The Left Behind Collection: All 12 Books (218 page)

What power,
Mac thought.
What pervasive control, even of technology.
If by some stretch Carpathia left Israel alive, Mac would not allow him to land alive. Not on any plane he was piloting. But should he wait that long? He dug in the bottom compartment of his flight bag and fingered the contraband pistol just like the one Abdullah also carried. If Mac carried it that night, he would have to stay far from the metal detectors.

Chaim’s neighborhood had been hit hard. Bricks had been loosened and a section of his garage had disintegrated, but unlike the flattened residences around his, Chaim’s house had largely escaped damage.

Power returned quickly to that area, and Buck watched the television reports with Chaim and the rest of the household. The death toll was announced in the hundreds but quickly climbed into the thousands.

Most of the damage indeed centered on the east side of Jerusalem, where buildings fell, apartment complexes collapsed, roads became upturned ribbons of asphalt and mud, and thousands perished. By early evening it was clear that about a tenth of the Holy City had been destroyed and that the death toll would reach at least seven thousand by morning.

Every newscast repeated the insistence on the part of the GC that delegates should still attend the final ceremony. “It will be abbreviated,” an appropriately morose Leon Fortunato intoned. “The potentate is involved in the search-and-rescue operation, but he asked that I extend his heartfelt condolences to all who have suffered loss. These are his words: ‘Reconstruction begins immediately. We will not be defeated by one defeat. The character of a people is revealed by its reaction to tragedy. We shall rise because we are the Global Community.

“‘There is tremendous morale-building value in our coming together as planned. Music and dancing will not be appropriate, but we shall stand together, encourage each other, and dedicate ourselves anew to the ideals we hold dear.’

“Let me add a personal word,” Fortunato said. “It would be most encouraging to Potentate Carpathia if you were to attend in overwhelming numbers. We will commemorate the dead and the valor of those involved in the rescue effort, and the healing process will begin.”

Buck had no interest in the maudlin imitation of the opening night—the potentates praising their fearless leader and he piously charming the crowd.

“You promised to be there,” Chaim rasped.

“Oh, sir, the roads will be impassable, wheelchair ramps may have been damaged. Just watch it on—”

“Jacov can drive through anything and get me anywhere.”

Jacov shrugged. Buck made a face as if to ask why he hadn’t supported Buck’s refusal. “He’s right,” Jacov said. “Get him and his chair into the car, and I’ll get him there.”

“I can’t risk being recognized,” Buck told Chaim.

“I just want to know you are in the crowd, supporting me.”

The sun slipped out from under a bank of clouds and warmed Jerusalem. The orange highlight on the old city shocked Rayford in its beauty, but so did the devastation. Rayford couldn’t imagine why Carpathia was so determined to go through with the schedule. But the potentate was playing right into God’s hands.

Rayford stayed behind various groups, finally camping out in a cluster of people near the speaker tower to Carpathia’s left as he faced the audience. Rayford guessed he was sixty or seventy feet from the lectern.

“I am not going,” Abdullah announced. “I will watch on television.”

“Suit yourself,” Mac said. “I’ll probably regret going myself.”

Mac sat in the shuttle van for more than twenty minutes before it finally pulled away. He glanced back to see Abdullah stride quickly from the hotel, hands inside the pockets of a light jacket.

Buck arrived at the plaza before Jacov and Chaim and waited near the entrance, emboldened by being patently ignored. His new look was working, and anyway it appeared GC workers were preoccupied preparing for a guest of honor. And here he came.

Someone parked Chaim’s vehicle while Jacov wheeled Chaim to the metal detector at stage right. “Your name, sir,” a guard asked.

“Jac—”

“He’s with me, young man,” Chaim spat. “Leave him alone.”

“I’m sorry, sir,” the guard said. “We are on heightened security alert, as you can imagine.”

“I said he’s with me!”

“That’s fine, sir, but once he helps you onto the platform, he’ll have to find a seat or stand elsewhere.”

“Nonsense!” Chaim said. “Now—”

“Oh, boss,” Jacov said quickly. “I don’t want to be up there anyway. Please.”

Buck saw Chaim close his eyes wearily and wave with the back of his hand. “Just get me up there.”

“You have to go through the metal detector,” the guard said. “No exceptions.”

“Fine! Let’s go!”

“You first, son.”

Jacov’s keys set off the alarm. He succeeded on his second try.

“I’ll need you out of the chair briefly, Dr. Rosenzweig,” the guard said. “My men can support you.”

“No they can’t!” Chaim said.

“Sir,” Jacov said, “he had a stroke Mon—”

“I know all about that.”

“Do you want to insult an Israeli, and may I say, global statesman?”

The guard appeared at a loss. “I have to at least search him.”

“Very well,” Chaim growled. “Be quick!”

The guard felt Chaim’s arms and legs and back, patting him down all over. “Your getaway would have been a little slow anyway,” he said.

Jacov and three guards lifted the chair to the stage and rolled Chaim to the left end of the row of chairs. The guard signaled Jacov to return. “I’m to leave him up here alone now?”

“I’m sorry,” the guard said.

Jacov shrugged. Chaim said, “Go on! I’ll be fine.”

Jacov descended and joined Buck near the front. They watched as Chaim amused himself by steering the motorized wheelchair back and forth across the vast, empty stage, to the delight of the growing crowd.

The sky was dark, but the vast lighting system bathed the plaza. Rayford guessed the crowd bigger than on opening day, but subdued.

Their helicopters having been pressed into earthquake relief, the VIPs were transported in a motor coach. No fanfare or music or dancing, no opening prayer. The potentates mounted the steps, shook hands with each other and with Chaim, and waited in front of their chairs. Leon walked Nicolae up, surrounded by the security detail. The assembled broke into warm, sustained applause, no cheering or whistling.

Leon quickly introduced the potentates, then said, “There is one other
very
special guest we are particularly pleased to welcome, but His Excellency has requested that privilege. And so, with heartfelt thanks for your support during this time, I give you once again, His Excellency, Nicolae Carpathia.”

Rayford reached inside his robe with both hands, separated the Saber, and silently told God he was prepared to produce it at the right moment.

A restrained Carpathia quickly quieted the applause. “Let me add my deep thanks to that of our supreme commander’s and also my abject sympathies to you who have suffered. I will not keep you long, because I know many of you need to return to your homelands and are concerned about transportation. Flights are going from both airports, though there are, of course, delays.

“Now before my remarks, let me introduce my guest of honor. He was to have been here Monday, but he was overtaken by an untimely stroke. It gives me great pleasure to announce the miraculous rallying of this great man, enough so that he joins us tonight in his wheelchair, with wonderful prospects for complete recovery. Ladies and gentlemen of the Global Community, a statesman, a scientist, a loyal citizen, and my dear friend, the distinguished Dr. Chaim Rosenzweig!”

The crowd erupted as Carpathia pointed toward Chaim, and Rayford sensed his opportunity. People in front of him lifted their arms to clap and wave, and he quickly raised the weapon and took aim. But Chaim reached with his good arm as if to offer it to Carpathia, and Nicolae bounded over to the wheelchair to embrace the old man.

No way Rayford would fire that close to Rosenzweig. He lowered the weapon, hidden under the folds of his billowy sleeve, and watched the awkward embrace. Nicolae raised Chaim’s good arm, and the crowd cheered again. Carpathia returned to the lectern and the moment was lost.