The Snare Read online

  THE SNARE

  A SUPERNATURAL CONSPIRACY AGAINST HUMANITY

  DAVID A. OGUNDE

  LIFE VENTURES INC

  Copyright © 2020 DAVID A. OGUNDE

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording, including information storage and retrieval systems without express written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, historical events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or has been used fictitiously. Although many locations such as airports, hotels, museums and buildings used in this work actually exist, they are used fictitiously and may have been relocated, exaggerated or otherwise by creative license for the purpose of this work. Although many characters are based on character traits, physical attributes, skills or intellect of actual individuals, all the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Bible references or Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.

  ISBN-13: 9781234567890

  ISBN-10: 1477123456

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309

  Printed in the United States of America

  DEDICATED TO….

  The Almighty God Who saved my soul and gave me the inspiration to write this novel and worked with me all the way.

  My wife Rose Marie, who stuck with me through thick and thin as we worked together on this project, and who was very diligent in making this book happen.

  Our children who supported us on our challenging journey.

  Dad, Late Chief, Dr. (Hon.) Hubert Ogunde

  Mom, Late Mrs. Mary Adesumbo Adekoya (Ogunde)

  SPECIAL THANKS

  A very special thanks to Jenna Fowls, whose hard work, dedication, and vision helped bring this book to fruition.

  Foreword

  The Snare strikes me as a unique novel, if a novel it might be called. Inspired by the contemporary global events, the work has avoided bald and humdrum preachments that might have a prospect of putting off purely secular minds. The dramatic and riveting narratives, the picturesque and cinematic descriptive presentations, the rich and varied diction, the living and unforgettable characters such as James Mode, Sarah, John and Kate, the exciting scenes such as the escape from the site of the excavation of the ancient tablets make the reading of the work such a lingering and abiding experience. This is not a run-of-the-mill creation. It is a landmark creation. Every reader is bound to find it emotionally and intellectually edifying. This is my own idea of a great work.

  Dare Samson

  Professor of Literary Stylistics and Media Language

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  • Dr. W.F Kumuyi – General Superintendent of Deeper Life Bible Church worldwide, who was instrumental in instructing and teaching me on Biblical Prophecy, with emphasis on living in preparation for the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. His Christian life and consecration to the Lord inspired and is still inspiring me till today.

  • Late Pa S.G. Elton, who was very instrumental in mentoring, counselling, while I was seeking direction on God’s plan for my life.

  • Grace Adegoke, who mentored me during my early Christian upbringing; devoting time and resources to help me become well-grounded in the Lord.

  • Pa Michael Adeoye, a Father in the Lord, who counseled and greatly encouraged me on this journey of faith.

  • Globalfilma Team, Pastor Bimpe Ejechi, Akua Kyei-Mensah, Oluwatoyin Ogunde, Gita Jiraj, Kristina Linder.

  • Moses Gbenu, president, Ministry of Eternal Affairs and CEO Modopez Global Resources Ltd, has always supported me tirelessly and also helped immensely to organize and supervise the proof-reading and editing process.

  • Samson Dare of Olabisi Onabanjo University, professor of Literary Stylistics and Language of the Media helped to proof read and edit.

  • Dare Olorunfemi – retired as Assistant Director of Broadcasting also helped to proof read and edit.

  Author's Note

  REALITIES:

  • Ancient Babylonia is still a REAL place today, but in ruins. It is 80 miles from Bagdad in Iraq, called Al Hillah. A lot of archaeological findings have been discovered in this region. It is believed to be the place where the infamous Tower of Babel resided.

  • Cyrus Cylinder is REAL and can be seen today at the British Museum

  • The Museum of the Bible is REAL and in Washington DC, USA.

  • Today, some foreign governments are plundering Africa and other developing countries, in guise of ‘helping’, taking advantage of the weakness, poverty and especially the corruption of many governmental officials, which has become an epidemic. Though a fraction of these ‘helpers’ mean well, the majority are there to plunder and control. The main interests are their own insidious agenda, not the good of the people. It is also pathetic that individuals will not only sell their own conscience, but their future generations for just a ‘fistful of dollars’!

