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jeriendhalAs promised on the In Nomine listserve
“Y’know, I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised,” Jimmy said, turning around to take in the nave of Lightning’s Cathedral. Angels and Blessed Souls walked, slithered, flew, and moved like… well, whatever you’d call a Kyrio moving. The walls were shining glass and steel, there were elevators going up and sideways, and at the center of it was a very familiar looking white and silver pillar, that pulsed with barely contained energy.
Beside him, Dee chuckled. “Thirty years worth of fans coming up to Heaven, I suppose it was inevitable. You wanna take a guess what the Tether portals look like?”
“Nope.” He stepped back to allow one of the black-winged fellows, a Malakite rather, in a black and tan uniform slip by. “The odd thing is, nobody’s even asked me for my autograph yet!”
“And nobody will, unless you offer. We got the polite fans up here.”
“Oh, they were alright,” Jimmy said. “Nice kids, all of them.”
Dee shook his head. “Jimmy, you’re just showing off why you got in so easy.” He took a sip of the mint julep in his hand. “So where you gonna go now?”
“I’d thought Creation,” Jimmy said. “But it looks like they won’t be open to visitors for awhile yet. Not sure where else. Not here, I mean. I played an engineer on TV, that doesn’t mean I know anything, past changing the oil in my car.”
A snake… Seraph, Jimmy reminded himself, slid up to them. This one wasn’t in any kind of uniform, but it did have an axe about the size of Newfoundland strapped to it’s back. “Captain Doohan?” it asked.
“’Commander’ is fine,” Jimmy answered. “That’s what I was for most of the old show’s run.”
“I meant ‘Captain’ as in ‘Flight Captain Doohan,” the Seraph said. “You were in the RCAF, correct?”
“A long time ago, after Juno Beach,” Jimmy said, and unconsciously rubbed his hand where his finger had reappeared. He’d lived four fifths of his life without it. Getting it back again had to have been one of the strangest things about showing up here.
“Sorry I wasn’t here to welcome you earlier. I was caught up in some business Downstairs,” the Seraph said.
“That’s alright.” There was something familiar about the Seraph, which was ridiculous given that, even with the sorta shows he’d been in, there had been a real shortage of seven foot tall six-winged, six-eyed snakes in his life. “I’m sorry, have we met?”
The Seraph straightened up. “I was there with you on Juno Beach. Just one of a few thousand other soldiers, but I was there. I saw you get shot, I saw you get up again, and I saw you volunteer for the Air Force to keep fighting, even though you could have let yourself be medically discharged with full honors. I was there when you were dodging flak to protect the bombers. And I was there when you finally got the word that the war was over, the job was done, and you could go home. Maybe Laurence would call that Honor, but I call it gumption, and I wanted to shake your hand for it.”
Jimmy blinked, and took the Seraph’s hand in his own. “Thank you, son.”
“Thank you, sir. And feel welcome in my Cathedral, anytime.”
“Y’know, I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised,” Jimmy said, turning around to take in the nave of Lightning’s Cathedral. Angels and Blessed Souls walked, slithered, flew, and moved like… well, whatever you’d call a Kyrio moving. The walls were shining glass and steel, there were elevators going up and sideways, and at the center of it was a very familiar looking white and silver pillar, that pulsed with barely contained energy.
Beside him, Dee chuckled. “Thirty years worth of fans coming up to Heaven, I suppose it was inevitable. You wanna take a guess what the Tether portals look like?”
“Nope.” He stepped back to allow one of the black-winged fellows, a Malakite rather, in a black and tan uniform slip by. “The odd thing is, nobody’s even asked me for my autograph yet!”
“And nobody will, unless you offer. We got the polite fans up here.”
“Oh, they were alright,” Jimmy said. “Nice kids, all of them.”
Dee shook his head. “Jimmy, you’re just showing off why you got in so easy.” He took a sip of the mint julep in his hand. “So where you gonna go now?”
“I’d thought Creation,” Jimmy said. “But it looks like they won’t be open to visitors for awhile yet. Not sure where else. Not here, I mean. I played an engineer on TV, that doesn’t mean I know anything, past changing the oil in my car.”
A snake… Seraph, Jimmy reminded himself, slid up to them. This one wasn’t in any kind of uniform, but it did have an axe about the size of Newfoundland strapped to it’s back. “Captain Doohan?” it asked.
“’Commander’ is fine,” Jimmy answered. “That’s what I was for most of the old show’s run.”
“I meant ‘Captain’ as in ‘Flight Captain Doohan,” the Seraph said. “You were in the RCAF, correct?”
“A long time ago, after Juno Beach,” Jimmy said, and unconsciously rubbed his hand where his finger had reappeared. He’d lived four fifths of his life without it. Getting it back again had to have been one of the strangest things about showing up here.
“Sorry I wasn’t here to welcome you earlier. I was caught up in some business Downstairs,” the Seraph said.
“That’s alright.” There was something familiar about the Seraph, which was ridiculous given that, even with the sorta shows he’d been in, there had been a real shortage of seven foot tall six-winged, six-eyed snakes in his life. “I’m sorry, have we met?”
The Seraph straightened up. “I was there with you on Juno Beach. Just one of a few thousand other soldiers, but I was there. I saw you get shot, I saw you get up again, and I saw you volunteer for the Air Force to keep fighting, even though you could have let yourself be medically discharged with full honors. I was there when you were dodging flak to protect the bombers. And I was there when you finally got the word that the war was over, the job was done, and you could go home. Maybe Laurence would call that Honor, but I call it gumption, and I wanted to shake your hand for it.”
Jimmy blinked, and took the Seraph’s hand in his own. “Thank you, son.”
“Thank you, sir. And feel welcome in my Cathedral, anytime.”
