The other officer walked over to the nurses’ bay and joined Johnson. They had a brief chat with a nurse, who must have been in charge. The officers then walked over to one of the security guards. Nodding of heads and handshakes took place, and the defence officers left. Johnson gave Aaron a nod before he departed.

The head nurse came over to Aaron and Mackenzie’s parents. “Looks like your daughter will be able to leave today. We just have to finalise some paperwork, but you can go in and see her now.”

Aaron’s heart jumped a few beats. They headed towards the room. He looked over to the other room and saw some police officers enter the room. That must be the man the police were chasing at the time of the disappearance. What had he done?

<°)))><

Mackenzie was sitting up in the bed, no wires attached. She smiled at them as they entered. She gave her mum and dad big hugs. She looked at Aaron and told him to give her a hug. He did.

She started crying. Her mum comforted her.

“It’s okay, Mum. I’m fine. I really don’t know where to start. I know about Paul.”

“You do?” asked her mum.

Aaron wondered how she found out.

“This will be hard for you to understand. And I’m still coming to grips with it, but we were separated from our bodies through whatever those crazy people were doing. We ended up in another dimension or something like that. We saw angels and we saw nasty things transporting bodies to—”

Mackenzie’s mum held her hand, she gave a squeeze. “Mackenzie, before you get too much into it, we’ve also been through some things that are hard to understand. You need to know that we’ll believe whatever you’re going to tell us.”

Mackenzie smiled.

“In fact, Aaron has some new friends I’m sure he would be keen to tell you about.”

It was a good hour before the paperwork was finalised. A police officer came into the room and asked a number of questions. He told them that it was a joint investigation with the Department of Defence. They wanted to track down who was behind all this, particularly now deaths had occurred. He stumbled when talking about deaths, as originally Mackenzie was one of those. Mackenzie agreed to drop in to the Police Station tomorrow to see if she could identify those involved or the location of where they ended up. She did say they wore President Nixon masks, which would make identification tricky.

Aaron wondered if he should contribute but decided to say nothing. What proof did he have?

A nurse came in at one stage to check if all was okay. The Rev walked past the open door, but Aaron was too infatuated with Mackenzie to go and say hello.

They wheeled Mackenzie out in a wheelchair and got her comfortable in the car. Aaron sat in the back with her. She placed her hand on his lap and gave him a lovely smile.

“You better be a believer now, Aaron, because I have seen where the lost go, and you don’t want to end up there.”

“It’s close, Mackenzie.”

“Best we not have a car accident then.”

<°)))><

The Rev felt God put it on his heart to be here. He had made himself comfortable on a chair in the background and sat in the hospital ward as Joshua answered questions asked by the police. Joshua was wanted regarding some unpaid fines that accumulated while he lived in Melbourne. He must have thought that by leaving the state the fines wouldn’t follow him.

The police officer left.

Joshua stared over at the Rev. “Who are you?”

The Rev got up and walked over to the bedside. “I’m Peter Thomas, a pastor at a church in the city.” The Rev preferred to use the ‘Pastor’ title as it was less formal than his normal title. He put out his hand.

Joshua shook the Rev’s hand. “I’m Joshua. Nice to meet you.”

“Sounds like you’ve been through a bit.”

“Do you mean the fines or my recent adventures?”

“Both, I suppose. Do you have family in Brisbane?

“I think so. I came here to track down my brother, and boy, have I got myself into something.”

“Have you tracked down your brother?”

“No . . . we sort of drifted apart, a bit like our family . . . it drifted apart too.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. But you know he’s in Brisbane?”

“That’s the last I heard from him. He said he was going north to sunny Brisbane. It’s taken me a few years, but I got here.”

“You have, with bells and whistles. Sorry, that was my attempt at humour.” The Rev noted that brought a smile to his face.

“Maybe you can help me find him?”

“I will, Joshua, but first we need to make sure you’re okay with the events that you have been caught up in. How are you feeling?”

Joshua swallowed. “Do you believe in angels, demons, heaven and hell, and all those things?”

“Certainly do.”

“Well, I do now. The girl with me told me about Jesus and I need to get myself right there. Can you help me, because my eyes have been opened . . . in a big way.”

The God appointment became clear. “I certainly can.”

<°)))><

It was a private affair held on Wednesday at a funeral chapel. Just close friends and relatives.

Mackenzie came in earlier than the others. She stood beside Paul’s coffin. She closed her eyes to hold back her tears. She saw his face in her mind. He told her that all was okay. She sensed God’s peace.

Why was she brought back to life? Why not Paul? The Rev reminded Mackenzie that God’s plans are God’s plans. Paul was now home, and Mackenzie must still have something that needed to be done on the earthly plane.

<°)))><

The Rev sat at his desk reflecting on his meeting with Joshua. The Lord and events had obviously changed him. He was working on a strategy to help Joshua out with the fines and other issues. A knock on the door startled him. He looked at his mobile phone, checked the time, and realised he had an appointment. His diary said it was the Minister for Urban Movement.

The Rev got up and opened the door. He noticed the minister recording something on a small note pad. “Hi there, Minister.” The Rev put out his hand, “The Rev Peter Thomas, lovely to meet you.”

“You too, sir. My name is Grant Windsor.” Windsor handed the Rev a business card. The Rev had a quick glance at it.

They entered the Rev’s office. It was a small office with a lot squeezed in. Besides a visitor’s chair facing the desk, there were two small couches separated by a coffee table. The couches provided the more informal feel needed for counselling sessions. The Rev moved some newspapers from one of the couches and invited the minister to sit down.