2021

by Martin Wiseman

  ‘Don’t you?’ Stuart smiled back ‘I reckon we couldn’t detect it even as massive as it is, as they can prevent our satellites and stuff working just the same as they do with everything else of ours.’

  ‘It’s hard to imagine what kind of propulsion system could possibly get something that large into space’ considered Joan.

  ‘It suggests they’re technically way ahead of us as’ added Andre.

  ‘Another ten minutes and that will probably do it’ commented Tom as he calmly changed the subject.

  ‘If you can start going lower, Andre, please’ asked Tom.

  ‘You’re joking, Monsieur? Have you not just witnessed your own friend almost being dragged over the side?’ queried Andre now looking quite astonished.

  ‘Well, be fine, Andre, I assure you’ replied Tom calmly.

  ‘What is it you are going to do again?’ questioned Joan ‘you’re going to just pray or something?’

  ‘I’m going to destroy the Migrators of course’ replied Tom in a calm, matter of fact manner.

  ‘Oh I wish I could believe that!’ uttered Joan.

  ‘You’re going to destroy the Migrators’ laughed Stuart ironically ‘quite how exactly?’

  ‘How low do you need me to go exactly?’ Andre suddenly interrupted.

  ‘Just low enough for me to get down there, onto the ground’ smiled Tom.

  ‘You are joking? You can’t be really serious about going down there?’ asked Joan, looking round at Tom as if he’d gone completely mad.

  ‘No, I’m not mad, Joan’ smiled Tom ‘I know exactly what I’m doing.’

  As they went lower, so the high numbers of Migrators came into view once again.

  ‘Oh, you can’t really be serious, Tom, they’ll kill you instantly if you show your face down there, look there are simply millions of the buggers’ uttered Alec.

  ‘Yes and only one of me’ laughed Tom ‘and yet, I’m more dangerous to them than they’ll ever know.’

  ‘Alec’s right, Tom, you can’t be serious about going through with this?’ argued Stuart.

  ‘I know now what my destiny always was’ smiled Tom ‘I guess I really knew it the moment I met the Pope.’

  ‘You met the Pope?’ puzzled Andre.

  ‘If you head for that bare area over there, Andre, then that’s perfect’ suggested Tom as he pointed the way. ‘How do I get off this thing by the way?’ he queried.

  ‘There’s a rope ladder, Tom, but why on earth would you want to use it?’ puzzled Andre, now looking fairly alarmed.

  ‘Look, don’t do this, Tom, its madness’ suggested Jack ‘whatever plan you think you have, it’ll never work.’

  ‘Dad, don’t let him do this’ insisted Jenny as Tom readied himself to climb down the rope ladder as the airship dropped lower.

  ‘It’ll be all right, Jenny, you’ll see’ Tom assured her ‘remember what Jack told you’ he smiled.

  ‘Well I don’t remember saying someone should commit suicide by doing something as crazy as this’ commented Jack.

  ‘No, of course not’ smiled Tom ‘you said to Jenny ‘even in the midst of the worst hell on Earth, you’ll still find something good.’

  ‘How the hell did you know I said that?’ puzzled Jack.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know about this?’ agonised Joan as she now ran her fingers tensely through her hair.

  Tom smiled now as Jack helped Andre to allow the airship to move over the clear patch of land Tom had spotted.

  ‘Jack, Andre’ smiled Tom ‘look after yourselves and don’t crash this airship whatever you do!’

  ‘You’re welcome, my friend’ Jack replied as he went over to shake Tom’s hand.

  ‘Stuart, we can’t really let him do this, can we?’ questioned Joan as she felt increasingly uncomfortable with what they were about to do.

  ‘What choice have we, Joan?’ replied Stuart. ‘The world currently has ‘no hope’ as far as I can see, maybe this is the hope we need?’ he pondered.

  ‘But you can’t really believe that?’ questioned Joan. ‘Shouldn’t we stop him?’ she replied, looking on in anguish.

  ‘But if not this? What else can offer us any hope of ever defeating these monsters?’ questioned Stuart, looking tired and stressed out himself. ‘Maybe man’s last throw of the dice is down to his belief? For if not that, what else has he?’

  ‘DAD?’ now shouted Jenny ‘you can’t be serious about this? You have to stop him, Dad’ she uttered with tears now running down her face.

