Chapter 9: The Fifth Floor
They walked through the many halls upstairs. The whole ship consisted of 6 floors. Annette guessed she hadn’t seen the bottom 2, but the 3rd was the main and widest level, which held the broad space of the library, dining room and kitchen plus a long and wide ‘Hall of Glory’ containing many pieces of art and treasures on display. There were many musical instruments showcased there as well, but later Annette found out these were all in use. You must use antique wooden violins and other instruments, or else the wood will warp! There were many instruments there which were unknown to man, and some were from long forgotten ages past. Later on when other guests came and stayed, Annette saw the true meaning of the word “Chamber Music” when those who were adept at playing some of these instruments met together and played them! It was all done in this long chamber or hall, and the acoustics were phenomenal, too as the floor was solid stone and the ceiling and parts of the walls were polished wood of all kinds.
The 4th floor was of course where most of the bedrooms were located. They ascended the staircase past this floor, to what was definitely the most technologically advanced level. Here was the space which made you realize you were on a space ship after all, and not just a museum/library/castle or whatever this ship was! Spacious separate laboratories replete with complex looking machinery were built around a center globe of thick crystal glass, facing inwards into the ship so that you could see the library and dining hall below. This center globe was obviously a one way glass so as to not to disturb the old fashioned studious atmosphere on the third level. Interestingly, much of the technology on this fifth floor appeared very ancient as well. It was a seamless blend of the very old and the very new. Here was also where the main control for the ship was on display.
In order to pilot the craft, there was a sort of throne that you took a few steps up a steel staircase to sit upon. Dallas was quick to show Annette all the cool and complicated ways in which she fused with the ship by sitting there. You could see that she was a real nerd when it came to the tech side of things here, and for Enoch this was a good thing. It meant he was in good hands! In that throne, she was absolutely in charge of every inch of this ship.
In order to demonstrate its systems, Dallas allowed her spirit to merge with the craft. Her body seemed to evaporate in the chair which lit up and moved as though it were alive. When this happened the very air seemed to change. Switches and joysticks and keypads started moving all by themselves, apparently by the power of Dallas’s mind. On a 3 dimensional view screen Annette saw how just by willing it to be done, all sorts of interesting little details could be altered throughout the craft. The furniture in one room could be changed in a thought, as well as the placement of different artifacts. The ‘kitchen arms’ could be operated this way as well, and even the dimensions and sizes of many of the rooms anywhere could be changed. Annette’s room suddenly expanded to accommodate more furniture and the bed sheets and curtains suddenly changed their color. All of this was so simple to Dallas, who would sit in this chair and close her eyes and bingo! The entire craft was fused with her spirit. She projected her mind into the technology, and could speak through the very walls. She whispered all around Annette:
“I’m going to stay here, physically, but will continue to guide you throughout the entire ship if you would enjoy continuing on with the tour. Just follow my leadings and guidings. Go to your left and you’ll find a door. Please walk through it,” came the voice of Dallas.
Her voice was gentle but commanding. Annette noticed how silly Dallas seemed in person, but once she was in her ‘commander’s seat’ she became a true power and authority. She was in her element.
The door was the entrance to the complex DNA testing labs, where some more practical experiments were held. Apparently they were carrying out all kinds of projects here, but the science was all way over Annette’s head. A lot of it had to do with keeping track of enemy movements and operations, and countering their operations. Apparently the Enemy in these last days was also getting involved with much of this sort of tampering with the building blocks of life, and so plenty of cures and solutions could be found here. They also made some very interesting discoveries of their own doing this kind of research. Annette figured this was the major ‘controversial’ subject Enoch and his associates were in to. She couldn’t be sure, though, of course.
The tour continued, the ship itself a living being now, opening doors and saying calmly “This way!” while various mechanical apparatuses would move around to add to the expression. It reminded you a little bit of Herbie! . . . if Herbie were from the future.
Another area adjoining to this bio-research lab was a high-tech weapons research center. It wasn’t exactly gargantuan in its bigness or complexity, but Annette was surprised at a most interesting feature that this area held. Due to the extreme danger of housing any kind of weapons research on board a spacecraft, the place was shrunk down to action-figure proportions, and contained in a complex network of aquariums. Not only did this significantly lower the impact of any weapon, but merely by shrinking down the physical size of the weapons and their users, no danger was caused to the ship. There was a firing range and a tangle of practice mazes, which users could play through with any one of the myriad of unbelievable Heavenly weapons under development. Presently Annette was able to watch some tiny robots running through the mazes, using guns and interesting weapons to battle each other. One of these came to the gate which enlarged it, and walked up to Annette, having become life-size. This was one of the weapons themselves—a living weapon! It was being used to test out different individual inventions being studied and used here. Dallas explained that a lot of these were actually ancient discoveries made by other older cultures, both on Earth and elsewhere, which were secret or lost in time. Unfortunately we don’t have time to go into as much detail as I would like, as the show must go on! But this area truly made one feel that this ship was a place you could just get lost in for years experimenting and exploring all the intricate fantastic things Enoch had been blessed with.
