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Chapter -10- Test of Might

Ethiopia Airlines, Flight 7476 from Narita to Ethiopia ...

James Parker looked down at his cellphone. "I just got a text from Conner. Wi-Fi on this flight sucks, I can't get my reply to go through."

Rachel leaned back in her seat, elbows squished into her sides. "What's he saying?"

"It says it's from his sister, Carmen. She's got his phone apparently. She said that Conner is hurt. He's unconscious and babbling about how I'm supposed to be tested. She said I need to stay alert because something serious is going to happen."

"God, I hope not. Not here. Not on an airplane. Keep your voice down, Jaye. You'll make people uncomfortable. How serious do you think we should take this?"

James turned to his fiancée and furrowed his brows at her. "After the things we've seen? How serious do you think we should take this?"

Rachel swallowed. "It can't be nearly as bad as being gifted the memories of being a psycho for a thousand years, a cougar for a while, and being in a three-way relationship with two fox people, who both wind up dead, and seeing all their children, save one, getting murdered. Sinopa is the only one who survived. So, yeah. There's that."

James grew quiet. "You've never talked about those things with me before now."

"Usagi told me that bottling it up is less healthy than getting it off my chest. He says if I vent, there's a chance I could become numb to it. Eventually I would start to retell it without really thinking about the images. There's a possibility I could condition myself the way Tamamo must've done. So I'm trying to vent."

James reached for her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. "I am so sorry we're involved in all of this. I never wanted you to be put in danger."

"James, knowing what I know now, they need all the help they can get. They're outnumbered and I want to help."

"Can you?"

Rachel shrugged. "The other day, Reno Nevada messaged me. He said it was an emergency and that he had an IP address he wanted me to log into and delete information. I couldn't do anything from my phone. I had everything locked out except text and email. I couldn't help him. Conner apparently took care of it. But it got me thinking - I want to do my part. I can almost hold my own in a spar against _you_because of learning three thousand years of self-defense. But I'm not a supernatural like you are. Still, I can hold my own. So why shouldn't I help?"

"When you put it like that..."

"Yeah." Rachel looked down with a sigh. "I need to be a part of this. I need to feel like I can control something in my life again. But I want you to know I appreciate you being my by side through everything. You've been amazing, Jaye. I love you." She gave his hand a firm squeeze.

James leaned towards her and they kissed. He settled back in his chair. "Speaking of Reno, I got a text from him while we were boarding. I haven't replied to him yet."

"What's it say?"

"He wants me to go to New York with him. You can come too, if you like. He thinks he has a lead on finding my parents. Something about his investigation in the death of Lance Patterson lead him to where my folks are hiding out, so that they wouldn't wind up dead, too."

Rachel's eyes widened. "He thinks they're alive and you didn't think that was important enough to tell me?" She slugged him in the arm. "Uh, hello? That's huge, Jaye!"

"I know, I know. I don't want to get my hopes up, though. One thing at a time. This text from Carmen has me a little nervous. I mean, you met her, she doesn't joke around."

"Yeah, I met her," said Rachel flatly. "We lived together on that island for, like, five or six months, Jaye. I didn't forget."

"Okay, alright," he said, holding his hands up defensively. "So what do you think this 'challenge' is? Do you think it has anything to do with my parents?"

"I hope. I'd rather it not be something to do with our flight."

"Yeah. I understand." James gave her hand a squeeze. The 'seatbelt' light went out, followed by someone speaking in Japanese over the loudspeaker. "What'd they say?"

Rachel replied with a wan smile. "At least being possessed by a psychotic spirit was good for something. I learned Japanese, heh. They said it's okay to move about the cabin as necessary, and that the stewardesses will be serving drinks shortly."

"We lived with Tamamo for a few months, too. Do you really think she's psychotic?"

"Not anymore," Rachel said with a sigh. "Sorry. That was mean. She's good for Conner. She's ... look, I did my best to avoid her the whole time. When we left early, I was glad. And her doctor turned out to be a pretty good guy. I like Usagi. And you'd think, with all I know about her and her choices, that I'd have sympathy for her because I can see how she's evolved. But I can't get some of those older images out of my head. And I never asked for that shit. However, I think I'll take her up on her offer she made back on the island."

"Which offer?"

Rachel watched as two surly looking men stood up from adjacent seats, nodded to one another and walked by, headed for the lavatory. She cut her gaze back to James. "Hmm? Oh, sorry; the offer about suppressing older memories. Some of the darker ones. At first, when she asked, I told her to take a hike and stop talking to me. We never bonded or anything. But now, I think, if she can get the gory pictures, and the images of your nephew out of my head, I think I'll be alright."

"Did you discuss that option with Usagi?"

"Yeah, he thinks it's a good idea. Then, maybe I won't have such a problem with Tamamo. I'll remember that she removed the bad images, but I won't remember what they are, or any major details about them." She gave his hand a squeeze. "I'll still remember how to do a roundhouse kick and speak several Asian languages, though."

"Several?"

"Uh, duh? Tamamo was married to a Chinese emperor in her youth. Huli Jing, Kumeho, Nogitsune - they're all the same thing. The only difference between those spirit foxes, and a kitsune, is that kitsune take an oath, on their honor, to serve Inari. So they typically behave better."

"Oh. Well, whatever works, right? Did you see those two guys a minute ago?"

"Yeah. You got a bad vibe, too?"

James nodded. "I sure did."

X

X

Ethiopia... Limbo...

The sky above was a black stoma - a wormhole that filled the heavens overhead. Conner gritted his teeth, holding a cane in each hand. He placed the staff with the snakehead into his holster and ran forward.

There was a tilted obelisk across a gap from him. At the top was a slender metal rod sticking up - most likely a lightening pole. He dashed towards it and used the hooked cane to snag the top. He swung across the gap and dropped to all fours on the other side.

