The jump.
At four in the morning, Sam and Alex were already on the balcony with their coffee and tea. He put his arm around her waist and asked softly:
"Are you ready my beautiful Red?"
She gave him a gentle kiss and asked in turn:
"Are you ready Love, you just finished your one journey and now another one of five hundred years."
He looked ahead, sighed deeply, and replied:
"I really don't know Sam. Ever since moms and pops showed up and dropped that huge bomb I've been lost in my head sometimes. The closer we got to today the more confused it got from time to time. However we have no choice babe, there is too much at stake. Now, however, it is not Celine and myself who are going to take a leap into the unknown. This time we are taking with us an army of some 18,000 Angels and a few Demons and Celestials. This is so big that sometimes I have trouble keeping my head and not losing track. But I'm sure that with you, the kids, our family, our friends, I can handle everything. I'm also very aware that I will need you incredibly hard. And Linda's help after the last group arrives when we will be able to breathe a little. I have not even fully recovered from those cursed six thousand years because of all the misery that came upon us so quickly."
"Is that why you came up with the idea of asking Linda along on this crazy adventure?"
"I thought about it and hesitated about it for quite a while. After six thousand years of never being able to fully expose myself, it became a fucking second nature to eat up everything inside me. In Hell, I couldn't show weakness for a second, or a rebellion, or yet another war was guaranteed to break out very quickly. Only since the last century have I managed to achieve a more or less constant peace and even then I needed a shield between the fourth and fifth circle. In the lowest regions, you still have no choice but to be on your guard and that will never improve given how the Demons in the lower circles are. If you don't do it then a small fire becomes a forest fire from one moment to the next. I can assure you that if my group of conspirators had seen uncertainty or fear in my body posture or eyes the whole plan would have collapsed like a house of cards and Celine and I would have been stuck in a time loop. The consequences would have been simply catastrophic. The only ones with whom I could briefly lower my shield, and then not quite, were B&B, Anna, and of course Celine. And now, now that I have to jump again that cursed fear comes back and I sit in my office sometimes trembling and hoping no one will need me for a few minutes. I have to do my utmost to call myself back to order."
Samantha gave him a gentle kiss on the mouth and said:
"We, our family, our friends, Linda, we will get you through Love."
"I know Red but unfortunately it is not that simple. The group that knows really needs to be limited. The children and everyone outside the intimate circle really shouldn't know about this. If our Angels see weakness or doubt in their God and in turn begin to doubt, the consequences are incalculable."
They stood there in silence for a moment until Samantha spoke softly:
"I have been talking to Celine regularly about your trip since you returned to me."
He laughed softly:
"Red, I would have been completely surprised if you two hadn't."
She giggled:
"Celine told me that you regularly created a time bubble in the no man's land of Hell. Something like our little dimension for her and Michael. A place where they could be together and have some time together. You knew full well that this might have been a risk. Yet you did it. Not only that, but it costs you an enormous amount of energy each time. That sometimes it almost broke you physically and mentally. Emotionally because the bubble reminded you so much of us and our dimension. Why?"
"I guess you've heard the answer from Celine, but want to hear the words out of my mouth?"
She only nodded. He said softly:
"Because the situation with Godfry was so fucked up. In the no man's land of Hell, we were not at risk, it was as we did with Rae Rae when she came to visit. Hell could have been trouble though. The reason it cost me so much energy was that not only did I have to create the bubble, every time, but I also had to put a whole bunch of incantations around it, all at the same time. I simply owed it to them, Sam. Without thinking twice, Celine stepped into this crazy adventure as my left hand. Knowing very well that things could very quickly go very wrong. Michael listened to what I had to say and from our first meeting on automatically became my right hand. He asked no questions because he immediately realized that too much information was far too dangerous for anyone."
He had to giggle when he remembered some of those first conversations he had with Michal and Lucifer and said:
"Well, if you do not count the zillion questions he and his twin had about time travel and traveling between universes. They drove Celine crazy with their nagging. At some point I thought our little Demon would put those two big Angels over her knee and spank the crap out of them..."
