Tsion said, "Messiah himself warned his disciples of this very thing. He told them, 'Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he who endures to the end, he shall be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a wit iess unto all nations.

"'If any man says to you, "Lo, here is Christ," believe it not.

For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall show great signs and wonders so much so that if it were possible, they would deceive even you. If they say to you, "

Behold, he is in the desert," do not go. "Behold, he is in the secret chambers," believe it not."'

Abdullah stood in the midst of the million or so in Petra, thrilled to see that Tsion was already on the air and that he was speaking against the thousands of false Christs springing up everywhere. They claimed power from Carpathia himself and from the leader of Carpathianism, the Reverend Fortunato. They taught heresy, and yet mult.i.tudes were taken in by them.

Resounding off the rock walls, a woman's voice came from New Babylon GCNN control. "Dr. Ben Judah, please stand by as we switch to our studios, where the Most High Reverend Father Fortunato waits to engage you in respectful debate."

"Thank you, ma'am," Tsion said, "but rather than stand by, as you flip your switches and do whatever it is you have to do to make this work, let me begin by saying that I do not recognize Mr.

Fortunato as most high anything, let alone reverend or father."

Fortunato appeared on the split screen in one of his elaborate outfits, all robed and hatted and vested in velvet and piping. He was behind an ornately carved pulpit, but it was clear he was seated. His smile looked starkly genuine.

"Greetings, Dr. Ben Judah, my esteemed opponent. I heard some of that and may I say I regret that you have characteristically chosen to begin what has been intended as a cordial debate with a vicious character attack. I shall not lower myself to this and wish only to pa.s.s along my welcome and best wishes."

He paused, and Tsion did not respond. After a few seconds'

silence, Tsion said, "Is it my turn, then? Shall I open by stating the case for Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living "

"No!" It was the moderator, the woman from central. "That was merely a welcome, and if you choose to ignore it, we shall begin."

"May I ask a question, then," Tsion said, "if we choose to be so formal? Is one of the ground rules that the moderator is permitted to editorialize about the statements from this end of the argument? Such as concluding that my ignoring a greeting from an enemy was rude?"

"May we begin, sir?" she said. "The Reverend Fortunato has the floor."

"My premise is simple," Leon began, looking directly into the lens. Abdullah was rattled. He had always considered Fortunato a bit of a buffoon. But the man on the screen, though Abdullah knew better, seemed so warm and kind and loving that it had to give him credibility among the uninformed.

"I proclaim Nicolae Carpathia, risen from the dead, as the one true G.o.d, worthy of worship, and the savior of mankind," Leon said. "He is the one who surfaced at the time of the greatest calamity in the history of the world and has pulled together the global community in peace _.

and harmony and love. You claim Jesus of Nazareth as both the Son of G.o.d and one with G.o.d, which makes no sense and cannot be proven. This leaves you and your followers worshiping a man who was no doubt very spiritual, very bright, perhaps enlightened, but who is now dead. If he were alive and as all powerful as you say, I challenge him to strike me dead where I sit."

"Do it, Lord," Abdullah prayed. "Oh, G.o.d, show yourself right now."

"Hail, Carpathia," Leon said, still smiling, "our lord and risen king."

Leon looked as if he were about to continue, but Tsion took over.

"I trust you will spare us the rest of the hymn written by and about the egomaniac who murders those who disagree with him. I raise up Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, fully G.o.d and fully man, born of a virgin, the perfect lamb who was worthy to be slain for the sins of the whole world. If he is but a man, his sacrificial death was only human and we who believe in him would be lost.

"But Scripture proves him to be all that he claimed to be. His birth was foretold hundreds, yea, thousands of years before it was fulfilled in every minute detail. He himself fulfills at least separate and distinct prophecies that prove he is the Messiah.

"The uniqueness and genius of Christianity is that the Virgin Birth allowed for the only begotten son of G.o.d to identify with human beings without surrendering his G.o.dly, holy nature. Thus he could die for the sins of the whole world. His Father's resurrecting him from the dead three days later proves that G.o.d was satisfied with his sacrifice for our sins.

"Not only that, but I have discovered, in my exhaustive study of the Scriptures, more than prophecies by Jesus himself in the four Gospels alone. Many have already been literally fulfilled, guaranteeing that those that relate to still future events will also be literally fulfilled. Only G.o.d himself could write history in advance incredible evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ and the supernatural nature of G.o.d."

Fortunato countered, "But we know our king and potentate arose from the dead, because we saw it with our own eyes. If there is one anywhere on this earth who saw Jesus resurrected, let him speak now or forever hold his peace. Where is he? Where is this Son of G.o.d, this man of miracles, this king, this Savior of mankind? If your Jesus is who you say he is, why are you hiding in the desert and living on bread and water?

"The G.o.d of this world lives in a palace and provides good gifts to all those who worship him."

