Heaven Bent (17 page)

*****

 

Chapter
12

As I writhed and shrieked on the floor, a wave of scalding pain roared through me, roasting every rational thought and normal sensation in its path. Even for someone who'd been through 115 years of pure Hell, it was impossible not to be crushed by the force of this cresting wall of destruction.

I felt like I was on fire, burning alive from the inside out. Thrashing and howling, I was too consumed by the blazing pain even to muster a conscious wish for it to end. I was reduced to a billow of sparks, unaware of anything but the heat of my own sizzling flame.

Then, I felt another force rise up within me and catch hold of the firestorm. Like mercury in a thermometer tossed into a bonfire, the pain soared rapidly, spiking to its highest intensity yet. Then it stopped and reversed course, dropping back along the peak it had just scaled. Slowly, awareness filtered back to me, reborn like pale green sprouts in a smoldering slashed-and-burned landscape.

It was then I heard the voices in my head, the voices of the male and female ghost fish who had entered my body.

"Relax, Mr. Lincoln," said the male.

"The merging is complete," said the female.

"Wha-?" My voice was a shaken whimper as I slumped on the floor. "What m-merging?"

"Merging?" Only when Lillian spoke did I remember she was there beside me. "What are you talking about, Stag?"

"We are now one," said the female ghost fish.

"United to face the difficult task ahead," said the male.

"Stag?" said Lillian. "What did you mean when you asked about merging?"

I stared up at her. "Didn't you hear what the ghost fish just said?"

Lillian frowned and shook her head. "I didn't hear them say anything."

"Oh." It was then I realized something had changed. "I guess I'm the only one who can hear them." Sitting up, I gave my head a hard shake to knock any loose screws back into place.

That didn't stop the voices in my mind. "You are correct, Mr. Lincoln," said the female ghost fish. "She cannot hear us now that we have merged with you."

"For all intents and purposes, we have become one being," said the male. "Our power will give you the strength you need to overcome obstacles and bring about paradise on Earth."

"That's good to know," I said.

"What's good to know?" said Lillian.

"You do not need to speak out loud for us to hear you," said the male. "We can hear your thoughts as well as you can."

"Oh, cool." As soon as I said it, I caught myself and said it again in my mind:
Oh, cool
.

"What's cool?" said Lillian.

"Rise, Mr. Lincoln," said the male. "It is time to begin our mission."

As I got to my feet, I felt a little light-headed. My senses seemed sharper than before, picking up fine details of my body and the space around me. One of those details was the strange heat radiating within my body; it felt like an echo of the firestorm that had swept through me before, familiar in texture but without the agonizing intensity. I wondered if it was the life force of the entities I'd merged with, flaring up painfully at first but then dying down after the first shock of merging had passed.

"There is an instrument," said the female. "Place your hand on the control surface between the red and blue coils."

She showed me in my mind what she meant. Walking over to the wall, I pressed my right palm against the gleaming silver panel between the glowing coils as she'd instructed.

I felt a tingle of electrical current in my hand, and the panel slid downward. In the niche that it revealed, a silver hoop hung in midair, held in place by no visible means.

"Take it," said the male. "It will amplify and focus our energies."

Through the magical powers of ring toss?
I thought the words with as much sarcasm as I could.

"It is for
wearing
, not
throwing
." The female didn't sound like she got the joke.

Neither did the male. "Do not
ever
throw this instrument."

Tough crowd
, I thought, and then I reached into the niche and took hold of the silver hoop. It was a foot in diameter, and the edge was tubular, a half-inch thick. As soon as it touched my hand, I felt a sympathetic vibration thrumming deep within me.

"Put it on," said the female. "Allow it to integrate with your system."

I stared at the hoop as I turned it over in my hand.
Put it on how?

"How do you think?" said the female. "If you were an angel making a heavenly weapon, how would
you
want it to be worn?"

I kept staring at the hoop and thought for a moment, then grinned. Maybe she had a sense of humor, after all.

