Terra 9996 AD: Full Circle

[Xeraph]

"There, there it is." Nim pointed at an enormous tree about a kilometer away. It sat in the middle of a small woodlet in amongst a rocky promontory. "At the base of that tree is the dwelling of the Master."

Conor asked, "Is it a cabin, or a house? Or something else?"

"It is said to be a combination of natural and man-made materials."

"Man-made?"

"As you recall, I told you that he is ancient. He has endured many lifetimes stretching back to other times. Some of the substance of his dwelling may be of stuffs once made in large buildings called 'factories'. These were places where raw materials were blended and melded into new composites. One of these composits was a thing called 'plastic', a sort of flexible protective material. It was used in nearly everything in one way or another. At the end, it wound up as a major polluter of our oceans because it broke down so slowly."

"How long?"

"As long as three to four hundred years were necessary for the smallest pieces to decompose, though such was the combination of particles that it never truly would be erased from the environment."

Conor thought about this for a moment. "And it is thought that the Master has this plastic in his home?"

Nim smiled. "We'll find out in about an hour. Or do you want to stand here chatting all day?"

[Tarlag]

S.S.Rogers, Sol System



Governor Campbell looked out out the main window of the great ship as it came out of warp. The streaking stars were replaced with the blackness of normal space, in the distance He could see the blue planet of His birth Earth. Reports could be heard form the various stations. "NO objects within twenty light seconds, Sir" "Warp systems secure and we have both sublight engines and maneuvering thrusters available at your command." Captain Brooks looked over the stations for a moment then turned to speak with Campbell. "Well we are Here Governor now what?" "Any sign of the ship that dropped those probes?" The sensor operator checked long range sensors and reported back.
"I have got a fast mover just rounding Venus He is using the planet as a gravity boost. Looks like he is on course for Saturn to do the same thing. Current speed is .07 C and increasing I am detecting an advanced ion drive." Brooks looked to Campbell. " Want us to go after them, We could intercept them in about 17 hours." "No not at this time please launch a prob to follow them and find out where they are heading."

Campbell walked over to the sensor station and asked. " Scan the planet. look for power emissions, artificial lighting, radio signals." After about 5 minutes the operator responded. " I have some low band stuff from one of the southern continents. Crystal radio sets I guess. Some low levels of lighting in parts of western Europe. and the North eastern America. I have a lot of power emissions in Iceland, Domes artificial structures and public radio transmissions. The signals are in English, That can't be that is a dead language ." Campbell smiled "Got you you old bastard!" "Who have you gotten Sir?"

"Another Immortal, someone very old and set in their ways. He always set up on an island and always kept a small community around him. He is very old and very powerful." "Now that you found Him now what?" "We drop the gavitic mines as planned and clear the space junk out in orbit around the planet that should also take out the planetary shield also. We land and find out what is going on."

[Lady Gothika]

"My lady, Punk and Smoke have arrived." The tall, stately woman looked over and nodded. The massive golden doors swung open slowly and four palace guards escorted a pair of women into the audience chamber.

"Greetings, Sisters. I was wondering when, or even if, you would come here." Goth walked over to the small table near the open doors that lead to the sunlit patio. "Please, come sit. Let's chat."

Lady Smoke, a gigar clenched in her teeth, said, "Thanks, Goth. Been a while, eh?" She turned her chair around and sat down, arms on the back of the chair.

Lady Punk strode to the table silently, a smirk showing on her face. "Good to see you, Goth. Still playing the self-styled royal matriarch I see."

Goth narrowed her eyes for a second. "And I see that you still style yourself a rebel. How many colors do you have now in that matted mess of a hair-do, hmmm?"

"C'mon ladies. Enough of this bullshit. I got other things to do today, so let's get down to business." The others looked at her and sat down. Smoke continued, "There's a whole bunch of us aware of the stones of fire we seen in the night sky. But my question is, why should we care. If they crashed into Gaia, it's far away, so what do we care?"

Goth drummed her manicured fingers on the table. "We care, Smoke, because if they are extraterrestrial, we have decisions to make. Are they manned? If so, who or what are they?"

"I repeat...who the fuck cares? It's way on the other side of the world."

Goth looked over to Punk. "You've been quiet, Punk. Any thoughts?"

Lady Punk stared over herr rose-tinted sunglasses. " I have some advance info from my sources. The objects are not rocks, nor anything organic. They are a metallic-ceramic blend, two meters long, one meter wide, half a meter high. Tapered at both ends. Nothing can be seen as to what may be inside. We also think there are more on the way."

"How do you know all this? My people report nothing to me."

"Your people are idiots. You are obviously unaware that there is a huge power spike on an island far to the north. We do not know what that is all about, but the simple fact that the source is not a primintive construct tells us that sub-spatial pulses and waves are relaying information to someone, somewhere on that island. And some of this info is being directed into outer space, beyond the star system. We don't have much in the way of receptive equipment, though. Our silo is ancient and we have almost no idea of what it was built for. But a few of the old units still light up and blink, once in a while make beeping sounds."

Smoke laughed. "You two are funny. Metal rocks, silos with blinking lights. You're guessing about things that have no bearing on our lives. Fuck it....forget it. We got a good way of life here. Why screw with it?"

A servant placed tea on the table with some small cakes. Whe she left, Goth said, "You really think we can afford to hide our heads in the sand? Ignore it and it will go away? Have we learned nothing from history?"

Smoke replied, "I don't give a rat's ass about history. We live, work, then we die. What fuckin' difference does anything else make?"

"So why then are you here?"

Punk said, "We're here together to see if we can send a search party to wherever these things have landed. Just to see what they might be. You are both right, to a certain point. They are far enough away that they shouldn't matter, but we should make an effort to be sure they are not a danger to us."

Smoke asked, "And just how the hell do we get there? Walk?"

"Why not? We have horses and camels. We are hunters. Food and water will not be a problem. It might take us a year or so to get there, but so what? I don't have anything better to do. Our land supervisors have everything under control and the fighters are now well trained in case of any outlaw incursion."

Smoke looked at Punk. "You're serious. And you're nuts."

Goth nodded and said, "Yes, it's a far-fetched scheme. Impractical, possibly misguided." She grinned. "But I am bored. I'm over two hundred years old and it's neen 75 years since I've been out of my realm."

Smoke hung her head. "I must be out of my mind, but, hell.....let's go!"

They huddled together, making plans........

[Xeraph]

"You know, Nim, you used to be better at sneaking up on me. I could see you a half-mile off and smell you fifty yards from here." The one known as Atha stood hands on hips, smiling at the bedraggled duo that stood in front of the ramshackle cabin. He was of an indeterminate age, maybe 45, maybe 75. Nim knew him to be much, much older.

"And you, Master, haven't changed a bit these past years." It had been some fifty years since the two had last seen each other. "We're hungry. What's for dinner?"

"Just the usual. Roast venison, baked yams, topped with a succulent mushroom gravy and an apple pie for dessert."

"Ah, you remembered. My favorite." Gesturing to his his left, he said, "Master, may I introduce you to my son, Conor. Conor, this is the Master, Atha."

Conor stammered, "Greetings to you,Master. It is such a privilege. I have heard some tales about you from my father. Most are hard to believe."

Atha laughed. "And with good reason, Conor. Sometimes, I hardly believe them myself! Come, sit."

The sat and ate in silence, appreciating the warmth of the fire on this cool evening. At length, they moved over to the piles of furs heaped against the cabin wall and sat down. Nim asked, "Atha, how do you eat like this and not get fat?"

"I don't eat like this all the time, old friend. Mostly I subsist on a few olives, some grains, and the occasional squirrel or chicken pie."

"Grains and chicken at these heights?"

Atha laughed. "I have my ways. Now, what brings you two here?"

"Well, partially it's to see an old friemd. But it's also because of the goings-on in the world below here."

"Atha frowned. "You mean, of course, the pods."

Nim said, "So that's what you call them, eh? What are they, Master? Should we be concerned?"

"Yes...and no. They are not of this planet, nor any planet in this system. They are of alien origin from beyond our star system. I have a hunch about the origin, but nothing more than a hunch."

"So, they are dangerous?"

"Depends on what you mean by dangerous. If they are as I think they are, they are little more than containers of a vast amount of ancient information. Information that is over 25,000,000 years old. Maybe more. Scientific, historical, biological...all types of info not known for thousands of years. And if were just facts and figures, I'd not be all that worried about them. But....there's more."

"More, Master?" Conor was all ears at this point.

