“And for awhile, forget the terrible things I’ve seen…forget the terrible things I’ve done.” Janene looked at her hands, still stained with the memory of Angel’s blood.
A wail of agony welled up from a dark pit in her heart. Her bitter, angry tears blended with the hot water slipping down the drain. It was a lonely, primal cry to no one — as if there were no one in existence who knew or cared what she had just seen — knew or cared what she and Frank had just done.
Frank heard his partner’s cries but pushed her pain away while he worked with a technical specialist to compile the data they had just obtained from the plucked Angels.
An hour later, they arrived at one of the few train stations in the area, dressed as proper visitors from Castile. Celestial Mansion World I was always layered on top of a Material realm. Frank and Janene were Celestial representatives from the Celestial realm of Castile, which was layered over the large Material country of Castile. The same was true for their destination. The Celestial realm called Northern Venom lay on top of the much smaller Material country of Northern Venom.
As they rode the train to Lehous, they tried to act enthusiastic about the reception and dinner they were about to attend, tickets courtesy of one of Frank’s moles.
The compiled scan data revealed the faces of several new Nephilim who were most likely involved with the harvests. Janene felt better now that she had something to focus her anger on. She added those new faces to an already long list. Frank and she would look for those faces during tonight’s festivities.
When they arrived at the banquet, Janene watched Frank as he mingled. He looked completely comfortable as he freely moved between the different languages.
Frank was charming, bold yet unassuming. He was fascinating to talk to. A natural athlete. A powerful male Angel Personality inside a powerful, blue male body. Women got lost in his eyes. He was a ferocious warrior. Any enemy of his King Joshua could soon find their throat slit.
For Janene, his touch held an unexpected tenderness. They were not lovers. It was not like that, though they had sex at times. Sex simply supported the role they had to play. Janene was fairly far on the lesbian side of bisexual. When their undercover missions called for them to be lovers, she made a game out of it, searching for words to make Frank unable to perform. So far, she had not found anything that did the trick.
“Announcing the arrival of his holiness, Prince Beliar,” boomed the herald at the entrance to the banquet.
There was evil and then there was Prince Beliar, the legendary one called ‘The Beast’. For everything good, Beliar was the exact opposite. Worthless in general, he was capable of any atrocity he deemed necessary, just as long as it allowed him to consume whatever indulgences he might lust for at the time.
Beliar approached Goddess Lakshmi, his mother, and cast his eyes to her feet. He fell to his knees and kissed the floor just in front of her.
Lakshmi looked down at Beliar. Her beautiful blue face took on the appearance of a mother who was a touch embarrassed by a beloved son’s overtures of supplication and humility. Frank and Janene knew better. Lakshmi and her loyal followers, the Pharisee Priests would destroy every drop of Beliar’s wealth if he did any less.
Frank joined the others as they ceremoniously looked upon the contrived spectacle. Frank was registered as a military arms merchant. He was doing a good job of playing his role as a charming Caligastian businessman.
But Janene knew her boss.
Both of them had seen Beliar many times over the last fifty million years. Tonight, there was something in Frank’s eyes she had never seen before.
Beliar did not know it, but from where Janene stood, Beast Beliar was already dead. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Haiguns’ cold heart did not care how many he had to slay to get to him. It was just a matter of time.
Frank’s time.
Elysium
Castor knocked sharply on Indra’s office door. It was exactly 07:00.
“Enter.”
Castor opened the door, allowing Kuko to enter first. Kuko approached her God’s desk slowly, allowing time for Castor to close the door and catch up. They arrived three paces in front of his desk at precisely the same instant. They stopped and threw their right arms up in synchrony, palms facing forward.
“Heil Indra,” they said as one.
Indra nodded in reply. The powerful Overlord smiled sincerely, happy to see his two primary bodyguards and closest confidants.
Major General Sade Heinrich, the head of Nazz Intelligence Services was sitting just to the right of Indra’s desk. She stood. “Good morning Kuko,” she said pleasantly.
