Part 19 (1/2)

”Come on,” I whispered to the others when I got close. ”Let's go.” I grabbed my pack, my hands shaking slightly. The group followed me around a large outcropping and down toward the gorge.

Luckily, the soldiers were now running up to where Peterson was, so we took our opportunity to slip over the edge of the gorge, out of sight, and head up the ledge toward the Mount.

As we hurried up the slope, I moved closer to Coleman again and told him what Peterson had said. He shook his head and forced a smile. I could tell he was struggling to keep his energy up.

”What else is the Doc.u.ment saying?” I asked.

”It says the solution is the same for all time periods. In politics, an enlightened center, aligned in an open discussion of the truth, has to emerge to end the outright manipulation of voters and the corruption from both Left and Right.

”And in religion, an equally truthful group made up of the tolerant center of every religious tradition, all seeking the direct experience to which we have access, has to take center stage. No longer would one tradition try to impose their doctrine on other people or claim their way is the only path to Divine Connection. All religions would begin to emphasize those aspects of their traditions that are in line with this Connection, so that the religions would move closer to the truth and to one another.”

Now he stopped dead in the pathway, looking down at the Doc.u.ment.

”This is important,” he stressed. ”It says the final part of the Eleventh Integration occurs when people in Alignment everywhere, across all cultures and religions, consciously begin to tune in to each other.”

Of course, I thought. We have to tune in one more time at a higher level.

”How does it say to do that?” I asked.

”By consciously connecting in Agape not only with those we can make eye contact with but with everyone all around the world. We do that by intending and envisioning such a Connection fully in our minds. The Doc.u.ment says when this Connection is made, the natural influence of the individuals involved is amplified many times.”

I nodded and concentrated on the climb, which was increasing in difficulty. After many hours of weaving in and out of crevices and jumping across small ravines-where we had to toss our backpacks to one another-we climbed onto the fortlike overlook where Rachel and I had been together earlier. The sun had long set, and a hazy dusk was descending over the mountain. We could see the bare outline of the rocky mound down below. Behind it, I knew, were the Apocalyptics.

I awakened the next day just before dawn, as usual, and got up quickly, knowing this would be an eventful day. Outside, I found everyone still asleep, which was not surprising. We had been up late talking about the Eleventh Integration.

Wil drifted into my mind. We hadn't heard from him since his last text, which said he would soon be on his way back to us. The question now was how would he find us. I pulled out the phone and checked. No texts from him. I wasn't surprised. He wouldn't risk using the phone to get directions.

Suddenly, I caught sight of the faint glow of flashlights far down the slope. I leaned over the rocks to watch the activity. Fortunately, the lights were heading away from us, so I relaxed again. Our climb had been much more difficult than I had remembered with Rachel, and I knew it would be equally difficult for anyone else to reach us now.

As I walked around, I suddenly realized Coleman was making noise on the other side of his tent. When he saw me, he handed me a cup of coffee. In the other hand was a pair of binoculars.

”It's about dawn,” he said. ”Want to see if we can spot the Apocalyptics?”

I nodded, and we walked over to the edge of the outcropping and hunkered down behind its natural raised edges. As I peered out through the early morning haze, I realized our position here was situated perfectly. From this vantage point, we could see not only the mound of rock where the extremists were hiding, but also the large, ma.s.sive summit of Mount Sinai towering above us, and all the trails leading up to it.

The mound itself was about a hundred yards down the incline directly in front of us. For fifteen minutes we waited until it was light enough for Coleman to use his binoculars. The others awakened, one by one, and joined us.

”I see them,” Coleman suddenly said. ”They're doing something to the rock bed just beyond the mound.”

Abruptly, I saw an image in my mind of myself going down to get a closer look. The image was accompanied by a surge of urgent energy. I grimaced at the idea and lowered my head. Tommy was behind me and noticed.

”What's wrong?” he asked.

”I think I need to go down there and take a look. Anybody else get that idea?”

No one responded.

”Are you sure you want to do that?” Coleman asked. ”Remember the Second Integration: logic first.”

”I know it's dangerous, but too much has happened for me not to follow an intuition now. Rachel followed all of hers.”

For a moment, the whole group looked at me, and I could see the determination building.

”I better go with you,” Coleman said finally.

I tuned in to whether I was down there alone or with someone, and could see only myself.

”Looks like I have to go it alone this time.”

Turning to Tommy and his mother, I asked them for advice on the route and they pointed out the way they would go, giving me encouragement.

”We'll focus on helping you,” Tommy said, ”like the Angels.”

I gave him a pat on the shoulder and eased down over the ledge as the sun broke above the horizon for the first time. Focusing on the beauty, I managed to hold my energy as I crept down the rocky slope. I thought about my father's advice on how to keep one's wits while in situations of extreme danger. And smiled. I knew he was around.

At last, I arrived at a spire of rock that rose up about twenty-five feet in front of me. Very carefully, I crawled forward and gazed over. Within fifty feet of me, about a dozen men were covering something in a twelve-foot crevice with rocks. Anish was nowhere to be seen.

Then I spotted someone sitting alone, his hands tied behind his back. He turned his head, and my stomach seized. It was Wil!

I stared at him until he felt me looking and jerked around and saw me. He immediately began to point with his eyes toward the ground to his left, where a handheld two-way radio was sitting on an old leather briefcase on the ground. I was bewildered. What did he want me to do? Grab the radio? I couldn't understand how that would help us.

Suddenly, I heard a noise in the rocks directly below me. I rolled backward quietly and dropped into a mild depression in the rock, hoping to hide. The noise continued, and to my horror I realized someone was climbing the same spire I was lying on, coming my way. I tried to duck down but it was too late. The individual, holding a pair of binoculars, had climbed to a point just ten feet below me. Anish.

He turned and looked, recognizing me immediately.

”I thought you were around here somewhere,” he said. ”I could feel you. You're like me. You never give up.”

His tone and demeanor were casual, even serene, again like someone feeling invulnerable. Rachel had tried to reach him, and now it was my turn. As best I could, I tried to center myself and move into Oneness, hoping he might sense his own Divine Connection.

”I have to talk to you,” I said. ”I don't know what you're doing, but you have to rethink it. There's another way.”

”Will you stop exporting your corruption to my world? Will you stop trying to reform my religion?”

I sat up so he could see me better. ”We all have souls. We're all the same, spiritually. It's true, there's too much corruption everywhere. But we can fix that, all of us together, if we find the one experience.”

He laughed and gave me a look of pity. ”The prophets don't lie! The end must come now.”

For a moment there was only silence. I didn't know what to say. Then I thought of Rachel and remembered my last conversation with her.

”The Prophecies all point to an Armageddon,” I stressed. ”And a Rapture where the true believers are protected, so they can avoid this war. What if the message of the prophets is really for all of us? And the message is that we can all find a higher G.o.d Connection together that will allow us to avoid Armageddon? Do you see what I'm saying? Armageddon doesn't have to happen!”

I could feel Rachel wanting me to say something else about the Calendar and about the point of Connection I had felt on Secret Mountain, but I couldn't put it together in my mind.

Anish looked at me, first in confusion and then in anger. When he reached inside his belt for a weapon, I was ready. I rolled over and slipped off the crest of the huge rock on the side away from him. As I did, I glimpsed from the corner of my eye the item the extremists were covering up. It was about the size of a suitcase and had several blinking lights on one side.

For a minute or two, I ran up the hill frantically, thinking he was chasing me. Then I heard him yell from back at the mound.