Creation- The Auditor’s Apprentice

by Frank Stonely

  ‘Okay, Mum.’

  Tanka turned to face Daniel and with a cheeky smile said, 'Come on, big boy. It's time for you to find out what this is all about.' She swept up her handbag and led Daniel out of the pub.

  As they walked down Main Street it was a totally different Tanka who spoke to Daniel, ‘I like being Mrs. Perkins, Daniel. She's a kind, loving, family woman, full of fun and life. And I like living in this village with all its gossip. Mrs. Perkins is very popular, you know.’ She linked arms with Daniel and led him across the street to the village war memorial. Carved into the granite obelisk, standing in the centre of a neatly kept garden, were the names of villagers who had died fighting for their country in numerous wars. ‘Look at all the names, Daniel. All those humans have died because of us. It’s only when you live with them that you realise what a terrible thing we’ve done.’ They walked on in silence passing a row of small cottages.

  'Good morning, Mrs. P,' a woman said, polishing the brass nameplate on the cottage door.

  'Good morning, Janet,' Tanka replied, 'how is little Janet doing?'

  'She won't be long now, thank you.'

  Daniel looked through the cottage doorway. A petite girl who was not much more than a child was standing back in the shadows. Although the interior of the cottage was dark, he could see her swollen stomach. ‘What has infected all these women?’ he asked.

  ‘What do you mean, infected?’

  ‘Haven’t you noticed, they’ve all got swollen abdomens.’

  ‘They’re pregnant, Daniel. The males fertilise eggs inside the females and their stomachs swell as the embryos grow.’

  ‘How does the embryo get out?’

  ‘Believe me, you don’t want to know!’

  'Is every female in the village gestating?' Daniel asked as they continued on down the street.

  ‘You’ll have to ask Anubis about that. He says it’s an experiment, personally I think he just likes having human sex.’

  ‘And the women just let him?’

  ‘I don’t think they even know it’s happened. He seems to have hypnotic powers over them.

  'Are your offspring his?'

  'God no! When I first entered Mrs. Perkins, she already had Sally and was pregnant with Geoff. Now giving birth, that’s an experience! If you’re going to complain about human design, then complain about that. The process is utterly ridiculous!

  They were soon leaving the village and strolling along a lane with fields either side. ‘Don’t you find it eerie being here on Earth?’ Tanka asked.

  ‘I know what you mean… we design all this stuff in the labs, never imagining we’ll ever experience it. I shared an apartment with a guy from Planetary Insertion during my last year at the Academy. He was in the SD nutrition development team. Anyway, one night I made pasta strands with a meat sauce, it’s a family recipe from my great aunt Bolognese. He thought it was fantastic and the next day added it to the nutrition database, calling it Spaghetti Bolognese. His brother was so impressed he added the name Bologna to the geographic database. It’s the same for everything here, it’s all based on Creation; technology, food, social structure, even these cattle,’ Daniel said, pointing over the gate at a calf suckling from its mother.

  ‘And those cattle are just like the humans,’ Daniel.

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘Nobody’s told them the great secret.’

  ‘Secret?’

  ‘That there’s an abattoir waiting for them.’

  ‘I don’t get it?’

  ‘We do the same to humans. They don’t have a clue their life will end when the Dark Matter is extracted.’

  ‘But that’s different. If it wasn’t for Dark Matter they wouldn’t exist anyway.’

  ‘Isn’t that the same with cattle? I’d like to hear you explain the concept to them.’ Daniel did not reply.

  The lane started to rise steeply towards the brow that looked down into the next valley. They stopped on the summit while Daniel got his breath back. 'I love it here.' Tanka said, as she stood admiring the patchwork of fields in the valley below.

  'You’re right, Tanka, it’s beautiful.'

  Tanka released Daniel's arm. 'The Ground Station's down there,' she said, nodding towards a break in the hedge Daniel hadn't noticed.

