His lead general issued the orders and flag bearers gave the appropriate signals, the order then being translated to sound as trumpets blasted the call for retreat. Slowly, much too slowly for those Immortals engaged with the Spartans, the rear of the column began backing out of the pass. The King’s face was flushed with anger as he watched his Immortals try to extract themselves.
He stood and walked to the edge of the small ledge. He crooked a finger and his senior general joined him. “Now that you know the terrain and know that what you face tomorrow will be different you must come up with a different plan.”
“Yes, King.”
Xerxes headed down the narrow track toward his imperial tent.
**************
Leonidas halted the advance at the path, allowing the Persians to escape, despite the protests of his men. He knew they could pursue down the path, slaying many more of the enemy, but he felt it was better to regroup after this first engagement. Also, there was a good chance the Immortal commander had prepared an ambush for just this contingency.
Leonidas walked among the bodies, noting the squires pulling the few wounded and dead Spartans from the piles. His experienced eye estimated about a dozen of his men down. And about two hundred Persians. A very good kill ratio, but one he knew they wouldn’t be able to sustain for many more engagements.
“They are done for the day,” Cyra said, surprising Leonidas who had not heard her approach.
“There is still at least three hours of light,” Leonidas noted.
“Once more, they were not ready for you,” the priestess said. “Tomorrow will be different.”
Leonidas knew that. “Then tomorrow we must be different.”
“You must hold for two more days,” Cyra said.
Leonidas pulled his helmet off and wiped his sweaty forehead. “And then?”
“Then we will have the map.”
“And you will leave,” Leonidas noted.
“Would you prefer to be back at Antirhon?” Cyra asked. “The Persians would still be here.”
Leonidas began unbuckling his armor. “True. There is work to be done. It will be a long night.”
CHAPTER 21 BEYOND THE SPACE BETWEEN
This place was worse. That was the thought that resounded through Dane’s mind as he took in the environment around him, slowly turning the Valkyrie suit so he could survey his new surroundings. The sky overhead was covered with dark black clouds with swirls of red and yellow in them. Lightning flickered inside the clouds, producing a dull thunder as if even sound were defeated by the bleakness surrounding Dane and Earhart. The land was scorched clean, the ground blistered and buckled, yet covered with a layer of ice and blowing snow. He had no idea where they were as there was no apparent sign of civilization.
“We might be on another planet,” Dane whispered, as if by speaking in a normal voice he would be become part of the desolation.
“We can breathe,” Earhart said.
“There are filters—or some sort of rebreather—built into this suit,” Dane said. The portal was behind them and he was tempted to simply turn around and go back through it to the devastated Washington—at least that held a degree of familiarity. “Or maybe it’s a planet with an atmosphere like ours,” he added uncertainly.
“Wrong portal?” Earhart asked.
Dane controlled his desire to flee. “I don’t think so.” He could feel the cold through the suit’s armor.
“There!” Earhart was pointing with a white arm.
Dane turned in that direction and a small moving speck was visible on the screen inside the helmet. It took him a moment before he recognized what it was—another Valkyrie suit, moving toward them.
“Friend or foe inside?” Dane wondered out loud.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Earhart said as she flexed her fingers, extending the claws on both hands.
As the figure got closer Dane could see that it’s white armor was blackened and dirty. Dane focused his attention, trying to mentally probe through the suit and determine who, or what, was inside.
“Friend,” he said as he picked up an aura. It was familiar, almost as if he had met whoever was inside the suit. He could now see that the armor was damaged in a couple of places, much like theirs was.
The figure came to a halt ten feet in front of them, both hands held up, palms out, claws not extended. “Welcome to hell.”
The voice was female, one Dane knew. He felt a wave of shock pass through him as he recognized it. “Ariana? Ariana Michelet?”
“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“But—” Dane struggled to get the words out—“you’re dead.”
The voice was low and almost melancholy as she answered. “Sometimes I wish I were. And I will be soon. But first, I must accomplish what I have been tasked to do.”
“I don’t understand,” Dane said. “How can you be alive?”
“It’s like Noonan,” Earhart cut in. “I saw him die, but then he came to me.”
“Come,” Ariana gestured. “Come with me. I will show you and explain.”
Despite not being able to see her, Dane knew it was Ariana in the suit. The aura was the same as he remembered. He had not recognized her right away because he considered her dead.
“Where is here?” Dane asked.
“This is Earth. Washington DC.”
“It can’t be,” Dane said. “We just left Washington. And even that Washington wasn’t--” He tried to process all that had happened. “Is this the future?” But that didn’t make sense, he realized, because the Washington they had just left had been the past. Or his past. And Earhart’s future. He felt as if a spike was being driven through the center of his brain as he tried to assimilate the paradoxes and the situation.
“’The future’,” Ariana repeated. Dane could almost see her shaking her head inside her helmet. “Yes. In a way. We are at about the same place where you went through that—” she pointed at the gate behind them.
“Things got worse?” Dane asked.
