Rise of the Beast (68 page)

“You’re dreaming,” laughed Lielani.

“Time answers all mysteries,” continued Leland. “It shall answer this one as well.”

Lielani gazed at Leland in anger, then stormed away. “You got under her skin,” noted Chris.

“Because she fears that I am telling the truth,” said Leland. “I am.”

“Two days,” said Serena. She gazed out into the room. Her eyes settled upon a narrow metal cage sitting on the edge of the pit about 20 feet to her left. It was shaped in such a way as to accommodate a single standing human. It looked like something straight out of a medieval dungeon. It was attached to a chain that, in turn, was attached to some sort of winch that ran along the ceiling. It gave her the chills. She reached through the bars of her cell. “Chris, please take my hand.”

Serena stretched as far as she could. Eventually she found the tip of her husband’s fingers. They intertwined. She seemed to draw some strength from him.

It couldn’t end like this. Her life had to be worth more than this.

She thought back to the stories of the Christian martyrs. They too had died seemingly cruel and pointless deaths. She understood the lengths and depths of pain better than any woman alive. She doubted that would be of much help when the time came. She prayed for courage, hoped that her example would be pleasing before the Lord.

Bedillia and the others gathered about the telesphere in the ring room for their twice-a-day briefing from the angel Aaron. At this point they had a target date for their rescue mission, two days from now. It was a full day before Abaddon would be ready to lead his children and most of the dark angels through
the ring, a full day before they could expect any reinforcements.

There were still so many unknowns, and once they were over there, there would be no more updates. They would be on their own.

For the past two days they had been getting used to wearing the power suits. They were truly amazing. They were black as night and weighed only ten pounds, but they were better than steel armor at deflecting a sword’s blow and better than a bulletproof vest for stopping a bullet. The rubbery fabric actually moved with the wearer, adding both support and, amazingly enough, strength. It was powered by the same sort of energy sphere that powered their weapons and made site to ring teleportation possible. Walking around in it took some getting used to, but once you did, it was of great benefit.

If possible, they would teleport under cover of night. Still, it depended on the schedule over there, not here. Until then they would practice all elements of the mission. They weren’t, after all, a military unit with years of military training; they were all civilians. They only hoped that they could pull this off.

“I don’t see why they haven’t evacuated us yet,” complained Shane Gray, one of the electrical technicians at the fusion power plant.

It was the morning meeting, and all of the scientists and engineers were in attendance. The atmosphere of apprehension and, yes, fear was growing by the day.

“Most of my technical staff left yesterday,” complained another. “I haven’t seen anyone around that village of theirs since the day before. Apparently getting them out was the priority.”

“We’ve developed a transportation system that spans the world,” said a woman near the back of the room. “Now they won’t allow us to use it to leave ahead of this predicted tsunami.”

“Dr. Malnar left too,” said still another. He turned to Les. “That makes you the ranking member of administration. Have you heard when we’re getting out of here and to where?”

“No, I haven’t, Ben,” said Les. “I’ve been assured that it will be soon. If worse comes to worse, we could teleport to New Zealand through the ring.
New Zealand is three times as far from the projected impact site and at an elevation of almost two thousand feet. We should be safe there.”

“If they allow us to use the ring,” said still another.

“Of course they’ll let us use it,” replied Les. “Why wouldn’t they?”

There was no response, yet the group was nonetheless uneasy. As the meeting broke up and the staff went about their duties, Nabuko approached Les.

“I think they plan to keep us here,” she said. “We know too much. What I’ve been hearing over the radio at night makes me all the more certain. They are guarding the power plant. I’ve even heard talk of them disabling it before they leave. Les, they want to get rid of us. We’ve outlived our usefulness to them. We’ve even lost our Internet and telephone link. We’re cut off, Les.”

Les took Nabuko’s hand. “Look, word is that Mr. Lusan will be teleporting in tomorrow. I’ll convey our concerns to him.”

“They won’t let you anywhere near him,” objected Nabuko. “He’ll teleport in on the other ring. We won’t even see him.”

“I hope you’re wrong,” said Les, “I really do. But if we haven’t heard anything by tomorrow night, we’ll need to take things into our own hands—overpower the guards at the power plant if need be.”

