Brass Ring Chapter 7: The Clarity of Vision Due to Faith

Inside the fortress-like Church of Saint Cecilia, Father Eglasias was finding it hard not to smile despite his own apprehension. Kubwa was warming up for the afternoon with an old hymn, one that had become a mantra to her, allowing her a way to enter into the proper state for her singing, and through that her other talents, such as her vision. Yesterday she had had a vision that told her that a blonde young man would seek to take her away. He was waiting for the young man to show up,

Come, let us join our cheerful songs

with angels round the throne;

ten thousand thousand are their tongues,

but all their joys are one.

He heard a car pull up and the doors slammed. He cocked his head, trying to figure out who it could be from the footsteps, but he couldn't place them, He stood up and ran to intercept the visitor. Kubwa preferred her privacy during these practices and he had found it a good idea to indulge her.

“Worthy the Lamb that died,” they cry,

“to be exalted thus”;

“Worthy the Lamb,” our lips reply,

“for he was slain for us.”

He ran to the door and was able to intercept the visitor., a young man with blonde hair. He smiled but quickly hid it. “I am sorry, young man, but the church is closed today. You must come again another time.”

Oliver presented his lanyard. “I'm sorry, father, but I need to talk to a 'Kubwa Dallas' as quickly as possible. It could be a matter of life or death.”

Father Eglasias put his finger to his lips for just a moment. “I am sorry, young man, but she is unavailable for the nonce.”

Oliver debated his options. “Sorry, father, but she is needed. Without her, there may be deaths and millions in collateral damage.”

Father Eglasias bowed his head for a moment. “Then I must give her the choice.

Jesus is worthy to receive

honour and power divine;

and blessings, more than we can give,

be, Lord, for ever thine.

Oliver quickly bowed, “Thanks.”

He started walking over to her cell. “Give me a moment, please.” Oliver nodded. While he walked as fast his hassock would allow him to, his brain was thinking even faster. While this was no doubt the person that she was waiting for, he and other priests had determined that interrupting her was not a good idea; several priests had been sent to the hospital when they had accidentally disrupted the energies she summoned.

Let all that dwell above the sky,

and air, and earth, and seas,

conspire to lift thy glories high,

and speak thine endless praise.

He decided that he would leave it up to the will of The Almighty and hoped that said will would protect him from harm. He breathed in hard, hoping it would not be his last, and knocked three times on the door. The door opened and he was unable to hear anything over the whine from the cell; all he could do was to point to the visitor. Kubwa came out and the whine died down even as her eyes lost their blue glow. Her nun's habit stopped flapping in the breeze surrounding her as her eyes returned to their normal brown. Her voice was but a whisper compared to what it had been.

The whole creation joins in one

to bless the sacred name

of him that sits upon the throne,

and to adore the Lamb.

She smiled as she saw who had arrived. “Another chance to serve the Almighty has arrived.” She floated over to Oliver, a small bubble of sonic energy suspending her. Her control had vastly improved since she had taken her vows; he could barely hear the sound being held captive beneath when once there would have been a roar.

She sang the last verse of her warm-up hymnal as she floated to the visitor.

She landed just in front of Oliver. She grabbed his hand and bowed slightly while bringing his hand to her forehead. She returned the hand. “It is nice to meet you in the flesh. However, we must be off as we will be needed much sooner than either of us would anticipate.”

Oliver's brow crinkled and then he shrugged it off. “Okay. Let's go then.” He began walking to the door. She removed her habit, revealing a suit of fashionable white clothes below it. She handed the habit to the priest.

“God shows us the way that we will be prepared for His desires.” She walked through the door leaving behind a confused priest.

She sat in the back but leaned over Oliver's shoulder. “You will need to turn right.” Oliver shrugged and did as she said. She looked at Nishi and smiled. “We will be best friends. I am so glad to meet you, my future sister-in-arms. I am Kubwa.”

Nishimura smiled. “I think we will. My name is Nishimura, but my friends just call me 'Nishi'.”

Kubwa nodded to her and slipped into the back.

As soon as Oliver turned into the street, his phone started buzzing. “What's up, Imago?”

“There has been a forced entry at Ilsington Labs. Based on their location within the laboratory buildings, two enhanced beings and a cyborg are attempting to acquire the power flux generator.”

His head lowered for a moment and then rose. “Any idea what their abilities are?”

“The cyborg is a partial build military model, most likely with legs, arms, and a sensory package. One of the beings has a range of sonic abilities and the other unknown. I am attempting to identify them.”

Oliver pounded his steering wheel. “All right, fine. We'll check it out, but I'm going to avoid an intervention at this time. Send me the GPS coordinates.”

“That is acceptable.” Imago disconnected.

At the next stop light, Oliver inputted the coordinates and his car started giving him instructions. He smiled. “Good call, Kubwa.” He hit the accelerator.

Kubwa just smiled politely.

[The last chapter can be found here. The next chapter is here.]