Worl so trusted his guards that he ignored the fierce battle at his own feet and watched instead the largest build-up of demons that he had seen in years.  Worl saw the Demon of Darkness, Satan himself; rise up from the nether world below to personally direct his troops.  Shrieks of pain, which could be heard even above the din of battle, came from a large group of demons located behind the front lines of Satan's attack force.  They were painfully molded and melded together to form large brightly lit Demon Ships.  Worl had seen these ships many times; Satan had used them to deceive mankind for centuries.  What Worl had never seen before was this large a build-up of ships.  The ships rose into the air and were full of light and power.  It was only Worl's trained angelic eye that could discern the darkness within.  Individual demons were also painfully transformed into smaller ships as they too rose into the air and then flew straight for the larger ships.  Millions upon millions of these smaller ships were formed and then flown into the larger ships until they were filled to a copious capacity.

Meanwhile on the front lines, Worl's men fought to reach and stop these ships from forming.   Just as they broke through Satan's defenses and began storming the newly formed ships, the order came to Worl from Michael, the Archangel, that he and his men were to pull back!  They were to allow the demons full access to the earth.  When Worl's men heard this news, they instantly stopped their attack, but began shouting in protest until Worl raised his hand and all became silent.  Even the demons stopped their fighting to listen to this mighty General.

Worl smiled a broad happy smile and spoke in a powerful, even joyful voice, "My friends!   We've been ordered to return to Heaven!  Our Lord has agreed to a meeting between himself and that Demon of Darkness, Satan.  This meeting will take place very soon and will loose such power, as the world has never seen.  Satan is to be given free reign to devour earth and everyone on it!"

The Angels' and Demons' collective mouths dropped open!  This meant only one thing!  They had all anticipated its arrival but now that it was here, none could believe that it was true.  If the Lord were going to allow Satan free reign on the earth, then that could only mean that Jesus was about to remove "The Body of Christ" from the world.  The long awaited Rapture was finally at hand!

Satan watched, as the Angels departed and his own Demons celebrated the news.  A knot formed, with mixed feelings of triumph and dread, in the pit of his stomach.  This had all been too easy.  True he had petitioned the Lord Jesus for an audience to discuss the dispersion of property and of the humans on the Earth; and he had been granted the meeting; and now it appeared that in his very moment of triumph, Jesus had recalled his men in honor of that meeting.  Still, it had been too easy.  Satan laughed uneasily at his fears and at the predictability of his enemy, the supposed Christ of the World, the Savior of the human race.  Satan knew that Jesus would follow the rules and that has always given Satan the upper hand.

Satan shook off his doubts and reveled in his victory, dreaming of the final battle and his final victory, once and for all, over this Lamb of God, this so-called Jesus the Christ!

C/K West Outpost (code name: Secret Eye One)
August 31st, 2---: 0558 HOURS:

On the border where Colorado joins the state of Kansas, in a newly built, well hidden Air Force bunker, a defense group lay in wait for any enemy who dared to cross this position on it's way to attack Scott Air Force Base.  This was Secret Eye One, the west defense outpost for the newly formed Response Section of Scott Air Force Base.  Scott had been mostly a search and rescue type of operation.  Now it had a fully operational section, named "Sting", that could give a complete military response to any threat making it this far in-land.

Sting had thirty newly built F-117A stealth fighters.  They were sleek, black, and looked like bats in flight.  They were fast and deadly with both machine gun and missile capability.  Sting also had six F-15 and F-16 squads as well as forty new F-35 response fighters.  But the eyes and ears of the defense were these "Secret Eyes" which were located one hundred miles apart and usually one state away from SAFB in all directions.  Nothing could get by them undetected, or so it was boasted!

These outposts were manned by two Air Force personnel, working in twelve-hour shifts, assigned to the highly secret "Sting" operation.  The two operators of Secret Eye One, were buried alive some forty feet below the surface and could only hear the sounds from above through the speakers over their heads and see through the lenses of the many cameras, which were well hidden around the "Tree".  There was only one access to this bunker and that was through the door, which was hidden in what looked like a large tree.