"I haven't seen, much less inspected, any of these pods. There are none within a thousand kilometers of here. But I have reason to suspect that they carry some kind of malignancy. If touched by human hands, they produce a sickness that induces a high fever eventually affecting the brain. The sickness doesn't seem to kill, but those infected never recover. They wander, not knowing what is happening to them, not knowing where they are or where they're going. They don't seem to get hungry, but they do thirst, water being the preferred thirst quencher. But they are never satisfied. The thirst never abates."

Nim and Conor sat silently, thinking on this. "How many of these affected are there, do you know?"

"As far as we can tell, just a handfull at this point. Most of the pods have landed either deep in the seas, or covered some twenty feet in the surface on land. None can put their hands on them. A couple have landed right in the midst of a farmstead or village."

"How do you know they are carriers of information?"

"A sequence of blinking numbers on the outer portion of the metallic skin. If I recall my training of astrophysics, they are called string-theoretics. In short, constantly evolving memories of organic intrusions into the ether of space." Nim and Conor looked at him with blank looks. Atha smiled. "Simply, a line of mathematics that we can translate into words. Numbers are, at their basic understanding, just another language that can transmit information, but in a much more succinct and logical manner."

"And you understand this language?"

"Most of it. But I don't know what is inside the pods. The numbers outside just tell us that there is info inside the pod."

Nim said, "You said 'we' and 'us'. There are more who understand this language?"

Again Atha smiled. "Still quick as ever, eh Nim? Yes, there are others like me who have been around for a while who can interpret the mathmatics."

"Around for a while?"

At this, Atha grew serious. "Come, come, Nim. Surely you have suspected that I am a bit different than all the other humans you know. You know that I was alive when your great-great grand parents were farming your fields. And even their distant ancestors."

Conor's eyes widened. "So it's true! Immortals do exist! And your'e one of them!"

Nim started at his son. "Where did you hear these tales of Immortals? Neither your mother nor I ever spoke of them."

Conor hunghis head. "There was a wanderer that came through the village about four years ago. I never got her name, but she was......different. She walked alone, was dressed in fine, yet simple, clothes. A large dog stayed by her side at all times, fur greyish-black. It growled when I approached, but a quiet word from the woman silenced it. I asked who she was, and when she answered, it was like she was in my mind. Her mouth didn't move, but I heard her clearly."

Atha was now serious. "And what did she say?"

"That she was The Essence. A demiurge of milleniums past. She called herself Freya."

"So you met tthe goddess Freya. Also called Isis and Astarte. And that was not a dog, it was a wolf, the grea grey wolf-god Voisin." Atha relaxed a bit. "What else did she say?"

"Not much. She was on her way to the far northern shores of the Western Ocean to meet up with one named Lilith."

Nim barked, "Why have you never spoken of this before?"

"I was afraid, father. It seemed like there was nothing wrong, but at the same time, everything was wrong. That's the best I can explain it. So I kept my peace, and forgot about it. Or, I tried to forget."

Atha said, "So it starts again. It's no coincidence that Freya and Lilith are on the move at the same time as the pods arrive."

Nim asked, "So they are aware of the pods?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I have reports of a woman warlord ravaging the western coasts with her ever-growing band of cut-throats. With Conor's info, I would guess this is either Lilith or Freya. Or, possibly, both."

Conor sat back, eyes wide. "And you, Master. You are one of these Immortals?"

"Aye, lad, that I am. I have been here on Terra for over 19,000 years, long before the Creator thought to create more humans. He made two, and placed them in a garden, east of a land called Edyn. They were safe for a while, but, as humans have a way of doing, they screwed up a good thing and were pushed out past the gates of Edyn, there to be influenced by the crude inhabitants of the outer-gate world. And that, as they say, is the story. It's been downhill ever since, humans never quite able to get back to their Garden."

Nim raised an eyebrow. "So, you have very conveniently encapsulated Terran history with just a couple of sentences."

"Plenty of time to fill you both in on the particulars. You're tired after your trip. We start afresh on the morrow."

[Tarlag]

S.S. Rogers, L-5 Orbit Terra


The bridge of the starship was busy, technicians at their stations directing the gravity mines into position. Other Bridge crew manning the ships stations. One of the Techs spoke up over the noise of the ships command center. " All mines are in position, activating gravity generators." After a moment He spoke again. "All mines are functioning at 100%. estimate twenty hours until sweep of orbital debris is complete." Governor Campbell looked on and smiled. "Soon your shield will be down and Earth will be open again. Oh the green hills of earth." The immortal's happy thoughts were interrupted by ships crew member manning the sensors. "Captain I have a large ship leaving Martian orbit, She is pulling four G's and accelerating. Her course is Sol ward." Captain Brooks frowned for a moment. "Must be unmanned That is the equivalent of us pulling nine G's sustained. The crew would be unresponsive after about five minutes."

Campbell walked over to the Tech's station to join the Captain. "No, all their ships are manned, Your are right about the crew however. Mars gravity is only .37% of earths. They are pulling about ten G's." The Tech looked back. "They have leveled off at about five G. Still maintaining it and heading to Old Earth if my calculations are correct." Brooks still looked unhappy then looked to Campbell. "They must have inertial dampeners, No sane person would put a crew through that kind of acceleration, Or she could be a runaway. Their engines are stuck on full thrust and they will fly off into deep space."

Campbell studied the screen for several minutes and looked to the Captain. "No, they are heading to Earth and they may be mad men." Rubbing His chin for a moment he continued. They would never developed inertial dampeners if they held true to their religion." Brooks looked confused. "What do you mean by that, Sir. They seem to have a fair degree of Tech. Nuclear motors and Terra-forming. " Campbell walked over to another station and looked back to the Captain. "It was a major religion at the founding of the Western Empire, by its fall it was just a cult a cult that in the last days fled to Mars. One of our scouts tried to make contact about 300 years after the fall. That cult became the planets religion. Good old Johnny Profit and the Orange Catholic Bible. " "Governor, you have me at a disadvantage history was never my strong suit."

"We weeded that bit out of the history books. When America's Empire fell in the mid 21st Century The Brits defense Ministry set up a fake religion to preserve knowledge and keep the people under one rule. They stole from the Christian Bible, works of Science Fiction and anything else they could think of. The problem is it worked too well. If it was not for the first Empress Sofia the Just who gave them a good swift kick in the ass the Western Empire would never have been formed. Now the reason I say they don't have dampeners is they don't have advanced computers to run them. Chapter Ten verse seventeen

The mind of man is sacred. make not a machine in its image. Ruin will find you if you make an unholy machine.

Their computers are at about the level of the late 20th century. Keeping with that text." "Ok, that ex planeswhy their tech has not changed in thousands of years I guess but why go to Terra?"

Campbell looked to the view screen. "That is a good question, a question we may not like the answer.."

[Xeraph]

Conor opened one eye and for a second didn't know where he was. Then he recalled the previous evening where he'd had his first taste of a strong drink from a place called Ecosse. That was probably why his head hurt and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

"Your'e awake, boy? Good. Just in time for breakfast." Conor looked up, which caused an intense pain in his head, and saw the Master grinning. "A wee bit hung-over, eh? Well, there's a lesson hard learned."

"What lesson might that be, Master?" Conor felt a lurch in his stomach at the smell of whatever it was that was cooking over the fire.

"If you play with fire, your'e gonna get burnt. And that lesson applies to all sorts of questionable activities."

The boy scrambled from his bed of furs and made it outside just in time to puke. After a minute or so, he actually felt a little better.

"Back in the olden days, we called that The Big Spit. It was a sign that we had a good time, whether we could remember it or not. Come, I hear your father moving around."

Conor rose on wobbly legs and followed the Master into the cabin. He looked to see Nim sticking his finger into the pot and giving the food a taste. "Morning, boy! How you feeling?"

"Like something that fell out of the southbound side of a northbound dog."

Nim and Atha laughed. Nim said, "Don't tell your mother. Neither one of us will ever hear the end of it."

Master Atha spooned out a portion of the stew to each of them, then sat down at the table. "So, what questions do you have? Or rather, where do you want me to start?"

"How about what's going on these days, and then work backwards? Who's doing what. where, and to whom?"

