Sincerely,
Grayson Marley, Ph.D.
Acting Operations Director,
S.A.V.E.
The voice is that of Daniel Blake, a dour British envoy the charcaters
have met before.
[TAPE]: "Now you're all together, let's get properly introduced. Benny,
Ishy, meet Carla. Carla will be working with you on this one. Carla, this
is Benny and Ishy. Don't mind them too much, they've got good hearts. I've
been asked to brief you on this assignment, because you all know me, and
they needed to impress on you how awkward this might get.
SAVE was recently alerted to a potentially disasterous
occurance in your area. The alert came from one of our most trusted psychics,
who claimed to see a fire starting in the Boston area that wouldn't stop.
The vision has been backed up by about a dozen other reported omens and
premenitions. Ordinarily, SAVE Boston would handle this investigation,
but Central feels that they may have been compromised. There have been
discrepancies betwen their weekly staus reports and what we know is happening
out there. Someone in their ranks may be trying to hide supernatural activity
in the area. On no account are you to make contact with the local office.
While we were preparing your briefings, we received
news of an aircrash about twelve miles north of the city of Boston. While
it may not be related the timing seems more than a little suspicious. I
recommend you at least take a look at the site. Bear in mind that SAVE
Boston will probably be looking into this event as well, and your paths
may cross.
I wish I could be with you on this one, but the
daft buggers here won't let me out of bed. Seems I was sliced up worse
that it looked on our last mission Ishy. Since I am stuck here, call me
if you need more information, or if I can help in some way. Benny has my
number.
One last thing...take a look in the folder. There's
a drawing there you might want to see. According to our source, that is
what awaits us. Good luck.
No, I'm not going to self-destruct. Just turn me
off.""
Created in 1966, the Evangelical Crusade was a response by to the
aggressive and joyful evangelism of the black community churches in South
Boston, in an attempt to create a racially unified congregation and avoid
the troubles occurring throughout the rest of the United States. Founded
by the Reverend Alan Bilkowicz, the Crusade was initially located in Brookline,
and concentrated on performing acts of charity and organising the community.
The Crusade was never popular, frequently being seen as "white people trying
to make themselves feel better", but remained active in the area for many
years, eventually winning over many of it's opponents. In 1989, when William
Gordon joined the Crusade, it was in serious financial difficulties. The
congregation was dwindling and several over-ambitious community projects
had drained its resources. Shortly after William Gordon's first testimony,
the congregation began to increase significantly, and for the first time
began to draw in both black and white parishioners. Since William Gordon
joined the Crusade, it has gone from being a small and struggling
group to being a nationally recognised religious organisation, with
considerable influence and a high public profile.
Author's Note: This is not a picture of me. In fact, I have no idea who this is. If this is you, please let me know. If you object to it's use, I'll take it down immediately.
William Gordon was born on the 23rd May 1963 in Revere, North Boston.
After his father was killed in a drunken brawl when William was five, William's
mother withdrew into alcoholism and died shortly after. William was taken
into care and lived with a number of foster families, the most significant
of whom were later convicted of abusing children in their care. William
appeared in juvenile court a number of times during his childhood, on charges
ranging from theft to assault with a deadly weapon. After a short spell
in Juvenile Hall, William apparently began to take more care in ensuring
that his crimes could not be traced back to him. In 1980, when William
was 17, he was implicated in the wounding of Kevin Thomas, a 13-year-old
local boy. Thomas was found in his parent's backyard with severe head injuries,
shortly after witnesses saw him arguing with Gordon. Thomas entered a severe
vegetative state, from which he has never recovered. Though William was
questioned about the crime, the police knew they had insufficient evidence
to sustain a conviction and were forced to let him go.
On 16th December 1981, William Gordon entered the Police Station on Revere Beach Parkway and there confessed to a number of unsolved crimes, including the assault on Kevin Thomas. He was reported to be deeply remorseful and fully aware of the importance of what he was saying. Since he was now over the age of majority, William was sentenced to serve 15 years imprisonment. The unusually light sentence was handed down in view of Gordon's obviously deep remorse for his crimes, as it was felt that his lawyers might appeal a heavier sentence on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Gordon served the majority of his sentence at Acton Penetentiary in Massachusetts, where he became involved in a number of rehabilitation programs. He was reported to be a model prisoner, and was later instrumental in defusing the riots that occurred there in 1984. During his time in prison, Gordon studied constantly, gaining qualifications in English literature, mathematics, sociology and computers. He was a leading figure in the campaign to increase funding for prison libraries and devoted much of his time to counselling his fellow prisoners. In 1983, Gordon was severely injured in an assault by another prisoner and lost his left eye. The assailant, a convicted child molester named Harry Garratty, later became Gordon's cellmate at Gordon's request. The two of them are reported to have become good friends and Garratty was employed by Gordon as a housekeeper and driver upon his release.
