The Last Battle: Preparing for the Tribulation

By Darrell Johansen

What if God has a radically different approach for Christians to follow in preparation for the Tribulation? Unbelief and disobedience have left the church dead and powerless in a world that is rapidly spinning down to destruction. This book takes the reader on a trip on a new path that God provides for saving His people from the coming wrath.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798385021284

Darrell Johansen

After getting a Masters Degree in Computer Science, Darrell spent the next 40 years writing and debugging software for various government agencies and companies. Upon retirement, he spent the next two years in intensive study of the bible for 8 to 12 hours a day, every day. On December 16, 2006, Jesus took him on a tour of prophecy beginning with Daniel 12:11-13. This book is a result of what God revealed to him through visions and bible study.

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Copyright © 2024 Darrell Johansen.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2127-7 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-2128-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024905304

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/09/2024

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Preface

Chapter 1  Daniel Smith’s Story

Chapter 2  Elijah’s Story

Chapter 3  UBI #1 – The Flood

Chapter 4  UBI 2 – Preparation for Tribulation

Chapter 5  The Prophetic Word of God

Chapter 6  The Prophet

Chapter 7  Prison, Round 1

Chapter 8  Prison, Round 2

Chapter 9  Prison, Round 3

Chapter 10  The Second Olive Branch

Chapter 11  Hard Rock Seminary

Chapter 12  The Concept of Xanadu

Chapter 13  The Reunion

Chapter 14  CLAPP, Inc.

Chapter 15  The Discovery of the Colorado Research Cavern System

Chapter 16  The California Prison Facility

Chapter 17  Colorado Start-up

Chapter 18  The Exploration of the Tunnel from X2 to X1

Chapter 19  The Australian Adventure

Chapter 20  The Construction of the Xanadu Prison Facility

Chapter 21  Developing the Inferno

Chapter 22  The Construction of X1

Chapter 23  Entering the Inferno

Chapter 24  The Sea Labs

Chapter 25  The Eagle Squadron

Chapter 26  The Sahara - Serengeti Station

Chapter 27  The Sahara Solar Power Station

Chapter 28  Johnny goes Evangelizing

Chapter 29  Marjorie Begins to Interface

Chapter 30  School Lessons

Chapter 31  Israel’s Preparation for Tribulation

Chapter 32  The Return to Israel

Chapter 33  The Rescue

Chapter 34  The Building of the Other Facilities

Chapter 35  FAB in Space

Chapter 36  Space Operations

Chapter 37  The Tribulation Hits the Fan

Chapter 38  The European Common Union

Chapter 39  Mid Tribulation

Chapter 40  The Great Tribulation

Chapter 41  The Aftermath

Chapter 42  The Original Construction

Chapter 43  Post Script

AUTHOR’S NOTE

I started writing this book in 2008 when the Lord had me between a rock and a hard place. The Left Behind series was popular, but I was distressed by the inaccuracies it portrayed. So, I decided to write this book, also as a fictional story, but to inform the reader more accurately about what the Bible tells us is soon to happen during the Tribulation. This from the perspective of a person who was brought in from the outside, but became an instrumental part of the events portrayed. What if God has an entirely different approach to how He plans on keeping His people safe during the Tribulation? The story is based on visions seen by a number of people who are characters in the book. These people are still receiving visions daily, as God works with them to prepare them for the works of service He has chosen for them to fulfill. As you read this story, I pray that you will find it not only interesting, but also informative. It will become much more enlightening if you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you unto all truth, because as we were warned in 2nd Peter 2:1-3

¹But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ²Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. (KJV)

False prophets in the time of Jesus refused to believe that he was the Messiah, in spite of all of the miracles he did. False prophets today proclaim that the events of the tribulation will occur in a specific time sequence, which violates a number of scriptures related to those events, which I have attempted to set straight. Until Israel became a nation in 1948, the understanding of prophecy concerning end times was closed by God’s command to Daniel in Daniel 12:9. That seal was not removed until 1948, so any interpretation of end times events done prior to that time are suspect, as the Holy Spirit was not giving understanding before then.

The Bible is a single, whole, concise, and complete narrative of God’s intervention into human history, both in the past and in the future. Just one word taken out of context can corrupt an entire passage of text, as many false teachers have shown in today’s publications. Therefore, I have spent hundreds of hours researching all of the relevant prophecies concerning the end times sequence of events, and thanks to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I believe I have come up with a more realistic representation of what the tribulation will really be like.

The people in the book are based on the real people whom God has chosen to fulfill much of the prophetic scriptures concerning the end times. Names and locations have been changed to protect the innocent servants of God whom Satan has tried to destroy numerous times. Some of those occasions have been portrayed in this story.

