UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN

By Wesley Overhults

The Cathedral

Rahne Sinclair looked at the uniform lying on her bed before slipping out of her bedclothes and putting it on.  She checked herself in the mirror, absently rubbing the lingering sleep from her eyes.  She was used to being up early, a byproduct of her upbringing.  The housework wasn’t going to do itself and she honestly didn’t mind the chores.  They helped give her life structure.  Order was important to her.  Everything and everyone had their own place in the world.  Right now, her place was here.

‘I should be going,’ she mentally told herself.  ‘I was told that my instructor doesn’t enjoy tardiness.’

With that thought, she exited her quarters and hurried through the halls of the massive building that was the headquarters of The Order.  Rahne hadn’t been with The Order for very long and the circumstances of her arrival were hazy to her.  Samuel told her that sessions with Brother Crow always left people feeling a little disoriented but that it would pass with time.  Rahne was grateful to Brother Crow for helping her see the light and find her true place in the world but there was an uneasiness in her stomach whenever she thought about him.  She couldn’t dwell on that now though.

“I’d like to make something very clear to all of you,” stated the redheaded man as he paced up and down the line of the trainees that stood before him.  “I have been training inquisitors for a very long time and I don’t make it easy.  By the time you graduate, you will be the best because I won’t accept anything less.  If God has truly called you to this life then you should be able to take anything I throw at you without quitting.  Are we clear?”

Rahne made it into line with the other trainees and squeaked out a “Yes, Brother Matthew” though it was mostly drowned out by her peers.  She wasn’t the type to stand out so it didn’t bother her that her voice got lost in the shuffle.  She was a timid girl and always had been ever since she was a child.  It seemed so odd that God would call her to such a life but she knew in her heart that this was what she wanted.

“I’m glad to see you made it mostly on time, Sinclair,” noted Matthew Murdock, casting his stern gaze on Rahne before his eyes swept to take in the entire group.  “Now, first on today’s agenda is firearm training.  Some of you may have previous experience with firearms and that will help you but be warned, we of The Order do not use conventional firearms.”

Rahne watched as Murdock produced what looked like a pistol though she had never seen one look the way it did.  Although she didn’t know it, she came from an antiquated reality and her small experience with technology was outdated.  The gun Murdock held looked like a normal handgun save for the odd design of its barrel. Murdock slid the clip out of the gun and held it up for the trainees to see.  The clip wasn’t anything like a normal handgun, the difference highlighted by the fact that the ammunition inside of it was glowing.

“What is it?” asked one of the trainees.

“We use special ammunition,” explained Murdock.  “We call them ‘phase bullets’ and they’re small chunks of concentrated temporal energy.  When you hit your target with one of these bullets, they will be erased from reality.  They will cease to exist on any physical level.  The severity of the erasure depends on how good of a hit you got with the bullets.  If you graze your target, you could just simply leave them out of synch with reality and they would become a living ghost.  If you hit them full on with a phase bullet, you will wipe them from creation.”

The gun felt alien in Rahne’s hands as Murdock distributed the weapons to the trainees.  He clicked a button on the cane he held and the lights came on to highlight the targets along the far wall.  He wordlessly motioned for each trainee to take their places.  Rahne scrambled to fit in with the others, nervously lifting her weapon and trying desperately to make it look like she knew what she was doing.

“You’ve never done this before, have you?” inquired Murdock as he stood behind Rahne.

“No,” she confessed.  “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about guns, Brother Matthew.  I confess I haven’t even held one in my hand until now.”

“It’s very simple,” said Murdock as he poked the back of Rahne’s legs with his cane to correct her stance.  “You point and shoot.  Try to make the bullet hit the target.  Due to our unusual ammunition, accuracy isn’t as much of a necessity as it is with regular firearms.  As long as you get a good hit on the target, the phase bullet will take care of the rest.  Now, let’s see what you can do.”

Rahne gulped and tried to steady her clammy hands.  She curled a finger around the trigger and squeezed.  To her credit, she managed not to close her eyes.  The glowing projectile flew through the air and barely nicked the head of the human-shaped target.  Rahne couldn’t be sure but when she looked at the target, it looked like it was flickering or shimmering but there was no light coming from it.

