Gods and The City (Gods and the Starways Book 1)
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Gods and The City
by Steve Statham
For a thousand years, the new gods of mankind have protected the remnants of humanity. Reduced to a handful of survivors after a devastating alien invasion, a desperate human race accepted these gods as defenders against the terrors of a hostile universe. These mighty deities opened hidden pathways through space to remote outposts where human civilization could be rebuilt.
The greatest of these redoubts is The City, a domed jewel on a small moon that circles a stormy gas giant planet. The god Tower is its protector.
But when The City is assaulted by a power rivaling even that of the guardian god, the burden of protecting mankind’s future will fall to others. And what can mere men and women do against forces that can reshape and manipulate the universe itself?
Talia is a Radiant Acolyte in the temple of the gods. She knows the secrets and history of mankind’s protectors better than anyone.
Mik the Fixer is a skilled technician who can see through the dazzling magic of the divine forces that power The City to the truth that lies beneath it.
Upon these two will fall the burden of protecting mankind’s future.
But the cost may be the very things that make them human.
Table of Contents
Teaser
Dedication
The First Lesson
Chapter 1: Manifestation
Chapter 2: The Fixer
Chapter 3: To Strike a God
Chapter 4: Under the Dome
Chapter 5: Flight of the Acolyte
Chapter 6: The Space Below
Chapter 7: The Second Lesson
Chapter 8: The Winds of Mortality
Chapter 9: Man and Machine
Chapter 10: The State of Things
Chapter 11: The Third Lesson
Chapter 12: More Than Human
Chapter 13: The Godpaths
Chapter 14: Memories of Tower
Chapter 15: The Sundering
Chapter 16: Demigod
Chapter 17: Divine Space
Chapter 18: Thralls
Chapter 19: The Hightower
Chapter 20: The Administrator’s Secret
Chapter 21: The First to Fall
Chapter 22: To Fight Back
Chapter 23: Divisible by Four
Chapter 24: All Must Rise
Chapter 25: The Immortal God
Copyright
Bonus Short Story! Atop the World Mountain
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Also by Steve Statham
About The Author
To Dave and Lori Statham
The First Lesson
(A verse for children)
Tower guards The City
Grey Wolf prowls the night
Apex builds the worlds to come
Apollo burns with might
Triton swims the clouds with giants
Far’way scans the rim
Great Maelstrom rides the ties that bind,
and holds us close to him
1
Manifestation
Talia the Radiant Acolyte watched the people smile in wonder as the god walked among them.
She trailed behind a few paces, observing the denizens of this, the greatest of mankind’s few cities, as they alternately surged inward and then flinched back from this unexpected manifestation of The City’s power. Normally reserved faces shone as if lit from within by starlight. The god’s presence seemed to absorb the brilliance of The City itself and reflect it back upon the people.
She felt it too, awe and joy soaring inside her, mingling with the excitement racing among the people. Despite her lifetime of service and relative familiarity with The City’s god, the thrill of the divine spark flared within her with the same intensity as the first time she had felt it.
A woman stumbled from the crowd, squinting as she looked back over her shoulder at the deity, as if his physical form was too bright to observe directly. She noticed Talia’s acolyte’s garb and approached, eyes glowing with wonderment. Talia appraised the simple lines of the woman’s community-issued clothing and identified her as a member of one of the rootless tribes, the small bands who wandered from campsite to campsite across The City. Usually it bothered Talia to see them. It troubled her that so many had failed to build useful lives under the dome, but today the overflow from the god’s love washed away all such nagging concerns.
The woman giggled like a teenager attending her first Day of Future Generations. She clutched at the silver threads of Talia’s sleeve. “Is it truly him? They all say that he…I mean, is he really…?”
“See and believe, good lady. Today he blesses his people.”
The woman wandered off, eyes unfocused, limbs unsteady, her composure knocked askew from the encounter with The City’s divinity.
Talia focused on the faces around her. Their smiles were real���how could they not be? Talia knew she was beaming as well.
Yet, she could still detect a shadow of fear behind the joy. Even Tower, the god and guardian of The City, who was but the least of the gods���by his own reckoning of course, she had heard it from his own lips���reminded them of the higher powers that stride between the stars, the great unfathomable beings who shape the course of all human events.
It was ever an uncomfortable realization. Many citizens spent the bulk of their lives doubting that the gods of men were even real, and not just legends originating from the time of the great calamities. Talia’s life in service to the god had been a sheltered one in many respects, but she was under no illusions���like all gods before them, these gods were carelessly cursed and mocked, were even the subjects of bawdy jokes swapped in raucous taverns. They were trivialized as mere machines, technological illusions designed to keep the masses compliant.
