William H. Hallahan - Read Free

and direction to their feelings.
    "Enough of such talk in these halls," Lucifer said.
    "We wish to talk with you," Beelzebub answered. "Let
us go somewhere."
    Lucifer hesitated. If he went with them, he would be setting his
foot on a path with no return. He reflected only a few moments. Then
he nodded at Beelzebub. They went to the west side of heaven a good
distance and Beelzebub said, "We are unhappy."
    "You are unhappy," Lucifer echoed. "The Lord has
done something to displease you? Are you deprived? Are you in any way
less than you were? Since your very being is a gift from the Lord,
whatever the Lord gives, He can take away again. By what standard do
you justify your right to feel unhappy? I ask you this: Dare you set
yourself above the Lord?"
    His eyes went from face to face and they all remained silent.
    "Not one of you has answered me," Lucifer said at last.
"You should have said Yes. The Lord has done something to
displease you. You are deprived. And by your loyalty and love you
have earned His. And He has now withdrawn it. For you are now less
than you were."
    "And," Beelzebub said to Lucifer with his crafty grin,
"dare you now set yourself above the Lord?"
    "Who says He is the Lord?" Lucifer replied. He watched
their stunned faces again. And he rephrased the question that has
unsettled the entire cosmos ever since. "Who says that He
created us? We have only His word for it. None of us remembers our
own creation. Maybe He's an impostor."
    "What are you saying, Lucifer? What is the point of that
deadly question?"
    "Why must we leave?"
    And slowly, with comprehension, their gazes turned to one
another's.
    "How many of us are there?" Lucifer asked.
    And they conferred among themselves. "There are legions,"
they answered. "All of Moloch's, most of Belial's--perhaps all
of Beelzebub's, and several legions beyond that. And we surely can
recruit more. And, Lucifer, you yourself command legions."
    Lucifer frowned. "It is not enough."
    "It is all we have. Michael's forces will remain loyal to the
Lord. So will Abdiel's and Gabriel's and all the others, including
Raphael's."
    "And Timothy the red-haired?" Lucifer watched them
react.
    "No," Belial said assertively. "He has no quarrel
with the Lord."
    "If he came," Lucifer said, "he would bring half of
heaven with him."
    "He will not come, Lucifer. Look elsewhere."
    "Timothy," Lucifer insisted. "Timothy is our
answer."
    And Lucifer returned to his pavilion and summoned Timothy.
    "What are your plans?" Lucifer asked Timothy when the
magnificent angel had arrived.
    "Plans? For what?"
    "For the future," Lucifer said. "We are all being
displaced. Surely you understood that."
    "No. I didn't. Man is to have his own paradise."
    "Yes. . .until the next announcement. We have no say in our
lives, in our futures."
    "The Lord created us," Timothy said, "and He has
the right to dispose of us as He will."
    "Did you ask to be created, Timothy?"
    "No."
    "Now that you are here, Timothy, regardless of who created
you, you have the right to control your own destiny. You have free
will. That implies the right to use it."
    "This is too fast," Timothy said. "I owe my loyalty
to the One who made me and gave me bliss."
    "Who made you, Timothy?"
    "Why--the Lord."
    "Did He, Timothy? How do you know?"
    Timothy frowned. The catechism had gone awry. Lucifer had raised
new questions. Disturbing questions. Lucifer had planted the most
insidious of growths in Timothy's mind: Doubt. And she would prowl
the chambers of Timothy's mind, destroying all the secure beliefs she
found there.
    Timothy's face was stricken with misery. "I must think."
    "You'd best hurry, Timothy," Lucifer said. "The
Lord's new Son will be here soon and He may drive you off before
you've reached any conclusions." And he watched Timothy leave,
struggling with the pain in his mind. Innocence, love and absence of
guile--Timothy's virtues sickened Lucifer.
    Not long after, Timothy returned. "What is your plan?"
he asked.
    "Rebellion," Lucifer