The existence of Xanadu and its fantastic technology is at this point only a series of visions experienced over a period of 5 years by Andy, Alex and Timothy while in jail and prison. The advanced technology described herein was first described to Andy 30 years ago when he met Mark Harris in prison. The underlying purpose of this book is to open the reader’s mind to possibilities far beyond current understanding and expectation. God has been working to prepare his people. He can do anything, and everything is possible for him.

When God is ready to reveal the tribulation events portrayed here, Xanadu itself will become known, but only to those who choose to be saved by God’s mercy and grace, given to us as a free gift, through faith in Jesus, the Christ, who died to pay for our sins so that we might have life and have it abundantly.

I originally chose October 27, 2018, for the start of the tribulation because 2018 is 70 years from May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation. However, God is merciful, and has as of this update in 2023, postponed the start of tribulation until October 10, 2025. The headlines in today’s papers make it very clear that the end is very close, but it is up to God’s children to pray for God’s grace and mercy to be active to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh so that the world will see the real Jesus, and turn to Him before the start of Tribulation. However, God’s plans change based on the obedience or disobedience of his children, and if we prove disobedient, then the start of tribulation could be VERY soon. The evidence of the Church in America being asleep to the point that God’s judgment can no longer be delayed has become very real. For a people to elect as president a group of people that are controlled by demons is reprehensible, and worthy of God’s judgment.

Judah was sent to Babylon for 70 years as punishment for disobedience. Again that 70 year period of judgment is being applied to Israel, giving them time to reflect on their position. They know that they are the chosen people of God, but in their stubborn hardheadedness, first documented by Moses, then later by Isaiah, 2600 years ago, they continue to reject Jesus as their messiah. Thus, they will be forced to enter the tribulation as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 30:7

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (KJV)

October 10 plus 1260 days, which is mid-tribulation, ends up on March 23, 2029, seven days before the start of Passover, an appropriate time for the Antichrist to take over the temple system and proclaim himself to be the Messiah. The comet Apophis is due to pass near the Earth in 2029. God has other plans for that comet, which will be called Wormwood. The Great Tribulation then ends up with the death of the two witnesses on September 3, 2032. They are then resurrected 3½ days later, which is September 7, 2032, the last day of the feast of Trumpets, when the last trumpet is sounded. This all ends with Jesus returning to Earth on November 17, 2032, 75 days after the two witnesses are killed.

In addition, Jesus said in Matthew 24:34

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (KJV)

When Israel became a nation, the end times generation spoken of by Jesus was identified. We are that generation. Given that a biblical generation is 70 years; based on Psalm 90:10, Isaiah 23:15, and Jeremiah 25:11, 12; adding 70 to 1948 results in the date of 2018. Since we don’t know when Jesus will close this age of grace, and people who set dates of the end times get themselves in hot water with Jesus, I picked a date that seemed reasonable at the time, knowing that all of the events portrayed in the End Times is in Jesus’ hands, not ours. Since the original writing in 2005, further prophetic updates have moved the start of Tribulation to October 10, 2025, and could even be as soon as September, 2024. The reason for the September and October dates is due to the fact that God has chosen the festival dates of the nation Israel to use as the keys to major events in world history. Jesus’ first coming fulfilled the first four feasts, the tribulation and second coming will fulfill the other three. So we must always be on the watch – watchmen looking for the return of our King, because it could happen tomorrow! And woe to those who are not ready to receive their King! We do not know the date that God will fulfill his promises, but we certainly can know the seasons in which they will occur, and that time is now.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24:42:

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. (KJV)

He also told Amos in Amos, chapter 3:7

Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (KJV)

Since Jesus has his own time frame, which he has not yet revealed, the warning to us is to be ready right now for the tribulation to start, as it could happen at any moment. Once the tribulation starts, the time sequence is clearly documented, and so we will know the exact day of Jesus’ return after the first seal is opened. But that is yet in the future, and we have a lot of work to prepare for Jesus’ return.

I chose to have the two witnesses killed just before the feast of trumpets so that the 7th trumpet would sound on that day, because that is one of the dates that has been central to Jewish life since the Exodus, when God ordained the seven feasts of Israel. God has a sense of humor that is displayed in concert with how he arranges human events to demonstrate His glory. Just like Israel was taken out of Egypt 430 years to the day they entered Egypt, I believe that God is going to take his anointed into the Xanadu caverns 3456 years to the day from the day of the Exodus. God really does have fun with numbers!