The smoke made it hard to breathe, causing him to gag and occasionally wheeze for air. He came to the other end of the rooftop and peered out over the side of the building, looking for a way to parasail or even rappel down the outer wall.

Oddly, it appeared far longer than two stories. "Okay, I've done E-two and E-three Grade Seven, Class Five climbs with my mother ... I can do this." He leaned over the edge and narrowed his gaze, squinting to see the bottom.

A lake of glowing blood surrounded the foundation. He blinked from incomprehension. "Is that ... lava?" Conner held his hand out over the side but didn't feel any heat. He placed his paws together and cracked his knuckles. "Other side seems safer."

Conner leaned further over the side and spotted a window. He literally leapt over the side and snagged his cane in the window frame then swung in through the opening. The teenager tumbled to the ground in a hot room.

The fire wasn't within visual range but he could hear the roar of the nearby inferno. He knelt down to stay beneath the rolling smoke and crawled through to the doorway and into a hall.

Ahead of him, fragments from the rooftop littered the floor, barring his passage. He tried knocking pieces away with his cane but they weighed too much. He clenched his hands and tried to relax his body in order to focus. His back itched; his spine ached. Before long, the aching and itching became too much. Conner removed the staff from its holster, now holding both. As if on cue, the itching and the aching ceased. He blinked, glaring at the second staff in his grip.

After a moment, he returned his family cane to the holster and gave the new rod a slow twirl to get a feel for its weight. His eyes flitted back to the debris splayed across the room.

Conner twitched subconsciously from irritation. He sniffed at the air around him. From here, all the smoke rose through a hole in the ceiling above, making it easier to breathe in the hall.

Conner tried wedging a chunk of debris from its resting spot with the staff but was unable to move it. He tried striking the piece with the staff to no avail. In frustration, he brought the hilt to the floor, striking the ground.

Nothing happened but in the brief instant he struck the floor, each fragment of debris intensified like a flash of lightning. He experimented in an attempt to gain the same result by slamming the bottom of the staff back on the ground. Another flash emanated from the blockade.

With a grunt, the teenager lifted the staff as high as he could and brought it down to the ground with all of his might. He doubled over violently, throwing all of his weight into it and, to his breathless surprise, the fragments of ceiling and rooftop blew apart, creating a canyon of passage.

The slabs of cement and large pieces of debris lined the wall in a sloppy manner but stayed open for him to pass. "You've got to be kidding me."

He hurried down the stairs to the next level where the floor was covered with black snakes, each the length of his forearm. "Adders, Cobras and Asps, oh my," he murmured, repeating it slightly louder this time. Conner tightened his jaw. "How's that for cultural knowledge, Carmen and Karla?"

X

X

Rachel leaned towards James and said,"Those guys just came out of the bathroom together."

"How the hell did they fit in there at the same time?"

"That's not much space," she whispered back. "Seriously, it's not enough space to join the Mile High Club."

James blinked. "I thought that's people who get high in an airplane?"

"God you're naïve, babe. It's people who have sex more than a mile above the ground. Everyone knows that."

"Oh. Shh, here they come."

Both men walked by, but neither of them appeared to have done what Rachel suggested. Instead, they looked irritated and somewhat nervous.

"How much longer until we land?" Rachel asked.

James looked at his smartwatch. "Maybe thirty minutes, tops."

Rachel eyed the two men as they made their way back up to their seats. She scrunched up her nose, an expression of disgust forming like an adorable pout upon her face. "I'm going to keep my eye on those two. They seem like trouble. Call it a woman's intuition."

"Why, because they're gay in the bathroom together?" James blinked. "To each their own."

Rachel shook her head. "I don't hate on the gay community. I like women just as much as I like..." She trailed off and covered her face with her palm. "Sorry. Past experiences that weren't mine. Tamamo was in that threeway relationship to encourage Sinopa's parents to mate, because they were more interested in their academics, and didn't take the time to flirt with each other. They asked Inari for children, and Inari assigned Tamamo to become their 'romantic lesion. James, I'm so sorry I'm screwed up in the head."

"Stop apologizing. You didn't do anything wrong. And if you kissed a girl, I wouldn't be upset about it. Just ... don't kiss any guys. Especially not Conner. Once was enough."

"God no." She reached up and cupped either side of his face and kissed James. "You're my man." She held her left hand out. "See this? This is me telling the world that you're my man." She paused then tilted her head. "You wouldn't be upset about me kissing another woman? Really?"

"Uh, are you asking because you'd be upset if I said it's fine?"

She grinned at him. "I was going to go either way. I was going to heckle you if you said it's okay, and I was going to heckle you if you said it's not. Babe, I love you, okay?"

"I love you too, hon. Even if you've reinvented yourself. You're still the hot artistic hacker that loves me for who I am. And, God, we've been through so much together lately."

"Yeah, I know right?" Rachel brushed her thumb against his bottom lip then took his hand again. She paused and looked towards the front. The two men were arguing with someone. Rachel narrowed her gaze and sat up a bit in her seat to try and see them. One man had dark, dark brown hair and the other had fair, dirty blond hair. Both had two or three days' worth of stubble, and appeared in their late thirties. "Okay, I have a real bad gut feeling about those two. If I was that blond girl, I would teleport them out onto the wing."

James chuckled with a slow shake of his head. "The supernatural have a code about flaunting that stuff in public."

Rachel face-faulted. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Besides, it might mess with the cabin pressure."

James glanced towards the adjacent window. "Conner, for example, isn't allowed to do this glowing cane trick in public. It apparently starts inquisitions with people who don't understand the science behind the Esoteric Community or whatever it used to be called."

