Chapter Four

Rayford Steele had not given much thought to his wife's Preterist beliefs. If that was what she wanted to do, that was perfectly fine. But Rayford had no desire to become a Preterist himself. Still, though, Irene's warnings ran in the back of his head. He wondered if Preterism had any credibility, validity, or veracity. Irene had informed him about the avarice and nefarious attitudes of the Christians, about how they were all judgmental hypocrites. Irene had told him it was evil to worship Jesus and that Preterists lived for God the Father only and worshipped God the Father only. Rayford was not sure what he thought about Preterism himself. He doubted that Preterism mattered that much in his own life.

Rayford knew that everyone was entitled to their own opinion and that Irene and Raymie could devote their lives to Preterism if they wished. If that was their desire, so be it. He would not question it or try to hinder their ambitions. Rayford just did not want to become a Preterist himself.

Anyway, Rayford had not been thinking about Preterism at that moment. He decided he would speak with Hattie Durham. Rayford unstrapped himself and squeezed his first officer's shoulder on the way out of the cockpit.

"We're still on auto, Christopher", Rayford said as the younger man roused and straightened his headphones. "I'm gonna make the sunup stroll."

Christopher squinted and licked his lips. "Doesn't look like sunup to me, Cap."

"Probably a couple of more hours. I'll see if anybody's stirring anyway."

"Go right ahead. If you they are stirring, tell 'em Chris says, "Hey.'"

Rayford snorted and nodded. As he opened the cockpit door, Hattie Durham nearly bowled him over.

"No need to knock", he said. "I'm coming."

The senior flight attendant pulled him into the galleyway. From the tense in her touch, Rayford could tell that she was grievous and serious. She certainly did not seem ecstatic or elated. Her fingers felt like talons on his forearm, and her body shuddered in the darkness.

"Hattie-"

She pressed him back against the cooking compartments, her face close to his. Had she not been clearly terrified, he probably would have returned her embrace. Her knees buckled as she tried to speak, and her voice came in a whiny squeal.

"It's all over the news, Rayford. A devastating attack occurred in England by Christian terrorists. Thousands of people have been killed."

"What are you talking about?", Rayford asked.

Hattie was sobbing now, her body out of control. "It's on every social media website and all news outlets. Everyone is talking about it. It's really malicious and shocking, but it's true. Those Christian terrorists are from Afghanistan, and they bombed the embassy in England and the parliament in England. The terrorists are trying to force everyone still alive to convert to Christianity and will eliminate anyone that opposes them and tries to stand in their way."

Hattie sobbed and whimpered in the corner. Rayford wanted to comfort her, to enlist her help, or to get Chris to go with him through the plane. Rayford wanted to believe that Hattie was deranged, but there did not seem any reason for that to be the case. What did she have to gain from lying about it? It was pretty obvious that what she was saying was true and that those Christian terrorists had indeed attacked England and killed all of those innocent people. Rayford was disgusted and appalled by such unacceptable acts.

Rayford had been daydreaming in the cockpit. Was he asleep now? He bit his lip hard and winced at the pain. So he was wide awake. He stepped into first class. The passengers were murmuring, clearly aghast and disgusted by the news that had just broken out. Some of them were moaning and wailing, clearly wanting answers for the carnage that had occurred in England.

Rayford was aware of Hattie trailing behind him. She grabbed his shoulder and he slowed.

"Should I turn on the cabin lights?"

"It would be best not to", Rayford whispered. "The less people that are aware of the situation right now, the better. We need everyone to remain calm at this moment."

Rayford wanted to appear strong, robust, and diligent. He wanted to serve as an example to his crew, especially to Chris and Hattie. But when he reached the lower level he knew the rest of the flight would be chaotic and tumultuous. He was as frightened as anyone on board. As he scanned the seats of people murmuring about the attack, he felt panic and despair. He backed himself up into a concealed spot behind the bulkhead and slapped himself hard on the cheek.

This was no joke, no trick, no dream. Something terribly wrong had occurred, and there was no place to run. There would be enough incertitude, dubiety, and alarm without his losing control. Nothing had prepared him for this, and he would be the one everyone would look to. But for what? What was he supposed to do?

Hattie grabbed Rayford from behind and wrapped her hands so tight around his chest that he could hardly breathe. "Rayford, what in the world are we supposed to do?"

He pulled his hands apart and turned to face her.

"Hattie, listen. I don't know any more than you do. But we've got to calm these people and get on the ground. I'll make some kind of an announcement, and you and your people keep everybody in their seats. Can you do that?"

She nodded but she didn't look well at all. Just then, Tony Marquez, another flight attendant, approached them.

"Rayford, have you heard?", Tony asked. "There's been a devastating attack in England by Christian terrorists from Afghanistan. They-"

"I've heard about it", Rayford said. "But Hattie, Tony-see if you can calm down the passengers. We need everyone to remain calm, serene, and pacified. It's vital that everyone acts like everything is normal."

"Sir, I believe I have a solution and remedy for the attack in England", Tony said. "I'm a Preterist. I believe Preterism is the correct path and that Christianity Ended in 70 AD. I believe Jesus returned in 66 AD and finished his work in 70 AD."

"Now is not the time to proselytize, Tony", Rayford said. "Like I said, the two of you need to make sure everyone remains calm. We're hours from touchdown. We can't have a planeload of hysterical people. I'm going to make an announcement, but the two of you have to do your job. Can you?"

They both nodded.

"Will you?", Rayford demanded.

They both nodded again.

"Rayford, are we going to die?", Hattie asked.

"No", Rayford said. "I'm pretty sure we're not going to die. I'm sure we'll be fine."

But Rayford wasn't certain of anything happening at that moment. How could he know? He would rather have faced an engine fire or even an uncontrolled dive. A crash into the ocean had to be better than this. How would he keep people calm in such a nightmare?

At this point, keeping the cabin lights off was doing more harm than good, and he was glad to give Hattie a specific assignment. Rayford knew he had to alleviate the tension.

"I don't know what I should say", Rayford said. "But get the lights on so we can inform the passengers about the attack in England and warn them of the devastation. I think it's pretty obvious that we can't land the plane there. Hattie, try to help everyone calm down."

Rayford did not know if he had done the right thing by leaving Hattie in charge of the passengers and crew. As he raced up the stairs, a thought suddenly made his heart sink. The stuff that Irene and Raymie had told him about Preterism…was it all true?

By now poor Christopher in the cockpit was the only one on the plane that had no clue what was happening. Worse, Rayford had told Hattie he didn't know what was happening any more than she did.

The terrifying truth was that he knew all too well. Irene had been right. The Christians would try to commit genocide against anyone that dared disagreed with them, and Preterism was the correct path.