Chapter 18
I swiveled around in the chair and shot my eyes to the wall behind me. I stood and took two steps when out of the darkness came a hard, unseen punch to my chest.
I stumbled backwards and crashed over the arm of my chair before spilling to the floor. I rolled over on the floor. I was dazed but more than that, I was petrified with fear.
I pulled myself up until I was on my knees by the bed. I looked around again but still couldn’t see my assailant. Who or what hit me? I tried to stand when I felt this great weight pressing down on my shoulders slamming me back to my knees. I looked up and this time I saw something. A shadow raced across the bed and smashed into my body. It hurled me into the hardwood legs of the chair this time. I stumbled to my feet coughing from the blast and spattering blood.
The shadow moved to the bed again and then over the messiah. I caught my breath and gasped out, “What are you?”
Immediately the shadow dropped on top of the clone and he sprang up straight in the bed whipping his head around to stare at me with glowing eyes. In a growling voice, the messiah said, “I am your god.”
He fell back to the bed. I leaped over the back of my chair, raced across the floor and pulled the door open. Thompson and Russo were on the balcony so they couldn’t have heard or caused what had transpired. Truthfully, I couldn’t have explained it either. All I knew was that I was scared. I was real scared.
I spent the next day replaying the events from the room and examining my samples from Jesus to discover the cause of the unusual ailments. It wasn’t until about eleven o’clock at night that I discovered a very unusual breakdown in the DNA that was being produced in the new cells that the body creates daily. Jesus’ body was killing him.
I picked up my phone and punched in Russo’s hotel number. “John, I think I’ve found the problem. Can you and Reverend Thompson come over right away?” He grunted, “Yes,” and clicked the phone down. I expected them in the next half hour. That would give me enough time to pull my notes together and decide what I wanted to tell them. It was time that they heard exactly what I felt.
When their knock came on my office door, I slid from the desk and pulled it open. Both men had hopeful looks in their eyes. I hated to hit them with the undeniable truth. “Sit down. This is going to take us a few minutes to discuss.”
“What is it, Matt? Don’t do this. We want to know now?” Russo jumped out at me.
“OK, I’ll do it as simply as possible and then you can ask some questions. Each new cell that Jesus’ body creates to replace the ones that normally die off in a body has altercations in the DNA code. They are sending out signals that give him the headaches, pains and even the body shut down. Eventually, enough changes will occur that the body will shut down totally,” I explained.
“Die? Are you saying that he’s dying?” Russo blurted.
“Yes. That is exactly what I’m saying.”
It was Thompson that said more. “It can’t be. We’re not ready for this. He can’t die now.”
Russo glanced at Thompson and he composed himself. The Bishop then turned to me and asked, “Exactly how long do we have?”
“That is one thing that I don’t know. It could be another year or two. It could be a few months from now,” I answered.
“Then he has a lot of work to do if our messiah is going to unify the many faiths of this world,” Russo told me.
“That’s the other thing that I wanted to talk to you about. It’s bothered me for a long time and in the last three years my apprehension has grown.” Both of my old partners in the clone project leaned back and glanced at each other.
I continued, “Quite a few things made me question what’s going on. I guess I should begin at the beginning. When we entered into this project, I was doing it for science and, I admit, for the money. I always knew that I could do it but I failed to ask if I should do it. Cloning a human is one thing but cloning the body used by God on this earth was something completely different. Then over the years, I started to get the feeling that Jesus was lacking some very important elements.”
Thompson leaned forward and brought his face close to mine. “Like what, Doctor?” Russo stuck out his arm and pulled the Prophet back into his seat.
“To begin with, I don’t feel like he has, this may sound stupid, but I don’t think he has a soul…”
“Who do you think you are? You’re nothing but some scientist who thinks that his bio specimen is bad. You keep to science and I’ll handle the soul stuff,” Thompson exploded.
“I’m sorry, Prophet Thompson. I wasn’t trying to downgrade your years of education and experience in the ministry. I was merely giving my assessment. An experience I had last night confirmed it to me. I was sitting in the dark next to Jesus when I felt a presence in the room. It was heavy and I got the impression it was evil. First it punched me and then shoved me around. It finally went to rest somewhere near Jesus. I asked who or what it was? Jesus sat up as if he were awake and said, ‘I am your god.’ That frightened me. Jesus then fell back to the bed and breathed heavily in a snarl.” I paused then said, “I think that we’re all in over our heads.”
Thompson fidgeted in his chair. I knew he wanted to tear into me again with his bare hands but Russo’s firm grasp pulled him back into the seat. The Bishop leaned in my direction and said, “Matthew, I sometimes have felt the same way but the Prophet and I have been able to use him for the good of our universal faith and of the world. And then there are the times when he radiates the goodness that could only come from God.”
