The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (81 page)

- - -*  *  *- -
-

When the ground finally stopped
shaking, Malcolm and Benny got to their feet. Malcolm helped Mary up, and Benny
assisted Timothy.

‘We have to move,’ Timothy said as the people around
them stood up. ‘If we stay here a moment longer, we’re dead.’

Malcolm turned to face the stunned people that were
gathered behind them. ‘You heard the man,’ he yelled as loudly as he could. ‘
Let’s
move!
’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

South Africa:
The next day

‘I would never have believed it.’
Trevor said, ‘If I didn’t see it with my own eyes.’

‘You and me both,’ René said.

Just a day ago the two of them witnessed the
resurrection of the two men in Jerusalem and had seen them shoot into the
skies. Trevor would have shrugged it off for clever computer graphics had GMN
not actually been biased against the two men.

Shortly after, an Earthquake shook Jerusalem, and it
also appeared as if a GMN ground patrol team may have died in the collapse of
one of the buildings. All that Trevor and René could do now was to sit and wait
to see when GMN would report on the incident.

‘What’s this?’ he asked when a familiar face came on
the television screen. Trevor turned up the volume to hear what Antonio Pascale
had to say.

‘This holographic image of our Lord will represent him
in every single aspect,’ Antonio said. ‘This will be our monument to him, to
honour him, and to bestow our worship and love upon him.’

Antonio snapped his fingers, and a hologram of Victor
Yoshe instantly appeared next to him. The hologram looked exactly like Victor,
even down to the perfectly trimmed haircut. From what Trevor had seen before,
it seemed as if Antonio and the holographic Victor were in the Holy of Holies
inside the Jewish Temple.

‘The image of our Lord will be available twenty-four
hours a day, and will have an entire television channel devoted to it. It will
speak as our Lord, and will guide us in this dark hour until our Lord’s actual
return.’

Trevor sat up straight.
Lord Yoshe’s return?

‘Those who view our Lord through their television sets
can receive blessings and healing by worshipping and touching their television
screens as they do so. As proof of loyalty to the Empire, all Jews in Israel
will be ordered to make a pilgrimage to the Temple and worship their Lord and
Messiah. Those not willing to worship will prove that they are allies of the
Messianic Jews and thus declare themselves enemies of the Empire; a crime
punishable by death.’

Trevor’s mind was racing. Andrew’s claims about the
return of Victor might be true. He had also heard about the worshipping of an
image or hologram or something before. Norman spoke about it. It couldn’t
possibly be, could it? He struggled to wrap his mind around the implications of
the situation unfolding in front of him.

‘And to show you that I have the authority to make such
demands, I will let you hear it from our Lord and master himself.’

Antonio motioned with his hands, and sprinkled some
blood over the hologram. For a few seconds nothing happened, and then the
apparition suddenly opened its eyes.

‘Good afternoon, Pope Alexander,’ the image of Victor
greeted Antonio.

‘Good afternoon, my Lord,’ Antonio returned the
greeting.

‘It’s him!’ René shouted excitedly. She could hardly
contain her excitement. ‘It’s really him!’ She bounced up and down on the couch
as she repeated herself over and over.

‘It’s a pre-programmed hologram,’ Trevor said, hoping
that it would calm her somehow. ‘The
real
Victor Yoshe is dead.’

‘Ye of little faith,’ René said and crawled closer to
the television. She rubbed her fingers gently across the screen. Trevor could
only roll his eyes at how stupid she appeared.

‘Pope Alexander the Ninth has temporarily created a
portal through which I can communicate to you from the other side,’ the
hologram said. ‘Although my body is still very much dead, my spirit lives
through this temporary vessel; and for that I thank him.’

Antonio smiled and nodded.

‘But rest assured,’ the image said, ‘that my death is
only temporary and will ultimately allow my full authority and glory to be
revealed. Blessed are those who see what I can do and believe. Before long, I
will be with you again in the flesh.’

René squealed with excitement. Trevor just ignored her.

‘There is an element out there,’ Victor spoke in his
new metallic voice, ‘that wants to disrupt the global unity that we have
started to create. They are haters of peace and justice, and want to spread
their anarchy through terror and violence. These hate mongers must be stopped,
and I give you my word that when I return—and I shall return—I will make it my
personal goal to bring those responsible to justice.

