The Crucible

By Kevin B Bingham

In the darkest hour of his life, T J is granted a glimmer of hope when a stranger reveals the existence of the biblical Tree of Life. Determined to save his dying son, T J embarks on a perilous journey, navigating the ancient paths of Turkey and Israel. Along the way, they'll encounter trials that test th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin B Bingham
• Release date: Sep 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798869029102

Book preview

Chapter one

Sweat flows freely down his face. The sun bears down relentlessly. He can feel small rivulets running down his back, and his shirt darkens as it absorbs the moisture his body is releasing. However, the heat is not the only thing that makes him sweat. The buildup of lactic acid in his legs has made them unstable.

T J’s mind is racing. What to do next? A cloud of dust springs into the air as a bullet strikes the ground next to him. It feels like he has been running for miles. He sucks in as hard as possible, but there doesn’t seem to be enough air to fill his lungs. His muscles are as taut as a bowstring. He knows he can’t stay here; not moving means they will find him. He knows they are still coming as his ears pick up the sound of voices moving in his direction. There are rolling hills with grassy meadows as far as he can see, and rocks jut out along the rims of the hills.

Looking left from his position, he sees an outcropping. It’s the closest cover he can see, and the slope between him and the outcropping might afford him some obscurity from their view. He knows he needs to move, but his body doesn’t want to respond to his mind’s commands. As hard as he tries to will his body to move, his feet seem to be stuck, like they are cemented in place. The sound of a foot scraping not fifty yards away carries him forward. He leans left, and crouching down, he runs toward the outcropping. As he ducks around some rocks, he feels the sting as the left side of his face is peppered by rock dust from a bullet. He can hear the ricochet as it zips past his face. Too close. Way too close.

He begins to slide as the loose rocks give way beneath him, and his only focus is on trying to maintain balance. Desperately he tries to remain upright, but the ground is uneven, and he knows it’s just a matter of time before he loses control. He also knows that he will be as good as dead if he cannot regain his footing. His mind struggles to find a solution. Hit the ground, then roll to the right. Find new footing and keep moving. Just keep moving away from the bullets. It was a good plan. But as he plants his right foot to move into the roll, he immediately knows the plan is doomed. His leg is too tired to do what he was asking it to do.

His muscles refuse to contract fully as he plants his foot. Try as he might, he can’t stop from falling headfirst down the hill. He collides with a sharp rock, and he feels the edge cutting into his flesh near his rib cage. Searing pain runs through his body. He bounces off the rock. Any hope of gaining some sort of control is gone now. His right side is all but useless. Down the hill, he rolls feet over hands. Just before hitting his head on a rock, he can see that he is headed for a cliff. He is going over the edge, and he can do nothing about it. God help me! I’m sorry… and the world goes black.

Chapter two

His heart is pounding as his eyes open. He is unsure of where he is. Sitting straight up, he realizes he’s in a chair. Looking around, the familiarity of the room slowly registers in his brain: the television, the bookcase, the coffee table. In the stillness, he can hear the ticking of the clock on the wall. He is at home.

The doorbell rings. That must have been what woke him up. It has been a long time since he last had that dream, but it always leaves him very unsettled. The images continue to roll on in his mind until enough time passes that they begin to fade. As the fog of sleep gradually clears, he thinks to himself that he might want to reconsider these afternoon naps; they’re too stressful for a man in his late seventies. There is the doorbell again. Who in the world could that be?

Reaching for the handle on the side of the chair, he pushes it forward to lower the footrest. A chorus of snaps and pops announce his rising from the chair, and a slight grunt escapes his mouth as he straightens up. He flexes his back to continue the straightening process. The doorbell rings again. I’m coming. I’m coming. He shuffles a few steps as the stiffness in his ankles works its way out. Yep, may have to rethink these naps.

As he gets to the door and reaches for the knob, the bell rings again. Agitated, he swings the door open. The sun, which is in the perfect location to shine right in his face, blinds him. He moves to the side so the door jamb is between him and the sun. The doorbell ringer comes into view. There on the porch stands a man of middle age, with dark hair that is greying around the edges. Average height. Fairly good looking. Must be a salesperson. T J has no patience with salespeople. Whatever you're selling, I’m not interested. He starts to close the door.

The man quickly says, Wait! I’m not selling anything.

T J reopens the door about halfway. Then what do you want?

Are you T J Robertson?’

Who wants to know?

My name is Kerry James. I’m with the Daily Herald. I was wondering if I could talk with you?

About what?

You are the T J Robertson that found the cure for a childhood disease, right?

Sorry. Wrong guy. I’m not a scientist. T J closes the door.

This was not going well. Kerry knows that this is his one chance to find out what really happened. There would not be a second. He pulls out his ace in the hole. Kerry looks at the closed door and yells, Wait. Please. I know you didn’t actually find the cure. But you did find the missing piece that made the cure possible, right?

