I received a grilling about my future conduct from my fellow staff members, all except my mother, who was still unconscious after powering the Klieo back in time a thousand years, and my father, who had been despatched, at my insistence, to fetch Killian to safety. I was also demanding to see Lugh and Mathu.
Denera flatly refused. ‘Not until we’re convinced you are no longer a threat to them.’
‘I have to make contact with Taejax as well,’ I told her.
She frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Because he’s the only Dracon I know and trust.’ I thought this obvious.
‘Yes, I understand that,’ Denera was getting frustrated too, ‘but why do you need a Dracon at all?’
Ereshkigal entered the conference room in Signet Station Four where I was being questioned. ‘Arcturus said to let you know that he has Killian with him.’
‘Are they here?’ I needed to know that Killian was secure within the Amenti complex.
‘It’s best that you don’t know his whereabouts,’ Denera cut in, before Ereshkigal could answer my question. It hurt to think I was no longer a trusted part of the team—if, indeed, I ever really was.
‘As long as you know where he is,’ I insisted. ‘The same goes for Lugh and Mathu.’
‘Shall I chase them up?’ Ereshkigal offered. ‘I believe Lugh is in his city of Murias, and Mathu is there also.’
‘Let me go with her,’ I pleaded as Denera gave her the nod. ‘Technically I won’t be leaving the Otherworld or your jurisdiction.’
‘Give me one good reason why I should let you go,’ she challenged.
‘I’ll give you six good reasons.’ I took a deep breath in preparation for all the fast talking I had to do.
It was odd to have a smiling Ereshkigal escorting me to Lugh on this mission, for in the future she hated me and had been something of a nemesis; not that I blamed her for getting the wrong impression.
We gained access to Lugh’s city through one of the three portholes in the outer chamber of the Giza complex, and emerged from it into the altogether more vibrant and supple realms of the lower astral world. Everything was spectacular here: sounds were more melodic, colours more vibrant, smells more aromatic, touch was a stronger physical sensation, and taste…well, if you belonged to the physical world it was best not to eat or drink anything here lest you never leave. This was the heaven that we could have on Earth any day now.
The city was beautiful and tranquil. Nobody rushed, as time meant nothing. Nobody worked—they played, they imagined, they learned, experimented, theorised and thrived on the one thing that was truly important in life: creation. Be it the creation of family, fine food, great art, scientific invention or beautiful music, everything here was crafted with the greatest of care—it was the exact opposite to Irkalla. Every long-lost Earth species still survived here, in perfect harmony with the Anu residents and the ascendant masters of the human race. There was nothing required for life here that could not be manifested by will; hence there was no need to fight with another or make war. If only the humans of Earth understood that the same principles of intention and manifestation applied on that plane too. All one needed was a fully functioning emotional body filled with compassion—for compassion generated love and created the will and wisdom to manifest what those on surface Earth considered miracles. Here, in the Otherworld, such miraculous occurrences were everyday life.
In Lugh’s palace, however, evidence of the Otherworldly alliance with the humans on surface Earth was more visible: we saw Anu warriors donning battle armour.
‘It looks as though they’re gearing up for battle,’ I said.
Ereshkigal was amused that I hadn’t foreseen this. ‘They are gearing up for the war to end all wars; the only battle in history that will ever really count.’
I smiled. ‘They seem to be expecting a lot of resistance, but they won’t get it—not if I can help it.’
The doors to Lugh’s council chamber were open, and we slowed as we approached for he was speaking with one of my long-lost ancestors, Ninlil. I was delighted to see her back on Earth.
‘I must be able to help in some way,’ she was saying to Lugh. ‘I feel so responsible.’
‘Lady, you do not have the constitution for war,’ he told her honestly.
‘I can command the elements as well as any.’
‘To the detriment of your own family.’ He implored her to consider what she was asking of herself.
Ninlil hesitated, frustrated.
‘Trust me, everything will be fine,’ Lugh told her, and drew her into an embrace to reassure her. As he did, he saw us waiting by the door.