Tsion challenged Leon to admit to the number of deaths by guillotine, that ground troops and weapons of war were swallowed up by the earth outside Petra, that two incendiary bombs and a deadly missile had struck Petra with full force, yet no one had been injured and no structure jeopardized. "Will you not also admit that Global Community Security and Intelligence Peacekeeping forces have spent millions of Nicks on attacking all traffic in and out of this place, and not one plane, flier, or volunteer has been scratched?" Leon lauded Carpathia for the rebuilding effort around the world and added, "Those who die by the blade choose this for themselves. Nicolae is not willing that any should perish but that all should be loyal and committed to him."

"But, sir, the population has been cut to half what it once was, the seas are dead from the curse of blood prophesied in the Bible and sent by G.o.d. Yet the believers-his children, at least the ones who have survived the murderous persecution of the man you would enthrone as G.o.d are provided water and food from heaven, not just here, but in many areas around the world."

Leon remained calm and persuasive, soldiering on, praising Nicolae. At one point he disparaged "disloyal Jews, of whom you are one, Dr. Ben-Judah."

"You say it pejoratively, Mr. Fortunato, and yet I wear the t.i.tle as a badge of honor. I am humbled beyond measure to be one of G.o.d's chosen people. Indeed, the entire Bible is testament to his plan for us for the ages, and it is being played out for the whole world to see even as we speak."

"But are you not the ones who killed Jesus?" Fortunato said, grinning as if he had parried the killing dagger.

"On the contrary," Tsion said. "Jesus himself was a Jew, as you well know. And the fact is that the actual killing of Christ was at the hands of Gentiles. He stood before a Gentile judge, and Gentile soldiers put him on the cross.

"Oh, there was an offense against him on the part of Israel that the nation and her people must bear. In the Old Testament book of Zechariah, chapter , verse prophesies that G.o.d will 'pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look unto me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.'

"Israel must confess a specific national sin against the Messiah before we will be blessed. In Hosea :, G.o.d says he will 'go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face; in their affliction they will seek me earnestly.'

"The offense? Rejecting the messiahship of Jesus. We repent of that by pleading for his return. He will come yet again and set up his earthly kingdom, and not only I but also the word of G.o.d itself predicts the doom of the evil ruler of this world when that kingdom is established. "

"Well," Leon said, "thank you for that fascinating history lesson. But I rejoice that my lord and king is alive and well, and I see him and speak with him every day. Thank you for being a quick and worthy opponent."

"You call me that and yet never answer the claims and charges I have made," Tsion said.

"And," Leon continued, "I would like to greet the many citizens of the Global Community who reside with you temporarily and invite them to enjoy the benefits and privileges of the outside world. I trust many will join one of our prophets and teachers and workers of miracles when he ministers in your area less than an hour from nova. He will " Tsion interrupted, "The Scriptures tell us that many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Such a one is a deceiver and an antichrist."

"If you'll allow me to finish, sir "

"whoever abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not G.o.d. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son. If any come to you and bring not this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, neither bid him G.o.dspeed, for he who bids G.o.dspeed partakes of his evil deeds."

"All right then, you've worked in all your tiresome Bible verses.

I shall be content to merely thank you and "

"For as long as you have me on international television, Mr.

Fortunato, I feel obligated to preach the gospel of Christ and to speak forth the words of Scripture. The Bible says the word shall not return void, and so I would like to quote "

But he was cut off the air, and much of the mult.i.tude at Petra cheered and applauded his presentation. A remaining rebellious faction, however, even after hearing all that Dr. Ben Judah said, began its exit. "We shall return," many of them shouted when confronted by the majority, who chanted and pleaded with them not to go.

Tsion cried out, " 'Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."'

"There is amnesty for us!" one said. "No one pays for missing the nark of loyalty deadline, now so long past!" Abdullah could not make it compute. Surely these had to be among those who waited too long to consider the claims of Christ. Their hearts had to have been hardened, because there was no logic in their behavior.

He hurried back to his quarters and took binoculars that had been delivered with the last shipment from the Co op. He climbed again to a high place to watch for their emergence from the Siq and their two mile walk to where the Global Community had already erected a platform.

Chapter.

MAC HAD learned to ignore the warnings of the GC when he flew into restricted airs.p.a.ce over the Negev. They c me on the radio, they sent reconnaissance plane ,they even tried to crowd him out of the sky. Often the threatening GC planes flew close enough to reveal the pilots' faces. The first few times, Mac recalled, they looked determined. Later, when their mounted rifles missed their targets without explanation, they looked scared. When their heat seeking missiles found their targets but seemed to pa.s.s through, the GC had backed off so as not to become targets themselves.

Today they went through all their typical machinations: the radio warning, the fly alongside, the shooting, the missiles. When Mac could see the pilots, they looked bored or at best resigned. They seemed as puzzled as the Co op pilots why the GC continued to waste such expensive equipment, munitions, and warheads.

Mac looked at Albie and they shook their heads. "Another day, another deliverance," Albie said.

"I'll never take it for granted," Mac said. "I'm glad it doesn't hinge on clean living."

"You live clean enough," Albie said.