The Co-Pilot's voice came over the intercom. "This is Commander Russel Wallace speaking. We'll be landing in Ethiopia's Addis Ababa Bole International airport shortly, with the current time at 4:12pm. It's currently twenty-two degrees Celsius, and looks to be dry with rain expected around midnight. Welcome to Ethiopia; welcome to the Horn of Africa."

The message repeated first in Japanese, from the pilot, then Amharic, Oromo, and Somali, from one of the stewardesses. Finally, another stewardess repeated the message in Arabic.

The seatbelt sign came on. People began scuffling around, buckling their belts and putting their seat trays up against the back of the chair in front of them.

The two men that Rachel had been watching further up in the cabin both stood up at the same time. "I want everyone's attention!" said the fair-haired man. He addressed the cabin in English, while his partner repeated everything in Japanese, sentence by sentence. "This plane is no longer under the control of its operators. I want everyone to stay calm and do _exactly_as I say because you're all worth more to us alive than dead. There is no need to panic; so long as everyone does what I tell them, we'll be landing on time with no problems. There will be a delay, however. We'll be sitting on the tarmac while my accomplice and I negotiate terms with the local law enforcement."

"I knew it," Rachel muttered. "I wish I could teleport him out on the wing."

The fair-haired man continued his monologue. "I will require your cooperation! Now, we're not in grade school anymore, but poor behavior will not be tolerated. I have a detonator in my left hand and explosives packed into mock batteries on three laptops, located in key points of the overhead storage. If they explode, they _will_detonate what fuel is left in this plane. It may not be much, but it will certainly be enough to kill everyone here. Anyone who attempts to start trouble will die. If the behavioral problems persist, we'll cut our losses and two more people will hijack another plane tomorrow and start all of this over from square one."

"I'm so sorry you got dragged into this," James whispered back.

The hijacker continued to speak. "This isn't about money or anything you people can offer to us. So, for everyone here to walk away from this, I require all of you_to be on your very _best behavior. At the end of the day, the two of us go to prison, happy that our demands were met. The alternative, as I've said before, requires all of us to die together. So, just sit back, relax, put on your iPod, or get out a good book, because we're all going to be friends for a little while longer. I'll instruct the stewardesses to begin serving coffee and refreshments. Bathroom trips will be one at a time on an as-needed basis. I'm going to offer a three-strike rule. If we have three strikes, the plane goes with everyone aboard. No one do anything stupid, do you understand?"

Silence. No one spoke after his long, calmly recited monologue, not even Rachel and James.

X

---

"What did he just say?" asked Carmen with a puzzled look on her face. "Did he just say what I think he said?"

"It sounded like he was talking to you," replied Evan. "He's not even conscious - that's really strange."

"Not only that, there aren't any snakes around," said Karla. "Asps are the Egyptian snakes that Cleopatra used in order to commit suicide." She looked up, seeing Evan's expression. "What? I'm smart sometimes. Lance took me in as a student because I retain things. What's that look for?"

"Everything I thought I knew about you from twenty-five years ago was wrong. You're not a bimbo, you're not a sociopath, and you're not evil."

"I'm not sure if you're trying to compliment me or judge me," Karla replied with a slight grin. "But you should stop flirting; you're happily married."

"Wait, what? I'm not flirting. I'm just saying ... aw, never mind."

Karla grinned.

"Hey you guys, he doesn't sound good." Carmen's concerned tone brought attention from Evan and Karla.

Conner's breathing sounded labored. His left arm twitched and his forearm contracted with spasms.

The trio placed him on the ground in the shade across from the burning building, beneath trees, caddy corner from their hotel. Evan glanced around, hoping to see emergency services but was disappointed by their lack of appearance.

Carmen fanned him gently while Karla conjured fountain water over to an empty canteen. She opened the top and poured it on the teenager's neck and arm. She dabbed water upon the top of his forehead moistening his hair.

Karla emptied the water atop of his head to cool him down. "He's still burning up, girls. Evan, see if you can flag down someone and have him or her call for help. Carmen, take his gear and help me get his shirt off. I'll get more water and we'll try to cool him down by pouring it on his chest or something."

X

---

X

Conner sighed in slight relief although he still struggled to breathe. His arm was throbbing with rapidly spreading acute pain. He lay on the ground, unable to continue forward from dizziness. The snakes slithered across his legs and torso as he struggled to crawl through the pit. The floor squirmed, alive from the layers upon layers of small reptiles. "Dammit," he murmured through clenched teeth.

He rolled over onto his side, conceding defeat from pain. His head tilted a bit, glancing down at the swelling spot on his arm. He couldn't feel his fingers. He released his grip upon the staff and it began to move away from him on the backs of the undulating floor tiles. As it gained some distance, it moved into his direct view.

The snake-like bronze fixture atop of the rod began to incandesce. He was unsure whether or not it was from hallucination due to the snakebite.

"This is all your fault," he murmured to the staff. His eyes met with the glowing tiny eyes of the bronze snake at the top of the cane. "Ironic; your friends must be starving." His eyes felt dry but, strangely, his neck, chest and behind his ears felt cool relief. "God that's nice ... I guess it won't be much longer now..." He kept his gaze upon the bronze fixture. His eyes were drying out and his vision was growing hazy. As he fought for consciousness, he could tell that the fixture was glowing brighter. "I must be dreaming," he murmured with a slur.

The glow intensified until it became difficult to see but his eyes were too dried out for his lids to close. His pupils shrank to pinholes and his body convulsed from seizure. The glowing continued to shine in his face...

X

X

" I'd love to teleport him out onto the wing ," said Rachel. "Why couldn't I have been born with that power?"

"It wouldn't be a good idea anyhow," James whispered back. "If his detonator went out of range, it might cause those explosives to go off."

