“We’ve been given permission to film an episode of our show here.” The man with the moustache seemed to have enormous patience. “If everything goes the way we plan, we should be finished in a few minutes.”
“And how often does everything go the way you plan?” Chard was not a patient man.
“This is a quite simple test. Nothing much can go wrong with it. We just need to have some people go backwards and forwards through the gate and that’s it. We’ll be out of your way in…” The man hesitated slightly. “Thirty minutes?”
Chard nodded. “Very well. You have thirty minutes. Not a minute more. Then we’re going to start demolishing the gate.”
The man with the moustache looked up at the huge gates with interest. “Now that will be a really big boom.”
Shin Meiwa US-2 Flying Boat, Atsugi Air Base, Japan.
“Welcome to our aircraft, kitten.” Captain Oushi Terukata bowed respectfully as the couple stepped on to his aircraft. “We have set your portal generation equipment up in the stern of the aircraft. It will be ready for you to use as soon as we transit to Heaven. Before then, the forward cabin is quite comfortable. Our flight plan is quite simple. We will take off from here and fly through the Heavengate at Yokosuka. This will bring us out over our Third Army Group. There may be some delay there due to portal movements. We have yet to hear from the Chinese air traffic control. After we have transited to Heaven, we will fly to The Eternal City and land on the lake in the middle. Our estimated flight time is two hours.”
“Thank you Captain.” As usual Dani spoke for kitten. “You have an interesting aircraft here, I’ve never seen a flying boat before.”
“There are very few large ones like this left now. We have less than ten and the Chinese have five. They are the last of their kind.” Oushi paused for a second. “kitten, we understand you like ginseng tea? His Imperial Majesty has sent some from the Palace’s own stocks for you. If you would like a cup now?”
Dani glanced at kitten then nodded. “That is very kind of you Captain. I know kitten will enjoy that.”
Outside The Himilheothon Gate, The Eternal City, Heaven
“Of course, what we really need are those two maniacs on television who spend their lives finding different things to blow up.” Colonel Paschal looked at the massive structure with something close to trepidation.
“They’re already here. Apparently their viewers asked them about the myth that rich people can’t get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So they’ve got Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Paul Allen and Larry Page plus four street people they found in San Francisco wearing accelerometers and walking backwards and forwards through the doors in that gate. Seeing if there is any difference to the resistance they experience when entering the City.”
“Gonzo science.” Doctor Kuroneko spoke dismissively.
“Better than no science at all.” Doctor Surlethe protested. “It may not be science as we know it but they are teaching people to think about problems logically and carry out experiments to test their conclusions. And put proper controls on those experiments. That’s a big step forward from making assertions and then repeating them.”
“Apparently Gates asked the one with the moustache whether they were going to blow the gate open and the only reply he got was ‘Jamie want big boom.’ You’ll note they don’t actually handle the explosives themselves on the show.” Colonel Warhol shook his head. “Those gates are a real problem though. The demolition teams are having fits all around the city. Their consensus is to bring them down in sections.”
The DIMO(N) team got into their Humvees and set off for the Himilheothon Gate. They were strangely aware that this was likely to be the last time their team would get a chance to come together like this. With the war ending, DIMO(N) would be losing its primary reason for existence and would be wound up. James Randi’s team was already being demobilized, its primary function of finding sensitives who could contact the Netherworld was already obsolescent. Warhol sighed gently to himself, remembering the frantic early days of the war. Then, everything had been thrown together, haste being the over-riding driver. It hadn’t mattered how much something had cost or how jury-rigged the system had been, if it happened quickly and got results, it had been funded. Then had come the jarring feeling of disbelief as Abigor’s army had crumpled under the massive firepower of the human armies in Iraq. Somebody ought to write a history of DIMO( N), Warhol thought. We lost so much of our heritage in this war, we need more to replace it.
His thought train was interrupted by an excitable red-headed man addressing the television cameras around the gate. “And our data set is quite conclusive. Some of the richest and some of the poorest people in America have been through the gates of Heaven and there was no difference in the resistance they experienced. None at all. I love consistent data. So the myth that rich men can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven?”
“Busted.” The entire TV crew echoed the verdict with relish.
Shores of the Lake of Placid Contemplation, The Eternal City, Heaven.
There was much to think about. Ohalam-Lan-Derepael looked out at the great lake and shook his head. The great storms of thunder that had made the whole city shake had dispersed and everything was tranquil again. Except for the great splash that had been seen in the middle of the lake a few hours ago. For the first time in countless millennia, Yahweh was no longer resident in the Eternal City. Ohalam hoped that he would enjoy his vacation, wherever it was. The Great General Michael-Lan was now in charge of Heaven until Yahweh returned. That was what puzzled him. Why had Michael-Lan surrendered so quickly? Could not the Great General think of a way to defeat the humans the way he had defeated the fallen Ones and driven them from Heaven.
Humans. Ohalam had great difficulty getting his mind around the problems they were causing. They had been menial servants, of little account for so long. How had this happened? How had they become the ruthless killers who had destroyed The Morningstar and cast down The Fallen Ones and then proceeded to do the same here? It made no sense.
The drone of turboprop engines interrupted Ohalam’s train of thought. It was a human aircraft, one of the steadily increasing number that were passing over the City. Ohalam adjusted his eyes for long-distance vision and looked at it. A white aircraft with a blue stripe down its fuselage and its nose and tail painted bright orange. Quite different from the blue or dark red paint scheme the human aircraft usually wore. He watched as the aircraft circled around, obviously inspecting the area. In awe of the glories of the Eternal City, he thought.
Shin Meiwa US-2 Flying Boat, Circling the Lake of Placid Contemplation, Eternal City, Heaven.
“It’s a bit of a dump isn’t it?” Dani was looking out of a porthole, using the powerful binoculars the aircraft carried to search for survivors. That was, after all, the primary role of the US-2.
“All the reports say that.” Oushi had come back into the cabin to make sure than his passengers were comfortable prior to landing. He was well aware that if kitten got as much as a bruise from a rough landing, his life would not be worth living. The old custom of seppuku might well be considered an appropriate form of apology in that event. “When looking the first time, impressive with all the precious stones but beneath that, not so much. Now, we will be landing on the lake very soon. We have checked it carefully and it is very smooth so the landing should be just like a land aircraft touching down. If there are ripples on the water, they might cause some jolts, so please, be very careful and make sure you are properly strapped in. After we have landed, kitten, my orders are that you are in charge from that point onwards. Just tell us what you need us to do.”
Chapter Eighty
Angelic Treatment Ward, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD
The thunderous roll of explosions shook the roof of the tent. Overhead, the sky was ablaze with colored lights as another salvo of fireworks threw their cargoes high into the air. They had barely begun to fade when they were replaced by an even more profuse display.