Sullivan Saga 2: Sullivan's Wrath (13 page)

Brother Peter had been identified as the monk who had received the first visions. He was inundated with requests, or so Father Curtis had informed him, for interviews and audiences. Peter was grateful that as long as he was at the monastery he could rely on Father Curtis to keep him safe from scrutiny. Even so, a handful of reporters had been caught trespassing on monastery grounds. There had even been a woman who had managed to scale the wall to seek Peter out. She’d found him in the garden, tending to the tomatoes, and had declared herself the reincarnation of Mary Magdalene before stripping off her clothes and attempting to mount him. Fortunately, several other monks had been nearby and had managed to drag her off.

There was only one request Father Curtis felt he should pass on to Peter. He called Peter into his office and smiled when he arrived at the door. “Brother Peter,” Curtis said, “please sit.”

Peter nodded and sat in front of Curtis’s desk.

“That unfortunate incident with the woman… I hope it didn’t disturb you too greatly.”

“No, Father. I was rather taken aback, but I’ve gotten over it.”

“This little monastery has become quite famous because of what’s happened here.”

“I know, Father.”

“And you, in particular, are somewhat famous now. You had the first visions. God spoke to you before anyone else. It is believed by many that you have been chosen to prepare humanity for Christ’s return.”

“I don’t know about that, Father.”

“Those are the beliefs of others, not me. I do not rule it out—nor do I discount your importance—but I want to have more information before coming to any conclusions.”

“I agree, Father. I don’t think I’m special. I don’t feel special.”

“Well, you are. In fact, this arrived this afternoon.” He pushed an envelope across the desk.

Peter took it up. It was unusual to receive printed correspondence. He opened it and nearly dropped the letter as he read it. “It’s from the Pope!”

“Yes.”

“He wants to meet with me?”

“It would seem so.”

“He does know we’re not a Catholic order, doesn’t he?”

“Pius XV is a very progressive pope. He’s not so concerned with denominational divisions. Besides, he has a duty to determine whether or not our vision is genuine. If so, he’ll need to instruct his followers accordingly.”

“How will meeting with me help him decide that? And why me? Like I said, we all had the last vision.”

“I can’t answer that for you, Brother Peter. But I do urge you to accept this invitation.”

“This is in two days!”

Father Curtis stood. “Then I’d suggest you pack your things.”

RICK SULLIVAN LOOKED up as Frank Allen stepped into the cargo bay. “How do they look?” Allen asked.

“Good. They’re all operational and fully charged.”

“If Albo was going to ambush us, why’d he send the weapons at all?”

“He was being smart. If we’d hidden the credit card somewhere, he knew he’d have to show us the weapons before we’d tell him where it was.”

Allen shook his head. “Then why not just ambush us when we first met him?”

“Because he was there. If he’d had his men attack us, he could have gotten caught in the firefight. No, he wanted to size us up first, see how many of us there were. When he saw it was just the two of us, it was then that he decided he was going to kill us and take our money.”

Allen nodded. “Well, let’s get these guns packed up.”

As he turned, Allen heard one of the Mark Four energy rifles power up. He froze.

“Sorry, Frank,” said Sullivan. “I need you to take this ship back to Edaline and let me off. I helped you get your guns, and I don’t really care what you and the entities want with them. But whatever it is, I’m not going to be involved.”

Allen slowly turned around. “Rick, you don’t know what you’re doing. The entities can get to Kate. They can make you do what they want.”

“I’ve thought about that. So here’s the deal: we’ll go back to Edaline and collect Kate. Then we’ll head to Faris where Kate can get a line of credit. We’ll give you money, whatever you need, and you can use it to hire someone else to do the entities’ dirty work.”

Allen licked his lips. “I don’t know if that’ll be acceptable to Liz.”

“Ask her.”

On cue, Liz Wagner appeared between them. She was facing Sullivan. He moved to the side to keep Allen in his sights.

“Richard Sullivan,” she said, “you do not know what you’re doing. I don’t blame you; we haven’t been as forthcoming as we could have been, but it was necessary to get you on this ship.”

“Then be forthcoming now. Tell me what this is all about.”

“Put down the gun.”

