Free Mark of Evil by Tim Lahaye, Craig Parshall Page B

before the call. From his position on a stone wall on the veranda, he had a great vista of the sparkling azure waters of the Mediterranean. He could also see the harbor of Agios Nikolaos down there too, full of fishing boats and old stone buildings and ringed with palm trees. The breeze blew through his hair, and for a few moments he was at rest, tranquil. He closed his eyes.
    His Allfone watch buzzed on his wrist. He looked down at the little screen and saw the encryption code for Pack. He tapped in the confirmation and the okay for the video feed. Pack’s square face and salt-and-pepper hair appeared.
    Ethan gave him a warm hello and they exchanged pleasantries. Pack explained that he’d been roaming the planet.
    “Sightseeing?” Ethan said with a smile.
    “No. Dreary places, mostly,” Pack said. “And some depressing news.”
    “Shoot.”
    “Over the last few weeks I’ve discovered a series of murders and disappearances,” McHenry explained. “All of them computer-tech gurus from ICANN—the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Back around 2010, ICANN, which is a private agency that governs the tech side of the Internet, decided it needed a plan inthe event there was some kind of worldwide cyberattack that brought everything down. So they created a start-up code for the entire Internet and then divided up parts of that code among seven very high-tech players—insiders with ICANN—giving each of the seven a keycard with parts of the code. If everything crashed, they were to meet at some global network site and put their code cards together, input the code, and restart the Internet.”
    Ethan was looking over the blue waters below his veranda. But he was thinking farther east, to New Babylon. “And how many of these high-tech cardholders are involved?”
    “Five so far. Either dead or gone missing. All very recently. I’ve located a sixth cardholder, Professor Fin Luxendorf, who teaches in the Netherlands. I’m on my way right now to reach him. Try and keep him safe. And try to figure out whether all of this is connected with the Global Alliance. And some kind of Internet power grab.”
    Ethan urged Pack to keep him closely advised and said his goodbyes. Then he put in a call to Chiro up in White Horse, in the Yukon. Ethan was glad to hear his friend’s familiar voice on the other end of the call.
    “Hi, Ethan! So great to talk,” Chiro said. “I have been working hard with my new friend Mr. John Galligher up here at our communications center.”
    “Chiro,” Ethan replied, “you’ve got a good man in Galligher. Josh Jordan thought very highly of him.”
    “Okay,” Chiro said, going right to the heart of the matter. “So you’ve been telling me about the intel we keep getting from our inside source in New Babylon. About some kind of digital doomsday plan. Do we have any more data on that?”
    But Ethan didn’t respond. Not at first. His eyes searched the blue horizon from his view on the porch. “Did you know,” he said with a half smile, wonder in his voice, “that the Bible says when God creates His new heaven and new earth, there won’t be any oceans?”
    Chiro was silent at the other end. Then, “No, Ethan. I didn’t know that.”
    “And no more tears. Or pain. Or death.”
    More silence on the other end.
    Ethan answered Chiro’s question. “The doomsday plan. Yes, I’m getting more data from some reliable sources. I can’t say anything more at this point. When I get specifics, I will tell you. But the hub of this global connection sounds like it’s going to be located at some high-level computer facility. Apparently Alexander Colliquin needs that computer capacity if he’s going to implement his plan.” Then Ethan added, “Do me a favor, will you?”
    “Anything.”
    “Have Galligher get in touch with another FBI buddy of his—Ben Bolling. Another retired special agent. He should still be back in America. Find out if John thinks he’s a good candidate for