“I’ve told you practically my whole life story. You even know my real name. I’ve entertained you for the past twenty-four hours. I ran out of jokes back in South Dakota, so I went back into the recesses of my mind and dug up material I used back in the third grade. I’ve educated you on some of the greatest recording artists ever to exist. You gotta give something back. This cat stops purring if he doesn’t eat. If you talked more, I wouldn’t have to talk so much. Thus I wouldn’t have to drink so much water. Thus my bladder wouldn’t be on the verge of exploding.”
As much as Lester enjoyed talking, the one-sided nature of his transcontinental monologue was starting to get to him. Dave’s catatonia was the biggest iceberg Lester had ever attempted to melt. Every now and then, Dave would let a little smile slip. This was the trickle of fuel Lester’s speech had been running on for the past day on the road and during stops for grub and gasoline. The one thing for which Lester could give Dave credit was that he kept his eyes open. Knowing someone was awake to receive his words of wisdom kept Lester from drifting off to sleep and off the highway. As they approached Kansas City, Dave finally started to open up.
“I haven’t seen my father in seventeen years.”
“See. There you go. That wasn’t hard. It’s not the funniest story, but you’re getting the idea now.”
“My father would want you to believe God created all of this. He created you and me. And our purpose in life is to love Him and bring glory to His name.”
“He’s on a roll, folks. He can’t be stopped. Please, David, continue.”
“It’s not the case. It’s not true.”
“Yeah, it’s all some big accident. My mama would whoop me if I didn’t make it to church. She’d get up out the grave and whoop me if she could, if she saw how I spent my Sundays now. I know where you’re coming from, chief.”
“It wasn’t an accident. It looks like an accident. The Big Bang, evolution, everything we know of through science, for the most part, happened.”
“Sounds like an accident.”
“But the demons started it. The dark ones. It was their grand experiment. They originated from a place of constant conflict with competing destructive forces. Without rest for eons, they fought to dominate and expand their reach.”
“Okay, you’re starting to lose me, Dave.”
“When they encountered the angels, they suffered their first defeat. It was their concept of dominance over all versus the angel’s oneness of all. It was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.”
“Are you talking about guys with horns and tails fighting guys with wings and halos?”
“No. Both forms do not occupy mass and volume in the way you and I expect conscious beings to exist. They’re not spirits that we could ever see. They exist on a higher dimensional space. They can easily perceive us, but we could never perceive them without their drawing of themselves into our space. In order to continue their conquest, the demons needed a weapon powerful enough to wipe out the angels. They essentially needed their own angels to infiltrate and destroy the space of the angels. They concocted the idea of creating a universe where any life that developed to a level that could transcend its own space would have to be brutal enough and powerful enough to take on and defeat the angels. They would recruit and control these life forms to build an army against the angels. They created the spark that developed into the world you see before you.”
“So the devil made us? Not God? Who’s telling you all this?”
“Ru.”
“How do you know this Ru guy ain’t lying to you?”
“The possibility is there. It abandoned me at what I believed was a crucial moment. I still don’t know why. But I believe.”
“So what’s the rest of the story?”
“The demons had no way of knowing if their experiment would work, but billions of years later, here we are—human beings. To the chagrin of the demons, the angels found us first. They fell in love with us. Out of nothing came something they could never have imagined. There is much more to our species and animals in general than you know. Most people can only get a glimpse of their evolved selves when they are asleep. The portion of ourselves that operates on a different level of space stays locked within us during waking moments. But when we sleep, it expands beyond the boundaries of our bodies intersecting with others. A few enlightened souls can maintain awareness of this phenomenon during intense meditation. They can control the expansion of the soul while awake. This ‘soul’, the angels feel, is the closest kin they’ve found across the many universes they have traveled. The angels do not know of their own origins. Human beings give them a clue of what they might have been. They shepherd some of our strongest souls to join them. We are simply that compatible. You see the one thing we seemed to have gained by developing the way we have, that the angels don’t have, is freedom of choice. And they’re fascinated by this. Everything they do is focused on achieving oneness. We can choose to shun the oneness. And we do so constantly. The demons on the other hand also are destined to behave one way. Like the angels, they can’t make this fundamental choice. One demon can only concentrate on its individual rise of power over the universe. The only reason a lesser demon works for the greater demon is to preserve its own existence and perhaps one day destroy the greater demon to take its place.”