"Ah. I get it." I said the words out loud as I pulled the hoop toward me.

"Get what?" said Lillian.

When I'd finished putting it on, I turned to face her and spread my arms wide. "Well?" The hoop floated above the crown of my head, glowing and humming softly, looking just like a halo over the head of an angel or saint. "What do you think?"

Lillian smiled. "I think I'm wondering when you're going to get your harp and wings."

"It is time," said the female.

For me to get wings?
I replied in my mind.

"Time for us to leave," said the male.

Suddenly, the glowing symbols on the walls of the silver spire started flashing and shifting, trading places on the gleaming metal surface. The geometric shapes and arcane characters slid and jostled, gliding along the full height of the spire, shunting around corners from wall to wall.

As I watched the glowing figures move, the spire began to shiver around us. The force of the vibration increased steadily, becoming a low rumble--and then the shapes and characters all leaped off the walls at once. They spun and swirled in midair above our heads, dancing and flashing and pinging. They tumbled faster and more chaotically with each passing moment, whipping around like neon letters in a cyclone.

Just as their speed blurred them into whirling streaks of colored light, the spire shuddered and lurched. My stomach dropped with the force of sudden upward movement, and Lillian looked like the same thing had happened to her.

Without warning, the floor of the spire turned transparent, and I could see that we were airborne. The jungle treetops were quickly falling away from us as we leaped into the night sky.

Well, how do you like that?
I said in my thoughts.
The Empyrean Engine can fly.

The male's voice rose in my head. "It can do a great many things, Mr. Lincoln."

"It will get us where we need to go quickly," said the female. "Time is of the essence."

There's a deadline?
I asked.

"More like a window of opportunity," said the female. "If it closes before we finish our work, the odds of our success decrease significantly."

Decrease by how much?

"One hundred percent," said the male. "The chance of success will be nil."

"According to our calculations," added the female.

I watched as the trees grew more distant and slid past underneath us. The spire was moving forward, carrying us toward our destiny, whatever that would be.

That's great
, I said.
At least there isn't any pressure involved.

*****

The domes of Heaven looked terrible. The rebels must have been packing some serious ordnance, because there were holes and cracks all over the huge structures, belching smoke.

As the spire flew us closer, I could see that Byzantine's private dome was in the worst shape of all. Half of it had collapsed, and a raging fire was consuming the rest.

The earth-shaking booms that we'd heard and felt clear over at the Bestiary had not lied. Heaven was a damn war zone, and the fighting was still in full swing.

The spire looped around, giving us a look at the whole ugly scene. Through holes in each of the six domes that were still standing, I could see flames and explosions and clashing mobs of people and hybrid animals. Statues fell and gardens burned. Squadrons of angels battled flying creatures in acrobatic dogfights.

Something big blew up below us, throwing off enough light to make me squint--but the spire glided past without the slightest shimmy. I wondered if
anything
could bring it down or crack it open.

"Yes," said the male in response to my errant thought. "A nuclear bomb or the wrath of the Lord."

Question answered.

When the spire had finished circling Heaven, it zeroed in on the dome where I'd spent most of my time, where my apartment was located. It was also the heart of Byzantine's power, where he made his movies and met with his ruling Council.

We stopped over a gaping hole in the dome, then dropped inside. My heart skipped a beat as we plunged straight down, zooming toward a battle in progress in the center of the main gardens.

It looked like we were going to hit hard...but at the last second, twenty feet from the ground, we stopped dead. As fighters scattered out from under us, the spire gently lowered itself the remaining distance and settled onto a bed of charred grass.

"We are here," said the female. "It is time for our historic task."

"It is up to us to bring paradise back to Earth," said the male, "at any cost."

Any cost?
I didn't like the sound of that.
But you're not worried, are you?

"Pray for success, Mr. Lincoln," said the female.

There's no way we can lose, right?

"All will soon be made clear," said the male.