“Miss Sinclair has provided us with an excellent abject example of what happens when you only graze your target,” said Murdock as he strode towards the target and reached out to touch it, his hand passing right through it as if it didn’t even exist.  “Not a bad try for someone who doesn’t know anything about guns.”

Rahne smiled weakly and nodded as Murdock took his place once again behind the trainees, instructing each of them to fire one shot so he could gauge their skills.  When he was finished going down the line, he returned to Rahne and made her shoot again.  The process continued until the trainees had either hit their target correctly or had emptied their clip in trying to do so.  Rahne made it about halfway through her clip before she finally hit her target correctly.  She watched the target simply vanish out of existence, its physical form completely destroyed by the temporal energies in the phase bullet.

“Time for hand-to-hand combat now,” announced Murdock.  “This way to the gym and we’ll begin.”

Rahne was eager to get the gun out of her hands but she couldn’t stop looking at the spot where her target had once been.  An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach and she couldn’t shake the idea that her target could have been a real person.  She wasn’t sure she was comfortable with actually shooting someone, especially not when she knew what those bullets did to them.  She couldn’t doubt herself now though.  God had chosen this life for her, had delivered her to a land of promise where she could fulfill her true calling.  She didn’t want to let anything get in the way of that.

One Week Later

“Brother Matthew told me that you were doing well in your training.”

Rahne had been going through her inquisitor training for a full week and she felt she was really starting to make some progress.  Her accuracy with the firearm had improved and Murdock often remarked that she was one of his brightest pupils when it came to hand-to-hand combat training.  He told her that her reflexes were uncanny and she considered it high praise after watching the way he moved while he fought.

“I’m honored to have him for a teacher,” said Rahne in reference to Samuel’s statement.

The two of them sat in the cafeteria, one of the many comforts that the Cathedral provided.  Though Rahne enjoyed the luxuries the building afforded her, she was interested in seeing the city outside of the Cathedral’s walls.  Though she was often shy and demure, she did enjoy being around people.  She remembered how happy life was in her village, surrounded by people she became as close to as family.  She hoped that she would be able to have those relationships while she was in her new home.

“He’s the best,” said Samuel.  “Believe it or not, he and I were part of the same inquisitor class.  He was first in our class and I was second.  He would go on to become our top inquisitor until he had to start teaching.”

“May I ask why?” inquired Rahne.

“He suffered an injury,” explained Samuel.  “During an inquisition, he was blinded by the heathens of that world.  To this day, he still only has partial sight in both his eyes.  That’s why he uses that cane of his, to help him navigate.”

“I would have never believed it,” admitted Rahne.  “To watch him fight is a thing of beauty.  How can he move so gracefully when he can barely see?”

“He’s trained himself well,” said Samuel.  “It took years for him to be able to move around the way he can so that nobody notices his handicap.  He could never go on another inquisition though.  Reverend Stryker forbade it.”

“And after that, you moved to the top of the class,” remarked Rahne.

“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” said Samuel.  “As I said though, he’s the best teacher you could’ve asked for.”

“And what shall I do when I graduate?” inquired Rahne.  “Surely they won’t expect me to go on my first inquisition alone.”

“No, you’ll have a partner,” assured Samuel.  “I had been hoping that I could have that honor.”

“I would want that as well,” she confessed to him, smiling at him.

One Month Later

She felt a queasiness in her stomach but she chalked it up to her nerves.  She was going to graduate tomorrow after all and there was no reason not to be excited about it.  Rahne wished that her father was there with her because surely he would have approved of her new line of work.  He was a man of God and she wished he was able to see the prosperity God had given her in this new land.  Perhaps when things had settled down and she had eased into her new line of work as an inquisitor, she could visit him and show him that his little girl was not an unholy monster.  The thought of visiting her father again made her head hurt so she tried to put that thought out of her mind.