“I’m still picturing a little guy with horns and tail holding a pitch fork on my right shoulder and little guy with wings and a halo holding a harp on my left.”
“It’s true, as humans, we can go either way because we can choose.”
“So where does Ru come into the picture?”
“It is one of the three of the seventeen who first came to our world. It was with me. I saw many parts of our planet with Ru. We were securing possible points of entry the demons could use as shortcuts to our world. The demons seeded their creation with tangible and intangible objects to act as tripwire alarms and possible gateways for easy access to collect their future army. Ru had a knack for locating these objects.”
“Hey, Dave, this is a great story, but there’s a good barbeque place just off of 70. In the mood for some ribs? Of course you are.”
Dave shrugged his shoulders. Lester had food on his mind, but he didn’t laugh Dave out of the car like most people would have after hearing everything Dave had to say. Maybe he’d seen enough to think that Dave could be right. He asked the right question back in Seattle. He knew Hrel. Ru mentioned that Hrel and others sometimes worked with or assisted state authorities. Lester seemed to be one of the good guys.
Lester screeched into the parking lot.
“Dave, go ahead and order. I’m going to do what I should have done four hours ago.” Lester was about to burst, but he had one more thought for Dave that couldn’t seem to wait. “You know, sometimes folks like to wrap themselves in a blanket of righteousness so they can do some pretty fucked-up things and have some basis to justify it. I can’t believe there is a set of perfect beings out there striving for oneness. If you’ve seen it and been touched by it, than you can know evil first-hand, my man.”
Lester ran into the restaurant and headed directly for the restroom. Dave ambled slowly into the modest and aromatic establishment. After he found a seat, he pulled out his mobile phone. There was a text message waiting for him to read.
Beneath one of the many lakes in Montana, Harry wanted to ignore the large mass that stood before him. But something about the gun holstered beneath Bernard’s immense coat made Harry think twice about testing his luck.
“Was it the nut sack? It must have been the nut sack. That thing is just getting too much press these days.”
One of the tricks Harry picked up from Lester was to not to appear bothered when finding oneself at a physical disadvantage. Keep the illusion of friendliness alive to let the other guy know that he might really be the one at the disadvantage. Bernard wasn’t laughing.
“For your safety, Mr. Turquoise, come with me.”
Somehow, Harry wasn’t buying that Bernard had any concern for his safety. They began walking towards the antechamber but then Bernard pushed Harry, and they veered to the right. Harry needed to find an opportunity to make a move.
“I must say, Mr. Turquoise, you performed quite predictably—right up to the moment when you decided to damage our property. Vandalism, Mr. Turquoise, really? Such a futile attempt to change whatever fate you believe awaits you.”
“The strength of that glass was on my mind all night. I made a bet with myself that I couldn’t break it. I lost. Who’d have guessed? I owe myself a car wash now.”
They moved higher into the honeycomb of the lakeside structure arriving at a room with a dazzling pool that fed an aquatic cave that Harry assumed led to the lake. There was scuba gear, underwater welding equipment, and a miniature submersible watercraft. Near the pool were three men bound to chairs. Another man with a submachine gun ensured the captives behaved well. As Bernard and Harry moved closer to the men, Harry realized the captives were his friends, Dolph, Greg, and Gary. Bernard began to explain the situation to Harry.
“Mr. Turquoise, we are quite familiar with your background and understand that extracting information from you through physical torture would yield nothing for us. I will ask a question. You will answer. If your answer is not to our satisfaction, we kill a man.”
The three men began to loudly protest.
“This is bullshit! This is fucking bullshit! I just met this guy,” Gary pleaded.
