Heaven erupted in a cacophony of noise and activity as soon as the Colonel stopped speaking. Billy wasn’t sure what he should do. He obviously didn’t have anything to do at the moment, so according to Colonel Peters he should go and sleep, but he didn’t feel tired. By the time he decided he needed to talk to Angela she was gone.
It took Billy nearly an hour to find her, which he thought was ironic. After all, he could leap to any place on the planet just by visualizing the face of the person he was looking for, but for some reason he found it difficult to locate Angela inside the limited military facility. Finally, he found her inside the infirmary, standing beside Brandt’s bed.
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Billy said, stopping a respectful distance away. Angela didn’t turn to look at him.
“I can’t fix him, Billy,” she said. Her voice sounded thick with emotion.
“Um, he’s not broken Angela, just hurt. He’ll be okay.”
“I don’t mean that, silly. He doesn’t believe, most of them don’t and I can’t change that.” A long sniffle punctuated her sentence.
“I bet they don’t think they’re broken,” Billy responded, taking a step closer.
“Nobody does, but we’re human. We make bad choices and don’t please him.”
“Him who, Colonel Peters?” Billy was confused.
“No, not Colonel Peters, God.” Angela turned to face Billy now and smiled at him.
“Do you think I’m broken?” Billy asked, halting his advance and squaring his shoulder to face Angela in a defensive posture.
“Not anymore. You believe, Billy. You got your angel,” she said, reaching her hand out to Billy. Billy stepped back.
“I wasn’t broken or bad Angela. I’m not broken or bad.” Angela stared at Billy, her mouth slightly open and a blank look in her eyes. “Maybe that’s why nobody hears your message because you think they all need to be fixed in some way.”
Angela slowly withdrew her hand.
“Heck I’m not even sure who Theliel is, or Mihr either for that matter. Colonel Peters has Cheung and that other guy investigating if they’re even on our side,” Billy said a little more loudly than he would like. A nurse came into the room just as Billy finished speaking.
“If you two can’t be quieter I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the nurse said sternly.
Angela and Billy both nodded their heads.
“I came looking for you to help me speak with Theliel. I need to talk to her. I’m not sure why but I have a feeling I need to know more about her, that it’s important,” Billy said softly, realizing his aggressive tone might not get him what he was after. “Is she here now?”
Angela nodded her head again and cast her gaze upon the floor.
“What’s the matter? Why won’t you look at me?” Billy asked.
“Because you’re going to ask me to tell you if she nods yes or no to your questions and I hate that,” Angela answered, turning around and moving back to Brandt’s bedside.
Billy hadn’t thought of that but it solved his problem of how to talk to Theliel when he wasn’t in the ether. “That’s a great idea. Yeah, let’s do that right now.”
“No,” Angela said emphatically.
“Why not?” Billy questioned.
“Because you won’t get the answers you like and you’ll get mad at me. They always get mad at me,” Angela said, taking Brandt’s unmoving hand in her own and trying to will her new healing powers into the injured man.
“Then teach me how to speak to her on my own,” Billy said.
“You aren’t ready,” Angela replied.
“I am ready. I am. I can do it, Angela, really I can,” Billy insisted out of a desperate need to speak to the woman named Theliel.
Angela released Brandt’s hand and turned to face Billy. “No, Billy, you can’t. At least not yet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Billy asked, confused.
“It means it takes faith, and you just said you didn’t think you believe. Even if there is a kernel of faith in there that God sees, that isn’t strong enough for what has to be done in order for you to go into the ether without the equipment,” Angela said flatly.
“So it can be done?” Billy asked.
“Yes, it can be done,” Angela admitted.
“So teach me. Tell me what I have to do,” Billy said, making up his mind to do whatever she said.
“It doesn’t work like that. Men and women have spent their entire lives trying to master the principle and techniques. Only a few every have the ability. For most it takes a lifetime to understand and master what must be done,” She said.
“Maybe I’m just naturally gifted,” Billy said mustering up some false bravado.
Angela set her hands on her hips as she faced Billy. “I can count on one hand the number of people who have ever been naturally gifted in this way.”
“So it has been done before?” Billy asked.
“Yes, it’s been done before,” Angela said.
“So it can be done again,” Billy said, his confidence returning.
“Billy,” Angela said, rounding on the young man. “I’ve been trying for years and it only happens occasionally. I can’t control it and I don’t know when it’s going to happen.”
“But it does happen?” Billy insisted.
“Yes, it does happen,” Angela confirmed. A thought occurred to Billy.
“How do you know all this?” he asked.
“I’m twenty eight years old, Billy. I’ve lived with this all my life.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t explain how you know about other people who’ve been able to enter the ether,” he said. Angela’s body language closed off and she turned to face Brandt’s bed again.
“I’m not allowed to talk about that,” she said quietly.
“By who, Colonel Peters?” Billy asked.
“No, just don’t ask me about it,” she said. Something changed in Angela’s stance and she turned to face Billy.
“Tell me,” he insisted.
“I can’t tell you,” she stated with force. “But I might be able to introduce you to someone who can.”
Guardians of the Herald is a weekly serial published and copyright by The Cavalier, Mark Malcolm. For more information about this story please join us on our Facebook page community at www.facebook.com/firstchevalierbooks.
