ARCHANGEL

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Spock?” Angelina inserted.

  “Yes, exactly. The Captain would need some information from a creature which refused to give it. Spock would do a Vulcan mind meld on it and read its mind.”

  “So?” Catherine persisted.

  “Nasib, while Abaddon and I are powerful we cannot extract information. I didn’t mean to make light of what we had to do. Considering what you and the others had planned, it doesn’t seem enough. I healed all of them. The woman is upset because she did not get her way. She called out for my brother and I to be crushed by Allah.”

  “Yet you were able to reveal so much to me,” Nasib said. “I believed perhaps you could also take thoughts as well as give them.”

  “I can feel many specifics when someone is open to me or projects a thought or feeling,” Raphael explained. “I cannot take what is not given freely unless the one I am seeking information from experiences pain which opens all pathways both mental and verbal.”

  “You know all of Amir’s plans now?” Nasib asked.

  “Yes, and all the players. He and the others will tell the authorities everything once we find the right authorities. I’m afraid we need Sister Angelina and Sister Mary Catherine for that part in this.”

  “Amir will not tell the authorities anything once you release him into their custody,” Nasib remarked worriedly. “We have been well schooled on who to call and what to say if apprehended. We are to claim racial profiling and call on all Arab activist groups to intercede on our behalf.”

  “He will tell all.” Abaddon looked back at the aforementioned Amir who sat staring blankly at his feet with his hands clasped on his lap.

  “See, Nasib, I told you there would be no need to draw you into this. I told Nasib he could do a lot more outside of a prison cell. I thought perhaps you could find a receptive individual agent and express the value of Nasib as an informer.”

  “Sister Angelina is right. We can fix you up with someone in the US government just as she says.”

  “I told him a little about Ahmed,” Catherine put in. “Do you think he could go there after helping out here?”

  “Enlightenment over there was welcomed much more readily than here.” Abaddon gestured at the group in the back. “I hope there are more receptive people of Nasib’s faith here than we have met so far. We did not expect to find human demons as dangerous as the extraterrestrial ones we thought were our mission.”

  “Your mission here is to hunt actual demons?” Nasib asked excitedly. “Such a calling would be most fulfilling. In such an endeavor there would be no gray areas, only good and evil.”

  “Yes,” Abaddon agreed. “It is much less exhausting to face an adversary totally evil, where only one course of action remains. Trying to determine a proper course with what we have found out today evokes a fondness for destruction within me. The fact you could be turned from this abysmal inhuman thought process restores some clarity for me, Nasib.”

  “I know now there is but one God. How anyone wishes to worship God means very little. Blowing up thousands of innocent people is a travesty against God and mankind. I am deeply ashamed.”

  “Amir and Rana are high up in Hezbollah from Iran,” Raphael interjected. “Are all the people you have come into contact with here been members of the same group?”

  “Hezbollah means Party of God,” Nasib remarked sadly. “We are a perversion of God. It is a perversion with many followers throughout your country.”

  “We learned you, Habib, Jarir, and the shuttle driver Fakhir, all came up through Mexico illegally over a year ago,” Raphael continued, looking at Catherine. “Is it so easy for the sworn enemies of America to sweep in here, Cat?”

  “Oh Raph.” Catherine exchanged knowing glances with Angelina. “If only you knew how self destructive we are here. I see you cleaned Amir and his playmates up real nice. Let’s take them into Las Vegas and find an FBI office where we can get Homeland Security to round up the rest of them in Chicago, New York, and DC. Ange and I will try to enlighten you and Abaddon about our idiotic border policy some other time.”

  “I knew we couldn’t turn them over to the authorities with their bloody clothing,” Raphael replied. “Will this FBI need Nasib or should we keep him out of this altogether?”

  Angelina shook her head. “If we want to make this discovery plausible we’ll have to use Nasib as the way we discovered the others. Couldn’t you make him up some really good identification, Raph?”

  “Probably, but how then would he have known the others?”

  “You guys must have had meetings somewhere, Nasib,” Catherine said. “Where did the four of you meet up before. Did you all live together?”

  “We went to the Jama Masjid mosque in Las Vegas for prayers and service,” Nasib answered. “We lived apart so as to avoid suspicion. We kept in touch only by face to face meetings and calls using throw away phones.”

  “There you go, Raph,” Catherine continued. “Nasib thought Habib, Jarir, and Fakhir were suspicious when he met them at the mosque. He infiltrated them and asked for our help at the airport to collar them when Amir and Rana arrived.”

  “Thin,” Raphael mused, “but believable if I get the right agent to help us. What do you say, Nasib? Do you think you can pull this off if Abaddon gets your companions to back what you say?”

  “I will do it,” Nasib agreed enthusiastically. “It will be very difficult to get Amir and the rest to go along with it though.”

  “Not so difficult.” Abaddon stood up. Angelina hurriedly moved around him toward Rana.

  “One second, baby.” Angelina darted forward toward the still moaning Rana in the middle of the aisle.

