Through a Glass Darkly (Harbingers Book 17) Read online

  “Right.”

  “Just haven’t gotten ‘round to figurin’ it out.”

  “Actually, it’s quite simple.”

  “Yeah? Maybe you can show me sometime.”

  “No problem.”

  “Thanks.”

  And on they rambled—Cowboy looking for any reason to talk to Andi, and Andi too polite to shut him down. (Some things never change). We’d been through some pretty weird stuff and, like it or not, small talk always helped dial things back to semi normal.

  It’d been thirty-six hours since we dragged our butts back from the river, caught some z’s at Hotel Cockroach and managed to book a flight home. Not once had we mentioned what we’d just been through. Though I figured that was about to change.

  I wasn’t wrong.

  “Miss Brenda,” Cowboy called over to me. “You still getting all them strange visions?”

  “Sleeping here,” I said.

  “Sorry?”

  I kept my eyes shut, hoping he’d get a clue.

  If he did, he didn’t let on. Instead, he raised his voice, making sure I could hear. “Are you still getting all them visions?”

  I shook my head.

  “Nothin’?”

  I sighed then mumbled, “I’m back to the normal ones—like what I sketch.”

  “That’s what I figured. And you wanna know why?”

  I didn’t.

  “Because what you were seeing in that cave, those other visions, they were all counterfeit. From the devil.”

  I opened my eye and gave him a look. “They were true.”

  “Of course they were true. That’s how the devil works. He’ll use 95 percent truth to get us to swallow his 5 percent lie.”

  “Right.” He was dragging me into his conversation and there was nothing I could do to stop it. “So how am I supposed to tell the difference?” I said.

  “Ain’t that what these little missions are about?” he said. “Teachin’ us to use our gifts?”

  Andi joined in. “That’s precisely what the professor told us.”

  “And we’re learning stuff,” Cowboy said. “‘Bout the Gate, the Watchers and this Ambrosi fella.”

  “Least we know the good guys from the bad guys,” I said as I pulled the coat from the window and sat up. “But I’ve got to tell you . . .” I hesitated, deciding not to finish.

  “Tell us what?” Cowboy said.

  I shook my head.

  He kept pushing. “What?”

  “It’s just . . . all that stuff I saw—the tortures, the murders. Ask me, there’s not that much difference between the good guys and the bad guys.”

  “Except—” Andi motioned to the info on her computer screen. “This is the information you saw, the figures we discussed, correct?”

  CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEW

  Inquisition: 150,000 civilians killed

  Crusades: 1.5 million civilians killed

  Witch hunts: 50,000 killed

  TOTAL: 1.7 million civilians killed

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “Pretty stinko.”

  “Yes,” she agreed. “It’s terribly incriminating.”

  “Except,” Cowboy said, “none of that stuff was what Jesus wanted.”

  Andi shrugged. “Perhaps. But check this out.” She brought up another chart:

  ATHeiST WORLD VIEW

  Stalin - Marxist: 20 million civilians killed

  Hitler - Nitzche: 12 million civilians killed

  Mao – Communist: 40 million civilians killed

  Pol Pot - Communist: 3 million civilians killed

  TOTAL: 75 million civilians killed

  I looked at the numbers: 1.7 million verses 75 million. “Big difference,” I said.

  Andi nodded. “And that’s not to mention the earlier mass killers like Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, and Ivan the Terrible. But look at this. The seventy-five million murders mentioned here that stem from an atheist world view have only occurred during the last eighty years. Compare that to the 1.7 million killed in over two thousand years.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Granted, even one killing is a tragedy and there is no excuse for it. But don’t tell me the world is a better place without the God of the Bible . . . or the people who believe in Him.”

  I stared at the numbers. Andi definitely had a point.

  “And don’t even get me started on the creation of hospitals, charities, universities, public education, literacy, modern science, modern medicine . . . all stemming directly from the Judeo/Christian world view.”

  It had been quite a while since I’d seen her so worked up. And I’m sure she’d of continued if it wasn’t for Chad.

  “Hey sweet cheeks, what computer game you playing this time?”

  Andi turned to me and slowly shook her head. I couldn’t agree more.

  “Hey, listen, smart mouth.” (That of course would be me). “I’m getting word from your kid.”

  That got my attention.

  “He wants you to hurry home. Says he’s just ordered some pizza.”

