Velex frowns and puts his hands on his hips. "What's wrong with Technotheists?"
Doss straps on his cuirass and cape. "They're mindless robots who worship technology."
"You're being very insulting."
"You're not one."
"If it makes you feel better to believe that, then go right ahead." Velex says. He hands Doss his boots.
He's a Technotheist? "I'm sorry. I had no idea."
"Because we're not all insane."
"Okay. Again, I'm sorry." Doss buckles his boots and combs through his messy brown hair with his fingers. "Is there a Catholic priest?"
"Maybe. I have no idea."
"Oh. Any other Christian denomination?"
He shrugs his shoulders. "You'll have to take what you can find. If you do manage to find one, it's probably a much different religious doctrine than on Earth."
"I already know that. Even Catholicism is radically different now than it was two hundred years ago."
"So you are Catholic or you used to be Catholic?" Velex asks.
What is he? That's actually a very good question. "I don't know. I guess I'm a conglomeration of it all."
"Then you might have some luck after all. If you want to leave that badly, then I'll go get the doctor."
* * *
Blice flutters out from the confines of the crashed IGR drone that has been his personal hell for the past three weeks. He looks around at the strangely dressed people and the bright colors that hurt his eyes. Yep. This is Himmel. As he flies through the streets, the citizens wave at him and children try to catch him in little glass jars, so he makes sure to fly up above them for fear of being trapped and never being let free. Maybe he should have stayed in the drone.
Where to begin? How is he supposed to find anyone in this place? His communication with Paradise was lost days ago and had been getting spotty the farther away he got. Now he has no way of getting in touch with Isidore or Zach. Let's see. If there is one place where he could hope to find Doss, it would be in a church, but he hasn't found anything resembling a church. All of these buildings look the same. They're all tall glass and metal structures with bright colored gardens and giant purple crystals of something that Blice can only guess is dark matter. How did they manage to do that? He'll have to ask Doss when he finds him.
As he makes his way down a main road between skyscrapers and a park, an electronic billboard advertisement catches his eye. At first, he is intrigued. Then his intrigue quickly turns to embarrassment. It's him. The female model wearing a formal wedding dress on the billboard is Miss Lavender, his alternate persona from back when he was a human. He has to stop flying due to his shock. How in the world did they get that picture? Just when he thinks this is simply a coincidence, he finds an electronic magazine vendor on the side of the road. Plastered across every digital hologram is Lavender in various costumes and poses. This is not at all what Blice was expecting to find. The purple eyes are a dead giveaway as to who it is. Those pictures were never supposed to be given out to anyone. Oh well. Blice did make a good-looking woman. As creepy as this encounter is, he has to focus on the job at hand. He will find out how these pictures went public on an entirely different planet on the other side of the galaxy when he has some free time and a thirst for vengeance. His goal for right now is to find Doss and formulate a plan.
4
Doss and Velex are the cause of all manner of whispers and adoring fans asking to take pictures with them as they walk together towards the temple. It's a rare occasion to see the admiral and captain together out in public on a random given day. Doss tries to ignore them, but it's difficult when some of them are very attractive women. He has to focus his mind on his true purpose and it only serves to remind him why he is seeking out a priest. He can't keep this up for much longer. If his morality crumbles, he will have nothing left.
Velex nudges him in the side. "Relax, Doss. You're so tense."
"You know why I'm tense."
"Give it a rest. You're going to kill yourself."
A curvy brunette in a short skirt and revealing top suddenly grabs Doss's arm and presses herself very distractingly up against his side. "You must be Captain Doss."
Doss grits his teeth and takes a deep breath before speaking to her. "That would be correct."
"Is this your dog?"
"What?" He looks behind her at the white wolf with an orange ball in his mouth and purple collar around his neck. "Abel! Yes, that is my dog."
"Here ya go. He was trying to eat my petunias."
Doss takes the leash from the woman and kneels down to pet Abel. "Thank you for returning him."
"He was bleeding when I found him in my garden so I had him checked out."
Doss runs his fingers over a deep gash in the simulated skin on Abel's shoulder where the fur is matted. "I see that. He's a robot, so there's no need to really worry about it."
"Looks like a dog bite."
"I bet I know who did it." He stands and walks off to check up with Velex.
"Wait!" The woman calls after him and runs up behind him. "Are you busy? Would you like to get some coffee? Your wings are so pretty. Can I touch them?"
"No to the coffee, yes to the wings." Why did he agree to let her touch him? He's losing any control he once had. As her soft hands move over his feathers, his grip on Abel's leash grows tighter until the woman runs off with a group of her friends. Now he can finally breathe again.
"Doss? You okay?"
He joins Velex's side. "Yeah, let's just not make any more stops."
"We're almost there. You know, if you want people to stop touching your wings, you can always put them away."
He nearly forgot that he was modified to be able to do that. It's so refreshing to keep them out now. For the fifteen years he was trapped down in Paradise after falling, he had to keep them hidden for fear of people trying to kill him or take his wings from him. That much platinum is expensive in any part of the galaxy. When Kazimir made him, he wanted Doss to have the very best parts and it shows. The only archon whose wings are even close to the same cost are Gabriel's 24 karat gold ones.
