Heaven and Hell (65 page)

“Only a fiend like satan would advocate such a vile act against one of his own kind,” said another.

“I, for one, do not consider satan and his minions to be our kind—not any more,” said a third. “They gave up that right millennia ago.”

“We have been carrying the word among our brothers that his minions are seeking us out,” said the first. “Already thirty or more of us have faced a horrible fate—one usually reserved for humans.

Few have accepted his alternative. We can’t allow them to take us all down one by one. Those of us who are left must band together to oppose satan.”

“It is this human female that is the cause of it all,” said another.

“Semjaza, you know that this is true. Humans have been nothing but trouble for us.”

Semjaza seemed unaffected by this challenge from his compatriot. “Hold your peace, Ramiel, and your anger. Think you that satan was not disposed to do this thing anyway? To satan, the escape of this woman has been but an excuse to do that which he was already disposed to do. I believe it is a test of our resolve, of our character. It has made us choose who we shall serve. Though I have failed the Father and have been condemned to this place, and rightly so, I shall not betray him.”

Serena hesitated then stepped out into the room. All eyes turned to her.

“Is this the face that launched a revolt?” asked one of the dark angels, turning to Abaddon.

Abaddon turned to Serena, stretching out his hand. “My brothers, behold the woman Serena.”

“I am sorry that I have caused so much trouble for you. Truly I am.”

It was not her contrite spirit that amazed the gathering but the fact that her words had been uttered perfectly in the angelic tongue.

The angels said nothing as Serena walked into their midst. They gazed upon her as if they were looking into her very soul. Some even placed a gentle hand upon her as if trying to sense something.

It was more than a minute before Semjaza broke the silence. “Abaddon, what manner of human have you found? Her soul is so pure. That one such as she should be cast into the sea of fire is indeed a travesty.” Semjaza turned once more to Serena. “With a heart so pure, why did you not accept God’s gift of salvation? Surely you must have heard his call.”

Serena could offer no excuse; she remained silent.

It was Abaddon who told the group of the arrival of this most unique human into his existence. He spoke of her conviction, her purity, and her courage. He spoke of the rescue to come and the battle that would soon be waged in the skies above.

“In doing what I have done, I have brought great harm to my brethren, and I am indeed sorry. But you now see her for yourself. What was I to do? There is something special about her. I could not return her to the agony that is the sea of fire. I had to take her in. I had to protect her. Now I must continue the journey I have started. The road ahead is difficult, but I must see this thing through to its conclusion.”

Semjaza shook his head. “I can see that. I for one will not allow you to make that journey alone. I am with you, my brother.” He turned to Serena and smiled, “and you too, Serena.”

“I am Tamiel,” said another of the angels. “I too will do my best to see you safely out of this place, if such is possible.”

“I am Sariel,” spoke yet another. “I too am at your service, Serena.”

“And I am Asael,” said another. “I am for you and my brother Abaddon. Today we shall stand against the evil one, as it was always intended. May God grant us strength.”

Ramiel looked at the others. “I am tired of hiding, tired of running. I stand with you.”

Abaddon looked at his fellows. It had been a very long time since they had stood together. “Then let us be off. We have less than thirty minutes before we deliver Serena to those who will take her to safety. Until then she is our responsibility.”

Abaddon placed a black cloak around Serena to make her less visible to circling demons; then they moved out to face what might well be their final battle. Not far behind, but out of sight, 27 tiny creatures followed them.

Satan sat upon his throne in the great hall of audiences. He had just sentenced a young, fair-of-face murderess to be frozen within the ice of the Continent of Darkness. Her sheer terror in his presence had made for a most entertaining sentencing. He was preparing to call forth his next victim when a demon captain stepped, no, practically stumbled into his presence totally unannounced.

“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” roared satan, rising to his feet. “Can’t you see I’m busy?!”

The captain was shaking, yet he drew closer. “My lord satan, I must speak with you on a matter of utmost urgency.”

By now satan’s court was all astir with this surprising intrusion.

For a mere captain to have dared to interrupt the master, something of great significance must have happened.

“You have one minute,” said satan walking toward the quaking captain. “What you have to tell me had better be most important, for your sake.”

“It is,” responded the captain. “Just minutes ago a portal opened into outer darkness, a portal from Heaven. It remained open just long enough for a single object to pass through.”

“And?” said satan, his impatience growing.

“The seers at the Gate of Sheol, report that they sense a great disturbance in outer darkness, a disturbance of enormous power, and that disturbance is moving swiftly toward us.”