Atha grew serious. "It seems some of the other Immortals are active again after centuries of inaction. I don't know why. Not yet anyway." He gestued at a map of the present NortAmurcan lands that thad been drawn on the tanned skin of a byson. "You can see the various portions of this massive land. Believe ot or not, it had a lot more areas of dry land than it does now. Some 8300 years ago, one of the larger volcanoes erupted in the center of this land, causing some new mountain ranges to rise, but also causing very large areas of land to sink and seperate. You can see that there are five main land-masses and innumerable smaller islands. The volcano was in a part of the Amurcan mid-section called the Yellow Parklands. For three weeks that volcano belched out ash and rock killing over sixty-three million people and untold species of animals. The sky was covered in a dark-grey blanket of this ash, lightening storms of such magnitude that what greenery was left caught fire and burned for months. This is how the inland sea you live near was formed. This sea was fed by three major rivers, one from the north in the area of the Saskats, one in the south-west as yet un-named, and the ancient river to the east called the Misipp which in ancient times ran all the way from the north to the great gulf in the south, some 2700 kilometers long. So what we now have, after thousands of years, is a segmented land covered in dense forests punctuated by many small farms that have fields cleared for the growing of crops. None are large, just a few acres."

"And it's been this way for millenia" No manufactorys?" He was refering to the old tales of huge building built for the express of creating non-farm goods.

"Some small cottage businesses, here and there. The farms themselves are virtually self-sufficient. The villagers make their own clothes, pottery, and iron needs."

"So what are thesse Immortals up to?" Conor was warming to the conversation.

Atha hesitated, then said, "Immortals have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, some say millions. As with anything else human in origin, there are 'good' Immortals and 'bad' Immortals."

"So Immortals are human."

"That we are, Conor. We can get sick, we can be wounded, but we cannot die. And let me tell you that there were times that the diseases were so prevalent that we wish we could have died. The Black Death, Yiseria Pestis, was the worst. Black pus-filled boils on the outside, organs liquifying on the inside. Tens of millions died in a relatively short period of time. The last time was just after the eruption. Various plagues and pestilences decimated the Amurca Lands. Only a handful survived, and they suffered for many decades. Eventually, nature reverted to it's intended existance and human began to once again flourish. It's a wild guess, but we think that today, there are between five and eight million people on Terra, all things being equal."

"How many were there before the Bad Times?"

"In the vicinity of 8.6 billion." Atha saw the shock and unbelief in their eyes.

Nim was the first to recover,an asked, "So the rest of Terra was affected as was here?"

Atha said, "We can't be sure of the extent, but we have heard over the centuries that the Europan lands were similarly affected. A massive volcano in the center of the landmass opened up a large inland sea in what was called the Bordo region. To the far south, across the MedSea, the desert and jungle kingdoms were almost completely devastated by successive waves of plagues. Over 65% of those lands are now lifeless expanses of desert. Farther east, the several smaller seas have been joined together in one massive inner sea covering nearly 600,000 square kilometers. Of the farther portions of the east and the north, they are covered with ice."

Conor asked, "How did you acquire this knowledge?"

Atha said, "Periodically, travelers, wanderers, adventurers would find their way across the mighty oceans in water crafts and bring news of foreign lands. Just a few, maybe a dozen over the past millenia. But, people are people, no matter where they hail from. And I write down what they say."

Conor asked, "Are any of these wanderers Immortals?"

"Only two. Myself and one named Lilith. We came across the Atlan Waters together in a coracle. When we arrived to this area of the Inland Sea, she continued west, supposedly getting as far as the western shores of Amurca. Word has it that she is behind the current wave of attacks up and down that coast."

"Why? Why can't she leave well enough alone?"

Atha allowed a small smile. "Good question, Nim. Why is it the strong and powerful always want more than they are alloted? It was this culture of more, more, more that caused the collapse of the civilizations of old. Greed, my friends, always leaves behind ruin and death." He rose from his chair. "Come, let's go outside. It's a beautiful day for a walk."

[President Steven Seagal]

Chief Rybek sat at the bar, an anisette and a slice of lasagna in front of him. He ate slowly, casually, watching the front door of the tavern. He and the boss of the Rastas, Floyd, had heard of the meeting across the river, and were pissed that they had not been notified. They and about a dozen other small operators were more or less in the same region. The region, called Aztlan, shared equally in the riches they stole from other regions. Weapons, food, and a few artifacts dug up from the land around what were called 'silos'. These silos numbered six, and all were constructed of steel and concrete. They were all round structures, about eight feet tall and fifty feet across. There were doors in all of them, but no one could figure out how to get them open. Rybek and his guys had been trying for years, to no avail. And now word had come from a traveler that in the far north of the Inland Sea was a hermit who not only opened one of the silos, but lived in it.

"Hey Floyd, you see what I see?"

Floyd Selasy, dreadlocks hanging down his back, mumbled, "Mutha Fucka." They both stared at the two women who ambled into the tavern. Tall, long-limbed, skin the color of coal, shoulder-length red hair showing small pieces of bone intertwined, a soft sound of the bones rubbing against each other. "Dey what I tink dey are?"

"Yep, that's what I'm thinking. Nubians."

"How de fuck dey get here, mon? Dey long way from home."

Rybek nodded. "No fuckin' shit. And that's gold hanging from their necks and ankles."

"Ya mon, and dem fucking knives 'aint like ours. Look to be razor-sharp. But....black stone?"

"I think it's what they call obsidian, Floyd. I seen arrows made from that stone. Sharp....really sharp." Rybek tried to see if there was anything under the skimpy cloth that wrapped their bodies other then skin. One caught him staring and strode over.

She faced him, not saying a word, tilting her head right, then left, greyish eyes scrutinizing all she saw. "You are one of these pirates?"

Rybek, not showing his alarm, said, "Pirates are ocean-going thieves. You see any fucking water around here?"

In a move too fast for the eye to follow, the obsidian knife was at the corner of Rybek's left eye socket. "Last man who spoke to me thus is now blind. Mind your manners, pig!"

The tavern fell silent, watching. Floyd reached for his club, but felt a touch on his arm and turned to see the other Nubian wagging her finger at him in warning.

Rybek was sweating, but keeping his voice calm, said, "Okay, lady. Take it easy. We're all friends here."

The woman replied, "I am in no mood for anybody's shit, pig. We have heard tales of an Immortal attacking lands along the western coastlines. Where is she?"

Rybek said, "I guess your'e talking about Lilith. She's northwest of here, other side of the Wall, about a thousand miles. She's noby to mess with, lady."

The Nubian withdrew the knife, sliding into a sheath on her waist. Glancing at the other woman, she straightened up and walked to the bar. "Ouzo, now!"

The barkeep asked, "What the fuck is ouzo? I got some grain booze. That okay?"

"Fucking barbarians. Two ounces, and make it quick!" Each woman downed the fiery liquid and tossed a silver coin on the bar. "There's enough there for everyone to have a couple of drinks. See that they get them." With that, the Nubians turned to leave, everyone still silent. In a moment that all changed as they crowded the bar shouting for a drink.

Floyd wiped his brow. "Damn, mon! Da fuck!"

"You can say that again."

[Ted Nugent Clones]

From the dark, smoky rear of the tavern, Rybek and Floyd heard a familiar voice. "You guys suck, ya know that? I'd a had 'em bent over the table by now." A husky man of the Cat Claw tribe walked toward them, long brown hair greasy and matted, buckskin clothing covered in stains, a big grin on his face.

Floyd grimaced. "Well, well, if it 'aint the mighty hunter-mon. What de fuck you doin' here? You a far ways from your hovels, eh Tedd?"

"Yeah, so what the fuck you care? This place happens to be my favorite rest-stop."

Rybek said, "Rest stop? Where you heading to, pal?"

Tedd replied, "Aint none of your business, bub. Me and my boys heading north. We are looking for some lands of our own. These fucking rat-lands are the pits. That chick whats causing all the ruckus has the right idea. Take what you want and fuck everyone else."

Rybec glanced at Floyd. "Mind if we go with you? We 'aint got no reason to stay here. Together we're bigger than each one alone."

Tedd looked wary, but at length said, "Seems like a plan, boys. We're leaving in the morning. Got a lot of walkin' to do. See you bright and early."

[Uverrsa]

Morgul watched silently as the images flickered across the monitor. He was satisfied that the Sons had successfully launched the bibliopods and doubly so that they had penetrated the debris-barrier around Gaia. But he was not all that happy that the pods were causing humans to get sick.

"My Lord, the final pods have been launched and headed for Gaia. Your plan has worked perfectly." Third-Rank Guardian Blyg stood at attention, her near-perfect body quivering with pleasure.

Morgul answered without looking at her. "Yes, Guardian, I know. The humans took the initiative at our suggestion to send the bibliopods to Gaia in order to initiate our eventual arrival. Had we sent them, we would have been rejected as saviors of the planet. When those who are left on Gaia see that the pods came from other humans, they will more readily accept their knowledge. But it is disturbing that most of the pods are causing some sort of biological malfunction in some of the humans."

