“Mother!”
Deborah felt somebody pushing her sideways in bed.
“Wake up!”
“Achiya, I don’t have to wake up yet”
“Today is the day we meet father! Wake up!”
Deborah turned over and stared at her son. He looked so much like his father. He had dark hair, dark eyes. I can’t believe he is 4 years old already
He was already fully dressed in the best cotton robe the replicator could make, with almost real leather sandals, a belt, a scabbard, and his real wooden sword, courtesy of his friend, Walter. She got out of bed.
“We still have several hours to wait”
“Can’t we go now?”
“We have to wait. You are a big boy and you should be patient”
They materialized on the road about 300 meters from Ramah. The sky in the east was glowing orange, but the sun was still below the horizon.
“Achiya, how do you feel?”
“I feel fine”
Achiya looked around. He had never been outdoors before.
“Look, mother, it’s a cow”
“Yes - is that a cow or a bull?”
“It’s a cow”
“Good”
Look, up in the tree, it’s a bird”
“Good”
Achiya was running now. Deborah had to run to keep up with him. Maybe I was worried about the gravity for nothing. Then he tripped over something and fell to the ground. He started to cry.
“Achiya! What’s wrong?”
“I fell and hurt my knee”
“I saw that. That is a big hurt”
It’s just a minor abrasion. I hope.
“Do you want me to kiss it and make it better? “
“Yes”
She kissed his knee. “There! All better”
Achiya got to his feet again.
“Let’s walk. There is so much to see, you would not want to miss anything”
They came to Amech and Alisa’s house. The booth that Lapidot built was still in the far corner of the field. It was amazing how little things had changed in 6 years.
“This is your grandfather’s house”
“Let’s go meet grandfather and grandmother”
They walked to the door.
“Hello?”, Deborah called.
“Hello!”, Achiya called.
Amech appeared at the door.
“Deborah?”, He looked at her with amazement in his eyes. “Deborah? Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story. I will tell it to you when Lapidot and Alisa are here. I am so happy to see you. It’s been 6 long and lonely years. I want you to meet somebody.”
She shoved Achiya in front of her.
“Amech, I want you to meet your grandson, Achiya. Achiya, meet your grandfather Amech.”
“Hello, grandfather Amech”
“Hello, Achiya. What do you have here?”, he indicated the scabbard.
Achiya pulled out his wooden sword.
“I have a sword. I am going to fight King Jabin!”
“Where is Lapidot? Where is Alisa?”
“Lapidot should be here soon. Alisa....”, he sat down. “Alisa... Alisa was carried off by King Jabin’s soldiers”
“When?”
“10 days ago.”
Lapidot appeared.
“LAPIDOT!”, Deborah yelled. She ran to him, and embraced him in a big bear hug. “Lapidot, Lapidot, I have so missed you.”
“Deborah, I have missed you, too. Where have you been? It’s been six years”
“I will tell you in a moment. But first, I want you to meet somebody. Lapidot, I want you to meet your son Achiya. Achiya, this is your father”
“This is my son?”
“On our wedding night, I got a call from the heavens. I was called to fight a war in heaven. You see the stars at night? I went to one of those stars. It was very far away. On our wedding night, you planted your seed in my womb. 9 months later, I had a baby boy. I was so far away, that it took 6 years for me to come home. Achiya grew and grew, and now look how big he is!”
“I have a sword”, Achiya waved his sword ominously.
“Are you going to look for your grandmother?”, Lapidot asked.
“I’m going to fight the evil King Jabin!”
“And so am I”, Deborah said. Deborah turned and walked away.
“Deborah?”, Lapidot called.
“I will be back. I want to talk to God”
She walked until she was about 50 meters away from the house. Then she took out her medallion, and pressed the button.
“Yes”, Adelle answered.
“Locate the medallion that I gave to Alisa”
“It is in the northern Galilee Latitude 33.02 degrees North Longitude 35.57 degrees East Latitude. About 129 kilometers, bearing 14.07 degrees from your position. WORK THIS OUT IN DETAIL. WHERE IS RAMAH. http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0704.htm Ramah is associated with A-ram, 31°51′12.35″N 35°14′00.12″E 31.85°N 35.22°E Bethel is identified with Beitel, 31°55′42″N 35°14′18″E 31.93°N 35.24° E WHERE IS HAZOR? 33°1′0″N 35°34′1″E 33.02°N 35.57° E Convert degrees, minutes, seconds to decimal degrees. The Palm of Deborah is at 31.89°N 35.23°E Distance between two points on the earth.
“Is she wearing it?”
“Somebody is wearing it. I am detecting a heartbeat and skin temperature is 37 ℃”
“How many people are within 50 meters of her?”
