The Eye of Madness (47 page)

“Sure, they are upstairs. I'll call them.”

Before he could call out, Abbs and Steff appeared at the top landing.

“Hi, Seth!” Abbs called. “Come on up.”

In spite of their outward projection of good cheer, he could hear the pain in their voice. His heart ripped a little more every time he was with them. They were not happy and he knew why. He was the only one who could give them happiness, but he couldn't bring himself to it. He and Barbara desperately tried to think of some other way, but there wasn't any.

Seth raced up the stairs, or more accurate, he floated up. He leapt from the bottom step and resembling a small, luminescent astronaut as he glided up and landed at the top. The girls embraced him and then ushered him into a bedroom and closed the door.

Cecil's smile faded when the children disappeared. “So, what brings you here?” he asked.

“Do you mind if we have a seat?” Burt asked.

“Okay,” Cecil said and gestured toward the sofa and recliner in the middle of the living room. Burt, Thomas and Lincoln sat on the sofa and Cecil took the chair.

“You know how we were discussing the storm and its meaning on our way to the Summit?” Burt asked.

Cecil nodded.

“Well, President Lincoln has some insight that we thought you should hear.”

Cecil glanced at each of them in turn.

“What is this about?” he asked.

Lincoln leaned forward and gave a gentle smile. “I can only speak for my own personal beliefs, which I believe I share with most people in this room. I do think God allowed this storm to come. It served as reinforcement to our faith that man has a soul.” He paused and then said, “perhaps a reinforcing truth to some and others, a chance of redemption,” he said, nodding to Thomas.

Thomas smiled and said, “I agree.”

He did not elaborate; he did not have to because everyone could hear the sincere emotion in his voice.

“What about the darkness, the eye … how do you explain it?” Cecil snapped. His mind flashed back to the horrific scene of Barbara's assault by the darkness the day the eye arrived.

“Well,” Lincoln began cautiously. “I have to agree that God's intent is not immediately clear, but it did show us two things.”

“What?” Cecil asked.

Burt jumped in and answered the question. “It showed there are consequences for evil.”

Burt stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. “It also shows that God is always open to those who want to turn from their wicked ways. I think our friend, Musial, was proof.”

“How do you explain the millions killed by these dark souls? What purpose did it serve?”

Thomas shook his head as he answered, “We don't know. We may be Impals, but we don't have any more answers than you. I don't understand everything that happens in this world, but I am certain it is for a greater reason.”

Cecil rubbed his weary eyes and leaned back in his chair. He was a man of faith, but his faith had been stretched to the limits. He feared the day his girls left would be the day it snapped beyond repair.

“What about angels, what about demons … what about God? Have you seen any evidence of them?” Cecil asked.

“No,” Lincoln admitted. “I have a feeling the dark souls may in some way associate with demons, but I am not certain. And God? Well no, not a personification, but I think the very presence of Impals proves his existence. I believe we will find the answers we are looking for when we reach the doors on the other side.”

“You have to let Abbs and Steff go, Cecil,” Burt said. “It is the only way for any of you to get peace.”

Cecil flashed an angry eye at Burt. The very suggestion that he should let his daughters go … what nerve. Burt didn't have any children, so how could he understand? Before he could respond, Lincoln interrupted in a soothing voice. “I know how you feel, major,” Lincoln said.

Cecil turned his heated gaze to the former president. How the Hell could anyone know how he feels?

“I lost two of my sons,” Lincoln continued. “When I lived in Springfield, Illinois, my son Edward died of an illness. About twelve years later, my son Willie died after we moved into the White House. The death of my boys almost destroyed Mary and me. I know the pain you are feeling, major and I know the pain you are anticipating. It is hard, but I promise you will make it through. Even though I briefly had the pleasure of speaking with your wife, I can tell she is a strong woman. You will make it through.”

Cecil's anger dwindled to shame. He sank back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose to stop the tears. He put his chin on his chest and muttered, “I love them so much.”

