Time Split

Nebathan (Full short story)

Thomas Granger sat back and swept his eyes over the finished device.

Two coils, three metres in diameter, were aligned between the ceiling and the floor.  Jointly they would generate the invisible, ectorine, holding field.

As his fog of doubt cleared and Thomas realised there were no more barriers to trapping the creature, a twinge of excitement rippled through his being.  He had been twenty years coming to this point and, as he allowed himself the luxury of revelling in his predicted success, he thought back to the events that led up to his original encounter.

Thirteen year old Thomas heaved his body forward then pulled the embedded boot from the snow behind him.  Lifting his leg high he swung the heavily treaded sole round then took another laboured step onward sinking deeply into the glistening crystals again.

An intense, unnatural silence engulfed the forest like a thick blanket.  As he strained to hear even the smallest noise, searching for evidence he wasn’t alone, only snow crunching under foot and the sound of his own struggles echoed back from the trees to greet him.

Cold ate through his layers of thermal and wool as if they were tissue, exposed skin had been burning from the start and each breath was as though powdered glass was shredding his lungs.  But none of this dampened his resolve.  His grandmother’s life depended on his success after a fall down the stairs had left her unconscious.

Ice-laden lines had been torn from the phone posts two days ago and his parents weren’t due back from their trip until tomorrow.  So Thomas had set off walking the half-mile to a neighbour’s in the hope of getting help there.

The torch he’d brought had been of little use as the light travelled only a short distance before freezing fog, which had settled on the forest floor, scattered the beam into a dazzling array of infinite particles.

It wasn’t long before Thomas strayed from the path – a well-worn walkway – now buried deep beneath the snow.  Disorientated in the thick fog he’d moved further into the forest and soon found himself in unfamiliar territory.  Branches whipped his skin and snagged his clothing as he pushed through the trees, desperate to regain his bearings.

As shadows merged into blackness, beneath the dense canopy, the snow took on an eerie, grey cast.  Then suddenly, a faint light, only visible because of the intensity of the surrounding darkness, drew his focus.  When Thomas realised the distant glimmer could only indicate the edge of the trees he changed direction.

His rising panic was instantly quelled as he broke free of the enclosure and his relief heightened when he saw a road in the distance.  This improved further when he spotted two small headlights weaving their way towards him but, as he hurried to intercept the vehicle before it passed by, he failed to notice a dip in the snow.

He caught his foot on the edge and fell into the opening, striking his knee hard on a boulder, barely concealed, at the bottom.

Pain coursed through his leg instantaneously, causing Thomas to feel faint and nauseous.  Pausing briefly, to gather himself, he waited until the stabbing ache subdued, but when he attempted to stand a further wave of pain forced him back to the ground and confirmed his worst fears.  Chastising himself for his carelessness, Thomas called out in the hope that someone would hear, but it wasn’t long before his clothing was soaked and his body chilled.  As he became drowsy his cries slowed and began to subside – and it was then that Thomas had a vision.

A very bright light appeared out of the darkness directly ahead and as he looked up, his lids so heavy he could hardly lift them, he found floating before him a luminous being.  The bulk of the creature consisted of an intense white light, which glowed with such brilliance it seemed as though it would be essential to look away.  Thomas felt no need to avert his gaze, which was firmly fixed on the only identifiable feature.

High cheek bones, covered in milky white skin, were gently defined with a dusting of rose.  Large, friendly, smiling, eyes, of an indistinguishable colour, looked down lovingly at the freezing child.  And as it hung before Thomas on an aura of light which created the impression of wings in the air, it radiated the most glorious warmth.

Convinced he was hallucinating and the being’s appearance meant his death, Thomas accepted his fate and closed his eyes, waiting to be taken.

There was a period of silence then suddenly voices could be heard.  At first they seemed some distance away but, as the sounds increased and slowly drew closer Thomas became more aware of his surroundings.

The excruciating cold, which had dominated his thoughts, was now gone.  Instead, there was the feel of cotton and his mother’s perfume.  Tentatively he opened his eyes.

He was lying in a hospital bed, his anxious parents by his side.  Reassurance of his grandmother’s safety was quickly forthcoming, but only after he’d submitted to the obligatory outpouring of affection.

Returning from their trip early, they had started a search the moment they’d realised their son was missing.  He was soon found just off the road after his father had noticed a small, but brilliant, light in a nearby field.  He’d thought at first it was a torch beam, but as Edward Granger had drawn near, close enough to spot Thomas lying in the hollow, the illumination extinguished.

Twenty years later the obsession with these creatures, which started that day, still burned strong and had been Thomas’ field of research ever since.

Once his studies, in physics and religion, were completed at University, he began to gather information on hundreds of encounters similar to his own.  Still, a decade later, he felt as though he knew very little about them.  Who were they?  Where did they come from?  These and numerous other questions were Thomas’ driving force.

The only constant discovered, so far, was immediately after an encounter there was always a large amount of quasorial energy in the room.  Small quantities of quasorial energy could be created artificially in the lab.  When he realised an ectorine field would allow him to contain it Thomas began to consider the possibility of holding a being for the purpose of study.  He was unsure at this stage of how he would persuade it to come to him.  Despite this, Thomas built the containment chamber and was now able to begin to test his theory.

Small amounts of quasorial energy was easily created, but his initial experiments in its entrapment did not go well.  The containment field collapsed after only a matter of seconds and further experiments proved that a great deal more ectorine was required to produce a stable environment.

It was late one night, and purely by chance, that Thomas discovered how to attract a being.  He forgot to activate the containment field after initiating the quasorial energy.  He quickly realised his mistake but, before he had the chance to activate the ectorine, suddenly there was a being in the room.  Thomas had barely the time to acknowledge its presence when just as quickly it was gone.  Repeating the experiment without the containment field, he was disappointed to find the creature did not return.  He worked for a further two hours without success and was about to give up for the evening when it happened again.