‘Your Highness! You are back from Irkalla?’ He let go of Ninlil and they both bowed to me. Lugh looked confused. ‘Have I lost track of time?’
‘Pardon?’ I had no idea what he was on about.
‘I have the rod and the ring right here,’ he said, and moved to fetch them.
‘Oh!’ I realised that he was preparing to go to the meeting where I would murder him. ‘There’s been a slight change in plan. I need to find Taejax.’
‘Taejax!’ Lugh halted in his tracks and turned to me. ‘How did you know he was back?’
‘He told me in the future where I never made it back from Irkalla,’ I said, and his face melted in empathy.
‘I am so sorry if I failed you, Your Highness,’ he stated with all sincerity and I wanted to cry.
‘You certainly did not,’ I assured him. ‘It was I who failed, and I had to, in order to be here today, so no regrets.’
‘It is an honour to be in your service, my queen,’ he said, and bowed again, before getting back to the point. ‘Taejax is deep undercover at present, but I can get word to him. What is it you require?’
‘I need him and some of his faithful to join me on a salvage mission.’
Lugh was stunned. ‘Now, Your Majesty? But it is the eleventh hour!’
‘I realise that, but this is important. Ask Taejax to meet me in the cavern of Mamer as soon as possible.’ Now I had only to convince the Amenti team to allow me to take Dracon into Signet Station One.
‘It will be done,’ Lugh said, although he still looked perplexed.
‘My Lady Sud,’ I said to Ninlil, using her true name, not the one Ill had given her.
The lady fell to her knees before me. ‘I am so ashamed, Your Majesty. My family have disgraced all the Anu.’
‘You did not choose your role in this, Lady Sud, it was thrust upon you,’ I told her. It was true: Ill had raped her and impregnated her and, due to his royal lineage, they were encouraged to wed. Another three rapes later, she had given Ill four sons to corrupt, and corrupt them he had. ‘You are blameless, and a blessing to this universe because there is no warrior in you. Still, you may yet be of service to the plan, so don’t go anywhere.’
‘Whatever you wish of me, Your Majesty,’ she said, and rose to her feet.
I turned my attention back to Lugh. ‘I will be back for the rod and ring presently.’
‘Very good, Your Highness.’
As I turned to depart I realised there was someone missing. ‘I was advised that Mathu might be with you?’
‘I have not seen him recently, Your Highness,’ he said with a frown. ‘I will send a scout to hunt him out, but I feel sure there is no cause for alarm.’
‘Many thanks. I shall feel better knowing he is aware of our return.’
‘I shall ensure he knows.’ Lugh bowed.
I didn’t feel so sure of Mathu’s safety; I had a horrid feeling in my gut that something was amiss with him. As I was bound to report back to Denera before pursuing my quest, I would ask her to consult the Hall of Records as to Mathu’s current whereabouts.
‘Not found,’ was the Hall of Records’ response.
‘Is that because all information about Mathu was hacked out of the system in the past?’ I asked Denera, who still stood inside the green light-tube of the control platform.
‘No,’ she said, surpr
ised. ‘Since his reappearance, the Hall of Records has been tracking him fine. Just a moment and I’ll request to see his whereabouts the last time he was recorded as present on Earth.’
Mathu’s image appeared on the walls of the liquid-light chamber: he was entering the Amenti complex’s antechamber from the porthole that led into Lugh’s realms, with the Rod and Ring of Power in his possession.
I gasped in delight to see him again; it had been so long that his image had blurred in my memory. But as I watched him cross the chamber towards the porthole to Irkalla, I began to panic. ‘No! What are you doing? Please, no…I am no longer there!’ But I was powerless to prevent him entering the porthole to the Underworld. Tears trickled silently down my face. ‘When was this?’ I asked Denera.
‘This morning,’ she advised soberly, for she knew the news would sting.
‘Right before we arrived,’ I said flatly. ‘I must go after him.’
‘There is no way I’m going to let you venture into Irkalla again,’ Denera said. But I could be insistent too.
‘What choice do you have? Who can you send who is more capable or experienced than me?’
