"Why? Why not just kill him? Isn't he a danger to you? I mean, it's just, what's the purpose of putting him through all this?"
The Bishop turned to Gannon. "There is a point to be made, to others who watch events on this planet. Stone's suffering shows humanity for the frail, undeserving creatures they are."
The Missionary celebrated, "Glory to Voggoth!"
Gannon chewed on that idea. In his dealings with The Order, he tried to tell himself they were merely another alien race. Yet there were times when he realized Voggoth and his followers to be something more. Something worse.
Brad Gannon had cut his teeth in the entertainment industry, a progressive world full of gray; nothing simple or absolute. Now Gannon found himself in the company of pure evil. More so, he served that evil.
I am a survivor, nothing else. Nothing else!
The Bishop finished, "In a short time, Mr. Stone's descent into insanity will prove human life to be fragile. We will show how inferior the thing you call 'life' really is. And by proving you inferior, the superiority of Voggoth will become all the more evident."
Gannon's eyes wavered between the monstrous machine and the grinning Bishop.
"You do not approve, Mr. Gannon?"
"Hey, you know, I'm a team player and all, I just—"
The Bishop lost his grin and warned, "Your approval is not necessary. In fact, your usefulness has become suspect. You did not stop Stone's forces from invading and conquering California. If not for the ambition of this fool named Godfrey the so-called Empire would be in complete control of North America and in a position to threaten this facility as well as our facilities in the Pacific. Furthermore, we insisted on a fifty-percent decrease in their armed forces and that has not occurred."
Gannon stumbled as he explained, "Hey, you know, it's just Godfrey isn't a complete moron. He's a power-hungry politician but he's still going to protect his people. But look, if I go back and tell him Stone is dead for good then maybe he'll listen."
The Bishop moved his skull-like face full of flaking flesh closer to Gannon and instructed, "You will return to President Godfrey and tell him to complete the terms of our treaty, immediately. If you cannot accomplish this task then Voggoth might find a capacity in which you might be more useful."
Gannon whispered, "Yeah, s-sure."
The Missionary broke in, "Your Excellency, transport is on standby for your journey."
"I will be leaving shortly. But first, I must participate in an important communication on behalf of Voggoth. The components of this machine will serve that duty. You," the Bishop looked to the Missionary, "will remain to oversee this facility until your pilgrimage. We are at a critical, vulnerable time. The extra resources spent to arrange for Mr. Stone's assassination and the cleanup operations in Mexico have caused some difficulties. Remain vigilant."
"Of course, your Excellency."
The Bishop bowed his head politely to the other two, then walked—glided—from the room. The Missionary watched him go with a hawk's eye. Gannon stepped away, as if to return to his Witiko transport. One of the Missionary's cold hands grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait, Gannon."
"Yeah?"
"You heard the Bishop. I will be making a pilgrimage to see Voggoth in the near future."
"Hey, yeah, good for you. I remember when you did that last time."
"Yes! Yes," the Missionary remembered better days. "That was after we secured the end of hostilities in California. My Lord was eager for such good news after Stone had shut down the gateways. I received such glorious gifts!"
"Hey, good for you. Hope it works out well this time."
"But it won't, Gannon. I have no great deeds to show for my efforts. Landing Stone here, to suffer at the hand of Voggoth, is a great prize that came at a great price. More will come from the seeds we have planted by supporting this Godfrey, but what blooms from those seeds will be credited to his Excellency. My role in this larger plan is far less than I had hoped."
Gannon nodded. The conversation had returned to his world, an arena in which he knew how to play.
"From the sounds of things his Excellency doesn't think fondly of me right now, either."
The two watched as the Bishop entered the chamber below, moving toward Trevor Stone's secured body. As he approached, the Bishop reached to the wall of the machine. The organic structure grew a bulb-like appendage that enveloped the Bishop's hand.
The Missionary explained, "But there is one thing you and I can do together, Mr. Gannon. One thing that will certainly please Voggoth and his Excellency does not need to be aware. After all, he has more urgent matters to attend."
Gannon sneered, "Yeah, what now?"
"Tell President Godfrey that I will kill Trevor Stone immediately, in exchange for one minor concession."
"Yeah, what's that?"
"You heard the Bishop. Trevor Stone is the purest sample of your strain of life. Except for one. Bring me the boy so we might insert him into the machine, too. Bring me Trevor's son."
---
Reality. Not a dream, not a memory.
Trevor could smell the rotting corpses of canines, Red Hand warriors, and Sal Corso on the grounds of the estate. He did not merely remember that smell, he re-lived it in its entirety. Along with the smell came the feeling of failure. Of responsibility.
He could feel the texture of the pages in Sheila Evan's diary; he could sense the lingering scent of her perfume. On the pages of that diary, the thoughts of a lonely soul who wished only to feel welcome; only to be comforted by another human being.