"If they even exist," Rachel replied. "From here, it looks like he's just holding a cellphone. People like that just want attention and power. And if he loses that, he'll get excited and start attacking helpless people."

"So what do we do?" asked James. "You think we should take them both down in one smooth action? It's either that or we lay low until we've landed."

"We don't have a lot of options here, babe. Unless I can get a hot cup of coffee. At least then I'd have a weapon. So, the fair-haired one, I'm calling him Salt. The dark-haired one, I'm going to call him Pepper."

"This is going to get tricky if we try anything. Rachel, no offense, but the old you, Dawn, would never ever try anything like this. You were upset when I put myself in danger. You got upset with me for walking across the line to your window from my apartment building."

"With all due respect, I feel entitled now. I feel like I've been alive for three thousand years and I'm not going to let some scruffy asshole and his boy toy get their way with us."

"Just relax for right now, Rachel."

"HEY!" The fair-haired man approached James. The two locked gaze for a moment then, without a word, the fair-haired man, Salt, reached into the overhead compartment above Rachel's head. He withdrew a laptop case, causing everyone on the plane to tense up. Salt opened it and withdrew a widescreen seventeen-inch laptop from its case.

Salt shifted the dummy computer beneath his left arm. With his right hand, he pulled a component from the side of the computer. Salt turned back to James, brandishing a crudely designed knife with a ten-inch blade and a four-inch handle. He placed the tip of the knife against James' jaw. "Seriously, shut up, kid. This thing will go all the way through you and out the other side. You ever had a piece of metal straight through you and out your back, kid?"

James remained silent.

"Answer the question. Can you even imagine what it's like to have a piece of metal go straight through you, and out your back? Answer me right now. I want to know if you're afraid. I want to know if you think you could handle this blade going through your gut and out your back."

James licked his lips and narrowed his gaze. In a chillingly callous voice, he said, "Yes. My nephew had it happen. He said it was cold at first but didn't hurt as much as you'd think. He said your body is too shocked to realize the gravity of it at first. He's just a kid. If he can do it, I can do it."

Salt smirked. "You've got an active imagination, kid." He reached his free hand down, grasped James by his hair, and shoved him back against the headrest of the seat. "Now shut the hell up before we really find out if this hurts or not."

Pepper, further down the aisle, cleared his throat and said, "Just make an example out of him so everyone else knows we mean business."

"No!" Rachel exclaimed. Everyone turned to face Rachel, whose wide eyes and frustrated demeanor made it easy to perceive her deep concern. "He wasn't lying, and there's no need to get violent."

"So, kid," Salt asked, "Did your nephew die?"

"No." James remained calm and collected.

"Then someone didn't do it right. Let me show you how it's done." He raised his hand up, holding the knife aloft.

"Wait!" Rachel shook with nervous energy. She wanted to fight but she was in the middle seat, unable to do anything with the man standing over them. "Just ... let's resolve this without violence. There's no need to make any examples today. Everyone here knows you're serious."

James reached beneath himself. He glanced around at the distracted group of people. His hand snuck down and pulled up on a handle between his and Rachel's seat cushion. He flipped a small lever into an unlocked position and began to wiggle his rump to loosen the clamps on either side of the seat. "I'll be cool, man. Did you need any help with the drink cart? You don't want the stewardesses pushing it around back there, right? They could wait until you're not paying attention and call for help from the galley, right? Do you want me to push the cart?"

Salt quickly backhanded James across the side of his face. "Shut up, kid. You annoy me." He turned away but not before turning back towards Rachel. He suddenly barked in her face to startle her. Salt smiled in reply to her flinch and addressed the cabin. "It's a shame there are so many good looking bitches on this plane. It's even sadder that half of you can't understand me. I hope you bimbos are smart enough to keep your mouths shut. I'd hate to have to shank a pretty face, but don't think I won't."

Pepper, further up the aisle, selectively repeated only the last two sentences of his partner's words into Japanese.

X

X

Axum... Limbo...

Conner suddenly blinked and sat up. The blindingly intense pain was gone. The swelling in his arm faded. He blinked a few more times to get the moisture back into his eyes then he took a deep, satisfying breath. The air tasted wonderful and clean despite the heat.

The snakes on the floor lay all around him, dead and motionless. He crawled over to the bronze staff and picked it up. "I can't even begin to understand what's happening to me," he muttered with a touch of contempt in his voice. "I thought snakes were supposed to be a sign of Egyptian Royalty," he murmured, coming to his feet.

He eyed the staff. "I thought it was Aaron's Rod that healed snakebites and such? This is so confusing."

Carefully, he waded through the layers of dead snakes only to be startled by a voice behind him. "You speak of Wadjet," said Enoch. "The sign you mention is the symbol known as the Uraeus. Wadjet was a true flesh and blood creature, one of the oldest in the land of Nod."

"Where the heck is Nod at? I don't know it." He turned around, glancing over his shoulder at the unrealistically tall man with the wings. Where Metatron walked, the snakes materialized into salt. Conner tightened his jaw again then asked, "Are you saying that _Egypt _is Nod?"

"Anywhere outside of modern day Iraq is considered Nod. Nod is the world outside The Garden. Wadjet was one of several recipients of the children born of Lilith."

"Lilith?"

"Yes, Adam's first wife. She didn't care to raise her own children, so she gave them away. One to a wolf, one to a snake, one to..."

"I don't care!" exclaimed the teenager. "Seriously, I don't care."

"You should."

Conner sighed. "I'm sorry, I have a temper."

"I've noticed. You are here to learn. Have you listened to what I told you yet?"

