‘There is far greater sport here, in the land of the living.’ Nergal motioned to the bodies on the floor. ‘There are still several of them missing, and I want them found! Search the science labs,’ he advised the guards, who doubled their speed to exit the room and respond to the order. ‘This has been grand target practice for our forces,’ Nergal gave Anu credit for the strategy.
Rhun ducked back behind the throne not wanting to tempt fate, yet at the same time resenting that his brothers had been used for sport. Jaz, in the form of Gadriel, was not looking too pleased either.
‘You go,’ Rhun mouthed the words.
His companion gave him a nod, and vanished.
‘Well, I wouldn’t wish to keep you from your entertainment.’ Anu ended the meeting.
‘It was a good idea to let them split up,’ Nergal commented on his way out. ‘Easier to catch off-guard in small groups, whilst maximising the training potential.’
As the large door to the chamber closed behind Nergal, Rhun frowned, wondering whose side Anu was on. Rhun had already got the answer he’d come looking for, so perhaps he shouldn’t risk making contact with Telmo, whose consciousness was hopefully residing in Anu.
‘I’m on the side of history,’ Anu said as he came round the back of the throne and found Rhun. ‘We both know the Grigori end up in cryogen, never to be revived, or how would you be here? Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t solve our little problem before that happens.’
‘Ereshkigal has kidnapped Armaros and taken him to the Underworld,’ Rhun outlined their little hiccup.
Anu raised both eyebrows, seeming almost pleasantly surprised. ‘And Nergal will stop at nothing to hunt the Grigori down.’ He smiled in conclusion: ‘There seems to be an opportunity here for everyone to achieve what they desire.’
From behind the rows of hanging sacs of developing humans, Zeven and Leal observed the main lab of Ninharsag beyond the large glass windows that divided the two areas. The Nefilim scientist was in the process of moving their still-contained, unconscious commander out of her bio-containment room, and her little grey friends were replacing the incubator Azazèl was occupying with another empty incubator.
‘Perhaps the infection of the reptilians was not a last resort, but a foregone conclusion?’ Zeven commented to his companion.
‘Of course it is.’
A third person answered and startled the Grigori to an about-face to find Enki. ‘Once we infect one of reptilians we have engineered, the royal strain of reptilians of Alpha Dranconis will no longer wish to claim them as part of their group consciousness, and will want them as far away as possible to avoid risk of infection,’ the Nefilim lord explained. ‘Thus our workforce on Ki shall be secured, and we will move the genetic breeding program there permanently, without fear of invasion.’
Ki was another word for Earth, which Enki had been given governance of. Zeven shook his head at their forethought and their distinct lack of regard for all involved. ‘Well, your reptilians, besides being smart, are very aggressive. When they rebel they will release their diseased kindred and infect their entire brood on Ki with the most evil minded, blood-lusting creature that ever inhabited the dark universe … even its creators feared it!’
Enki frowned in light of the information. ‘Can you see the future?
‘I’ve been there,’ Zeven advised, and Enki was truly aghast. ‘We’re here to prevent that disaster from happening.’
‘My human sons shall truly be a wonder,’ the Nefilim lord was excited by the prospect of their coming into being.
‘Yes, we know,’ Zeven emphasised, ‘we were them! Infused with greatness further along in our human evolution by your Nefilim son, Marduk.’
‘I will have a Nefilim son!’ Enki was fit to explode with excitement.
‘Provided you stay in the favour of Tiamat.’ Zeven got the conversation back on track. ‘The creatrix knows this virus is not of this universe, and that it is going to cause everyone grief. So we have been charged with finding a way to return it to the dark universe.’
‘There is a portal that leads to the lesser universe from the Underworld, so I am told,’ Enki advised, ‘but getting into the realm of the dead without dying is tricky.’
‘One would have to be invited?’ Zeven posed, and Enki nodded to concur. ‘Ereshkigal is your twin sister, don’t you have some influence with her?’
‘I do not see very much of her since she chose the Underworld over the outer world,’ Enki advised. ‘I am not as adventurous you see, and have never longed to delve into the deepest depths of the creation where Kur and the Dark Guardians abide.’
