Lords of Kobol - Prelude: Of Gods and Titans

by Edward T. Yeatts III

wall but Zeus didn't linger. He leapt forward and kicked him in the knee. The deliveryman collapsed and Hera swung a computer panel against his head. While he listed, Zeus kicked again, striking him under the chin.

  The attacker roared and then stood. He punched Zeus' chest and the white-haired man dropped against the still-locked door. He turned to Hera as she swung the panel again. It grazed his face, cutting his jaw, but he kicked her, sending her halfway across the room.

  Zeus was on him, punching and jabbing before the giant clasped his hands together and brought them upward quickly. His double fists hit Zeus' chin and knocked him into the air and brought him down on the field of glass by the shattered window.

  Hera struggled to her feet again and she noticed the cowering humans in the hallway for the first time. Zeus was lying prone on the floor and the deliveryman was now bending over, reaching for Zeus' waist. Zeus was reaching back toward the window and a man pulled a jagged triangle of glass from the window frame, placing it in Zeus' waiting hand. As the attacker pulled Zeus toward him, Zeus swiped the glass across his throat.

  Porphyrion fell to one knee while redness sprayed from his neck. Zeus then jammed the point into the huge man's ribcage. The blood made the triangle slip out of his hands and the deliveryman stumbled to his feet.

  Hera ran across the room and crashed into the attacker. They both fell against the wall and she pressed the smooth edge of the glass as hard as she could while they collapsed. It dug deeper and deeper into him and blood poured from his wound.

  His eyes were cast toward the ceiling. He slid down the wall as Hera backed away from him and bent over to help Zeus up. They stood together and watched the man's chest heave one last time.

  One of the women in the hallway gasped and began to cry. The man who handed Zeus the glass ushered them away and Hera turned toward her husband. "How are you?"

  He opened and closed his mouth slowly. He ran his hands over his arms and chest. "Nothing broken, I don't think. You?"

  She looked down and thought. She analyzed every part of herself in her mind and said, "I think I may have a concussion." Zeus nodded and pulled her closer. As he hugged her, her detachment waned and her hands began to tremble. She balled them into fists and wrapped them around Zeus. She sighed and said, "You got here just in time."

  Before he could answer, the speakers in the lab and the hallway began to bleat a fire alarm. Hera pulled away from Zeus and he asked, "Did one of the visitors push the button?"

  Hera shook her head and heard someone running toward the lab. Polemos slid into view and looked through the window. As he did, he began to notice the surroundings. His head whipped to the broken glass, then to the bloodied and bruised couple, and then to the large dead man against the wall. "What the frak happened here?" Zeus inhaled to answer and Polemos asked, "Who the frak is that?"

  "We don't know," Hera said.

  Polemos said, "Fire alarm upstairs."

  "Upstairs?" Zeus said. His shoes crunched on the glass as he guided Hera from the room. "What's happening?"

  "I don't know." Polemos and the pair jogged toward the stairwell. Two floors up, they emerged and found smoke clinging to the roof of the hallway. Hermes and Metis were holding fire extinguishers outside an office.

  Hermes looked toward the group and said, "It's Hestia."

  Once Zeus joined them, they all went inside the smoke-filled room. The walls were blackened behind the large desk. Polemos walked toward it and tapped a smoldering trashcan with his foot. Hera knelt by Hestia's body. Her right side was partially burned but there were marks on her throat that made the doctor uneasy. "Look."

  Zeus followed her finger and saw the lines. "Strangulation?"

  Hera nodded. "Let's go down to the transfer bay and ask her what happened."

  As they walked, Hera wondered if the deliveryman had been up here first. She was about to speak to Zeus about their policy of letting strangers into the compound when Leto ran alongside them.

  "How are you?"

  They all stepped into the lift and Zeus said, "Hestia is dead. Apparently strangled."

  Her eyebrows flew up and she glanced to Hera before looking back at Zeus. "And you?"

  He nodded. "A bit roughed up. Maybe concussions. Nothing broken, I don't think."

  Leto removed a light from her pocket and waved it in front of Zeus' eyes. Hera inhaled sharply as she watched the young woman grasp and manipulate her husband's face.

  "You seem fine." She turned to Hera and she reluctantly looked toward the light. Leto pawed at her face, too, but with less tenderness, it seemed. "Some hemorrhages, though." The elevator stopped and the group began to exit. "You should come with me to an exam room."

