'Tanker, Garth and I kept coming because we still weren't sure that the child was unharmed. We didn't know that a decent man like you was watching out for her. Now we do, so there's no need for us to continue with our investigation; all we ever cared about was the girl. If you'll tell me where my brother is, I'll go get him and we'll be out of your hair.'
Again, the giant lifted his elbow, stared at me from under its crook. I didn't like the look in his small eyes. 'You lie, dwarf,' he said at last. 'That's a sin. You must think I'm a fool. I'm Christ's avatar on earth; He lets me see into men's hearts, and He tells me you're lying.'
'I'm grateful to you for not killing Garth, Tanker, but I don't understand why you want to keep holding him. We're not your enemies.'
'You're God's enemies.'
'No, Tanker. It's certainly true that we don't share your religious beliefs, but that doesn't make us God's enemies. We don't care what you believe. And it turns out that we shared the same concern. It was because of us that you found out that Kenecky was abusing the girl, and then you … put a stop to it. That's all we wanted. On that piece of business, we were on the same side. That must mean we were on God's side, since you're God's avatar.'
'You don't understand.'
'Then explain it to me. Why can't you let us be? For that matter, why does Christ need an avatar on earth in the first place? It seems to me that He's been taking care of His own business quite nicely for upwards of two thousand years.'
'This is different; these are the Final Days. Satan's demons are already arriving, in human form. Kenecky and Patton were demons.'
'Then why were you working for them?'
'I've already explained that to you. God had put evil in my heart so that the demons would come to me, think I was one of them. Even they were part of God's plan, since they had the power to bring on the Final Days. But then God cleansed my heart so that I could see that they were demons, and that He had no further use for them.'
'Do you think Garth and I are demons?'
'No. But you're not among God's elite, either. Neither of you will be Raptured next week.'
'Next week? You believe the world is going to end next week?'
'The world will begin to end; the battle of Armageddon will begin. These are the Final Days. I and the others will be Raptured up to the heavens to wait with Jesus for seven years. Those who are left behind, those who survive the first minutes, will be tormented by the armies of Satan. When the seven years have passed, Jesus and those He has Raptured will descend to rule the earth in His kingdom.'
'Uh, when next week is all this business supposed to start happening, Tanker?'
'The beginning of the new year.'
'You mean Friday?'
'Yes.'
'Got it. But after that, those of us who haven't been Raptured will be taking our lumps with Satan and his demons, right?'
'You mock, dwarf. But you'll see. All of you unbelievers will see.'
'I don't mean to mock, Tanker; I'm just trying to make an argument. If Garth and I are going to be going through so much suffering, don't you, as Christ's avatar, think it only fitting that we should suffer together? And if the Final Days are here anyway, what does it matter if Garth and I are together? Where's the sense of hanging on to him if Satan and his demons are coming around in another five days to make us all miserable? What's the point?'
'Neither you nor your brother will suffer at the hands of the demons, dwarf,' Tanker Thompson said in a low voice that had a particularly chilling effect on me.'Not everyone will be around to suffer the years of Tribulation.'
'Uh, why is that, Tanker?'
'Because you'll be dead.'
'Garth and I will be dead?'
'Yes. The two of you, and millions of others, will die at the beginning of the Tribulation.'
'How do you know we're going to die?'
'Because it is prophesied.'
'All the more reason for brothers to be together, no? What do you care if we're together for the last five days of our lives?'
There was no reply, and I found myself growing even colder.
'I don't understand what's happening, Tanker,' I continued. 'What's the story? Are you punishing Garth by holding him?'
'No.'
'Then why not free him so that he and I can be together for the last five days before Satan arrives?'
Again, there was no reply. And then I realized why I felt cold as I recalled some things a few of the zanier zealots, including William Kenecky, had spoken and written about on a number of occasions; the same things had even been alluded to by a few of the zanier politicians looking to curry favor with the religious right.
Nuclear war with Russia, their line of insane reasoning went, could well be the Armageddon referred to in the Bible. Consequently, not only would it be moral to start such a war, but the people launching it would be carrying out an act of Divine Providence. These chiliasts believed that it was God's will that millions should die in order to bring on Armageddon and the eventual Kingdom of God on earth. These people didn't fear nuclear holocaust; indeed, they couldn't wait for the bombs to start falling.
I could well be talking to such a man. Tanker Thompson, Craig Valley, Floyd and Baxter Small, William Kenecky, Peter Patton, and Henry Blaisdel-lovers of death, all of them, men who viewed their own and everyone else's extermination with what could only be described as a kind of sexual frenzy.
'Tanker,' I said softly, 'you people are doing more than just hanging around waiting for the Rapture and Tribulation to begin Thursday at midnight, aren't you? You've got something cooked up to start the ball rolling, right? That's why you're so certain Garth and I are going to die.'
Tanker Thompson smiled, nodded. 'It's God's will.'
'It's the ultimate in necrophilia, is what it is,' I said tersely, feeling my heart start to pound. 'What's going to happen? How many other people are going to escape the Tribulation because they'll be dead, Tanker?'
'Many. It will be a blessing. What's necrophilia, dwarf?'
'You killed Peter Patton. Who's in charge now? Henry Blaisdel?'
Tanker Thompson laughed softly. 'God is in charge. It can't be stopped now. Praise the Lord. Jesus is coming.'
'If it can't be stopped, why hang on to Garth? If it's God's will that the Tribulation should come, then no human should be able to stop it.'
'No human must be allowed to try. That's why I'm here.'
'Then it can be stopped?'
'Not by you.'
'Where's Garth, Tanker? Is he where Vicky Brown is?'
'No.'
'Where is Vicky Brown?'
'She's safe, dwarf. I told you that.'
'She's in a biosphere somewhere around here, isn't she? Nuvironment has actually built one of those things, right?'
There was a long pause. I didn't think Thompson was going to answer me, so his answer came as a surprise. 'Not around here,' he said at last.
'The letter she wrote to Santa Claus was mailed in New York.'
'Patton told me about the letter. That was what started it all. It's how you and your brother found out about Vicky and Kenecky. . and other things.'
'Yes.'
Tanker Thompson made a low, guttural sound in his throat that could have been a curse. 'The devil even uses
