The Samson Effect Chapter 10

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SILENCE FILLED THE cave as the two men hung on Delia's words. Uneasiness flooded through Thomas. From what he knew of the Samson Effect, it could wreak havoc if used by the wrong people. Thomas saw in her eyes that she truly believed the Effect was more powerful than he or Michael had imagined. If she believed it, then so did Azim.

Michael took her hands gently into his. "What do you mean the Samson Effect is more powerful than we thought?"

Thomas could see she was struggling between telling and not telling them. Fear, however, seemed to be winning out. She looked away and shook her head. "Michael, please, I can't tell you." Her head shook with resolution. "If I did, Azim wouldn't think twice about killing me."

She looked into Michael's eyes, silently pleading for his understanding. She then looked at Thomas with the same pleading in her eyes. Thomas shined his flashlight back to the entrance of the tunnel, making sure they were alone. He then turned back to Delia. "If you really love him, then you must trust him. His life is on the line. I'll leave you two alone, but, please, tell him what we're up against."

He lowered his flashlight and began descending to level ground. Before he made it half way down, Delia called out to him. "Thomas, wait." He stopped and turned his flashlight on her, praying she hadn't rejected his request outright.

"I love Michael." She looked into Michael's eyes and gently caressed his cheek with her hand. "Enough to die for him." Their gaze lingered, and then she turned to Thomas. "And I know he loves you like a brother. If he trusts you, so will I." She leaned against the wall and sighed. "Azim has kept some of the scrolls from you. He doesn't know about the mark you've found, so he's not 100 percent sure all the scrolls refer to the Samson Effect. However, there's one in particular that's caused him to pursue it at any cost.

"A friend found it in Iraq and knew Azim collected ancient artifacts. He contacted Azim and arranged to bring it, and other items, to Hebron to see if Azim was interested in buying them."

Thomas knew immediately the scroll must have been written during the Assyrian or Babylonian empire, but he failed to see its connection to the Samson Effect. No historical evidence existed that placed the Effect anywhere but in Israel.

Delia continued. "The scroll was written in Hebrew. When Azim had it interpreted, the author claimed to be the Protector of the Lord's Strength, the title used consistently in others that are linked to the Samson Effect."

Michael must have been thinking the same thing Thomas was thinking. He interrupted Delia, shaking his head. "But why would the Protector take the knowledge from Israel?" Then his eyes grew wide. "Unless he was among the captives led away from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar." The realization seemed too much for him. He dropped to his knees with a pained expression on his face. "It could be anywhere in the world."

Delia's tone was quick and excited. "No, Michael, he's also found scrolls written centuries later by the Protector of the Lord's Strength. All have been found around Hebron."

Michael sat on the cave floor and took out his canteen. He took a drink and looked up at Delia. "What did the Babylonian scroll say?"

"It talks of three Jewish men who were, by order of the king, thrown into a giant kiln."

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," Thomas said.

"You're familiar with the story, then. As you know, Doctor, the flames didn't harm the three men. The Babylonian scroll attributes their safety to the Lord's Strength."

Thomas and Michael remained quiet. Delia's voice shook them from their thoughts. "You can see, then, why my brother is so determined to find the Samson Effect."

"I'll say," Thomas said. "If the biblical text and the Babylonian scroll are correct, the Samson Effect could make a man nearly indestructible."

"Come on, Thomas," Michael said. "Think about what you're saying. Granted, I thought the Effect might be some super herb that stimulates the production of adrenaline or something, but the notion it has the ability to turn someone into Superman is more than I can buy into."

"I agree, but I think we need to be open to the idea it may have a more powerful effect than we assumed."

"You think my brother is powerful now, just what do you think he'll be like if the Babylonian scroll is correct?" She embraced Michael and leaned her head onto his shoulder. "I've had nightmares about that since the day he told me about the Babylonian scroll."

Michael held her head to his chest. "That's why we're going to find it first." He looked up at Thomas, who simply nodded.

Michael kissed the top of Delia's head and pulled her from his chest. "I think it's time we find out what we can about the mark we've found down here."

All three whipped their heads around and looked up the tunnel when they heard the loose gravel fall.

* * * *

"They'll try to kill you, you know." The rabbi looked without expression across the table at Judas. "What you did to the two Palestinian guards will make them fearful."

Judas knew he had compromised his greater duty by acting so foolishly in front of so many people. He couldn't imagine how bad it would have been if he hadn't listened to the two men the rabbi had sent to bring him here. He had no idea how to proceed, but he trusted the rabbi's wisdom. He sat silently and waited for the rabbi to help him choose the correct course of action.

"Judas, help me to the stove. My water's boiling."

"Let me get it for you."

Judas rose to his feet, but the rabbi waved him off. "I'm not a total invalid. Just help me to my feet."

