AntiChrist's Rise; The Call to Arms

Third novel in my "AntiChrist's Birth;" series. Here is the first chapter for your enjoyment.










Jael’s body tensed as she lay upon
the lower level bed of the Missy May. Captain John wiped the sweat off her brow
with a damp cloth.


“C’mon Jael, the Colonel believed in
you and so do I. Okay, you got a tough break, but you’re alive, ALIVE! I need
you, no, scratch that. WE need you, that is those of us who are fighting on
behalf of God’s people.”


Jael tensed again, letting out a
horrendous scream. Captain John held her down, even as she tried to rise up
into the sitting position upon her bed. The captain knew she was dreaming, or
remembering, or both. She had been through a nightmare; he knew that.


“Jael, it’s going to be all right,
you’re safe now.


Giving one last surge of strength,
Jael’s body again collapsed onto the cot, which was her temporary bed. The
waves began to swell giving a rocking motion as if to comfort her in her
distress. The Captain once again wiped the sweat off of her brow.


“I’d trade places with you in a
heartbeat if God would let me. But God chose you, not me to hold the fourth
sword of truth. “C’mon Jael, you’ve got to pull through this, you’ve got to get
back on your feet.”


The movement of the ship seemed to
be having a calming effect on Jael. She stopped moving around in her bed.
Captain John now wiped the sweat off of his own brow. It had been a long night,
and morning was about to break.


“Lord, please let her pull through.
She’s all that’s left. Surely you knew that the others would all die on that
terrible island. Surely you knew and yet you MUST have had a plan for the
continued fight. It can’t end here, it just can’t, not after everything they
sacrificed on your behalf Lord Jesus.”


“ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL,”
shouted Jael at the top of her voice.


“Yes Jael, dear servant of the most
high God. Even in your torment you scream out for justice and truth. You scream
out for God’s people to become one! Strange, it seems it will take antiChrist’s
rise to force God’s people to unite. It seems it will take antiChrist’s
persecution of the saints to bring them into one accord.”


“ALL FOR ONE, AND ONE FOR ALL,”
shouted Jael once again.


“Yes Jael, scream it out for the
whole Christian world to hear! Scream it until there is no more breath in that
beaten and bruised body of yours. I need you to tell me what happened, Jael. I
need you to remember!”


Leaving the cabin, Captain John went
topside to check on the autopilot once again. He had no first mate, he was not
expecting to have to care for a sick passenger. He was not expecting to find
only one survivor out of the six he had dropped off on that wretched Solomon
Island.


He entered into the Captain’s helm.
He released the wheel from its locked position. He needed to feel in control
for a while. Seeing Jael in her condition without being able to do much for
her, was taking its toll on him. At least at the helm, he felt he had some
control over things.


The sea had calmed down. The waves
were much more at ease now. The sun was behind him as he headed west, back to
Hawaii to get Jael the medical attention she so desperately needed.


“I’m no doctor Lord, she needs a
real doctor. She needs to be cared for by someone who can actually help her.
I’ll do my part Lord, but YOU have to keep her alive, YOU have to make sure she
doesn’t give up!”


It had only been a half an hour, but
being at the helm seemed to have given him new strength. He once again locked
the wheel, setting the Missy May back on autopilot. He started back to the
lower cabin. He had given her his own cabin, he could do little more for her
comfort.


I can’t leave her alone for too long, what if she wakes up?
She’ll need me to be there, and I’ll need to see how much she remembers if
anything. I can’t believe how broken up she was when I found her floating in
the water with nothing but the scrambled beacon messaging, and the other’s
swords in her possession. What the heck could have happened?


Opening the door quietly was easier
said than done, as the wood had been through years of weather and creaked like
a horror movie. He once again entered into Jael’s presence, and began to wipe
her brow with the damp cloth, which he would dunk, and wring out, in the bucket
of cool water.


Captain John settled into the
oversized chair made of oak. Best part of
being captain, is I get all the good furniture. I’m glad this chair and me are
old friends, since I’ll have to be sittin’ in it for the next three days till
we reach Hawaii.


Dunking the cloth into the water,
Captain John continued his job as caretaker of what was left of the four, no
five swords of truth. The Colonel had proved his worthiness. Jael’s ramblings
had told him enough to know that the Mrs. had betrayed them to the enemy. It
was the exact nature of her betrayal and whether or not it had caused the
deaths of the others or whether their deaths had been caused by something else.


