The War in Heaven (34 page)

“You know that you are safe here in My presence,” said the Father. “This place shall be an island of calm in the raging storm. Those who remain here will be untouched by the events unfolding around us.”

David smiled. “Yes, Father, I know.”

“And you still choose to go out there?” asked the Father.

“Yes, I have to,” confirmed David.

“Do you know why, David?” asked the Father.

“Because I’ve learned all that I need to know, for the moment, that is,” replied David, rising to his feet. “I thank You, Father, for opening my eyes like never before. I’ve never seen things so clearly. I know I could stay here and be safe, but then I’d miss an experience to grow, to exercise my faith, and test my courage.”

There was a long pause. “There was something else,” said the Father. “You have one more reason that you haven’t mentioned as yet.”

“Yeah,” said David. “There is something else. It will be more of an adventure if I go out there. I don’t think I want to use the word fun to describe it, because it may not be that. I just know I have to go out there.”

“Very good, My son,” said the Father. “Step out there with your eyes open. You may have occasion to feel fear, but do not allow it to rule you.”

“I’ll do my best,” said David, heading for the boundary line separating the Holy Place from the rest of the city.

The perimeter of the Holy Place was cordoned off by thousands of Satan’s minions who seemed determined to corral the saints. David took a deep breath, though he never looked back. He had walked about 100 yards into the city beyond when he was finally stopped by one of Satan’s own; a bat-winged demon with an indeed pale visage.

“You need to turn back,” he said, pointing toward the Holy Place. “It is not safe for your kind here. It is for your own good that I tell you this.”

“And I appreciate your concern,” said David. “However, I am not staying in the city. I am staying with friends some distance from here. I will be staying with them until the crisis passes. I believe I will be safe there.”

It was then that a second demon joined the first. David couldn’t be certain, but he appeared to be a higher ranking demon. He turned to the first. “You told this young man of the dangers in the city?”

“Yes, sir,” said the first, “but he insists on traveling to be with friends afar off.”

The second demon looked at David carefully. “This entire plane of Heaven is a battle zone.”

“But I will be traveling to the third plane,” replied David. “War on that plane has been particularly brutal,” said the demon. “Indeed, we plan to evacuate humans from that region within days. Some
humans there are part of the problem, rebels they are. They do not accept that a new order is coming to this place.”

“I think you’re counting the cause of angels to be lost, when the war has just begun,” said David.

“We shall see,” said the demon, who had suddenly taken an interest in the object hidden beneath David’s cloak. “What is it you carry with you?”

David thought for a second what to do. Truth might be the best policy. He pulled out the pistol. “As you said, this is a war zone, so I brought a weapon to protect myself. You never can be too careful.”

The demon seemed startled. “I believe it was weapons such as this that were used against our forces not far from here, by rebel forces.”

David shrugged, “I cannot say one way or the other. I made this weapon myself. I assure you, it has not been fired in this war at anyone, at least, not yet.”

“May I take that as a thinly veiled threat?” asked the second demon.

“Take it however you wish,” retorted David. He toggled the power switch, the pistol’s capacitor charged with an unmistakable pulsing hum. “I didn’t come out here looking for a fight.”

“That is good,” replied the demon. “Our orders are clear. We are not to harm any humans here in Heaven. You are children of the Father, noncombatants. That is, unless you choose to enter this conflict of your own accord, as these rebels have. In that case, we may treat you as we would treat the angels of Michael and Gabriel…as enemies. I assure you their fate will not be pleasant.”

David looked around. This discussion had drawn the attention of no less than eight demons within a radius of 20 feet. At this point, David wished that he had packed one of the particle rifles rather than this pistol. This pistol had less than half of the knock-down power of one of the rifles, and its smaller field coil required three seconds to fully charge the capacitor.
That meant three seconds between shots, compared to the rifle’s one. He might get off two or three shots before the rest of these demons were on him. He also was unsure as to whether he could gate out of here so close to the Holy Place.

