the mission was accomplished."
Tsion nodded, pursing his lips. "Praise the Lord," he said quietly. "She is coming back to us then?"
"Tonight. We expect Ray and Albie and Hattie after dark."
"I will pray for their safety. And we must continue to pray for her, of course. God has given me such a weight of care for that woman."
Buck shook his head. "Me too, Tsion. But if ever there seemed a lost cause…"
"Lost cause? Cameron, Cameron! You and I were lost causes! All of us were. Who was a less likely candidate than Chaim? We pleaded and pleaded with him, but who would have believed he would eventually come into the kingdom? Certainly not I. Don't give up on Miss Durham."
"Oh, I haven't."
"With God, all things are possible. Have you taken a close look at this young man you brought home last night?"
"Zeke? Oh, yeah."
"Clearly this was not a churchgoing boy. He is so delightful, so bright! Shy, bashful, uneducated. Almost illiterate. But what a sweet, gentle spirit! What a servant's heart! And, oh, what a mind! It would take him the next three and a half years to read one of the many books Chaim will finish by tomorrow, and yet he has proclivities for this technical stuff that I could not learn in a lifetime."
Buck smacked his palms on his thighs and began to rise, "Don't let me keep you."
"Oh, you're not! My mouth is keeping me from it. If you are not too busy today, I could use your help."
Buck sat back down, and Tsion handed him a sheaf of papers from the printer. "I have many pages to go, but I need a first impression. I will not transmit these until I know they are right."
"They are always right, Tsion. But I'd love to get the first look at them."
"Then begin! I will try to stay ahead of you. And if I start talking again, feel free to become parental with me."
That'll be the day, Buck thought. He tapped the papers even and settled back to read. Every so often Tsion printed out the next several pages, and Buck idly pulled them from the printer as he read, sitting, standing, pacing. All the while he thanked God for the gift of Tsion Ben-Judah and his incredible mind.
To: The beloved tribulation saints scattered to the four corners of the earth, believers in the one true Jehovah God and his matchless Son, Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Lord From: Your servant, Tsion Ben-Judah, blessed by the Lord with the responsibility and unspeakable privilege of teaching you, under the authority of his Holy Spirit, from the Bible, the very Word of God Re: The dawn of the Great Tribulation My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, As is so often true when I sit to write to you, I come in both joy and sorrow, with delight but also soberness of spirit. Forgive me for the delay since last I communicated with you, and thank you each and every one for the expressions of concern for my welfare. My comrades and I are safe and sound and praising the Lord for a new base of operations. And I always want to remember to also thank God for the miracle of technology that allows me to write to you all over the world.