Chronicle of Ages

by Traci Harding

  ‘We don’t know where that thing is going to lead us? What if Inanna cast Gibal into a black hole? Or, what if the Lord is still on Laarsa?’ explained Cadwell, clipping the thought wave neutraliser back onto his wrist.

  ‘Point taken,’ Maelgwn granted, as he looked the detection device over and found a couple of sockets in one end. ‘It looks as though we can plug this into the database. Let’s see if we can locate Gibal that way, hey?’

  ‘Now you’re thinking.’ Cadwell seconded the plan.

  As a king, Maelgwn had come to rely on having many people to bounce his decisions off. This solo mission had been a real test of self-reliance, which, judging from the outcome of his quest, could use some work.

  ‘The security station is just up the hall. We can use the PK terminal in there.’ Maelgwn smiled as he led the way.

  Although Cadwell now wore the guise of his grandson, to Maelgwn this soul-mind would always be Vortipor, whom he trusted implicitly.

  As Maelgwn plugged the locator into the terminal, Cadwell wandered over to the wall of security screens in the middle of the room to see if he could get a visual of Laarsa on one of them.

  After zooming in on his target, he turned to get Maelgwn’s attention. ‘Well, Laarsa is still there. What made you think that Inanna was going to destroy it?’

  Whilst the detection device fed its information into the city’s central database, Maelgwn turned to respond to Vortipor’s question, just in time to see the on-screen image of Laarsa explode into a million pieces.

  ‘Holy moley!’ Cadwell backed away from the transmission, stunned by the event.

  ‘What made me think Laarsa was going to be destroyed?’ Maelgwn summed up. ‘Inanna suggested as much.’

  ‘So this was, more than likely, not a natural anomaly but a manufactured one?’ Cadwell was rarely rattled, but the proposition of such a weapon was most disconcerting,

  ‘I sure hope not,’ Maelgwn stared at the blank space where Laarsa had once been. ‘I have no evidence. It’s just a hunch … that I’d be more than happy to be proven wrong,’ he emphasised. ‘Let’s hope Gibal wasn’t still on the planet.’

  As the PK terminal began beeping to advise that it had reached its conclusions, Maelgwn and Cadwell looked back to its large invisible screen that was now mapping out the course between the Mazua and the missing Lord — or his head at least.

  ‘Oh, very amusing.’ Maelgwn commented as he viewed the information on the planet that had been pinpointed as the host. ‘Do you feel like a swim, Cadwell? Inanna has deposited Gibal’s head in the deepest abyss on Lura.’

  ‘That’s around where the Aten would be at present,’ Cadwell guessed. ‘I suggest we report in with what we know and then take it from there.’

  But Maelgwn was hesitant to run with the normal protocol. ‘I would dearly love to make good at least part of my disaster before I return to base.’ He looked to his grandson to appeal, but Cadwell only frowned.

  ‘There is only so much of a burden one spine can take before it will snap. It’s time to share some of your load, Grandfather.’

  ‘But you don’t understand why I failed,’ Maelgwn argued, knowing the thought wave neutraliser Cadwell wore would prevent him from perceiving the truth for himself.

  ‘There is no success or failure, only that which prevails,’ Cadwell advised firmly, before adopting a more civil tone. ‘I know you don’t feel it, because you’re running on adrenalin, but you are very badly injured. I’m no healer and even I can see the shadow that is cloaking your subtle body.’

  Maelgwn was frustrated by Cadwell’s advice. He was doing his best not to think about anything that had happened to him on this mission — if he returned to the Aten they would force him to confront the dreaded memories. ‘I’m afraid that if I stop,’ he began to tremble violently as he confessed, ‘I shall fall apart completely.’

  ‘Better to fall apart and have a complete rebuild, then go on pushing a damaged vehicle.’ Cadwell approached to place a comforting hand on his grandfather’s shoulder. ‘You have done as much as any man could.’ As Maelgwn forced a laugh to differ, Cadwell clarified: ‘We have the means to find Gibal, you have delivered most of his lab to the Aten as promised, and you have discovered our enemies intentions … you have earned a rest, Dragon, we can take it from here.’

  Maelgwn gave a heavy sigh, not daring to think of the part of his failure that his squad didn’t know about. ‘If I go with you back to the Aten, I want your assurance that I shall still be permitted to go after Gibal.’

