“Hush,” said Michael and, in the dim glow from the cabin’s one window, Ann watched him reach out his hand and placed his palm gently onto her forehead. Her eyelids grew suddenly heavy and she felt for a moment as if she was falling, falling into a void that would swallow her up, yet somehow she felt as though that was okay, as though that really was the right thing to be doing and she embraced the darkness.
HEAVEN
Heaven. No Time Place
Chapter Thirty
When she opened her eyes again, she was surprised to find herself still on her feet. Michael dropped his hand and Ann gasped in surprise. The cabin, which only moments before had been dark and gloomy, was now bathed with white light streaming through its window.
“Welcome,” said Michael, pushing open the door to reveal, not the gardens, but a vast room whose walls and ceiling seemed to glow from within. “Welcome to Heaven.”
“Heaven?” Ann stared out through the open doorway trying to make sense of what she saw. The maples and Japanese cherry trees that had been there when she walked in were gone. Instead there was this vast, cathedral-like room, glowing with its strange white light. She looked up to see a vaulted ceiling, beautifully carved from what looked like glass or crystal, towering far above them. A movement caught her eye and she realized that there were amazing constructions of glass and crystal visible beyond the room she stood in, visible through vast windows stretching away to the right and left. These objects were rotating around their own axis, sparkling in all the colors of the rainbow.
Awesome, she thought. It reminds me of the kaleidoscope I had as a child with its rotating patterns and colors. I wonder what those things are. They’re just hanging in space like, well, spaceships!
Glancing around the room, she caught sight of several people standing next to desks with sleek computer-like screens, their faces bathed in the soft, white light.
She turned to Michael. “Is this some sort of trick?”
“It’s an impressive trick if it is!” he said with a smile. “But no, this is Heaven. Come on, let me introduce you to some people.” He headed out of the cabin and, after a brief moment of hesitation, Ann followed. She stepped tentatively onto the softly glowing floor and was surprised to find it firm, her feet cushioned as though by a deep carpet. As she entered the large room a woman, wearing a loose, light robe, which Ann somehow associated with Ancient Greece, approached her. She looked around fifty years old, her face friendly, her body slim and athletic.
“Welcome, Ann,” she said. “We’ve been expecting you.”
Ann’s eyes widened in amazement as she realized the woman’s smile did not move as she spoke. Instead the greeting seemed to make its way directly into Ann’s mind, as though it was a cloud of thought instead of speech. She’s speaking straight into my head, she thought.
“That’s right!” said the woman, and again no actual sounds came out of her mouth. “This is how we communicate here.”
Here? thought Ann. Could this really be Heaven?
“That is correct.” Again the cloud of thought. “Welcome. My name is Elizabeth, or Beth for short.”
“I—” Ann began, thinking the word instead of speaking it. Beth nodded, encouraging her to continue. “I am pleased to meet you, Beth.” It was a strange sensation to be communicating in this way, though, far from being uncomfortable in any way, Ann felt a sense of peace and belonging as she did so. Michael’s hand, which rested on her shoulder, added to this feeling of safety.
“And we are pleased to meet you too, Ann,” said Beth. “Let me introduce the team to you.” She turned and gestured towards the others gathered around their screens. “We are God’s front line, a part of God’s taskforce. We are the supervisors of the humans on the Earth. We oversee the human beings, helping nations and shaping events as required in accordance with the Great Plan. This is Eva.’
A young woman emerged from behind a desk, her chocolate-colored skin covered with fine white cloth, her hair long and dark. She glided across the floor, her hand outstretched, and Ann noticed that she really did glide. Her feet did not touch the ground and her legs made no walking movements.
“Nice to meet you,” she said, using the same thought cloud as Beth. Ann almost jumped as Eva gripped her hand, shaking it firmly. She had almost expected her to be like a ghost, with no tangible, physical presence. Instead of replying, Ann just stood there with her mouth open as Eva released her hand and glided back to her desk.
“It’s okay, Ann,” said Michael’s voice in her head. She turned to look at him, her eyes wide. “I know this is all very strange and new, but trust me. There is no trickery here. You will do all these things too, with a little training.”
One by one the members of the team were introduced, each one gliding forward to greet Ann and shake her hand before drifting back to whatever it was they were working on. They were all very good looking and friendly, but there was something else about them. Something that Ann could not quite fathom at first, but which they all had in common and which set them apart from the normal, everyday people that Ann knew, like Nina, Peter, Tomo and others. It was not only the way they moved and smiled and communicated with each other, but it also had to do with the way they made Ann feel, somehow at peace as though surrounded by friends, and the light that seemed to emanate from each of them. Their faces, and even their arms and other parts that were not covered, seemed to shine from within, which, together with everything else, created an overwhelming sense of belonging, of being at home, somewhere you would always be welcome.
This is all so surreal, thought Ann, as the last member of the team, a tall man called Julian, completed his greeting and floated back behind his screen. I must be dreaming or something. Maybe I’m still on the psychic’s couch in some kind of trance.
“It’s all very real,” came Michael’s thoughts as he wrapped her hand in his own, very real, fingers. “In fact, you might say this place is even more real that the world you have lived in until now.”
