Island of the Gods

by C. M. Kane

  She soon lost track of time as she climbed, or more accurately, struggled upward. This mountain wasn’t like the preceding ones, at places she actually had to climb over small outcroppings instead of hiking or jogging as she had been before, and it only became steeper the higher she went.

  By the time she was halfway up it was around midday and she was nearly halfway through her water again. Damn, she thought, shaking the container tiredly. She felt utterly spent. Her legs and buttocks burnt and, worse still, her head was starting to feel decidedly weird. Her now constant hunger only serving to add to her misery, she felt like she could eat the arse end out of a porcupine, quills and all. On the bright side, she was now too tired to worry about being afraid of anything. She grunted as she climbed over another small outcropping, ‘suck it up Tae,’ she thought determinedly as she bit her lip and forced herself onward through her mounting pain and exhaustion. By the time she had reached the summit she had been reduced to a half shuffling, half staggering walk, and it had just started to rain again in earnest.

  She stared out through the rapidly gathering gloom at the vista before her. ‘Loki’s mountain’, as she called it, loomed large in the distance, a long tendril of smoke the only warning that the volcano was very much alive, and still very dangerous. She sighed tiredly, unable to contain her disappointment, from the looks of it she still had a long way to go, but luckily this mountain peak was the highest until she reached Loki.

  Relief flooded her tired mind as she realised that once she reached the foot of this mountain the terrain ahead seemed to flatten out. From her vantage point it looked to be more rolling hills and forestry instead of mountain peaks ahead of her. She staggered forward wearily, moving slowly across the small peak and started downward again in the hope of finding some shelter where she could finally lay down and rest.

  She had continued on only a half hour or so before she stumbled across a small outcropping of rocks behind a large densely packed group of ferns that looked as if it could shelter her from the now steady downpour. It was almost dark, she realised she had must have been moving for over a day and a half without sleep.

  This is as far as I go, she decided as she manoeuvred herself behind the ferns. She figured no-one in their right mind would be up at this height anyway, especially in this weather. She sat and set her now empty water bottle under a steadily dripping frond to fill a little while she rested. Famished, she took out the other half of her protein bar and ate it slowly. It was hard to believe how utterly delicious the dried fruits and nuts in it tasted, her mouth watered over every small bite. She grabbed her canteen again and drank what water was in it then carefully placed it back under the steady little stream coming from the fern leaf.

  Exhausted she lay down on the cold rock, thinking to rest for a short time before having another drink. She was asleep within minutes.

  CHAPTER 22

  Vesh watched as Hod left in the jumper, he had landed only long enough to allow him to get out before lifting off again. He raised his face up and breathed in deeply, slowly trying to sort through the hundreds of different scents assaulting his nostrils. First and foremost was the ever-present smell of sulphur, underneath that was a myriad of other scents, all vying with each other. He frowned. Nothing. Drawing his knife he jogged over to the tree line nearest to him and slowly walked around the perimeter of the landing zone. It only took him five minutes to find the smashed vid-ball, he lifted it to examine it more closely. She’d certainly made sure it wasn’t going anywhere: he noticed a crushed stick beside it with a lightly singed end that she’d obviously used to destroy the balls inner workings. He lifted the un-burnt section to his nose to reacquaint himself with the girl’s scent. Not much to go on but fortunately she’d left a wide trail down the mountain for him to follow. He smiled to himself. His original estimate of one to two hours was going to prove correct as he was only an hour or so behind her. She’d be exhausted and stopping soon, if she hadn’t already. Easy prey for one of the predators that now lurked here. He started down the mountain at a brisk jog.

  By the time he reached the bottom his estimation of her had grown. On the way down, her initial headlong dash had changed, her stride had shortened to a slower, more rhythmic jog, such as he had employed. The signs of her passage had also become much harder to follow and, worse, she hadn’t stopped her jog all the way down.

