by Alex Raizman
But she wasn’t a kid anymore.
“He’s the only family I have left,” Isabel said. “As scared as I am now, the reality is still infinitely better than everything horrible I was imagining. I need to know what’s going on.”
“Then make sure he stays in touch, but-”
“I can’t just sit around and wait for updates! And that isn’t just about Ryan. It’s freaking Armageddon here, and I’m not going to stay home and hope someone saves me. Not when I can do something, or at least be in the know. I’m not wired to sit on my hands and pray.”
“I get wanting to do something, but you’re out of your depth here, hon. There really isn’t anything you can do.”
Isabel snorted. “That’s like saying the Air Force doesn’t need pilots and lawyers don’t need paralegals. I’ve already been helpful. I’ve done the background on Moloch’s cult. I got the word out on how to handle the Sphinx. I’m picking up the slack on the things they don’t have time for, or don’t know how to do. I mean, this morning Athena asked me if I could ‘use the portable phone to consult with those who write their suspicions on the interwebs’. I think Ryan may be the only one who has more than a basic grasp of modern technology, and he’s a little bit busy.”
Jacqueline studied Isabel for a long moment and then nodded. “Fair enough. Just be careful, ok?”
“I will.”
“I’m not like you, though. This was a one-time thing for me. I guess it’s like relying on the fire department or the police...I’m all right with trusting the people who are more qualified. I just can’t believe Ryan is one of them. He’s a good guy, but he kind of chokes when he has to deal with the big things.”
“Not anymore,” Isabel said. “These days, he’s the type who charges headlong into the big things and chokes them into submission.”
Jacqueline laughed. “Ryan. Ryan became that type. Do you have any idea how weird that sounds?”
“Not half as weird as seeing it,” Isabel admitted.
“I bet,” Jacqueline said. “Kurt’s going to kill me, you know. He’s been freaking out ever since he recognized Ryan on TV. Said they’d eventually come for me because of the connection.”
“Well, at least he’ll get to be right.”
They laughed together, and Isabel felt glad that they’d had this time, and that Ryan had been able to talk to Jacqueline and explain things. The end of the world seemed like a good time to take care of unfinished business.
The door opened, and Horus strode in.
“What happened?” Isabel asked. “Did you catch them?”
“No. We can discuss it later. Jacqueline, it’s time to see you to safety. I also have your gold.”
“Wait...what?” Jacqueline sputtered. “You’re seriously giving me a chest of gold?”
“I gave you my word,” Horus snapped. “Did you doubt it?”
“Um...I guess not.”
“I would suggest converting it to trade goods soon,” he said in a more moderate tone. “Upheaval and uncertainty are coming, and in times of instability, goods are far more valuable than currency or precious metals.”
“That’s...good advice. Thank you.”
Isabel hugged Jacqueline tightly. “I’m glad I got to see you.”
“Me, too.” She glanced at Ryan, who was just beginning to stir. “Tell him I said goodbye, and...tell him I’m sorry he didn’t feel like he could tell me.”
“Will do. Take care of yourself.”
As soon as the door closed behind them, Isabel walked over to Ryan’s bed. “You can get up now. She’s gone.”
Ryan groaned. “I wasn’t trying to-”
“Avoid an uncomfortable conversation?” Isabel said brightly. “I know. You just managed to sleep through the uncomfortable conversation. You lucky bastard. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been stabbed, shot, cut, thrown through a window, set on fire, and beaten over the head with a baseball bat.”
“I know no one set you on fire, and I’m pretty sure baseball bats weren’t involved.”
“Well, it feels like someone did.” Ryan started to sit up and then slumped back down, groaning again.
“Yeah, you should just lay there for a bit,” Isabel said. “Also, the fact that you know what being set on fire feels like should probably be a bigger cause for alarm than you seem to think it is.”
“This is normal for me now. Give me a hand? I don’t want to keep laying here.”
