CounterPoint (11 page)

“Attention all passengers, this is the captain speaking. We’re encountering some extreme turbulence and advise everyone to head to the designated emergency areas immediately.”

The message repeated over the ship’s speakerphones. The family began clearing their table, lifting mobiles and handbags. Catherine and Claire, who were at each side of Mary, began to lift her up slowly from the seat. Ensuring they could cope, David made a decision.

“Get to the cabin, I need to find out what’s happening!” shouted David, jumping out of his seat and rushing towards the front of the ship.

“David, come back here!” shouted Catherine.

“Let him go dear, he needs to see this. He’ll be OK,” replied Mary, finally getting a good grip on her walking stick.

“Get to the cabin – hurry!” he shouted back, already well in front of the crowds going in the opposite direction. Running through the corridors of the ship as it tilted from side to side violently, David struggled to keep a firm footing. The floor was ridden with magazines, biscuits and all sorts of debris. Sea water pounded the hardened glass windows all over the ship and drenched the decking.

Pushing one of the emergency doors open, he vaguely heard the alarm sounding and doubted anyone else would take notice. There was enough happening. What he had prepared himself for when storming through the emergency door to the stern of the ship was nothing for what hit him. It seemed like the entire Irish Sea had risen and the ship was stuck in the eye of this apocalyptic storm. The ship continued to sway from side to side and water gushed in from the decks to the interiors. Grasping on to a white support railing for dear life, David looked up. The waves that had cocooned the ship must have been half a mile high. The rain pelted down fiercely and lightning lit up the black sky above.

Above the tallest wave, hovering in mid-air was Ruchiel. His robes were eerily still despite being the unceasing force of the ferocious planetary winds. Closing his eyes briefly, he informed Headquarters that his task was complete and the time to strike was now. Moments later Ariel and Travis, flanked by four special operatives appeared on the deck of the ship behind David. They could hear and see each other perfectly even though the storm continued around them. David, soaked and wretched continued to hold on to the railing for physical support – he was utterly exhausted.

“This ends now!” Ariel’s voice was firm and commanding walking forward towards him. Ariel’s coat was constantly berated by the winds and sea water. Those flanking him only added to his imposing presence. Travis merely stood and watched, looking menacing.

“Why? You need to tell us why we’re in danger. Why you need us to go with you,” shouted David. The scene was unreal.

“We are here to protect you. We come with the sincerest of intentions,” replied Ariel stepping forward more, trying to look genuine and urgent. The problem was, Ariel was simply not sure that he believed his own words anymore. It was not unusual for Heaven to have secrets, but there was something very wrong with this assignment. 

“And why! Why is that?” answered David, still holding on to the railing and wiping salty seawater from his forehead, it was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Because the order comes from Heaven. It’s sincere. That makes it just,” finished Ariel. “Now accept to come with us for your own protection or we let this ship get ripped apart.”

“You won’t let anything happen to this ship while we’re on it.”

“Nothing will happen to you. We won’t guarantee the safety of anyone else. Do you really want to be responsible for over three hundred deaths?”

“How can you be an angel?” asked David, with the purest of disgust in his voice. He wanted to kick this self-righteous angel into the sea, head first.

“I’m following the orders of Heaven. Now please come with us.” Ariel’s voice was now quiet, subtle.

Just as David started to contemplate going with these angels, a brief blinding flash of light zapped at the corner of his eye. Standing to the right of him, between himself and Ariel, materialized the same elder person from the bar in London and club in Dublin, in the identical clothes and, strand for strand, exact same hairstyle. David immediately noticed Ariel turned round to the stranger and slightly bowing his head.

“Sir, can I ask what you are doing here?” stuttered Ariel. He now spoke in the politest, most humble voice David had ever heard uttered from his mouth.

