Pantheocide

Chapter Twenty Five

Headquarters, League of the Holy Court, Eternal City

The problem was that the investigations into these conspiracies was bogging down in a maze of low-level minions whose importance, and worst of all, knowledge of the higher ranks, was minimal. Lemuel-Lan-Michael was now convinced that there were indeed two parallel conspiracies of radically different characters and objectives. Those differences meant that there were very few points of contact between the two, it seemed as if it had been pure luck that The League had picked up one of those few contact points. Without them having done so, and without the bottle of elixir to start the investigation rolling, neither conspiracy would have been discovered. The thought of that eventuality made Lemuel’s stomach clench with terror. The whole foundations of Heaven could have been threatened.

He paced backwards and forwards in his office until the panic at what might have been faded, then resumed his seat. Once more, reading the reports from the handful of trusted agents who were investigating the main cabal, the differences between it and the second one that was his own interest, stood out. It wasn’t just the differences in organization although they were striking enough. It was the beliefs that seemed to be so different, or more precisely, the contrast between the overt dogma of the First Conspiracy and the seeming lack of any defining ideology in the other. In his own investigations, he had been unable to find any ideological system that defined the Second Conspiracy. It seemed that the only link that existed to unify them was their taste for human products and goods.

Lemuel shook his head and returned to the report on the First Conspiracy. He had finally managed to find a Malachim whose membership in the higher ranks of the cabal wasn’t matched by the protection extended by his Lord. That Lord had been one of the angels martyred in the pouring of the First Bowl of Wrath and his demise at the hands of the Humans had left his retinue adrift without patronage. Fortunately for Lemuel and unfortunately for him, their victim hadn’t found a new patron before The League had picked him up. Lemuel read the interrogation results again and tapped the scroll on his desk, he would have to take this to Michael-Lan.

Michael-Lan’s Office, Temple of Righteous Ardor, Eternal City

“And so what have you come up with Lemuel?” Michael-Lan smiled in greeting as Lemuel entered his office, knelt and swept his wings forward to cover his face. “Come, there’s no need for such deference, we’re old comrades after all.”

“Michael-Lan, my investigators have now found out more about the cabal that concerned us.” The phraseology perturbed Michael and he waved Lemuel to continue. “We now have an insight into the thoughts and beliefs of those who form this group. They believe that the humans are being unjustly treated here in Heaven, that having earned their salvation down on Earth, they should benefit from more of the riches and pleasures of the Eternal City. They believe that the decision to close the Gates of Heaven was mistaken and that, once again, worthy humans should be allowed to take up residence here.”

“They challenge the wisdom of the One Above All?” Michael-Lan’s voice shook with rage and outside the building, a roll of thunder echoed across the iridescent structure. That made Michael-Lan feel absurdly pleased with himself, he had always envied Yahweh’s ability to conjure up thunderstorms at will.

“No, my Lord, even they would not dare look so high. They believe that The Nameless Lord of All has been mislead and deceived by treacherous and self-seeking advisors. They believe that if The All-Knowing Father was made aware of the injustices committed in his name, then he would drive out those advisors and remedy the results of their sinful hubris. They believe that The One Above All would appoint his son as his advisor and chamberlain to replace those advisors who betrayed his trust. My Lord Michael-Lan, it shames me to even speak the words but they name you as one of those advisors who have lead the One Above All Astray. Hence my need to come here so urgently.”

Michael-Lan nodded slowly in acknowledgement. “You have done very well indeed my old friend.” Interesting. Now who is it who wants me out? Salaphael and Azrael are both in reduced favor at this point. Either of them could have hatched this plot but the bit about Yah-Yah not being aware of these so-called injustices smacks of Salaphael. He’s just dumb enough to believe all that. “And you believe that they are bringing up goods from Earth to bribe humans into becoming their supporters?”

That idea stopped Lemuel in his tracks. He honestly hadn’t thought of that interpretation. He mulled it over for a few seconds then discarded it. “Michael-Lan, that would be one possibility but I believe the evidence runs against it. We have found no trace of human goods in the cabal beyond the single bottle of elixir. Nor does the ideology of the group run in favor of this suggestion. From what we have been able to assemble, they are only concerned with the practical policies here in Heaven and theological debates over salvation and the fate of the humans down on Earth. Material goods and wealth do not mean much to them. Their prime concern is prayer and worship. In that, of course, they do not represent any major change for who amongst us does not reverence the All-Seeing Father?”

