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The amber light of the late afternoon sun pierced the inside of the hotel room window exposing a hand print and a reminder of casual inattentiveness of the Dust Bowl Inn.  Jedda Diah was laying down and remembered he had to call the front desk about the high humming refrigerator.  He also had to call the local police department and ask for Judson Harrell, the chief, for any pending charges on Branch Davidian members.  He was prompted to track down George Roden, Koresh’s nemesis, at Big Spring State Hospital in the middle part of the state near Midland, a good four hour drive.  Roden had done gone crazy in his years exiled as an outcast of the cult.  There was also rumored to be a buried treasure trove of some sort in Palestine, Texas where Koresh hid out two years.  After freshening up and dressing, Jedda Diah slipped on his new Black jeans with 2 rivet silver studs flanking each pocket.  A wallet with a cut leash coil chain was attached to his belt.  Jedda wasn’t a man of great material desires but the idea of wearing Western style clothing suited him.  He went to the front desk to check for mail.  Cadija, the manager, gave him a wide eyed greeting: “What did the Alaskan air blow in this time?  Mmm hmm, sporting more rodeo clothes.”  A gum chewing peroxide blonde stepped to the counter from the back.  “Here’s your mail.  Oh and you have two messages, too. These preachers keep callin’ for you.  Are you having some sort of revival?”  Jedda Diah said, “No, just questions and research.”  Cadija piped in “Jimmy Swaggert once stayed here in room 14B.  He was a hit in these parts with his sullen piano playing and melancholy hymns.”  Jedda didn’t say anything, just walked away.   Cadija’s voice trailed.  “He made a name for himself.”  Jedda yelled back, “If Swaggert was so smart, why did he drive on the wrong side of the road to pick up a hooker?  That’s how he was caught.”  Jedda pondered at the paradox of it all.  Koresh fathered 20 children by simple consent, but a mainstream preacher felt he had to go to a prostitute to fulfill a taboo then never even slept with her.  Jedda Diah then looked down at the messages.  One was from a professor at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, another from local minister at the mainstream 7th Day Adventist Church.  He went back to him room to call the professor.  Jedda dialed the number, “Professor Daven Hallstrom” please.  A voice came on quivering, “This is Daven.”  “Hello, Daven this is Jedda Diah Whitter, federal agent from the Department of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco, the ATF.  Was it my superior who prompted you to call me about this offshoot 7th Day Adventist leader?”  Hallstrom confirmed, “Yes, his name was Lucas Transmoore.  He wanted me to introduce you to the conception of the Davidians, the reason they exist in that part of Texas and what their future ministry is.”  Jedda replied, “I don’t need a prophecy.  Just a strong hint of what might be comin’ round, what to expect.  I got a few leads myself.”  Daven said “Have you ever heard of the Book of Nahum?   It’s a small book in the Bible with only 4 chapters.  David Koresh believes he is Cyrus, the re-established King of Persia.  Ninevah is where the modern day Mosul, Iraq is.  It was a city that had angered God.  Koresh  also believes he is a descendent of David.  The original member of the Branch Davidians, Victor Houteff, picked Mt. Carmel, Texas in the 1930s to go along with that prophecy.  Houteff separated his members from the regular church and built Mt. Carmel in the wilderness. Now David Koresh, years later, believes he has to protect the land from an impending enemy.   Nahum 2:1 says “He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.”  Chapter 3 says  “Behold, I am against thee… and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard. And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her?”  Koresh and his followers are expecting an earthly confrontation where their symbolic glory will be manifested.  A remnant of believers mentioned in Revelations was interpreted by Houteff, the founding member, that 144,000 were to be gathered into the Rod, move to the Waco, Texas, headquartered as an assembling point-and then, from there, all would go together to Palestine where the Kingdom of David was to be recreated under the leadership of the new group. Divine providence was to open the way so that British who controlled Palestine from 1918 to 1948 would permit them to start their theocratic kingdom which, they expected, would soon be the amazement of the whole world,” Daven continued.

From its world headquarters in old Jerusalem, the Davidians believe they are surrounded and the only way to demonstrate their God given authority is resistance.”  All of sudden there was a loud, sharp knock on the door.  “UPS” was screeched from a thunderous male voice.  Jedda Diah got up, looked out the door from side to side. There was no UPS in sight, just a square box wrapped in packing tape.  He ran to the phone “I’ll call you back, Daven.”   He found a fairly rigid toe nail cutter and opened the box.  It was a map of a campground in Palestine, Texas.  A combination of twisted trails were penciled out on the map.  An X was written with a large, circled dot.  The dot was marked “Lois Roden: hidden contents.”  Jedda Diah sighed.  He picked up the phone and called his boss.  “I need some prioritizing here, Lucas.  I need to know what I am looking for.  I got Bible preachers, pending prophecies and mystery drop offs.  I just got a box with a map of some place in Palestine, Texas.”  Mr. Transmoore replied “That’s where Koresh lived for two years off the land when Lois Roden’s son drove him off Mt. Carmel.  We have to find out what went down between George and him.  Both of them had murder charges dropped abruptly after their gun barrel fight for leadership.  There might be guns, ammo or money hidden out there in Palestine.”  Jedda said, “I need a partner and back up.  I got anonymous phone calls.  I didn’t even have time to validate if I was talking to a bona fide professor or some other far-fetched religious pontificator.  I feel alone and estranged.  I don’t know which way to turn.”  Lucas relayed “Get your bearings, I am already sending you one.  Her name is Trinity Pearl.  She was born in the South and she is going to pose as a Branch Davidian recruit.  She will find her way in.  In the meantime, make plans to go to Palestine tomorrow.  She’ll have to bunk with you tonight.”  J.D. Whitter cried “Say what?” and then the call faded out.  (to be continued)