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

by Robinson, C. E.

  At that point, a Seraphic Messenger’s life became more relaxed. Usually, the Angel who delivered the Personality to a womb was not the one who stayed on as a guardian to protect the fetus and then the remainder of his life.

  But, Raphael did not feel relaxed. This was like no mission she had ever had. Any Personality implantation could be fraught with all manner of peril. This was especially so on troubled Material worlds like Eden, where abortions, traffic accidents, and random murders were commonplace.

  Officially, her mission was in service to Queen Magdalene. Personally, this was a favor for King Ayasia. Putting those two together, in the context of Eden, made the potential outcomes far too complicated for her Seraphic mind to digest.

  Now that The Thrones, the Michael Son-Mother Spirit pairs, through Uncle Karl, were put into play on Eden, she hoped her life would be less stressful, and hopefully the lives of many Ascenders would become less stressful. She was not certain if either would happen, but she was quite confident that the lives of the Overlords and their children would soon become very difficult.

  Raphael watched two Angels playing happily on Lampung Isle, naked in the surf until the green moon went down. One was Vegu-Aniel Odinero’s little sister, Brittney. She did not recognize the other.

  Raphael saw a delicate ripple come from the east. She slipped deeper into the Mamsa. Breathless. Soundless. Motionless. She felt the ripple. Definitely not sea life. Not Angelic. The ripple came nearer. Melchizedek — there was a high probability this was a Melchizedek. A few minutes later, she heard sand crunching softly as the ripple slowly crawled onto the beach. Even though he was in camouflaged battle armor, she had a good idea who it was.

  Commander Vegu-Aniel Odinero slipped up to a large rock just beyond the tree line, blending in with its shape and hue. He scanned the waters intently with multiple settings on his lenses. Nothing but the normal sea life. Qing Melchizedek had correctly selected him to be the contact on Lampung Isle; however, he was running hours late due to a rendezvous with Josephine and Michelle to show them the unprecedented events transpiring on Elysium.

  Aniel saw nothing. He relaxed. By now, there were plenty of surveillance flights in the air. Then he heard it. It seemed familiar but misplaced. He focused his ears to filter out the background noise of the ocean and night chatter of creatures. The more he heard, the more he believed that whatever he was hearing could very well be on the opposite side of the very rock he leaned against.

  He slipped to the other side of the rock and discovered a well-camouflaged, sound-resistant tent. He chuckled to himself. He pulled down the zipper one click at a time until his view was good.

  “Sis! Britt? Is that you?” he whispered loudly. “Are you okay? What’s going on in there?”

  He heard a gasp, quickly followed by, “Damn it, Aniel. What the heck are you doing here? Are you trying to scare me to death?” Brittney quickly sat up and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders while not so subtly straightening another blanket across the lump beside her.

  “Well, Britt. I heard all this heavy breathing. Sounded like you were having a hard time getting enough air. Thought you might be injured. Not to mention all the moaning…”

  A muffled laugh wafted from under the blanket.

  “Who are you and what are you doing with my sister?” he called out, feigning anger.

  The end of the blanket peeled back and a bare-chested Jessica sat up with a smile. “I’m trying to figure out the best way to kiss a kitty.”

  “Well good job, soldier. Carry on,” Aniel said. He knew how upset Jessica had been and was happy to see they had found a good resolution to their problems.

  Jessica dived back under the warm blanket. “Brother, what is it?”

  “How long have you been out here?”

  “Just a few days.”

  “Lots of things have happened.”

  Brittney had seen her brother worried many times. Somehow, this was different. “Tell me,” she whispered.

  “Right now Britt, there’s nothing you can do about it. Lampung is remote. You’ll be safe. No more swimming tonight. I’ll send a crew of armed guards just after daybreak. Stay in your tent until you hear your signature beep.”

  He quickly changed the subject. “So when did this start?” he asked, gesturing toward the heat radiating from the blanket over Jessica. “I thought you said she was hetero.”

