Day 10
Today we visit with Paul Mannering as he finishes his epic tale, The Exodus Conspiracy.
PART III
Moses saw
the pestilence borne by the wild animals ravage the animals of Khem. Aaron
barely slept for the next two nights as he sent urgent messages and organized
for any animal that so much as sneezed to be smuggled in and put among the
flocks and herds of the Khemites.
Over the
next week cows, sheep, horses and goats, sickened and died in their millions.
The milking machines fell silent, the chains of the great abattoirs where a
thousand head of cattle were butchered every day, clanked along their runners,
empty and rattling in the dry wind. The people watched helplessly as their animals
died, burying them in massive pits, scoured out of the dry ground by the silent
golems and steam driven machines that built the empire. The people ate bread
and waited for Pharaoh to cure the plague.
Moses
spent the following days in prayer, the Hebrews gathered and prayed with him.
They listened to Aaron preach the commandment that the Lord had given to Moses,
telling the story of the burning bush and the commanding voice over and over
again.
All around
them the voices of their masters grew angry and desperate, guards lined the
streets around the palace, keeping the growing mob at bay while the Pharaoh
brooded inside.
Aaron went
back to visit Ben again. “We’ve had one of the lad’s hiding under your
brother’s cot whispering “boils” for
the last three days,” Ben said with a sigh.
“Boils?
Just how are we going to infect the Khemites with boils?” Aaron asked.
“Come
and see,” Ben led his guest up to the roof of the house. Handing Aaron a looking
glass he pointed towards the distant horizon and upwards. “There about thirty
degrees above the horizon, you probably won’t spot it through the haze and
smoke clouds, but they are there. Four dirigibles, all loaded with a powder
that David, Doron’s son came up with. It’s nasty stuff. Causes boils, blisters
and all manner of irritation to the skin on contact.”
“We
are fortunate that the Khemites create so much smoke and ash every day.
Otherwise they would notice the plague falling from the sky,” Aaron said
frowning at the stinking mist that hung over everything.
“We
are ready, they simply await the signal to begin dusting the Khemites,” Ben
said.
“Start
the dusting tomorrow at dawn, cover them all in it.”
“We’ve
already been distributing ointment to our people. They shouldn’t suffer, but we
are recommending they keep the kids indoors once it starts,” Ben said.
“This
one has to work,” Aaron said and left Ben’s house.
Moses
climbed down from the roof where he had meditated and prayed. "Aaron, we
n-n-need to go to the P-pharaoh. The Lord commands us to d-d-d-deliver his
duh-d-demands once again."
Aaron
stood up, brushing bread crumbs from his beard, "Follow me, I know the
way."
“First, we
m-m-m-must visit the f-f-foundry d-d-district, I need some s-soot from the
furnaces,” Moses replied. Aaron waved frantically for one of his messengers as
Moses washed himself in preparation of the visit to Pharaoh’s palace.
“Go,”
Aaron whispered, “Tell Ben to let the bird’s fly.”
They
entered the palace, the court was mostly absent, only a few eunuchs, wizened
seers and scribes remained at the Pharaoh’s side.
“Pharaoh,”
Moses said, bowing before the god king.
“You
again? You plague me worse than the pestilence and the flies,” Pharaoh sneered.
“I have
c-come to ask you ag-again great Ph-pharaoh, let the Lord’s chosen p-p-people
go into the d-d-desert and worship him.”
“They
cannot leave; we have much work to do rebuilding the countryside. Livestock
needs to be recovered and brought to the markets, the streets need to be
cleared of the dead animals. This country needs every hard working Hebrew to
bend their backs and put their shoulders to the wheel. There can be no shying
away from the work ahead of us. We shall rebuild, greater and more glorious.”
The
scribes made their marks, recording every utterance of Pharaoh for all time.
“The Lord
commands you Pharaoh, release my people!” Aaron shouted.
“If your
God is so great, why does he not simply take you all away from me?” Pharaoh
jeered. “You Hebrews, so lazy, you care nothing for work. Nothing for the
greatness of Khem. “
Moses erupted
in rage, “The greatness of Khem is built on the technology stolen from the
Hebrews of Israel! We created the machines, the great engines that lift your
stone blocks, and give life to your golems! This is our machina!”