‘She actually chose to be Queen of the Dead?’ Leal concluded.
‘Oh yes, she loves all things unknown, no matter how dark, ugly or painful,’ Enki said.
‘Fabulous,’ Leal commented, not liking the sound of that.
‘First things first,’ Zeven looked back to the lab of Ninharsag. ‘We need to deal with your older sister.’
‘She’s not dangerous,’ Enki stepped out into the walkway. ‘She is Tiamat’s greatest advocate, as their work goes hand in hand.’ He encouraged them to follow him in taking the direct approach.
‘Could be a trap,’ Leal uttered his view quietly aside to Zeven.
‘It isn’t,’ Enki turned back to assure them. ‘Your friend Armaros encouraged me to lose my tranquillising device in the garden.’
‘And who gave you that device?’ Zeven probed, although they’d gone too far to abandon their course of action — Enki triggered the doors of the lab that opened to allow them entry.
‘It will be fine,’ the lord sidestepped the question.
‘You’re here.’ Ninharsag had obviously expected her brother to arrive with several sedated Grigori, not two conscious ones, and she quickly closed the metal sheath on the window of the incubator containing their commander. ‘Your commander will need time to recover,’ she said, standing to address them.
‘He certainly will …’ Zeven commented with a laugh. ‘Since you have returned him to cryogen and are planning to use his soul, along with the rest of the Grigori to spawn the next generation of breeding humans.’
Ninharsag was mortified, and looked to her brother accusingly.
‘I said nothing!’ Enki was surprised by just how well informed the Grigori were. ‘They are time walkers.’
‘Timekeepers,’ Leal corrected.
‘Look,’ Zeven honed in on Ninharsag, ‘we are not here to stop your research and development, we are here to save it from a noxious threat.’
‘The virus,’ she assumed.
Zeven nodded. ‘It will not be the solution you hope. It will escape and serve the Nefilim a formidable rebellion on Ki. It must be sent back to where it belongs.’
‘And the Grigori will all volunteer their souls to my research?’ Ninharsag asked.
‘More than willingly.’ Zeven avowed. ‘You have the word of Sammael.’ He motioned to himself and her sights shifted to his Grigori companion to see if this resolve was unanimous.
‘Affirmative,’ Leal assured her, ‘I like having genitals.’
Zeven elbowed his companion for the unnecessary wit.
Ninharsag considered the situation a moment, and then, passing her hand over a metal plate on her desk, she opened the outer door to bio-containment. ‘It’s in there,’ she invited them to go help themselves.
‘I trust it is still frozen?’ Zeven queried before investigating.
‘Of course,’ she replied.
With a nod of thanks, Zeven headed towards the open door, quietly considering that the Nefilim scientist had given up her new and powerful virus rather more easily than expected.
Leal followed Zeven then hesitated, as his telepathic mind picked up on a thought. ‘She’s lying —’
The trigger action of a weapon firing was heard behind them.
Zeven turned, expecting to be hit before he’d fully done so, but instead he found a dart poised in mid-air, and watched it drop to th
e floor.
‘Not subject!’ stressed all of Ninharsag’s little grey helpers at once, as they pointed to Zeven. Leal picked up on the thought of the Greys and conveyed it to Zeven who was appearing very annoyed.
‘Yes, very good,’ Zeven acknowledged his unexpected allies, who were acting out of efficiency rather than favouritism. ‘Not subject!’ Zeven looked back to their superior. ‘That was a rather foolish play, considering you have no idea what I am capable of.’
‘Give me that!’ Enki grabbed the device off his sister. ‘You’re going to ruin everything! Did you not hear what they said?’
Ninharsag glared at her little brother, as if he was the idiot. ‘I do what the Pantheon tells me, or they stop my research altogether.’
‘And lose all the slave labour you provide them with?’ Zeven queried. ‘Not bloody likely! What will stop your research is if this virus leads the reptilians of Ki on the warpath. Release his mind-eater into a soul-group like the reptilians have and you effectively make this menace immortal! And don’t think it will kill them all off eventually. It won’t, it’s smart. It will take your lab and start producing its own food supply! You fear your civilisation on Ki will be invaded by the reptilians of Alpha Dranconis, but believe me, you are about to create a far bigger threat to all the inhabitants there, that is a lot closer to home.’
