The Children of Eternity (43 page)

“Now that same Satan, whose sins are far greater than any of yours, that usurper, seeks to take away what you have created. What gives him the right to torture you?”

“His demons,” cried out another. “They tortured us until we were nearly mad. He put us in chains and threw us in terrible pits where horrible things happened to us. There are so many of them…and they are so strong. Now they’re coming to take us back.”

“If you let them!” yelled Lilly. “Your leader Tim Monroe speaks of defeating them. He says it with confidence—and I tell you now, he is far from foolish. They will not defeat you—no, you will defeat yourselves. Is that what you want?”

The group roared a defiant, “NO!” Lilly nodded approvingly.

“I cannot tell you what the future holds for you,” continued Lilly. “I cannot promise you that the Father will accept you into paradise. I do not know the mind of the Father in that regard. What is within your control is your future here. If it is to be your eternal destiny to remain in this place, then you—not Satan—must write that destiny.

“In five days you will need to fight for the right to shape it. I and my friends will stand with you, come what may. There are others in Heaven who will stand with you as well. Your future is in your hands. Now it is up to you.”

The crowd roared in approval as Lilly walked over to Megan and raised her hand into the air. Failing hope was reborn—the people were ready to fight. Through it all, Jerry stood there in amazement, holding his mother’s hand.

The care center slowly emptied. All of the recovering souls who had been there were now healed. More than that, healing was spreading throughout Monrovia. The minds of the people were no longer on the odds against them, but on the power within them.

In the days that followed, the productivity of the people nearly doubled. The number of dagger fighters grew from 6 to 9, and then to 16. Jerry led the fledgling pilots and their navigators on one training mission after another. All of them had previous flight experience, yet now they were becoming part of the most amazing flying machine they had ever flown. They were learning quickly. Jerry was convinced that they would be ready.

They also kept in touch with the people of Refuge. They too were mobilizing for the attack that could be but two days away. It became abundantly clear that they would be sharing tactical information and strategy; but in the final analysis, both needed to stand on their own.

The children stayed in regular contact with their friends in Heaven and in Refuge. Spirits were not as high in Heaven or Refuge as they were here. Then again, they didn’t have Lilly. With less than 24 hours to go until the deadline, all anyone could do was watch and wait.

J
UST
12
HOURS BEFORE THE
deadline, Tim Monroe and his advisors met in his makeshift war room—formerly his dining room. Outwardly he’d kept a positive outlook, but the stress was beginning to show on him.

“We currently have about fifty percent of our guardians back in the valley,” said Karl. “We should have better than sixty percent of them back by the deadline. Most of the others are still a day or two away.”

“I’d really counted on them,” lamented Tim. “I need all of them.”

“We currently have twenty-two dagger fighters and pilots to fly them,” said Jerry.

“Better than I’d dared to hope,” said Tim, looking around the table at his special guests from Heaven. “I am very indebted to you.”

“We have met or exceeded all of our other goals,” noted Megan. “We are ready.”

At that moment the technician monitoring the radar made a grim proclamation. “We have demons on radar—millions of them—approaching out of the northwest, distance eighty miles. They’ll be here within the hour.”

“They’re early,” said Tim, placing his face in his hands.

For a minute, silence ruled the room. All eyes were upon Tim, who didn’t move. Megan looked upon him with concern. She turned to Lilly as if seeking guidance. Lilly shook her head. Megan waited.

Then, abruptly, Tim looked up. “All right, Jerry, in a few minutes I want you to get your pilots ready for takeoff. Hold for my order.”

Then he turned to Karl. “Charge the pulse cannon batteries to full, but don’t fire upon the demons unless they stray into our territory. Even then, give them about half a mile of leeway before you open up on them. Get all noncombatants inside and place our army on standby. If we have to fight, we fight.”

Megan breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at her husband with a sense of pride in her eyes.

“OK, everyone,” said Tim, “let’s get to our stations.”

The group broke up as Tim rose to his feet. “Now we wait,” he said. “If they do attack, let’s hope they show that all-too-familiar demon arrogance. Let’s hope they underestimate us.” He looked to Lilly as if seeking a response. She said nothing.

Tim and several of the others walked over to his holographic map that showed the approaching demon hordes as a huge, orange blob that dominated the northwest quadrant of the map. They watched for several minutes as the orange blob grew like some sort of horrible cancer on the screen.

“Thirty miles,” noted the technician. “I don’t know that I could even begin to guess the numbers—perhaps twenty or thirty million.”

“Are they reporting anything like this at Refuge?” asked Tim.

“Not yet,” replied an aide. “Then again, they don’t have this sort of radar.”

“When they get into range, train the pulse cannons on them—but do not fire,” said Tim. “I want them to make the first move.”

The group watched the legions of demons grow ever closer. They were nearly at the border when they began to land, slowly filling in the northern half of the valley all the way to the mountains.

Tim watched in puzzlement. “What are they up to?”

Soon the entire flight of demons was on the ground. As the group watched them, a lone blip separated from the mass and headed toward the entrance to the canyon.

“What do you make of that?” asked one of Tim’s advisors.

“A lone demon,” replied Tim.

“Perhaps it is an emissary,” suggested another advisor.

“Perhaps,” replied Tim. “Send someone out to meet it. I don’t want anyone getting trigger happy. If they want to meet with us, we’ll go along with it.”

“It was about an hour later that the demon lieutenant was brought before Tim in his throne room. Tim and his wife sat on their respective thrones, wearing their formal robes of state. Around them were three of their closest advisors, Lilly, Christopher, and Jonathon, and half a dozen guards.

