Chapter 10
This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.
-Sir Isaac Newton – Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687
“Whiskey Alpha Yankee six, niner, eight... Got a copy David?”
“Good morning back to you Don. Why are you awake anyway? You should be in the land of nod on your side of the world.”
“I was about to hit the hay when Zachariah emailed me some interesting images... Has he shown you them yet?”
“Nah... Your young lion’s been keeping to himself... Don’t think he trusts me... Must be the Aussie accent!”
“It took me a while to trust you too, remember? You scared the daylights out of me the first time you joined me in the shower.”
“Had to. Wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t kept trying to escape outta windows and run back to California.”
“Hmmm... They were wonderful character-building days. I must drop by one day soon and reminisce with you about them... About these images... You need to look at ‘em and see if you can find any similar patterns in your BoM radar archives. Alert your Australian team to the same phenomenon... I’m contacting John and asking him to circulate them as well...”
“Sounds like they were some snaps... You’ve got me curious now.”
“Change of strategy David. Throw caution to the wind with Zachariah. Ask to see the photos he emailed me and get him to completely fill you in about them. If he dodges around your questions, tell him who you are, how you know me and your current status.”
“That might be quite a shock. You sure you don’t want to break it to him yourself?”
“Nah... I’ve told him a bit about you over the years... And I like tossing curve balls at him to keep him on his toes.”
“Well - you know how much he can handle... Although he does seem to have a bit on his plate at the moment for a pup.”
“What’d ya mean?”
“With the journalist being here.”
“What journalist?” asked Gordon.
“He hasn’t told you?”
“No... All he said was there were a couple of knots in the tapestry.”
“Well I s’pose that’s one way of describing her!” chuckled Dave.
“Her?”
“Maya Gregory... She’s a photojournalist from Perth...”
“Zac can handle the press.”
“It’s not her profession that’s the problem. Your lion’s head-over-heels in love and it’s knotting up his guts.”
“Are you sure?”
“Come off it Don. I might be retired, but I can still tell love-struck when I see it. And it’s very obvious in his case. Even Jen’s picked it up.”
“That’s surprising news... I might run a background check on Ms Maya Gregory... In the meantime keep a fatherly eye on everyone for me will you David... Zac in particular.”
“Wilco... Hmmm... A lot of interference has just started up my way... Looks like we’re in for another sky-show tonight.”
“Fill me in about your sky-show later. After I’ve had some shut eye. Signing off for now... six, niner, eight clear.”
Ω
Gordon was about to switch off his desktop, when the Skype phone rang.
“Good afternoon Zachariah,” yawned Gordon.
“Sorry Gordon... I know it’s 1.30 in the morning in California. I was just checking my email and noticed you were online. You weren’t asleep at your computer were you?”
“No... I’ve just got off Echolink... I was talking to my old mentor. He had a few interesting things to say back his way too.”
“The Lieutenant Colonel bloke?”
“Ah ha.”
“That’s a coincidence... Jake and I were talking about mentors the first night we arrived... and I was telling him how you became my mentor and how David was yours.”
“Still is... I was having a chin-wag with him actually about knots... Speaking of which... How are your knots unravelling?”
“So so.”
“Only so so? Hey, pick a knot... any knot... and tell me all about it,” said Gordon cheerily.
“But you’re about to go to bed.”
“Your knots don’t knot me up!”
“Okay... Want to tell me how Jake got hold of a photo of you with flowers in your hair kissing a woman called Theresa? And why he’s using the photo as his screensaver?”
“That’s an interesting knot,” said Gordon softly. “Why’s it knotting you up?”
“Well I’m sure it was taken on Ocean Beach… Where you said you used to hang out with the make-love-not-war crowd.”
“Are you sure it’s me in the photo?”
“I’m not only sure it’s you, I’m sure it’s her.”
Silence.
“It is her isn’t it? The visiting lecturer from Australia called Tess. The one that died in our arms. She was Jake’s Mum wasn’t she? And you’re Jake’s father aren’t you?”
“I’d love to see your face right now Zac. Pity your web-cam’s dud.”
Zac sighed noisily.
“You should have told me Gordon! I wouldn’t have talked about half the stuff I’ve talked about with Jake if I’d known you were his Dad!”
“Why? What issues have you been addressing?”
Zac hesitated.
“Um... blokes talk... gay fears… abstinence... the usual stuff you’ve talked to me about.”
