by Stuart Slade
Chapter Eighty
Angelic Treatment Ward, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD
The thunderous roll of explosions shook the roof of the tent. Overhead, the sky was ablaze with colored lights as another salvo of fireworks threw their cargoes high into the air. They had barely begun to fade when they were replaced by an even more profuse display.
“What is going on?” Maion-Lan-Lemuel was confused by the firework display. “Are you being attacked?”
“No way, the war is over.” Lieutenant Grace Zachariah looked at her patient carefully. “Yahweh is dead. Michael killed him. His first act after taking power was to surrender unconditionally to us. We’re occupying The Eternal City now. The fireworks display you can see is the celebration. If you think this is good, try watching the display at Las Vegas on television.”
“Michael loves Las Vegas,” Maion spoke reflectively. Her mind was still trying to accept all the things that were happening to her and many of them hadn’t properly been absorbed yet. “He loved New Orleans as well. When Yahweh wiped it out with a hurricane, it was one of the few times I have seen Michael really angry. Yahweh is really dead?”
The message had sunk in at last. The realization that the supreme authority figure in heaven that she had taken for granted all her life was gone left Maion looking lost and bewildered. As she had become accustomed to doing, she turned to Lemuel for support and guidance. “What will we do now?”
“We will get well, then we will go back to The Eternal City. There is so much that needs to be done, so many things that need to be put right. And there are many questions I wish to ask of Michael-Lan, ones that will take him much time to explain.”
Maion felt the impact of those words and they perturbed her. She stretched her wings out. They were still small but had almost quadrupled in size since they had started to regrow from the stumps left of her old ones. A few more weeks and they would be regrown. Then she would be able to fly again. The price being paid was that she was ravenously hungry most of the time. That was an unfamiliar feeling to her, nobody in the Eternal City ever got really hungry. “Lemuel. Remember Michael saved my life.”
“Having first endangered it. And having addicted us to his drugs.” Lemuel’s voice had no hint of doubt or any lack of resolve. “There is much he must answer for.”
“Well, you may have to wait.” Grace’s voice was sharp. She didn’t like things that got in the way of her ward running smoothly. “Michael is in charge of Heaven right now. Whether he stays there is up to General Petraeus. But, at the moment, he’s our person and we need him there. To be blunt Lemuel, we need him more than we need you. So don’t get in our way.”
Her words were interrupted by another barrage of fireworks explosions. Lemuel looked at them sadly, making Grace remember that, while the entire human race was celebrating the fall of Heaven, to Lemuel, the same celebrations marked the end of their history. Whatever happened next would be a new world for them. Nothing would ever be quite the same for the angels.
“You celebrate the end of the war?” Lemuel was confused. “I thought you humans loved war?”
“We’re very good at it. That doesn’t mean we like it. That may be why we are good at it, we want it ended.” Grace wasn’t quite certain of what she was saying or what she wanted to say. “For us, real war isn’t a game or a hobby. It’s a very real horror. Nobody knows that more than people who work in military medical facilities. You know those angels that came in with radiation injuries and cancers? We weren’t able to save any of them. Not one. They all died. I’d say if Michael made it unnecessary for us to do that to your entire race, then you should be damned grateful to him. Even if the personal cost to you two was high.”
She stopped talking, realizing that she had been shaken out of her professional persona. Watching the sick and radiation-poisoned angels dying had been a harrowing experience. It had been made bearable only by the nearby sight of the crippled victims of Yahweh’s concentration camp recovering from their injuries. She saw Lemuel staring at her, his eyes confused by conflicting emotions. Welcome to the human race, Lemuel. Moral ambivalence is the name of the game from now on. But, I guess it always was, you just fooled yourselves when you pretended otherwise. She completed Maion’s treatment chart and ordered another set of meals to be sent up to her. Her wings might be recovering but she needed a lot of food to provide the raw materials for regeneration.
