about dreams.”
She seemed momentarily absorbed in his answers. “Because some sleep disorders are caused by recurring dreams or nightmares.”
“So why all the questions about religion?”
“We’re interested in emotional or psychological sources of one’s dreams.”
“Sounds like you’re more interested in dreams than sleep disorders.”
“I suppose it does.” But she didn’t elaborate, and her birthmark seemed to flare.
“If I turn out to be eligible, just what will the tests entail?”
“If you don’t mind, we’ll cross that bridge if and when we get to it.” She led him to the door. “And please send us your medical records.” She handed him a card with a Boston post office box. “We’ll contact you should we proceed to the next stage.”
Zack didn’t like the abrupt dismissal, but he said nothing.
Damian was in the lobby waiting for him. “How’d you do?”
“I’m still in debt,” Zack said as they walked outside.
“Yeah, well, maybe that’ll change.”
The air was cool, and Boston glowed against a dark indigo sky. Before they parted, Zack said, “Meanwhile, they’ll check to see if we’re New Age freaks or junkies.”
“At least they won’t do a credit rating.”
“There may be a God after all.”
24
Warren Gladstone inspected his face in the mirror. He checked that his teeth were clean, his shave was close, all hairs were in place. He adjusted his gold tie peeking through the collar of his sky blue robe and flashed the GodLight smile that would light his way to the Promised Land. He then stepped to the podium and beamed at the cameras. The studio was small, and technicians crowded behind the two cameras. On cue from the video producer, Warren began.
“And it came to pass that the world once lived in peace and happiness. All loved God, and God loved all. Then one day Evil came into the world. Yes, men of a different god invaded the world and brought with them a false deity. Under a banner of ‘true authority,’ these invaders claimed the new land as their own, armed with their books and documents of iron words that promised false freedom and false peace.”
As he read the teleprompter, Warren could feel the heat of his own conviction.
“And these men dreamed of unifying all God’s children under this false idol that promised freedom from what they called
“And they filled the world with believers, not of the one true God, but worshippers of their false god, reciting so-called truths. And the one true Creator who feeds, clothes, and protects them was rejected. They cursed His gifts and piled them into trash heaps. They scorned and derided God’s true people. And the false god ruled, and his book of lies was shipped.”
He took a sip of water, his veins throbbing with heavenly purpose.
“And their book is called
“But I tell you that the rise of secularism has so hollowed out Western society that it gave rise to moral relativism, which regards all beliefs and principles as equal. This secularism has resulted in the junking of moral codes that have sustained people for twice a thousand years, leaving Western religion vulnerable to attacks of radical fundamentalists from afar.”
He judiciously avoided naming Islam so as not to politicize his message of global unity.
“You’ve heard me say countless times that God doesn’t require us to understand His will, just obey it, unreasonable as it may seem at times. You’ve also heard me paraphrase Mark Twain, When scientists explained the rainbow, we lost more than we gained. But the truth is that the more science unravels the mysteries of the world, the more mysterious the world remains. As many scientists have proclaimed, there need not be a conflict between religion and science.
“We’ve all heard the expression ‘Fight fire with fire.’ I believe it was Shakespeare who first said that. And there is great truth to that. And soon, yes, soon we will fight fire with fire and show how reason and science can be enlisted to verify the Word of God.
“No, I can’t say when exactly that’ll happen, but
“It is coming, my brothers and sisters. It is coming. Hallelujah, the great day of the Lord is coming.”
A moment later Warren stepped into the office, puffed up and beaming. “So what do you think?”
“You could sell condoms to a priest,” said Morris Stern, whose small eyes flickered at him behind his glasses.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Warren gave Stern a hard glare. The man was a brilliant scientist, but an insufferable infidel. God only knew where Elizabeth had found him.
“Just kidding,” Stern said. “You’ll have them eating out of your hand.”
“At first, you had me a little nervous making science sound like the God killer,” Elizabeth said. “But you came around nicely.”
“I’m not about to feed the hand that smites me.”
“You are the wordsmith, Warren.”
Gladstone seated himself at his desk. On the wall behind him hung a plaque that replicated the mission bannered on their GodLight Web site: “Ours is a covenant with the Lord God Almighty to spread the Gospel of the Messiah by means of mass communications to the whole world.”
Warren’s plan was to continue making these teasing little broadcasts, priming the spiritual pump until they had the evidence they sought—evidence that would reconcile religion with science and once and forever put an end to the rancor and enmity between the two camps.
“By the way, did you find someone to replace what’s-his-name … Pomeroy, you know, how to process all the cellular activity or whatever it is?”
“No,” said Stern. “But we have Sarah Wyman, a former student and very competent woman who’s working on that.”
“What’s her philosophical position?”
“She’s a dedicated scientist.”
Stern’s code phrase for
“That she can.”
“Then how come you look like you’ve just come from a funeral?”
“Well, we have a bit of bad news.”
Warren stiffened in his chair. “What happened?”
“We lost another contractor. LeAnn Cola,” said Stern.
“What happened?”
“Gas leak while she slept. Luckily her daughter had the air conditioner on.”
“What a terrible shame, and poor child. Will that affect us?”
“No, not really.”
“There’s something else,” Elizabeth said, and handed him a news article. “Police are investigating two dead males with high levels of tetrodotoxin in them.”
“How were they identified?”
“An illegal alien from Haiti, found dead on a back street in Charlestown. The other, a homeless guy fished out
