Chpt. 16 - Don't Shoot the Messenger (online book by Daniel Grant Newton)

Stylised photo of Don't Shoot the Messenger

For the previous chapters of Daniel Grant Newton's online book Don't Shoot the Messenger, click below:

Chapter 1      Chapter 2      Chapter 3      Chapter 4      Chapter 5      Chapter 6      Chapter 7      Chapter 8      Chapter 9      Chapter 10     Chapter 11      Chapter 12      Chapter 13      Chapter 14     
Chapter 15

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“Who are you?  And what do you want?” Irene hissed in Hebrew at the man in blue.  She was bound with rope, and sitting against the wall inside a cave on a high hill.

The man was kneeling at the entry to the cave, near his tied up horse, stoking a fire.

As she spoke, he glanced back at her with amber eyes that reflected the kindling flames, but did not answer her.

She repeated her questions in Aramaic, then Latin and Greek.  Still he did not answer.  Just chuckled softly.

“You can either release me, or someone I know will come and really make you pay,” she growled in Hebrew.

Once again he glanced at her, and once again he simply sniggered.

“I know you can understand me,” she continued, “and you don't want to mess with this man who is coming for me.  And now that the sun is coming up you won't have any shadows to slink into.”

“I know the man you talk about,” said the man in Aramaic.  “He is one of the men with strange weapons who have taken a keen interest in the teacher in the village.”  The man paused, before adding:  “But he will not find me.  By the time he comes looking for me, I will be gone.”

“What do you want with me?” Irene asked.  “He can pay you very well for my release.”

Even though the doctor could not see much of the man-in-blue's face, she could tell by the crinkling at the corners of his eyes that he was enjoying her threats.

“He could not pay me or my men enough,” said the bandit.

“I see you have a Roman sword, do they pay you?  How much do you want for my release?”

He stood up and strolled towards her.  The man then produced a blue scarf and bound her mouth with it.

“This shall keep your pretty little mouth quiet,” he laughed, before returning to his fire.

He moved past her into the cave, and returned with a bowl of dates and a dead fowl.

Her belly rumbled and her eyes followed the fowl being put over the fire.

Noticing her attention, the bandit smiled.  “This food is for you, not me.  I will make life as pleasant as possible before they come for you.”

After roasting the fowl, he placed the bowl of dates, a wooden bowl of water and the cooked meat by her side and sat before her.  He then unbound her mouth.

“That is so you can eat,” he explained, moving his hands away to avoid her snapping at him.

“Can you unbind me so I can eat?” she replied.

“If I did that, then I'm sure you would try to escape, and I may kill you,” he said flatly.

“What if I said that I wouldn't?”  Irene lowered her gaze and raised her eyebrows.  “Or are you the sick type of bandit who would take advantage of my position, and enjoy feeding me by hand?”

The man sighed, and leaned around Irene to untie the knot.  She could feel his breath on her back.

As soon as her hands were free she shoved him off her and drew his sword from its scarab.  She held it at him.

“Get back or I'll kill you,” her shaky voice warned.

“You are so predictable,” he growled before launching himself at her.

They rolled on the floor, both struggling to get a hold of the sword.  He pinned her and the sword down on the cave floor and stared into her eyes.

Irene scowled at the man in blue, before kneeing him in the crutch and pushing him off her.  He watched her sprint out of the cave.

But before the dust she kicked up could settle, she hurried back in.

“We've got to get out of here,” she screamed at the man.  “The men with 'the strange weapons' are coming.”

The man picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off.  “I know, I saw them coming.  That is why I didn't bother chase after you.”

“We got to go,” she said, pulling at his sleeves, “you don't understand how dangerous they are.”

“Very dangerous, I hope,” the man replied.  “I would not like to see your beautiful looks go to waste.”

Irene stared at the man for a second, before trying to run further into the cave.  The bandit however grabbed her and held her tight.

The light at the end of the tunnel was blocked by the shadows of six men.  These men ducked their heads and made their way into the cave.

It was the soldiers minus Zhang (and Jude).

Spider carried two suit cases and placed them on the floor.  He unclipped them and waved a hand over the contents inside.

One suitcase displayed two rows of grenades, and one row of chemical gas canisters.  The other suitcase was filled with bullets.

Spider then motioned towards five rifles and a pile of C4 now leaning up against the cave wall.

“What on earth are you doing, Spider?” spat Irene.

“I am swapping you for a few toys,” the tall Brit responded.  “Alexander was well aware that Jude and you may not follow orders.  It was a possibility in the holographic matrix.”