God created the Earth, the universe, and everything in it in six days and rested on the seventh. Man was created on the sixth day, thus, six became the number of man. A thousand years are as a day to the Lord. It will be 6000 years from Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eden to the end of the Tribulation. Add the 1000 years of Jesus’ reign; you get 7000 years = 7 days, God’s work completed!

So, stay awake, be alert, and keep yourself open to God’s leading. I will see you there.

Additional note:

This book has been a work in progress since its start. It is now September 19, 2019, and the tribulation has not yet started. As Jesus told several of His prophets, 3½ years of Grace have been given to us because the faithful believers prayed and elected President Trump to office to restore America to its spiritual roots. Now that the period of grace is ending, we can expect the tribulation to start very soon. In the mean time, there will be severe punishment for the USA because of its abandonment of God’s truth and disobedience to His Word. Woe to those who continue living in disobedience. Prepare for severe persecution, as the Christians are blamed for the outpouring of God’s wrath upon the inhabitants of Earth.

Checkpoint, February, 2023. It is time for the church to wake up, or face the consequences. The angel army is on location to bring about the disasters prophesied by God’s prophets. Disobedience is evident by the complacency of the body of believers, and that will bring judgment. The Prince of this world has corrupted the educational system for the entire world, focusing on Seminaries because they will corrupt the teaching of the pastors that are produced by them. It is time to wake up and seek the Lord while He may be found. Soon, the Holy Spirit will back off, and allow the full corruption of Satan to flow. Those who are not fully immersed in the Holy Spirit presence will find themselves outside God’s protection plan, and that will be fatal. So, WAKE UP!

PREFACE

It has been three days since the fighting stopped. I have been scouting around the periphery of the devastation, in the Middle East, looking for survivors and clean water. All the lakes, rivers and ocean are dead. The ocean beaches are lined with the rotten, stinking, decayed corpses of what used to be sea life. The red tide swept the oceans then the lakes and rivers two and a half months ago, killing every living thing plant and animal, in the seas, lakes and rivers. The bowls of God’s wrath were poured out on the Earth to give the unrepentant sinners blood to drink in payment for the blood of the saints they had spilled over the centuries. The oceans were polluted and toxic from garbage, sewage and toxic waste being dumped into them, so when the four weather angels stopped the winds that kept the oceans freshened, the red tide went into overdrive, quickly sweeping the planet. With the red tide was another single celled plant that was more toxic than hydrochloric acid. Whatever skin surface it touched, it left third degree acid burns and poisoned the blood that came rushing to heal the wound. It was ten times more toxic than the Portuguese man of war. It grew so fast that it would cover a football field sized section of the ocean floor in less than an hour. When the red tide was triggered, the toxic algae’s growth speed quadrupled. As a result, all oxygen in the water was quickly consumed; killing fish, then the algae killed whatever was left.

My name is Daniel Smith, and I am now on my way back to my headquarters, located in a large hidden underground city in the center of Africa, as there are few survivors left in Iraq where I had gone to resupply my troops who were tasked with protecting the major oil wells in Iraq and Kuwait from the invading Chinese and Russian armies. Now I needed to return to base to begin the process of transferring the survivors from our city back to Israel, back home to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham’s children that they would inherit the land of Canaan, and never again be overrun by foreign armies. We are the Jews who fled Jerusalem and Israel when the Antichrist came to town with his false prophet three and a half years ago and set up the Image that causes desolation on the corner of our temple.

But this is the end of the real story which began eleven years earlier for two men who became the anointed prophets of God and made the survival of millions of people possible through this holocaust.

CHAPTER 1

Daniel Smith’s Story

I WAS APPROACHED BY Alex Snyder in April 2023, after services, at my synagogue in San Jose, California, and asked if I would come with him to lunch. He had a job that needed an expert to supervise and the job had special requirements that he felt I was best qualified to fulfill. When I agreed, he asked to have my wife and children come along as well, and that there would be a couple of others joining us. But first, where could we go to eat the next day, since today was the Sabbath, and we must spend the Sabbath at home with family. I suggested that he and his two friends come home with me today and eat our meager Sabbath meal with us as we always had extra for guests and would like to hear today about this project. I gave him my address and he made a phone call to give instruction to his two friends on how to get to our house and we all set off to my home. I am a supervising construction engineer, working for a large construction firm in San Jose that builds buildings, sky scrapers, fabrication plants, desalinization plants and sewage processing plants around the world. I am also a devout Jew and trace my lineage back to Nathan the prophet of King David. My hope is in God in whom I trust, and I pray daily for Jerusalem, and the coming of God’s Messiah. What this project entailed sounded mysterious, challenging, and for some reason, tempting beyond any prior project I had undertaken. I couldn’t wait to hear what Alex had to say.