  Then she turned towards Alec.

  ‘Alec? You told me Tom was your best friend, you can’t let him do this, you just can’t!’ she pleaded.

  Tom meanwhile, was already partly over the side and he just looked at them all and smiled as the airship slowly approached the spot where he wanted to jump down.

  For someone about to drop down onto the ground close by the most fearsome beast the world had ever seen, Tom looked amazingly calm, he was just about the only one on board who was.

  ‘Stuart, Joan, you know, you two make a really nice couple, worth thinking about maybe?’ Tom suggested as he cheekily winked his eye at them both.

  ‘And Alec, my old mate, I’ve known you all my life, I tell you now, this, my friend, is my finest hour’ smiled Tom. ‘I never knew it until now, but this was always my destiny, to be like an angel and save the world’ Tom added as he smiled at them all, ‘but don’t tell anyone about me you lot, it’s meant to be a secret’ he smiled.

  ‘Don’t do this, Tom, this can’t be right?’ immediately argued Alec.

  ‘Oh, but it is right, Alec, as you see, I am the Prayerman in the painting, I realise that now’ Tom smiled.

  ‘You’re the what?’ Joan puzzled.

  ‘Oh, I’m sure Alec will explain it all to you later’ smiled Tom.

  He now temporarily climbed up again and just placed Joan’s hand into Stuart’s and he called Jenny over and placed her hand into Alec’s.

  ‘You know, you two were just made for each other’ he told Jenny and Alec as they both looked a little embarrassed.

  ‘You know you lot, this is the happiest day of my life’ uttered Tom as he smiled at them all again.

  Then as he began to climb down the rope ladder Tom laughed.

  ‘DON’T WORRY, ALEC, YOU’LL SEE ME AGAIN, IT’LL BE IN ANOTHER LIFETIME THOUGH, SO LOOK OUT FOR ME!’

  Then, as they all just looked at each other and agonised whether they should stop him or not they heard Tom add;

  ‘ALEC, JENNY, NAME THE FIRST BOY AFTER ME!’ as he climbed much further down the rope ladder.

  ‘We can’t really let him do this, can we?’ Joan now questioned as she looked alarmed.

  ‘YOU JUST WATCH ME!’ laughed Tom as he rapidly climbed down towards the ground.

  ‘BUT YOU CAN’T DO THIS, YOU’LL BE KILLED!’ shouted Jenny as she began to cry. ‘DAD! STOP HIM! PLEASE, DAD! YOU CAN’T REALLY ALL BE ALLOWING HIM TO DO THIS!’ she now shouted in anguish.

  ‘I HAVE A MEETING WITH MY DESTINY, JENNY, THIS THING ENDS NOW!’ Tom shouted back to her.

  Tom now shouted up to Stuart.

  ‘STUART, YOU WERE RIGHT, THE ONE THING WE HAVE THEY DON’T, IS OUR FAITH AND IT IS PRECISELY THAT, THAT WILL NOW DESTROY THEM! NOW GET GOING YOU LOT!’ Tom ordered.

  Jenny was holding her head now as she cried and even Joan was beginning to cry a little as she questioned whether what they were doing was really the right thing or not.

  The moment Tom was down on the ground though, he gestured for them to quickly gain height and fly clear of him.

  Andre took the controls and revved the engines hard in order to gain height again quickly, as the others all clung onto the sides as they continued to stare downwards!

  Once Andre had the airship at a safe height again, he levelled it out before he too ran to stare down over the side.

  They then all
witnessed Tom now kneeling down as if to pray.

  ‘But what’s he doing?’ uttered Jenny ‘they’ll soon see him’ she uttered.

  Joan now grabbed Stuart’s arm.

  ‘Oh, Stuart, have we really done the right thing letting him go down there?’ she questioned nervously.

  ‘He’s right, Joan, it’s all a question of faith, we can’t beat the Migrators any other way other than through our faith’ he insisted.

  ‘YOU’VE GOT TO GO BACK FOR HIM!’ now screamed Jenny in floods of tears ‘ANDRE!’ she shouted.

  ‘But he said this was his destiny’ argued Andre ‘a man must honour his destiny.’

  ‘ON NO, THEY’VE SEEN HIM!’ uttered Jenny as she now just fell into Alec’s arms as she could barely force herself to watch anymore.