The bandit pushed Irene into Spiders arms, and the big man led her out with a pistol to her back.  “So he had me bring a note to give to this man.  The 'man in blue', the Robin Hood of the Roman Empire.  If anything was to go wrong, I would deliver this letter to his associates, show them our weapons, and meet him here to swap some excess weaponry for you.”

Spider led Irene down the hill with his five comrades flanking him.

“You swapped technology that is two thousand years more advanced for Jude and myself.”

“No, just you,” Spider grinned.  “The matrix showed us that he would help you escape, and try to stop us by himself like the hero he thinks he is.

"And capturing you was always going to be a problem.  We knew he would be able to get you past us, evasion is a specialty of his.  However, the 'man-in-blue' is one of the best guerrilla fighters in this area.  In this time, he is as much a legend as he is a man.  The matrix indicated he would get you where we would have failed.”

“I don't understand,” Irene muttered.  “What do you want with me, anyway?”

“You are bait for Mr. Stone.  He is a difficult fish to catch, but use someone he cares about, and he loses perspective and takes stupid risks.  It is a weakness he recognises and tries to guard himself against.”

Spider chuckled.  "That was your main purpose for coming along.  Sure, your know-how was integral and much appreciated, but getting Jude 'Stone-Heart' Stone to care about somebody, that was tricky.  The matrix indicated we had to get someone halfway around the world for that."

There was a silence as they moved down the hill and towards the village.

“Look, you can't just give someone advanced weapons like this, Spider,” protested Irene, breaking the silence.  “Killing Jesus is one thing, but giving a man like this that kind of weaponry is insane.  You have no idea what repercussions it could have.”

“We do actually,” Spider grinned.  “Jude is a great soldier and a great strategist, but he is very erratic.  We have to keep him out of the loop sometimes, and we had to keep you out of the loop, too, of course.  But that doesn't mean this wasn't also part of the original plan.

“You see, by giving this rebel group a few guns and bombs, the Roman Catholic Church, or any derivative of it, will never eventuate.  It is literally saving the mental enslavement of billions of people, and put the progress of the world hundreds or thousands of years ahead.

“As you said, it wasn't Jesus who wanted the church and organised religion.  So cutting out his tongue would simply stop Christianity, but another much more violent Abrahamic church would rise in its place.  You need to cut the weed at the roots.”

“So what if you didn't kill Jesus, but destroyed the church?”

“If that were to happen, then, although there would be only small pockets of it, Christianity would still exist.  And the possibilities for such a church rising up could come about in the future.  So it is important he is dead, but it is by no means the main game.”  Spider smirked.  “We have thought of everything, doctor.”

“Who do you mean by we?  I can't imagine anyone on the research team to recommend this extreme cause of action.  I know each member, most on a personal level, and none of them are this crazy,” exclaimed Irene.

“You are right,” said Spider, now leading Irene up the stairs of the village's temple.  “This further research was done by Alexander and me.  Scientists don't have the balls to make decisions like this.”

Irene struggled to break free, but Spider held strong.  One of the soldiers came to Irene with a needle and injected it into her neck.  After a few moments of struggle she slumped into the soldier's arms.

“Take her to the chamber and set the bomb to go off just before Yēšûă speaks,” said Spider, handing her limp body to Chernova.  “We don't want him to try to stop us killing Yēšûă before the fireworks.”

Click here for the heart-pounding, action-packed Chapter 17 ... also, don't forget to let your friends and family know about this book, and of course, check out my book The Last King of Shambhala at your favourite online book store.

Amoretta Parts 1, 2, 3... a crazy animation I made.

Chpt. 11 - Don't Shoot the Messenger

For the previous chapters of Daniel Grant Newton's free book, Don't Shoot the Messenger, click below:

Chapter 1      Chapter 2      Chapter 3      Chapter 4      Chapter 5      Chapter 6      Chapter 7      Chapter 8      Chapter 9      Chapter 10

“Impossible,” growled Jude, pacing back and forth the small room he and Irene were staying in.  “We've been sent back in time to kill Jesus Christ?”

The doctor and the entire team sat in silence.

“Why on Earth would Alexander send us back to kill Jesus Christ?” Jude howled.  “Are you absolutely sure it is him?”

Irene nodded.  “As much as I hate to admit it, it seems very likely.  Same period.  Same location.  I mean, Yēšûă is a very common name at this time, but it also happens to be the Hebrew name given for Jesus.  I suspected as much when I began delving into the material Alexander provided on your target.  And then he goes and says that - straight from the Gospel of Thomas.  That confirms it.  He has to be Jesus.” 