  “Phew. I thought she was too.” Brittney wiped the sweat from her forehead. “She said she wanted to spend some time alone with me, that she still needed to talk about the Reinhardt thing. After we got here, she broke out some wine and Soma. We talked for a few hours. We swam naked, and then it just happened.”

  “Meow. Meow. Here kitty kitty kitty,” a muffled voice called from under the blanket.

  Brittney switched to sign language. “There’s more to it. Her heart is open to me more than I think I’ve ever felt. It’s overwhelming. My head is just swimming. She hasn’t said, but I think she’s in love with me. All my wounds, physical included, healed overnight. I had no idea she felt like that.”

  “Here kitty kitty kitty.”

  “I’m exhausted.” Brittney glanced over to Jessica under the blanket, and then looked back at Aniel. “She’s been working me over night and day for, what? Seventeen days?”

  “Oh, so now it’s seventeen days, is it?” Aniel asked. “And why do you get all the cute ones when I can hardly get a date?”

  “Well brother, as they say on Eden,” she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. She placed her strong hands on each side of his square head, turned him around, and gave him a little push. “Baby, you just gotta try harder.”

  What are the chances? Aniel thought to himself as he continued to his rendezvous point, wondering how it was possible Brittney and he ended up at the same place, at the same time, on a remote little island like Lampung. With all the seriousness on Elysium, it was nice to see his sister had moved beyond the perfect hatred of Prince Beliar and the perfect apathy of Chef Vohu Manah. It’s about time she got to feel some perfect Angelic love.

  The closer and closer he got to the contact point, the slower and more carefully he moved. He had already mentally selected a location that gave him the best view of the meeting place so he could carefully examine it before showing himself. Considering whom he was meeting, it was imperative to ensure no enemy was near.

  After several minutes of observation, he made a slight movement toward the spot. Suddenly, a knife appeared at his throat, and the pressure on the blade meant business. There was no blood yet, but with the smallest of flicks, he would bleed out in seconds.

  “Aniel, that was pathetic.” There was hot breath in his ear. “What idiot trained you to stumble around like that? Or are you just drunk?” Then he felt soft slender lips kiss him delicately on the cheek.

  The blade slid away. The Assassin of Havona was gone. Aniel knew she was only a meter away, but he and a thousand Valkyrie could pound this island flat and never find a trace of her.

  “Come on,” he said, assuming she would follow even if he had no idea where she was.

  He led her to a sheltered spot near the center of the island. He was surprised, although considering he was hours late he should not have been, that the camp was already set up and there was a small fire glowing with a pot of tea on it. Before entering the camp, he looked around carefully, switching through every lens he had, straining every ounce of perception his optic nerves could generate. He still could not see her.

  She opened her heart to him, and he felt a soothing, warm presence slide up beside him. She wrapped her slender arms around him, gracefully moved in front of him, and squeezed him hard. He squeezed back. They let go of each other and stepped back, deactivating their camouflage programs. Once they saw each other, they cast their eyes downward and briefly bowed, touching their right fist to their hearts, saying one simple word, ‘Friend’.

  “So you really were thinking about me, weren’t you?” Raphael said as she mun
ched on some crispy red grapes, looking at some of her other favorite foods Aniel had brought. He had no idea how long it had been since his best pal had eaten, so he brought plenty.

  For a few minutes, they ate and looked at the fire in silence. For assassins, being alone was life as usual. To sit in safety around a fire was a relief; having fresh, tasty food was a luxury. But to be in the company of a friend was a blessing.

  “I wish I could tell you something about this mission, Aniel. I really need someone to talk to.”

  This was so true for their trade. The less you knew, the less information an enemy could torture out of you and then use against your comrades. Most of the time for an assassin, the more you knew the more troubled your heart and mind became, so frequently the least amount of information made life the happiest, which was why the Silly Little Seraphifs seemed the happiest of all.

  “Have you been in Nebadon long?” Aniel asked casually.

  “You of all people should know I’m not that easy. But since that part of my trip is known by many, I can tell you I came here directly from Uversa.”

  “Who were you killing on Uversa?” he asked with a grin.

  “No killing. Just a guest at a wedding.”