We arrived at home and my wife, Rebecca, went off to the kitchen to start meal preparation while Alex and I kept the kids out of her hair and entertained them. Alex was very funny and kept the kids rolling in the floor. At one point he got down on his hands and knees, put my 5 year old son on his back and went around the room led by my 9 year old daughter quoting scriptures: Zechariah 9:9, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (KJV). Habakkuk 2:20, But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. (KJV) as and Marjorie and Johnny bowed down before me. Then Marjorie and Johnny leaped on Alex and began tickling him until he begged them to stop. Then Alex quoted Joel 2:28, 29, ²⁸And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: ²⁹ And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. (KJV) When he asked me if I had any unusual dreams lately, I suddenly remembered that a few days prior, Johnny had come to me and asked Daddy, where is Africa? I thought it had come from him watching the Discovery Channel on TV, but he wouldn’t say anything else. The next day, my daughter asked about kosher farms and asked if I knew where the one called Serengeti was located. I also remembered waking from a strange dream in which I was a bee in a bee hive and I was working on making honey comb for the hive. All of this struck in an instant as Alex asked the question. I was about to answer when the door-bell rang. At the door stood a distinguished looking black fellow, and an elderly man I could have sworn I knew, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of why or where I would have known him. Alex introduced his brother, Andy and the elder gentleman was introduced as John. We came into the living room and sat down just in time for my wife Rebecca, to come in and announce that lunch was ready. We sat around the table and asked the blessing, chatted over a light lunch of cold cuts, cheese, coffee and bread. All kosher and prepared yesterday of course in accordance with Jewish kosher law. When lunch was over, we adjourned to the living room and Alex began to describe the project he needed me to oversee. In Africa, under the Serengeti Savannah is a huge cave system that God needs us to build a kosher city and farm land to house 10 to 20 million Jews from Israel during the last half of the seventh week of Daniel, which was called Jacob’s trouble in Jeremiah 30:7. Alex described what was coming on the Earth and asked if I would drop everything, move to Africa, and head the project. A construction team was being assembled in Colorado Springs, and in six months, would be ready to make the move to Africa to start construction. If I could, I was needed immediately in Colorado to be filled in on all of the myriad details that were needed to be covered to bring me up to speed with the rest of the project members. I asked to be excused, sent the kids to their rooms to play and took Rebecca into the kitchen to talk about what we had just heard. There were no other details, just a request to consider the proposal at face value, and give Alex an answer as soon as I could. Rebecca wasn’t thrilled about leaving San Jose for who knew what kind of living conditions would be found in Africa. So she and I discussed the implications of what Alex had said about world catastrophe and Rebecca admitted that she had been having dreams about being in a bee hive, with the scent of lavender all around. We both felt the prompting by God to accept, even with our doubts, fears of the unknown and incomplete knowledge of what this construction job really entailed. Feeling guilty about leaving our guests unattended for over an hour (where did the time go?), we went back into the living room and accepted the assignment. Alex told us to put our house up for sale and pack up only essential items for the family as we would be flying to Colorado within a week. That posed a problem for me because I felt I should give my company at least a month notice before leaving. Alex suggested I call the Big Boss at my company and explain my situation to him and see what he says. I called the president of the company and asked to be relieved of my position in the company as I had been called to handle an emergency situation for Israel, and needed to leave right away. Amazingly, the boss said all had been taken care of. Your final check will be given to you Monday, when you come in to get your things, and God bless your new job. Now that was a real surprise! The president had a reputation of eating junior engineers for breakfast when they made the smallest mistake, and here I was leaving him in a major lurch with a half-finished building now without a lead engineer, and several other projects on the planning board, all requiring my expertise, and I didn’t know of anyone who could quickly replace me. I felt really bad about that. Sunday passed slowly, even though good games were on TV. I couldn’t get my mind off the commitment we had made to go to Africa. Monday morning I woke up even earlier than usual having not really slept that night in anticipation of what I would find at the office. I got to the office earlier than usual too so I could get my office packed up and loaded into my car before the rest of the office staff arrived and started asking questions I couldn’t answer. As I carried the last load to the car, the Big Boss, Jack McKennin, arrived and called me to join him in his office. Dreading what I was going to hear, I ambled into his office for an expected dressing down. However, he merely motioned for me to take a chair next to his conference table and he came over and sat down beside me. We talked for a few minutes about all the different projects I had been on for him, and then he asked about what I thought about the African project. I had to say that I knew next to nothing about it but I was going to go to Colorado Springs soon to find out more. He then told me I will enjoy the assignment, and to do my very best, as several million good people are going to be depending on its successful completion. When I raised my eyebrows at hearing that, he went on to say that he had suggested me to Alex several weeks ago at a meeting where he had been at discussing building a homeless shelter in San Jose, and where Alex was running the show. After the meeting, Alex had approached him to see if he knew any brilliant engineers who would be qualified to head a major construction project in Africa. Alex had gone over the basic details of upcoming events and the existence of several underground cities, but that the African one would be special as it was to be Jewish kosher and thus needed a Jewish engineer. Thus I became involved before I even dreamed about it existing. As it turned out, the Big Boss was a member of the largest Pentecostal Church in San Jose and had been hearing prophecies about strange events and stranger places for the past several months, so when he first met Alex, an instant bond developed and through that friendship was able to supply one of the critical needs for Alex’s project. About that time, the secretary knocked on the door and gave the boss and envelope, which he handed to me. In it was a check containing not only the salary due for the last two weeks, but an additional month’s salary and a $20,000 bonus! I couldn’t believe my eyes. The boss calmly explained that because of my integrity, hard work, knowledge, and acquired expertise, the company had been paid many times that bonus in savings and bonuses for jobs done on time and under budget. I didn’t know what to say. Thanking him, I started to leave, but he asked me to wait a minute while he made a phone call. I heard him say he’s ready and listened for another minute, said goodbye, then hung up. Then he told me to expect a crew this afternoon to pack up the house and to be ready to leave, as we would be flying out this evening. I again thanked him for all he had done for me and left, driving home on a cloud that made me feel better than I had ever felt before. But what was this mysterious city I was to build, and what was really going on?