‘We need to establish order in the Empire. Without
order, there is no safety. Without safety there is no freedom. Without freedom,
there is no peace.’

Trevor had heard enough. ‘I’m going to catch a movie,’
he said and got up.

‘That’s a great idea,’ René said after she was
satisfied that Victor wasn’t going to say anything else. ‘Mind if I tag along?’

‘Not at all,’ Trevor said and forced a smile. ‘Get
ready. We leave in ten minutes.’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘The European Empire is in dire straits
about its former President, Victor Yoshe. No new leader has been appointed as
yet, and a talking hologram is all that remains of the former Nobel Peace Prize
winner. Most countries have decided to stay linked as the European Empire,
while others have shown their visible disapproval of Mr. Yoshe’s claim to being
God, and have retracted from the Empire and its legislations. They refuse to be
associated with the Empire, and also claim that they would safely harbour any
Jews in need of shelter from the coming ‘Loyalty Test’ instituted by N-Force.’

Andrew felt relieved. There was still a chance that the
African Union would not merge with the European Empire. It was the report that
followed next that twisted his stomach and made him turn pale.

‘In other news: N-Force Space Observatory has today
announced that a giant meteor is in a direct collision path with Earth. It is
determined that the meteor would strike Earth in less than a month unless
something can be done to stop it. N-Force military units are devising methods
of getting rid of the threat before it reaches four hundred thousand kilometres
from the Earth’s atmosphere. That would translate roughly to two hundred and
fifty thousand miles, and although it sounds far; it’s extremely near for a
meteor of this size.

‘Should the meteor strike Earth, the damage would be
unthinkable. All life would instantly cease to exist, and another ice age would
follow soon after. N-Force has two weeks to try and deflect or destroy the
meteor. The plan calls for proximity space mines and other nuclear devices to
try and put a stop to the meteor’s relentless path of destruction, and if the
plan fails, we would have just a little less than two weeks before impact. GMN
will keep a close eye on the events as they unfold.’

‘I should have gone to the movies with them,’ Andrew
said softly to himself as he continued watching GMN. He knew that the end of
the world was not prophesied to be a meteor strike, but the book of Revelation
and Trevor’s book both told about a giant star smashing into Earth. According
to Revelation, the damage was tremendous. A nervous knot tied in his stomach
and he felt dizzy.
Let’s try to focus on something else
, he thought as
he pressed a random button on the remote control. It was the channel dedicated
to 24-hour coverage of Victor’s holographic image.

‘Many questions have been raised about the two false
prophets in Jerusalem in the wake of their recent alleged resurrection,’
Victor’s hologram said.

‘They have been alien spies all along. It appears that
we haven’t completely rid ourselves of the alien threat, and would have to
tighten security measures to prevent another disaster like the one we had a
little over three years ago. The only way to distinguish between humans and
aliens without a doubt is the Shield. It has been designed to
only
work
on human DNA. If an alien was to receive a Shield, the technology would kill it
instantly, and that is why they would refuse to receive it. My urge is for
all
in the Empire to accept the Shield as soon as possible to avoid any
inconvenience when N-Force starts cracking down on the invaders from space.’

Andrew switched off the television and rubbed his
temples. Even being armed with knowledge about who Victor was and what the
Shield represented didn’t protect him against the urge to consider the Shield
as Victor’s image spoke. There was an evil of unimaginable power at work, and
he realized that it was only a matter of time until he, Trevor and René would
finally submit to it.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

Jerusalem:
Three Days Later

The first Jews lined up at the
Temple steps for the ‘Loyalty Test’ that Antonio had called into action. They
all received Shields, and then entered the Holy of Holies one-by-one to kneel
down to the hologram Victor and to declare him God. They were then free to go.

A small group of Jews revolted against the idea, and
started rioting at the Wailing Wall. They threw rocks at N-Force officers as
they shouted anti-Victor slogans.

At Antonio’s command, they were captured and executed
in public as an example to those who would dare oppose the Empire. Antonio made
a public statement, saying that N-Force would show no mercy to aliens or their
followers, whose sole purpose was to disrupt the peace and annihilate the
Earth’s population. Victor’s hologram ordered those killed to be decapitated
and their heads impaled outside the Temple and the entrance to the Holy of
Holies as a stern warning against anyone who dared oppose or defy the Empire .