“If you are bored later, you are welcome to try on some of the battle armor and see how you pit against these warriors! I will change their abilities to suit your exact level, so you won’t have to worry about them overpowering you.” Dallas spoke around Annette, with an intonation that told Annette that indeed this was one of Dallas’s favorite things on board.
Annette was next taken to the uppermost level, functionally called “The Observation Deck.” Here was nothing but a big open space underneath a giant pane of glass edged with glowing gold. The glass was all of the kind Enoch’s own room was made from, and allowed the observer to see in all directions at once and around any bend and as far as one wished, within the limits of your mind. Annette sat down on the plush white carpeting, reclining on a pile of pillows that fit into every curve of her body, and gazed out into the stars, letting the glass zoom up and show the way the stars not only shone but burned in all their heat. Lots of electromagnetic energy performing interactions with other solar bodies which scientists haven’t even discovered yet was also clearly displayed. It was kind of like being at a movie theater, but the movie was a living version of Google Earth which you controlled with your thoughts, so you could be completely at rest there.
Next she looked out towards Earth, and saw her old home and family there. They seemed happy, and so close Annette felt she could almost touch them. Her mom was in the kitchen, and suddenly looked around, as though she realized she was being watched.
“Hi Mom! I’m right here, I’m ok!” she said.
Her mother jumped and dropped a glass on the kitchen floor, shattering it. In just as much surprise Annette quickly pulled out of the situation and brought it back to the present location.
“Oh, sorry I forgot to tell you how to use this glass viewer tech. I’ll show you later – don’t worry, your mom is fine!” said Dallas.
?
??I understand.” Annette replied, with hint of longing in her voice.
She suddenly realized she missed her family more than ever, but was also relieved to know she could see them any time she wished. She could even in some fantastic way interact with them! She pulled her vision back to the local area around Dallas on Mars, and again studied their surroundings. She was looking directly at their own location from just outside the view screen, as though there were an invisible camera hovering outside. It was like looking in a mirror, except the mirror could show you infinitely more details about yourself than your eyes could. She hadn’t looked in the mirror recently, and realized her own appearance had changed a bit. Her brown hair appeared even darker as opposed to the previous wispy brown. Her features seemed sharper, and not exactly older but just more defined. Her eyes emanated confidence and intelligence in a way she had never known. There was a new strength there which she could not explain. Her physique was still the same—gorgeous, attractive, stunning, --so she was told. She knew this, and yet often pretended not to care. But now she allowed herself to wonder what might occur between her and Enoch in the coming days, should he find her favorable. She adjusted her robe a little, exposing her cleavage a bit more as she thought about this and then stopped herself, realizing she wasn’t really alone here.
“Enoch already likes you a lot! You don’t have to worry, Annette!” Dallas’s voice chimed in.
“Hey! A little privacy, huh?” Annette yelled out in surprise.
“I just wanted to remind you I was here before you started stripping! Don’t worry, you can have privacy any time you wish. I’m not the NSA!” said the sing-songy voice.
“The what? Oh, yes I know. Well I apologize for yelling at you. How silly of me to have access to a telescope that lets me see anywhere and to just use it to look at myself in the mirror! I suppose I’m still pretty vain.” Annette admitted.
“Seriously don’t worry about it. Why don’t to take a look at this new world you are in? We will be leaving the planet soon,” Dallas replied.
Annette immediately zoomed back outside once more, past some dinosaurs romping and grazing around the surrounding country. By far the most astounding thing besides the beautiful Dallas craft itself was The Starlion, hovering like a flying city over the giant valley that made the Grand Canyon look like something a child dug out in a sandbox.