If a person could get past the electrified fence which surrounded this 70 acre game reserve of Secret Eye One, and if they followed the rock road leading up to the parking area just outside of the "Tree" they would only find a large plaque which read:

GAME PRESERVE OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
"For the preservation of our most sacred resources."

Only the knowledgeable were aware that the plaque meant people not animals.  But it didn't lie!  This place would help preserve life and freedom with its early alert warning system.

This 70 acres was filled with all sorts of wild life, including deer, owls, raccoons, and beaver.   As a matter of fact the two bored operators of Secret Eye One were watching a deer on their monitor screen at this very moment.  It was not that they really expected anyone to break into this secret facility, but security protocol called for external "seeing and hearing" devices.  Psychologists also insisted that these devices would lessen the claustrophobic tendencies of personnel locked in the bunkers for twelve hours at a time.  Thus the sensors and cameras in the immediate area of the "Tree" had a two-fold function and were coupled with occasional aerial reconnaissance planes from Scott.  These planes were fitted with special infrared cameras to catch any would-be trespasser.  They had in fact caught a team of poachers in this manner.  Poachers, who were shocked, when the large, very fast black attack helicopters landed near them and even more shocked when several security personnel stormed out of the helicopters and arrested them, confiscated their truck, left outside the compound, and fined them heavily.  The citizens of Hale, Colorado, were shocked when they saw just how serious the Government was about these protected animals, and no one dared to enter the reserve again.

The deer the operators were watching on the infrared raised its head as if to test the air for enemies.   Its nose and ears twitching and turning like radar found no enemy, so it returned to it's early morning grazing.

"Hey Sarge!  Pass me a smoke, would you, I just ran out!"

Sgt. Carlyn, a thirty year professional, looked up from the radar screen he was monitoring, sighed heavily and threw the pack to Winston.  Lt. Oliver Winston caught the pack gratefully and lit one of the cigarettes.  While Winston was watching the smoke of his cigarette rise upward and then spill into the vent, the monitor showed the deer jump suddenly and then bolt out of sight.  This was unseen by either of the operators.  All of these Secret Eye posts were, for the time being, operated only by personnel with the rank of Sergeant or above.  Later, after the system had been tried, tested and deemed ready, lower ranking personnel would be trained and brought on duty, but that was at least two years down the road.

Lt. Winston slowly turned his head to continue watching the deer and groaned, "Oh shoot!  The deer is gone!  I was hoping that he would wait until 0800 so I could bag him.  My freezer is getting mighty low!"

The Sergeant laughed, "Sure, kill your promising career for a hundred pounds of deer meat.  I..."

Lt. Winston interrupted Sgt. Carlyn and asked, "What's the forecast like today?"

Sgt. Carlyn looked at his notes and said, "Clear and sunny.  Why?"

Lt. Winston sat forward in his seat and said, "Because a tree just fell and knocked out camera three.  Look at this!"

The Sergeant looked at his own screen and whistled.  What few trees there were here in the plains, were being bent almost in half.  Some were breaking and some of the broken ones were actually rolling on the ground, making a roaring rumbling sound, which was feeding into their loudspeaker system.  They had to turn it down; it was beginning to hurt their ears.  Then came the flare of light that burned out all of their cameras and set off every alarm in the compound.

As the ground shook and the bunker cracked Lt. Winston reached for the red phone.

Scott Air Force Base: (New Response Section-OPS)
August 31st, 2---: 0600 HOURS:

Had she been asked for her preference, Sgt. Jackson, a 22-year-old female who loved her new assignment, would have wished for day shift instead of midnights.  As it was, though, she was told which shift to work and that was all right.  She had decided to make a career of the Air Force and, therefore; knew that her life would be full of others telling her what to do.  The hardest part of her job came at about this time of the morning and she wasn't the only person affected.  Everyone in the room had trouble staying awake between 0600 and 0800.  Their bodies screamed for sleep at about this time every morning, no matter how much sleep they might have had during the day.  The only thing that helped was when they were busy and currently, they were not!  Sgt. Jackson would talk to the other First Response Operators as they were called in the OPS room and they would joke around and share stories, anything to cut the boredom.

