The War in Heaven (30 page)

“That works,” said David. “It’s an acceptable margin of error. Nikola and I would probably be back within the week.”

“It would also allow us to ship Abaddon’s people much needed supplies, mainly power spheres,” said Nikola. “And I would be there to tutor Victoria van Voth directly, get her up to speed using the instrument. We would kill a lot of birds with one stone.”

“And get yourselves killed in the process, or worse,” noted Johann. “Also, the Father told you never to go there again, or have you forgotten?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” replied Nikola.

“And you want to take David?” continued Johann. “It’s just crazy. No, it’s worse than that, it’s irresponsible. And you want to put David’s life on the line in addition to yours.”

“No, I
want
to go,” objected David. “No one is twisting my arm.”

“No, David,” objected June, emotion in her voice. “You’re talking about flying straight into Hell, not knowing if you can ever get back.”

“It’s too risky a journey for either one of you,” said Johann, “we need you here.”

“And you have any better ideas?” objected Nikola. “No, not yet,” said Johann.

“But we have to move now,” insisted David. “How long do you think it’s going to be before Satan comes a calling on us? His minions are probably combing the globe right now looking for us. We can’t stay here.”

“The issue is closed,” replied Johann. “The answer is no.”

The group continued pursuing other options. To them, Tesla’s plan was dead in committee, but to David and Nikola, the plan was far from dead. Already, they had loaded up the Spirit with most of the equipment they needed.

The Spirit was a strange looking craft—a perfect glassy sphere, 16 feet in diameter, with four spidery legs extending out from the bottom. There were no engines, in the conventional sense, protruding from its hull. A narrow stairway led from the ground and into the belly of the craft. It was designed to seat ten people comfortably, but right now, it was full of supplies for the defenders of Refuge.

It flew by creating small distortions in space time, gravity wells that moved the craft in any direction they wished. It was like pulling yourself up into the air by your bootstraps. It sat parked about 50 feet from Johann’s home, the only one of its kind in Heaven, or for that matter, anywhere else.

“It will be light soon,” noted Nikola, looking toward the cloudy sky overhead. “You won’t have much time…be careful.”

“I will,” said David, placing the particle pistol under his cloak. “I’ll try to gate into my own bedroom in Zion. From there it’s only a half-hour walk to the Holy Place. Somehow, I’ll convince the Father to give us permission to go.”

“Don’t take any chances along the way,” warned Nikola. “At the first sign of trouble, gate out.”

“You know me,” said David, “I’m a natural chicken.”

David opened a portal before him and vanished into the mists. Nikola stood for a minute in silence. “Sorry, David,” he whispered, as he made final preparations in getting the Spirit ready for launch.

David emerged from the mists and into his second floor bedroom in Zion. Nothing here had changed beyond there being a bit more dust than when he had left. He walked to the window and looked down toward the street; all was quiet. There was not a soul as far as the eye could see. The neighborhood had suffered some damage, but all in all, it was minor. It was time to get moving.

He practically ran down the stairs and stepped into the quiet streets. He made his way toward the Via de Gloria, one of the main avenues leading to the holiest place in all creation. He stayed out of easy sight as much as possible. Ahead, he could hear the singing of the multitudes, songs of praise to the Creator of the universe. That, at least, was normal for this place. Otherwise, it seemed like a ghost town. Even the skies overhead were empty.

Five blocks from home, he was shocked to find a section of the city in ruins. Nearly a whole city block had been leveled by what looked to have been a barrage of fireballs. It had obviously been the site of a major battle.

Along the way, David thought of the journey ahead, a journey to the most terrible place in the universe. He had viewed that place through the eyes of one of its former inhabitants six years ago. By opening her book in the hall of records, he had seen, as if in a vision, the horrors of the netherworld. It was an experience that had horrified him, practically brought him to tears. Now he proposed to travel there for real. It seemed like an incredibly reckless idea. Still, Heaven as he knew it might be lost if he didn’t. He had to go.

