A Future History of the United States
A Calm Before the Storm

After the meeting Ron remained in the office with Tim, who was still behind his desk. Taking the most comfortable chair he stretched his legs out and barely suppressed a yawn, “Looks like we are short a priest. Normally when this happens services at that church are suspended until a new priest is in place. Occasionally, if the bishop for that church can be located in time, he will be responsible for that church while waiting for the replacement.

“Since I am here, I think we will let you fill in for the missing priest, while I handle the Cathedral tomorrow. Getting you out among the people in this way will show them you are more interested in the people than in protocol. Also, allowing a ‘mere bishop’ to conduct services in the Cathedral will further emphasize the fact that you are not too concerned with past practices.

“You can tell Mark that you have decided to conduct services at St. John’s Church tomorrow morning. Also say that, since it is so far out on the edge of town, you will be leaving shortly and will spend the night there. Ask him to conduct the evening meeting with the staff.

“We actually have a few things to take care of back ‘home.’ This will only take a couple of hours and then you can take one of our passageways to the church this evening. Even though I told the rest of the priests not to say anything about the events this morning, I am sure word will have already reached the congregation that their priest has been defrocked.

“They will expect to have a bishop fill in, or to have services cancelled. To have the Archbishop visit them and conduct the service will be completely unexpected. That can easily be used to our advantage. We will talk over just how that service should be conducted before you actually head out this evening.

“For now, let’s tell Mark you will be out for a couple of days.”

Locating Mark in his office they explained to him that Tim would be absent from the Archbishop’s estate to take care of the situation at St. John’s Church for a couple of days. Ron then added, “I will be conducting service in the Cathedral tomorrow. For the rest of the day I intend to relax in my room. I’ll see you at the staff meeting tomorrow morning.”

With their absence for the afternoon explained they made their way to Ron’s room. Once there he pointed to the far wall, “Let’s go home.”

Tim was getting used to finding portals in unexpected places, but even so he shook his head, “Just how many of these portals are there anyway?”

“Not nearly enough. There are some areas where we would love to have one but the structure of the building just does not leave enough room. In the Archbishop’s complex, including the Cathedral and the eighty rooms of the living and working quarters we only have twenty.”

Tim was still marveling at the complexity of the passageways when they stepped out of the room and back into Son City.

Out in the city of St. Louis word of Tim’s Friday afternoon speech had spread rapidly. The usual level of distortion by rumor had affected the information being disseminated. In the Horse’s Ale Pub the speech had replaced the events at St. Anthony’s church as the main topic of conversation.

“That new Archbishop sure has his work cut out for him. If he’s gonna punish the priests for taking advantage of their position ain’t gonna be no priests around to keep the churches open.”

“He didn’t say that. Just said they had to wait a couple of weeks ’fore they start this damned heresy thing again.”

“Well, he did say some of the priests wasn’t Christians. What’s he gonna do `bout that? Can’t kick `em all out.”

“I saw a bunch of priests comin’ outa the Cathedral this afternoon. Some didn’t look too happy.”

“That new Archbishop should be preachin’ at the Cathedral tomorrow mornin’. Maybe we’ll get some better idea what he’s a thinkin’ then.”

“Well, what he said this afternoon does seem to have calmed things down a little bit.” Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Conversations like this were taking place in virtually every public meeting spot by late Saturday evening. Some had the events more confused than others, but the general feeling seemed to be “let’s wait and see if anything is really going to be different.”

Tim’s promise of a two week moratorium on any type of punishment seemed to be the main area of interest. How far would this actually go? He had admonished them not to take advantage of this pause. Would things get even worse after the two weeks were over? Almost everyone agreed, only time would tell.

Back in the friendly atmosphere of Son City, Tim felt like he could relax for the first time in several days. It was time for dinner when he and Ron returned. He was still wearing the Archbishop’s robes when they arrived at the table.

Jane spotted him first. Noticing the outfit he was wearing she blurted out, “Timothy Michael Roberts! Just what do you think you’re doing? This has gone entirely too far. Dressing up like an Archbishop! If they catch you out there like that they’ll surely tie you to the stake!”

Billy spoke up with “Hey, mom, I think Dad looks great in those robes. Maybe I can get someone to make me an outfit like that.”

Turning to him with a look that would have made most people try to hide under their chair, she said, “Billy, one more word like that and you won’t be able to sit down for a week!”

Turning back to Tim she demanded, “I suppose you have some wild explanation for this.”

Without giving Tim a chance to answer Ron stepped in front of Jane with a courtly bow, “Mrs. Roberts, may I introduce you to the new Archbishop of St. Louis. His appointment was confirmed yesterday. This is indeed Archbishop Timothy Michael Roberts, leader of the Church for the St. Louis District of the United States.”

Still unconvinced but somewhat calmer she said, “You two may enjoy playing these games, but I don’t think it’s funny.”

Silently and carefully Ron reached into his robe and pulled out the proclamation naming Tim Archbishop and held it up in front of her, “Read this.”

She had risen from her chair to get a better look. Tim caught her as she fainted.

It took several minutes for her to revive. Meanwhile Billy was jumping up and down shouting, “Dad’s an Archbishop! Dad’s an Archbishop.”

Once they had her back in her chair and Billy calmed down, Ron said, “It’s a long story, Jane. Too long for us to go into much detail right now. Tim will tell you all about it when he has time. Right now there are several things that must be done.”

