"Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins - Left Behind Series 8 - The Mark" - читать интересную книгу автора (LaHaye Tim)

begin to describe what is in store for you. If the last three and a half years are your
idea of tribulation, wait until you endure the Great Tribulation.тАЭ



ONE
тАЬWoe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to
you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.тАЭ Revelation
12:12
It was midafternoon in New Babylon, and David Hassid was frantic. Annie was
nowhere in sight and he had heard nothing from her, yet he could barely turn his
eyes from the gigantic screens in the palace courtyard. The image of the
indefatigable Nicolae Carpathia, freshly risen from three days dead, filled the screen
and crackled with energy. David believed if he was within reach of the man he
could be electrocuted by some demonic charge.
With the disappearance of his love fighting for his attention, David found himself
drawn past the jumbo monitors and the guards and the crowds to the edge of the bier
that had just hours before displayed the quite dead body of the king of the world.
Should David be able to see evidence that the man was now indwelt by Satan
himself? The body, the hair, the complexion, the look were the same. But an
intensity, an air of restlessness and alertness, flowed from the eyes. Though he
smiled and talked softly, it was as if Nicolae could barely contain the monster
within. Controlled fury, violence delayed, revenge in abeyance played at the
muscles in his neck and shoulders. David half expected him to burst from his suit
and then from his very skin, exposed to the world as the repulsive serpent he was.
David's attention was diverted briefly by someone next to Carpathia, and when he
glanced back at the still ruggedly handsome face, he was not prepared to have
caught the eye of the enemy of his soul. Nicolae knew him, of course, but the look,
though it contained recognition, did not carry the usual acceptance and
encouragement David was used to. That very welcoming gaze had always unnerved
him, yet he preferred it over this. For this was a transparent gaze that seemed to pass
through David, which nearly moved him to step forward and confess his treachery
and that of every comrade in the Tribulation Force.
David reminded himself that not even Satan himself was omniscient, yet he found it
difficult to accept that these eyes were not those of one who knew his every secret.
He wanted to run but he dared not, and he was grateful when Nicolae turned back to
the task at hand: his role as the object of the world's worship.
David hurried back to his post, but someone had appropriated his golf cart, and he
found himself peeved to where he wanted to pull rank. He flipped open his phone,
had trouble finding his voice, but finally barked at the motor-pool supervisor, тАЬI had
better have a vehicle delivered within 120 seconds or someone is going to find
hisтАФтАЭ
тАЬAn electric cart, sir?тАЭ the man said, his accent making David guess he was an
Aussie. тАЬOf course!тАЭ
тАЬThey're scarce here, Director, butтАФтАЭ
тАЬThey must be, because someone absconded with mine!тАЭ
тАЬBut I was going to say that I would be happy to lend you mine, under the
circumstances.тАЭ
тАЬThe circumstances?тАЭ
тАЬThe resurrection, of course! Tell you the truth, Director Hassid, I'd love to get in