The War in Heaven (18 page)

“No, let go of me,” objected Vikki, in a hoarse voice. “I’ve got to get back in line.”

“Vikki, it’s me,” whispered Bill. “Look at me.”

Their eyes met. At first Vikki’s eyes held only a blank stare. Then they cleared and focused on him.

“Bill?”

“Yes, Vikki, it’s me.”

By now, Kurt and Bedillia were at their side, pulling them back behind the rocks and out of sight. The procession continued without Vikki.

“But how?” asked Vikki. “Bill, how are you here?”

“Later,” said Kurt placing a hand gently over Vikki’s mouth. “You can have your reunion later. Right now we’ve got to get out of here.” Kurt turned to Bill. “Use your sphere. Get ready to gate us out of here.”

“We’re leaving?” asked Vikki.

“Yes,” confirmed Bill as he pulled the sphere from beneath his loincloth. “It’s like Star Trek, beam me up Scotty.”

“No,” insisted Vikki, “not without Joan.”

“Who’s Joan,” asked Kurt, trying to quiet Vikki.

“She’s my wife,” insisted Vikki, who was now struggling. “I won’t leave without her.”

“We don’t have time for this,” objected Kurt.

“She can’t be far behind me,” insisted Vikki, “you can’t leave her here.”

Kurt surveyed the situation for a second. “All right, we’ll take her.”

“I know what she looks like,” said Bill, putting the sphere away. “I can get her.”

A few seconds later, Bill was in position, searching the procession for Joan. This was the last thing in the world that he wanted to do. Joan had taken Vikki from him. If he had his way, she could stay here. No, he couldn’t do that, no matter how he felt about her personally. He waited. A minute went by, then two.

Kurt was getting nervous. The longer they stayed, the greater the probability of being discovered. From time to time demons checked this area, it was a favorite hiding place for humans seeking just a few minutes of rest from their torment. To make matters worse, occasionally demons patrolled the sky here. They were sitting ducks. Still, they waited.

“I’m stepping out to help him,” announced Bedillia, moving several steps forward.

Kurt’s hand was on his sidearm as four and then five minutes passed. Then suddenly she was spotted. Bill reached out for the limping, blonde woman—but missed. “Joan,” he said in the loudest voice he dare use; yet she continued walking.

Bedillia moved forward to intercept Joan, but the shackles restricted her. Nevertheless, Bedillia walked after Vikki’s lover.

“No,” said Kurt.

Bill prepared to take up the pursuit, but Kurt pulled him back into the cover of the boulders.

By now, Bedillia was over 30 feet away, slowly catching up with Joan. “Oh, these shackles,” she cursed, under her breath, as she shuffled and clanked along. She was tempted to release them, but it was too big a risk. Anyway, she had almost caught up to Joan.

By now Bedillia was out of sight. Kurt drew his weapon. “Get ready to gate out,” he said, turning to Bill. You need to get Victoria out of here, she is our first priority.”

“What about Joan?” objected Vikki.

“I’ll get her,” said Kurt. “You two just get out of here,
now.”
Kurt cautiously moved out from their hiding place. He got sight of Bedillia just as she laid her hand on Joan’s shoulder.

“Let go of me,” said Joan, turning to the unfamiliar woman. “I don’t want to be lashed because of you.”

“Neither of us is going to be lashed,” said Bedillia. “Victoria sent me. I’m getting you out of here.”

“Vikki can’t save me,” objected Joan, “no one can.”

“I assure you, we can,” said Bedillia, who had noticed the small outcropping and another large set of boulders on the left side of the trail just ahead. She and the team had noticed it yesterday on the map. It offered almost as much cover as the spot they had finally selected for their gate in. After this place, however, the canyon widened, they would be out in the open with no cover at all. If she were going to gate out with Joan, it would have to be here. They would be upon it in a matter of seconds.