”Tell me first.”

Before he could react, Liz had crossed the space between them and had her hands on his chest. Sullivan brought the energy rifle up and fired, but it passed through her. It hit the front wall of the cargo bay and tore a hole through it, exposing the interior of one of the cabins on the other side.

Sullivan could feel his heart muscles beginning to seize as an unbearable chill passed through his body.

“You are in hyperspace now, Richard Sullivan,” she said. “I have power over you here.”

Sullivan reached up and tried to remove her hands. He could not grasp her arms.

“You see?” she said. “Nothing you can do will stop me. I can kill you, but you cannot kill me.”

Sullivan cried out in pain as his heart seized for several seconds.

“Will you submit?” Liz asked.

Sullivan gritted his teeth and continued to try to fight.

“Will you submit?”

Tears formed in Sullivan’s eyes.

“Stop it!” Allen yelled, running up and kneeling beside his friend. “Please,” he said, looking into Liz’s eyes.

She ignored him. “Richard Sullivan,
will you submit?
”

Sullivan nodded, and Liz removed her hands. He put his own hands over his chest and rubbed away the chill.

Allen put his fingers on Sullivan’s neck and checked his pulse. It was racing. “Relax, Rick,” he said. “Just relax.”

Liz stood up and withdrew. As soon as she had moved away, Sullivan began to feel warm again; he began to feel alive again.

Allen sighed. “I’m so sorry, Rick. I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want you to be hurt. But you don’t have a choice in this. Neither of us do.”

Sullivan watched as sorrow passed across Allen’s eyes.

“But,” Allen continued, “I know this, all of this, is what must be done. Liz and the other entities have their reasons for keeping us in the dark. I know it’s frustrating, but she’s assured me that soon we’ll both know what’s going on. Just be patient.”

Sullivan closed his eyes. “They’d better tell us soon, Frank. They’d better tell us, and it had better be a damned good story, too.”

Allen nodded. He stood up and helped Sullivan to his feet. “Go lie down for a bit. I’ll let you know when they’re ready to tell us.”

Sullivan shrugged Allen’s hand off his arm and made his way forward into the crew compartment of the ship.

KATE COULD TELL that the pilot she’d hired was confused. She’d asked him to take her into hyperspace for a few hours then return to Edaline.

“You mean you don’t want to actually
go
anywhere?” he’d asked.

“That’s right. Just into hyperspace and back again.”

The pilot hadn’t argued further. She was, after all, paying him for his time and the use of his ship.

Once they were in hyperspace, Kate closed herself into one of the cabins. She placed her hand uneasily on the back of a chair and looked around her. “Liz?” she called.

Kate sat in the chair and waited. “I think you can hear me. I’m trying to contact the entity who appears in the form of Elizabeth Wagner. She came to me before.”

Kate reached into her bag and withdrew the copy of Epictetus. She read quietly, every once in a while looking up and calling out for Liz Wagner.

After two hours, she gave up. She put her book away and stood to inform the pilot that she wished to return to Edaline. She didn’t get far. Liz Wagner was standing in front of her, blocking the hatchway.

Kate nodded. “Thank you for coming.”

Liz glared at Kate. “I’m not used to being summoned like a servant,” she said.

“I don’t mean it that way.”

“Why have you called me?”

“I need to know if Rick is all right.”

“Richard Sullivan is well. He’s with Frank Allen. How are you, Kate?”

“I’m fine.”

“I know what happened on Edaline.”

“I said I’m fine. Where are Rick and Frank going?”

“I cannot tell you.”

“How long will they be gone?”

“I cannot tell you that either.”

Kate sighed. “And you told me before that it will be dangerous.”

“Yes.”

“If there’s any way, can you watch over them? Can you do whatever you can to keep them safe?”

Liz smiled. “I had intended to do that anyway.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“Is there something else? I have much to do.”

“Yes,” Kate said quickly. “I want to send a message to Rick.”

Liz looked annoyed. “What is it?”

“Tell him I love him.”

“I already did that.”

“Tell him again. Please. And tell him that General Miller has moved me to quarters in Fort Hendricks. But… don’t tell him why. I don’t want him to worry. Tell him that I’m safe and that I won’t move. I won’t leave Edaline until he returns.”

