Heiser - The Façade

THE FAADE

Volume One of The Faade Saga

Michael S. Heiser

The Faade

Volume One of The Faade Saga

Copyright 2014 Michael S. Heiser

Kirkdale Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

KirkdalePress.com

DrMSH.com

ReadTheFacade.com

To learn more about The Portent, volume two in The Faade Saga, visit ReadThePortent.com.

All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this work in presentations, reviews, articles, and books. For other uses, please contact Kirkdale Press for permission, at .

This is a work of fiction. Characters, organizations, places, and events are either products of the authors imagination or, when factual, used in a fictitious manner. Any fictional characters resemblance to actual persons, living or deadunless explicitly noted as such by the authoris purely coincidental.

Second Kirkdale edition. Previous editions of this novel were published by SuperiorBooks.com, Inc. (2001) and Acid Test Press (2007).

Cover design: Patrick Fore

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-57-799577-7

Contents

More heroism has been displayed in the household and the closet than on the most memorable battlefields in history.

Henry Ward Beecher

A hero puts aside their own hopes and dreams to help someone else achieve theirs.

To Drennamy wife and my hero.

God has taken his stand in the divine council; among the gods he passes judgment You are all gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.

, the Bible

The Bible is a peculiar, mysterious book. If those who regard it as sacred read it closely, penetrating the camouflage of sanctioned translations, they would be shocked. According to its 82 nd Psalm , there are other gods of the supernatural realm besides the God of Israel, and there are other sons of God besides Jesus Christ. These other gods, sons of the Most High in Psalm 82 , serve the God of Israel in a divine council. According to the 38 th chapter of the book of Job, before the world was created and the earth first brought forth life, they were there. hints that when humans were first put on the earth, they were there. And when God withdrew their inheritance as lords over earth and gave the planet to mortals, they were there and were obedient for a time.

Demoted to watching the affairs of humankind, they observed the human creature, witnessing the transmission of the divine image from generation to generation, a potentially endless succession of the right to rule. But they also gained knowledge of human weaknesses, proclivities, susceptibilities. And so it was that the Watchers began to crave what they had lost, to seek their own dominion and succession. In the fullness of time they arrived on earth in celestial flesh and mingled their seed with the seed of human women, bringing forth a dynastic line of immortal gods cloaked in mortal flesh. They would take back what was theirs. They would rule the earth as it should have been from the beginning, and humanity would take them as their gods. But the Maker, filled with outrage, betrayed them, exiling them to the Abyss, sentencing their bastard sons to death in the great flood.

Before their extermination the divine half-breeds were known by men as nephilim giants. After the slaughter, their disembodied immortal spirits were called shedim , demons. But the Maker had played the fool. They were reborn the instant they died, and so they cannot be killed. They had become as their fathers: ageless, free, uncontainableand angry. The ancient Book tells us that after the flood, more of Gods cosmic sons, the members of his council, broke rank, descended to earth, and stole the hearts of men. Humanity worshiped them as teachers, healers, deliverers, and their gods. They raised up other hybrid races known from the ancient biblical textAnakim, Emim, Rephaim, and Zamzummim. These too were massacred, swelling the ranks of the shedim .

Condemned to roam the earth, for millennia, the horde has continued to watch and plan and wait. Jesus understood, and He warned His listeners. One day the Watchers would returnand in a manner so cunning that even His own followers could be deceived. To a timeless being, time means nothing. But timing is everything.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms Being bold and arrogant, some men are not afraid to slander the celestial ones; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful than men, dare not bring slanderous accusations against these celestial beings

, the Bible

Im so eager to hear your explanation, the graying, middle-aged man patronized his burly associate. With a dismissive smirk he scattered a half dozen faxes across the polished, brown table that separated them.

The seated mans pudgy fingers pawed at the documents, gathering the strewn pages, a look of consternation forming on his face. His accuser straightened the vest under his suit coat and strolled slowly across the rooms plush carpeting, patting each of the high-backed leather chairs as he passed.

The man sifted carefully through the pages. His rage quickly turned to despair. His mind searched for a new strategy, but the thought of losing what appeared to be the find of a lifetime gnawed at him. How could they lose the artifacts? He sank back in his chair with a groan of exasperation.

I think its quite understandable that Iraqi Customs wouldnt want their property leaving the country, professor. The real mysteries here are the ineptitude of your associates at hiding the tablets. He shook his head. I should have taken care of this myself.

And what difference would that have made?

You know the answer to that! I know people who could have helped us get the tablets past customs. We just have to keep digging. The site is a royal building, and they werent the only tablets found. Theres bound to be more.

Frankly, Dr. Weston, we both know this door is completely closed now. Youll be arrested on sight in Iraq if you return. Well done, if I must say so. The well-dressed man clapped slowly in mock celebration.

What? The professor cocked his head as if to strain at the words hed already heard. He squinted in disbelief at his accuser. Do you seriously think Ive acted to undermine our goal, not to mention decades of my own work?

You stupid The well-dressed man suddenly stopped pacing and stood still. He glared at the seated man with contempt.

How dare you address me in such a way! The professor rose from his seat, his complexion reddened with rage. Need I remind you who youre speaking to? Dr. Weston blustered. How many Dravidian linguists do you know? And how many of them know Elamite and Sumerian? There isnt a linguist alive whos done more work in this area.

Yes, so weve heardmore than once. The well-dressed man resumed his gait without so much as a glance.

These things take time! the scholar protested. This isnt like checking a book out at a library. Finding tablets, especially one like these, is rare.

Youve been given months and every resource youve requested, and youve failed!

Give me more time! We may still be able to get the tablets. Send me to Iraq and let me try. Nineteenth-century linguists would have killed for this.

The professors accuser now stood next to him. He leaned on one of the high-backed chairs. An interesting choice of words, professor. He straightened his tie. You should be happily translating now but for your own presumption. Thats why you were brought here to Mount Weather. Youve been in and out of Iran a hundred times. Yet somehow, Customs was in the mood to search your team more thoroughly I dont believe in Providence.