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Authors: Robert T. Jeschonek

Heaven Bent (5 page)

BOOK: Heaven Bent
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*****

"Ladies and gentlemen,
Stag Lincoln
!"

That's how the dead starlet, initials N.W., introduced me. The audience responded with deafening cheers and applause, leaping to their feet in a standing ovation.

I stood in the wings and gave it a minute to build. It was always better to let the anticipation rise before walking out at these kinds of things.

As I waited, I wondered where N.B. had gone after bailing on me in the corridor. I'd still found my way backstage and gotten to the right people who'd prepped me for my cues--but I didn't like the way he'd cut out on me. I didn't like the cryptic things he'd said.

I just wanted to be left alone. I wanted to get some down time and clear my head. This revolution nonsense was the exact opposite of what I wanted to deal with.

Taking a deep breath, I straightened my tie and jacket. I let a magnificent smile spread over my features--the smile that's launched a thousand magazine covers.

And then I strode out with all the poise of a man who's on top of the world instead of someone who's been dead for a day and doesn't know which end is up anymore.

Instead of going straight to N.W. in the middle of the stage, I went right up to the edge and waved at everyone. Then, I strolled to the other side and did the same thing there. The crowd kept applauding.

In fact, the standing ovation went on for a good long while after I finally joined N.W. Which did my heart good, I must admit. It's always a joy to feel the love flowing from such a large group, especially when so many of them are your peers.
Dead
peers, but still.

Eventually, N.W. tried to quiet them down. "Thank you so much, everyone," she said into the microphone clipped to the lapel of her white fur coat. "Stag would like to say a few words now." She waved her white-gloved hands, signaling for quiet.

But the audience would not comply. They were totally in the lovin'-Stag Lincoln zone.

"Everyone, please." N.W. kept flapping her hands. "You need to stop now. Let him speak."

Still, the crowd kept standing-ovationing.

N.W. looked at me like it was my fault, and I just shrugged. Could I help it if they adored me?

Finally, N.W. gave her chestnut hair a toss and started unbuttoning her fur coat. "All right then," she said. "Maybe
this
will get your attention."

I watched, wondering if she was planning to do a striptease. She undid the first button, then the second, then the third.

And her tactic totally worked. By the time she finished with all the buttons and spread the coat wide, the applause had stopped. But it didn't change to silence.

As she shrugged out of her coat and let it fall to the floor behind her, the crowd's reaction changed to gasps and cries of shock.

And I could see why.

"Now that I have your attention." N.W. barked the words. "This event has been hijacked by the
Heaven Liberation Front
."

Strapped around her elegant mini-dress were belts of what looked like plastic explosives, held together with silver tape and connected by wires.

Since when do they have bombs in Heaven?
I wondered.

N.W. raised her right hand, in which she held a remote control device with a blinking red light. "In the name of freedom from tyranny," she shouted, "I will detonate this device in sixty seconds!"

*****

 

Chapter
4

"What's everyone getting so excited about?" That was my reaction as the crowd in the theater went crazy. As thousands of people in elegant evening wear leaped out of their seats and charged toward the exits. "This doesn't make any
sense
."

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" N.W., the dead starlet with the plastic explosive girdle, wagged the detonator in my face. "I'm wearing a
bomb
that's going to
blow
in less than a minute!"

Lashing out my hand, I grabbed the detonator away from her. "Pretty sure there aren't any
real
bombs in
Heaven
, N.W." Turning to the audience, I spread my arms wide. "No one's getting
hurt
here, folks!"

My voice was drowned out by the shouts and thundering footfalls of the stampeding crowd. There were logjams at every exit; people were fighting like animals to push their way through.

"It's a
metaphor
, people!" I yelled the words as loud as I could and held the detonator overhead. "There's nothing to
worry
about!"

I had zero impact on the crushing panic. Didn't these dimwits get it?

Maybe there was a way to punch through the static. "Look! I'll press the button myself!" I pushed my finger toward the device. "You'll see! Nothing will happen!"

"Give me that!" N.W. leaped in and grabbed the black box out of my hand. "Good thing you've got a
death wish
, because you're about to
die
."

"How can you have a
death wish
if you're already
dead
?" I said. "Anyway, this is all a damn
fantasy
." Lunging at her, I grabbed a fistful of the wiring sticking out of her explosive girdle, and then I yanked.

The wires tore free. N.W. looked down in surprise.