“But—” said Ann, again, concentrating as she tried to communicate with her mind instead of her mouth. “But why me? What am I doing in this place? Why am I in…” she paused as she considered the word she was about to say, then realized it must be true, “…in Heaven?”
“Ann.” Ann turned, recognizing the feel of Beth’s thoughts. “As you know, as we have allowed you to see, you sacrificed four of your physical lives for what we call the Highest Intangible Values.”
Ann frowned. “What are they?”
“In your case,” Beth continued, “they were Freedom, Love, Courage and Peace. You achieved Hope in your fifth, current life, when you declined the engagement proposal from Tomo, keeping a hope for true love alive. As a result of that accumulated karma, you have achieved freedom from the reincarnation chain. You no longer have to go from life to life, in an attempt to attain Redemption—you’ve done it, Ann. No more pain. No more struggle. No more death. Instead you have been granted Immortality, a single life without death anymore.”
Michael gave a light handshake to Ann. “In your last, fifth life, you have also acquired knowledge of high-technology as well as the ability to achieve your goals and targets, which along with the gain of spiritual awareness have made you a very desirable asset here in Heaven. Now you can stay here with us, helping to oversee the humans and increase their knowledge of higher things, should you so wish.”
“Should I so wish?” Ann looked from Beth to Michael and back again. “You mean that’s what the last few months of struggling with the spiral, discovering my past lives and meeting Michael has been for? To get a deeper understanding of myself? Preparing me for… this?” She waved around at the sparkling room and up towards the enchanting dome far above her. And as she did so, she realized that the cabin she had arrived in had disappeared.
“Exactly!” said Michael. “The Spiral of Evolution was given to you to show your own sacred path within Spiritual Eternity. The sense of unease was coming from the reincarnation chain, which was trapping you for
unresolved karma. But not anymore.”
“And if I had accepted Tomo? What would have happened then?” Ann asked hesitantly.
“You would be given another chance to break the chain, but perhaps not in this current life.”
Ann nodded, assimilating the awesome information. “So, what do you do in here?” she turned to Michael.
“We have tasked Michael with taking on the role of overseeing your training and partnering with you in the work you will be doing here. He will be your guide and will help you through every aspect of your job here,” Beth replied.
“And what is this job, exactly? What work will I be doing here? I won’t have to sit staring at a computer screen for the rest of eternity, will I?” Across the room, Eva’s head popped up from behind her screen and for a moment Ann was concerned she had said something wrong. “Sorry,” she said. “No offense meant.”
In her mind, Ann heard Eva laugh, a pleasant sound that filled her with a feeling of reassurance. “None taken,” said Eva and returned to her work.
“Much of your time will be spent time-space traveling and learning on the job. Our equipment is pretty complicated. You are supposed to not only use it, but also know how and why it works,” said Beth and turned to point at an empty desk. “But we also have a workstation here all ready for you.”
Ann looked around again at the others in the room. “So who exactly are you? You don’t really seem like humans. After all, this is supposed to be Heaven, right? I thought angels lived there.”
“From the human point of view we are angels.” Beth paused for a moment and looked at Ann thoughtfully. At last, as though having made up her mind about something, she said, “I can see this is all a lot to take in, and this is not an easy decision to make. However, I would like to offer you an incentive to join us.”
“An incentive? Like what?”
“That is up to you, Ann. Is there anything from your lives that would make your transition here easier? Anything you wish us to give you?”
“Anything?” said Ann, after some thought. “From any of my past lives?”
“Indeed.”
“When I was in the Stone Age, I had a son.” Ann looked nervously at Michael, who smiled and nodded encouragingly. “Can I… Can I get my baby boy back?”
“Yes, you can,” said Beth, a smile spreading across her face.
“Really?” Ann’s eyes widened in delight.
“Sure. And don’t worry, we will adjust his physique and intellectual capacity to the current moment. It will be as though you gave birth to him in your current life.”
“Ah.” Ann sighed.
“So, would you like to join us, Ann?” Beth held out her hands towards her and, for a moment, Ann stared at them as though unsure what they were. Then, with a burst of joyful laughter, she took them in her own hands.
“Would I ever!” said Ann, and felt the wave of delight from the others in the room wash over her.
Michael drew Ann into a hug. “It’s great to have you on the team,” he said. “You’re going to love it here. Come on. Let me show you around.”
Epilogue
A short while later, though exactly how long it was hard to tell as the passage of time seemed somehow hard to measure here, Ann found herself standing in what appeared to be a room without walls. In every direction the softly glowing floor stretched away and in the distance she could see tall towers of white marble and great palaces built from crystal. Far to her right there was the shimmering sparkle of a waterfall, which must have been hundreds of meters high.
As she gazed around in wonder, she heard Beth’s thoughts nearby. “I have someone to see you, Ann.”
Ann turned round to see Beth entering through the archway and she gasped in amazement. There, in the woman’s arms, was a young boy, not much more than a year old.
“Ann,” said Beth. “This is. . .”
“Wu!” Ann knelt on the floor, holding her arms out to her son as Beth lowered him to the floor. He smiled at Ann from beneath his brown curls and she realized that, although she had never actually met him, or at least not in this life, he recognized her.
