In the other video chat window, the Martinelli twins, Rinaldo and Angelica, codenames Red Fox and Venus, were agreeing.
Cristal was eager to hear what Rinaldo had to say. It was hard to resist liking him. His wavy brown hair, hazel brown eyes and Hollywood smile, not to mention his quaint Italian accent, made the other Truth Seekers, mainly those of the female persuasion, rush to his assistance when he needed help in the game. In real life, at only five-foot-nine, he had no trouble attracting high-fashion models who towered over him.
“Yeah, it was pretty crazy here in Roma,” he said, “Angelica and me were freakin’ out over here when the earth-a-quake hit us. You can imagine that. I’m-a-sure that the Pope fell off his throne and I’m not-a talkin’ about the one in the Vatican.”
He flashed his contagiously charming smile. Angelica gave him a dirty look in return. Cristal had to hold back a giggle.
“Yes, I have to agree,” Angelica said, turning to the camera. “It was a freaky experience. I cannot wait to-a-hear what Zero has to say about this. Please explain why and how you knew where we were supposed to be when it happened.”
Angelica flipped her long wavy brown hair away from her dark mocha eyes. Cristal envied how Angelica could look both upset and sexy at the same time. Her naturally thick pouty lips were what women would pay thousands for in Botox treatments. Cristal looked over at Kerim, trying to read his body language as he listened.
Kerim’s face was expressionless. He was listening but not reacting the way men usually do when they see Angelica for the first time. Gabriel, who was sitting on the other side of Cristal, was gazing at the screen. She could have sworn he was drooling as he smiled, drinking in Angelica’s every word.
Cristal looked back at the screen and caught Harry’s gaze. He was watching her closely. She took a deep breath and focused on what Angelica was saying.
“The room we were in was shaking so much. The floor beneath us, I swear, became like a jelly. Rinaldo and me were so frightened. He was holding onto me and crying like a bambina.”
Everyone in the room laughed. Rinaldo raised his hand and smacked her on the shoulder.
“Ayyyy…what’s a matter with you?” Angelica cried out, turning to him. “It’s the truth. You were crying like a little baby girl.”
She playfully hit him on the back of his head.
“Let’s-a-be serious,” Rinaldo said, turning back towards them. “Zero, we want to know what the hell is going on.”
He pointed his finger towards the camera.
Harry smiled and said, “Let’s let our rep from Haifa report first. Adel, please tell us what happened at the two locations I asked you and your team to meet.”
In the third window on the screen, a man that Cristal did not recognize began to speak. He had dark black hair, cut short on the sides, longer and wavy at the top. His eyebrows were thick over large eyes that sank deep into his head. He had a wide bridge over a broad nose and his skin was a cinnamon color.
“Hi, everyone. Nice to meet you. At the Gaza location, our team member, Sami, experienced the ground shaking. He was outside and he saw in the sky, the light streaks, which he first reported as lightning. Then the sky turned blood red. He saw an image forming in the sky like an oil painting. He sent us this picture.”
A photo appeared on the screen. Harry moved the mouse and maximized the image. In the picture, the sky was as Adel had described. The sky appeared to be a burgundy red.
Cristal squinted and could see an image where the lightning streaks were crossing each other.
Gabriel was shifting his weight on the stool beside her.
He whispered, “It looks like a man.”
Cristal focused her eyes at the image again. It did look like a man. As Harry zoomed into the area, the shape was becoming clearer. It seemed as if the man was pointing in a direction to the east of him. As the picture sharpened, Cristal could see the man’s facial features.
She gasped.
“Cristal, are you okay?” Kerim whispered in her ear.
She could feel herself fading out. The room seemed to be spinning around her. This is how Dorothy must have felt when her house was being swept away by the tornado, she thought to herself.
She felt Kerim’s arms around her as she slipped off her stool.
“Someone get her a glass of water! Cristal, are you okay?”
She felt herself being lowered to the floor. She closed her eyes, as the thoughts in her head bounced back and forth like a shuffleboard disc she had seen her stepfather play years ago on the deck of a Disney cruise ship. He had proposed to her mother that same night, much to her disgust.
“Cristal, this is Dr. Saeed.”
She felt something cold pressed onto her forehead.