Read Online Into the Storm by Tim Lahaye, Jerry B. Jenkins - Free Book Online Page A

“Pavel” could be Nicolae Carpathia himself.
    Judd said a prayer and pushed the Send button. I don’t care who it is or what his motives are, he thought. Everybody needs to hear this before it’s too late.
    Vicki couldn’t wait until it was time for questions. Two microphones were positioned in the front and back of the auditorium. At each end, students lined up and waited their turn. Vicki was second in line at the microphone in the back.
    Kids who had lost family members in the bombings were in tears. Most of the kids were energized by what the therapist said.
    They were into the positive message. Yield’s heart went out to them.
    What the speaker had said made her angry.
    “I can tell you loved your brother very much,” the woman said to a freshman at the front of the room.
    “And I can tell you where he is right now. You have him right in your heart.
    You have to keep your brother alive. And you have to trust yourself to do that. “
    Vicki rolled her eyes. She was up next.
    Judd’s video hookup with Pavel was successful. The kid looked small and wore thick glasses. He had blond hair and sat low in his chair, so he stayed in the bottom of the picture while he spoke. Pavel could understand six languages, but he could speak only four. He apologized for his English.
    “I cannot tell you who my father is,” Pavel said, “but it is true. I am in the apartment building in Nicolae Carpathia’s compound.”
    “You know that Dr. Ben-Judah’s message is not very popular with the potentate,” Judd said.
    “I understand,” Pavel said.
    “But since the disappearances and the war, I have been searching for answers. The ones the Global Community gives do not satisfy.”
    Judd’s computer blipped.

    “Hang on, Pavel, I need to check something,” Judd said.
    The message looked weird. He could tell from the message window that it wasn’t from any of his friends. He gasped when he saw it was from the Global Community. It read:
    “Global Community Priority Directive: The pilot is in custody. Continue the search for the daughter and the two boys. Search their homes and schools first.”
    The speaker pointed to Vicki and smiled.
    “You have a question?” she said.
    “Yes,” Vicki said.
    “If you knew for sure where a person was after they had died, wouldn’t that be the best hope of all?”
    The woman looked bewildered.
    “I don’t understand the question,” she said.
    Mrs. Jenness stood and moved toward the woman.
    Vicki continued.
    “Let’s say your father dies on the day of the bombings and you’re really bummed,” she said.
    “But you know without any doubt that your dad went to heaven.
    Wouldn’t that help in your grief? “
    Mrs. Jenness whispered something to the woman, and she nodded.
    “Heaven is a state of mind, not a real place,” the woman said.
    “I think we should leave matters of faith to our religious leaders.
    Next?”
    “No, answer the question!” Vicki said.
    “You, in front?” the woman said.
    The girl at the next microphone looked back at Vicki. It was Shelly!
    “I’d like to hear you answer her question,” Shelly said.
    Someone in the crowd yelled, “Answer it!” Vicki heard a few boos and some applause. Things were quickly getting out of hand.
    “All right,” the woman said, trying to regain control.

    “If a person knew what happened after a loved one had died, in a psychological sense that would give him or her hope. But we have to deal with reality here. And the reality is,we can’t know what’s beyond this life until we’ve gone there.”
    “That’s where you’re wrong,” Vicki said.
    “We can know.”
    “So you’re saying you can judge whether a person is good enough to go to heaven?” the woman said.
    “Yeah, who made you God?” someone said.
    “I can tell you that nobody is good enough to go to heaven,” Vicki said.
    “Every one of us has sinned. But God made a way for us”—“That’s enough,” Mrs. Jenness said. Global Community guards