‘
Next!
’ an N-Force officer yelled to the line of
people in front of him. A Jewish man nervously entered the Holy of Holies and
let out a little gasp when he saw the huge hologram in the place where the Ark
of the Covenant used to be. The Ark lay smashed against the floor. Victor’s
eyes followed the man as he approached. Close to the image the man fell on his
knees.

‘Who say ye am I?’ the hologram asked in its metallic
voice.

‘Lord Yoshe,’ the man said and sobbed.

‘
Who
say ye am I?’ the hologram repeated.

‘God...the man said and buried his face into the
ground. You are God.’

‘Get up,’ the hologram ordered. There was a slight
humming sound from the machinery that created the image.

The man instantly obeyed and stood up, wiping the tears
from his eyes with his dirty sleeve.

‘Well done my good and faithful servant,’ the hologram
said totally devoid of emotion. ‘Go now, in peace.’

The man nodded and slowly walked backward from Victor’s
hologram, careful not to turn his back as a gesture of respect. When he was out
of the Holy of Holies, he had an N-Force officer sign a ‘pardon document,’ and
as he left, a shiver crawled down his spine when he looked at the impaled heads
next to the entrance.

The N-Force officer stared at the man as he walked off
and shook his head. He made a registry entry, then looked at the next Jew in
the queue and shouted, ‘
Next
!’

.XIV.

One of the heads of the
beast seemed to have had a fatal head wound, but the fatal head wound had been
healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast

-
Revelation 13:3,
NIV

‘Do you like it?’ René asked and
extended her hand toward Trevor.

‘The ring?’ Trevor asked as he studied the ring on her
finger, hoping that he wouldn’t have to give an honest answer.

‘No silly,’ she giggled. ‘Look closer.’

Trevor looked at the ring and then at the remaining
bare fingers. ‘I don’t see what you’re talking...’

She turned her hand slightly and he almost choked. On
her hand, on the soft patch of flesh between her thumb and index finger was a
stain. It appeared to be a stain at first glance, but what Trevor was looking
at was state-of-the-art technology merged with human flesh. ‘That...that’s...’
he said as he pointed at the purple circle on her hand.

‘The Shield,’ she shrieked excitedly. ‘Isn’t it just
lovely?’

Trevor never thought that seeing the Shield in real
life would have such an impact on him. It was slightly larger than he thought
that it would be, yet still small enough to look elegant. He didn’t
particularly believe that the Shield was the Mark of the Beast that Andrew
spoke of, but his friend did have many theories that were sound enough to
convince him to avoid it for the time being.

‘It’s...nice,’ he said. The words coming from his mouth
had a rotten taste to them.

‘You really think so?’

No,
Trevor thought, but only nodded lightly. A sense of relief flooded him when
someone knocked on the door. Trevor opened the door and greeted Andrew with a
grim expression on his face.

‘Are you okay?’ Andrew asked as he entered the
apartment.

Trevor only twisted his face and rolled his eyes in the
direction of René.

‘Hey,’ Andrew said and greeted her with a hug. ‘How
have you been?’

‘Okay,’ she said excitedly and stuck out her hand. ‘Do
you like it?’ she asked. ‘Trevor does.’

‘Do I like what?’ Andrew asked, and then he spotted it.
He shot a glance at Trevor who only stood there, grim faced. ‘It’s
ah...it’s...is it real?’

She nodded like an excited child.

‘What’s going on?’ Andrew whispered to Trevor as they
entered the living room.

‘Don’t know,’ Trevor shrugged. ‘Just found out about it
now too.’

René was about to switch off the television when Trevor
stopped her. ‘Wait,’ he said. ‘Turn that up.’

The three of them watched the GMN newsreader report:
‘It has been two weeks since the first strikes against the meteor, and N-Force
has informed us that they have assaulted the giant rock with everything in
their arsenal.

‘Unfortunately, everything they had was not enough.’

Trevor looked at Andrew who just shrugged and turned
his focus back to the television.

‘While unable to destroy the meteor, they did manage to
deflect it off the collision path with Earth.’

