When Angels Gather

By Stan L. Guyer

When Mykel returns home to his family and friends, he must now meld his new family into that life. As some of their new friends join them there and in new ventures, his family now has to deal with a father and grandfather who is now forty years younger than when he left them. Their father and grandfather is also married with two more children and will probably outlive them all by many years.

Even as things in their world begin to settle down, Mykel is pulled away to unite others involved in that clandestine heavenly project. This will take him and others on a search around the globe.

When all is said and done, Mykel and Nichole warmly weave together wayward members of a heavenly ordained project. Yet still, when a remnant of a long-forgotten evil rears its head once again, it claims an angelic prince. So angels must gather in a final thunderous conflict.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781662438349

Book preview

Chapter One

It had been quiet for almost a week now, and we were enjoying the peace and quiet. After dinner that evening, I found Nichole out on the balcony, leaning on the railing and looking up at the full moon. In the cool of the evening, I walked up behind her and slipped my arms around her and lovingly pulled her into a soft embrace. Nichole wrapped my arms with hers and softly sighed, and then after several minutes and in her own loving way, Nichole lovingly informed me that she was pregnant. We were going to have a child. Even in the cool evening breeze, I could smell the sweet fragrance of her hair and feel the warmth of her against me as I held her. So I gently kissed her on her head and said, I love you.

Nichole just cuddled back into my arms more.

Later, while Nichole was getting ready for bed, I knelt at my prayer station and prayed a prayer of thanks and praise. While praying, the word of the Lord came to me in a vision of how Nichole and I were to arrive when we went back out to the cancer research facility. It made absolutely no sense to me, so I asked, But why, Lord?

The word said, "Do all things without grumbling or questioning that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish."

The next morning would have started out as our mornings normally would have; however, today, we were preparing for our return to the cancer research facility. I knew that it was going to be a bittersweet day of sorts for all of us. Bitter because we were leaving so many friends new and old, sweet because we were going to be with other dear friends.

The day started out with me, calling on Michael Hoite to help get everything ready to go out to the cancer research facility. When Michael asked why the big rush, I told him that Nichole was pregnant and that she wanted to see Dr. Phillips. There was a long silent pause before Michael finely asked, Is she sure about this, Mykel?

Yes, my friend, she is. With the Sapphireium 15 flowing around inside of us, she wants to have Dr. Phillips check her out as soon as possible.

This is wonderful news, Mykel! We will be out there shortly.

Take your time, Mike. Nichole wants to pack as much as possible and get Alexis and Auntie Eve ready.

When Mike and Rachel got there, we all got busy getting things ready to be loaded, and that was when General Breen stopped me, saying, Mykel, oh, Mykel, have you got a moment? Here are those files that I promised you. As you can see, there is a fair amount of information on the man in England that is up until the time that he disappeared. They think that he may have gone to Wales, but they are not sure. Unfortunately, as for the lady in Russia, all that we have is the one-page report about her and that she was committed to a facility at the time.

Thank you very much, General. These will be very helpful. Once Nichole and I get home to Washington, I am going to try to locate them both and see if they will come here.

Well, when you do, Mykel, call me. I have a brother in the Air Force who is stationed up in Alaska. Between the two of us, we could help you to get that done. Also, we have received a recall notice and will have to begin closing down operations here. The mayor says that he might have a buyer for this building and would like to have us out so that the prospective new owner can check the building out. So we will need to be out in thirty days.

I’m sorry to hear that, General. I know that the people of this neighborhood love having you and the guard unit here. I will also keep your offer for help in mind, and I will have Mike get the trucks back here to you straight away.

Just then, the elevator opened up, and out came Nichole and Private Rose pushing two luggage carts filled with things. The general laughed and said, No wonder you need the big truck, Mykel. It looks like Nichole has packed half of the town.

Oh, I think that there is at least one or two more yet to come with Auntie Eve’s things. Then there are the supplies for Corona, so if there is anything left, I will pick it up before you have to leave here, General.

