Godschild Covenant: Return of Nibiru

by Marshall Masters

  She came to America the following year on the fiance visa, and Henry lost no time in whisking her away to Las Vegas for a quick wedding followed by a long and luxurious honeymoon that included a romantic cruise along Alaska's inside passage. Henry was simply the kind of man who knew what he liked when he saw it and had the class to show his appreciation in memorable ways. For Henry, it was simpler than that. He had the good fortune to fall madly in love with and to marry an incredibly beautiful and brilliant woman nine years younger than he was. She was indeed a catch.

  Exactly the same height as Henry and in her prime, Tanya avoided wearing high-heeled pumps at formal events to keep from appearing taller than her husband, which made no difference, as her long legs seemed made to order for a full-length gown. Her light brown hair and green eyes suggested an exotic mix of her Ukrainian Jewish heritage with that of strong-featured Siberian beauties with a pleasing touch of Mongol blood to round out their features. A long, graceful neck supported her distinctive jaw and slim but shapely high-slung breasts.

  From head to toe, Tanya was a stunning woman in an evening gown, such that Henry, who usually frowned on what he called “strutting peacock parades,” would accept invitations at once. He especially loved to watch her drink champagne, to watch her long, graceful fingers as they supported the glass. Tanya on the other hand was not as infatuated with herself; she considered herself a normally attractive woman and thought nothing more of it. However, she admired Henry, the man who had become the love of her life and the father of her child, with equal intensity and affection.

  As Tanya walked through the halls toward the outpatient clinic, she finalized a few remaining details with her assistant and handed over the last of the folders she carried in the crook of her arm. “I'm taking the afternoon off to take my family to the beach,” she said, “I'll be on my PCS if you need me.” Her assistant accepted the files extending his best wishes to her and returned to the main suite of offices in the center of the hospital complex.

  As was her usual habit, Tanya went directly to the break room in the outpatient clinic before meeting Henry. She found Ramona Baker seated on the couch, nursing a hot cup of chocolate. “Been waiting for you,” she said in a subdued but friendly voice. “Would you like a cup of hot chocolate?"

  “No thanks,” Tanya replied as she sat down in the threadbare armchair opposite the couch. “So, how's tricks?"

  Ramona twisted the foam cup around in her hands, searching for the right words. “Do you remember the first words you ever said to me?"

  “I believe I made a comment about your figure,” Tanya replied coyly.

  “That's putting it mildly, my dear,” Ramona shot back. “As I recall, it was a New Year's Eve party, and you were three sheets into the wind when you looked me straight in the eyes and said, ‘with tits that big, you and I are going to be the worst of friends or the best of enemies.’”

  Tanya blushed and cupped her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God, that was so rude of me. I..."

  “Rude, hell,” Ramona interrupted. “It was the first time a woman in a suit ever had the guts to tell me the straight truth, and I've admired and loved you and Henry for it ever since. Hey darling, ol’ Ramona has been with you through the thick and thin and not because I'm punching a clock. You folks are like my family and that is why what I've got to tell you next really hurts."

  Tanya girded herself. Ramona had routinely shared Henry's chart with her, and she half-expected what would come next. “Honey,” Ramona said softly, “It's not going back into remission this time. The doctors do not want to say anything now, but most likely they'll start talking with you about long term hospice care in a month or so."

  Tanya began to tremble as she stood up. Each day, she worked with grieving families; yet when the shoe was on the opposite foot, she could not disconnect herself from her own feelings. Ramona tossed her cup in a wastebasket, rose and embraced her in a smothering hug. “Let it go, honey; you can't hold it in. Let it go.” Tanya buried her face in the wide cradle formed by Ramona's thick neck and broad shoulder, then sobbed.

  One of the floor nurses walked in on them and Ramona shot her one of those ‘you and everyone else need to be somewhere else’ looks. The woman quickly backed out of the room and made sure they would have their privacy for as long as it took. Ramona consoled Tanya for nearly fifteen minutes until she was able to regain her composure and freshen her makeup to meet Henry at the clinic's reception desk. He was wearing one of his more colorful caps and his favorite old blue windbreaker with the huge pockets that always seemed to be half-stuffed.