“It is hard to be precise. At least 80 people”
“Deborah, this is Walter. Are you thinking about rescuing one person with the transporter?”
“Yes”
“I want you to think about it. You were kidnapped 7 years ago by King Jabin’s soldiers. Now Alisa has been kidnapped. I’ll bet a lot of Hebrew women have been kidnapped. You don’t have the luxury of thinking about one person. You have to think about your whole country”
“Since when did you get all ethical on me?”
“For the past few years, I’ve been watching you. You are a good role model, and it’s rubbed off on me.”
Are there alternatives? I assume that all 80 people are prisoners. Is that a valid assumption? Maybe I should transport there and find out for myself. On the other hand, I’ve married Lapidot, maybe it’s time for a little rumble. This is my mother-in-law, after all.
“Walter, what if the two of us transported there, and freed all of the prisoners?”
“We could do that”
“We could do that. I’ve had practice with covert operations”
“I’ve always wanted to try my hand at being a ninja”
“What’s a ninja?” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja
“A ninja is an almost mythical Japanese warrior. He carried a long, relatively thin sword. He was generally employed as an assassin. His main strength was stealth”.
“You’re thinking about sneaking in there, freeing the prisoners covertly, and then sneaking out again?”
“Something like that”.
“Alright. Am I within transporter range?”
“Not for another 40 minutes”
“Okay. I am going to talk to my husband, and then I will get out of sight, and then you can beam me up. Then we will do some detailed planning. Do you think we can do it today?”
“Perhaps tonight. The sun isn’t going to set for another 13 hours anyway. I’ll work out a mission plan. I assume we want minimal enemy casualties?”
“I don’t care about enemy casualties. I want to make sure we get every prisoner safely”
“Alright. I will see you in about 40 minutes”
“Sounds like a plan”
“Deborah, out”
“Walter, out”
Deborah walked back to where Lapidot and Achiya were standing.
“Were you talking to God?”, Lapidot asked.
“Yes”
“You just talk to him and he answers you?”
“Yes”
“What does he say?”
“He says that I am to get Alisa back. This may take a few days. Would you watch Achiya for me while I am gone?”
“Yes”
“Then you will come back to me?”
“Lapidot... I love you. I didn’t ask to be a prophetess. But I am one, and that means that I have to do things. I have to go save your mother.”
“Why can’t God just do it? And why is God sending a woman?”
“When God talks to me, I generally do what God says.”
“Abraham argued with God when God was about to destroy Sodom and Gemorah”
“Abraham did not argue with God when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. I don’t argue with God, unless God was going to do something terrible”
“Is God going to destroy Hazor?”
“He didn’t say. I am certainly not planning on it. I am going to go in there, get Alisa and any other Israelite women to safety, and then get out. I am going to try not to kill anybody. I am not going to get killed. I will come back to you because I love you.”
“I forbid you to go”
“Lapidot, I know you are my husband, and I know that it is up to you to say that, but I have a duty to my country that I cannot ignore. I am telling you that I am going to rescue your mother because God told me to.”
Lapidot reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. “I am your husband. You tell God to send somebody else. You already fought one war for him, and you were gone for 6 years! I’ve had enough of this”
Deborah spoke very quietly: “Lapidot - I am going to tell you this once, and only once. I am a very powerful woman, and I am more powerful than you are. You will let go of me now, and you will never force me to do anything ever again. Do you understand?”
“I am your husband, I can do as I please with you”
“Do not say that, or else”
“Or else what?”
Lapidot found himself laying on the ground, staring at the sky and his wife.
“In addition to being a prophetess and a judge, I am also a warrior. I am your wife, and I love you very much. I do not want to fight with you, but I will if I have to, and if I have to then I will win. Please understand that I have a duty to our people, and that includes making war on our enemies. With God’s help, I will defeat King Jabin and insure the safety of our people. Then I will be judge for 40 years, and we will live in peace. I will bear you many children, if that’s what you want, and they will grow to be strong. You must let me do this. Do we have an agreement?”
“How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Drop me on the ground like that?”
“I will teach you that sometime. Right now, I have hostages to rescue. Do we have an agreement?”
“Yes”
“Alright”. Deborah got off of Lapidot. Then she extended a hand to him, and pulled him back to his feet. She walked behind him, and beat the back of his clothes. “You’re all dusty back there. When I get back, I will wash your clothes. I have to go now”. She kissed him, and turned away, walked down the road.
Deborah had gone about 300 meters when her medallion beeped.
“This is Deborah”
“This is Walter. We’re in transporter range. However, you aren’t alone. There is somebody about 25 meters northwest of you, pacing you.”