Nichole came up to me and asked, Is there going to be enough room for everything, honey?

Yes, there will be plenty of room, sweetheart. We have the use of one of the big trucks and a van, along with our car. That got me a big hug and a kiss from Nichole. Thank you, honey.

Mike came over and took the cart from Nichole. We will load your things in the truck first, Nichole, then the supplies for Corona. Once we have everything loaded, then Rachel and Private Rose will make Cynthia Brown comfortable in the van, and we will be ready to go.

There are two more carts coming down, Mike. Oh, and how is Cynthia doing? Private Rose told me that while she was being held in that compound by Captain Stone that she had two miscarriages.

Well, physically, she seems to be fine, but emotionally she will need some time to heal. She has a tendency to break down and start crying, and she can’t believe that she fell for all those lies. You know, the only thing that she had to wear was the hospital gown we found her in. She has also been asking about Karen Evens.

Was Karen Evens or that Lieutenant Smith ever found in that compound of the captains, Mike?

No, I’m sorry, Nichole, but neither of them was found anywhere. We went through the entire warehouse complex several times, just to be sure, and they were nowhere to be found. All that we found was an open back door big enough for a car to drive through, so they must have drove off somewhere together.

Once everything was loaded, we were on our way. Our first stop along the way was the town of Corona for a short visit with Issiah and Dusty. From there, we were on our way to the cancer research facility and our friends. I was getting the feeling that Nichole had something on her mind because of the thoughtful look on her brow. So I asked, What is it that has you so deep in thought, sweetheart?

Nichole looked at me and said, Oh well, I was just wondering how everyone is going to take this news out at the center.

Well, I do imagine that it is going to cause quite a commotion, to say the least, my love.

And just then, from the back seat, Alexis casually asked, What news is that, Mommy?

Nichole got that oh no look on her face as I asked, You haven’t told her yet, have you?

Nichole whispered, No.

You know that she is going to find out sooner or later, so it would be better if it came straight from you, my love.

Find out what, Mommy?

Yes, Nicky, what will we find out sooner or later?

Then with a panicked look on her little face, Alexis asked, Oh no, Mommy, are you going to die?

Nichole turned in her seat so that she was facing a very frightened Alexis. Oh no, sweetheart, I am not dying. It’s just that, well, I just wasn’t sure how to tell you and Auntie Evie. You see, Mommy is going to have a baby.

I could just see Alexis in the rearview mirror as she sat there with her mouth open. A baby! You’re going to have a baby!

Yes, dear, is that all right? I mean, what do you think about Mommy having a baby?

Oh, Nichole, this is such wonderful news! After all that you two have been through this past year, now God is going to bless you like this.

I know, Auntie. It’s just that I’m a little worried.

But aren’t I your little girl, Mommy?

Oh, but of course you are, sweetheart. You will always be our little girl, no matter what.

We want you to remember this, sweetheart. When you came into our lives, Mommy and I fell in love with you so much so that we choose to adopt you as our daughter, and that makes you so very special to us. Now we are just going to have a slightly bigger family. When I reached out and touched her feelings, I could feel that Alexis was happy with the fact that she was going to have a little brother or sister but uncertain about not having us all to herself.

We were a small caravan of vehicles that drove up to the cancer research facility, and we raised quite a dense cloud of dust. That very dense cloud of dust that we raised so completely engulfed and concealed us when we parked that no one could see who we were. Even knowing that the Lord had instructed us to be wearing our sidearms and that I was to carry my bow, it just felt so strange. Nichole felt that we might appear to be an armed band of renegade vagabonds.

I can assure you, Nichole, that God has a very good reason for having us arrive in this manner.

I know, dear. I just wished I knew why.

