Yet it befits the victor to be gracious: Though your life is forfeit seven times seven times, you shall be granted life.
It is my decree that you shall be banished from Egypt and all realms who claim us as friend and that in all that land you shall be as the vermin who destroy the grain, to be killed by whosoever finds you there without recourse.
As to the rule of Egypt, Isis and I have decided to retire. My son Horus has proven a stout defender of Egypt and her people, and refused to give up, even when support was weak. I nominate Horus as ruler of all Egypt.
If there are no other nominations let the council cast its vote. ”
After a short consultation the leader of the elders spoke: “Lord Osiris, although it grieves our hearts to take leave of you and your Queen, we will concede to your will. We know the Lord Horus, and he has many times demonstrated his love for his people and his sense of honesty and righteousness. Therefore we will submit to his rule and swear loyalty to him in the name of our people.”
Then Thoth arose. “Osiris, Isis and elders of Egypt, we accept on behalf of our king your decision, and confirm Horus as king of all Egypt. May your rule be long and filled with wisdom and prosperity!”
Then they went apart each to their appointed place. And Isis and Osiris travelled far away to where a new civilisation was growing, waiting to be nurtured and cultivated, till it too could bear fruit in its time.
Chapter 4
Greater Zimbabwe – Southern Africa, 31st July 2035
Some eighteen hours after Diana’s phone call, a Hercules with Smithsonian institute markings landed on the small airstrip. This had been set up especially to allow specialized equipment to be flown in for the dig.
Now it had a much more critical function.
Tina van Renslaer, director ancient studies at the Smithsonian Institute looked out over the parched southern African savannah at the mission camp. She thought about Dianna’s cryptical message.
“I wonder why she insisted on my presence?
No one has invoked a code 5 emergency in over a hundred years – as a matter of fact, not since the debacle with king Tutankamun’s tomb. How I wish we had someone like her on that dig.
I must admit that our association with the Smithsonian and the National Geographical Society has made life a lot easier in that regard.
Even independent digs are quite happy to give up some autonomy to gain access to our funding and organizational services.
Whatever the problem is, it could not be trivial – Di is the last person in the world to go off half-cocked.
I just hope we are In time, and the problem is not too lethal for us to handle.
I was looking forward to using Michael’s skills to ensure that the new project goes smoothly. . I really hope the situation is not as bad as Dianna seems to suspect.”
She spoke into the microphone as the plane taxied to a stop: “Flight crew, please secure all systems. Task force one, prepare to move out – secure the facilities as instructed. All other personnel prepare to move as soon as premises are secure.”
She flipped a switch on her communications console. “Smithsonian dig, great Zimbabwe, Dianna, this is Smithsonian flight 143 requesting clearance, code five red.
Dianna’s voice crackled over the radio: “Smithsonian flight 143, I have cleared you with Zimbabwe customs; the situation here is stable clearance code 5 red, full medical precautions for non immune personnel.”
A quiet mental voice took over in private mode: “Tina I am so happy that you are here. I have been worrying every minute.
We have sealed the godstone as securely as possible with our resources allowed, but I will be glad to hand it over to the enforcers until we can move it to a safe facility. I would hate for Ares and his minions to get access to an original live godstone fragment.
I’ve also been worrying about my friends. I am afraid we need you more than anything.”
“Surely getting some of our healers here will be sufficient” Tina replied.
“I’m sure they can handle most diseases, but no one has as much experience with the godstone plague as you do. I wish dad could be here as well. I want these people to get well!”
“Don’t worry my dear, we will do our best. I see the containment team is in place, I will be moving in now with the medical team.”
As Tina descended from the plane, Dianna came forward to meet her. A little behind her followed her four friends somewhat diffidently.
“Welcome, Tina, to great Zimbabwe. May I introduce you to some very special friends of mine?”
“Michael, Marianne, Joseph and David I am very happy to make your acquaintance. I am sorry that it has to be under rather trying circumstances.