  ‘Look after her will you please, Alec?’ asked Stuart as Alec held Jenny away from the edge so she couldn’t see what he feared would soon happen.

  ‘Oh God, They’re now moving in on him’ uttered Joan as she looked down and held her face in horror.

  Then she had to look away herself.

  ‘Oh, I can’t watch anymore of this’ she uttered ‘we should never have allowed him to talk us into this, it was madness!’

  Migrators were now rushing in on Tom from every direction.

  Then suddenly, he was completely swamped by them and they could see him no more.

  Alec spied a look over Jenny’s shoulder and now he was shocked and upset himself.

  ‘Why didn’t I stop you from doing this, Tom, I wasn’t your friend I was a complete idiot!’ he cursed himself.

  Suddenly though, there was an explosion that actually rocked the airship and sent it rolling from side to side!

  Instantly they were all thrown to the airship’s deck as they all now just clung on anyway that they could!

  ‘WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?’ shouted Andre as both he and Jack now ran to try and gain control of the airship.

  ‘HAVE WE BEEN HIT BY SOMETHING? WHAT HAPPENED, JACK?’ shouted Stuart as they all tried to hang onto the swinging airship as it moved violently to and fro.

  ‘NO, IT’S FINE! EVERYTHING’S FINE!’ Jack shouted.

  ‘WHAT CAUSED IT THEN?’ Stuart shouted up to him as he tried to cling onto the airship’s side.

  ‘WAS TOM CARRYING EXPLOSIVES OR SOMETHING? AND THAT’S WHAT WE FELT?’ queried Jack as he looked over towards Alec.

  ‘Don’t ask me?’ shrugged Alec.

  ‘NO, LOOK EVERYONE!’ suddenly shouted Joan ‘LOOK DOWN THERE!’ she shouted again as she pointed excitedly.

  ‘LOOK, JENNY! TOM’S STILL ALIVE!’ suddenly shouted Stuart as they all now stared down at him.

  ‘Blimey!’ uttered Alec ‘how on earth has he managed that?’ he laughed and had a huge smile on his face.

  Both Jack and Andre now came down to join them.

  ‘But what’s he doing exactly?’ questioned Jack as they all strained their eyes to see.

  ‘Look, Stuart! What’s happening to the sky?’ puzzled Joan as they all looked up to see the sky rapidly darkening as the clouds high above them swirled all around.

  ‘Christ! I haven’t seen any sky looking like that’ commented Jack as he stared upwards.

  ‘Never?’ questioned Stuart curiously.

  ‘No, never’ replied Jack as he turned his attention back to Tom again.

  ‘God, would you believe that’ uttered Andre happily as they all witnessed all the Migrators now cowering away from Tom as they were all now almost bowing to him.

  ‘How is he doing that?’ puzzled Stuart as he looked on totally fascinated.

  ‘But what’s he doing now?’ puzzled Joan as they all leaned over the airship’s side together as they stared down at Tom and the hordes of Migrators now all around him, stretching for as far as the eye could see.

  Above them, storm clouds were now beginning to gather rapidly and then there was a sudden clap of thunder that shocked them all!

  Stuart now looked around at Jack.

  ‘Is this thing OK in a thunderstorm?’

  Jack just shook his head before he continued staring down at Tom.

  The Migrators now began to just scream at Tom in such a loud and terrifying sound they could all hear it even at the height of the airship.

  Now the larger red Migrators all pushed the others out of their way to reach the very front and they all just screamed at Tom as they raised themselves up!

  Aboard the airship meanwhile, everyone just continued to stare down at this fascinating scene.

  ‘This is simply unbelievable!’ uttered Stuart ‘but how is Tom doing all this?’ he puzzled.

  The Migrators all began poking their claws closer to Tom and then jumping back again as he now began to hold his arms out wide.

  The Migrators now began screaming so loud they all had to cover their ears!

  ‘Aghh! That hurts my ears’ complained Alec.

  Then suddenly without warning, what looked to be lightening began shooting from Tom’s fingertips as it shot clear through the Migrator’s bodies close to him with a blinding yellow/red flame!

  The lightening then seemed to continue on through all the Migrators for just as far as they could see, as the Migrators who were struck all immediately began falling to the ground!