While I was at work, my wife had checked Marjorie out of school and returned home in preparation for the job of packing up the house. We ate a light lunch and started to pack up the bookshelf in the den, when there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door, a group of 10 people, all wearing a blue blazer with a gold and white crest on it, were on the porch. When I asked what they wanted they informed me that they were the packing crew sent by Alex to pack up the house, and get ready for the moving van that would arrive just after dark this evening. They brought in boxes, wrapping paper, a couple funny looking dollies and hand trucks and asked where we would like them to begin. Assigning two to a room, they quickly went through the bedrooms, den, family room, kitchen, pantry and garage getting all boxed and organized. A Realtor came who had been sent by Alex, and Rebecca and I signed the papers to sell the house, and went back to work on the few remaining items to be packed. We finished at 5:30 pm, but had three more hours to wait until dark, so we all sat down and chatted over coffee and biscuits. I decided to make a requisition run to the local Kosher grocery store for dinner, and we sat down to the last hot meal in our house.

At 8:30 pm the doorbell rang. In the driveway was what looked like a large moving van, but there was something odd about it. The wheels were funny and the cab wasn’t shaped like any 18 wheeler cab I had ever seen. The back door to the van was open, and a ramp was ready to be extended into the garage door, as soon as it could be opened. When I opened the door, a ramp slid quietly out of the back of the van and set down half way across the garage. Now I could see why the van looked funny. Normally a van has a rear deck at four feet high to clear the rear wheels. This van only had two feet of clearance between the deck and the ground. Looking at the side, the deck should have been at four feet. From the back, it was clear that the entire trailer was resting on the ground, and the gap that was visible on the side didn’t really exist when looking from the back. A black curtain was hung from the sides of the van to the sides of the house, shielding all garage activity from outside view. Then the real bizarre activity began. The dollies and hand carts that looked so strange were strange for a reason. When items were set on the dollies, the dollies rose 6" off the ground and floated. With a simple push, the dolly contents floated across the floor and out the door to the garage where it was pushed up the ramp into the van. The heavy furniture was loaded first, with boxes filling gaps, and in the matter of an hour the whole house had been loaded into the van. The doors were closed and the driver pulled out of the driveway and started down the street. I got a brief glance as it passed a street light, and then it simply vanished!

The crew joined us in the garage for a final run through of the house, and we waited for the vehicle to transport us to the airport. We turned out all the lights. Shut and locked the doors, took the keys next door to the neighbor, who would give them to the real estate agent the next day and returned to wait. After a few minutes, I saw the air between us and the street shimmer, and then a door opened out of thin air. The packing team quickly entered the door and escorted us along with them. When the door closed, a soft glow filled a large cabin of what looked like a bus, but with comfortable chairs that would seat 30 people. This began our introduction to the secrets of Xanadu, technology that not even science fiction had imagined, but worked flawlessly and provided us with abilities we never thought possible. The bus was one of the latest invisible stealth craft that were being constructed for transporting people and equipment anywhere in the world. The reason the van looked funny is that the outside shell of the stealth craft projected whatever image the operator wanted outsiders to see while the inside could be totally different, thus the funny aspect of the van that just couldn’t quite match what the eye thought it was seeing. The bus wasn’t normal in another sense. It had no wheels, no visible engine, made no noise, and flew. And I don’t mean flew like a bus would fly. This Bus banked up at 60° and shot into the sky, breaking the sound barrier on its way into the stratosphere, so no noise was ever heard on the ground. The speed indicator on the pilots display screen, which was totally open and visible to all in the bus, indicated 2000 miles per hour and we had been in the air less than five minutes. Looking out, I had no idea where we were or what direction we were heading, as all was in darkness and there were too many stars visible to recognize constellations.