Isabel rolled her eyes, but she knew that voice. When Ryan had his mind set on doing something stupid, the best option was to just help him do the stupid thing so he didn’t hurt himself more than absolutely necessary.
***
“And then the farmer said, ‘But that’s not my chicken’”, Anansi boomed, and the others, except Horus, burst into laughter.
The table was littered with sandwich wrappers and empty water bottles, evidence of tired gods rapidly filling their physical Hungers, and Anansi’s insistence on telling jokes while they ate had done wonders for their Social needs.
“Are we finished, then?” Horus asked. Without waiting for an answer, he went to the whiteboard standing incongruously between two pillars.
“Sure, why not?” Ryan said, before he could stop himself.
“The operation was a success,” Horus declared.
“After a fashion,” Dianmu said. “They escaped.”
“Don’t assume that an incomplete victory is a defeat,” Horus said, picking up a marker and beginning to write. “Fact: We deployed superior tactics and successfully exploited our enemy’s weakness. Fact: We reduced the opposition by 25%. Fact: They have suffered their third operational failure with no balancing success.”
Athena nodded. “Correct. This was obviously a victory for us.”
“Obvious to the war gods, I suppose,” said Dianmu.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Horus said. Judging by his tone, he had meant the patronizing statement as a compliment. “Their commanders will keep them out of action for some time, unless they perceive an inarguable need, while they reconsider their strategy. In other words, they will not trouble us for a while. That was the primary objective, and it was achieved. Even Ryan getting his ass kicked didn’t prevent success.”
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Did you just miss a chance to blame me?”
“You comported yourself well in the fight, Ryan. I’m an ass, but I don’t deny the evidence of my eyes.”
“Uh...thanks.” Horus being nice was like a lion laying down and purring: far more concerning than friendly.
“And now,” Athena said, leaning forward, “we need to concentrate on Moloch. We can’t keep playing catch up with him.”
“Who are we playing with?” Everyone turned at the sound of Crystal’s voice. “You all look a right bloody mess. Do the other guys look worse?”
“Crystal!” Ryan exclaimed. “Are you all right? What happened?”
“I’m right as rain, love, and everything’s tip top. I’ll catch you up later because it’s a hell of a story and I was bloody marvelous, but don’t let me distract you now. Where were we?”
“I was just saying that it’s time to go after Moloch.”
“No rest for the wicked, eh?” Crystal said. “Do we have a line on the wanker yet?”
Isabel cleared her throat. “I scoured the net while you all were fighting Panini goblins…”
“Penanggalan,” Athena supplied.
“Right, those. I didn’t mention it before because we got a bit wrapped up with the whole ‘evil killer super-soldiers’ thing, but I did manage to find his little cult’s bible. It’s a bunch of nihilistic bullshit wrapped up with astrology and vague, bastardized versions of Eastern mythology, Wicca for dummies, and, I swear, some stuff cribbed from Dungeons & Dragons. Just a watered-down mess designed to appeal to former uncommitted theists and atheists who suddenly can’t ignore that gods do exist. I think it’s really aimed at people who used to get their lunch money stolen.”
Anansi sighed. “Good to know, but unfortunately it doesn’t give us much to work with. Perhaps it would be best to focus on an alternate tactic. What does Moloch want?”
“Power,” Athena supplied.
“Death,” Crystal added.
“Monsters,” Horus said darkly.
“An oral hygienist,” Dianmu said.
Ryan was glad they were able to joke. After everything that happened, it would have been completely overwhelming to jump straight into a grim-faced discussion of tactics. “Probably more the first and third than the others,” he added.
Anansi laughed. “Likely, yes. I think the stolen nanoverses are the key. We all agree it’s unlikely he’s going to risk merging them, yes?” Nods all around. “Well then. If you weren’t going to merge them or destroy them, what would you do with a dozen nanoverses?”
“Hold them for ransom,” Horus said promptly. “Force the pantheon to bend to your will to avoid their own destruction.”