Blyg frowned. "My Lord, we are attempting to discern what the problem is. We have discovered that there is another entity in a sector some 21 light years away that has begun dismantling the debris barrier around Gaia. At this point, we are checking to see if this effort could be producing the biological malfunction."

"The problem is, Guardian, that there aren't all that many humans on Gaia at this point. Another plague could severely impact those who are left."

"Yes, My Lord. And we've also yet to discover who or what it is that caused the debris barrier to dissolve."

"Quite right, Guardian." Morgul thought for a moment. "Contact the Creator Sons and the Vorondadeks. They have among the most advanced sensory scanners in their sectors. Tell them I want an answer in three solar days."

"Yes, My Lord, at once."

[Tarlag]

The Great Dome, Iceland



Neander sat in a high backed chair facing Sofia who keeled on the rug beside Him. "I have chosen the location for the pod you will recover. It is in the north eastern sector of the old United States. The pod rests in the foot hills of the Green Mountains. Human habitation is sparse so you should have no encounters."

"Master, how am I to make such a voyage? let alone bring back this pod thing you are after?" Neander stroked the girl's hair for a moment before He responded. " Simple Child, I will give you a flyer along with several work droids and a few combat models in case you run in to trouble. They will sling the pod under the flyer and return it here for inspection, no trouble at all really."

Sofia looked up and asked. "Why do you need me then? sounds like your metal servants can do the job with out me getting in the way."

"My droids have very good A.I. but they are limited with out human direction. I just need you to over see this operation." Just as Neander finished speaking His communications unit chimed. "Sir, control here. We have lost contact with all our satellites in orbit. They picked up some sort of gravity distortion then we lost contact."

Neander took in a deep breath. " Switch to the Lunar observer and scan surrounding space."

For a few minutes both sat in silence waiting for the report, the com. unit then came to life. "Sir, we have three ships in the inner system. one is a ship passing Venus at high speed and accelerating. One is in L-5 orbit, she is just sitting there. The third is burning in hard from Martian orbit. They are pulling at least five Gs st the moment. What are your instructions?"

"Activate ground defenses, also ready Sofia's flyer She will leave in ten Min." Turning to Sofia. "Child go to the hanger, your flyer will be ready. I am afraid company is coming."

[The Grey Phoenix]

Floki sat back, feeling good from the warm fire after the feast. Venison, rabbit, mutton and many fruits and vegetables. The captive cook had made for them a delicious new dish, what he called smashed pomme de terre. Seems you could take a common potato, boil it, cut it up small, and crush it into a thick paste while adding some calf's milk and butter.

Floki yelled, "Someone get me another flagon of ale! And bring one of those women we caught trying to escape into the woods."

At length, two warriors brought a woman before the warlord. She glared, eyes full of hatred. Her long, black hair and ruddy skin was typical of these parts. These people were found all up and down the eastern portions of the Atlan Waters and as far west as the Missip River Basin. Floki appraised her thoughtfully. "Not bad. A bit skinny for my tastes, though. You understand me, woman?"

In answer, the woman nodded, her face still full of anger.

"Relax. All I want from you, at least for the time being, is some information. My tribesmen have come into this valley and we find it pleasent, so we're going to stay for a while. What is this place called?"

The woman's body relaxed a little, though she was still held firm by her guards. "In our old tongue it is named Algonqondak. We and our people have been here for ages untold" She looked at him coldly. "You resemble the old ones that came from the Freezing Land across the northern seas. The Viks, from Nrveg."

"He grinned. "I don't know anything about that, woman. We also have our legends about ancient marauders who crossed from a land of ice and fog, and even before that, from a place similar from that which you speak. But we are here now, and have been so for 200 years." He looked at her long and hard. "We have heard of stones falling from the sky in large numbers and want to know what you know of them."

"What is your interest in such things?

"They do not just fall, woman. They have a specific line that they all follow. Our shamans have recorded their paths. One of our scouting parties have discovered such a stone some three days north-east of here. But the shamans also tell us that they bring a long, slow, painful death with them. The body sweats, grows hot, teeth chatter and dark fluids flow from the openings of the body. This is true?"

The woman said, "I know not of this affliction. Our wise men simply tell us to stay away from these spots. We believe and so obey."

Floki stroked his beard. This woman knew more than she was saying, but for now would accept her words. "What is your name, woman?"

"You would not be able to pronounce it in our tongue, but you may call me Watanki. I am of the Otter Tribe, of the Itinanki clan."

"Watanki, please go back to your people with a message. We are not here to harm you or your people. Nor take your land. If it is the wish of your tribe, we would like to co-exist with you and any othe tribes in the land. Now, you may go, and take all the other captives with you. You are free."

He rose and cut her bonds with a knife of the finest steel. Watanki noticed the knife. She thought to herself, "There is more to these people than meets the eye. They will be watched."

Floki watched her and the captives depart. He motioned to his scouts. "Watch them. Find out where they go. And upon pain of death, do not be discovered." He smiled to himself as he thought about the report he would send to the Overlords in sector Omikron-12.........

[Tarlag]

Foot Hills of The Green Mountains



The Flyer landed in a large meadow about two hundred yards from the landing spot of the probe. Flying over the area before they landed Sofia spotted a small village about two miles from their current location. Sofia exited the craft followed by two of the combat droids. Sofia stopped when she saw a hooded man coming out of a depression in the ground as if by magic. "Please girl come no closer, death awaits any who approach that accursed craft. Their is a sickness attached to that vessel of Satan."

Sofia looked frightened more of the appearance of the man in an empty field then his warning. " Sir, please stand aside I am on a mission from my master. We are to take that probe back to him. If necessary I will have my Masters metal servants remove you."

The man seemed to regard Sofia for a moment before He responded. "You arrive in an old Imperial Samson class load lifter or a good copy of one. Those androids are modeled after a DARPA experiential combat unit. Interesting I have only seen them on paper, as far as I know none were ever manufactured. Your master has some very interesting tastes and a manufacturing base not seen since the Empire fell. Who is He Girl?"

Sofia was a bit disturbed by this stranger who seemed to know as much as Neander. "Please move aside Sir. Mr Neander desires that craft and has tasked me to retrieve it for Him."

The man approached Sofia and reached out to cup Her chin. "I will be damned I thought it was just a passing resemblance. Well if he can build a flyer and androids you would not be much of a stretch. Neander you say, I knew that old bastard was alive but I figured He crawled into a cave after the tower lords took a hike."

" What are you talking about Sir? please move before I set these droids on you."

"What I am talking about Sofia is that if you take that probe in its current condition a lot of your people are going to die. Just like the folk in that village back there. I bet you saw no movement when you flew over it, did you?"

"Sir how do you know my name? I did not tell it to you. As for the village I just assumed they took cover because they were afraid of the flyer."

The Man gave a slight laugh then responded. "He never had much imagination even gave you the same name. If you would send a droid to that village they will find everyone dead in their beds from the sickness that craft brought. The animals in the barns and all the wild animals in the fields are dead also." The man looked to the flyer then back to Sofia. "I think I should return with you and explain things to your Boss, As for knowing your name well lets say we meet in a past life. I promise when I explain things to Neander you will be rewarded."

"If what you say is true then you may come with me. I do not think my Master would believe it other wise. You know my name sir, what may I call you?"

Pulling the hood back the face of a young man maybe twenty five summers old could now be seen. "You may call me Cain girl just Cain."

[Xeraph]

The trio walked in silence for a while, traversing the twisted deer-paths, scrambling over rocky ledges, enjoying the pale whisper of a breeze in the pine forest. At length, they came full circle and found themselves very near to where they started. "Come, let me show you something." Atha had a little excitement in his voice as he pushed through some brambles and tall grass. He stopped in front of a narrow slit in the rock-face, not much wider than a man.

Saying nothing, he entered the narrow crack, moving very slowly as the width of the crack varied with each step. Nim heard him mumble, 'Enter the narrow way' and resolved to ask the Master about it.

After fifteen minutes or so, they entered a small clearing, the sun beginning to set. "Come, we must hurry before dark." He led them off to the right, through an over-arching stand of fir trees and waited for the others to catch up. "What I'm about to show you has not been seen by anyone except me for over six thousand years.36
He bent over, brushing some dirt away from a rectangular metal door 36" x 36". Pressing a button and pulling at the same time, the door opened up to show a dark hole. "Pay attention and place your feet where I do. We are going to descend into the dark for a minute, then we will be able to see."

Conor shivered, not liking enclosed spaces. He had fallen into a well some years ago and never quite recovered, even after they got him out. He and Nim found it was a ladder made of metal and as they slowly climbed down it, his anxiety heightened.

