Rumors of War
by Cynus
War of Heaven
Chapter 5
“Well that was the most in depth physical examination I’ve had in my entire life,” I remarked to Lumial as we entered my chambers. Michael’s chambers in all actuality, but passing the medical exams meant that they would now serve as his quarters for the duration of their stay on the Adam, however long that ended up being.
Lumial laughed as he replied, “The deepest you’ve been conscious for. Most of your serious exams have taken place while you were out of it, whether it was that coma of yours or sleeping in a medical pod.” He sighed in relief as he added, “The important thing is that we passed, and that he didn’t see a reason to examine Keith. How did you know to just glare at him anyway, Keith?”
The druid smiled slyly as he answered, “I was reading his thoughts the whole time. Apparently Raphael is terrified of Gabriel to some extent, so I thought I’d give him a reason.” His expression morphed into one of concern though as he said, “There’s a lot going on in that head of his. I’m not entirely convinced that he’s sane. It’s similar to reading the mind of a preacher from the Bible belt, one of the ones who is so convinced that God hates specific kinds of people that he thinks it’s his righteous duty to hate them too.”
The only real angel in the room sighed for the second time, but this was a sigh of helplessness. He looked back at the druid and shrugged as he said, “He wasn’t always like that. I don’t know what happened to him exactly. Maybe when his brothers left he took it personally, and wanted revenge on those that he saw caused them to leave. He was a very fun loving kid when we were younger.”
He turned away again and walked deeper into the room, as if he was searching for something. I thought he was going to leave the conversation there, but he kept speaking, even though he did drop the subject. “The important thing now is that we are past the first hurtle, almost miraculously. Now we have to convince him to seek an audience with Lucifel. It would be better if she didn’t know that I was here at all, and if your identity was kept hidden until we were a bit closer to her. She most likely won’t let you on the ship if she knew in advance you were coming.” Pursing his lips as he started to lose himself in thought, he added quietly, “We have to get you on that ship somehow.”
“Maybe he could wear a cloaking suit like mine?” Alan piped up, startling everyone. We all had failed to remember that he was with us, and we shared a nervous laugh as we turned toward the source of the sound. He deactivated the suit for a moment and lifted his faceplate, grinning at us. “It obviously works pretty well, except one major problem that I’m not certain Damien could pull off.”
“Oh, what is that?” I asked with my pride slightly pricked. I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something before I found out what it was.
“You’ve got to be incredibly silent, and I’ve heard you walk. You have a hard time being quiet when wearing almost nothing. Imagine wearing armor and being quiet…” He replied smugly, and then with a grin he said, “I’m sorry, now that I’ve brought it up, I’m one hundred percent certain you can’t do it that way. By the way, there is another problem, though it hasn’t come up yet, and it might not. This ship is swarming with cloaked soldiers, and they can all see me like I can see them. The infrared sensor that allowed them to see the demons activates with the cloaking device.”
Surprised by the revelation I asked nervously, “Wait, so they know that you’re here? What do we do now?”
Alan smiled wide as he said, “It’s all a matter of blending in. For all they know, I’ve been assigned to watch you by Raphael.” His grin turned cocky as he explained, “All I had to do was watch how they walked and acted, and soon I was just another soldier. I didn’t get a single weird glance. I don’t need anyone’s memories to get the job done.”
Out of nowhere Lumial jumped up and hugged Alan, who staggered back in surprise. “Alan! Thanks for reminding me!” He then turned toward the computer console embedded in the wall of the chamber. He started fiddling with it, saying no more and leaving the rest of us bewildered.
“Um, you’re welcome, I guess,” Alan replied, looking between Keith and me for an explanation. Both of us shook our heads and shrugged, and turned to watch Lumial as he excitedly moved things around on the screen. Whatever he was doing appeared to be quite technical, and I didn’t follow any of it, but moments later it appeared he had found what he was looking for.
“Aha!” he shouted enthusiastically, and pulled a small device from his pocket which he then inserted into the console. A moment of satisfied whistling later, he removed the device and placed it back in his pocket, then turned around to meet our confused stares.
