Eternity Gate

by Traci Harding

  ‘I’ll shut up,’ Sariel repeated. ‘The commander, I mean,’ he attempted to clarify. ‘That is … he’ll shut up, not I will shut him up —’

  ‘It might be best if you both shut up,’ Armaros suggested. ‘No offence,’ he added, and looked to the ominous porthole.

  ‘Are you coming?’ Our guide stuck her head back through the porthole to encourage us. ‘It is perfectly safe, I assure you.’

  Upon passing through the barrier there was a flash — reminiscent of moving through Lux when teleporting — and on the other side we found ourselves in an identical chamber to the one we had just left.

  ‘That was exhilarating,’ Armaros commented, noting he was not moist at all. ‘Where did that quantum step just take us?’

  ‘From one galaxy to another,’ Nanshe replied with a grin. ‘Welcome to Nibiru.’

  ‘Impressive.’ Sariel took a closer look at the barrier that had dulled and become perfectly still and smooth once more — as a technologist he was curious about the mechanism.

  ‘Now your inner voice sounds like you,’ Nanshe noted, her eyes searching elsewhere to make it known to me that she was aware of an additional presence. ‘This way.’ She led us towards a doorway this time, and it opened into a long, very grand and entirely white corridor — white walls, polished marble floor and high curved ceiling were complemented by long windows high above that allowed light to pour in. I had never seen so much white and light on the physical plane before. The walls were decorated with colourful images — many of the colours the Grigori had never seen and could not name, but it was breathtaking to behold.

  ‘My goodness!’ Armaros uttered as he trailed our escort, wanting to stop and inspect the artwork more closely. ‘I am liking this universe very much so far.’

  ‘Me too,’ Sariel concurred, although his eyes were on the shapely form of the guide in front of him.

  At the end of the corridor there was a large archway, through which exited more of the same shapely beings. One appeared very similar to Nanshe in age, dress and colouring, although the hair was slightly darker and straight.

  ‘Nidaba,’ our guide acknowledged, with a bow of her head — a gesture that Nidaba returned, ahead of giving the Grigori the once-over with her eyes.

  With Nidaba was another who was adorned in black; its face and hair masked by a long black veil that fell to the waist.

  ‘Ereshkigal,’ Nanshe acknowledged the black one also.

  Nidaba was gripping the hand of a little one who was not so shapely as its companions — perhaps a juvenile of the species as it was not acknowledged by our guide. But as we passed, the little one tugged at Nidaba’s arm to question. ‘Are they men or women?’

  ‘Neither,’ Nidaba responded discreetly, although I slowed to hear the rest of their conversation as the mention of the word ‘women’ captured my curiosity.

  ‘But they are so pretty!’ The youngster let go of Nidaba’s hand to press her own together and plead. ‘Can I have one? Please!’

  ‘Inanna?’ Nidaba sounded shocked. ‘They are not animals, they are guests of Tiamat!’

  ‘But they look human!’ The little one gasped, as her hand was grabbed up once more and she was hauled away, her attention still on my companions. ‘Father says Tiamat is a fable.’

  This dialogue was perplexing — were humans still considered animals here? And who was Tiamat?

  Ereshkigal hadn’t looked sideways when passing Armaros and Sariel, but the one in black appeared to spot me, for its focus remained with me until it had passed.

  Had it seen me? It certainly seemed so. Still, as my brothers were nearing the archway at the end of this corridor, I projected myself quickly in their direction.

  This chamber was a throne room, redolent of the council chamber of the Watchers. It wasn’t round, more octagonal in shape, and six of the eight walls were large screens displaying images of vastly different worlds. On another of the walls was the archway through which we entered, and in the last wall opposite was an archway that opened to the outdoors and a sparkling golden sky beyond. In the centre of the room was a grand golden throne, which rotated around to face us. The being seated thereon was not shapely like our guide but had more of a Grigori physique, yet the features of its face were more akin to its grandchild.

  ‘Here you are, finally!’ it said, stroking a small creature that sat upon its lap, which had four limbs like a cat, the wings, feathers and beak of a bird and the tail of a lizard.

  ‘My apologies, grandfather,’ Nanshe knelt before the throne. ‘I had a little trouble getting them through the portal.’

