The entire room stood and applauded thunderously as Kafni stepped from behind the blue velvet curtain at stage right. He stopped briefly, taking in the audience with an affable wave before striding quickly to the podium where he removed a set of folded papers from his coat pocket and flattened them out in front of him.
"Hi, good evening," he said, with another wave and a shy smile. "It's great to be with you tonight."
The audience continued clapping as Coulson shook hands warmly with Kafni and exited the stage. Kafni stood beaming for a moment as the applause died away and people sat back down.
"Good evening," he said again, in his accented English. "As you may have guessed, I am Dr. Abaddon Kafni."
The audience laughed.
"It is very wonderful to be here at Liberty University tonight. I am so very excited to be joining the faculty here and to have a chance to help shape the minds of tomorrow's political leaders. Students from Liberty have gone on to become some of the brightest and best in their chosen professions, professions that include, but are not limited to, filmmakers, comic book writers, comedians, authors, world famous musicians and, of course, journalists and television reporters, whom I see regularly."
The audience chuckled again.
"In America, we are at an important turning point, the point where we must decide whether we will hold to the ideals of our founding. The ideas of limited government, free market capital—"
The blast was deafening. It boomed from the front of the building and the entire structure shuddered under the pressure. For a split second everyone froze, then a wall of heat followed by a wave of debris washed through the room and the screaming began. Declan leapt from his seat as burning pieces of drywall hit him from behind. Pulling Constance with him, he dived underneath the table as the stage lights went out and plunged the room into darkness. Holding Constance tight beneath him, Declan shielded her with his own body as the table was overturned in the chaos and people fell over them.
As quickly as it had erupted into turmoil, the room suddenly fell silent. His ears affected by the blast, Declan was barely aware of the hushed whispers and moans of the injured. People began calling out for their companions, needing to check if they were safe. As Declan's eyes adjusted to the new light, an eerie reddish hue cast by the wall of flames where the front entrance of the Barton Center had been, people began to realize what had happened and terrified screams rang out.
"Are you okay?" he shouted to Constance over the din.
Constance stood up slowly, looking shell-shocked, and nodded. Her eyes went wide as she turned and saw the devastation behind them. Declan pulled her close and shielded her from the sight of the mangled bodies that the force of the blast had thrown forward from their seats further back in the room.
Declan quickly looked her over and saw no signs of injury. "We have to get out of here," he said, turning her around by the shoulders and pushing her towards the stage. As he started to move, a hand grabbed at his ankle.
"Help me," said a shaky voice. "Help me!"
Declan turned to see Mark Alley on the floor at his feet, a deep gash over his right eye bleeding profusely and blinding him. Declan reached down and pulled Alley to his feet, wiping the blood away from his face with the sleeve of his coat. Alley blinked and looked around. Three others arrived beside him, clearly shaken and disoriented. Declan looked at the faces of Michael Coulson and the two wives. Coulson held his left arm and grimaced painfully. The women appeared uninjured.
"We have to get out of here. Guide your husband," Declan said to Sherry Alley, who obeyed and gripped her husband's arm as he struggled to wipe his eyes clear of blood again. Declan gripped Constance by the shoulders once more. Moving around her, he took her hand and began to pull her behind him as he moved towards the stage. Cries for help came from all around, but Declan pushed forward, stepping over tables and chairs. He had to get the few people with him out before he had any chance of saving others. Remembering the emergency exit in the backstage space behind the curtain, he turned left when he reached the stage. The blue velvet curtain was covered in gray concrete dust, but had not fallen.
"Arghhhhh!"
Declan snapped his head to the left as a man came running towards the curtain, his clothing on fire. Pulling his suit coat off hastily, Declan jumped at the man, tackling him to the floor and patting out the flames. Standing upright again and leaving his coat on the injured man, he rejoined his group, which had stopped moving in his absence. He held the curtain open as he guided the three women and two men through. Several people had already made their way to the emergency exit, which stood open. Declan surveyed the chaos. Like crabs in a bucket, people grabbed at each other as they tried to reach the clogged exit, with the result not many people were getting out.
"Get out of the way," Declan said, pushing a man aside who'd grabbed a woman in front of him and was trying to pull her away from the door so he could get through. Keeping hold of his wife's hand, he shoved his way towards the front of the crowd and pushed her out of the door. Then he turned and with his arms opened wide, blocked the exit and yelled, "Whoa, stop!"
A few faces at the front of the melee looked up at him. "Alright," he said. "You, go!" He grabbed a man and pushed him out the door. "Go!" he said to another woman standing nearby and shoved her out. Repeating the process several times, the room slowly began to clear and people moved in an orderly fashion out of the exit and into the small parking lot beyond.
Suddenly the curtain to the stage was ripped aside and Levi Levitt appeared with Abaddon Kafni at his side. Kafni was being held up by his security man and it was clear that his leg had been injured. As Levitt moved forward and neared the door, Declan took hold of Kafni on the other side, helping to hold him up.
Cool night air and drops of rain attacked Declan's face as he moved through the doorway, holding Kafni. The parking lot behind what would be the servants' quarters of the original Poplar Forest was about as long and narrow as the east wing of the building itself. Clearly intended to hold only the cars of the faculty that worked in the building, it was empty of vehicles with the exception of a black GMC Suburban that Declan recognized instantly as the armored SUV Kafni had received from the Israeli government after the first attempt on his life. Blue-suited security personnel appeared from around the side of the building and began helping injured guests as they poured out of the emergency exit.
"Move, move!" Declan yelled to people who were leaning against the side of the SUV. Levitt let go of Kafni and reached into his pocket, unlocking the doors of the vehicle. A man standing near the SUV opened the rear door and held it as Declan helped Kafni inside. Closing the door, he turned to Levitt and said, "Get him someplace safe. Where are you staying? I'll meet you there!"
Levitt nodded and jumped in the driver's seat. "The Briton-Adams mansion on Cottonwood Road," he said, as the SUVs brake lights blazed brightly in the darkness and the vehicle roared to life. "There are three guards. I'll tell them you're coming."
"Aye, I know the place. We're driving a white convertible!" Declan said, as he slammed the door closed.
Slowly Levitt drove forward, sounding the vehicle's electric horn and being careful not to hit any of the people who had escaped the building. Declan watched as the taillights of the SUV faded down a one lane road that ran behind the building towards Liberty Mountain, an uneasy feeling settling over him as he turned to look for his wife.
Constance was seated against the building holding a sobbing woman whose arm had been burned. Sirens filled the air in the distance. "We have to go,” Declan said to his wife. “We need to make sure Kafni is safe."