"Just a few more feet and you'll be on solid footing." Atha grabbed each of them as they hit the metal floor and said, "Let there be light!" The click of a switch and bright light flooded the small triangular room they were standing in. On the wall to the right was a panel with 26 buttons and a toggle switch.

"What is this place, Master?" Nim was sweating.

"Grab on to those hand-holds there. We're going down even farther now. Don't be afraid if you feel like the room is falling. We're alright."

Atha pressed the lowest button, the one that had a back-lit "26" on it. It was of an unknown material Nim was not familiar with. They had a sensation of moving downward at a slow but steady pace, after which they felt a small bump as the room stopped moving. Atha pressed another button and one of the sides of the room slid open, revealing a semi-lit room filled with small lights, some blinking.

Conor asked, "Master, what is this place? It smells old."

Atha grinned. "Your impression is correct, boy. Older than you can comprehend." He led them to a bank of chairs and had them sit. They were of animal skin, soft and comfortable, well-padded. "Behold!"

The wall across from them was about twenty feet away and from left to right measured sixty-five feet. At Atha's word, the wall lit up, numerous images on twelve rectangular panels. At first, the brightness caused them to shield their eyes, but as their eyes adjusted, they could see that the panels showed people and animals moving around. The scenes change every minute or so, new images replacing the old.

"What are we seeing, Atha?"

Atha answered enigmatically. "The past, the present, and once in a while, the future. My friends, we are in what the ncients called a 'silo'. It once held an object of massive potential destruction, the sum total creation of a civilization hell-bent on destroying itself. The object was called an ICBM, and it's destructive force, if utilized, would kill over a half-million people in a matter of seconds. As shocking as that is, understand that, at the time, there were over 12,000 of these object in silos like this all over Terra. Just in this area alone, there were 1150."

"What happened to this ICBM?"

"A welcome, but short-lived era of peace occured in the late 21st century. About two-thirds of the world's military agreed to remove a large number of the objects. But, as it is with some people, some of them remained hidden. This silo was transformed into a communication-education site for the military. It held thousands of paper books and other writings, most of which have long since dissolved to dust. I have a few, but they are so fragile I dare not even touch them. But...over here are the accumulated works of thousands of writings on what were called 'flash-chips'. Just one of them holds 15,000 pages of information. Information of all kinds. And there are, as far as I can tell, over 10,000 of these flash-chips. In addition, the boards with all the letters on them can bring us to unimaginable levels of knowledge that the ancients had."

Conor said, "How is such a thing possible, Master?"

Atha looked down. "Even though I was present at the time of these things, I cannot fully explain to you how these machines were constructed. I know how to turn them on and afterwards spend hours, even days, immersed in the world of the Age of Men that spanned nearly 2300 years. From the most primitive to the end of the days of man."

"The end of days? We are still here, Master."

Atha looked off into the distance. "For now, boy. For now. I have a nasty suspicion that these pods falling from the heavens are forms of this information. But where they come from is even more disturbing. If true, it means that an advanced civilization, perhaps human, is reaching out once again. I believe that contact with these beings must not happen."

"Why, Master?"

"Because it will mean the beginning of another bad ending, Conor. Sooner or later humans will take the journey from simple living to a consumerist mentality. One of mindless power for it's own sake. And 10,000 years from now, someone else will stand here relating this story to someone else. No, I, we, cannot allow this to happen. Not again."

[Lady DarkStorm]

"Fuck this shit. I should have stayed home." Darkstorm hacked away at the dense undergrowth with her machete, slapping at the biting mosquitos.

"What's the matter, Dark? No taste for adventure?" Punk grinned as she slapped another bug crawling up her leg.

"All I can say is that we better find this fucking space rock soon. I didn't come across three bodies of water to this disgusting swamp to spend the rest of my life here."

Darkstorm, Punk, and Lady Chaos had teamed up together and made the 7,000 kilometer journey to Amurca at the behest of Lady Gothika along with two other teams from the realms of the Magdalenas. Punk had decided that the southern portion of Amurca would be preferable to the other choices of the Inland Sea mid-section or the far western portion near to the ocean coasts.

Lady Chaos was pretty much silent on the trip. She and her people were known for their taciturn, stoic ways. "If we'd do as I suggested, we would have covered more area than we are now doing. We'd either find what we're looking for or moved on to another section."

"Yes, but splitting up is not a good idea. We don't know what, or who, inhabits these marshes and jungles. Those noises we hear at night are not ghosts."

"Shitfire, Dark. There 'aint nothing out there we can't handle. Our lands are not a hell of a lot different than here. We got critters, varmints, and outlaws and we handle 'em just fine."

Darkstorm knew they both spoke the truth, but she had a nagging fear that they were being watched. Watched by beings that were far different than they were accustomed to. She spied a rise in the swamp some fifty feet away. "Let's get to that hump of land over there and dry off. Maybe cook a hot meal for a change."

Punk nodded. "Yeah, I'm tired of eating these fucking reptiles raw. Gives me gas."

They reached the small bit of dry land, a small hill about thirty feet in diameter. "Build a fire. I have some maize and a bit of flour left. Anybody for crepes?"

A noise reached her ears and she spun around quickly, her long-knife in her hand. She was staring at a large serpent, tail rattling, fangs dripping venom in it's striking pose. Punk stepped quickly to her left as the snake struck, missing her by inches. But it was enough of a miss to enable her to bring the knife down in an arc, neatly slicing off the snake's head.

As the serpent writhed in it's death-dance, Punk kicked the head into the swamp-waters. "Hey, now we got some meat with them pancakes. I'll skin it and we'll have us a feast tonight!"

After eating, the three women sat around the fire. Dark said, "I think we should start to head in a north-west direction. We'll eventually head into drier land. Fuck this marshy shit."

"Sounds good. You two get some sleep. I got first watch." As Dark and Chaos settled into a much-needed sleep, Punk kept alert. She knew there were much larger reptiles out there. And she'd be damned if she was going be attacked by one.......

[Ssyn]

Jackie squatted on the porch of the cantina, the roof of which did little to keep him dry. Rain had been pouring down for hours now, the dirt street of the nameless village now turned to a muddy stream. The mangey dog that had greeted him with a growl when he arrived at the cantina was dead, the smell becoming pungent. Jackie scratched absentmindedly, idly wondering if the fleas on the reeking animal were seeking fresh blood.

"Hey, Paquito. Got any more of that mezcal?" Jackie grabbed his cup, emptying it of the dead lizard that had crawled into it and passed it to the only other person in the cantina. Paquito grunted.

"Get your own fuckin' mezcal, gringo. I don't feel so good." With that said, he emitted a long, disgusting fart.

"Damn, man! That sounded like you shit your britches!" Jackie rose with some difficulty due to the over-consumption of the mezcal. He stumbled into the foul-smelling building and looked around for the serving wench. "Hey, chocha, me no habla the lingo. Where's the booze?"

The woman stopped sweeping the filthy floor and looked at him. "My name 'aint chocha, you fucking degenerate. And you want more drink, fucking get it yourself." The woman, whose name was Tawandadita, what was known in the ratlands as a Mexican Blackbird, weighed in at about 355 pounds. Jackie could smell her from across the room.

"Hey, chocha, what you been doin' that makes you smell like that?"

"Something you 'aint ever gonna get, gringo pig."

Jackie laughed and lurched over to the nearest table to get some more mezcal. After downing two cups, he poured a third and asked, "Where the hell did that skinny dude with the scar on his face go? He told me he had some info about aliens or something."

Tawandadita tossed her thumb over her shoulder, indicating where the guy was.

Jackie, bleery-eyed, followed the general direction she was pointing to and almost stepped on the man. "Hey! Pablo! Where ya been? Tell me again about them aliens from the sky."

The man kicked Jackie in the kneecap and said, "The name is Peter Jenkins, asshole. And I didn't say anything about aliens." The man was tall, well-dressed for these parts, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. "I said that some space debris fell from space. I'm looking for a guide to aid me in locating one that supposedly fell near here. You agreed to help."

"I did? Well then, what the hell are we doin' standing here?"

"We're waiting for the rain to stop. And for you to sober up."

"Well, hell, the rains letting up, so let's say an hour from now we can get going." Jackie frowned. "We didn't happen to agree on a price for me helping you, did we?"

"Fifty pesetas now, fifty more when you get me back to the border."

Jackie burped loudly and wiped his mouth with the dirty sleeve of his jacket. "Sounds about right." You ready?"

The man sighed. He'd be lucky to get back alive. But if he did, he'd be rich. "Lead the way. And leave the drink here."

