Faith Defiled (Gray Spear Society Book 14) (2 page)

The program switched to coverage of another breaking story. The reporter was standing at the entrance to Pier 39, one of the largest and most famous of the San Francisco tourist traps. It was a Saturday during winter break, so even in the morning, the place was busy. The reporter was a fine looking man in a shiny blue blazer.

"Hundreds reported seeing angels flying over the crowd," he said. "They had huge wings, and their bodies burned as bright as flames. Here is exclusive video taken by a witness."

"Come over here!" Marina yelled.

Everybody rushed over to the television in time to see a video of many angels flying in the sky. They did indeed seem to be made of white flame. Spectacular wings, flowing hair, and sparkling tiaras added to their magnificence. They glided through the air without even bothering to flap their wings. Their eyes gleamed with the intensity of laser beams.

"You don't see that every day," Hanley commented dryly.

Marina nodded.

The angels were impressive, but she already had doubts about their authenticity. She had witnessed many genuine miracles in her life, and none had been so visually elaborate. God wasn't in the entertainment business and preferred subtlety to spectacle. He certainly wouldn't put on a show in front of a crowd of ordinary tourists.

The video ended, and the reporter reappeared on the television.

"The angels also left a message," he said.

The camera panned to the wall of a restaurant on Pier 39. Symbols had been burned into the brick exterior, and they consisted of boxes and circles arranged in elegant patterns. Marina had never seen writing like it before.

"Hanley and Katie," she said, "eat fast and get over there. Talk to witnesses. Take a close look at those symbols."

"Yes, ma'am," the
legionnaires
said.

"Min Ho and Jia, your job is to collect as much photographic evidence as you can. I'm sure those tourists took a million pictures. Hack into their phones and download the data. Search the internet. I want to see this phenomenon from lots of different angles. We might notice something everybody else missed."

"Yes, ma'am," the hackers replied.

Marina looked up at the ceiling. "Ipo, are you watching this?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ipo's voice came down from overhead speakers. Surveillance cameras were installed all over headquarters, and he could see everything in the security booth.

"What are your thoughts?"

"Those angels are a bunch of bullshit. God doesn't do stuff like that."

Marina snorted. "I agree."

"I'd love to help with the investigation, ma'am, but I've gone thirty hours without sleep."

She was reminded she still hadn't found a security chief. It was the last piece of the puzzle needed to form a complete team, but the right candidate hadn't come forth. Becoming a Spear took more than just a certain set of skills. There had to be a kind of passion, commitment, and courage which was very rare.

"That's OK. Go home and sleep. I'm sure there will be plenty for you to do when you wake up."

"Thank you, ma'am," Ipo said.

Marina looked at the group around her. "Let's eat! We have work to do!"

Her team rushed back to the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast.

* * *

Hanley was driving a small, brown sedan along Jefferson Street on the northern edge of San Francisco. The blue-green waters of the San Francisco Bay were on his left, and a dense cityscape was on his right. Many years ago, this area had been a hotbed of commercial activity, and fishing boats and cargo ships had populated the long piers. At some point, that traffic had shifted to bigger, more efficient ports such as the ones in Oakland, and tourism had taken over with a vengeance.

Jefferson Street was at the epicenter of a massive operation designed to separate innocent tourists from their cash. A continuous strip of stores sold fast food, chocolate, T-shirts, cameras, cosmetics, jewelry, gifts, and so on. The restaurants closest to the water were the nicest, and Hanley had eaten in them on several occasions. The food was good, but the prices were eye watering. Even though the money he spent wasn't his, he still felt bad about wasting it so egregiously.

Traffic was always bad in the tourist areas, but at the moment, it was hardly moving at all. He expected the streets around Pier 39 were completely jammed.

Hanley turned to Katie. "We're going to have to walk the rest of the way."

She nodded. "I agree."

