Nicolae Carpathia - Steven Plank

Steven Plank

Prior to the Rapture he was the executive editor of Global Weekly magazine, and the boss of Cameron "Buck" Williams. Within two weeks of the Rapture, Plank accepts a post as press secretary for rising international political leader Nicolae Carpathia, and nominates Buck to take his place as senior editor.

Plank falls under Carpathia's spell and serves him faithfully until he becomes surplus to Nicolae's needs. He disappears for several years, presumably lost in the bombing of New York City by the Global Community but blamed on American militia forces.

Plank resurfaces shortly after the midpoint of the Tribulation, using the alias Pinkerton Stephens, and a believer in Christ. Rayford Steele and Albie encounter him in The Mark working undercover as a GC operative in Pueblo, Colorado. He is badly disfigured and wears a prosthetic to hide the fact that most of his face is missing as a result of injuries caused by the Wrath of the Lamb earthquake. Though he is hideously disfigured, the seal of the believer is visible on his forehead. He says that he had already been convinced before the earthquake, and that he "was praying the prayer as the building came down."

After revealing his true identity to Rayford and Albie, he helps them rescue Hattie Durham from the very facility where he has been working undercover.

Plank next appears in The Remnant, when the GC brass order all personnel without Carpathia's mark of loyalty obtain it immediately. After agonizing in prayer, Plank surrenders himself to the GC, refusing to take the mark. Even while choosing to place his head on the guillotine at the loyalty mark processing center, Plank uses wit and disarming cooperation as he is positioned for execution, bantering good-naturedly with his executioners, and trading quips about the stand-in executioner owing him a favor for assisting in operating the guillotine.