Samantha had to laugh with this image Alex painted and could very well imaging Celine doing just that. He continued:
"I had immediately seen what happened to the two of them the first time they saw each other, the flame flared up just as it did with us, darling. It took a while for Michael to pull his head out of his ass, you already know how daft he can be, and I got tired of his lingering. That's why I locked those two up for a while the first time I made such a bubble and didn't let them out until they would talk to each other properly and he acknowledged his feelings for her. That they would do something with it. If things threatened to go wrong and Mom and Dad would have to drag Celine and me back to your universe at least they would have known and experienced true love."
"Love, you always help your family, are always ready when someone needs you, without hesitation. You always do it without thinking and to hell with what it might cost you. It's time you let your family help you, Alex."
Suddenly they heard David ask in a very small voice:
"Daddy, can I help you too? You always help us, I want to help you too."
They turned around and looked at the boy. With a gentle smile, Alex said:
"Come here, David."
The boy stepped toward him and Alex immediately pulled him close to him.
"How long have you been standing there my beautiful son?"
"For a while Dad, I didn't want to disturb..."
"David, you have been helping me every day. Your mom, your sisters and you are the absolute best aid I need and get every day. And do not worry about disturbing us son. It might be that you will need to wait a few minutes when we are in the middle of something but you could never, ever truly disturb us, got it?"
He gave the boy a kiss on the head:
"But now you have to promise me something David and this is very important. Your sisters must not know anything about this for now, including Rob. Only the grandparents and the uncles and aunts out of the circle. You have to keep this quiet for a while, okay?"
David nodded.
" Promise Dad."
The first group would jump at 6. Alex, Sam, Dan, Laila, the now seven children, Argo and Sacha came walking onto the square. He had gotten a new T-shirt from Argo. On the front, it said 'BOSS' in big letters and on the back:
"Rules:
Rule 1: The boss is always right.
Rule 2: In case the boss is wrong see rule 1."
They saw that each quadrant had already been filled up as planned. They heard that there was a cheerful atmosphere in the square. No one seemed overtly nervous or tense. Rather the atmosphere that prevailed when a bunch of school children would leave for camp. Celine and Michael approached them with a broad smile. She said:
"No questions asked little Brats, the adults have everything perfectly under control and everyone is ready. As you can see and hear everyone has a huge appetite for it. They believe in you two so unbelievably that they would follow you anywhere with their eyes closed."
He really couldn't resist and said with his typical smirk on his face:
"I expected nothing less from you, Mrs. and Mr. Celine."
Suddenly Sam and he saw Ella and Lucifer approaching them with Eve in tow. His eyes flashed red for a split second, got a hard expression, and under his breath, he said:
"For Fuck's sake... Off all day's they had to pick this one..."
Samantha immediately squeezed his hand. Ella asked:
"Alex, is there any way we can take Eve with us in the first group?"
He looked sternly at his father and Ella, deliberately ignoring Eve:
"I assume you guys have ironed out the creases?"
She nodded:
"Lu and I talked about it. Eve was also a victim of Godfry Alex. You said her punishment was some kind of community service. I want to incorporate her into my department."
He nodded and when he addressed her and used her new surname she knew he was standing there as God and not Alexander. That she'd better take what he had to say dead seriously:
"Mrs. Morningstar, you know by now that I don't like to repeat myself. You work autonomously within your department. I would be extremely annoyed if you came running to daddy for confirmation on every decision you have to make! Who you take in is completely your choice but from this moment on she is completely your responsibility."
He looked venomously at Eve and said coldly:
"Pay attention because I'm still not over my anger with you, so better not add to it. First quadrant. If you damage my mom's trust in you in the slightest I will not wipe you out of existence. I will personally see to it that you will curse every day of your eternal existence beyond belief."
The woman knew she'd better keep her mouth shut and take the win. Alex looked at his father, his green eyes bore into the Devil's brown ones. He said in a voice from which all the hairs on Lucifer's body stood up:
"Mister Morningstar, I never, ever want to hear a sentence come out of your mouth, and certainly not a single question in the coming 500 years that has the word Mazakeen in it that would indicate that I would give her the same chance I gave Eve! Believe me, I will send you back to Hell, and this time not as the King but as a guest in the ninth circle! Understood?"
