“Yes, I do,” Philippe replied. “At least, I believe it’s possible they exist. First of all, I’m a Christian, so it goes without saying that I believe in the supernatural. Some believers seem to forget that we were given the book filled with supernatural events. And so for me it’s not that big of a leap to accept that there could be other dimensions.”
“But what specifically makes you believe in their existence?”
“I believe in other dimensions because I believe in angels.” He leaned back against the hood and crossed his arms. “We know from Scripture that angels can appear out of nowhere, only to disappear just as quickly. Let me remind you of two stories to illustrate. The first involves Zechariah. He was serving as a priest and was chosen by lot to enter the temple and burn incense before the morning sacrifice. As he stood there in the dim light of the Holy Place, the angel suddenly appeared to him. It was so sudden that Zechariah was said to be gripped with fear.
“And there is another story from the book of Acts, one that has always been a favorite of mine. The apostle Peter was in prison by order of King Herod, and as he lay there in a locked cell, sleeping between two guards, a light shone in the cell and an angel appeared, seemingly out of thin air. The angel woke the apostle and led him out of the prison through a locked gate. When they got to the end of the street, the angel suddenly left him.
“I could go on with other stories, but I think you see my point. Angels often appear suddenly and then seem to vanish just as suddenly. It’s almost as though they’re somehow slipping in and out of our world through a partition, a portal if you will, appearing when necessary and then disappearing when they are no longer needed. In other words, the angels have the ability to travel back and forth between two very real dimensions.”
Amanda nodded. “I agree with you, but couldn’t God have simply given them the ability to do that even in one dimension? And even if there are two dimensions, no man or angel can travel between them without God’s help. I guess what I’m saying is that anything these men try to do will be futile because they aren’t being aided by God.”
“Not necessarily.”
Amanda frowned. “You think these men can override God?”
“I think God may allow certain things for his purposes, both in our lives here on earth and in the spirit realm. And yes, I do believe it’s possible for this portal to be accessed for evil purposes. For example, we know from the sixth chapter of Genesis that fallen angels descended upon the earth, appeared in the flesh, and then committed acts of immorality. And since we know that God did not direct them to do these evil things, we can therefore assume that they somehow possessed the keys to these portals.”
“So this man who works at CERN. You’re telling me it’s possible that he can actually—”
“I’m only saying that it’s possible. God can certainly stop them if He chooses, but that is up to him. He is sovereign and the Word says that his ways are not our ways. All I know is that I sensed something as I prayed earlier tonight. I won’t call it a vision, but I will say it was this strong feeling that an hour of darkness is approaching and that I would be called upon to stop an evil act that is about to take place. Myself and someone else.”
Amanda knew he was referring to her. “Shouldn’t I call my friends then? Don’t they need to know that something might happen here tonight?”
When Philippe didn’t respond, she glanced over at him. He was looking in her direction, but he wasn’t looking at her. She immediately turned around and noticed a car moving abnormally slowly toward the construction site. After drawing even with the construction site, the car stopped. Amanda stared at it, trying to see who was inside. From that distance, all she could tell was that there was more than one person.
A few seconds later, the car accelerated and then passed out of view around a curve.
“That might not be a bad idea,” Philippe said.
“What?” she asked, forgetting her original question.
“It might not be a bad idea to call your friends.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Following Skinner’s instructions, Brett continued past the CERN entrance, rounded a curve, and then turned right onto a dirt road that ran a short distance back into the trees. Although Skinner had left his motorcycle at the construction site, he warned Brett not to park there, since the car would be too exposed from the road.
There was already a thick layer of snow covering the ground, which caused the car to bounce in and out of hidden potholes. Once they reached the end, Brett made a three-point turn so that the car was facing back the way they had come. After putting on the parking brake, he killed the engine, and the road was plunged into darkness.
“Hand me that,” Zane said to Reid, pointing to a large zippered duffel bag sitting in the middle of the back seat.
After taking the bag from Reid, Zane unzipped it and removed a pistol, a Glock 23 with Osprey suppressor and laser sight. It wasn’t his usual Glock 17, but he had no complaints. What was good enough for the FBI was good enough for him. After making sure the pistol was in working order, he pulled out five magazines and a palm-sized tactical flashlight. He loaded one magazine into the Glock and put the other four inside his black fleece jacket.
Armed, Zane removed three sets of radio transmitters, which included wiring and earbuds. Carmen and Brett were already wired, so he and Reid quickly assembled the devices and verified that they were operating. Zane placed the remaining set inside his coat for Skinner.
Next, he rummaged through the remainder of the items in the bag and produced a black Beretta Px4, which he placed in the cup holder between the seats. “And I’ll leave this baby with you.” He winked at Brett.
“I’m amazed that you trust me with that,” Brett said. “And don’t forget the other goodies I put down in there.”
Zane frowned and directed the beam of his flashlight into the bag. “Very nice.” He removed six flashbangs — or stun grenades — taking two and giving the other four to Carmen and Reid to split.
“Okay, let’s go over this one more time, folks,” Zane said, turning to the side so that he could face everyone in the car. “Brett, you’re going to remain here to extract the team and the hostage when we return. Keep the satellite view of the buildings up, and be ready to coordinate logistics if called upon.” Brett gave a quick nod. “If you find a better extraction point, proceed to that place as long as it’s one that we can find with little trouble. I recommend you remain here, but I’ll let that be your call.”
Brett nodded again as he pecked away at his laptop, which used its own encrypted Wi-Fi system.
“Do you have our position up yet?” Zane asked.
“I do.” Brett swiveled the screen around so that all could see.
“Petrosino and Reid, we follow these trees that run parallel to the paved road.” Zane traced his finger along the picture of the trees in the satellite view. “We don’t want to be seen, but we do want to stay within sight of the road, because when we’re even with the construction site, we'll know we have another sixty yards before turning left and following a perpendicular line of trees back into the property.”
“Which should eventually put us here.” Carmen leaned forward and pointed to the place where Skinner was currently positioned. “Right next to that cluster of buildings.”
“Correct.” Zane noticed that Brett was staring at the windshield. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, I know you better than that.”
“Was just concerned about what you’re going to run up against inside. Something tells me there’s a lot of firepower waiting on you. And we both know—”