“Stand by”
Deborah put away her medallion and sprinted northwest, through the field. There, she found her husband, crouched down and trying hard to stay invisible.
“Lapidot”
“Deborah”
“You’re supposed to be watching Achiya.”
“My father is playing with Achiya. Where are you going?”
Deborah sighed.
“Lapidot. I am going to trust you. Do you promise to tell nobody where you are about to go or what you are going to see?”
“I promise”
“Okay. Close your eyes”
Lapidot closed his eyes. Deborah got her medallion, pressed the button.
“Adelle”
“yes”
“Two to beam up”
And they were gone.
“Lapidot, you can open your eyes now”
“Where are we?”
“We’re in heaven”
“Are we dead?”
“Of course not. Come along with me”
Deborah took his hand. They walked out of the transporter room and went to the flight deck. Lapidot was looking every which way. Straight lines. A flat ceiling. The low gravity. The artificial light. Doors that opened automatically. The rush of air from the ventilators. Deborah sat in her chair, worked the controls, and opened a window on the monitor.
“That’s Ramah, as seen from heaven. There is your house. You can see the road to the north, and the road to the south. I can make the view bigger” - she adjusted some controls - “There is the Sea of Chinnereth, there is the Great Sea, there is the Salt Sea.”
Walter came in.
“I thought you weren’t going to show anybody anything about what we really do up here”, he said in English.
Deborah replied in English: “Well, I am having troubles making him understand what I am doing. He is so concerned about my safety that he actually tried to force me to stay in Ramah. Then he surreptitiously followed me down the road. So I decided that it was too hard for me to keep the secret from my husband, so I decided to show him my timeship. I will keep him here for one orbit and then send him back down. We have nothing so urgent that it can’t wait a couple of hours, do we?”
“Well, I have an attack plan, but it is really very simple, and I suppose it can wait a couple of hours”
“Okay, then we will be in my quarters”. She switched back to hebrew. “Come with me, beloved, it’s been 6 years and I’ve missed you”. She took his hand, and he docilely followed her.
Deborah and Lapidot emerged from her quarters. Deborah was wearing a jumpsuit. Lapidot felt the fabric. He had never seen anything so brilliantly blue, had never seen a zipper, or a button, or a pocket, and had never felt fireproof fabric. The tailoring really showed off her figure. He had never actually seen a naked woman before - one of the many advantages of artificial light is that you can see when it is dark outside.
“Beloved, I am sending you back to Ramah now. I am going to stay here, and learn from Walter how to rescue your mother.”
“Does he command you?”
“No, I command him. However, he is very wise, and when he has good ideas, I follow them. When you have good ideas, I will follow you. This time, I have better ideas, so you go to Ramah.”
She took him by the hand and led him to the transporter room. They walked onto the platform. They embraced. She kissed him on the cheek. Then she walked to the controls.
“Good bye, my beloved. Remember, you must not tell anybody about this. It will be our secret, forever.”
“I will remember. Nobody will believe me anyway”
“I will be back to you in a few days”
Deborah worked the controls, and he was gone.
“Deborah, please come to the gymnasium.”
“On my way”
Deborah got to the gymnasium, and saw a man dressed in black from head to toe, in a tight fitting garment. A piece of fabric covered his mouth and nose, and he wore black make-up around his eyes. Just behind his right shoulder was what looked like the handle of a sword. Deborah saw the tip of the sword in its scabbard on the left side of his waist.
“Walter, what are you doing?”
“I am wearing the costume of a Ninja. Very low visibility. In a dark room, with dark vision goggles, I am invisible.”
“When I did my covert mission, you said I couldn’t wear pants”
“I changed my mind. If we’re not going to be seen, then it doesn’t matter what we wear”
“Are you really going to carry a sword and not a laser pistol?”
Walter pulled out the sword.
“Well, the sword is for dramatic effect. Do you like it? It’s a Japanese design, made of the finest steel alloys the 24th century could make. I thought that if the enemy was defeated by a weapon that he understood, then the mission could be more covert.”
“I’ll take a laser pistol”.
“I made a costume for you. It’s on a hanger in your closet. There is also some dark make-up in your drawer”
“I was wondering what that was”
“Go try it on”
Deborah left the gym, walked to her quarters, and changed into the ninja costume. She found the dark make-up, and applied to her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She checked herself in the mirror. Nobody can see me now. She went back to the gym.
“How do I look?”, she asked Walter.
“Scary as hell”
“So, what’s the plan?”
Walter went to a monitor on the wall of the gym, worked the controls. The map of a city appeared.
