A Future History of the United States

Tim spent most of the next two days with Jane and Billy. Their stories concerning imprisonment and rescue were quite similar to his. In both cases they had been taken unexpectedly in the middle of the night and brought before Archbishop Rand. Even his questions of them were virtually identical.

While Tim had been put into a cell alone, Jane and Billy were kept together. Other than that, their treatment was almost identical. The main difference had been the two times Jane and Billy were forced to watch the punishment being administered by the Church officials. While the Archbishop had paid lip service to the idea that the Church could not order the burning of the heretics, it was clear that this event would not have taken place if not for the Church ordering it.

On the third day Tim was surprised to find Ron back at the breakfast table. As Tim sat down Ron said, “The reports I’ve been getting about your progress are quite impressive. I knew you were a quick learner, but even so you surprise me. You have progressed so fast we’ve been able to move our timetable up almost a full month. I’ve brought back everything you will need to accomplish your first goal. I’ll be meeting with you right after we finish eating to brief you on what you need to do.”

Tim’s concern was obvious. He knew they had been preparing him for something, but as yet he really had no idea just what was expected. Much time had been spent on Church history, current practices within the Church, Church Liturgy, special language used by the priests and bishops, and similar items. Time had even been spent instructing him in the proper way to participate in formal meals. He could guess he was expected to participate in Church services in some way. Just how was beyond him.

Once again his mind was so occupied with other thoughts he scarcely was aware of what he was eating. He was both relieved and apprehensive when the meal was over and Ron accompanied him back to his room.

Once in the room, Ron pointed to a package that had been placed on Tim’s bed. “Open it. Everything you will need when we send you out is in there. If everything goes as planned, your first excursion will last five days. Someone from our group will always be near by, but if something goes wrong it’s highly unlikely they will be able to help. Their first concern is to protect our group.”

Nervously, Tim opened the package. To his amazement the first thing he pulled out was the extremely ornate robe of a bishop. As he removed other items he saw that the outfit was complete, down to the correct headdress, and even shoes and socks.

He turned to Ron, “Surely you don’t mean for me to wear this. I’m no more a bishop than I am a space man. The first person I meet will be able to tell that.”

“You’re wrong, Tim, for two reasons. First, in the time you’ve been here you’ve gotten the equivalent of a Doctor of Divinity degree. You know more about the Church, Church history, and theology than any of the regular priests out there. Second, when anyone looks at you they won’t see you; all they will see is a bishop.Think back to before you were arrested. When you saw a bishop, did you ever even look at his face?”

“That’s true. I was always so in awe of the way they looked, and so afraid of doing something wrong, I tried to avoid looking directly at them.”

“Before you leave you will receive a full briefing on what you are to do once you get into the outside world. Now, let’s go over the rest of the things you will be taking with you and just what they do.”

Tim placed the rest of the contents of the package on his bed. Ron reached out and picked up a small, metallic disk. “Do you recognize this?”

“That looks like the thing you used to open the passageway from the church to this bunker.”

“Exactly! There is one major difference. This one is tuned to you. It will not work for anyone else. If something should happen to you, and someone else were to take it, it will be nothing more than a shiny piece of metal.”

Picking up an oblong shaped item Ron said, “This is your meal and lodging ticket. Every church is obliged to provide food and board to any bishop that happens their way. You don’t even have to take this out of your pocket. As you enter a church, a receiver at every doorway reads these items. It charges the expenses back to the Archbishop’s account.”

“But won’t the Archbishop notice and realize some stranger is posing as a bishop? I can see where that could get me in real trouble.”

“Not a problem. The Church has so many bishops and many of them travel all over the country. No one even tries to keep track of them.

“You will be leaving through a different port than the one where we came in. This will place you in a neighboring parish where you will not be likely to see anyone you know. You will present yourself to the local priest, who goes by the name of Thomas, and inform him that you will be presiding over the morning service this Sunday. This is one of the traditions of the Church. Anytime a bishop visits a local congregation he always handles the Sunday morning service.”

