‘Thank you for making the liberation of my people possible.’
Tory reached down and stroked the pilot’s cheek. ‘The pleasure is all mine, Raven.’
‘What’s going on here then, eh?’ Crow folded both arms, having entered just in time to see Raven kneel before the Goddess.
The sentiment of the moment destroyed, Tory made a move to find Hawk and as she passed Crow, she commented, ‘Looks like you’re finally a monkey’s uncle.’
Her words confused the warrior, although Raven burst out laughing. ‘What?’ Crow turned to pursue the Goddess.
‘Leave her be,’ Raven ordered Crow, ‘or I shall be forced to break your legs.’
‘What did she mean?’ Crow’s frown became intense.
‘She means … a new and better life for us all.’ Raven nodded, inviting Crow to challenge him on the issue. Crow did not.
When Tory peeked into the captain’s dimly-lit quarters, he was lying spread-eagled on his stomach on the bed. His wings were folded close to his body, as they were whenever he slept, so Tory assumed he was passed out and entered to gently stir him.
‘Go away,’ he mumbled, without turning to see who was creeping in. But his utterance startled Tory and her gasp was a wake-up call for the pirate, who sat up faster than he should have. ‘Oh Goddess,’ he mumbled, spying Tory as the room went into a spin and nearly sent him off balance.
Tory ran over to help him regain his equilibrium. ‘I’m sorry to just surprise you like this,’ she ignored his bedraggled appearance, knowing he would feel self-conscious about it, ‘but I had to see you.’
‘But how?’ He held up the wrist the NERGUZ was attached to.
‘Raven,’ she explained simply.
Hawk released a pained whine that implied he should have thought of that. He removed the NERGUZ and threw it away, then repositioned himself so that he was no longer within Tory’s reach. ‘So you’ve come to tell me that you’re all happy now, is that it?’
‘Well, yes, I am happy,’ she said, ‘but not —’
‘Look, I see no need for a long, drawn-out goodbye,’ Hawk mumbled, half-delirious. ‘We are history, I understand that. And you needn’t worry, I had no intention of disturbing your perfect, majestic family life.’
‘Oh boy,’ Tory puffed. ‘Are you in for a rude shock.’ She stalled, trying to figure out how to break her news. ‘I cannot give you my favours anymore, that is true, for they were long ago pledged to Maelgwn. However, I can bestow on you a child.’
Hawk gave half a laugh at this. ‘That’s going to be a bit difficult if we can’t have sex.’ The pirate nearly burst into laughter, until it occurred to him that perhaps the event had already come to pass. ‘No.’ His ego got a kickstart and he smiled broadly.
Tory nodded. ‘It’s the truth.’
The smile fell from Hawk’s face. ‘But Falcon women are better equipped to carry and give birth to Falcon babies. There could be great risks for you and the child.’
Tory giggled at his fears. ‘We’re immortal, we can cope. And back on Kila we have a means to reduce the development risks for this unique babe, destined to be a King. We have genetic experts who will ensure that our child shall inherit only the best of both of us.’
Hawk’s eyes had filled with tears, his excitement and his fear battling for precedence.
‘I’ve come to fetch you to a lecture on this technology … your first prenatal class, as it were.’ She attempted to be cheerful.
Hawk was far too thunderstruck to be amused. ‘I’m going to be a father,’ he said slowly, trying to comprehend it. ‘The father of a God.’
‘Who said it was a boy?’ she teased, whereupon Hawk’s smile returned.
‘Do you know?’ he quizzed, eager to know.
Feeling his resentment engulfed by joy and curiosity, Tory smiled and nodded. ‘His Chosen name will be Sparrowhawk.’
The pirate was obviously delighted and flattered by the name.
‘So will you come with me now, for his sake?’ Tory held out her hand to Hawk.
Looking down upon his sorry state, Hawk hesitated. ‘Any chance of a quick shower?’
‘Could be for the best.’ Tory gave him the nod, relieved beyond belief that he was eager to be part of this child’s life.
But the captain hesitated before moving off to his cleansing tube, reaching out and running his fingers through Tory’s long, blonde hair, which he found beautiful and becoming to her. ‘Is the Dragon going to be at this lecture?’