“Of course you do,” Lincoln said. “But be thankful, major.”

“For what?”

“That you have gotten to spend extra time with them. Because you know for a fact they have gone on after death. They will be in a happy place where they will wait for you to arrive one day, and …” Lincoln paused and nodded to Thomas. “And we give you our word that we will take them through and make sure they get to where they need to go. I promise, major.”

Cecil sat in his chair and wept with the palms of his hands pressed over his eyes. His friends sat patiently and waited. Finally, he looked up with red and swollen eyes.

“When?” Cecil asked.

“Soon, major. We will go with them soon,” Lincoln said.

CHAPTER 51

THE OTHER SIDE

“I hope the end is joyful, and I hope never to return.”

~Frida Kahlo

The next day, the boats from Europe began to dock at Newport News, Virginia. The ships from Asia, Australia and the Middle East began to dock in Los Angeles and San Diego. Regular air travel was still limited, so it wasn't feasible to transport the Impals by air. Besides, the large cargo ships could carry thousands of them. Phoenix, Arizona and Quantico, Virginia were the destinations of choice in the world at the moment. The government moved thousands of mobile homes to these bases to accommodate family members. Every single hotel and motel in these areas was booked solid for at least a month.

Mary arrived with Donna and her family on the first boat from Europe. They took a bus up to Quantico and spent the night in a used, but clean mobile home a couple of hundred yards from the Tesla Gate hangar. Donna's parents would be going through the next day.

Donna stayed up the whole night with her parents talking and reminiscing. There was a lot of laughter shared between them, but there were also a lot of tears. Mary found herself feeling out of place again, so she went outside and walked. She stared at the hangar, and then at the moon and the stars. She wondered which one she might wind up on when she went through the Gate in the morning. A light snowfall started and she began to walk with her arms spread wide, absorbing as much of the experience as she could. She giggled as the snowflakes passed through her. She began to feel better and her sadness seemed to drift away with the blowing snow. Mary felt more at peace with herself than she had when she was a little girl. She began to glide and spin across the snow as if on invisible ice skates. She leapt over a bush and came down in a graceful spin. Mary stopped when she heard applause behind her. She turned to see Donna standing a few feet away, smiling and clapping. Her parents stood behind her doing the same, and then they joined in with Mary. Three Impals glided and pirouetted across the snow like seasoned Olympians.

Donna laughed and clapped, then began to throw snowballs. Each time one passed through their body, they let out a tinny laugh. They spent the next hour building a snowman.

Donna went back to the mobile home to warm up and her mother made her a steaming mug of hot chocolate. She drank it down and sat on the sofa. A few minutes later, she was sound asleep.

“Shall we go?” Donna's father asked, looking out the window at the orange glow of the approaching sunrise.

“Yes,” her mother said sadly. “Are you sure we did the right thing?”

Her father nodded.

“What did you do?” Mary said, stroking Donna's cheek. “Did you poison her?”

Her father didn't know whether to laugh or take offense.

“Of course not,” he said. “It's only sleeping pills. She should be up in a few hours.”

“But … why?” Mary asked, incredulous.

“Because we didn't want her to see us step through the Gate. We didn't want her to experience that finality. We want her to always remember tonight.”

Mary understood their reasoning even though she didn't agree with it. There was no point in arguing now. “She wanted to say goodbye,” Mary said quietly.

“She did,” her mother said. “Tonight is the best goodbye anyone could ask for.”

She bent down and placed a note in Donna's jacket pocket and then kissed her on the cheek. “Good bye, baby. We love you and will be waiting for you one day.”

Her father bent down and kissed her cheek as well. “Goodbye, sugar bear. I love you.”

Mary felt compelled to leave her a message of some sort. She asked for pen and paper which Donna's mom produced. She sat down at the table and scrolled out a quick note. She had to concentrate to keep the pen from passing through her hand. When she finished, she held it up and read to herself.