  Angelina grabbed Rana’s ear, yanking her up squealing from the floor.

  “Sit down somewhere you whining piece of crap and shut up!” Angelina released Rana into a seat in front of the other men. Rana sat silently.

  “Okay.” Angelina gave Abaddon a quick hug as she moved once again around the bemused Archangel. “Sorry, that woman was driving me nuts.”

  Abaddon grabbed her in an affectionate embrace rather than allow Angelina to move around him.

  “Do not go, my love. Come help me instruct these human carrion as to what they must do to protect Nasib.”

  Angelina’s face flushed with youthful desire at Abaddon’s touch. She nodded gratefully. “Yeah, I can do that.”

  Angelina returned to stand in front of Rana and her four male cohorts, rubbing her hands together thoughtfully with Abaddon hovering over her from behind.

  “Listen up. I don’t want to repeat this twenty times. You met Nasib at mosque services. He ingratiated his way into your group. Got it?”

  The four men and Rana nodded their heads vigorously after a quick glance up at Abaddon’s face. Abaddon leaned around Angelina threateningly.

  “Say nothing more about Nasib other than what Sister Angelina told you to say. Otherwise I will visit each of you and Allah will not impede your journey into the Abyss. Do you understand?”

  All five nodded vehemently in the affirmative with a final whimper from Rana as the only verbal reply.

  * * *

  The four sat in the Hummer quietly. Angelina started the engine and turned the air conditioner on full blast. Although it was now nighttime, the temperature outside had not cooled off very much.

  “That feels good, Ange.” Catherine leaned back in her seat with a sigh. “I can’t remember to let Raph know we need cooled off.”

  “I think they had the thermo set on ninety in there. Of course our Archangel ice cubes here were comfortable all day while you and I sweated it out.”

  “If you do not say anything, how would I know the air conditioning in the building was not to your liking? As I explained, we are not mind readers. We are extremely fortunate Agent Pomada helped us out.” Raphael smiled at Angelina’s dig. “Without his help they may have held us over until the whole incident was handled. He knew intuitively what we had planned for Nasib.”

  “I should ha
ve thought it through a little more,” Catherine said. “A major potential terrorist strike in multiple cities like this one will turn the FBI and Homeland Security inside out for awhile. Now we’re on their radar screen no matter how Pomada plays this out with Nasib.”

  “We have nothing to hide,” Raphael replied. “I promised Agent Pomada we would be at the Venetian for a week. He told me we could call him when we go back to California. He’ll settle for us checking in occasionally until they get these people rounded up.”

  “Could you not have come up with another last name for us, my brother?” Abaddon complained, looking into the back seat at a smiling Raphael.

  “We needed documents created immediately. People nowadays must have a whole life on file. Otherwise, they are treated suspiciously.”

  “Yes, but Turtle?” Abaddon asked as Angelina and Catherine laughed. “We are the Turtle brothers now?”

  “You three thought it was so cute everyone made jokes about me being one of those shelled Ninja things, I decided to make it official.”

  “Pomada will have a tough time explaining why the FBI can’t come up with a single scrap of information regarding the Turtle family history in… where did you say Raph?” Angelina asked.

  “Wisconsin. He’ll manage. Besides, he can always ask us to come in if his superiors give him a hard time. Nasib was excited to be helping the right side. He and Ahmed will get along very well when the authorities allow him to return home.”

  “It looked to me like Pomada was ready to adopt him,” Catherine replied. “They’ve been playing a dangerous game of catch up for so long the thought of moving a couple steps ahead of the enemy really invigorated him.”

  Angelina put the Hummer into gear. “All I know is I want to get checked into the Venetian as quickly as possible and then go swimming. Right beside my table I want an ice cold bucket of beer.”

  “Tired of fighting the War on Terror already, Ange?” Catherine asked.

  “What War on Terror?” Angelina scoffed openly with a wave of her hand. “If America actually had borders Amir’s crew wouldn’t even have been here. We’re sending our citizens overseas to fight terrorists while leaving the backdoor open for the enemy to saunter in and blow the crap out of us.”

  “We have bases bordering the worst terrorist sponsoring nations now,” Catherine replied, “so I don’t think it was a waste…”

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” Angelina interrupted. “Our fighting over there was right on target. Our non-enforcement border policy is pure idiocy.”

  “Agreed. Hey, Raph, are we Terrorist fighters now instead of demon hunters?”

  “They were demons. In many ways, they were worse than demons. Even the most evil of the creatures we hunt, as with those two in Baker, do not plot the killing of thousands indiscriminately. We will take guidance where it is given. Our stopping these inhuman drones from their lunacy felt very right, did it not?”

  “Yes, it really did,” Catherine acknowledged. “Ange and I were able to play secret agent too, right Ange?”

  “Head butting that poor innocent lady terrorist was not very nun-like, Sister Mary Catherine,” Angelina kidded.