“Ariel. Please be reminded of whom I report to directly. Be aware that I am taking extensive notes on this situation……..and those involved,” said the stranger, as calmly as if he was sitting in a fine restaurant, but the tone was different. He was almost warning Ariel, and by the look on Ariel’s face it had worked. The importance of ‘those involved’ couldn’t have been better highlighted by the stranger. 

“And that applies to you too, Ruchiel,” he said, looking up towards the Heavens to the floating angel above the highest wave. The waves subsided. The wind returned to calm. The rain was reduced to a slight shower and the boat began to steady itself though the alarm bells still rung loudly. Water teamed off the ship at an alarming rate. Ariel and his squadron had disappeared along with the stranger and the floating angel above the wave. David gulped a huge breath of air, as if he hadn’t breathed in years. Its rejuvenating freshness filled his eager lungs. He clasped on to the railing with both hands now, trying to steady himself, and steeled himself for what was to come.

Chapter 13

“Come.”

Amber walked briskly into Ariel’s office, which was still a heavy mess of parchment and other beige coloured items.  The return of Pravuil to planetary affairs had certainly spread like wildfire across angelic departments. She wasn’t surprised therefore when Ariel asked her to his office, there was much to discuss. Standing with his hands behind his back, staring at the huge Earth map emboldened into his office wall Ariel had a stern look. The map was blazing with activity, red dots swarmed every continent as demons sought to wreak havoc on the planet and cause as much chaos as possible before the armies of Heaven entered the arena.

“How quickly the times can change.”

“Indeed, sir” she replied, sitting down on her usual armchair facing the imposing large desk. Flipping open her trusted file pad with writing utensil ready, she studied him intensely. It was clear a battle of morality was taking place within him.

“Only a few weeks ago it was business as usual. Yes we had a surge in demonic activity but nothing that couldn’t be countered in the short to medium term. Now we stand, overlooking a cliff about to tear this planet to pieces.”

“I share your foreboding, sir.”

“Is it so wrong that I am considering disobeying my superiors?”

Amber folded her legs, and rested her chin upon her thumb and let out a sigh. “Is it so wrong you’re not the only person in this room having those thoughts?”

Ariel unintentionally smiled. Settling behind his desk, he snapped his fingers and the glass doors to his office shrouded. The room made a clenching, almost stiffening noise as if sealing up.

“I would hate for us to be imprisoned before even discussing this,” he replied to her knowing glance. Disobeying any order was punishable by immediate imprisonment and even execution. 

“We cannot let this planet be destroyed, sir. That is not what we are here for,” started Amber compellingly, leaning forward.

“We’ve spent our entire existence caretaking this world. We have a lot to be ashamed off, but this marks a watershed moment. If Michael is allowed to start this war I don’t even think Pandora will be able to close that box afterwards.” Ariel hadn’t thought of that particular galactic troublemaker in a long time.

“This all started with the Bassett Family.”

Ariel stared at her, his face proving he had come to the same conclusion. “After that incident with Pravuil I visited The Archives.”

“Sasha,” said Amber knowingly. Sasha worked closely with Ariel and herself in the department through some of the biggest challenges they had yet faced. Seconded to The Archives, she still maintained close contact with the department.

“Apparently, Raphael visited The Archives two weeks ago to request a report on a recent sighting of unnatural human abilities. He destroyed the report and left abruptly. The defence director told me that Michael’s march to war only slowed when he learned of them. We should be in the midst of a war right now if Michael had not discovered the Bassett’s. We must secure them; find out what they represent and if they know anything.”

“If that is true, their importance in this theatre is of mammoth proportions, sir. We must also consider that this human family may be evil. While going down the path of war is unacceptable, Michael’s quest to have them secured may be more reasonable than we care to accept.”

“All these possibilities are burning inside me but there’s also something else, something I feel we are being kept in the dark about…” he trailed off to gather his thoughts, wary of devolving into a rant he knew would not help the situation. He needed Amber to understand the implications, and hopefully to provide him with a plausible explanation for everything so he could put these thoughts to rest.

“The Bassett family are certainly an enigma, sir.”