“Good morning Sade,” Kuko replied. The two women hugged. They were not best friends, nor were they enemies. They would never do anything to undermine the other. Indra would beat them senseless if they ever engaged in such petty, self-serving nonsense. But neither had any reservation to call the other out, even screaming in each other’s face.
“Good morning Castor,” Sade said, stepping forward, enjoying the small sweet kiss that Castor planted on each of her cheeks. She did not expect him to say anything or produce any change of expression. She would have been alarmed if he had.
They quickly brought two more chairs and arranged them precisely in front of Indra.
“General Heinrich,” Indra said, gesturing to her. “I am eager to hear the latest news on Lord Rahu’s return to Eden.”
“Interesting news. I have been informed that Lord Smigyl himself will accompany Rahu on his trip here to Eden.” Kuko cocked her head. Castor subtly raised one eyebrow. Indra sat up straight in his chair.
“Interesting. Most interesting,” Indra enthusiastically replied. “Your latest report said Lord Smigyl would be taking a one-person capsule directly from Jerusem to Salvington. What changed?”
General Heinrich paused, a small smile coming to her lips as she tried to create some tension in her story. “We all know Rahu is little more than a tedious bureaucrat. If he had been a true leader, his Children of Luminosity would have defeated Abraham and the Valkyrie long ago. Of course, he completely underestimated what the Nazz are capable of. I suspect Rahu flipped when he found out how the Nazz have developed Elysium over the last 4,300 years since he’s been gone. Apparently, he begged Smigyl to accompany him because he is perfectly terrified of you.”
A huge grin spread across Indra’s bright yellow face. “Anything else?” he asked.
“Just one more detail. The initial plans called for Smigyl to leave from Jerusem. That plan was scrapped. The Valkyrie have now sent a Lanonandek transport craft all the way to planet Urantia to pick up the whole crew.”
Indra rose from his chair and walked around his desk, his hand on his chin, pondering what it all meant. Kuko, Castor, and Sade stood with him.
“And who else is on Urantia?” Indra asked.
“Lord Rahu, Guru Patanjali, and Pundit Chismael. Quite likely they will all travel together,” Sade continued. “And, of course, wherever Patanjali goes, his servant Shorinam isn’t far behind.”
“Yes. Yes. It makes sense. Rahu would want his best friends with him,” Indra said, pacing back and forth. “But that is of little relevance. The only thing of real importance to Nazz command is that Lord Smigyl himself is finally returning to Eden. We must construe a plan to delay him. We must compel Smigyl to remain here with us until we can convince him that we are truly his allies. With just a few small treaties, we can rearrange the entire Eden power structure.”
“Mecosta,” Castor replied dryly.
“Yes, General Mayhew. Mecosta indeed. Putting that one country under Nazz control will give us the pathway into Azakaman that we have long needed. And we all know that to take Eden, we must first take Azakaman.”
Indra stopped in front of Kuko. “Kuko. I want you to arrange a grand gala banquet to celebrate the return of the God of Light to Eden. We must invite prominent representatives from all the Overlord families. We must convince Smigyl of our love and support for The Children
of Luminosity.”
“Yes, my Lord. Of course.” Kuko paused, a smile of understanding crossing her face. “Anything else?”
“Yes. I think it might be beneficial for you to rekindle some of Smigyl’s special affection for you.” Kuko nodded in agreement, already plotting what she would do.
All three gave Indra a polite bow before leaving. Castor closed the door behind him on their way out, clasping his hands lightly behind his back, his head down, in deep contemplation, walking in the opposite direction of Kuko and Sade.
Indra returned to his desk. Eden is a powder keg ready to explode, he thought to himself. Too many competing for limited space — The Children of Luminosity, the Pharisees, Caligastians, Daligastians, the Satanists, the Valkyrie. Smigyl’s return is just what I need. I have to ensure it appears I am loyal to him.
Indra stood and began to pace. I know exactly how to secretly help the Valkyrie first defeat the others. And with Rahu’s ineptitudes out of the way, my Nazz will crush the Valkyrie. Then planetary law will dictate that Eden is truly mine. I certainly didn’t build up Elysium’s armies for Rahu’s agenda.