“You better tell them what they want to know, motherfucker.” Greg shot at Harry.
Bernard reassured the men, “Mr. Turquoise has a very noble heart. I don’t believe he wants anything bad to happen to you. Am I correct, Mr. Turquoise?”
Harry nodded.
“Mr. Turquoise, the question is simple. Where is Ruahadavalat?”
“I honestly do not know.”
Bernard walked behind Gary, pulled out his pistol, and shot Gary point blank through the back of the skull.
“Again, Mr. Turquoise, where is Ruahadavalat?”
Greg was sobbing. He knew death was close.
“No more killing! If I fucking knew where he was, I would fucking tell you!”
“We’ve stirred your soul, Mr. Turquoise. But I believe you’re not telling us everything.”
Harry knew it was hopeless for Greg. He looked around for anything.
“He’s gone. He left. I don’t know where he is. That… is… the truth.”
Bernard put a bullet into Greg’s head.
“You’re not listening to me!” Harry screamed.
Bernard’s gun was pointed at Dolph’s head. Harry was resigned to see Dolph die. Then Dolph spoke to Bernard.
“He doesn’t know.”
At least Harry convinced the condemned man. Then Dolph addressed Harry.
“You really disappointed me, Harry. I was really getting to like Shane Hardy. He seemed like a man who knew how to have fun and who wouldn’t allow anything get in the way of that fun. I had no idea, until Bernard clued me in a moment before he tracked you down, that you were the man we were fishing for.”
Bernard’s gun was now pointed at Harry. The other gunman untied the ropes that held Dolph to his chair.
“Can’t we buy you, Harry? Don’t you have a price? We thought Angie would be the ultimate prize. She was convinced. It was her idea as a matter of fact. We let her run with it. And here you go, protecting something about which you haven’t the slightest clue. We took a risk trying to bring you here. Now we’ll have to cut our loses. Bernard, take Harry back to the room he damaged, where we’ve left Angie. They can drown there together. I’m anxious to see what you two will do in the moments before releasing your souls from their flesh.”
Sobriety struck Harry quickly. With the gun now pointed at him, Harry could focus entirely on rescuing Angie Ahern. It would require much improvisation, but the twinkling of a plan was forming. Bernard began marching Harry back to the bluebird room maintaining a safe distance behind.
“So, Bernie, where you from? Montreal? Nice? Ivory Coast? Switzerland? I’m horrible at placing accents.”
Bernard was tempted to entertain Harry, knowing he wasn’t long for this world, but he also didn’t want to let his guard down.
“Okay. How about this? If you don’t tell me where you’re from, I’ll kill you.”
Bernard laughed this time. Harry laughed along with him. When they were in the hallway leading to the bluebird room, Harry started a new line of conversation.
“So my partner loves Steely Dan. Just loves them. But he’s never read Burroughs. So he had no idea that a Steely Dan was a dil…,” Harry trailed off as Bernard moved closer to hear what Harry was saying.
In less than a second, Harry pivoted forcefully into Bernard stripping the gun from Bernard by violently twisting his arm. Harry’s free hand with laser precision dealt consecutive blows to Bernard’s solar plexus and liver. Then Harry instantly moved his aim higher to strike Bernard’s neck. The stunned Bernard was open for Harry’s elbow to knock him unconscious.