Judas obeyed, knowing it was futile to argue with the old man. He walked next to the rabbi until they reached the stove. The rabbi reached out a trembling hand and turned off the burner. The excited water slowed until steam gently rose from its calm surface. The rabbi gripped the handle with both hands, lifting the small pan from the stove. It trembled in his hands. Judas was afraid the splashing water would land on the rabbi's hand, causing him to drop the pan and burn his thin, wrinkled skin. He reached his hand to the pan, but the rabbi rebuffed him with a stern, "No. You may, however, get my cup for me."

Judas reached to the stove for the rabbi's cup, hoping the rabbi wasn't going to ask him to hold it while the feeble man filled it with hot water. Just as he gripped the cup, the rabbi grunted and threw hot water into his face.

Judas dropped the cup and stammered backwards, screaming and rubbing his face with his hands.

"Judas, Judas!"

Judas quit rubbing and waited for the pain to hit.

It never did.

It felt like cool water splashed from a faucet onto his face. He was confused, still waiting for the pain to hit.

"How do you feel?"

Judas rubbed his face again. "I don't know, rabbi, I—"

"Of course you know. Are you burned?"

"I don't think so."

"Here."

By reflex, he reached down and caught the pan the rabbi tossed to him. He looked down to see the faintest bit of steam still rising from inside. When his brain registered he was holding hot metal, he released the pan.

"How about now? Are you burned?"

He opened his hands and looked at his fingers and palms. He felt no pain and saw no redness. Abruptly, the confusion left him, replaced by the realization that it must be the Lord's Strength. He wiggled his fingers and smiled. "Why didn't you just tell me instead of scaring me to death?"

"Tell you, huh?" The rabbi turned to the stove and brought the burner flame to high. "Okay, Judas, the flame won't hurt you. Stick your hand into it."

The smile slowly left Judas's face. "Are you serious?"

"Very. Your experience should tell you you'll be safe. Come on, put your hand into the flame."

Judas looked down at his slowly wiggling fingers. His pace to the stove made the rabbi look like an Olympic runner. The rabbi patiently watched until he reached the stove.

He turned to the rabbi. "Go ahead, Judas."

Judas lifted his left hand, looked at it, and mouthed a silent prayer. Then, before he had time to change his mind, he screamed and thrust his hand into the flame.

He held it there for three seconds, watching the blue flames dance around it, before involuntarily yanking it to safety. He turned it palm up and waited.

No pain.

No burn.

He looked at the rabbi, unable to keep the grin from stretching across his face. He thrust his hand back into the flame and held it there. After thirty seconds, the rabbi turned off the flame.

"This is just the beginning of what you'll be able to endure over the next two weeks."

"Tell me, Rabbi!"

The rabbi held out an arm, and Judas helped him back to the chair. "Your bones cannot be broken, nor can your skin be pierced, by knife, by arrow, or by bullet. The Lord, my friend, will confound your enemies as much as he did Samson's enemies." The rabbi held his hand toward the chair. "Sit."

Judas sat down, admiring his hand. Then he thought of Simon and slowly dropped his head to the table. As the rabbi sat, he said, "Please, tell me how I can avenge Simon and still continue to be the Protector."

"Over time, Judas, people will forget what they saw you do. Until then, you must remain quiet and do nothing to bring attention to yourself. You must use your gift in secret and wait until the opportune time to act. When you do act, you must then slip back into obscurity."

"Yes, Rabbi." Judas thought about the crowd of people who saw him bend steel. "Are you sure people will forget?"

"They'll forget. Trust me, the more time that passes, the more they'll doubt what they saw. Soon, it will seem too fanciful for them to believe and they'll relegate it to an active imagination. All except Azim."

Judas clenched his fist. "I'm not afraid of him."

"Not now, my impetuous friend. But what about when the Lord departs from you, as he did from Samson?"

Judas remained quiet. Finally, he answered. "That's why I must take care of him soon."

"Yes, while not giving everyone else in the city another image to fortify what they've already seen."

The two gatekeepers appeared at the doorway. Tobin stepped forward. "Please forgive us for interrupting, but we have—" Tobin stopped and looked at Judas. He bowed his head and continued. "We have Simon. What would you like us to do with him?"

Everyone looked at the rabbi. "Tonight, we'll bury him in the courtyard." The two men reverently nodded and started to leave. "Wait. I think it's time for you two to join us. Judas and I were just about to plan out how to avenge Simon."

Tobin clenched his teeth. "Whatever it is, count me in."

"Me too," Aaron echoed.

The four men sat around the table and planned their attack on Azim. Judas and the rabbi, though, did not share their plan on dealing with Dr. Sieff, nor did they mention the Lord's Strength. They each soon had their specific duties defined. At the rabbi's insistence, they all agreed not to venture out of the house until morning.

What Judas did not tell them, however, was that he would begin his part of the plan that very evening.



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