“Possibly,” Anansi said, “but that doesn’t sound like Moloch.”
“Monsters,” Athena said firmly. “It must be that he’s planning to make monsters. Just like he did to Týr.”
Isabel raised her hand. “Question: how long does it take to make a monster out of a nanoverse?”
“For most of us it would take days,” Crystal said. “For Moloch...probably only hours, or even less.”
“And he would want as many as possible, right? No matter what he’s doing with the nanoverses, it would be better if he had more?”
“I…suppose so,” Athena said slowly.
“Then let’s stop thinking about what and start thinking when. How long does Moloch have before the gods he killed off resurrect and come looking for revenge?”
“Probably about five days at this point. Maybe six.” Horus cocked his head. “Where are you going with this?”
“He needs to do whatever he’s going to do with the nanoverses before the gods resurrect, so he’s going to get started in three or four days. In the meantime, why not assume he’s going to try to collect as many as possible? Why stop at a dozen when he can have two dozen? Or three or four? If he can scoop up a bunch of nanoverses quickly, he’d still have time to enact his evil plan. So where would he go to find a bunch of gods in one place?”
“Tartarus,” Athena whispered. “My entire family is gathered in Tartarus.”
“We don’t know that,” Ryan said, and Crystal nodded encouragingly.
“It makes sense,” Horus said. “Thanks to his infernal portals, Moloch is the only one who can bypass the labyrinth. Anyone else will need days to catch up with him, and he already has a head start. Not only will it give him the chance to collect more nanoverses, but he’ll have a relatively safe place to create his monsters or do whatever it is he’s planning. Even if the Olympians aren't there, Moloch will follow the trail, same as us.”
Athena’s face was a mask of emotions too thick for Ryan to even begin to parse.
“We have to go to Tartarus,” Dianmu said firmly.
Ryan nodded. “So let’s get ready.”
Epilogue
Or for the Wicked
The bloody handprint next to the air pad door confirmed everything Roger Evans had been thinking since he’d had to use his emergency lockdown override code to get into the base. The empty perimeter corridors, their inability to get anyone on coms, and the faint traces of some kind of strange smoke had really been enough, but the presence of this horror movie trope in real life was irrefutable. It said, without a doubt, “Everything went to shit here, and we’re all dead.”
“I think it’s just going to get uglier from here,” he whispered. “Keep your eyes peeled.”
There were handprints along the floor, too, moving away from the keypad. In many spots, they weren’t just single prints, but long streaks that told a story of a man scrabbling desperately for purchase as he was dragged along the ground. A couple of fingernails, violently torn free, were stuck in a gap in the tile.
“Whoever this was, he died hard,” Evans said.
They followed the grisly trail around a corner and found Jason, one of the men who had been chosen for the next phase of the Myrmidon project, slumped against the wall in a pool of blood. The poor bastard had never even gotten his harness.
“God,” Munoz whispered. “What the fuck happened to him?”
Palmer leaned forward and examined the ruin of the man’s chest. “I think his heart’s gone. The wound is messy as hell...it looks like something just tore into him.”
“Bast,” Evans growled with a certainty that settled into his bones. “The Subject got free.”
Munoz nodded, her face set in grim lines. “She got the Sphere, too,” she said, sounding every bit as confident as Evans felt.
Evans checked his power gage. Still less than ten percent. “She must have,” he agreed. “And she’s using it. That’s why we’re charging so slowly.”
“No shit.”
“So what are going to do?” Palmer asked.
“We need to find Bast,” Evans said. “We take her down, and then get medivacs for the surviv-”
“How?” Munoz hissed, her face tight with sudden fear. “We’ve had full power for three engagements, and we failed, remember? Now we’re talking about an enemy who knows our weapons better than we do and has pretty much taken them away from us. Palmer’s still bleeding, you’re limping, I can’t see out of one eye, and we’re a man down!”
