14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like the many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians: 14–17)

Zachary was accustomed to the time it took to get home to his people. The Anti-Christ controlled an extensive intelligence network of fanatical Jesus haters and many Christians who were under a life or death, damned if you do and damned if you don’t sentence. These were believers who had not taken the mark of the Beast but had been caught and forced to betray their fellow believers.

Zach knew it was only a matter of time before one of his people would be compromised and betray them all.

He still had to exercise good tradecraft to make sure he wasn’t being followed. This added, at a minimum, another hour to two hours to his walk home. Two hours if his paranoia sensor was flaring up.

The difficulty lay in their inability to tell who was compromised in their group.

Zach realized he was daydreaming and not maintaining his head-on-a-swivelness, as he called it. He stopped and sat down at one of the tables on the sidewalk for a fancy wine-tasting restaurant and ordered a wine cooler to blend in with the evening end-of-day routines. He looked down the street and tried to scan the flood of men and women making their way home or to meet a friend for an evening wind-down drink.

Zach didn’t pick him up until the man sat down at his table. Zach didn’t say a word. He sat quietly sipping his drink, memorizing everything he could about his new acquaintance. The man’s age was difficult to pin down. But, after a few minutes, Zach was impressed by how unique the man was and how he managed to blend in to be almost invisible.

The man just sat there watching the people go by, with a smile that indicated a high level of interest in what he was seeing. As if the crowd streaming by were a diverse selection of Dr. Seuss characters. The man was perfectly bald, except for the kind of mustache and eyebrows that tried to compensate for the lack of hair at the top. His eyes seemed to be hazel or green, then brilliant blue, then the spooky kind of pale gray eyes, the evil antagonist of a movie or television series sports.

Green eyes, shading toward brown, turned and focused on Zach’s face and said, “Before you say anything, let me give you the gift I was sent to give you.” A small box slid across the table to Zach’s left hand. It was roughly the size of an eyeglasses case. However, this was wrapped in coarse material, which evoked a sense of antiquity. Perhaps what was once called sackcloth.

When Zach picked up the box, his senses were overwhelmed by an aroma that reminded him of every good smell he’d ever experienced. Additionally, peace and a sense of calm enveloped Zach, causing him to relax and take several deep breaths. The aroma kept growing in intensity until he noticed a two-man tracking team appear thirty feet away, and they were heading straight for him.

Zach heard a voice telling him to stay still and concentrate on the aromas. Which, at that moment was easy, as the peace from the box still covered him. Zach noticed that his eccentric friend, who had been sitting at the table, was now a completely different person. Someone who no one would notice. He was now just a nameless, faceless street person making his way home.

The trackers were almost next to the table when Zach smelled the aroma change from beautiful to ugly. The trackers smelled like what Zach imagined a corpse at an advanced stage of putrefaction would smell like. The intensity of the smell was causing Zach’s gag reflex to grow. But the trackers walked right past the table, intent on watching a large handheld GPS monitor. They were arguing with each other. Zach almost laughed when one of the trackers shoved the monitor into his backpack and loudly said, “Bloody piece of junk!!”

Soon, the trackers were gone and the peaceful aroma returned. Only, this time, it wasn’t as intense. This time, the sensation of recognizing what someone smelled like was more confusing. Zach froze at the table as people on the street walked past. Their aroma would dominate the baseline smell of goodness.

Zach began to be alarmed, as there were more people with a corpse-like smell than those carrying the joyful aroma. This caused Zach to turn to the man, now bald again, to get an explanation.

The bald man smiled and said, “I thought you would like that one! As I said, this gift is just for you. It’s an answer to your prayer about recognizing those who would betray you. Everyone has an aroma. They are like fingerprints. Everyone’s aroma is different. And everyone from birth has a unique aroma, which is neither good nor bad. Your aroma only changes when you make a decision which way you want to go.”

Zach interrupted, “What way you want to go? I don’t understand. Are you implying that our aroma changes depending on what we believe about Jesus?”

The bald man grabbed a table napkin, wiped the sweat from his head, and answered, “That’s mostly it. Obviously, you humans can change your minds about anything at any moment. So your aroma can change. The fun ones are the serial killers on death row. They smell incredibly worse than anyone or anything you’d ever encounter. But, when one of them breaks down and recognizes his need for a savior, the change from death to life aromas is incredible.”

Zach smiled. He was beginning to understand the purpose of the gift. “So this will make it pretty obvious who we will need to watch.”

The bald man replied, “Yep, no more wondering who the wolf in sheep’s clothing is. There is one thing you should be aware of. There is a high number of believers who, for whatever reason, ended up taking the number in a moment of fear. These are some of the most heartbreaking people you will meet. And some of them won’t have an aroma. Many of these are those who will come out of the coming tribulation. Ignore them unless they suddenly gain an aroma back.”

Zach asked, “So, am I supposed to open the box?”

“Nope, the box was just Gabe’s idea. He thought that having an actual gift box might help you understand it was for you. You can keep the box as a souvenir if you want. The aroma anointing is one of the less frequently used gifts. Tongues, prophecy, and healing are the most popular. Everyone forgets they have a sense of smell, and it can be a powerful gift in its own right.

By now, Zach had concluded he was having a very intense visitation with an Angel whose name he still didn’t know. And then the question hit him like a wrecking ball. “What do I do when I find a spy?”

So Zach turned to the Angel to ask him what to do. But he was gone, and the only evidence of his existence was a note under the exact amount to pay the bill.

“Take it slow. It will take some getting used to. I had to leave. Otherwise, I would have told you that I don’t know what to do if you catch someone. However, I am not the right person to answer that question. That one is up to you and the Holy Spirit to decide.”

The rest of the walk to what had come to be called the fortress was uneventful. Their first leader was a senior officer commanding the clandestine squadron for Delta Force. His entire squadron discovered the extensive tunnel system under San Francisco’s Chinatown. The Fortress was exactly what the name implied. Every entrance or exit could only be accessed by someone who knew the extensive sequence of keys to open the door. 

Zach finished the sequence, stepped inside, then slid the false wall back into place, resetting the keys, and stepped down the short flight of stairs. The air was infused with dozens of unique, glorious aromas. But as he walked the length of the hideout, a tinge of a very strong odor wove its dissonant presence like a snake around the edges of the Joy.ique, glorious aromas. But as he walked the length of the hideout, a tinge of a very strong odor wove its dissonant presence like a snake around the edges of the Joy.