RECENT EVENTS HAD MADE Dr. Neisen’s counsel doubly urgent, yet Ruth felt relief that he and Jerry would not be arriving until early afternoon. She needed the time to collect her thoughts after the strange happenings last night.
At about four a.m., she was awakened by shouts of villagers outside her hut. One of the women rushed inside, pulled back the mosquito netting above her cot, and shook her as she said excitedly, “Teacher, come quickly!”
Ruth felt herself pulled none too gently to her feet, had slipped quickly into a pair of jeans and blouse and gone outside to the ceremonial area where, seemingly everyone in the village had gathered. She spotted Akhu immediately. Like all the others, he was staring unblinking into the night sky.
“What’s happening?” she said groggily as she stumbled up beside him.
“Look up, little sister.” His eyes did not shift from the sky as she let her own follow his lead.
“Oh.” She exhaled in wonder, as the people began singing in harmonious counterpoint. “Oh, my.”
“Little sister, the time has come to make our journey,” Akhu said quietly.
Without being certain exactly what he meant, she murmured, “I know.”
She and the villagers remained in the courtyard looking at the sky until dawn erased their vision. Then, without a word, she and Akhu went to their huts, and the others returned to the long house.
Sitting now at her desk, Ruth felt as if she had just awakened from a dream, one so otherworldly that words could not describe it. But I have to try. She picked up her pen, opened her journal and began to write, her words running an uneven race with her vision birthed in the night sky.
“The only assurance that what I describe was not a dream,” she scribbled, “is the unusual stillness still hanging over the village.
“By now, the men should be in the jungle hunting, and the women and children in the garden, but all is still quiet. Even the howler monkeys that usually announce each sunrise seem infected with silence.
“Without a word, the tribe left the ceremonial courtyard at dawn. Akhu and I came to our huts, the others to their hammocks in the long house. It was as if everyone wanted to be alone with their thoughts as they prepared for whatever is coming.
“The predawn gathering seemed spontaneous; each person seemingly awakened by an internal alarm and drawn outside.
“Akhu believes it is time to make the journey about which he and the other new Christians have been dreaming.
“I just found two scriptures I think best describe what we saw in the night sky. The first, Revelation 6:14 which says: ‘The heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.’ The other, Isaiah 34:4 seems to expand on the first and says, ‘All the hosts of heaven will be dissolved, and the heavens will be rolled together as a scroll.’ There are no better words to describe what I saw.
“When I looked up, I could not see a single star. However, just above the tree line surrounding the village, I observed a ring of them, slowly rising and rotating around the dark sky overhead. I am sure if I had been on my folks’ nearly treeless farm in Texas and could have seen all four horizon’s clearly, I would have witnessed rings within rings of stars orbiting the dark sky overhead.
“As I watched, more rings appeared above the trees and as they did, the circle of darkness grew smaller. “Finally, just before first light, a tunnel-like core of darkness overhead was clearly defined by millions of stars slowly circling around it.
“Word has reached me that Dr. Neisen and Jerry have been delayed in Bolivar but should be arriving in just a little while. It is possible I will not need Dr. Neisen to explain the dreams as I first thought. They may explain themselves. I am closing my journal with the feeling this may be my last entry. I believe that tunnel outlined by the stars leads somewhere. Soon, I expect, I’ll discover where.”
She closed her journal and sat staring out at nothing, wondering what the omen in the sky portended. She hoped that, whatever came, she would face it with faith and courage. She whispered a prayer for guidance and asked for blessings and care for Jerry and for her parents so many thousands of miles away.
Frank Starling closed his eyes, as a soft sigh escaped his hard set lips.
The weather report was grim. An expected cold front was coming farther south than first predicted before making a turn to the east. If it kept on that track, it would bring fallout from Albuquerque directly over the farm. The latest government advisory said the radiation over West Texas should not reach critical levels. Nevertheless, people were being encouraged to remain indoors, preferably in a sealed room, for at least twenty-four hours after the front’s arrival in order to avoid as much dust as possible.
Frank knew the government was trying to be as low key about the disaster as possible, but it was not working. Runs on grocery stores in Lubbock had stripped canned goods and bottled water from the shelves in a matter of hours. Plastic sheeting suitable for sealing windows and doors had disappeared soon after. Several expectant mothers in the church called Diana expressing fears, that due to radiation, their babies might be born deformed.
Anticipating future censorship, broadcasters filled the airwaves with news reports and commentary non-stop.
He and Diana stared in disbelief at the first pictures coming out of Brussels where nearly half a million people were reported killed with another million seriously injured.
It was obvious to Frank the so-called NATO training exercise had been the Western governments’ cover for a potential catastrophe. Now the unthinkable had happened, and the people had learned the truth, leading to the exodus of millions now clogging highways out of major European cities.
Things in the United States were no better. Washington was already a ghost town. Interstates had choked on traffic disgorged from New York, Los Angles, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, and dozens of other cities as panic took hold.
The Dow Jones, which topped out just above twelve thousand before the nuclear accident in Israel, had fallen over four thousand points before trading was suspended. Reports circulated across America of runs on the banks, that under emergency powers given by the government, were limiting withdrawals to five hundred dollars in any twenty-four-hour period.
Frank stepped out on the front porch and looked west where he could see clouds, like the vanguard of an approaching army, gathering for the cold front’s assault on the plains.
Brother Travis had called the congregation together for a special prayer service last night and the building was packed. He told the congregation to enjoy the fellowship while they could because holding evening meetings would soon be a violation of the law.
“I believe the Lord’s coming soon,” he said. “But before He does, we are going to have our faith tested. If you are not sure you’re ready to meet Him, now is the time to make certain.” Then, he gave the most impassioned invitation Frank had ever heard, and the people responded as if awaking from a coma, coming forward by the dozens to affirm their faith in Christ or to renew their commitments to Him.
From the porch, Frank could see the front gate. Again he remembered how Ruth waited there for the bus to take her to school for the first time and sensed again the sadness he felt then at the prospect that one day God would take her beyond his care.
“Beyond your care, but never beyond mine,” he remembered a voice saying in his mind as he watched the bus kick up a cloud of dust then disappear into the distance. The voice was so clear, it seemed someone behind him had spoken, and he remembered turning to see who it was, only to realize no one was there; the only sound disturbing the silence, the squeak of the porch swing swaying gently in the breeze.
That was the first time God spoke to him. The second was just last night.
After the service, everyone gathered on the parking lot to watch an awesome whirlpool of stars. From every direction, ring after ring of them rose above the horizons then slowly rotated around the darkness overhead. In the reverential awe that had silenced everyone, Frank heard God whisper, “You have always feared for Ruth and what the future held for her. Fear no more my son. I have chosen her to lead you and the others through the darkness to the light.”
Frank knew in his heart the Pastor was right. Tough times were coming for Christians, as well as the rest of the world. He raised his head and looked again toward the dark clouds boiling in the west. He felt the weight of fear lift from his sagging shoulders as he reaffirmed his faith that no matter what might come, he knew God would see them through the coming storm.