Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1)

by Robinson, C. E.

  “Then Castor reminded me of your friendship with Josephine.”

  “Josephine? What does she have to do with this?” Pegasus replied, surprised at hearing Josie’s name.

  From her own recent problems with Intel, Kuko knew the Valkyrie were secretive about who was in command of certain projects. It was possible Pegasus had not heard about Josephine’s promotion.

  “Josephine’s been promoted to full bird,” Kuko stated. “She’s stationed on Oceania as Eden’s Theatre commander.”

  Pegasus leaned against the transport craft. “Josie is Theatre commander? When did that happen? What happened to Ithuriel?”

  “Last I heard, Ithuriel is still on Urantia, I guess trying to cleanup after Rahu. Nazz Intelligence says Josie and her lead team showed up less than ten years after the Panoptia Conference. It really didn’t surprise me after I pissed off David like that. You know how David can be. He probably put Josephine and her subtle mind in charge, just to get me back.”

  Kuko was being completely serious and Pegasus knew it. For Nazz Madame General Kuko Kiena, the study of one’s enemy was the most important task. She knew all about Josie and her mom, and the kinds of Powers that were protecting sweet, delicate little Josie every second of every day. “But only recently has she set up her offices on Oceania.”

  Kuko had been praying for anything that might cloud Josephine’s brilliant mind for a while. She feared that Rahu as Planetary Prince would be no match for Josephine.

  Too bad, Kuko thought to herself as she wondered how Pegasus would receive the next few lines in this play. Peg is really going to get busted badly for this one. Maybe David will even give her to me as a new play toy. Then I can really get an inside link into Josephine’s tender little heart.

  Pegasus seemed to accept this news without further comment. There is no way, she thought, that Josephine could be reassigned to a terrible place like Eden without Kahmael Shiva personally pushing it through. If Ka has been the driving force behind Josephine’s selection, then he’s just gone up several notches in my book.

  Kuko continued. “Castor thought you might be more comfortable on Oceania, especially if one of your best friends is there.” It had actually been Kuko’s idea, but it sounded better if the idea came from Castor.

  Pegasus allowed her full weight to lean against the hull, her energy flowing back into her limp body at the thought of seeing her friend.

  “And besides,” Kuko continued light-heartedly. “It’ll give you a chance to tell her the very latest on what Indra and Smigyl are up to.”

  Pegasus was unaware that she automatically nodded in agreement.

  “And one more thing,” Kuko continued. “If I tell Indra you decided to meet with Josephine for a few days on Oceania, that’ll give him a better excuse to keep Smigyl around a couple of extra months to work on him.”

  “So blame me instead of revealing his true agenda?”

  “Precisely,” Kuko said.

  Pegasus jingled her keys for a few seconds, looking over the craft, calculating the amount of time it would take to navigate this thing up to Oceania. The wings on the Lanonandek had been designed for high curvature gravity circuits. In comparison, the waters between here and Oceania were calm with very mild currents.

  Only the tremendous sails on large transport ships could catch enough wind to travel at reasonable speeds. The tiny little wings on the Lanonandek were so small that if she did not catch the exact winds traveling to Oceania, or if the wind dropped, switched, and picked up only a few thousand kilometers away, it could take her months to get there. If it came between the decision to spend months being tossed around in an endless, three-dimensional ocean with no one expecting her and therefore never sending a rescue party, or to live with the Nazz…

  “Oh, yes,” Kuko said. “I was hoping all this would be okay with you, so I already made arrangements to give you a lift to Outpost Okinawa. You can catch a fast Valkyrie supply ship from there.”

  Pegasus’ head nodded approval. Okinawa was an outpost shared between the Nazz and the Valkyrie in a relatively low Mansion World Sphere II orthogonal orbit. She would not have to wait long to get a ship. Because time perception on Mansion II Spheres was similar to Mansion World I, whatever the delay might be would not really cut into the vacation she was suddenly looking forward to. That Josie was on Oceania, made it all the better.

  Perfect. The thought came to Pegasus and Kuko’s minds simultaneously.

