Paradise Hacked (First Circle Club Book 2) (26 page)

Virgil nodded. Either Alfred would go to Heaven to get healed, or the necessary materials would be brought to him through the passage.

"How can you still be alive?" Kyle said. "You look like talking cottage cheese."

"I wasn't really alive to begin with."

"Are you a cyborg? A zombie?"

"Stop asking those questions!" Virgil said. "That's secret information. Keep your theories to yourself."

Kyle closed his mouth.

"Lisa, drive faster," Virgil added.

Chapter Fifteen

Lisa parked the car in a dirt alley behind Aladdin's Castle. The path was marked "Staff Only," but she hadn't cared. The location allowed the team to reach the Rocket to Heaven ride without going through the park.

Virgil stepped out and looked around, but he didn't see any witnesses. To get into the park, he would have to climb over a tall fence with rusty barbed wire on top. A cinderblock wall ran along the other side of the alley, and private homes were beyond the wall.

Virgil checked on Alfred again. Even for a dead man, he didn't look good.

Lisa got out of the car and joined Virgil.

"Lisa and I will go in and talk to management," he said. "We'll find out what to do."

"Hurry," Alfred said.

Virgil and Lisa ran to the fence. After checking for witnesses again, they quickly climbed over and dropped onto the grass on the other side. A line of trees and tall bushes formed a screen. They pushed through the foliage and reached the Rocket to Heaven from the back side.

"Old Man!" Virgil yelled.

The old man came out of his rickety wooden shack. "A third visit? This is becoming a habit."

"Alfred is badly hurt. We need to talk to Barachiel
now
."

The old man retrieved his silver tray from his shack. Water sloshed in the tray as he set it down on the grass.

Virgil leaned over the tray. "Barachiel! We need you!"

An image of the angel formed in the water. Barachiel was walking down a city street, but it wasn't any city on Earth. Gold flagstones covered the streets. Jewels decorated buildings made of platinum, and everything had a heavenly glow.

"I saw what happened," Barachiel said. "Alfred needs fresh milk from Saturn's rings."

"Send some down," Virgil said.

"You and Lisa should come up and get it. The material will be more potent if it is collected by a friend."

"Does that really matter?"

"Indeed," Barachiel said. "Heaven is a spiritual place. Loving gestures are essential, and in this case, there is also personal sacrifice and redemption. You will enter Heaven, and you will leave of your own volition, both of you. Alfred couldn't ask for anything more."

Virgil looked at Lisa. "You want to take a ride?"

"Sure," she said.

"Can I trust you to come back to Earth?"

She nodded. "I did it before."

"That was just a taste of Heaven. We're about to get the grand tour. The temptation to stay might be strong."

"I always do my job." She gave him a serious look. "I never let down my friends."

"Then why did you die in prison?"

She winced. "That was because of a mistake I won't make again."

"I just want to be sure," he said. "This is big picture stuff. We can't be thinking about ourselves. We're trouble shooters, not trouble makers."

"Seriously, you can trust me."

Virgil hesitated, then turned to the old man. "Crank up the machine."

* * *

Kyle heard a sound like a giant spring releasing. He caught a glimpse of two objects shooting up from the park. They vanished into the blue sky.

"What was that?" he said.

"Virgil and Lisa," Alfred said. "I expect they're fetching what I need to recover from my injuries."

"Which is what?"

Alfred was silent.

Kyle sighed in frustration. He was used to being the guy with the secrets. Classified combat missions were just another day at the office for him.

Virgil's team was obviously doing something hugely important. Kyle could only make poorly informed guesses at the truth. He wanted to believe Virgil was a good guy, but the evidence was ambiguous.

Kyle turned around and looked at Mei. He could tell her hair was naturally black, but she had changed the color to dark red. She had a very pretty face.

"I know you're a hacker," Kyle said. "Are you also a freak like the others?"

"No. I'm a regular, human hacker."

"Virgil certainly likes you."

"That's none of your business," Mei replied irritably. "I have a question, as long as we're talking. How did you track us down to Chinatown?"