“We will have to confiscate that weapon,” said the demon.

This encounter-turned-conflict was rapidly escalating out of control. No, David knew he had to remain cool. “That isn’t negotiable.”

“We could take it by force,” said the demon.

“You might,” said David, “but I believe that would violate your orders, to say nothing of the five or six of you I’d turn into piles of smoldering bones before you took it. How would you explain that to your master?”

The number of demons around him was growing; David knew he was pushing his luck, but he stood firm. Had he said something about looking for adventure? He might just have found it.

“Why don’t you explain it to the master?” said the demon, pointing to the tall building that had once housed the angels of this sixth level of Heaven. “He has given orders to bring unto him the first member of the rebellion we find. I think that is you. You have my word that you will come to no harm.”

David didn’t like the sound of that at all. The Father had talked of times like this, times when his faith and courage might be tested. “How can I pass on such a kind offer?”

“Very good,” said the demon. “Now you are being sensible. If you will stow your weapon, we shall be on our way.”

David complied. Within a minute, he found himself carried on demon wings toward the once mighty Hall of Angels. As he drew closer, he was shocked to view the full damage this enormous structure had sustained. At many places, entire walls had been blown out. One corner had even partially collapsed.

From this vantage point, he also gained some perspective as to the damage done to the city itself. Much of it remained intact. Still, there were regions that were leveled. The greatest damage had occurred immediately around the Hall of Angels.

For the first time ever, David got the experience of entering the Hall of Angels from its rooftop entrance. In reality, there were no street entrances to this building. It had given the angels one place in Heaven in which they could truly be to themselves. It seemed to David that angels and humans mixed only when they had to. Neither had any real quarrels with the other; it was just that they preferred the company of their own kind. The mind of an angel just wasn’t wired like the human mind, and as such they didn’t have a lot in common. David had always viewed this as being unfortunate. On Earth, angels guarded humankind, but they didn’t interact with them, except on the urging from the Father. Greater collaboration between the two races would have been of so much benefit to them both.

David alighted on the roof and was escorted by three demons down a wide, covered walkway into the interior of the building. David scanned his surroundings, taking in every detail.

This place was not at all as David had envisioned it. Its white marble corridors were wide enough, tall enough to accommodate angel’s wings, but were totally blank. It surprised David to find that they were not particularly well lit. Even in its best days, this place would probably not have been particularly welcoming. Rooms that led to either side were without doors. Most contained nothing more than a network of small cubicles where the angels rested. David recalled hearing that angels rested balanced upon their knees and their wings. They didn’t rest very often, nor did they require much space. The lives of angels were routine and uncomplicated, a life of service to both the Father and humankind.

They passed the large entryway to the gate room that housed a shimmering metal ring that was about 20 feet across. It was through this gate that
angels came and went to the different levels of Heaven, to remote places within the same level, and to Earth. It was filled with demons, and new ones were gating in constantly. It was not encouraging.

Demons were clearing rubble from the corridor in an attempt to make travel through these passageways just a bit easier. Still, amid the commotion of repair, David could hear the sound of a great multitude crying and moaning beneath his feet. What was going on here?

At last they came to a corridor on the right that actually led to a set of ornate golden doors. There was a demon sentry standing at that double door. One of the demons escorting David walked to the sentry and spoke to him in a language that David only vaguely comprehended. The sentry opened the door and headed in as David and his demonic escorts waited.

“I suspect that Lord Satan will see you immediately,” said one of the demons. “I recommend that you remember your manners in his presence. Very soon, his will be the ultimate power among the angels.”

David resisted the temptation to make a flippant remark.

Curiously enough, one of the last books that David had read in the great library was a book on angelic history and etiquette. Its lessons might come in very useful today.

One side of the double door opened, and the sentry emerged. He turned to David. “Lord Satan will see you at once; you may enter.”