  Concealed by a hedgerow and the oak trees that lined the lane was a newly-built industrial warehouse. It was set back, separated by a parking area and narrow driveway. In the front wall of the windowless building were two doors; a large roller-shutter loading-bay door and an access door, both with the words Authorised Access Only written across them in bold red lettering. The only additional features were the large microwave dishes mounted on the roof and the security cameras. Tanka entered a code into the access door’s keypad, the lock clicked and she pushed the door open.

  Inside was a small, enclosed reception area. Tanka pointed to an internal door and gestured for Daniel to go through.

  The door opened into living quarters with military style cot beds and an open-plan kitchen. The counter was strewn with used coffee mugs and empty milk cartons, the sink overflowing with unwashed dishes. The round kitchen table was littered with the remains of that morning’s breakfast.

  Without pausing, Tanka turned and led Daniel though what could have been one of Creation’s workshops, filled with machine tools, workbenches and racks of equipment. Daniel paused, captivated by the plasma 3D printer producing a perfectly formed, stainless steel, worm gear, seemingly from nowhere. A metallic clatter made him turn around. Anubis was working on a scaled down planetary drone, almost identical in design to one they had used to escape from Creation. The Gatekeeper walked from behind the drone and the spanner that Anubis had dropped levitated back into his hand. Daniel followed Tanka as she walked towards them, 'How’s it going?' she asked.

  'Not too bad, all things considered,’ Anubis said, crawling out from under the drone.

  ‘When did you send it?’

  ‘Yesterday morning, before we left Creation. It’s in pretty good shape considering it’s been sitting in the cavern for a couple of months. We drove up and got it last night.’

  ‘Is it working?’

  ‘I don’t know, we’re checking it out now, but it looks okay.’

  ‘What about the power source?’

  ‘That’s a major problem. With all that chaos yesterday, I didn’t have time to send the temporal reactor.’

  ‘So, how are we going to power it?’

  ‘I’m not sure. But we’re gonna need about a thousand terawatts.’

  'Sounds like you’re screwed!’ Daniel said, as he scanned the components scattered across the workbench. ‘This Sun will implode before these humans discover temporal energy.’

  Anubis stopped what he was doing and looked up, ‘For once, Daniel, you’ve actually said something sensible. If we could produce a temporal element, something like trihadronite, and somehow insert it into the star’s core…’ He grabbed a note pad and started to scribble down calculations just as the door-buzzer sounded. Everybody’s eyes, except Daniel’s, looked towards the security monitor mounted above the door to the reception area.

  'Oh shit!' Anubis said. The security camera outside the building was mounted to give full view of the access doors. Standing with her finger on the intercom call button was a young woman. Though she had her back to the camera, Anubis had recognised her. 'Get rid of her, Tanka. Tell her we had a problem and I had to work all night. Tell her I’ve gone to get spare parts to repair the transmitter. Anything, just get rid of her!'

  'If I go she'll smell a rat, she's already convinced we're having an affair. The whole village is gossiping about the amount of time we spend together.' Tanka turned to Daniel, 'You go. Tell her Anubis isn’t here but, he’ll be home at his usual time tonight.'

  Daniel got up from the table and went into the reception area. Opening the door he found himself staring into the worried face of a petite, red-headed woman, wearing a gabardine raincoat which hung open around her swo
llen belly.

  'Excuse me,' she said timidly, 'I'm Mr. Anubis' wife, I wonder if I could talk to him.'

  'I'm sorry but he isn't here,' Daniel said, stepping through the doorway. He gently gripped her elbow and led her away from the door, making sure the security camera couldn’t see them.

  'I'm very worried about him, he didn't come home last night,' she said, looking as though she was about to weep.

  Daniel turned her to face him and, holding both shoulders, said, 'Listen to me, this is very important! The person you think is your husband is an alien from another dimension. He’s planning to blow up the Sun and kill everybody on the planet. He’s impregnated all the females in the village and-'

  'Get away from me. You're MAD!' she shouted, backing away towards a battered Renault Twingo parked in the drive.