  “So where are you two lovers off to,” Ramona asked in a cheerful voice as Tanya took hold of Henry's wheelchair.

  “To Seacliff beach,” Henry chirped with his hands wrapped tightly around his webpad. “Svetlana and her grandfather are building a massive sand castle on the beach, ten feet wide by three feet tall! We're going to watch the fun."

  “Sounds like a pretty big undertaking for an eight-year old girl,” Ramona laughed.

  “You'd be surprised,” Tanya answered. “Her grandfather made his fortune building high-rise apartments in the suburbs of Moscow. I think helping our daughter to engineer a sand castle will not present much of a problem."

  “Well, I should say not,” Ramona replied brightly as she walked with them to the door. “By the way, Tanya, if it wouldn't be much of a bother, all the girls on the floor just adore your mother's piroshki. Hint, hint."

  Tanya patted Ramona on the shoulder. “Let the girls know that the cavalry is on the way,” she said. Then, she pushed Henry's wheelchair through the automatic pneumatic door to their GM electric minivan that an orderly had already parked in the wide driveway next to the clinic entrance.

  “You know I don't need this damn wheelchair,” Henry protested as Tanya set the wheel locks while the orderly looked on.

  “I know, dear, but it is hospital policy, and I should know.” She pressed the remote and the side door slid back to reveal a spacious interior with plush captain's chairs. She helped him into the minivan and sat opposite him as the orderly unlocked the wheel chair and began pushing it back towards the clinic entrance.

  They buckled their seatbelts and Tanya touched a large blue button on the overhead display. “Computer, drive us to Seacliff beach, parking area two."

  “Driving to Seacliff beach, parking area two,” the minivan's state-of-the-art auto navigation computer replied in a pleasant mechanical voice as the side door closed. The minivan made a gentle start and drove towards the main Soquel road drive leading to and from the hospital complex as Tanya opened her purse. She took out a large brown prescription bottle, “I renewed your medical marijuana prescription,” she said as she opened the bottle and removed one of the machine rolled cannabis cigarettes. Henry accepted it gratefully.

  “The IV nausea therapy barely keeps me from tossing my cookies,” he said as he fished a lighter from out of one of the large pockets that dotted his favorite old blue windbreaker. “It's a damn shame I couldn't keep the pills down. Heck, I don't even get a buzz off of this stuff anymore, but thank the Lord; it's the only thing that really works to kill my nausea.” Tanya smiled and switched on the van's ionic high-volume air purifier.

  Henry inhaled deeply as the air purifier drew the smoke out of the minivan's cabin nearly as quickly as he could exhale it. He smoked half the cigarette, snubbed the rest in the ashtray and pressed his head against his headrests while the air purifier finished scrubbing the last of the smoke from the minivan's interior.

  “Feeling better, dear?” Tanya asked sympathetically. She'd been with him through enough of his vomiting spells in the past to be grateful for the drug's efficacy; even if it did have what she felt was a somewhat unpleasant odor.

  With his eyes still closed, he replied. “Much. Thank you, dear. I really appreciate the way you help me to do this without Svetlana having to watch."

  “She'd understand, Henry."

  “I know, but I just hate the thought o
f her having to see me this way. It's bad enough that I haven't been able to get an erection in over eight months."

  “Henry, it is not because you're unwilling, honey. It is a medical condition and I am your wife, not some hot-blooded young school girl who needs to feel like a woman five times a day."

  He raised an eyebrow. “Five times a day, huh?"

  “Let's not even go there,” she flipped back.

  He chuckled. “OK. Actually, I had something else I wanted to talk with you about while we're alone.” He looked out the window as the minivan moved off the freeway onto the exit ramp for the beach exit. There would be enough time he reasoned. He opened a buttoned pocket and drew out a folded envelope. As he handed it to Tanya, she could see that he had already opened it.