“I just hacked into my father’s personal files. I may have been able to upload his memories from before I left Eden to your brain, but not the ones that he’s had since then. You’ll be able to fit in even better if I can give you the memories over the years since then,” Lumial explained, his expression a mixture of smugness and excitement.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about the new information. The memories that weren’t my own were already unsettling to me, and having more of them was something I didn’t know if I could handle. It might help things, but there was also the chance I would lose more of myself in the process.
Still, there was the chance that we would be found out if I didn’t learn how to play Michael even better. I found myself nodding a moment later, and said more calmly than I felt, “Alright, so what do we have to do?”
Lumial shrugged and replied, “All we have to do now is get you to a medical pod,” He then sighed and looked troubled as he went on, “It would be better if I could get you to Abel, but that might be a problem.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“I think it would look quite suspicious if we were to sneak back on to my ship when we have the Adam at our disposal,” he explained, and I smirked in response as he continued, “I might be able to get back without any questions raised, but you? You’re too high profile now. Raphael might suspect something.”
“Why don’t we just go back to the medical bay then?” Keith suggested, “Could you implant the memories without your specific equipment?”
Looking thoughtful, Lumial replied, “Yes, I think so. I would probably have to hack the system in order to get the computer to do what I want it to, but I think it would be possible.” He smiled as he looked at Alan as if it triggered another thought, “It’s just a matter of getting in there and getting it done, not to mention having a good excuse if we get caught. We have to blend in somehow.”
“I think we’ll be able to come up with something. Perhaps I could fake a sickness?” I suggested, though I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that it wouldn’t work, and Lumial was quick to jump in and confirm my own reservations about that plan.
“The problem is that you just got your DNA checked. They all know that there is nothing wrong with you.” Lumial replied with a shake of his head, “That means that we’re just going to have to guard the door and make sure no one comes in. Of course, we’ll also have to handle the medical staff, whoever is on hand. I’d say you should let me do the talking, but unfortunately this is your ship. I don’t think they’ll listen to anyone other than you, except perhaps Gabriel, there.”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to think of something,” I said as I began searching the room for an answer. There was little other than basic necessities, and I found myself wondering why the room looked so different than I remembered from Michael’s thoughts. From his memories, I had expected extravagance, rather than minimalism. Everything I knew about him had taught me that he liked to show off. This room didn’t fit him at all.
But that also left me with very little to work with. There were no tools for me to take advantage of, nor any items that would give me an excuse to visit the medical bay. The others seemed just as lost in thought as I was. Lumial with his pensive look, Alan leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, and Keith sitting on one of the couches with one hand resting under his chin and the other resting casually on the hilt of Gabriel’s knife.
Then it came to me. The knife! It was the same knife that Gabriel had almost killed me with in the alleyway, back when this had all started. We had added it to Keith’s outfit when he agreed to take on the guise of the fallen angel. It had been explained to me that the metallic knives were meant as a way for the angels to kill people they needed to on Earth without using any form of energy weapon. So that their killings would look like they were the result of a standard knife wound. They were the perfect way to help blend in, and now they would do the same for me.
“Keith, hand me your knife.” I said as I extended my hand toward him. He looked at me in confusion but then handed me the blade. I looked at it for a moment, refusing to meet their eyes. I knew that if I gave them a chance to talk me out of what I needed to do, then I was going to chicken out.
Just as Lumial opened his mouth to ask me what I was going to do, I pointed the knife toward the right side of my stomach and stabbed inward. The searing pain as the blade punctured my flesh made me let go of the knife almost immediately, and I was soon far too distracted by the agony to be concerned as to the fate of the blade as I clutched at the wound.
“Shit!” Keith yelled as he rushed to my side. Lumial was right behind him, and was already pushing the druid out of the way as he used his medical skills to try and stem the blood flow.
“This is serious, Keith! We have to get him to the medical bay immediately,” The angel said as he tried to stem the blood flow. Despite the pain I couldn’t help but smile. I had given us a way in.
* * * * * *
A big thanks goes to Paul for his wonderful and generous editing. I couldn’t have done this without him.
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