Judd told about his plan to run away and about the plane ride toEuropeon which scores of pa.s.sengers disappeared around him.

"We've learned a lot at Nicolae High. We owe a debt to our teachers and parents. But if we gain a whole world of knowledge and miss the most important thing in life, what good will our education be?

What if we gain the world but lose our souls?"

"You will make many decisions in the future. But tonight I tell you that there is ultimate truth. If you believe it and act on it, your life will change forever. If you dismiss it, the road ahead is grim."

Judd heard Fortunato say, "OK, that's enough," and Mrs. Jenness approached. He kept going.

"There is one way, one truth, one path to life and peace, and that is through Jesus Christ."

Mrs. Jenness said, "Stop." She drew a finger across her throat at the control board, and AV techies turned k.n.o.bs, flipped switches, pulled cords, and shrugged. "I beg you to consider him! He died that you might live."

"Judd, step away from the microphone," Mrs. Jenness said.

Judd stayed where he was. He pointed behind him, and instantly the curtain fell, revealing a banner with the text of a Bible verse, John 3:16.

"For G.o.d so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

"Someone turn the microphone off!" Mrs. Jenness yelled.

Global Community guards approached. Though the microphone was dead, Judd could still be heard.

He heard a scattering of boos and hisses. Judd moved to his right at the edge of the stage and looked into the faces of the graduating cla.s.s.

"You've read the Underground," he said, his voice even louder now through the hidden microphone.

"You know that what the Bible predicted is coming true."

Mrs. Jenness screamed through the dead microphone, "Turn him off!"

But Judd's voice rang clear through the hall.

"I'm not a rebel," he said.

"I'm a truth teller."

Global Community guards rushed the stage. Judd moved left and was blocked from the stairs. He ran right as Fortunate rose and avoidedLeonlike a running back slipping a tackier.

"G.o.d will hear you if you ask him to forgive you," Judd shouted as he ran, breathing heavily now.

Students hooted and cheered as he eluded the guards. The CNN camera followed him. He slipped into the plants at the edge of the stage.

Before him was the drop to the auditorium floor. Guards were upon him.

"If you believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead and confess with your mouth that he is Lord, you will be saved. Don't wait. Pray now!"

Judd heard the footsteps. Mrs. Jenness still shouted. He glanced to see an angry Leon Fortunate escorted by a cadre of bodyguards. A GC guard reached for Judd but got only the edge of his robe.

Judd pulled away, heard a rip, and lost his balance. He flipped in the air and landed hard on his feet as he fell to the floor. Pain shot through his right foot.

Vicki jumped out of her seat, but Bruce grabbed her arm.

"Let me go!" she said. The audience fell silent now. Students craned their necks to see Judd lying under the John 3:16 banner.

"Uh, just another indication of the religious diversity in the country," Mary Lee Manwether said.

"And now, I think we have the tape of the remarks made tonight by the Global Community's Leon Fortunate."

As the guards converged upon him, Judd forced himself to speak through the pain.

"Give your life to Christ right now," he gasped.

"Pray with me. G.o.d, I know I have sinned.... I need your forgiveness.

Come into my life now change me, I accept you now. "

As the guards yanked him to his feet, he forced himself into one last act of commitment. One last show of resolve. Judd rolled on his side and put his weight on his good leg.

Slowly, painfully, he stood.

"Thank you," he said as the Global Community guards grabbed him and led him away.

Vicki could not hold back her tears. Bruce put an arm around her.

The room was silent except for Judd's heavy breathing into the microphone. The guards were not gentle.

One called him a name. Another cursed and told the others to keep quiet.

Then, through her tears, Vicki saw something wonderful. On the other side of the auditorium stood a lone figure-a faculty member.

"Who is that?" Bruce said.

"Mrs. Waltonen," Vicki said.

In the back Coach Handlesman stood and clapped. Bruce and Vicki stood. Then John and Mark in their graduation robes.

