The War in Heaven (42 page)

Rolf starred in wide-eyed surprise at this place. It was as if its moment of destruction had been frozen in time.

“I sense something strange ahead,” said Cordon. “Come…let us travel to the center of the city.”

They walked across the still very warm glassy surface of the city. Rolf cringed when not far away he saw the skeletal form of a demon, frozen in
the depths of the melted glass. At some places the twisting sheets of glass that once formed the great pillars of the city still glowed with a dull red heat.

It was a difficult walk with many obstacles. Ahead, the ground rose, then fell into a crater-shaped depression 200 yards wide. Before them, half way down the inner slopes, stood a group of demons looking at a strange apparition about 3 feet above the very center of the crater. It glowed and flickered as bolts of electricity arced around it. About 20 feet to its left and about 10 feet higher was a second phenomenon like the first, only much smaller.

Cordon and Rolf stepped into the midst of the group. They all bowed before the now ranking demon of Hell.

“My lord, the greater light you see before you was here when we first arrived,” said one of the demons. “The second one appeared only a few minutes ago.”

Even as they watched, a third appeared about 100 yards farther away. Its appearance authored a wave of concern from all of those around.

“Do you feel the wind,” asked Cordon, looking to Rolf.

“Yes,” confirmed Rolf. “It blows toward that thing, whatever it is.”

“It blows toward it, no matter where we stand,” said the demon who had first addressed them.

Cordon turned to the other demons. “You are all to leave the city at once. There is great danger here. Tell all you see to back away. Now, go.”

The demons obeyed, taking flight. Within a minute, Cordon and Rolf were alone.

“It is worse than I thought,” said Cordon. “The great barrier that separates our reality from the ether beyond is crumbling. It will continue at an ever increasing rate until it consumes our very world.”

Rolf had an indeed puzzled look. Cordon was not at all certain that his friend understood what he had just said.

“What can we do?” asked Rolf.

“I don’t know yet,” admitted Cordon, “but finding the rebel’s hiding place has suddenly become our top priority. We must know exactly what it is they did, if we are to have any hope at all of stopping this.” He hesitated. “If it can be stopped.”

A moment later, they took to the air, even as a fourth rent in the fabric of space appeared. The destruction of Hell had begun.

It had been over 36 hours since the dropping of the bomb when the first signs of trouble appeared. It was during a routine telesphere communication with the City of Elesia from Abaddon’s audience chamber. The report that nearly 30 million angels had arrived from Earth was interrupted by an increasing amount of static in the image.

Nikola did all that he could, but the signal continued to deteriorate until it was lost in a mist of snow. All efforts to restore communications failed.

“There is nothing wrong with the unit,” said Nikola, after he had worked on it for an hour. “The interference must be coming from somewhere else.”

By now a crowd of about a dozen humans and angels had gathered in Abaddon’s audience chamber. Speculation as to the nature of the problem abounded.

“David said that something like this might happen,” said Bedillia, looking over Abaddon’s shoulder.

“Perhaps it is time to return to the mountaintop to see what new things have transpired in Sheol,” suggested Abaddon.

Nikola nodded. He was feeling ill to his stomach. Suppose he had been wrong after all?

Half an hour later, Nikola and Abaddon once more stepped into the ring. It had been difficult to get a lock on the mountaintop, and what was usually a calm walk through the mists was anything but. The normally blue mists were a shade of yellow and swirled wildly around them. They were practically thrown onto the ridge.

A strong wind blew from their back and into the most nightmarish maelstrom either one of them had ever witnessed. It was a swirling vortex, easily a half mile across, directly above the city. It was surrounded by lightning bolts that reached out for at least a mile. They watched in disbelief as it gobbled up a sulfur storm drawn in from the sea. Blue fire and brimstone hurtled into the swirling clouds.

“Oh my God,” gasped Nikola, “what have I done?”

“I suggest that you find out,” insisted Abaddon.

Nikola quickly set up his instruments to categorize this beast that he had created. The initial results confirmed his fears.

“High levels of hard X-rays,” said Nikola, “just as David had predicted. The blast has created a tear in space time.”

“Fine,” said Abaddon, who seemed increasingly agitated. “How do we fix it?”

The long pause that followed was not encouraging. “I don’t know,” admitted Nikola. “We need to get back to Refuge with the information I’ve collected. Maybe we can figure something out from there.”

They quickly gathered up the scientific gear to make their retreat. When they tried to gate out, nothing happened.

“The space time around here is too badly distorted to make the trip back out,” said Nikola. “We’ll need to get farther away.”

“How much farther?” asked Abaddon.

“Perhaps another twenty miles,” replied Nikola.

“I’ll carry you,” said Abaddon. “Only take what you absolutely need.”

Two minutes later, Abaddon was in flight, carrying Nikola to safety. It took a journey of eighty miles and two hours into the frozen interior of the Dark Continent before they were able to successfully gate back to Refuge. There they met with Tom, Bill, and Vikki, and informed them of their dire predicament. They had some of the best minds in Hell all together in one place to work on the problem. Yet they realized that their time was indeed limited. They were not hopeful.