Mr. Stone…
But he had not been able to comfort Sheila. His mission held precedence; a mission of numbers, not individuals. Rebuilding from the ashes was a job for a cold-hearted General.
Mr. Stone…can you hear me?
The guilt, the insecurity, the self-loathing remained but the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of the horrible moments faded into a swirl of darkness in his mind's eye.
It is good to be with you again, young man.
He knew that voice: The Order's Bishop, the one who had held the reigns of the torture spider.
It's not your fault, Mr. Stone. You are not personally to blame. It is the nature of your race. It is why you are inferior. Your attachment to false measures of morality and your dependence on emotions weakens your species. For example, do you know how it is you came to be here? You were betrayed by your own kind.
The swirling darkness disappeared, replaced by the smell of aviation fuel mixed with the scent of fresh-cut grass. Slowly colors came in to focus: red, orange and yellow from a flower garden adjacent to a beautiful green lawn.
Then it happened all over again. The Eagle air ship landed and out came Centurians in battle armor, firing their weapons. Evan Godfrey dropping to the grass. Internal Security agents…firing on other Internal Security agents.
Tyr—his best friend—shot and killed by a gray haired member of Evan's security detail. Another blast. Trevor on the ground looking up at Ray Roos. Roos pulled a gun and fired. Trevor felt the sting in his chest but when he glanced toward the wound he saw a small dart.
They betrayed you, Mr. Stone. And you should know that Evan Godfrey now rules your Empire. Piece by piece he is undoing your work. Soon he will weaken your people enough…enough so that…well, I am afraid that you won't live long enough to see the end result. However, today is a great day for blessed Voggoth. Allow me, Mr. Stone, to show you why.
Whatever magic fed new realities into Trevor's mind now took him to another place. Another Earth. He flew through the clouds and to a world where nature ruled supreme. A world without pollution, an Earth where the masters of the environment lived in harmony with all around them.
Trevor felt a cool, clean breeze across his face. He saw rolling green fields, thick and healthy forests, rivers and streams where crystal blue water flowed. He flew overhead with great speed, unsure if he traveled only in his mind or on some kind of transport.
Far bel
ow on a mountainside meadow Trevor saw a primitive village with small dwellings constructed of animal hides and a pair of larger structures made from timber and thatch.
All around that village…near the entrances of the homes…near escape paths leading to the cover of the deep forest…bodies. Bodies of slender humanoids dressed in skins and cloth, creatures who comprised one of the eight invading armies on Trevor's Earth but who were indigenous to this Earth in a parallel world where the Feranites—what Trevor's people nicknamed 'Red Hands'—fought to survive.
He soared above, cresting the mountain and beholding a carnival of horrors. In the fields below, the woods had been clear cut and replaced with ugly box-like buildings and dome-shaped homes and tall barricades. Smoke stacks poured soot into the atmosphere; the smell of burning iron works chased away the aroma of nature, the sound of massive machinery toiling away for unknown industries thundered in a symphony of noise pollution.
Trevor saw Feranite warriors, and females, and children in bondage driven by the whips of the bipedal lizard aliens Trevor knew as Hivvans, some too weak to carry on felt the deadly crunch of a master's boot.
And he kept flying still, circling the globe. Feranite slaves tending to the whims of egotistical Witiko owners…Geryon dirigibles burning Red Hand villages so thoroughly that only scorch marks remained where buildings and people had stood…Chaktaw infantry shooting fleeing warriors in the back and tossing the bodies into pits filled with rotting Feranite corpses…human tanks closely matching the Abrams armor in his own ranks blasting the last wooden barriers protecting yet another village.
The world Trevor had first thought to be full of nature turned black from the smoke of the dying civilization that called that Earth home…
Blackness again.
This is the fate that awaits your people, Mr. Stone. You have failed and I wanted you to see what that failure will mean for the people of this Earth. Given your unique knowledge of the greater scheme of things, I believe you can appreciate the vision. But I must go now, to tend to matters of an official nature. I will leave you to your miseries…
The Bishop turned his attention elsewhere, but remained plugged into the machine that contrived Trevor's torture. He needed that machine and its advanced engineering to complete a task for his master. As he did so, he did not fully disconnect from Trevor's mind. In essence, he failed to hang up the phone, allowing Trevor—through the great machine—to be a fly on the wall at a meeting of the Gods…
…"The representative of Voggoth calls the gathered’s attention to the Feranite host world. The Feranite free population has fallen below one percent and no longer offers any organized resistance. Furthermore, nearly five million of their number is in servitude to the other races and the Feranite surrogate has been terminated. The representative of Voggoth calls for the Feranites to be ruled defeated."
"The Feranites challenge this claim."
"The Witiko agree with the representative of Voggoth: the Feranite race has been subjugated and destroyed to the degree that its current state reflects the parameters previously defined as defeat."
"The Feranites charge Human violations."
"The Geryons support this charge."