As she didn’t want to scare Hawk off, Tory thought a full explanation would be best. ‘Our child is one of four Chosen Ones who are destined to shape the future of humanity. A Centaur and a Delphinus demi-god have already been born —’
‘Seagull.’ Hawk clicked his fingers as he made the connection.
‘Also known as Zabeel,’ Tory told him. ‘And thus, your ex-cook has a vested interest in the birth of our child and the Leonine leader who will be along presently. As Zabeel’s father, Maelgwn is attending the tutorial for moral support, but he is also looking forward to meeting you.’
I’ll bet he is, thought Hawk as he headed for the shower.
Tory telepathically caught the comment.
The channel Noah had opened had unlocked the Logos within her, and had heightened not only her mental connection with her thirteen brothers and sisters from ancient Edin, but had increased her ability to hear the unsaid in all around her. Not even the Nefilim could protect their thoughts from her little soul-group any longer.
‘Hawk.’ Tory called for his attention as he undressed. ‘Maelgwn could not sooner despise you than despise himself, for you and he are the same soul-mind reincarnate.’
‘What!’ Hawk nearly dropped down dead.
Tory nodded with a cool smile of delight. ‘So you see our affair was not a betrayal to him, but simply another of his lifetimes in which we have fallen in love … as we inevitably always do, if we meet.’
Hawk’s jaw was dropping, although his smile was growing.
‘How do you think Zabeel came to be?’ Tory asked, intending to fully convince him. ‘Maelgwn fell in love with my Delphinus incarnation and …’ She held both palms up in conclusion, ‘there you have it.’
This shed a whole new light on things for Hawk and, still drunk from his binge, he wandered over to his bed to sit by Tory. ‘So, tell me again why you cannot give me your favours anymore?’ He cocked an eye in question. ‘Surely I wouldn’t wish to deny myself any opportunity to seduce you?’
Tory’s grin became most amiable, for Hawk’s reasoning was so like Maelgwn that she had to wonder if Maelgwn was speaking through him. ‘I don’t know, Hawk … this could get very complicated.’ She gazed into his eyes, feeling how badly he needed her to love his pain and doubt away. ‘Still, we never did get to say goodbye …’
Tory could not prevent herself being drawn in by the sentiment of the moment, for she needed to create a beautiful conclusion to their relationship as much as he needed to experience her love just one more time.
The Falcon contingent arrived late to the lecture, and there were many more people present in the tiny amphitheatre that overlooked the lab than Tory had expected.
The Goddess Inanna had the floor at present, sharing the history of the artificial womb with Rebecca, Cadfan, Hetty, Brian, Candace, and two Leonines, who Tory assumed to be Tyrus-Leon and Samara. The Devas were also present, along with numerous healers and students of the body sciences.
Tory and Hawk took a seat quietly, so as not to disturb the lecture in progress. She scanned the area for her husband and spied him leaning against the wall, alongside Zabeel, at the back of the amphitheatre. Maelgwn was staring straight at her and, with the cheeky grin he wore upon his face, Tory would’ve thought it had been him making love to her just a moment ago.
‘So, that’s the legendary Dragon,’ Hawk whispered, having followed Tory’s line of sight to spot his Homo sapien twin.
Tory nodded, averting her attention, and the ca
ptain’s, back to the lecture.
‘What’s he looking so cheerful about?’ Hawk was spooked by her husband’s apparent good mood.
‘Another past-life regression he can look forward to, I expect,’ she said, and the supposition shocked Hawk to a smile.
‘He can do that?’ The captain responded a little too loudly and Tory hushed him.
‘Later,’ she suggested.
Now Hawk was grinning broadly, for this brought to mind Zabeel’s parting words to him. ‘Your true Swan has got to be out there somewhere.’ If Tory’s husband could spy on his incarnation as a Falcon, then Tory surely could … if his true Swan was out there, perhaps Tory could help him track her down?
Inanna was in the process of explaining that her want of a child had seen her establish a top team of Leonine technologists, geneticists and medical experts. Her team of specialists had improved on Ninharsag’s original artificial womb over the eons since the Great Mother had departed the earthly realms. When Inanna had been reunited with her husband Dumuzi, fifty years ago, she went back to trying to conceive in the old-fashioned way; all her experts in the field of genetic engineering had since died off and she’d not bothered replacing them.