For now though, she had just poured her tenth cup of coffee for the night and was just taking a sip when her board lit up like a Christmas tree!  Alarm lights lit up, buzzers went off and the red phone rang.  Sgt. Jackson spit out her coffee, dropped the cup that shattered on the floor, and yelled for Captain Yelders to get his tail over here.

The Captain was there in three seconds, but Sgt. Jackson had already answered the red phone, switching it to "hands free" and said, "Code name?"

An agitated voice came over the loud speakers in OPS, "Secret Eye One-Code 6-niner-Alpha-6."

Sgt. Jackson opened the sealed red codebook, the codes are updated weekly, and she looked up Secret Eye One, today's date and said, "Confirmed!  What's the nature of your report Lt. Winston?"

Lt. Winston yelled nervously, "They're gone OPS!  It's all gone!"

"What's gone Winston?  Make sense man!"

"The trees around us, they're all gone!  Blown away by some kind of gale force wind.  Radar shows contact with an object that's at least two football fields across at the center.  It's east bound at an airspeed of 300 mph, and it's on a direct intercept course for Scott.  The object has refused to identify itself to us and must be considered hostile."

"All right Winston!  Stay put and we'll send a team out to you to check on damage and pick you up. "  It was Capt. Yelders, Operations Officer in control of "Sting", who yelled that last order, right before he hit the red alarm button, which would alert the pilots to man their planes, and then he picked up the phone to call Base Commander Pips.

Barracks for First Response Pilots:
August 31, 2---: 0600 HOURS:

Glang!  Glang! Glang!

Flight Leader Derecks was ripped from his warm dreams, as he leaped from his even warmer bed.  The air conditioner had the floor cold and goose bumps played over the pilot's body as he slid into his flight suit.

The incessant alert Glang! Glang! Glang! continued to blare in his ears clearing any stubborn cobwebs from his brain.  Then something happened that turned this from a dull routine drill to a thrilling, yet terrifying reality.

"All flight leaders report to OPS!  This is not a drill!  I repeat, all flight leaders report to OPS!  This is not a drill!  Blue flight cleared for immediate take off!  Authorized Capt. Yelders, Alpha 88 Omega!"

Derecks was Blue Flight Leader!  Here it was!  This was what he had been trained for all of these years, and now it was time to show what his squad had.  Possibilities rolled through his mind as he and his pilots ran for their planes.

He loved the sight of those sleek, black jets!  The very quiet sounds of their "whisper" engines warming up, the smell of burned fuel!  Derecks didn't know who the enemy was but he was ready to take them on.

As he climbed into the cockpit, he refused to think of his wife, Debbie, or their newborn son, Jeffrey.  It would only serve to slow him down, or cause him to take his mind off of his duty.  No, from this point on he had the single-minded purpose of finding this unknown enemy, turning him back if he could, or destroying him if he could not!

"Blue Leader to Flight Control."

"Go ahead Blue Leader."

"We are five for five rolling out."

"You're verified and cleared for take off.  Good hunting, Blue Leader.  Flight Control out."

The five jets quietly slipped into the early morning sky like ghosts fleeing the first light of day and headed west toward the intended target.

The OPS room was quiet with anticipation as everyone watched the large radar screen at the south end of the room.  Suddenly, the single, unidentified Bogie was joined by the five friendlies, which had left their identification beacons on so they could be seen by OPS.  The two targets raced toward each other with one inevitable outcome.   One of them had to leave this air space!

The speakers came to life as Blue Leader's voice exploded from them with the excitement of anticipated battle but covered with just a little static, "Flight Control this is Blue Leader, we have a visual on the bogie.  It appears to be metal-{ garbled}.  Its round and {unintelligible} diameter is about two football fields across.  It appears flat on the bottom and rises toward a smaller dome on the top.  It's - typ {garbled}--al  U. F. -. sh..."{lost contact}.