"The Hivvans object. Rules violations have been counter-balanced."
"The Feranites assert that the counter-balance to Human rule violations were implemented in a manner outside of the linear time line of the host world and, in fact, served to further strengthen the Human position on the host world and therefore failed to compensate for said violations. It is further charged that Human violations also benefited the Chaktaw."
"The Centurians call for further investigation into alleged rules violations by the Humans and Chaktaw."
"The Chaktaw counter-charge that the actions of agents of Voggoth on the Human and Chaktaw host worlds precipitated a series of rules violations that, in actuality, served as counter-balances to maintain the integrity of the host worlds."
"The Humans support this counter-charge."
"The Witiko consider the Chaktaw and Human counter-charge preposterous."
"The Chaktaw further call into question the objectivity of the Nyx based on observations of cross-time and cross-dimensional travel outside the scope of gateway activity."
"The Hivvans point out that the Nyx are not sentient and therefore their objectivity is not and cannot be in question."
"The Humans suggest that fluctuations in the time line of their host world give reason to suspect that the Nyx may have interfered with linear events both in the local past and the local future, the full effects of which have not yet been determined."
"The Witiko believe that if the Nyx have been misused it has been to the benefit of the Humans, as evident by cross-time travel by segments of the Human population, including the surrogate’s genetic line, in an apparent attempt to protect said population."
"The Duass remind that the source of the suspect travel has not yet been determined due to the constraints of local linear time."
"The Humans object to the suggestion of impropriety and counter-charge that an investigation should be launched into the coincidence of how such a large number of surrogates on all the host worlds were immediately and directly threatened upon the commencement of the challenge."
"The representative of Voggoth observes that these charges, counter-charges and speculations are not germane to the disposition of the Feranites. The host cosmos' were prepared in a manner unanimously accepted and designed to prevent rule violations or unforeseen circumstances from corrupting cosmos’ outside of those directly affected by said circumstances."
"The Witiko remind the Feranites that their race embraced this concept and voted with the majority for utilizing the parallel cosmos."
"The Feranites call for a re-evaluation of this structure."
"The Duass reject this call."
"The Chaktaw reject this call."
"The Humans reject this call."
"The representative of Voggoth rejects this call."
"The Centurians reject this call."
"The Hivvans reject this call."
"The Witiko reject this call."
"The Geryons reject this call."
"The representative of Voggoth calls for recommendations as to the disposition of the Feranite race."
"The Witiko reminds all participants that the Feranites have now failed the challenge. Their pattern of life is lacking."
"The Feranites dispute this assertion. The Feranites dispute the classification of their race on the host world as defeated. The Feranites call for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the Feranite surrogate and whether or not said death constitutes a rules violation."
"The Duass reject this dispute. The dominant sentient species of the Feranite environment has been subjugated. No alternative species in that environment have proven viable."
"The Witiko reject the call for investigation and remind all participants that surrogates serve primarily as markers and observers and are still subject to the same frailties possessed by their races."
"The Chaktaw point out, however, that the death of the surrogate does reduce the long-term viability of the Feranites’ Deus."
"The Humans are confused by the Feranite's dispute of the circumstances of their disposition. Do the Feranites contend they are not the representative species of their life pattern? If so, what alternative representative of their life pattern should be considered?"
"The Feranites strongly object to the Human suggestion and consider it offensive and counter-productive."
"The Hivvans remind all participants that the Feranite race developed additional challenge balances to compensate for the technological differences at the time of surrogate conception including control over a greater number of non-sentient helper species from within their environment."
"The Feranite call attention to the circumstances of non-sentient helper species and suggest further investigation into the nature of and development of these spe
cies. The Feranite race believes that a better understanding of the nature of the helper species will support the Feranite claim to greater spirituality and promote a better understanding of the origins of the root cosmos."
"The representative of Voggoth strongly objects to the Feranite suggestion on the grounds that that matter is considered closed."
"The Chaktaw further point out that despite these added balances the Feranites are the first to attain defeated status."
"The Feranites call for closer inspection of the incidents of genetic memory leak between races and suggest that the answers to these leaks may provide greater insights into the origins of all life patterns."
"The representative of Voggoth dismisses this suggestion and encourages the gathered to remain focused on the disposition of the Feranite race."
"The Geryons move that the gateways on the Feranite host world be ruptured so as to sterilize that host world."
"The representative of Voggoth reminds all participants that the consequences of failure in the challenge are not isolated to the host cosmos, as per the agreed upon structure."
"The Witiko recognize Voggoth as the oldest and most learned of all the participants and therefore request guidance in the resolution of the disposition of the Feranites."
"The Geryons second this recognition."
"The Duass agree."
"The Hivvans support the Witiko position."
"The Humans remind all participants that only one outcome was considered at the time of implementation of the agreed upon structure."
Beyond Armageddon IV: Schism Page 34