  ‘Haha!’ The leader was inwardly amused and appeared to be very excited. ‘I regret the extreme passage, but I don’t like to leave my Worlds Chamber as my grandchildren have put us in a spot of bother of late so I dare not leave them unsupervised.’ He sounded less pleased as his eyes fell back on Nanshe.

  ‘Mighty Anu,’ our escort appealed the accusation, ‘I have not offended Abzu.’

  ‘You would be one of few who have not,’ Anu granted. ‘You may leave us.’

  Nanshe seemed most put out, but she rose, turned and departed, and large doors appeared in her wake.

  ‘I welcome you, Sariel, Armaros …’ Anu spoke out loud, rose, placed the pet aside and descended the stairs to greet us — which seemed oddly informal. ‘And you too, Azazèl.’

  We were taken back by the leader’s knowledge and psychic sensibilities.

  ‘You can see me?’ I queried. ‘How could you know us all?’

  ‘I cannot see you, but I know you are here. And more importantly I know why you are here,’ Anu advised. ‘For you are the great watchers and teachers of humanity and my Grigori brothers.’

  ‘Araqiel?’ Armaros guessed first.

  ‘Yes,’ Anu nodded, ‘at one time.’

  ‘But the last time we saw you, you were a human who went by the name of DK?’ Sariel was stunned, and Anu was perplexed by the claim.

  ‘I have no memory of being human.’ He did not dwell on the premise, which did not seem entirely inviting. ‘A future venture, perhaps?’

  ‘What species are you now?’ Armaros probed, as the scholar in him was curious.

  ‘We are known as the Nefilim,’ he replied, ‘and I am the eldest male of the species.’

  His confession triggered memories of what DK had told me. It is within the Nefilim race that the souls of the Fallen Elohim are evolving.

  My claim brought a gasp of concern from my brothers, as they realised my conclusion was elementary.

  ‘Evolving is not the term I would use to describe what most of those souls are doing in this incarnation.’ The tone was disillusioned. ‘Unlike us, they remember nothing of their past in the dark universe, but the self-serving instinct is still inherent in them, hence your assignment to protect humanity from their callous desires.’

  ‘But the entire reason you volunteered to incarnate with them was to provide them with the basis of an emotional body!’ I wondered what had gone awry.

  ‘Oh, they have an emotional body,’ Anu granted, ‘but most have not even begun to develop them yet, despite my efforts to teach them the virtues of compassion and nurture. But they cannot even apply these principles to each other, let alone with those of other species! It is planned that the humans you will nurture will inspire the emotional evolution of the Nefilim.’

  ‘Are humans failing in this?’ Armaros queried.

  Anu had lost his cheer, and frowning, he looked at Armaros to reply: ‘Unfortunately, all the humans we have discovered, bred or engineered, are still as thick as two bricks.’ The ruler’s mood lightened once again. ‘Which is why I am so pleased to see you, my learned brothers, who have come to instruct and guide these hapless beings.’

  ‘What is that?’ Armaros was distracted by the huge ball of red light hanging low on the golden horizon out through the doors.

  ‘That is a dying star known as Anu,’ the ruler advised, escorting us out onto the balcony where we could view t
he event better. ‘Of course you have never seen a sunset, have you, my brothers?’

  The horizon had so much depth due to the smattering of lights that had begun to appear beyond the golden glow that seemed to surround the entire planet. It was drenched with long streaks of colours that were so vibrant they pained my eyes with their delightful brilliance.

  ‘Were you named after this star?’ I wondered.

  ‘Actually, it was the other way around,’ Anu informed.

  ‘The dying celestial body was named after you?’ I thought this almost cruel.

  ‘Well I have been the ruler here for a very long time, and so our entire solar system has become associated with me.’

  ‘There is so much to learn about.’ Armaros was wide-eyed with wonder.

  ‘I can hear the questions lining up in your mind,’ Anu advised, jovially, as his pet flew out through the door and landed on the ruler’s shoulder.

  ‘What is that?’ Armaros’ attention was ripped from the view by the animal that had a frightful screech.