  “Pizza?”

  “Double combo, everything on it.”

  “We’re not landing for another fourteen, fifteen hours.”

  “That’s what I told him.”

  “And?”

  “Said not to worry. He’ll order more.”

  “Order more? How’s he gonna pay—”

  “5433 2209 3387 5822. Expiration date, 3-24.”

  “That’s my Visa Card!”

  “Kid’s got a good memory.”

  “He doesn’t know how to order—”

  “Says he’s been doing it every meal since you left.”

  “Every meal!”

  “Practice makes perfect.”

  “Listen, you tell him, you got him on the line now?”

  “Loud and clear.”

  “You tell him, there’s gonna be some serious changes when I get home. You tell him that.”

  “Right.” Chad closed his eyes like he was listening.

  “Well?”

  “Busy.”

  “Bus-”

  “When he gets to playing his video games it’s hard to hear anything over all the screaming, butchering and bloodbaths.”

  “Butchering and bloodbaths! I never bought him those type of—”

  “#5433 22—”

  “All right, all right!” I looked at my watch. “It’s 4:10 in the morning there.”

  “Which is why he ordered pizza. Apparently all that killing really works up an appetite.”

  I swore and dropped my head back to the seat.

  “Speaking of which, when do they serve dinner on this bucket?” Chad asked.

  “Me and Andi, we were talking about that very thing,” Cowboy said.

  “Terrific. Hey, listen.” Chad produced a large, spiral notebook. “I’ve been making a list of who did the most good back there. You know, kind of an MVP thing? And—anyway, you mind if I sit and go over my contributions? I probably missed a couple.”

  I groaned.

  Andi forced a smile.

  And Cowboy didn’t miss a beat. “Sure, partner. Pull up a seat.”

  “Thanks, troll boy.” He plopped into the seat in front of us, then pushed it back so he could talk through the gap. “I’ve got three pages so far, single spaced, but I’m sure there’s more.”

  I gave another groan as he began rattling off his bloated accomplishments. By the sound of things we were just his supporting cast—extras in a superhero movie written, directed and, of course, starring the great Chad Thorton. I sighed, closed my eyes and tried shutting him out. But, of course, I couldn’t.

  It was gonna be a long flight home.

  Soli Deo gloria.

  Other Books By Bill Myers

  NOVELS

  Child’s Play

  The Judas Gospel

  The God Hater

  The Voice

  Angel of Wrath

  The Wager

  Soul Tracker

  The Presence


  The Seeing

  The Face of God

  When the Last Leaf Falls

  Eli

  Blood of Heaven

  Threshold

  Fire of Heaven

  NON-FICTION

  The Jesus Experience—Journey Deeper into the Heart of God

  Supernatural Love

  Supernatural War

  CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  Baseball for Breakfast (picture book)

  The Bug Parables (picture book series)

  Bloodstone Chronicles (fantasy series)

  McGee and Me (book/video series)

  The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle

  (comedy series)

  Bloodhounds, Inc. (mystery series)

  The Elijah Project (supernatural suspense series)

  Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog Splat (comedy series)

  TJ and the Time Stumblers (comedy series)

  Truth Seekers (action adventure series)

  TEEN BOOKS

  Forbidden Doors (supernatural suspense)

  Dark Power Collection

  Invisible Terror Collection

  Deadly Loyalty Collection

  Ancient Forces Collection

  For a complete list of Bill’s books, sample chapters, and newsletter signup go to www.Billmyers.com Or check out his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/billmyersauthor.

  Don’t miss the other books in the Harbingers series which can be purchased separately or in collections:

  CYCLE ONE: INVITATION

  The Call

  The House

  The Sentinels

  The Girl

  CYCLE TWO: THE ASSAULT

  The Revealing

  Infestation

  Infiltration

  The Fog

  CYCLE THREE: THE PROBING

  Leviathan

  The Mind Pirates

  Hybrids

  The Village

  Coming Soon: Harbingers 18:

  THE LAST VISION

  All four members of the team receive a terrifying vision of the future: The Gate is ready to put their human-alien hybrid atop the governments of the world. Only by using their gifts beyond the level they’ve even dreamed does the team have a prayer of finding him, much less doing anything about it in time. Failing would mean doom for the world. But the vision makes it clear that the price of succeeding may be fatal.