Rahne hadn’t thought about what had happened that had led her to the Cathedral and The Order.  She remembered some of it and then there were other images that were hazy at best.  Strange people had come to her village from a distant land.  They claimed they were there to rescue her and the others from Dracula and his brides but all they did was cause more chaos.  There were monstrous wolves too and one of them bit her.  That meant that she was a monster too but God had sought fit to forgive her for that.  He must have if He had placed her in the care of The Order.  She wondered if they knew her secret, knew that she was now just like the werewolves that had invaded her village along with the vampires and those strange people.  What did they call themselves again?  Exiles?

Rahne decided that sleep wasn’t an option at that particular time.  She rose from her bed and felt her body start to ache all over.  She knew that if she had a physical ailment or even a psychological one then seeing Brother Crow was best but she was still uneasy about seeing him again.  She needed to talk to someone she trusted. Samuel?  No, he was currently out on some assignment for The Order.  An inquisitor’s work was never really done and Brother Matthew reminded her of that often during her training.  Perhaps she could see if Brother Matthew would give her counsel.

Rahne wandered out of her quarters and through the halls of the Cathedral, trying to find Brother Matthew’s quarters.  It was when she passed in front of the giant stained glass windows that something caught her eye.  It wasn’t so much the window’s artwork, though it was beautiful, as it was something else.  The moon was . . . radiant. She had never seen anything more beautiful in her life and she stood there transfixed by it.  It was then that the pain amplified as her muscles shifted and contorted but she couldn’t feel any of that pain.  The bright light of the full moon bathed her as she transformed into her wolf form.  Instinct took over, beating her rational mind into submission.  Unpleasant scents wafted through her nose and she realized that she was in a hostile place.  She had to get out of here.

“Brother Samuel told me what you were but I had my doubts until now,” admitted Murdock as he stood before Rahne.  “When we discovered tonight’s moon would be full and he would be away on business, he made me promise to check on you.”

Rahne didn’t register any of her teacher’s words.  He had the same stink on him that permeated everything in this place and that meant that he was an enemy.  She charged towards him, pouncing on him with intent to kill.  Murdock held his cane up in front of him and used it to halt Rahne.  He tipped himself backwards and monkey-flipped her before then springing to his feet.  He clicked a button on his cane and the ends of it became electrified as Rahne came at him once more.  The reflexes she displayed while in human form were even more impressive in wolf form but her finesse and control were obviously gone.  Murdock nimbly moved to avoid the swipes of her claws, twirling the cane like a bo staff and striking her with its electrified ends.  Rahne didn’t pay any attention to the jolts or the blows.  The only thing Murdock was doing at this point was enraging her further.  He had counted on that though because he knew that an enraged opponent was more likely to make mistakes.  It was why he always kept an even temper no matter what the circumstances.  Anger made you sloppy in a fight and right now his star pupil was seething with it.

“I want you to know that I’m not disappointed in you,” he told her even as he tagged Rahne in the head with two more shocks from his cane.  “You have a demon inside you, Rahne, but that is why you were brought to us.  We will heal you if you let us.”

Rahne didn’t register the strange noises coming out of his mouth as words.  The scent of evil that this place radiated was overpowering everything else.  The only thing her brain was doing was screaming at her to get away from here but she couldn’t.  She backed up and saw her teacher pull something out of his cane.  It was a large spike that gleamed in the moonlight and as he came at her with it, she somehow knew exactly what it was.  She tried to avoid the slash but the silver blade dealt her a glancing blow and she howled in pain as the cut burned her straight to the bone.

The noise alerted the attention of the whole Cathedral but by the time anyone made it to the scene, Murdock had already subdued Rahne by holding his cane over her throat and choking her out with it.  The electricity from his weapon dissipated at the touch of a button and he sheathed the silver spike.  Reverend William Stryker came to the head of the gathering crowd and gave Murdock a look that said they would plainly have to discuss what to do with Rahne Sinclair.

The Next Day

Rahne sat in her quarters with her knees scrunched up against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.  The memories of the previous night came to her in spurts and she always managed to work up a fresh round of tears every time.  It should’ve been the happiest day of her life but now she knew with absolute certainty that she would never graduate and become an inquisitor.  She thought she could forget about the monster inside of her but then it had to rear its ugly head and ruin everything.

