Chapter 12: Close Encounters

Within a day, George Prescott brought 150 political flyers to go in the mail. Jennifer brought it to Allen's attention and he wondered where he got the capability. She and Juan worried that he had handicapped his own campaign by not using the newspaper. Allen knew this, and accepted his perceived disadvantage.

"Flyers don't come from the newspaper," noted Allen, "nor does the news website. I can respond by e-mail, and I have faith that The LORD will come through, and deliver me from the evils of politics."

"I understand that you, Lena, and Steve did as well as you could checking in the last two groups of arrivals. They obviously slipped some ringers through, and I can't help but think that Prescott is part of the globalist cabal."

"I don't claim to have Yeshua's discernment," admitted Allen. "I know the last two groups outnumber those whom we know, and that's what Prescott is counting on. If I lose, and somehow he takes control, I'm not sure where I'll go, but Yeshua is not going to be happy."

"If you go, you know we'll all go with you," offered Jennifer. "Most of the second group will follow too. That flyer of his is so full of lies I cannot believe he is talking about you. The way he compares our vehicles to Hitler forcing the VW on the people is disgusting."

"I haven't seen it yet," Allen admitted. "What else is in it?"

"He said you deserted your wife and kids to come here with your mistress."

"Where on Earth did he get that from?"

"He said he has court documents to prove it."

"They're probably as authentic as Lucien's Hawaiian long form birth certificate. Sorry, that was a bad joke. Where would we get a forensic documents expert, anyway?"

"The same place we'll get a lawyer," reasoned Jennifer. "Well, I suppose if I don't deliver this sheet of lies, he'll say it's because you control me too. Seriously, you need to counter this. That desertion accusation will hurt you."

"I'll think of something, but I'm leaving this in God's hands. If Prescott turns this town into Sodom, then God will destroy it. Just keep me in your prayers."

Allen hung up the call and told Lena about the lies the other man had printed. It looked very bleak, but it still puzzled him about where he got the information about his divorce. Lena was the only one he told that he recalled.

"Did you speak to anyone about my divorce?"

"No, but that first night you told Melissa she tried to kill you," replied Lena. "Maybe she is the source. She was there today without Mark, and was one of those cheering him on."

"Let's access the public records and see if he is married to anyone here," said Allen. "If he's not, then she could be a serious security breach for the militia. I hate to accuse someone if I can't prove it though."

"That one was always about climbing the ladder to the top. Ever since the new people do not wear a scarf, she will not wear hers. Did you see the clothes she wore at the square?"

"Lena, I do my best not to look at other women, you know that."

"What Jim and Carol covered, she has revealed, and then some. Sonia pointed it out to me. Melissa is on the prowl for a new man."

"Oh, Lord, please come quickly," Allen prayed. "Give me the wisdom to deal with this."

Allen worried partly because of the distrust many of the women had of Melissa. She had yet to earn the trust of the other women despite their verbal forgiveness. After the first two weeks Allen detected a change in Mark, but he did not talk to anyone about it. He could tell the man was making the best of a less than ideal situation, and lately, Melissa was always about the town. Her mannerism was what Lena called on the hunt, and the highly ambitious Prescott attracted her.

The records check indeed proved that the politician was unattached, at least since his arrival. Although George Prescott claimed his faith as Christian, his words belied that. Among his skills he listed a political science degree, a law degree, working as a congressional intern and aide to a prominent moderate senator. He was indeed a grand nephew in the dynasty trying for three terms in the oval office.

That family had deep ties to the New World Order that pulled the presidential strings, and indeed picked the leaders they allowed to serve. On Earth, an honest citizen had zero chance of making it past the primary. If he did not sell his soul, the media smeared his reputation with false rumors like those that Prescott had employed in the flyer.

Allen chose to go to the river and fish to clear his head for the campaign, and talk to his God. When he arrived, he spotted Mark Tanner sitting at one of the new tables, his hands clasped in prayer. He heard Allen's footsteps in the gravel, and looked up.

"Hey Allen," he greeted. "I spoke with Bruno a while ago about that rally at the square."

"I never wanted to get involved in politics," confessed Allen. "I needed to come down for some personal time with God."

"Yeah, me too," said Mark. "I made a bad mistake with Melissa, Allen. I think she's going out on me, and I suspect that it's with George Prescott."

"I've been in your shoes before, Mark. I know what you're going through. Would you like for me to pray with you?"

"Did praying turn your wife around?"

"No, but in the end, it brought me to Lena."

"I never asked her to get messy fleshing hides. I just wanted a good woman to be there when I got home and cleaned up; someone to have dinner for me. Lately she's not even home until after the evening bell."