“You two do sound like you’ve been having fun together!” chuckled Gordon.
Silence.
“So why are you in a knot about it anyway Zac?”
“Because we’ve known each other for years and you never once mentioned you had a biological son…”
“And?”
“… and he’s been looking for you Gordon… He’s written hundreds of letters to you… He needs you…”
“And?”
“… and all these years when you’ve been like a second father to me, you should have been a father to him!”
“It’s complicated Zac… There were... considerations… What Tess’s mother wanted was one of them. But I’ve always been Jake’s father from a distance… paying for his education and care.”
“So when do you plan on being the father he wants and needs, instead of just the benefactor that pays his bills?” challenged Zac.
“Joyce - Tess’s mother - wanted to do the care-giving thing until Jake was independent. And her terms were, she didn’t want me contacting him to encourage that independence… She didn’t say anything about him independently contacting me however… So a few months ago when the little roo started grazing on my computer I was overjoyed!”
“And when he applied for the YGD program you selected him?”
“Actually, I didn’t realize he’d applied for a while… My secretary always assigns new YGD applicants an identity number and she runs them through the selection program as they arrive. Then after the computer has generated a short-list of applicants, I look up details like their name, age, sex and so on. In this latest round, Jake genuinely topped the first four categories before I realized he was my Jake.”
“That must have made you proud as punch…”
“It did… Until I looked at his responses in the personality category… Then I was disappointed by his lack of integrity… I knew from the odd letter I got from Joyce that he wasn’t the outgoing socialite he was trying to make out he was on the response form. I was on the verge of taking him off the list when the phone rang and there was a young British lass on the other end…A participant in your Alaskan workshop for women actually.”
“Megan?”
“Yes… She rang me to thank me for selecting her for the workshop… She said she’d been as dull as carbon at the start of the workshop and that you’d spent the week putting heat and pressure on her to bring out the diamond in her! I chatted to her for a while and she explained that you’d been like the big brother she had never had and for the
first time in her life, she liked who she was. After she hung up, I decided to see if you could bring out the diamond in Jake…”
“So when do you plan on letting him get to know you as his Dad, Gordon?”
“After he’s built a relationship with his big brother… You’re a bridge between us. Like Jesus. In case things don’t go as smoothly as I hope…”
“You still should’ve told me he was your son, Gordon!”
“And have you pussie-foot around being careful not to offend him? Or me? I know you Zac. Don’t forget I’ve been practicing the father-son thing on you for ten years now. To prepare myself for when I could finally get to do it with Jake.”
“Why are you so worried about being a bad father anyway?”
“Part of it is I don’t want to destroy the remnant of Tess in him…”
“…and the other part is because you never knew your own Dad?”
Gordon exhaled noisily.
“War’s stupid… My father’s body was blown to bits… It ripped a hole in my mother’s soul. And it left a dad-sized hole in me.”
“That David finally filled?”
“Yeah… he helped unravel the knots…Funny…I don’t ever remember telling you that David’s been my father-figure as well as a mentor to me.”
“You didn’t… I just guessed.”
“Have I told you what happened to my Dad?”
“Only that he was killed when you were very young.”
“Shot down over Vietnam. The first U.S. pilot to die over there… A statistic to everyone else. So much more to me and mum… S’pose that’s why I’ve been nervous about doing the father thing with Jake up until now… But it’s different now he’s almost grown up… I’ve been aching to be more than a father from a distance for several years now. But I want Jake to have you to help mediate if I stuff up...”
The sound of the fly screen door opening.
“Someone’s here… It might be Jake… I’d best go.”
“Me too… When you hit fifty, your body needs all the rest it can get…”
“My knot hasn’t left you with a knot has it Gordon?”
“Nah… Your knot unravelled yet?”
“Yeah… I always wondered about that baby photo you used as a screensaver.”
“But you were too shy to ask me, eh?” chuckled Gordon.
“He’s a great kid Gordon. True, you’re extrovert and he’s an introvert. But you two have heaps in common. The way you both approach problems… similar interests… desires… You should get to properly know him real soon...”
“I will… I’m just working up the courage.”
“’Bout time you stopped ducking the curve ball, ain’t it?” quipped Zac, imitating Gordon’s voice.
“Stop mentoring your mentor!”
Zac laughed softly.
“Talk to you in a few hours Zac… Have a good evening with my Jake.”