“Look, I don’t have time to argue with you, are you coming with me or not? I can take you away from all of this, but this is your last chance.”

Joan hesitated. “OK, I’ll trust you. What do I do?”

“We’re going to duck behind this boulder on the left,” said Bedillia, who had already pulled out the sphere hidden in her short, tattered skirt. “Just go to where I point. We’ll be out of here in seconds.”

Joan nodded. She saw the boulders. She had once tried to hide there for a few minutes, though, unsuccessfully.

“Here we go,” said Bedillia, taking Joan by the left arm, and directing her toward the boulders to her left. As she turned, she saw Kurt out of the corner of her eye. She motioned to him that everything was under control. He nodded. This little wrinkle in the plan seemed to have ironed out nicely. They would only be a few minutes late on their return.

“Almost got it,” said Kurt, under his breath. Bill and Vikki had already gated out. Once he had confirmed that Bedillia and Joan had done the same, he could blow this place. Using three rather than just one sphere to get the team back was a waste of limited resources, but at least they’d accomplished their mission objectives.

The two women had barely ducked out of the line of doomed souls when they came face to face with a seven foot tall leviathan, one of the most frightening looking demons Bedillia had ever encountered. The horned obscenity that towered over her was covered in coarse brown fur. He had sharp claw-like hands and feet and large glistening black eyes that appeared insect-like. His mouth was filled with black razor-sharp teeth, and his ears were exceptionally long and pointed. He was truly like something out of a nightmare. Apparently he had been watching the procession from behind the boulders, keeping those within it on track.

“Lost, ladies?” he said, in a deep guttural laugh. “Yes, that must most assuredly be it, for you’d not be seeking escape from your fate, would you? You know the penalty.” He drew out his massive whip, a whip whose business
end held not just one single leather lash, but nine, each with a small jagged metallic ball at its terminus.

Bedillia was caught by surprise. She thought to open the gate here and now, pull Joan in with her, and hope that in the confusion, they weren’t followed.

The demon saw the sphere in Bedillia’s hand. “You’d throw a rock at me, would ya wench?” The whip struck out at her in an instant, wrapping around her arm, its nine terrible spiked balls digging into her flesh. Then he pulled it back, ripping flesh with it and dislocating her shoulder. As she cried out in pain, her sphere flew from her hand to become but one of many small stones scattered along the pathway. Bedillia stepped backward but was tripped by her shackles, and she fell to the ground.

Then the demon took the lash to Joan who had already turned in an attempt to reclaim her place in line. Its balls dug into her back and side. She howled in pain.

Nearly 100 feet away, Kurt watched in horror, as the beast encroached upon Bedillia, then pulled her roughly to her feet. He disengaged the safety, took aim with the pistol, but he didn’t have a clear shot. Even if he did take this beast down, popped the shackles, how long would it take him to reach Bedillia? Too long. Even now, a second demon farther up the trail had taken an interest in the goings on. Kurt didn’t think the demon had seen him. But by the time he would reach Bedillia, the second one would be practically on top of her. He would be in a firefight. Four shots wouldn’t get him very far. He should have brought the rifle.

The demon placed Bedillia back in line and watched the blood pour from her wounds. “An unusual amount of blood for one of you,” he snarled. “You must be new. Learn from that, wench…I might not be so merciful next time. Now get moving, your wound will heal before you make the plunge, allowing you to fully focus on the anticipation, horror, and agony of that experience.”

The demon placed Joan directly in front of Bedillia, then walked at their sides, laughing at them, mocking their efforts to seek refuge, if only for a moment. “There is no hope for you,” he said. “Never will you escape this place, neither one of you. Unnatural were your affections; unnatural shall be your eternal fate.”

Kurt put his weapon away and drew back into the cover of the rocks. There was nothing he could do for now. He couldn’t leave her behind, he had never left a brother or sister in arms behind, but he could do nothing else. She would be back this way again, in about an hour and a half, but only after experiencing a fall that would have instantly killed her, had she been mortal. He couldn’t stay here and wait either. He would most surely be seen. With no other option, he drew out the sphere and opened the gate back to Refuge.