She searched the faces in the room and continued.  “And the Maria we met, or Mary, is also a very common name, but there were quite a few Mary's who were close followers of Jesus, including Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Mary of Clopas.  And of course his mother, the Virgin Mary, although that woman was much too young to be his mother.”

“That does sound like mounting evidence,” muttered Spider.

“That is the real reason I came on this trip – to confirm my suspicions, and talk you boys out of it,” she said.

“Couldn't it just be another teacher of the time?” asked Jude.  “The name could be a coincidence, you did say it was common, and they could both just be spouting the same old wisdom of the time.  And, are we even sure Jesus Christ actually existed, let alone is right here right now?”

“There is significant evidence to suggest he did, Mr. Stone,” Irene said flatly.  “More accounts than other historical figures we take for granted to have existed.  Mind you, these other people are more believable because they don't claim to walk on water before turning it into wine.  The usual practice being walking on grapes, of course.  Followed by...”

“Does it matter whether it is Jesus or not?” Spider spat, standing up and throwing his tattooed arms in the air.  “Killing someone in history has never been a problem for any one of us bar little miss know-it-all over there.  I mean nobody would be here, changing the past, if they believed in God or the bible or any of that.  There is no God.  He ain't the son of God.  And if he were, then he could use his magic powers to stop us, right?”

Irene shook her head.  “I may think the prospect of God or a man who performs miracles is very unlikely, but that doesn't mean I can't see the benefits of the Christian teachings.  Teachings that will surely die out if we were to kill him.”

“Good riddance to oppressive ideology,” scowled Spider.  “That is obviously why Alexander sent us back here.  We are here to stop that message from spreading like the plague and preventing the rot of social and scientific progress.

“You look in the bible and what do you see, justification for the crusades, for wars, for slavery, for murder, for anti-Semitism, and for abuse and torture.  What kind of message are you protecting?  I mean really, doctor, you know this better than all of us.  For God's sake.”

“What I know, Spider, is that human nature is human nature,” Irene started.  "People start wars, religion is only a vehicle, a tool, an excuse to dominate others for resources and power."

Spider groaned.  “Not that human nature bullshit argument.  Everything I said is as clear as day in the bible.

“And don't say that it did more good than bad either.  Alexander and his researchers are the ones with that hologram thing.  They can see what is best for the world.”

“I don't care what you say, killing Jesus is not going to prevent the awful acts justified by the bible from happening,” said Irene, raising her voice.  “But that's not Jesus' message anyway.  His message is of love, community spirit, inclusion, personal and social empowerment, forgiveness, tolerance and acceptance.  It was Jesus who spoke out against those acts you talk of, and in fact, Jesus who challenged the religious establishment of the time.  He wanted peace on the Earth.  His influence surely only had a positive effect on the world.” 

“He wanted peace on the Earth?” Spider sniggered, looking at each of his fellow soldiers.  “My mum sent me to Sunday school because it was a cheap babysitter while she went out dating different men each week, and that's where I learned atheism. 

“I remember two quotes from the 'Prince of Peace' which made me wonder whether I was the only one in class actually listening to this bile.  

“The first says something like, 'I didn't come to the Earth to bring peace.  I didn't bring peace, but brought a sword.  I came to divide every family and set them against each other.  He who doesn't love me more than his children and his parents isn't deserving of me.  Let go of your life and follow me blindly.  Amen.'

“The second says something like, 'I have come to cast fire upon the Earth, and I wish the planet was already burning.'  Then it goes on about dividing people, hating everybody including yourself and your own life, and setting everyone against each other.  And finally instructs people to 'sell their coat and buy a sword.  Bla bla bla let's blow yourself and everybody else up.  Amen.'  Sounds like a message that breeds terrorism to me.  Just as the report we were given said.”

“I know the passages you talk of,” stated Irene.  “They are from the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew.  But when the passages are understood in context, understanding the occult Hebrew symbolism of the time, they are actually passages of personal transformation.  The bible in my opinion can be split into three areas: the law of the time, a documentation of the history, and a manual for self-transformation, often using allegory.  This is the latter.

“These passages, I believe, warn that when you challenge the way most of society think, you will come up against opposition, even in your family.  They state that if you hold strong to these ideals you will find heaven on Earth.  A change in ideas can change the world around you.

“The reason Jesus was saying that he is not bringing peace, is because he was coming to stir the pot with a metaphorical sword, and create an ideological change.  He was telling his followers to be strong, and take the ideas of peace and love to the people with a metaphorical sword. 