Ω
Zac walked out of his room and was surprised to find Dave making two coffees in the kitchen area.
“White with two, right?”
“Er, yeah...”
Dave rummaged through the cupboards and pulled out a tin... opened it and glanced inside.
“What’s wrong with you blokes? You’ve been here three days and haven’t even made a dent in the biscuit tin.”
Zac reached for a biscuit.
This guy... Every time I think I’ve worked him out I see another facet...
“I didn’t realize what was in the tin... The biscuits won’t last another three days now I know they’re there.”
Dave’s lips twitched with amusement.
“Thought I’d drop in while your pups are out swimming to ask if you want me to back you up tonight.”
“Sorry Dave. You’ve lost me... What’s happening tonight?”
“One hellava sky-show I’d say... Three different signals simultaneously being pulsed at the moment between 3.26 and 17.54 Megs.”
Zac showed no reaction.
“They were doing the same thing the other arvo when Tyson and Maya saw the other three small fireballs. Except that was their low powered test run. Could just detect it... They’ve ramped this one right up. It’s interfering with multiple bands...”
Zac forced himself to stay calm and reached for another biscuit.
“Actually I suggest you move your E/M project into my Faraday cage just in case. Some pricey electronics in that piece of weaponry.”
Zac paused mid cookie crunch. Dave smiled faintly, enjoying the impact of his words.
“What’s this interference pattern on the BoM radar images look like anyway?”
“Did you overhear us talking about the patterns earlier?” asked Zac carefully.
“Nah... I was relayed the gen about half an hour ago.”
“Gen? That’s Airforce lingo for intelligence.”
“Lieutenant Colonel David Hopkins... Formerly a U.S. Airforce fitness instructor.”
“And currently?”
“I collate information about the Weathermakers activities in Australia. And feed it back to Gordon.”
Zac only just managed to reply.
“I knew of the existence of the Weathermakers Surveillance team - people Gordon trusts worldwide living in proximity of key radar installation sites like they’re ordinary locals. But you’re the first person I’ve met from his team.”
Zac steepled his fingers under his chin. Dave could almost hear the cogs ticking over.
“So how well do you know Gordon anyway?” he asked.
Dave eyed Zac with amusement.
“How well? Hmmm... Let’s see... I know he’s got a crush on a certain Airforce doctor back in Montana.”
“He’s never told me that!”
“He hasn’t? Whoops... I didn’t mention it then!” laughed Dave. “I know... The ring he wears on his right hand belonged to his Dad...”
Zac nodded.
“...and he’s got a big black birthmark on his left ball...”
“How do you know something personal like that?” gasped Zac.
“I’ve showered with him. Haven’t you?”
Zac shook his head vehemently.
“Whoops... Your face suggests I just stray into ‘fraidy cat territory!” laughed Dave. “Better reverse outta here before we end up bogged...”
Zac said nothing. Dave’s eyes twinkled.
“Gordon was ‘fraidy cat of me for a while too...”
“Why?” managed Zac.
“He reckoned my massages made him blurt out secrets he didn’t want to share with me!”
“I’ll have to remember that next time I want to pry a secret out of him.”
Dave’s eyes sparkled.
“He used to be really tough to pry open. When I was first assigned to him, extracting feelings out of him was like extracting teeth. Then one night I discovered that massage loosened his tongue... He howled a while about never knowing his Dad... We talked about making lemonade out of life’s lemons... And from then on, whenever I knew he was holding out on me, I levered the truth out of him with a massage.”
A smile twitched in the corners of Zac’s mouth.
“Almost won you over, eh? Hey, I can keep sharing secrets about Don ‘til the cows come home if it helps you trust me... Might even be able to remember a few secrets he’s told me about you if I think hard enough...”
Zac broke into a shy grin.
“Does Gordon ever throw curve balls like this at you?”
“Doesn’t dare. The scamp knows what’d happen to him if he did!”
Zac drew a noisy breath and extended his hand.
“I’ve always wanted to meet my mentor’s mentor... Hello David.”
“I’ve always wanted to meet the young fella that stopped Don’s bullet,” replied Dave, squeezing Zac’s shoulder affectionately. “Come on mate. Let me show you ‘round while we’ve got the place to ourselves, eh?”
Ω
After he’d revealed who he was, Dave had taken Zac into hi
s operations room and explained how his team functioned. On the surface they were a group of ham radio enthusiasts and amateur astronomers. Mostly old timers. Most with military backgrounds.