But the people did not doubt today. The gods were unfathomably powerful and mysterious, but they were very, very real.
The throngs of people flowed and twisted through the streets, rivers of humanity pulled along by an irresistible attraction. Children darted in for a closer look at the god and danced away, their laughter rising above the multitudes like sparks from a ceremonial flame.
Despite the joy that filled Talia, she felt buried pangs of melancholy as she observed the children at play. Almost alone among the women of The City, she had not yet borne children. The social pressure to continue rebuilding the human race after its near destruction was always lurking in the background, a veiled but unyielding presence. And she truly looked forward to the day when she would bring another life into the world. But Talia could scarcely imagine at this point in her life being torn away from the sanctuaries and temples of the gods, where all the history and knowledge of the ages awaited. There was still so much to discover!
Talia’s reverie was broken as Tower turned his divine focus upon her. She could not turn away from his gaze, nor did she want to. She opened herself to him and the warmth of his affection flowed into her mind.
“The City sings with the news that I do, in fact, still exist. Can we log this as evidence I have not been forgotten?”
“Indeed, Tower. The temples are overflowing.”
Satisfaction radiated across their link.
Talia’s studies in the archives had taught her that the wisdom of public manifestations had
been the subject of much debate among the gods. Tower was seemingly unique in this willingness to walk openly among the people. From the early chapters of The Words she learned the other gods would rarely countenance such a public display, maintaining that it diminished the gods in the eyes of the people to mingle with them like some common hero. But Tower believed it necessary to occasionally walk amongst the people, lest belief in the gods mutate into poisonous superstition and easily manipulated legend.
Still, this excursion was unusual even for Tower. It had been 11.2 years since he last openly blessed the people in such a manner. Talia knew the dates with the precision that true faith and a lifetime of study brings.
Tower gently released his connection to Talia’s mind. He did it in such a way that it felt like a sweet parting from an old friend, a quiet farewell with a promise of a better tomorrow.
Her mind fought the separation. Tears stung her eyes. No matter how hard she studied the disciplines, her very soul still cried out for the embrace of the god whenever he withdrew his presence. She quickly entered into a sub-trance to try to secure a perfect memory of this brief encounter in all its facets, a precious jewel to be studied in later years.
Talia barely noticed that they had started moving again, toward the strange appointment that had compelled Tower to manifest himself in such a human form.
Her eyes and her mind struggled to maintain their grasp on Tower’s appearance as he drifted through the crowd. Tower’s form was always subtly shifting (depending on which Aspect he displayed), giving the impression that you were viewing him from several perspectives at once. He was taller than all the people around him, but his form was undeniably human. His features were said to resemble those of the man he once was, although that life was so long in the past that only another god could confirm it. Talia had never had the courage to ask him directly.
Tower moved through the swirling crowds at a stately pace. On the horizon, peeking between the spires, Talia could see the curve of Lodias rising. The red and yellow cloud bands of the planet were fighting their endless war for dominance, a distant violence that cast beautiful reflections upon the dome.
The moon Skyra, home to The City, was the largest of the gas giant’s eight satellites, and all passages of time were measured by Lodias’ position in the sky.
The sight was particularly hypnotic this morning, and for Talia time swayed like the throngs of people, so that she lost track of the hour. But then she looked up and saw that they had arrived at Spire Eight, where they would attend the meeting that had convinced Tower to assume this physical form and walk the streets of The City.
The god smoothly disengaged from the admirers that had encircled him, and the two of them entered the spire through sliding doors of crystal. Fresh cool air rushed through the opening to meet them.
There were, of course, no delays or security procedures to endure. A god’s credentials were always in order.
They entered the central lift and rose swiftly toward the higher floors. Talia knew that Tower could have simply appeared at their destination using any number of methods, but they had arrived using streets, stairs and lifts partly out of courtesy to her. He had wanted her at this meeting, although Talia was not entirely clear why. The god had required her attendance at many recent functions, and the attention never failed to thrill her. Even better, Talia’s ascent through the ranks of acolytes had been rapid these last two orbits.
The transparent doors of the lift opened onto one of the higher floors. Talia stepped out and was astonished to discover that she was walking on what appeared to be wood floors harvested from the flame trees of Apex’s nearly-complete new world. A fully inflated carcass of one of the Drift Wolves from the gas giant below hung from the ceiling like some imposing work of art.
Talia’s duties as an acolyte had taken her to most quarters of the city, but she had never before encountered such extravagance.
If Tower noticed the display of wealth, he gave no sign.
Another set of doors opened before them and they entered a large room. Four people stood to the side, but the man seated behind the massive flamewood desk was clearly meant to be the center of attention. He was dressed in the formal garb of high rank.