The double doors opened again, and after taking a deep breath, David entered. He was not quite sure what to think as the double doors closed behind him and he came face to face with the Prince of Darkness himself. He sat upon Michael’s throne, the very image of an angel of light. Satan was dressed in white from head to foot, his white angelic wings towering over his body. He was practically radiant.

David had seen Satan many times before, though never in person. The first time was six years ago. Using the black book of Serena Farnsworth in
the Hall of Records, he had witnessed the horrors of Hell through the eyes of one who had actually experienced it. Since then he had made a virtual character study of this dark being. In many ways his face was the same. It was his surroundings that made him seem different, from his golden hair to his spotless raiment.

Satan’s eyes followed David carefully as he approached. At the middle of the chamber, while he was still 30 or more feet from the throne, David stopped and bowed as angelic protocol demanded. It was an act that seemed to greatly please Satan.

“Peace be unto you, David Bonner,” said Satan, rising to his feet.

“And unto you, sir,” said David, walking several steps closer.

“I am delighted to finally meet you in person,” said Satan, a smile on his face. “To have one of the greatest students of the great Doctor Kepler in my presence is a pleasant surprise.” Satan took several more steps toward David halving the distance separating them.

“Thank you, sir,” replied David, returning the smile. “I too feel honored to at last meet you in person.” David took several more steps toward Satan, doing his best to suppress his apprehension—and, yes, his fear.

Satan’s eyes turned to the pistol that was partially visible beneath David’s cloak. “And that is the weapon that the human rebel faction is employing these days?”

“Yes,” replied David, removing it from his cloak. “At least this is one of them, we have several versions. I made this one myself. As an angel is expected to fashion his own sword, I have fashioned this weapon. It is a rite of passage.”

“Yes, I see,” said Satan, displaying his own jewel handled sword, and pulling it partway from its sheath to show his young guest. “I too fashioned this weapon many millennia ago, in the days of my youth.”

“It is magnificent,” replied David, trying to appeal to Satan’s weakness of pride. “I cannot say that I have ever seen its equal.”

Satan nodded in approval. “I am curious, young man. If that weapon you hold is as powerful as my minions claim, why have you not been tempted to use it on me? You have the opportunity.”

“But not the desire,” replied David. “I am an invited guest in your home. To do so would not be, well, civilized.”

Satan nodded again. “Well said, young man. May I see this wonder that you have made with your own hands?”

Oh boy, that was something David had not expected. What should he do now? He reengaged its safety, took several steps forward, and handed it to the Prince of Darkness.

Satan seemed genuinely surprised at the faith and courage of this young human. He took the weapon in hand and examined it carefully. “Marvelous craftsmanship,” he said, “something quite different from that which might have been forged by angelic hands, but no less magnificent.” He returned the weapon to David.

David placed his weapon to its makeshift holster. “Thank you, sir.”

Satan placed a hand on David’s shoulder. Though his hand was warm like any human or angelic hand, it brought a chill to his soul. “I remember well the day I faced your mentor on the plains of Heckath, in Hell six years ago. On that day, we were adversaries. Our meeting today, friendly and trusting as it has been, shows that this need not be the case. The winds of change are being felt across all of Heaven, my young friend. It need not be a foul wind. I can bring order out of chaos, uniting all of the angels under one rule.”

“Yours,” deduced David.

“Of course,” confirmed Satan. “After many thousands of years, the rule of Michael and Gabriel has brought us no closer to unity. If anything, it has
driven us farther apart. Now, with the leave of the Father, all of that will be changed. I shall take reign over the angels. There will be a new age of the angels, an age of unity.”

“And where will humanity fit into this new enlightened age of the angels?” asked David.

“A fair question,” replied Satan. “I admit I was wrong to oppose the will of the Father on the issue of human dominance. If he wishes man to play a part in the future of Heaven, well, so be it. There will be room for your people here
and
in Hell. Hell must exist as a place to discard those humans not worthy of standing in the presence of the Father. Surely, you must realize that.”