“This isn’t the same Washington,” Ariana said. “This is a different time and place.”
“But you just said this is Washington in the future.”
“In my future—or more accurate to say my present. Not yours.”
“But—”
“Your Ariana died,” she said.
Dane was totally confused. “Then who are you?”
“Ariana Michelet. But a different Ariana. As the Washington DC you just came from was different from the Washington DC in the world you initially left, and this one is also different from those other two,” Ariana said. “This—” she held out both arms, slowly turning—“is Earth in a different time-line. Parallel to the one you know, but one that took a different path at a certain time in the path. I am Ariana Michelet, but not the Ariana Michelet you knew in your timeline. She died in your timeline. In this timeline, I failed in stopping Erebus from erupting. Because I failed, I survived. I was taken by the Ones Before as the world—this world—collapsed around me into destruction.” She dropped her arms. “Then they sent me here. To wait for you.”
“Why?” Dane asked, trying to understand.
“So your Earth doesn’t end up like my Earth.”
Dane took in the swirling snow and ice-covered ground. “Ice this time,” he whispered to himself.
CHAPTER 22 480 BC
The dead bodies of the Persians were tossed off the cliff, tumbling down and splashing into the water. The seven Spartan bodies were laid out behind the Middle Gate. The severely wounded were being tended to. As far as Cyra could tell, severely meant a lost limb or partial evisceration as those who had wounds not that severe were standing with the rest around Leonidas in front of the wall. Torches sputtered from their niches on the rock wall as the Spartan King addressed his men.
“They will come first thing in the morning. They know the land now and they know their enemy. We will not have the advantage of surprise as we have had so far. But we still
have the advantage of terrain and of arms.” Leonidas turned to the oldest member of the three hundred. “Polynices, what do your foresee?”
“Archers. So many that the sky will turn black with their flight.” The old man smiled. “It will shade us from the sun so we will be able to fight in the shade.”
The assembled men chuckled.
Leonidas nodded. “I agree. They will try to fix us with arrows. And then?”
Polynices tugged on his beard. “They will mass as many men as possible in the open space and attack. And attack. And attack.”
“Recommendations?” Leonidas threw the question out to all.
“They will expect us to fight the same way,” someone yelled out.
“True,” Leonidas acknowledged. “So we must do something different.”
Polynices stirred. “You started by saying they know the terrain and the enemy. Why not change one of those?”
Leonidas smiled. “My thoughts exactly.”
*************
Xerxes never received a casualty report. Those killed during the day’s fighting were Immortals. He knew that every man killed or wounded had been replaced immediately and the Immortals were at strength, ten thousand strong. Thus, in a way, there were no casualties. Therefore no need for a report.
He sat in his dining throne, the Naga Staff on the table in front of him. His generals were gathered round the long table, their eyes downcast. Pandora was not behind the King, but to one side, the master-of-arms next to her. Her map was in the center of the table, a half-dozen daggers slammed through it. They had been there when Xerxes entered the tent and he assumed that had been done by members of his staff who had friends and relatives among those slain during the two days of fighting. The head of the lead scout was mounted on a spear outside the entrance to the tent along with that of the Egyptian leader.
“Do we have a plan for the morning?” Xerxes finally asked.
The general slowly got to his feet. “Yes, my King.”
“And that is?”
“We will deploy a front line of heavily armored Scythians at the top of the pass. Behind them we will mass archers. We will fire all morning and then withdraw the archers, reinforce the Scythians, and assault.”
Xerxes nodded, then waved a hand. “Everyone leave. Except Pandora.”
The tent cleared quickly.
“I have shown much restraint with you,” Xerxes said. He ran his fingers along the smooth metal on the haft of the staff. “You arrived with this and the map. The latter has proven false. What is the purpose of this,” he tapped the staff.
“I do not know, my Lord.”
“My patience is exhausted,” Xerxes said. “If you do not tell me now, I will have your head on a pole outside my tent within the minute.”
“It is to be used to destroy something if necessary,” Pandora said.
“What?”
“Another map.”
“Of?”
“I do not know. Truly!” she added as he started in anger. “I only know what I have been told in visions.”
“Visions from where?”
“The gods, my Lord.”
“There is only one God, the true God, Ahura Mazda.”
“Then the vision came from him.”
“You lie.”
“I am telling you all I know. I was taken from my home, which was being destroyed by earthquake and fire. To a dark place. I remember being on a table. Tied to the table. Figures in white all around me.”
Xerxes leaned forward, chin on hand, interested in spite of the situation. “Angels?”
“I do not know. There was much pain. I could not see clearly. And I had visions. They told me to seek you out. I did not want to. But I have had no choice in all of this. If I tried—and I did once, if you want honesty—to escape from your camp, there is so much pain in my head that I could not continue.” She spread her hands helplessly. “I have no control over my life.”
“And this other map? Where is it?”
“As far as I know from the visions, it will be in the pass in two days, my Lord.”
“Who will bring it there?”
“I do not know.”