“Mommy!” he said, as he walked towards her, more surefooted than she expected. She felt a lump in her throat and blinked away the tears as she wrapped her arms around Wu, overwhelmed to be rejoined with him again.
She kissed him on the head and whispered in his ear, “My special boy. Mommy’s here for you. Always!”
She got back to her feet, sweeping Wu up in her arms and turning back to the magnificent vista around them.
“Look at this place, Wu,” she said, stroking his head, her son’s head, affectionately. “I wonder where we are!”
“This is the Portal,” said Michael, standing by her shoulder. “It is here that we will do most of our work.” He stepped forwards and pressed his hand against something which shimmered beneath his touch. Ann realized that, although the room seemed to stretch out to the distant horizon in every direction, it was in fact contained within four walls, though, except for a slight shimmer to indicate their presence, they were almost entirely invisible. As she watched, Michael drew out from one of the walls a pair of huge white wings, bigger even that those she had seen on a swan.
“Angel wings?” she said, her thoughts laced with incredulity. “Really?”
Michael laughed. “I guess you could call them that, yes. Actually this is a very simple and convenient way to travel around in the past.”
“Travel? In the past?” said Ann, even more incredulous.
“Sure. These wings are non-expensive and ecologically friendly.”
“So are you saying you have time-machines to go back in time?”
Michael nodded. “Yes. We have developed a number of methods to travel both to the past and to the future. We shall start our training from the simplest one.”
“Wait. Are you saying that I, that we,” she gestured to herself and Wu, “are going travel to the past?”
“Yes, you are. We have all of human history to oversee. And since you have a sound knowledge of Russian language and culture, we have decided to give you responsibility for the country of Russia from the six to the nineteenth century.”
“Six to the nineteenth century Russia?” said Ann, hefting Wu onto her hip. Immediately the young boy reached out to the wings, still clutched in Michael’s hand, and began to play with the snow white feathers. “But Russia’s vast, and that, well, it’s a long time! Hundreds of years. That seems a lot to oversee.”
“Well, you’ve got plenty of time,” said Michael, with a reassuring smile. “And you don’t have to do it all at once. Our work is intimate and personal. We deal with one situation, even one person, at a time.”
“And should I wear these?” asked Ann, pointing to the wings.
“Not yet. They’re going to take a bit of training to use, though it’s actually quite similar to hang gliding. You remember that don’t you?” said Michael with a wink. Ann smiled and nodded as Michael slid the wings back into the wall, which swallowed them into invisibility. “I just want you to get a feel for the equipment we’ll be employing. For now, though,” he continued, pulling something else from the wall, “We’ll be using this.” The object that he drew out was a cube, its sides roughly a foot long, fashioned from what looked like pearl. From one side a large glass eye stared out unblinking.
“What is it? “
“We call it the Projector. This is a simple tool that will enable us to travel through time without ever leaving this room. It’s all very safe and keeps us out of harm’s way.”
“Out of harm’s way?” Ann frowned and hugged Wu tighter. “You mean we’re going somewhere dangerous?”
“Well, this is medieval Russia we’re dealing with here. Times were pretty cruel back then, so you never know.” Michael looked her in the eye, his face serious. “Are you scared?”
“No,” said Ann, and realized this was true. Ever since she had stepped out of that cabin and into this new world she had felt
somehow peaceful. Not just because it was a calm place, but for the first time since she was a five-year-old girl, back when her parents were alive, she felt completely at peace with herself. There was no more fear, no more worry, no more struggles. She was perfectly content. “No,” she repeated. “I feel great.”
“Well, even if you were worried, your days of risk and worldly troubles are over now that you’re with us. You are safe, trust me.” Michael reached into the wall again, pulling out a bundle of clothes and handing them to Ann. “You’ll need to put these on,” he said. “There’s some for you and your son.”
They were soon dressed in medieval attire, with Ann wearing a long dress, her head covered with a veil, while Wu wore a simple woolen tunic. As Michael made a few adjustments to the Projector, she picked Wu up, enjoying being close to him again.
“I’ll never leave you alone again, my love,” she whispered in his ear.
Suddenly, one of the invisible walls burst into bright light as the Projector fired up.
“All right,” said Michael. “Is everybody ready?”
“We’re ready!” said Ann.
“Ready,” said Wu, copying the word and making Ann laugh.
Michael ran a hand over the Projector and Ann was amazed to find herself looking out across a sunlit field. Wild grass stretched away into the distance, where a small cluster of wooden houses huddled together at the end of a narrow path. Along this path, his gray head bent down under the weight of a bundle of sticks, his short pants and tattered shirt held in place with a knot of rope, was an old man making his way slowly from the houses.
“I don’t understand,” said Ann. “Is this like a film, or is it actually happening?”
Michael glanced at her. “Oh, it’s happening. The year is 1217, but by using the Projector, we’re able to see and be seen, to hear and be heard.”
“So this old guy here can actually see us?” asked Ann, hoping that he couldn’t also hear her thoughts in the way Michael could.
Redemption: Supernatural Time-Traveling Romance with Sci-fi and Metaphysics Page 32