‘That’s not bad then,’ René asked, ‘is it?’

‘Don’t think so,’ Trevor said. He caught himself eyeing
the circle on her hand.

‘However,’ the newsreader continued, ‘a large chunk of
the meteor had broken off and is still headed straight toward Earth. Once the
new, smaller meteorite hits, there will be tsunamis and other incalculable
reactions to the impact.’

Andrew whistled softly. ‘This is bad.’

‘Scientists believe that the splinter rock might strike
somewhere in the Pacific Ocean within the next three weeks, and everyone should
try to move as far into the mainland as possible.’

‘I’m scared,’ René said and wrapped her arms around
Trevor’s arm.

‘We all are...’ Trevor said, and then faced Andrew.
‘Your parents, what are they going to do?’

‘Not sure. They’ll probably stay with friends in St.
Lois in America. I believe that they’ll be fine.’

The newsreader continued giving instructions and a few
‘Space Specialists’ gave their opinion about the predicted damage. The three of
them just sat there, stunned by the reality that their lives were going to
change drastically in three weeks.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘I’m afraid, my love,’ Mary said.

‘It is human nature to be afraid,’ Malcolm tried to
comfort his wife despite his own fears. ‘But we have to remember that we are
protected during this time of Jacob’s sorrow, and that no harm will come to
us.’

‘I know it’s true,’ she said, feeling slightly better.
‘I believe it with all my heart. But that doesn’t make it any less scary.’

‘At least we’re together,’ Malcolm said and held his
wife tightly. ‘At least we still have each other.’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

Ireland:
One Week Later

The picnic was going according to
plan. The two girls giggled as they chased after their little brother on the
green slopes of the park while the husband and wife enjoyed a prize vintage
wine. They had decided that the news of the meteor was not going to interfere
with their sixth year anniversary.

The children giggled and screamed with delight as they
rolled on the grass. They were too busy having fun to notice the change in the
weather. It was subtle at first: only a slight draft, a few clouds piling up,
and a subtle change of colour in the sky. It was only minutes before what was
once clear blue had changed to dark purple. The wind picked up and ripped at
their blanket and it was when sporadic lightning bolts streaked across the
skies like bony fingers that the husband realized something was wrong;
very
wrong.

‘Everybody, get to the car!’ he shouted.

Trees jerked around violently and thick dust swirled
through the confused family.

‘
Get in!
’ the father shouted above the howling
wind. The mother and children got into the car and the father slammed the doors
shut. He covered his face from the stinging dust and sand and as he climbed
into the driver’s seat, he paused for a second. Something in the distant caught
his eyes. A fiery substance was slowly falling from the skies. The girls
started crying when the first chunks of hail and burning rock struck their car.

‘Get us out of here!’ the wife screamed frantically,
clutching her son tightly in her arms.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

The husband turned the ignition, but the car didn’t
want to start.

Thunk! Clang! Clang!

‘Mommy, we’re scared!’

The windshield cracked.

‘Get us out of here,’ the wife shouted again, the fear
not hidden in her voice.

‘I’m trying!’ He turned the ignition again. This time
it took and the car sputtered to life.

Thunk! Thunk! Crack!

‘Drive, Liam!’

The husband sped down the dirt road. All around them
trees and grass were on fire, and soon, everything would be consumed in smoke
and flames.

‘What’s going on?’ his wife sobbed above the shouts and
cries of the children.

‘I don’t know,’ the husband said, ‘it might be another
alien attack.’

He sped the car around a bend in the gravel and almost
veered it off the shoulder of the dusty road.

Thunk! Clang! Thunk!

Finally they were on the main road. The husband’s
stomach constricted when he saw that the burning rocks and hail were
everywhere
for as far as the eye could see.

‘Mommy,’ one of the girls cried. ‘We’re scared...’

‘I know honey,’ the wife tried to reassure her child
through her own tears. ‘Daddy’s going to get us out of here. We’re going to
be—’

A tire that had caught fire suddenly burst from the
heat and the husband lost control of the car. It veered off the road and
crashed into a tree. The car hissed loudly, but even the hissing was muffled by
the overwhelmingly loud
Clang!  Clang! Thunk!