Denera shut off the light-tube and stepped down from her control panel; she looked affronted. ‘May I remind you that with all your skill and know-how we have had to rescue you twice from the Underworld, and there’s too much going on right now for me to allocate resources to retrieve you again!’
I humbled myself, which had always been difficult for me since my reunion with Kali. ‘My apologies, great lady. I meant no offence and I realise I owe you all so much more than I will ever be able to repay.’
‘You do not owe us anything, child, bar your trust in us to handle this,’ she advised more gently. ‘You have other pressing concerns to take care of.’
I nodded, for she was right: I was far too emotionally involved to be able to think clearly where Mathu was concerned. Denera promised to keep me updated, and advised that she had summoned Dexter and Polaris to aid me with my quest, which I now needed to make the centre of my focus.
This was difficult, for I knew that back in that other time line it was I who had arranged for Lugh to bring me the rod and ring in Irkalla. I suspected that Mathu had anticipated an ambush and had taken the rod and ring into Irkalla early, to prevent Lugh being captured or injured during the handover. Mathu’s heroic, misguided actions were my fault; he was being tortured right now and once again I was the reason.
Denera saw my despondency. ‘Trust in the universal will that has brought you this far,’ she said. ‘We will prevail.’
I wanted to believe her, but after such a long and arduous struggle it was becoming harder and harder to believe that the inter-time war would ever end.
‘How can you be so sure?’ I asked. ‘It seems that every time we take a step forward towards our goal, our adversaries shift time and the goal posts move further away.’
‘Not today.’ Denera reminded me that I had made extraordinary progress in the past twenty-four hours. ‘Today, for the first time ever, the staff of Amenti has a full complement of players, and in this game unity is everything.’
CHAPTER 38
STAR-CROSSED LOVER?
MIA DEVERE—MERIDAN
As consciousness slowly took hold, I felt as though I was emerging from a long, intense nightmare. My first thought was for my daughter: I longed to hold her, speak with her and know how she fared. Instead, an image of Ereshkigal’s farewell filled my mind: Take care of Killian.
Why am I dreaming? I wondered. I must wake!
‘Killian!’ I said, and my eyes shot open and I sat upright. I was on one of the lounges on the bridge of the Klieo.
‘Right here,’ a male voice said, and I looked over to a lounge against the far wall of the flight deck, where Killian sat next to my husband.
‘You blacked out, and I figured Killian was the first person you’d want to see upon waking,’ Arcturus said with a shrug, ‘so I took the liberty of fetching him for you.’
‘Praise the goddess.’ I drew a deep breath to quell the momentary fear that I’d slept too long and missed Killian’s departure for Irkalla.
‘I adore you sometimes,’ I told my husband, as he approached and crouched before me. I knew Killian wasn’t his favourite person.
‘Only sometimes?’ he challenged.
‘All the time,’ I admitted, and gave him a kiss.
‘Ditto,’ he smiled.
‘Where’s Tamar? How is Tamar?’ I asked, and when his smile didn’t waver my heart was lightened of worry.
‘She has matured,’ he began, ‘and is more single-bloody-minded than ever.’
‘But her emotional state?’ That was my real concern.
‘She’s been hardened by her experiences,’ Arcturus admitted, ‘but she is strong and not embittered. If anything, she has found her compassion.’
I breathed a little easier; after such a long season in hell, I had expected my daughter’s state of mind to be worse.
‘She’s off on a mission already,’ Arcturus continued. ‘She says she has a plan to nullify any Dracon resistance we may encounter.’
Polaris suddenly manifested before us. ‘Have I been here before?’ he asked.
‘What?’ Arcturus said, confused, and Polaris gave a laugh.
‘I can do it in reverse!’ he said, looking mighty pleased with himself. ‘Thank you, that was incredibly helpful…I am a happy man.’
He walked out, leaving us baffled.
‘So he can teleport too?’ I said.
Arcturus looked rather put out. ‘That’s my thing.’
‘Oh well, at least he can’t crush reinforced metal with his bare hands.’ I ruffled my husband’s hair to console him.