He would have to wait until Jael
could come back to herself. She holds the
key to finding out what had happened to the Colonel and the others. They had to
be dead, there could be no other explanation why Jael would have left Terra
Verde. She was no coward, if there had been any other way, she would have taken
it. No, she had done everything she could, that was a given knowing her
fighting spirit.


The day was spent on back and forth
trips between taking care of Jael and manning the helm. He could not trust the
autopilot to do his job. He had learned by experience that the strength of the
ocean could easily overpower the muscle of his small boat. He had to keep tabs
on their direction of travel.


Night fell, leaving the Captain worn
out and sleepy. He would go spend the night near the helm, just in case of bad
weather, which might suddenly show itself during the night hours. The shifting
of the waves would be his alarm clock if this happened. Meanwhile, he’d get
some much-needed rest.


Jael tossed through the night. She
dreamed of things in a jumbled array of pictures and scenes. Her fever kept her
from experiencing any real peace. She lay on the cot unable to wake from her
tormenting dreams. The fever would not allow her to come to.


The night passed quickly for both
the Captain and Jael. Both were in their own world. Jael’s tormenting her soul,
the Captain’s filled with desperation as he kept the Missy May at almost full
throttle to reach the mainland. He dared not run her at full throttle for the
whole journey, which might cause her to break down. He could not afford to
break down with Jael needing medical attention so desperately.


Neither one noticed the time
passing. Jael only noticed her jumbled array of memories she could not put in a
logical order, and the Captain’s worn body only noticed the relief of a good
night’s sleep. He sat there in the wooden chair next to the helm wheel, snoring
into the next morning.


Waking in the morning, Captain John
knew he still could not risk sending a message to headquarters about the
Colonel’s demise. Too much of a chance the enemy might pick up on his
frequency. He would have to be content to keep heading west straight for
Hawaii.


He took a deep breath, got up, and
went into the kitchen to prepare himself a small breakfast. Not eating or drinking might cause the final
blow to come to Jael. I can’t let
that happen. I have to get to Hawaii
in time.


Returning to the helm, Captain John
pushed the throttle forward to full power. I’ll
keep it at full power for a couple of hours max. Lord please, keep Missy May operating, she’s got to get us to Hawaii.


Finishing his breakfast, he made his
way back to Jael. He first got a fresh bucket of water, and a new cloth to wipe
her brow with. There were still two day’s journey ahead for them. With perfect
weather, it might take a little less, but this was not something that could be
counted on with any certainty.


Arriving at Jael’s side, he could
see the night had taken its toll on Jael. She was drenched in sweat. Her wet
clothes clung to her body like another layer of skin. As much as I hate to do this Jael, it is for your own good. I’ll need
to remove your clothes and wash you down. It will help your fever.


The Captain left Jael momentarily to
collect some of the clothes, which he kept on hand in the other cabins on
board. He returned and began to strip Jael of her clothing. Lord, please understand, she’s got to be
washed to help her fever. She’s had a rough night.


Jael’s body was showing signs of
weight loss. There was no telling exactly how long she had gone without food,
or water for that matter. Her sweating had dehydrated her. Her skin and weight
loss showed this. Captain John caressed Jael’s body with the damp cloth. He
didn’t want to push too hard against Jael’s already bruised body.


He finished cleaning Jael and
dressed her in her new set of clothes. They hung loosely on her due to her
weight loss, but they were fresh. Captain John had poured some soap into the
water. The smell of sweat seemed to disappear almost immediately.


“There, now isn’t that much better
Jael? Honestly, you needed that more than I did.”


The Captain went on deck to throw
the dirty water overboard and get fresh water. He checked the autopilot and
continued back down to Jael’s side. Another
day of double duty; just what the doctor ordered. I hope this trip isn’t Jael’s
last hurrah.


The next two days passed like a
second hand on a clock. Time seemed to stand still as the Captain tended to
both Jael and the helm. Captain John’s one saving grace, was that as long as
Jael stayed alive, he knew those destined to go through the tribulation had
hope of making it through without having to battle both giants and hunger.


He knew this because antiChrist’s
whole purpose for creating the giants was twofold. One reason was to fight
against Christ’s forces, which would return to take back the earth. The other
reason was to use them to kill as many Christians as he could before the return
of Christ.