‘Thus, the restoration of my primordial memory has proven most timely.’ Rebecca took the floor. ‘I have recovered all of the knowledge I acquired under Ninharsag’s tutelage relating to the human genetic code and its manipulation. I recall the Great Mother once boasting that the good or bad of any man’s body and mind was entirely in her hands. Fortunately for all of us here, the Great Mother worked hard to bring out the best in all the human tribes that sprang from the House of Shimti in Edin.’
‘So why then have only Homo sapiens been granted access to the immortal gene pool of the Gods?’ Tyrus-Leon wanted to know.
‘Actually, the first Chosen One was not a Homo sapien, but a Centaur.’ Rebecca debunked his claim, politely. ‘As a race, however, ours was chosen to inherit the immortal gene first, because Homo sapiens were the only human tribe that Enlil wanted annihilated completely and Enki was protecting us. But the time has come when all the human tribes are under threat and so the universe has taken steps to start spreading the immortal gene around. Such a great leap in evolution cannot be undertaken lightly, and each new Chosen child must be tutored in the greater mysteries, as all the Chosen Ones before it have been.
‘The reason that the God gene was eventually deleted from the human genetic code was because of the discovery that, once the gene is activated in them, either naturally by enlightenment or artificially by Orme, a human does not require additional doses of the precious substance to maintain an immortal state, for love keeps us immortal. This fact put human beings at a distinct advantage over our Nefilim creators, thus they decided that the gene must be withheld from our genetic code.
‘Thais and Hero, the Centaurs, were the test subjects for the human immortality experiment using artificial means — that is, Orme. When they outlasted their Nefilim Masters, the Centaurs’ love for each other was the only explanation for the phenomenon. The additional etheric body that human beings have would prove to be one of the greatest enigmas to the Nefilim. They feared their lack of comprehension so much that it was forbidden for any human to be born in the House of Shimti with the God gene in his genetic code, even in a dormant state. It wasn’t until the Lord Marduk took his revenge upon the Pantheon and started planting the seed of the Chosen, that the God gene was secretly reintroduced into the genetic code of Homo sapiens.’
Rebecca went on to outline the benefits of the artificial birth process for the two expected demi-gods. She could ensure the physical traits of the babies leant towards the gene pool of the human tribe it was to lead and hence, as an adult, the Chosen One would be attracted to a mate of that race.
‘That’s interesting,’ Zabeel commented aside to his father, ‘as I do find Delphinus women more alluring than Homo sapien females … no offence.’
‘Hey,’ Maelgwn placed a hand on his son’s shoulder to assure him, ‘whatever makes you happy is fine by me. Personally speaking, I find your mother’s soul alluring no matter what race’s skin she is in.’
‘Obviously!’ Zabeel motioned to himself, a broad smile on his face, which was rare for him. ‘That chronicle you gave me was very enlightening … my mother was very beautiful.’ His gaze became lost in the memory of her image. ‘Is very beautiful,’ Zabeel added, snapping out of his daze.
‘Aye,’ Maelgwn turned to admire Tory, ‘she is extraordinary in every regard.’
Rebecca finished up her address by guaranteeing a blissful gestation for the babies and a trauma-free birth.
‘But won’t the child miss out on the day-to-day stimuli of life inside the womb … like feeling my emotional responses and hearing my voice, my heartbeat?’ Tory queried and Samara nodded in accord, also concerned about this.
‘This technology allows for us to record such stimuli from the mother and reproduce it inside the artificial womb,’ Rebecca explained. ‘The advantage of the artificial environment is that your children will only perceive you in the most positive of states, as we’ll record the data whilst you’re calm and relaxed. These soul-minds will be of the highest order and like Sacha and Psyche, will require large amounts of positive stimuli to enjoy the human condition.’
Zabeel raised his hand, rather curious. ‘Then am I to assume that my soul-mind is also fairly advanced?’
‘Absolutely,’ Rebecca concurred. ‘Noah and myself will help you investigate your past lives and begin your tuition in the greater mysteries as soon as the Nefilim conversion is completed.’
