“What happened to them?” Maya asked.
“You’ve probably figured that out already; the Flawless Few had them captured and kept prisoner here so they could never tell anyone on Narska what they had seen.”
“Are they still here?” Priscilia said.
The being shook their head. “No. They died at various points throughout the years. The last surviving astronaut passed away not too long ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Maya said sadly.
Suddenly, Priscilia declared to their strange host, “OK, this is driving me nuts. Are you a man or woman?”
Maya glared at her. “Dammit, Priscilia!” She was tired of trying to keep the silver-haired girl in line.
But their host just smiled. “No, no, it’s fine. I’ve gotten that question many times and I’m quite used to it. And anyway, I’ve been rude not to introduce myself. My name is Ardhanaishvara, a Hindu god. I am both man and woman, and at the same time, neither.”
“That’s strange,” Priscilia said. Maya didn’t even bother chastising her because by this point, she knew it was futile.
“Not at all,” Ardhanaishvara said. “In fact, history is filled with androgynous deities.”
Priscilia wasn’t satisfied. “But how do you… you know…?” She formed a hole with her thumb and index finger, and proceeded to stick her other index finger through it.
Ardhanaishvara laughed. “I don’t. If gods like myself want to reproduce, we simply shed a spare gender into a separate form.”
“So you asexually reproduce?” Maya said.
Ardhanaishvara nodded. “You could look at it that way.”
Priscilia frowned. “So you don’t have sex?”
“No. I am beyond such things until I decide to pick a permanent gender.
“Oh, I must apologize for making you stand. Let’s sit at the table. We don’t eat, but it’s a good place to commune.” They did so, and Ardhanaishvara continued. “Now, then. I’m dying to know—why have you come to Olympus?” They explained it to them. “Well, now, that is interesting. I had heard rumblings of some sort of conflict being fought planetside, but I didn’t know anything for sure. I must say, you’re very brave to bring the fight to the Flawless Few’s home.”
But Maya admitted, “We didn’t really think it through. We lost our ship and our friends might be…” She couldn’t finish that thought, couldn’t acknowledge the possibility Ev might not have made it.
However, Ardhanaishvara’s eyes went wide. “Ah, don’t give up hope just yet. Before you arrived, I heard a rumor.”
“What kind of rumor?” Priscilia said.
They explained, “On the other side of this hemisphere is a prison called Eden. Within the last hour, there have been whispers it’s been attacked by intruders. The higher-ups have been keeping a tight lid on it, but if it’s true, it means at least some of your friends are still alive. No one else would be crazy enough to try such a thing on Olympus.”
Maya narrowed her eyes into a steely gaze. “How do we get to this prison?”
Ardhanaishvara, jaw tightening, replied, “Well, as I said, it’s on the other side of this hemisphere. To get to it, you’d have quite a walk ahead of you. You could steal a transport, but even then, you’d probably arrive too late. This may sound crazy, but your best bet might be to meet up in the core. If you’re serious about stopping Zero Grade, you’ll have to go there anyway. That’s where Zeus resides. It’s dangerous, however.”
“What’s so dangerous about it?”
“The entrances to the core are all in the Flawless Few’s personal residences. If you went that way, the odds are extremely high you’d have to fight at least one of them. And, believe me, you don’t want to mess with them.”
“Hmph,” Priscilia said, turning her nose up at them. “We came here for the express purpose of fighting them. I see no reason to stop now.”
But Ardhanaishvara was dead serious. “Think very carefully about your options. Your ship is destroyed and your friends could be anywhere. Right now, it’s just the two of you. What can you accomplish by yourselves?”
Maya thought about it for a moment. “What’s so special about the core?” She already had a pretty good idea of the answer.
“I told you we don’t need to eat here. Do you know why?”
She was fairly certain she did. “There’s a very powerful Ultimus Point at the core, isn’t there?”
Ardhanaishvara nodded. “The most powerful one ever known. The Flawless Few have grown terrifyingly strong just by living near it. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect it, and that means killing anyone who tries getting near it. For your own good, don’t try it.”
But Maya’s mind was already made up. “You said we’ll have to in order to stop the Flawless Few, right? Then that’s the way I’m going.”
Sighing, Ardhanaishvara said, “I should never have told you about it. Very well; if you’re determined to go, I won’t try to stop you. But just know that the Crystal Palace stands between you and the core.”
“What’s the Crystal Palace?” Priscilia said.
“That’s the home of Athena of the Flawless Few. The passageway to the core can only be accessed inside of it. Athena’s sure to have the place heavily fortified. Odds are, you’ll have to face her if you want to pass.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Priscilia said.
Maya said to Ardhanaishvara, “Please tell us how to get there.”