"Here we are. You go do what you need to do. I'll be back in about thirty minutes. I'm going to take Abel with me."
"Thanks." Doss pushes open the large intricately carved wooden doors and is immediately met by the sweet scent of incense and a sudden yet welcoming silence from the soundproof walls. This doesn't look like any church he has ever been in. Everything is crafted out of clear glass, from the vaulting arches in the ceiling to the rows of benches and the altar at the front of the room. The place is empty and the only light comes from glowing blue spheres lining the aisle and hanging in the air around the altar. Well, here goes nothing. He walks down the blue silk on the glass floor and kneels in front of the silver altar and closes his eyes.
Just as he begins to pray, he hears soft footsteps and opens his eyes to see a thin elderly man in long blue robes standing in front of him.
"Can I help you?" The man asks.
"Oh. Hello. I've never been here before. Are you a priest?"
"I am. Do you need guidance?"
"More than you know."
The priest leads Doss over to a bench and sits next to him. "All you have to do is ask. I am listening."
"I just got back from Earth after being gone from Himmel for thirty-two years and things have changed so much that I'm a bit lost. I'm not a Technotheist."
"I could tell that much. Why don't we start by you telling me what you are and we'll go from there?"
"I was hoping to find a Christian church, preferably Catholic, but any denomination works."
The priest's face lights up and he takes Doss's hand. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for someone like you to come along. I used to be a Christian priest before I converted to Technotheism. Believers of your faith are few and far between on this planet."
"I've noticed."
"Your wings are stunning." The priest looks to Doss's side. "Is that a swor
d?"
"Yes."
"It wouldn't happen to sometimes be on fire, would it?"
"It used to, before I fell. How do you know that?"
"Your name is Uriel, is it not?" The priest asks.
"Yes, but I go by Doss."
"Do you know who you are designed after? Have you heard of the angel called Uriel?"
"I have."
The priest smiles and pats Doss's hand. "Pleased to meet you. What brings an honorable man like yourself here?"
"Some not very honorable thoughts."
"Oh?"
Doss nervously clasps his hands together. "Fifteen years ago, I devoted myself to following the doctrine of the church down in Paradise. It was a blend of Catholicism and various other Christian faiths. I was so driven to do what I perceived to be correct, that I underwent a ceremony and took some very strict vows of purity and chastity. I had prayed for three days straight about it and I knew I had to do it."
"And now you want to undo your vows?"
"No. I want the opposite, actually. I need help to strengthen them and keep me from breaking them."
"How extreme are these vows you took?" He asks.
"I'm not to have any sexual contact with anyone, I can't think about women, I can't have physical contact outside of normal everyday interactions, and if I marry, there is to be no intimacy outside of consummating the marriage."
"Those are some very strict vows."
"It's what I want. I chose this." Doss says and he means it.
"Let me ask you something. Of all the things you could have given up, why choose this? I'm assuming that you've never been intimate with anyone."
"Absolutely not."
"How can you judge something as being evil if you've never experienced any of it? If you choose to take a vow in order to improve your connection to God and to your life, then you have every right to do so. I think it is a noble and admirable thing that has been lost. My only concern is making sure that you don't regret your decision later in life or feel like you were pressured into this."
"Believe me, this is what I want."
"Okay. Then I can help you. I'll be right back." The priest stands and goes into one of the back rooms. He returns a minute later and joins Doss again. He holds out a white rosary and places it in Doss's hands. "Take this. It used to be my mother's. It will help to keep your mind clear and whenever you are haunted by thoughts you believe go against your vows, you hold onto this and pray. There used to be a holy prayer that was common, but now it has been lost to the ages. Nevertheless, I think you will find this to be helpful to your cause."
Doss slips it over his head and holds it close to his heart. "Thank you."
"No problem. God will show you the correct path to take in your life. All you have to do is follow it and never look back. I hope I've managed to help you in some way."
"More than you will ever know. I greatly appreciate it."
Something taps on the doors and the priest goes to open them. Once he does, a familiar purple butterfly flitters inside and flies straight to Doss.
The butterfly lands on Doss's shoulder. "I thought I'd find you here."
"Blice? What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"Come outside with me and we'll talk more."
Doss bows to the priest and thanks him again before following Blice to the door. Before he leaves, he places the entire remainder of his money in the offering plate.
Blice is darting around Doss. "Why are you wearing an IGR uniform?"
"Don't kill me. I'm the IGR military Captain, third in command. I'm a pilot."
"Funny. Now what's the real reason? Some undercover thing?"
"No. He's one of us." Velex says as he comes down the street towards them. "And you must be the infamous Blice McSage. Nice wings. Or should I call you Miss Lavender? Your alternate persona is quite popular up here."
"And you are?"
"Admiral Alex Velex, head of the IGR military."
Blice hits Doss's chest with enough force to knock him backwards. "I'm going to kill you!"
Velex grabs Blice by his wings and plucks him off of Doss. "Hey now, none of that. And don't even think about using your dark matter. It won't go very well for you."