Me for a start, Michael thought, and you would be surprised how many others. “So where does the supply of human goods fit into this picture? If they are not bribes to obtain the support of the humans, then what are they?”

Lemuel took a deep breath. “Michael-Lan, I believe there is a second conspiracy, one quite separate from the first. One that is deeper and more far-reaching than the first for it would change the very nature of Heaven. It would replace our devout worship of the All-Seeing Father with a hedonistic lifestyle based around luxury and indulgence. Our austere and spiritual existence would be replaced by one of excess and materialism. We would become like the humans down on Earth.

Well done Lemuel, you’ve got the objectives down perfectly. And has it ever occurred to you that becoming like the humans down on Earth is the only way Heaven can survive? And that with Yah-yah running things, that change will never happen? There are 750 million angels up hear in Heaven and if the humans from Earth break in and find out what ‘salvation’ really meant for the humans who were allowed to enter here, they’re going to slaughter the lot of us. And mass slaughter is something humans are very good at. “A second conspiracy you say? Lemuel, old friend, are you sure that your search for conspiracy is not leading you astray? Remember what the humans say ‘Look for a conspiracy and you will find it, even if it isn’t there.’ Two parallel conspiracies is a hard thing to swallow.”

“I know, Noble Leader. I felt the same thing and spent many hours in prayer and contemplation, searching my soul for the true light of belief and trying to rid myself of hubris and suspicion. I have been carrying out quiet and tactful investigations of the Second Conspiracy and, yes, it does exist. Recently we arrested Almedha, daughter of Brychan and submitted her to interrogation. Human methods of course. She confessed to her part although she knew little of what was happening other than that Ishmael was able to provide her with human spices to enliven her diet. But, what she did know was interesting for its omissions rather than its content. She made no mention of ideology of theology, made no suggestions of beliefs whether traditional or heretical. It appears that the Second Conspiracy extends to indulgence and nothing more.”

“Saint Almedha.” Michael spoke thoughtfully. “I would wish to speak with this human.” He stepped away from his desk and called out for one of his Elohim messengers. When the herald arrived, he spoke very quietly to him and then sent him on his way. “She will be brought here soon. So, my old friend, where do we go from here?”

“We have been trying to break into the Second Conspiracy from the outside but our successes have been minor. We are barely able to confirm that such a conspiracy actually exists let alone learn much about it. It is strange, its security is much tighter than that of the First Conspiracy despite the fact that it lacks internal protection by subdivision. Investigating the First Conspiracy is like tunnelling through a wall, its just a matter of removing brick by brick. But the Second Conspiracy is like trying to grasp hold of smoke, every handful turns to nothing and slips away. We can get nowhere from outside.”

“And so?”

“We must penetrate the Second Conspiracy and try to investigate it from the inside. I will do this myself, instead of seizing and interrogating any members of the Second Conspiracy we detect, I will try to ingratiate myself with them, suggest I share their aims and desires. That way, will with have sure information to act on.”

“A wise plan, old friend, but one that is hazardous to you.” Michael paused as his Elohim herald came back and spoke quietly into his ear. “A hazard of which we now have proof. I regret to inform you that Almedha, daughter of Brychan, has died under interrogation.”

“I gave no orders for further interrogation!” Lemuel was furious. “I ordered that she be detained, nothing more. Who was responsible for this?”

“The guards claim that they were using their initiative to gain additional information. But, I would suggest that perhaps she was killed on the orders of others to shut her mouth. Your work will indeed be dangerous Lemuel, keep word of it strictly between ourselves and let none know of it.”

White House Conference Room, White House, Washington D.C.

“In California, the hunt for Uriel is now entering its second day. The Archangel Uriel is believed to have been badly wounded during his attack on Eucalyptus Hills and is now in hiding somewhere in the hills of Southern California. United States Volunteers and aircraft from numerous military bases in the area are combing the area in their effort to find Uriel. Local law enforcement officials say that they have numerous leads on his location and believe that he will be found shortly.

“On the international scene, Thai troops of the Human Expeditionary Army have entered Moulmein and isolated the southern half of Myanmar from the main body of the country to the North. Spokesmen at HEA Headquarters state that the Myanmar leadership was inspired to open this war by Heavenly intervention and that the successful course of the campaign represents humanity’s first successful counter-strike against…. “

“Is that true?” President Obama glanced around the conference room for an answer.