So sidearms in place, Alexis in between us, and another little one asleep on my arm and shoulder, we walked out from the dust cloud. A group of people appeared to be waiting for us, and I recognized all but four of them. As we got closer, I recognized the man sitting in a wheelchair as Dr. Oliver Sapphire, the discoverer of the Sapphireium 15 serum. Oliver was so glad to see us come out of that cloud of dust because, as he said, it was his vision from all those years ago come true. He was even calling us his children.

After all the introductions were made, we all went into the facility where it was a lot cooler for Oliver. Then while Mike was seeing to the unloading of our things and getting them up into our suite, Nichole broke the news to everyone about her pregnancy. When the excitement from that had died down, Oliver and Dr. Marcus Anthony decided that they would stay at the facility for a while so Oliver could get some answers to a lot of questions. He knew that his serum had changed us, and he wanted to find out just what all it had done to us. After a very long and tiring discussion, Marcus saw Oliver back to his room for some rest. Then I sat down with Marcus to explain to him about the two other people who had received some Sapphireium 15 serum.

Oh my god, Mykel! Are you certain about this? Are these reports true? Do these other two people have the same abilities that you and Nichole do?

That I don’t know, Marcus. The only information that I have is that there is a male in England who was aiding the London Bobbies for a while before he disappeared, they think, into Wales. There is a woman in Siberia who did not fare as well. She was deemed clinically insane by the doctor that gave her the serum and quietly hidden away in a mental institute. There has been nothing on her since.

Oh my lord, that’s horrible, Mykel. Do you know what they could do to her in a place like that in Russia? Is there anything that we can do for her?

I don’t know yet, Marcus, but after the baby is born, Nichole and I will be moving to our home in Washington state. I would like to keep in touch with you, and we will see what, if anything, can be done to get them here with us.

Well, when you are ready, Mykel, I have some friends that are part of Doctors Without Borders. They might be able to help us get access to the woman.

Thanks, Marcus. I’ll let you know, but for now, I’m going to check on Nichole and Alexis. If Oliver is up for it, you two should join us upstairs for dinner tonight.

Why, thank you, Mykel. If Oliver is up to it, we will be glad to join you tonight.

Just over a week later, Dr. Oliver Sapphire passed away in his sleep. We held a small funeral for him and laid him to rest near the grave of Nichole’s sister, Holly Johnson. I called Michael Hoite with the date for his headstone, and the next day, I borrowed a truck from the motor pool and drove into Albuquerque to pick up the headstones for Oliver and Holly.

While I was there, visiting with our friends, Rachel was complaining that the other two ladies that were working for her were talking about getting married and not working anymore. Then she said, You know it’s all your fault, Mykel. It was you who introduced them to those guardsmen. Now they want to get married and raise kids.

So I suggested, Well, if you and Michael would like to do so, you could move to Olympia, and I could help you get started with a new store up there. After all, Washington state does seem to be the coffee capital of the United States.

Rachel looked me in the eyes and said, I’m going to take you up on that, Mykel. That way, after Michael and I get married, Mike can continue to help you when you need him.

I visited with everyone for about another hour, and then I headed out because it was getting late. When I arrived back at the research facility, Alexis was already asleep, and Nichole was sitting up, waiting for me. When I sat down next to her, I could see that she had been thumbing through the files that General Breen had given me, and she asked, Mykel, why do we have these reports, and who are these people?

General Breen gave me the files on those two people because I asked him to keep track of them for me. If you wish to, we can go over them tomorrow.

You asked the general to keep track of two people? Why? What’s so special about these two people that you would ask the general to keep track of them?

You really want to go through this tonight, my love?

Yes, dear, spill it!

Very well. It’s like this, we are not as unique with our angelic conditions as we may have assumed that we were.

What?

It seems that when the meteorite that contained the radioactive crystal that became the Sapphireium 15 serum came into the earth’s atmosphere, it broke into three pieces—one large piece that came down in New Mexico and two much smaller pieces. One of those came down in England, and after it was processed, it was administered to a middle-aged male cancer patient. We think that he developed abilities similar to ours, but we are not sure. He helped the Bobbies in London for a while and then disappeared into Wales, they think. The third piece came down near Omolon in the Siberian wilderness.

