They joined hands and believed in Him Who created the universe. A few moments later the navcom beeped at them causing them to look at its display.
'Destination arrival -- system shut down,' was flashing in green. Hope looked out of the front port and there was Earth, shining and blue as always, and right before them, the moon in all its green glory. "We're home she said gleefully."
They all cheered.
"God be with you my children," came to their thoughts, 'and with you,' Steve thought back.
"Steve calling Eden, come in Eden." There was no reply.
"Funny, there should be an automated reply if there's no one on hand."
Clare looked at Steve who got the feeling at about the same time.
"They're in trouble," they said, in unison. "Come on, let's get down there..."
The four concentrated and vanished.
"It's no use Jimmy, there are just too many of them." The laser had proved to be less than effective so far, so Jimmy and Chris left it and jumped down into the fray. Dave Thomas had tried commanding them as he had done before, but these serpents were not possessed by demons as the smaller ones had been. Serpents were falling rapidly, but so were Edenites; the battle was not going well for them.
Suddenly, Steve, Clare, Tris and Hope appeared in the midst of them. Few noticed, but Jimmy was one who did.
"Nice trick guys, tell me how you did it...Later."
He got back into the fight. Steve could see that it was hopeless fighting, so he and the other three held hands and concentrated hard. In a flash, all the serpents began to lift off the ground and float up in the air. Without purchase on the ground, they could not strike, but were flailing wildly as they rose up higher. The circle of serpents began to rotate as it climbed. Faster and faster, higher and higher. The Edenites just stood amazed at what they were seeing, and turned to see the four, with eyes closed, and deep in concentration. At times, within the four, they thought they could see a fifth, but no one was really certain that they had. The serpents carried on rising until they were cast out into space, floating away in that dark void forever. The four relaxed, and fell into sitting positions on the ground somewhat exhausted. It was Jimmy who broke the stunned silence.
"Care to tell us how you did that, and how you just appeared?"
"Jimmy," Clare said, a little breathless, "it's a long story."
Jimmy laughed out loud, followed by several others until they were all laughing.
Hope stood and left the main group. "There are wounded here," she called back. The laughter stopped abruptly, and everyone turned to see Hope lay her hands on Malcolm and Dorothy who were badly bitten.
"In Jesus name," she said, softly, and they both sat up a bit bewildered, as though they didn't know what they were doing on the ground. Tris joined in, along with Steve and Clare, and soon, all the wounded were up and about, completely healed.
"I don't know where you've been," Jimmy said, "but can I come next time?"
Once again, laughter broke out, and this time there was no need to stop.
Up on the hill, behind them, the head serpent looked on in disbelief.
"The ruler knew about this," he said, turning to go back to the caverns. "NO MORE ORDERS!" He shouted, as he, and his personal guard, left the jubilant scene for the darkness that they craved.
Eden became peaceful again. Serpents or no, nothing could hurt them now. With promises, that tomorrow, they would be told all, everyone went to bed. Tris went home with his parents to meet James and Jane, but not before he very publicly kissed Hope good night.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter 10.
The Aftermath
Not many Edenites were up early the next day, Kay being one exception, but she didn't want to be.
"Never mind love, it will soon pass," Sam called to her as she raced for the bathroom.
"I know," she said, meekly, when the sickness had passed, "but how long will soon be?" She chuckled to herself. "In spite of everything, today is a good day. The serpents are defeated and Eden stands...Hallelujah!"
"Amen," Sam joined in, "today is a good day, and it's the start of many more good days."
Kay slipped back into bed to try to catch up on that lie-in.
Later, much later, when everyone had surfaced, folk gravitated to the centre to plan the clean-up. Jimmy and Chris were given the job of checking and decommissioning the firetraps, the rest of the men were put on snake picking up duty: there were carcasses and bits of snake everywhere. Most of the ladies and the older children were commissioned to arrange the biggest celebration that Eden had ever seen, and the others went to fetch the younger children and their parents from Lark. Kay headed up the small troop of ladies walking to the Moon Base, the mood was light, and conversation was flowing very freely.
"It's such a beautiful day Hun," Clare said, "it's like that first day in Eden all over again."
Steve was standing behind Clare, holding her, as they both looked out of the window towards the waterfall. Hope came into the room and joined them, and the three of them stood together enjoying the freshness of the new day.
Hope broke the silence, "Looking out in this direction, you'd never know that anything had happened, it would be very easy to pass it off as a dream."
"More like a nightmare," Steve said, "but it's over now."
"I certainly hope so," Clare said, "I don't want to go through that again...Ever."
Shortly after she had said this, a knock came at the door.
"Come in Tris," they all said, in unison, and laughed.
Tris popped his head around the door, and came in. Coffee and breakfast followed at a leisurely pace.
"They've started cleaning up out there," Tris told them, "it's quite a mess. Jimmy and your Chris are making the fire traps safe, but there are bits of snake everywhere." Tris half chuckled, "I hope we can get back to the ship...We left it 'up there' somewhere." They laughed, "Well, we did leave in rather a hurry."
"I hope you remembered to put the hand brake on Tris, or it could be miles away by now!"