There was an amazing fact she had never realized—The Starlion itself was connected to the rest of the landmass below through a series of bridges and platforms. As she studied these with her eyes she also immediately got the knowledge that these were used by the Malacandrians to transport various goods back and forth from the ship to their lands down below. The Starlion continued to pour heavenly life-giving streams of water from its reserves of River of Life water. Indeed Heaven’s direct presence there was also an added protection against the darkness that prevailed over most of the planet Mars. The Malacandrians in return gave some of their finest produce and mineral ore from the deep mines in their fertile valley. Dallas guessed Annette’s thoughts on the topic of Heavenly-Malacandrian economics and explained a little bit further about how this all worked, in her usual calm and resonating voice:
“This mission was for the residents of Eleneth to achieve a short reprieve after their first mission to Earth in the Spirit-Dimension, which was a great battle. You were their bounty from that mission, and although many say this was very little fruit for such a great endeavor, in fact the Lord Himself chose you for something special, and the elders of Eleneth know this and have protected you since your retrieval. So they came here, to help Malacandria and to give you a peaceful start in your new life in the Heavenly Society. Eventually they were going to get around to getting you saved and give you all your paperwork so you could enter the city, but they were perhaps lazy, perhaps selfish, and took you for themselves. The bureaucracy in Heaven takes a while to process, unless through prayer. Sapphire saw you on one of her visits here and prayed for you, and set things in motion for Enoch to come and rescue you, to speed things along in your life with the Lord! This mission is also two-fold, as it will give Eleneth a kick in the toosh to get their ship back into combat, where they are actually quite needed. Second, it is for you to recognize your destiny, which, frankly I don’t even know anything about yet. Is there anything else you want to know?
Annette gazed out at the Martian landscape. The sky was actually hardly red at all, except for a few spots that the red earth reflected. It was a blue sky! And plus there was obviously air, and people walking around in various locations.
“What is up with Mars? It’s nothing like I thought! Is this the real Mars or some spiritual parallel version?”
Annette was going to milk this little talk from Dallas for all it was worth.
“Oh, it’s real, my dear! Are you sure you want to know all this right now? Aren’t you tired? Well I’ll just finish with this story and then you can go to bed. Here, let me shift the vision for you so you can understand what I say as I explain. ”
Annette closed her eyes and reclined on some of the big plush pillows that were on the already soft floor under the observation dome. She let the voice of Dallas encompass her as she imagined all the stories being told.
The story of Mars is complex, and this is hardly to be unexpected. What if a Martian who knew nothing about Earth except that it was blue asked you to tell him its story? Needless to say we can't tell you everything Dallas said to Annette at this time. She told her all sorts of things! There were the ancient underground civilizations, still struggling for survival, the connections of the Martian cultures (of humans!) to ancient Egypt. Dallas even touched upon the present day undisclosed interactions between Earth’s peoples and Mars’s. These were not those of Malacandria, however. There was a sort of Garden of Eden on Mars that had been protected, and kept from the cataclysms that had taken place on the surface throughout history. Anyone who has read the testimony of that account knows that indeed this was the area of Mars to which Ransom journeyed. Ransom's story was quite interesting, as well: After returning to Earth he lived out his days in quietude, having interactions with C.S. Lewis and also with some of those in the Anti Christ program during those days. This was all never documented, however, and perhaps the world would never know what really happened. Three books were published, however, chronicling some of the adventures of Ransom in story format, and these were fantastic enough that hardly a soul ever questioned their being pure fiction. A fourth uncompleted book written by C.S. Lewis including Ransom was also published that touched upon a method of seeing through time, but that is another story altogether, as it goes into the issue of time travel which we do not yet have time (no pun intended) to discuss.
After his death, Ransom went to Heaven and became a part of the society there, in a nice town full of other Christians. He was elected among them to be the town’s mayor. One day a girl named Sapphire came around there, and got things stirred up. A revolution occurred, and the slogan for that revolution was “Let’s go to combat for King Jesus!” Soon the entire city was mobilized and joined with a space battle vessel called Starlion. Due to Ransom’s experiences and connections with the highly spiritual folk of Malacandria, (and in particular their Archangel known as Oyarsa), he eventually brought the Starlion which was now of course fused with the Heavenly cityscape Eleneth back there, to help them prepare for coming war. They brought also many battlements to give the good people of Malacandria to also help equip them against the Enemy, as they were pretty unskilled in the ways of combat. Again, Mars has many cultures just as Earth does, but those of Mars are mostly underground. A lot of the creatures on Mars were too dangerous for people to live on the surface. Another side note regarding the future of Mars was that Satan himself was going to send a great force there before the last battle of Armageddon, to gather some of his armies that were hidden in caves all over the planet, sleeping until he came to wake them.
&nbs
p; “This is hardly a bed time story!” Annette exclaimed.
“Sorry, I know it’s crazy,” replied Dallas. “In fact it’s partly the Lord’s will for humans to not have to be confused with all this interstellar knowledge, so they can work out their salvation on a pure basis, just in their own little world. But that is changing now! Uh-oh! Look at what’s happening!”
Annette opened her eyes and rather than get up, just tuned her gaze into the glass so she was able to do a complete 360 around the ship. Dallas’s voice trickled off and the sound of steps could be heard coming up the narrow stairwell, light and fast.