Above ground Dave’s workshop fitted his image of a semi-retired bloke with an interest in electronics... his ham radio gear... a HF... a telescope... a dusty 27 megs set... a couple of electronics projects in progress... books about Marconi and Morse... radio repair manuals... a box of semi dismantled radios that he obviously robbed for parts...
Below ground was another matter... Five, forty foot sea containers excavated into the ground, bunker style...
The extent of the underground installation stunned Zac... a link with the AEHF 1 satellite... a wideband Gapfiller terminal... tracking screens... amateur radio using VoIP... equipment so Dave could monitor and even patch into JORN, the BoM and U.S. Airforce comms...
Mind-boggling... overwhelming... and just a little scary.
Dave had sensed Zac’s wide-eyed response at the time.
“You sinkin’ or swimmin’ pup?”
“I’ll survive.”
“Can’t work as a team ‘til you trust me.”
Zac paused.
“I’m an academic. This is definitely military.”
“Do I detect some anti-military sentiment in that statement?”
Zac exhaled noisily.
“The Airforce keep sending me letters... Trying to get me to join up.”
“No go?”
“Not if it was the last job left on earth.”
Dave laughed warmly.
“Serves you right for dabbling in E/M technology, pen-pusher... Said the same thing to Gordon a dozen times when I was tryin’ to break him in.”
“Did you really make him do a hundred push-ups before bed every night?”
Dave’s eyes danced.
“You make your pups do fifty every morning... Pot calling the kettle black!”
Zac grinned and let his guard down.
“Besides, the young scamp was headstrong... Kept trying to go AWOL on me... First night he arrived he said he was hitting the shower and I found him climbing out the bathroom window, so I added ten pushups to his routine... A couple of days later he tried the same thing again so I added another ten and started showering with him so he couldn’t run off... ‘Bout a week later he tried to sneak out of the airbase on the roof of a supply truck so he got another ten for his trouble... I kept adding push-ups ‘til eventually he learnt. Don’t remember how many we were up to by then... Mighta been a hundred...”
Ω
Zac was reflective over tea. For all intents and purposes Dave looked like an ordinary Aussie bloke standing around the barbie cooking their steaks... On the surface he looked about as un-military as they came... scruffy hair, thongs, casual dress... Except for his physique. Dave was different in that respect. At 62 he had the physique of a man half his age. He still clearly had iron-will self-discipline. Zac smiled faintly at the memory of being judo-thrown by him the first night they’d arrived. In the same instant he realized why Dave had felt ‘familiar’ the first night they’d met. Dave was Gordon’s mentor. And Dave and Gordon had rubbed off on each other over the years...
Gordon had actually told Zac a couple of horror stories about Dave’s approach to fitness... Pre-dawn runs in pouring rain... 100 push-ups before bed every night... Zac had taken Gordon’s stories with a pinch of salt because Gordon always smiled when he related them. But looking at Dave’s lean body, Zac decided there was a pretty good chance he had made Gordon do 100 push-ups before bed every night alongside him. And that Dave still did push-ups every night before bed too...
The rest of his team were boisterous. Zac could sense they were scheming something... It smelt like one of Brendan’s scams, but whatever it was Jake felt part of it, which was a good sign...
After tea, they all scuttled back to the singlemen’s quarters. Zac gave them enough time to get up to mischief then casually wandered over. He walked in and looked around. The singlemen’s quarters now resembled a boarding school dormitory, with chalked graffiti artwork all over the walls. Zac’s eyes followed the chalk trail around to the spare room. That door was decorated floor to ceiling with more chalked words.
I have enjoyed my life’s work - the thrill of communicating with people ... but how much more thrilling it is to know that with far less effort, we can communicate with God and be certain of successful contact! Richard Andrews (1907 - 1980) British pioneer of radio and Bible believing scientist...
“Hmmm... Great quote, but I don’t believe you’ve memorized it,” he said casually. “So who’s been grazing in my Bible?”
“Not doing much good sitting in your bag. It can’t start discussions there!” grinned Brendan.
“Should be somewhere where everyone has access to it!” supplemented Pete.
“After all, a whole scientist has a fit body, mind, emotions, will and a fit spirit,” added Dale... “I swiped your Bible by the way.”
Zac eyed Dale with dancing eyes.
“And I was an accomplice,” finished Jake cautiously.