This was one of Steve's better wise cracks and it wasn't wasted on them.
"You go Hun," Clare said, "I think I'll help out down here if you don't mind."
"Ok Sweetie, we shouldn't be long, coming Hops?"
She nodded, and the three of them stood, closed their eyes in concentration, and vanished almost immediately. Clare washed the breakfast things then went outside to help out.
The three appeared on the ship and were greeted by a very hungry Rufus and Lady.
"Oops," Hope said, "we totally forgot about you two, still, you were better off up here."
She took the very excited animals to feed them whilst Tris and Steve set about bringing the ship home. The rockets fired and the orbiting ship was soon down and gliding across the crater floor towards Moon Base. The landing was handled by navcom and went smoothly. They had arrived in time to see the folks leaving Lark and heading back to Eden. Steve, Tris, and Hope joined them to walk the short distance back to the settlement. Rufus headed for the nearest tree but Lady was altogether more dignified.
Those who had been in Lark had no idea what had happened, and Kay thought it better that the younger children didn't find out. She was hoping that the mess would be cleared up by the time they arrived back at the settlement, and in the main, it was. The dead snakes were gone, but the fire damage was very visible.
"It'll take a while for the grass to recover," she said, to the group, as they entered the settlement, "and to fill in the fire traps too, but it will all be forgotten in a month or so."
She crossed her fingers when she said that, because she wasn't totally convinced that it was really over. A quick glance from Lisa Hammond helped confirm that suspicion, but neither said anything.
Later that afternoon, they all met up again in the centre, to hear from the four travellers where they had been, and the rest of the story that Clare had said was too long. A party had begun, with food in great abundance, and home-made wine supplied by John and Lisa. Malcolm and Dorothy were acting as waiters and using it to get to know everybody. Tris, arm-in-arm with Hope, was watching his parents with visible delight as they made friends with folk they had never talked to before.
"I can't believe how much my dad has changed Hops, and they've got pets too!"
James and Jane were very much in evidence, much to the delight of everybody.
Hope giggled. "There's nothing like a pet for breaking the ice."
Right on cue, Rufus and Lady went haring through the midst of the gathering enjoying their own celebrations.
When the food and drink had had the desired effect, Steve called everyone to order.
"Come and sit on the grass folks, you're going to enjoy this."
The Edenites duly obeyed and sat around casually. Even Rufus and Lady flopped down, panting heavily. Steve began by telling them about the speeds they'd achieved, and the visible effect of travelling faster than light. Clare spoke about the trip from the ladies' point of view. Tris told them about the new solar system they had found, and how it looked as they entered it for the first time. It was left to Hope to explain about Cain and Abel, as you might think, all this captivated everyone.
"But there's more," Steve said, when Hope had finished. He explained how Abel had suddenly appeared behind them, and then demonstrated by vanishing and reappearing up on the mound where the laser had been. Clare, and then Hope followed suit. From there, Steve handed over to Tris for the finale. Tris stepped up onto the air as he had done in the other Eden. There were gasps and some applause, so he floated up over them, and ever so gracefully flew over to Hope, took her by the hand, and together, they lifted off and circled Eden. The onlookers were delighted to see it, especially when Steve and Clare joined them in the air.
From above Steve said, "You will all do this, but it may take some time. Cain and Abel helped us so that we could return and help in the fight for Eden, but all it takes is faith. If you will dare to believe, then it will happen."
❧
The head serpent was back in his cavern along with his personal guard. He sat on his throne but there was no pleasure in it. Agallon came in and demanded to know what had happened.
"ASK THE RULER!," the head serpent screamed at him, "Ask him, he knows very well what happened."
Agallon made to punish the serpent for this insolence, but the guards gathered around their leader to protect him. Agallon thought better of it and left scowling back at them.
He made his way to the ruler's cavern, knocking lesser demons over as he went, and screaming murderous threats at any who got in his way. The Ruler heard him coming and sat up on his throne arrogantly.
Agallon came into the presence seething with anger at having to back down from the head serpent's guards. His anger made him forget to grovel, but the Ruler's claws around his throat soon reminded him.
"So, you come into my presence with defiance," the Ruler bellowed, making the cavern shake.
"No, my master," screamed Agallon, kneeling before the ruler, "I was angry..."
He couldn't say any more because the Ruler was squeezing his neck so tightly.
"You dare to be angry," the Ruler hissed, squeezing all the harder. "Where is my victory Commander, don't tell me you've failed again."
Agallon was incapable of answering and wouldn't have even he could. He knew his time was up and he wouldn't get out of this alive, so he drew his sword and plunged it deep into the Ruler's chest. The Ruler's head went back in mocking laughter.
"You think you can kill me," he laughed, pulling the sword out without suffering any ill effect at all. The Ruler plunged the sword deep into Agallon's chest and he was no more. He threw Agallon's lifeless body down like a discarded toy and left the cavern.
Demons scurried every which way, as the Ruler swaggered along the tunnel that led to the head serpents cavern. The Ruler was large, much larger than any other creature of darkness, so it was not for nothing that they all feared him. The head serpent smelled that something was wrong, the silence outside his cavern confirmed it.