The being appeared beside the containment unit for barely a second before disappearing.

Thomas’ mind was racing and sleep came only with exhaustion that night.  By morning he had the answer.  It seemed his quasorial energy had been mistaken for the presence of a fellow being.  Once the error was realised, they instantly moved on.

Inspired, Thomas pressed on with his experiments.  Speed was of the essence, with the containment field’s activation, as the creatures only appeared briefly.  With the ectorine on standby, Thomas started the quasorial energy generator.

He had his first visitor within ten minutes, but wasn’t fast enough with the containment field.  It was a further hour before there was another.  Yawning and stretching, he briefly looked away.  When he returned his attention to the chamber he saw he was no longer alone.

The creature, which stood eight feet tall and had black curly hair, was less luminous than the others and seemed quite solid.  Its manner of dress was different also.  It wore the attire of a warrior; light leather armour consisting of a breastplate and a skirt protected by straps weighted with decorative metal studs.  The sword sheathed on the left finished the look, which was every inch a Roman God.  A pair of immense, smoky grey wings, which fanned out from its back, whose composition appeared to be of the softest downy feathers, further enhanced its breathtaking beauty.

For some reason this one had chosen to linger and to Thomas’ surprise it was studying him.  For seconds the pair stood and stared at each other before Thomas remembered to activate the containment field.

Initially the being looked surprised and shock briefly flickered across its face before, just as quickly, it was calm again.  “Why have you trapped me?” it asked.

“So we can talk,” Thomas replied.

“Talk?  About what?”

“I want to ask about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Who are you and where do you come from?”

“My race?”

“Yes.”

“Your people choose to call us angels.”

“Angels!  I thought you were angels,” Thomas said excitedly.  “Tell me about God.”

“God?  Who or what is God?” the being asked, perplexed.

“God, your father, the creator of the universe,” Thomas replied more cautiously.  He found its question disturbing.

“I don’t know who created the universe, but my people have not believed in Gods for millions of years.”

“Your people?  What do you mean your people?”

“We are Seraph.  We are travellers.”

“So you’re not creatures of God, you’re not God’s immortal soldiers?”

“No.  At one time we were just like you, but we evolved in the same way you have evolved.  Some creatures on this planet may think you are Gods.  You encase yourselves in metal and fly above the ground at many times the speed of sound.  When doing so, you exceed your own natural abilities thousands of times over.  There are creatures that live for only one day.  Your species lives for tens of thousands of times longer than they and we live for millions of times longer than you, which is why we seem eternal.  Our planet’s lack of resources dictated our evolution.  We were forced to evolve more cerebrally, until we reached the point where we could study space with our minds.  Eventually, though, we could travel not just mentally but physically also.  So you see, I am no more a child of a higher being than you.”

“For thousands of years,” Thomas said desperately, “the people of my planet have talked about angels and the help they give.”

“Folklore.  Wishful thinking, to ease the horrors of death.  Most of what you think you know about us is untrue.”

“Most?  But not all?”

“Not all of your stories are wrong.”

“Which?  Which of the stories are true?” Thomas asked, his excitement rekindled.

“Fallen angels.  These stories are correct.  They have been cast out of our world, never to return.  This leaves them homeless.”  Then the creature smiled.

This unnerved Thomas.  “Do you have a name?” he asked, slowly.

“Yes.  Nebathan.”

It was a name that Thomas, unfortunately, knew well.  Nebathan was one of Lucifer’s leading warriors.  A member of the elite force, he’d been responsible for the deaths of thousands in the heavenly wars.

As a flicker of recognition crossed Thomas’ face, Nebathan again smiled.  “I like it here.  I may not be a God but, compared to your puny species, I might as well be.”

“You cannot escape the containment field,” Thomas said, slowly.

“Containment field.”  Nebathan laughed.

Thomas felt shock setting in.

“I have stayed only out of curiosity.  I wanted to know why you would construct such a device.  Did you seriously think it would work?  You have no idea of how powerful I truly am.  If this is the best you can do, it’s a joke.”  Nebathan looked at his surroundings.  “I’d never really thought about making this feeble world my domain but, now you’ve entertained me so, I think I’ll stay.”

Thomas realised he was being toyed with and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  At will, the creature could pass through the holding field to the devastation of the entire planet.

Nebathan’s smile left his face as he stepped effortlessly out of the containment chamber.  He stood, as tall as the room, triumphantly before Thomas.  “Now watch in awe as, with a wave of my hand, I destroy all who stand against me.  Each country will be made aware they’ll worship me from now on.”  He lifted his arm, but before he could make a move, suddenly another Seraph appeared in the room.

“Nebathan.  What have you been doing?” the new arrival asked, sharply.

“Nothing!  You have no right to question me,” Nebathan replied indignantly.

“Our father will be very angry with you.”

Thomas, who had been standing silently off to one side wishing he could disappear into the walls, suddenly found the courage to speak.  “Your father?  Are you brothers?”

The new arrival faced Thomas, acknowledging his presence for the first time.  “Yes we’re brothers.  We’re all brothers.”

Thomas’ interest grew.  “Then who is your father?”  But he was cut short when a look from the creature chilled his soul.

“Be warned, Thomas Granger, our father is very angry with you also.  There are things in this universe you are not ready to know.  Nebathan was enticed here to teach you a lesson.  Think yourself lucky it was stopped.  You will know what lies beyond only when the time is right.”  Then turning to Nebathan it said, “It is time for us to go,” and then they were gone.  Leaving Thomas alone in a room, stripped of his containment chamber, quasorial energy generator and notes.

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