  'Listen to me!' Daniel said, following her towards the car. 'You've got to go to your pharaoh and tell him to bring his warriors here as soon as possible.'

  'GET AWAY!’ she screamed, ‘Leave me ALONE! You're that sex maniac from the village!' She turned and, running to the car, pulled the driver’s door open and jumped in. The engine sprang into life on the second attempt and, with the wheels spinning, she reversed out onto the lane. Screeching to a halt, she slammed the gear shift into first and floored the pedal, sending the Twingo hurtling up the lane.

  As Daniel walked back into the workshop, Anubis looked up and asked, 'What did she say?'

  'She said she'll have a meal on the table for when you get home.'

  'Great! There are two things I love about these human females; their cooking and their lust for sex.'

  ‘The tea’s cold. I’m going to make another pot,’ Tanka said, collecting the mugs together.

  Daniel strolled across to the half built drone, ‘Have you had any problems reducing the size?’

  Anubis walked across to join him. ‘Most of it scaled down okay. The biggest problem was getting suitable seats, humans are much smaller. I ended up using old car seats from a scrapyard in Derby.’

  ‘Tea’s up!’ Tanka called out. Everybody returned to the table as she set the tray down. ‘I think we should tell him.’

  'Tell who, what?' Anubis replied, picking up a mug.

  Tanka turned back to Daniel, ‘This was never meant to happen, it’s all been a huge accident. We had no idea it would affect the blue planets the way it has.'

  'Planets?' Daniel interrupted, picking up on Tanka's use of a plural. 'How many planets have been affected?

  'Five... maybe ten, but we think it may have spread to other universes. Anubis has been trying to fix the problem for months, Creation months that is. He’s been experimenting to see if incorporating our DNA into the planet's gene pool will resolve the issue, hence the baby boom.'

  Daniel put his mug down, 'Okay, so all this was a huge accident, but what was the point of it all? I still don't get what you were trying to achieve.'

  The door-buzzer sounded again - this time everybody glanced at the security monitor. The figure standing by the door was wearing a dark blue uniform and a peaked cap.

  Tanka was the first to react, 'It's Sergeant Rogers. Let me deal with him,' she said, running to the reception area.

  Tanka opened the door. 'Ahh, Mrs. Perkins,' the police officer said, removing his cap and scratching the top of his head. I wasn't expecting to find you here… I’m looking for Mr. Anubis, apparently he’s gone missing. His wife came into the police station in a terrible state, she said somebody told her aliens had invaded Earth.'

  'It's her condition, Sergeant.' Anubis said appearing over Tanka's shoulder. 'This pregnancy’s not going at all well. She's had a lot of trouble with her blood pressure, it gets so low she almost faints and becomes delirious. You can't rely on a word she says. Last night I caught her eating raw liver straight out of the fridge.'

  'You were at home last night?' the officer interrupted.

  'Of course, where else would I be?'

  The conversation paused as the police officer contemplated the situation, glancing between Tanka and Anubis. 'I think you need to come down to the police station and collect your wife, Mr. Anubis. I don't think she’s in a fit state to drive home.'

  Tanka stepped through the access door and, linking arms with the officer, walked him towards his patrol car. 'I was just about to go back to the pub, so why don’t I come with you to the police station and I can drive her home. The police officer turned and looked back as Anubis closed the Ground Station door. He was about to speak but Tanka distracted him by saying, 'How's Mrs. Rogers and the children?' The ploy worked and the police officer spent the journey driving back to the police station discussing his wife and her unexpected pregnancy.