With a series of techniques he had mastered over many years, Indra compelled himself to forget anything other than his loyalty to both Lord Smigyl and his self-serving son, Rahu. He set a series of internal timers that would repress his memory of his true agenda until Lord Smigyl had departed Eden and was well on his way to Salvington.
Then all his enemies would weep upon seeing the true strength of The God of War.
Chapter 4
A Brief Delay in Reckoning
We have been fighting this war over a period of time that spans 700,000 Creations. Who knows how many quadrillion years that might be? So, what’s the problem with delaying the final divide for a few thousand more years?
—Goddess Janene Windsor
The Celestial Realm of Planet Eden
Mansion World I Space: Country of Northern Venom
City of Old Kimcha
"Showtime,” Janene mumbled to herself as she studied her disguise in the mirror. She was relieved that Prince Beliar’s day of reckoning had finally arrived. Almost 26 years had passed since she and Frank were in the city of Lehous, attending Goddess Lakshmi’s reception and banquet.
Since then, they had slipped out of their roles as Caligastian weapons merchants and moved to Old Kimcha where they adopted new identities. They now wore light brown skin, the color consistent with a high caste servant. Once in Old Kimcha, they separated and were conveniently introduced by mutual friends. Eventually they married.
Meticulously, they built a small janitorial company, working hard to gain a contract with Hotel Trikrit, one of Prince Beliar’s luxury hotels in Kimcha Proper. Janene had not felt very noble about creating the vacancies by killing off key personnel in the hotel’s previous management and janitorial staff. Frank did not seem to mind.
Earlier today, two of their coworkers dropped by with a gift of fresh fruit, secretly confirming Beliar had arrived and was spending the night at Hotel Trikrit.
“Are you ready, dear? Still trying to get your warts right? Don’t you look ugly enough already?” Frank called from the main room in their simple home in a run-down part of Old Kimcha. “You know we can’t be late. We have to at least pretend to be industrious-acting janitors.”
“Coming sweetheart,” Janene called back, casually swinging open their bedroom door and strolling toward her husband. She gave him an affectionate peck on the cheek.
They stood side by side, admiring themselves in the mirror, inspecting each other’s appearance, checking their scars and other blemishes to see if they were properly situated. Too much dirt, grime, and ugliness means you do not get a contract in a place like Hotel Trikrit. Too pretty, skin too light, and uniforms too new caused suspicion. In this part of Northern Venom, anyone who looked suspicious disappeared quickly.
They walked together through the busy streets, just as they had for the past nine years. The ‘Hotel Trikrit’ emblems on their uniforms were recognized as symbols of respect. If you worked at Trikrit, it meant you worked for Prince Beliar. That meant you had local recognition and protection. Recognition and protection in a dump like Old Kimcha was good.
Frank showed just the right amount of pride as they walked, wearing an expression that matched the value of his facial features and skin color. Janene’s skin color was a couple shades darker. Her humble posture matched their supposed relationship. Considering the strength of her ego, Janene was doing an amazing job of acting the part of the submissive and humble wife.
“Killing a Demigod like Prince Beliar is tough, but together we can do it. Just like before. Right? Nothing fancy. Go for the soft spots.” Frank threw his voice into Janene’s left ear as they walked through the market. It was a five-mile walk to the hotel, plenty of time to rehearse the day’s plans.
“Oh yeah. I’m sure all of this will go flawlessly.” Janene threw her sarcastic voice into Frank’s right ear. “No problem at all. We’ll just wipe them all out, grab our equipment, disappear, and gently slip away to Higher Glory.”
“Good thought, my dear. An excellent tactic. Then perhaps you can have a bath. You’ve really been smelling quite rank lately.”
“Well, the way I figure it, the smellier I am, the less chance I have to deal with your perverse fetishes. Wonder why I didn’t think of it earlier. It could have saved us both much frustration.”