Tim took over the conversation. “For starters, I will be leaving again in just a couple of hours. I will return Monday. For now, some of the people here will help get things ready for you and Billy to join me in the Archbishop’s mansion.

“Once we are there, you will no longer be Jane Roberts and Billy will no longer be Billy. Archbishops and their families do not use last names. Also we don’t want people to connect us with our past life at this time. That will come later. For now I will be calling you by your middle name ‘Martha’ and our son,” patting Billy on the head, “is now ‘Will.’ I’ve always like the name Martha better than Jane anyway.”

Ron broke in at this point. “You must learn not to even turn your head if someone says ‘Jane.’ If someone comes up to you and claims to know you, just look at them and say ‘You must be mistaken!’ It will take a little getting use to, but it is very important right now.”

Tim’s son spoke up, “I like ‘Will’ better anyhow. I’m getting too old to be called Billy.”

For the rest of dinner time things were quiet. Tim noticed Martha ate almost nothing else until dessert. She devoured the apple pie with ice cream.

After swallowing the last bite she turned to Ron. “I’m sorry I haven’t been very good company during dinner. Everything is happening so fast. When I think I’m getting use to one idea another even wilder one is thrown at me. Just a few weeks ago Tim and I were just another working class couple trying to get by.

“When Tim was pulled out of bed in the middle of the night our entire world collapsed around me. I was afraid I would never see him again. I had heard of thing like that happening to others but I never dreamed it could happen to us.

“When Billy, sorry I mean Will, and I were taken captive the only thing that kept me from falling apart completely was my concern for Will. At that point I thought I might never see Tim again and was not even sure if Will and I would survive.

“When Claude brought me here I was totally confused and lost. No one has ever explained to me just what is going on so I am still confused. You show me a paper that says Tim is now an Archbishop. I don’t know how that is possible. He never had the schooling necessary to be a priest, let alone an Archbishop.

“I miss the days when Tim would come home every day after work and we would have a family dinner. Everything was so simple then. We weren’t bothering anybody. We weren’t busybodies. We were just minding our own business. If I knew more about what is going on I might be able to control my emotions better.”

“Martha, I apologize for not keeping you better informed. I, I mean we, have been so involved, and things have been happening much faster than we anticipated, I just didn’t think about how this must be affecting you.

“I’ll have one of the others meet with you this evening and explain as much as possible about what is happening. It may help you to feel better about Tim’s qualification when you know just how much instruction he has received since he has been with us. He really is vital to our success. Please just hang in there a little longer. I would meet with you myself, but Tim and I have must take care of some urgent business that cannot wait.”

After the meal was over, Tim and Ron excused themselves and made their way to Ron’s room. Once there they discussed plans for the coming week.

Ron told Tim, “In conducting the service at the Cathedral, I will be emphasizing the importance of living a Christian life. The main topics I will discuss will be the need to look after and care for one another; to avoid telling lies, including false witness. I will also put special emphasis on Christ wanting us to love one another.

“I think your sermon should be what is sometimes called a ‘mea culpa’ on behalf of the leadership of the Church. ‘Mea culpa’ means literally ‘I am to blame.’

“As part of this you will acknowledge that the Church has gone overboard in seeking and punishing people alleged to be heretics. You will emphasize that God wants people to serve him out of Love, not fear. You will promise to do all you can to correct the problems caused by the atrocities committed in the name of the Church.

“This will cause many of the people to love you. It will also cause some of them to hate you. Those who have benefited by turning in their friends and neighbors as heretics in order to claim the reward paid to such informants will possibly try to harm you.

“At the end of the service you will announce that, during the coming week, you intend to speak at each of the churches within the city, holding services in one church each morning and a different one each evening.

“This will not be as difficult as people will think it is, as you will use our passageways to travel between the churches. Everyone will wonder how you get from church to church since you will not be seen in transit. That will simply amplify the effect of the tour.

“You will present almost the same message at each church. That helps keep down your preparation time. I will see to it that you have some tidbits of information available at each church to tailor your message to them.

“While you are out among the people we will always have a number of our trusted agents close enough to you to be sure you are safe. I am certain there will be attempts to harm you. This is not the first region of the country where we have placed one of our own in the position of Archbishop. You are benefiting from the experiences of others.

“Whenever someone is caught attempting to harm you, or cause a disturbance to disrupt the service, you will have them brought before you in front of the congregation. After asking those who have detained the suspect about the culprit’s misdeeds, you will question the offender.

“Regardless of the offense, you will call on the entire congregation to join you in praying for God to forgive the offender. You will then turn to the offender and say, ‘Your fate is in the hands of God. If you confess your sin to Him, not to me, the Bible says He is faithful and will forgive you. I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.’ You will then order him or her released.”

Tim interrupted, “What do I do if they try anything more as soon as they are released.”

Ron chuckled, “I think the congregation will take care of the situation if that should happen.”

Once their plans were completed Ron said, “I should get back to the Archbishop’s compound in time for that evening staff prayer meeting you’ve started. Claude will escort you through our passageways to St. John’s Church. This is going to be a busy week for you. Claude will also be waiting for you after each service to be sure you get to the next church on time.

“I have some other things I need to take care of in other parts of the country. I will see you in about a week. By then everything should be in place and I will be able to tell you why you are so important to this project. As I have said before, you are the only one in the entire country that can do what needs to be done! Because of this we are using extraordinary ways to protect you this week. You wouldn’t understand most of them even if I explained them to you. That’s all I can say about it right now.”

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