"A hacker was trying to penetrate our systems, and we narrowed down the source of the attacks to your neighborhood."

She blushed. "In other words, it's my fault, but I wasn't attacking you. I was just trying to cut through the lies and get at the truth."

"I guess I can understand that. A lot of lies are floating around. It's dishonorable." Kyle faced forward. "What do we do now? Wait?"

"Yes," Alfred said. "It could be a while. I hope I'm still here when Virgil and Lisa get back."

"Back from where? Outer space? What kind of crazy technology shoots people into the sky?"

Alfred went silent again.

* * *

Virgil and Lisa landed on the silver platform in the sky. The old woman with white flowers in her hair was standing there.

"You're back," she said.

"Yes," Virgil said, "and we're continuing onwards. Is this actually Heaven?"

"The border. Are you allowed to go in? Both of you stink of damnation."

"We're just visiting. Barachiel said it was OK."

The old woman brightened. "Then I guess you may proceed."

Virgil and Lisa started down a silver path which snaked through the sky. He couldn't see the far end, and he wondered how long the journey would take. Alfred needed treatment soon.

Lisa started running. The lack of handrails and the slick, polished surface caused Virgil to hold back. If he slipped and fell, he might never stop falling. Walking was clearly too slow though. He ran after her.

As he pushed to go faster, he experienced a strange effect. Distances seemed to compress, and his body stretched. His strides became longer and longer until he was bounding miles at a time.

"It's like running in a dream," he said.

Lisa nodded. "Heaven is more like fantasy than reality."

They suddenly arrived at white pearly gates. Thousands of people were standing in line and passing through the gates one at a time. A man in white robes was inspecting each person before admitting them.

"We don't have time to wait in line," Lisa said.

"You're right," Virgil said. "It could take hours, even days."

"Let's talk to the guy."

"I believe that's Saint Peter."

They walked up to the custodian of the gate. He had long white hair and a magnificent white beard.

He sniffed the air. "Gah! That stench! Get away from me!"

"We need to go in," Virgil said. "We're on a mission to save a friend."

"Nobody gets in unless their name is in my book." Saint Peter pointed at a white tome on a pedestal. "Should I bother to look?"

Virgil frowned. "Probably not."

"Then leave before I call the guardian angels down upon you."

Everybody in line began to look up. Angels were appearing in the sky, and they quickly became a swirling cloud. They glided effortlessly on giant eagle wings.

"Ah, ha!" Saint Peter said. "You see? The Legions of Heaven are assembling to send you back to the realm of fire and brimstone. Prepare to be expelled, foul fiends!"

Barachiel appeared in the center of the formation, and it had the most impressive wings of all. The angel was wearing a sparkling gown with blue jewels sewn into the fabric. It descended and lightly touched the ground.

Saint Peter stood with a smug impression.

"Let them in," Barachiel said.

He gasped. "But... but..."

"Special circumstances. I take full responsibility."

His shoulders sagged. "What is this place coming to? I thought we had rules."

Barachiel, Virgil, and Lisa walked through the giant gateway.

"Please don't make me look like a fool," Barachiel whispered.

"We'll do our best," Virgil said.

He gave Lisa a meaningful look, and she nodded.

"Saturn is in the Seventh Heaven," Barachiel said. "We could go straight there, but I think we'll make some brief stops along the way instead. I wouldn't want you to come here and feel like you were cheated out of a tour. That would be rude of me."

"What about Alfred?" Virgil said. "He needs treatment urgently."

"Time moves differently up here. Don't worry. I'll make sure you get back to Earth in time to save him. First stop, the Mall."

Barachiel snapped its enormous wings, and the group was instantly transported to a new location. Virgil looked around in wonder.

He was inside an endless indoor shopping mall. Three floors of stores ran into the distance in both directions. The stores featured the usual goods such as clothing, jewelry, purses, and makeup. Angels served as the staff. Human souls were going in and out of the stores, taking what they wanted or just browsing. Money never changed hands.

"What are they doing?" Virgil said.