Inside the house, T J is walking to the kitchen. He stops when he hears what the man said. How could he know that? No one was supposed to know that. When the news came out about the cure, it was all kept very cryptic. The news said simply that the last piece of the puzzle had finally been determined and they could move forward with testing. They did not make his part in the story public. The door slowly opens. T J looks the man square in the eyes. How do you know about that?

I’m a reporter. Finding information is what I do.

Well, I don’t know how you found that information, but I have nothing to say.

Before the door has time to shut, Kerry quickly says, I’m sure that’s not true. I’ll wager that you have a lot to say. Look, I’m not just a reporter. I’m also an author, or at least I want to be. And your story is one that I am sure people would find fascinating.

I doubt that.

I don’t. One ploy that he uses to get stories is to pull back. Make like he figures he has lost and puts the ball in the other person’s court. Kerry takes a deep breath and lets it out. Look, I know I sprang this on you suddenly. This is not the way I meant for our first meeting to go. I tell you what, he reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket, Here is my card. Just think about it and let me know.

He offers T J his card.

T J looks at it, and after a moment, he takes the card and says, Ok. I’ll think about it. But no promises.

I understand. Thank you for your time. Kerry turns and leaves.

T J watches as he gets in his car and drives away. He closes the door and looks again at the card. His mind is flooded with memories of the past. So much time spent in hospitals. A meeting with a stranger and his outrageous request. A crashed plane. Running. Hiding. Dreams. An amazing encounter. T J looks at the ceiling. Are you letting me know you are ready for your story to be told? I will if you want me to. But it will be hard for people to believe it, you know. He tosses the card in the drawer of the lamp table. It can wait.

As T J goes about his days, his mind continues to come back to the conversation with the reporter. Looking up, he asks the same question each time. Are you sure you want me to tell the story? He finally decides to call the man. Now, where did I put that card? He checks the pile of papers on the coffee table. Not there. Ok. He gave me the card at the door. I looked at it and… Oh yeah. The lamp table. Pulling the card from the drawer, he picks up the phone and dials it.

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Kerry’s cell phone chirps. This is Kerry.

Friday, one o’clock, my house.

When Kerry hears the voice on the phone, he sits straight up in his chair. Mr. Robertson. Sir. Thank you. I will be there.

The phone clicks, and the line goes quiet. Kerry hangs up. He can’t believe his good fortune. Unable to contain himself, he balls both hands into fists, makes a pumping motion, and lets out a Yes! His heart beats faster as he thinks about finally getting some accurate information about this mystery. Sitting motionless in his chair, his eyes fixed, Kerry is lost in thoughts of how the interview should go.

Eventually, he shakes his head and says, Get a grip! Hardly able to believe it would happen, he says to himself, Focus on the task. What do you need to do to be prepared? What questions do you want to ask? First, make a list of the equipment and then a list of questions. Yeah, start there. The elation is almost overwhelming. It’s great when a plan comes together. Why am I talking to myself?

Little does he know, it was not his cleverness that got him this interview. It came from a much higher source. He fully expected to get an interesting story about some events that led to the chance finding of the missing portion of the cure. He could not know the enormity of the events, twists, turns, evil intents, and intrigue of the story of this one man’s journey.

Chapter three

Several years before, when it was disclosed that Lightside Pharmaceuticals had a significant announcement to make, they appointed Kerry to cover the story for his paper. He didn’t know why he was chosen as he had no background in medical anything. He assumed it was not a big enough story for the more senior reporters, and, being one of the junior reporters, he was just the one who drew the short straw.

When he got to the room, there were a lot of reporters and tv cameras there to cover the announcement. Huh, maybe there is more to this story than I thought. The place was standing room only. He finally found a seat off to the side and waited for things to start. Soon, a group of men in suits made their way to the front. A distinguished silver-haired man in a very nice suit stepped up to the microphone.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Charles Anderson. I am the CEO of Lightside Pharmaceuticals, and on behalf of Lightside Pharmaceutical’s executives and staff, I would like to welcome each and every one of you who are here and those watching on television. We are here today because of the hard work of very dedicated men and women who devote their lives to the pursuit of finding the most elusive of elements, that when combined properly, improve the lives of those people afflicted with maladies that can negatively affect or even bring an end to their lives. They tirelessly spend each day trying and failing, trying and failing until that day comes when they see the fruits of their labors come to fruition and lives are transformed.

As he continues, Kerry looks around the room and can see people fidgeting in their seats. While it probably is a good idea to praise the work of the people behind the scenes, that is not why these people are here. Eventually, it becomes apparent that the speaker is about to get to the subject they are all waiting for.

So, at this time, I would like to bring up our lead researcher, who will bring you up to date on a major breakthrough. Please welcome Dr. Drew Madison.

The audience applauds as Dr. Madison comes to the mic. He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a stack of three by five cards. Laying them on the podium in front of him, he begins.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you, Mr. Anderson. As you just heard, it is a great day when researchers like myself see success after many hours of failures. We don’t have the luxury of letting failures get in the way. We use them to determine what does and does not work. When we see a drug doing what we designed it to do, our hearts beat a little faster. From our perspective, there is nothing that can compare. As amazing as that is, it is a little sweeter when we know it will affect the lives of children. That is what we are here for today. There are some who might think that a disease that affects only four or five children out of 100,000 is not a cause for alarm. However, for those children with the disease and their families, I don’t think they can find any solace in that. Especially when the only outcome for those afflicted is an end to their lives. So, I’m sure you can see that if there is any way we can prevent that from happening, we want to find it.