Harry dashed down the hall to the bluebird room to find the door locked and slowly leaking at the seams near the bottom. He saw that there was a keypad to enter a numeric entry code. Harry ran back to Bernard to try to wake him. After slapping Bernard a dozen times, Harry realized the man was dead. Harry was familiar with Dim Mak but had always doubted its efficacy. Harry had inadvertently stumbled upon a deadly combination. With no time to dwell on the fact that his joke had come to pass, Harry sprinted back to the door. There was no way to get through. But he could get in another way. Harry ran back through hallways and up staircases to the pool room and grabbed a diving cylinder, mask, and fins. Dolph, the other gunman, and the corpses of Gary and Greg were gone. Harry suited up quickly, checked his regulator, and jumped in the pool. He followed the cavernous water tunnel to an emerald opening. A grate blocked Harry from getting through to the lake. Harry swam the few hundred meters back to the pool room and grabbed an arc welding kit. Harry returned to the opening and, after a few minutes, was able to unhinge the grate. He wasn’t going to be able to take as much time with the window to the bluebird room. He left the welding equipment behind and kicked his way to the window on the other side of the complex. Harry had no idea how much water filled the room. He only hoped he wasn’t too late. After a few attempts at whacking the diving cylinder into the window, Harry realized he would need more force. He could see Ahern on the other side of the glass with water up to her neck. The room’s door wasn’t completely watertight, but the rate water flowed through the crack that Harry made was much greater than the trifling that seeped through the door. She appeared entranced and amazed by Harry’s fervor to save her. Her hand was pressed on the glass. Harry motioned her to move back. He also moved away from the glass. Under normal circumstances Harry would never have been able to budge the pillar valve, but Harry’s adrenaline reserves were producing maximum output. Injuring a few tendons in his hand, Harry twisted the valve until the valve and tank flew away from him in opposite directions. The tank headed toward the window. With a deep thud, the tank bounced off the glass, widening the crack but leaving the window intact. Harry was furious and running out of air. He watched as the water rushed into the room pushing Ahern closer to the ceiling. Harry needed to breathe again. He swam for the surface. After fifty feet, Harry’s face hit the air. He took his first gasp for air and exhaled an anguished cry.
Angie stared at the ceiling. She could no longer breathe freely and look out the window at the same time. She knew Harry had done everything possible to save her. It was unfortunate that his last effort had the opposite effect of speeding up her demise. Angie could only think of how clouded her perspective was and how naïve she had been to think Harry could be tempted into the same dark world to which she had succumbed. She accepted her fate. She had failed to gain any utility from Harry for her masters. She was no longer needed. Her tears added to the rising water. Angie could only dream of living a different life—a life less egotistical—a lesson learned from Harry far too late. With less than an inch left of air, Angie felt herself being sucked towards the door. Dolph and the gunman had pried the door open. Dolph knew the code. Dolph knew everything about the Fallen Angel. He built the place.
As much as Lester enjoyed talking, the one-sided nature of his transcontinental monologue was starting to get to him. Dave’s catatonia was the biggest iceberg Lester had ever attempted to melt. Every now and then, Dave would let a little smile slip. This was the trickle of fuel Lester’s speech had been running on for the past day on the road and during stops for grub and gasoline. The one thing for which Lester could give Dave credit was that he kept his eyes open. Knowing someone was awake to receive his words of wisdom kept Lester from drifting off to sleep and off the highway. As they approached Kansas City, Dave finally started to open up.
“I haven’t seen my father in seventeen years.”
“See. There you go. That wasn’t hard. It’s not the funniest story, but you’re getting the idea now.”
“My father would want you to believe God created all of this. He created you and me. And our purpose in life is to love Him and bring glory to His name.”
“He’s on a roll, folks. He can’t be stopped. Please, David, continue.”
“It’s not the case. It’s not true.”
“Yeah, it’s all some big accident. My mama would whoop me if I didn’t make it to church. She’d get up out the grave and whoop me if she could, if she saw how I spent my Sundays now. I know where you’re coming from, chief.”
“It wasn’t an accident. It looks like an accident. The Big Bang, evolution, everything we know of through science, for the most part, happened.”
“Sounds like an accident.”
“But the demons started it. The dark ones. It was their grand experiment. They originated from a place of constant conflict with competing destructive forces. Without rest for eons, they fought to dominate and expand their reach.”
“Okay, you’re starting to lose me, Dave.”
“When they encountered the angels, they suffered their first defeat. It was their concept of dominance over all versus the angel’s oneness of all. It was the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object.”
“Are you talking about guys with horns and tails fighting guys with wings and halos?”