With that, the oval door in the side of the spire suddenly vanished, opening the Empyrean Engine onto the battleground.

"All right then." Swallowing hard, I took a step toward the door. "Let's do this thing, shall we?"

Lillian stepped up beside me. "Count me in, Stag."

I looked at her and shook my head. "You should stay inside. I have a feeling things could get pretty nasty out there."

She grinned at me. "No chance. I'm seeing this through with you."

I pointed at the glowing halo hovering over my head. "I bet I could use this thing to
make
you stay inside."

"Go ahead." Smirking, she gestured at herself. "Take your best shot."

I stared at her for a moment, then sighed. "All right, all right." Turning to face the doorway, I straightened my back and squared my shoulders. "Just try not to get killed."

"Aye, aye, sir." She snapped off a brisk salute.

And then we started walking.

*****

As I stepped over the threshold, I could hear gunfire crackling in the distance, but none nearby. Though we'd landed in the middle of a battle, the fighting had stopped around us.

Walking a few steps away from the spire, I saw the opposing factions crowding the lawn, paying attention to us instead of each other. Byzantine's white-uniformed baldies stood side by side with black-clad rebels, staring in stark amazement at Lillian and me as we marched out of the silver spire. Getting their attention wasn't going to be a problem.

The burnt grass crackled under my feet, and the air smelled like sulfur and smoke. I took six steps out and stopped, staring back at the gaping eyes around me.

Looking up, I saw angels in gleaming golden armor fluttering down from the heights. Rebels riding giant hybrid creatures coasted down toward us, as well.

Something exploded in another dome, sending tremors underfoot--but no one looked away from us. The moment was all ours.

"Rise up, Mr. Lincoln," said the male's voice in my head. "Rise up and tell them the fighting must end."

Rise up?
I said back to him.
You mean rise to the occasion?

"We mean
rise up
," said the female.

Suddenly, without making any kind of effort, I felt my feet leave the ground. Trying not to look agitated, I stayed as still as I could, shouting one question to the entities in my mind:
What's happening?

But they didn't answer. Instead, I kept drifting upward, slowly gaining altitude--finally stopping when my feet were higher than Lillian's head, over six feet off the ground.

"Now you have authority," said the male. "Now you are ready to speak to them."

Good thing I wasn't afraid of heights.
Doesn't mean they'll all be able to hear me.

"Project your voice as best you can," said the female. "We will take care of the rest."

Clearing my throat, I took another look around. Every eye on and above the battlefield was locked on me. The audience was primed and ready.

Now I just had to switch on the old improv skills and hope for the best.

Drawing in a deep breath, I nodded and waved, turning in a slow circle to acknowledge everyone. "Hey." The word boomed out over the plain of the garden as if I were speaking through a P.A. system. The ghost fish were doing their job, amplifying my voice to reach the crowd. "I guess you're wondering why I called you here tonight."

As I scanned the audience, there wasn't a visible reaction in sight. The ranks of baldies and rebel celebrities just watched and listened, assessing the situation.

"Keep talking, Mr. Lincoln," said the voice of the female entity in my head. "Tell them the truth."

What if they don't believe me?
I answered.

"They will," said the female. "They will see the light."

I cleared my throat again. "So here's the thing," I said to the crowd. "I've got some bad news and some good news.

"You already know the bad news. Otherwise, you wouldn't be out here fighting each other tonight." I spread my arms to encompass the park, the dome, all of it. "This ain't Heaven."

That got a reaction, at least. People shifted restlessly, looked at each other, adjusted their grips on their weapons.

I felt more confident as I continued. "This place has
nothing
to do with the
afterlife
, does it?
All
of this is bullshit. All of
us
, we're just here being
used
."

That line drew an angry murmur from the baldies and angels, who started waving their guns and swords at me.

"Oh, come on," I said. "If you've been here longer than five minutes, you
know
it's true." I raised my voice. "Whether you're keeping everyone else in line or performing like a trained poodle for the people in charge, you're being
used
."