The teen lowered his eyes. "Okay, so, the snake gets a baby, the baby becomes an Egyptian deity and the Egyptians think she is awesome so they pray to her and make a sign of the snake as part of their culture and royalty?"

Enoch nodded.

"And Lilith's children became symbolic of characters outside of humanity?"

"Yes, young man. Very good."

Conner rubbed at his eyes then said, "I don't want to talk about Lilith anymore. I have things to do, man. I need to stomp Aris Falcon. If vengeance is a bad thing, oh well ... then it makes sense, because I'm about to do very bad things to this guy. He has my parents."

Enoch nodded. "He is the greediest man I've seen. He lusts for these artifacts, consumed by madness. Become God's wrath and strike down Aris Falcon. Return the horded artifacts to their rightful resting places, throughout the globe. Without all the artifacts, and the proper knowledge to help control these unified pieces, they will cause only extensive death and incredible destruction."

"Yeah? So why doesn't God do some Divine Intervention and rock this guy off his soap box?"

Enoch shook his head slowly. "God has made a promise two times. The first pact was sealed with a rainbow that ended forty days and forty nights of flooding. The second pact was written with the blood of His Son. He lay down the flaming sword of Michael and gave people a truer more meaningful covenant of freewill. God no longer strikes down His enemies but, rather, empowers His allies that they may reap the reward of defeating such foes. God has not been vengeful in such a way in over two thousand years. Earlier, I'd asked you not to fight Falcon out of vengeance but ... I'm beginning to see that it empowers you from within. Perhaps I was initially mistaken. Summon the hurt and the loss you feel and use it in a positive way."

"Fine. I'll do it. I'll find Falcon and rip him apart. But I'm not doing it for you or for God or for my parents or for anyone else ... I'm doing it for me."

The angel lifted his mighty, broad hand and nodded. "You have what you've come for. You now know what it does and how it should be used. It is not a weapon. It is a marker of faith and divine power; a beacon of guidance. Instruct James to use it only as such. He is not to strike down his foes with that staff lest he sully and tarnish it."

"I've got this," said Conner, drawing out his other cane. He gave the golden pole a twirl off the back of his knuckles. "Listen, just point me back in the direction of my friends so we can do our job."

"You'll be tempted a great many times by a great many things along the way. Keep your focus. And for Heaven's sake ... repair your relationships with your friends. The succubus with whom you often argue - she is about to save your life."

Conner blinked. "Say what?"

"Just do what I've said. I will look out for you."

"What do you mean you'll look out for me?"

Metatron smiled. "I am a protector of Children ... I fancy them and their imagination, their clever young minds and their powerful hearts. And soon, you will return to the arms of Tamae. You will bring children into this world, Conner. I'm helping you because you are still a child. I'll watch over you until the day you become a man. Call upon me for my aid - pray to God for His divine strength. Believe in yourself and find your faith, Conner." He lifted his mighty hand and pointed behind Parker, saying, "Now go. Your friends await - don't worry them any further."

Conner stared at the man for a long moment. "Thanks, Enoch."

The enormous angel smiled softly. "One more artifact exists. You should try to obtain it."

"Where is it?"

"In Ethiopia. It is a fragment of a large seed. When combined with its other two pieces, it can be planted in the earth."

"What does it do?"

"It's a seed from a piece of fruit that came from the branches of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."

"Are you even serious right now?"

"Have I not been serious all along?"

Conner frowned.

"Now go. Look behind you, and walk towards your friends."

He nodded respectively then he turned around and ran for the exit door of the dream-state building. The fire, now burned out, left nothing more than a charred husk of the building's inner structure. Conner hurried through the doorway, out into the streets of Limbo. He rushed towards the hazy images of his three friends across the way...

X

---

Conner Parker sat up with a groan. He rubbed the side of his face then looked from Karla to Evan to Carmen. "Damn, I have one _hell_of a headache."

"Conner!" Carmen shouted, quickly embracing him around the neck. "Thank God!"

Karla placed a hand on Conner's head, patting him like a dog. "Who is 'Enoch?' You said his name along with a bunch of other things right before you woke up."

The teenage boy blinked at the succubus and shook his head with a shrug. "I was asleep just now?" He patted himself down realizing that he was wet and without a shirt.

Karla nodded. "Uh-huh, you were out for quite some time." She helped him to his feet, regardless of the fact that Carmen hadn't yet relinquished her embrace around his neck. "We've got canes in your bag. We're ready to find James and get the hell out of this country."

"Fine, let's split-city then." Conner patted Carmen gently on the shoulders, easing her away long enough to rub at his face from the pain behind his temples, eyes and the nape of his neck. "What was I doing while I was out?" He reached for the offered shirt and put it on.

"At one point," said Carmen, "You were in shock. Your arm was swollen up, you had a fever and you were having seizures. When the convulsions began, I took your passport wallet out and put it between your teeth to keep you from biting off your tongue."

Conner quirked his brows in disbelief. "You did? I bit it?"

Carmen withdrew it from her pocket. Of the group of passports, his was the only one with intensely deep bite-mark patterns, which showed on both sides. She opened it for him so he could see that his incisors mangled the interior in four places. "It's pretty extensive. You can always tell the airport ... uh ... well, I'll come up with a good excuse if you give me a few minutes. Needless to say, Conner, I was very worried about you and..." A gunshot rang out, startling her into silence.

Another one cracked the stillness around them. A puff of dust and sand exploded at their feet, causing the group to recoil.

Conner gritted his teeth in frustration. "Karla, get them out of here. I'll meet up with you guys at the airport."

"Screw off, Parker." Karla sneered at him then waved a hand and the trio disappeared.

Another gunshot rang out, striking the canvas guitar case on the curb. Conner shouldered it quickly then darted out from beneath the awning. He cut his gaze over to the burning building across the street, while running, and shook his head at the memory of his apparent 'dream'.