“Your mother-in-law is here. There are 87 people around her. I don’t know how many are prisoners and how many are guards. We wait for local sun down, beam in, put medallions on every prisoner, kill every guard, and then the women are transported up here to the training room where I built that village. Then we tell each woman that she has been rescued by God, find out where she lives, and beam her down someplace near her home.”
“I worry about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”
“In this time and place, everybody suffers from PTSD”
“Okay, Walter, we will try it”
The terminator is the line (actually, a circle) that separates day and night. The terminator was just passing through the middle east while they ate a light dinner: steak and eggs, distilled water, and watermelon for dessert. Deborah tested her sword on her cloth napkin: it sliced it easily. They went back to the gym. Walter showed her some ancient movies of Ninjas. Walter had replicated some dummies out of foam, and Deborah practiced killing them by decapitation.
“Remarkably effective weapon”, she said. However, she had troubles getting the sword back in its scabbard, which was behind her back. Walter giggled at first, and then wilted under a vicious glare. He helped the sword back into place.
They beamed down directly into the room where the medallion was. The room was dimly lit with torches. There were many women there, all dressed in sheer clothing.
Walter found the entrance, which was protected by a curtain.
“Quiet!”, Deborah whispered in a stage whisper. She pulled out medallions from a bag and started putting them around the necks of the women. After she placed a medallion, she pushed the button and Adelle beamed them up.
“Who are you?”, one of the women asked.
“I am Deborah, daughter of Sarah, Judge of Israel.
“Deborah!”
“Alisa?”
“Yes. I knew you would come for me”
“Stand over there by the door, next to the man dressed in black”
Alisa ran over to the entrance and crouched behind Walter.
“Are you Alisa”? Walter asked.
“Yes. Who are you?”
“I’m Walter. We met at Deborah’s and Lapidot’s wedding”
“I don’t recognize you”
“I’m wearing black”
“They knew me”
“Alright - we’ll talk about it before we take you back to Ramah”
Finally, the women were all gone, except Alisa.
“How many did we beam up?”, Walter asked.
“I didn’t count them”, Deborah said, “I was too excited”
Walter grabbed his medallion and pushed the button.
“Adelle”,
“yes”
“How many women did we beam up?”
“48”
“So that means we have to find the other 38 women and get them out?”
“Yes”
“Deborah - we have to find 37 women”
“That’s why I pulled Alisa out of the crowd. We need somebody we can trust who knows the area. Alisa: do you know where the rest of the women are?”
“I think they are near the Temple”
“Can you take us there?”
“Yes”
“Alright. You go first, and we will be behind you”
“Why?”
“In case somebody sees you, we will kill him from behind”
They set off. Alisa had no idea how to move stealthily. Walter, of course, had studied the art extensively and was adept at keeping out of sight. Deborah was not so good at it. Alisa walked directly into a guard, armed with a sword.
“What are you doing out of the harem?”, he demanded.
Alisa didn’t say a word. Then the guard spotted Deborah. He pushed Alisa to one side - obviously, he did not consider her to be a threat. “Who are you?”
“I am the woman who has come to kill you”, Deborah responded.
“Woman, prepare to die”, the guard said, and he raised his sword.
Deborah pulled out her sword, and, showing off, twirled it around in her hands, trying to look like the ninja warriors she had seen in the movies. The guard stepped back, startled. It was obviously a sword, but he’d never seen anything like it. Then Deborah had troubles with her hand work, and dropped the sword on the ground. I am going to die. The guard smiled at her, raised his sword, stepped closer, and then dropped his sword. His hands went to the side of his abdomen, and came back covered with blood. He fell to his knees, and then he fell flat on his face. Walter stood behind him.
“I think maybe you ought to use the laser pistol”, Walter told her, in English.
“Alisa, are you alright?”, Deborah asked.
“Is he dead?”
“Yes”
“What are you going to do with his body?”, She asked her.
“Uh, Walter..... what are we going to do with the body? If somebody finds him, they will sound the alarm and that will be the end of our stealth mission”, Deborah said, in English.
“Deborah, you are the commanding officer, I defer to your judgement”
“I’ve never disposed of a body before. How do you do it?”
“I’ve never disposed of a body either. In most of the wars I’ve studied, they buried them”
“We don’t have time for that”
“I know”
“Then why did you say that?”
“I am trying to impress my commanding officer with my creative thinking abilities”
“You’re not succeeding”
“Why don’t we have Adelle beam up the body?”
“That’s a good idea” Deborah pressed the button on her medallion.
“Adelle”
“Yes”
“There is a body laying on the ground at my feet. Beam it into the Mediterranean sea.
“I can’t do that - you’re out of transporter range”
“Okay, thank you”
“What are you saying?”, Alisa demanded.