“A sword that cuts through the status quo.  You must remember that at this time in history life was filled with much more terror than the world we know - at least in most places around the world.  That might be a ‘metaphysical’ interpretation, but it is the only one that makes sense.”

She added under her breath: “If you want to kill anyone, kill Emperor Constantine and all those who attended the Meeting of Nicea.  He was the one who first used Jesus' teachings to enslave the population, and outlawed and buried the 'heretical' teachings of empowerment.”

“And your research tells you that?  Or that’s what you want to believe?” hissed Spider.  “It seems like a long bow to draw, and an interpretation that was lost on millions of people since.”

Irene shrugged.  “Well, maybe we can ask him himself.  But if this wasn't his meaning, then Jesus must be the most bipolar man in history, because it goes against everything else he is supposed to have preached.”

Spider grunted.  “Whether or not there is a hidden meaning behind the words that we do not understand in the 21st Century, it was and is still responsible for atrocity after atrocity.”

She paused, her curly dark hair bouncing as she took in quick, deep breaths.  “It was never the bible that created the wars or the torture, but mankind ... our greed, perceived lack of resources, fear of others, innate animal aggression.  If there wasn't a bible, they'd be using something else to sway the masses.”

Spider laughed and shook his head.  “Don't get me wrong, I am not so ignorant to say that the teachings of the bible were the sole reason.  Naturally, human instincts and desires have their place.  But convincing the masses to do something awful is a lot easier thanks to this little phrase, 'it says to do it in the bible'.  You'd be hard pressed to find any more used excuse for these acts.”

“I never knew you were so passionate about this stuff,” laughed Zhang, an ex-commando, leaning against the wall.  "Especially for someone whose day job is killing people."

“I'm here to do my job, and if that means proving this bitch wrong, then so be it.  Some noob who lives in her books instead of the real world won't get in the way of this mission now,” Spider roared.  “The research team have done months of investigation into the effects of taking Jesus out of history, and they believe it will be an absolute certain positive effect.  And I agree.  Getting rid of Christianity will get rid of half the atrocities of the past two thousand years.

“But you know what?  It doesn't matter what this guy did in my books.  Our orders are our orders.  As a soldier, we follow them, and hope that the guys at the top know what they're bloody well doing.”  Spider got right in Irene's face.  “Tell me, sweetheart, is there any good reason at all why we should go against orders and not kill him?  Hey?  Why your quick assessment and ethic dilemma should be valued over months of solid research from scientists with much better qualifications and brains than you?”

“First, they don’t have better qualifications or brains than me.  Second, you shouldn’t just follow someone because they are supposedly more qualified to think.”  Irene looked at the hardened faces in the room.  “What I find disconcerting is that I'm the only one here who thinks we shouldn't kill Jesus Christ.  This is ridiculous.  Think for yourselves for once, guys.”

“There is a good reason not to kill him,” said Jude, staring at the back of his hands that rested on his knees.  “I lived in a shanty town run by a drug lord in Brazil.  The easy option was to get into the drug world in some way. 

“Christianity seemed to be the only thing that gave people the faith and strength to choose another option.  The church also was the only organization I knew of going deep into the favelas to help street kids get over some of the worst drug addictions you’ll ever see. 

"These people weren't soldiers.  These were ordinary people.  Ordinary people showing extraordinary bravery because they had something to believe in.”

Spider stood still with wide eyes, a furrowed brow and a gaping mouth.

Jude continued: “As Doctor Hadar said, you don't have to be Christian to see the value the belief system brought to the world.  You just have to look past the history books, and to the millions upon millions of cases where Christianity has helped the individual.  You can't measure that.”  He paused.  “And it doesn't seem right to kill a man who had this same bravery in preaching peace during very violent times.”

The room was silent.

“Are you meaning to tell me you are agreeing with Doctor Hadar?” Spider said.  “I knew you were a bit of a loose canon, but this...  Nobody else is buying into this quack, are they?”

There were murmurings in the room and the shaking of heads.

“I never said I wouldn't kill him,” Jude said.  “Our orders are to kill him, so we will.  I've never cared about our targets or the reasons behind our missions before, why should I now?  I'm here to do my job, and so I will.”  He paused.  “I was just saying the doctor wasn't a nut job.  But it would pay, Doctor Hadar, to keep your pretty mouth shut on this theoretical debate so we can do our job and make the hit.”

Spider grinned and made a cartoonish sigh of relief.  “You never cease to surprise me, mate.  We'll go ahead as planned.  Tonight Jude will spill Jesus' blood.”

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