“I’ll say it again, Michael, you are a double-dyed bastard. I’ll accept that you were doing what you thought right and it all worked out the way you wanted. And that all Heaven benefitted from what you did. But I can’t forget Maion’s shattered wings or her selling herself in your club. You’ll have to live with that as well. Those memories and all the other things you did will torment you from now on. Every time you look in a mirror you’ll remember them. They’ll tear you apart and you’ll understand how I feel now.”
Michael nodded solemnly. Lemuel, you poor innocent sap. You’ve been watching too many human television soap operas. I did what I had to do and that ends the matter for me. I’ve been running this scam for centuries and, believe me, anything regrets I had are long gone. And if I had any left, there’s a valley of black glass that will act as a reminder of what would have happened had Yahweh had his way.
The door banged open and Maion bounced in. “Lemuel, I’ve got news. Doctor Gunn gave me an examination just to check on how I was recovering. He says I’m pregnant.”
Michael snapped forward in his seat. “Say again?”
“I’m pregnant. About four or five weeks he thinks.”
Lemuel reached out and hugged her while Michael watched complacently. Well, that was unexpected, but at least it will give Lemuel something to do. At least until the humans give him the police force back. And they well, he’s a good cop. But, an angelic baby? That’s a once-in-a-millenium event. Then Michael thought carefully. What if angelic infertility was a by-product of Yahweh’s obsession with people’s private habits. What if now he was gone, there would be more angels born? Interesting.
“Congratulations, both of you. Would you like to stay here and rest? You’re both welcome.”
Michael saw them both shake their heads, realizing they both wanted to be certain what was in any food they ate. “Sorry Michael, we have to get back to The Eternal City. We’ll be back though.”
After they’d left, Michael went for a walk through his grounds. He needed to relax, to run over the events in his mind. Almost without thinking, he made his way to the great greenhouses that housed his marijuana plant collection. Letting himself in, he took some of the prepared product and took a deep breath. It was a blend Elhmas had spoken highly of and Michael could see why. He felt his mind relax and drift away on a sweet and gently-scented cloud.
“Well done Ehlmas. You surpassed yourself with this blend. You know, I really hated having to kill you but you and Yahweh were too powerful a combination for me to beat. You had to go just as Uriel and all the others did. It was the only way. But, I really am sorry.”
For a moment, Michael thought the slow handclap coming from the plants was his imagination. He dragged his mind back to reality but the sound continued. Then, a familiar figure stepped out from the serried rows of greenery. “Hello, Michael. I see you took my recommendation.”
For once in his life, Michael was almost speechless. “Elhmas, you’re dead.” Even as he said it, he realized how stupid it sounded and cursed the chemically-induced fog in his mind.
“You wish. You know, Michael, you really ought not to get stoned with people you intend to kill. Especially if they have a higher tolerance of that stuff than you do. I knew what you were up to the moment your messenger suggested I move the Incomparable Legion Of Light as a single body. That’s a move nobody whose familiar with human war-making will make. I wasn’t expecting that nuke though, were you?”
Michael shook his head. “Air strikes, a lot of them. Not the nuke. How did you survive it? The people we interviewed said you were directly under the blast.”
Elhmas laughed, a little sadly. “I wasn’t. The commander of the Incomparable Legion was. I left Enatenael-Lan-Elhmas in charge while I performed a reconnaissance. By which I mean I was watching from a safe distance Luckily for me, it really was a safe distance. You know, right up to the flash-bang I didn’t know if you would really do it. I kept expecting you to suddenly open a way out. Then – flash-bang, all gone. So I made myself scarce and went into hiding. Oh, I knew what you were planning all right and had a shrewd idea how you would pull it off. So, when I felt my benighted and ineffable stupid father feeling out for my mind, I portalled away. To the Sahara Desert as it happened. When the humans went berserk after Heaven caved in, I came back. Now, it’s time to kill you I guess.”
Michael tried to summon up power to provide even a minimal defensive screen but the residual effects of the marijuana in his mind snarled up his concentration. He cudgelled his brain with the effort but it was no use. He was as useless and defenseless as an Ishim.
Elhmas looked at him sympathetically. “It’s not really fair is it? You’re stoned and I’m not. You’ve got no allies around and I don’t need them. It’s almost as unfair as sticking Enatenael under that nuke. You know the only reason why I’m not going to kill you Michael?”
Michael-Lan shook his head, frantically thinking for a way out of this situation.
Elhamas smiled gently. ” You see Michael, I recognized how dangerous humans were long before you did. So, I thought I would try and steer them into nice, peaceful ways. There was once this Jewish carpenter, Jeshua was his name. I possessed him and filled him up with nice-sounding ideas and had him go around preaching them. It worked quite well too, only the occupying powers got upset and they crucified him. I had to leave him there. I can still hear his screams while he was begging to know why I had abandoned him. Then some nut called Paul took everything I had had him teach, turned it on its head and inside out. What I had designed came out all wrong and caused even more trouble. A few hundred years later, I tried again and that was even worse. Centuries of slaughter and destruction and they weren’t over when this blew up. I had one last shot a few hundred years after that and it got even worse. Everything I has taught turned into an excuse for wars upon wars with more wars to argue the results of the first set.
“My way failed, Michael. Humans really don’t respond well to being taught things. They’ll ask awkward questions and find their own way. Your idea is to keep us out of their way and not fool around with them. I will say this for you, it does seem to work. That’s all that is saving your life Michael. Your way seems to work and it might be our salvation. It’s just lucky for you that I have no desire to take revenge for my father. In fact, the old fool got what was coming to him. I was cheering you on then you know.
“Anyway, just remember I’m still around and I can make life very awkward for you. So, don’t go mad with power the way my father did and you won’t be joining him.” Elhmas settled down on a chair and picked out a reasonable-looking joint. “Now, lets get stoned and talk about something pleasant. I hear female angels are starting to get pregnant. That’s going to mess your nightclub up isn’t it?”
Chapter Eighty Four
Human Expeditionary Army Forward Headquarters, The Eternal City, Heaven
“There are three journalists and a gentleman from the Times seeking interviews with you Dave. General Michael Jackson sounded saddened and deeply sympathetic at the news. After what had happened to General McChrystal, the press were being kept at arm’s length.
“They can keep seeking.” General Petraeus nodded, then hesitated. “Only four?”
“There were five but one of the journalists stuck a microphone into Asanee’s face and asked some impolite questions. She told him he had big brass balls and then asked if he had planned on keeping them. He left very quickly. Michael-Lan is here as well.”
“Good. Mike, Yamantau want to know if there is an equivalent of the Minos Gate here in Heaven and, if so, where it is. Also, do bodies still come through it. My guess is that the division of Second Life humans between Heaven and Hell is beginning to become a real issue. Who goes where? And who makes the decisions.”