Outside the ship on Mars' surface could be seen the massive and great Starlion rising up into the sky, all the lights and battle equipment readying. Smaller fighter ships were shooting out from many of the docking ports, too, and going out into all directions.
Dallas appeared in her own form beside Annette. Her real presence was so cute and demure in comparison to who she was when fused with the ship and all its functions, it was pretty funny.
“Oh golly gee goshems!!! This is going to be awesome!” She said, jumping up and down.
She pointed outside at what was practically an entire vista itself just rising out into the sky, like a series of mountains suddenly flying. . . the tremendous waterfalls of Life Water were still falling into the valley of Malacandria, but noticeably slowed down as the ship must have been locking down for flight preparations.
Dallas let out a big sigh, and, without even explaining a word, she ran off back to the staircase.
"Probably has to go tell Enoch the news," Annette thought to herself.
So much for taking a break! She didn’t know what else to do, so she just sat there in the same position, relaxing in the face of this amazing spectacle. Somehow she felt totally confident, trusting her friends to handle the situation. Some of the ships were closing in on their position, and Annette even recognized some of these as the ‘Air Force’ she had known and heard about this past year. She knew many of the pilots, too!
The ships did not seem to notice their position, however, and when they came within close distance of the Dallas, they simply went around in circles, as though still searching for something. Could it be that the entire ship was on alert because of her? No, that was impossible, she thought. Then again. . . Starlion/Eleneth certainly hadn’t gone anywhere since she’d been on board, as the landscape of the mountains had remained the same, cleverly keeping her in a sort of Truman-Show type of false reality. She was thankful for that, looking back, but still it was not reality and she had made a decision to face reality no matter how scary it was from that point on!
She guessed they were in some kind of cloaking camouflage, or something, since Starlion's fighter ships weren’t finding them. But then the unexpected happened: The River of Life hadn’t been stopped (it was a direct portal to New Jerusalem within Starlion, and that would not be easily closed especially if something so crucial was flowing through it!). Rather, it had merely been diverted to the turrets and fire cannons placed all around the ship! Giant torrents of the beautiful water were now flowing out, spreading in all directions at tremendous pressurized bursts, covering everything in its life-giving wetness.
Annette ran downstairs to alert her friends, but nearly fell over when suddenly the entire ship rocked on its side, obviously hit by one of the water cannons. Man, what a genius idea! Magic water like that. . . even Enoch’s best inventions wouldn’t be able to hide! Part of Annette felt giddy just from the fact that she was beginning to understand how things worked in this high tech Heavenly society. She was a fast learner and she knew it!
She heard laughing downstairs, though, which was odd. Up from the 3rd floor came Enoch, holding the little Dallas in his arms, who was struggling wildly but also obviously enjoying it.
“PUT ME DOWN! I AM WARNING YOU! I AM CAPTAIN OF THIS SHIP!”
And Enoch’s laughter came out in big bellows, as he would tickle her every time she yelled out like this.
“Let me drive this time, ok, honey?” And he kissed her. This seemed to quiet Dallas down quite a bit, and she just melted in his arms
“Oh, mmm, I suppose this just once would be ok!” Her eyes suggested what the fee might be later though. She was an absolutely beautiful woman, Annette thought, but she had the ability to hide that in her nerdiness.
The ship rocked again, and their moment of staring into each other’s eyes continued, until finally Annette said “AHEM! We’re about to get attacked here! Do you want me to drive?”
The two looked up in surprise. Enoch put down the little bundle of wildness called Dallas, apologizing. “Sorry you had to see that, it’s how we . . . ah, run the ship around here, right commander?” He looked in Annette’s eyes to see if there was any hurt there, but she had decided to put off any feelings until later at this time. Enoch turned to grab the controls and drive his house, but Dallas had already gotten herself into the chair, fusing herself once more with the ship.
“HEY! It’s my turn to drive!” And before he could say anything more some of the convenient robot arms popped down to block Enoch from retrieving the commander. They were unthreatening, but obviously strong enough to withstand even the wrestlings of the strongest man.
“Sorry, but I can do this waayyy better than you!” came Dallas’s voice from everywhere.
“OK! I give up, next time!” He said, and then muttered quietly, ‘she always gets to drive. . .’ but the ship replied all around them ‘Who cooks your meals and does your laundry?’ and Annette laughed.
The two of them walked back upstairs to the top floor, Enoch taking some kind of transponder device with them.
“Gotta dialogue with our pursuers” he said.
On the top floor, once again, they could see that at this time their ship was on the verge of being completely surrounded with The Starlion’s expert fliers. They would waste no time reeling them in, so their escape would have to be swift.
“What will you tell them?” Asked Annette.