"Don't tell me what to do!" A purple and black haze forms around Blice, but just as it appears, it vanishes in a burst of white light and Blice screams as he falls to the pavement.
"Told you."
"What did you do to me?"
"See all those purple crystals scattered around everywhere?" Velex asks. "We learned a long time ago how to neutralize dark matter. Those nanobots get killed off instantly in the atmosphere, especially around the crystals like the one right over there."
Abel barks and lunges at Blice. Before anyone can stop him, the wolf grabs Blice in his mouth and takes off running, pulling free from the leash then darting down the street.
Velex simply crosses his arms and watches him run off. "You want to do anything about that?"
"Not really."
"Wanna go grab a drink?" Velex asks.
"I'd love to."
* * *
Annette makes her way to the modest house in the southern residential district where the lower class members of society live what many could consider to be still privileged lives. A few of the more conservative citizens choose to live here because of the shocking lack of technology compared to the rest of Himmel. Annette conducts business here in order to avoid the electronic security cameras that fill the other districts. Here, she can move around nearly undetected to do as she pleases.
When she reaches the door, a man in a dark red Blood Force cloak and black body armor bows then opens the door for her. "Welcome back, Vice Admiral Hildegarde Morgenstern."
"Please, just call me Annette."
"Yes, ma'am. Do you need help with those bags?" The man asks.
"No. Just stand guard and no matter what you hear, do not enter this house. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
She steps into the house and places the cloth bags on the wooden table in the dining room. Why is it so dark in here? She flips on the lights. "Darling? I'm home. Don't tell me you've been asleep all day."
The man calls sleepily from the back bedroom. "If I have, will you have to punish me?"
"You're so naughty." She picks up a bottle of tequila before going into the bedroom and jumping on the bed next to him. "I got you some tequila. I hope it's the kind you like."
He smiles and sweeps his messy brown and grey bangs out of his face. He takes a long drink from the blue bottle. "Alezi Blue, the best tequila in the universe."
"Oh, Byron . . . why couldn't you have been born up here on Himmel?"
"Don't worry about the past. Let's enjoy what we have in the present." He pulls her close and kisses her while he unties her leather corset.
She giggles and pushes him away. "Darling, stop. Not right now. I need to tell you about some developments."
"What are they?"
"So, Doss was taken by Clark and tortured. Velex saved him and Clark was arrested, but then he escaped and was pardoned by Dressler."
"Okay. When do we meet up with Doss?" Byron asks. "You did tell him that I'm here, right?"
"We . . . don't. I might have faked your death so the rest of the Blood Force wouldn't come looking for you."
Byron grabs her breasts and pulls her down on top of him. "Now you have me all to yourself."
"But we have to discuss the plan."
"How about we drink more of this tequila, you take off that skirt, and we make our own plans?"
"Only if you cook dinner tonight." Annette says with a smile.
"Of course. I hope you like Wasteland Pizza, sweetheart."
"If you touched it, I'm sure it's delicious."
Byron kisses her neck. "I'm touching you and you taste so good."
"Wait, wait. What about your wife?"
"She has her lovers. I have mine." Byron says. "I've never been a one woman man, sweethea
rt. Morals are like bubblegum. You can inflate them with hot air or you can keep chewing. Either way, they eventually lose their flavor."
"What? That doesn't make any sense."
"It doesn't have to. Just kiss me."
5
For two weeks, Doss has dedicated every spare minute of his time to the flight simulators and he's never felt better. He has been gone from this for far too long. This is where he belongs, up in the atmosphere with space above him and Himmel far below. In these two weeks, he has been able to finally clear his mind and focus on his true passion: flying. Whether it's with his own wings or those of a space fighter, he feels most at home in the air. And the rosary has been helping him keep his thoughts on track. No more wandering fantasies about Katarina or anyone else. It's the best feeling in the world. He was even able to get used to using his metal fingers much faster than he originally thought. He almost can't tell the difference. Doss lands the space fighter with ease that has become second nature. Another flawless mission, as always. He shuts down the simulation and slides out of the machine as he pushes his sweat-drenched bangs out of his face.
Velex is waiting on him with a bottle of water and a towel. "You really get into it, don't you?"
"I take it as seriously as if I was actually flying."
"That's why you're the best, Doss."
He wipes his face and sips the water. "So, when do I get to fly a real one again?"
"Now." Velex says.
"Now? I was about to go meet Blice for dinner."
"He's a butterfly. What does he even eat?"
Doss shrugs his shoulders. "He really likes sugar water."
"Doss, it's not a suggestion. It's an order. You're taking up a space fighter in twenty minutes."
"Why the sudden urgency?" Doss asks as he unzips his black flight suit.
"Strafe. There's been a prisoner uprising and the initial reports show massive casualties, mostly Himmel guards who were stationed there to keep them under control. We're going to Strafe in three days so I need you able to fly and if it comes down to it, to fight."
"Does Strafe even have their own space fighters?"
"No. They hijacked some of ours." Velex says.
Paradise Awakened Trilogy Page 25