Chapter 82

1615 hours, local time
Friday, 31 October, 2014
The Chancellery Complex
The City of Haven, Province of Oregon
The Commonwealth of Haven

I had barely finished work on my continued plans for the proposed international airport that had been under construction for some time now, when the doors to my office opened and in walked Marcy with a sizable number of folks who I never met before. The leader of this entourage was a somewhat rustic looking young man, clearly in his twenties, but possessed of an aura of power and wisdom that almost matched my own or Rachel’s. He had two angels and a demoness with him, plus few other companions who included some Undead people and some futanari.

He also had some military bearing to him, which reminded me that I never got into the armed services. It was not the most pleasant reminder or my proudest, even if I had valid reasons. Admittedly, I was more involved in the recent conflict to unify the Pacific Northwest, and I had saved some lives, but I had never worn the uniform of the old Union when it still existed. The fact that I hadn’t always bothered me, but I strongly suspected that I was prevented supernaturally by some means from any enlistment.

“That is because you were assigned your particular path to make you the man, or rather the demigod, that you now are. Besides, you were never intended to stand out as significant or obvious as a leader until the right moment. You were the sleeper agent of Heaven. Plus, you were indispensable as the Lawgiver, the Messiah. We couldn’t let you risk life and limb, at least not until the time came to let you die and resurrect you. That was absolutely necessary, dear Mark.

“On a somewhat different note, this is Adam Clarke, honey, here at last. Adam, this is the Lawgiver and Chancellor of Haven, Mark Schumacher. Yes, THE Mark Schumacher. Dear husband, this is Sonali and this is Jeanette, angels of Heaven and guardians to Adam. Jeanette was ... no, is, also his first cousin, daughter of his Aunt Selah back in Clarkesburg, West Virginia. This is the succubus Evie, now one of his wives as well.

“These are his wives Hannah, Xia Delan, Autumn, Bonnie, who is Autumn’s mother, Penny, Lorraine, Loretta, Ashley, Stevie, Elise, Becca, Sardha, Tara, Leah, Tania, and Athenais. There are plenty of others, who are helping with other tasks, but these were selected for this purpose. This is Ryan, Bonnie’s husband prior to Doomsday and stepfather to Autumn. This is Barry, another of his husbands.

“Adam, this is Ninve, one of the Lawgiver’s Assyrian lionesses. This is the other one, Sandra. This is Cherry, his first legal wife. This is Nydia, Cherry’s daughter and sister-wife. This is Rachel, the Lawgiver’s sister, wife, and a Prophetess in her own right. This is Katrina, Rachel’s personal trainer and lover, also one of his wives and his Commissar of War. This is Jana, his very first lover. She’s originally from Czechia. This is Dr, Anne Higgins Schumacher, who delivered his babies and whose husband Donald shot and killed him on Fireball Day itself.

“This is Natalie Portman, of course, plus Liv Tyler, Famke Janssen, and Shakira. This is Jannat, who used to be a good Muslim from Lebanon. This is Julie Delpy and this is Emmanuelle Beart, of course. This is Eva Green. This is Josie and you have already met Shelby. This is Saorise and this is Lynne. This is Ana, Teresa, Tamara, Anton, Lucy, Ashley, Heather, Erica, and Jeanne. Any other questions?” Marcy formally introduced many of us.

“Orgy time or shall we delay until the Masque? I’m due for some intelligence briefings by now, anyway, but I look forward to plenty of group activities with all of us involved, sooner rather than later. Also, for the record, we are slowly bringing back cellular phone service, but we fully intend to guard against the excesses of the recent past,” I half-seriously discussed when to fully entangle my family with Adam’s.

“Speaking of which, we just had confirmation that Hillary Clinton died on Fireball Day itself in Manhattan. Bill perished five days later, when his plane crashed in the Florida Keys. Chelsea survived, but went into hiding as far as we can tell. President Barack Obama died in the White House, as did Michelle and Sasha, but Malia barely escaped death. Vice President Joe Biden was killed as well, while Jill and his family all lived and returned to Delaware, where Beau Biden is now chief executive. Mitt Romney died during the Sacramento Riots, as did Governor Jerry Brown and other prominent state officials.

“Oh, and the latest intelligence reports tell us that Glendale will fall some time next week to the Mesa Mormon Militia. Avondale, Sun City, Surprise, and Anthem are among likely dominoes to be toppled soon. Many of these towns are increasingly deserted, too, with refugees pouring out of them. The Mormons are ruthless about this and they have already arrested all captive enemy leaders, as well as certain others. Of course, as with all regime changes, there are opportunistic folks who will use their chance to advance themselves without even stopping to reflect for even a second first,” Marcy informed me.