  "Not until we talk to Hestia." They turned the corner and entered the large download room. Scores of pods lined the floor; two copies for every Psilon. Instead of walking much further, they turned to the control panels near the door.

  Metis tapped on the screen and shook her head. "There wasn't a transfer." Hera moved past Zeus and began to touch a different panel. "No Hestia has been awakened," Metis said.

  "Are we sure she was dead?" Polemos asked.

  Incredulously, Hera looked over her shoulder at him. "She was dead."

  "Well, where is she?" Zeus asked.

  Hera shook her head and said, "No signal was received down here."

  Hermes and Leto began walking down the rows and the others trotted to catch up. They arrived at Hestia's two pods and looked inside. Her spare bodies were there, connected and stable. The status panel showed that they were simply waiting to receive their signals.

  Zeus crossed his arms and sighed. "Something must have blocked it. Somehow …"

  "Hephaestus' experiments?" Hermes asked.

  "No," Metis answered, "the labs are shielded."

  "We could download her patterns from the last backup," Leto said. "The data compiles at night while we sleep, so we wouldn't know what happened today, but …"

  "It's gone," Hera said. She pressed a few more lights on the pod's panel and then stood. "Hestia's backups are gone."

  Hermes and Metis exchanged a glance and then began tapping on their wristbands. A moment later, Hermes said, "She's right. I mean, it doesn't make sense …"

  "All of Hestia's transfer info is gone." She looked at Zeus and said, "She doesn't exist anymore."

  Their leader was still and inhaled slowly. Then, he turned and began to leave the transfer bay. Hera looked across her colleague's faces and sighed. "We need to be careful and not … die until we figure this out," she said softly.

  LXXIV

  CAESAR

  8 Years Before the End

  "Our economy has grown dependent on this technology," the Prefect said from the screen. "Not only for the many citizens of Tiberia who utilize it, but the many businesses that export the technology to other nations."

  The tech consul nodded and said, "While there are nearly three hundred thousand people here who have taken up artificial bodies or sent their minds permanently into the Matrix, there are over six hundred thousand people elsewhere who have contracted ..."

  "Beyond that," Caesar interrupted, "their economies are not as dependent on it." He glanced toward the screen and looked at the inscrutable false face of the Prefect. "Those six hundred thousand people are spread around the world. Here in Tiberia, the three hundred thousand patricians are taxing our infrastructures." He looked at another screen and willed a chart to appear. "Our electrical capacity is still falling. Our generators and transmission lines are aging. Replacement projects are moving slowly."

  "Yes, my lord, but …"

  Caesar forcefully lifted his hand and the Prefect shushed. "Our data networks are in a worse state. Matrix storage is nearing a premium in some provinces, photosilica cabling projects have stalled due to bureaucratic obstacles," he glared at the tech consul, "and the firms that used to be tasked with such advances have grown complacent. T
hey're only interested in maintaining the status quo."

  The room was silent. A couple of the consuls exchanged glances and the Caesar looked at the Prefect's screen again. The face shimmered and spoke, "All that you say is true, of course, but with this find, Tiberia can again be at the forefront. We can ensure decades of technological growth."

  Caesar sighed and the fluidic metal that served as his skin rippled. "At an enormous price."

  "Perhaps not, dominus." The intelligence consul leaned forward and continued, "The Cylons don't have a defense force to speak of at this point. Their efforts are focused on mining and creating more of their own kind."

  "If the initial attack fails," General Quintus began, "the Cylons won't need to rest to begin constructing a military." He glanced toward Caesar and continued, "For victory to be assured, the Cylons will need to be almost entirely wiped out. Given how limited our success was decades ago, that will not be an easy prospect."

  "We have improved many things since then, general," a legate said. The artificial being turned to Caesar and continued, "With the full might of Tiberia's army, navy, and air force, the Cylons will fall."

  One of the few humans in the room raised his hand. "In all of this talk, imperator, I have not heard the word 'negotiate' used."

  Caesar nodded. "You are correct, senator. That is and should be our first avenue."

  The Prefect spoke but Caesar didn't look at it. "We have little room to negotiate."

  "We gave the Cylons the island of Gela years ago," the emperor began. He looked