Throughout the auditorium students and parents stood, some clapping, some weeping. Some sat in silence. Others booed.

Vicki shook. A guard roughly ushered Mrs. Waltonen from the room.

Judd was expelled, given no credit, and barred from any college or university. A Global Community officer looked at him with contempt.

"I hope you're happy," the man said.

"You'll never be anything now!"

After hours of detainment, Judd had signed a statement agreeing to cease making public statements of disloyalty to the Global Community. Otherwise he would be sent to prison. "Do you mean to keep that promise?" Bruce asked as he drove Judd home early the next morning.

"I can keep that promise and still talk about my faith," Judd said.

"But if it comes to that, there are worse things than a re-education camp."

"I hope Coach Handlesman and Mrs. Waltonen agree," Bruce said. GC peacekeepers concluded that Mr. Handlesman was to blame for the device that allowed Judd to override the sound system.

The broadcast had been live, so news of Judd's speech spread. He was a hero to believers and a sad figure to others. Fortunate called the event "an isolated incident," but leaked reports said he was furious with the news producer who had called the shots and had her fired from her post. Judd only hoped Nicolae Carpathia heard about it.

Judd didn't want to go to college anyway, not with only a few years left. Bruce asked him to go with him on more trips abroad.

But John wanted to go to college.

"Seems like a waste to me," Mark said.

"We have less than seven years left. We ought to make the most of them."

"And your answer is the militia?" John said.

"You bet. The Underground helped us get our message out.

Let's take it to another level. "

Bruce shook his head.

"Tomorrow night we're simulating an attack," Mark said.

"I can't say much, but the militia is big. I think G.o.d is going to use it to overthrow Carpathia. "

"That doesn't square with Scripture," Judd said.

"What are we supposed to do, roll over and play dead?" Mark said.

"Come out and go through an exercise with us, Judd.

Your ankle's healed. "

"I'm not worried about my ankle. I just don't think this is the answer."

"And I think you're chicken."

Vicki jumped in.

"And what do the women in your militia do? Stay home and bake cookies? "

"Come along if you'd like," Mark said.

"All of you. Bruce, too."

"Cool," Ryan said.

"What time do we leave?"

"Sorry," Mark said.

"Too young."

"I'll be there," Judd said.

"Me, too, " Vicki said.

Vicki put on combat fatigues. She painted her face the same colors and surprised Chaya, who was studying in the den.

"You went a little heavy on the green and black," Chaya joked.

"What're you trying to prove?"

"Judd and I hope we can show Mark how silly this all is."

The moon was full as they drove north. The air was hot and muggy, but the wind felt good as it rushed through the cab of Mark's truck. The militia had grown in the last year, and Mark explained their network. TheMidwestwas one of the strongest outposts in the country.

"But Carpathia has gathered all the nuclear weapons," Judd said.

"What chance could you possibly have? It's like a slingshot against a bazooka."

"You think Global Community has all the nukes?" Mark said with a smile.

"The GC won't know what hit 'em. Besides, look what G.o.d did once with a slingshot."

They parked in a wooded area inWisconsinand covered the truck with brush.

"Is this necessary?" Judd said.

Mark didn't answer. He led them through a half mile of woods into a clearing, where a few hundred men in fatigues stood talking. Vicki noticed few women. Major Stockton Evers, a well-built man with close-cropped hair, stood on a small hill to address the group.

"Tonight we simulate a battle strike," he said. He suddenly noticed Judd and Vicki and clenched his teeth. "Friends of mine," Mark said.

"I've told you about"-"Anyone who attends has to go through protocol," Major Evers interrupted.

"Especially a meeting as sensitive as this one."

Mark said, "This is Judd Thompson, the one who stood up to Leon Fortunate on television."

Major Evers raised his eyebrows.

"And this is Vicki Byrne, our friend."

"And we can trust them?"

"I would trust my life to them, or I wouldn't have brought them."