to be mummified and put inside a huge pyramid and have priests perform all kinds of weird rituals for it to happen. Everyone was entitled to go to heaven, provided they believed in the One God and asked him to forgive them for their sins. Which, as you can imagine, was music to their ears. And that’s where it all started, where Christianity first took shape. The symbolism, the rituals. A lot of it came out of there. Look at the ankh—the ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal life, and the cross. Think about their God, Ra—the God of the sun—and our holy day, Sunday. And that valley where Father Jerome is holed up? It’s holier than you think. Those monasteries out there? They’re the oldest monasteries in the world. They hold some of the earliest holy books anywhere. Fourth- and fifth-century gospels. Priceless manuscripts. Piles of them. Just lying there. They’re still translating them. Who knows what they’ll find in them. It’s a deeply religious place, Nelson. A deeply religious, Christian place. And Father Jerome . . . well, you know all about him. Everything he’s done. God’s work. How he’s helped spread the word. If God was going to choose someone, it seems to me like Father Jerome fits the bill nicely.”
Darby nodded, grudgingly allowing his advisor’s sermon to sink in. “But why now? And why the signs over the poles?”
Buscema’s brows rose with uncertainty. “Maybe he’s telling us to watch out. Maybe he’d like us to stick around a bit longer. And who knows?” he smiled. “You might find people end up preferring that message to the End of Times prophecies you’ve been telling them about. Regardless of how much they’ve been looking forward to that.” He smiled inwardly at that last little dig.
Darby’s eyes narrowed as it registered. He let it pass. “It’s our destiny, Roy. That’s what the Bible says. That’s how those of us who’ve accepted Jesus Christ as our savior are going to be saved. Before Armageddon. Before the earth is reaped. Besides, you don’t really believe these greenhouse gases are gonna end up by wiping us all out with their tidal waves or with that new ice age they’ve been harping on about?”
Buscema gave him a noncommittal shrug. “I’m not sure it couldn’t happen.”
“Hogwash,” Darby shot back. “War’s gonna bring about the End of Times, Roy. Nuclear war between the forces of good and evil. Not global warming.” He sighed and sat back. “The good Lord created this earth. And if you remember your Genesis, He said, ‘It is good.’ Which means, He’s happy with how it turned out. It’s His divine creation. And He’s the Almighty, for crying out loud. You think He’d design it in a way that puny little man could destroy it just by driving some SUVs around and setting the A/C on high? His divine creation? It can’t happen. He wouldn’t let it happen. Not like that.”
“All I’m saying is,” Buscema countered in his calming manner, “there’s a sign popping up over the planet’s climate change tipping points. It’s a sign, Nelson. And I just saw the first national polling numbers.”
That fired up a totally different subsection of the pastor’s brain, and his face sharpened with keen interest. “What do they say?”
“People are taking notice. They’re listening.”
Darby exhaled with annoyance. “I bet those ‘creation care’ jugheads are smiling now.”
“‘The Earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof,’” Buscema quoted playfully.
Darby frowned. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“It’s in the Bible, Nelson. ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it . . . and to take care of it,’ ” he pointed out. “People are worried about the kind of world their kids are going to grow up in. It’s a powerful hook.”
“They’re misguided. And dangerous. We’ve got to be careful, Roy. What are we talking about here? Are we saying the planet’s holy? Are we supposed to worship nature? That’s a slippery slope. We can’t go out there and tell people to love Mother Earth and look after her. Hell, that’s what the Indians believed in.”
Buscema smiled. The man understood the subtleties of faith. And he was smart, there was no denying it. A branding whiz, as well as a mesmerizing orator who knew how to entrance his audience. There was a reason thousands of people endured punishing traffic jams every Sunday morning to hear his rousing sermons. Why millions of others tuned in to catch their slick broadcast on national