“No. Both forms do not occupy mass and volume in the way you and I expect conscious beings to exist. They’re not spirits that we could ever see. They exist on a higher dimensional space. They can easily perceive us, but we could never perceive them without their drawing of themselves into our space. In order to continue their conquest, the demons needed a weapon powerful enough to wipe out the angels. They essentially needed their own angels to infiltrate and destroy the space of the angels. They concocted the idea of creating a universe where any life that developed to a level that could transcend its own space would have to be brutal enough and powerful enough to take on and defeat the angels. They would recruit and control these life forms to build an army against the angels. They created the spark that developed into the world you see before you.”
“So the devil made us? Not God? Who’s telling you all this?”
“Ru.”
“How do you know this Ru guy ain’t lying to you?”
“The possibility is there. It abandoned me at what I believed was a crucial moment. I still don’t know why. But I believe.”
“So what’s the rest of the story?”
“The demons had no way of knowing if their experiment would work, but billions of years later, here we are—human beings. To the chagrin of the demons, the angels found us first. They fell in love with us. Out of nothing came something they could never have imagined. There is much more to our species and animals in general than you know. Most people can only get a glimpse of their evolved selves when they are asleep. The portion of ourselves that operates on a different level of space stays locked within us during waking moments. But when we sleep, it expands beyond the boundaries of our bodies intersecting with others. A few enlightened souls can maintain awareness of this phenomenon during intense meditation. They can control the expansion of the soul while awake. This ‘soul’, the angels feel, is the closest kin they’ve found across the many universes they have traveled. The angels do not know of their own origins. Human beings give them a clue of what they might have been. They shepherd some of our strongest souls to join them. We are simply that compatible. You see the one thing we seemed to have gained by developing the way we have, that the angels don’t have, is freedom of choice. And they’re fascinated by this. Everything they do is focused on achieving oneness. We can choose to shun the oneness. And we do so constantly. The demons on the other hand also are destined to behave one way. Like the angels, they can’t make this fundamental choice. One demon can only concentrate on its individual rise of power over the universe. The only reason a lesser demon works for the greater demon is to preserve its own existence and perhaps one day destroy the greater demon to take its place.”
“I’m still picturing a little guy with horns and tail holding a pitch fork on my right shoulder and little guy with wings and a halo holding a harp on my left.”
“It’s true, as humans, we can go either way because we can choose.”
“So where does Ru come into the picture?”
“It is one of the three of the seventeen who first came to our world. It was with me. I saw many parts of our planet with Ru. We were securing possible points of entry the demons could use as shortcuts to our world. The demons seeded their creation with tangible and intangible objects to act as tripwire alarms and possible gateways for easy access to collect their future army. Ru had a knack for locating these objects.”
“Hey, Dave, this is a great story, but there’s a good barbeque place just off of 70. In the mood for some ribs? Of course you are.”
Dave shrugged his shoulders. Lester had food on his mind, but he didn’t laugh Dave out of the car like most people would have after hearing everything Dave had to say. Maybe he’d seen enough to think that Dave could be right. He asked the right question back in Seattle. He knew Hrel. Ru mentioned that Hrel and others sometimes worked with or assisted state authorities. Lester seemed to be one of the good guys.
Lester screeched into the parking lot.
“Dave, go ahead and order. I’m going to do what I should have done four hours ago.” Lester was about to burst, but he had one more thought for Dave that couldn’t seem to wait. “You know, sometimes folks like to wrap themselves in a blanket of righteousness so they can do some pretty fucked-up things and have some basis to justify it. I can’t believe there is a set of perfect beings out there striving for oneness. If you’ve seen it and been touched by it, than you can know evil first-hand, my man.”
Lester ran into the restaurant and headed directly for the restroom. Dave ambled slowly into the modest and aromatic establishment. After he found a seat, he pulled out his mobile phone. There was a text message waiting for him to read.
---
Beneath one of the many lakes in Montana, Harry wanted to ignore the large mass that stood before him. But something about the gun holstered beneath Bernard’s immense coat made Harry think twice about testing his luck.
