Rise of the Beast (73 page)

“I still don’t think that’s such a good idea,” objected Chris. “If we get trapped in here, there is no way we could hold out. There’s only one way out of this place.”

“No, that’s not true,” said Krissie. “The demon who occupied my body knew another way out of here, and now, so do I. There is a whole network of caverns beneath this island. One of them leads to a cave by the sea, just below the building where the ring is. It’s difficult, but we could do this. At least we should try. Maybe we can buy this world more time. I could sure use it.”

“But we need to get Serena to a hospital and quickly,” objected Bedillia. “I’m not willing to sacrifice my daughter’s life for some crazy plan.”

“Mommy, I’m going to die anyway,” gasped Serena. “Maybe we should try Leland’s plan.”

“No, don’t talk like that, dear,” insisted Bedillia. “You’re going to make it.”

“You seem to be sensitive to the Spirit of God,” said Chris, turning to Leland. “You’ve been right so far. Now, tell me truthfully, are you really that sure we should stay here and do this, or are you just looking for revenge?”

“I won’t deny that I’d like some payback,” admitted Leland. “Lord, forgive me, but it’s true. But I also know we need to stay. Call the rest wishful thinking if you like. If things start to go bad, we can always try the caverns.”

Bedillia hesitated. She figured that they wouldn’t have much of a chance crossing that open field. It was well lit and in a direct line of sight with the other ring. Their odds of success were indeed slim. “Krissie, are you positive you can find your way through those caverns?”

“I’m positive,” confirmed Krissie. “I also know that there are very few of the demons who know it as well as my demon did. It will take hours, but we can make it.”

Bedillia pondered their options. She really didn’t see any others. She prayed that her daughter could survive that long. “OK, we stay.”

They came up with a game plan. There were so many things that could go wrong, but it was their best hope. Bedillia told Tom to withdraw from the building housing the ring. He should make his way through the forest toward the beach. Krissie told him just where the cave was. It was well hidden and not easily accessible. It would be particularly difficult to find at night.

Strangely, Tom’s symptoms were not nearly so bad as Bedillia’s or Leland Senior’s. He wasn’t feeling quite himself, but it hadn’t slowed him down. It was an effect for which Bedillia had no explanation.

Now, all that they could do was to wait. They didn’t have to wait long. Scarcely ten minutes later, they heard footfalls upon the steps above. They took their positions. The footfalls grew louder.

“Serena,” called a voice from down the corridor. “Are you ready for the finale? It is time to bring an end to this thing called your life.”

Yes, it was Satan’s voice all right. Bedillia took aim at the point where the corridor met the chamber. She might have only one shot at this; she couldn’t blow it. She’d dreamed of a moment like this for years, but she’d hardly believed that the opportunity would ever present itself. Now here it was.

Bedillia saw an advancing shadow on the wall. Then Lielani stepped from the shadows. No, this was all wrong, what could she do. She fired.

Lielani literally never knew what hit her. She exploded into a cloud of red vapor as shattered and burned body parts scattered for 20 feet around.

Bedillia didn’t think twice. She rushed headlong toward the corridor. A large demon stepped into her way, drawing his sword. It barely cleared the scabbard before he was cut down by the pistol wielded by Chris. Apparently he had set the pistol at a low power setting. It merely blew a football-sized hole through the beast’s chest.

For a second the dark warrior looked in shock at the gaping hole that penetrated his entire body, leaving a web of sizzling connective tissue around the periphery of the wound. Then he collapsed forward.

Bedillia leaped over his quivering body, propelled by the artificial strength commanded by her own deteriorating muscles. Before her she saw a single dark figure in a flight of panic. It was Satan. She wondered if he had ever fled in panic from a mere human. The ACs swarmed past Bedillia, attracted by the greatest evil in the universe, prepared to serve the function for which they were created.

Satan stumbled around a corner and up the stairs even as several of the ACs lit into him viciously. He screamed for his guards. Bedillia wondered if she would encounter any guards along the way. Right now she still didn’t have a shot at her primary target. She had to move faster.

She heard footfalls behind her. She was sure it was Krissie. Between the two of them, surely they would have him.

Satan burst through the huge brass doors at the top of the stairs. It was but a matter of about six or seven seconds before Bedillia emerged into the chapel to see Satan almost to the outer door, several ACs swarming around him. Here, too, were two armed guards standing on either side of the door with menacing looking military-style rifles. Bedillia’s heart sank. They took aim and fired even as several ACs lit into them as well.

Bedillia had taken half a dozen rounds before she could react. The rounds hadn’t penetrated the armor of her suit, but the tremendous force of the impacts was very painful. She fired, but missed the guard to the left. Still the blast of the weapon ripped a gaping hole in the wall.

She stumbled forward and to the side, taking another shot. This one hit its mark, destroying her foe beyond recognition. Yet the other continued to fire, even with five ACs attacking him. Her left knee stiffened up. He’d hit a critical microcircuit. She fell to the floor.

The guard stumbled toward her, but he didn’t get far. A powerful beam of high energy particles from Krissie’s rifle dismembered him.

Bedillia looked toward the open door. She could see Satan’s dark form fleeing in the distance, amidst a swarm of attacking creatures.