“I will tell you later”, Deborah said, in Hebrew.
“Walter - do you see the dark area over there?”, she pointed.
“Yes”
“Let’s carried the body there and put him in the seated position. Then hopefully anybody who sees him will assume that he is asleep or drunk and leave him alone long enough for us to get away”
“That will work”
“Alisa, grab an arm. I’ll grab the other arm. Walter, you carry his feet”. The three of them lifted the body and carried it to a wall. They set it down and propped it up so it appeared to be sitting.
“Somebody’s coming!”, Alisa whispered.
“Get down on the ground”, Deborah whispered back. Alisa laid down on the ground, and then Deborah laid on top of her, hiding her with her black ninja costume. Walter crept farther into the shadow. Two guards came by, and didn’t notice anything.
They heard a woman screaming. Walter and Deborah ran towards the scream, leaving Alisa behind.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know - listen!”
They heard another scream. It seemed to come from above them. They found a staircase, ran up it. When they got to the roof of the building, they found 3 men and a woman. Two of the men were holding the woman down, while the third man was raping her. Walter and Deborah looked at each other. Deborah pointed to the left. Walter nodded, moved towards the left man. Deborah moved towards the right man. Deborah and Walter stabbed their targets simultaneously through their backs. The third man backed out, still not quite seeing what had happened. Deborah tried to pull her sword out of her victim’s body, but it was stuck on something. After about 10 seconds, she gave up, pulled out her laser pistol, and shot the third man.
“How do you feel?”, Walter asked.
“I wanted him to die slowly, but I wanted him to die and my sword is stuck. I didn’t want him to get away”
She managed to pull out her sword.
“I’ve killed 11 men now”
“I’ve killed 2”
“It’s getting easier to kill. My conscience ought to be bothering me, and it isn’t”
Deborah turned to the woman.
“Are you alright?”
“They were going to kill me! What will my husband think when I get home?”
“I know they were going to kill you, which is why I killed them. We will talk about your husband later, right now, I have to get you out of here”
“Who are you?”
“I am Deborah, daughter of Sarah, judge of Israel”
“Take me with you”
“I can do something better”, Deborah said, taking a medallion out of her sack. “I am going to send you to heaven. When I am finished here, I will join you there. We can talk, and then I will send you back to your husband, who will not know what happened. Do you agree?”
“Yes”
Deborah put the medallion around the woman’s neck, pushed the button, and the woman was gone.
Walter and Deborah walked down the stairs, quietly. Alisa was there, waiting for them.
“We have to find 36 women. At the rate we’re going, it will take all night and we will have to kill every soldier in Hazor”, Deborah said, in English.
“Are we running into the law of diminishing returns?”, Walter said, in English.
“What are you saying?”, Alisa asked.
“It’s a secret”, Deborah told her.
“How married are you to the concept of a stealthy mission?”, Walter asked her.
“Do you have an idea?”
“Well, I think it starts at the top. I’ll bet that King Jabin has taken some of the women in to his personal harem. We wake up the king, threaten to kill him if he doesn’t return the women”
“He can’t just return the women. They’ve been raped, and in many cases, they were virgins. That’s important. We have to get the women to the timeship for treatment and counseling.”
“That’s not important”
“Walter, you male chauvinist. You are going to have to change your attitude towards my gender if you want to be rehabilitated”
“What did I say?”
“You said that treatment and counseling were not important. These are civilians, and they are fragile”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Now, do we fight our way to the king’s chambers and threaten to kill him if he doesn’t free the women?”
“The alternative is to search the entire town. I don’t think we can do that in the time that we have. Of course, King Jabin has a couple of thousand soldiers, and I think we’d have to use advanced weaponry to defeat them”
“Another alternative is to leave some of the women behind. Admit our limitations”
“I will show you the way”
“What does that mean?”
“What does what mean?”
“Did you say ‘I will show you the way’”
“No.”
“I heard a male voice say ‘I will show you the way’”
“I heard that, too. In English. A male voice, but not mine”
“I distinctly heard a male voice say ‘I will show you the way’”. She switched to Hebrew. “Alisa, did you hear a voice say ‘I will show you the way’”
“Yes. Wasn’t that Walter? It didn’t sound like Walter, but it was a man’s voice”, Alisa said.
“Alisa, did you hear the voice in Hebrew?”
“Yes”
“I heard the voice in English”, Deborah said.
“I heard the voice in Esperanto, my native language”, Walter said.
“Look around you - do you see anybody? Somebody had to say that.”
“Let’s walk around the town for a little while and see what we can find”
“Okay, you’re in command, but please be stealthy”.
“Alright. You take the lead.”