- - -*  *  *- -
-

The man’s first reaction when he
noticed the orange glow in the skies was to run for the Temple. He ran past the
dead bodies and impaled heads and into the Holy of Holies. He fell down at the
Hologram’s feet.

‘Please, Lord God,’ the man sobbed. ‘We are in dire
need of your help.’

‘Stand up,’ the hologram instructed and the man
complied.

‘Now go to my casket.’

The man walked over to the casket. He looked at the
hologram and waited for the next command.

‘Open it.’

He slowly raised the lid, not sure of what he would
see. Inside the casket lay the lifeless body of Victor Yoshe. The man looked at
the Hologram version of Victor, surprised at the amazing detail of the image.

‘What is it that you wish me to...?’

The lifeless body of Victor’s eyes opened. His eyes
were a dull greyish colour; his face still devoid of life or expression.

‘My God,’ the man said as he looked at the corpse lying
down in front of him. Victor’s arm shot out and grabbed the man at the throat.
‘Urk—’ was the only sound that the man managed to make before Victor twisted
his hand, snapping the man’s neck instantly.

Slowly Victor rose from the casket. He stumbled to the
entrance of the Holy of Holies and looked in the direction of the hologram. The
image remained motionless. Victor then opened the veil and beheld the darkened
skies. Lightning flashed sporadically.

In the distance, Victor saw what could have been fire
raining down. He grunted and stumbled forward out of the Holy of Holies and
into the darkened world outside.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘They’re saying that it’s
splintered fragments of the meteor entering our atmosphere,’ Trevor said to
Andrew over the phone. ‘Thousands have died and according to GMN, about seventy
two percent of the rain forests in South America are on fire, as well as others
elsewhere in the world.’

‘Are you serious?’ Andrew asked.

‘Yeah. You’d better check it out. There’s a thing about
it on GMN right now.’

‘Thanks, I will.’

The two hung up and Trevor looked at the television in
disbelief and tried to suppress the knot in his stomach. He wondered how bad
the meteor strike was going to be, and for the first time since he had heard
the news did it feel real to him.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

San Francisco:
Two Weeks
Later

The day was like any other. It was
sunny with clear skies and a soft breeze blowing gently through the air. From
the rooftop of a San Francisco skyscraper, a group of people stared down at the
deserted city streets. They didn’t appear fazed by the fact that a meteor would
soon burst through the atmosphere and plummet into the ocean, which would
probably create a Tsunami that would crush them all only a few minutes later.

A young woman looked at the poster she had spent three
hours making. The glittery letters were still as eye-catching as they had been
when she had made it. She waved her
The End is Nigh!
poster in the air
along with the thirty other people, each with their own posters very similar to
hers.

‘This is so exciting, yet nerve-wracking at the same
time,’ a frail old man said next to her. He was staring at the skies as if he
wanted to be the first to see the meteor.

‘Yeah,’ she replied, staring over the tranquil ocean in
thought. ‘It’s kinda freaky.’

‘
Here it comes!
’ someone yelled and the young
woman spun around just as something exploded behind her with a loud crack and
BOOM!

‘It broke the sound barrier!’ the frail man shouted.

The meteor shot over their heads at supersonic speed,
leaving behind it a thick, black trail of smoke. The draft caused by the speed
and size of the meteor almost ripped the people off the rooftop, but fortunately,
only a few posters were sent flying down. Water parted beneath the meteor as it
screamed its way toward the collision point, and a few nanoseconds later, the
large, burning rock disappeared over the horizon.

‘
OhmyGodweregonnadie!
’ someone yelled behind the
girl, and for the first time did her brain catch up with the reality of the
situation: there would be no tomorrow; there would be no more strolls in the
park; no more falling in love all over again; no finishing her romance novel;
no picnics under the moonlight; and no children.
No children!
There
would be only death.

‘I don’t wanna die,’ she said as tears brimmed in her
eyes and anxiety ripped her stomach to shreds. ‘I don’t want to die...’

‘Too late now,’ the frail man next to her said with a
stupid grin on his face. A light flashed over the horizon, and the clear blue
sky turned dark and ominous almost instantly.  The darkness spread through
the skies as something even darker, almost pitch black, approached them.
‘Because here she comes!’