  She held the envelope in her lap without opening it. He nodded towards the folded envelope. “I'm really disappointed in you, Tanya. Instead of accepting your call-up, you requested a deferment. Well, you got what you wanted.” He turned to look out the window. “Congratulations."

  “Don't do this to me Henry,” she begged. “I've got you and Svetlana to think of. They practically begged me to take the deferment when I explained your medical condition."

  He turned back to look at her with hard eyes that burned with humiliation. “I've never been a shirker, Tanya, but if you're going to take the easy way out when your nation calls for you then why shouldn't I do the same. You think I don't know that I'm dying from cancer. How many more battles do we have to lose before we can all be honest about it?"

  “Henry, we're still waiting for the prognosis, so how can you say such a thing?"

  “I was an athlete, Tanya, I know my own body."

  “And what?” She shouted in a worried voice.

  “And I'm dying. That's what. To boot, I'm sick of it, and if you're going to be shirker and take the easy way out, then I might as well demand my right of assisted suicide as granted under the UNE treaty."

  “No,” she screamed.

  “Don't worry dear. You and Svetlana will be taken care of. Our portfolio is strong and my life insurance has to pay. It's the law."

  “I don't want your damn insurance. I want you!"

  “Yeah, well I'm going the way of the dinosaurs, so let's buck up and face facts here."

  Tanya turned away and bit her forefinger. Why did he have to find that damn deferment certificate in the mail? Damn the luck! Her life was falling apart, and all she could do was watch it happen. It was all like a terrible dream to her.

  Henry reached out his hand to her. “Honey, a lot of people like us are facing the same situation, and they're doing the right thing. Sure, there will always be shirkers, but they'll be the ones bullshitting themselves for the rest of their miserable lives every time they look in a mirror. Dear, I'm certain this Nibiru flyby is going to be much worse than the government is telling us."

  She pulled away from him and waved her hands wildly in the air. “Always with this doom-and-gloom, end-of-the-world craziness. If the government is telling us that this is as bad as it's going to get, then that's good enough for me.” She pointed out the window. “Look outside, it's a beautiful day. Why do you have to go on and on about this gloom and doom crap?"

  “It's not prophecy,” he answered calmly. “It's science. Honey, we're just in a very unique place. The jet stream has been behaving fairly well, and northern California just happens to straddle a benign latitude. Look at what is happening at the equatorial latitudes and those nearest to the North Pole. The weather is crazy and getting worse every day."

  She clasped her hands over her ears. “I don't want to hear any more. The government says it is not going to get that much worse, and I see no reason for them to lie. Maybe it's all this pot smoking that's making you imagine all this!” That remark cut through Henry like a hot laser and his hand fell away as he withdrew into himself. She turned away with tears flowing from her eyes and meekly said, “I'm sorry. That was a terrible thing to say."

  Henry did not reply. He only watched through the window as the minivan slowly navigated the final hairpin turn leading down to the beach. In a few moments, their daughter and Tanya's parents would be greeting them in lot number two.

  “So what do we do,” she finally said.

  “You accept the call-up, but request ready reserve status. They'll approve that, especially since you've already got a deferment. Then go to Washington as ordered for you're your eight-week indoctrination and training. We'll all be waiting for you when you get home."

  The minivan slowed to enter the parking lot. Tanya could see Svetlana and her parents waiting next to the ramp leading down to the beach with their hands full of towels, chairs and other beach paraphernalia.

  “All right,” she sighed. “I'll do it."

  “You're doing the right thing, darling,” he whispered softly as the minivan slowed to a stop.

  “I hope so,” she replied.

  The minivan's side door slid open and her jubilant daughter shouted, “Hurry, mother; the tide is coming in!"

  Tanya smiled warmly. “Go ahead and get started. Daddy and I will meet you on the beach. Now go ahead."