“You
stutter less when you are angry Hebrew,” Pharaoh said with no trace of a smile.
“I have
seen m-much to anger me since I arrived, b-b-bearing the word of the Lord. You
must listen, let my p-people go or the next plague will strike all of K-khem. A
plague of boils and open sores will strike you down. How will your p-p-p-people
work? How will they b-bake bread? How will they rebuild if they are so
stricken?” Moses demanded.
“We will
have the strong hands of the Israelites to drive the machines and bake our
bread. Your people have been ours for generations and they will remain so.”
“Forget
it,” Aaron said, drawing Moses aside. “What instruction does the Lord give us
for his latest lesson?”
“Pharaoh,
c-c-come and witness the p-p-p-power of God,” Moses said, turning on his heel
and walking out into the courtyard.
When the
Pharaoh and his scribes were seated over-looking the gardens, Moses took the
bag of furnace soot from his brother and flung two handfuls of the ashes
skyward.
“By night
fall, you will b-be struck down with a p-p-plague of b-b-boils. This is the
w-wuh-will of the Lord, unless you release all Israelites from their
b-b-b-bondage.”
“I will
kill them all before I release them!” Pharaoh snapped.
Moses and
Aaron said nothing further, taking their leave they washed the soot from their
hands and retreated to the relative safety of the Hebrew quarter. The wailing
and cries of pain began at sundown. “We should stay indoors, there is wine and
fine women,” Aaron said.
“I
c-c-cannot,” Moses replied. “I must see what the Lord has wrought.” Aaron
sighed and followed his brother into the streets. Aaron told Moses the Hebrews
were in their huts and houses, giving thanks and praying for salvation from
their slavery. The white dust from the dirigibles had settled over everything
and mixed with the ash it was soon lost to sight.
They
reached the wider avenues where the machines passed at all hours and the
steam-cars ran along their tracks, taking the nobles of Khem from banquet to
temple. The streets were silent now. The fair people lay moaning in pain,
hiding their weeping sores from their peers and praying to the gods of Khem for
a cure.
A few
souls crept in the shadows, moaning in pain and begging for relief. Moses shied
away from a man whose face had already been stricken by the maddening itch of
insect bites and now the tortured flesh oozed pus and sloughed off in great
chunks as he clawed at himself.
“Oh my
God…” Aaron whispered.
“And
m-m-mine, and the god of our f-far-fa-fathers, and our f-father’s
f-f-f-fathers. How can Pharaoh c-c-c-c-continue to deny His will?” Moses fell
silent, his lips moving in prayer for the souls of the afflicted as they continued
towards the palace. The numbers of Khemites suffering from the bleeding sores
grew as they approached the palace. Those soldiers of Pharaoh who were still
able to attend their duties stood in stiff ranks, weapons ready to burn and gun
down their fellow countrymen.
“We are
here to see Pharaoh,” Aaron announced. The guards peered at them with eyes
swollen shut from blistered skin and they spoke through lips that dripped
rancid pus. “Hebrews, may you all burn. Your curses have been wrought upon us.
We will execute you as soon as the Pharaoh gives the order.”
“Only
Pharaoh can end your suffering,” Aaron said. “But we must speak with him to
ensure that he does so quickly.” The guards shuffled aside, each crushed under
the weight of his own pain. The brothers strode into the throne room, and found
it empty. A eunuch, weeping bloody tears and moaning in pain guided them to the
bedchamber of Pharaoh.
The ruler
of Khem lay on soft cushions, his great head rested back against a padded beam
and his jeweled eyes were dull. Linen bandages covered his skin and the
remaining sorcerers prayed and made offerings to their chief god, Ra.
“Great Pharaoh,
your people suffer needlessly. Your sorcerers are struck down with boils and
sores. You yourself are enduring agony that you can end with a simple command.
Let my people go into the desert, let them worship Yahweh and then return to
their labors,” Aaron said.
“You…shall…not…defeat
me…” Pharaoh wheezed. “I have never been conquered, and I shall not fail my
people now.”
