The King of Plagues

Nicodemus studied him for a long time before answering, “Nicodemus.”

“Is that your first name or your last name?”

“It is all that I am.”

“Why are you reluctant to tell me your full name?”

“Why do you need it? Only witches and sorcerers conjure with names. Is that what you are?”

“Do you think that’s what I am?”

Nicodemus smiled but did not answer.

“Do you know why I wanted to see you, Nicodemus?”

“I know.”

“Will you tell me?”

Almost a full minute passed before Nicodemus answered, “It is the nature of prophets to know things that other men do not.”

“Are you a prophet?”

“Sometimes voices speak through me.”

“Are you aware of the event that occurred in London yesterday?”

“I am aware that souls are in the smoke and that darkness stretched across the sky.”

“What else do you know of that event?”

Nicodemus leaned forward. “Are you a God-fearing man, Dr. Sanchez?”

“I am a person of faith.”

One corner of the prisoner’s mouth curled upward in a small sneer. “Then if you are a Bible-reading man, brother, you will be familiar with the Book of Exodus, chapters seven through twelve.”

Rudy had been expecting this. “You’re referring to the Ten Plagues of Egypt?”

“You are a Bible-reading man! Yes … God visited the Ten Plagues on Egypt in order to free the Israelites who had been kept as slaves.” He leaned forward very quickly and Rudy noted that the guards gasped and stepped back first rather than lunge forward to restrain the man.

They are just as afraid of this man as Warden Wilson and Dr. Stankeviius, Rudy mused. What kind of hold does Nicodemus have over everyone?

Nicodemus’s eyes burned with excitement. “Had it been God’s will simply to release His people, He could have done so with a legion of angels. But that teaches nothing. Do you know why God sent so many plagues, and why he hardened Pharaoh’s heart each time so that the Israelites were not freed?”

“Please tell me.” He noted that Nicodemus used the word “God” rather than “Goddess.”

“I asked you, Doctor.”

“Very well. It seems to be a matter of how one interprets the meaning of the words, bearing in mind that they are translated. I do not believe that the passage is saying that God forced Pharaoh to commit evil, but that God allowed it.”

“Why would He allow such a dreadful thing?”

“It is the nature of free will. If we humans have free will, and faith in the face of doubt suggests that we do, then it comes from God. Otherwise no one would be responsible for anything that they do, and that includes acts of charity and kindness as well as acts of evil.”

“Then, Doctor, by your own statement you do not believe in the guidance of the Divine in our actions.”

“That isn’t what I said, and I believe you know that. Guidance is not the same thing as coercion.”

He watched Nicodemus’s eyes when he said the word “coercion.” Was there a flicker? Did they tighten just a fraction?

“What about the Devil, Dr. Sanchez? Do you believe that the Devil and his demons can dominate the mind and soul of a person and make them do terrible things?”

“No,” said Rudy. “I do not believe that.”

“How can you believe in one part of the Bible and not all of it?”

Rudy almost smiled, and he appreciated the trap the little prisoner had laid. Very clever indeed.

“That is a longer discussion than we have time for now,” Rudy said. “Though perhaps we’ll have the chance to explore it further. For now, Nicodemus, please tell me why when I ask you about what happened in London yesterday you bring up the Ten Plagues of Egypt? Is there some connection?”

“All things are connected. We float in a pool of time in which all things eddy and swirl.”

“Could you be a bit more specific?”

“We are living in biblical times,” said Nicodemus. “The Bible isn’t a record of what was; it is a record of what is.” The Old Testament, the New Testament … they are but chapters in a book that will continue to be written. New pages are being written today. Written into our skins, written on the skies above us, written into our souls. The prophets shout it from street corners and are not heard. False prophets speak it from the television, but even when they tell the truth they are not believed. History is unfolding and the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and—’

“‘tenement halls.’ You’re quoting Simon and Garfunkel,” said Rudy. “Not exactly Scripture.”

Nicodemus chuckled. “Ah, so you are awake. I had begun to worry, Doctor. You come here to ask me questions that you already know the answers to, and when I speak you do not appear to listen.”

“You are being vague and evasive,” Rudy said.

“And you are being disingenuous,” countered Nicodemus. “You do know what I am saying.”

“No, sir, I do not. But I am willing to listen and to hear.” When Nicodemus did not reply, Rudy said, “Please, tell me what you know about what happened in London.”

Nicodemus closed his eyes very slowly and then opened them. It was a very reptilian action. “I know nothing about London. The sky is like sackcloth and my eye is blind.”

Rudy waited. “Yesterday, when you spoke with Dr. Stankeviius you mentioned a ‘goddess.’ Tell me about her.”

“Not a goddess,” corrected the little man. “To believe in a goddess presupposes that there are many, and that is an untruth spoken by liars and fools. I spoke of the Goddess.”

“And yet today you mention God. Doesn’t that suggest more than one deity?”

“No,” said Nicodemus quickly. “Sometimes my mouth speaks the words it was trained to speak, not those which are in my heart.”

“Meaning?”

“God has transformed and become.”

“Become what?”

“Become all. Male and female. The eternal yin and yang. This is the completion of a cosmic cycle begun before time.”

“I see.”

“No, Doctor, you do not. You pretend wisdom, but your eyes are blinded by convention and misunderstanding.”

“I am willing to learn the truth.”

Nicodemus’s smile was so strange that Rudy could not easily find an adjective to describe it. The closest he could come was the lurid “goblinesque.”

“The Goddess has opened her eye, Doctor, and she sees all. She has appointed Seven Kings to sit in judgment of all men.”

Ah, thought Rudy, now we get to it.

“Who are these Seven Kings? Are they real men?”

“They are the Sons of the Goddess and they walk the earth as the Son of man once walked.”

“And are they connected with what happened in London yesterday?”

“They are connected to all things. The Seven Kings are everywhere. They look over your shoulder and they see into the hearts of men.”

“Nicodemus,” said Rudy quietly, “you seem to know so much. Why not put this insight and wisdom to good use? The Seven Kings are doing very bad things. Surely this cannot be the will of heaven.”