Zac’s eyes twinkled.
“And whose idea was this?” he said, indicating the Communications Room.
“It was a group decision. We want to make sure you and Jireh are on chatting terms...” ventured Brendan.
“And listening to each other too...” added Pete.
“And that you’re reading your Bible... So you keep your edge Zac,” finished Dale.
Zac looked reflective.
“Well I agree I don’t think I’ve opened my Bible since arriving. You could take it as being slack... The truth is, I tend to read it like I read my emails... no set time... just when I get around to it... Big chunks of it are written in my heart and mind already... So I’m not religious about reading it.”
“But the Jesus preachers on the tele brag they read it at the breakfast table and to their families at night and around the Thanksgiving turkey and all that,” countered Brendan.
“Maybe they do. But I don’t have to copycat their style. My style’s intimate moments when I can grab them... like making love to a woman and feeling really satisfied when you’ve both touched each other’s souls. You can run on those moments for weeks. That’s just how it is between the Potter and me...”
The room was quite enough to hear a pin drop.
“You all look like a bunch of stunned mullets... What gives?”
Silence.
“Brendan?”
“I was just trying to wrap my head around yer analogy... You feeling about Jireh the same way as I feel when the sex has been good with Cherie...”
“Try wrapping your heart around it instead of your head... Pete?”
“I was just thinkin’ about the nuns back at the Catholic school... what they’d say to you if you told them your relationship with God is like having sex with a woman...”
“Probably burn me at the stake, eh?” grinned Zac. “Dale?”
“Your prayer stuff’s just talking out aloud to yourself and working things through ‘til you’ve resolved them. And your talk about being intimate with a woman is just ‘coz you subconsciously want one.”
“Jake?”
“I’m not used to joining philosophical discussions.”
“Go on... Bounce your wildest ideas off us...”
“You want me to work out how I feel in front of everyone?”
“This is a safe place to practice.”
“It’ll come out long-winded... I’m like that if I have to work out how I feel about something I’ve never thought through before...”
“It doesn’t matter how long it takes to work out how you feel... Everyone else has had their turn...”
“Um... well... in order to work out what I feel about your analogy, I have to work out whether I think there’s a personal God to relate to... and that means I have to work out whether I think the universe was created by God or if it arose by chance... Let’s see... Within our field of planetary
physics I have observed there are things which seem coincidentally ‘just right’... Like the electromagnetic coupling constant which binds electrons to protons in atoms for instance... If it was smaller, fewer electrons would be held to protons and everything in the universe would disintegrate... If it was larger, electrons would be held too tightly to protons and they wouldn’t be able to break free to bond with other atoms, so molecules like water wouldn’t form, and without water there’d be no life in the universe...”
Jake rested his chin in his palms.
“The sun’s another example of something that’s ‘just right’... If the earth was any closer to the sun, most of the water on earth would boil... if it was any further, most of the water on earth would be frozen... The sun’s also just the right mass... if it was larger, there’d be too much high energy radiation for us to survive... if it was smaller, the resulting tidal forces would disrupt the earth’s rotational period...”
Jake looked increasingly intrigued as he continued his reflective monologue.
“Actually I’ve never thought about it before, but the earth’s ‘just right’ too to support life... And earth’s gravity’s perfect, so is the earth’s axial tilt, the earth’s rotation period, the earth’s magnetic field... the crust thickness... and the oxygen/nitrogen ratio; and the carbon dioxide, water vapour and ozone levels are just right in the atmosphere to make earth a habitable environment... I’ve just realized... everywhere within our field, things are ‘just right’...”
“So how do you believe these ‘just right’ things arose? Chance or design?” interrupted Dale.
“Well... for something extremely complex to be ‘just right’ it needs planning and design. Take our E/M project... Have we just been doing our own thing putting any old components into place in any random order, or have we been using our intelligence and following an intelligent plan so hopefully the thing works properly?”
“That’s different to the universe.”
“Not really... Nikola Tesla used intelligence to dream up the idea of E/M technology... Bernard Eastlund used intelligence when he altered upper atmospheric wind patterns with E/M technology and produced localized weather changes... Someone used intelligence to design the components of the E/M weapon we’re building... Someone used intelligence to draw up the plans... And before we started assembly, we checked all the components were ‘just right’… We’ve spent the day intelligently following the assembly instructions, tomorrow we’re gonna intelligently programme it, and then hopefully it will fly and we can intelligently guide it to blow up a target... I mean if you threw all the bits to the weapon into a big box... added in a bunch of random parts that belong to a washing machine, a computer and a radio... then handed the box to a ten year old without a plan or tools... what would be the chances of the kid being able to build a functioning E/M weapon even though all the pieces were there?”