  * * * *

  THE HOMELAND DEFENSE draft board had granted Tanya's request for ready reserve status so she could remain at home with her family until she would be urgently needed, just as Henry said they would, but with one little twist. Her job assignment was changed from general hospital administrator to that of triage center administrator with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel instead of Captain. The promotion in rank meant that instead of sharing a small room, she'd get her own private room at a reasonably good hotel once a suitable room could be found.

  After her initial two-week officer indoctrination course in Reston, Virginia, she was transferred to George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C. for her six-week course on triage center management and was assigned a private room within walking distance at the nearby Hotel Lombardy on Pennsylvania Avenue.

  The training had been intense with one twelve-hour day after another without letup and she was grateful for her tastefully appointed room with its massive old cast iron bathtub. She tried to call home each day, but some days were simply too exhausting. Thankfully, the first day at George Washington had been mercifully short. That evening after dinner, she promised herself a long, hot bath, followed by a long chat with the family. Even if long distance rates had gone through the roof, she missed her family terribly and didn't care about the cost.

  Refreshed and feeling up to a lengthy call, Tanya stuffed a few pillows behind her back and made herself comfortable on the bed. She placed her webpad on her crossed legs and adjusted the webcam. Once everything was perfect, she dialed the access code.

  Svetlana answered and squealed “Daddy. Its mommy!” Tanya could see Henry sitting down at the desk next to her daughter.

  “Hi dear, we've been waiting for your call. You look a bit more rested than before. Are they starting to treat you with a little respect now?"

  “Thank God, yes” she replied with a warm smile.

  “Mommy,” Svetlana blurted. “Guess what. Charlene had four kittens after you left and Daddy videoed the whole thing. Isn't that great?"

  “Don't worry dear,” Henry assured her. “I've already made arrangements to have the kittens adopted out by a wonderful animal rescue group once they're old enough. Trust me, you're not going to have to go into the cat raising business,” he said with a wink. Tanya laughed wistfully.

  She wanted to talk with Svetlana about the little things that mean so much to a child, but there were larger concerns that she needed to address with her husband. “Svetlana dear, do you mind if your daddy and I speak privately for a while? We have some important things to discuss."

  “OK, momma, but we get to talk too. OK?"

  “Of course, darling."

  Henry kissed his daughter tenderly on the cheek. “Honey, please go downstairs and help grandma and grandpa pack. I'll call you back up when mama is ready to talk with
you."

  “OK, daddy. I love you, mommy,” she waved into the camera and skittered off downstairs to help her grandparents. After she left, Henry closed the door to his private office adjacent to their bedroom and sat back down at his desk.

  “I take it,” Tanya said, “You're getting the family out of town."

  “We're pretty damn lucky dear; I swung a special favor from the institute. We're leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow on the first evening charter flight out of town. The institute has been designated as a contractor for the new Las Vegas research center."

  “Yes, I've seen some mention of that in the news. What is it really all about?"

  “It seems the government has decided to start this huge technology center in Las Vegas. It is a perfect situation, given all those empty hotels on the strip with their massive halls and casinos and virtually unlimited power from the dam. Mitch at the institute has slotted me for a research position, and we'll be staying at the Luxor. He's even arranged for me to bring your parents, thank God!"

  “Mitch is a real saint,” she said with relief. “Please thank him for me when you see him. I really mean it.” She gently bit her lower lip. “Honey, you were right about this Nibiru flyby. Opposition is in four days, and things are really getting strange. Most of America is having small quakes and it seems like every major river in Europe is overflowing its banks. Then, they had that seven point two quake on the Ramapo fault line in New York yesterday. My God, the destruction!"

  “It's crazy here too honey, so let me fill you in on the details. For starters, all of the roads leading out of the bay area are closed to everything except military, emergency services and trucks. Also, there are no flights out and no trains. They're using the railroads and trucks to haul out as much equipment and supplies as possible from the Silicon Valley to Las Vegas. For all intents and purposes, we're landlocked and the only things moving out of here that aren't controlled by the government are FedEx and UPS flights. It's kinda scary."