The Devil swallowed audibly and nodded very hard.
"Good, now that that's clear, go take your places very quickly! Before I fucking change my mind!"
The closer it got to six o'clock the more tense and quiet the atmosphere became in the square. Alex thought this was the time for a pep talk:
"Okay, people your attention please!"
He waited a moment until the nervous chatter had stopped.
"Good, we will begin our jump in a moment. You have all volunteered. Believe me, this trip will be an adventure like no other and it will be spectacular. Our party from yesterday will continue to repeat itself from time to time. If I catch any of you not having a good buzz when we party. Well, then you will not be happy and may serve as our butler for a while!"
This elicited laughter and the atmosphere changed palpably. It became playful, warm, and cheerful again.
"All groups will jump in no more than three hours. Do Samantha and myself a favor and make Mrs. and Mr. Celine proud of you. Sam and I are right now so incredibly proud of you guys. We are so damn grateful that you stepped forward to volunteer to join us in this crazy adventure. We are so damn proud that you are our brothers and sisters. When we will look back at what we have built, and accomplished, at the end of our adventure, we will be amazed at ourselves. If we take a breath and look around us in peace, we will be dumbfounded. Future generations of Angels, Demons, Celestials, and Souls will look at each one of you, and point at you. They will say; There is one of the original giants who made all this come true, built it. They will proudly and without hesitation proclaim that they will want to follow in your footsteps. Wanting to follow your example because there is no better example to be found than you. And if there is anyone who wants to praise Samantha and me, to give the credit to us for all that we are about to build. Then we will humbly proclaim that it is not we who should be honored and praised. That honor and praise belongs to you. This what we are going to do will be remembered for all eternity. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a damned honor to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with you!"
With these words, optimism was fully back among the 18,000. Loud applause broke out. Samantha, the children, and he himself took their places after which his parents approached him:
"We're ready if you guys are ready."
Alex looked around for a second. Nodded and said:
"Okay, let's get this show on the road!"
Half a minute later it was the stroke of six and the second part of the logistical nightmare began. One moment they had been standing in the square of one palace in the middle of a gigantic city. The next moment they were standing in the square in front of an identical palace but there was no sign of any other building. As far as they could see there was only a perfectly flat landscape with nothing but beautiful green grass. In the background, they could hear the waves of the ocean. The Angels were already used to the fact that their Goddess and God hated to be the center of attention. This would be no different in this new Heaven. The palace was definitely not the center of what would become the new city. It was at the edge of this future city against the ocean. The garden behind the palace gave immediate access to the beach. Everyone stood for a moment looking around. For most, the sight of the virgin landscape only now made the immensity of the task awaiting them really sink in.
Alex took a deep breath:
"Okay folks, Sam and I need to bond with the thrones for a moment. BAM, you will feel the first island appear allowing you to get started. Senior staff, Samantha will be in charge of the layout of the palace. A temporary shelter will be provided for you until BAM can realize the residence of your choice. Please be in the general meeting room this afternoon at one o'clock. Then we can begin to scrutinize your project proposals in detail."
He looked at his Samantha and asked:
"Shall we dance my enchanting Red?"
She pressed a soft kiss to his lips:
"With you always Love."
With these words, they made their way hand in hand to the throne room. A perfect copy of their crystal thrones awaited them. As usual, Alex escorted Samantha to her throne first before taking a seat on his. After taking their seats they immediately fell into a trance as their eyes lit up bright gold. About an hour later, they emerged from that trance with warm smiles. Above the doors of their offices, a pair of news tickers had appeared. The first indicated the date, the first of January 1500. A second had T- 190.165. The last one had an A+ 000.001. He said to those present:
"As you can see this is the date, so we have 521 years to get this done. The second indicates the number of days that we have before we start making the connection with the two other universes, the T stands for target. The third is for the number of days we are here and will be used to verify that we are meeting our milestones punctually. A stands for arrival."
He was surprised when he heard Sam say:
"The top floor is provisionally divided into three suites; one for Lucifer and Ella, one for Gabe and Anna, and one for Rae Rae and Bearus. The second floor is for Jo and Belios, Raffa and Fuzzie, and Micky and Muriel."
