Free A Covenant with Death: The Peacock Trilogy - Book 3 by Bill Wetterman Page B

banks cloaked as something else. Be prepared to reorient and fire at a place you’d least expect.”
    “Edison can anticipate and reprogram faster than we can,” said a scientist at the far corner of the control room.
    “Yes indeed,” Cline responded. “You do the same.”
    The element of surprise will work to my favor, Cline thought. What kind of technology they’ve developed is the unknown factor. Pendleton’s off holding church meetings. He should be here giving instruction. If I screw up, it’s my fault.
    A sudden flash of light from what should have been a communications satellite sounded the attack alarm.
    “Shit! They’ve fired first.” Cline inhaled a deep, slow flow of air. “Fire on all targets.”
    The room darkened and three-dimensional screens depicting a 360-degree view of orbital space illuminated the room. The area above the Earth lit up. A gasp went up as the totality of Earth’s orbiting stations and missile banks filled the screen. Five non-nuclear missiles fired. Cline exhaled. Thin red streaks spread away from each other like fireworks and headed toward separate targets. The first hit Space Complex 9, which ignited into an expanding orange fireball. The other four succeeded in the same manner. The silence in the room created an eerie chill as glowing showers of debris tumbled down from the heavens along with thousands of human souls.
    Someone shouted, “My god, the radar’s lighting up.”
    “Set Edison to React Mode,” Cline yelled. “We’ll intercept those we can and destroy their launch sites.”
    “Roger that.” His second-in-command and the stations highly skilled personnel were ahead of Cline’s instruction by training.
    The battle was out of his hands. An underground computer and his staff now controlled the world’s fate. He needed to call the First Citizen.
    #
    “My wife sees visions.” Pendleton folded his hands and addressed his audience. “I never believe her. Turns out she’s never been wrong.”
    Pendleton, Pope Peter, and twelve Christian dignitaries from each of the twelve governances, faced each other in the Pope’s administrative office in the Rome Complex. The Pope lived in the same size apartment as Pendleton. In fact, Christian leaders followed the Global housing guidelines to the fullest.
    “So you’re saying an angel from God told her we need to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming.” The man speaking came from the Cordoba Complex in South America. “No one knows when He is coming.”
    “The Bible is clear on that,” another in the room joined in.
    Pope Peter raised his hand. “Neither the day nor the hour, but we will know the season. I, for one, believe the time is close.”
    “Yes. Yes,” the Cordoban scoffed. “But, so did Brother Paul in the 1 st Century. It hasn’t come yet.”
    “Look at the weather.” Pendleton handed out talking-points. “In the past five years, the sea levels have risen another six feet. Super tornados and gigantic hurricanes have destroyed huge land areas. Even our complexes, mega-fortresses though they are, quake against these monsters.”
    Silence said he’d made his point.
    “Look at the droughts and the insects.” He pounded the table. “But the worst of all is the treason of Ammad al-Sistani. He sent word to me he wishes to negotiate a separate realm of his own. My sources say he may promise the Jews he’ll help them rebuild their temple, if they will not oppose his moves in their region.”
    “But what should a Christian do to prepare?” Pope Peter asked. “As I see things, we live our lives with our eyes on God and fear not.”
    Pendleton nodded. “True. We shouldn’t speculate on how God will do things. But we should use reason as His children. Prepare our intellect to be ready. I didn’t see the angel. Laverna did. The angel told her I should alert God’s people.”
    “Then,” the man from Cordoba said, “your job is to run this Realm as God instructs you. And our job is to spread the word