The captain now had satan’s full attention. “What sort of power?”

“We don’t know yet, we have never seen the like.” There was a pause. “Well, maybe once, a very long time ago.”

Satan didn’t need to be told about that single incident. That disaster would be ingrained in his memory for all eternity. “And where is it going?”

“We’re trying to determine that now. We believe it is headed for somewhere in the midst of the sea of fire.” There was a pause of just a few seconds. “But there is something else.”

“What?”

“Angels,” replied the captain, “more than we have ever seen before, coming through the gate.”

“How many?”

“Hundreds, maybe thousands, we’re just not certain yet.”

Satan was beside himself with rage and confusion. “Call forth my legions to intercept these angels.”

The captain was confused by that order. “My lord, which legions?”

Satan grabbed the captain by the neck, lifting him into the air. “All of them, you idiot! All of them! Intercept these angels. Bring them down. Do you hear me?”

“Yes,” gasped the captain, struggling to speak.

Satan released his grip on the captain who quickly scurried away. Satan turned to his regent standing by his throne. “I need my armor, my weapons.”

“My lord?” said the regent, not at all certain as to what was transpiring.

“Do you not see?” roared the prince of darkness. “It is an invasion! It has begun. I shall lead my armies this day. We shall be victorious. I shall finally defeat the armies of God.”

David sat in Johann’s study scanning three different holographic projections showing various aspects of Hell. It had been a routine, even dull assignment. The Spirit was two minutes from entering the atmosphere of Hell and there was still nothing to report. It seemed that they had caught satan completely by surprise. He had noticed the entrance of the angels nearly ten minutes ago. There appeared to be several hundred, more than he had expected.

Then he noticed a change in the movements of the demons in the vicinity of the island. Up until now they had been relatively random, but suddenly there was a pattern. They seemed to be grouping and turning toward the advancing band of angels. Then more objects appeared on the screen, entire legions of demons had taken flight and were moving toward the island. Suddenly this job wasn’t routine or boring.

He turned to the crystal, his communications link with the Spirit. “Professor Tesla, we have a problem.”

The disk of Hell had swelled to encompass nearly a third of the sky as seen from the Spirit. Chris looked down to see where day met night, down on the flaming sea. The bloated red sun began to sink beyond the distant horizon, and in a moment they were engulfed by the shadow of Hell. Only the flames provided any illumination. A chill shot up his back imagining his wife in that heaving maelstrom. The thought threatened to overwhelm his senses before he caught himself.

“There’s trouble up ahead,” warned Nick. “I think our secret is out. There are demons converging on the island, David reports several legions of them.”

“More than Moriah and his angels can handle?” asked Johann.

“A lot more,” confirmed Nick. “A legion of demons is how many…a hundred-thousand?

“About that,” confirmed Johann. “How long until touchdown?”

“Eighteen minutes,” said Nick, “and no we can’t land any sooner. You know as well as I that we are tied to a schedule.”

That comment raised Johann’s eyebrows. “How long will it take for those demon legions to reach the island?”

There was a pause. “David figures we might have thirty minutes, maybe less. They’re coming in awful fast, and the winds are probably in their favor.”

Johann turned back toward the glass and watched the most dreaded world in all of creation growing closer. He noticed a storm far below, coursing with lightning. “That storm down there, how far is it from our landing point?”

Nick glanced at the distant tempest, then back at his holographic instrument panel. “Looks like about ninety to perhaps a hundred kilometers. Pretty far, it won’t hit the island for at least two hours. It won’t be a problem.”

“But will it delay the demon legions? They would be coming from that direction, wouldn’t they?”

That was a thought. Nick conferred with David. “Yes, the legions are coming in from Sheol. That storm is a wide one, and it’s directly in their path. It will take them time to fly around it or over it. It might cost them twenty minutes or so. It won’t affect Moriah and his angels; they’re coming in from the west. We have another four or five legions coming in behind them from that direction as well, but they are at least an hour out.”

Chris gazed down at the storm as well. “It looks like we got lucky.”

“Perhaps,” replied Johann, “or perhaps luck had nothing to do with it.” He said no more. It wasn’t a time for conjecture. Right now they needed to stay focused.

The Spirit swung around, positioning itself for final approach. Now Hell was literally under their feet. Nick scanned his readouts one final time to confirm that all was in readiness. This was it.

A slight buffeting and rushing air around the hull announced their entrance into the atmosphere. This operation was going to be trickier than they’d first thought. They had underestimated satan’s response time. As it was, if nothing else went wrong, they just might be able to pull this off, just.