“No, you don’t!” she cried. “You’re not getting away from me.” With all of her strength she struggled to get to her feet. Krissie grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. She was on the move again. Now she was at the door. Over a dozen security guards and demons caught her eye. Several of the demons were in flight, closing in on her. She blotted them all out of her thoughts. To her, there was only one figure out there. She took aim.

Krissie fired again, taking out a demon in flight, who, in but another few seconds would have been upon them. All the while Bedillia centered on her quarry. He was so far away. She’d have but one shot. It had to count. She squeezed back on the trigger. The weapon erupted with a loud report and a beam like fire. Her target was blasted violently to the left amidst an eruption of blood.

“I got you!” she cried.

He flailed wildly like a fish that had been hooked by the expert angler and now flopped around upon the bottom of his boat. He tried to crawl away, but he seemed stunned, disoriented. All the while, he suffered under the relentless tormenting of the creatures.

Bedillia took aim for a second shot. “One more and it’s all over, Slewfoot,” she said. “One more and your world, you ambitions, your empire comes to an end.”

“Fireballs!” cried Krissie.

Bedillia saw their red glow, but she didn’t waver. She took her shot.

Krissie pushed her out of the way, behind the last pew at the back of this unholy sanctuary. A fraction of a second later a raging firestorm of three fiery projectiles rained in on them. Krissie tried to shield Bedillia amidst a heat like that of a blast furnace. Had it not been for the protective qualities of their suits and the fact that the fireballs had exploded on the far side of the room, they would surely have perished.

“I’m sure I got him,” said Bedillia, crawling from the smoking rubble. “I must have.”

“Is that all you can think about? Come on,” urged Krissie. “We can’t stay here.”

The two women retreated toward the inner door amidst the intense flames that roared about them. Krissie covered Bedillia’s retreat, firing several particle beam blasts behind them.

They literally stumbled down the stairway. They had just completed the first turn when Bedillia turned and fired two blasts into the ceiling about thirty feet behind them. The ceiling collapsed amidst a cloud of billowing dust.

“That should slow them down,” said Bedillia, continuing on down the corridor, fighting with her failing power suit. It was at the fork in the tunnel that they met the others. Chris held his wife in his arms.

“I got him,” said Bedillia, in a breathless and pained voice. She looked toward Serena, but there was no response.

“She’s passed out,” said Chris, turning to Krissie. “It’s up to you now. Take us out of here.”

Krissie took the lead as Bedillia filled the rest in on what had happened. They wondered if they could be so fortunate.

They passed through the cavern room where so many unfortunates had met a terrible fate, giving up their bodies to a dreadful demon. On the far side there
were a series of tunnels fanning out in different directions. Krissie led the way through one that sloped steeply downward. She drew out her crystalline flashlight so as to see her way through the growing darkness.

It was a rough and apparently seldom used route. The floor was littered with rocks, and at places, it was a tight fit. It was especially tough going for Chris and Leland, who were walking barefoot. This place seemed like an impossible maze. Chris only hoped that Krissie knew where she was going.

C
HAPTER
29

Satan cried out in agony as his minions gathered about him, scattering his small tormentors. He’d been indeed fortunate. The beam of the particle weapon had barely grazed his left arm. However, the resulting cellular disruption had been far more widespread, rendering his arm practically useless, capable only of producing wave after wave of searing pain.

Satan’s second in command, Governor Molock, had just come through the ring and now examined the injury. Like many of the others about him, he was in human form.

“My lord, you were most fortunate. This injury will heal, but not as quickly as it would in your kingdom. It may take a week for regeneration to become complete. In the meantime, you will likely be in considerable pain. May I suggest that we take you to the infirmary and administer to you something for that pain? I understand that the humans have a number of effective potions.”

“I will not submit myself to any human contrived medications,” roared Satan. “It will not only dull my physical senses, but my reason as well.”

“Please, my lord, it is for your own good,” insisted Molock. “I do not wish to see you suffer. I am here. I shall lead our forces. You know that you can depend on me.”

“He is right, my lord,” said Duras, standing at Molock’s side. “Please, my lord, I do not wish to see you suffer needlessly.”

“Very well,” replied Satan, “but I want these intruders caught and executed. From the weapons they wield, I assume that they are saints from Heaven, perhaps members of Johann Kepler’s group. Only they would be so bold as to do this. But now they are here on Earth. They are fair game.”

“But why would they come here?” asked Molock. “Why did not the Father send His angels if He wished to rescue this wench, Serena Davis?”

“How should I know?” roared Satan. “Just get them. And destroy that ring the scientists built. If they did use it to come to this place, I shall cut off their escape route here and now. Use fireballs, RPGs, C4, whatever it takes, just do it.”

“I shall, my lord,” confirmed Molock.

Satan was assisted to the infirmary by Duras and another of his minions. Molock looked toward the building on the hilltop, illuminated by the rising moon. As the Earth had rotated away from the comet fragments, the meteor storm had waned to just a few sporadic bright streaks every minute. Only the great main body of Comet Florence remained, its foreshortened tail stretching off to the northwest. It was like some great celestial finger pointing to the world that would soon feel the wrath of God. Its brilliance rivaled that of the moon. Its presence reminded Molock that his time was limited. He needed to complete this operation by early tomorrow afternoon. He didn’t want to be around when the predicted tsunami wave swept over this tiny island.