Siberia! Mykel, that’s in Russia! What happened to that piece?

A Russian scientist who evidently had read Dr. Sapphire’s paper processed it and administered it to his middle-aged sister who was terminally ill with cancer, and it is thought that it cured her cancer. However, the doctor must have become very frightened at her recovery because he committed her to a local mental asylum.

Oh my lord, that poor woman! She must be so confused. Is she being treated well?

We have no idea, Nicky. All that I have on her is in that report and nothing more.

Is there anything that we can do to help her, honey?

Not yet, sweetheart, but after the baby is born and we go to our home in Washington, I am going to get some people together and see what we can do to help the two of them. Now, darling, I am very tired, so can we please get to bed now?

Yes, dear.

The next day, at around about ten in the morning, Nichole was heading down to see Fhay and Lynne. I poured myself a large cup of coffee, and then I phoned my attorney, Nolen Matson. After considering the time difference between here and Olympia, I figured that he would be in his office by now, and I hoped that he was not in court. When I heard the female voice come on the line, I heard, Matson law office, how may I help you?

Yes, if he is available, I would like to speak with Nolen Matson please.

I will check and see if he is available, sir. Whom shall I say is calling please?

Please tell him that Mykel is calling. He will know who you are referring to.

The secretary put me on hold and I had to sit there and listen to some very bad programed music until I heard, Mykel, my friend, is that really you? I was beginning to think that I might have to execute your will. How are you doing, my friend?

Yes, it’s really me, Nolen. I am pleased to report that I am still among the living thank-you. The doctors here say that I am completely cured and that my cancer will never come back.

So that cancer research program worked. That’s wonderful news to hear.

Nolen, I can honestly say that the treatment made a completely new man out of me, and the doctor says that I could outlive my children by a long time.

That’s good, Mykel, but I am sure that they wouldn’t like that. Now the next question is, when are you coming home to us, Mykel?

We will be coming home in about four months from now.

That’s wonderful, Mykel, but I get the feeling that you called for more than just to say hello and to give me a medical update.

What! Can’t someone call to catch up on things with an old friend and not have ulterior motives in mind? However, you are right, my friend. I do have some legal work for you. We are coming home in about four months and I will need this ready by them.

I can get anything that you need done in about a week, Mykel, so four months is no problem. But tell me, what do you mean by we will be coming home? Is Gary going to be coming home with you at that time as well?

Well, as far as I know right now, there will be eleven of us and maybe fourteen. That would include Gary, his new wife, and their adopted daughter, maybe Lynne and Michael Gemstone and their adopted daughter, Ruby. Then there will be me, my wife, Nichole, her aunt Evie, our adopted daughter, Alexis, and our newborn son.

You got married, adopted a daughter, and have a son on the way? My goodness, Mykel, just what the heck have you been up to down there? Oh wait, do your sons know about all these new developments to your life? And, Mykel, how old is this Nichole if she is pregnant?

Well, let me see, I am sixty-eight, so that means that Nichole is going to be sixty-six. Now before you ask how that can be possible, there are some extenuating circumstances that I will need to show and explain to you when we get home. As far as my sons are concerned, they will know everything when I set up a video call with them in two days.

Wow! I’d love to be the proverbial fly on the wall for that call. Just to see the reactions on their faces to this news.

I will tell Lloyd to have you there when the call takes place. Now to the legal matters, I want you to draw up paperwork that will transfer the sports memorabilia business into Lloyd’s name and the dinner/theater into Aaron’s name. I wish to retain only 5 percent of each business. They are to have complete ownership and control of their business from now on.

Will this be a sale or an inheritance transfer, Mykel?

