Land of Hope and Freedom
The editor at first made a large fuss about the whole idea, which Lynne know meant he was not against it in principal. Finally he acquiesced. "Try to get a conspiracy on this. It is about the only angle we will make any impression with. There is bound to be some kind of conspiracy. There always is."
Wondering if these words were ominous, Lynne arranged for the next flight to New York. She considered delaying, and perhaps leaving it till a later flight, but finally her own sense of momentum took over. She had gathered no moss in the last six millennia, and was not sure she even knew how to, now.
Josh told her that he had not even had a chance to unpack anything, so the baggage was ready. He telephoned ahead to arrange accommodation and transport. Lynne could not help but smile at his efficiency, even after his extended celebrations the night before. He was so dependable, and she was heartened by that presence, specially now, when all else seemed to have failed.
The flight left in the early afternoon, chasing the sun as it traveled towards the west. Josh was asleep within moments of take off, having to be waked for the meals. A mundane film about unrequited love and revenge tried to occupy two hours, but seemed drab an lifeless by comparison to the press of humanity confined in the passenger cabin. Lynne felt the half real state of travel affect their minds, watched as the good and the bad, the generous and the selfish, the worried and the relaxed, each took their place in the intricate dance of humanity. It brought their thoughts into the open, making their relationships and feelings almost palpable. Here a man returned to his wife from an absence of months, honest and faithful, there a woman felt smug satisfaction at having gotten so much luggage aboard without paying extra, then a steward passed, concerned about the health of his sister back home.
No film or book could ever quite take the place of humanity itself for Orli.
Finally, the aircraft descended. The pilot announcing the local time to be 7pm awakened Josh, and he took a look out of the window at the approaching Manhattan skyline, lit from behind in silhouette by the descending sun. His features seemed almost red in the evening light, as he dreamily turned to look at her with a distant smile.
As the plane came in to land, Lynn considered what she was going to do first.
The air outside was balmy as they stepped out of the belly of the plane. Behind her some traveler was humming tunelessly and there was a brisk air of anticipation in the baggage halls as they walked through. Something old, something new. Lynne supposed they were hard-bitten travelers in comparison to the majority here, with their hand luggage and practiced manner at queue-hopping. Queues seemed to be a major feature of the place, but she had been feeling more directed since they landed here and had no real patience for them.
Outside, they picked up the hire car and turned its nose towards the distant city. Josh flicked the radio on and found a news channel, and Lynne rolled down the windows and rolled up her shirt sleeves. Having picked up a map at the airport, she would have been more than willing to simply drive around all night, picking churches at random until they found one in which she could get the directions that they needed. There was some small discussion on this point, which was quickly resolved. Josh shrugged and gave in gracefully, allowing that it would be reasonable to stop at any church which was on their way between here and the hotel. Unfortunately for him, Lynne was holding the map and plotted out a circuitous route....
It is not too long after this circuitous route was begun that the first clues as to some events of note having transpired come to Lynne.
The first news was on the radio. Apparently the church of St Sebastion in Queens caught fire at about mid-day today, and fire crews were able to rescue two youths who were currently recuperating in Mt. Sanai hospital. There was apparently evidence of arson.
A commentary in the body of the news indicated that there had been no service in the church today, and Father Nathaniel was unreachable. No bodies had been found in the church, but a mysterious good Samaritan apparently assisted in pulling one of the youths out of the flames, but then fled. Anyone with information about this good Samaritan was urged to call either their local police station or Officer Karen McKinnon on her mobile (number given).
Really there was no such thing as coincidence. As the church was named Lynne leaned across and turn up the volume on the radio, fingers tapping the sides of the little dial as if she could nudge it into spewing some more positive information. Josh glanced at her sideways, perhaps alerted by her expression. Mid-day today, she was thinking, If we had only been a few hours earlier.. 'If only' must be one of the most maudlin phrases in the English language.
"This was the church you were interested in", Josh observed; it wasn't really a question. "Did you know?"