“But I’ve never done anything like that,” protested Tim. “They’ll see through me right away.”

“Don’t worry,” Ron said calmly. “Before you leave we’ll go over a complete service with you. It has been prepared just as you will conduct it. With that memory of yours it will be no problem.”

Ron turned back to the remaining items on the bed. “This one will get you back into the bunker system. Whenever you are near an entry portal it will vibrate. It will only work if it is against your skin so you will wear it around your neck. It’s shaped like a cross, so even if someone sees it they won’t think anything about it. Once again, it is tuned to you, so only you can use it.

“You will be leaving the bunker on Wednesday morning. You will meet with the local priest and stay in the parish house. While there, try to sound him out on just what he thinks about the condition of the Church today. Many priests are quite ready to sound off to a bishop. The Church rules prohibit any priest from ever being accused of being a heretic, or being punished in any way for anything they say to a bishop, so don’t be surprised at what you may hear.

“Try on you new clothes and see how they fit,” Ron said as he exited the room.

Tim turned back to the items on his bed. He had no idea how to arrange the bishop robes. After fumbling with them for several minutes he gave up. Thinking, This is going to be a disaster, he left his room in search of someone to help.

Ron was sitting at the table where they all gathered for meals. He looked up with a big grin on his face. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to give up. The first time I tried on those things it took me three hours. I was determined to figure it out on my own. The fact you gave up so fast shows you are smarter than me.”

Tim’s face was grim. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to do it on my own even after someone shows me. I’ll make a complete fool of myself the first day I’m out there. Then I’ll end up back before the Archbishop and on my way to the stake.”

Ron’s grin turned into a full smile. “It’s not as hard as it seems. You just have to lay them out in the correct order first. Come on, let me show you.”

Gathering up the various pieces of the outfit, Ron started laying them out on the bed. “Think of it as getting dressed in layers. But it really doesn’t make that much difference. The only important thing is the robe. It completely covers everything else. You could go around naked under it and no one would know the difference. The only reason you need the rest of this stuff is in case you have an emergency where you need to take off the robe. Having ordinary clothes under it would be a dead giveaway.”

Realizing the way he had just expressed himself he grinned, “I didn’t mean it the way it may have sounded, but it would make things very awkward for you. We’d have to come and rescue you again.”

Once Tim was fully dressed in his bishop’s garb he looked in the mirror. “I’m not sure I’d recognize myself in this outfit.”

“Since even the priests are afraid to look directly at a bishop, you should have no trouble completing your mission. On some of my trips outside I’ve talked to some of my former best friends without them showing the least indication of recognizing me.

“One other thing to remember, we already have a number of people placed in important positions out there. There may be times they will be instructed to get some information to you. They will be given specific instructions on where to find you.”

After a slight pause he continued, “There have been several housing developments over the years called ‘Sun City.’ These were mostly for elderly people who had retired from their jobs. Any of our people instructed to contact you will approach you with the question ‘How are things in Son City?’ As they ask this they will be tracing the letter ‘O’ with their left hand on the desk, table or other convenient flat surface. Letting you know they mean ‘S-o-n’ not ‘S-u-n,’ your response will then be, ‘Things are getting brighter all the time,’ while looking directly at them.

“If after this greeting they say, ‘it’s been nice seeing you again, but I must get back home.’ This means you are to return here immediately. Find the nearest portal and meet me here.

“One more thing, Jane and Billy have just about fully recovered from all they’ve been through. We’ve been preparing an apartment for you. When you get back from this first assignment you’ll be able to live together as a family again.”

The next two days were filled with preparations and instructions. An entire Church service had to be memorized. This included all the correct moves, prayers, quotations, etc. After rehearsing it several times, Claude gave his approval and informed Tim he was ready to go. He then told Tim his primary goal for this mission. Tim was totally stunned!