To Race the Wylde Wynd Ch.15

fetherhd (-2)(1)in #fiction • 8 years ago (edited)

"Hey Padre... How's it hanging?"
The coarse voice and crude choice of phrasing sent a surge of anger through the priest. Eyes so deep brown they seemed almost black, lifted to catch the pale, arrogant gaze of the sergeant who worked tonight's security shift. The cleric repressed a soft, long suffering sigh. This one had been trying to get a rise out of him since the day he first applied for clearance to enter the research compound. The guard's baiting had run the gambit from foul language and obscene gestures, to accusations of homosexuality combined with bestiality and pedophilia. If it were up to this simple servant, the Hand of God would exact payment from the ignorant fool.
Fortunately, at least for this heathen, that type of decision was not within the scope of the priest's authority. Tonight of all nights, he could not afford the distraction. His superiors had called in every favor they were owed to gain him entrance to the base. He was, in theory, tending to the spiritual needs of the few faithful who were sequestered here as part of the staff. Hell, he was sure that some of the church's elite now owed favors no amount of penance could negate. Unless the guard actively interfered with the priest's mission... he and his foul mouth would remain safe from harm. Still, it would be rude not to give the man an answer. The cleric cleared all traces of anger from his face as he calmly met the others arrogant blue gaze. Long fingers lifted the heavy cross that weighted the slender gold chain around his neck and a gentle smile curved thin lips as he quietly answered.
"As you can see Paul, everything of mine is... hanging... in its appointed place. As I expect it has been a while since you have actually seen them..."
Here the priest allowed his dark gaze to drift arrogantly down to linger on the man's large, overhung belly.
"Are you quite positive that your... possessions... are still hanging where our good Lord originally placed them?"
The priest patiently waited the few seconds it took for the guard to process the fact he had just been insulted. Satisfied with the anger that flashed across the other man's face, he turned and strode off, intent on returning to the mission at hand. For a moment he truly hoped that the idiot would be foolish enough to jump him. After all, a man has the right to defend himself. Oh... he would not kill the fool, but he would make damned sure that after tonight, Paul would think twice about degrading one of the faith! His stride slowed as he again fingered the crucifix. Then the priest crossed himself with a soft sigh. He would have to do penance when this was done. Such thoughts were not befitting a man of God, even one of the Hand. Although his was an order of death and violence, such thoughts were discouraged. It was not for him to decide who should or who should not feel the retribution of the Lord. When required, he was here only as an instrument of God's will. There should be no enjoyment taken in the execution of the task itself. He knew very well there were many in the elite order who took a perverse delight in what they did. This servant held firmly to the belief one should feel only the satisfaction of a job well done in the eyes of the Lord.
As the priest's dark figure stalked quietly down dim lit halls, his almost black eyes observed everything while seeming to see nothing. This was a skill that had served the Church well in all the centuries that it had meddled in world politics. Many a priest went unnoticed by those in power. This had been especially true in the age of ignorance. In those times, it took little to garner priceless kernels of information that could be used to raise a King to almost Godhood or clip his wings and bring him crashing down. Because of this, all priests were taught this essential ability. It was just carried to the extreme with those that were chosen to enter into his sect. A wry smile twisted the man's thin lips. In his line of work, the small detail that you missed, would be the one that came back to gnaw on your buttocks when you were least expecting it!
His was a familiar figure in the halls of the research facility, so even at this late hour, most ignored him as he silently moved through the almost deserted corridors. Even though he belonged to the Hand, the priest did not enjoy killing. He felt it was his moral obligation to keep the collateral damage down to a minimum. As a result, this had been planned to take place when the staff was stripped down to a skeleton crew. Unfortunately, getting into the reactor building required that he take a life. Although not truly innocent, this death that would weigh against his soul. The security guard was not a willing participant in evil, but ignorance was not an acceptable excuse in the eyes of the Lord. The hapless man's death, and the codes plus I.D. that others in the priest's elite sect had ferreted out, provided access into a long, two story building. This housed the company's huge prototype fusion engine.
The priest studied the hulking machine as he slid into the darkened lab. He gave a slight nod, pleased that things were moving along so smoothly. All he needed now was a few minutes to plant the explosives. He planned to set the timer to go off in a couple of hours during the change of shifts. That would keep any deaths down to a minimum and give him time to disappear. The company could build another engine but the loss of the elusive Dark Matter nestled in the heart of this one would set the time table back decades. The government had bowed out of the space race years ago and no other in the private sector was even close to getting a long range spacecraft put together anytime soon.
He did not know why his superiors were so adamantly against the human race reaching the stars. The man really did not care. It was not his place to question why. He was a Hand... strict obedience to God's will had been ruthlessly drilled into him from the time he left the cradle. All in his sect were well aware that the Vatican stealthily apposed the space program from its very infancy during the Kennedy era. The God sworn group of elite assassins had been an active part of the opposition from the beginning.