“What about this priestess from Delphi? The Spartan King next to her had a staff like this,” he tapped the Naga Staff.
“I do not know.”
He let go of the staff and indicated the map. “That was not very useful. Why were you given it?”
Pandora closed her eyes. “It is supposed to help you defeat the Greeks and gain the pass.”
“But it doesn’t even show the pass correctly.” Xerxes leaned back in his throne. “I do not pretend to question my God—the God. I do not think you come from Him. And if you do not come from him, then perhaps you come from evil.”
Pandora shrugged. “That might well be.” She took a step forward. “But the map shows a trail over the mountain and coming in behind the Greeks. I have talked to some locals that your troops captured. One of them says there is such a trail, confirming what the map indicates.”
“I cannot waste troops on such a thing.”
“I will reconnoiter the trail, my lord. Verify that it does exist. You can send someone you trust with me to confirm what I see.”
Xerxes shook his head. “There is no need. We will have victory tomorrow.”
*************
Leonidas took his place in the long line of men. He was stripped down to his tunic and sandals and the night air felt cool on his skin. He was surprised when Cyra slipped into place next to him.
“This will be man’s—” he paused, and rephrased his comment—“hard work.”
Cyra smiled, her white teeth glinting in the dim light from the torches on the wall. “You think you know all there is to know about hard work? About controlling pain and fear?” She shook her head. “Men. Try having a child. Then you will learn about pain. And maybe you will learn something about love also.”
Leonidas was about to say something when the first stone came down the line, passed from hand to hand. He grabbed it with both hands on his right side and swung to the left. Cyra’s hands were ready and she took it from him, passing it on to the next Spartan in line.
They worked on through the darkness. After several hours a rider came galloping up the pass from the south and Leonidas left the line. He took Cyra with him, even though she protested that she was fine.
“Report,” Leonidas ordered as they came up to the courier. The horse was sweating even though the night was cool.
“King,” the man nodded. “Your six Lochoi march swiftly but they are still four days away.”
Leonidas had expected as much. “And the Athenians?”
“Sit behind their walls and argue.”
“Are there any Greek forces on their way to join us?” Leonidas had sent out a dozen emissaries to the closest city-states.
“Two hundred archers from Mellos are coming. They are led by Lichas.”
Leonidas smiled. Lichas was a wily old warrior and his men were skilled with the bow. “When do they arrive?”
“In the afternoon, sire. At best.”
“That is all?”
“Yes, sir.”
Leonidas dismissed the courier to get some food. He ran a hand through his dirty hair as he pondered the situation. He could sense Cyra’s presence next to him. “The smart move would be to withdraw since the people who live behind us obviously don’t care enough to send troops to save their own skin. We could link up with my six lochoi and hold the isthmus at Corinth. That would also force the hand of the Athenians.”
“We must—” Cyra began, but Leonidas cut her off.
“I know we must hold until tomorrow. And not just for your map. We must hold stay here because we said we would.”
CHAPTER 23 BEYOND A PORTAL
“Where’s the water?” Dane asked.
They were on what had been the bank of the Potomac, but the riverbed was dry, unless some thin blowing snow was considered.
“The Shadow
took the water,” Ariana said. “All of the fresh water they could tap through portals. And quite a bit of the oceans also. The shore of the Atlantic is about sixty miles that way, that’s how much water the Shadow has taken. In your timeline the Shadow takes power and people, but it wants more. Once it has sucked a world dry of those two, it moves to other materials. Water. Air.”
“Who is the Shadow?” Dane asked.
“I don’t know,” Ariana replied. “An intelligent race, if doing this to planets can be considered intelligent. One that has learned to move in both time and space using the portals and gates. Who understands how to use physics we were just beginning to learn existed.”
“Slow down,” Dane said. “What do you know about the portals and gates? What’s the difference between the two? Why is there just a portal in some places—” he pointed at the black circle they had come through—“and sometimes the portal is hidden inside a gate?”
“I don’t exactly know,” Ariana admitted. “My best guess from what I’ve seen and learned, is that the Shadow can open portals. Gates are a by-product, most likely occurring when some of the Shadow’s world spills through the portal into our world. When that happens some of the creatures from the Shadow’s world come through also, such as the kraken.”
That made sense to Dane, the first thing that had in quite a while. “So the Shadow attacks various Earth timelines via portals to scavenge them?”
“Yes. There must be many parallel Earths, each a little different from each other and the Shadow has been pillaging them. I remember reading a research paper where the author postulated an almost infinite number of parallel universes, existing side by side, but separated slightly by time and space.”
Earhart’s voice cut in. “And the Ones Before? Have you met them?”
“No. I’ve received visions of what I am to do.”
“And that is?” Dane asked.
“I’ve done it—most of it by showing this world and telling you of the timelines and parallel worlds.”
“We need a map of the portals,” Dane said.
“There’s something else I need to show you first,” Ariana said. She turned toward the west and began moving, Dane and Earhart hurrying to keep up.
Atlantis: Gate Page 22