“But they have guns,” objected Nabuko. “We’re unarmed. Also, there are usually three or four of them over there. I don’t think we would stand much of a chance.”

For a moment, Les seemed deep in thought. “OK, talk to some of the members of the team you trust, see if they have any ideas.”

Nabuko nodded then walked off, leaving Les to his thoughts. They were in trouble, he was sure of it. Still, right now, he didn’t have a clue as to what to do.

It was mid-afternoon of the next day as Lusan and Krissie stepped from the misty ring on the south end of the island. They were met by Lielani and her entourage. They bowed before their master.

“Is all in readiness?” asked Lusan, gazing about at his tropical paradise. “It is, my lord,” confirmed Lielani.

Lusan smiled broadly. “I have waited long for this moment. I intend to savor it, draw it out as long as possible. We shall do that wench Serena first. See that she is placed in the cage around five this evening. See that she’s made uncomfortable. My time is valuable, but this is a thing I must do. We must conclude the proceedings by first light. Then we must be off. When is the predicted time of impact?”

“Just after three o’clock local time,” said Lielani. “If there is one, we should see the tsunami here on the island about 40 minutes after that, around 3:40.”

“I want you and the last of your people out by two at the latest,” Lusan ordered. “See to it that the power plant is rendered inoperable after you leave. An explosive device on a timer should suffice.”

“Lielani smiled. “It has already been seen to, my lord. All shall be as you ask.”

Lusan placed his hand on Lielani’s shoulder. “You have done well, my loyal servant. You have accomplished all that I have asked of you. I will see you at six in the chamber. Until then I wish to take a last look at my island.”

Lielani bowed once more before her master. “It has been an honor to serve you, my lord.”

Lielani watched as the master headed for the administration building. The rest of the administrative staff, except her, had left this morning. Aldo Karr, the chief administrator of this facility, had actually departed several days ago. Chief administrator? Now that was an amusing title. Karr was a good example of a union gone wrong. His demon had been left with a mental mess to manage. As a result, Karr was indecisive, forgetful, and sometimes incapacitated for days. She had been the real administrator of Katafanga for the past year and a half. She suspected that the master knew it too.

Lielani smiled. Well, it was time for more amusing pursuits. She too was looking forward to this evening’s festivities. None of them were likely to get any sleep tonight. But that was all right. Come tomorrow afternoon, she would be safely in Paris, far from the devastation these comet fragments were sure to bring. There she could glean a few well-deserved days of rest. She glanced at her watch. It was already after four. She couldn’t keep Serena waiting.

Serena and the others looked on nervously as Lielani and four burley guards entered their subterranean prison. Lielani stood before Serena’s cell, grinning from ear to ear.

“Well, I hope that you are well-rested,” said Lielani. “Tonight is your big night. I expect you to put on a good show for the master.” Lielani turned to her guards. “Now be gentle with her. We don’t want to damage her just yet. Place her in the cage.”

Serena felt suddenly very ill as her cell door was unlocked and she was escorted out, one guard on either arm. She stumbled barefoot across the rocky floor. To her right she could see down into the slick, black oil, frothing and bubbling. It didn’t seem nearly as hot as the Great Sea of Fire. In fact she could barely feel the heat coming off from it. What was going to happen? Were they going to drown her in it? She figured that she was going to find out soon enough.

Ahead of her, one of the guards unlocked the oblong cage. The other two then forced her into it. It was anything but roomy. There was barely enough room for her to stand. The cage was then locked.

Well, I hope that you’re comfy,” said Lielani. “The master will be here soon. Until then just relax, get accustomed to your new home.”

With those words, Lielani and her escorts departed. Serena rattled the bars, seeking any means of exit; there was none. She looked over at her husband for the first time in days. There were tears streaming from his eyes, and he was sobbing.

“Hush, my love,” said Serena. “We’ve run the good race, fought the good fight. This won’t last long, but our joy will be for eternity.”

“Don’t give up hope, either of you,” said Leland. “Help is on the way. I’m sure of it.”

“Help?” gasped Chris. “Help from where?”

“You might be surprised,” said Leland. “Just don’t let the Devil beat you.”

Serena nodded. She wasn’t about to doubt Leland. He’d been right way too often for that. She only prayed that he was right.