  “Yeah? You a bridesmaid? Did you wear a dress with pretty flowers?”

  “No,” she said, poking the fire with a long slender stick, each time sending a few cinders into the sky.

  “Goddess Dorothy asked me if I would do a favor for Queen Magdalene.” She poked the fire again.

  “That’s way out of my stratosphere,” Aniel said. “I’m just a trained ape down here stumbling around on Eden. Hey, Rai. What is it?”

  “I really don’t know what’s going on here, Aniel. You know, I just try to be an obedient little Angel, just do what I’m told to do. I say yes ‘ma’am’ or no ‘ma’am’, or ‘yes sir’ or ‘no sir’. And then I usually go kill something.”

  “Well, that’s the advantage we have. We can always end our missions with the joy of taking out our frustrations with our allies by killing our enemy.” He searched her face. “Rai, really. What’s going on?”

  “Okay. I spent five years on Uversa helping Dorothy get ready for the wedding.”

  “Wow, Rai. You doing weddings now, too?”

  “Shut up,” she said. “Saw Mac and Sipheria, Josh and Maggi. That was nice. Of course, the first thing I did was threaten Mac.” She smiled.

  “I’m sure he was quite intimidated.”

  She gave him a dirty look.

  “Mac introduced me to two Artisans.” She paused.

  “…and the two Artisans turned out to be…

  “… King Ayasia and Queen Ariea.”

  “Oh, yeah? Those two,” Aniel said casually. “Just had lunch with them last week.”

  Ignoring him, she relayed her encounter with the King and Queen of Ninveth. “Ariea clearly looked worried when she said her goodbyes and left Ayasia and me to chat. Ayasia and I talked alone for a few hours.”

  Raphael got up and scooted closer to Aniel so she could whisper. “Aniel. Ayasia knows all about the rapid spread of Sanyama across Satania. We thought we had this disaster constrained to Eden, but Smigyl is breaking the rules again, now on a massive scale. Joshua predicts it may not be long before all of Shangri-La is corrupted. Eating the fruit from The Tree of Life was been bad enough. Now that the eating of fruit from The Tree of Knowledge is no longer constrained to Eden...”

  Raphael sucked in a breath and continued. “Ayasia told me what this spread of Sanyama is doing to Magdalene. He’s seen his little sister sick one time too many times and made her confess the whole thing.”

  “You know, Rai, this is one of those subjects I don’t like to think about. Michael Son or not. That’s the man’s wife they’re molesting. I try to keep my nose out of it. That’s between Joshua, Magdalene, and the rapists.”

  “I agree with you there. It really isn’t my business either. I’ve been trying my best to stay out of it. You know, when it comes to violating the womb, I have no sense of humor about that shit. Maybe that’s why I was selected for this mission. About the only individual I’ve ever seen get angrier about rape than me is Ariea. Thank goodness she doesn’t know what Patanjali and all his new students are doing to her precious little Maggi. Ayasia told me that, too. The only three Thrones that know are Magdalene, Joshua, and now Ayasia. So you make sure this conversation ends right here tonight.”

  Aniel nodded his head. Raphael looked up at the stars, shaking her head. “The problem now? It’s no longer about one man and his wife. Now the older brother is involved. The oldest brother. You know our history together. I knew he was trying to keep his cool when he was talking to Ariea and me, but I saw his rage boiling underneath. Then after she left, he let it fly. I’d never seen such a thing.”

  “I get that,” Aniel replied. “There’s been more than one time when Brittney would show up on Oceania after she’d been beat up and murdered by some monster.”

  “And I bet big brother dove in and slit them up a little treat for their trouble,” Raphael added with a nod.

  The small angry smile on Aniel’s face needed no further comment. Raphael looked at the side of Aniel’s tough, square head for a couple seconds, then back to the fire, wondering when he would figure it out. Five minutes slipped past.

  “No way,” Aniel said as he jerked his head toward her.

  She nodded. “Yep, I think so. I think once big brother found out what was happening to his little sis, he decided to pay a little disrespectful visit to some Overlords and Demigods, starting right here at ground zero.”