The demon had chosen to take the form of a darkly handsome man with jet black bat wings. In his hand he held a white flag. He looked to Tim Monroe and bowed ever so slightly. “My master, General Kang, and his council request an audience with the great Tim Monroe, king of Monrovia.”

Tim smiled, though slightly. “Your master and his entourage are welcome in my court. I can personally guarantee their safety.”

“My master respectfully declines,” replied the demon. “He would like to meet with you at a neutral location, perhaps at our border.”

“I wouldn’t recommend that,” said Tim’s nearest advisor. “Such a location would place you in a vulnerable position.”

“No,” said Lilly, turning to Tim. “My lord, I recommend that we accept this emissary’s kind offer in the interest of mutual trust. I also recommend that your closest advisors accompany you so as to give you counsel during your meeting.”

“That would be acceptable to us,” confirmed the demon emissary.

Tim’s other advisors looked on with obvious concern, yet they held their peace.

Tim looked at Lilly for several seconds, then back toward the emissary. “Tell your master that we accept his terms and shall be out to meet him presently.”

The demon bowed once more. “Very good, your majesty. With your permission, I shall depart to inform my master.”

“Of course,” said Tim, smiling. He looked to his guards. “Please see our honored guest safely to the border.”

The emissary and his escorts departed. Tim turned to Lilly.

“I request that you allow me, Jonathon, Christopher, and your lovely wife to accompany you to the meeting,” said Lilly. “It should only be the five of us. I suspect that Jerry will be joining us later.”

“You realize that this is almost certainly a trap,” said Tim.

“Of course,” confirmed Lilly, “but a trap for whom?”

Tim chuckled. “Pretty lady, I just don’t understand you sometimes.”

“That’s good,” replied Lilly. “That means that the demons probably won’t either. Let’s prepare ourselves. There are a few things that we must see to before we set off for the meeting.”

Over an hour later, Tim and his entourage set off from the underground city’s main entrance and headed off down the road that ran between the farming fields. It seemed strange to see no one out here minding them.

Each of the travelers hardly seemed dressed for conflict if it came. The children of Heaven were each dressed in the white robes that they may have worn if they were traveling to Zion to visit with the Father. Even Tim and Megan, following the urging of Lilly, were similarly dressed.

“I’m doing this your way, Lilly,” said Tim, scanning the skies around them. Occasionally he caught sight of some of the guardians hiding among the rocks of the towering cliffs on either side. Even Goliath, who, as always, sat upon his left shoulder, seemed nervous.

“That is good,” replied Lilly. “It shows great faith on your part.”

“Great faith…or stupidity,” noted Tim. He glanced over at his wife, who walked by his side. He noticed her mouthing the word
faith
. “Faith is a word that hasn’t much been part of my vocabulary,” continued Tim. “I don’t place much of it on invisible higher powers.”

Lilly laughed openly. “You say that and yet I see faith all around me in Monrovia. You are the author of much of that faith.” Lilly paused. “Doesn’t it seem strange to you that your efforts in Monrovia have met with such success, against all odds?”

“Not really,” replied Tim. “That is the result of hard work.”

“Hard work driven by faith,” insisted Lilly.

“I don’t see why we are walking this distance,” complained Tim. “We could simply have teleported to the meeting point by going through the ring.”

“Oh,” replied Lilly, “are you in a hurry?”

“No, not particularly,” replied Tim.

“Good,” said Lilly. “It turns out that time is on our side, not theirs. So we make them wait, yet without making it seem like we’re making them wait. Demons don’t have a lot of patience. That has always surprised me, as angels do. If this General Kang is made to wait, he may become impatient. That in turn may lead to him making a mistake.”

“There was still no sign of an attack at Refuge when we set off,” noted Christopher. “I wonder if the demons are attacking here first—testing the waters, as it were.”

“I’m not sure,” admitted Tim. “I would have expected them to attack both places simultaneously.”

“Don’t allow your mind to be distracted by what might or might not be happening at Refuge,” cautioned Lilly. “Our focus must be upon what is going on here and now.”

It took the better part of 40 minutes to reach the place where the narrow canyon met the wide Valley of Noak. From here they could finally see the demons. Their black wings darkened the entire northern half of the valley. They quickly pinpointed the place where the demon commanders awaited their arrival.

“You’re right,” confirmed Jonathon, smiling slightly. “The demons are becoming very annoyed at us. General Kang is not accustomed to being kept waiting.”

“They’ll become more annoyed still,” assured Lilly.

“They are on a strict schedule,” continued Jonathon. “I can sense it even from here. We’re inconveniencing them.”

“Right again,” replied Lilly, whose eyes remained focused on the demons.

Tim picked up the communicator from his pocket and spoke into it. No one was able to discern what he was saying.

It took nearly an hour before the group stood before the demon general. He was unremarkable in appearance. His armor was studded with gold rather than brass, and he assumed the physical features of a man who was perhaps in his 50s. Behind him were three of his lieutenants and several hundred large metal chests. His dark eyes scanned the approaching delegation.

“I do not appreciate being kept waiting,” he said in an unemotional voice.

Tim glanced up at the red sun and then back to the general. “Why? Do you have somewhere else you need to be?”

The entire delegation could see the growing anger in the demon’s eyes. Jonathon caressed the particle pistol beneath his cloak, as if to verify that it was still there.

“I see no pile of weapons out here in the valley,” continued the general, gazing about. “You were instructed to bring them to this place. You were supposed to have disarmed yourselves.”

“Oh,” said Tim, his tone calm, almost cavalier. “I thought we still had ten hours before the deadline. You’re early.”

“Well, it matters not. Those were our old terms,” continued the general. “My master has set forth new terms. They are very simple. You will assemble your people and send them out to this place, single file.”