Stampede
Two Witnesses on Trial
Jane walked briskly down to the docks where Seth and Andrew were practicing drum techniques. “Seth! Seth!”
Seth started walking toward her. “What’s the matter Jane? Is something wrong?”
Jane stopped at the front of the dock and put her hands on her hips, slightly bending forward to catch her breath. “Morning Star announced Pastor Flynn and Molony are to be taken into custody. He cited they preached a doctrine contrary to his ascension to the throne.”
Seth turned back to Andrew. “Switch the screens from the video game to the satellite feed.”
The screen changed to a split screen with Molony on the left in New York, and Pastor Flynn on the right in Arkansas. Both men were escorted by several police into one of the highly polished bronze vehicles. The vehicles lifted hundreds of feet while raising their landing gear. They blinked a few times before disappearing in a flash of lightning.
The split screen merged to a single image of Jerusalem. Lightning flashed and the two vehicles appeared. The camera zoomed in until it was clear they were hovering over a coliseum filled with people. A clear bubble ejected from the bottom of each craft and floated down toward the crowd. Molony stood in one bubble, and Pastor Flynn in the other.
The crowd cheered as Molony’s bubble landed first. They pushed it back up in the air like a giant beach ball. Pastor Flynn landed shortly behind him, and the people pushed him high up into the air as well. He drifted over by the stands, while Molony bounced around the field of people in the middle of the arena.
On a floating platform above where goalposts would normally be, Morning Star rocked back and forth in his oversized throne, laughing so hard he started to cry.
On the other side of the coliseum another floating platform started to glow in a pulsating red. It acted like a magnet and drew the bubbles. Morning Star stopped laughing, and the crowd turned angry. They violently hit at the bubbles to knock them away from the floating platform, but each hit into the air allowed them to float closer. The bubbles bounced up and landed side by side on top of the platform, popped and spilled the men to the floor.
The entire place turned pitch black, except the glow of the floating stages on opposite ends of the field. Morning Star took a deep breath to calm down before welcoming them. “Thank you for being so prompt gentlemen. I’m sorry if the landing was a little rough. We’re a government run airlines.”
The crowd laughed.
Morning Star stepped down from his throne. “I wanted to audit you personally. I’ve been watching how you operate, and I see through your charade.” He started to pace on his platform with his hands behind his back. “You have been selling a fake religion for too long. You dare to compare yourself to me? Who do you think taught Rabbi Gamaliel? He was one of the greatest teachers ever! Who are you?”
Molony started to get up and walk toward the edge. Morning Star angered, snapped his fingers and caused lightening to strike the edge of the stage. “Not so fast old man! You are going to spend the next ten days right where you are. You might as well get comfortable. We have a lot to talk about. If you are hungry, we’ll send food. If you have to go to the bathroom, we’ll send paper… but your audit starts now.”