Walter walked forward. Deborah took Alisa’s hand and they followed. Walter, Deborah, and Alisa moved to the side of the street that was darkest. Crouching, they moved forward. Deborah looked in a doorway.
“Walter! Come here!”
Walter came back, and looked in the doorway. There, sleeping on mats, was a man and a woman. The woman had a rope tied to one ankle that was tied to a post that held up the roof.
“Walter, go stand next to where the man is sleeping. If he wakes up, threaten to kill him if he makes any noise. Alisa, follow me in the house, and then stay in the dark”
Walter snuck to the man, pulled out his sword and waited.
Deborah snuck over to the woman, and gently woke her.
“Who are you?”
“I am Deborah, daughter of Sarah, the judge of Israel. Who are you?”
“I am Naveen, daughter of Aaron, wife of Anachee”.
“Well, Naveen, I am here to take you away from this place. Right now, I am going to send you to a far away place, and then I will meet you, talk to you some more, and then take you home”
Deborah cut the rope, put a medallion on Naveen, and pushed the button. She was gone. Deborah and Walter snuck out of the house.
“35 to go.”, Walter said.
They spent the rest of the evening wandering through the town, finding Israeli women and beaming them up to the ship. To Walter’s astonishment, nobody had seen them, nobody had raised an alarm, and they were not having troubles finding Israeli women. There were just 4 women left to find.
“I suspect that they are in the King’s chambers”
“Why?”
“I think 4 women is probably enough for one man to handle in one night, although I could be mistaken”
“You still want to mount an assault on the king?”
“Yes”
“Let me think for a moment”. Deborah whipped out her medallion.
“Adelle”
“yes”
“Are you within transporter range?”
“We will be in transporter range in 4 minutes”
“Thank you. Deborah out”
“Walter, we can start, but if things start going downhill, we beam out. Okay?”
“Okay”
“Alisa, do you still have the medallion I gave you?”
“Yes”
“Do not lose it. Do you know where the king is?”
“Yes”
“Okay, take us there. Remember, we will be directly behind you. Do not be afraid”
Alisa made her way towards the King’s house, Deborah following her and Walter bringing up the rear. Alisa stopped, and moved towards the wall.
“That is where the king lives”, she said.
“Walter, we have two guards, they look wide awake to me, the range to them is about 8 meters. I don’t see covering objects to sneak behind. What are your suggestions?”
“I think that it will take them a couple of seconds to parse an unusual situation and take action. I think we can sprint the distance in 2 seconds and still have a reasonable chance of success of killing them”
“Why don’t I just shoot them with the laser pistol?”
“Because it takes 5 seconds for the laser pistol to recharge.”
“The other guard won’t know what hit the first guard. His natural inclination is going to be to bend down to see what happened to him. He’ll see blood and gore, and it will take him a while to realize that his own life is in danger. It will take him even longer to leave his post and investigate where the shot came from.”
“What are you saying?”, Alisa asked.
“It’s a secret”, Deborah told her. “We’re trying to figure out the best way to kill those two guards”
“Oh, leave that to me”, Alisa said, and walked towards the guards. Deborah and Walter were dumb founded.
“Oh, guards”, Alisa said
“What are you doing out of the harem, woman?”, one of the guards said.
Alisa stroked his arm. “The men of Hazor are so strong, not like Israeli men. I like powerful, strong men. I wanted more”. She kissed him.
“What is she doing?”, Deborah hissed.
“She’s creating a distraction. Both of the guards are staring at her, intently. They are thinking with their penises. I’m good at moving stealthily - I am going to go around the courtyard and take out the guard on the far side of the entrance. You stay here until you see me charge the guard, then you charge the guard with his back to us. Questions?”
“No”
“Ready?”
“Yes”
Walter moved off to the left. He crouched along the wall on the far side of the court yard. Deborah could see him, but she was wearing low light goggles and she knew where to look.
“I could make both of you very happy men”, Alisa cooed. She stroked the chest of the second guard.
Deborah saw Walter take position about 3 meters behind the far guard. He pulled out his sword. Deborah pulled out her sword. Walter began his charge. Deborah began her charge. Walter killed his guard. Deborah’s guard saw what happened. He pushed Alisa away, and reached for his sword. Deborah pierced him in the back, to the right side of the lumbar vertebrae, before he could complete that movement. He groaned, and fell to the ground.
“Alisa, that was a very dangerous thing to do”
“You killed them, didn’t you? You said don’t be afraid. You said you were a Woman of God”, Alisa challenged.