  • Rigula Virus is a fictitious name. But a similarity can be deduced from the global pandemic experienced with COVID-19. Ironically this event has been metaphorically written, and this book was in the process of publication, before the global pandemic outbreak. There are still more of such predictions represented in this book, which are expected to take place imminently. Each of them is expected to grip the entire global population more than COVID-19, and would beat the world authority’s capabilities, hands down.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78
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br />   Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  Chapter 87

  Chapter 88

  Chapter 89

  Chapter 90

  Chapter 91

  Chapter 92

  Chapter 93

  Chapter 94

  Chapter 95

  Chapter 96

  Chapter 97

  Chapter 98

  Chapter 99

  Chapter 100

  Chapter 101

  Chapter 102

  Chapter 103

  Chapter 104

  Chapter 105

  Chapter 106

  Chapter 107

  Chapter 108

  Chapter 109

  Chapter 110

  Chapter 111

  Chapter 112

  Chapter 113

  Chapter 114

  Chapter 115

  Chapter 116

  Chapter 117

  ...For this mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless One will be revealed...

  The coming of the lawless One is according to the working of Satan... with all unrighteous deception... (2 Thessalonians 2:6-10- The Holy Bible – NKJV)

  Prologue

  The room was wrapped within folds of silence and darkness, penetrated only by the ghostly glow of computer screens and the fast ticking of expert hands upon keyboards. The stillness of two figures haloed in the glow of their screens is tense—their job almost complete. Suddenly, lines of garbled code on one computer give way to an image of a globe.

  “We’re in,” utters a voice. “It’s now or never.”

  The second figure nods and poises a steady finger over the command key before affirming, “The nuke is ready.”

  “Execute.”

  Chapter 1

  “Will it hurt?” asked the little girl, scrutinizing the strange-looking gun with her big, brown eyes.

  “No more than falling down and scraping your knee,” replied the nurse kindly. “I’ll bet you don’t even cry when that happens; do you?”

  The girl shook her head, her tightly braided pigtails flying from side to side. “I used to; then I grew braver. But…” Her voice faded as she nervously eyed the peculiar instrument in the nurse’s gloved hand. Its shape was similar to a plastic squirt gun she had played with once. The handle and barrel were made of silver steel and overlaid with a bright green stripe. The top of the barrel was not flat, but bumpy with an inch-long black cylinder rising from it in a perpendicular fashion. Inside the cylinder was fitted a clear vial, whose contents had already been delivered into the gun’s chamber just waiting to be injected by means of a wide needle which served instead of a muzzle.

  “Can’t you go first, Mommy?” pleaded the child, looking up into her mother’s equally large and lustrous eyes.

  “We already talked about this, Tolu. Remember?” replied Sarah Mode. “This microbit has already been downloaded with your information so only you can have it. Look over here.”

  Tolu watched as Sarah turned a thin computer screen to face them, and her face lit up in surprise as she recognized a picture of herself looking at her from the screen. Beside the familiar image were rows of information about the subject.

  Laying a soft brown hand upon Tolu’s head, Sarah spoke encouragingly.

  “Why don’t we check to make sure all this information is correct, okay?”

  As Tolu nodded, her mother glanced over to the nurse and gave her own slight nod.

  “Now, what’s first? Name…,”

  “Mode. Tolu, S.,” Tolu read off the screen, glad for the opportunity to snatch her mind away from the nurse and what she was wielding.

  “Age,” Sarah continued.

  “Nine,” stated Tolu. “But maybe it should be changed to ten, since it’s almost my birthday.”

  “It will change automatically because your birthdate is here too, see?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “Birthplace.”

  “Nakambwe, Africa.”

  “Status.”

  “Healthy,” read Tolu. “But why does all this have to—”

  Her question broke midstride as she suddenly felt a warm weight pressing down against her wrist and a sharp prick on the back of her hand. Whipping her head toward the source of pain, Tolu heard the puffed-up hiss of the gun as the nurse pulled the trigger, releasing the microbit. Before Tolu had time to panic, the needle was gone and a strange bump the size of a grain of rice was resting just beneath her skin.

  Tolu gently touched the small mound, tracing its edges and marveling.

  “What do you think?” asked the nurse as she popped the empty vial out of the injector gun. She picked up a new ampoule from the counter beside her, and Tolu could see the small dot of a microbit floating within.

  “It seems strange,” Tolu admitted, still poking at her skin. “Can it ever come out?”

  “Yes,” answered the nurse, “but you wouldn’t want it to. These microbit are a very special invention. They help us by storing important information about ourselves, like our names and where we work or go to school. But most importantly, they keep track of our health and can even fight off diseases. They are kind of like mini-doctors that live inside of you and take care of you.”