“Let’s find out what they want first. I’ve already set up a hologram to buy us time, hopefully they won’t notice we’ve already gotten out of here! We have many layers of cloaking that should still be active. The water only reached through the first layer.”
Annette watched through the window of the Observation Deck as the outer protective dome turned different colors, and flashed until it seemed as though they were looking at the outside world through water. Everything became blurry and strange, as when you try to look through a stream of water at the ground beneath.
“This oughta hold em’ for a bit, it’s a time-warp! Dallas just put us into another dimension. The only problem with this is, our ship is not even as spiritual as theirs is. . . they are more like a level 87 Spirit Craft and ours is designed for physical interactions primarily, and is only about a level 38,” Enoch explained.
He seemed to carry way too much joviality in such a critical time, but at this point Annette was getting used to it.
“Is there a real gauge for how spiritual an object is?” Annette asked, half interested and mostly distracted by the cool effects around them.
“Nah, I just made up those numbers. Although really there is something similar to a spirituality gauge, it is beyond your understanding of physics now. I’ll tell you later when we have time.”
There came a clicking sound, as the receiver Enoch held came to life, and a new voice spoke through it.
“Enoch! Answer me! Come in!” an unfamiliar female voice said.
“Who’s there?” He asked.
“My name is Sapphire, you may have heard of me. . .”
“Yes indeed I know who you are! You sound cute– doesn’t this voice connection have a cam?”
“Why do you need a– ah, very funny. Listen to me, and pay attention! We are on a temporary private call, as I am right now ducking out of a town hall meeting. The people here on Eleneth are about to send
everything they've got after you just because of your cargo!” Her voice was filled with urgency, but also had a hint of playfulness in it.
“They’re already sending everything!” Enoch replied. They even aimed the Water from the River of Life at us! And by the way why are you telling us this. Aren’t you with them?”
“I’m . . . just with the Lord now. No more denominationalism for me, no sir! But I still care about my hometown and I want them to succeed in their mission. So I want to help you escape –under one condition.”
“and that is?” Enoch replied.
“You have to go slow, slow enough for Eleneth to keep up with you, and you have to lead them to some specific coordinates which. . . should . . . appear in a moment.” Sapphire’s voice was distracted as she keyed in the info that subsequently appeared on the screen. Zooming in real time to that part of space, a large comet came into view.
“What is this? Why do you want them to go there?”
“It’s also classified information. The King has a plan, and we just follow along, you know the drill!” Sapphire replied.
“OK babe, we need your help right away. You say they’re going to send everything at us? Everything as in, –how much is everything?”
“Enough to fill the skies with bombers and fliers and craft powerful and capable of keeping you guys from ever leaving this planet. You’ll have to go underground and find another way, and deal with the locals, and strike up a deal, and . . . oh, no that would be a headache. The only way out is for you to follow my lead! I'm sending you a specialist pilot to assist you, but it will take another 10 minutes. Can you last 10 minutes?” Sapphire said, a flirtatious tone in her voice.
“You know full well I can last far longer than–” Enoch retorted, but the line went dead.
There was a familiar click as the transmission ended. Enoch looked at Annette as if she had some input. As it turned out, she actually did!
“They have quite an army in there, Enoch. I’ve seen enough just from the planedome side of Starlion to tell you — they are recruiting as many soldiers as possible. I’m sure they’re inexperienced, but it could spell major action.”
The Dallas lifted up off the ground, at last. There was a hologram left behind identical to the Dallas, but as soon as it was discovered the armies of Eleneth went on super high alert, realizing their prey was getting away. However instead of all the fighters and ships congregating to that area (there were now legions of them coming from all the gateways) they flocked to an outside perimeter. The entire Starlion began to glow, before the River of Life weapon erupted yet again, like a fire truck with water hoses on all sides aimed in every direction. Vast torrents of water spread out everywhere, and as they gained in altitude above Mars much of it turned to ice in the coldness of the high altitude and then finally outer space.
Due to the holy nature of this ice, though, bolts of blinding blue electricity arced between the long glistening chunks flying everywhere, which were nearly impossible to navigate through. Enoch watched with no small amount of pride as Dallas's impressive navigation skills were shown off. However, this was still an impossible sky to fly through.
Just when it seemed there was no way they could get any further, one lone craft, smaller than any of the others came zooming in front of them as they tried to make their way through the beams of lightning and ice chunks. This new craft was emitting a large shield that nothing could penetrate, and led them safely through the storm until they reached up high enough beyond it all.
It wasn’t long, though, before their pursuers realized this scheme. All the powers on hand were sent after the Dallas, including Eleneth/Starlion herself! The mighty ship was huge, but once it got moving it would be incredibly fast. Dallas was fast enough to ensure a safe enough distance between them, though, as they continued towards the target out in deep space, beyond the solar system.