“Alisa, maybe we should have spoken in Hebrew, but it’s not our language and we have to use words that aren’t in Hebrew. But that doesn’t mean that we are ignoring you. When Deborah and I come to an agreement, then we will tell you”. Walter chided. “Although, that was a clever idea. We might use it again”
They stepped over the bodies and went inside. They came to two more guards who were fast asleep. They walked past them, quietly. They entered the king’s chamber. In the dark was the king, fast asleep. There were 4 women laying on mats, also asleep. Deborah went to each woman, woke her, put a medallion on her, and pressed the button. Then the woman was gone.
“Walter, Alisa”, Deborah whispered in Hebrew, “Let’s leave this place”
“Yes”, Walter said.
“Yes”, Alisa said.
Deborah pulled out her medallion, pressed the button.
“Yes”, Adelle said.
“Beam the three of us up”
And they were gone.
Walter, Alisa, and Deborah appeared in the transporter room.
“Where are the other women”, Deborah asked.
“They are in the village room, where you told me to put them”
“Good. I’m going to go talk to them. Walter, I want you to get some food and drink for our guests. Be sure to serve period food and water in period vessels. You did some good work down there, and I am pleased. I need to do some counseling. Alisa, come with me, please”.
Alisa was taking a good look around. She had the same disorientation Lapidot had. So Deborah took her hand, and led her out of the transporter room, down the corridor, and into her quarters.
“Do you want to wash your face and hands?”, Deborah asked her.
“Yes”
“Hold your hands here”, Deborah indicated the sink. Automatically, lukewarm water turned on. Alisa pulled her hands back.
“It’s just water”
Alisa slowly moved her hands towards the water. She finally stuck one hand in, and then the other hand in. It was water. She splashed her face. She giggled. The water turned off. She stuck her hand back in. The water turned on. She pulled her hand out. The water stopped. She giggled again.
Deborah and Alisa walked through a door into the village. The 85 women were standing, or sitting, and not talking very much.
“FRIENDS! DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL! LISTEN TO ME! My name is Deborah, daughter of Sarah. I am a judge in Israel. I came to Hazor to rescue you, and I have brought you here. We will talk among ourselves, I will test you to see if you are with child, and then I will send you home, back to your husbands and your fathers.
“I know that what you went through in Hazor was not your fault. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and this is one of those times. I am here to talk with you, so that you can go back home to your life, put this behind you, and live your lives as honorable daughters of Israel.”
“Now, I want every one of you who laid with a man of Hazor to raise her hand”
Everybody’s hand went up. Figures. Deborah opened a bag and pulled out a handful of plastic strips.
“These strips are from God. You pee on the strip. If it turns blue, then you are with child. If it turns red, then you are not with child. If it stays white, then it doesn’t know. My mother-in-law, Alisa, and I are going to hand out the strips. There is a latrine behind this house, if you want to be private, or you can just test yourself here - we’re all women here.”
Alisa and Deborah wandered through the crowd handing out strips. The women figured out how to test themselves.
“All of you who are with child, please stand over here, behind me.” 11 women walked forward.
“The rest of you, please wait here. I will send some bread, water, and some grapes for you. Alisa, please come with me. You women, come with me.” Deborah led the women out the door. They all gaped in amazement at the artificial walls, ceiling, lights.
“You are carrying children. I don’t know if the child is of your husband, or of a man from Hazor. Those of you who were virgins, we know the child is of a man from Hazor. If you want, I can end the pregnancy now, and nobody will ever know what you were pregnant. If you were a virgin, I can fix it so that your husband will still think you are a virgin on your wedding night. You have to keep all this a secret. If you want to talk to somebody about it, then keep the medallion I gave you, and press the red spot. I will come to you as swiftly as I can. Remember that none of this is your fault. I am here, with the help of God, to return you to your homes.”
The next 5 days were spent in conversation with the survivors. Deborah and Alisa gave each of the women a cover story, that they were used a domestic servants rather than as comfort women. She listened to them pour out their feelings of violation. They were concerned about whether their husbands would take them in. They were concerned that they would no longer be marriageable. The autodoc could take care of repairing the hymen, but there was a spiritual issue.
Deborah built a mikvah, a ritual bath, and created a cleansing ritual for the women to go through. I wonder if I have started something big? The women who went through the ceremony felt better about themselves.
Deborah made the prophecy King Jabin would pay for this outrage. The women who were virgins made a trip to the autodoc for repairs. Deborah took each woman back to her home, introduced herself, told her family the cover story, and told them to take the woman in and treat her with every courtesy.
Walter looked up from his keyboard. “Deborah, I am writing up a mission summary for the record, and I have a question for you”.