She looked at Azi and Anthony with a sneaky smile:
"You two, I think you urgently need to scan this main island."
The two did as they were asked. It was the Angel who got tears in his eyes and said softly:
"Our cottage, it is here for us."
She laughed softly:
"Surely we couldn't possibly house our two beloved idiots in a strange home for five hundred years."
She took Alexander's hand:
"Kiddo's you guys stay with the grandmas and grandpas for half an hour. Dan, Laila, Argo, Sacha, and Linda, you too please."
She took hold of his face, and pressed a kiss to his lips:
"Do you trust me, my love?"
"Blindly Red, always and everywhere."
The next moment where they disappeared from the throne room and stood on the beach. He had big eyes and a lump in his throat from what he saw. On the beach stood a copy of their beach house as they had had it in their little dimension. Only this one was a lot bigger. He saw two more or less identical main buildings connected by what could be called a concourse. A little further on was a detached house. Emotions flooded Alex. This was the place where he was happiest with Sam. Those days of relaxing in their dimension, days meant just for them. Now their home was here again. No more living in the palace he could never have gotten used to anyway. He fell on his knees and burst into tears. Sam let him for a moment. This was a situation that needed no words. For the moment, he really was completely back home. She had also gotten down on her knees and gently took him in her arms. After a few minutes, she whispered:
"Go swimming Alex, feel the water, get immersed..."
Silently he nodded, stood up, and stepped into the water not caring that he was still fully dressed. He dove under the waves, staying underwater for quite a while. The moment he surfaced again he let out a massive scream. The next step in throwing off the sorrow, pain, and loneliness of the last six thousand years. She saw that he had a blissful look on his face and walked into the water herself. When she came to him she saw stars in his eyes again. He took her in a firm embrace and pressed a passionate kiss to her mouth. The next thing she knew she had been lifted out of the water. He had made his wings appear, lifted her up and now he was floating about thirty feet above the water with her in his arms. He winked and simply dropped her into the water. He let his wings disappear and dove after her.
They saw the grandparents walking up with the kids and the rest in tow. After which they came walking onto the beach while giggling. They saw the kids looking at the surroundings with wide eyes. The adults were not much better off. Except for Salome, Robert, Celine, and Rae Rae, no one had ever set foot in the dimension and didn't know what the Sanctuary of the Two looked like. Sam said:
"Welcome everyone, this is home. Alex and I soon found out that we could never live together in the palace though we would be Goddess and God. We wanted our own little private sanctuary where we could be together and enjoy ourselves. This is what we had in our little dimension. It's expanded a little bit of course because now there are a little more than three people to shelter."
She looked at Laila and Daniel:
"That second building is for you, fully equipped. That long wide corridor between the two buildings are the children's bedrooms. As we discussed, that corridor will serve as the transitional space between the two living quarters. In this way, the children can be in both houses without interfering with your privacy or ours."
Now she looked at Linda:
"Doctor, at our place there are also two guest rooms provided. Until your new home can be made by BAM we would love it if you and Charlie would come and stay with us for a while."
Last up were Argo, Sacha, and Rob;
"The detached house is for you guys. The choice is yours, you can stay there or move to a house that BAM can put up for you in a few days. If you would choose to stay there will be a second house next door that is provided for Celine and Michael."
She put an arm around Alex's waist and he did the same, pulling her as close to him as possible. After which she continued:
"This house, this beach, this ocean have been so important to Alex and myself. We were always so incredibly happy here. I can only hope the same may be true for you."
Alex got his smirk back on his face:
"What do you say, Dan, fancy catching some waves tomorrow morning? I have a whole series of boards ready to go."
Before Daniel or anyone else could even say a word Beatrice suddenly yelled out:
"DOLPHINS!!! Look there, real a WHALE... Oh my freaking goodness is that a bay whale?"
She was literally trembling on her feet, pointing to what was happening not so far offshore. The rest of the children got an equally enchanted look in their eyes. Alex said:
"Oh, you mean Domino and Daisy with their family. If you want you can go say hello tonight. They are completely domesticated and are thoroughly enjoying the attention they get."
These words were just about enough to get all the kids salivating. Alex stepped up to his parents and hugged them:
"Thanks, Mom and Dad this is what I really needed..."