They have been managing those business long enough, and since they would be inheriting the business upon my death anyway, why not now? So with this they will get half of their inheritance early because they deserve it. I will make it sound like they are buying me out, so I guess that we will have to list the sale price in the documents?

Yes, either way, you will need to list the value of each business at least for tax purposes. So I will need to do an audit on each so that the paperwork will be correct. Since it is getting near tax time, we can use that as an excuse to update last year’s audit. So when you come home, how will you be coming home—car, train, bus, or what?

When we are ready to come home, I’d like to arrange for that puddle jumper flight that I took down here, if it’s still available. If I remember correctly, it seats about twenty. Most of our things will come just ahead of us by way of truck.

That old DC-10 twin prop, yes, it is still in service, and it does seats twenty, just not very comfortably. Well, when the time comes, arrangements can be made for the flight. But you know, Mykel, this is going to be just a bit expensive.

Yes, I know that it will cost me, but it will be worth it to get us all home. Now if there is nothing else that you need for the business transfer, I’ll let you get to the paperwork.

No, I think that I have everything that I need for now, but if I need anything else, I’ll call you.

Thank you, Nolen. Now I need to call Lloyd and Aaron and let them know that I am going to be setting up that video call. You take care and give my regards to your wife and daughter.

Thanks, Mykel. I will, and I’ll see you in two days at that video call.

After I got off the phone with Nolen, I called my son Lloyd. I wanted to be sure that he and Aaron would have everything ready for the video call in two days. So when Lloyd answered the phone at the store, what I heard was, Pop’s pool hall! Pop ain’t here. Number one eight ball speaking. It’s your dime shoot.

Lloyd, this is Pop! Now that line was so old that it had whiskers when I was a youngster. Now it’s just old. However, I am glad to hear that it is still hanging around.

Dad! Is that really you?

Yes, Lloyd, it is, and I wanted to call and let you know that I am going to set up that video call with you and Aaron in two days. You two have been asking for it, and I think that it is high time to clear up a few things before we come home.

Well, of course, we have been asking for that, Dad! We wanted to be sure that you were alive and doing well. But I have to say, Dad, that after some discussion with Aaron, we have decided that it would be best if you just came home so that we can all sit down and discuss the business.

I am sorry, Lloyd, but we are not going to be able to leave at this time, so you will just have to settle for the video call.

Then Aaron and I will have to come down there so that we can see for ourselves that you are healthy and free of cancer. Then we can discuss the business matters.

About then, Nichole and Lynne came into the apartment with Dr. Phillips close behind. They were laughing and carrying on about when the baby was due. When Nichole saw that I was on the phone and pacing back and forth, she shushed everyone so that they wouldn’t disturb me.

What you mean, Lloyd, is that you want to make sure that with all the cancer treatments that I still have all my faculties intact and can manage my own affairs.

That’s not what I said, Dad!

You may not have said it quite like that, Lloyd, but that is precisely what you meant. Very well. It’s against my better judgment, but you will get your face-to-face. I will call my lawyer, Nolen Matson, and make the arrangements for you, Aaron, and Nolen to fly down here. I will have an associate meet you at the airport and bring you all out to the cancer research facility.

Your lawyer? Why do you want him to come down there?

I have my reasons, Lloyd, reasons that will be abundantly clear when you have your face-to-face. So if this is what you really want, then it will be my way or you will wait until we get home in four months.

"Why four months, dad? And just what do you mean by we, Dad? Don’t Aaron and I have any say in this at all?"

You will get a full and complete explanation of everything when you get down here. So if you want this face-to-face, it will be my way or you will have to wait till we get home.

There was a bit of a pause and then, All right then, Dad, you make the arrangements and we will see you when we get down there.

Lloyd, you and Aaron give my love to my grandchildren and tell them that we will see them all real soon.

We will, Dad. See you soon.

I’ll see you both soon. Bye.

After I hung up the phone, I sat down on the couch, trying to think. Nichole walked up behind me, and I felt her hand on my shoulder, so when I looked up at her she handed me a double shot of scotch.