Annette gasped as she saw the stars flying by, or planets, rather, and noticed that the entire solar system was filled with strange wonders that she had never seen or heard of before. It was filled with life! People, technology, civilization– however this was only in the spiritual dimension, right? She didn’t have time to ask any questions about this, though.
Dallas was still under a cloak but apparently that had been compromised (perhaps on purpose?) to allow the impossibly large spaceship including countless numbers of fighting craft to follow them relentlessly. It was almost funny, how simple their motive was and how much they would send for just one precious cargo!
Enoch talked directly to the walls of the ship, addressing her. “Dallas, let’s get in touch with our friend here, since this will be quite a long journey! Perhaps he would like to come and dine with us!”
“I have, and he is on his way. He isn’t human, though. Do you think Annette is ready for this?”
“Yes, she’s ready, I believe.” And he took her by the hand to go down to the lowest level, apparently where a garage or docking bay was.
At last things were quiet again for the time being, as sufficient distance had been reached between them and the flying city-sized spacecraft and its army of attack fighters. Annette was able to take in the pleasantness of this new home as they walked down through each level. She was definitely ready to take a nice mini-vacation from all that had transpired, and was happy to hear the news that they would need to journey for a little while, in order to reach this destination. . . a comet!
“How cool, ” she thought aloud.
Enoch, however, was just as hardy as ever, eternally poised for the next adventurous expedition. He was already looking at a data hologram from his wrist to check out the details of this comet, and its inhabitants (spiritually) etc. even as they walked.
The lower level (B1) of Dallas was the guts of the ship, and was filled with beautiful engines. There was something classic about them, almost as if they had been made by a wizard and not a mechanic. Some of the parts seemed unnecessary and out of date, like the big iron cogs that turned and some of the wind bags blowing in and out. There was then of course high tech computerized energy forges and panels, also, but Enoch later explained that in the first model of this craft they had used some of Earth’s own materials and created a ‘flying house’ which was beloved by all of the kings of the world. They had kept some of the original machine parts for nostalgic purposes, as many people enjoyed seeing these again when taken aboard the craft for a tour.
Below the engine was a garage. It housed a few craft of its own, that looked dangerous enough, small as they were. In an airlock was a visitor, apparently the ship which had guided them to safety just moments before. It had apparently just docked and came inside.
The whole body of this little single-person ship opened up, from top to bottom. Various appendages came out and detached themselves, which were previously fused with the driver. The driver was a simple white figure. Annette could not see what manner of person it was, through the steam of the instruments.
At last the smoke cleared and Annette saw a beautiful woman, covered from head to toe in white glistening armor that was skin tight, showing off her almost impossible figure. She was, shall we say, fully equipped! Her face was covered with what looked like a glorified motorcycle helmet, with a light neon blue glow emanating from within the visor. She took this off and there was a slight hiss. Long blond hair flowed around her shoulders and chest, and features that beamed ‘Let’s do it’ echoed from her face. She was incredibly gorgeous.
Enoch took the helmet for the woman, and offered her his hand in what appeared to be an ancient gesture of ‘welcoming someone on your spaceship’ and this entailed a slight stepping back, a slight bow, and — actually this may have just been something Enoch did to get women’s attention, Annette thought to herself.
“How do you do!” she said to Annette. “I am Rachel, and I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” She held out her hand, but this turned into a warm embrace instead. It seemed the He
avenly culture was (in its inner levels) more accustomed to just throwing aside traditions and just nakedly loving each other. So this constituted almost constant hugging, humble greetings, compliments, and mirthfulness.
“I’m happy to make your acquaintance too!” Said Annette when she hugged her back. And then she blurted out: “and I love you so much!”
“I love you too, God bless you!” replied Rachel.
There was something unreal about her. . . she was definitely human, right? Annette decided not to ask.
“Let’s get ourselves refreshed and then have a meeting!” exclaimed Enoch, as if having a meeting was just the most fun thing in the whole world.
“Oh yes, let’s!” said Rachel, and the two skipped merrily ahead out of the room, back towards the steps. This left Annette momentarily dumbfounded as she was still adjusting to this kind of . . . culture, yes that is definitely the word. Her sociologically educated background offered her some ability to diagnose little details happening all around her based off of simple interactions that were opening up all kinds of possibilities and ideas. She was going to have to create a lexicon of terms and gestures and whatnot, that she was observing all around her. She’d—
“Hey are you coming? We're going to the wine cellar to get just the right refreshments for our meeting! Called Enoch, interrupting Annette’s psychological muses.