A sobering reminder of his reality came with another thunderous sound. A round sailed by him with a loud whistle. It struck a nearby street sign, creating an irritating 'clang' from the force.

He cut his gaze up, seeing the exit hole blasted through the metallic surface as he ran past. "At least I know for sure you're behind me, now," he muttered while running. Conner zigzagged his footfalls, weaving from left to right to better evade the gunner.

He darted into a store, back out through the side door, across the alley and into another building. Conner continued through the back, across another alley, into another building then darted across the street, hurrying through a church.

He emerged from the backside, crossed the next street and down the block, dipping into another alley. There were two men kneeling on the ground upon small square carpets. They were on all fours, offering praise and prayers. Conner leapt over the one on the right and continued down the alley as quickly as he could run.

He suddenly skidded to a halt and glanced back over his shoulder. The teenager blinked twice then snapped his fingers and took off running again. He crossed the next street and disappeared into another store. When he emerged from the backside, he wore a turban, a robe and held a prayer carpet under one arm. He kept the canvas guitar case hidden beneath the robe, embraced long ways under his left arm.

Conner moved out to the sidewalk, dropped the carpet square and knelt down upon it. He lowered all the way down then peered up while keeping his chin lowered.

Mimicking the Muslim prayers he'd witnessed, Conner kept his head down, watching the area for possible sniper points. A small convoy of jeeps slowly rumbled down the road. Conner stayed as low as he could, on all fours, peering up discretely. He blinked twice, seeing one of the men in the passenger seat of the second jeep. "Pendleton," he murmured, remembering the man from the England. The man's window was open. Conner could hear him speaking to the driver.

"When we find that stupid god damn stick, Falcon will be finished with his collection. Then all of us can retire. I'm not quite sure what he'd want with this stupid little red stone, though. I thought it was supposed to be a ruby the size of my fist."

The driver asked, "If it's not a ruby, what is it?"

"Fossilized tree sap. Amber or something like that. But it's definitely not a ruby." Their voices faded, mixing into the sound of the Chrysler engines.

Conner's eyes widened but he kept his head down. The three jeeps turned at the end of the block then came to a stop. The men got out of their vehicles and entered a hotel on the corner.

The teenager stood up, taking the carpet square in his right paw then he began to walk down the street calmly headed for the hotel. "You've got to be kidding me ... talk about fate, those guys are about to get a little visit from the Karma Police." He cracked his knuckles and drew out his cellular phone. Carmen answered. Conner cleared his throat and asked, "Are you guys okay?"

Over the line, his sister said, "Yes, we're fine. I'm glad you called me. Someone was seriously shooting at us? God, Conner, what've we gotten ourselves into."

"Wilfred says not to say the word 'got,' or 'gotten.' It sounds un-educa... look, nevermind. Sorry. My headache is killing me and I'm not thinking straight."

"Meet us at the airport. You want me to send Karla to get you?"

"No, wait," Conner told her. "Look, the guys who hired the shooter ... they're in the area and they have something important. Something for Falcon. I think it might be that last artifact."

"What a snake," she snapped over the phone.

Conner smirked. "I heard that many snakes stay within twenty feet of their victim, just waiting for the venom to kick in ... these guys are staying at a local hotel in the area and they have the artifact - it's some sort of fossilized amber stone. I'm going to take it from them. The shooter was supposed to do the job and then they would come in and pick up the staff, but I'm in a disguise right now."

"Look, Conner, I'm staying. Karla and Evan can head back to wherever, but you need logistical support. Let's just ... do this together. We can strike tonight."

"Yeah?" He grinned inwardly. "Just us, huh? Like old times?"

Silence. After a moment, she sighed with a soft chuckle. "I got James' number from your phone while you were out cold. I'm going to message them and let them know what's going on. They've got a situation of their own, if you read your phone. I'll send Karla to help them out."

"I'll text you an address. Get a taxi or something and I'll meet you there."

X

X

Circling above Ethiopia...

"Your phone buzzed," Rachel told James quietly.

He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "Huh. Read that." He passed it to her.

She baled and re-read the message then handed it back. "Wow."

"Deep huh? So they found the artifact and Conner woke up, but Carmen says I'm the only one who can handle this thing? That's a little weird. She and Conner are going after this last piece. Apparently with half the country headed to our airport to lock down the airport, Falcon's people were able to steal some amber artifact without any police resistance. Those two have a plan to get it back."

"Pretty wild. So what's our plan?"

James shook his head. "I can't get over how different you are, now. You're full of life, but it's going to get us killed."

"Jaye, I know it happened way before we were born, but the people who hijacked the airplanes on 9/11 apparently told their passengers they have bombs to keep people from playing hero. And after three plane crashes, people on the fourth plane got phone calls on their cell phones, telling the passengers that the other planes were smashes into buildings. I'm not going out like that. We've gotta call their bluff and do something."

"They have one knife," said James. "I take it from them then we overpower them. That's the plan. Can you look at that laptop and see if the battery really is some sort of explosive? How could they turn a battery into a bomb, anyhow?"

"Chemical, electrical ... you don't need a very big bomb to rip a hole in the fuselage. That's all they'd need to do. We all get blown out and fall to our death. But the battery he pulled out of that fake laptop, earlier, was just a holding spot for a sharp plastic knife. So I think he's bluffing." She abruptly changed topic and asked, "So this last artifact is a walking stick more or less?"

James nodded. "Supposedly they stole the rod of freaking Moses from the Ark of the Covenant. If it's true, then everything we're doing from here on out is on a biblical scale."

"That's the thing that parted the Red Sea right?"

"I think so, yeah. That's an epic piece of hardware to put into the hands of mere mortals, if it's even anything more than a story."

