The Teacher

The Teacher: Part III Day of Declaration, Chapter 44

Part III

Day of Declaration

CHAPTER 44

HOLDEN, PAINFULLY AWARE THAT I'D survived his execution attempt and realized what a threat I was to the new world order he was planning. Though Holden had the transmission of the live stream of what was happening in the Colosseum cut off when they weren't able to kill me, the news was spreading through the precincts of Rome that something had gone terribly wrong with the Final Solution ceremony. Back at his headquarters, Holden was desperate to find me and directed that I be hunted down at any cost, captured immediately, and brought to the Guardian's Legion headquarters in Rome.

"Put out a Cloud transmission picture of Fallon along with orders to detain her. She must be apprehended before leaving the city!" Holden frantically demanded.

"But sir, all Cloud communications have been down ever since you gave the order to stop sending the media feed from the Colosseum, actually, to be precise, ever since that great tree that formed in the Colosseum was split in two," one of his aids replied.

"Contact the programmers immediately and get the Cloud back online. Leave me now...all of you!"

AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ARENA, Holden did not want to accept the fact that his grand plan might never be realized, however, he wasn't about to give up all hope of somehow finding another way to complete the Final Solution and give his father the gift he'd promised.

When the Guardian's Great Tree was split in two, the Cloud went down permanently and the Disciples' other powers disappeared for good. The playing field had been leveled. Disciples could be now be transformed back to being just like any other normal human being.

Holden's aid returned from the IT department and knocked on his office door.

"Sir, the technicians have not yet repaired the Cloud transmissions. Do you have other orders?"

"Send out squads, comb the city, tear out a thousand tongues if you have to, but find her. Go!"

WALKING BY FAITH, I CALMLY MOVED forward in a direction that felt right. Soon, I found myself on the historic, restored, and well-maintained, but ancient Appian Way. It was the main road into and out of the Eternal City, built by the Romans even before the time of Christ. As I was approaching the city limits, a pair of Holden's security guards saw me walking alone and stopped me.

Shortly after the disaster in the Colosseum, the Guardian was able to rally get the Cloud running again. The Disciples were no longer invincible, and though their network and limited powers were active and the apps were up and running, the momentum in the struggle was shifting in favor of the rebels.

"Excuse us, miss, but we're looking for an escaped criminal, an insurgent named Fallon Ford. Perhaps you've seen her."

They were holding my picture and yet couldn't recognize it was me. When they showed me the photo I knew I was being protected. Then, a silent voice spoke telling me what to say. It was Gloriana.

"Go in Peace, gentleman. I hope you both find what you're looking for."

With that, they sped off, leaving me to continue on my journey.

That happened several more times, but in each case the men seemed confused and let me go. I walked north for awhile, before turning south. Off in the distance I saw a rising mushroom-cloud column of smoke, as if a hydrogen bomb had exploded. It was Mount Vesuvius.

The earthquake that leveled the arena, and sent powerful seismic shock waves streaming in all directions, also woke the sleeping giant volcano. I felt moved to began walking toward the rising cloud of smoke and ash. Tired after many hours, I stopped to rest under an Umbrella Pine in a grove near a stream. The summer Neapolitan sun was setting late in the day. I fell fast asleep on a mild night.