Zabeel was pleased by the news. A few immortal mentors was exactly what he needed to hone his new skills and feel at ease in his new life.
By the time Rebecca finished her presentation, Tory had plenty of food for thought. She’d already been through pregnancy one too many times in her opinion, but she wanted to be sure that she was doing the right thing by Sparrowhawk. The fact that both Thais and Zabeel had been born via artificial means was swaying her instincts towards trusting Rebecca. In her heart she also felt the Logos compelling her to let go of this pregnancy, although her maternal instinct was resisting.
‘What mother ever wants to think that a machine can do a better job of growing her baby than she can?’ Rebecca sat down beside Tory to help ease her doubt. ‘But the truth is, Tory, that you have other places to be … places I cannot allow you to take this precious child.’
She stared at Rebecca a moment, having no idea what she was talking about. ‘But phychically speaking I am well equipped —’
‘I refer more to the mental and spiritual trials that lie in store,’ Rebecca clarified, ‘which could be detrimental to such an impressionable soul as the one within you.’
Maelgwn caught Tory’s eye and she realised that she needed to resume their soul quest, if Avery and Lirathea were ever to be returned home. Her attention shifted to Hawk to hear his view, but he only shrugged.
‘This is all so far over my head that … it has got to be your call, Tory.’ His brow wrinkled in apology. ‘Whatever you think is best.’
‘My brother and Samara have committed to the scheme,’ Tory assumed, as it suited their purpose well.
‘But they are also conceiving artificially.’ Rebecca emphasised that Tory’s case was different.
‘Is the risk to my babe any greater?’
‘No,’ Rebecca stated, taking hold of Tory’s hand. ‘He is immortal. His life is assured no matter what should happen or what you decide. My aim is to make his coming into being easier on both of you.’
Tory had never felt especially close to Rebecca, and yet suddenly the lady’s loving presence overwhelmed her with a sense of sisterhood. Recollections of the secret sisterhood to which they had both belonged back in Edin, began streaming through Tory’s mind. They had both been midwives in the labs of Ninharsag, but only Rebecca had proven to have an aptitude for the scientific side of birthing.
‘Y
ou know how much I know.’ Rebecca nudged away Tory’s worry with her shoulder. ‘Ninharsag didn’t spend all that time training me for no reason.’
‘I want to remember it all, as you do.’ Tory was curious about the Creation Station and how it had changed Rebecca from a good soul to an enlightened being practically overnight.
‘You will. But, one miracle at a time, hey?’ Rebecca set the topic aside for discussion at a later date. ‘First thing we need to do —’
‘Sorry,’ Tory apologised to Rebecca, as she spied Maelgwn giving her a wave. ‘I’ll be right back.’ She flashed a smile at Hawk as she raced off after her husband. ‘Where are you going?’ Tory caught Maelgwn up.
‘Zabeel, the Devas and I, are off to give Thais a hand on Karleashian,’ he advised, only half regretful. ‘Governor’s orders.’
‘But I want to come with you,’ Tory whined, realising it was impossible. ‘I don’t feel I’ve been of any aid to you in our quest at all.’
Maelgwn gave her a hug of reassurance. ‘Our quest is not about aiding each other. It’s about aiding the greater good.’
As Tory raised her eyes to look into Maelgwn’s large dark ones, she forced a smile. ‘So much for not being separated, huh?’
‘I’ll be keeping my half of the bargain.’ Maelgwn motioned to Hawk, who was observing them closely.
‘I’m sorry I can’t keep my half.’ Tory was on the verge of tears again — pregnancy really sucked in that regard, she thought.
‘Don’t apologise for what isn’t your fault.’ He kissed her forehead and backed up to take hold of Zabeel’s arm. ‘I’ll be back soon to check on your progress.’ With a wave Maelgwn and his son departed.
Tory’s heart sank in her chest, as it did every time Maelgwn left her company. If she utilised their heightened psychic link to perceive his movements, it would only serve to make her aware of what she was missing. I will not sit idle and watch him complete our quest alone. As excited as she was to be part of the genesis of a new breed of Chosen Ones, Tory would not abandon her lost children as a result, or her husband. Dear Goddess get me back on track, she silently prayed, feeling her death had got her somewhat sidetracked.