They were seated in the church thanks to their regular member, Churchie. Aaron looked around. It was a lot different to Mackenzie’s church, smaller and more intimate, but the nice thoughts didn’t last long. He was having a major battle with anger. He had an image of himself with a F88 Austeyr assault rifle, standing and scanning the congregation looking for the enemy. Not a good image for the church.

He had extended periods of calmness thanks to the Reverend catching his attention with his preaching. Aaron had decided that inside the church the Rev should be known as the Reverend. Although he only heard snippets of the Reverend’s preaching, those snippets were good. Aaron’s concentration floated between the Reverend, Mackenzie, and Lucas. The Reverend gave examples of physical restoration of life, but his focus was on the spiritual dead and Aaron sensed that he was one of those. He was confused and made a commitment to himself to talk to the Reverend about this one day.

The Reverend concluded with an update. “Our friends that God miraculous brought back to life are under watch in hospital and should be released within the next few days. In time, sadly, we will be told it wasn’t a miracle God had performed but something that science could prove.”

The Reverend picked up his Bible and notes from the podium. “But that won’t be true. God wants us all to focus on the spiritual not the physical, for when death does come, your body returns to dust and your spirit lives on. God wants us to make sure we live on in the right place. He is giving us a reminder and maybe also a warning.”

A few amens came from the congregation.

There was a big queue to see the Reverend after the service. Aaron noticed the big man had joined the line. Maybe he was seeking prayer for forgiveness. His thugs had gone outside.

Aaron was about to go outside when Churchie put his arm in front of him.

“Ethan advises that you stay here for now.”

Aaron was not used to having his life directed by an angel but thought it best to take heed. Aaron watched the big man’s face getting redder and redder. Did he have a blood pressure problem? Some people were taking a long time to talk to the Reverend. It now looked like the Reverend’s assistant was advising others in the line that the minister had another appointment. Aaron watched as the Reverend excused himself and slipped out through a side door.

Aaron looked at the big man. He turned abruptly and muttered under his breath. He bumped into a few people as he stormed out of the church.

<°)))><

Aaron noticed that Mel had stayed seated. Aaron walked over to him.

“You okay?” Aaron asked.

“There something about this place, a feeling of peace,” Mel said.

Mel got up and stood next to Aaron. They watched people as they made their way out. Churchie and Wally stood at the door and waved them over.

They moved outside to sit in Speakers’ Corner in King George Square. The area was messy from activities of the previous night. A slight breeze drew out some sour wine fumes from a discarded wine flask and disseminated the smell.

Aaron watched Mel as he shook his head. “What are you up to?”

“The smell. I can’t stand it.” He grabbed a hanky out of his pocket and covered his nose, then moved it down so he could speak. “Aaron, you remember when I first met you and I told you about the white van and the look the driver gave me?”

Aaron nodded. “Yep, you said it was like one of those news vans.”

“That’s right . . . well, I’m sure I saw the driver today. His face was a little different, but I’m sure it was him.”

“Where?”

“When we were lined up for church . . . he walked past with a couple of other men . . . they were big, bulky men. He was in church, too.”

“I think I know the ones you’re talking about.”

“Should we do anything?”

Aaron turned to Churchie, “Maybe we should take advantage of your hidden talent Churchie. Are you in ‘angel see’ mode?”

Churchie smiled. “Yep. Tend to be in that mode when there aren’t lots of people around. You should have seen the riff-raff hanging around that queue of people at the Church. I switched to ‘no see’ mode as we got closer to the church because there was a massive build-up of demons outside the church and a mini war was taking place . . . they couldn’t enter with the humans they were connected to. And those fellows you were talking about . . . well . . . they’re being influenced by some pretty nasty characters.”

“Any advice for us?”

“Things are going to run their course. We are going to need more proof of what Mel is telling us. Wally must have been close to where they do their transporting thing.”

Aaron looked at Wally. “Are you always this quiet?”

“I enjoy listening to you blokes. I know what you’re going to ask, but I don’t know where I was or where I was found.”

They spoke about it. Wally told them about the painter who had picked him up. But all Wally could remember was that the painter had a red ute and wore white overalls with specks of paint all over them. Wally stood up. He was looking frustrated and kicked an empty wine cask. He stopped and looked up. “I caught a bus near a big winery not far from where I was picked up.”

“That’s good, Wally,” Aaron said.

“Don’t ask me the name, it was a funny name.”

“That’s even better, Wally, a funny name will be easy to find on Google.”

Aaron looked at Mel. He guessed a winery was the last place Mel wanted to go to—he looked like he was still trying to get the smell of stale wine out of his nostrils.

<°)))><

They drove past the Sirromet Winery. Lucas looked up to see the car park was quite full. Many people travelled from Brisbane to enjoy the spoils of this winery. 

Lucas was driving with his tag team partner sitting next to him and the minister in the back seat. The minister wanted to catch up with Starkey after lunch. Lucas looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed the redness in his boss’s face was all but gone. Boy, was he spitting nails when he came out of church this morning. Lucas thought people were meant to come out of church feeling peaceful.

Lucas was agitated. It seemed to be getting worse these days. He’d tried to avoid smoking the dope but the voices in his head got worse when he did that. And that army bloke was at church. He must be happy his girl had returned from the land of the dead. Well, Lucas was glad too, he just wasn’t sure about what happened. He didn’t want to transfer her back but he had no choice. The Prof caught him off-guard when he sent them back, and he couldn’t come up with a valid reason to keep the girl. Lucas really hoped there were no deformities. Death was the last thing he expected. But now she was alive. He needed a smoke badly.

Lucas didn’t like the idea of the army guy and the girl getting together. He didn’t like these men with stunning girlfriends. The other guy she was with was out of the way, unless they were going to bring him back from the dead too. Why did Lucas have to miss out? They should have kept her at the property.

A voice agreed with him. She deserved someone better, someone like him.

His boss was starting to annoy him too. The voices told him that he was being used and his boss thought he was stupid. The voices also told Lucas that the minister was going to get rid of him as soon as he had served his purpose.

He needed a smoke.

<°)))><

Windsor watched the grapevines pass. He thought about the name of the winery but only briefly—his real focus was on the technology. How easy was it to use? Could he use it?

Windsor looked up to see Lucas looking at him in the mirror. He smiled. “Sirromet is T.E. Morris spelt backwards.”

“Huh?”

“The name of the winery is a name spelt backwards.”

Lucas nodded and kept driving.

“Lucas, is it easy to transport people? You don’t need to use the van all the time, do you?"