abstract doctrine.
“Look how all me religions out there squabble among themselves,” Feldman remarked, “each claiming to be the one true faith. There's absolutely no way for the sincere, well-meaning worshiper of the world to really know for sure which religion, if any, is right.”
“Will the real God stand up?” Hunter snorted, irreverently. “Where
Feldman shook his head and rocked back in his chair. “Look, I know we're all supposed to be professional, impartial, hard-nosed journalists here, but can you guys continue to sit there and tell me this whole Jeza thing isn't starting to spook you just a bit?”
No answer.
“Think about it,” Feldman expounded. “Beyond all those amazing capabilities Jeza got from the Negev lab, there's still a hell of a lot going on that doesn't quite compute. Just look at all the hundreds of afflicted people over the last two months who've claimed she's cured them. Some of them have been pretty damn convincing. It can't all be psychosomatic, can it?
“Then, there are those odd little things she seems to have prior knowledge about. On the plane ride over from Cairo, she warned me about upcoming turbulence before the pilot did, for chrissakes!
“And have you ever wondered why it is WNN always happens to be in the right place at the right time? It's wearing a bit thin trying to explain everything as simply a bunch of bizarre coincidences.”
Hunter emitted a short laugh. “It's a hell of a lot easier than explaining them as miracles.”
Feldman shot right back. “You pile up enough coincidences, that in itself is a miracle.”
“Well,” Cissy admitted, “I don't claim to have an explanation for all those things, but I do have a theory about this mission from the Father she's frightening everybody about.” She looked around to make certain no one could overhear her, and then cautiously lowered her voice. “I think Jeza's reacting to a subliminal message Jozef Leveque planted inside her to help her handle the military infusion stuff. You know, a safety valve or protective default or whatever.
“I mean, wouldn't you do something to protect your child from that kind of brainwashing? And men later, when Jeza got mixed up with that Samaritan cult, she simply got Leveque's message confused with all the doomsday garbage they fed her. So now she thinks her mission is to prepare for an Apocalypse.”
“Jesus, I don't know what to believe anymore.” Feldman groaned loudly. “I've managed to live my whole adult life with this God thing shoved over in a corner. I couldn't make any sense of it. I'd look for God, but I could never see Him. I was fed up with all the bickering religions and their contradictory theologies and preachy gibberish. And now, I find myself pulling out all my confusions and dusting them off again.”
He took off his ball cap and ran his fingers through his dark hair. “I don't know what's happening here, guys, but I have to tell you, there's
“Don't tell me you buy into all this scare talk about the Last Day?” Cissy asked, disbelievingly.
“No,” Feldman assured her. “At least, not a biblical Last Day.” His face clouded. “But if you look at where this whole millenarian movement is heading, certainly all the ingredients are here for one hell of a confrontation. What you call it, I guess, just depends on your perspective.”
“Well, I'll give you a videographer's perspective if you want one,” Hunter offered. “This is a Cataclysm, all right. A Cataclysm of crap! Jeza is as crackers as they come. I agree with Cissy. Jeza's brain is all twisted up from those mad scientist experiments they did on her. She really
“But I tell you what, whether she's responsible for her actions or not, if that little woman continues down the hell-bent path she's on, she's gonna find herself in a lot hotter water than she's already in. It's one thing to have a bunch of religious fanatics out to burn your ass. It's an altogether more serious deal to mess with the international conduct of business and nations. And the rest of the world aside, she's destabilizing the Mideast, man. She's threatening the oil lanes. And when you do that, you run afoul of the CIA and the National Security Administration- and a whole lot worse!”
This ominous observation was not a welcome insight for Feldman. He sighed. Despite his misgivings about Jeza, he could not deny a strange affection growing inside him for the desolate little woman he'd left resting alone in the airplane beyond. An admiration for her convictions, her remarkable poise and mysticism.
And also a great pity. He could not ignore the basic truth in Hunter's statements. Despite the technological marvel of her mind and her extraordinary abilities, she was, after all, only human. And sooner or later, she was going to have to come to terms with the unpleasant facts about her true nature.
73
Mormon Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 7:09 P.M., Sunday, March 5, 2000
Alphonse Cardinal Litti was not quite sure how to take all the attention. In only a matter of hours, he'd gone from relative obscurity to international acclaim. Suddenly, he'd become the official Exegete Extraordinaire in matters concerning the mysterious Jeza.
In the lobby of the Convention Hall, Litti was surrounded by hot lights, cameras, microphones and avid news crews, all crowding in to hang on his every word. What had initiated all this uproar were the predictions he had made in his preconvocation TV interview. Litti had proclaimed Jeza to be a bona fide Messiah and flatly declared that she'd be calling for the abolishment of all organized religions as seriously flawed and failed institutions. When, out of hundreds of opinions televised, Litti's proved exclusively and absolutely dead-on correct, the networks and the world at large took respectful and immediate notice.
“Tell us when and where the meeting between Jeza and the pope will take place,” a newswoman shouted, jabbing a microphone at the cardinal's face.
“We're not sure yet,” Litti responded, perspiring under the lights and feeling a bit overwhelmed. “We're hoping for two weeks from today, possibly in Rome. I know that communications with the Vatican commenced a short while ago, immediately after the Messiah left the hall.”
“What about all this talk of Armageddon another root porter called out. “You seem to know Jeza's mind better than anybody. Are we heading for doomsday?”
“I cannot claim to know the Messiah's mind.” Litti smiled, flattered by the overstatement. “But I do feel I have somewhat of an understanding, an insight if you will, gleaned from careful reflection on Her teachings. I believe that a day of reckoning is imminent, just as She stated. The world has had two thousand years to absorb Christ's message and to respond properly to it. In that regard, unfortunately, we've failed badly.”
“So you're predicting all-out war, battles to the death, neighbor turning against neighbor, just as the prophetess stated?” yet another reporter asked.
“I predict nothing, and I truly don't yet know exactly what this ‘dark hour of dissolution’ means. I hope we'll get more clarification during the pope's audience with the Messiah.”
The questions continued, and for the time being, it appeared that Alphonse Cardinal Litti would be a highly sought after spiritual resource for a gravely distressed and confused world.
74
Salt Lake City Airport, Utah 6:07 A.M., Monday, March 6, 2000
Jeza had been up early, before any of the others, well before the seven A.M. takeoff. When Feldman came yawning out of his cabin, he found her sitting cross-legged in her passenger seat, earphones on, eyes closed, hands