  It was like some sort of ground lightening that continued along the ground and off into the distance as it resembled lightening spreading for a split second through dense white cloud.

  Alec temporarily broke away from Jenny as he just stared downwards.

  ‘BUT THAT’S THE PAINTING!’ he suddenly screamed excitedly.

  ‘The painting, what painting?’ puzzled Jack.

  ‘It’s an unknown Van Gogh painting’ explained Alec excitedly ‘it’s the last one Van Gogh ever painted. It’s in the Vatican. ‘THAT’S IT! THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT SHOWS!’ suddenly shouted Alec as he became more and more excited. ‘Don’t you see? The painting predicted that this was always going to happen!’ announced Alec as he grabbed hold of Jenny and pulled her to the side. ‘You must see this, Jenny!’ he told her excitedly. ‘It’s exactly the painting Tom and I saw in the Vatican. It had his face on it, Tom’s face!’

  ‘But it can’t have?’ questioned Stuart in disbelief.

  ‘But it has!’ insisted Alec excitedly ‘GO ON, TOM! GIVE IT TO THEM!’ shouted Alec as they all watched the lightening from Tom’s fingers keep striking down Migrators, literally in their thousands!

  All of a sudden, the Migrators began to screech out a very high pitched sound again.

  ‘Uh oh, I know that sound’ warned Jack ‘it’s like an animal’s call to arms’ he explained to the others ‘I heard it just before they attacked General O’Dowd’s army.’

  Sure enough, exactly as Jack had predicted the very largest and fiercest Migrators were now racing in towards Tom from all directions, obviously being recalled from the front line and they were going at a tremendous speed!

  The larger red Migrators almost seemed deranged and completely insane with anger now as they even devoured their own kind if they got in their way!

  ‘I’m really sorry, Alec, but painting or not, he’s not going make it now’ commented Jack as he just shook his head.

  ‘He’s not beaten, I won’t believe it!’ uttered Alec defiantly ‘all this happened for a reason!’ he insisted.

  ‘I don’t believe it either’ smiled Jenny as she held Alec tightly.

  A weird thing then happened as it almost seemed like Tom then looked up at them, but then he outstretched his arms once again.

  Suddenly, there was an incredible flash of blinding white light emanating out from precisely where Tom had just been standing!

  Immediately, there came an explosion so powerful it knocked them all clean off their feet as they now struggled to even hang on to the sides of the airship, as it swung violently all around! Like a whirlpool they wer
e now just left spinning completely out of control!

  ‘JUST TRY TO HANG ON EVERYONE!’ shouted Jack as he attempted to just stagger back up to the control room.

  After a while, he managed to gain back some control again, then he quickly ran back down to join the others.

  ‘What the hell just happened?’ asked Stuart as everyone began to get back to their feet ‘is everyone all right?’

  ‘I hit my head slightly, but I’m all right’ nodded Joan.

  ‘As long as you didn’t hit anything important’ Stuart joked as he just smiled at her.

  ‘Oi you, I could easily ‘accidentally’ knock you overboard’ she smiled.

  ‘What’s happened with Tom?’ suddenly asked Alec as he and Jenny both got to their feet.

  As the airship began to get calmer again, they all immediately looked down over the side as they all stared down as they watched the incredibly white light spread out far into the distant horizon.

  *

  As the explosion of white light emanated out all the way to the fighting still going on along the human’s defence walls, its tremendous force now knocked everyone there clean off their feet!

  The sound of the explosion echoed all around for several more minutes, like thunder disappearing off into the distance.

  All along the wall defences, the soldiers all remained down on the ground, not understanding what had just happened.

  Then, when they slowly began to stand up again, they soon realised that all was now strangely silent.

  There was no more ear crunching Migrator’s screeches anymore.

  ‘What’s happened?’ they just asked each other as they all just shrugged their shoulders at one another.

  Then finally, all the soldiers on the front line began to dare to stand up and stare over the defence walls and to their amazement they discovered all the Migrators had now gone!

  ‘THEY’RE ALL GONE! WE’VE WON!’ shouted one man and only seconds later, everyone along the wall defences was shouting and cheering joyfully, throwing their tin hats into the air and hugging one another in sheer relief and joy!

  General Iram was a little more cautious, but as he looked out from his high platform, there really was no sign of any Migrators at all.