The War in Heaven (47 page)

He felt physically ill as he jumped back to the main hatchway. He climbed in and pounded on the inner hatch. The outer hatch closed behind him and a second later, air rushed in, filling his oxygen-starved lungs. The inner hatch slid open and he stepped onto the main deck, only to collapse.

Nikola looked down from the flight deck with concern, yet he was battling with increasing gravitational turbulence and could not come to Cordon’s aid.

“No luck,” said Cordon in a breathless voice. “I hope you have a plan.”

“I do,” replied Nikola, “but you’re not going to like it. There should be no inherent problem with setting off the device while it is still in its cradle on board the Spirit. I could move the Spirit into position and arm the device. I would keep it in position, at station keeping until then. If you can fly through hyperspace, you might be able to reach a safe distance before I detonate the warheads.”

“You call that a plan?” asked Cordon, rising to his knees.

Nikola shook his head. “We have only twenty-two minutes before we must detonate the devices, what else can we do?”

“Can you program the Spirit to hold its position without human assistance?” asked Cordon.

“Yes,” replied Nikola, “I would use the same program I used in the three bombs.”

“Then do it,” said Cordon. “Get the Spirit into position for the detonation. The longer we wait, the less time I have to get you to safety.”

“You want me to go out there?” asked Nikola, a sudden look of fear on his face.

“Yes,” replied Cordon.

“But where would we go?” objected Nikola. “We would be stuck in hyperspace with no way to get out.”

“There is a way out,” said Cordon. “I left orders to engage the great ring, to set it to link to itself.”

“Say what?” asked Nikola.

“I’ll explain it another time,” promised Cordon. “Let’s just say that it is a way to link into hyperspace without creating a rift, and having Hell’s atmosphere bleed away. Just get us into position, set the automatic detonator, and I’ll do the rest.”

Nikola nodded. He really didn’t have much choice. It took about three minutes to maneuver into position and set the autopilot. He looked around for a moment. It had taken years to build this vessel. It was almost a part of him. Abandoning it, blowing it up, was almost more than he could bear.

“Are you ready?” asked Cordon.

“Yes,” said Nikola. “Detonation of the three devices will occur in eighteen minutes.” He again tried to offer Cordon a life support mask. Again he refused it.

“How many of those things do you have?” asked Cordon. “Just these two,” he replied.

“You are likely to need both of them,” said Cordon.

“So, you are going to go out there and search for a hole in the hyperspace medium that is what…thirty or forty feet across? You don’t have any points of reference. You don’t know how far, or even which way to go.”

“Do not proceed to tell me what I can and cannot do,” replied Cordon, just a trace of anger in his voice. “I have studied the sciences for a hundred times longer than you have existed. I can sense distortions in space time or hyperspace that you could not even begin to detect with your most sensitive instruments. I know how far and in what direction. If you will finish your good-byes to this vessel and depressurize it, we will be on our way.”

Nikola put on his heavy coat and one of the masks while he stuffed the power supply and filter of the second one in a small pack he would take with him. It would be easier to change out the components than switch masks. If only he had more of these things. If only he had thought ahead.

He was very afraid as he entered the command to open the inner airlock and depressurize the main cabin. The computer offered him the option of aborting the command. No, he would have to see this through. He confirmed the order and activated the mask.

There was a loud hiss as the depressurization began. His ears felt as if they were about to explode as the air pressure in the cabin plummeted toward zero. This air mask of his was intended as an emergency rescue device only. The road ahead promised to be very unpleasant indeed. It would be worse when the filters of this device saturated and its power supplies died. Then he would start to suffocate. At least that is the way it would feel. Yet it wouldn’t kill him. Death was a once in an eternity experience.

The sound of the hissing dropped away. In fact, all sound ceased. He opened the outer airlock.

Cordon took him by the hand and led him to the place where his world ended and eternity began. They walked down the steps and took the plunge. The second that they were beyond the Spirit’s gravity generator the sense of falling ceased. Cordon held him in his arms and began to fly.

Nikola looked back, amazed to discover just how fast they were traveling. He could feel what seemed to him to be an electric radiance coming from the beam, combined with a sense of intense cold. Cordon made a turn to the left and what to Nikola seemed downward. Again, they were flying in a straight line. Nikola glanced at his watch. There were 13 minutes to go.

Eleven minutes later Nikola again looked back. He couldn’t make out the Spirit at all from this distance. The beam radiating out from the rift was little more than a thread of light against the backdrop of the eerie gossamer clouds of hyperspace. Soon he would know if this had all been worth it.

Then there was a great flash, filling the twilight world of hyperspace with light. For a moment, the bright star-like light kept him from seeing anything else; for that moment, the hard cold softened a bit. When the light faded, the thread of plasma was no more. It seemed to have worked. Instead, there was a roiling hot sphere of gas expanding in all directions, expanding fast. Nikola looked away, then at his watch. The instrument that was sparing him the discomfort of suffocation was nearly expended. It had just two minutes of operating life remaining. The filter would probably saturate first, allowing carbon dioxide to build up. He vowed to milk every ounce of oxygen out of it he could before switching to the second filter and power source.

The minutes ticked by. This breathing apparatus was working better than he had projected. He’d coaxed 28 minutes of life out of it. In the end, it was the power supply that gave up the ghost first. The flow of air slowed then stopped. As calmly as he could, he unscrewed the power module and replacing it with the second unit. Then he replaced the filter as well. Good air was flowing again.

He looked back to see the huge red ball of fire released from the explosion. It had dissipated as it had expanded, but not as much as he had hoped. It looked like a huge red sun, and its heat and size were growing. He might not have to worry about suffocating after all. He might end up flame broiled before then.