He had planned to place them on the
outskirts of many cities, towns, and countryside’s of well-known Christian
communities. He would set them free to kill the inhabitants of those
communities. He planned to place them near the mountainous regions, knowing
that Christians had been instructed to flee to the mountains when antiChrist’s
full power arrived mid-tribulation. This was the reason why God had called the
four swordsmen of truth.


This was the reason why God allowed
the Colonel to join them to make the fifth swordsmen of truth. God was using
them to diminish the amount of giants at antiChrist’s disposal. Did they succeed in destroying all the
giants on Terra Verde? If so, how did the others perish? Please answer me Lord!


Jael stirred once again, Captain
John wiped her brow and her arms with the wet cloth. Wake up Jael, wake and tell me what happened. Please Jael, I need to
hear what happened to the others, and what happened to you as well. God as my
witness, I really need to know!


“The Colonel was my friend Jael. He
was yours as well. He was responsible for running the headquarters of the breakaways.
He must have told you this on the island. Surely he had taken you into his
confidence at some point on that hell of an island. Surely he told you he was
in fact in charge of the breakaway movement.


‘I don’t know if you can hear me or
not. I’m hoping you can. We need you back with us Jael, we need you and your
fighting spirit. Beyond that Jael, we need to know what happened on that
island. We need to know what happened to our commanding officer the Colonel.
He’ll now need to be replaced.”


Jael opened her eyes. She looked
straight into Captain John’s eyes as if to answer his questions, then, she
closed her eyes, giving way to her exhaustion and dehydration. Captain John
took this as a moment of hope.


She tried to answer me Lord. Did you see? She tried to
answer me Lord. There’s still hope. There’s still hope. Thank you Jesus! I’ll
take that as your answer to me. I’ll take that to mean you’re not through using
her or us.


Hawaii was in sight and not a moment
too soon. Two or three hours and the Missy May would dock. Captain John now
felt safe to radio ahead for an ambulance to meet him at the docks. The
multitude of radio frequencies within the bay would keep the enemy from
singling his transmission out, especially with it being scrambled when it went
out, and then received back on the normal emergency channel wavelength. This
was accomplished through a sophisticated computer program which acted like a
language translator.


“We’re coming into port Jael, hang
on just a little longer. I know you’re tired, you’ve been beaten badly. They
must have thought you were dead. But you’ve shown them. You’ve shown them all.
God isn’t finished with you yet.”


Pulling into the dock, the medi-vac
unit helicopter was landing and the attendants were rolling the stretcher
towards the Missy May. Captain John showed them where Jael was lying. They
scooped her up and carried her topside and lay her on the stretcher. Wheeling
her down the ramp of the Missy May, they left the questions for the police on
the scene.


Placing Jael onto the side stretcher
of the helicopter and strapping her down, the attendants hooked an intravenous
fluid solution into Jael’s veins to both give her body water and nutrients at
the same time. They could not wait to get to the hospital to begin treatment,
every minute counted.


They lifted off and Captain John was
left there to answer a few questions from the police. He was not worried, he
had handled this type of thing before. He knew how to throw off their scent. He
had hidden the swords of truth before the attendants came aboard to get Jael.
He would keep them safe while Jael recuperated.


“Where did you find her,” asked the
Chief of Police?


“I found her somewhere near the
Solomon Islands.”


“How is it that you waited so long
to radio it in?”


“Look, my radio isn’t what it should
be. Look at the atenna, it’s barely a stub.”


“Yeah, I can see that. It’s a
miracle you even got out the signal as far as you did. You really need to
replace that ancient thing.”


“Well, after today, I know I will
definitely do it.”


“Did you see any debris where you
picked her up?”


“The only debris I found, was the
log she was floating on. She was using it like a life vest, both her arms were
wrapped backwards over it. I saw no ship or debris.”


“Okay, I have your information here
if I need to talk to you again. You can go.”


“Thank you Officer. I sure hope the
lady will be okay.”


“Well, she looks really bad, she’s
suffering from dehydration, and she hasn’t eaten in days. You can tell by her
clothes and how they fit her. It will be touch and go for awhile, even if she
makes it.”


With that the Chief of Police left
Captain John’s presence. Captain John would have to wait to visit Jael in the
hospital. She would be recuperating for at least a week. Meanwhile, he would
contact headquarters with the news about Colonel Saunders’ demise. I’m not looking forward to telling the
others, Lord.