William Gordon was released from prison on 12th July 1989, his sentence
reduced for exemplary behaviour. Shortly after his release, he is known
to have joined the Evangelical Crusade congregation. At the time, the Evangelical
Crusade was a small, struggling congregation of less than 100 members.
Within two months of William Gordon's first testimony, the membership had
swollen to 600 parishioners. Gordon was invited to preach regularly soon
after, and later became a spokesperson for the group. In 1992, Gordon was
offered the leadership of the Evangelical Crusade by its current pastor,
the Reverend Alan Bilston.
He refused, saying that he would be more effective as a free agent.
In 1993, Gordon published his first book "Lights in Heaven", in which he claimed to have heard the voice of God in his youth. Though controversial, the book sold well, and Gordon funnelled the profits back in to the Crusade's charitable foundations. A year later, his second book "God is my Shield", told of the secret war between the forces of darkness and light within every soul and what the reader could do to help the angels. Again, the book sold well, enabling the Crusade to open a series of youth lodges and homeless shelters throughout Massachusetts. Three other books followed, each dealing with a facet of the spiritual struggle between good and evil. In 1996, Gordon published a novel, published by TOR under the pen name of Gordon Williams. The book "Hammer of Light", told of the lonely war against evil fought by the last sane fragment of a fallen angel. The book spent 14 weeks at the number one slot and has since been optioned for a movie, now in production. Gordon's last book, "Grasping the Fire" was published to coincide with his speaking tour of Europe.
Description: 5'10", 220lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, large build.
Distinguishing marks: Glass eye (left).
Transmission ends
When we got here we figured that the big plane crash that happened a
couple of days ago might be a good place to start. It just seemed a little
too coincidental that a 777 decides to drop out of the sky the day before
we show up.
So, we're checking out the crash site (Carla's a preacher and I'm a
reporter, so we didn't have too much trouble snooping around), when the
crash investigation guys find a body, totally different fromthe others.
Everyone on the plane is deep crispy fried, except this one guy, who they
identify from the manifest as being William Gordon. Gordon is stark-naked
and very dead, but is otherwise unmarked, despite having being in a plane
that blew up at around 33,000 feet. Carla got to talk to Chuck Ramirez,
the NTSB chief investigator and found out that whatever happened to the
jet, it was very fast and very hot. Anyway, once Gordon's body was
found, Carla and Ishy decided to check out the makeshift morgue they'd
got set up at the local school gymnasium. Carla made contact with Belle
Carson, the Medical Examiner in charge of the morgue, and she reiterated
what Chuck had told her; that whatever had killed the passenger's on the
plnae had been very hot and had happened incredibly fast. While Carla was
talking to Belle, there was a minor earth tremor and dead birds fell from
the sky in a short shower. Around this time, Ishy got into a black limosine
and disappeared. We haven't heard from him since.
While she was looking for Ishy, Carla got a 'phone call on her cellular
from Blackwel l, who arranged a meeting. Later that evening, Carla and I
had dinner with Belle Carson and her mother, who is deeply religious, and
gave us some information about William Gordon. It seems he's a man of some
repute in Boston. He started off rough and did some time for an assault
when he was younger (left some poor kid in a coma) after having some kind
of religious experience. He lost an eye in a prison fight, and became a
preacher when he got out. Developed quite a following too. He wrote a number
of non-fiction books about his religious beliefs, a few of which dealt
with the idea that the war between good and evil is a physical one happening
around us right now. He also wrote a novel under a pen name.
I figured out that Gordon either was an envoy or at least knew about
SAVE when I noticed that there was a hidden Indalo on the cover image of
his novel. Carla got sick last night, and was worse this morning, so I
made the meeting instead of her. Blackwell seemed really freaked, and wasn't
making much sense. Then this bum started a firefight in the diner, so we
booked. Something blew the diner up after we split. In the alleyway, we
met a woman who told us something terrible had been unleashed and that
it must be stopped. She told us she was an observer, and that her name
was Uriel. Then she vanished. We're picking our way out of there when I
see William Gordon walking away. Only it's not him. It is, but only if
he's found the best diet in the world, the sort that makes you taller,
younger and better looking. When we confront him, he identifies himself
as Jophiel, a warrior of the Lord, sent here to hunt demons or something.