  ‘This is a sirrush,’ Anu patted the creature’s head fondly. ‘One of the sweeter new breeds to be created by Ninharsag and the mighty Tiamat. I much prefer the company of animals, they understand how to give selflessly so much better than my offspring. You can pat it if you like, it won’t harm you.’

  Armaros was pleased to do so, admiring the various colours of it.

  ‘Who is Tiamat?’ I queried, as it had earlier been claimed we were guests of this entity.

  ‘She is the Umma-Huber who forms all things.’

  I would have queried this response, but Armaros, who could not hear me, cut in.

  ‘What is this colour?’ The scholar pointed to a patch on the creature, noting the same colour was streaking across the sky.

  ‘That is orange,’ Anu informed.

  ‘Orange,’ Armaros repeated the strange word and smiled. ‘I like this, I should like to be as colourful as this bird.

  Anu gave a chuckle as he looked Sariel and Armaros over. ‘You Grigori are looking a little grey.’

  He referred not only to our dress but to our skin tone, which appeared bluish-grey next to Anu who was whitish-pink.

  ‘But when you come from a universe of darkness, there is not much need for colour. We shall get you attired to suit your new environment,’ Anu assured Armaros and then looked to Sariel. ‘And answer your queries —’

  ‘Not the very least of which would be women,’ Sariel suggested.

  ‘Ah, yes, the split soul principle is top of the list, most certainly,’ Anu granted.

  ‘There is an issue of even greater import that we must discuss,’ I put forward.

  Anu nodded, understanding my concern. ‘The virus you are carrying. I have had Ninharsag working on that little problem, and we have the means to remove it from your body and restore you to good health. I shall arrange to have the module containing your form brought through the portal and taken to the laboratories of Ninharsag at once.’

  ‘And what shall become of the mind-eater once it is removed?’ This was my major concern. ‘I would rather carry the virus than allow it to escape! It must be neutralised.’

  Anu frowned, clearly wanting to allay my fears, but he could not in all honesty do so. ‘My dear brother, civilisation was not built in a day, such things take time. There is nothing like this virus in existence and we’ll need to analyse it before we can say, with any surety, if it can be eradicated.’

  This was not what I wished to hear, but I did not want to seem ungrateful. ‘I trust your judgement as always,’ I allowed.

  The leader smiled, well pleased. ‘If only my offspring awarded me the same respect as you do,’ he sighed, regretful, before his spirits took an upswing. ‘It has been an age since I have been graced with truly wise and empathetic company. It is pure joy to me.’

  ‘We are glad to be reunited with you also, Araqiel,’ Armaros assured him.

  ‘Come,’ Anu suggested, as the globe sank beneath the horizon and the world dimmed into many sparkling lights, both in the sky beyond the gold shield of the planet, and the sprawling city beneath it. ‘We must see to retrieving the rest of the Grigori, and the body of the commander. Once Azazèl is back with us, we shall celebrate!’

  ‘Celebrate?’ Armaros queried, as the Grigori didn’t know the meaning of the word.

  Anu considered this. ‘It is when comrades gather in acknowledgement of a significant event, to share stories and information, accompanied by entertainment and activities that are mutually pleasurable.’

  ‘Entertainment?’ Armaros probed.

  ‘It’s very colourful,’ Anu proffered, eager to get on. ‘You shall like it it, I promise.’

  Armaros was appeased, and accompanied Anu and his sirrush back into the throne room.

  ‘It appears you have delivered us to a far better existence, Commander,’ Sariel awarded. ‘I, for one, shall be happy to follow you wherever the road leads from here.’

  ‘I think it might be best to reserve judgement until we have seen a little more.’ As always, I was circumspect.

  Sariel, however, was sold on this place. ‘Just to be living in the light is a gift worth any toll that could be asked of us. You cannot yet feel the pleasure and warmth of the natural light here, but when you do, we shall be in accord on this matter,’ he warranted, before heading into the Worlds Chamber.

  As I lingered to admire the view, I had to admit I envied my brother’s experience of this new environment; perhaps my separateness was affecting my judgement in this matter and my view would alter once my spirit and body were again conjoined?