[Tarlag]

S.S.Rogers, High Terran Orbit



Governor Campbell walked into the ships command center. Going over to the Captain He asked. "Report please." The ships commander rose from His command chair and motioned for Campbell to join Him at the plotting table. "The gravity mine operation will be finished in about twenty minutes. No real problems but we have detected several active satellites in orbit of the planet. They have been taken off line by our operations."

Campbell rubbed His chin then asked. "Any idea who they belonged to?" One of the techs at the table responded. "The design was similar to mid twenty first century spy satellites used by the American Military, Ground observation ones to be exact. They were operating just under the planetary shield. As to who the only guess I have is Iceland. They seem to be the only ones to have the infrastructure to build and launch such craft."

"Any thing else on that front?" The Captain looked at the table and activated the built in screen. "We have picked up an aircraft leaving the North East quadrant of The old U.S. Traveling at 2,000 meters at about 400 kts. making towards Iceland. We have detected two life forms on board, Both human."

"What kind of craft are you talking about? Maybe on of those probes?"

"No Sir, ducked fans and a micro-fusion power plant, crew cabin for a dozen people and heavy lift capability. Close to what the Empires used until their fall." Operating some controls the Tech brought up a live image of the craft. "They will make land fall in Iceland in 5 hours and twenty min. at current speed."

Campbell thought for a moment. "I want that craft intercepted and the crew brought here to me. Can that be done?" The Captain seemed taken back by the order but He responded in quick fashion. "We could have our cargo dropship hit them with an EMP pulse and tractorbeam them in then take the crew off with little fuss. Arm our assault squad with stunners. Have them back here in two hours."

"Do it, I want them on this deck ASAP. Now what about that Martian ship?"

The Tech brought the information up on the screen. "She dumped her external fuel tanks about an hour ago. They are coasting now on course to Terra. They should slam into the planet in about ten days?"

"What do you mean slam into the planet?"

"Simple, we did the math. They used up most of their fuel to build up to their current velocity. They don't have enough fuel to slow down to achieve orbit. They will ether sling shot around the planet or smash into it."

The Captain interrupted. "They could try airobraking, use Terra's upper atmosphere to slow down."

"They could but it would be one Hell of a rough ride. Without gravity manipulation tech. they would be pulling ten G's or more. You would have chunky salsa instead of a functioning crew. We could live through it maybe, but someone adapted to Mars and its weaker gravity would have no chance."

"Very well keep it on the scopes and update me in twelve hours. For now launch the dropship and bring me the crew they should have the answers I need."

[Tarlag]

Samson Class Flyer, Over The North Atlantic


Cain and Sofia sat in the passenger compartment of the flyer, nether talking just staring out the windows in silence. The droid flying the craft turned it's head around to address the passengers. "Mistress Sofia, there is a craft approaching from high altitude at supersonic speed. The craft is on an intercept course."

Sofia stood up and went to the pilots station at the front of the compartment. "What does that mean?" Before the droid could explain all systems in the flyer turned off including the droids.

Cain stood up and joined Sofia. "What it means Girl is we are up shits creek!" Looking out of the forward wind screen Cain looked very puzzled. "OK, the engines or offline and so is the pilot android. why are we not falling? We should be dropping like a rock." Cain then flicked a few switches on the control panel with no response. "In all my years I have never seen this before." A shadow darkened the compartment slightly them a thump could be felt.

"Damn, I don't know how but I think we are being boarded." Reaching under His cloak he pulled out a large revolver. "Here Girl take this!"

"I have never seen one of those before let alone used one, just keep it!"

"Take it Girl! Just point it at the bad guys and pull the trigger. I have my short sword." He then pulled an ancient looking blade and faced the rear of the cabin.

Sofia stood there and rocked back and forth. She seemed to be overwhelmed with fear. As they looked back part of the cabins roof just dissolved. Sofia then gave an ear piercing scream and grabbed Her head like She was in massive pain. As this happened a massive figure dropped down, the armored figure looked at the two and raised His weapon to stun the flyers crew.

Sofia yelled, Her voice seemed different more commanding. "Ut of the wy Andrew McGreagor, I be sending this Bandersnatch ta thee Hell it be from!" With that She emptied the revolver into the armored helmet of the boarder. The armored figure staggered back seeming off balance. Sofia then garbed a dagger off of Cain's belt and charged the boarder. Another figure dropped down blocking Sofia's way. Raising a weapon to bare on the girl and stun Her, Sofia ducked out of the way at a speed Cain did not think possible. Sofia then stabbed the figure under the left armpit getting a grunt from their attacker. She then raced over to the first figure, She raised the dagger to stab it in the cracked face plate of their boarder when She was struck in the back by a stun bolt. Sofia rocked for a moment then turned, as She did She threw the dagger at the third attacked who stood at the edge of the hole in what seemed to be an airlock. The dagger bounced off the armored chest and dropped to the floor. He fired two more bolts and the girl dropped stunned. Cain then ran to Sofia's side as two more dropped into the cabin. Cain seeing this rushed the two only to eat several stun bolts for His trouble.

When Cain dropped to the floor the last attacker raised His face shield to show the dark face of a Gorilla. "We got the crew secured, Get Doc Zaius Down here we got wounded"

[The Creator Sons]

Commander Nelson was pulled out of his dreamless sleep by a light pinging of his comm-pin. "Nelson here."

Cmdr. Angell's voice filled his sleep-pod. "Commander, we have several reports of unusual activity in both the upper and lower atmospheres of Terra."

Nelson rubbed his eyes. "What kind of activity?"

"Orbiting and sub-orbital units exchanging acts of agression."

Nelson had been afraid of this eventuality. "Casualties, Commander?"

"None at this point. As a matter of fact, the agressive stance of the several parties involved have used fairly non-lethal methods in the fighting. No casualties, no space debris, no apparent resolution or results of the attacks.

"You are speaking in pluralities, Commander. Attacks? Units? Several parties? Acts of agression? Explain."

"All I have right now, Commander Nelson, is what I have relayed to you. I'm sure additional info will be forthcoming."

Nelson detected an edge in her voice. He smiled to himself. 'Good', he thought. 'I got under her synthetic skin.' "Very well, Commander. I'll arrive on the bridge in twenty."

[Tarlag]

S.S. Rogers, Terran Orbit



The Rogers briefing room was packed with the ships officers and Governor Campbell. The Governor stood and placed His hands on the table. "OK Doctor Z you may go first, what do you got?"

The female Gorilla activated the hologram projector in the table and began. "First things first the human male we captured is an Immortal an old one by His cell structure. I estimate between 16,000 to 20,000 stranded years old. He has a neuron count per square millimeter is even denser then Yours Sir. I have Him and the Female under sedation for the time being."

Campbell looked over to the records officer. "Any Idea who this Immortal is?"

A young Human female stood. " Our Terran records are fragmentary at best. That being said we have two matches on two Historic people He was. First we have Major Luther Marx an officer in the Canadian Military in the first world war. He won a shirt full of metals and dropped out of sight after the war. Next He is a match for Captain Andrew McGreagor of the Black Watch during the late Scottish early Western Empire time period. He was rumored to be the Lover of the First Empress."

"OK Doc how about the Girl?"

"This one is really interesting. First off She is a clone, a really advanced one. I in my 40 years of being a Doctor have never seen or heard of one being that advanced. Also She has been heavily genetically modified, Both the original and the clone. The original was also a product of genetic selective breeding. Her DNA shows ample evidence of both. She has higher intelligence, reflexes that are off the charts, I also wager She is an empath. Beauty was also a trait that was included. She is a super model warped up with a Warp scientist wraped up with a Ninja. Her brain scan shows She also has two distinct personality's living in that pretty head. Never seen anything like it."

The head of the assault squad then spoke up. "She took out two fully armed and armored Gorillas with a projectile pistol and a knife." With that statement He placed the pistol and dagger on the table. "Six forty five caliber rounds into the face-plate. The second one took a knife wound to His left underarm, it is like She knew where to strike. She also ate enough stun bolts to out me down let alone a Human Female."

Campbell picked up the pistol. "A Webly revolver. Late 19th, early 20th century. With these modifications this is patterned after what they used during the early empire. I should know I made them. Now do we know who She is a clone of?"

The Records Officer put up an image of the Girl. "That was easy Sir, In fact you knew Her if I am not mistaken. She is a clone of Empress Sofia Stuart, First Empress of the Western Empire. Scans show She is a 100% match."