Both of them were dressed like tourists. He was wearing jeans and a green nylon windbreaker. His T-shirt had a big red and gold San Francisco 49ers logo. She had a white jacket over a yellow dress with a skirt that went down to her ankles.

Carrying a forensics kit would've attracted attention, so Hanley just had a camera, but it did have some special features. It could take pictures in different wavelengths including infrared and ultraviolet. The photographic resolution was extremely high, and the lens could focus at very close distances, turning the camera into an effective microscope.

He knew parking the car would take much more time than they had. All the lots were already full. He simply drove onto the sidewalk, forcing tourists to move out of the way, and stopped.

Katie raised her eyebrows. "Interesting parking spot."

"We're on official business," Hanley replied.

"The car will be towed by the time we get back."

"We'll fetch it from the impound lot later."

They stepped out of the car. Tourists were gawking at them, and Hanley smiled back.

The weather was damp and chilly. San Francisco was never truly cold, even in December, but shorts and a T-shirt wouldn't work on a day like today. He inhaled the salt spray from the ocean.

Hanley and Katie began to walk briskly towards Pier 39.

"The angels chose an interesting location for their grand appearance," he said.

She nodded. "A tourist trap on a busy weekend. The perfect spot for maximum exposure. Millions of people will be talking about this. The pictures will be all over the internet."

"Yes, I have to agree with Marina and Ipo. This isn't the subtle hand of the Lord at work. It was much more like a Hollywood publicity stunt."

The crowd thickened as they approached Pier 39. Hanley forced his way between the bodies to make progress, and more than one bystander cursed at him. Katie stayed close behind him. It seemed everybody in the world wanted to see the spot where the angels had appeared.

Hanley saw big, white ships in the harbor on his left. They served tourists who wanted to spend a few hours on the Bay. He had never taken a tour boat, but the team had gone cruising a few times in rental boats. Crowds bothered Marina. Given a choice, she always operated in small groups or even alone. She was an intensely private person who almost never shared her feelings with even her close friends. Only Aaron was allowed inside her head.

Hanley and Katie were finally getting close to their destination. The crowd blocked his view of Pier 39, but he had been here before and knew what it looked like. Two levels of boutique shops, restaurants, and tourist attractions ran along both sides for its entire length. There was a 3D theater, an aquarium, a mirror maze, a small stage, a carousel, and world-famous sea lions. A dedicated tourist could spend hours wandering up and down the long wooden pier.

Hanley saw nothing but badly dressed people now. To reach a spot where he could actually see the angelic writing, he had to push and shove rudely through the crowd. Finally, he reached a police barricade. A solid line of officers in blue uniforms was having difficulty holding back the press of bodies.

The writing looked like it had been burned into the surface with a high-temperature blow torch. Bricks were cracked and blackened. The geometrically perfect lines were sharp and clear though, as if they had been drawn with a stencil.

"Strange," Hanley said.

"What?" Katie said.

"The black charring. You need carbon to get that effect, and bricks don't have much carbon."

"A chemical was applied to the surface. If you want fire, something has to burn."

"Yes." He nodded.

He snapped pictures with his camera. He played with the settings to pick out specific wavelengths, and he zoomed in on particular symbols.

A small group of men and women were using scientific equipment to properly examine the angelic writing. Hanley expected their report would be interesting reading.

"We can't do much else here," he said. "Let's go find a witness."

He and Katie pushed to escape the already unruly mob. He expected the authorities would have to clear the area soon or risk fights breaking out.

It didn't take long to find somebody who at least claimed to be a witness. A man wearing a safari hat was telling his tale to an attentive audience. A big backpack, a water bottle, and hiking boots created the impression he was travelling through mountains instead of the city.

"It was a wonderful feeling," he said, "like a blanket of warm happiness. I could smell the angels, too. The aroma was as sweet as honey."

"Did you feel enlightened?" a woman said.

"I don't know about that, but it was certainly something I'll never forget. They were more beautiful than I could ever imagine. The way they glided through the air made me cry with joy."