The static had been slowly increasing until his last words had been all but covered over.  The men and women in the room had to strain to hear his final words.

{contact reestablished} "Flight Com-{static}, I think...Oh my God it's {static}-ing it's...Code name Mother Sh--!{static fades over} - repeat C... name Mother Ship!"  Loud static was all that filled the speakers after that.

On the large screen, they saw the larger blip swallow first flight leader, then each of the other jets, until only the large blip was left.  Then the larger blip stopped much too suddenly and impossibly shot straight up and out of the Earth's atmosphere before anyone could react and disappeared off of all screens.

Everyone just stood in shock for a moment.  There was no other noise in the room other than the incessant static coming from the speakers.

The Base Commander, who had just arrived, still wearing his pajamas, face gray, hair disheveled, snapped, "Turn that thing off!"  The static abruptly stopped, leaving a silence that was more deafening than the noise.

He turned to his communications officer, Sgt. Jackson and said, "Get me the President on the red phone and patch it through to my office."

He walked silently out of the room barely able to carry the weight of command on his shoulders this particular morning.  In less than fifteen minutes, he had lost five pilots, and five jets, to an unseen and unknown enemy.  Each Jet would cost two million dollars to replace and of course the pilots were irreplaceable.   This wasn't the first squadron that the Air Force had lost to this enemy, but it was the first that he had lost.  As he approached his door Capt. Yelders said, "Sir?  I..."

Pips turned and said in a very tired, strained voice, "Don't worry Stan, there was nothing you could do."

Commander Pips entered his office, opened his bookcase and removed a bottle of Scotch.  He poured a stiff glass and then walked over to his desk.  He had just taken his first mouthful and was choking on the bitter liquid when the red phone rang.

His stomach knotted as he coughed and choked and then reached for the phone.

He picked it up and a stern male voice said, "Commander, the President will be with you in a moment."

Commander Pips had practiced this scene many times in his mind as part of his job, but he had never really believed that he would ever have to do it.

"Commander Pips this is President Place.  How can I help you?"

"Mad.."  Pips coughed loudly and slobbered on the phone.  He cleared his throat, wiped off the receiver and repeated, "Madam President, excuse me!  We've had a situation here.  At exactly 6:14 this morning, we lost five jets.  Blue Flight Leader Derecks gave the code word Mother Ship just before he was swallowed up by the blip.  According to regulations, I'm instructed to inform you, Madam President that this code word means that he saw many other ships within the one ship and that it could be an invasion force.  The blip is gone for now, but I suggest we go to yellow alert Nation wide."

"Thank you, Commander, we'll take it under advisement.  In the mean time, get in a jet and report to my office at 0900 tomorrow morning.  That's all."

The phone line went dead and Commander Pips finished his drink, as he thought, "That's not part of the plan that I was taught!"  Commander Pips was really nervous now because this summons to Washington could only mean one thing, "Oh my God!  This wasn't the only incident this morning!  That's got to be it!"  He poured another drink.

Covenant's Warehouse District:
August 31st, 2---: 2200 HOURS:

The dark recesses of Warehouse #6, held its own secrets.  Here was the site of the Temple of the newly revived Brotherhood of Faith.  These people were a combination of Satan Worshipers, Witches, and other Occult groups.  They had joined together for one purpose and one purpose only; namely, the revival of the ancient practice of human sacrifice, in exchange for the power promised by the Lord of Darkness, Satan, himself!

The blade of the ceremonial knife caught and reflected the candlelight as the Master of the Temple raised it above his head.

He cried out, " To your honor and glory Lord Satan!"

He then brought the knife down slowly toward the bound and gagged woman tied helplessly to the altar of sacrifice.  She was paralyzed with fear and didn't even scream as the razor sharp blade cut into her carotid artery spraying her life's blood upon the altar, the Master of the Temple and all the worshipers.

As her life slipped away with every drop of blood that pulsed from her artery into the ceremonial chalice, the woman thought, "Oh God forgive me in Jesus' name.  I'm sorry if I offended you please don't desert me now!"