Kurt emerged from the mists to find Bill and Victoria among those awaiting his return. That, at least, was a relief. It took but a few seconds for those in attendance to realize that something had gone horribly wrong.

“Where’s Bedillia?” asked Bill, fear in his voice.

“They got her, but I don’t think they realize who they have.” replied Kurt, who was quick to appraise the others of the details.

“If they do come to realize who she is, we are all in dire peril,” noted Abaddon. He looked into the telesphere which still had an open link to their allies in Heaven. The looks on the faces there were not encouraging.

“OK,” said Dr. Kepler, turning away for a moment to communicate with someone out of their view. “We should be able to appraise you of Bedillia’s situation in a few minutes. Beyond that, there is little that we can do here. Whatever is to be done must be done from your side.”

“She’s almost certainly in the procession with the others, when she takes the plunge, those shackles might bust open,” said Kurt. “They were designed to be easy to remove in an emergency…not to resist hard falls. Once they discover that her shackles are fake, they’ll be onto us, unless they are just stupid.”

“They’re not stupid,” said Abaddon, “but I don’t see how we’re going to free her before the plunge. We will have to hope that the shackles hold together on impact.”

Tom could remain silent no longer. This was Bedillia they were talking about. “You mean she’s going to have to fall a hundred meters from a cliff, be bashed and crushed on the rocks at the bottom, before we are able to rescue her? No…no, that’s not acceptable.”

Tom felt a hand on his shoulder—it was Lenar. “Tom is right; we cannot allow her to fall from that cliff … for many reasons. She has about half an hour, maybe more before she reaches the cliff. Johannes Kepler and his people will be able to tell us exactly where she is and what the situation is in less than ten minutes. I say we take twenty of our best warriors and five hundred of your children in, and attack in force to secure her, even if it means revealing ourselves to them.”

“I can have my rapid response team ready to go in fifteen minutes, armed with Tesla particle beam rifles,” said Kurt. “It’s about time we tested them out under combat conditions anyway. Whenever we go on a mission, my rapid response team is on high alert. No loincloths and shackles this time. They go in wearing full battle gear. I’m tired of pussyfooting around with these demons. Sneak in, sneak out, enough already. It’s time these demons learned some respect. Let’s go in there and kick butt—give them payback for a change.”

Lenar nodded, smiling approvingly. He liked this human.

Abaddon scanned the room. There seemed to be general agreement on this issue. Even those he could see on the telesphere nodded in agreement.
It was tempting. “You want me to approve a spur of the moment mission, just send in the troops and see where the chips fall?”

“Exactly,” said Kurt. “No one under my command is going over that cliff, and we’ll have the element of surprise on our side. Anyway, it’s not a spur of the moment decision. My men have trained for this contingency. They’re marines; they’ll get the job done. Abaddon, we’ve never done battle with these guys. We need to size them up, and this is the perfect way to do it.”

Again, there was the rumble of general agreement.

“We are wasting time, my friends,” said Abaddon. “Prepare your forces; have them assembled here in fifteen minutes in case we need them.”

“In case we need them?” asked Kurt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If those shackles come open on impact, if those demons come to realize that she is not what she seems … we need to get her out of there. We will grab Bedillia and Joan, as well as any others we can reach. We will cut down as many demons as possible, make them feel our wrath, then withdraw.”

“No, we’ve got to get her out before she falls,” objected Tom. “For God’s sake, Abaddon, she’s one of us.”

“You speak as though you think I have no heart for her,” replied Abaddon, his tone calm yet firm. “I have known her longer than any of you. She is my friend. But I have a responsibility to this community, to our mission.” He turned to the others. “Set things in motion people. You all know what needs to be done. We have precious little time.”