The War in Heaven (41 page)

“It is just a theory,” said Johann. “How could we know such a thing had happened?”

“The hole would be easily visible,” replied David. “It would emit large quantities of X-rays. That’s how you’d know.”

“If this thing has happened, how could we close this hole?” asked Cornelius.

“I don’t know,” admitted David. “The hole is at the south magnetic pole of the universe. Perhaps we could increase the flux, the power of the magnetic field at the north pole? That might drive the particles, the charged plasma, back through the hole. It might even seal it. I don’t know. Thing is, I couldn’t even begin to guess how to do it.”

“But where is the north pole of the universe?” asked Johann.

There was a long pause. It seemed a crazy notion—the north pole of the universe.

It was Cornelius who broke the silence. “I think I know. The opposite of the depths of Hell would be the summit of Heaven. It is Zion, in the holiest place. Psalms 48:2 says, ‘beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.’ The side of the north? Why would it be the side of the north? Unless it is at the north pole of the universe.”

“Yes, of course, that makes sense,” said David. “I always wondered why it said the side of the north, rather than any other cardinal direction.”

“But there is no evidence that there is a problem,” objected Gabriel.

“Believe me, there will be soon,” said David.

Nikola couldn’t sleep. He had paced the tunnels of Refuge for hours. This should have been the most glorious day of his life, but it wasn’t. He knew what David was going through in Heaven. David was so certain of his figures. Yes, he was just a child in comparison to his years; however, during the past several years he had come to take what this youth said seriously. His mind was made up. He headed for Abaddon’s audience chamber. He was not surprised to find the dark angel there at the end of the table, alone, deep in thought.

“I would have thought that you would have been in bed by now,” he said, without even looking up.

“I’ve been thinking about what David said,” admitted Nikola. “Suppose he is right.”

“Then I would say that we are all in considerable trouble,” said Abaddon.

“I’d like to go back there,” said Nikola.

Abaddon looked up in surprise. “When?”

“Right now,” replied Nikola.

“But you said that it would be highly radioactive,” objected Abaddon.

“Not to us,” replied Nikola. “Our bodies regenerate so rapidly that I don’t think residual radiation is much of a threat.”

“Very well,” said Abaddon, rising to his feet. “Grab your gear. We shall depart in one hour.”

Cordon was sitting at the round granite meeting table of Governor Molock’s audience chamber with his aide and long-time friend Lieutenant Rolf when a messenger brought the news of the destruction of the City of Sheol. He looked up from his paperwork astonished. “How?” he asked.

“Some terrible weapon that brought destruction to the entire city in one great flash of light,” replied the messenger. “Afterward, a great billowing cloud towered over the city.”

Cordon had heard enough to surmise what had happened. He had seen such a thing when he had journeyed to Earth many years ago. Then, he had been assigned as a tempter and general malefactor. It was a task that he took no great pleasure in. It had been a waste of his talents. But that sight had intrigued him—the detonation of a nuclear bomb in the Mohave Desert.

“Lord Beelzebub is no more,” continued the messenger. “He and his lieutenants vanished in the blast. My lord, you are now the ranking minion in Hell. I await your orders.”

For a moment Cordon was stunned. Never had he imagined such a situation as this unfolding. This morning, millions of small flying creatures had appeared all over Hell, and now this, the destruction of Sheol. They were linked, of that much he was certain. Still, he had to organize his priorities. He had to support the master. He could not allow Heaven to be reinforced by angels from Earth. He wasn’t sure how he could prevent it, or even if he could prevent it. He would first need to consult with experts. “What of the minions Cerenak and Wormwood?”

“They were in Sheol when it was destroyed,” replied the messenger. “They are gone with Lord Beelzebub.”

This just kept getting worse. “Very well, I will go to Sheol with Lieutenant Rolf to assess the damage myself. Thank you. See that this message is sent through the portal and delivered to the master. He needs to know.”

The messenger bowed, then quickly departed, leaving Cordon and Rolf to their thoughts. A moment of silence passed between them. Rolf spoke first.

“I don’t know whether to congratulate you or offer my condolences.”

“I need to know how many troops are available for a mission right here in Hell,” replied Cordon.

“Not as many as you might like,” replied Rolf. “Our forces are spread thin keeping the humans in their places of torment. If they were to become aware of our current weakness they might rebel. These small creatures of which we have heard might very well have been released so as to incite just such a rebellion.”

“I agree,” replied Cordon. “From what you know of our situation, how many minions could we spare to attack the rebel base?”

“Two…perhaps three million,” replied Rolf. “But that assumes that we know the location of their base of operations.”