As the man crouched to place his first package, he froze. Dark ever searching eyes finally picked up on the small detail that he had missed. He hissed, knowing that this mistake was going to bite him in the ass. All across the great machine, small lights flashed in a frenzy of activity. Some shown red but an alarming majority had turned and were changing even as he watched to brilliant green. Fine brows pulled down as the priest straightened, his sharp gaze desperately searching the shadows. This engine was supposed to be non-operational while it was planet side. Its systems were not scheduled to be brought on line until the whole of it had been transported to its cradle. This was currently stationed in space well beyond even the moon's long orbit. The scientist who had developed the theory behind using Dark Matter as a propulsion source had made it very clear that cycling up the Warp Engine while it remained within the planet's powerful energy fields would have catastrophic consequences.
There was a slight movement in the shadows... then the area brightened as some of the auxiliary lighting was turned on.
"What are you doing here...? Father."
The priest did not bother to answer. With the explosives in plain view in his hands, what he was doing here was quite obvious to anyone with average intelligence. The man who was revealed as he stepped into the light was well ahead of the curve when it came to brain power. On the flip side of this as was the case with many whose genius scored in the stratosphere... Doctor Therou's sanity had been questioned on more than one occasion. Sometimes, genius and insanity were kin that walked hand in hand. The priest eased to the side, casually letting his package drop to free his hands up. Even as he did this he had a sinking suspicion that weapons would now be of no use. Guns and knives did no good when dealing with explosives. They were twice as redundant when the opposition controlled the ignition switch on the world's largest bomb. Still... he tried to buy some time…
"I could ask you the same thing, James..."
"Come now, Constantine... I am sure that you have figured that out for yourself. For a clergyman, you are remarkably intelligent. Unfortunately, as is usually the case with your particular caste... you are also terribly naive."
The cleric slid a hand into his trouser pocket, fingers lightly stroking the switch that would electronically detonate his explosives. Suicide was an unforgivable sin... but maybe the all mighty would give him a little leeway considering the circumstances. He tried to keep the scientist talking, there was a chance the man would think he was just reaching for a gun.
"Okay, then answer me this... Why?"
"Ah, again I could ask you the same thing, but you would not have an answer would you... priest. Blind faith and unquestioning obedience is your sect's specialty is it not? Even so, maybe I can give you a little something to think about. The Church's adversary is not the Devil that you have been led to believe in. That one is naught but a fallen angel. Its true enemy, you poor ignorant fool... is something much worse. The Mother of Demons is not blind to our world. She has been denied entrance for millennium and her time to come again draws nigh. If you believe nothing else, priest, know this. She... does... not... forget, and has no forgiveness. Her kind has no word for... mercy."
The man gave a slight shrug and destroyed the priest's small hope.
"You can kill me or don't kill me, I truly do not care. The future has been set in motion. There is nothing you can do that will change the outcome. Go ahead, set off your explosives. With the Dark Matter only partially shielded, the end result will be much the same. Hell it might even be worse!"
The man's hands dropped, fingers tapping lightly across his keyboard like two long legged spiders.
"I have taken the liberty of disabling all the emergency shutdown sequences. It will take approximately ten minutes for the Warp drive to cycle up. After that..."
The sad, almost gentle smile the scientist sent his way made the cleric's skin crawl across his spine. The man spread his hands, fingers wiggling energetically...
"BOOM! If I were you Templer Constantine, I would be running! Or... if you wish, you are quite welcomed to stay and keep me company here at ground zero. I do believe that I prefer a quick clean end to what I know is coming. Wouldn't you agree?"
The priest's quick mind was scrambling as it tried to find a way to pull a miracle out of this cluster-fuck. He did not think that fervent prayer would be of much help...although he certainly wasn't above trying! The strident howl of an evacuation alarm rang out, shattering the silence. As the cleric turned to run he had a sudden epiphany. Mother of God, he had failed!
The man knew he could not out run Armageddon. He gave it his best shot anyway. He just made it to the small dirt road where he had left his all-terrain transport when an odd tremor in the air spun him around. The priest could not help but watch in morbid fascination as the sky above the labs warped. For a brief moment something truly awesome formed before the peace of the early morning was obliterated. Templer dropped to his knees as the minute star that the unfinished warp drive created collapsed in on itself in spectacular fashion. A split second later it released its primordial energy in an earth shaking explosion. A rippling wave screamed out from the center, shattering reality in its wake. The priest had just a moment to register the monstrous winged forms that rode the fiery whirlwind before the destruction reached him. His last thought was...
"Ah... HELL!"
After that... there was nothing but darkness and pain.
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