  “I bet Eden’s new Planetary Princess will get a big shock in her cold dead heart when that thing pops up its angry head.”

  “I bet so, too. And honestly, I don’t want to be around when it happens.”

  She saw a troublesome look cross his face. Aniel realized she would eventually get it out of him, and in reality if anyone needed this information right now, it was Raphael.

  “Rai. There’s a new problem. I need to tell you what happened in Northern Venom. No one but mine and Metcalf’s primary teams knows this either.”

  “What’s the story? It looks like the invasion began quite recently.”

  Aniel shook his head. “Frank was sent in with his team…”

  “Of course. If it’s fucked up, I always look for Haiguns first,” Raphael said.

  “Rai. It’s Janene. We got her Personality out, but she was already dead.”

  Raphael looked up at the sky, fighting tears.

  “Frank was sent in to assassinate Beliar and insert Abraham. We had it all set up to secure both Northern and Southern Venom. Everything was going fine until Frank saw a couple of Beliar’s thugs eyeing some girl…”

  “Yeah, I get it. Bodyguards kidnap girl, take to Beliar, Beliar rapes, tortures, and murders, then bodyguards dump corpse of girl in jungle. Next day, we do it all over.”

  Aniel nodded. “Frank just couldn’t stop himself. He sent Janene to protect her. She had no idea who the girl was. Neither did I. She might have been one of Frank’s spies for all I knew. Anyway, Zohar had a secondary set of bodyguards guarding Beliar’s primaries. No one knew the secondaries were there. They went for Janene the instant they saw her stalking the primaries. Frank saw Janene drop. At that point, I have no idea what went through Frank’s head. He couldn’t keep his stupid head down. They spotted him, too. Janene threw a Fire Coin. I guess you can figure out what happened next.”

  “Did you get them out?”

  “Yeah, we got Abraham out first, then the rest of his staff. In the meantime, Frank went feral for fifty years. Slaughtered over a thousand of Beliar’s goons. Frank eventually found a massive Immolation facility. Zohar’s crew was gearing up to pluck a hundred Angels. Made it all worthwhile, as far as I’m concerned. A lot of us got cut up pretty good trying to get Frank out, but everyone else made it. David is really pissed about this one. I found out David and Abraham had been planning this operation fo
r hundreds of years. Abraham is pissed and disappointed. But David is furious. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen David so mad.”

  After a long pause, Aniel continued. “David has taken over the investigation. And you know how big-picture David is. By now, he’s seen some of Frank’s point of view. Still, I could have kicked Frank’s ass, but after seeing David interrogate him for a few hours, I put my arm around him and took him to Bill’s.”

  “Of course Beliar now believes he has legal justification to take Northern Venom all to himself, and on and on and on.”

  Aniel and Raphael watched their small fire in silence. They knew with Beliar’s armies on the march again and his brutal tortures happily administered, the Silver Storms would happily go to higher and higher levels of aggression to ensure a captured comrade died long before they got close to a torture chamber. The Children of Luminosity would scream the Valkyrie’s attacks signaled an ‘escalation of violence’. And every single Valkyrie from private to general would agree. It was common for The Children of Luminosity to rant and rave over Valkyrie attacks, while remaining completely silent when their own troops did the same.

  Raphael dragged in a long drink of cool night air and let it out slowly. Aniel continued with a new energy in his voice. Raphael initially believed he was adding more to the story until she heard the name ‘Pegasus’. That caught her attention.

  “For a reason I’ll probably never understand, Mac told Pegasus to take an experimental Lanonandek transport to Urantia, pick up Smigyl and crew, and fly them to Elysium. You know Rai, I almost strangled that stupid creature with my own hands. Pegasus must have lost her stupid freaking mind. I specifically told her not to get out of the cockpit. But after unloading her passengers, someone, and there is little doubt it was from Kiena’s sleazy lips, told Pegasus that Smigyl and Indra were going into meetings that could last for months, possibly years of local Elysium time. So she suggested Pegasus take rest on Oceania.”