Chapter Three: Getting Better

 ~~/*\~~ Satau ~~/*\~~

Frogs weren’t poisonous. They weren’t dangerous. They were just… slimy. And they were everywhere. It wasn’t funny, except that it almost was. Satau had regular food, and had adjusted his diet enough that he hadn’t accidentally taken a bite of frog in days. They kept getting into things, but if it was their constant presence, or an actual supernatural manifestation within the ovens once they started cooking, nobody was quite sure. Certainly they kept checking, but all of Egypt kept getting taken by surprise.

The horses kept kicking and rearing, nearly bucking riders off every few seconds as their hooves came down on squishy frogs with every other stride. The roads were full of frog mash, the wagons crushing them, the wheels tracking them all over the city. It didn’t matter. They were all over the nation. The stink of squished open frogs was everywhere. Some people made a game of it, letting out their frustrations by smashing and stabbing their way through the streets.

It wasn’t funny, except that it almost was. People kept biting into bread and spitting it out in horror. Every few minutes, someone stepped on something unexpected and did a complete tumble to the ground. When it happened to the kids, people struggled not to laugh. When it happened to the elderly, everyone rushed to help. Almost everyone’s clothes were stained with it, either the frogs they stepped on, or the ones they landed on when they fell.

It became less funny when people actually tried to do things. The marketplaces couldn’t put their wares out. The wagons couldn’t deliver goods. It wasn’t the same slow death of thirst like the plague on the Nile, but it was a total disruption of the nation. Nobody could use the bathhouses or the latrines, without frogs getting in the way.

The farmers were taking it the hardest. There were so many frogs, there wasn’t a single fly left in Egypt, but frogs could eat worms, and the farms were madly trying to cultivate something after the soil had been ruined by blood. Earthworms were worth more to the farmers than gold. The plows and farm tools that turned the soil kept getting caught up on frogs, slowing the work that really couldn’t afford to be slowed.

The threshing floors and grindstones were under constant guard by attendants, sweeping frogs out before they could be crushed into the flour along with the grain; brought from stores. The fear that there wouldn’t be a new crop to replace them was deliberately left unspoken.

In the upper-echelon, the wealthy weren’t letting it affect them. They adjusted their diet accordingly to remove the chance of eating anything nasty. When Pharaoh, or any of the Royal Court came to the throne room, or walked around the palace, they were preceded by attendants with wide brooms, sweeping the frogs out of the way without the King ever having to break stride.

The Queen only slipped on a frog once, and the embarrassing moment was covered up quickly, every witness to the ungainly fall being put swiftly in jail until they suddenly forgot that they’d seen anything inappropriate.

It really wasn’t funny, except that it almost was.

~~/*\~~

Days turned into weeks. Egypt just got used to the frogs. You got used to shooing them away every second. You got used to carefully picking your footsteps. You got used to checking your food at every stage of cooking, every bite of eating. You got used to waking up with them in your bed, or kicking them out from under your sheets.

(Author’s Note: There are no indications of how long the frog Plague lasted. Some Plagues have specific timelines. Most of them do not. There is also little mention of the interval between the Plagues. I built a timeline based around reasoning on how long there was between the First and Seventh Plagues. More on that later. The duration of several Plagues are my own invention.)

Leahe recovered steadily, until Satau could put it off no longer, and took her home. Sari didn’t run, barely more than a light canter. The horse could not see directly below his hooves, but was growing used to the roads as they stood. Satau felt Leahe’s grip around his waist with one hand, and could tell the jarring ride was causing her discomfort; but she was more eager to return to her people than anything else.

As they rode, Satau noticed they were piling the bodies up higher than ever. Farmers used their rakes and threshes not to collect hay and grasses, but dead frogs. They’re dying? Satau realized in wonder, looking around. There was no sign of any of the frogs moving.

“Satau...” Leahe said behind him. “I never thanked you for saving my life.” Satau didn’t turn to look, but felt her lips brush his cheek for a moment. “Maybe Moses came just in time. After all, I never had much of a future as a slave. Now I’ve got nowhere to go in this life at all.”

Satau couldn’t help the chuckle. “Maybe. A free woman can live with a disability.”

Leahe looked around her. “The frogs are all dead.” She remarked. “The Plague is over.” She lowered her voice. “At the risk of pushing my luck, if Pharaoh has forgotten…”

“I’ll have the other women released.” Satau sighed. “Assuming I can do so without getting my head removed.”