Here, honey, it feels like you could use this.

Oh, thank you, sweetheart. I took a swallow, and then seeing Lynne and Dr. Phillips standing there, I stood up and said, Lynne, Judy, it’s good to see you. Please have a seat.

Actually, I need to be getting back to the lab to see if William has checked those last tests Mykel. I just wanted to see Nichole home. But we will see you later this afternoon.

Okay, Judy, and give my regards to William.

Lynne sat in the chair across from me and Nichole sat down next to me, saying, Tell me, Mykel, is there going to be a problem with your sons about everything that has happened to us?

I sat back and took a swallow of my scotch and said, With Lloyd, yes, a bit, sweetheart, which is because he is so much like his mother was. Has to have concrete proof of things in order for him to accept it. Once he gets down here and can look into my eyes, he will have a change of heart and everything will be fine.

But what about Aaron and your lawyer, Mr. Matson? Won’t there be some trouble there?

With Aaron, there has never been much trouble, and I’ve known Nolen since our days in the Navy.

Remember, Mykel, when you came down here, you were sixty-five years old and you looked it. Now you both look like you’re thirty. That might be a bit hard for them to accept.

You are right, Lynne, but my sons know their father, and Nolen should remember when we both were a lot younger. However, just to play it safe, I’ll have him bring along the photo he keeps on his office wall of when the two of us were thirty. I’ll call him and let him know what is going on and make the arrangements for them all to come down.

Well, honey, it’s lunchtime, so maybe you should wait until after lunch to make that call.

You’re right, honey. The call can wait a bit. Oh dang, Lynne, I’m sorry. I seem to have forgotten my manners. Could I get you something to drink?

Now, Mykel, you know that I don’t drink, but thank you for the offer. I really should get back downstairs and go to lunch with Ruby and Michael. So I’ll see you both later.

Oh, Lynne, if you see Alexis, would you please send her up for lunch?

I’ll do that, Nichole.

Chapter Two

Somewhere out in the far eastern province of the Russian Siberia, in the moderate town of Yakutsk, was a run-down hospital and sanitarium that served the locals and the mentally ill. Dr. Sirgay Ivonov paced the floor of his meager office as he was trying to decide just what he must do to save the life of his sister, Katalina. He knew that he had to keep the secret police from finding out what he had done to her and what she might have become.

Dr. Sirgay Ivonov had once been a noted doctor and research scientist working at a hospital and research facility near Novosibirsk, Russia. While there, he had tried everything possible to cure his sister’s cancer. Their dear mother had died of a broken heart while working day and night to help pay for the treatments that Katalina needed. Then their father was killed by Russian mobsters while he was trying to sell what little the family had left to buy medication. Now it was up to Sirgay, and he had promised his parents that he would care for Katalina and, hopefully, find a cure for her.

Katalina was a very beautiful woman, but the cancer was beginning to take a toll not only on Katalina’s spirit but also on Sirgay’s. He had read every paper, journal, and medical book that he could find to try to find a cure. Then one day, he came across a paper published by a Dr. Oliver Sapphire. The paper described how he had found a meteorite out in the bad lands of New Mexico and how, when he had cracked it open, inside was this strange blue glowing crystal that was highly radioactive. It went on to say that when he tried to clean it, the crystal dissolved into a blue glowing radioactive serum that became known as Sapphireium 15. Then in another journal, he read about two other pieces of that meteorite that came down in England and in Siberia. The piece in England was also processed into Sapphireium 15 serum.

That meant that there was still one piece to be found in Siberia.

When he read about how the Sapphireium 15 serum had been used in New Mexico on two cancer research project patients and that it had cured their cancers, he began to hope again. He began to try to find out what had become of the meteorite that had fallen in Siberia. But after many, many months of searching, Sirgay had almost forgotten about the whole matter until an archeologist came into the research