“Aren’t they just,” he replied, slamming a handful of parchments he had lifted without noticing onto his desk loudly. “That family are clearly not simple humans. They possess gifts and abilities that only those of a supernatural type possess. I know we have documented over the centuries humans having abilities far beyond what is considered natural. I know over one hundred humans descended upon the European land mass in the Second World War to fight against attempted human genocide.”

“They shouldn’t have had to,” rejected Amber angrily.

“Meaning?”

“Those humans should not have felt the need to charge into battle. That situation was one of failure on our part. We had the power to intervene when the first signs of trouble became apparent yet we did nothing,” she vented, swiping her hand in the air clearly showing her frustration.

“Something else we both agree on,” he replied quietly.        

“The First World War was our real wake-up call. It showed us the strength demons could project if they infiltrated the right humans who held offices of political and military significance. Problems arose when it descended into a world war.” The conflicts through human history always angered Amber deeply; she felt that burning, almost unstoppable frustration with them. They were unnecessarily complicated, serving only to benefit those who had malicious ‘destines’ to fulfil. She often felt angels and demons were more to blame than humanity itself for everything that had gone wrong on this problem ridden planet. They were continually fighting against an ever stronger tide of evil, corruption and discontent on all sides.

“It woke us up in more ways than you think. Try and explain this,” he commanded. He threw a dark red parchment booklet down in front of her. It read:

Rebalancing Mechanism to Ensure the Natural Order

Commissioned for and on behalf of:

The Archangel Michael

“A rebalancing mechanism?” said Amber confused.

“A very eloquent way of saying extermination.”

Amber gasped, breezing through the various pages to get a feel of the detail. The book detailed macabre things like how to effectively carry out human torture – the sensitive points to ‘crucify’ and how long to maintain ‘unbearable pain’ for in each area. It even went as far as to show the different and most effective torture points for the different genders and ages of the humans. Skimming through more pages, she saw moving illustrations of brutal human vivisection. The notes seemed to indicate how humans that possessed supernatural powers were no different physically from those who didn’t – as these pictures very grotesquely showed.

“Sir, I find it hard to believe...” said Amber finally, unable to read more.

“Believe it, Amber. It’s all there. Orders issued by Michael himself for the capture and extermination of any human being who possessed, or even was suspect of possessing, any abilities which were considered unnatural. Our responsibility is to humans residing on this planet and our boss is exterminating them. How the Hell can torture, the brutal extermination of humans not even possessed by demonic power, and gross experimentation be in the name of God? How can Management really be working in the name of God, abiding by his wishes and acting in his name? I am deeply disturbed by this discovery.”

“How did you come across this?”

“It was left on my desk. I don’t know who left it here but clearly we have an ally somewhere. We need all the allies we can get. Suffice to say it obviously came from someone in Heaven, not involved in the Ministry but equally as appalled as we are.”

“This family must have slipped through Michael’s net, but why would he want them captured now?”

“Firstly, how did that many humans operate under our radar since this experiment began? More so, there has to be something different about the Bassett family. But what? There’s something stopping us from just taking them by force. I’m sure they didn’t encounter these types of problems when the rest were rounded up.”

“That much is now obvious, sir,” Amber continued.  “Remember at their house?  When they were leaving and blasted us afar, that was intense power.”

“I felt it too. It was a natural power, not unnatural.” Ariel was accurately aware of the difference. Natural power tended to happen instantly and was all-encompassing. You felt yourself being fully encircled with its energy until the final act transpired. With unnatural power, it tended to be more patchy and unpredictable.

“Ariel,” she said, breaking rank. “We need to make a decision. We can either rid this planet of evil and tear it apart in the process or...” she paused, “take a stand.”

The question lingered in the air as Ariel glared down at his fingernails.

“That would be an almost impossible task to even contemplate.”

“Sir, if we are agreeing to disobey the commands of Management and attempt to stop this war then we agree to it now. Only then do we discuss how to stop it.”