Rise of the Beast (60 page)

It was just after Christmas when a group of people, united by their struggle against Lusan and all that he represented, gathered in Pastor Smith’s church in Brooklyn. They were a diverse group—two evangelists, a police detective and his family, two former gang members, a famous astronomer, a flight engineer, the nephew of New York’s greatest crime boss, and Lusan’s former head of finance. They sat in a circle, discussing their situation and options. Yet spirits were low, and a feeling of general helplessness ruled the moment.

“As long as I live, I’ll never forget the things I heard on those disks,” said 26-year-old Guido Pagoni. “The man is the Devil himself, of that I have no doubts.”

“Yet everything we have done to trap him has failed,” said Detective Strom. “I worked for years to get enough evidence to put him behind bars for life. I had him, and I had the NYPD behind me too, but he slipped through our fingers.”

“My uncle thought to put an end to him in the only way he knew how,” said Guido. “I don’t think he’ll ever see freedom again.”

“But all he ended up doing was fulfilling Biblical prophecy,” noted Chris Davis. “Revelation said that the Beast would recover from what seemed to be a fatal head wound. Now it’s happened.” Chris turned to Guido. “I mean no disrespect to your uncle, really. You’re right; he did the only thing he could think of. I know his heart was in the right place.”

“Lusan is like an irresistible force, pulling the entire world to its doom,”
lamented Leland. “I helped him get to where he is today. He took my wife from me because I couldn’t recognize him for who he was. I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life. I don’t know where I’d be without the love and forgiveness of Jesus.”

“To say nothing of a praying grandmother,” noted Serena. Leland smiled, though slightly. “Her, too.”

Pastor Smith turned to Dr. Florence, who had remained strangely silent throughout their meeting. “What about this comet? I can’t stop thinking about the passage in the eighth chapter of Revelation: ‘
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.’
That sounds like this comet of yours. Are you sure it’s going to miss us?”

Dr. Florence nodded. “Believe me, Pastor Smith, if this comet were to hit us, it would do a whole lot more than that. It is over 27 miles long and 19 miles wide. It is far larger than the object that brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an end. It would probably annihilate 95 percent of all of the species on Earth. What has me concerned is its increasing activity. We’ve had to pull the Herschel spacecraft back away from it due to its violent outgassing. We hadn’t expected there to be so much activity this early. The comet is still nearly 300 million miles from the sun. Debris from the comet could wipe out nearly every satellite in Earth’s orbit if activity on its surface continues to escalate. No, believe me, we have a problem.”

“So, what can we do?” asked flight engineer Cal Wayneright. “I’ve seen the Devil in action, seen what he can do.”

“And you’ve seen what God can do too,” corrected Serena.

“Yes,” said Cal. “But right now, it seems to me that the Devil is on the offensive. He has a lot of political power in his corner. To be honest with you, I dread going back to Germany next week—with all that’s going on. I don’t see what any of us can do.”

There was a commotion in the next room. A moment later, a tall, blond-haired man in a light blue jacket entered the room. “You all need to have faith,” he said in a calm almost melodic voice.

“I’m sorry Pastor Smith,” said the church secretary, standing behind the
imposing stranger. “I know that you folks needed privacy, but this gentleman insisted that it was very important that he speak to you.” She hesitated. “And, well, I just couldn’t find it in me to turn him away.”

“It’s OK,” said Pastor Smith.

At this point, Chris and Serena were practically beaming. Serena slowly rose to her feet and approached the man. She gave him a big hug, kissing him on the cheek.

“Hello, Serena,” he said, his smile growing.

Pastor Smith rose to his feet as well. “Serena, would you introduce us to your friend?”

Serena looked into the man’s eyes. He nodded approvingly. She turned to the others. “My friends, I have the honor of introducing you to my dear friend Aaron, a messenger angel in the service of Gabriel.”

The silence that followed was profound. The group looked at Aaron in wonder.

Aaron nodded. “My friends, she is telling you the truth. However, to satisfy your curiosity …”

Suddenly, the stranger was aglow in a wonderful white light. In but a few seconds they were gazing upon a beautiful being with huge, white wings.

“It’s another angel!” exclaimed Willie, Detective Strom’s son. “I love angels.”

Aaron smiled broadly. “And angels love you too, Willie. Angels love all of God’s children.”

“Holy Mother of God,” gasped Guido.

“God does not have a mother,” corrected Aaron, “though His Son does.”

“This angel is different from the one I saw,” said Sam.

“Yes, confirmed Aaron. “You encountered the dark angel Abaddon. He is just as much a servant of God as I am, loved by God no less. Still, he serves a different purpose in God’s Kingdom.” Aaron turned to Leland. “It is Abaddon who protects your precious wife, Krissie. I assure you, Krissie is well, and in good spirits, and, by the way, quite busy. She is working closely with Bedillia, Serena’s mother. She is working for the same goal as all of you. She asked me to pass her love on to you, Leland. She looks forward to the day when the two
of you will be together again. Have faith, you will.”

There were tears of joy in Leland’s eyes. “Thank you, Aaron.”

Aaron then turned to Chris and Serena. “Both Jennifer and Bedillia also send greetings to you.”

The thought of their mothers brought a smile to Chris and Serena.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” said Pastor Smith. “Welcome to our church, Aaron.”

“Very nice to be here,” replied Aaron. “I wanted all of you to know that God has not abandoned you.”

“Apparently,” said Cal.