Talia had studied his profile that morning. He was the Outward Administrator, one of the highest-ranking officials in The City and a member of the governing council. Among other duties, he approved docking arrangements at the spaceport and negotiated external commerce agreements between the human colonies.
The man rose smoothly from his chair and gestured the proper respect forms to Tower. The man’s golden hair shimmered like metal in sunlight.
Talia could detect the nervousness of the four men along the wall. It was nearly impossible to not be rattled in the presence of the god. Yet the man at the desk displayed no signs of awe or fear. His manner was assured, as if he were meeting an equal.
Odd, she mused. Even the best enhancements should not leave someone so visibly immune to the effects of divinity.
“Thank you for coming, Guardian of the People,” he said. It was an unconventional honorific and delivered with what Talia believed to be whiff of sarcasm, but still within protocol. The man’s smile was wide, untroubled.
“I thank you, administrator.”
“Will you take refreshment with us?”
“Your offer is gracious, but I need none,” the god replied. “Your message stated that this was a matter of great urgency. Although not so urgent that you felt compelled to supply details in advance.”
The four other men in the room flinched at the cutting remark from Tower. The administrator remained unfazed. His smile grew wider.
“Yes, Guardian. I deemed it best to keep the information contained. The issue is this: A new species has arrived, and they seek permission to dock.”
Tower stood motionless. The office was still, as if the very space itself was holding its breath.
“I have no knowledge of this,” the god said. “My eyes show me no craft on our boundaries, and my ears hear no unexpected communications. The blood of The City contains no sign of interlopers.”
Talia immediately opened her internal links to the sanctuary, scanning quickly for news. Her pulse raced. A ship of unknown origin requesting permission to land that had not first been detected and contacted by Tower was a thing that had not happened within Talia’s lifetime.
The god fixed his gaze upon the administrator. Tower’s appearance shifted again, now displaying the Aspect of warrior/protector. When he spoke, there was a new timbre to his voice, a deep vibration that Talia felt down to her bones. “You will tell me everything there is to know about these visitors.”
The administrator’s smile remained frozen in place. The muscles of his cheeks and forehead twitched as he fought to maintain eye contact with the god.
“Indeed, I will.”
The wall to Talia’s right, opposite the four men, dissolved in a spiral of exotic energies.
And terror entered the room.
2
The Fixer
The lights of the maintenance tunnels shut off behind Mik the Fixer as he passed through the door to the sanctuary.
Another boring inspection.
He sighed. At least it kept him busy. There wasn’t much to repair or replace when you had a god running the functions of The City. People called him “Mik the Fixer” partly in jest.
Still, he considered it a point of pride to make sure. Someday he would again find something in the bowels of The City that was out of place or dysfunctional, and would report to the god that he had fixed it himself. It didn’t happen often, but it was one of those small victories to look forward to.
The god.
Talia was with the god today, upending Mik’s plans for the evening. She was away from the sanctuary, walking with Tower this morning, an unexpected development. The god normally lived within the systems of The City and its defenses, and rarely assumed physical form to walk the streets among the people. Mik hop
ed he got a chance to talk to Talia tonight to find out what it was all about.
If nothing else, however, Mik grudgingly admitted it would do Talia good to be away from the scriptures and the histories for a while. The woman burrowed into the stories of the past like a parasite, getting lost in them for days sometimes.
It was all well and good to understand the wisdom and methods of mankind’s gods, but sometimes you needed to get out from under the divine light and just be a person.
To the extent that Mik worshipped at all, it was to periodically drop a token into the small shrine of Apex the Builder. He tried not to live in awe of The City’s god. Tower was necessary, yes, and a good protector. Powerful beyond description, certainly. But Mik had seen the systems that hummed and flashed in the UnderWorks, the lifeblood of The City. They operated under very practical and logical principles���no divine intervention required. And he had uncovered hidden corners of The City that he was sure had never been noticed, let alone blessed, by Tower.
He would never say so to Talia, of course, who was a Radiant Acolyte, but he suspected that the power that called itself a god was somewhat less than perfection incarnate.
Mik removed his tool belt and exhaled in relief as the constriction fell away. Too much ale, Miky boy, he told himself. You’d better hope Talia likes an ample man.
He put his tools and instruments back in their places. Mik passed his thick hands under the sanitizer and then wiped them on his pants, an unnecessary yet nearly unconscious habit after years of laboring in far darker and dirtier places. He ran his fingers through his short black hair.
Mik’s shift was over, but with Talia following the god around the city he found himself with unwanted free time. He didn’t feel like going home yet. He thought he might try to convince one of the other acolytes to play a game of Brogg’s Chance with him, and perhaps by the time they were done Talia would be back from her errand with the god. There were worse ways to kill time.