  Kuko walked to the other side of the craft with Pegasus following. She took a single step out the door of the protective cover and then abruptly stopped. “As far as we know, everything got unloaded. There were some bags that looked like personal items. Your name was on one of them.” Kuko pointed to a rack against the wall.

  Pegasus gave the rack a quick glance, identified her own small travel bag, walked over, and enthusiastically grabbed it. Finally. A real vacation.

  They both turned to walk out so the guard could zip the cover shut. Kuko stopped again. “If you wouldn’t mind,” she said pointing to the small service hatch on the Lanonandek transport, “just in case we overlooked something.”

  “Good idea,” Pegasus said, shaking her keys. She knew that once she left, the Nazz would be unable to gain entry to her craft.

  She unlocked the Lanonandek’s small rear service hatch and entered. A couple of minutes later, she handed Kuko three small travel bags. “They were in some drawers under the rear table.”

  “Good thing you looked,” Kuko said, knowing the bags belonged to Chismael, Smigyl’s niece, and had in fact been left on purpose so Pegasus could help solve a problem.

  “Yeah, she probably would have chopped a hole in the side to retrieve her precious belongings.

  Kuko held her breath when Pegasus stopped and re-entered the transport.

  “Mr. Mayhew might want this,” Pegasus said, handing a container of wax to Kuko.

  “Now, you do know how to make friends,” Kuko said, taking a deep breath and smiling broadly.

  Chapter 25

  Idiots

  Intelligence isn’t equally distributed amongst the populous.

  —Uriel, The Flame of God, Queen Magdalene’s Primary Bodyguard

  Oceania

  "Well, Jos. Is that it?” Collin recognized the voice through Josephine’s open door. The sound was distant with a touch of distortion from the communicator. She was still speaking, or again speaking, to Kahmael Shiva, the Constellation commander on Edentia.

  “Yes, Ka. For now. I’ll call you in a couple of days to work through the details for the counter-strikes.” Josephine’s reply was tired from long days without sleep.

  “Sure. Fine. But give me at least five days. There’s no need to jump on this right away. Let Beliar enjoy his victory in Venom. After a few years local time, he’ll get sloppy again.”

  “Yes sir.”

  As Collin stood at her door, Josephine leaned against the back wall with her left foot against it and her arms crossed over her chest. Commander Vegu-Aniel Odinero leaned against the left wall, the right side of his face still bleeding, the blue ooze of fresh blood penetrating a bandage.

  When Josephine saw Collin, she pulled her head back and to the side, signaling him to come in.

  “What about you, Aniel? Will you be on Oceania for a few weeks?” Kahmael asked.

  “Yes, sir, if that is acceptable.”

  “Absolutely. You need a rest. And I want you to get someone to look at you right away. Don’t put this off like you always do. There’s no need to look the tough guy while surrounded by the SLS on Oceania,” Kahmael said, followed by his characteristically loud laugh.

  Aniel turned to leave. “Striker, hey. Are we still on for that ale?”

  “Yes sir. Of course,” Collin replied.

  “Good. A couple of ships just got in. Maybe we’ll both get lucky tonight.”

  Collin frowned.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Aniel asked as he walked past and slapped him hard on the back. “
Get caught messing with the General’s daughter and now you’ve come to confess to the commander?”

  Collin did not look up. He just stood there looking at the legs on Josephine’s desk. This has already started badly, he thought.

  “Striker? Is that you? When did you show up?” Kahmael asked.

  “Uh, yes sir. I just walked in just now, uh, to see Jo… uh… to see Colonel Doulmahel.”

  “Good. In a few weeks, we’re going to need a good logistics man. You be around?”

  Collin was surprised that someone at Kahmael’s level actually knew his name and what he did. It was true that the scary-brilliant Kahmael had quite a knack for names and faces. “Uhh, yes sir. Uhh, as far as I know.” That is unless, of course, Josephine’s father crucifies me first and feeds me to the fish.

  “Good. And now that you’ve seen him, I want you to take a good look at Aniel’s wounds. He’s thick-headed, as everyone knows.” Kahmael laughed again. “And we don’t want him laid up with infections.”