USS Turner Joy, DD-951 AUTEC Transition Point, Earth
The fleet was lit overall, every mast and yardarm twinkling with lights while searchlights swept the sky in complex patterns. Overhead, the beams mixed with the explosions as some of the ships fired off their chaff and flare decoys in an attempt to emulate fireworks. Turner Joy was not taking part in the celebration, not from any desire to remain dark and silent, but because her crew was hard at work getting ready for the transit to Heaven.
“Are we ballasted properly?” Captain Reynolds was concerned about the transfer from salt water to the fresh water he presumed filled the Lake of Placid Contemplation. It would be acutely embarrassing if his ship was to transit into Heaven and promptly sink because of the lower density of fresh water.
“Yes Sir. We’ve made the 2.5 percent correction needed. By the way Enterprise is standing out of the water, so has she.”
Reynolds nodded and reminded himself to check the buoyancy numbers for himself before making the transit. “Any word from Heaven?”
“Nothing since the last sitrep Sir. The flying boat carrying kitten and her equipment landed safely on the Lake about an hour ago. Wait one Sir.”
There was a long pause from the communications room before the voice at the other end resumed. “New message has just come through, Sir. We’ll be seeing the portal forming very shortly and are to transit as soon as it is fully formed . We’re reminded it’s daylight in Heaven at this time. We’re also ordered to be at full action stations when we go through, closed up and ready to engage any hostile forces.”
“In a friendly manner of course.” Reynolds laughed, the time-honored U.S. Navy caution was a legend. “I could make myself wish that somebody that side would try something. All I ever wanted was to get Yahweh under my guns for a few minutes. Now he’s gone, we’ll never get that chance.”
“Sir, portal forming dead ahead.”
“Very good. Here we go people.”
Shores of the Lake of Placid Contemplation, The Eternal City, Heaven.
The human flying machine didn’t seem to be doing very much. Ohalam-Lan-Derepael had been watching it carefully but it seemed reluctant to erupt into action and start destroying everything around it. That was when he stopped in amazement at the realization he was afraid of these humans. That sudden insight mad him feel cold, a chill running down his back, between his wings. Yet the aircraft just sat there, floating quietly in the lake, doing nothing. Or so it seemed.
The portal formation took him by surprise. The great black ellipse started to form beside the flying boat, spreading quickly to reach enormous size. What happened next served only to heighten Ohalam’s fears. A ship came through the portal, one larger than anything he had ever seen before. It came through fast, a white wave around its bows, its long-barrelled guns scanning the horizon. Ohalam understood what that meant, the messages from the Ultimate Temple had been quite clear on that. Human guns were deadly. Don’t make them use them. Otherwise the whole city will suffer the fate of the Incomparable Legion of Light.
The gray warship slowed once she was through the gate and clear of the flying boat. She was doing something, Ohalam couldn’t understand what, but he guessed these humans saw it as being important. He contented himself with the knowledge that things would all become clear in due course. After all, hadn’t
Michael-Lan said all would be well in the end?
USS Turner Joy, DD-951 Lake of Placid Contemplation, Eternal City, Heaven
“We’re through, Sir.”
“Very good, change course ten degrees, take us clear of
kitten’s Shin Meiwa. Water conditions?”
“Fresh water as expected, buoyancy compensation as calculated. We’re stable. No sign of organic contamination. The environmental people are taking samples now. Preliminary analysis should be through soon. Sonar room reports … . ” Sophia’s voice hesitated. “Sir, they can’t find the bottom. The echo sounder shows no returns. Whatever this lake is, it’s deep.”
Reynolds nodded. “One day, we’ll probably send a bathysphere down to find out what is down there. Until then, we’ll try not to sink here. Finding us again would give even Bob Ballard conniptions. Comms room. Send to USS Enterprise, ‘portal exit secure’.
Shores of the Lake of Placid Contemplation, The Eternal City, Heaven.
The gray ship had moved well clear of the portal and had come to a near halt. Only her guns and the strange, mesh-like things that rotated on her masts were moving. The threat they purveyed was frighteningly tangible. What came next was downright terrifying.