She waved him into silence as the bulletin droned on, as if she were one of those foolish soothsayers or numerologists who could draw hidden meanings from the words. At this moment, the words were all they had. She began to feel the lack of any celestial backup quite severely, as in former days the simple facts of this bulletin would have been enough to impel her to contact a cherub and arrange to have Nathaniel hunted down and questioned. This, in addition to the seraphs wracked visions gave her a bad feeling, and she listened to it.
Orli hoped very much to be proven wrong and that he would not have been responsible -- but if she was already suspicious of him then surely the local police must be also. Or, would it prove to be that he was attacked and killed here in his own church...?
It may yet be that mundane trackers would prove as efficient as celestial ones. She memorized McKinnon's phone number long enough to locate a pen and scribble it down on the back of her old airline ticket. As the newsreader moved on to the next story, she leaned back and lit up a cigarette, before nodding to Josh.
"I'm fairly sure this is the one," she told him. "But no, I didn't know it was going to burn down."
She took a long drag, tasting the smoke, and folded open the map.
Not surprisingly, Lynn instructed Josh to drive passed that church, and had a look. It was actually not far away from John Kennedy airport, and took little time.
The church was a hollow shell, blackened in the windows and doors. It was a fairly complete shambles. There was a faint after effect in the area, like distant echoes of a symphonic disturbance, too faint to make out. There were one or two other curious people wandering about the lot, but Lynn could make out a fire department warning notice about the area. The hollow structure did not look particularly stable.
She climbed out of the car and took a moment to straighten her jacket and dust down her sleeves as she looked out on the remains of what was once a church. What was possibly a place that the angel of healing had visited and addressed, and what was the only real starting point which she had. Even a cursory glance was enough to show that it looked grim. The incendiary who was responsible for this knew what they were about.
Orli ventured a few steps inside to try to feel the echoes, but the remains of the structure creaked dangerously and she barely had enough knowledge to know what to look for. It occurred to her that the fire department would also have experts who investigate these arson attacks, so plumbing their knowledge would also save some time.
Catching the eye of one of the other people Lynne paused to weigh up whether they were simply here out of ghoulish curiousity or whether they once worshipped here themselves. She forced myself to concentrate. This time she was not here to judge, but simply to observe and perhaps to learn. With a wry smile, she picked her way across towards one of them and asked him if he had a light, offering him a cigarette.
The man in question was dressed in a simple uniform, with a synthetic coverall. He was prodding and picking at the rubble when Lynne arrived. He smiled at her, a smudge of oily dirt upon his cheek.
"Don't smoke, as of six months." He said, even though Lynne knew he wanted to very badly. "Bad case of smoking in bed convinced me. So, who are you?"
Lynne introduced herself.
"You don't say? Thought you sounded English. Well, the name is Sean O'Malley, Arson department. What have you heard about the burn?"
Lynne told him the little she knew.
"Well, Since the other papers got such a head start on you, I might as well fill you in. Seems the Father has gone missing as of yesterday, and held no mass this morning. Anyway, at the moment the fire looks like either a couple of youths started it as a prank, or they interrupted some thief or something. Regardless, this old building took the flames really well. The accelerant was metholated spirits, and there is evidence of a molotov cocktail, as well as a bundling of flammable together near a door. The kid that got pulled out of the flames was so lucky to be alive. Anyway, he's at the hospital, and they told me it would be a day or two before he is well enough to interview, so I reckon that is likely to be a dead end for you."
She thanked the inspector, and remembered his name for future reference, then looked to see if others might have more knowledge of the Father himself. She was surprised to see Josh in deep discussion with an old lady, assisting her in the carrying of a floral wreath to the steps of the church. Moving closer, she overheard the end of his conversation.
�Terrible thing it is, when a church is burned. Like a wound on the soul. Yes, I know Father Nathaniel. I went to the evening service last night too. It was an awful thing when he collapsed. And that nice pretty woman, so helpful, it was nice to see such a young woman in the congregation. So few young people come to church nowadays. And a doctor too. Well, she spoke with him, and sure enough he seemed right as rain. finished the sermon a little fast maybe, but he needed to get some rest poor dear. And now, to have this happen... He told everyone last night that he wouldn't be conducting service this morning, but to have this happen when he was away like that. Poor man."