“All right,” Liz said. “I suppose that’s not too much to ask.”

“Thank you again,” Kate said. “And one more thing?”

“What?”

“If something happens to Rick… if he won’t be coming back… will you come and let me know?”

Liz’s eyes softened. “Of course, Kate.”

Kate nodded. “Thank you. I don’t understand any of this, but I suppose you have your reasons.”

“We do.”

“I just hope those reasons are the right reasons. I hope… I hope you are trying to do something good, no matter how you’ve gone about it.”

Liz shook her head. “Don’t worry, Kate. You will understand everything eventually. You will understand, and I think you will agree with us that we are only doing what we must.”

Kate managed a smile. “In that case… good luck with whatever it is, I suppose.”

Liz smiled back. “Thank you, Kate. I will tell you if anything happens to Richard Sullivan.”

Kate nodded again and watched as the figure of Liz Wagner faded to a dark mass. The mass lightened until it was a barely perceptible haze, like a puff of smoke or a mist. Then it faded entirely, and Kate noticed for the first time that she had goose bumps. She rubbed her arms and opened the hatch to tell the pilot that she was ready to return to Edaline.

Liz had seemed friendlier than the last time Kate had seen her. Not friendly, but friendlier. Kate hoped that meant that she truly was benevolent, that what she was doing really was for the best. But even if it wasn’t, thought Kate, there was nothing else she could do except submit to the entities’ wishes. It seemed they would do what they wanted no matter how Kate or Rick or anyone else felt about it.

IT HAD BEEN a deep sleep. Rick Sullivan hadn’t slept so well in over a week. It had taken Frank Allen several minutes to rouse Sullivan, and when he was finally awake, it was several more minutes before he was able to fully understand what Allen was telling him.

“Liz says it’s time, Rick. She’s going to tell us what this is all about.”

Sullivan stepped over to the sink in the small cabin and splashed his face. “All right. I’ll meet you in the lounge.”

Sullivan knew, even before he saw her, that the entity that called herself Liz Wagner was present. He could feel the chill in the air. He had noticed that the chill wasn’t always there. Perhaps it was just a way for the entity to instill fear in them when she wanted to.

Sullivan sat next to Allen and looked up at the entity standing before them. “Well?” he said.

Liz smiled. “I know this has been very difficult for both of you. Especially you, Frank, knowing that what you were doing was right without knowing why. I’ve asked you to do some questionable things.” She turned to Sullivan. “And I’ve put you through a lot as well. If there had been another way, believe me, we would have chosen that path.”

“You could have just asked for my help,” said Sullivan.

“And you wouldn’t have given it. No, we had to bring you here by force. And to do that, we had to ask Frank to betray his best friend. I’m sorry for that.”

Sullivan glanced over at Allen. He could see the sorrow and remorse in his friend’s eyes. Allen glanced up at him, and Sullivan looked quickly away.

“To understand what we are doing,” the entity continued, “you have to understand how we see reality. You know that we exist outside of your universe, in what you call hyperspace. You also know that we can enter your universe, but unlike here in hyperspace, we cannot take physical form except with extreme difficulty and a great expenditure of energy. Imagine trying to wade through thick mud or tar. You know that you would have to work much harder to move and would tire quickly. So it is when we are outside of hyperspace.

“As humankind has long suspected, hyperspace exists not only outside of your universe but in between parallel universes. There’s really no visual image I can give you to explain how all the infinite universes connect, but be sure that each universe connects to all others through hyperspace. And there are, quite literally, an infinite number of universes.

“The hyper-hyperspace technology developed by Benjamin Alexander allows ships to access deeper or higher—neither term is entirely accurate—levels of hyperspace. And yes, with this technology, one can pass from one universe into another. But one cannot control which of the infinite other universes one will enter. No human technology is precise enough to pinpoint where a universe connects to any given location in hyperspace.”

“So if we went to another universe,” said Allen, “we could never return to our own.”

“That is effectively true.”

“But you can do it, can’t you?” asked Sullivan.

Liz nodded. “We can send a ship into another universe and return it safely to its own.”