“Even if it isn’t, it is.” Defense Secretary Warner noted the confusion on Obama’s face. “Regardless of what the truth of the matter is, that has to be the interpretation we put on it. Most of the countries of the world have put the best of their armies into the HEA and left their own countries very vulnerable. That’s an open temptation for the few countries that haven’t joined in to exploit the situation. So, we have to make it clear that any attack on any country that’s part of the HEA will be met by a response from the full force of that Army, otherwise countries will pull their contributions out and the whole war effort will fall apart. Which may be why we’re seeing these threatened attacks of course. Not that we expect many, the only ones that seem pending other than this border war are a North Korean attack on South Korea and a Venezuelan assault on Honduras. The latter seems fairly remote at this time while North Korean behavior is odd, there’s lots of movement and activity in the North but none of it means very much. Units move south, then east, then west, then back north before repeating the whole procedure.”

“Just what is going on John?”

“We think, and this is an assessment General Petraeus shares, that Yahweh is trying to keep us penned up on Earth and chasing our own tails down here. That may mean he intends to build up a new army and invade in due course, or perhaps he hopes we’ll get so frustrated we’ll give up. Either way, he wants us down here, not up there. Can’t say I blame him for that of course.”

“Janet, the attack on Eucalyptus Hills, what’s the latest news there?”

“The death toll is currently reported as being twelve dead from Uriel’s attack plus three more on the ground caused by missile fragments.”

“Twelve? Is that all? Doctor Surlethe, what’s the scientific cut on this?”

“We can confirm the twelve Sir. Eucalyptus Hills has a population of 9,500 so if we’d seen the same mortality as at El Paso, we would have expected some 75 dead. Uriel scored much less than that so we can count that as a success for our defenses. Also, the pattern of death is interesting. Eucalyptus Hills was a very useful target from our point of view. It is a homogenous community, mostly relatively wealthy young families in their early-mid thirties. This eliminates wealth and age as variables so it gives us a good handle on what Uriel is actually capable of doing. That shows us a useful pattern, all twelve dead were people who lived alone. People who were in even small communities, their families for example or who took in people trapped outside when the sirens went off, survived.”

“The power of love?” The voice was derisive.

“In a way, yes. Their stories are all the same, they felt an invasion of their minds, trying to shut off their ability to breath and their hearts to keep beating. They fought it, refused to accept death and mostly they won. We think the shielding provided by lining houses with metal foil and wearing tinfoil beanies bought them enough time to understand that the attack was underway and resist. In the past, people hadn’t had that protection and they simply died before realizing they were being attacked. Having said all that, the communal aspect of resistance does appear very important. Having their families, friends, pets, other people around them gave them the encouragement and determination to keep fighting. Any military officer will tell you that soldiers in groups fight much better than troops on their own. But, I think this realization goes a long, long way back, right to our earliest folk memories. How many stories are there of a community threatened by a terrible enemy but who survived because everybody gathered in a single place and supported each other? Stories like that are a standard part of every country’s mythology. We’re prepared to bet those are folk memories of Uriel attacks that failed.

“So, assuming Uriel survives or is replaced by another Archangel with similar powers, our defenses should include gathering people into the largest possible groups and not leaving anybody alone. Bring the pets in as well, its interesting to note that pets that were brought in survived this attack, those left outside did not. One woman even claims that her dog helped her fight off Uriel. Might be true too, she was alone in her house apart from that dog. But, we need to build community shelters, heavily protected with metal shielding and large enough for people to gather together.”

“Assuming Uriel lives. John, how is the hunt going?”

“The news broadcast has it right for once. We’re still hunting and we know that Uriel is badly hurt. The ground troops found the spot where he came down, there’s a dent in the soil where he landed and there’s burned flesh and skin debris in the area. We think that the radars on the Normandy hurt him as much as the missiles, they effectively micro-waved him in mid-air. Those designation beams are powerful, they only warm an aircraft up a bit, that’s how they detect stealth aircraft, warm them up and spot them on thermal viewers, but against unshielded flesh? Very nasty. Anyway, he ducked missiles over El Paso, but he couldn’t duck a high-energy beam. Incidentally, we don’t give much for his reproductive chances after that.

“Other than that, we’re still searching. He’s dragged himself off somewhere and he’s hiding. The DIMO(N) net doesn’t report any portals forming so we think he’s still out there. We can assume he’s recovering, our experience is that daemons and angels don’t die of wounds. If they’re not killed outright by damage that overwhelms them, they recover. So he’s out there and he’s getting better.”

“Doctor Surlethe?”

“I concur Mister President, we have to find him before he regenerates. But, I find that information about high energy beam effects very interesting. Perhaps we’re not using the right weapons against Uriel.”