“I’m sorry I had to hurt you last night, Rahne.”

Rahne looked up to see Brother Matthew standing in the doorway of her room.  The scar on her chest still burned from where he had cut her with that silver spike but she knew it wasn’t his fault.  It was her fault because she couldn’t control herself.

“No, I’m sorry,” she told him.  “Please forgive me, Brother Matthew.  I didn’t . . . I didn’t want to hurt you.  I’m cursed with this . . . this thing inside me and I can’t control it.  I thought God would help me find peace here and deliver me from the evil that lurks within my body but I was wrong.”

“He may deliver you yet,” admitted Brother Matthew.  “Minister Stein and the Reverend have been discussing what to do about your dilemma.  There was talk of a surgical procedure if you would be willing to consent to it.  It won’t cure you but it will make your condition more manageable.”

“Yes,” said Rahne without hesitation.  “I’ll do whatever is necessary.”

“Then you will be prepared immediately for surgery,” said Matthew.  “I’m sorry that you won’t be at graduation with the others, Rahne, but I want you to know that last night’s incident doesn’t change my assessment of you.  If this procedure is a success, you have my full authorization to be an inquisitor.”

“Thank you, Brother Matthew,” said Rahne, smiling for the first time since the previous night.  “I regret that Samuel isn’t here.  Do you know how soon he can return?”

“We notified him of your incident and he will be back as soon as his mission is finished,” assured Matthew.  “Come with me and we’ll get you ready for everything.”

Rahne nodded and walked to the door.  She felt a pang of sadness sting her heart because out of all the people she wanted to be there to watch her graduate, Samuel was at the top of the list.

Days Later

William Stryker looked at the documents on his desk and then looked up to the group of people seated across from him.  He mentally corrected himself, noting that Machine Man was no longer a human being by any stretch of the imagination so he shouldn’t be included in that category.  The insane automaton sat back in his chair, his head reclining and giving him a great view of the ceiling.

“Minister Stein, anything you would care to add to your report?” inquired Stryker.

“If I had something else to say then it would be in there,” countered Machine Man, tilting his head forward so he could see Stryker.  “I was about to put myself into sleep mode since there’s nothing interesting going on here.  The surgery went well enough though I didn’t have time to field test the implant.  Still, I’m confident it should work.”

“I trust your judgment, Reverend, but I was against that surgery,” said Samuel Guthrie.  “Rahne was unfortunately cursed through the bite of one of those filthy werewolves.  Instead of trying to benefit from that curse, we should be trying to cure her of it.”

“You know that we don’t have the means to find a cure even if one exists,” reminded Stryker.

“Her body has changed at a genetic level,” noted Machine Man.  “Be thankful that I have the brilliance to turn this fail into a win.  The implant in her brain should be able to trick her body into thinking its soaking up the light of a full moon.  Once she thinks that, she’ll transform though I can’t guarantee how controllable she’ll be or how many transformations the implant can sustain.  Her trainer will have the triggering device when she goes out into the field.  Think of it as keeping her on a leash.”

“Her reeducation will be intact,” confirmed Brother Crow.  “After the surgery, I gave her a full psychological examination.  She’ll be fine.”

“She completed basic inquisitor training before undergoing the surgery and since it’s a success she has my authorization,” said Matthew after Stryker looked to him.  “The only thing left is to assign her a field trainer and send her on her first assignment.”

“And I’m sure this corn-fed meatbag to my right would just love to be the one ‘handling’ her,” said Machine Man derisively, casting a glance in Samuel’s direction.

“I’ve put the request in, yes,” agreed Samuel before turning a caustic gaze at Machine Man into a hopeful one at Stryker.  “Am I approved, Reverend?”

“As one of our top inquisitors, I see no reason why not,” said Stryker.  “Make sure you keep a watchful eye on her at all times, Samuel.  I have your first assignment here. Take it with you when you give her the glorious news.”