I asked the pilot, Where are we heading?

He motioned me to take the empty seat to his right and said, I will show you. First, pop open the panel next to your right knee, and take out the headband that is in that compartment. It is time for your flying lessons to begin. My name is Roger Williams, by the way. I am chief test pilot for Xanadu operations.

I had always wanted to learn to fly an air craft, but this bird had no wings, no stick, no steering yoke, no rudder/brake pedals, nothing but what appeared to be a 2 foot square touch panel on a slanted counter mounted across the front of the bus, and a three by six foot rectangular heads-up display where the window should be. The display showed radar image, infrared image, visual image, and a computer graphic of what should be visible. The touch panel allowed superimposition of one or all visuals on top of each other so that at all times one could see where we were going as if it were daytime. The reason no flight controls were visible was that the pilot wore a head band that sparkled with thousands of tiny jewels of every color of the rainbow. This head band allowed the pilot to control every aspect of the craft at the speed of thought. I put on the spare head band for use by the co-pilot when one was required.

Now, at the top left of the screen is a little box labeled Menu. Touch the screen on top of it, said Roger. Then scroll down to the bottom to get to the menu option for Training.

When I touched the panel, and pressed the button on the co-pilots touch panel, it brought up the master menu. Scrolling down to the bottom, the final menu item was labeled Training, so I pushed the button, and immediately felt like the world did a complete somersault. The feeling of vertigo was almost unbearable. The display screen started going through a series of math problems with multiple choice answers, as each problem was answered, the difficulty increased and the problem type varied. Going through calculus, the problems became more complex computational equations of orbital flight plans, reentry patterns, power mechanics, mechanical stress computations, and finally began flight control simulation using arrows on the touch panel to control direction, speed, angle of attack, skew, yaw, pitch, and flight path options. After going through a couple of touch and go’s, Roger suggested trying a touch and go without touching the touch panel. I was totally unaware of the headband by this time, and didn’t even think it was doing anything, until Roger told me to touch a yellow button with a red V way up on the top right corner of my touch screen. All of a sudden, I was seeing double. The head’s up display on the screen was also displaying in midair, but offset by a few millimeters left and up. A set of small arrows appeared under the V button, and Roger instructed me to adjust the floating pattern until it matched the heads up display exactly. After a minute or so of adjustments the floating screen seemed to disappear as it lined up perfectly with the heads up display. Now I started another, touch and go sequence, but this time, the touch panel I used existed only in my mind. The ease at which I could control the craft was so stimulating, that after a half dozen runs, I could take off, accelerate to 6000 mph by the time I reached an orbital flight path, circle the Earth and land again with such precision and speed that not even rockets could keep up with the craft. The hour flight seemed like just a couple of minutes, so engaging were the flight controls. I was about to return to my seat next to Rebecca when the pilot motioned for me to keep my seat, and watch.

He touched a virtual button on his touch panel, and instantly, I was linked to the real flight controls of our aircraft. All aircraft have pre-programmed flight control data recorded for each entry gate, so all I had to do was sit back and watch as the pilot and I got verbal position data to match the visual displays that were constantly updating on the heads up display. I also realized that neither the pilot nor I had spoken a single word out loud for the last 10 minutes, but we had been chatting non-stop since I had joined the active pilot display. The pilot introduced me to the voice that was now in control of the final approach to the Colorado Research Center, X2.

Daniel, meet Maximilian, our environmental control computer, who we call Max for short.

Nice to meet you Max, I beamed through the headband.

I will be meeting you in person after your introductions to staff are done. Alex will give you a tour of the facilities, which includes a visit to my sanctuary, replied Max.

We had arrived at the start of the greatest adventure of our lives that we would ever make.

How were we able to travel thousands of miles per hour and make no sound? I asked Roger. His answer surprised me.