‘Hi there.’ Polaris strolled in again. ‘Good to see you awake,’ he commented.
What? I thought. ‘Thanks.’
‘Don’t mind me,’ he said, looking rather excited and nervous.
‘Is something the matter, Captain?’ I enquired.
‘I think I may have finally discovered my psychic forté.’
‘Better late than never, I guess,’ Arcturus jeered. Polaris was the last of us to discover his gift.
‘I’m just going to try it out, if that’s okay with you guys.’ He held up a finger and vanished.
‘Does this conversation seem a little arse-about to you?’ Killian said, coming over to join us. ‘I don’t think Polaris needs the Klieo to time-travel any more.’
‘What!’ Arcturus looked shocked, but impressed.
‘So does this mean Polaris is coming back, or was the first time he appeared the end of this conversation?’ Killian said.
I had to laugh—my life was truly absurd.
Polaris appeared again and startled us all.
‘Did I go anywhere?’ he said. ‘Or did you teleport?’ He pointed to Killian, which made me laugh again.
Killian shook his head. ‘You moved a few minutes forward in time.’
Polaris clapped his hands together and did a happy dance, then froze. ‘Hey, I wonder if I can go backwards too.’
‘You can,’ Arcturus said, sounding bored.
‘I’ll give it a go.’ Polaris closed his eyes to focus and vanished.
He reappeared almost instantly and pointed to Killian again. ‘You’re still over here? Ooops, wrong way.’
‘Will you please just leave?’ Arcturus snapped, losing patience with the exercise.
‘Out of here!’ Polaris held up both hands in defence and vanished.
‘That could become really annoying,’ Arcturus grumbled, taking a seat on the lounge beside me.
‘No more annoying than having you pop in when I’m finally getting cosy with Ereshkigal,’ Killian retorted.
‘Very cosy,’ Arcturus advised me.
I felt the need to go into lecture mode. ‘Killian, that’s the one taboo you can’t break—’
‘I know, I know,’ he cut in, sounding frustrated, ‘we belong to different soul groups. But if
we never have any offspring then what’s the problem? We are still evolving!’
‘Sweetie…’ I rubbed my forehead, wondering how I could break this to him. ‘This is the eve of the end of our days here on Earth, so offspring from an illicit affair really isn’t your problem. Once the porthole in Amenti is opened, humanity are all going home to Tara via Amenti. The Anu are going home to Sirius B to the rest of their soul group, via the Hall of Amorea. The chances of you and Ereshkigal finding each other in the Ranna time flow are pretty slim.’
‘But there are Anunnaki on Tara—that’s how this whole mess got started!’ Killian said stubbornly.
‘Not in Tara’s past, which is where you’re bound.’
My wording made Killian curious. ‘You’re not going there? To Tara’s past, I mean?’
‘No, we Ceres belong to Tara’s Otherworldly realms,’ I explained. ‘You could say we are timeless in nature.’
Killian smiled. ‘So I could still find you all, if I tried hard enough?’
‘Heaven forbid!’ Arcturus rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was starting to warm to Killian.
Killian returned to his lounge and collapsed onto it. ‘What a shit about Ereshkigal. But there must be something that can be done! I mean, surely the Lord of the Earth…’
I shook my head. ‘It is beyond the Sanat Kumara’s jurisdiction in the cosmic scheme of things. Killian, can’t you trust in the plan of the Sovereign Integral, who is infinitely wiser—’
‘No!’ Killian was on his feet again. ‘God got it wrong! Damn it all!’ He looked as if he wanted to kick something. ‘Why can’t I be one of the Anu?’ He slumped back onto the sofa to sulk.
‘Was the last saviour this moody?’ Arcturus said in an aside to me.
‘Way worse.’ My thoughts turned to how we were going to keep Killian safe. ‘We need to take him into the Amenti complex.’
‘No,’ Arcturus said, for obvious security reasons.
‘But he’s a sitting duck anywhere else,’ I countered.
‘Lovely!’ Killian didn’t appreciate my comment. ‘I’m not completely without influence, you know.’