  He frowned to himself. He had underestimated her, the girl was obviously much fitter than he had given her credit for. He studied the ground closely, finding a small pile of pine needles and some disturbed dirt. Damn! He thought, picking it up and running it through his fingers, someone had definitely taught the girl well. He should have picked up her scent strongly by now, but if she were rubbing pine needles and dirt over herself, that would just make his job all the harder.

  A noise to his left had him turning in a crouch, his knife raised in an offensive position while the claws of his left hand ran out in readiness. A full minute later a fat balding man stumbled out of the trees limping badly, he stopped short when he saw Vesh.

  ‘I’m still green,’ he said weakly.

  Vesh remained silent and continued to stare at the man until with a whimper, he turned and fled back the way he had come. With all the noise he was making Vesh was sure he would be one of the first to die. He studied the ground closely, he would have to hurry as it was growing darker, the skies appearing more and more leaden with each passing minute. Seeing an overturned rock that had been knocked loose from the far bank, he crossed the small wash and started up the next mountain. Not long after he saw a fresh heel print near a fern and he knew he was on the right track. He walked on, giving himself time to recoup and to make sure he didn’t lose her trail. He had been moving at a reasonable pace, either jogging or walking, stopping only to examine small signs of her passage to make sure he was going the right way, but with nightfall he wouldn’t have that luxury.

  Zeus, he knew, would be pissed off. He didn’t blame him, he was pissed off with himself. To add to his mounting ire it had just begun to rain. He continued to the foot of the mountain, coming out of the trees near a small ravine, before yet another of the small mountains.

  It would be foolish to continue on in the rain. With no scent to guide him and the rain washing away any tracks, he could pass her in the night and never know. He walked to the other side of the wash and continued on up for another ten minutes before stopping in a densely packed area of trees. The wash could prove dangerous with the rain during the night, and the way things were going it would be just his luck that it would become a raging torrent within an hour, making it impossible to cross.

  He leapt up to the nearest tree branch and climbed a little higher, nestling himself in as comfortable a position as he could manage. As the last rays of light left he contacted Tannan to tell him of his findings and, more embarrassingly, to tell him he would have to stay the night and resume tracking her again at first light as there was now no discernible scent trail to follow. Tannan told Vesh he would find her Nanite markers to give him an idea how far ahead of him she was and get back to him, then he signed off. Vesh dropped his head to his chest feeling like an abject novice, to be outwitted by a child. Still, it was annoyingly impressive.

  At first light he woke with a snap, he jumped down from his perch and immediately drew his knife again. He had ignored the screams of yesterday, as he would today, they had come from behind him and the girl was ahead, but he never forgot he was now amongst enemies. He un-wrapped a protein bar and ate as he walked up the mountain, warming his cold and stiff legs. After ten minutes he broke into a light jog.

  When Tannan contacted him again Vesh could hear the admiration and confusion in his voice. They could find no trace of her nanites despite an extensive search, which could mean only one thing. She, or someone else, had deliberately turned them off. Tannan was now personally overseeing the work to find out the who, why and where of the mystery. Vesh could tell immediately from the sound of his voice that Tannan was r
elishing his project, the vampire loved a good mystery. Not as much as he loved orange Thalien, but this girl seemed to evoke more excitement and genuine pleasure in the Vampire than Vesh had seen in him for years.

  Today, Vesh had decided, he would push harder, he would not allow her to escape him a second day. He continued up and over the mountain, jogging in much longer stints, it was still heavy going though as the rocks were now both slippery and wet. He had found definite traces of her passing at the lower reaches and thought that she must have walked throughout the night. His respect for her upped another notch.

  Reaching a shallow river just before noon he stopped to eat, drink and refill his water bottles, as well as refresh himself a little. After a fifteen minute break he began searching up and down the bank, finally finding the spot where she had stopped. He found some small pieces of thread on a nearby rock, which puzzled him. He picked them up, sniffing them and looked at them closely, another mystery.