  The laboratories of Ninharsag were the hive of genetic endeavour on Nibiru. There were all manner of beings, animals, humans and many creatures in between. Some specimens were living in cages and incubators, some were gestating in vitro. Other, deceased experiments, were floating in tubes filled with preservation liquid. Many of these genetic creations appeared to have gone horribly wrong, and I was not feeling entirely confident that I was in good hands.

  Armaros had made it his personal mission to watch over my body, although being diplomatic, he’d not mentioned as much to our hosts. He had volunteered to go to the labs so that he could be used as a target when Sammael used his psychokinesis to teleport the module containing my body to the labs in question.

  The look on my brother’s face when he was led by Enki through the storehouse and gestation rooms to the laboratories proper, told me that we were in accord in feeling uneasy about being there.

  Enki was the prized son of Anu, as he was intelligent and more compassionate in nature than any of the other Nefilim. He appeared much younger than his father; where Anu’s hair was white as snow and long, Enki’s hair was trimmed short and a shade of light golden brown. But his eyes, like his father’s, were of the deepest shade of blue. Enki had fathered many of the Nefilim including Nanshe, but to date his seed had only produced daughters. Upon Anu’s request, Enki had explained the male and female split soul principle of this universe to the Grigori. The females of the species carried the genetic code and thus were prized for their breeding capability. Yet as the men were generally the stronger of the two sexes, they were prized for their ability to defend, preserve and build upon the legacies of their fathers, from whom they inherited titles and estates. Thus, the Lord Enki very much wanted a son to continue his legacy.

  ‘Fashioning the perfect species is a trial and error affair,’ Enki explained the macabre storehouse that led through to the laboratories. ‘The fate of your commander will not be so dire. We’ve had many success stories too.’

  Upon entering the gestation chamber, Armaros encountered beings that were in the in vitro stage of the program, and were hung in rows inside transparent sacs of fluid. Armaros stopped before a row of what appeared to be several humans in varying stages of development from embryo to adult, but they seemed to be neither male nor female. ‘They are not created male and female as the Nefilim are?’ The skin of these humans was much d
arker.

  ‘They have the potential to be be split into sexes but the Pantheon don’t want them breeding by themselves.’ The Pantheon was the Nefilim’s governing body, comprised of twelve of the Nefilim’s most elite and powerful royals. Anu chaired this council, but the majority ruled, and unfortunately the majority of the Nefilim were self-serving individuals, with their own agendas. ‘The low intellect of the human psyche on the whole means that these beings have a learning capability that is the equivalent, or less than, most of the animal kingdom,’ Enki advised. ‘I have tried to instruct some in higher learning, but I have had more success teaching Anu’s sirrush.’ The lord seemed very disheartened by the fact. ‘As I have had no sons of my own, I had hoped to fashion a male heir from humanity who could inherit my property and title, but despite our efforts to combine Nefilim and human genetic material to produce such a creature, we have yet to be successful.’

  The creations in cages that were within the lab were even more alarming to Armaros, being that they were conscious. There was one large lizard man that sat motionless and staring at my brother.

  ‘Is that human?’ he asked Enki.

  ‘Heavens, no! Its genetics are so different to human that we discovered they are impossible to blend,’ Enki advised. ‘Unfortunately, it would rather eat humans than be one.’

  ‘Why would you even attempt such a mix?’ Armaros was repulsed, as was I. For I had seen the future of humanity and that creature looked nothing like it.

  ‘For the intellect!’ Enki tapped his head. ‘These reptilians are very smart, but entirely emotionless. Unfortunately, they have a hive-mind, which is not what we desire for humanity. We’ve tried everything to improve humanity’s capacity to think for itself, but so far …’ The lord shook his head. ‘Ninharsag has suggested to the pantheon that the only way we might achieve this is to infuse more Nefilim genes into humans, but many in the pantheon are opposed to the suggestion, lest humanity becomes too smart and thus a threat.’

  ‘But why are the Nefilim so concerned with developing humanity?’

  ‘Because of all the species in the known universe, the human genetic code is the closest to our own. Although the Nefilim are very powerful and hold dominion over many planets, we are not prolific breeders, nor do we make good subordinates, and thus we are short on labour. What humans lack in brain, they make up for in brawn, which makes them a perfect workforce.’