He doesn't care about the civilian casualties. While we're talking, he
blows up a Jeweler's shop because it has a demon in it, without raising
a sweat or even twitching. So we split. The rest you know."
The cult was uniformly hated by the early Christians for its view that
Christ was an inevitable product of an evolving universe, just as man himself
was the end result of countless iterations of chemical proccesses, rather
than the sending of a compassionate God.
The "White Fire" (or Shaa'bastei) referred to in the cult's name
was believed to be the raw stuff of creation, the primal plasma
Why can't I concentrate? I know there's something I must do, something
important, but what? It'll come to me I suppose. Last night, after that
bloody dream awoke me again, I felt the urge to visit the archives. The
place was a tip as usual (I'll have to talk to Smythe about tidying up
when he gets back from Europe). Maybe I can persuade that researcher, Walters,
to do some sorting out. He seems like a good fellow, though I suspect he
could do with being dragged into the sunlight every so often. He so rarely
raises his head I'm sure that most of the staff don't know he exists! While
I was down there that feeling of something being left undone visited me
again. I'm sure it's not a psychic intuition; my own skill with the Art
is pretty meagre. So what is it?
Something's up with SAVE Central. I spoke to Eisner this morning, reporting
the state of affairs here as we do every week, and he seemed quite odd.
When I told him that it had been quiet here for quite some time, he sounded
most put out, almost as is he expected me to tell him Satan himself had
set up shop here. After that he was quite distant, as if he didn't quite
trust what I was telling him. Odd. I can't think what he was expecting.
If something was happening here, my people would be the first to know!
Bad night again last night. Woke up drenched, and so weak I could barely
move. the room was freezing, and though I don't remember doing it, I must
have left the window open. Felt like Hell this morning. Sharon says it'll
pass, that I'm just suffering from stress after that near miss with the
alligator spirit. I hope she's right.
So sleepy. Rodriguez wanted to talk to me today, but I could barely
keep my eyes open. He asked me something about the sub-basement storage
area, but I don't remember what it was. I can't find him now. Wintergreen
says he's been called in to Central, but his kit is still here. Had strange
dreams again. I dreamt I was somewhere beneath the house, and that someone
was singing in the distance. There was something close by, a black snake
or something that I knew I should recognise, but couldn't. I woke up in
the kitchen. Haven't walked in my sleep for years. I don't care what Sharon
says, these heart pills are driving me nuts.
Feel clearer today, though my dreams were just as odd. Sharon's going
to go ballistic when she realises I've stopped taking the tablets.
My God! How can I have been so blind! Why didn't I see this before?
How long has he been there, pulling our strings from his hidey hole like
some kind of bloated spider? How long has he known about us? I feel
so stupid, as if a veil has been pulled from my eyes. The damned serpent,
worming his way into our midst, controlling us, using us. Who can I trust?
Riker certainly; he's only been here once or twice and hasn't had any contact
with the rest of the team. Maybe Walters as well. I doubt he has a single
vice that damned thing could use to get to him. I've got to get in touch
with the outside team. They're the only ones who can root this evil out
before it's too late. Reyner told me some, but not all,of his masters plans.
The only thing he seemed scared of was the possibility of William returning
sooner than planned, but when I told him I'd sent word to William asking
him to come back, the creature simply laughed. Obviously they have some
way of stopping William, but what? I can only hope that William's uncanny
luck holds true as it has done these last few years. What a nightmare.
If only I'd listened to my dreams! I've secured Reyner in the basement,
but it's only a matter of time before the others find him.
God save us all.
BA213: "Logan Tower, this is BA 213, en-route to Boston. We are
in flight corridor vector alpha six, at thirty-five thousand feet. Do you
copy?"
Tower: "Copy that BA 213. We have you on RADAR. Pleasant flight?"
BA213: "Easy money Logan. Easy-"
BA213: "Jesus, they're burning! White fire! They're all burning!"
From the Boston Globe
WHY?
324 Dead in Air Crash
Three hundred twenty-four people were killed this morning in the worst
air crash in Massachusetts for fifteen years.
British Airways Flight 213, en-route to Boston's Logan Airport from
London, England, was entering the approach
corridor when it apparently exploded at a height of twenty-five thousand
feet. Though the wreckage fell over a wide
area, the majority of it landed within the Lynnwoods Reservation and
the Happy Valley Municipal Golf Course.
There were no survivors and several deaths were caused by the falling
debris.