Again with the angry murmuring--but this time, there was just as much from the rebels.

I'd hit a nerve. "We're
all
being
used
, and we
bought into
it. We
wanted
to believe, didn't we? We wanted to think we'd really gone to
Heaven
. But we're not
stupid
, are we?"

Scattered shouts of agreement rose from the crowd.

"We saw one thing after another that didn't add up," I said. "So many things that didn't belong in Heaven. They tried to explain them away, but we knew better. Whether we decided to fight
for
the higher powers or
against
them,
we knew
, didn't we?"

This time, the shouts of agreement weren't so scattered.

"
This isn't Heaven!
" I said. "But do you know what it
is
? What it
really is
?" Reaching inside, I tried to will myself to rise higher from the ground for effect...and it worked. I slid up another six feet, then six more after that. "It's a private
playground
for a bunch of ultra-rich
assholes
."

I heard a mix of reactions, everything from stunned disbelief to violent disagreement. I let the pot boil for a moment before stirring it again.

"I've looked behind the
curtain
," I said. "And I can
tell
you for a
fact
that all this is just the
wet dream
of a bunch of
zillionaires
who wanted to hide away the top talent in the
world
and keep us all to
themselves
."

The crowd grew louder and more unruly.

"But
listen
!" I said. "I didn't get to the
good news
yet."

People were arguing among themselves, hollering at me, waving their weapons. Something blew up not far away, and everyone looked in that direction.

I'm losing them,
I thought.
I need to do something to get them back.

"What kind of something?" said the female.

Something big.

"It shall be done," she told me.

I felt a sudden surge of tingling current all through my body, and then I started growing. Within seconds, I'd become a giant, ten times my original size, at least sixty feet tall.

Holy crap,
I thought.

"You said you wanted something big," said the female.

My feet were on the ground now, and I felt a brief panic--but when I glanced down, I saw that Lillian was safe, standing off to one side. I hadn't crushed her.

Next, I gazed out over the crowd. Immediately, I realized that all eyes were glued to me once more. There was another boom nearby, and no one looked that way for even an instant.

"As I was saying." My voice wasn't just loud, it was much deeper, like a giant's in a movie. "About that
good
news."

Just then, an angel flew up to my face for a closer look. Reaching up, I gently swept him away with the back of my hand.

"The good news is this," I said. "We have a chance to do something here that
matters
. Something that will change the world for the
better
."

"Show them the spire," the male said in my head. "It will not be damaged if you pick it up."

Leaning down, I saw that the spire had sealed itself. Clamping the tip between thumb and forefinger, I plucked it from the ground and straightened.

"This ancient device can transform the world into paradise." I placed the base of the spire on the palm of my hand and held it out toward the crowd. "It can
literally
give us
Heaven
on
Earth
. All we need to do is work together to
activate
it."

The crowd didn't have much to say to that. They just stood and cast wary looks at each other.

"We were brought here against our will. Lied to." I remembered M.J.'s words. "Treated like
slaves
. But now, if we combine our forces, we can bring about something
good
from all that. Something
magnificent
. Something that ensures nothing like this will ever happen again."

"Sounds good!" shouted a familiar voice from below, reaching me with its deep, powerful tones. "Just like
this
deal seemed at first. Just like
every
deal in this world
always
does."

Looking down, I saw who was doing the talking: E.P. himself. He was marching through the center of the crowd with M.J. and J.L. on either side of him. All three were carrying assault rifles and strapped across the chest with ammo-packed bandoliers. E.P. also had what looked like a loaded rocket launcher slung over his back.

"How do we know
what
that thing will do?" he said. "How do we know it won't turn the world into
Hell
instead of
Heaven
?"

Good question
, I said to the entities.

"Simple trust," answered the male.

Not enough. And I haven't even told them the real reason for counterfeit Heaven--that you sparked it to get the engine switched on. If they knew that, and knew that I'm working with you, forget about trust.