A thump sound caught everyone's attention. They glanced up at the front of the airplane. Salt leaned back against the closed cockpit door, arms folded, speaking to his accomplice. No one could hear the conversation.

James sighed. He took a deep breath and began to bounce his legs to get his heart rate up. He opened and closed his hands. "It's now or never, babe. Are you sure?"

"You really think these two jackasses are smart enough to sneak a legitimate bomb on board? Let alone three? I don't think so."

"So then they'd want to crash it, because it's their only way of getting some sort of attention? I mean, they don't look Muslim."

"Babe, these guys want something. They're all keyed up. I don't think they expect to live through this. They're scared, too."

James grimaced. "Okay, it's now or never, then."

"HEY!" Salt and Pepper began to march back down the aisle, able to see James and Rachel's mouths moving. Salt lifted the knife. Everyone on the end seats shied back, cringing away from the aisle and his blade. "I told you guys to shut up! I didn't want any goddamn trouble, but now you've lost your chance, because you two little shits can't behave!" Salt lifted his knife high, ready to attack.

James stood, drawing his flotation seat cushion up with ease. He used it as a shield, shoving it forward in unison to Salt's lunge.

The thick cushion absorbed the knife blade all the way to the makeshift handle. Every passenger in the cabin had his or her eyes on the altercation.

Salt gritted his teeth trying to push one hand forward against James' seat cushion while jerking his other hand back, holding the handle of the weapon tightly.

Jaye made a quick reaction and turned the seat cushion like a steering wheel. His fast response twisted the knife handle from the attacker's grip. James kicked his foot up, shoving Salt back into Pepper.

James flipped the cushion around, took the knife by the handle and slid his left hand through the two straps on the flotation device. He rushed forward up the aisle, bowling both men to the floor.

At the top of his lungs, James shouted, "Is anyone going to help me or do you people want to die?!" He used his elbow in the cushion to keep it pinned down against Salt's face while using his left hand to reach over. James shoved the knife into Salt's hand, burying the blade between his knuckles, prying the 'detonator' device from the man's grasp.

Two males from the seventh and third row jumped from their seats and rushed up the aisle to help. James continued to struggle with the men on the ground. "Rachel, a little help!"

She climbed over the backrest of the seats in front of her, between two middle-aged men. They helped her move towards James. She reached up and snatched the detonator away then smashed it against the floor as hard as she could. She got to her feet and stomped on it repeatedly.

A guttural growl came from Salt. He clenched his teeth and struggled, kicking wildly with rage.

Pepper's foot came up and caught James in the stomach, throwing him back. He hit his head on the cabin ceiling then dropped atop of his empty seat. The headrest of his chair caught him in the middle of his back.

James dropped to the carpeted floor and rolled onto his hip with a groan, dazed. Meanwhile, the two passengers that came to help worked to keep both assailants on the floor.

The attempts of the two passengers were futile. Both salt and Pepper manage to get to their feet. Pepper turned around and swung his fist out, catching both passengers in their faces in one swing.

Both passengers toppled backwards, spilling over seated people.

Salt gripped the front of his shirt, facing Pepper, and tugged the hem down firmly. "Goddamn it, Martin, get up to the cockpit and crash this goddamn plane. Do whatever it takes."

"You fucked this up," Pepper said. "You're an idiot. I can't believe my uncle married your mother. We'll be forgotten by Dr. Falcon; we're both fodder. Expendable people who are being used. We won't get paid. This is a goddamn suicide mission."

"It is now, Martin! Get the fuck up there and crash this plane or we're both going to a dirty, underground fucking prison, locked away forever! DO IT!"

Pepper pushed his way back up the aisle. Salt turned around ... just in time to meet a fist in his face. Salt teetered backwards, colliding with his cousin. Both grunted, caught off balance.

Salt looked up in horror after feeling the sting of pain in his face. His eyes met with the downward glare of Rachel Razin, his right sleeve was rolled up to her shoulder.

Rachel reached down for him. She took the fair-haired Salt by his collar in her left hand and punched him a second time with her right fist. The strike to his eye left him dazed, slumped inside of the shirt that she held him aloft by. A third punch, straight into his left eye, and he turned to dead weight in her grip.

James stood up, seeing Pepper moving towards the cockpit. He remembered his training in the island, flipped the dagger around, holding it by the blade, and hurled it as hard as he could. The hardened plastic knife was surprisingly well balanced for being homemade. The sharpened blade struck Pepper in his back, causing him to cry out in pain and slump to one knee.

Pepper reached back and pulled the dagger from his body with a scream of agony.

Rachel dropped Salt to the floor and stepped over him. James moved into position, using his seat cushion to keep the man from getting back up.

Rachel stormed up the aisle of the plane and struck Pepper in the back of his neck with her fist. Her knuckles protruded from the fist, causing the strike to be more painful. "Donkey punch, you motherfucker," she spat. She reached down and took Pepper by the collar of his shirt in one hand, and by his belt in her other.

Rachel dragged him up the aisle like a battering ram. "I hear those cockpit doors are pretty solid. Let's see if I can drive your goddamn head through it! You told him to kill my future husband, you son of a bitch," she snarled into his ear from behind.

"Wait," he cried, struggling in her grip. She continued to force him up the aisle on all fours. "You told that man to kill my man, to make an example of him!" She picked up the pace, approaching the cockpit door.

"Listen, lady, I...!"

By the time they made it to the first class seating, Rachel was nearly at a hurried gallop. She tightened her arms as the adrenaline coursed through her body.

Pepper's feet dragged on the carpeted aisle, trying to snag his feet against any seat. However, with first class seating spaced well, and angled at forty-five degrees, Pepper was unable to make purchase with anything.