  “You mean I won’t ever get sick again!” Tolu exclaimed.

  “That’s the idea,” said the nurse, smiling. “Are you ready for yours, Mrs. Mode?” She slid the new vial into the injector, and then pressed a few buttons on the tablet screen. Tolu watched with interest as her own picture was replaced by one of Sarah.

  Then the nurse pressed the gun onto the back of Mrs. Mode’s waiting hand, told her to take a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 2

  “James! James Mode! Over here!” The muffled call was hardly heard over the din of the busy marketplace. James set down the ornately etched silver bangle he had been contemplating and turned toward the summons. Holding his hand up to block the heated glare from the afternoon sun, he was able to easily identify the tall man in a white hat picking his way toward him.

  “Dr. Kakoaba!” James shouted into the crowd as he waved to his friend. After making a final squeeze between a large woman in a colorful dress and a stall of hanging bananas, Dr. Kakoaba made it to James’ side. They shook hands vigorously.

  “Come to enjoy the bustle of the marketplace one last time?” Dr. Kakoaba asked James. “You know they won’t have anything like this in London.”

  James chuckled. “I’m pretty sure they have a stock exchange.”

  “Yes,” replied his friend, “but not with that kind of stock.” He pointed to a pen of rambunctious goats a few stalls up, bleating loudly.

  “Ah, well,” said James, “I guess one can’t have everything.”

  “That’s not what I heard,” grinned Dr. Kakoaba. “I heard that this new company you’re going to work for specializes in providing everything. Isn’t that why you are leaving all this - your home, your people, your friends?” He gave his friend a sidelong glance, making it difficult to discern how much sincerity was in his jest. James’ face gave away nothing, an acquired trait of the practiced businessman. Dr. Kakoaba chuckled and went on. “But, of course, you must go. You have a vision and a special compassion, James. What you’ve done for our country in the last several years is close to miraculous! I can’t imagine what you will be able to do for the world.”

  “I just hope I can make a little difference,” James replied and again picked up the silver bangle he had been looking at before. He believed the truth of his friend’s words much more than he could admit without rudely crossing the threshold of overt pride. All of his adult life he had been driven by a passion to make his country a better place—free from poverty, disease, and fear. Even his final college paper had been a theoretical outline of an
alternate repayment plan for the debts owed by his nation, Nakambwe. His professors at Cambridge had applauded his work and suggested he return to his homeland and put the plan into action. Armed with their recommendation and his paper, James met with Dr. Kakoaba, who was at the time a junior minister of finance for the country and also interested in financial reform for Nakambwe. Within a short time, they had come up with a plan and presented it to other government officials. The plan was praised and soon officially documented, signed, and put into action.

  That development helped James to realize his propensity for achieving great things—things that would be beneficial to his family, his country, and perhaps even the world. As the fruits of his repayment plan for Nakambwe began to bloom, causing the overall economic status of his country to rise, James turned his attention to the health sector of his country. As a boy growing up in a poor nation, he had witnessed a number of deaths. Disease had been rampant, spread by naivety, vulnerability, and, many times, even by force. Sanitation, vaccination, and education were what the people lacked, and James was determined to change the situation. He applied to work for a Swiss-based company called CellSens, whose cutting edge advancements in technology, research, and disease prevention made them globally recognized as “Earth’s best hope for a healthy future.”

  James’ knack for large-scale organization and genius for logistics soon landed him the position of Director of Health Initiative Project throughout the region. Through his negotiations with the government, he was able to shift his entire country’s healthcare system into the hands of CellSens. This unprecedented move was frowned upon by many in the government who wanted to keep healthcare within their jurisdiction and under their control. However, with the blessing of the region’s Oba the paramount traditional ruler, who was deeply interested in his people’s health and general wellbeing, and the firm backing of government ministers, including Dr. Kakoaba, who had witnessed the success of James’ debt restructure plan, the agreement was made and his country became the first nation to turn the control of its healthcare over to a private corporation. Before the ink was dry on the sealed agreement, James was appointed by CellSens to oversee the implementation of a new healthcare system to which every citizen would have easy access. Other beneficial offerings were life-saving vaccinations, robust health education, and equipment and supplies to increase the general level of sanitation. It was a groundbreaking experiment for which James undeniably took some credit. As a result of his initiative and hard work, his beloved country was fast rising from its low ranking third-world status into a globally recognized successful specimen, as it was, with a next–generation healthcare system.