“We do,” replied Cordon. “We have had a stroke of luck. When these legions of flying beasts emerged from their tunnels they left a trail behind them. Two skillful seers witnessed the emergence of legions of these beasts from two separate locations and reached the place from which they appeared while their trail was still warm. They gave me coordinates from whence they came. I have only now completed the final calculations. They are on the Dark Continent, my friend. I have pinpointed their location to within five hundred square miles.”

Rolf scowled, “That’s a lot of territory, Cordon; I mean, Lord Cordon.”

Cordon shook his head. “Just Cordon, my friend, I haven’t changed. I’m not as pompous or arrogant as the master. And it isn’t that much territory when you know what you are looking for. Their base has to be underground, and it has to be somewhere there is heat below the surface. A community as large as I think this one is leaves traces. Furthermore, I’m betting that there is a cave access to the surface. We will send a thousand of our best trackers out to search the area. We will find them, Rolf, and when we do, we will hit them and hit them hard. I will send dark angel and human alike to their eternal fates.”

N
ikola and Abaddon stepped through the ring and once more were transported to that dark ridge from which they had viewed the destruction of Sheol. It would be too risky to venture closer. Surely there would be scores of demons combing the wreckage of the city for survivors. Nikola set up a sophisticated telescope to scan the ruins of the city from here.

Here and there, fires still burned. Through the telescope, Nikola could see the demons moving about like ants swarming over the ruins of a destroyed ant hill. The ground was like a mass of melted glass. Only the very edges of the city retained any semblance of what had once existed in this place.

Nikola focused on ground zero. If anything out of the ordinary was going on, it would be there. He saw several fires in that area, but nothing else immediately caught his eye. It was a gathering of demons around a particular spot that drew his attention. Something was there, but Nikola could not make it out from this distance. There were short bolts of what appeared to be lightning emanating from a very small but bright region. It might be a remnant of the otherworldly circuitry that most surely ran the length and breadth of this facility, a dying ember in a dying city. He gave it no further consideration.

There was still radiation emanating from the city, but not much more than he had expected. His fears had not been realized. If there was something here, some inscrutable fracture in space time, it wasn’t obvious. He felt a sense of relief. He would check back in a few days, but he didn’t expect to find anything.

Twenty minutes later, he and Abaddon departed. He would sleep easily tonight, and tomorrow begin to plan the destruction of the great ring. David was a bright lad, there was no doubt about it, but he was prone to be a bit melodramatic. This was one of those times.

It wasn’t ten minutes later that a second pair of visitors gated in from Satan’s audience chamber and unto a windswept ridge, some nine miles south of what was once the City of Sheol. Cordon and Rolf scanned the desolation that was once the empire’s greatest accomplishment.

“A terrible tragedy,” said Rolf, shaking his head.

“I doubt that the likes of it shall ever be built again,” noted Cordon, scanning the desolation with his telescope-like sphere.

“I’m confused,” noted Rolf. “You spoke of Cerenak and Wormwood as being the experts on this place.”

“Yes, they were the chief architects,” confirmed Cordon. “That was over six thousand years ago. It seems like an eternity. But why does this confuse you?”

“If my memory serves me correctly, you were the third architect of this place,” said Rolf. “You speak as if you knew nothing of its construction.”

“That is not exactly true,” said Cordon. “Still, it was Cerenak who was the creative genius, and to a lesser degree, Wormwood and myself. It took years to figure out how to build it, and centuries to perfect it. There were secrets about its construction known only to Cerenak. Now he has taken them with him into oblivion.”

“This I never knew,” said Rolf, stepping forward to gaze upon the destruction below. “You could not build a second one?”

There was a pause. “I suppose I could,” replied Cordon, “given sufficient time. I might even manage to build a better one.”

“But?” asked Rolf.

“I lack the desire to build it,” admitted Cordon. “I have no interest in tempting humanity, luring additional humans here. There are already too many. I would like to discover a method by which I might ship some of them out.”

That comment elicited a chuckle from Rolf. “I think I can understand that. It would make our lives easier.”

Cordon nodded. “Cerenak and I were the designers of the ring that teleported us here. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t,” noted Rolf.

“Satan ordered that only one be built, one for him. There were to be no others.”

“I feel uneasy using it without the master’s permission,” said Rolf.

“I don’t,” replied Cordon. “After all, I designed it. At this point, I’m not sure I much care what Satan thinks.”

That comment caught Rolf by surprise. Disobeying the master’s commands was not a very good career move. He considered what had happened to Rathspith, though he wasn’t quite sure what that was at this point.

Cordon once more called for the portal, and a moment later they appeared at the very edge of the city to view an indeed eerie sight. What remained of the crystalline pillars and crossbeams of this region had the appearance of blocks of ice that had thawed in the midst of a great windstorm, only to freeze once more, forming icicles that stretched horizontally away from ground zero rather than downward.