"See?" I flung the disconnected wiring to the stage. "Like I said--it's just a
metaphor
."

The crowd didn't stop fighting its way out of the auditorium. No one even looked in our direction.

Hands on my hips, I shook my head in dismay. "I give up. This situation is out of control."

There was a rectangular digital display, six inches long, on the front of the bomb. Suddenly, it lit up with red digits counting down from 30:00.

N.W.'s face turned grave. "Now you've done it, Stag. We have less than thirty seconds.
No one
can stop this."

As she said it, bald men in white uniforms came pouring out of the wings and onto the stage. As they grabbed hold of her and wrestled her to the boards, I stepped back out of the way.

No sooner had I done that than I heard a loud whizzing sound from above. Hastily looking up, I saw a man dressed in black hurtling down on a zip line from an opening in the ceiling. He wore a black mask over the top half of his head.

When he landed in front of me, I recognized him from the hostage incident earlier that day. He was the one who'd ridden up on a giant sheepdog and whisked away M.J. and the supposed hostage, Norma.

He took me by surprise, grabbing hold and hugging me against him. "Come with me!"

Several of the bald guys in the white uniforms bolted toward us--but he was too quick for them. He pushed a button on his belt, and the zip line shot us up and away.

We made it to the opening in seconds and popped out like toast, suspended from a four-legged framework mounted over the gap. The masked man swung us to one side, and our feet landed on the surface of the rooftop.

"Get clear of that hatch, friend." His voice sounded familiar, deep and resonant, as he set me aside. "It's comin' any second now." He unbuckled the zip line harness from his chest and left it hanging.

Just as he stepped clear of the hole, pulling me with him, there was a blast like a clap of thunder from below. The rooftop shook underfoot, and a geyser of dust and smoke pulsed out of the opening.

I stopped and stared as debris fragments showered down around the hatchway. "But...but..." The roof rumbled with increasing intensity. Networks of fissures appeared and spread rapidly across the moonlit surface. "But I thought it was a
metaphor.
"

"You really
have
been drinkin' the Kool-Aid, haven't you?" The masked man spun me around by the shoulder. "Well, you'd best snap out of it, boy. That woman made the ultimate
sacrifice
to set you free. I expect you won't let it go to waste."

"I don't understand." I shook my head, trying to clear the fog that had swirled into it. "You mean that bomb was
for real
? You're telling me a
bomb
can do as much damage in
Heaven
as on..."

Suddenly, he clapped his hand over my mouth and held it there. "Shut up." His bright blue eyes stared at me through the holes in his black mask. "We need to go. Got it?"

I nodded, and he pulled his hand away. Then, he tipped his head back, stuck two fingers in his mouth, and let out a shrill whistle.

We stood there a moment, the rooftop continuing to fissure around us. A loud cracking sound like the splintering of giant redwood trees competed with the rumbling.

Then, a shadow fell over us both. Looking up, I saw the brown belly of a winged creature pass overhead--and I heard a mighty roar surpassing even the cracking and rumbling of the roof.

When the creature landed, I was stunned at the sight of it. There before us, on four feet equipped with gleaming talons, was what looked like a giant platypus, complete with black duckbill to match its ebon wings.

The creature roared again, and the masked man rushed me toward it. "Don't worry," he said. "Thundercloud won't hurt you. Climb aboard and hold on tight, man."

With that, he grabbed fistfuls of the fur behind the creature's head and pulled himself up, swinging a leg over its back.

Just then, the splintering noise surged all around us, becoming a sustained crashing blast. Hesitating alongside Thundercloud, I watched as the roof crumbled--starting near the hatchway and swiftly expanding outward. Chunks of masonry fell inward, taking other chunks with them in a violent chain reaction.

"Wake up!" said the masked man, and then he seized my arm and pulled me toward him. "Look alive, man!"

The disintegration was fast approaching us. Grabbing Thundercloud's silky fur, I vaulted up onto his back behind the masked man.

"Hold on!" The masked man kicked the creature's sides as if he were riding a horse. "Yahh, Thundercloud! Yahh!"

The big black wings began to beat. We rose from the rooftop, slowly at first--and just barely in time. Seconds after Thundercloud's clawed feet left the surface, it collapsed under us.

"Higher, Thundercloud!" The masked man kicked the creature's flanks again. "Higher, girl!"