Janene felt Frank tense, fighting against the tendency to look up.
“Straight ahead. Two of Beliar’s headed our way,” Frank threw his voice.
Janene casually glanced across the marketplace, her eyes eventually spotting Beliar’s goons. “Ugh. Those two. Looks like they’re on the hunt to bring Beliar a tasty treat.”
Janene and Frank stopped at a market stall that sold a nice variety of fabric and other basic home items. As they pretended to admire the merchandise, they kept an eye on the goons, trying to determine whom they were stalking.
“Good fucking god,” Frank said under his breath, fighting a chill running up his spine.
“Yep, I got her,” Janene replied when she followed Frank’s subtle gesture, immediately locating the girl the goons were targeting.
Janene quickly walked into a public toilet. She entered as a janitor with brown skin, but exited with much lighter skin, dressed to match the caste of the girl Frank had sent her to protect. His words were still plastered in her mind.
“It’s fine for me to die. It’s fine for you to die. It’s fine for all of Eden to go up in flames. And I have no idea why the fuck she’s on Eden in the first place. But it’s not fine for Beliar to stick his claws into that particular girl.”
Chapter 5
In Service to My Enemies
Love thy Enemy.
—King Joshua of Nebadon.
The Celestial Waters between Edentia and Jerusem
Travel within the cytometric flow conduits running from Edentia to one hundred system headquarters was smooth and fast. However, the conduit for Jerusem dumped directly into the Mamsa circuit making the turbulence tricky for even the most seasoned winged travelers and large transports. High frequency Celestial Waters were so dangerous, if they dipped into the Material worlds, they could tear entire solar systems apart.
Pegasus counted down the light-year markers, trimming the Lanonandek transport’s control surfaces to keep her craft as close to the gravitational center as possible. With the approach of Jerusem, the gravitational pull within the cytometric flow conduits slowed to match with the flow of the massive Mamsa circuit outside. Since the intersection of the two flows was a danger zone, powerful emitters of coherent light were used to fluoresce the waters as brightly as possible. And since the flow speed of the Celestial Waters had a tightly coupled causal relationship with the frequency of light emitted, an experienced pilot could easily comprehend the influence of patterns within the waters, and thereby aim for the best juncture point. They would then pray that a powerful, unexpected t
ransient did not hit at the same time.
Today, for whatever reason, the laminar flow of the waters within the cytometric conduit blended smoothly with the broad waters of Satania’s Mamsa circuit. The flow of the Mamsa waters above Jerusem’s primary landing sphere channeled into a continuous circle. This allowed Pegasus to systematically transit down the circuit’s harmonics and to neutral gravity without leaving the immediate area. A good thing, since traveling at a few hundred times light’s speed would take her far, far away very, very quickly.
There was always some degree of turbulence at the interface between the harmonics, so as Pegasus dropped through the lower frequencies of the Mamsa circuit, she carefully trimmed her and the craft’s wings for maximum control, until all buffeting had ceased. She took a full breath when she finally touched Jerusem’s Sphere #JV3, a Celestial domain under the Valkyrie’s control.
I wonder what turbulence is about to hit me? Pegasus thought, as she followed a series of lights, taxiing toward a massive waiting area at the end of the landing strip.
Apparently, she was expected. A tractor was waiting and immediately towed her to the center of a large hangar. Once stopped, the tractor’s driver pulled the handle to unlock the tow bar. Pegasus did not recognize him; however, from the nervous look on his face, Pegasus suspected he knew who she was, or at least knew something of this unusual mission. The tractor quickly departed the hangar and the door closed behind him.
Pegasus glanced through the control booth window where she saw two individuals. Their backs were to her, so she could not identify them, but it was obvious from the body language they were having a disagreement.
This mission felt wrong from the start, so she sat tight with her fingers resting lightly on the controls. She did not dare shutdown just in case she had to get out fast. She wondered if her strong sense of anticipation was justified; wondered if Aniel was really going to meet her; wondered what she should do if Aniel did not.
Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) Page 3