Maria was becoming dizzy and cold as she thought, "Why is this happening God?  I'm just a poor homeless girl, why did they pick me to offer to Satan?  I assure you God that I love you and not Satan.  Please sweet Jesus come to my aide..."

As these final thoughts flashed through Maria's mind, and she eased into death, a bright flash of light caught her attention.  The most beautiful being that she had ever seen appeared before her.  The light seemed to come from within the being.   As the light dimmed slightly a woman appeared.  It was then that Maria noticed the wings unfurling to their full seven-foot wingspan.

The Angel smiled down at Maria and said, "You've been heard my child, and our gracious God has summoned you to appear before him this very day.  Come!"

The Angel bent down and took Maria's hand and she found herself suddenly engulfed in a warm, loving, and very peaceful light.  Gone were the memories of the terrifying experience that had just taken her life.  The dissection of her heart for the consumption of the witches present was hidden from Maria.  She was forever out of reach of Satan's evil deeds and all of his evil servants.

Maria felt the wings wrap around her, and she sensed rather than felt their movement through the veils that separate this world from the next.  When the wings opened again, Maria was lost in the magnificence of God.  For the first time in her life, Maria had a home.

Covenant Business District:
August 31st, 2---: 2100 HOURS (One Hour Earlier):

Officer John T. Stone and Officer Frank P. Winslow were more than mid-way in their shift and they needed a break.  Since 1600 hours, they had handled five burglary reports, three lost dog reports, and one skunk, which had some how found its way into the City of Covenant.  They had also stopped three bar fights that had broken out among the workers, who had filed into the many bars of the factory sector immediately after work.

Now, however, the officers had left the factories and bars behind and were in the main business area of Covenant.  The city had grown from thirty thousand people to over sixty thousand people in just over a year, bringing many opportunities to the community along with a lot of crime, drugs, gambling, and the occult.

Officer Stone, a five-year veteran of Covenant and a self-proclaimed "Ace" driver, was behind the wheel of the squad car.  He pulled up to their favorite restaurant as Winslow, a first year rookie, reached for the mike of the radio.

Winslow said, "C-50 to Central."

"Go ahead 50."

"Show us out for lunch at Eadie's on 23rd."

"10-4, 50.  Hey, bring me a ham and cheese on wheat would you?"

"Sure Martha, want chips too?"

"No, I'm watching my girlish figure, but thanks anyways."

The officers laughed because Martha weighed 300 pounds if she weighed an ounce.

Winslow said, "10-4 Central.  We'll be out on PAC Radio."

Each officer turned on his PAC Radio they carried on their duty belts along with the 9mm, pepper mace, clips, handcuffs and other tools used in the performance of their patrol duties.

Eadie's Eats was a quaint little family restaurant that was clean, had excellent food and reasonable prices.  Stone had been eating lunch here for the past five years, and Winslow didn't argue about his choice when he became Stone's partner almost a year ago.   Eadie's was nestled between Luke's Bakery on the one side and Sam's liquor store on the other.  This small shopping mall also was home to the A & P Finances, Mohr's Travel Agency, and Kim's Video/Arcade, a favorite kids hangout.

It was to Sam's Liquor store that the officers went first, however.  It was Stone's second wedding anniversary tomorrow night and Winslow wanted to buy him a present.  Winslow knew that neither Stone nor his wife Nancy drank, so he went to the non-alcohol section and picked the fancy, bubbly, grape juice that tasted and looked like champagne without the alcohol.

He looked at the bottle and thought, "You would think that since they don't put the alcohol in that it would be cheaper than this!"

Winslow took his $20.00 present to the counter and told Stone,  "My present to you and Nancy."

Stone picked up the bottle, looked at it, then smiled and said, "I'm really touched.  I know how hard it is for you to buy the non-alcoholic beverages."