  ‘Hey, you’re the commander.’ Cadwell shrugged off the responsibility. ‘It is Marduk you must convince, not I.’

  Maelgwn, having no psychic ability of his own, knew he would be forced to bend to Cadwell’s will in any case. ‘Back to base then,’ he resolved, with some reluctance.

  ‘You will be glad of this decision, Dragon,’ Cadwell expressed his heartfelt opinion, when a tremor rocked the Mazua. ‘This feels familiar.’

  Cadwell and Maelgwn looked to the security screens to see the rear of the space station begin to transform into stone. The grey cloak made its way towards the main body of the Mazua, engulfing, not only the ground dwellings and the base of the vessel, but the transparent dome force field that rose over the city. Some of the ground surveillance transmissions at the rear of the vessel were terminated, as their transmitters were destroyed, and one by one the security screens began to go blank.

  ‘Time to leave.’ Cadwell grabbed hold of his grandfather and envisioned the Star Chamber in the Aten.

  The large quartz throne in Marduk’s Star Chamber was vacant when they arrived. Only Seshut was waiting in attendance. Her eyes filled with sympathy the moment she laid eyes on Maelgwn — obviously his aura told the whole sordid story of his misadventure.

  ‘Welcome back, Commander,’ Seshut smiled warmly.

  ‘Oh no!’ Maelgwn had a panic attack when he saw the Merlin. ‘I don’t need to be psychoanalysed right now. What I need is to see Marduk.’

  Seshut shook her head slowly. ‘The only way to Marduk is through me … you have fears that need to be addressed, some of which you are not even aware of.’

  ‘Will this take long?’ the warrior queried in a frustrated fashion. ‘Gibal, or part thereof, is lying at the bottom of an abyss!’

  ‘Cadwell will report to the Lord Marduk.’ Seshut nodded to grant him leave.

  ‘Don’t you dare leave this vessel without me,’ Maelgwn cautioned his grandson in a tone that was most unbecoming; the emotional damage sustained during his ordeal was looking for a release.

  ‘And why is it so important that you go to retrieve Gibal?’ Seshut queried politely, drawing the Dragon’s attention back towards her as Cadwell departed.

  ‘You know why!’ Maelgwn accused, his pent-up anger surging to the fore. ‘He was my responsibility! He trusted me to protect him.’

  ‘And you did your best,’ Seshut advised.

  It puzzled Maelgwn that she thought so. He was wearing no thought wave neutraliser, yet she failed to mention that he’d been seduced from duty by the wrong kind of woman. ‘You knew all this was going to happen, didn’t you?’

  Seshut nodded. ‘As did you … what appears as a misfortune shall prove very much to our favour. From injustice, justice will be done.’

  The statement brought Adama’s prophecy flooding back to Maelgwn, and he realised that he had been forewarned of his apparent failure. But the Lord had also advised that unseen forces were at work with him. ‘Endure and overcome,’ Maelgwn uttered with resolve, as he looked to Seshut, his eyes wide in recognition.

  ‘I see beyond this battle to the war,’ she told him. ‘In the larger scheme of things, the events you have just suffered through will have long-reaching implications for the better, and will eventually bring about the full realisation of your soul-quest.’

  Maelgwn calmed as the Merlin had raised a subject of pressing interest to him. ‘Is Marduk aware of the nature of this quest?’

  �
�He is,’ she put that fear to rest, ‘and will speak to you about it when next he sees you.’

  The next fear that surfaced in Maelgwn was for Tory. ‘Inanna said something about being in Tory’s skin?’ he mumbled the little he recollected of Inanna’s parting words to him.

  Seshut nodded. ‘She wants to possess that which you desire, Dragon, so that she may give it to you.’

  ‘But she left me for dead!’ He failed to follow the logic.

  ‘Only because one of her seers had predicted you’d escape.’ Seshut saw his total bewilderment. ‘This is the way of most of the remaining Nefilim on this plane of existence. They no longer relate to emotional stimuli at all, for if they did, they would be compelled back towards their Logos and lose their physical existence. So they exploit human suffering in the name of repression, which keeps their soul-minds bonded to these lower planes of existence. But as they close themselves off to the influence of the astral plane of love and emotion, they shall lose their psychic talents. With every atrocity they commit they weaken themselves a little more. Still, I’m afraid Inanna has not finished toying with you yet.’