Annette started for the door, but took one last look around. She stared at the craft Rachel had just arrived in, which was actually just a marvelous power packed wearable suit of futuristic armor that fit itself around your body. The material of the interior matched Rachel’s armor: it was the same heavy duty looking white porcelain.
Later, the three met in the dining room for their ‘meeting.’ There were so many things to discuss, not to mention news to get from Rachel, but instead it seemed they just cracked jokes and laughed about silly things for the longest time. Each had their own cocktail, and Rachel was now dressed in the same bathrobe that Enoch and Annette wore. So at least they had matching clothes, even if it just looked like they were guests at a spa! The large open space echoed with Enoch's hearty laughter, as it seemed neither of them could run out of jests, as though they were in a joke contest. Annette thought Rachel had the most beautiful smile and when she laughed it was like a melodious song that was not at all unpleasant. At last they did finally get around to talking business, and the details of the road ahead were laid out.
Rachel explained that they had a new mission for the Starlion, which had to do with this large comet about to enter the solar system. This also would need the help and participation of each of the residents of Eleneth, which were deemed most suitable for this task.
“That’s ridiculous, though! They’re so . . .” Annette was embarrassed to finish her sentence.
“Lazy? Yes that’s what Sapphire told me. But they mean well, and the Lord in His Wisdom always has a job suitable for each soul, despite all of our fallacies. Praise God! Anyway, Mr. Enoch only has the duty of transporting you safely there and from there you will then be taken immediately to the New Jerusalem.”
“But won't they want to bring me back to Eleneth if they see me there? At the comet or whatever it is that's there I mean,” Annette asked.
“Some people might, but we'll see. Once they settle down I don't think they'll try anything of the sort. Just take it one step at a time. The course could change again of course, depending on how the Spirit leads us. Now if you’ll excuse me folks, I must use the restroom!” Rachel said, standing up and exiting the room.
“Does she come here often?” Annette quizzed Enoch, with one eyebrow raised.
“Oh! No of course not, she’s too busy. But she has come here on occasion, when the Mission has required it. You see, we’re sort of on a ‘Winning Offensive’ so to speak, and everything is being devoted to a full scale, all out war against the Demonic Host. You wouldn’t guess by looking at her, but she is actually one of the finest fighters in the army of the Lord,” Enoch said with a smile.
“I certainly see she’s caught your attention! Well, I’ll be having another glass. Would you also like one?” she asked.
“Yes please!” Enoch said, still smiling.
Annette rose from the table, tightening the belt on her robe and accentuating her natural feminine curves. Something about this place both made one feel comfortably at home and like being a part of something very important at the same time. Just exactly according to her plan, she noticed Enoch’s eyes follow her as she strode across the room. She felt inwardly happy to be grabbing his attention, after the gorgeous Rachel had just pranced into the scene in all her voluptuous glamour hours before. Annette was usually not one to compare with other girls, but in this case she found herself caring about Enoch's interest in her.
“I will see to the preparations of our weaponry should the Starlion catch up with us. We may have to engage in mild deep space combat should any of their faster craft have the audacity to pick a fight,” Enoch said, after finishing one last drink.
“Uh, hello? They have like, wayyy more fighters than us!!”
Annette stumbled back to her seat, also realizing she perhaps had been affected by the cocktail a bit more than she’d realized. She did her best to recapture her usual good composure so Enoch would not notice. He seemed pretty relaxed in his chair, though as though this was the farthest thing from his mind. Annette found herself musing as to how stately he was, underneath all of the sarcasm. When he wasn't talking, he appeared quite noble. But this was a side of his person he seldom let show to others, even to his closest friends.
“It doesn’t matter, we are much faster than their entire fleet put together. My thinking is that they might have some spunky enough pilots who think they know how to push a spaceship beyond its limits. In that case they may attempt an attack, and we will have to retaliate. I am going to the weapons facility to see what we have in case this happens. We are on the same side, however, and are obviously not interested in any kind of harm. Just. . . play, is all! Ancient space sparring!” Enoch said, with a mischievous grin.
“Is that so? Man this is so different than the Heaven I grew up imagining. What a crazy kingdom! I sure am happy I got to come join in this way, even if it's a bit unorthodox. ”
She rose up out of her seat as she spoke, feeling the joy and the thrill of their adventure with every heartbeat. The fellowship was beyond the greatest sense of closeness with her friends on Earth.
Enoch began to leave the room as well, but Annette was inadvertently in his way, standing under the doorway leading to the stairs. Enoch took this opportunity to give her a big hug tightly pressing her body against his.
“I’m so glad you decided to come with us. You won’t regret this, I promise,” he whispered into her ear.