“I will,” Ardhanaishvara said. “But don’t rush. I’m sure you’re getting stronger just by being this close to the Ultimus Point. Let it strengthen you for a little while. You’ll need all the help you can get to make it through the Crystal Palace.
Maya decided to accept the compromise. “All right. But we can’t take too much time. Our friends need us as much as we need them. I won’t stand around waiting.”
Ardhanaishvara smiled. “Your compromise is accepted.”
Chapter VIII
Daryn, Jaysin and CiCi made their way through the strange artificial cavern. The magma hologram continued to light their way, as if this place had been designed with visitors in mind.
As they walked, Daryn put his palm against the wall. It felt like real rock, but how could one be sure of anything here?
Eventually, the corridor opened up into a large central chamber, and the trio were stunned by what they saw: People. Lots of people. There were dozens of strangers gathered around what appeared to be some sort of leader, an elderly man carrying a flash light with a red cone on the end. It helped him stand out among the crowd. “All right! Thank you for coming. The seven o’clock Magma Chamber tour starts now. If you’ll follow me…” They began walking. “This cavern is a recreation of the interior of the moon as it was in the beginning of its life. You see, the moon was originally filled with magma chambers like this one…” They walked past the trio and continued deeper into the cavern, taking no notice of the newcomers.
Unbelievable. “We’re in some sort of educational environment,” Daryn said.
“I guess it’s not so surprising,” CiCi said. “We have science museums on Narska. Why not have them on the moon?”
“Good point,” Jaysin said. “Anyway, let’s get out of here and find out exactly where we are.”
They walked to the far wall of the chamber and found multiple sets of doors which led out into another crazy environment.
“Are you kidding me?” Daryn said.
“Don’t think so, mate.”
“Wow,” CiCi said.
They were outdoors, and it was night time, though no stars could be seen against the sky. That probably had something to do with the fact this new locale was a neon wonderland. Lights, lights and more lights of every color assaulted their vision. Hundreds of people milled about, carrying balloons, drinking beverages, eating strange food, and generally having a good time. Furthermore, numerous metal contraptions spun people around and hurled them through the sky in metal carts.
“It’s a yu
rring amusement park,” Daryn said.
CiCi pointed out the obvious. “But… we’re outside! Why aren’t we suffocating?”
“We’re not outside,” Daryn said. “We went through an airlock, remember? We’re inside the moon.”
“Well, what do you know. An amusement park inside the moon,” Jaysin laughed.
“This isn’t funny,” Daryn said testily.
“Gotta disagree with you on that one. I thought for sure we’d find an army preparing to invade Narska in here.”
Like him, CiCi took in the wonder of it all. “Yeah. But these people are having fun. I expected something more sinister, like slave labor camps or something.”
Daryin reminded them, “We don’t know what the hell is going on here. Maybe these are all holograms as well.”
Jaysin stopped a passerby and what he took to be the guy’s girlfriend. “Excuse me. Are you a hologram?”
The man looked at him like he was crazy. “No. The only holograms are in the special exhibits like the Magma Chamber.”
“Right. Thank you.” The guy rolled his eyes and continued on, and Jaysin looked at Daryn and shrugged.
“He didn’t flicker when I touched him. He’s real.”
Daryn sighed. “Fine. They’re real. But I’m telling you, we can’t trust this place. Anything under the control of the Flawless Few has to be bad news.”
“Won’t argue with you on that, mate.”
CiCi added, “Something is definitely fishy about all this. Why would evil gods have an amusement park?”
“Exactly,” Daryn said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Jaysin suggested, “Let’s get out of here and find out what lies beyond the park.”
“Good idea. Maybe we can get some answers,” Daryn said.
The made their way through throngs of people all having a good time. No one seemed even the slightest bit suspicious of this place. Questions kept popping up, one after another. Were these all gods? Were they part of Zero Grade? Were they evil? Was this all normal for them?
They eventually made it to the park’s entrance, where the words “Wonder World” were suspended in big letters above the arch. “Let’s get the hell out of Wonder World,” Daryn said.
Upon leaving the park, they encountered another incredible sight: A City. And not just any city, either.
“Wow,” CiCi said.
“‘Wow’ doesn’t do it justice,” Jaysin said.
“Amazing,” Daryn added.
Spread out before them, not a hundred feet away, was a massive metropolis of steel and neon. It vaguely resembled Seraphim City, except it was obviously far more advanced technologically. Floating cars sped through the streets while every surface was alive with advertisements and other announcements. People milled about on their mobile devices as in every other city, but here said devices projected eerily realistic holograms.
“Knew Zero Grade’s technology was advanced, but—damn!” Jaysin exclaimed.
“Sure puts everything we’ve got to shame,” CiCi said.