"We can show them a vision of the glorious outcome," said the female. "We can show how their combined efforts will transform the world for all humanity."

That's just special effects
, I told her.
They've seen better in 3-D CGI.

"Then what?" the male and female said at the same time.

I thought hard, trying to come up with a good reason to get everyone to throw down their weapons and throw in with me. It wasn't easy. I wasn't totally convinced myself; I was working with the ghost fish without any real proof that what they'd told me was true. I'd let them merge with me and lead me around when for all I knew, they were secretly just as bad as Byzantine. Why? Why the hell was I doing that?

When the answer hit me, I knew what to say to E.P.

"And how do you know it won't turn the world into
Heaven
instead of
Hell
?" I told him, and everyone else. "If there's a chance it will
work
, don't you think it's worth giving it a
shot
?" I looked around at all of them, the hundreds of baldies and rebels gaping up at me. "Don't you think it's worth trying to make something
good
out of this whole lousy fake Heaven
experience
?" Were they buying it? I couldn't tell. "Don't you want to make this
count
for something? I know
I
do."

The crowd was silent for a long moment. Other than the shuffling of feet, the rustling of clothes, and a few booms in the distance, the garden was quiet.

Then E.P. spoke. "You really think we can just join forces after all this? You think there's the slightest chance we can all work together?"

"Not unless you work for
me!
" Just then, a new voice broke in, roaring over the crowd with some form of amplification...a voice that was all too familiar. "Otherwise, you're
dead meat
."

Byzantine.

Looking toward his voice, I saw him gliding over the crowd on one of the gold-plated flying film reels he'd ridden during the Stag Lincoln Day parade. He didn't look at all like he'd been in the middle of a battle; his blond hair was unruffled, his white tunic and chinos didn't have a mark on them. He wasn't carrying a weapon, either. Whatever was amplifying his voice, I couldn't see it.

But I couldn't miss hearing it. "In fact, anyone who sides with
this
piece of garbage is
dead meat
." He whipped up in front of me, pointing a finger at my giant face. "This sorry sack of shit is public enemy number
one
in
Heaven
."

I wanted to swat him away but didn't. "
He's
the
public enemy
," I said, bobbing my chin in his direction. "
He's
the one who
brought
us here."

Byzantine grinned down at the crowd. "To give you
paradise
. And now
he
wants to take it
away
."

Quickly scanning the audience, I noticed baldies and rebels alike stiffening and tightening their grips on their weapons. It wouldn't take much to tip the situation over into chaos again.

"You need to do something," said the male in my mind.

Ya' think so?
I replied.

"But beware," said the female. "He is supported by great power which is similar to our own."

You're just telling me this now?

"He wants to destroy
everything
we've
built
here." Byzantine flew in a circle out over the crowd, always keeping his finger pointed accusingly at me. "
He
shows up, and
war
breaks out. Haven't you wondered
why
that
is
?"

E.P. interrupted. "Because
you're
a bloodthirsty
tyrant
!" he said, and all the rebels cheered in agreement.

Byzantine's amplified voice overpowered them. "Or
maybe
, just
maybe
, Stag Lincoln isn't what he
seems
." Sneering, he rolled toward me on his golden film reel, stopping a short distance from my face. "Maybe he's an
enemy
of Heaven. Maybe he's the
Prince of Lies
himself--
Satan
, sent here to tear down God's heavenly kingdom!"

At that, the baldies rumbled and jeered and shook their weapons in the air.

"Satan Lincoln must be destroyed!" said Byzantine. "And I am just the man to cut him down to size!" He spun and pumped his fists in the air for his cheering followers. "I will
prove
to you that
my
divine light will
ever
overcome the agents of darkness!"

"Mr. Lincoln, watch--," said the female, but she was too late.

Byzantine whirled and unleashed a blast of force from his fingertips. It slammed into my face like a fist, hitting me on the bridge of the nose.