“Pharaoh,
you leave m-me with n-n-no choice!” Moses wailed. “The Lord G-g-god will
unleash his full f-fury upon your p-p-people! The p-p-people who have suffered
from lice and foul water, f-f-frogs and f-ffff-flies, b-boils and sickness
among their c-ca-ca-cattle. The Lord God c-c-commands you to obey him, or he
w-will unleash the wrath of heaven upon the land of K-khem. You will see a
st-storm of ice and fire. The sky will b-break and fall upon your arrogant
head. It is the Lord G-g-god that c-c-commands you. Let my p-p-people
go, so that they may worship me, or this t-time I will send the full force of
my p-plagues against you so you m-may kn-n-now that there is no one like me in
all the earth. For by n-now I c-c-could have stretched out mm-my hand and
struck you and your p-p-people with a p-p-plague that would have wiped you off
the earth. B-b-but I have raised you up for this very p-pah-purpose, that I
might show you my p-power and that my name m-m-might be proclaimed in all the
earth. You still set y-yourself against my p-p-people and will not let them go.
“Therefore,
at this time tomorrow the Lord will send the w-worst hailstorm that has ever
fallen on K-khem, from the d-d-day it was founded till n-now. Great Pharaoh,
g-give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the
field to a p-p-place of shel-shelter, because the hail will fall on every
m-ma-man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field,
and they will d-die.” Moses subsided, exhausted with the struggle to deliver the Lord’s
words.
“We shall
never surrender to you!” The Pharaoh half rose from his bed, eunuchs rushed
forward and supported his head as he raised one blistered hand. “Get out, leave
my sight or I shall have you boiled alive!”
“As you
wish Pharaoh,” Moses and Aaron bowed and left the chamber.
Aaron
escorted Moses back to the house they occupied in the Hebrew ghetto, as soon as
his brother was inside Aaron ran off down the street. “Gather the agents of the
Elder’s,” he commanded Ben’s son and then spent an hour pacing in the kitchen
while Ben drank wine and they discussed various ideas for pulling off Moses’s
latest plague.
“It simply
cannot be done,” Ben growled. “Ice, yes we could drop ice from the airships,
fire – of course, we could use the flame jets to burn oil. But a hailstorm with
fire?” He shook his head, “That my friend, is something only the Lord could
do.”
“But Moses
has declared it will be. We must act quickly to see the plague enacted, or the
entire operation falls apart,” Aaron insisted.
They were
interrupted by the arrival of other members of the operation. The agents of the
Elders of Zion. Wine was poured and the cause toasted. Aaron updated his
brethren on the outrageous plague that Moses had declared would befall the land
of Khem.
“We could
load the dirigibles with balls of oil-soaked cloth and light them and rain them
down on the city?” the mason named Gershon suggested.
“Too
dangerous, if the flame ignited the gas-bladder the dirigibles would burn,”
Aaron replied.
“How will
we make ice? The airships cannot go high enough, and the air is warm over
Khem,” Menachem, who was the master of messengers, asked.
“I will
give you fire and ice from the sky,” the voice came from a figure shrouded in
black from the back of the room. Everyone turned, some moving aside to let
Aaron have a clear view of the stranger.
“I am
Ea-Nasir, from the Babylonian city of Ashur,” the figure bowed slightly.
“How will
you make this ice and fire?” Aaron asked.
“When you
put a hole the side of a pipe, and force air through it, warm air will come out
of one end, and cold air will come out the other. We then simply funnel the
cold air back into the pipe and let the warm air exhaust itself. Place the tube
that funnels the cold air into a bucket of water, and you will make ice.”
“We could
mount such pipes on the dirigibles then we could produce a lot of ice with the
air flowing through the pipes as they fly!” Menachem grinned.
“And the
fire that will fall with the hail from heaven?” Aaron asked, not yet convinced.
“An
alchemical recipe, similar to that which the Khemites use in their fire-hoses. It
will not burn until it is a safe distance away from your airships, then it
shall rain down in an unquenchable inferno with the hail.”