  “I’ll track him down just as soon as I’m finished with…”

  He looked up and noticed Josephine was irritated.

  At least she isn’t crying. I can deal with anger.

  “…I’ll track him down as soon as I can,” Collin finished, relieved that he finally completed a sentence.

  “Good job pulling this back together so quickly, Jos.”

  “Thanks Ka. I’ll give you a call in a few days.”

  She reached down and flipped the switch on the box, shaking her head as she sat down. She rested her elbows on her desk, her eyes buried in her palms. Aniel walked out with no further comment.

  “Whatta fuck-up,” Collin heard her mumble, hoping that she was still referring to Frank.

  He continued to stand a couple of paces from her desk, uncertain if he should speak. He did not have long to wait.

  “Go ahead and close the door, Collin,” she said to the top of her desk. “Have a seat.”

  Josephine sat for a couple of minutes in silence, collecting her thoughts. She looked up. Collin thought her green eyes looked a couple shades darker, probably due to the stress and fatigue. She studied him.

  “You know Col. I’ve been very lonely, and I really could have used a friend.”

  Collin closed his eyes, giving his head a heavy shake. He wished she had started by screaming at him, or finding something on her desk to use as a projectile. He wished she had done or said absolutely anything but that. He had no idea how to respond.

  “I guess I was wrong, but I thought we were friends, at least able to talk to each other irrespective of how our sex-life played out.”

  He leaned his head back, his mouth and eyes falling open at the same time. He knew her face would look sad and wondered if he could avoid looking at her by continuing to stare at the ceiling. She waited patiently.

  Finally he spoke. “What I did to you, Josephine was cruel. It was something that only a mean-spirited, insensitive child would do.” He was not sure how those particular words came out, but decided he would find someone to thank as soon as he got home.

  “Yes, Collin, that’s right. Thank you for being brave enough to say it.” Then she fell silent, her eyes growing red as tears fell.

  He heard Lady Sipheria’s familiar voice in his head. Don’t make this up. Now’s the time for perfect honesty. You truly have no idea what’s sitting in front of you. Something far beyond a colonel in the Valkyrie. Tell her what you’re thinking right now.

  “Please don’t cry, Josephine. I’m not worth crying over. And if I see another Angel cry today, especially you, I think I’ll curl up and die.”

  Her eyes ignored him. Tears streamed down her face as she spoke. “I still need to know, Collin. What did our relationship mean to you? Anything? Was it all me? Did you share any of my feelings?”

  Collin remained silent for what seemed like eternity. “Josephine, I don’t know how to answer you.”

  You’re off to a good start. Keep going, Sipheria encouraged him.

  “My emotions swing from enthusiasm when I’m with an Angel, to perfect flatness when I’m alone.”

  She reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a delicate handkerchief. She dabbed at her eyes, and then blew her nose. He saw the single letter ‘P’ embroidered on it. “Okay, I guess I can accept that. Maybe that’s what I was sensing — enthusiasm. There really was a lot of passion in your lovemaking. Yes, you were quite enthusiastic, but is that all? Are you like that with every lover? That’s what Wrenn thinks.”

  She’s talked to Wrenn? Collin wondered.

  Of course she’s talked to Wrenn, Sipheria replied. They’ve been best friends since childhood and neither one of them has a drop of emotional cowardice.

  “Josephine, it’s just the only way I know how to have sex. Okay?” He was frustrated at being pinned down. “I’ve been on Eden enough times to know what a rapist looks like. Although I’ve seen it, and I guess to some extent I understand it…I’ve just never been able to have that kind of sex. For me, sex is lovemaking…”

  He stopped talking, touched by sadness at remembering what he had done to Britt while incarnated on Eden’s Material realm — the famous sports star and the enthusiastic cheerleader, a cheerleader, who in just a few short days would return to Oceania in her true form as a powerful Angel.

  “… And I guess I’ve misled a lot of girls because of it.”