“This is bad,” Daryn said, gritting his teeth. “If they’re this far ahead of us, they could invade us with ease. This is impossible.”
CiCi’s mouth hung open as she gawked at the city. “I know, right?”
But Daryn shook his head. “No, I mean it’s impossible. We shouldn’t have been able to win those battles against them on Narska. With this technology, and these numbers, they should have crushed us.”
“So why didn’t they?” Jaysin asked.
“There’s only one explanation that comes to mind,” Daryn replied.
CiCi looked at him. “What is it?”
Daryn sighed. “They weren’t serious about it. The battles, the Ultimus Points… they didn’t care about those. With the kind of power they possess up here, they don’t need the Ultimus Points. They could just invade us and be done with it.”
“Then why haven’t they?” CiCi said.
He theorized, “The battles, the TV messages, the grand displays. They wanted our attention. And they got it.”
“You think the whole thing was a diversion?” Jaysin said.
“I do. They wanted us focused on something other than their real agenda.”
“Which is?” CiCi said.
Daryn shrugged. “I have no idea. But it probably has something to do with the massive energy readings we picked up. Don’t forget what Ragnarok said: in all likelihood, something incredibly powerful is coming online.”
“We need to find out what that something is, mate.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Daryn said. “But first, we need to get the lay of the land. Find out where we are.”
They began walking down the streets through tightly-clustered buildings. Everywhere they looked, ads assaulted them, begging for attention.
Eventually, they came to some sort of information kiosk in front of a skyscraper. It displayed a map of the moon as a pie chart. Different slices represented different regions. But only the upper half contained slices; the lower half was a solid block which read “Classified.” Daryn pointed to a large wedge which read “You are here.”
“OK,” Daryn said. “Apparently, this city is called Lemnos. You can see other regions on this map, but this is the only one we need to be concerned with at the moment.”
“May I help you?” it suddenly said.
“Ragnarok again,” Jaysin observed.
“Must be a common voice around here,” CiCi added.
Daryn decided to respond to it. “Computer—Ragnarok—whatever—do you have the latest news?”
“Affirmative.”
“Good. Have there been any… I don’t know… disruptions on Olympus?”
“What kind of disruptions?”
“Well, I mean… have there been any attacks or intrusions within the past few hours?”
“Several news outlets are reporting a possible prison break in the Cratylus region, though nothing has been confirmed by the Flawless Few.”
They found the area on the map. It was on the other side of the hemisphere. “It’s a long ways from here,” Jaysin said.
“What can you tell me about the Cratylus region?” Daryn asked the AI.
“It is ostensibly under the control of Hades of the Flawless Few, though he usually leaves its care to subordinates.”
“Interesting,” Daryn said. “Is each region of the moon controlled by a different member of the Flawless Few?”
“Affirmative. Hades controls Cratylus, Athena controls Athens, Hephaestus controls Lemnos, Artemis controls Paximadia, and Zeus controls the core.”
“So there are only five of them?” Daryn asked.
“Affirmative.”
“Sounds manageable,” Jaysin joked.
Daryn looked at the center of the map where a massive bluish-white circle lay. “What’s this thing at the moon’s core? It looks important.”
“That is Ultimus Point Zero, the largest and most powerful Ultimus Point currently known.”
“Shit,” Daryn said. “The most powerful Ultimus Point, and the Flawless Few have it all to themselves.”
“Just keeps getting better and better,” Jaysin said.
Daryn then said to the AI, “Is Ultimus Point Zero currently being used for anything big. Say… to power a giant machine or something?”
“That information is classified.”
“Well, then—”
Daryn’s words were cut off by a sudden change on all the screens in the area. All at once, they switched to the image of a bronzed-skinned, shirtless man with exotic features. As they looked at him, though, it immediately became clear “exotic” was an understatement; the entire left half of his body and parts of his right were encased in a shimmering silver metal. His left eye was bionic and green, and his head seemed to ripple as if it were liquid. Silver veins bulged and undulated from his organic side, suggesting it perhaps wasn’t as organic as it appeared. Finally, he wore an electronic collar around his neck with a pulsing green center.
“What have we here?” he boomed. “Someone’s asking a lot of questions.
“But first thing’s first. I’m Hephaestus of the Flawless Few. You’re the ones who had the balls to attack us right where we live. You survived the destruction of your ship, got scattered, and are now making trouble across Olympus. Your friends staged the prison break at Eden, didn’t they?” He was obviously intrigued. “Warden Jane’s going to get it for that one, but never mind her. We have much to discuss.”
“What are you?” CiCi asked. Daryn wasn’t sure if he could even hear them.
Where Gods Dare (Divine Protector Book 4) Page 9