~~/*\~~ Ryder ~~/*\~~

A few weeks after the ‘Secure In Peace’ Campaign began, Karla was standing outside the courthouse, reporting to the camera. “I’m standing just forty feet away from the Courthouse, where the appeal has been denied. The ruling has set off a feeling of celebration here from the waiting crowd. The denial confirms that the Coalition will be allowed to keep all seized property and wealth taken from Hancock Industries. The Coalition’s legal office has already responded, saying that the money is already being spent on rebuilding homes and businesses that were destroyed by last month’s hurricane in the South Pacific, as well as resettling Climate Refugees.”

In the news van, Ryder brought up the next page of data. “Kick it over to Wall Street.” He said into his mic.

Karla continued without interruption. “The ruling has unsettled a lot of the traditional players on Wall Street. The Coalition has seized excess wealth from several multinational corporations, while not affecting their operating budgets at all. For more on that, we go to our Financial Reporters.”

“And we are clear.” Ryder said, as Karla nodded, and came over to the door of the van. “Alright, let’s get some real business done.”

Karla chuckled. “What are the odds?”

“So far, the Coalition has gone after nuclear proliferation, the biggest polluters, organized crime… The best odds are on hate groups next. They’ve seized more than enough wealth for their operating costs.”

“I still can’t believe they haven’t been stopped at every border on the planet.” Dion said over the speakerphone.

“All the countries they’re operating in are the ones that donated military power.” Karla offered.

“That’s my point. Since when do politicians make laws without keeping themselves exempt from them?”

“Since three weeks ago.” Ryder told him. “Unless something comes up, we’ll call you when we get to the Solar Farm.” He disconnected the call and stepped through to the driver’s seat, Karla settling in beside him. “Everyone expected the Coalition to go after Terrorists and Rogue states.”

“That’s what the military is for. We’ve been fighting that war for thirty years now. And like it or not, Terrorist groups have never been a threat to the global population. Stability of leaders, maybe. Survival of the species? No.” Karla shook her head. “I like that they’re going after social problems. Things like the economy and the environment aren’t limited by local politics. Certainly the consequences aren’t.”

“You’re too young to remember 9/11. I was barely a teenager at the time. But the world suddenly woke up to the fact that what happened in other countries had an effect on your hometown. It didn’t change anything for the better then. We didn’t cooperate, we turned on each other.” Ryder shook his head. “This is something different.”

Karla was silent for a moment. “We’re on our way to the airport, so that we can tell the world about a Solar Farm that’s providing clean power to millions of homes in some of the poorest communities in this country. It was built in three weeks, and paid for by the Coalition seizing the proceeds of international sanction violations. A crime stopped in one country is fixing the problems of another. My whole career, I’ve been reporting on the slow collapse of our civilization. Is it so hard to believe that people with authority actually decided to keep the world spinning, and to hell with money and personal gain?”

Ryder chuckled. “I’d love to believe it. But people who want to help others over themselves don’t often become the most powerful people in the world.”

“Maybe not, but I get to report about something good happening. And it’s the fourth good news story in two days.” Karla said proudly. “First time in my life, it feels like the world is getting better.”

~~/*\~~

“You have any idea what you plan to say?” Eleanor asked him.

Del shook his head, though she couldn’t see it. “I have the entire flight to work that out. Right now, I’m just hoping there’ll be a flight I can get on in time. The ‘Peace and Security’ thing has already been going for weeks, and-”

“I know. First time I’m not worried about saving money.” Eleanor quipped. “I’ve even stopped cutting out coupons.” The mirth dropped from her voice instantly, neither of them feeling amused by anything at the moment. “Babe, you know that she might not… Actually, she probably won’t…” She trailed off, unable to say it.

“I know.” Del whispered. “But I still have to try. She’s my mom. If our positions were reversed, she’d do it for me.” He waved furiously at the calendar. “We don’t know how long this will last before the storm breaks, and I’ve waited too long to go see her as it is.”

Eleanor gave him a tight hug. “That’s my fault too. I thought getting her on the phone would be enough, and then the rules changed before you could get on a plane…” She shook her head, not wanting to restart that conversation. “You wanna wake up Jace?”

“We said our goodbyes last night. He knew he’d probably still be in bed when I left.” Del let out another epic breath. “I expect I can get back before it starts. But if something happens…”

She shushed him. “We figured out a long time ago what safety really meant.”

“Not so long ago.” Del shivered. “Pray with me?”

She nodded into his shoulder and closed her eyes, sending up a prayer of hope and thanks, as the world teetered on the brink.