“Mazel tov,” said Machine Man before getting up from his chair, intent on retreating back to his workshop.  “I have work to do.”

Brother Crow and Matthew also departed, both desiring to get back to their duties.  Only Samuel was left with Stryker, the prize inquisitor wanting a few private words with the leader of The Order

“Reverend, why must we put up with that creature?” inquired Samuel, speaking of Machine Man.  “I saw the plans for that surgery of his and they were abhorrent.  Had I been present at the time and had any authority over her, I would never have allowed it to happen.”

“God has provided us with him because he has a skill level that will be necessary for what is to come,” explained Stryker.  “The plans of the Lord do not unfold according to the will of you or I, Samuel.  We must work with what God provides us.”

“Of course, Reverend,” said Samuel as he took the file folder that Stryker handed him.  “I’ll go tell Rahne the news and we will be off on the assignment as soon as possible.”

“Go with God, Samuel,” said Stryker.

Rahne Sinclair studied herself in the mirror, her fingers running through the short crop of red hair that adorned her head.  They absently grazed over the tiny scar that was the only remnant of her surgery.  She dismissed it as unimportant, her mind having blocked out what little of it she could remember.  She had noted once the operation was finished that the scar on her chest was almost completely gone and she was thankful for it.  She assumed the one from her surgery would heal with time.

She couldn’t deny that she felt a thrill as she thought of what was to come.  Brother Matthew had told her that she was ready for the field once it was clear the operation was successful.  It would be good to go out and do the Lord’s work, her mission helping her focus on other things besides the loneliness she felt or her unholy condition.

“You may enter,” she said as she heard the knock on the door of her quarters.  She smiled when she realized that it was Samuel.  She felt better when he was around because he helped remind her of home and of the girl she once was.  There were times when she felt so lost without him and she felt sad that he wasn’t there to comfort her before the surgery.  He had arrived as soon as he could though and he was at her bedside the moment he returned.

“The Reverend has given me the privilege of being your field trainer,” informed Samuel, holding up the folder with their mission inside.  “He has our first assignment.”

Rahne nodded, nervous tension filling her stomach as she sat down on her bed with Samuel and looked at what was in the folder.  This wasn’t the same as a normal inquisition.  Normally, the inquisitor would be expected to stay in the reality for a long period of time, moving amongst its population to determine whether or not the reality was worthy of possibly being called Paradise.  She had learned all this in her inquisitor training but this assignment was different.  From everything The Order had been able to gather about this reality, it was already deemed unfit so there was no inquisition required.  They weren’t going into this reality as its judge and jury but rather simply its executioners.  She could see why the Reverend had given her this assignment.  It was a good mission for an upstart inquisitor, one where she could get used to the tools of her trade before honing her skills at subterfuge.

“I admit it’s not the most glamorous of assignments,” said Samuel.  “This world that we’re going to is ravaged by a deadly plague.  The population that isn’t infected races to find a cure but they won’t be able to make it in time.”

“We would do well to put those poor souls out of their misery then,” decided Rahne.  “Surely it would be better to die than to continue living in such wretched conditions.”

“Yes, I would think so as well,” concurred Samuel.  “I must caution you, Rahne, that this isn’t a normal inquisition.  I know you weren’t exactly trained for an assignment like this but I will be there to assist you should anything go wrong.  I’ll be the one carrying the retcon bomb so you needn’t worry about that.”

“I shall follow your lead then,” assured Rahne.

The two inquisitors made their way to what The Order called “The Breach Room”.  The Breach Room housed the teleportation platforms that the inquisitors used to enter various realities.  A horde of technicians inhabited The Breach Room but the usage of the portal platforms was overseen by Machine Man from a space in his private workshop.  Samuel handed the file to one of the technicians and then stepped onto an open platform, taking Rahne’s hand and helping her up onto it as well.  The technician nodded to himself as he plugged the coordinates into the console and the platform hummed to life.  Rahne felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention and then there was a familiar flash of light before she found herself somewhere else.  Even in her human form and without the aid of her heightened senses, she could smell the death that hung in the air.  She looked around the deserted streets of what was once Times Square.  Now it was merely a ghost town though Rahne had no frame of reference to understand how different it was from its normal grandeur.  It was the enormity of the place that made her gasp more than anything else.  Coming from a small village such as hers, she wasn’t accustomed to seeing buildings that towered into the sky the way these did.

