SW10/HCC: The Day of the Rapture

[Scott Eiler]

We Hoped for a Better World...  From the Testimony of Scott Stiles, the 
Super-Savior!

See Our Previous Story:  Lateran Speaks! 
http://www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/lateran.txt

---

You know I'm the super-powered ex-basketball player usually called the 
"Super-Savior".  I founded the Church of the Super-Savior because I wanted 
to give credit to *something* beyond me for my powers.  We've saved the 
Earth once.  (http://www.eilertech.com/stories/2004/journal_hear.htm)  Now 
we had to save it again.

At the Church of the Super-Savior, I talked with the staff.  "Let's review 
the plans.  We're doing this, why?"

"When the Earth's orbit changed, it had nearly seven billion people.  Of 
those, a few hundred million have either died, gone into suspended animation 
with the Trillions, or entered alternative ecologies.  There's a zombie 
culture emerging in the Midwest...  Anyway, the estimates say Earth can 
support at best five billion people now.  So the tribulations have just 
begun."

"Okay.  So we have to save people.  Are you still sure the transfer is going 
to work?  I don't want to be one of those people who announce The Rapture 
and then nothing happens."

"You know The Rapture actually worked once.  Ellipsis announced one in 2004. 
He took scientists.  We're doing it the same way, but we're taking our own." 
(http://www.eilertech.com/stories/2004/politics.htm)

"Ellipsis had a place he was sure of on the other end.  Are we that sure?"

"We're as sure as we can be without actually putting 144,000 people and all 
their personal belongings through an inter-dimensional portal."

"Why just that many?"

"We have our limits.  And there's Biblical significance to that number.  In 
the Book of Revelations, it's the number of saints that God has saved."

"What about everyone else who contributed to the Rapture Fund?"

"They knew the rules.  Only that many get saved.  You *insisted* on 
publicizing that."

"How can this portal get us all without us all being in the same place?"

"We've got beacons implanted in each of the faithful, plus all their 
baggage."

"Where are we going?"

"To an alternate universe.  We've found another Earth which has a climate 
better than ours.  Almost all of them do now.  But we can only get to this 
one now."

"Why?"

"There's some sort of interference.  If you think of all the possible Earths 
like they're balls in a pool, we're in a pipe with one Earth on either side. 
On one side, there's a very strong barrier.  We have to go the other way."

"And this other Earth won't just laugh at us and make us their slaves?"

"Not with our resources.  Their tech level hasn't made it to our World War 2 
yet.  And their leading world power is Turkey."

"Any superhumans?"

"None.  And we'd know.  Superhumans *always* make the news somehow."

"Then between our security forces, me, the New Sentinel, and, um, Brother 
Lateran, we should be able to prevail.  Let's do it."

"All right.  Still on schedule for 12 noon U.S. Eastern time."

"11 am for me... I trust you on this one.  So I'm still at home.  So I've 
got half an hour to get one last corn dog from home.  With cheese sauce. 
See you at noon."

---

I didn't have a lot of baggage - just a backpack.  I took it with me to the 
hot dog shop.  At 11 am I disappeared from there.

But somehow I got stuck!  It was like being in some tight tube, with lights 
passing and bouncing back!

Then I heard the New Sentinel's voice.  "No!  We have to make it!"

Then I popped through.

---

I collapsed onto a field.  Others were there, fallen on the ground like me.

I looked up.  We'd planned to arrive out West, so we could get organized. 
But instead we were looking at Manhattan!  It still had Twin Tower 
skyscrapers - but these were crowned with prayer towers with balconies! 
Minarets!  How powerful *was* Turkey here?

I still had my backpack.  But the others who'd arrived there were looking 
around for their piles of stuff.  Those weren't anywhere nearby.

Then the New Sentinal landed next to me.  He said, "I did it.  I got us 
here."  Then he went unconscious!

Then a loudspeaker spoke from behind us.  "You are welcome to the domain of 
the Sultan Hope Springs the Seventh.  Prepare to obey."

I turned.  There were grandstands behind us!  We'd landed right where they 
could expect us!  There was one stand there, with what looked like royalty 
there.  And an army all around.

A bunch of us were supposed to have guns, but I couldn't see any.  I also 
couldn't see Lateran around.  But his power was just for support anyway.  It 
was all up to me.

I jumped up to the royalty stand.  Before I landed there, I got five arrows 
through me!  Arrows?!

This *didn't* kill me, because I have the super gift of the *real* 
Super-Savior, whatever that may be.  And the arrows couldn't change where I 
landed:  on the most royal-looking guy there, like I'd aimed.  But I really 
couldn't do much when I did.

He shoved me off him, onto the floor.  His guards held swords at me, one at 
my throat.  Swords?!  Ceremonial guards, I supposed.  But they still had me.

Another guy in the royalty was Western.  He said, "O Sultan.  Spare this 
one.  But find two others.  One is where this one jumped from."

The Sultan (if that's what he was) said, "We have him already."

"Then find one other.  He may hide.  I can describe him..."

But Lateran called out from the arena.  "Great Man of God!  I can see your 
power and your righteousness.  I pledge allegiance!"

I croaked, "Lateran!  He's defected!"

The Western royalty said, "What do you bloody expect."

The Sultan said, "Shall we do as we planned with them?"

"Yes, I'd still recommend that.  The best shall be your newest Janissary 
slave division.  Though I wouldn't expect much from this lot...  The rest 
shall breed your next slaves for you, when you treat them right.  New Bosnia 
in these suburbs should do for resettlement."

"I thank you, Chancellor Ferguson."  The Sultan bowed.

"I thank *you*, Sultan Hope."  The Chancellor bowed.  "I'll admit, I used 
some technology to redirect the packages these invaders would have used to 
attack your world.  But without your own action here today as I asked, these 
invaders could still not have been contained.  Thank you for trusting me."

I looked up at this Chancellor.  "You!  You've betrayed your fellow 
Americans!  Christians!  Westerners!"

"Oh?  You're trying to find the right tag for *me*?  Good luck.  If *I* ever 
find one, I'll *give* you that tag.  And I guess I'll have the chance some 
day, because we've spared your lives.  Oh, joy."

... So here we are, in our new world.  But I don't think we'll like it very 
much.


---

Author's Notes:

I am starting to abandon the "World Journal Monthly" model of journalism, 
wherein the story comes from someone watching within the Superhuman World. 
*This* story obviously comes from some other source, which is assembling its 
own records. *cough* Chancellor *cough*

I would have loved to have this faction led by an unrepentant villain.  But 
no.  Scott Stiles, the "Super-Savior", is a pre-existing character already 
leading the Church of the Super-Savior!

(http://www.eilertech.com/stories/2004/journal_hear.htm)  He has come to be 
a leader of villainous Christians who want to ignore their world and seek 
something better.  His own motives are intentionally ambiguous.  I kind of 
like him... If I were half an hour away from the Rapture, I might want a 
good Chicago corn dog too.  I think enough of the motives came in to make 
this story eligible for the "Behind Blue Eyes" High Concept Challenge.  That 
makes two entries for me.  As far as I know, there's no rule against that.

I think we can rule out militant Christians in the Superhuman World 2011 
from now on.  Over one hundred thousand of them have signed up for the 
Rapture!  They and all their resources are gone now.  Superhuman World 2011 
now has fewer villains.  But there's now a place in the multiverse which has 
*more* villains...

The Earth where Turkey predominates, and its relationship to the Superhuman 
World, is an old plot element from 
http://www.eilertech.com/stories/2005/after.htm#turks .