  Maelgwn braced his head with both hands, suddenly thrown into a frightful panic. ‘Tory … I have to warn her!’ He felt the need to rush off to her aid at once, although he was so exhausted he couldn’t for the life of him think how this might best be done.

  ‘Calm yourself, Dragon. We are mindful of the danger and have taken precautions to protect her.’

  ‘Protect her from what, Seshut?’ Maelgwn realised they’d skipped over that little detail. ‘What is it Inanna means to do to her?’

  ‘By the sound of it, she means to possess Tory’s physical body?’

  ‘Can she do that?’

  ‘Only if Tory leaves her body vacant and not properly guarded for say, astral projection purposes,’ Seshut assured him. ‘This is something Tory never even thought about prior to the death of her husband in the early part of the twenty-first century. After that she began to entertain notions of seeking you astrally.’

  ‘What?’ Maelgwn butted in, shocked out of the false sense of security that Seshut’s explanation was lulling him into. ‘Are you saying she is now at risk?’

  Seshut refrained from responding straightaway, serving him a look that implied he was being unduly dramatic. ‘I took the liberty of sending her a couple of messages on your behalf, warning her against contacting you in such a fashion.’

  ‘But Tory would never heed the word of an unfamiliar entity like yourself,’ he stressed.

  ‘That is why I assumed the guise of you in both instances.’ The Merlin eased Maelgwn’s fear yet again and smiled as Maelgwn breathed a sigh of relief.

  ‘Then I thank you.’ He returned her smile as he marked just how like Taliesin she was. ‘And you delivered these messages personally?’ Maelgwn asked in a far more cordial tone.

  ‘No. The first was delivered by your great-grandson, Cadfan, at the funeral of your twentieth century embodiment.’

  Maelgwn held his head as Seshut outlined the details of her aid — his life was so completely absurd that even he found it hard to fathom.

  ‘The second message was delivered by your son, Rhun, whose safe protection Cadfan directed Tory to.’

  ‘It sounds like you’re doing a mighty fine job of making me look really good down there,’ Maelgwn decided at last, very grateful for all her assistance.

  ‘It was nothing you wouldn’t have done yourself, were you not otherwise distracted,’ the Merlin granted. ‘Both messages made it very clear that it was not safe to seek you out at this time, astrally or otherwise.’

  ‘Why not otherwise?’ Maelgwn was curious to know what the danger with physical projection over vast distances in space was. But as some of his pre-programmed data surfaced, he realised what a stupid question it was. ‘Don’t answer that.’ He held up a hand to stop her, as he knew the reply. ‘Curved space.’

  ‘You can cheat time in an astral body on the physical plane,’ Seshut expanded on the premise. ‘But you cannot cheat —’

  ‘Time in a physical body. I understand,’ he conceded. ‘Flight time would be nothing, but the length of your stay at a deep-space destination would be highly unpredictable due to all the curvature in space between you and your point of origin. You might return to base after only a few hours to find years had elapsed.’

  Seshut gave him a wink. ‘Now, there is one other deception Inanna may spring on you, and that is that she might try and clone your wife’s body. You missed my induction lecture on clones, so allow me to bring you up to speed.’

  Maelgwn thought his eyes must have been boggling out of his head as Seshut advised him of how clones might be recognised and utilised. Every time he thought he was aware of all the horrors confronting him, new one popped up to top the last. A silence descended as Maelgwn sorted through his thoughts for outstanding fears and queries. ‘Are you aware of how Laarsa was destroyed?’

  Seshut shook her head. ‘I foresaw the event, but not the cause, I’m afraid.’

  Maelgwn was going to question her about the possibilities, but as Seshut’s expertise lay within the realms of the spirit, he decided to leave that conversation for Marduk. ‘So, what are my chances of seeing my Lord?’

  Seshut stood quietly assessing him for a moment before responding. ‘As the hunt for Gibal is obviously so important to you, I am going to suggest a cleansing tube and a meditation before seeing my Lord. However, when you return from your quest, I’m afraid we are going to have to work through the sad events of your capture and clear that shroud from your subtle body.’