~~/*\~~

“Like an answer to a prayer, it seems the world is finally pulling back from the brink.” Gordon reported, giving his editorial comment. “Global problems require global solutions, but never before have any of the world’s most powerful nations created a court that they were subject to in any way. War crimes? Every nation agrees that other countries should be held accountable. Climate Change? Every nation agrees that other nations have to do more. Human rights? Income inequality? Freedom of speech? Health Care for all?” He let it sink in. “Even in the U.N., the most powerful member states knew that if they tried to override the veto power, or change the rules to hold any nation to account… It would only serve to make them subject to their own errors. So while politicians argued with each other about how to ‘legally define’ a genocide, the world kept bleeding.” He broke into a smile. A genuine smile. “We may actually be living in times when the most powerful people in the world are forced to follow through on their own promises. Already, the world is seeing the change-”

Ryder turned off the newsfeed on his phone as they lined up to buy their plane tickets. “Didn’t take him long to throw away that ‘worldly journalistic cynicism’, did it?”

“Hope springs eternal, Ryder.” Karla said wryly. “We should eat before the flight. When we land, we’ll have to go straight to the scene.” She nodded at the queue. “You get the tickets, I’ll get us something reasonably healthy.”

“How reasonably?” He asked after her, not really liking the sound of that; but it was an ongoing joke between them. He bought the tickets on the company card, and headed to the terminal to figure out how soon they would take off.

~~/*\~~

Del was looking up at the screens, checking his phone for the time every few minutes. His flight had been delayed. The man standing next to him was apparently having the same problem. Del glanced over automatically at the proximity, went back to the schedule, then frowned and looked again.

The man next to him noticed his attention and glanced over, wondering who he was. Then he looked back again too, frowning. “You know, you look very familiar to me.” Ryder commented to Del, studying him.

“Yeah. I was just thinking the same.” Del looked back, studying his face, before shaking his head. “No… sorry. I don’t recall.”

Ryder studied him a little longer. He was a journalist. Recognizing a face or a name was often the difference between breaking a big story and missing important clues. “Oh! Yes, I met you and your wife at my mother’s funeral.”

Del’s face changed in recognition. “Yes! You’re Martine’s son!”

Ryder nodded, and they shook hands automatically. “What brings you to our end of the continent?”

“A connecting flight.” Del flushed. “Trying to talk my mom into coming back with me.” He gestured at the omnipresent screens of the airport. Most were showing flight information, but there was always one or two tuned to the news. “Recent events have… kicked things into a higher gear for JW’s.”

“Mm. I vaguely remember something along those lines.” Ryder nodded absently, more focused on the flight schedules himself.

Del was suddenly very interested in his responses. “Martine never told you about this? The ‘Peace and Security’ announcement?”

“I remember, but it was a long time ago. And it’s a little like reading tea leaves, isn’t it? It could mean any number of things.” Ryder offered.

Del glanced up at the screens. “Seems we have a few minutes. We should talk.”

“About what?” Ryder blinked.

“About what the current world situation means. Why the Witnesses are not at all surprised by it, what we think is coming next… and where the point of no return is, for people like you.” Del said seriously.

“Don’t sugarcoat it, or anything.” Ryder drawled.

“No time for that anymore.” Del admitted, pulling out his Bible. “Let me show you, in case you forgot what Martine taught you. “1 Thessalonians 5:3: ‘Whenever it is that they are saying: ‘Peace and Security!’ then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them’.”

Ryder nodded. “I remember.”

Del turned his phone towards Ryder. “I’ve been looking at these articles a lot the last few weeks. They talk about how the ‘Secure In Peace’ campaign was predicted, as was the rise of something like the Coalition. They didn’t have those names, of course, but just as happened with the rise of the United Nations at all, and other events in Europe… We’re seeing the prophecy of the End Times come true. Look at these articles I’ve marked. The Witnesses have been talking about today’s headlines for decades.”

Ryder wasn’t sure how to respond to that, when Karla suddenly appeared at his side, holding out a cheeseburger, wrapped in paper. “Sorry. Apparently, our usual favorites are unavailable. Some food deliveries didn’t come in, so they had to leave things off the menu. It’s either this or donuts.”

“Why not both?” Del quipped. “I find I’m suddenly less concerned about healthy eating.”

Ryder chuckled, and nodded at the board. “Looks like your plane is boarding.” He was about to take a bite of his food, then hesitated and called after Del. “You got someone to meet you when you land? Somewhere to stay?”

“Actually, no. This whole thing was thrown together in a hurry.” Del admitted. “I figured I’d rent a car, head straight out to see my mom.”

Ryder pulled out his notepad and a pen, jotting down a name and address. “This is my brother. He lives in that area. He’s… a JW. Like you. You need somewhere to land, look him up. I’ll text him, let him know you might be calling.”

“Thanks.” Del nodded. “That’s good of you.” They shook hands. “Good luck, Ryder. Think about what I said?”

“Good luck to you too, Del.” Ryder returned. “And I will.”

Once he was away from them, Karla spoke, chewing her burger. “You known him long?”