The force fields that surround this ship act along with the gravity drive field. As the gravity field is increased in strength in a particular direction, the force field acts like an air compressor, pulling the air molecules from in front of the ship, compressing them around the ship, and subsequently releasing them behind. When released, there is a damper field that absorbs the kinetic energy caused by the compression so that there is little molecular movement left by the time the air molecules leave the force field. In a way it is like doing the breast stroke in water. You scoop water in front and push it behind you and as a result, you move forward. Only in this case the ship is in effect falling forward, as that is the effect of the gravity drive. The air movement just aids in propulsion in the atmosphere. If you could see what is happening, it would look like the ship has a very long nose cone, and a very fat and fluffy rear end, Roger replied.

Before I could even ask the question, Roger said, The head band is a very sensitive electrical activity sensor. It has thousands of sensors that are focused on reading specific areas of brain activity. Like the EKG sensors which are large and crude, but unlike them, as these are microscopic, and are able to focus down to individual neuron activity. When you started the demo mode, the computer started recording your brainwave activity. The designers of the system had developed a very sophisticated encryption system which turned out to act very much like what the brain did normally to store information. Thus, by reversing the encryption algorithms on brain wave activity, they were able to turn the electrical pulses back into visual images, and match motor movement and all the other senses. Then by feeding encrypted data back into the brain by high frequency radio waves that stimulate neuron activity, the head band is able to feed information directly to the appropriate neural cluster to replicate vision, hearing, feeling (tactile), smelling, and so forth. Thus the training sequence you went through was a learning mode for the computer to be able to gather enough brain wave activity along with the associated hand movements, eye movements, vision images, and thought processes to be able to decode your internal encryption algorithm and enable the computer to read your mind in every sense of the word. That is also why you felt a deep sense of vertigo when you touched the red v button. That turned on the feed-back circuits, enabling the computer to begin talking back to your brain directly. The cursor movement to align the memory induced heads up display with the actual HUD, was the final confirmation to the computer that all was working correctly from your perspective. Now that you have locked in the operation of this ship, you have qualified yourself to operate any vehicle in Xanadu.

As we had come down into this beautiful little valley in the Colorado Rockies, a large section of rock had slid out and moved sideways to reveal a large tunnel that we flew into, and on to a large cavern where we landed. Activity was going on all around us. There was a two person reception committee waiting for my family and I to take us to our quarters. The lead person, Susan, who had helped pack up our household goods, went along to find out what essentials were needed out of the things packed in the van. We hopped in a smaller version of the bus and raced off down a tunnel that spiraled down, down, down, past another large cavern, also full of activity and then even further down. After going through a series of large caverns we came to a cavern that had been completely filled with, what could be seen, appeared to be a single large structure. At the center there was a crossroad and we turned right down a short tunnel to the entry lobby of the building. This turned out to be the living quarters, and we were escorted to a two bedroom suite. Our escort apologized for the small apartment but said that space was at a premium right now, until larger housing units were completed in the main Xanadu system, X1. This cave system was called X2 and was primarily a research and warehouse complex. But the research and manufacturing facilities were not yet to the point where mass construction could begin, nor were suitable quarters ready yet in X1. He estimated that it would be another couple of months before a significant number of people could be relocated to X1.

Now that Rebecca and I had seen our quarters we could tell the moving crew exactly which boxes and furniture we would need while we were here, and having done so were told that the rest would be put in storage in X1 until we were ready to transfer to X4. X4? Oh, yes. Africa. But what or where was X3, if there was one, and were there others? Like X5, X6, etc.? Our guide said that all questions would be answered at orientation which would begin in an hour. He said that they would return in an hour to show us the way. By this time the kids had crashed and were sound asleep on the floor, with our jackets as blankets. The quarters were unfurnished, so we sat on the floor, wondering what we had done. An hour later, now 2:00 am mountain time, our escort team arrived, and minutes later the moving crew started bringing in our furniture and clothing boxes. One of the crew, Susan, said she would watch the kids for us, and we went to start our orientation. We traveled through a tunnel to the next cavern, which contained a building simply labeled HQ, We got out of the taxi and followed our guides into the building, where we were taken to a small conference room in which Alex, John, and several other people were seated around the table. The coffee pot was on a counter to the left, and so after grabbing a cup, we joined the rest at the table.

Alex began introducing the people around the table; Andy Jones his brother, John who we had met before, Mark Harris, the person responsible for the invisible stealth craft, Mike Rodgers, chief architectural engineer for Xanadu housing construction, and Paul Benson, the software guru.

