BY JEDIDIAH PASCHALL
Chapter 24 Honolulu, Hawaii – Miramar, California Malachi’s two days in Honolulu passed like a whirlwind. He had spent his time on the submarine ride from Vladivostok to Hawaii in relative isolation. He’d had so little time to process what happened to him on the summit of Yammantau, so the silence in the embrace of […]
Read MoreChapter 23 Escondido – Chaparral, California “Hey,” she said, brushing Jacob’s arm as he awoke. “Sophie?” “It’s me, I just got here a couple of hours ago.” It had been a mere six weeks since Jacob left Chicago with his marriage hanging by a thread. He had been used to not seeing her for […]
Read MoreChapter 22 Mezhgorye, Russia Malachi continued to push himself physically after the ascent to Yamantau’s summit, but this came with great pain. He spent mornings in physical therapy to regain strength and motion in his shoulders, and to tend to the damaged muscles in his back. Not surprisingly, he went against his therapist and […]
Read MoreChapter 21 Mezhgorye, Russia The Ides of March arrived. Half a world away Jacob lay on a hospital bed in Escondido. Meanwhile, in Russia, the southern Ural Mountains were still blanketed in snow as leonine storms pounded the Mt. Yamantau complex near the restricted town of Mezhgorye. It was several weeks before Malachi was […]
Read MoreChapter 20 Chaparral – Escondido, California “Dad, you need to get down to Escondido now! It’s Jacob, he was in a terrible motorcycle accident this morning,” said Mak with a trembling voice over the phone. “What?” asked Daniel, in disbelief, as a cold shock ran through his veins. “He’s been airlifted to Palomar Hospital. They […]
Read MoreChapter 19 Tehran, Iran – Kaspiysk, Russia A late model Toyota Land Cruiser was waiting outside Evin Prison at nearly 3 AM for Malachi and Lt. Col Mahmood. Sgt. Yahyai was in the driver’s seat. Mahmood helped Malachi into the back seat. He had inadvertently placed his hand on Malachi’s back, which bore the […]
Read MoreChapter 18 Tehran, Iran Lt. Col. Mahmood entered the Evin Prison in the early hours after midnight, after pulling through the checkpoint in his Nissan sedan. He had not obtained clearance to secure Malachi’s release, but every passing day posed a great threat to Malachi’s life and the pivotal role he was to play in […]
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