With the passage of ten more minutes, the translucent ball of fire had come to dominate this region of hyperspace. It was not unlike a great hot soap bubble growing thinner and cooler as it expanded. Yet its proximity had long since driven away the cold, turning this corner of hyperspace into an inferno. It would overtake them in minutes. The heat within it would surely be far worse, to say nothing of what it might do as it passed them.

Abruptly, Cordon changed course, climbing and banking to the right. Nikola looked ahead to see a yellow star. No, not a star, it was daylight! It was the open gate. Cordon’s wings flapped ever harder.

Surely Cordon must have realized that he could have made better time if he released this human. That was Nikola’s fear. This was, after all, a demon. Yet, he held on to this human all the more tightly. There was a shuttering, then a sense of being in an out of control spiral. Nikola’s ears pained him terribly as the darkness was replaced by light. Cordon emerged from the blackness of the ring into the open air of the plains. The barren ground swung wildly in front of him before stabilizing. Then there was a sudden jolt as Cordon landed.

Nikola stumbled forward, removing his mask. He turned to find himself surrounded by demons of all description, and they didn’t appear particularly friendly. He started to fall, yet Cordon got hold of him, stabilized him.

“Just have a little faith in me,” said Cordon, smiling, even as he gasped for breath. “I told you I’d get you to safety.”

“Yes, you did,” said Nikola, reaching for Cordon’s arm. “Please forgive me for doubting you, my friend.”

A second later, an enormous cloud of fire erupted from the great ring, accompanied by a loud roar, startling everyone. Then the ring went silent.

A demon approached Cordon, bowing slightly. “My lord, it is good to see that you are well. We were growing concerned.” He looked toward this human. “What would you have us do with him?”

“First of all, give him a few minutes to gather his strength. He has been through a lot,” said Cordon.

“There isn’t time,” said Nikola, struggling to stand on his own once more. “I need to know if it worked, if the rift is sealed.”

Cordon nodded. “As do I, my friend. Let us travel straight away to the ruins of Sheol, and see the results of our labors.”

Suddenly, a dark circular portal appeared before them. Nikola was startled. “A gate? You can create your own gates?”

“Yes,” confirmed Cordon. “It is a technology that I myself developed thousands of years ago. I thought that it would revolutionize travel here. But Satan commanded that only one device of its kind should be built, and that it was to remain in his hands exclusively. The instrument itself sets in his audience chamber. Over the years, I have improved it, but there is still but one. Now in his absence, I and Rolf have the power to call upon it as our needs require. I assure you, it is quite safe.”

The two stepped into the dark portal, vanishing from the plains, en route to a place half a world away.

D
avid had been in the Holy Place for days with his mother and their friends. They had traveled about, spoken to others, spreading the news of the crisis that could well bring life on their home planet to an end. As incredible as their story was, no one doubted it. This was a place of truth, and these were the words of brothers and sisters in Christ. Those people, in turn, told others, and so the word spread through the multitude, which numbered over 100 million.

David spoke to the Father as well. The Father confirmed David’s worst fears, but spoke of a time and a season to act. This was not that time. However, He did not discourage the mission of David and the others to spread the word. David had faith in the Father, but he also possessed an impatient spirit, so this ragtag messenger continued to spread the word.

He was often stopped by others who wanted to know more of the events in Hell, of how he even knew anything of the goings on there. He spoke of the events of six years ago—of Serena and Chris, of a love that spanned the distance between the most distant places in the universe, and how seemingly impossible prayers had been answered. He spoke of a struggle in the dark domain that went on even to this day. He spoke of his memories of loved ones there, of an aunt, a grandfather, a cousin, forever lost. He had asked the Father for those memories, to remember with crystal clarity all those he had known in life on Earth, and they had been granted to him. Yes, it hurt, it hurt a lot, but in the truth, the entire truth, he had become a whole individual with his eyes wide open.

Now there were others who came to ask the Father for the restoration of those memories. To all who asked, a solemn warning was given. Never again would their world be the same. They would be both a sadder and wiser individual. Many withdrew their request, but others sought the knowledge despite the consequences. For the first time there were tears in Heaven. It was the end of a sort of childhood that for many had lasted for centuries. They were ready to move on. They were sons and daughters of God still, yet childhood was over.

Ahead, a woman approached David. David prepared to greet her. “Peace be unto you, David Bonner,” she said.

David prepared to return the greeting. Then he realized who she was. “Peace be unto you Mary Magdalene. Oh, wow.”

“Oh wow?” she asked, smiling slightly.

“Yes, I mean, I’m honored to meet you, ma’am. What I mean to say is that I feel privileged to be addressing someone who actually walked with the Lord while He was on Earth.”

“I’m just another of the Father’s children,” replied Mary. “But I’m here for a reason. The words you and your fellows have spoken have reached all who are in attendance. The time has come to act … to spare the world of our birth.”

“How?” asked David.

“You already know,” replied Mary. “All of us here stand ready to help you.”

“We need to send an enormous magnetic pulse out to seal the rip in hyperspace,” replied David.

“Your friend Nikola Tesla has already sealed the rip, but the job is not complete,” said Mary. “If it is left as it is, the repair will not hold. I do not understand it all, but my understanding is that we need to smooth it out. The Father told me that much. He said that you would understand.”

“I do,” confirmed David.

“The power of the Father’s Holy Spirit will be called upon by all of the saints here,” continued Mary. “It is you who will direct it, for the Father has already placed the knowledge of what is to be done within your heart. It is for this reason that you came here. Stand ready, for the moment shall be upon you soon.”