“Was it the nut sack? It must have been the nut sack. That thing is just getting too much press these days.”
One of the tricks Harry picked up from Lester was to not to appear bothered when finding oneself at a physical disadvantage. Keep the illusion of friendliness alive to let the other guy know that he might really be the one at the disadvantage. Bernard wasn’t laughing.
“For your safety, Mr. Turquoise, come with me.”
Somehow, Harry wasn’t buying that Bernard had any concern for his safety. They began walking towards the antechamber but then Bernard pushed Harry, and they veered to the right. Harry needed to find an opportunity to make a move.
“I must say, Mr. Turquoise, you performed quite predictably—right up to the moment when you decided to damage our property. Vandalism, Mr. Turquoise, really? Such a futile attempt to change whatever fate you believe awaits you.”
“The strength of that glass was on my mind all night. I made a bet with myself that I couldn’t break it. I lost. Who’d have guessed? I owe myself a car wash now.”
They moved higher into the honeycomb of the lakeside structure arriving at a room with a dazzling pool that fed an aquatic cave that Harry assumed led to the lake. There was scuba gear, underwater welding equipment, and a miniature submersible watercraft. Near the pool were three men bound to chairs. Another man with a submachine gun ensured the captives behaved well. As Bernard and Harry moved closer to the men, Harry realized the captives were his friends, Dolph, Greg, and Gary. Bernard began to explain the situation to Harry.
“Mr. Turquoise, we are quite familiar with your background and understand that extracting information from you through physical torture would yield nothing for us. I will ask a question. You will answer. If your answer is not to our satisfaction, we kill a man.”
The three men began to loudly protest.
“This is bullshit! This is fucking bullshit! I just met this guy,” Gary pleaded.
“You better tell them what they want to know, motherfucker.” Greg shot at Harry.
Bernard reassured the men, “Mr. Turquoise has a very noble heart. I don’t believe he wants anything bad to happen to you. Am I correct, Mr. Turquoise?”
Harry nodded.
“Mr. Turquoise, the question is simple. Where is Ruahadavalat?”
“I honestly do not know.”
Bernard walked behind Gary, pulled out his pistol, and shot Gary point blank through the back of the skull.
“Again, Mr. Turquoise, where is Ruahadavalat?”
Greg was sobbing. He knew death was close.
“No more killing! If I fucking knew where he was, I would fucking tell you!”
“We’ve stirred your soul, Mr. Turquoise. But I believe you’re not telling us everything.”
Harry knew it was hopeless for Greg. He looked around for anything.
“He’s gone. He left. I don’t know where he is. That… is… the truth.”
Bernard put a bullet into Greg’s head.
“You’re not listening to me!” Harry screamed.
Bernard’s gun was pointed at Dolph’s head. Harry was resigned to see Dolph die. Then Dolph spoke to Bernard.
“He doesn’t know.”
At least Harry convinced the condemned man. Then Dolph addressed Harry.
“You really disappointed me, Harry. I was really getting to like Shane Hardy. He seemed like a man who knew how to have fun and who wouldn’t allow anything get in the way of that fun. I had no idea, until Bernard clued me in a moment before he tracked you down, that you were the man we were fishing for.”
Bernard’s gun was now pointed at Harry. The other gunman untied the ropes that held Dolph to his chair.
“Can’t we buy you, Harry? Don’t you have a price? We thought Angie would be the ultimate prize. She was convinced. It was her idea as a matter of fact. We let her run with it. And here you go, protecting something about which you haven’t the slightest clue. We took a risk trying to bring you here. Now we’ll have to cut our loses. Bernard, take Harry back to the room he damaged, where we’ve left Angie. They can drown there together. I’m anxious to see what you two will do in the moments before releasing your souls from their flesh.”
Sobriety struck Harry quickly. With the gun now pointed at him, Harry could focus entirely on rescuing Angie Ahern. It would require much improvisation, but the twinkling of a plan was forming. Bernard began marching Harry back to the bluebird room maintaining a safe distance behind.