“There will be a containment unit on us soon,” reminded Samuel as he removed the retcon bomb from his arm.  “You need to learn how to arm one of these if you’re going to be a proper inquisitor.”

“Of course,” said Rahne as she came over to his side and examined the device.

The heavy thud of feet hitting the pavement told both inquisitors that they had little time.  Samuel realized he was going to have to educate his pupil swiftly so they could get out of this reality before it collapsed.  He saw the armored van pull up to a curb and people in hazmat suits spilled out from its doors.

“This is the button you push to arm it,” he told Rahne as he pointed to the jewel in the middle of the gauntlet.  “The ones on the knuckles are the countdown to tell you how long you have.  When all of them light up, the bomb goes off.  Make sure you’re not holding it by the bottom when you arm it because that’s where the spike comes out to anchor it.”

Rahne watched as Samuel pushed the button and the spike shot out from the bottom of the gauntlet, sticking into the ground and anchoring the bomb to the reality.  Once that task was finished, the retcon bomb immediately began to start its countdown cycle.

“I . . . I remember this somehow,” said Rahne.  “I’ve seen this before.”

“This is Inquisitor Samuel Guthrie,” said Samuel into his radio and Rahne could swear she had heard this before somewhere.  “Inquisitor Rahne Sinclair and I need an evacuation portal.  Just the two of us, no others.”

“Portal will be ready in seconds,” confirmed the same technician who had provided their entry portal.

“Brother Matthew told me you were a decent shot,” said Samuel as he pulled out his handgun and pointed it at the people in the hazmat suits.  “Help me hold them back until the portal appears.”

Rahne did as she was told, leveling her gun at the decontamination team.  She fired and hit one of them squarely in the chest, drawing a sharp breath as the man was wiped from the face of reality.  It didn’t matter in the end though.  The entire reality would soon cease to exist so it didn’t really matter that she had just killed someone. The air came alive with energy as the portal opened behind them.  Samuel motioned to Rahne to get in first while he continued laying down cover fire.  Once Rahne was through the portal, Samuel followed.  The decontamination team arrived at the retcon bomb and studied it with curious looks.  It was the last thing they ever saw before the bomb exploded and erased the entire reality.

“You’ll need to pass through a tox-screen before you can return to your quarters,” stated the technician once Samuel and Rahne returned.  “We want to make sure you didn’t contract anything during your brief visit to that reality.”

“Normal inquisitions last longer,” informed Samuel as he and Rahne made their way to the medical facilities to get checked out by the doctors.  “Inquisitors can spend months or even years in a reality before they pass judgment on it.”

“I remember you spent a long time in my world,” said Rahne.  “Samuel, I . . . I wanted to express my gratitude for all you’ve done for me.  You rescued me from my world and brought me here.  You’ve been by my side helping me through my training and I know you would have been here if you could to see me graduate.  Thank you for all this.”

“You’ll make a good inquisitor, Rahne,” assured Samuel, smiling at her before they stopped at the entrance to the medical wing.  “I’m thankful that God brought you into my life.”

“I’m thankful He brought you into mine as well,” said Rahne.

She waited outside while he went in to get himself checked out.  Her first inquisition, while brief, had left her with a sense of rightness in her soul that she hadn’t felt before.  Truly this place was a place that only the Lord could have created and truly they were doing His holy work.  Yet something nagged at her like a fly buzzing in her ear.  She remembered that Samuel had been in her reality and had brought her here.  So what had happened to her home then?  Was it the same thing that had just happened to that nameless reality they had just passed judgment on?  No, that wasn’t possible.  Samuel was a good man and Rahne trusted his judgment without hesitation.  Surely he would’ve spared her world out of the kindness and mercy she knew overflowed from his heart.  Wouldn’t he have?

Next Issue: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas . . . assuming you survive, of course.