Ahead, the Holy Place came into view. He was horrified to discover that it was surrounded by what must have been thousands of demonic warriors. Were they here to keep people out, or to keep the inhabitants of Heaven in? He figured that he would soon find out. He felt the weapon in his cloak and engaged its capacitor—it was ready to fire.

David was more than a little surprised when the demons moved aside to let him pass without so much as a word. He stepped into the Holy Place.

Never had David seen a crowd the likes of this. The Holy Place was a great open air plaza. The surface below him was an indeed strange material that looked like translucent gold. The plaza itself was perfectly round and eight and a half miles in diameter. At its very center was the Father in his actual physical form, surrounded by a counsel of 24 elders. On occasions, David had managed to get close enough to actually see the Father. Today would not be one of those days. There were just too many people here. He moved only about 100 yards into the great circle and sat down, facing the Father.

“Hello, my beloved son,” said the Father, in what seemed to him to be an audible voice.

“Good morning, beloved Father,” said David. He looked around again. “There are so many people here today. I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Does it truly surprise you?” asked the Father.

David smiled slightly. “No, I guess not, considering what is going on out there.”

“Adversity has always brought My sons and daughters closer to Me,” said the Father. “They need to be comforted, to be assured that everything is going to be all right … and it is, of that you may be sure.”

“Father, why is this happening? Demons are all over, parts of the city are in ruins. Why?”

“Oh, my son, sometimes it is difficult to see through the present situation and see how trials shape the future,” said the Father. “Long ago, before the age of humankind, there was a great angelic society. They were the first sentient beings in the cosmos. To a large degree, they were My hands in the evolving universe. For billions of years, the cosmos had evolved without outside intervention. The rules I had set down from the beginning, the natural laws, had governed its development, as well as that of the Earth you called home. It was not necessary for Me to intervene on a day-to-day basis. In your age, My son, people would say that the universe had been preprogrammed.”

“Yes, Father, I think I see what You mean,” said David. “You needed the angels to make some fine adjustments to the universe.”

“Not to the universe as a whole, but to the Earth,” said the Father. “I created the angels as adults, six hundred million of them. They were fully capable of survival from the instant of their creation. They already had a language with which to communicate with each other, and the innate skills to complete the tasks assigned to them. I gave them intelligence, initiative, mobility, and a vision.

“They appeared much as they do today, but they possessed far less wisdom. Wisdom comes only with experience, and experience with the passing of time. They were new creatures. However, these new creatures did not function perfectly together. They had to contend with rivalry, jealousy, and pride. None had more pride than Lucifer. I had created him as the most
beautiful of all of the angels. He served Me very well until he discovered that I was preparing to create a new being called man, and that the angels would eventually be subject to him. He wanted things to remain as they were, but they couldn’t. I had a plan for man, a plan that the angels couldn’t fulfill. He and his followers rebelled. You see, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing his position. He viewed himself as second only to Me in authority. He could not see that he was deluding himself.”

“But he was not really second in power and authority, was he?” asked David. “I mean, there was Your son, Jesus.”

“But he didn’t know of Jesus,” replied the Father. “At that time, Jesus was hidden from the minions of Heaven. The angels were my emissaries, my servants, nothing more. I loved them greatly, but they were not my children; that privilege, that honor, belonged to humanity. Many of the angels could not accept that. They had visions of an angelic order that could never exist. There was a war. Inevitably, I had to cast Lucifer and his followers out of Heaven and confine them in a place beyond the universe of man and angels.”

“Outer darkness,” said David.

“Yes,” confirmed the Father. “Lucifer was very angry about this turn of events, as you might imagine. So great was the enmity between Lucifer and his followers, and those that remained in Heaven, that he changed his name to Satan. All of his followers changed their names. It was a symbol of their rejection of My plan, their rejection of Me. Their hatred has simmered for millennia.”