In Heaven, all attempts to reestablish communications with Refuge met with failure. Even David’s expertise with the telesphere was insufficient to overcome the mysterious new interference. To David, the meaning of the relentless static was clear—the rip in space time was spreading.

For days he wracked his brain for a solution to the problem, but he was at a loss. There was only one solution; he would need to return to the Holy Place and consult with the Father. But how? It was surrounded by the minions of Satan. He couldn’t gate in, and he couldn’t walk in.

It was within the modest makeshift living quarters granted them by the angels that David spoke to his mother of his intentions to find his way back into the Holy Place in Zion once more, blasting his way through if needs be. He couldn’t deceive her and sneak off secretly; she had to know. He was surprised when she didn’t object to his plan.

“You can’t possibly make it alone,” she said. “I’m going with you. We make a pretty good team, if you haven’t noticed. Anyway, I know that God will guide and protect us, I feel it. When do you plan to leave?”

“Tomorrow morning,” replied David. “But you mustn’t go. I couldn’t bear anything happening to you. You’ve already had one close call.”

“Listen to me David Bonner,” said June, in a mother’s stern tone. “You’re not going to go alone and have all of the fun, I’m going with you.”

David looked at his mother in total shock. It wasn’t a laughing matter, but he was laughing nonetheless. “I’ll pack a particle rifle and pistol for the trip; hide them under my cloak. You need to do the same. Maybe we can just walk in, but I’m not taking any chances. If we have to fight our way in, so be it.”

David was up late that evening making final plans and praying like he never had before. Yet his mother went out for several hours without explanation. She returned after midnight, offering no explanation. They would gate to a meadow some miles to the north of the city at first light, then gate to the cover of their condominium in Zion from there.

David didn’t sleep well at all. Maybe he was beginning to move beyond the need for it. More likely, however, he was just too wound up. Taking his mother was not a good idea, but he was unlikely to make it without her. He knew that he would draw courage and strength from her.

June awoke her son just before daybreak. “Time to go, son,” she said. Already, she was dressed for the trip. “I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

It took only three minutes for David to prepare himself for the journey ahead. Despite his prayers and his faith, he was uncertain as to what this day might hold. He stepped out into the hallway and was surprised to find Don and Karen, two of Dr. Bohr’s students, standing beside his mother, dressed in white robes, weapons ready.

“Four pilgrims have a better chance of success than two,” said June.

David was amazed and grateful to have such good friends accompanying him on this quest that he had feared he might have to make alone. A minute later, they gated out to the meadow.

Here, David was in for another surprise. Standing before him was someone he hadn’t seen in a very long time. It was Jennifer Davis, Serena’s mother-in-law, who stood amid the tall grass. She too was armed with one of the rifles. In the six years since his adventure of rescuing Serena, they had lost touch. Yet his mother had formed a bond with this special woman, and they had become close friends.

“Hi everyone,” Jennifer said, a broad smile on her face. “June, thank you so much for inviting me. For a very long time I have wanted to make a somewhat stronger statement to those who caused my daughter-in-law so much pain. Today might be that day.”

“No revenge,” said June. “This is not what this trip is about.”

“Of course not,” said Jennifer, “I’m just going to make a statement, if need be.”

David didn’t quite know what to think about that one, so he said nothing. He was glad to have her along. At least, he thought so.

After a round of introductions, last moment thoughts, and more than a few prayers, they were ready to go. They walked together into a cloud of stars, appearing in the condo in Zion just a few seconds later. Nothing much had changed here since their last visit. Apparently, the demons had left it alone.

Hiding their weapons beneath their long cloaks, they ventured into the empty streets and advanced toward the Holy Place.

“Look, we don’t want a fight,” said David. “If we can get into the Holy Place without firing a shot, let’s do it.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” said Karen. “I have faith, but I’d really rather not test it at odds of hundreds to one.”

“Amen to that,” said Don, looking about nervously. “I’ve lost enough limbs in battle for one eternity.”

No one opposed their progress as they worked their way through the sometimes rubble cluttered streets. They were 200 yards from the Holy place when seven demons descended from the sky, landing in the street before them.

“Just keep moving,” urged David. “I don’t think they will try to prevent us from entering the Holy Place. They didn’t last time. They seem more concerned with keeping humans confined there once they arrive.”

They drew closer to the demons as four more joined their ranks. The tension increased. What were they going to do? No one was sure. The fact that several of them had drawn their swords was not encouraging.

“Stop, humans!” roared the one who stood closest to them. “It is forbidden for your kind to be within the city.”

“We are going into God’s presence,” said June. “Surely you will not prevent us from doing that.”

“None may pass,” said the demon. “The five of you are in serious trouble. You are violating the orders of Satan.”

“What do you want us to do?” asked June.

The demon smiled, but slightly. “You will come with us to our command post where you will be questioned and searched. If we are satisfied that you are not members of the rebel faction assisting the angels, we will allow you to enter the Holy Place. If, however, we have reason to suspect that you are, you will be confined until this war is over.”

Don was trembling. It became all too clear where this was leading. Still, he was not about to surrender to these minions of Satan.

“You have no right to do this to us,” objected David.

Another demon came forward, eyeing this young man carefully. “We have every right, David Bonner.” He turned to the others. “This one is a rebel. I’ve seen him before.”