Page 22 (1/2)

Part THREE

"And I saw a sea of glass led with fire"

- Revelation 15:2

Chapter 21

ACROSS SPRAWLING WHITE SANDS in the lands of sireat blue threads of rivers and wide valleys ht of Baal and Baal alone

Baal was the disease of h the bodies of once-sane a desired to confront Baal again was a question he could not answer Michael had been right He had no part in this, no place in as to unfold He was only apremonition that as to colittering golden eyes disturbed hie of Baal The tould finally meet face to face, if not in Greenland then somewhere else, somewhere hidden from all eyes but his own He would have to see it; he had made up his mind he would have to see it and this, he concluded, hat drove hih a succession of airline connections he steadily moved toward the top of the world He watched the sun lower on the horizon; it hung blood-red and sinking in a sky of ice Through the airports and the flights that carried him farther north he watched the faces of people and wondered how they could be so unaware The businessmen with their eternal black briefcases and dark suits, the young tourists, the solitary travelers: all of theazines and newspapers with front-page photographs of h hidden perhaps froa turned his head froh the ovalat a sea of darkening clouds Where is God? he asked himself Has man lost himself so hopelessly now that God allows this rown so strong that even He is struck with terror? The thought chilled hioverned the last moments of man had been set in antic pendulua asted The constant pressure of the travel schedule necessary to meet the time limit imposed by Michael had worn him down until he was so tired he couldn&039;t even sleep The stubble of whiskers he&039;d seen in the lavatory mirror made him look dismal and forlorn and the new lines around his eyes added years to his appearance

In glittering, frost-encrusted Copenhagen he&039;d purchased boots and war for the colder cli at Reykjavik and then at the commercial air facilities at Søndre Strøht up the western coast to Avatik, a pinhead on the map of Greenland

When they had left Iceland, Virga saw the sun vanish beneath the horizon, leaving only a faint trace of angry red in the sky They were outracing its brilliance, clia drank a final scotch and wondered if Michael had lied to hione when Virga arrived there Then the long journey would have been for nothing He would be lost and alone and not knohether to remain in Avatik or return, without hope, to the United States Both of then to hi, while a knot of tension steadily grew in his stomach, what they would do when, and if, they found Baal Short ofto stop thethe philosophy of violence that had grown in his shadow No, he was not yet prepared to view hih bloodshed in the world already

At the air facility at Søndre Strøa found that the violence had arrived with Baal Danish authorities were carefully checking passports and baggage A boa, had been hidden in a suitcase and left a area The resultant blast had killed four people and wounded six a carried and waved hied; he saw the re metal stumps where seats had been ripped away There were dark stains on the linoleua wondered briefly who the people had been

With little difficulty, which surprised hia learned froirl at the information center that, yes, there were private planes for charter up the coast but he would have to arrange for a pilot soa said, that would not do He would be willing to pay anything the et to Avatik by the following , he said, and watched as she winced and reached for a directory of charter agents Virga chose one at randoestahl It was only when he heard the sleepy voice on the other end of the telephones that Virga realized he was calling in the ht; he was that disoriented and bone-weary

"Avatik?" the man asked in a thick Danish accent "I know the settleiven you this nu slowly so the man would understand "I cannot tell you how much it means toyou&039;re doing is against the law?"

"No I&039;ll pay as a said

The ive you for awakening estahl was a burly, broad-shouldered Dane with reddish-brown hair and a thick bull neck Out on the airfield, as they walked across the crust of snoard his hanger, he laughed at the wolfskin coat Virga had bought in Copenhagen "You going to wear that thing?" he asked "Ha! Your balls will freeze off!"

His plane was an old United States Arht froa took little comfort in the way he kicked the studded rubber tires and wrenched at the wing slats "Fine old lady," Ingestahl said "Good A off froroan the plane left the ground Swirling snow threatened for a moment to obscure visibility; then they were free of it and cliestahl cursed and slammed violently at the heater; it sputtered and refused to operate Virga pulled his collar up around his frost-burning ears and breathed slowly and shallowly to protect his lungs as the craft continued to gain altitude When they leveled off Ingestahl unscrewed a thera

"You never said what you were going there for," the a saw the dark caps of h the sky still clung to the faintest trace of gray at the horizon Below them were stretched miles and hts of settlea could see its harshness even at this height He pulled the hood of his coat up and laced it beneath his chin The cold across his cheeks lay as heavy as freezing a could look over and see the blinking light at the wingtip on his side; as he sat in the cockpit steaestahl&039;s face was daubed green by the glow of his instrua said