Ninharsag was expressionless, as she considered her next move.
‘She knows the Lord of War will be here at any moment with the bodies of the Grigori that his forces have collected,’ Leal was disturbed by his telepathic insight into the mind of Ninharsag. ‘They’re to be cryogenically frozen indefinitely.’
‘Yes, we know that,’ Zeven reminded Leal who was looking distressed. ‘How else do you think we become human?’
‘But what if they knock us out before we return to AMIE?’ Leal stressed quietly to him. ‘We’ll have to live through our entire evolution through two universal schemes, again! We’ll never awaken in the reality we left, and if that happens before we deal with this virus —’
‘Taren might be left to deal with a very dark future on her own,’ Zeven freaked.
‘If we don’t wipe that entire timeline from existence altogether, and the Taren we knew, right along with it,’ Leal ventured.
Zeven really didn’t appreciate his theory as the timekeepers could theoretically cease to be. ‘We’d lose what little grip we have on all these timelines.’
‘We have a couple of problems,’ Jazmay announced upon arriving in the guise of Gadriel.
‘We certainly do.’ Leal pointed to the glass windows of the lab, to where Nefilim guards were entering the incubation room beyond.
‘Yep, that’s one of them,’ Jaz confirmed.
‘Ah, for pity’s sake,’ Zeven complained.
‘Ereshkigal has stolen Armaros away to the Underworld,’ Jazmay gave her report regardless. ‘And we have been unable to pursue him. He’ll be trapped there if we don’t find a way to get him out.’
‘Time out!’ Zeven called it; the guards running towards them all froze.
‘Good call,’ Leal awarded, breathing a sigh of relief, as the two Nefilim in their company gasped.
‘You are powerful.’ Enki emphasised how impressed he was.
‘Tiamat tried the subtle approach to dealing with the Nefilim once before,’ Zeven informed them. ‘This time she is not going to take no for an answer.’
‘Not even Tiamat holds sway over the Underworld,’ Ninharsag informed.
‘That is very true,’ Anu spoke up to announce his arrival on the scene, and Rhun was with him in the guise of Penemue.
‘There has to be a way to get to the Underworld without dying …’ Zeven was frustrated that he was being forced to follow a path that he really didn’t wish to tread. ‘Ereshkigal is still alive.’
‘Nergal is the only other Nefilim to ever gain access to the Underworld and return unscathed.’ Enki motioned to the approaching warlord, who eyed over his motionless troops as he passed them.
‘Then I guess we want to speak with him.’ Zeven willed the warlord’s weaponry to materialise in his possession, and when the said paraphernalia appeared in his hands, he passed the haul to Leal, as Nergal entered the laboratory proper, fuming.
‘This is high treason!’ the young Nefilim lord protested in a loud booming voice, and all the conscious creatures in containment in the lab were disturbed by his hostile presence — except for the reptilian, which was watching the proceedings very intently.
‘No, this is a think tank,’ Zeven explained. ‘We have a little problem to correct before we will willingly submit to the Pantheon’s ruling to contain us.’
‘Your agenda is of no concern to us!’ Nergal came forward to reclaim his weaponry, and Leal ducked behind Zeven, who froze the Nefilim warlord’s feet with a thought. As Nergal nearly fell over, the restraint made him even more furious. ‘You are going to die, sub-creature.’
‘No one is going to die,’ Anu announced to make his will clear on that front.
‘You may be our elder,’ Nergal looked to Anu, ‘but you do not have the authority to take liberties with a Pantheon ruling!’
‘I have not taken any liberty with the Pantheon ruling on the Grigori.’ Anu pleaded innocent. ‘The Grigori have submitted, but there has been a complication that we need their help with, if you would just listen.’
‘No beings in their right minds would assist with their own incarceration!’ Nergal’s voice was strained with impatience.
‘Who said we were in our right minds?’ Jazmay pointed out.