“But that thought has crossed all of your minds from time to time during the past months,” said Aaron. “Satan may win a battle here and there, but he will not win the war. These are difficult times, my friends, but you must not give up hope.” Aaron turned once more to Guido. “What your uncle did, he had to do. Prophecy had to be fulfilled. Don’t think badly of him for what he did. He served the Father in the only way he knew how. What he did is but a single event in a string of events that will bring both Lusan and his followers down. The clock is ticking, and Satan’s time is almost gone. He will turn his rage upon you, yet he will not succeed, for greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world. But I tell you this; things will get far worse before they get better.”

Detective Strom nodded. “Look, Aaron, I know that you guys are all around us. Angels saved my family from that fire, and I can’t begin to even tell you how grateful we are.”

“We are,” confirmed his wife, Peggy.

“I will pass your words of thanks along to Miless, Triffides, and Aroyoa, the servants of God who rescued you,” continued Aaron. “Your words will fill their hearts with joy.”

“Sir,” said Karina, “I sure hope you have some advice for us. Right now, I’m pretty lost. I really don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“I do have advice for you, and more,” confirmed Aaron. “In a moment, I am going to lay my hand upon all of you. I tell you this; there is no power in my hand. I am just the servant. The power is with God. You will all be filled with
an extra portion of God’s Spirit today. It is He that shall guide you. Almost two thousand years ago, after his Lord ascended into Heaven, Peter felt lost. Yet he did what he’d been told to do. He and the others tarried in Jerusalem, waiting for the comforter, waiting to be endowed with power. Only then did he become the man whose shadow could heal the sick and whose voice could bring the multitude to repentance. That Spirit, that power, is still here among us, but you will be given a special infilling.”

“Me too?” asked Willie.

Aaron laughed. “Especially you, Willie.”

“And me?” asked the church secretary, who stood by the door.

“Of course, Marie, it’s for you too,” confirmed Aaron. “You also have a part to play in this ministry. You were here today for a reason. Please, all of you gather in a circle.”

The group quickly cleared space and stood in a circle, Aaron at the center. They all joined hands. They were prepared to experience something wonderful. There was not a doubter in their midst.

“Father, we thank You for Your love,” began Aaron. “Now fill these people, sanctified by the blood of Your Son. Fill these people who love You so much; fill them with Your divine Spirit.”

Quite suddenly the room was filled with swirling winds, winds that you could actually see as streams of gold and orange vapors. They whirled about the heads of the people gathered in a circle, then descended on everyone. One by one, Aaron laid his hand upon them, and they felt the Spirit of God within them as they had never felt Him before. Within minutes, all doubts were gone. Each had a vision of what it was that they were to do. It had exceeded their wildest expectations.

They all began to glow with a white light. They spoke in foreign tongues and danced in the Spirit. Love and joy had become a tangible entity in their midst. By the time it was all over, Aaron had vanished from their midst, yet they had a new determination, a new conviction.

As they parted company they realized that they might never meet as a group like this again. Their work was scattered across the globe. They were ready for the year to come. Somehow they realized that, for them, it would be the last year of this life. Things were about to change.

“Increasing current to the coils,” announced the technician. “One point nine billion amps and rising. We look good so far.”

“Bring her up nice and slow,” cautioned Les. “Let the field grow uniformly.”

Again the ring before them filled with a sort of mist. Beyond the mists and the gleaming stars within it, Les could see daylight, yet as always, it was rippling and unstable. The time-space corridor was badly contorted, at least for now.

“Almost there,” said the engineer.

At this point they could see the seascape of the receiving portal beyond the ring. Still the image twisted and contorted. He could see a person standing beyond the portal; it was Nabuko. It was time for the great experiment.

“OK, here goes,” said Les. “Punch it.”

The whine of the torus increased greatly in pitch as a second magnetic signature swept over the first, only this one was 90 degrees out of phase with the original. The image in the midst of the ring seemed filled with electricity, and then it stabilized to crystal clarity.

“Oh wow!” gasped one of the researchers.

“OK, let’s try this again,” said Les, picking up three probes and stepping toward the ring, toward Nabuko. It seemed like she was right there in front of him.

“Can you hear me?” she asked.

“Perfectly,” said Les, who prepared to toss the first probe.

He tossed it gently underhand, and Nabuko caught it on the far side. She gazed at it in wonder.

“It still works!” she exclaimed.

Les tossed a second, then a third probe through. They all survived intact. For a few seconds he just stood there. What he was contemplating was crazy.

“No, don’t even think it,” said Nabuko.

But Les did more than that. After a moment’s hesitation, he leaped forward into the open portal.

It had seemed like the portal was short, a direct connection between two places in space, but it wasn’t. Les found himself floating weightlessly through a misty blue corridor. It was cool here, and he seemed to be breathing, but how? He looked forward; Nabuko seemed to be frozen in time. Behind him he saw the lab. Its people also seemed to be frozen. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all. Then, quite suddenly, his weight returned. His feet hit the concrete pad. He stumbled, but quickly regained his balance. He looked behind him at the others. He waved to indicate that he was OK.

“Les, what were you thinking of?” scolded Nabuko who wrapped her arms around him. “I couldn’t stand to lose you.”

The portal dissolved into the mists as several other researchers rushed to Dr. Geiger’s side. Les just smiled.

“You guys have gotta try it,” he said. “There’s a lot more to it than you think.”

“We’ve got to get you to the infirmary,” said Nabuko. “We can’t be sure what you went through in there.”

Five hours of intense medical study, as well as an analysis of the spheres, confirmed what Les already knew. There had been some sort of time dilation effect in passing through the wormhole. The telemetry of the spheres confirmed that it took over 21 seconds to make the flight through the wormhole, though only a fraction of a second had passed for everyone else. In addition, the probe measured a temperature of about 52 degrees in the wormhole. Yeah, that seemed about right. There was only a small amount of radiation associated with the passage. You’d have gotten more from a tooth X-ray.