“So, Bernie, where you from? Montreal? Nice? Ivory Coast? Switzerland? I’m horrible at placing accents.”
Bernard was tempted to entertain Harry, knowing he wasn’t long for this world, but he also didn’t want to let his guard down.
“Okay. How about this? If you don’t tell me where you’re from, I’ll kill you.”
Bernard laughed this time. Harry laughed along with him. When they were in the hallway leading to the bluebird room, Harry started a new line of conversation.
“So my partner loves Steely Dan. Just loves them. But he’s never read Burroughs. So he had no idea that a Steely Dan was a dil…,” Harry trailed off as Bernard moved closer to hear what Harry was saying.
In less than a second, Harry pivoted forcefully into Bernard stripping the gun from Bernard by violently twisting his arm. Harry’s free hand with laser precision dealt consecutive blows to Bernard’s solar plexus and liver. Then Harry instantly moved his aim higher to strike Bernard’s neck. The stunned Bernard was open for Harry’s elbow to knock him unconscious.
Harry dashed down the hall to the bluebird room to find the door locked and slowly leaking at the seams near the bottom. He saw that there was a keypad to enter a numeric entry code. Harry ran back to Bernard to try to wake him. After slapping Bernard a dozen times, Harry realized the man was dead. Harry was familiar with Dim Mak but had always doubted its efficacy. Harry had inadvertently stumbled upon a deadly combination. With no time to dwell on the fact that his joke had come to pass, Harry sprinted back to the door. There was no way to get through. But he could get in another way. Harry ran back through hallways and up staircases to the pool room and grabbed a diving cylinder, mask, and fins. Dolph, the other gunman, and the corpses of Gary and Greg were gone. Harry suited up quickly, checked his regulator, and jumped in the pool. He followed the cavernous water tunnel to an emerald opening. A grate blocked Harry from getting through to the lake. Harry swam the few hundred meters back to the pool room and grabbed an arc welding kit. Harry returned to the opening and, after a few minutes, was able to unhinge the grate. He wasn’t going to be able to take as much time with the window to the bluebird room. He left the welding equipment behind and kicked his way to the window on the other side of the complex. Harry had no idea how much water filled the room. He only hoped he wasn’t too late. After a few attempts at whacking the diving cylinder into the window, Harry realized he would need more force. He could see Ahern on the other side of the glass with water up to her neck. The room’s door wasn’t completely watertight, but the rate water flowed through the crack that Harry made was much greater than the trifling that seeped through the door. She appeared entranced and amazed by Harry’s fervor to save her. Her hand was pressed on the glass. Harry motioned her to move back. He also moved away from the glass. Under normal circumstances Harry would never have been able to budge the pillar valve, but Harry’s adrenaline reserves were producing maximum output. Injuring a few tendons in his hand, Harry twisted the valve until the valve and tank flew away from him in opposite directions. The tank headed toward the window. With a deep thud, the tank bounced off the glass, widening the crack but leaving the window intact. Harry was furious and running out of air. He watched as the water rushed into the room pushing Ahern closer to the ceiling. Harry needed to breathe again. He swam for the surface. After fifty feet, Harry’s face hit the air. He took his first gasp for air and exhaled an anguished cry.
Angie stared at the ceiling. She could no longer breathe freely and look out the window at the same time. She knew Harry had done everything possible to save her. It was unfortunate that his last effort had the opposite effect of speeding up her demise. Angie could only think of how clouded her perspective was and how naïve she had been to think Harry could be tempted into the same dark world to which she had succumbed. She accepted her fate. She had failed to gain any utility from Harry for her masters. She was no longer needed. Her tears added to the rising water. Angie could only dream of living a different life—a life less egotistical—a lesson learned from Harry far too late. With less than an inch left of air, Angie felt herself being sucked towards the door. Dolph and the gunman had pried the door open. Dolph knew the code. Dolph knew everything about the Fallen Angel. He built the place.
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