Lynn left this conversation in Josh's capable hands, and looked about for the nearest pay phone.
The phone was lifted from its cradle, a slender finger tapped out the numbers and slid coins into the tiny metal maw, then silence, dial tone, ringtone and ... an answer.
"Hi, I'd like to speak to Officer McKinnon, I had this number from a radio report..."
The voice at the other end replied. "Yes, this is Karen McKinnon..." There was something familiar about the voice... Something electric, charged...
On automatic, Lynn continued to speak, collecting her thoughts. "I understand you're heading up the investigation into the arson at St Sebastian's church? I wonder if we could arrange a time to meet, my name's Lynne and I'm a journalist with the News of the World. This is something I'd like to follow up..."
There was a pause at the other end, and muffled sound of speaking.
Karen spoke once more. "Yes, I am investigating that arson case. Were you interested in an interview to find out the facts about the case, or were you wanting to perhaps provide additional information? I'd be interested in knowing what your interest in this case stems from."
Finally Orli had it. Karathiel. A servitor of Jean, and one of the Cherubim. It was before creation when Orli last saw her. She vaguely recalled Domenic mentioning the name recently, as one who was close to Fall. Something about failing a task as Protector. It sounded as though she recognized Lynne�s voice, but has not recalled who she was.
�Right.." she said into the handset reflectively, putting her words together. Wasn't it only recently that she had been wishing she could contact a cherub to help do some tracking? There really was no such thing as coincidence. If the other celestial hadn't already fallen... Her lips drew into a tight line, she had very little time or sympathy for angels who sang off-key.
"Well I'm always interested in facts, of course, but we've been talking to people who used to worship there and so forth, naturally I'd be only too happy to help the police in any way I can if there�s anything I've heard which might be useful," she said, ultimately cool and businesslike.
Her eye was drawn to the glass windows of the booth, outside the mortals were talking, building delicately webbed relationships, rebuilding. She sighed soundlessly and wished other celestials could be more like that. Still, someone had to take the first step.
"Actually Nathaniel is an old friend of mine and I was worried about him before I got here. That�s how I'm involved," she admitted, and wondered whether the other woman would refuse to meet her if she recognized her own voice.
It didn't matter, she intended to co-opt the cherub anyway.
Karathiel paused again, and then spoke with decision, but still some uncertainty. She had some idea of Orli�s nature, she guessed, but not who you were. "Well... I think it is best we meet to discuss what we may have heard or not heard over the last day or so. How about the Gardener Cafe, a block from the public library. At about 9:30?"
About an hour and a half. Plenty of time to find the place in question.
Lynne didn't make a note of the time or place, she trusted herself to remember it for that long at least. "Fine," she said, the faintest breath of relief colouring her voice, "I'll look forwards to it."
She paused for a moment as the line went dead, closing her eyes in a moment of silent concentration. She had a premonition of how difficult it might be to avoid the urge to prejudge the other celestial. 'Its not my job', she told herself, 'It was never my job.'
Lynn then dialed the hospital and checked their visiting hours almost absently. No, too late in the evening now, they tell her. It would have to wait until morning if she wanted to interview either of the youths, assuming that the fire inspector was wrong about her ability to get in for an interview.
Josh came over to her eagerly as she hung up, giving more or less unhelpful details about the fire and the missing Father, all of which Orli had figured out for herself by now anyway. The people he was able to approach either had come to the fire late when the church was all ready alight, or only after it had happened, and could only comment that the Father had last night finished service early, and then left notice there would be no service this morning. Over all, not much use.
She checked the time again. At least an hour to do with as she would before needing to head toward the meeting with Karathiel. Putting her hand on Josh�s shoulder, she directed him back to the car.
Chapter 1d, and meeting Jason and Karen
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