The God Experiment

Chapter No.26. Threat.

Chapter No.26. Threat.

The Steris family was relaxing on a Sunday afternoon on their patio in the backyard when Janet heard the doorbell ring. She got up and went to open the front door where she was confronted by Mark and Joe, the two FBI agents.

"We're sorry about bothering you, madam, but we have something you should know."

She stared at them for a moment before reacting. "Okay, come in."

They did, and she gestured. "We're out in the backyard."

They followed her to the patio. Robert turned to watch them coming through the patio door. "Gentlemen, what brings you here on a Sunday afternoon?"

"We shouldn't be here, but we want you to be aware of situation that has developed."

Robert stood up, and James came over from a basketball hoop to see what was going on.

"We heard through the grapevine that the CIA is thinking about trying to contain you. It's top secret but we have an inside source."

Robert shook his head. "There's no way they could contain us. What's even more serious about that is the fact that we are not in charge of what we do. There are angels involved."

Mark tilted his head. "Angels?"

"Yes. They refer to themselves as Vestal Virgins, but we believe they're angels, and they are not constrained like us from using violence."

The two agents exchanged glances before Mark turned to Robert. "I don't know if the CIA will try anything, but we thought you should know about it."

"We appreciate that. You might want to spread the word that it would be a bad idea to try anything."

"I don't know if anyone would listen to us. We're not in the top echelon of the security system."

"I understand," Robert said. He escorted the two FBI agents to the front door and watched them get in their car and drive off.

"I can't imagine how they think they could constrain us," James said. "We could transport out of anywhere."

"Maybe they think they could drug us," Janet said.

"We would sense that before it had any effect," Robert said.

Janet and Janes agreed.

Later in the day, when the Steris family was relaxing after a supper of hamburgers on the grill and potato salad, four men dressed in camouflage came into the back yard holding what looked like Glock automatics. They used them to fire small bullet-shaped darts at the three superheroes, but they stopped in midair. The men suddenly stopped shooting and stood at attention.

The five Vestal Virgins appeared. "You brood of vipers!" the head Vestal shouted. "You cannot interfere with these servants of the Lord!"

Suddenly, a large hole opened up in the yard and what was down in it struck horror into anyone looking at it. Naked bodies were slithering and sliding in what looked like an inferno of fire and brimstone. They were wailing and shouting out their pain and the audio expressions of their suffering was loud and clear in a simulated Dante's Inferno.

"You will be cast into the fires of Gehenna!"

The men were frozen in fear.

The head Vesta pointed, and the other four did the same. "Go and sin no more, lest ye be condemned to Hell!"

The men wasted no time in departing, and as soon as they were gone, the hole vanished, leaving the Vesta Virgins standing there.

"You have seen what most have not," the head Vesta said. "Remember it."

They vanished, and the Steris family stood there trying to contemplate what they had just witnessed.

"Well, that certainly was intense," Robert finally said.

"It definitely scared the shit out of those idiots," James said.

Janet sighed. "I think it's time for the apple pie."

Robert snickered. "Indeed."

James laughed.

Later, after they had consumed some pie and beer, Janet had a comment. "I wonder why the CIA would think that they could control us?"

"What I would like to know is why they would want to," Robert said. "We are incapable of causing harm. All we can do is good."

"Maybe they thought that absolute power corrupts absolutely," James said.

"Are you inferring that we could actually do harm?" Janet asked.

"I don't see why we couldn't," he replied.

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Maybe the demonstration of hell was more for us than those idiots."

"If that's the case, we must remain calm and avoid being angered," Janet said.

"Easier said than done," Robert said. "However, I think that the CIA is not going to be the only bastards trying to use us for their evil desires."

"We must stay vigilant," James said. "We never know where the next threat will come from."

Near evening, the next threat materialized.

Robert frowned. "I don't believe this."

"What?" his wife asked.

"They dropped a bomb from a plane. I've deactivated it, but we'll have to slow its descent and let it fall into our yard."

The large bomb slowed and gently sat down in the back yard.

"That's a tactical nuclear weapon," Robert said, his brow locked in a frown. "They were going to kill hundreds of thousands of people in an attempt to kill us."

Bob Hemp, the next-door neighbor looked over the fence. "Hey, what's that thing?"

"It's our new grill," Robert said in a calm voice. "Our old one isn't working very well."

"That doesn't look like any grill I've ever seen," Bob said.

Robert offered a smirk. "It's the latest gizmo from Amazon."

"How'd they get that into your back yard?"

"I think they used a drone," Robert replied tongue in cheek.

Bob shook his head and went back into his house.

"You should have been a comedian, Dad," James told him.

"What are we going to do with this . . . grill?" Janet asked.

James laughed.

Robert rubbed his jaw. "Maybe we should send it back."

Janet gave him a smirk. "Back where?"

"To Hollis Field where it came from, but I'll put a message on it." He pointed his finger at it and used his powers to engrave a message on the bomb. "Thanks, but no thanks. We gave at the office."

James laughed.

His wife gave him a mocking grin.

Robert waved his hand, and the bomb was off to its destination.