"I'm sorry, Mark."

"Then the other night, she told me she was with George Prescott, and they planned to force an election that they can rig. She was bubbling over about him being the president this new world, and building a presidential palace." Mark sighed heavily.

"Yeshua will return soon, Mark. He will put an end to this mess. She was fine until He went to Earth."

"No, she wanted me to kill the beavers, so she could have furs. For women like Melissa, men like Prescott are a magnet. I've lost her, Allen, and I'm just numb." Mark slammed his fist on top of the table. "I feel like such an idiot. I gave her the benefit of the doubt, and she betrayed me. Do you see my rifle to my right?"

"Yeah, we spotted a dragon in the headwaters mountain area yesterday."

"No, for Prescott; I almost took him out yesterday morning but then you drove up, and I reconsidered. I tried to justify it by thinking he is a danger to our home and family, like the giants."

"Now if anything happens to him, Prescott's cronies will blame me."

"I'm with you, and I won't do anything to help that weasel's chances," vowed Mark. "If you lose however, all bets are off. He's going down."

"Vengeance belongs to The LORD, Mark. If God is with us, who can stand against us? It just takes faith."

"It's hard to have faith when the woman you pledged your heart to shops around for another."

"I know that," replied Allen. "In my case, I put up with so much; it was like Hosea and Gomer. I knew I was being punished for my past sins."

"Maybe that's what it is. That other woman from Chile, Juanita chose me, and yet I listened to the pleas of a beautiful and deceitful woman," lamented Mark. "I thought I did the right thing, forgetting her past, and trusting that she'd be repentant enough to change. I am so gullible."

"Why did you really choose her, Mark? Was it because Juanita is Latina?"

Mark took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and nodded. "Yeah," he whispered. "When I took that job at the Chilean National Museum of Natural History, I had this crush on one of the staff there. She was a tall blonde from Berlin, East Berlin, who spoke better English than we do."

"There's another mismatch," opined Allen. "It won't surprise me a bit if Ken goes with Prescott. Yeshua talked to him, but Lena and Carol are good friends with Juanita and he hasn't warmed up to her yet."

"Maybe he is that way," reasoned Mark. "Maybe he is denying his real preference?" He chuckled softly, and said, "Maybe if I'd taken Juanita, he and Melissa..."

"No, she doesn't want wimps or mama's boys, remember? They would both be single at this point. Oddly, the other couples who trusted God with their mates are happy," noted Allen. "Jim and Carol are expecting, so are Steve and Patricia, Tom and Laura, and Bruno and Sonia."

"Juan and Jennifer, too," Mark revealed. "I figured you folks might be, but then you have the two little ones, so maybe He's holding off on you for now."

"I don't know, look at Steve and Patricia; their two are half grown. Maybe I'm not holding my mouth right, or something?"

"Allen, that's just for ... never mind, bad joke; sorry." Mark smiled for the first time. "I realize now that God is in control, and I let pride make my choice for me. Not waiting was not my mistake; it was being too trusting and forgiving. If I get proof of her sleeping with him, I'll give her my decree of divorce."

"God knows, and it's best to let it happen in His time, not ours. Look at it this way; you got what, 20 years back on your life?"

"That's what I just realized; the last two groups to come here didn't get younger. The adults are all in their 20's or 30's, except for Prescott, and Silas and Tammy Hill. They can't be much over 40."

"Good thing Steve and I didn't tell them what the angels told us about the new bodies. I figured that was for God to do, and I never said anything, but I did get the impression they don't like youngsters in charge."

"You were what, 65?"

"No, not quite 61," answered Allen. "I seem to have retained my knowledge accumulated from that time, too. Until he came out with that lie about leaving my wife and kids, I'd been able to leave that part behind me."

"Yeah, I told Melissa it was the other way around, and you fought to keep your family," admitted Mark. "She has it in her mind that you left them. She doesn't trust men in general."

"Then how does she accept the garbage Prescott is spewing?"

"Because it's what she knows from back in the States. To her, that's normal, and under that normal, it's acceptable to leave one husband to improve her social status." Mark growled, and then grinned. "I know if we lust after another, we have committed adultery in our hearts, but does that apply to killing them in a simulator?"

"Not if we're practicing defending New Eden against a real enemy. Are you up for some sniper practice?"

"I thought you'd never ask," replied Mark. "Let's go to the armory, and see what we can conjure up."

"Stress therapy," reasoned Allen, "and maybe we can work out a worst case scenario."

Mark and Allen found Carl and Tim there doing the simulator on the transport shuttle. "I thought you said this was voice controlled," said Carl. "It is capable of defending itself. There's a pulse cannon on a retractable chin turret, but requires a WO."