I hope that we can bring you all through this safely.
The first thing is to establish whether Dianna’s fears are true.
Have any of you noticed any strange symptoms?”
“I have noticed a slight rash on my wrists.” Marianne observed.
“I have been feeling a little disoriented.” added David.
“What about you two?”
“I haven’t noticed anything yet, Tina. I am watching for anything unusual.” Michael replied.
Joseph held out his wrists. “I’m afraid I have the same rash as Marianne.”
Tina nodded. “At least three of you have symptoms already. Michael, you have not yet started, which probably means you have a higher resistance than the others. We will chat more about what you can do while you are waiting, but in the meantime I must start treatment of your friends. Will you three please come with me to the medics’ tent?”
Dianna touched Michaels arm. “I think you and I need to have a bit of a chat while they are busy.”
“I think you are right Dianna.”
They walked off together. They ended up in the temple, where the enforcers and seekers were already combing the room for any additional surprises.
“You were not as surprised as the others were Michael.” Dianna stated. “As a matter of fact, I think you actually seemed to be expecting something of this kind.”
“You are correct Dianna. The fact is, today was not the first time I have seen a plaque like this one. When we discovered the India site, I for some reason removed the plaque and never told anyone – not even Marianne.
I have been studying it since then, and had reached some provisional theories. When you mentioned the godstone however, it fully crystallized my ideas.
What I don’t understand is how you fit in.”
“We’ll come to that in a minute, but please explain to me what you think the meaning of the plaque is.”
“The plaque warns of the godstone. It infers that whoever touches it will become extremely sick, possibly fall into a coma, and return to become a god. It also implies eternal life?”
Dianna was silent for a few minutes. “I think you have already got the basics correct. We don’t know about the eternal life part yet, but some of us have lived a significant number of years.”
“What do you mean by a significant number of years?”
“Well, how old do you think Tina is?”
“You know a gentleman never inquires about a ladies age!”
“That’s very funny Michael, but I am serious!”
“Ok, Ok. I would say she is in her late twenties.”
“That’s a very good guess, Michael, except that you are out by about twenty thousand years.”
“You have got to be joking!”
“Unfortunately not. She was one of the first victims of the godstone.
She was the herb woman of the tribe of Awaki the wanderer, who discovered the godstone after seeing it fall from the sky.
She managed to save forty five of the original tribe, including herself.
She was also involved with identifying and training the new powers that the godstone granted.
Over the years the original tribe grew until it was ripped asunder by differences between the victims, as well as the machinat
ions of the Adversary.
In all the time, including through the great flood, they grew and kept on studying and improving – at least some of them.”
“You spoke of her as your mother? But you seem to be almost the same age.”
“Oh I am quite a bit younger. Remember that the plague seems to freeze you at your current age.”
“Exactly how much younger are you?”
“Well. Dianna is actually my original name, and my mother was known as Athena in our homeland.”
“Are you saying you were born in ancient Greece?”
“Yes, approximately 600 BC. The Olympus colony was one of our most successful ventures for a long time. The Greeks took to culture very well, although the Arabs were better scientists.
The first exploratory ship for the stars left soon after we finished the great pyramid approximately twelve thousand years before Christ.
Soon after the Romans started losing their faith in us, the first exploratory mission returned from the Isis system. We picked up whole tribes of believers to start the colonization, who were accompanied by a large number of us.
Some of us had to remain behind to monitor the adversary and his minions, and try to contain their influence on our home world.
Fortunately they have lagged behind us in spaceship development, but we believe that they have finally caught up, and are preparing to colonize a world of their own, somewhere in the Sirius sector.
Unfortunately they have a completely different set of ethics o us. Whereas our colonists knew exactly what was going on, they intend to forcibly grab large chunks of population.”
“Look, I appreciate the big picture, but a number of lesser issues are puzzling me.
From your narrative I conclude that you have children.
Do you only marry among yourself or do you also marry normals?”
“We marry between ourselves as well as non-eternals. Most marriages last until one or both partners decide they need a change.