“Are you
sure that it won’t set the dirigibles on fire?” Aaron asked.
“I will
mix it with another element that shall create heat as it falls, the rain shall
ignite itself after exposure to air.”
“If it
works, it will be a great demonstration of the Lord’s power,” Gershon said,
nodding.
“Could you
use this alchemy to make the ice burn?” Aaron asked.
“Of
course, we Babylonians have technology that the Gods themselves envy,” Ea-Nasir
said mildly and bowed again.
*
At the
evening of the following day Moses obeyed the Lord’s command and stretched his
staff to the sky. The horizon darkened, a chill wind stirred the dust and the
people looked to the heavens with fear in their eyes. The first ice fell to the
south, crushing the fields and orchards that lined the mighty river. Travelers
caught on the road were knocked down and crushed. Stoned by hail, as large as a
golem’s fist. The true horror came with the fire from the sky. The ice burned,
falling in streamers that crashed through the tiled roofs of the houses of Khem
and set fire to the rooms below. Women and children, their clothing and hair
ablaze, stumbled screaming into the streets, the hail thundered down upon them,
spreading the inextinguishable flames and snuffing out their lives in one fell
blow.
“One good
thing about this,” Aaron shouted to Moses over the roar of the storm outside.
“The ice and fire is going to kill off the flies and lice.”
“And the
b-boils? Will h-hail the size of your h-head cure the d-d-d-disease of the
skin? And what of the livestock? Any animals still alive out there are surely
v-vanquished.” Moses drank more wine and felt his mood dropping with the
temperature outside.
“Yes, but
you see, the hail and fire, it will surely kill the rats and the jackals, the
pestilence is ended with their destruction. God truly works in mysterious ways,
but he gets the job done.” Aaron clapped a hand on Moses’s shoulder. “Have
faith brother!”
“We
m-m-must go to Pharaoh. He m-must have the opportunity to end the s-s-suffering
of his p-people,” Moses said.
“The
suffering of his people? I think they might deserve a few more days of ice and
fire from the skies. The Lord is protecting us, no hailstones have struck the
houses of the Hebrews,” Aaron said, silently giving thanks that the dirigible
pilots up there in the impenetrable haze had good navigation skills.
“What
shall they eat? If there are no f-factories, no m-m-machina working, that m-means
no food in exchange for labor. Soon enough, ch-chosen or not, our p-people will
starve.”
“The Lord
will provide for us brother. Pharaoh will change his mind and everything shall
be as you claimed. As the Lord promised you,” Aaron grinned in anticipation.
“Our
b-b-brothers and sisters, their crops and herds, they are untouched by the
plagues. How long before the Pharaoh sends his soldiers to c-confiscate their
p-p-property?”
“Before
that happens, we will have been victorious. The Lord will smite our enemies and
deliver us into Canaan!”
“Yes,”
Moses said with a sigh. “As the Lord wills it, so it shall b-be.”
Walking
the streets, they saw head sized balls of ice crash down on buildings and
machines. Aaron had a moment of panic, the grand dirigibles of the Khemites
that floated over the city had crashed in flames and spread the fires that
already raged in every neighborhood. These were the pleasure craft of the
nobles of Khem, the Hebrew airships flew higher and remained hidden in the smog
clouds overhead.
Close
calls were everywhere, balls of burning ice exploded on the ground all around
the two brothers, but they prayed and walked on towards the Pharaoh’s palace.
The
complex of buildings was peppered with holes; flames flared and flickered in
the windows as the staff battled to extinguish the fires.
“We can
announce ourselves,” Aaron said to the guards cowering in an alcove. The
Pharaoh had not yet returned to his throne room. They found him resting on a
sea of cushions in his bedchamber. “Pharaoh, you know why we are here,” Aaron
said.
“Pharaoh,
we b-b-beseech you, have your p-p-people not suffered enough?” Moses began his
entreaty.
“Still
your jabbering tongues,” Pharaoh whispered, his voice hoarse with blistered
sores. “End these cursed plagues. End them and I shall let your people go into
the desert and pray, sing, dance and sacrifice their children if that is what
your God demands.”
