Afterworlds: The Book of Doom. Barry Hutchison
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where?” Zac asked.
“See for yourself,” suggested Gabriel.
Zac stepped out of the car and found himself outside an enormous, sprawling citadel. He’d thought the other buildings they’d passed had been palaces, but compared to this place they were little more than shacks.
A thousand white pillars stood by the smooth walls, each one carved to resemble a giant kneeling angel with wings fully unfurled. They all had their hands raised, supporting the overhang of a domed roof that was made up of intertwining bands of gold and platinum.
Light seemed to emanate from within the dome, bright enough to make a dull ache throb at the back of Zac’s eyeballs.
There was sound too. It wasn’t quite music; it was something more, or something less. Like the music that existed before music. A prototype version of music that bypassed the ears and launched a full-scale assault on the emotional centre of the brain instead.
Zac didn’t notice Gabriel step out of the car behind him. He didn’t even pull away when the angel’s hand patted him on the shoulder.
“Nice, isn’t it?”
“Not really my cup of tea,” Zac said, pulling himself together. “What is it?”
“This? This is the house that God built,” said Gabriel. He stepped past the boy and gestured towards the building’s ornate front door. “Shall we step inside?”
Zac sat at one end of a long narrow table in a long narrow room. The table was made of dark wood, polished to a mirror-like shine. There were twelve leather office-style chairs positioned round it, evenly spaced. Filing cabinets and bookshelves lined one of the room’s shorter walls. Over in the corner stood a water cooler. Every few minutes, it gave a loud glug and bubbles rose lazily inside the bottle.
Compared to the outside of the building, this room was relatively dull. There were windows, but Gabriel had closed the blinds as soon as they’d entered. A pot plant stood by the largest window, five completely different types of flower blooming from its stalks. Zac didn’t recognise any of them.
At the far end of the table, directly opposite Zac, Gabriel lowered himself into one of the leather chairs. He leaned forward, his elbows on the tabletop, his fingers steepled in front of his mouth, his blue eyes sparkling.
Michael had been right behind Zac as they’d entered the room, but he hadn’t followed the others in. There were only the two of them there now – the boy and the angel.
“Well?” said Zac. “You wanted to talk. I’m listening.”
Gabriel waited a few moments before speaking. “We’ve misplaced something,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “We would like you to help get it back.”
“Why me?”
“Because we believe your unique talents and your... past exploits make you the perfect choice for the job. We need someone fast. Someone who can think on their feet and who is not afraid to fight dirty, should the need arise.”
“Then why not send the Monk? He beat me.”
“Alas, the Monk is well known to those who have taken the item. He would not, I fear, last two minutes.”
“Why?” Zac asked. “Where is it?”
“Hell,” Gabriel said. His chair creaked as he leaned back, not taking his eyes off Zac. He was watching for some kind of reaction, Zac knew. A look of shock, or fear, or something. But Zac wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.
“Right. And what was taken?”
One of Gabriel’s eyebrows rose a few millimetres in surprise. “Did you hear what I said?”
“It’s in Hell, yeah. I heard. What was taken?”
“A book.”
“What book?”
“It is a book with many names,” the angel said. “Down there they call it the Book of Doom. Up here we prefer the Book of Everything.”
“Sounds like a children’s encyclopedia,” Zac said.
“Oh, I assure you, it isn’t. The Book of Everything tells us... well, it tells us everything. Every shift of every grain of sand. Every movement of every cloud. Every thought inside the minds of every living creature, from the very beginning of time until the very end.” Gabriel paused a moment, to let his words sink in. “It is omniscience. In paperback form.”
“I can see why you’d want that back.”
“Indeed. With the book in the hands of our enemies, there is nothing they could not do. No one they could not corrupt. Nowhere they could not conquer. Knowledge is power, and the Book of Everything contains all the knowledge in existence. In the wrong hands, it is the deadliest weapon in all of creation.”
Zac whistled through his teeth. “So, that’s why they call it the Book of Doom.”
“Correct,” said Gabriel. “In their hands it could indeed doom us all.”
“If the book tells them everything, won’t they know I’m coming?”
“Almost certainly,” Gabriel admitted. “I never said it was going to be easy. There’s every chance you will not make it back.”
“You’re not really selling the idea,” Zac said.
“I am nothing if not honest,” Gabriel said, although Zac seriously doubted that. “And you are dead, remember? Either way you are going to Hell. At least our way there’s a chance, however slim, that you will be able to return.”
Zac found himself thinking about his grandfather, all alone in that big house with only a hyperactive goldfish and the voices in his head for company.
“Right. So, what does it look like, this book?” he asked, forcing himself back to the matter at hand.
“We don’t know.”
Zac frowned. “Well, when was it taken?”
“We don’t know that, either,” Gabriel said, giving a shrug of his slender shoulders. “It’s all rather complicated, I’m afraid.”
“Apparently I’ve got plenty of time on my hands. Uncomplicate it.”
Gabriel gave a single nod. “Of course.” He stood up and rolled his chair into position beneath the table, then rested his hands on the chair’s leather back.
“The Book of Everything can take many forms,” he began. “I, for example, may see it as a small, compact paperback. You may see it as a leather-bound tome. Some may look upon the book and see a carving on a stone tablet, or scribbles in a spiral-bound notebook, or – Lord help us – one of those awful electronic reading devices. Or even something else entirely. The branch of a tree, perhaps. Or a small flan. Nobody knows how they’ll see it until they see it.”
“Then how am I supposed to find it?” Zac asked.
“Because you will know it, when you see it. We shall grant you that ability. There will be no glimmer of doubt in your mind.”
“Fair enough. You said you didn’t know when it was stolen,” Zac prompted.
“Yes, I did say that, didn’t I,” said Gabriel. He walked over to the pot plant and cupped one of its leaves in his hands. Another flower burst into bloom further along the stalk. The angel bent, sniffed the flower’s yellow and pink petals, then nodded his approval.
“OK, well, let’s narrow it down,” said Zac, when he realised no more information was forthcoming. “When did you last see it?”
“Yesterday.”
Zac felt himself frown again. It was becoming a habit. “So... obviously someone took it in the last twenty-four hours.”
“Not