Thank you for saving me, Donna. You are a bright and noble young lady. I was glad to be able to know you and to save you. Your gift to me will not be in vain, as I move on to what awaits; please don't let my gift to you be in vain. Stay strong
.

~Mary Tudor

Mary placed the note in her pocket. She bent and kissed her on the cheek.

“Keep strong, love,” Mary said.

All three of them could not help shedding a few shimmering tears before they left. As the first rays of the sunshine broke through the window, they turned and walked out the door. The line was starting to form for morning departures. Less than fifteen minutes after they left the sleeping Donna, they passed through the Tesla Gate.

Rebekah, Malakhi, Nehemya and Gestas arrived a few days later. They lodged in a mobile home not too far from the hangar. Rebekah agreed she would not let Malakhi accompany them to the hangar. She didn't want him to see his grandpa go through a device once hated and feared as an instrument of genocide.

“He will try to follow,” Nehemya said. “He is a strong willed little boy.”

“I will stay with him,” Rebekah said. “I don't want to see you leave.”

Nehemya spent the morning with his grandson. He told him how much he loved him more times in a couple of hours than he had in Malakhi's whole life.

Rebekah took Malakhi to Washington, D.C. on a tour bus the afternoon that Nehemya and Gestas would move on.

“I'll see you tonight, Grandpa!” Malakhi called after he hugged his grandfather and stepped up on the bus.

Nehemya fought back a strong twinge of guilt as he waved goodbye. He knew they would not see each other again for a long time.

They had told Malakhi it would be the following morning when his grandfather and Gestas would leave. Rebekah found it hard to smile as they toured the capital city. Malakhi was a very perceptive kid and he knew something was wrong, but he thought it was the obvious. His grandfather would be leaving tomorrow.

When they returned that evening, Rebekah had already begun to cry before they were halfway back to the base. Her emotional outburst alarmed Malakhi. When they got back, he sprinted off the bus and into the mobile home. His panicked screams for his grandfather escalated as his calls went unanswered. Rebekah met him at the door as he tried to resume his search outside.

“Where is he?” Malakhi cried. He could tell the answer by his mother's tear streaked face.

He tried to break past her and make a desperate sprint for the hangar in the distance, but she held him tight.

“Your grandfather is fine,” she told him. “He is happy and you will see him again,” she told him over and over, but Malakhi continued to wail and struggle.

They cried together until they had no more tears to offer.

Cecil had seen this same scene on many occasions over the past few weeks. It was as heartbreaking now as it was when the Impals were forced to enter the Gates. Since he did not go in the hangar, he witnessed most of these anguished farewells outside. He heard even worse reports from inside the hangar. They were forced to increase security. There were several incidents where the flesh and blood family members tried to go through with their loved one. Two of them reached the Gate and burned in the arcing voltage. Their Impals were gone. Nobody knew whether they were gone because the storm had passed or because their momentum hurled their soul through the Gate.

Cecil could imagine the horror this caused their Impal family member when they found them sleeping on the other side. It was suicide. The fleshers were warned to stay clear.

The world was now in a mess, one he would be in the middle of for several years to come. There would be a major rebuilding, not only infrastructure, but the world economies as well. He was already slated to attend another summit next month in London. This one would deal with the world aftermath of the passing of the storm and … the Impals. He had not thought much about it yet, he was too worried about other things.

He thought of the summit the morning he went into his local polling place to cast his ballot for the new United States government. He thought about the irony. Today the United States would begin its rebuilding process with a special election. It was also the day he would have to say goodbye to his daughters. He left the polling place and drove home to spend his last few hours with them before he drove them to the base.

Thomas and Seth spent the morning in excited anticipation. The previous day, they visited the Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. This time their tour was not interrupted as before. They even took Patrick with them, but he went back to the base with Lincoln. As much as he craved a father figure, he now craved finding his place of belonging even more. He knew Thomas and Seth needed their alone time … their father and son time. He was also nervous about going through the Gate. For whatever reason, Lincoln seemed to give him the most comfort.