“I’m not sure that’s true. Your plans to unify the religions and control all the nations in the European Union is frightening me as well,” I informed them.
“What do you think we should do?” the Bishop asked.
“I want you to leave me alone. I don’t want to be involved any longer. If you continue to include me then I’m going to go to the media with my information,” I threatened.
Thompson’s face was turning beat red. He was angry at me. He edged to the end of his seat. I knew that in another moment he’d be in my lap tearing my heart out if I didn’t do something. I pushed my chair back and said, “Gentlemen, you’ve heard my proposition. I go to the media on Monday unless I’m totally excluded from all this madness and you place more controls on your power and on his. Whatever he might be.”
I had made a bold statement. I knew they wouldn’t agree to it but I had to say something. I had to make my point. I had made it and I wanted them to leave. Russo rose from his seat first. I drew in a breath expecting that he would destroy me if he could. I was shocked when a smile came across his face.
He said, “Matthew, I can understand your feelings in all this. You know that I’ve asked some of those same questions myself. Let me think about what you’ve said but the real question still has to do with our mutual creation. I’m asking for one last visit. Please see him and tell us what we can do. Can you meet us tomorrow night in his hotel room? No matter what happens to me, Prophet Thompson or even our relationship with you, I want Jesus well again.”
His statements caught me by surprise. I was speechless even as they walked out the door. Just before Russo exited he turned and asked again, “Can I expect you tomorrow night?” My mouth could barely let the positive answer escape my lips but I agreed. I felt it would be one last gesture and from there I would have my freedom from their insanity.
I dropped back into my seat behind the desk and popped open my briefcase. I dumped some papers inside it and snapped it shut. My feet felt heavy stepping along the carpet. I remember that my entire body felt drained of energy. I placed my hand on the doorknob and turned it when I got this feeling that there was something on the other side of it. It wasn’t a sound or a silhouette on the door’s window, it was simply a feeling centered somewhere deep inside me. I had felt it before several times as a child. Especially when I prayed. I paused and waited intently listening. It was like a beast was giving me a warning. I heard nothing when I strained my ears again. Then the feeling left me.
It must’ve been my imagination. I opened my door and exited into the hallway towards the exit. I climbed into my car and drove home.
Beth and I had a quiet dinner. She was still angry that I had gotten involved with Russo and Thompson. I hedged around what had transpired that day until I knew I needed to say something. “Beth, I did see Thompson and Russo again today. Now, before you get angry let me tell you what I told them.”
She was glaring at me. I knew I had only a few seconds to get out my defense. “I told them that I saw physical and spiritual problems with the messiah and that I did not want to be involved with the project any longer. I let them know that I didn’t agree with the direction they were going. Then I said that if they didn’t leave me alone and curb their power trips, I was going to the media with what I knew.”
“And they walked away without any problem?” she asked incredulously.
“Not exactly,” I told her meekly.
She screamed at me, “Not exactly. What does not exactly, exactly mean, Matthew?”
“I agreed to examine him one more time to see if my findings were correct. I’m going tomorrow night and then I’ll be done with them,” I told her.
She stood and left the room. After dinner I usually cleaned up the kitchen while she relaxed in the bathtub. I was hoping that her time alone would help her understand the situation I was in. I turned towards the dirty dishes in the sink when the phone rang. I thought it was unusually late. I only got calls at that hour when there was a problem at my lab.
I snapped the phone from its cradle and before I could say hello I heard the voice of my friendly C.I.A. director on the phone. “Matthew, how did your meeting go today?” he said.
“How did you know? Are you in town, now?” I asked.
“No, but one of my agents emailed me an audio tape he made outside your lab. He was using a telescoping microphone to pick up the conversations of your two friends,” Hesidence reported.
“So, you know that I told them to stay away from me?” I asked.
“Yes, but I also know something you don’t know. Let me play the recording for you.” At that point he started the digital recorder.
I heard the booming voice of the Prophet attempting a whisper first. “What do we do with MacDonald? He’s a loose cannon.”
Russo returned, “I agree. If he were to tell someone that the messiah is ill and is probably dying then Phase Two of our plan would die with him. That plan is too important. That’s why I invited him to the hotel room tomorrow. I wanted to know that he would be around for a few days.”
“What are you thinking?” Thompson asked with what sounded like a joyful tone.
“Tonight, my two bodyguards visit the MacDonalds. When it’s all over, the police will think that they were killed in a home invasion,” Russo answered.
“Why both of them?”
Russo laughed, “Reverend Thompson, he may have told her everything.” There were a few moments of silence before Russo continued, “He’s also very close to his daughter. We can have her hit while she’s here for their funerals. That way we’ve cleaned up all the loose ends.”