[Tarlag]

Sickbay S.S. Rogers, Terran Orbit



Governor Campbell looked down on The sleeping Sofia. "My God She looks exactly like Her, I would say about age 18 give or take a few years. Can you wake Her Doc.?"

The Ships Chief Medic checked the bio-beds read outs. "I can but the few times I brought Her out She spoke some language the computer could not make heads or tails out of. Some of it seemed to be old English, the rest we got no translation."

Campbell gave a smile. "She speaks Englic. It is a mix/mash of English and Celtic, it fell out of favor before recording devices became common again. No wonder the computer has not record of it. She can speak English if I remember correctly it was the trade tongue in the early Empire."

"I best clear the room before I wake Her last time She got agitated when She saw half my staff were great apes."

"Thanks Doc.," Campbell looked down at Sofia as the Doctor stopped the sedation. After a few moments Sofia opened Her eyes. Looking around for a moment Her eyes fixed on Campbell. "Brother Brown? How, what be going on?"

"Do you know where you are and who you are Child?"

"I am Sofia Stuart. My head is swimming I have memories of Iceland of all places, memories of Scotland all jumbled together. I know a man named Neander. Andrew McGreagor be in the next bed but He called Himself Cain for some reason and I did not know Him. What is happening?"

Campbell place a hand on Hers and clasped it. "I don't know everything I wager Neander has those answers. I know this is confusing but I need some answers. Why were you in that flyer?"

Sofia held Her head in both hands, they then covered Her face. "I was sent to recover one of those probe things that crashed on the planet. Neander sent Me. Cain was there He said that the probe carried a sickness. the sickness killed a village near by. Man and beast all dead."

Looking to the Doctor he asked. "Any speculation Doc.?"

"Those probes could be some sort of bio-weapon or it may of picked up some radiation passing through that shield. I did notice both of them had been exposed to higher that background radiation. Gama radiation seemed to be the highest. Not enough to kill but they might have not gotten close enough to get a fatal exposer."

"I thought as much but I did not have the gear to test for it. Who are you and why are We here?" Cain asked from the next bed. Looking at Campbell for a moment He spoke again. "Brother Brown if I not miss a guess. My is this not old home week. I always suspected you were another Immortal, you knew a little too much about the past."

"You kept it fairly hidden Sir, You call yourself Cain as in the murderer of your brother Able that Cain?"

"Cursed by God to wonder the earth till judgment day. One in the same. Judgment day seems to have come and gone a few times I guess the Lord God just forgot about Me." He said with a smile.

Campbell looked to Sofia then back to Cain. "Do you know about Her"

"No more then you I am afraid. When we first saw each other She saw me as a stranger. When your people boarded us some block seemed to break and She reverted to Sofia Stuart. I don't know how but that is what happened."

The Doctor gave a puzzled look then spoke. "The child is a goula I have heard about them in theory and in some early fiction but I did not think it possible."

"What are you talking about?" Campbell asked.

"An advanced clone who is not only a genetic copy of a person but has their memories as well. Some would say even the same soul. They develop their own personality but the past one would manifest itself after a trigger event We caused that trigger." Dr. Zaius looked to Sofia. "Govenor If I am right this is Sofia Empress of the Western Empire in all but birth."

[Black Shadows]

The island was not so large as the people thought. It was isolated, far out in a wind-swept gulf, an enigma. Tribal fishermen from the smaller islands caught a glimpse from time to time of strange lights flickering along the shoreline and on top of the stone domes that covered portions of the island. No one had been to the island for many generations. A few had attempted to land there and were never again heard from. The dense forests of palm and citrus hid all but the smallest view of the topography.

Many legends circulated about the island. Some said it was once a peaceful land of simple folk, farmers, sea-going fishermen. Natural springs gave the people not only water, but an abundance of fish and the nourishing sea-algae so coveted by all. Others said that a corrupt leader named Bautis took over the island milleniums ago and turned it into an international play-land for the rich. Every immoral and illicit vice was found there, but a rebel overthrew the government and created a communal government run by and for the people. It became a problem, however, when the people began to need just the basics of life. Other nations wanted nothing to do with the island of Cubah which created scarcity of goods and services.

Then the plagues and earthquakes started. The neighboring islands of Hait and Santodomin suffered unimaginal losses. And when the undersea volcano erupted, the
floor of the gulf shifted many leagues southward. When the shifting of Terra subsided, much of the old ways of the corrupt life of the 19th and 20th centuiries remained. Power plants were repaired, hundreds of the land vehicles propelled by fossil fuel were rebuilt, and the remaining buildings and roads were improved over the decades. Cubah once again became a haven of vice and corruption.

The bishop and three of his priests sat around a table. "The equinox is soon upon us. And as of right now, the people are not sending their due share of the food needed for the festivities." Bishop Starnes tapped his finger on the table. "Can any of you tell what the problem is?"

"Boss, it's simple. The fields were hit with both a mild frost and hailstones. Seven percent of the crops were affected. This land may be sparsely populated, but people still have to eat. We project that the yield of all the farms will fall short of the necessary donations of the festive season."

Starnes scowled. "And what of the automated plantations? They don't eat, do they?"

"No, Boss. But they require the organic fuel to keep the ancient machines running. Without it, the bots will stop working. So a percentage of the harvests need to go to the machines."

"And what of the Ministry of Fun? Are there not enough gambling halls and opium dens? Not enough women to fulfill a persons needs?"

"Boss, listen. If people do not have enough to eat, they sure as hell don't have enough slivers of metal to enjoy themselves."

Starnes asked, "So, gentlemen, what do we do? Cancel the Feasts because the people are getting thin? Is it not a time of sacrifice? Remember, the MardGras is always preceded by a time of self-denial."

"True Boss. But they are already in a phase of self-denial. The adults are forgoing some of their food to feed the little ones. There's no metal for gambling, and the women are already lowering their costs. Never mind the opium which is the most expensive vice of them all."

The bishop glared at them. "And what is it I hear about a group of foreigners who are presently on the mountaintop, spending like there's no tomorrow? Surely they somehow found the metal to have fun!"

Another priest, called Vittorio, answered. "Boss, I hate to say it, but they are not from here. We don't know where they came from or how they got to the mountaintop. As you know, no one can approach Cubah closer than seven miles due to the jagged barrier surrounding it. And for the same reason, we of the island can't get out into the deeps of the gulf. So...where did they come from? Beats the hell outta me!"

"Have we approached them?"

"No, Boss. They have bot-guards and ancient weapons that project metal balls from hand-held devices. When the balls hit a body, they explode, tearing large pieces of flesh from a man. They are deadly. There is no weapon we have that can compare."

Starnes slammed his fist on the table. "I want to meet them. Get a message to them forthwith. I don't care how you do it. Get it done!"

[The Black Veil]

"Mistress, a third Fallen Stone has been found." In the semi-darkness of the jungle temple, a hunched creature bowed before the High Priestess. She was seated on a throne of grey volcanic rock worn smooth by a thousand years of Veilian rulers.

The Priestess, Maellian, turned her reptilian eyes on the creature. "Come here, slave." The creature, one of the marsh-folk, shuffled forward, twisted limbs and mottled, evil-smelling skin coming into the wan light of the torches either side of the throne. Skulls and bones littered the dais, vermin gnawing on them for scraps of flesh.

"How long has it been since it was discovered?"

"Early this morning, Lady, as the sun was rising."

"And I'm just finding this out now? Did you not hear of my commands concerning these stones?

"Aye, my Lady, but the location, while closer than the other two, was still in a deep part of the cypress swamps. Difficult to manuver through, and at a time when the marsh people were still hunting the reptiles. Very dangerous for our scouts."

"And I should care about these petty problems?" In a motion too quick for the eye to follow, she extended her arm to an unnatural length, talons penetrating the face of the creature. As it struggled in her grasp, a thick, dark grey fluid oozed from it's mouth and ears, puddling on the filthy stone floor. "I think this will be an example for the others who ignore my commands. My children! Come! Feast on this wretched slab of meat!"

As she held the creature just inches off the floor, it dtruggled all the more as it realized what was about to happen. From the dark recesses of the throne room, a skittering of hundreds of tiny feet was heard. Rats, their clawed feet clicking on the stone, made for the creature whose blood now flowed more quickly. As the rats reached the creature, they climbed up it's legs, crossing the torso and settling on it's throat and head. In seconds, the body was covered with wiggling, writhing brown and grey bodies, feeding furiously on the flesh of the squirming creature, a low gurgling scream emanating from it's bloody mouth.

Maellian let the body drop to the floor, it's body slowly growing more and more still. Soon, nothing was left but a skeleton and a large pool of blood and gore, the rats now eagerly lapping it all up.