The black wings beat harder, and we climbed faster into the sky. Down below, the rest of the roof gave way, taking the walls with it. The entire auditorium folded in on itself like a house of popsicle sticks, sending up a plume smoke and debris.

"Higher!" shouted the masked man. "Higher, girl!"

Thundercloud angled upward. I felt myself slipping and tightened my grip, barely holding on.

We were racing the rising plume, trying to get away from it. I swear, it almost got us--but Thundercloud was just a little too fast for it. Looking down, I saw the plume nearly touch us...and then it crested and started to recede. As it billowed back to the ground, the masked man cheered, and Thundercloud roared.

"We did it!" Tugging on the creature's fur as if it were reins, the masked man leveled us out. "Ain't that a kick, man?"

"You betcha." As the plume dropped, clearing my view of the ground, I realized we'd gained some serious altitude. Eyeballing it, I figured we were about as high up as I'd been during my helicopter stunt at the Brooklyn Bridge. My
fatal
helicopter stunt.

Chills raced up my spine at the thought of it. My hands started to sweat. I shut my eyes for a moment and took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down.

"So, Stag," said the masked man. "Still think there aren't any real bombs in Heaven?"

His deep voice anchored me. It sounded very familiar, though I couldn't quite nail down why. "It still doesn't make sense." I opened my eyes and gazed down at the rubble that used to be the huge auditorium. "But I can't argue with the evidence, can I?"

"No you can't." The masked man tugged on Thundercloud's fur, and the creature turned right. "And you best never do so again, or you might end up in sorry shape."

"How sorry?" I said.

"
Dead
sorry," he told me. "Just because you're in Heaven, that doesn't mean you can't die all over again."

I snorted and shook my head. "That's like the exact
opposite
of what I've been told since I got here."

"It's one of the
true rules of Heaven
," said the masked man. "Count yourself lucky you finally heard it from me."

As Thundercloud continued banking right, gliding away from the sea, I took a good look at the scenery below. Seven giant domes clung to the shore, lit from within by filigrees of light and gleaming pale white in the moonglow. The auditorium building had been outside their walls, in the middle of the vast complex. Now, there was just a huge pile of rubble where the seven connecting tunnels from the domes had once intersected.

Further inland, I saw lush green jungle stretching for miles. At first, I could see no other artificial structures, but as Thundercloud kept banking, I did glimpse a silver spire in the distance, deep in the jungle.

And there was one more structure, though I didn't spot it just then.

"So where to now?" I asked.

"Takin' care of business." The masked man straightened Thundercloud's path. "Another rescue, man. Also another eye-opener for you in the bargain."

"I'll be honest with you, my ass is dragging," I told him. "I don't suppose you've got Starbucks in Heaven?"

The masked man chuckled. "You'll be perkin' up soon enough. Our next job'll get your blood pumpin'."

The wind ruffled my hair as we soared over the complex of domes and kept going. "So where exactly are we headed?" From what I could see, there was nothing but ocean, beach, and jungle along our flight path.

"Right there, man." He pointed dead ahead. "Something else that doesn't belong in Heaven."

I squinted over his shoulder, but I couldn't see what he was pointing at. Just more of the same ocean, beach, and jungle.

But as we followed the gradual curve of the shoreline, something came into view. Something massive.

Something
dark
.

As we got closer, and more of it became visible, the sight left me breathless and speechless. It was an enormous dome, bigger than all the others put together--and it was black. Solid black.

After a moment, my voice came back to me. "What is this place?" The dome's glossy surface gleamed like tar in the moonlight. From a distance, it looked perfectly smooth, without a single distinguishing feature. "What's it called?"

"Officially, it doesn't exist," said the masked man. "But I call it Heavenless." He looked back at me with ice in his blue eyes. "Because what's in there has nothing at all to do with Heaven, man."

Why did I feel like I was in a movie all of a sudden? A 3-D fantasy action picture with a summer release date? "So who are we rescuing?"

"You already know him," said the masked man. "He was the hostage taker at the fountain."

"M.J.?" I frowned. "But he got away, didn't he? You guys escaped on the sheepdog."

"We did, but he got caught in another operation." The masked man tugged on the fur in his grip, and Thundercloud swooped down toward the dome.

"What operation was that?" I asked.

"Breaking someone out of Heavenless," he told me as we swooped lower, ever lower. And the black dome loomed larger, ever larger before us.

BOOK: Heaven Bent
9.7Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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