“We’ll work out a schedule,” he called back over the sound of the revving engine, “so you can come and speak to the troops. I’ll send the chopper to pick you up. God bless you!” He jumped into his seat, buckled himself in, and was soon back in the air headed for Albuquerque.

Chapter Twenty-Six

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

SUPPLIES WERE GETTING TIGHTER at El Refugio, and many of the most commonly used items were becoming harder and harder to obtain. Thanks to the foresight of John Edwards, the people had a fairly good supply of the basic necessities. In addition to the fresh foods, grains, and vegetables that they were able to produce, they also had quantities of dried foods that had been shipped in from Albuquerque. There was ample fresh water, and they had sewage disposal facilities, modest housing, and a diesel-fired electric generator that served the whole community. But electronic components, along with printing and paper supplies, were harder to find.

By now, Carl Throneberry had established a dynamic network involving millions of people all over the world who were active in the Christian Resistance. Despite shortages, they were existing as a far-flung community under a primitive system of barter. Fear of death or imprisonment did not prevent an underground economy based on the exchange of goods for services or exchanges based on gold and silver. Regardless of government rules, there were people living under the Antichrist system, as there have been in every system, who were willing to enter an underground economy, buying and selling for profit.

Carl and Lori, working with their three assistants, produced the television and radio programs sent out around the globe in a dozen languages under the title, “The Voice of the Mountains.” The digital technology available to them gave them the ability to transmit in one minute a burst of digital “bits” that contained as much information as the entire daily edition of the Wall Street Journal. This, in turn, meant that one of Manuel’s transmitters could fire a burst of television, audio, or print to an unused satellite transponder, which would bounce the signal down to thousands of tiny and easily disguised satellite receivers in America and other parts of the world. These messages could then be relayed by personal computer, printed booklets, videos, and audio cassettes. Consequently, all of the outposts of the Christian Resistance not only had a unifying voice, but also had a clearing house for vital information.

Carl and Lori seldom got more than four hours of sleep per night, but somehow it was enough. Together with their staff, they wrote and assembled not only the printed materials, such as newspaper articles and pamphlets, but also the audio and videotapes that poured out to the world from El Refugio. Never had the two of them felt more personally fulfilled. Yet they were often overawed by the enormity as well as the danger of the task that confronted them.