‘Yeah,’ Leal agreed, ‘we just don’t like it here very much.’
‘What kind of an idiot do you take me for?’ the warlord snarled.
‘The regular kind,’ Zeven proffered, and regained Nergal’s full attention. ‘So you will be happy to leave one of us at large, will you?’
Nergal teetered in his stance and regained his balance to inform. ‘Over my dead body!’
‘That’s what I thought,’ Zeven concluded — the warlord obviously had charge of rounding them up. ‘Ereshkigal has absconded with one of my brothers and taken him to the Underworld.’
‘Then I shall go there and fetch him back myself!’ the Nefilim snarled. ‘I don’t need you for that.’
Zeven folded his arms in challenge, as Rhun stepped forward to add his two cents to the argument. ‘Um … I think you will find that Ereshkigal will not be so eager to invite you down, now that she has a new distraction. Our brother is very attractive to women, you see.’
Nergal growled at the implication — he may not have been able to express love but his adversity to Rhun’s suggestion was pretty damn clear.
‘We Grigori possess the only other thing that Ereshkigal desires in this world,’ Rhun outlined. ‘So if you want to succeed in your commission to deliver us all to cryogen, then I’m afraid you do need our assistance for bargaining power.’
‘I close my case,’ Anu concluded his argument with Nergal also. ‘No need to have a meeting. Our problems can be sorted quite amicably.’
‘They must be getting something for their cooperation?’ Nergal was wary.
‘Oh, we are,’ Zeven assured him. ‘I have something I need to toss into Ereshkigal’s garbage chute to the dark universe, that is all.’
‘Not the virus.’ Nergal objected.
‘Yes, the virus,’ Zeven insisted, extending the lord’s immobility from his feet to his neck. ‘And if you don’t like that, we can just leave you here and we’ll take our chances dealing with Ereshkigal by ourselves.’
‘Although word has it you don’t have an arsehole,’ Nergal gritted his teeth, ‘it can be arranged, and I’m going to ensure you go into cryogen with a pole shoved —’
‘I’m here to ensure that does not happen.’ Anu discredited the warlord’s vow.
‘Wait until the Pantheon hears of this!’ Nergal turned his furious sights to Anu.
‘They will hear how you allowed the Grigori to run ramp
ant, and I was forced to step in and deal with the situation?’ Anu suggested an alternative view. ‘I think Ninharsag and Enki will both back me up on that account?’
Nergal looked to his older kindred who nodded to concur.
‘So we can just keep this incident to ourselves and handle it quietly, or not.’ Anu put the option to Nergal.
‘You had better hope you can trust these mutants of yours,’ Nergal warned, ‘or all your heads will be on the chopping block, not mine. The council are not going to like that you have not administered the virus to the reptilian as decided.’
‘They will never know,’ Anu assured Nergal rather forcefully, as he gripped both sides of the warlord’s head to stare into his eyes. ‘From this moment forth you are just going to ignore anything pertaining to that virus.’
‘I will,’ said Nergal, suddenly passive.
‘As far as you know the virus was administered to the reptilian that we will place in cryogen,’ Anu dictated.
‘Yes,’ Nergal agreed.
‘You will cooperate fully with this mission, and despite any desire you might have to betray these Grigori, you will do nothing that will jeopardise their wellbeing or their agenda. Is that understood?’
‘It is.’ Nergal submitted completely.
‘Now,’ Anu let go of him, and Nergal was a little dazed for a second. ‘You will see to having the unconscious Grigori in my Worlds Chamber brought here to Ninharsag for incarceration, and then you will meet us back in my chamber to finalise our mission.’
It didn’t take Nergal long to regain his foul mood. ‘Your pet will have to release me first.’
Zeven let his hold over Nergal lapse gladly. ‘Of course, we really appreciate your assistance in this matter,’ he smiled sincerely.
The Nefilim warlord was confused when Zeven was not baited by his insult, and so he looked to his relatives instead. ‘Have it your way.’ Nergal grabbed his weaponry from Leal, and exited in a huff.
‘I have never seen you exert your influence like that, Father,’ Ninharsag wondered about Anu’s support of the Grigori.