  ‘I understand.’ Maelgwn thought she was being more than fair. ‘Thank you, Seshut.’

  ‘No, thank you, Dragon.’ She bowed her head to him. ‘Strange as it may seem to you, you’ve done outstandingly well.’

  Maelgwn returned to his quarters on the Aten. He was no longer in the new recruits’ module.

  Although Maelgwn’s journey had, to him, only taken weeks to complete, months had passed here on the Aten. Dragon squad now occupied level fifty-four of module seven.

  The corridors were deserted as he strolled towards his quarters. Maelgwn figured the rest of the squad were probably resting up before going after Gibal. Strangely enough, as he entered his chamber, Maelgwn really felt like he was home, even though he’d spent less time living on the Aten than he had on the Mazua. Perhaps it was because he could sense that his kindred were close at hand here. This room differed from his temporary quarters in that framed images of the loved ones he’d left behind on Gaia were scattered about the place — some hung on the walls, other were free-standing images placed as decorations on tables and shelves. As he walked around admiring the framed memories, he came across a picture of a beautiful, dark-haired woman that he didn’t recognise — only that she quite reminded him of his son Rhun.

  ‘Rhiannon,’ he resolved, in an awe-struck but proud manner. But with the surge of pride he felt upon viewing his full-grown daughter, came a terrible feeling of vulnerability. He held the picture of his child to his chest, as his eyes darted over the images of others dear to him. Goddess, protect them. His eyes became fixed on a picture of Tory and he smiled as he recalled the last time they’d made love: before his illness, before his abduction, before Inanna.

  When you are again joined with your beloved wife, remember to look deep into her eyes, Dragon, for you might just find me there.

  As Inanna’s wraith echoed through his mind, in the image of his wife he could see the evil presence of his persecutor, and unable to stand the sight of her, he turned the image off. Only at that moment did Maelgwn discover the full extent of the psychological damage that had been done to him, and the realisation made him weep.

  After dragging his weary form through a cleansing treatment and a meditation, as ordered, Maelgwn’s anxiety had waned a little. Still, his hatred for Inanna and what she’d done to the sweet memory of his wife, was still very much underlying his mood.

  He’d se
nt a communication to Seshut to tell her that he’d done as she’d requested, and was now ready to meet with Marduk. Hence, in a suspended chair, Maelgwn sat staring out at space as he awaited further orders.

  I am sorry for your pains, Dragon.

  Maelgwn swiveled round to find Marduk sitting forward in the chair opposite him.

  The surprising thing was that Maelgwn was no longer in his quarters. He was back in the Lord’s Star Chamber, gazing at the wonders of space reflected on the walls and floor therein.

  I knew your mission was going to be tougher than I let on … but it was your destiny, and therefore not for me to question, he explained from behind his mask.

  Although the Lord sounded sincere, Maelgwn was hard pressed for forgiveness at present. He forced a laugh and shook his head. ‘And if it were my destiny to be sucked into the oblivion of a black hole, would you send me to my extinction all the same?’ He stood abruptly, and backed away from the Lord a few paces. ‘Because if that is to be the way of this, I’m sorry, but I will not serve a soul I cannot trust.’

  The Lord stood, seemingly offended, but Maelgwn couldn’t really tell. Marduk raised his mighty arms, and reaching behind his head, he unfastened the mask he wore and removed it. The light that shone from the God’s eyes was blinding for a moment; he was obviously far more enlightened than any of the other Nefilim that Maelgwn had encountered. But as his eyes adjusted, Maelgwn beheld a man very much like himself — dark hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. And although his defining facial features were akin to the Nefilim, Maelgwn saw a kindred soul in the Lord.

  I swore I would not remove this mask until the day I cleared my name, but I remove it now, so that you may look into my eyes and know I speak the truth. I have already picked my parents via whom I shall be reborn into the ranks of the Chosen Ones, he informed Maelgwn. I am to be a son of yours, Dragon, because of all my children I adore none so well as you and your mate — finer parents I could not want. I tell you this, so that you might understand that to allow any harm to come to you or Lamamu would be completely detrimental to my future happiness. Please believe I am on your side, and if I could have undergone your trials in your stead, I would have. But they were not my lessons to learn.