Moses
dropped to his knees and prayed to Yahweh, the roar of the fiery hail ceased
soon after. Aaron joined Moses in prayer, giving thanks that the Pharaoh
had finally seen reason, just in time as the supply of ice and Babylonian fire
had been exhausted.
Pharaoh’s
attendants gingerly approached and administered medicine to their king, the
blisters faded under their ministrations and they congratulated each other on
their success.
“Thank
you Pharaoh, I will tell my p-people to p-prepare to l-leave the city,” Moses
climbed to his feet and spoke.
“No,”
Pharaoh said. With assistance from his slaves he climbed off the cushions.
Standing on his own two feet he pulled the bandages off his wounded arm. The
flesh beneath was clean, and glowed with the deep fire of gold. “The Hebrews
belong to me. Your people will stay.”
“But
you agreed to let them leave!” Aaron shouted.
“I
have changed my mind! I am Pharaoh! My word is the only law!”
“You
cannot!” Aaron bellowed. “You defy God! You defy the unchallengeable will of
Yahweh!”
“Pharaoh,”
Moses said quietly. “A new st-storm r-rises in the south. A p-plague of locusts
will descend upon your land and d-devour what few crops remain. Your p-p-people
will starve Pharaoh. You will be rule over the d-dead and the monuments to your
own arrogance.”
“My
Lord,” the sorcerer with the tattooed skin stepped forward and bowed low. “May
I suggest that a compromise can be reached? Release the men folk. Let them go
into the desert and commune with their desert god. We keep the women and
children. Without their wives, sons and daughters, the men will return quickly
“Never!”
Pharaoh screamed. “Go away! All of you!”
“A
plague of locusts will descend upon you Pharaoh!” Aaron shouted back. “Your
people will starve!”
“Then
they shall die in innocence! Their hearts shall be weighed and found pure!”
Pharaoh paced up and down the bedchamber, his golden form catching the light
and the striking of his feet on the marble tile ringing like a bell.
“And
w-what of your heart?” Moses asked.
“My
heart is as the white stone that floats,” Pharaoh replied. With that the
audience was over and Moses and Aaron walked out under a sky dark with another
oncoming storm.
Aaron
was grateful to the boy Ben had hiding under Moses’s cot, his soft whispers
intruding on the prophet’s meditations seemed to be working. The locusts that
descended on Khem had been bred with the frogs, the amphibians loved the juicy
insects and once the frogs were gone, the locust population exploded. Once
released they ate every leaf, twig, and seed of the crops that survived the
storm of ice and fire. The air hummed with the whirr of their shining wings and
the scrape of their powerful jaws. Moses and Aaron watched the swarm from the
shade of a rooftop in the Hebrew ghetto.
“And
if this doesn’t work?” Aaron asked.
“The
Lord will g-guide us,” Moses assured him.
“In
case he doesn’t, I have an idea.” In fact Ea-Nasir the Babylonian had suggested
it. His people tracked the movements of the sun, moon and wandering stars over
decades. They knew exactly when the moon would darken the sun, and the
simplicity of the idea appealed to Aaron after so much effort for so little
gain.
Moses
regarded his brother with a frown. “An idea?”
“Yes,
tomorrow the sky will go dark. Tell Pharaoh that it is God’s wrath.”
“The
Lord didn’t mmm-mention mmm-m-making the sk-sky go d-dark,” Moses said.
“But
he does drive the moon and the sun and tomorrow the moon shall pass over the
face of the sun and create darkness in the full brightness of day.”
“An
eclipse?” Moses asked.
“Exactly.
And with all the problems the sorcerers are having, they may have missed it.”
Moses
stood up, “We have to tell Pharaoh.”
“Not
so fast brother, he needs to suffer the plague of locusts. Tomorrow we will
tell him about the eclipse. If we time it right, then the sky will darken at
your command.”
“At
the Lord’s c-command,” Moses reminded him.
“Yeah,
him too.”
*
When
Aaron and Moses announced that the Lord would darken the sky at midday if
Pharaoh did not bend his will, he scoffed and summoned his mages.
