Free Apocalypse Cult (Gray Spear Society) by Alex Siegel

your pockets onto the table. Let's see everything you have."
    Aaron resisted the urge to disobey the strange order. He took out his wallet, cash, and cell phone. After a brief hesitation, he also gave up a knife that was strapped to his ankle.
    Edward grabbed the wallet and cell phone.
    "Hey!" Aaron said.
    "Calm down," Ethel ordered. "Marina, let's hear your report. What did the girl tell you?"
    Marina described the conversation with Brittany Waters. Her professional tone and memory for detail impressed Aaron.
    Ethel nodded. "Thank you. I'd like to speak with Aaron alone now. Everybody else is dismissed."
    The team filed out of the room. Aaron found a chair across the table from her, and while he sat, he took his cash and knife back.
    "You have questions?" Ethel said when they were alone.
    "Only about a million of them," he said.
    She laughed. "We don't have that much time, but I'll try to answer a few. Let's start at the very beginning. God created the universe. He owns the place. Do you accept that?"
    "Sure," he said. Where is she going with this?
    "Creation wasn't a superfluous action. God has a master plan, and he made the universe for specific reasons. Our existence serves a purpose."
    "Which is what?" he said.
    "I have absolutely no idea."
    He raised his eyebrows.
    "I do know there are a lot of rules," she said. "The laws of physics, for example, but it goes beyond that. There are rules governing life and death. Rules about souls. The plan requires that everybody follow the rules. In fact, the rules are so strictly enforced that most people believe it's impossible not to follow them. There is only one game in town, and the only way to leave the table is to die. We call this the natural world. More than 99.9999 percent of the population lives there."
    "But not everybody?"
    She shook her head. "God has enemies that exist outside the universe. The scientific term is 'external entities.' They attack at the periphery and try to disrupt the plan. The purpose of the Gray Spear Society is to protect Earth from those intrusions. We're God's secret police. It's a deadly war that has been fought since mankind first emerged. I won't sugarcoat it. Members of the Society tend to have short, brutal lives. You probably won't live long enough to get old."
    "Why is secrecy so important?" he said.
    "Ordinary people have to believe the world is rational and predictable, when that's just an elaborate illusion. God demands it be this way, or the universe won't serve its purpose. We're not part of that illusion. We're unnatural. We operate in the battleground outside the natural world. The Lord needs us to remain hidden so we don't mess up the plan."
    Her argument made a crazy kind of sense, but he still had a hard time believing it.
    "How did you get all this information?"
    "The Society receives communication as necessary," she said. "My spiritual guidance is an example. God sometimes allows me to know His will."
    "Are you actually claiming God talks to you?"
    "Not in words." Her impossibly dark eyes stared at him.
    "Interesting." She must be nuts. He furrowed his brow. "But wait, God is supposed to be omnipotent. How can He have enemies?"
    She sighed impatiently. "We've spent enough time on metaphysics. What matters to you are the practical aspects of your job. You're a legionnaire. Your task is to identify and eliminate cases of supernatural interference. We fight God's enemies, and that's all. We don't battle ordinary evil. We don't enforce human laws. Our jurisdiction is very specific. Do you understand?"
    "I think so." He nodded.
    "And before we act, we collect evidence. We demand proof. This isn't a witch hunt."
    "What kind of proof?"
    "Let's move to the laboratory where Kamal will explain the science behind our work." She stood up.
    They left the conference room through a different door and entered a larger space. Racks of free weights stood in the corner across from a stair climbing machine. There were also pads on the floor for