You never know where the answer will come from or how it will reveal itself. There is a disease in some children in which waste products build up in their cells. This disrupts normal function and eventually leads to cell death. This presents in different ways such as loss of speech, eyesight, mobility and other functions. But the outcome has always been the same. Many of us in the research community have thought for a long time that the best hope for finding a cure lay in gene therapy. Specifically, in the form of enzyme replacement. We would inject a virus that would, in turn, inject a copy of the mutated gene into the cell, which would, in effect, heal the diseased cell. That is a very simplified explanation of a very complex process. We have put many hours and effort into this theory. However, no matter how close we came, cell deterioration continued. That is, until now. We can now say that we have seen diseased cells healed in lab tests. This is a major leap forward in the treatment of this disease and we wanted to share it with you today.

One reporter yells out, Does that mean you are ready to begin treating children?

Good question. We are still in the lab test stage. It will need to undergo many more tests before they could use it in actual cases.

Kerry shouts his question: What was the missing ingredient, and where did you find it?

The CEO steps up to the mic and covers it with his hand. The two men turn away and speak to one another. After a few seconds, the CEO takes his hand off the mic and steps away. The doctor looks at Kerry and says, We are still in the preliminary stages of testing this drug. It is the policy of the company not to divulge too much information until we are confident the drug works. This is for the safety of any patient suffering from the affliction.

Kerry knows that this is corporate speak for, We don’t want our competition to get their hands on the thing that will make us a fortune. The questions continue, but Kerry’s attention is no longer on what the suits have to say.

Friday could not come soon enough for Kerry. He double checks his equipment to be sure he has what he needs. A couple of pads for note taking, plenty of pens and pencils. Most importantly, the lapel mic and digital voice recorder. If this works out, these will be the tools which will capture the bulk of the interview. It is the only way to ensure that what is said is accurately duplicated on the page. It is important to Kerry that what he writes depicts the events as close to verbatim as possible. He also knows that Mr. Robertson doesn’t know just how important this story is to him. At some point, he may tell him. But first, he has to get the story.

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Friday finds T J pacing the floor. Ever since he decided to tell his story, he has been dealing with a certain amount of anxiety. The events of his life are not the thing that would give anyone the warm fuzzies. As a reminder, he reaches his right arm up over his head and winces. Some scars never completely heal.

He decides to make some coffee. As the coffee starts dripping, the doorbell rings. He gets two cups down from the cupboard and goes to the door. When he opens it, he sees the young man weighed down with bags, which T J assumes house the equipment they will be using.

Please, come in.

Thank you, sir. How are you today?

I’m well and yourself?

Excited would be the best description. I’ve been hoping for this day for quite a while.

Well, when we’re done, I hope you’re not disappointed.

I doubt that very much.

Kerry goes about unloading the bags. He attaches the lapel mic to T J’s shirt and turns it on. He turns on the digital voice recorder and asks T J to say something so he can test that it is working.

Would you like some coffee?

That will do it. It appears to be recording. Kerry gets his questions ready and grabs a pad and pencil. He takes a seat opposite T J. After taking a deep breath, he asks, Are you ready?

Ready as I’ll ever be. How about that coffee?

Oh, um, yeah sure. Thank you.

T J goes to the kitchen and pours coffee into both cups. Do you take anything in it?

Just black, thank you.

T J comes back into the room carrying the cups, being careful not to spill. He sets one down next to Kerry’s chair and the other next to where he is to sit. He then sits down and puts his hands in his lap. Not knowing how they would proceed, he looks at Kerry.

Kerry meets his gaze and smiles. OK, let’s get started. He hits the record button and asks his first question. Let’s begin with how and where this all started.

Alright. I should clarify that some things I will include I did not learn about until later. There was no way I could know about them at the time. But I will do my best to include them. You OK with that?

Yes, sir. I understand.

"Well. I guess you would have to go back to when Benj, that’s our son, Benjamin, we call him Benj, was a regular boy who loved to play outside. Trucks and army men were some of his favorite toys. He wasn’t hyper, but he was very active. Quite smart too. Although I guess most parents think that about their children. He sometimes made decisions that got him into trouble, but overall, he was not a troublesome child.

They say that life can turn on a moment. A word from someone can change the course of your life. A call from out of the blue with devastating consequences can send your world into a tailspin. I had heard these things my whole life, but I really didn’t give it much thought. That is, until it happened to us.

Chapter four

Janet is standing at the kitchen sink rinsing the breakfast dishes. She looks out the window just above the sink and can see her husband and her son playing football. It did her heart good to see them together, knowing that not every dad would take the time to do that.

Even when Benj was little, T J would play with him on the floor. Benj would giggle as his dad blew on