His mother whispered:
"No need to thank us, son. It's your beautiful wife who more or less demanded that we build this in addition to the palace."
After spending an hour in companionship, Alex had gone back to his office. There was a great deal of work ahead and for the next twenty-four days, he and Sam would get little rest. Starting the next day, hundreds of Angels would arrive every morning and a whole bunch of containers. Soon he had lost himself in the various calculations. The first general meeting would probably last only about three hours because it was intended to hear a verbal summary of the project proposals from the various departments. He was startled out of his thoughts by knocking on his door. He called in and Linda stepped into the office. Alex stood up and said:
"Doctor Martin, please sit down."
He pointed to the cozy sitting area and came out from behind his desk.
When they had both taken their seats, Linda asked:
"How are you feeling Alex?"
He snickered:
"Doc Linda, so impatient to get your God on the couch?"
"Yeah that too, but I'm really interested in how you're doing."
"Linda I am happy to start the therapy I need in twenty-five days. The next twenty-four will unfortunately be very busy and I really don't have the time to focus on other things. I have had six thousand years of being fucked up on so many levels, again those few days will not make the difference now. Better would be if I asked you, how are you doing doc?"
She shook her head:
"To be honest, I don't know if I'm dreaming or awake. Of course, I had known about the supernatural for some time. With Lucifer as a patient, the, hmmm, strange or the over-the-top was never far away. This is so much bigger, I can't grasp it and it will be a long time before I can fully grasp it."
"Welcome to the club doc. Sam and I are responsible for pulling this out of our top hat and even we can't grasp the whole picture. In order not to lose my way I need numbers, ice-cold numbers. With just my imagination, I could never make it either. The numbers are so enormous that there is no way I can completely envision the end result."
He thought for a moment and then said:
"Doc, why don't you join the council meeting? I think I want to disconnect your work from Raffa's department. The more that is taken off his plate the better. However, I also believe that with a new department, you would have better autonomy. Focus first on Rae Rae and her group and a batch of souls we are going to take out of the dimension who will need minimal therapy. Those can then slowly start building an agenda for the rest of the Angels who would need it. But I also want Daniel on that list of yours. For one thing, to get an evaluation of his condition from time to time, and for another, I think he too has a lot to deal with given Decker's actions."
With a shrewd smile, she asked:
"And you Mylord?"
"Schedule me, but on day twenty-five and after office hours if possible. Preferably not in an office. The beach is big enough and has some very discreet nooks and crannies..."
He replied with a smirk on his face. She got a very wide smile:
"Even if I wanted to know, you would probably never blurt out what those nooks and crannies are about?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Doctor, a Gentleman never tells..."
At two o'clock Samantha and himself were in the main conference room and the rest of the department heads poured in. When everyone had taken their seats Alex said:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Terra Nova. What we have to do is huge but fun. So let's get to it. BAM, how's it going?"
Mercury said:
"My lord, our people have blown into it full of high spirits and excitement. During the first hour, the architects had to intervene a few times to slow down the pace of a few enthusiasts. In the meantime, everyone has found their rhythm and we are a little ahead of schedule. Tonight everyone will have a flat and temporary housing will also be provided for the group arriving tomorrow."
"Perfect, Sam and I will go with you later to check out the work in this first phase because it's something I damn well want to have memorized."
After BAM, group by group took their turn with their project proposals and what they wanted to accomplish from it in the near future. When Sam and Alex were back on the beach after this first day of work in the new universe, they saw that in the meantime Argo had already lit the fire pit. To their delight, they saw that the children were playing in the water under the watchful eye of the adults. It was impossible not to notice Honeybee and it elicited a broad smile from them. With swimming bands and everything, she was floating around on a blow-up pink pelican. He said to Sam:
"Those grandparents hopefully don't have dementia by now. Surely they know that Elise is an Angel and thus able to breathe underwater and that she is immortal?"
That elicited a loud burst of laughter from her and she said:
"Try explaining that to our parents Love. I think you can expect yourself to a three-hour lecture on why it has to be this way."
He nodded with a well-satisfied smile and said:
"Yes Red, this is home, this is where it will be great!"