"Shopping, of course," Barachiel said. "For some people, a mall is Heaven."

He noticed most of the souls were women.

"But what do they do with the stuff?"

"Wear it or carry it around. Eventually, they return it."

"How pointless," Virgil said.

Barachiel shrugged. "It's obviously not the right Heaven for you."

"I can see how this might be fun," Lisa said, "for a while. I've always wanted to go on a shopping spree without paying for anything. It does seem kind of pointless though."

"As long as we're here, let's visit the Food Court."

The angel snapped its wings again.

They appeared in a food court as big as a city. Kiosks served every kind of food including Mexican, Chinese, pasta, barbeque, sandwiches, ice cream, cookies, pancakes, Japanese, and vegan. Diners sat at picnic tables with food heaped high on plastic plates. They were stuffing their mouths, sometimes using both hands at once.

"I'm confused," Lisa said. "We don't have digestive systems. Do they?"

"Not really," Barachiel said. "The food squirts out the other end looking the same as when it entered, but these souls don't care. They can eat anything they want for as long as they want without gaining any weight, and it all tastes great."

Virgil frowned. "Gluttony is a sin."

"It is on Earth, but not necessarily here. Besides, this is just the First Level of Heaven. Ethics are not always rigorously enforced. Let's pop up to one of my favorite spots on the Third Level."

The group was transported to the biggest library Virgil had ever seen. Bookcases stuffed with books stretched to the horizon in all directions. The bookcases were so tall, ladders were needed to reach the upper shelves. Some souls were browsing the books while others sat at tables and read. All the furniture was made of fine lacquered wood. Padded chairs looked very comfortable. Even though the place was crowded, Virgil didn't hear any voices.

"They're just reading?" Lisa said.

"This library contains the sum of all human knowledge," Barachiel said. "As soon as a fact is known on Earth, it is written up here. These souls can become experts on everything."

"We already have something like that on Earth. It's called the internet."

"This experience is more... refined."

"Sounds like Heaven for science geeks," Virgil said, "but what do the souls do with the knowledge?"

"Err, nothing," Barachiel said.

"What's the point of becoming an expert if you never put the expertise to work? Bragging rights?"

"For some, the act of acquiring knowledge is pleasurable. They don't need anything else."

Virgil looked at the souls sitting at the tables. They were stuffing their dead brains with endless quantities of useless facts. They were just a more civilized version of the souls at the food court.

"You don't seem impressed," Barachiel said. "Let's try something different."

It snapped its wings.

Virgil now saw thousands of angels sitting in front of old-fashioned telephone switchboards. The angels were busy plugging thick wires into holes and making connections. Occasionally, they spoke into headsets in low, sincere voices.

"What's this?" Lisa said.

"Our prayer answering service," Barachiel said. "All prayers come here first."

"You actually answer prayers?"

"A few, subject to budgetary constraints and other considerations. We try to give all deserving souls a little solace though, even if it's just a feeling of being heard."

"Who decides which prayers are answered?" Virgil said.

"There is a committee that evaluates cases based on the rules laid out in the Celestial Contract," Barachiel said. "The process involves quite a bit of analysis and argument."

"But the people of Earth don't know those rules and don't hear the arguments."

"Which is necessary, or they would look for loopholes."

Virgil made a face. "But from their point of view, wishes are granted according to no obvious scheme. It seems arbitrary. And prayers can be serious business. We could be talking about kids with cancer."

"People should have faith that the process is fair."

"That's hard when everything is secret and only a few win the prize because of some ridiculous budget."

Barachiel frowned. "You don't understand. Let's just move on."

Virgil was in a vast cathedral now, one bigger than any stadium on Earth. Hundreds of thousands of people in white robes stood on tiered platforms in neat rows. Colored light streamed through enormous stained-glass windows. Saints had a high tier to themselves. The pure majesty of it all impressed Virgil.

The people were singing in perfect harmony with angels as conductors. Not a single soul missed a note or a beat. He recognized the words as Latin, but he didn't know what they meant.

"What are they singing?" Lisa said.