Winslow smiled.  They had agreed to disagree on this point.  Stone had preached the evils of drinking and had tried to "win" Winslow over to Jesus Christ the whole time they had worked together.  Winslow had finally blown up and told Stone to leave him alone about it.  He didn't believe in God and that was the end of it.  It had been about a week before they could even talk to each other after that, but slowly their friendship healed, and they agreed not to talk about it anymore.  Stone had been sad but resigned himself to the fact that not everyone wanted to be saved.

Winslow smiled and said, "It's the least I can do after all those free meals that you and Nancy have fed me."

Sam, a bald, over weight, Italian man in his sixties, had been watching the two officers.  Sam liked these two, and he smiled at them as they approached the register.

Winslow set the bottle down and reached for his wallet.

Sam protested with his usual Italian flair and many hand gestures, "No, no!  You-a-no pay here!  You good-a-boys.  You take-a-good care of Sam."

Winslow laid the twenty dollars on the counter as he said, "Sam, the Chief would kill me if I didn't pay, besides it's a gift.  Thanks for the offer, Sam, but please take the money."

Sam frowned good naturedly, took the money, and then with his usual smile said, "Well, I-a-thank-a-you boys very much!"

The last thing that Winslow and Stone saw as they left his store was Sam's face, which shone with the child-like radiance as found only in the innocent.  They could not remember ever seeing Sam that he wasn't full of happiness and joy.  He helped many people in this neighborhood and probably far beyond it.  As a matter of fact, he had just won Citizen of the Year for his help in setting up a shelter for the homeless.  The food, shelter, and clothes had kept many a body and soul together in the past year.

Winslow deposited the bottle in the trunk of the squad car, closed the lid and then joined Stone as he walked toward Eadie's.  As they opened the door, the most wonderful sights and smells met them.  There were several happy families eating at the many tables and booths that filled the restaurant.  To their left, Eadie was sitting behind her register.  She was the first to greet her customers when they came in and the last to wait on them as they left.  She liked it that way.

As the officers entered, Eadie looked up, smiled, and said, "Good evening John, Frank, how are you two this fine evening?"

John rubbed his hands together to indicate just how hungry he was and said, "We're ready for a hot meal and some iced coffee, Eadie."

"Well, You've come to the right place, I have both here as well as the best desserts in the county."  She pointed to the large glass case which held the most tempting pies the men had ever seen, at least since the last time they were in here.

Winslow said, " Eadie if I keep eating here, I'm going to have to order a larger uniform, and soon!"

The officers had continued toward their table and were getting a bit far away for this conversation with Eadie, but she had already accomplished her purpose.  She had made them feel welcome and like one of the family.  It was her belief that people enjoyed their meal better if they were at peace with their surroundings, and she had lifted most of the tension from the officers' shoulders and made it possible for them to relax.

The officers had looked at other people's plates and had pretty well decided on the meat loaf by the time they sat down.

When the waitress came, Stone said, "Jane, I'll have the meat loaf dinner, some iced coffee, and apple pie."

Winslow said, " I'll have the same, Jane, but make mine pumpkin pie."

Jane wrote down their orders and went to get their coffee.  When she had placed the coffee in front of them, the men sat back and sighed with the relief that comes from finally being able to relax for a moment.

Winslow smiled and said, "You and Nancy got all your anniversary shopping finished yet?"

Stone said,  "Just about, actually.  We're still waiting for you to get married or something, so we can get you a present"

"Not much chance of that my friend, I..."

Just then Jane brought two plates of steaming hot food and placed one in front of each officer, and said, "You want to wait for you're pie till after?"

Both officers nodded, their mouths were already full of food.

Just then their PAC radios went off together and they heard Martha's voice in stereo, "Attention all units Code 46 at Sam's Liquor on 23rd!"

Stone jumped up first, took one last bite of his hardly touched meal, and reluctantly headed for the door.  Winslow followed suit.  They both ran through the restaurant toward the exit.

Stone yelled, " Sorry Eadie!  Someone's robbing Sam next door.  We'll try to come back, but..." he shrugged his shoulders and then opened the door.

As they ran out Eadie yelled, "Don't worry about the bill, boys.  You don't have to pay for food you don't get to eat!"