  He thought he caught the slight scent of her further downstream and walked on another twenty metres. It was definitely stronger here but still very faint. He looked to the water and realised what she had done. A minuscule piece of faeces had smeared on a rock that was slightly above the waterline, and was not yet fully washed away by the rain. Angry and frustrated, he retraced his steps until he found where she had originally stopped. She’d have needed training to be this competent and he would lay odds that the old warrior had something to do with it.

  So, I’ve got a worthy quarry for once. He thought as he looked around. He had no idea which way she had travelled from here on in. She could have gone downstream as the faeces seemed to indicate, or continued on over the looming mountain in front of him. He chose the mountain, she'd been making her way in a south-westerly direction since she’d destroyed her vid-ball, and from what he was learning about her, she certainly wouldn’t let anything petty like a looming mountain distract her from whatever she was up to.

  He looked up took a deep breath and smiled with relish. His species was born to hunt, to run its prey to ground. Not many escaped when a wolven was in pursuit, and no-one had ever escaped him. He finished refilling his water bottles and bounded across the stream. She was as good as his.

  He pushed himself hard up the mountain and was completely exhausted when he finally reached the top, but it was worth it. He had picked up her scent again over two hours ago, just as darkness had begun to fall. She had relieved herself in a hole she had dug in the rocky terrain and the rain had not washed away the scent as yet. He knew she was close so he became more careful, he began moving silently through the encroaching gloom, like the beast the Terrans had named his race after.

  Just as he had reached the peak it began to rain heavily again. Vesh stopped in the tree line, sensing her more than anything else. She was standing directly across the clearing from him looking out across the vista far below. He couldn’t see much of her as she was covered by a long hooded coat, a beautifully proportioned knife drawn and at her side.

  This young Terran female had covered an enormous amount of ground in just a short time, but she would be coming into the territory of the second jumper by tomorrow, and that could pose a serious danger to her. Now that he finally had her in sight he followed at a discreet distance as she continued down the side of the mountain for another half an hour. She walked unsteadily, stumbling more often than not, and he knew she was near the point of collapse. She stopped and looked at a small overhang, then pushed herself behind some tightly packed ferns and disappeared from view. If she had reached this point before he found her, he knew he would have wandered straight past her in the night.

  Satisfied now that he had her in sight for Zeus he waited for half an hour to see if she would re-appear, when she didn’t he found another tree and jumped up, hitching his own hooded coat around him against the elements. At least someone would be getting some sleep out of the rain tonight.

  CHAPTER 23

  Zeus took another sip of wine and idly watched the com-screen as Vesh reached the foot of the mountain then walked over to pick up some dirt and pine needles.

  ‘Oh that clever girl.’ Tannan said.

  Zeus turned to him, his eyebrows raised.

  ‘It looks like she’s rubbing dirt and pine needles into her skin to mask her sweat. It’s an old trick,’ Tannan said, ‘she’s trying to mask her scent because wolven track mainly by smell. It looks like Vesh might have to work for a change.’ Zeus smiled in amusement as he watched a small confrontation between the wolven and a balding man, already Vesh was seeing more action than he had in months, he immediately decided that this little excursion would be doing him good. Every warrior needed to keep their senses sharpened, and what better way than a stint on the Island. Zeus was half annoyed and half pleased, he wanted to see the woman again, but he also wanted her to prove to be a worthy opponent for Vesh.

  ‘My lord.’ Tannan held his ear as he listened to a message from his transmitter. ‘The Olympus is reporting another ship has just come through the portal from Chena,’ he paused, listening again, before continuing as Zeus rose from his chair. ‘It’s the Asgard, my lord. A jumper has left her and should arrive shortly. She has taken position,’ he grinned widely, ‘above the Hindishah.’

  Zeus burst out laughing. ‘That’ll put the wind up Pan. Monitor his transmissions closely, I want to see who he talks to.’ He walked over to the wine and poured another glass as a jumper attached itself to the pavilion. As he turned to go back to his seat the door to the airlock attaching the jumper slid open.