“Stuff all.”
“And the chances of the weapon being able to assemble itself without any intelligent input at all are even slimmer.”
“So?”
“So the universe is humungously more complicated than an E/M weapon... And if the chances of an E/M weapon building itself without outside intelligence or input are virtually zilch, it follows that much more complicated things that show evidence of design haven’t arisen by chance either...”
“So you believe in an Intelligent Designer?”
“Well I’ve never thought about it before tonight, but I guess there must be an Intelligent Designer behind the universe because we just went through it logically together. What do you believe in?”
“Everything arose by chance.”
“But that’s illogical. We just went through that... You just agreed with me that the parts of an E/M weapon couldn’t build themselves, let alone assemble themselves... I mean we were even stuck a few times today in places... And that was in spite of all of our intelligence combined and following a design that someone else had already nutted out.”
Brendan and Pete started laughing.
“What?” groused Dale.
“You just lost the design debate with Jake and he doesn’t even know the Designer.”
Zac held back his smile at the expression on Dale’s face.
“I somehow got way off track... I told you I ramble when I’m nutting out something new... Okay I’ve worked out that I believe this universe is the work of an Intelligent Designer. And you believe the Intelligent Designer’s name is Jireh, right Zac?”
“Yeah, that’s one of the names He goes by.”
“And I’m supposed to be commenting on how I feel about the relationship you two have, right?”
“Ah ha.”
“Well then I guess I feel jealous that you and Jireh have got such a deep relationship with each other...”
“Jealous?”
“Yes... Like I felt the other night when I was watching you all massaging each other and I was aching inside to join in... I wish I was uninhibited like you all are... And that I could feel intense feelings for women and that.”
“Saying ‘I wish,’ is a feeling,” shrugged Brendan.
“And you joined in when we were nicky swimming this arvo... That’s on the way to being uninhibited,” encouraged Pete
“I didn’t really. You all stripped off on the bank. I took my clothes off in the water so you wouldn’t see me.”
“That sounds... entertaining!” grinned Zac.
“Watching him put them back on in the dam was even more entertaining. He had us in hysterics!”
“It sounds like I missed out on a lot of fun... You were saying you feel jealous Jake...”
“Yeah... Jealous that you feel so close to this incredible Designer... Your relationship with Him is casual enough to give Him a nickname. You’re close enough to Him to think about sex around Him... And you assimilate Him into everything you do... right down to The Potter knows the clay motto on the tracking devices you pinned on the rest of the team the other day... It’s like your whole life revolves around Him... Whereas up until now, my life has always revolved around myself.”
“You shouldn’t have admitted that,” murmured Dale.
“Why not?”
“’Coz now Zac knows where you’re at... he’ll pray for you.”
“Isn’t that the idea of the Communications Room?”
Dale frowned and made eye contact with Zac.
“Praying’s mindless behaviour... How do you know it’s getting through to Jireh? Assuming He exists?”
“Because sometimes He shows me things about people when I’m praying for them... Or things about circumstances which I couldn’t possibly know otherwise... Or supernatural things happen... things that can't be explained using science or logic.”
“Sounds warped… Have you prayed for any of us since you came here?”
“Yeah… I prayed for you all last night actually.”
“So what did Jireh show you about me?”
“We should really talk about that privately Dale.”
“No… tell me now… So you don’t have time to make up something.”
Zac looked hesitant.
“If you don’t say something in the next ten seconds we’ll know you’re making it up.”
“Alright… but remember… You asked me to tell you what Jireh’s showed me about you in front of everyone.”
“So? Go on.”
“Okay…You’re having problems with Cara. Your values are clashing… She thinks you’re insensitive. And you’re both close to calling it quits.”
A stunned look from Dale.
“And the real problem is there’s a God-size hole in your heart Dale… Put anything else into it - even a girlfriend - and you’ll remain unsatisfied. It’s like trying to make the wrong piece fit in a jigsaw puzzle.”
Dale’s lips trembled.
“How about we finish this conversation in private? Come on… I know just the place,” said Zac gently, tugging Dale towards the Communications room.
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