The War in Heaven (29 page)

“No,” insisted Johann, his voice suddenly stronger, “I’m staying. If Bedillia can brave a fall from a hundred meter high cliff’ and stay in the fight, I can handle this.”

“We really waxed them,” announced David, coming to Johann’s side. David was badly scarred and in considerable pain, yet he managed a smile. “We must have knocked down five hundred of them!”

In the background, the blasts of particle beams finishing off those fallen demons not totally destroyed by the original battle commenced. None of these minions of Satan could be allowed to regenerate and rise again.

At the far side of the defense perimeter, Niels looked on with pained concern as an angel reattached the arm of his student, Don, an arm which had been severed during the battle by a demon’s sword.

Don did his best to remain calm. He was sure that his God-given body would heal swiftly, yet that didn’t reduce the pain he was feeling right now. In his 30 years in Heaven he had been free of all discomfort. Its return with such intensity was a terrible shock. It made him think about the fates of those poor souls in Hell, especially that of his father. He had willingly sought the restoration of all of his earthly memories, though sometimes, he wished that he hadn’t. This experience only highlighted for him the consequences of contact with the forces of Satan.

Another hour passed and the number of wounded angels in the field around them began to visibly decrease. They had moved a staggering quarter of a million of them through the portals to safety. And now having nearly 100 humans guiding them through was accomplishing miracles. More and more angels were gathering in the skies above them, strengthening their defenses. Still, Johann knew that they were living on borrowed time. He was right. Another ten minutes found a virtual armada of fireballs hurling in their direction. They appeared as an orange glow on the northern horizon, growing brighter by the second.

“There must be tens of thousands of them,” said Johann, gazing at the encroaching apocalypse. “Even if our particle beams can detonate them, we won’t be able to stop a tenth of them. They’ll reduce this area to cinders.”

The order was given. The angels were taking flight, heading south, even as the last of the injured fled into the portal.

“We have less than two minutes. We need to pull out,” said Gabriel. “Those angels who remain can fly. You evacuated all of the most seriously injured ones. We will retreat to the Mountains of Sarval, five hundred miles to the south, at the confluence of the Marten and Salba rivers. Meet us there in three days, if you can.” Gabriel bolted into the sky. He was one of the last to leave.

“Everyone…we have to get out of here,” warned Johann. “Right now, go!”

The volunteers didn’t need to be told twice. They vanished from the field of battle like puffs of smoke. One quickly gazed at a beautiful mansion just to the north, probably for the last time. It had been his home for over a century. It would be difficult to leave it. Then he was gone.

Less than 30 seconds later the fireballs hit the now abandoned field like napalm bombs. They exploded on contact. The fire rushed out in all directions—flames rising 100 feet into the sky and smoke turning the sky orange. By the time the last fireball hit, four square miles of meadows and forests were in flames. The fire would, no doubt, spread to encompass much of the timberland around this ground zero.

Satan leaned back on his new throne on the highest floor of the Hall of Angels in the City of Zion. This throne was not nearly so grand or comfortable as the one he had in his audience chamber in Hell. He would have to have that throne transported here once things got a bit less hectic. This had been Michael’s audience chamber. It was illuminated by four skylights that provided adequate illumination before the throne, but left the area behind it a bit shadowy. It was rather Spartan for his tastes. It had a few decorative
columns along its walls and a tall set of deep blue curtains covering the bare walls behind the throne, but not so much as a single piece of artwork adorned its blank white marble walls.

No, that too would have to change. Fortunately, it had sustained no serious damage during the assault. If the same was true about the rest of the building, he would have been happier. Collapsed ceilings, blown out walls, and rubble-filled corridors were but a few of the problems of this place. He was not even certain that the building could be salvaged. Again, that could be dealt with at a later date.

Right now he was in his glory. Things had gone more smoothly than he could have dared to hope. Sure there were some problems, some setbacks, but they had been relatively minor. At last count, he had captured and imprisoned over 1.5 million angels here in Zion alone, and that number would surely grow. There were still countless numbers of shackled wingless angels to be picked up from the streets of Zion by his minions. This operation had gone very well indeed.

General Krell entered Satan’s new audience chamber. He bowed low. “My lord, forgive the intrusion, are you busy?”

Satan smiled. “Not too busy for you, my friend. What do you have to report?”

“My forces have searched over half of the city,” began the general. “Most of its human inhabitants have fled to the Holy Place for fear of us. Those who remain were reluctant to allow us to search their homes for angels who might be hiding from us. I had thought that the angels would fight us house to house and street to street, but they haven’t. They appear to have retreated from the City of Zion entirely.”

Satan nodded. “I’m not surprised. They no doubt hoped to minimize property damage within the city. They value these humans and their culture here far too much. I suppose I can respect that aspect of their character. What about the battle I’ve heard of south of the city? Scattered reports
tell me that there is a new weapon in play, a weapon wielded by human hands.”