Once introductions were done, Alex got down to business. He explained about the collapse of the center of our galaxy of the stars into a massive black hole and how the shock-wave was due to hit us on Rosh Hashanna. This gave us a little more than two years to build housing, set up farms, harvest crops and in general get ready to house and feed 450+ million people in a sealed underground cavern system for 7 years. This was a real surprise! I had read Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the other prophets who had talked about the Day of the Lord but this was not what I expected. Alex explained that the 70th week of Daniel had not been completed. That the last day of that week of years, was the actual Day of the Lord, and that before that day, it would be Hell on Earth literally, as God’s judgment upon sinners would be poured out on Earth’s inhabitants in the form of earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal waves, plagues, armies destroying everything in their path, and Satan himself, trapped on Earth raging against all humanity, destroying all he could touch because everything on Earth pointed to God and declared His final judgment.

This was exciting. Not the time of Jacob’s trouble but the fact that Messiah was coming! Our family had been waiting for the Messiah for as long as we could trace our lineage. We even set an extra place for Elijah at the Passover Seder every year! Then came the biggest shock of my life. John stood up, came around the table, shook my hand, thanking me for coming and joining the gang, then he said, I would like to give you my real name. I am Elijah.

I nearly fainted. Elijah? The prophet of first and second Kings?

Yes, one and the same. I have been in heaven watching for the last 2865 years, waiting to come and prepare my people for the coming storm that is rapidly approaching. You, my friend, are to be a key factor in the success of my mission. Sit back, listen to what Alex and Andy have to say, and prepare for the challenges that are to come. I know it is late, but time is of the essence, and I only have a brief period of time to spend with you to help prepare you for your mission. With that he sat back down and Alex took over, explaining everything about the existence of Xanadu and how Rebecca and I fit into the grand scheme of things.

An hour later, I could barely stay awake, so Alex sent us back to our quarters to get some sleep. After breakfast we would continue orientation and get down to the actual construction details of the Kosher City in X4. Back at our apartment we found everything had been moved in, unpacked and set up for us to use, just as if we had done it ourselves. We were too tired to even think about anything else but sleep, so we crashed into bed and were instantly asleep.

Six hours later I was awakened by a voice coming from somewhere, where I couldn’t tell, but kept calling Daniel, please wake up, it is time for breakfast.

I finally looked around the room and saw my laptop, sitting on the dresser, turned on and connected to a wall jack through the network port. I said can you hear me?

Paul from last night said yes, I have taken the liberty to adjust your laptop’s operating system to enhance it with a few new features. Leave it connected here in your apartment. It will act as telephone and message center for you and your family. I will have an XT1 version laptop for you when you get here. In the mean-time, Roger and Susan will come to take you to breakfast in a half hour, after which Roger will bring you here again and Susan will keep Rebecca and the children company while you are gone. See you soon!" and he hung up.

Welcome to Xanadu! We rushed to get showers and dressed, then got the children up and dressed, just as the door chimed to announce Roger and Susan’s arrival.

Breakfast was in what looked like a huge restaurant located just behind the entrance lobby in the southwest corner of the building. On the wall were large screens that showed images of the valley outside, as well as images from around the world. Roger explained that the restaurant operated round the clock as X2 was a 24 hour operation, so there were always hungry people to feed. The menu looked like any other restaurant menu, but had hundreds of selections for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There were six sided stars in front of many of the items, and the caption at the bottom of each page indicated that these were Jewish Kosher foods prepared by Jewish chefs. What a surprise! I had learned to relax my strict orthodox eating habits through years of living in foreign countries, but this was a real surprise and a genuine pleasure to be able to order high quality kosher food. And was it good. Not even ‘nana’ could cook like these chefs! I chose smoked salmon, cheese, bagels, eggs, and coffee. Rebecca chose chicken almandine, coffee and shared my bagels. The kids had scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, toast, and cocoa. They were in seventh heaven! After breakfast, we returned to the room, brushed our teeth and Roger and I left to begin the real introduction to Xanadu.

This time Mike led off, explaining the construction of modular cube housing structures to contain the living quarters we would be building. They would be constructed using Bucky-Silicon panels. Next, he expounded on the theory behind air exchange hydroponics, sewage systems, water and power supplies, and all the other details of housing construction. Andy talked about the homeless housing and low income apartment complexes that he and Alex had started in Oakland and that I had heard about but was never involved in. Paul explained the operation of the display panels that were in every room of the X2 living quarters, and would be in all the buildings throughout all of the Xanadu complexes. These panels were computer interfaces that were voice activated so no keypad was necessary. Although some-what limited in function, they were also communication devices which would replace telephones and televisions in the future. Studios would provide news broadcasts, feature programming as well as sports broadcasts of intramural sports and other events of Xanadu life. He gave me a new laptop which was not only so thin I was afraid I’d break it, it was transparent, had no data screen, no visible drives, only a maze of circuitry with pinpoints of different colored jewels sprinkled like sand on the seashore. When I started to ask