“Where
is our astronomer?” he demanded of the two who groveled before him.
“You
had him executed Great Pharaoh,” the mage with the telescopic eyes and
mechanical arm said with a quavering voice.”
“These
men tell me the sky will darken at their command. They claim it is the will of
their god.”
“Great
Pharaoh, surely you can stop the sun in its path. Make day as night and night
as day?” the tattooed sorcerer said.
“Of
course Pharaoh can do these things!” the amplified voice boomed from the head
that towered over them. “Call upon your god to darken the sky Hebrews. Pharaoh
shall use the power of Ra to vanquish your god as he has vanquished all of the
enemies of Khem.”
Moses
bowed and as Aaron crossed his fingers, Moses began to pray. It took time for
anything to change. The smoke and haze of the fires still burning in parts of
the city clouded the sky, but as Moses continued to pray, a gloom settled over
the land until the light was as dark as midnight.
“The
smoke and smog is particularly thick at the moment, Aaron murmured. “With luck
this darkness could last a while.”
“It
will last as long as G-god wills it,” Moses replied.
“Pharaoh,
we shall return when your sun god has had a chance to undo the will of our
Lord,” Aaron said cheerfully.
The
dirigible pilots reported a heavy cloudbank coming in from the west, which
helped keep the city in darkness even after the moon had completed its traverse
across the sun’s face. Even so, Aaron fretted for a full day before insisting
they return to Pharaoh’s presence. Moses refused, “Let him come to us. We have
be-be-beseeched him n-n-nine times.”
The
god-king’s guards kicked in the door just after lunch the next day. Aaron and
Moses were pushed through the streets, from dull-glowing street lamp to
flickering pool of torch light they were marched to Pharaoh.
“You
may leave Khem,” the sculpted mask intoned. “Your animals, the cows, sheep,
horses and goats of your people. They will stay. We have lost much to your
plagues, and your herds and flocks will restock our own.”
“N-no,”
Moses shook his head. “I t-tell you Ph-Pharaoh, soon you will offer us animals
for sac-sacrifice. W-we shall leave K-khem with your blessing and you shall
heap riches up-upon us.”
The
golden jaw of Pharaoh’s grand mask dropped open, “You dare?” the voice of
Pharaoh shrieked. “You dare make such assumptions of us? Understand this Hebrew;
if we see you again you shall be burned by the wrath of Ra. I shall have you
flayed and boiled alive. Your eyes shall be sucked out and your manhood crushed
by millstones!”
“I
am d-done Pharaoh. I shall not ap-pear before you again. God on the other hand,
he shall not rest,” Moses shuffled out of the audience chamber. Aaron scowled
and hurried after him.
“I
have fa-fa-f-failed G-g-god,” Moses stammered, his eyes brimming with sudden
tears.
Aaron
put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, “You have done more than any man could
ask. God shall look down upon you brother and know your heart was true. You did
His bidding and obeyed his commands.”
“B-but
we have f-failed!” Moses’s face contorted in sudden anger.
“The
Lord will see our people free,” Aaron replied. “Let’s go home, meditate and
pray, the Lord will speak to you again. I am sure of it.”
Once
Moses was settled in his rooftop sanctuary Aaron took to the streets again.
This time he went to the docks of the Nile and spoke with a scarred river-boat
captain. Coin clinked in the man’s hand and a small barrel was loaded onto a
donkey, which Aaron then led back into the city.
He
made his way to the vast bakery that provided bread to the workers and many of
the noble houses of Khem. Steam driven mixers stirred vats of dough and loaves
of bread rolled along leather conveyor belts and into massive ovens. At the
other end they were arranged on cooling racks before being loaded onto
steam-trucks and being distributed through the city and across the country.
Aaron
could not allow himself to consider the scale of the destruction they were
going to wreak on the people of Khem. He tied the donkey to a hitching rail and
waited. A door opened and the baker Eli slipped out of the building. “Shalom
brother,” he said.
“Shalom,”
Aaron replied. “Are we ready?”
Eli
nodded, his eyes shining with patriotic fervor. “Tonight we strike a great blow
for freedom.”