She felt a sudden and powerful arousal, her breasts up against his chest. He held her there just a moment longer than was needed. He then let go, and walked off towards his chambers. Annette watched him and thought he looked like a cross between a crazed scholar, a knight, and an old wise king all at once. She let out a big sigh, realizing she had been holding her breath.
That evening (or whatever time it was, in deep space) she spent quietly in her room, finding her clothes – the same dress she had worn to the party just a little while ago, but in a different life, freshly cleaned and pressed and folded on her desk. She watched the stars go by, and if she pressed her face up against the glass, she was able to see the outline of a mass of lights far behind them, following them. She was not able to see through the glass ad infinitum, as Enoch’s room was able to, or the observation deck did. That was ok, though. She was happy for a little simplicity for a little while, just alone in her room, watching all of space zipping by. Once they passed a large planet—She thought it may be Jupiter, and eventually they zipped by the Sun, but at this time the shutters drew closed to keep the intense amount of light from causing any discomfort to
the passengers on board.
Spiritually exhausted, she fell asleep on the bed, just about as soon as her face hit the pillow. She knew she was a spirit, now (did spirits need sleep?), but the fact that there was a bed with pillows on it, and that she had a hefty load of experiences weighing on her soul made sleep a very nice prospect. She was feeling so comfortable, too, and in such a state, she wanted nothing more than just to rest in the perfect world of dreams. She hadn’t had any nightmares this past year, she realized, and it made sense. ‘So this is Heaven’s. . . Kingdom. . .’ she thought, and drifted off.
When she opened her eyes, she realized she hadn’t just been dreaming strange and haphazard dreams. She felt distinctly that she had been somewhere, and just forgotten as soon as she awoke. She got up, put on her dress from before (it was the only thing she had besides the bathrobe) and tried some of the various perfumes set in front of a mirror. She didn’t have any makeup, to speak of, but when she looked at herself in the mirror she realized she didn’t need any. How had she changed? She seemed to possess a new kind of vibrancy, and her features just stood out naturally so perfectly that she saw that she didn’t even need to work at ‘beautifying’ herself. Then she stood up on her bed, to see herself in the mirror. Her whole body seemed different also, but it was almost unnoticeable unless she really looked. She had a leaner, more fit look, with even firmer breasts, and a — ah, that was it! Her posture seemed to straighten itself out naturally. Was this the work of. . . The Holy Spirit? She had heard something about this a while ago, that rang a bell. One of the books she had picked up in the libraries of Eleneth was called ‘Manifest Victory’ by Rufus Moseley, and had spoken about a physical change in his stature and appearance after receiving the Holy Spirit in power. Annette checked her height, to see if this was true. Not having much to go by, she just checked to see how far her dress went down. It was definitely a lot shorter on her now. She had grown in height! Come to think of it, Enoch was definitely quite a bit taller than her when they had first met. It was possible in all the excitement since her ‘Salvation Prayer’ that she had missed this minor yet very crucial detail—she had actually grown taller! Why this mattered in a world full of impossibilities occurring all around her was beside the point. She felt so at peace now, and so full of hope. There was an aura of expectancy surrounding all the things that were taking place. A music player set on the desk played all kinds of songs, both of Heaven and Earth. A little hologram displayed the song title and composer. "WORLD CELL - SUSUMU HIRASAWA" was the current beautiful flowing melody. She decided to see if she could call on that ‘Key of Prophecy’ once more as she had done with Enoch in the underworld of Eleneth, and tap into the Voice of Jesus again. She sat down at the desk, finding an old antique quill there, with a jar of ink inside the drawer. ‘How retro!’ she thought, and began to write:
“My precious dearest Bride, you are Mine now, and I have taken your life into My hands. There is nothing for you to fear now, and everything for you to look forward to! Get ready to have the ride of your life, because I have all your highest hopes and dreams in my mind, and am ready to fulfill them! Take time with Me, to learn from Me. Take time in My Word, to know Who I Am. I will take you as a Husband takes His Lover, and love you to the full!”
Annette heard these words, and wrote them down. Then she got up, and in the privacy of her room, knelt down by the bed, thanking King Jesus for His acceptance of her. She was beginning to feel the bigness of being loved in this way, by the God of the Universe. These were thoughts that only came in her private moments, though, as the rest of the day was so filled with intensity, action, and even sexual emotion (was that even ok, in the afterlife?). She decided it was time to go and explore a bit more her new home, or temporary home. The library was calling! She wasn’t sure if this was the time, or not, but perhaps it was a good thing to go and see what sort of booty Enoch had in this pirate ship of his! That’s what it was, after all! And she knew she was part of Enoch’s booty! On second thought, she hoped her booty wasn’t all he was after. No, it couldn’t be!
TO BE CONTINUED
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