Sarge believed it was time to initiate the deactivate code. All members accessed their social media accounts regularly. They’ll get a message and see the post and know how to act. They needed to become inactive, off the radar for now—no meetings, no contact, nothing until the reactivate code appeared.
The mixture of members in the group concerned him at times. There were cracks in the recruitment and joining process. Bad people could be clever people and clever people could be bad people. They could all suck you in. There wasn’t much he could do about it unless the signs were obvious.
He pulled out his phone, opened the app, and triggered the code and the appropriate security measures to prevent any tracing. He heard Bruce’s phone beep and watched his reaction as he looked at the message. He nodded.
“Best we go back to the unit. I’ll miss my palace, but I know I’ll be back soon. The cleaners will look after it for me.”
Sarge’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the caller. The Great Leader.
What an idiot. He’d broken the first rule. No contact. Clever people could also be dumb people.
Sarge didn’t answer the call. He hoped the stakeout didn’t include phone surveillance. If it did, they’d just been exposed even further, and in a big way.
* * *
Wiley knew something waited for him at Devil’s Gate but he had no idea what. The feeling had been sitting in his chest since he first saw the name on the information map at the start of the walk.
Now re-clothed, he struggled with the climb to the headland. His near-death drowning experience had sapped a lot out of him energy wise and emotionally. But he was in no hurry. Why would he be with uncertainty waiting for him at the Devil’s Gate.
He waddled up to a viewing area, sat on some rocks, and took in the view while capturing his breath. There were no barriers to the cliff edges, which seemed dangerous. Should he run and jump? He looked around. A man was walking towards him with a camera strapped around his neck. He gave Wiley a quick glance and headed towards the edge. The stranger wore a dark baseball cap and sunglasses, but there was something familiar about him. He stopped at the cliff edge and took some photos.
The man finished his photo shoot and headed back to the track. He stopped in front of Wiley, took off his glasses, and bent to look closely at Wiley.
“Thomas?”
“Dad?”
29 - An awakening
Wiley and his dad sat on the large limestone rock. It was hard for Wiley, but they’d eventually embraced.
“What a coincidence, hey?” Wiley’s dad said. There was a sparkle in his eyes.
Wiley nodded. He was still battling with the emotions zapping around in his head. How many years had it been? Fifteen years or thereabouts. The man just left the family, Wiley, his mum, and younger brother. That was the start of Wiley losing his way. Strange. He hadn’t considered that before. He’d been on autopilot and never stopped to think, seriously think, about the path he’d chosen and why. But today had been a funny day. Lots of strange feelings, thoughts, and a heaviness.
“They do happen, you know.”
“Huh?”
“Coincidences. People bump into folk they haven’t seen for years and in the strangest places. Weird things happen. You know one of the strangest ones I heard was Mark Twain—he was a famous American author—who was born when Halley’s Comet appeared and died when it reappeared some seventy-six years later. He was quoted as saying, ‘I came in with Halley’s Comet and expect to go out with it.” He stopped and rubbed his hands. “I’m talking too much. Nervous, I suppose.”
A drone hovered over the cliff face. Who was the pilot? He had a quick look around. A young man and lady sitting on the grass near the cliff edge. The man had the remote controller in his hand.
“How have you been, son?”
There was a peace about his dad. Whatever grievances he had towards his dad, they were slowly melting. “Uh … I’m good today.” Wiley waved his arms out across the ocean.
“Yes, the ocean can make you feel good. I live not far from here and wander up to soak in the goodness at least once a week. Get the same good feelings every time.”
“Why did you leave?”
He watched his dad’s reaction. He knew what he meant.
“Alcohol. Simple as that. I was under bondage to the drink. It controlled my life and thinking.”
Wiley understood what his dad was saying. This newfound direction his life had decided to take today was doing strange things to him. There was a heaviness in his chest and his mind was a sea of confusion. A dryness filled his mouth. There was bottled water in his backpack. He reached for the backpack and removed a bottle. His aura glasses were underneath. He hesitated and looked up at his dad, who was taking a sip from his drink bottle. The aluminium glittered in the sun. There was no need to bother with the glasses. His dad had found peace, and maybe even found the Lord. Strangely, that didn’t bother him.
“It was a battle but I’m free now. In fact, your mother and I have a good relationship and your brother is in regular contact. We all miss you and often speak about you. I tried to track you down a few times but it’s like you had vanished off the earth and now …”
“Yep … a coincidence.”
“A good one.” He patted Wiley on the leg. “What are you doing here?”
“Now that’s a good question.” And to think he nearly died.
* * *
Jack was at his desk, scanning the news services. Every now and then he’d look around the office space. Something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He returned his focus to the news posts—he was curious about the latest things on Adventus. Some things Cath told him had him thinking. Made him want to dig.
He’d skipped over the police news—too many articles with charts and figures. He wasn’t into statistics.
The news focused on dispelling the rumour Adventus was an alien spacecraft and ridiculing those who thought that way. It was an asteroid, as simple as that, and it was obvious that was the message the media wanted out there. The whole world could see Adventus. Interestingly. the news posts were all similar: it was an asteroid.
Some news feeds focused on NASA having the capacity to deal with the asteroid. Other posts had NASA presently working on the trajectory of the asteroid—hadn’t they done that already? The TV confirmed what Jack had previously been told, that the asteroid would pass by thousands and thousands of kilometres away. That brought comfort.
Some Christian posts focussed on the return of Christ, but they all appeared to be arguing with each other. The word millennium kept appearing with different prefixes. Some were talking about premillennial, some post millennial. Someone even threw in the term amillennial.
He let out a sigh. He sensed a presence.
