Dead Sky by Weston Ochse

Author:Weston Ochse [Ochse, Weston]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction
ISBN: 9781786181923
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Camp Pendleton Command Center

MCQUEEN WENT TO work out and Poe said he had to check in, whatever that meant, leaving Boy Scout and Preacher’s Daughter alone in the room. She sat and listened as Boy Scout told her about his conversation with the dervish, as well as the brief but powerful connection he’d had with the entity inside of him and how he’d seen giants in the vision. He explained his astral travel with Sister Renee and how he’d almost died because he neither had been prepared, nor had he paid attention.

When he was finally done, he sat, out of breath and just dead tired. Before she could speak, he added, “The worst of it is that I’m terrified of the thing inside of me. I feel like it could take me over at any moment. It’s like I’m walking around constantly ducking because I know it’s going to happen at any moment. We’ve all had our share of PTSD, but this is probably the worst I’ve ever felt—worse than dying, because this thing would become me.”

“Loss of self is always worse than loss of life. When you told me what Sister Renee went through, I couldn’t help wonder how horrible it must have been to have someone in control of your own body, with you just as passenger. When it took control of you before, I couldn’t even tell it wasn’t you.”

“And I didn’t even know it.” He laughed soberly. “It’s like I need a safe word.”

“Rumpelstiltskin.”

“Right. Like that would even work.” She gave him a half smile.

“So,” he said, the word long and breathless. “What about that lost tribe?”

“Have you ever heard of Iram of the Pillars?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not before this.”

“What about Sodom and Gomorrah?”

“I’ve heard of that.”

“I figured. So, we have the Old Testament Christian Bible and we have the Qur’an. They are more similar than most people know. For instance, did you know that Jesus is mentioned more in the Qur’an than Mohammed? And Mary is mentioned more times in the Qur’an than in the New Testament.”

Boy Scout shook his head.

“The Qur’an includes most of the prophets in the Bible—Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, David, Solomon, Elijah, Jonah, Aaron, Moses, Zechariah, and John the Baptist. Jesus is spoken of as a prophet of God and not the son of God. What I’m getting at is there are a lot of the same stories, but told differently. Such is the case with Iram of the Pillars and Sodom and Gomorrah. Both were cities with sinners who wouldn’t follow the word of God, and both places were smited—uh smoted, smitten, whatever—by an angry god.”

She held up a finger and took a deep draw from her drink.

“But that’s the Sunday school story. Palimpsested beneath these tales is an older one that many Biblical and Qur’anical scholars won’t touch. How good are you on your Bible teachings?”

“Uh, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

“The Golden Rule. Not bad.

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