The
two men carried the barrel inside, hiding it behind a mixing vat. “Tomorrow,”
Aaron said, whispering loudly in Eli’s ear to be heard over the hiss and roar
of the baking machines. “Our people will be free!”
“Aaron!
W-what are you doing!?” Moses shouted above the clang and hiss of the factory.
“Abraham’s
ghost!” Aaron swore, “Moses what in Yahweh’s name are you doing here?”
“We
are here to do G-g-god’s will Aaron! We cannot m-m-murder innocents!”
“Unless
we are killing in God’s name?” Aaron replied.
“We
obey the Lord’s command!” Moses cried. “What you are p-planning is m-madness!”
“What
choice do we have brother? If we do not force Pharaoh’s hand, our people will
remain his slaves forever.”
“The
L-lord Himself will bring the Pharaoh to understanding. W-we are simply His
messengers!”
Aaron
laughed a cynical, humorless sound. “Brother! You are blind! The burning bush?
The plagues? All created by agents of Zion and guided by my hand. This work has
been in planning for years! You were chosen, not by God but by the Elders of
Zion! You are the figurehead for our revolution!”
“I
am a prophet of the Lord!” Moses demanded.
“You
are a fool Moses! A devout fool! So ready to believe that the Lord chose you to
carry out his work!
“I
am his servant!” Moses rushed forward, knocking Aaron aside and snatching up
the barrel.
“Be
careful with that! It is death!” Eli yelled.
“I
would rather d-die here and n-n-now than b-be p-p-par-part of this evil
c-c-conspiracy!” Moses raised the barrel over his head.
Aaron
and Eli froze, if the barrel broke, the poison inside would kill them all. They
raised their hands in a calming gesture. “Put the barrel down brother,” Aaron
insisted. Moses backed away, backing up a metal staircase, putting safe
distance between him and his brother.
Moses
turned and ran down an iron catwalk, Aaron dashed up the steps in pursuit.
Moses ran until he reached the great furnace that fired the boilers that
powered the factory. Putting the barrel down he yanked open a hatch. A flush of
intense heat washed over him and he lifted the barrel and dropped into the
inferno. Slamming the hatch shut, Moses sank to his knees, panting.
“You
have ruined everything!” Aaron screamed. “You have damned our people to eternal
slavery!”
“The
Lord will set our people free. I must go and pray,” Moses pulled himself up and
walked out of the factory.
*
Moses
was waiting for Aaron when he returned the next morning. “Aaron, we m-must warn
Pharaoh! If he d-does not agree to the Lord’s d-demands, a great tragedy will
b-b-befall the p-people of Khem!”
“You
heard Pharaoh’s words, if we return to his presence, he will kill us.”
“B-but
if we do nothing! Thousands of his p-people will die!” Moses grabbed Aaron by
the shoulders and shook him. “God has w-warned me that he will k-k-kill the
firstborn children of Khem if Pharaoh does not let our p-people go!”
“And
you say my plan to poison their bread and slay Khemites in their tens of
thousands was evil?” Aaron almost sneered at Moses. “Why did God not allow our
plan to go ahead?”
“This
is the Lord’s will. It will st-strike at Pharaoh’s heart,” Moses did not smile.
“And
when will this plague strike?”
“At
midnight tonight…”
“Time
for us to drink some more wine then,” Aaron said and clapped his brother on the
shoulder. For all his words, Aaron drank little and Moses not at all. They
gathered the agents of the conspiracy and Moses told them of his latest vision
from God. Most of those gathered were not impressed. They had worked too hard
and risked too much to place their faith in the stammering of a sheptech who
called himself God’s prophet.
“We
m-m-m-must ma-ma-mark the houses of the J-jews. Protect them from G-god’s
wrath,” Moses warned.
“And
how will we do that?” the agent David asked.
“W-with
a si-sign of blood ab-above the door.” Moses demonstrated the sign that should
be painted on the houses of the Israelites.
“Go
now brothers, spread the word among our people. Tell them to pray and avoid
Khemite bread until tomorrow. We can’t be too careful.”