An image of Hector rose, unbidden, in Evans’s mind. He pushed it aside. Mourn later, he told himself. Finally, he said, “We have to take her by surprise. End it before she has time to react.”
Munoz snorted. “How the hell are we going to pull that off? Look at what she’s doing!” She gestured to Jason’s ruined torso. “She ripped his goddamn heart out, and you want to catch her by surprise?”
“We have to get the Sphere back,” Palmer said. He checked his power gauge. It had gone up another percent. “We’ve still got a little bit of a connection to it. If we can get our hands on it…”
“For the third damn time, how?” Munoz snapped. She was looking at Palmer, but Evans had no doubt the question was directed at him. “We’ve got almost nothing left, and you want to go after a psycho who did this? What we need to do is hope to God she’s already gone, and then get the hell out of here ourselves.”
Evans held up a hand to silence them. “You’re right. We can’t win. We can’t beat her. Not as weak as we are, not without more power.”
Munoz let out a relieved sigh. “Glad you agree.”
“And I think she is gone,” Evans continued. “Otherwise, I think she would have found us by now.”
Palmer’s forehead furrowed. “So what? We stick our thumbs up our asses and wait for reinforcements and new orders?”
“No,” Evans said. “You’re right that we need the Sphere, and when we’ve recharged and had time to plan, I think we can get it. Command will just get in our way. We need to be out of here before anyone else shows up, and that means a quick sweep of the base for anything useful. Including the failsafe.”
“You want to steal the failsafe,” Munoz said, her voice flat. “You want to steal a one-megaton nuclear warhead.”
Evans nodded. “It’s the only option. The ultimate trump card. No one is going to screw with three super-soldiers carrying a goddamn nuke. Including Bast.”
Munoz pursed her lips. “We do this, we’ve gone rogue. It doesn’t matter what answer we give them, it doesn’t matter how we explain it. We steal a nuke and go AWOL, they’re going to hunt us down.”
“You have a problem with that, Munoz?” Evans asked. This was it. The moment of truth. “With everything we can do...you want to be taking orders from ordinary people for the rest of however long we’ll live?”
“I…” Munoz considered. R&D hadn’t known how long they’d live. It could be an average human lifespan, or it could be centuries. They could be as immortal as gods.
“Fuck it,” she sai
d. “Yeah. I’m in.”
“Andrew?” Evans asked, looking at the big man.
Palmer closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m with you two,” he said. “Period. If you say stay, we stay. If you say we go, let’s make sure we can pull it off.”
Evans and Munoz shared a look. It wasn’t a surprise. Andrew liked following orders. Of course he’d chose to follow the two people on the planet who were his actual equals.
“Then move out,” Evans said. “We have work to do.”
A Note from Alex
Thank you so much for reading Strange Cosmology. If you enjoyed the book, I would appreciate an honest review at your favorite online retail or book review site. Reader reviews are critical for a first-time author, and if you would take a few minutes to write one that would be amazing.
Be sure to sign up for my email list to receive a free prequel story starring Crystal, updates and exclusive content! You can also visit my blog online at www.alexraizman.com.
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Acknowledgements
Even more than Weird Theology, Strange Cosmology was a herculean effort. I’m so happy with how this book has turned out, but I never would have gotten here without the support from several people. First of all, as with last time, a ton of credit must be given to Laura Beamer, my dearest friend and long-suffering editor. I thought she was tolerant during Weird Theology, but she needed – and had – the patience of a saint with Strange Cosmology. This book would not exist without her, no questions asked
Second of all some particular Reddit users are owed particular thanks. Funique has been providing me a ton of line edits on the first draft, taking a huge burden of dealing with my typos off my editor. SilverPheonix41 has been a huge aid in making sure the table of contents for the reddit is up to date and accurate, which is great because I’m terrible at keeping track. Inorai was an immense help in lettering the cover art and was amazing for me to bounce ideas off, and all the people on the redditserials who have listened to me gripe about the process.