  Catherine sighed. “It sure was satisfying though. It was even better watching you kick the crap out of old Amir. I thought you were in trouble when he busted your nose at the start.”

  “After what you and me have been through? That guy don’t know squat about getting hit. One thing you and I do know is what it’s like getting hit by someone who probably won’t stop no matter how we beg.”

  “That will never happen again,” Abaddon promised. “It is fortunate for Amir he lost.”

  “You promised not to touch him if he beat me, baby,” Angelina reminded him, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

  “I promised not to touch him.” Abaddon shrugged. “I did not need to touch Amir for him to have been launched into the Abyss.”

  “I believe you may be getting much too familiar with human word play, my brother.” Raphael cast fake disapproving looks at Angelina and Catherine who chortled at Abaddon’s admitted plan for Amir if he had beaten Angelina.

  The Las Vegas Strip, with all its dazzling lights began to grow in stature through the Hummer windshield. Abaddon looked out with increasing awe at the astounding vista before them. Angelina, seeing Abaddon’s almost mesmerized stare, laughed and patted his left knee.

  “The city of light and darkness. Every vice known to mankind goes on daily here in sin city. I think it will be a good idea for you to join me by the pool for a beer until you can get accustomed to this place. I hope the Venetian has a nice pool area with a bar.”

  “I think I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea,” Catherine stated, almost evoking the response she wanted from Angelina.

  “Go ahead and make jokes, Spewy,” Angelina warned. “I’m sure Raph wants his shoes decorated again.”

  Catherine ignored Angelina’s reminder of Catherine’s drinking binge. “You know, Pudge, maybe you should stick with diet iced tea rather than beer.”

  Soon, the verbal insults were flowing steadily as Angelina drove along the back route indicated on her GPS screen. The displayed route led to vehicle parking entrances behind the hotels on the strip. Raphael and Abaddon enjoyed the now familiar banter. The verbal abuse switched from one subject to another as long as it afforded the opportunity to point out a shortcoming either nun had. Angelina eased the Hummer into a vehicle line in front of the Venetian rear entrance. She turned to Raphael.

  “Did you get a chance to check on our finances when you spoke to Ahmed about Nasib?” Angelina asked, after sticking her tongue out at Catherine. “This Venetian stay won’t be cheap and I want to do it first class.”

  “He has quadrupled all our holdings already. Ahmed is amazing. He gets so excited he speaks to me in three different languages without knowing it. Our financier had to cut back on his time at the café. Ahmed claims he has never been happier. He meets with Mohmar and the other soldiers we met at first a few times each week. They have already worked wonders with the local populace. Our friends have scaled back their evangelistic fervor because of running into some like the ones we handled at the airport. Ahmed was a little disappointed about his progress in changing his peoples’ outlook until I told him about Nasib’s band of idiots. He understands now if two Archangels of the Lord cannot instantly make others see the light, he and his friends can only do so much without endangering everyone around them. Anyway, in answer to your question, we can do anything we wish here for accommodations. I still have diamonds and cash too, Ange.”

  “Outstanding.”

  “Now, about my Long Island Ice Tea.” Catherine watched Angelina’s face expectantly. Angelina parked near the concierge station.

  “Oh, I’m so going to let you have as many Teas as you want.” Angelina opened her door to get out. “I will of course be with you when you awaken the next morning, Spewy.”

  “Raph will heal me, right Raph?” Catherine and the Archangels joined Angelina next to a smiling young man in the uniform of The Venetian.

  “I’m afraid not, Sister Mary Catherine. Temperance must be your guide.”

  “We’ll see if you’re still invoking temperance when you hit the crap tables,” Catherine needled him. Angelina chuckled appreciatively and handed the Hummer’s keys over to a young man with Emilio on his shirt.

  “Em, take good care of my Hummer.” Angelina took a hundred dollar bill from Raphael and handed it to the young man.

  “It will be as if it were my very own,” Emilio promised, handing Angelina the claim check. Emilio extracted the bags Angelina pointed out to him in the Hummer’s rear cargo area. “Please wait for me inside the entrance while I park the Hummer. I will help you get checked in personally.”

  “Will do, Em.” Angelina held Abaddon’s hand as he pulled along one of the large suitcases on wheels while Raphael took the other one.

  Inside the elaborate casino entrance, the four stepped aside of the people pourin
g in and out of the doors. Angelina and Catherine enjoyed the surprised looks of abject incredulity on the faces of God’s Archangels.

  “Not bad, huh boys?” Angelina asked. “Remember Raph, you are not allowed out of the room without an escort.”

  “I believe that would be for the best,” Raphael whispered, his hushed voice barely audible. “This place is indeed astonishing.”

  Moments later, Emilio jogged in the entrance. He took both bags from Abaddon and Raphael. “Follow me, folks.”

  After Emilio had the four waiting in front of express check-in, having had a quick word with the young red-haired woman at the desk, he shook hands with Angelina enthusiastically. She had passed yet another hundred dollar bill to him with the handshake.