  ‘So, do you want me to kill the little prick?’ Odin strolled into the room in full battle dress.

  Zeus grinned and handed him a glass of wine. ‘Why would you assume I wanted to kill him?’ he asked in surprise.

  Odin took the wine and glanced at the com-screen. ‘You’re back in this shithole, aren’t you?’

  Zeus smiled. ‘So I am. So I am.’ He returned to his seat. ‘So what brings you here?’ he asked innocently as he lowered himself down onto the settee.

  Odin took a mouthful of his wine. ‘We received a report that you had moved the Olympus to Terra on full battle alert and were at the Island. We thought you might be on a war footing, perhaps even that you had decided to wipe the pestilence that inhabits this planet out completely. Something I am only too eager to help with.’ He stared moodily at the screen. ‘I contacted Thor and have the Idris coming from Chena, in case she’s needed.’

  Zeus shook his head in exasperation. ‘I only came to watch the Island and relax a little,’ he said mildly.

  Odin frowned at him, taking another long swallow of wine. ‘You never watch the Island in any of our realms, but you just happen to want to watch this one?’ he asked caustically.

  ‘Yes,’ Zeus said.

  Odin changed tack. ‘Has this anything to do with the orange thalien?’

  Zeus noticed Tannan had started edging out of the large room.

  ‘Tannan?’ Zeus asked, turning to the suddenly busy vampire.

  ‘My apologies, my lord. I might have inadvertently sent the still frame to a few of my closest friends.’

  Odin laughed. ‘More like the entire vampire population of Salernis. I think by now it’s probably spread to half the damn fleet. I’ve never seen so many toothy, grinning vampires in all my life … a bit disturbing actually.’

  Zeus laughed. ‘Tannan never misses a chance to show the Thalien just how far they have fallen.’ He looked up. ‘No more, Tannan.’

  Tannan bowed deeply, knowing Zeus meant that no more information that could be traced back to the girl was to get out. ‘Yes, my lord.’

  Odin took another long drink, empting his glass and threw it to one of the two Valkyrie guards he had brought with him. ‘So, if I’m not killing Pan, what am I doing here?’

  Zeus smiled and raised his now empty glass. A warrior hurried over to retrieve it. Zeus looked at his old friend with genuine warmth. ‘Well you could spend a few days with me. I have brought along a few
of the most delightfully talented nymphs from Salernis.’

  Tannan interrupted again. ‘Excuse me, my lords, but the Idris has arrived and has taken up a flanking position beside the Hindishah. Would you like me to relay a message?’

  Odin popped up and went over to the console. ‘I better.’ He looked at Zeus. ‘You know what Thor’s like, hit first and ask questions later. Wonderful in a fight, but not if you’re in delicate negotiations. Not like my Loki,’ he added, unable to hide a hint of pain from his voice. He relayed messages to both the Asgard and the Idris to keep an aggressive posture over the Hindishah, then he headed back to the divan, smiling. ‘That’ll have the little shit changing his underwear.’

  Zeus laughed heartily. ‘I have missed you, old friend.’

  Odin raised his glass. ‘Tell me that once Thor gets here and starts in on your wine.’ He laughed, and then turned to the com-panel, watching as trees melted by on what appeared to be an overcast day. ‘Who are you watching then?’

  Zeus shrugged. ‘I sent Vesh down for some exercise.’

  Odin’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Vesh, your head of security?’

  Zeus held up his hands. ‘He’s a wolven. It’s a forest. I thought it might be a treat,’ he said innocently. Another shuttle docked and a door slid open to reveal the handsome smiling face of Odin’s son, Thor. He walked into the room and, seeing his father and Zeus, stopped to bow deeply.

  ‘My lords,’ he said formally.

  Odin stood and went to his son, embracing him warmly.

  When Odin released him Zeus stood and clasped his arm in the warriors’ greeting. ‘Thor, it’s good to see you again. You are well?’