“Only met him once, at my mom’s funeral. Friend of a friend.” Ryder said absently, mind elsewhere.

Karla had her own concern. “Remember what we heard in the rundown the other day, about how some of the international players were fudging the numbers about crop yields and grain stores?” She gestured back the way she came. “I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I’ve seen several restaurants and fast food chains with ‘unavailable’ or ‘sold out’ options on the menu in the last few months.”

“So have I.” Ryder nodded, unconcerned. “Otto’s been trying to get traction on a story that Wall Street is trying to short the global food supply.”

Karla chewed slowly. “That would be… a problem for the world, though. I mean, forget the story, it’d be… how shall I put this? Bad.”

Ryder shook his head. “When the Global Financial Crash happened, there were suddenly more than a million extra homeless people. But the world got over it. There have been freezes on oil, earthquakes that level cities… If they’re playing a shell game with the world’s food for profit, then people are gonna hurt. But people always hurt.”

Karla lifted her burger again, as if to demonstrate the point. “So is this the end of the world, or business as usual?”

“Both.” Ryder said plainly, tapping out a text message on his phone.

~~/*\~~

“I expected more, if I’m honest.” Nate said quietly to Alvin.

Alvin shook his head. “Nothing in scripture said there’d be a large influx of people when we got close. If there was, we’d have been told to prepare for it.” He gestured. “Five more people dedicating themselves to Jehovah. Our pioneers are thrilled… Also miserable.”

“Miserable?”

“Every pioneer I know has at least a dozen ‘Return Visits’ who aren’t really interested, but are willing to be polite and chat at the door.” Alvin explained. “One way or another, we know who’s paying attention now.”

Nate understood. “And most Pioneers were expecting more ‘interested ones’ to see the same thing we are?” He sighed hard. “My RV’s are less interested now than they’ve ever been. They see what’s happening and think the world’s getting better at last. Part of me wonders: What if we’re just wrong? What if it’s just politicians making noise again?”

“Can’t speak to that.” Alvin admitted. “We’ll find out soon enough. But I have to admit: I’ve never seen the local Elders arrange an ‘emergency baptism’ like this. It’s happening in a lot of Congregations.” He checked his watch. “Pardon me. I believe I’m ‘on’.”

(Author’s Note: The July 2015 Study Watchtower Article: ‘Your Deliverance Is Getting Near’, compares the Tribulation to the Fall of Jerusalem in the First Century. Paragraph 7 says: ‘In the first century, the interval was not a time for a mass conversion of Jews to Christianity... Similarly, we cannot expect that the future interruption in the great tribulation will result in an influx of new believers’.)

The ‘audience’ were only five people, plus those that came with them for moral support. In a private residence, there was no podium, no sound system, no microphone. Nate was there to aim his phone at the proceedings for those who wanted to attend virtually.

Alvin spoke to those assembled. “Jesus often compared the ministry to a harvest. He once warned against comparing your service to others; by using the illustration of workers in the field, some hired early, some hired at the ‘eleventh hour’, and all being paid the same wage. In this case, everlasting life.” He smiled at those seated in front of him. “I hope it goes without saying that we’re overjoyed to see you respond to the ‘signs of the times’ this way.” He gestured around the room. “In this part of the world, we’re used to doing this at conventions. During the Pandemic, we improvised with backyard swimming pools. In other parts of the world, it’s routine to use water barrels, or even the ocean, or lakes.”

Adjusting the camera to include the ‘candidates’, Nate smiled a bit at that. He’d seen pictures of baptisms all over the world on social media. They took many forms.

“But what matters isn’t the ‘body of water’ that we get baptized in. What matters is the symbol of dedication we make.” Alvin looked at them all. “You chose a historic moment to show the world where you put your faith. But nowhere in scripture does it say we should be afraid to do so, at any time, before any adversary. Congratulations, my new brothers and sisters. Even at the eleventh hour, you saw something that the rest of the world combined refused to see; and you took bold action.” He let that thought linger for just a moment. “So. Would those of you being baptized today please step forward?”

Five of those present did so. Those watching, mostly the people they had studied with, were smiling.

As Alvin asked the questions, Nate’s phone chimed, and he checked it discreetly, raising an eyebrow at the message. “My brother has met a friend of my mom’s at the airport. Apparently, he’s flying this way to try and get his mother to make an ‘eleventh hour’ conversion of her own.”

“I know the feeling.” Jannette, one of the pioneers, remarked as her student stepped into the water. “I have over thirty return visits. I’ve been having conversations with all of them, leaving the literature, asking the questions… I really thought I was getting through to them all.” She shook it off and stepped to her student. “Congratulations, Paige. I’m so happy for you!”

~/*\~~/*\~~/*\~

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