A massive structure, the front edge curved, the top flat started to come through the portal. It was huge, far bigger than any structure Ohalam had seen before. Already it dwarfed the first ship that had come through and yet it kept on coming. As more and more of it emerged, he could see human aircraft parked on its deck. There were dozens of them, all painted with the red and gray camouflage that he already knew was the color humans associated with their conquest of Hell. The message they intended to send was, to Ohalam, obvious. They intended to treat Heaven the same way as they had treated Hell. More and more of the ship came through. The superstructure, looking almost ludicrously tiny against the sheer size of the massive hull, appeared next. Its gray shape was marred by the number 65 painted in darker gray. Finally the rear end of the great ship appeared. As soon as it was through, there was an ear-splitting scream from the front of the ship and four of the aircraft on its deck were launched. They dropped slightly as they left the deck, then climbed away to start circling over the Lake. Less than a minute later, they were joined by four more.
The great ship curved away, the water foaming at its stern as it accelerated away from the portal. As it passed the first ship through, there was a load blast from a siren. Ohalam realized that the great ship was saluting the small one and the aircraft that had opened the portal. Then she was gone, moving quickly away to a distant part of the lake, still launching aircraft as she went.
Ohalam’s jaw was open with sheer shock as one great ship after another followed the first through the portal. They were different, most of them. Two were almost repeats of the first great ship through, others were larger versions of the small ship that had led this massive fleet. His mind was already overwhelmed by the sight that was unfolding in front of him and he was barely aware of the growing crowd that had gathered to watch the spectacle.
The last ships through were smaller versions of the great aircraft-carrying ships that had led the parade. They had a different air about them though, they had aircraft on their decks but different ones. That isn’t surprising thought Ohalam, there isn’t much room left in the sky for more aircraft. That was when he noticed a tiny detail, one almost missed in the sheer awesome grandeur of the demonstration. The aircraft that had opened the whole show had taken off and left. Probably on its way back to Earth.
Still, the demonstration continued to unfold. The parade of ships through the portal had finally ended. Some were already on their ways to the far corners of the Lake. Others were almost in front of Ohalam’s vantage point and were doing strange things. Their sterns seemed to be dropping and gates opening as if they were sucking water into their hulls. Meanwhile, they too started launching the aircraft on their decks. It was odd, these ones rose straight up with the fans over their bodies rotating so fast they blurred. The helicopters formed up in mid-air and started to disperse, heading in neat groups for key points around the Lake. Ohalam could see where they were going, the Temple of the League of Holy Court, the Temple of Righteousness and, of course, The Ultimate Temple. Every key administrative point in the city. Idly, a curious thought worked its way into Ohalam’s mind. Was grouping all the administrative buildings in The Eternal City so closely together a good idea?
Yet more unexpected things happened before him. Some were great, some were small. The greatest of them was the sudden emergence of human vehicles from the rear ends of the ships that had halted before the city. For a strange moment, Ohalam thought that the ships were giving birth, but then common sense kicked in. These were not great creatures, they were just human machines. He watched the vehicles leave the ships and start circling behind their parent ships, doubtless waiting for the rest of the formation to join them. The small thing was that a group of humans carrying guns and dressed in red-and-gray uniforms were waiting on the shoreline. One had a box with a long wire sticking out the top and he was speaking to somebody. What he was saying, Ohalam could not hear.
The Ultimate Temple, The Eternal City, Heaven.
“Well, that was unexpected.” Gabriel-Lan-Michael looked down at the fleet assembling in the Lake below the Temple.
“Humans always did know how to make an entrance. They also know how to do the unexpected. I was expecting them to come in through the gates and filter through the city, consolidating their hold as they went. I wasn’t expecting the fleet to arrive in the middle of the city as well. It’s a pity Gabby, I was hoping for a little more time to consolidate our position.” Michael looked down at the fleet as well, noting how troops from the helicopters were already fanning out to seize every major building of importance in the administrative quarter. Obviously, Lemuel-Lan had been speaking freely about how the city was laid out.”
“Is this very bad for us?” Gabriel wasn’t as confident as Michael, that had always been his downfall.