“Okay”
“While we were in Hazor, you said that a male voice told you ‘I will show you the way’”
“That’s right”
“But I heard it, and Alisa said that she heard it. Alisa doesn’t understand English, so she heard it in Hebrew”
“That’s right”
“Do you still claim that you heard it in English”
“Yes”
“I heard it in my native language, Esperanto. Did you have any other delusions during the mission?”
“That was not a delusion!”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, 20 years ago if I thought that I would go back to the time of the judges, I would consider that a delusion. Yet here I am, having children, fighting with swords, getting chased halfway across the solar system. So maybe you are part of a delusion. Maybe I am really in a mental hospital in Des Moines, Iowa”
“Des Moines, Iowa?”
“Yes. There is a state in the middle United States called Iowa, and there is a town in Iowa called Des Moines. I’ve never actually been there, and I don’t know if they even have a mental hospital or not, but sometimes when I think I am going crazy, I think I will wind up in a mental hospital there. Why do you ask?”.
“I’m wondering about something. You keep talking about the one God, all powerful, passionate about justice, etcetera, etcetera. But I don’t see this God at work. I see one woman who is creating miracles for God. I’m wondering if your utterance is a manifestation of this God, who also worked a miracle in not getting us killed, or is it just another attempt at your attributing to this God who doesn’t really exist? Or will God strike me down for heresy. Yet, I heard the same thing. That makes no sense.”
“God never destroys people for heresy. He destroyed two mighty cities, Sodom and Gemorrah, but because they were evil, not because they were heretics. He threatened to destroy the great city of Ninevah, but they repent their evil ways and he spares them. But they don’t convert to Judaism, they merely refrain from sinning.”
“I see”
“I may very well be the instrument that is carrying out God’s will”
“That sounds schizophrenic”
“I may also be a woman who runs around fucking up”
“That sounds like depression”
“What are you going to put in your mission report?”
“I think I need a bigger miracle. However, I must say that you have a finely honed ethical sense. On our mission to Hazor, you killed only 3 men, and I killed 3 men. I’m rather amazed that we inflicted so few casualties. I’m also amazed that we weren’t killed, or even discovered.”
“Sometimes, you find miracles where you least expect them. Have you ever seen a newborn child?”
“As a matter of fact, I have, and you know it because you were there”
“Yes. Well, what was your impression?”
“I thought this kid was really ugly, all covered with blood”
“You didn’t think it was a miracle?”
“No”
“You are a tough audience. I’m sure God will think of something.”
Deborah and Alisa materialized on the road to Ramah.
“We’re home”, Alisa said.
“Yes, just as I said. I am a woman of my word”
They walked towards home. Deborah saw Lapidot.
“LAPIDOT!”
She ran to him, grabbed him in a big bear hug, and kissed his cheeks. He was still having troubles getting used to Deborah’s greetings. She stroked his hair, touched his cheeks.
“Deborah, where did you go? What did you do?”
“I went to Hazor and rescued your mother and 85 other Israeli women”
“How did you do it?”
“I killed 3 men, and I entered King Jabin’s bedchamber”
“If any other woman told me that she had killed a man, I would not believe her. You, I believe.”
“That’s nothing - there is a war coming. The enemy’s general will be killed by a woman”
“How do you know?”
“I’m a prophetess”
“What else do you know?”
“I love you - let’s find some place where we can be alone”
“Now?”
“Now”
Amech and Achiya came out. Achiya gave his mother and his grandmother a big hug.
“How are you, my big boy?”, Deborah asked Achiya. “Did he behave?”, she asked Amech.
“He was wonderful. He is going to be a powerful warrior some day”, Amech assured her. “Alisa, how are you? What did they do to you?”
“I’d rather not talk about it”, Alisa said.
“Amech, getting taken prisoner is a pretty horrible thing. They forced her into slavery. Maybe you should just let her relax. She will tell you the whole story when she is ready to tell you. Be patient, and care for her”, Deborah said.
“Would you like something to eat?”, Amech asked.
“I ate before coming down here”, Deborah said.
“Down?”, Amech asked.
With one word, I spilled the beans. Now what?
“I’m sorry, I meant up here. I ate. Alisa, are you hungry?”
“Yes, I am”
“Good. I have some bread fresh out of the oven”, Amech said.
“Lapidot and I are going to go for a walk. He is my husband, and I have been a poor wife, going off and leaving him behind. I am going to make it up to you, beloved”. She took his hand in hers (he was a little uncomfortable with that), and they went walking out of town. They walked about 500 meters. Deborah looked around, and saw nobody around.
“Lapidot, do you remember your promise not to tell anybody about what you see or where you go?”
“I remember”
“Good”
She whipped out her medallion. “Adelle”
“yes”
“Two to beam up”
And they were gone.