  Josephine’s brief crying jag seemed to relieve some of the intense stress that had built up. When he made himself look at her again, he was glad to see more life in her eyes.

  “Well, Collin,” she said. “For the most part that’s quite a compliment to you. And, I guess I have to add that there have been times when I’ve incarnated into Eden as a male amongst the Nazz and treated women…treated women sexually…in ways I’ve later regretted.”

  He could see Josephine’s attention turn inward, contemplating the past, just the same way he had seen hundreds of other Angels do after making a confession of their shortcomings.

  “So, when did it go bad for you, Collin?”

  Collin looked down, shaking his head. Only today had he figured that out.

  Well? Then tell her, Sipheria’s voice demanded.

  “It was right before you left for your last mission to Eden.”

  “Before I left?

  “Yeah. I was sitting on your bed while you were taking a shower.”

  “Yes, I remember that.”

  “I was pulling down the covers on your bed and found Sipheria’s book under your pillow. I started flipping through it... Well, I guess I thought that it would be funny to see what someone as asexual as Sipheria had to say about sex. But then after reading a section, I, uh…”

  “It’s a mistake to underestimate Sipheria. And I promise you she is not as asexual as you might think, although she does have a tendency to take the fantasy out of relationships.”

  “Yep, she sure does,” Collin responded quietly, almost to himself.

  Josephine crossed her arms, her face more intense now. “Please continue. I really need to understand this. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. I’ve questioned everything about my actions, and…”

  “Do all Angels do that? Blame themselves for everything?” he asked. He could accept an SLS, a Silly Little Seraphif, someone like Jess doing this; however, it angered him to think someone of Josephine’s caliber would blame herself for his weaknesses.

  Josephine ignored his question. “Well, I at least came to realize some of the things I said to you. ‘It’s nice to have a steady boyfriend. Have you thought about where you want to live after all this is over? Do you like children?’”

  “Those things certainly didn’t help,” Collin confessed. “Especially after hopping from one ship to another for so many centuries. But it wasn’t until today that I finally figured out why I freaked out. When I found Sipheria’s book in your room, the book just happened to open to one particular passage…”

  He opened his mouth, thin
king of how it started, and was about to speak, when Josephine interrupted him. “Let me guess. Ahem. ‘The womb of every female traces its origin back to the Infinite Mother Herself…’”

  “Yep, that’s the one.”

  Josephine continued. “…‘and is, in fact, an extension of Her. So naturally, everyone interacting with that womb, whether you be the female in possession, the family of protection, or the male of penetration, all should take care to respect that aspect and expression of the First and Original Mother. And being the co-creator of Havona, we should understand that The Infinite Mother, in exactly the same way the Universal Father sees into all levels and realms of Creation through His Thought Adjusters, from Her Throne upon Havona has the power and the authority to look into all levels and realms of Creation through those wombs…’”

  “That one always gets me too,” Josephine added, shaking her head while looking down at her own womb. She looked up and continued quoting the passage.

  “‘…This relationship with the womb is true for The Infinite Mother alone. The Universal Father and The Thrones, likewise have their roles, authorities, and powers. However, it is only The Infinite Mother who is the administrator over all wombs in Creation. Therefore, treat all wombs with love and respect. Sexual pleasure is a gift from The Mother. Enjoy that pleasure with love, care, respect, and honesty. However, The Infinite Mother’s ultimate intent behind the design and fabrication of the womb is reproduction, the miracle of life Creation. Who among us can truly claim that they comprehend how this act of the Infinite Mother is accomplished? Certainly not I.

  “‘So now I hope that The Sisters of Mercy, in their ministrations into the Mansion Worlds and into the Physical realms of existence, will bring this lesson with them, and will teach all who can hear. Let them also take another message. To deceive, manipulate, subjugate, enslave, or rape that womb is to do the same in kind to The Infinite Mother. And it will be the Mighty Messengers of The Infinite Mother who shall leave the shores of Havona and bring Her wrath down upon you. Take Heed Children. For if I have learned any one thing in my long existence, I have learned what Her wrath can accomplish. Avoid it.’”