"Could you feel the heat from the fire?" another bystander called out.

"A little," the witness said.

"Did they speak to you? Was there a message?"

"Only the writing on the wall. The divine words spontaneously burned with white flame. They crackled like popcorn."

That's interesting,
Hanley thought.

"Do you think the angels will come back?" somebody else said.

"I hope so," the witness said. "I want everybody to see them."

Katie stepped forward. "How did the angels fly?"

"They used their wings."

"No, I mean, were they just floating like balloons, or did they have to flap to stay in the air?"

"I guess they swam like fish," the witness said. "They weren't working to stay up."

"So, they weren't heavy."

"No. They didn't seem heavy at all."

Hanley took a turn. "Tell me more about the warm feeling."

"It was very pleasant," the witness said, "like a space heater in my chest, and it made me sleepy."

"Sounds like a drug."

"The effect was spiritual, not physical. It touched my soul."

Hanley frowned.
I doubt that.
"How long did it last?"

"A few minutes. It wore off after the angels left."

"How did they leave? Did they fly into the sky?"

"No." The witness shook his head. "They faded away."

Hanley nodded to Katie, and the two of them walked off. They found a relatively quiet spot across the street where they could talk.

"What do you think actually happened?" she said in a low voice.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but a report from a single witness doesn't make a trend. We need to find more."

They looked around. The crowd was thick with reporters carrying recorders and cameras. The religious fringe was also making its presence felt. A circle of men and women in white robes were chanting to the sky with their hands held up. The prayer was a weird blend of Latin and traditional gospel.

Katie pointed towards a woman speaking to a large, attentive group. The woman was obviously enjoying being the center of attention.

"I guess everybody wants their fifteen seconds of fame," Hanley said. "Come on."

They hurried over to join the audience.

* * *

This is the best documented miracle since the resurrection of Jesus,
Marina thought.

She was sitting in her office in front of her computer. She knew how to use a computer even though she didn't do it much. She preferred to leave the technical stuff to Min Ho and Jia, but on this occasion, she had no choice. She was browsing the collection of pictures her hackers had collected. There were thousands of them, and she needed a quiet place where she could patiently examine every one.

The images were spectacular. Whoever was responsible had found a way to create a flock of amazing angels in the middle of the air. The white flame was so bright, Marina could almost feel the heat through her computer. Each angel had distinct facial features and was clearly male or female. They even wore different outfits which indicated various ethnic backgrounds. They were truly works of art.

Marina sighed and sat back to ponder the meaning of it all. Her office was furnished in a traditional, elegant style. All the furniture was made of varnished oak with black leather upholstery. Granite slabs covered the floor. She had some oak cabinets, but they were lined with steel on the inside and built like safes.

Perpetual Energy Technology had originally been a real company dedicated to designing a better kind of battery. The owners had created a little battery museum in the office, and she had preserved it. One battery was made of layers of silver, cloth, and zinc in a salty solution, and it conformed to the historic design of Alessandro Volta. Thomas Edison's original iron and nickel battery had been lovingly reconstructed.

Marina also had a shelf of trophies from her missions. She had Ice Crusher's laptop from when she had just arrived in San Francisco. She had a priceless bronze knife from ancient Greece originally owned by Bill Burch. Her most recent adventure had yielded the steering wheel from the
Fearless Star
, the only relic that remained from the mighty ship. The rest was at the bottom of a trench in the Pacific Ocean.

The familiar surroundings failed to soothe her troubled mind. The true purpose of the angels was unclear, but she did know one thing: they would be trouble.

Marina's phone rang, and the display identified the caller as Hanley.

She answered the call immediately. "Report."

"We talked to three witnesses, ma'am," he said, "and their stories were consistent. About a dozen flaming angels flew a hundred feet above a crowd for around two minutes."

"I saw the pictures. Very impressive."

"All the witnesses also reported a sweet odor and a drowsy, warm feeling."