Cath gasped.

“Our spacecraft equipment needs to keep things simple as the signals travel vast distances, so everything is black and white. Colour it with your imagination. The images have been made into a slideshow.”

The ice was transparent. Behind the ice stood a large dark vertical wall.  The images showed different levels of the wall. The foundation had different shades of grey, reminding Jack of the layers in slate retaining walls he’d seen over the years. The next image traced the wall vertically—you couldn’t see the top of the wall. Later images traced the wall horizontally. Further along the wall, a large round object protruded and appeared to indicate an entrance, a gate. There was writing on the gate. Light escaped through this break in the wall and spread in both directions along the wall. A large blurred figure stood beside the entrance. Was this an alien spaceship? An alien city? This couldn’t be real.  

“Oh, Dad. This is real.” Cath had teared up. “Each gate made of a single pearl.”

The pearly gates? Another image appeared, a close-up of the blurred figure. Cath gasped again. This was getting spooky.

The next image stunned Jack. The large being had an arm raised, as if to acknowledge the earthly spacecraft’s presence. Who could come up with such a thing? Surely these images had been manipulated somehow. The wave looked peaceful, not the popular Hollywood image of aliens. They would have blown the spacecraft out of the sky.

“Are these real images?” He had to ask.

Cath gave him a hard look.

“I’m not doubting your dad, Cath. But this is the reaction you’re going to get.”

“They’re real, Jack. And we know how this world works,” Frank said. “It’s up to you what you believe. Catherine and I have no doubt what it is.”

“What is it?”

Cath was speechless, obviously surprised by what she was seeing. No one answered his question.

“One more thing, and it’s the last piece of proof I needed,” Frank said. “The Book of Revelation mentions the New Jerusalem. The dimensions and description of this city and its walls are provided in detail.” He closed his eyes briefly. “The dimensions represent a cube of about 2200 kilometres.”

Jack saw the look of acknowledgment on Cath’s face. “So what size sphere would hold something that size?”

Frank gave a half smile. “That’s my daughter. That cube would need a sphere with at least a 3800 kilometre diameter.”

“And the size of Adventus is?” Jack knew what was coming.

“Adventus has been calculated to have a diameter of around 3800 kilometres. Nothing more needs to be said.”

Doubts flooded his mind. The sceptic in him. That inner sceptic had put pressure on his relationship with Erica. The problem was he didn’t question his doubts, or he didn’t know how to, or didn’t want to. He let his doubts flow unabated.

“But you understand photo manipulation has been used to deceive or persuade people or improve storytelling in the past. Some don’t even believe we landed on the moon. They say it was all a studio production,” Jack said.

“Like I said, we know how the world works. They’ll attack the storytellers or will go about working out how to destroy the asteroid.”

“Can they do such a thing?”

“Maybe, if they believe it’s heading for Earth. There are untested asteroid mitigation strategies in place. But the size of Adventus may present a problem.”

“What are the chances of it hitting Earth? Isn’t that something to do with orbit?”

“Adventus’s orbital properties had been worked out and I would assume are being checked for anomalies. Indications are the path is a bit erratic but won’t come close to Earth. I also doubt that we’re being told everything. I obtained the images through an anonymous source. Obviously, someone high up is concerned. But what does that matter? This is a supernatural event. God is in control. We believe Adventus is heading to Earth, but not to destroy.”

Heading to Earth, but not to destroy? What was he talking about? “It looks like an alien spaceship to me. Even saying such a thing sounds stupid. Like my mind has never had to process such a reality and my thoughts have been fashioned by Hollywood. I suppose it had to happen one day. We have been waiting hundreds of years. What’s your take on it, Cath?”

He had an idea what her take was but wanted clarity. He needed time to absorb what he was seeing and hearing.

“The world would like us to believe there are other life forms out there and they’ll visit us one day. They like to keep God out of the equation, as his existence challenges their belief system, which normally involves evolution and science.”

“The things we’re taught at school.”

“Well, I believe it’s neither a story nor an alien invasion. It is the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, as God has said it would. I also think science studies the natural world, not the supernatural world.” She took a quick glimpse at her tablet device. “I believe this is a supernatural event. Christians believe Jesus is going to return for his people and to be with his people.”

“Why?”

“To restore things to the way they were intended,” Frank said. “I’m not sure where the name of the asteroid came from but maybe God had a hand in that as well. In ancient Rome, adventus was used to indicate a glorious entry. Christians refer to the Second Coming of Christ as the Second Advent. Yes, he’s returning to restore all things.”

The Second Coming of Christ. Jack needed to speak to Erica. He was struggling to find the right words. He wanted to flee or hide from what he didn’t know. Restore things. Law and order. He found some words. “Can’t argue with restoring things. The world definitely needs some kind of reset. But this all has a surreal feel about it. What are people going to be told?”

“That’s the interesting part.” Cath gave him a worried look. “Jack, remember Adventus is still millions and millions of miles away. What we’re talking about could be years away.”

He didn’t believe her but appreciated her attempt to help him deal with his anxieties.

Frank signed off. Jack caught a look of anxiety on Cath’s face.

“You okay?”

She gave a slow nod. “I don’t trust people. Sorry, but I can’t put my trust in man.”

He couldn’t respond to that. His mind was in a confused enough state as it was.

21 - Prophecy confirmed

The drama of the morning was pushed as far back into Jack’s mind as it would go, but an air of insignificance surrounded Jack. He and Cath spent a few hours door knocking, asking if anyone had seen a man of Wiley’s description. There were a number of CCTV cameras, but some had lost power during the earthquake. They approached a house directly across from Sheila’s. A van with ‘Tom’s Electricals’ on the side was parked in the driveway, with a list of services below the name and a contact number.

A man was picking up debris from his front lawn. They approached him.

“Hi,” Cath said. “Not too much damage, I hope?”

The man looked up. He looked around the yard and up to the house, then returned his gaze to them. “Nope. Lucky, I suppose.”

There was a CCTV camera at the top of the carport, and one of the services advertised on the van was security surveillance cameras.

“Are you Tom?” Jack pointed to the van.

Tom nodded.

“We’re police officers trying to locate a person. Just wondering how your CCTV coped with the earthquake. No loss of power or anything like that.”

Tom smiled. “What do ya reckon?”

“I reckon they worked fine.” Jack let out a small laugh.

“What time you looking at?”