General Krell scowled. “It would appear that at least some of the humans are aiding the angels. They are gating them from one place to another, helping wounded angels to evade capture. This could prolong the war if it is allowed to continue. In addition, they have a weapon that appears to be able to permanently destroy the bodies of our minions. We estimate that no fewer than eight hundred of our forces have been permanently removed from eternity in this battle alone. The weapon has considerable range. It can destroy our forces before they get close enough to use their swords. Therefore, I took the initiative of destroying the entire region with a fireball attack. It was effective in destroying or scattering this pocket of resistance.”

Satan pondered the situation for a moment. “And what news is there regarding the attack on the second level of Heaven on the fortress of Elesia? Do you have any new information?”

Krell shook his head. “The first surge penetrated their defenses. However, it would seem that the angelic forces there were on high alert. I fear that our troops were neutralized. That gate is now closed…or perhaps destroyed. Unfortunately, it has provided the angels with a place of refuge, and the humans are providing them with a means of getting there.”

“Well, we can’t do anything about that now,” noted Satan. “As the humans say, it is the fly in the ointment. Let us do our best to consolidate our position in the levels of Heaven we
do
control, and then concentrate on this problem later.”

“I fully agree,” said General Krell.

Satan smiled. “Good work, general; that will be all.”

The general bowed and left the chamber. Beyond the chamber, he encountered one of his chief aides. He seemed deeply concerned.

“My lord, how did the master react to the news about the setback in Elesia?”

“He was amazingly calm,” noted the general. “Apparently, the master is in a good mood. He even took the bad news in stride. There were no fits of rage and no tangential ramblings. It was curiously refreshing.”

The aide nodded. “It would seem that the angels have abandoned the city. None of their numbers have been spotted within its bounds for over an hour. They appear to be moving southward.”

“I suspected as much,” replied the general. “They will try to regroup, but we cannot allow that. Send out the order to the field commanders—keep pushing them, keep engaging them. Give them not a moment’s rest.”

“It shall be as you command,” replied the aide, continuing down the hall.

Krell turned his gaze back toward Satan’s chamber. “Remarkable,” he murmured, as he headed toward his meeting with the rest of his staff.

“Very good, my lord,” said Metastopholies, stepping from the shadows near the back corner of the audience chamber. “You are in control. Continue, and you might well win this war.”

“The humans trouble me,” noted Satan. “I can’t have them interfering in this conflict.”

“But they might very well be playing right into your hands,” suggested Metastopholies. “There is undeniable evidence that they took part in the battle to the south of the city. This might well provide you with the justification to move against them as well. At least, it gives you a reason to confine them.”

“Yes,” said Satan, “very good.”

“You must identify the party or parties responsible for building those weapons,” continued Metastopholies. “Hopefully, only a few humans know how.”

Satan smiled a most devious smile. “I think I already know who is responsible. There are eyewitness reports of a weapon like this being used before, on a remote island in the Sea of Fire. I met the inventors once…six years ago. A reunion is much overdue. I think that it is time to pay a visit to Johannes Kepler and Nikola Tesla.”

It was very late at Johann’s mansion on the third level of Heaven. Twenty-seven of the best scientists and engineers in Heaven were crowded in and around the mansion. It looked chaotic, but in reality it was a series of very focused and organized pursuits. One group of 1l were hard at work assembling particle rifles and pistols, sending a shipment of the completed units through to Elesia for safe storage every hour or so. Others focused on solving the problem of opening reliable communications with Refuge once more. Still others worked on a strategy to assist the angels.

“What we need is a method of bringing angels from Earth back to Elesia,” noted Niels. “The ring in Elesia is not powerful enough to open a wormhole between Heaven and Earth. Satan has somehow increased the dimensional density. I think if we could link our ring with that at Elesia, we could open the barrier and start bringing them back one at a time.”

“But, it would take so long,” objected Johann. “At best, we might be able to transport ten or twelve an hour. What we need to do is find out why the dimensional barrier is so dense now. If we could solve that problem, we could bring home all of the off-world angels in a matter of days. Then, Michael’s forces could confront Satan’s on the field of battle.”

Niels nodded, but said nothing.

“I believe that the density of the dimensional barrier is being altered by some power source in Hell itself,” said Nikola, who was sitting with David at the end of the table. “I’ve looked at the data we gathered so far, and I’m
convinced of it. Destroy that power source, and we open the dimensional barriers that are blocking us.”

“That sounds like a job for Abaddon and his people,” said Niels.

“If they knew what they were looking for,” interjected David. “We have a plan. We have calculated just how much energy would be needed to punch a hole through hyperspace from here to Hell and fly our Spirit shuttle through. It can be done. Once there, we could map the density of the inter-dimensional medium and figure out where the power source is. Then Abaddon and his forces could destroy it.”

“Then fly back with the information?” deduced Johann. “No, David, it’s unacceptably risky.”

There was a pause. “No, not fly back” replied Nikola. “With capacitors fully charged, we would have enough power for a one-way trip. Once we located the power source, we would rendezvous with Abaddon, most likely at Refuge. His people would then destroy the target. Assuming that the density of the dimensional barrier returned to normal, the flight back could be made with the remaining fuel, with about a fifteen percent margin of error.”