“I’m sorry Father,” said David. “I know that must have hurt You a lot.”

“Yes it did,” said the Father, “You see, I still love them, however I can not condone their actions. It was necessary to permit Satan to challenge Michael and Gabriel. Releasing Satan and his followers opened the door to potential reconciliation between the warring angelic factions, if they truly desire it. Michael and Gabriel would have you believe that none of the fault
in the division between the angels lies with them, but I tell you that is not entirely true. Over the span of nine millennia, Michael and Gabriel had not attempted to establish a dialog with Lucifer and their followers. Though they have remained faithful to Me and my plan, a portion of the blame is nonetheless theirs.”

David was absolutely astonished. What the Father had told him was incredible.

“I still speak to Lucifer on a regular basis,” continued the Father. “Between us, the channels of communication remain open. When he last spoke to Me, he claimed to have a repentant heart. However, his actions since then say otherwise.” There was a pause. “You would like Me to stop him. But I tell you that all that is happening now must transpire for My plans for man to come to fruition. The future of the entire universe, not just the future of humankind, hinges on the events that are transpiring even as we speak.”

“So we are on our own,” deduced David.

“Oh David, you are never on your own,” said the Father, compassion in His voice. “I love you more than you know. The events of the coming days will test and strengthen your character. You will know what you are to do, because I will guide you.”

David could remain silent no longer about the plan he and Nikola Tesla had devised. “You know of our plans to travel to outer darkness?”

“Of course,” replied the Father, “but you aren’t going. Even as we speak, your friend Nikola Tesla is preparing to leave without you.”

“What!” exclaimed David. “Why would he do such a thing? He promised that I could go.”

“He did not mean to deceive you, but to protect you,” replied the Father. “He knows how dangerous the mission is. He never intended to put you in that sort of peril. He loves you too much.”

“But You told him never to travel to outer darkness again,” said David.

“I told him that for his own protection,” replied the Father. “He’s on his own. Yet, he goes there for the love of others, for the love of Me. Don’t be afraid, David. I’m not angry with him, not in the least. But know this; your friend has to make this trip, and he has to make it alone. It is a journey in search of himself, driven by his own guilt. He accepted the salvation that brought him to Heaven only three days before his death. He has a feeling of inadequacy, of unworthiness. He feels that he must prove himself worthy of being here, when he does not.”

David felt almost panicked. He couldn’t let Nikola make this journey alone.

“You want to stop him,” continued the Father, “but it’s too late. He is in flight even as we speak. He must make this journey alone. Don’t worry, David; you haven’t missed out on an adventure. Before this war is over, you will have your adventure, I assure you.”

David couldn’t help but smile. God had seen right into the depths of his soul. “Father, You are amazing. I love You.”

That comment elicited laughter from the Father. “And I love you. You are a continual source of joy to Me and to My Son. Yesterday, you stood with your mother on the field of conflict to do battle with the forces of Satan. Rarely has a human being faced such peril. You realized the danger, yet you stood your ground, ready to sacrifice much to defend a multitude of angels in need, most of whom you had never met. You didn’t do it out of pride or out of a lust for glory. You did it out of love. You have learned well the lessons My Son taught you. David, remember this day, for I tell you this—there will be another day coming, a day when you will set off on an incredible journey, a journey so far away as to be almost beyond your comprehension. That day will bring to you a new definition of adventure, as well as responsibility. On that day, you will discover your life’s true meaning.”

David couldn’t hide his excitement. “A journey to where, Father?”

Again God laughed. “You’re not going to get that answer today… you’re not ready for it, not yet. Just keep striving to be the best son you can be. Learn all that you can, and your eternity will become a never-ending adventure.”

At last, David felt at peace. He had a confidence he hadn’t had before. He would head back to Dr. Kepler’s laboratory eventually, but not yet. Right now, he wanted to be with his Father. His time was coming, but it wasn’t yet.