Speaking to no one in particular, she said, "Someone find me information about these stones and who else might be searching for them. And I'd better get it by morning. I'll kill as many of you as necessary for failure!"

[Tarlag]

S.S. Rogers, Terran Orbit



Campbell sat in the conference with several others. "Doctor Z, how are things going with Sofia?"

"I have several people working with Her to untangle Her memories. The young woman is confused at best. Without help I think She would of been driven insane." The Gorilla put down Her tablet and walked over to a view screen. "If She can't integrate both sets of memories I may have to erase one set of memories. Now the question is which ones. The innocent Icelandic girl or the Queen of the British Isles?"

Campbell gave a worried look then asked. "What about all that genetic modification you spoke about?"

"The girl makes the modifications done during our own Eugenics War 1,200 years ago look tame by comparison. She is smarter, faster and has the fighting capability to take down two fully armored gorillas. God where did she learn to fight like that?"

Cain spoke up. " I may be able to answer that. Her Uncle on Her Mothers side had a group of body guards called the twelve hard men. Meanest bunch of SOBs I have ever run across. Those Hard Asses looked on Sofia as their own. Showed Her how to fight, shoot and ride. They became Her body guards when she became Empress. I also gave Her lessons in blade work among other things."

" The thing is Doc. you said both the original and the clone have received genetic modification. I knew she was a product of selective breeding but they did not have the tech to modify her back then." Campbell leaned back in His chair and thought back for a moment. "I was part of the inner circle of the church militant at the time. Part of that inner circles goal was to breed a better leader. Some one who could really be the next King Arthur. From what I knew they were ten generations from that goal at best."

"Well somebody cheated, one of your little circle had access to a crisper. A device where you could edit DNA. They made her heart stronger and her adrenal gland to be able to produce 20% more adrenaline. They made these genetic changes to be dominate and to be able them to be passed down. Records are sparse but I bet Her offspring were faster and stronger then their peers."

Cain answered. "That they were, Brother Brown was gone by that point but I was there. Her second son Ben was a champion rower, Set a record on the Loc Ness race that stood for 200 years. Lad was 15 summers old at the time and when he finished rowing the length of the lake he was barely out of breath." Giving a smile he continued. "Lad was a beast in bed also.Two or three lasses at a time was his norm. Had so many bastard children at the time people joked He was the father of Scotland. Wore out three wives he did."

The Doctor gave a disapproving look to the Immortal. " As I was saying, those were the originals modifications the goulas mods were on a whole different level. Her reflexes were enhanced to be almost superhuman. Hearing, eyesight, smell and taste are far above human norm. The real kicker is some bastard has modified her to become an Immortal. She will probably stop aging at around 27 or so. I did not think that could be done. To get the right gene combination in the right order tailored for that person is almost impossible. It would take our best computers centuries to work everything out perfectly."

Campbell looked to the Doctor. "Neander thinks in the long term Doctor. To him something that takes 200 years or so is a short term goal. Thing is I can't figure out why? I can think of a dozen people more suited to aid Him then her. Also why make her immortal. She would end up being better then Him in every way. Speaking form experience there is no way he could control Sofia's iron will. Empress Sofia took no shit from anyone. When the head of the church militant tried to rape her he was beaten stabled then shot with that bloody hand cannon she kept under her bed. She took out His two body guards before the Black Watch came to her aid."

"Shot one of those bloody church men through her own bedroom door. Did as much to those Grail King killers that invaded the castle a few years later. Took years to get the stink of death out of that room. Dislocated her shoulder firing that great bloody gun but the lass kept fighting."

"We need answers and I know where to get them. Let us pay Iceland a visit." Campbell then stood up and went to the door. "Doc I know you are going to hate this but I want Sofia ready to travel. I think Neander has a way to help Sofia. It has been his plan all along to do this. His aid may be the best thing for her, I just hope I will not regret it."

[The Black Veil]

Karylyn stood silently, surrounded by the cold grey stone of the chateau cemetary, surrounded by death. Dead, dry leaves blew in the chilled air, and he felt the loss and desperation of the dead. It was the hour before dawn, when hope saw an instant of possibiity before the dank fog took those possibilities and dashed them to oblivion.

He knew that there were remnants of the old castes still prowling this vast and desolate burial site. Some said they were the risen dead, seeking victims to kill. To others, they were the undead, Immortals that were so ancient, denizens of eons past, who never died but just....decayed. Karylyn sought them, whoever they might be. They had wisdom, the type of wisdom he needed to reach the glory and power of ages past.

"Lord, we have found one of the stones." Karylyn turned to see one of the Wraiths standing there, dark and light all at once holding a bloody sword in one hand, a severed head in the other.

"And you had to decapitate this man to tell me this?"

"Lord, you know we require a sacrifice when we operate. This soul was in our way and paid the blood-price."

"Where is this stone?"

"Fifty-two meters behind you, buried in your ancestor's tomb."

Which ancestor?"

"One of the Kings of the Veil. Barabbas."

Karylyn was not easily disturbed, but this surprised him. King Barabbas had been in the tomb 12,000 years. Or, he had died 12,000 years ago. No one was ever sure that the Veil Kings stayed dead.

"Show me." He and the Wraith walked past the markers of the dead until they came upon the large sepulchre. It had stood there for millenia, undisturbed. But Karylyn looked and saw a small oval hole on the top of the granite top. "Help me move this cover."

The granite tomb-cover was eight feet long, four feet wide, and fourteen inches thick. Yet it appeared that the sky-stone had punched through it as if it were made of paper. Karylyn pushed on the cover, straining every muscle. It began to move very slowly. The Wraith moved next to the granite cover, and with an almost casual gesture, slid the heavy lid off the tomb and gently placed it on it's side to lean against an ancient oak tree.

Karylyn glanced at the Wraith. "You couldn't have done that before I put my hands on it?" The Wraith stood silently surveying the open tomb.

"There,Lord. The stone of the dark nights."

Karylyn peered into the shadowed tomb and saw a faintly pulsating orb, smoke rising from it. He also noted that there were no bones in the tomb. In fact, the smell of death was absent and in it's place, a faint scent of roses. "This object is not a rock or stone. It is metal and the size of a loaf of bread." Even as he spoke, the pod vibrated and a small portal slid open. From the portal came an odd figure that hovered over the pod. It was one foot tall and covered in a brown hooded robe. It spoke, but not in a language heard on Terra for thousands of years. At ength, it fell silent, as if waiting for an answer.

"You know this language, Wraith?"

It was quiet for a few seconds, then remarked, "It is indeed ancient. Mesopotamian, spoken in Tyre and Sidon. Possibly in Babylon and Ninevah. Beings named Magi used it in their magicks and alchemy."

Karyln asked, "Okay, so now what?"

The Wraith dropped the severed head and touched the pod. "It must go to The Master, far, far, west of here. There are two others who would know, but they are not entirely reliable. We must take it to Master Atha."

[Tarlag]

Landing Bay One, Great Dome, Iceland



Neander bounced on the balls of His feet, soon He would have the information the probes carried before the others who sought them. His excitement and good mode were dashed when He saw several people emerge form the craft. "Campbell, what a most unpleasant surprise. I was under the impression that Lilith had chased you off for good. Look who you have in tow the first murderer. My your are running in bad company."

Cain spoke up holding Sofia up under His left arm. "Cut the shit caveman, what unholy things did you do to this poor girl?"

Neander looked on Sofia for a moment before He spoke. "Good the dormant memories have surfaced, along with the personality of the original. It would have been better if it had happened here but that can't be helped now. Please Child come to Me, I can clear your mind and explain everything."

Sofia separated Herself from Cain She walked on unsteady feet towards Neander almost seeming to be on remote control. "Come to Me dear Child and your Master will make things clear to you." Sofia slowly walked up to the Immortal until She stood just inches in front of Him. Then with lighting speed She pulled Cain's revolver out from under the blanket She had wrapped around Her. She placed it under His chin and pulled the trigger. Neander fell backwards the smell of blood and powder filling the area.

"Bastard, you de doing this to narry anyone else!" Sofia then looked down at the fallen Immortal. She then kicked the body in the leg. "Bloody Bastard, "I not be your slave, I not being you concubine or any some such!"

"My child that was never my intention." Neander said as the damaged tissue seemed to rebuild itself before their eyes. "Sofia my dear I don't know what these two have been telling you but those were never my intentions." Neander stood up and brushed some bits of brain off of His shoulder. "Now if we are done with the theatrics we can go in and speak like civilized individuals."

Campbell walked by the Immortal. "God I forgot how much I hate you."