The
agents of the conspiracy departed, Moses and Aaron spent the day in silent
prayer and meditation until the clock bells announced the hour of midnight.
A
shout went up from a house in the noble suburbs of the city. The shouts of
alarm spread through the streets, mothers and fathers spilled out into the
streets, the limp bodies of their first born children cradled in their arms.
“We
m-must go to Pharaoh now,” Moses told his brother.
“He
will have us executed,” Aaron warned.
“He
w-will be too d-distraught to do-do anything b-but to agree to the L-lord’s
demands.”
The
two Israelites stepped out into the streets. A crowd of Jews had gathered, and
as they marched towards the palace, their numbers swelled until every Israelite
in Khem hurried through the streets after the two prophets. Once again they saw
death and grief etched on every Khemite face. No house had been spared, and the
wails of anguish created a chorus that dimmed the roar of the city’s eternal
machine heart beating.
The
guards had abandoned their posts at the palace. Only the golems, sentinels
without feeling or emotion, stood ready to fend off invaders. Aaron and Moses
entered the audience chamber with its grand throne and marble floors. The hall
was deserted, only Pharaoh’s grand mask lay abandoned on the floor. Aaron
crouched down and peered inside, “His head isn’t inside,” he reported.
A
soft weeping reached their ears, moving carefully Aaron and Moses crept through
an open doorway. A woman on her knees cradled the sprawled form of a golden
boy. She looked up as they approached.
“Milady
Nefteri,” Moses said with a bow. “We s-seek an au-audience with Pharaoh.”
“I
know who you are!” her voice a grief-stricken cry. “For his pride you have
killed my son!”
“Many
sons have died tonight Princess. Only Pharaoh can end the suffering of your
people. Tell him to release the children of Yahweh, our flocks and our
families. He will shower us with gold and silver and we shall leave the land of
Khem.”
“I
don’t care!” Nefteri shrieked, the color on her face streaking with the wash of
tears. “Take all you want! Just leave us in peace!”
The
mob of Israelites moved through the palace, they broke down the doors to the
treasury and took gold and silver, fine silks and gems. They loaded pack
animals and their children on to horses, donkeys, oxen and camels. A great
procession began to leave the city before dawn. The people afraid that Pharaoh
would come to his senses and they would be hunted down by his army.
“Aaron!
Aaron!” a boy came pushing through the crowd in the audience chamber.
“What
is it lad?”
“I
am Amon of Goshen, my father sends word. You sent him to find a man.”
“What
man? What are you talking about?” Aaron pulled the road-dusty boy to one side.
“My
father, you instructed him to find a sheptech on a mountain, and deliver some
kind of message?”
Understanding
dawned on Aaron’s face. “Yes, your father did a great job. It all went
according to plan.”
“No,”
the boy shook his head, “My father begs your forgiveness. He could not find the
man you seek. He could not get the machine to work.”
“But
the burning bush… the voice…” Aaron said.
“Please
forgive my father, he searched all the mountains and could not find this Moses
you spoke of.”
Aaron
nodded, a strange sense of shock settling on his shoulders. He slipped the boy
a silver coin and sent him on his way.
In
the hours after dawn Aaron and Moses stood by, watching their people stream out
through the gates and away from slavery.
“We have done God’s work,” Moses said, his
voice strong and clear.
****
****
Paul Mannering is an award winning writer living in Wellington, New Zealand
Paul has published dozens of short stories and radio plays in a range of genres across many different international markets. He has edited a collection of horror fiction, published his own collection and his first novel.
In 2007 he co-founded BrokenSea Audio Productions, which podcasts free audio drama each week to an audience of millions. Paul lives with his wife Damaris and their two cats.
Blog: http://tankbread.blogspot.co.nz/
www.brokensea.com
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Paul has published dozens of short stories and radio plays in a range of genres across many different international markets. He has edited a collection of horror fiction, published his own collection and his first novel.
In 2007 he co-founded BrokenSea Audio Productions, which podcasts free audio drama each week to an audience of millions. Paul lives with his wife Damaris and their two cats.
Blog: http://tankbread.blogspot.co.nz/
www.brokensea.com
<<BACK FORWARD>>
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