Free I, Judas the 5th Gospel by Bob Mayer

worthy, Angelique.”
    “I would be struck down if—”
    The priest cut her off. “You are a smart woman, Angelique. You know better. I taught you better.”
    “I know the jungle,” she said. “I know my boundaries. And I know what I owe the Church.”
    The priest sighed even more deeply, and then reached into his cassock and retrieved a red envelope. “It is time for you to be of service.”
    “The Wrath.” Angelique bowed her head. “God’s will be done.”
    The old priest put his hand gently on the top of her head. “God’s will be done, my child.” A tear crept down his leathery skin and landed on her closely cropped hair. Looking up he noted that the stained glass image of the Virgin Mother was still in shadow. “I am so sorry,” he whispered.
     
    Joint Defense Space Research Facility, Pine Gap, Australia

    The Colonel stared at the data. He’d run the projection program over one hundred times. The results were always the same. This thing, whatever it was, was going to smash into Earth in forty-nine hours. There was no way around the science. The laws of physics were supreme and immutable. He’d lived by them his entire life. Not only as a scientist but also as a pilot. The rule that had been indoctrinated into him during his flight training was to always trust his instruments. No matter what his mind or body said, one had to always trust the machines.
    He knew they had locked down the Hubble FOT in the States. The scientists would never be able to spread the word. Compartmentalization was the key to security. The Colonel laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the facility and coming back to him. He knew he was a loose end. One that had been forgotten in the importance and gravity of the information. He doubted they’d send someone for him, and they’d even trust his Top Secret Clearance.
    The Colonel took a key out of his pocket and went over to a cabinet. He unlocked it and removed a Berretta nine-millimeter pistol. He checked the magazine. Fully loaded. Taking the gun, he left the control center and stepped into the blistering summer heat.
    He walked across the desert floor to the base of the closest tower. He climbed the ladder up to the dish and opened the maintenance grate. The colonel walked gingerly across the metal dish to a place right next to the center.
    He looked out across the Australian Outback. The view was spectacular. And it was all going to be gone in less than seven days.
    The colonel pulled back the slide on the pistol, chambering a round. He placed the muzzle against his temple.
    He pulled the trigger.
     
     
    The Final Day Terminal Impact= in 3 Hours
     
    From the 5 th Gospel: Judas: 2:1 And then the Voice was no longer heard by most. Our Second Consciousness crowded it out. The few who could still hear became the prophets and oracles. And their Voices told us: You Do This.
     
    The Mato Grasso Region of the Amazon

    “Every story starts at the beginning,” Judas said. “Or it should. I know how your team was pulled together from around the world.” He nodded at the astonished looks on his visitor’s faces. “I may be in the middle of the jungle, but I keep my finger on the pulse of things. That’s why I have been around for so long. Others have come looking for me before.”
    “What is it?” Angelique asked, pointing up at the blazing object that seemed to be coming closer even as they looked at it. She was seated between Gates and DiSalvo on the other side of the table. Six natives stood behind them, arrows notched, but bows no longer drawn.
    Judas wagged a finger like she was a wayward child. “That, I cannot tell you. At least not yet.”
    “Why not?” Gates demanded.
    DiSalvo put his left arm on top of the table and Judas turned the finger toward him in warning. “I know you have other weapons, priest. Trust me, you want to hear what I have to say before you use them.”
    “Trust you!” DiSalvo was incredulous although he did remove his arm from the