Flight 213 was a Boeing 777, one of the new air
liners unveiled last year. Designed almost entirely on computer, the
Unusually for a transatlantic flight, Flight 213 was not fully laden.
The passenger manifest lists only 324 passengers,
though the 777 has a passenger capacity of 350. No reason has yet been
given for this apparent discrepancy.
The crew of Flight 213 was an experienced one, with
over 400 hours flying time together. No maintenance problems
were logged with the Heathrow ground crew before take-off, and nothing
untoward was reported during the flight.
As yet, the flight recorder has yet to be recovered.
Benny fills Francis in
[Benny]: "A good friend from SAVE called my team in to investigate the
source of disturbing predictions concerning Boston and some kind of imminent
conflagration. The team was me, Carla and Ishy, an ex-cop. We'd been told
that SAVE Boston was out of bounds for us, as the Chapterhouse was under
suspicion of being compromised and an investigation was being set up.
Message on the wall of Carla's room
From "The Dictionary of Angels" (Fress Press, 1972)
Uriel ("The Fire of God")
Uriel is one of the leading angels of non-canonical
lore, and is ranked variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame
of God, angel of the presence etc. In Enoch I, he is the "angel who
watches over terror and thunder", giving rise to his mis-identification
as one of the many angels of death. In fact closer studies of the texts
reveals Uriel as an observer, tasked by God to study men during trials
of disaster and calamity, as a way to measure the worth of their souls.
Thus Uriel is not the angel of death, but the harbinger of death to come,
for wherever he (or she, as angels may manifest as either gender) is encountered,
catastrophe and grief are sure to follow. Kabbalistic texts frequently
refer to Uriel as "the weeping angel" for it is said that he feels, out
of all the host, the most sympathy with the plight of man.
From "The Dictionary of Angels" (Fress Press, 1972)
Jophiel ("The Beauty of God")
Also know as Iofiel, Zophiel and Iophiel, this is a
companion spirit to the Metatron; a Prince of the Law, usually ranked amongst
the seven archangels. According to Cornelius Agrippa, Jophiel is one of
God's more zealous angels. He is said to have argued against the concept
of free will in man. According to de Bles, it is Jophiel who volunteers
to drive Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, the other angels being too
stricken with sadness to do so. Jophiel is also said to be a merciless
warrior, destroying the enemies of the Lord without compunction, wherever
they might be.
Excerpt from "The Encyclopaedia of Cults and Sects"
(Golden Goblin, 1904)
The Church of the White Fire.
This little known off-shoot of Christianity was originally formed from
the remnants of a number of smaller sects that were
actively persecuted by the majority of the early followers of Christ.
Adherents to a number of unpopular ideas, the Church of the White Fire
postulated a God without consciousness; an automatic process of creation
who mindlessly ensured the constant creation and re-creation of the universe
in the face of constant opposition from his equally mindless and hostile
shadow, the Dark.
from which all matter were made. Ironically, though the cult is long
dead and has been almost completely erased from the history texts by Christian
revisionists, part of their faith lives on. The term "The White Fire" is
now in use in theological circles to describe the energy breathed by God
into the hollow husks of angels to give them life, in place of the animating
soul gifted to man alone.
Fragments found in Blackwell's Organizer
My dreams these last few nights have been strange, tormented. I
dream of everyday things, yet I am filled with a sense of deep foreboding,
as if stalked by some terrible... thing. My colleagues and friends all
smile at me, but their faces are skewed as if they are merely masks, covering...what?
I always awaken covered in sweat and dare not return to sleep for fear
the dream might return. I wish William was here. His advice is always sound,
and his solid presence and powerful faith always give me confidence in
the righteousness of our crusade against the Unknown. Still, he'll be back
soon enough.
On my way back to my room, I nearly walked into Gustav Reyner. I was
going to speak to him about maintaining order in the archives (he is our
archivist after all), but couldn't bring myself to do it. For a moment,
in the half-light, I was almost convince he was going to strike me! It
must have been a trick of the light though, because he seemed very concerned
about my bad dreams, even going as far to suggest a night-cap to help me
sleep. A nice thought, but I doubt it would mix well with the new heart
medication Sharon has got me on.
Had a call from a friend of mine at Central. She
says that there's a rumour that we've been compromised, that our status
reports don't match what the news and other sources say. Can this be true?
Worse, she says that Central is sending a team of outsiders to investigate
something in Boston, as if we can't be trusted! I've asked Volper to take
the car out to the airport and try and spot our "friends" when they arrive.
If Central won't tell me what's going on, maybe they will.