It had been awhile since Captain
John had had a decent meal. As tired as he was, he headed for the local
restaurant, which he was familiar with, but had never eaten at. His body was
beginning to feel the lack of nourishment, brought on by the need to care for
Jael for the last four days.


He entered into the Tiki Tiki
restaurant and sat down. This is one meal
I know I’m gonna be thankful for, Lord. Thank you for bringing us safely back
to the mainland.


“How can I help you sailor?”


Captain John looked up at his
waitress. She was a petite little thing, who reminded him of Jael, except that
she was Hawaain. She was beautiful to look at. He hadn’t really seen a lot of
beautiful women lately. His work had taken that blessing away from him for a
long while now.


He noticed the cross on her neck. It
was silver and had the name Jesus engraved on it. He smiled, and then spoke.


“I see you’re a Christian.”


“Oh yes, I’ve known the Lord since I
was eight.”


“Wow, an early start.”


“Yeah, but you know, I wouldn’t
change a thing.”


“God bless you…”


The waitress pointed to her nametag.
The Captain could not believe what he was reading. “JAEL.”


“Jael, now that’s an unusual name.
I’ve only known one other girl with that name, and she’s in the hospital right
now, fighting for her life.”


“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll keep
her in prayer.”


“Thanks, I’m sure she’ll appreciate
that.”


“My name means ‘mountain goat’.


“It traces back to the fact that the
Church belongs to God who rules the mountain tops. Of course this would be
Jesus.”


“I see you’ve done some research.”


“Well, yeah, it helps when your name
is as uncommon as mine. You get a lot of remarks and questions as to its
origin.”


“Yeah, I guess it helps to be able
to answer people’s questions.”


“So what will it be?”


“I’ll have the halibut, with the
fruit salad, and Hawaiian rice. I need to replace a few nutrients I haven’t
been giving my body lately.”


“A wise choice. It’s one of my
favorites. Anything to drink with that?”


“Let me have a nice tall iced tea.”


“Well, I’ll say one thing for you.
You sure know how to eat proper.”


“My body doesn’t belong to me. It
belongs to my Lord Jesus. I need to take care of it so I can continue doing His
work here on earth.”


“Well put. It’s been a long time
since I’ve heard ANYONE come in here and speak like that. I’ll see to your
order.”


“Thanks and God bless.”


Captain John watched Jael walk away.
He could not help notice that her name fit her character, just as it fit Jael
who was fighting for her life in the hospital. Strange Lord, that you would have a girl named Jael serve me.


The Captain thought back to when he
first picked up Jael. He had to use a pole with a hook on the end to fish her
out of the water. The swords of truth had been placed into a makeshift
sheepskin bag, which apparently had been constructed by one of them. It hung
around her neck as if to say, “This is now my burden to bear.”


I really thought Jael was dead, Lord. It took me awhile to
see that she was still breathing. Thank you again for having me be the one to
bring her in for treatment. Bless and guide those who are working on her.


“Here’s your order sailor.”


“Wow, that was fast.”


“We have extra staff tonight. It’s
one of our busiest nights, so they keep extra staff to get the orders out
quickly.”


“Well, my body appreciates it and so
do I.”


“You’re quite welcome. It’s always a
pleasure to serve a fellow servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.”


“Thank you.”


“No, thank you for brightening my
evening. I enjoyed our little chat. I’ve got to keep moving though, as I said,
this IS our busiest night. If you need anything else, just flag me down.”


“Thanks, I’ll do that.”


And with that she was off doing her
job. Captain John watched her as she seemed to glide along the floor to fill
the guests orders. It was like watching a movie as he ate. Dinner and a movie Lord.


Jael stopped by twice more to refill
the Captain’s tea glass. No words were spoken, just smiles exchanged. The
Captain knew she was busy. He finished his meal and left a gold coin on the
table as her tip. He turned one last time to see her pick up the gold coin. She
looked across the floor as if looking for Captain John. Their eyes met one last
time, Jael smiled and nodded her head to say a final thank you. Captain John
smiled and turned again to leave.


Walking back to the Missy May, the
Captain’s mind was now on two Jaels. One very weak and fighting for her life,
and one very much alive and vibrant. It was as if he were seeing Jael’s spirit
woman through the second Jael.


He boarded the Missy May and went to
his quarters for a good night’s sleep. He would contact headquarters in the
morning. He would have to set sail to meet with one of their ships in the
morning after giving them the news of the Colonel’s demise. He would need to be
rested for his journey.









The Colonel is Dead