Pepper lifted his head just in time for his face to slam against the heavy-duty cockpit door. Rachel used all of her body weight to force him into the white-painted metallic surface. She released him and stumbled forward, her shoulder careening into the door from the follow-through momentum.

Pepper lay on the floor, his face snug against the door. He didn't move.

Rachel slumped against the wall and fell to the floor. She took a deep breath and, before even registering the pain, she cried out at the top of her lungs. The knife Pepper had been holding was now buried in her thigh. She shouted until she felt dizzy and her voice grew hoarse.

Silence.

James drew his fist back and clocked Salt in the face as hard as he could. The man grew still. James hurried up the aisle towards his fiancée. He dropped to his knees at her side and put his hands on her thigh, on either side of the knife.

"Christ, it fucking hurts!" she shouted, breathlessly.

"Take deep breaths. Deep breaths, Dawn."

She didn't correct him. "Get it out!"

"No, I can't," he said. "I can't pull that out, it will rip you up. It's serrated." He reached a hand over and touched Pepper's crooked neck, muttering a curse word beneath his breath. Pepper was dead from a broken neck.

James placed both of his hands on either side of Rachel's face. "Look at me. Don't look at your leg. Just look at me."

"I've seen worse! Let me look!" she howled in anguish. Her eyes lowered to her thigh. It didn't look as bad as she expected, but seeing the concern in James' eyes made the situation feel worse than it was. "It fucking hurts, it fucking hurts," she chanted. "God it hurts so bad."

"Karla can take it out. No surgery. I'll have her meet us here right away. Then you just need a stitch job. You're gonna be okay, baby. And I am so proud of you for helping me fight them off. We saved everyone on the plane from that guy. He was going to crash us, you heard him say it."

"Shh, James, shh, just ... it hurts. Call Karla quick. It hurts so goddamn much."

"Okay, okay baby. I'll do it right now." He reached into his pocket and fumbled with his phone. James called Karla's cellphone.

She answered on the other end. "Hey, we're kind of in a thing right now. Everything okay?"

"Karla, how fast can you get to the Capital? We just stopped a plane hijacking and Rachel was stabbed. You need to pull the knife out. I don't trust these doctors here. You've gotta help her. Can you help?"

"Holy shit. You guys sit tight. I'll be there as soon as I'm able." Karla hung up from her side.

"She's on her way." He ripped her torn pant leg and worked to add pressure, using the torn fabric to tie around her thigh to reduce blood flow.

"Focus, James," she whimpered. "I know you love me, and it's natural to be afraid to hurt me, but I need you to pull it out."

James' eyes widened. "No. We're not pulling it out. It's not because I'm afraid of hurting you," said James. "This stays in until we can have it removed in a hospital or until Karla gets here."

"I don't have insurance," she pouted, finally catching her breath. It was obvious that she was still in some measure of shock. "We can't afford this kind of..."

"Shh. The more you relax, the more you help to clot the wound, okay? Don't pull it out. We're going to stay right here until we land. Just try not to move your leg too much. And, in case you forgot, I'm a Parker. Conner and I will make sure you have the best care, period."

"I'll ... go to a doctor but I don't want them operating on my leg. We're in Ethiopia. I don't know how good they are here. Just ... have Karla get it out, then. You're right. I'm just ... I'm not making good decisions when I can't think straight."

"Miss," said a stewardess in broken English, "You are really should be having the doctor helpings you."

James interrupted the stewardess. "Our friend is the next closest thing." He turned back to Rachel and put his hands on her face. "Just be still. Leaving it in is the only thing clotting that wound right now, okay? It won't be long. They'll land soon and Karla will be here as soon as possible."

"God damn this _really_hurts." She gingerly wrapped her arms around James and cried on his shoulder, not because she was upset, but because she was so overwhelmed with emotion after the attack. "I got a little overzealous with Pepper ... Martin, whatever the first guy called him."

"Yeah, don't worry about that right now, okay?" James said.

"He'll die real soon if we don't ... I just ...I'm going to have nightmares about this shit."

"Better to have bad dreams about something you did that saved lives than ... you know."

Rachel looked up at James and forced a weak smile. "You're right."

They hugged.

From behind, people sporadically began clapping. It caught on. People began standing up, and the clapping grew in intensity. Then came a few whistles.

Rachel spoke directly into James' ear. "Back in the day, the Japanese used to stay completely silent to show the highest respect. I can't believe they're clapping."

"We Americanized them," James replied, unable to hold back his own tears from seeing her crying. "Let'em clap. We just saved this plane. You just saved this plane. No powers, all you."

"You slowed him down with that knife throw," she replied, almost breathless. "We make a good team."

"We make a damn good team," he said, holding her close. James looked over his shoulder at the stewardess. "Can you tell the pilot to hurry up? We've got injured people onboard." He turned back to his fiancée and placed his forehead against hers. "It won't be long now."

"Thank God." She reached her hand down and touched Pepper's neck. Rachel swallowed and jerked her hand back. "Dead, huh?"

"You broke his neck, I think," James said.

"This'll get complicated. I wonder how self-defense laws work in Ethiopia."

"Technically, you're not in Ethiopia until we land. But I have a feeling you'll be questioned and released for saving the plane from being crashed by a lunatic."

"What the hell were they doing anyhow? Why would they attack a plane?"

James shrugged. "Let the cops question the other guy. He's out cold." He paused then said, "Was it me or did one of them mention Dr. Falcon?"

"Yeah. I heard it, too. Why would Falcon hire those two guys to crash an airplane?"

"I have no idea. But from what I understand, that guy doesn't do anything without a plan. So ... I'm just glad you're alive, Rachel."

She feigned a smile. "I hope Karla hurries."

---

Next Chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/781213