The biggest problem with marrying a mortal, is watching him age while you stand still. We have been working for years on better make-up and hair dyes to enable us to keep up appearances.”
“What was this temple for?”
“We had a number of temples around the world. The outer temple usually did not have a godstone in it. The godstone would be in the inner temple in a sealed jar. It was only put in the central pedestal when we wished to recruit new members.
They would be initiated as priests, and if their character was suitable, we would have a ceremony where they would be exposed to the godstone. If they survived they would join us.”
“What is the danger of the godstone? You seemed to be very scared.”
“The danger was a lot worse in the past. We have learned a lot about keeping the victims alive. And with Athena on hand, your chances are actually quite good.
Our biggest danger was actually if the enemy had learned of our find. One of the major differences between us and them is that they do not believe in treating the victims, since they believe that you have to beat the disease yourself.
They would give their eyeteeth to capture the four of you as well as the godstone. That is why the enforcers are here.”
“What are these enforcers you keep talking about?”
“They are powerful telekinetics with a fair amount of telepathy. Their strongest skill however is in detecting and blocking enemy attacks or spying via telepathy. The two with the red armbands are also adept at blocking teleportation.”
“What are the other people doing?”
“They are seekers. They are trying to find the inner temple entrance, to see if they had more godstone. There is also sometimes some art and craftwork kept over the ages. In a case like this it could help us identify the timeframe in which the temple operated.”
“Oh, is that what you are looking for? The lock mechanism is under the third, seventh and eleventh jars anticlockwise from the door. Move the jars back and step on the tiles in that order.”
Dianna looked at him strangely.” Try it his way!” she instructed one of the seekers.
The seekers moved immediately. As they completed the sequence the central plinth lifted and moved aside exposing stairs leading downward.
“Now how did you know that?” Dianna inquired suspiciously.
“My plaque had a lot more on it than the one we found here. It had a full set of instructions to open the inner temple in proto-cuneiform on the back.”
“Surely it couldn’t have been that clear. It would have been a sin to write that down.”
“No, it wasn’t very clear. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if was written by the originator of the Sumerian literary style.
If I remember the text correctly it was something like this: He who would tread the path to the god, must pass the three pillars of truth, going back, seven steps till perfection completes the journey.”
“That doesn’t make any sense to me” Dianna protested.
“I don’t think this would make sense if I had not seen similar riddles in Sumerian literature. As a matter of fact it didn’t make sense until you gave me the background in this room. Then it just fell into place.”
“Well you sure handed us a surprise. And did us a big favor.”
“Do you need the godstone so badly?”
“We don’t, but the adversary does. When they split from us, it was because of the way they wanted to use the godstone. We were strong enough to stop them from taking a significant amount of the stone. That is why they would do almost anything to get hold of that which is stored here.”
“You should probably get someone to check the India site as well; it may hold some additional surprises.”
Dianna noticed that Michael was starting to squint, so she led him to the cabin where Tina had set up a field hospital to start treatment of the four victims.
Greater Zimbabwe – Southern Africa, 10th August 2035
Tina looked down at the four people lying in the field hospital. Their symptoms were typical of the victims of the godstone: high fever, the rash on the wrists and back, the coma.
Her mind went back over the many times she has sat thus, guarding the victims, and applying medication to help them break through.
Back in the beginning this was the worst time, wondering if they would die or recover, or even worse survive the ordeal, but lose their minds.
Over the years they had improved their methods of treatment, but she still preferred the herbal equivalents to some of the harsh synthesized products available today.
“I suppose I am just old fashioned!” she thought to herself. “But I have a right to be – few others have had as long to study the subject.”
She moistened the lips of the patients. She preferred standing the early morning watch herself, before anyone else was around. That gave her the opportunity to evaluate the patients a lot more thoroughly.
Strange that Michael, who had been last to submit to the illness, should be the first to reach crisis and start healing.
As Gods Above Page 10