“No, not really. I’ve always know the humans would set the agenda and timetable at this point. We have to just go with the flow. Think on our feet, Gabby, we’ve always had to think on our feet. Now is no different. If we don’t adapt, we end up like Yahweh.”
“He did make a splash didn’t he?” Gabriel-Lan-Michael was amused at the memory. “I wonder if he made a dent when he hit the lakebed.”
“If there is a lakebed. We’re never found one. Perhaps he will just sink forever.” Michael looked at the helicopters. Sure enough, a group of more than two dozen were heading right for the Ultimate Temple. “Here we go Gabby. Keep smiling and whatever you do, don’t do anything threatening.”
The helicopters touched down, disgorging troops that quickly spread out through the buildings that formed The Ultiamte Temple complex. Michael watched them separate out the strange creatures that had amused Yahweh so much and put them to one side. Doubtless for study, he thought. Humans really like to study unusual things.
More humans were fanning out across the steps that led up to the inner sanctum of the Ultimate Temple. Michael waved to his people and they settled down on the steps that had once led up to Yahweh’s throne. “I would strongly advise everybody to keep their hands in sight and make no sudden movements.” They were Michael’s last words before the Marines broke into the Inner Sanctum.
“You, who are you.” The leader of the Marines snapped out the question.
“I am Michael-Lan-Michael. Pro-tem leader and head of the council of angels running Heaven following the death of Yahweh.”
“We’ll see about that. Consider yourselves under arrest. All of you will remain here until General Petraeus decides what to do with you.
Shores of the Lake of Placid Contemplation, The Eternal City, Heaven.
The AAV-7 amphibious armored personnel carriers had finally finished launching from their mother ships. The circles straightened out into long lines and they swam to the white sand of the beach. The noise of the diesels as they pulled the AAV-7s out of the water and on to the sand drowned out pretty much everything and it was a blessed relief when the majority of the vehicles waddled away to establish occupation and a growing web of check points across The Eternal City. One
small group of vehicles pulled up on the beach and unloaded there. The headquarters of the Marine Regiment that had just landed.
One of the small group of soldiers waiting on the beach walked over to the newly established beachfront headquarters. “Sir, I am Captain Tomas Villaflor, 4th Scout Ranger Company, Philippine Army.”
The Marine commander looked at him and grinned. “We were told to expect special forces detachments. Colonel Robert Fortuna, 5th Marine Regiment.”
“Please to meet you, Sir.” The Captain also grinned. “But I must regret to advise you that, according to your operations schedule, you are three minutes late.”
Chapter Eighty One
Just Outside The Himilheothon Gate, The Eternal City, Heaven
“Stand by. The first section is coming down. Fire in the hole!” Lieutenant Chard gave the warning and carried out a last visual check to make sure the blast area was clear. He noted the TV crew had set their cameras up behind a series of blast screens and were assiduously filming all the work going on. They were well clear though, and they had finished their filming within the 30 minutes promised so Chard wasn’t going to make their lives difficult. Then, sure that everything was safe, he pressed the firing button.
The linear shaped charge went off with a flat, vicious crack. The explosives cut through the meter-thick wood without any discernable trouble but for a brief second nothing seemed to have happened. Just as Chard was beginning to think the demolition charge had failed, a square of wood five meters wide by ten high dropped away and crashed to the ground. He felt the vibration from the impact as the 32.5 ton slab hit the ground and briefly he wondered if there was much damage inside the city. He’d had a brief look at the buildings there and he hadn’t been impressed. Still, that was the Jellies problem. They were the ones who had let their city decay.
“Second section coming down! Fire in the Hole!” He keyed a second code in and pressed the firing button again. A matching slab from the other gate slammed into the ground. Chard looked around as the dust settled. The matching pieces of wood were already being dragged clear of the gates. Soon, a crane would load them into the trucks Chard had waiting. Then, they would be rushed off, through a portal to Earth and his home in Devon. It would take an Earth month to destroy these gates completely but he wouldn’t be around to see that. By the end of the week, he would be retiring. Another Officer of Engineers would finish the job.