  As soon as Anubis stomped back into the workshop, the Gatekeeper realized he was going to attack Daniel. Immediately he placed himself between them, but as he was in a physical form, Anubis was able to sweep him aside. Daniel backed away and then turned and ran behind the drone as Anubis picked up a hammer from the workbench and pursued him. The first slash caught Daniel’s shoulder; the pain was unbelievable, momentarily knocking him off his feet. He scrambled under the drone as the hammer came down for a second time. It missed his head by millimetres, striking the corner of a control unit and ripping it from the drone’s frame. Suddenly they both grasped their heads as the poltergeist's voice filled their minds with such disabling volume that they both fell to the floor. 'STOP THIS NOW!' Orion shouted, hovering directly in front of them in his natural state of pure energy. His voice came again, but this time at a tolerable level, 'Daniel, I’m running out of patience! If you don't cooperate you’re never going to see Amy again, is that clear?'

  Daniel said nothing as he pulled himself out from under the drone, inspecting his injured shoulder. Anubis was examining the damage to the control unit which was now hanging by several wires, ‘Is it badly damaged?’ Orion asked.

  ‘No, I can fix it.’

  20

  Rescue Missions

  Hedrick stepped through the front door of his house, closing it quietly behind him. He was totally exhausted, he’d never had such a stressful day. His back was hunched, his shoulders drooped and his face had aged a hundred years. He stood in the hallway, his head buzzing with flashbacks of the day’s events. 'Heddy... is that you?’ Kassia called from the kitchen. 'Good news! The little one's on a sleepover, so we've got the place to ourselves. The bubbly's on ice, the canapés are in the lounge and I'm wearing that little black dress that turns you on. Get in the shower and I'll bring you up a drink.'

  'Okay,' was all Hedrick could muster as a reply.

  'Okay? I've arranged a night of passionate sex and all you can say is okay.' Kassia came out of the kitchen, carrying his favourite cocktail and saw the pathetic figure about to walk up the stairs, 'Heddy! What's wrong? You look terrible.' She placed the drink on a side table and, putting her arms around his neck, hugged him tightly. She pulled back and looked into the worried, dejected face, 'Heddy, what's happened?'

  'Just a bad day at the office, Kas. I will feel better when I have had a shower.'

  'You've had bad days before, Heddy, but I’ve never seen you like this.'

  He took the glass from the table and went up to their bedroom without replying. Closing the door, he drank the cocktail in a single swallow, placing the empty glass on the dressing table. Normally, he would have carefully folded his work-suit before hanging it in the wardrobe, but now it lay in a crumpled heap by the shower cubical door. He stepped in and, selecting option four, pressed the Activate button. The refreshing fragrance of the shampoo filled his nostrils as the cascading water soaked into his fur. The shower cubical had been a recent extravagance and was fitted with an automatic body washing system, which included a fur drying cycle. The pulsating jets massaged his back and neck, but even this didn’t stop him thinking about the day’s events and the possible down-grading of his retirement. As the warm air blew through his mane, he began to realize that everything he needed for a happy retirement was dow
nstairs preparing their evening meal.

  To lighten his mood he decided to dress for dinner and took his white tuxedo jacket and black knee length kilt from the wardrobe. Having dressed, he stood in front of the mirror and tied his red bow tie just as his father had taught him. He slid his arms into the silk-lined sleeves of the jacket and then stood back to view himself. There was something missing. He walked over to the bedside table and took a red carnation from the flower arrangement and threaded it through the jacket’s lapel buttonhole. Then giving his mane a quick shake, he left the bedroom.

  As he came down the stairs, Kassia was holding another cocktail. She had removed her apron to reveal a little black dress with a plunging neckline. Suspended from a gold chain and nestling in her cleavage, was the locket that Hedrick had given her on the night he asked her to commit. She stood in front of him, almost eye to eye, elevated by the tall red shoes she was wearing. 'Feeling better, Heddy?' she said, with the smile that always did exactly that, made him feel better.

  Over dinner Hedrick explained what had happened that day, the problem with the corrupted planet and how the angel Haamiah had agreed to delay extracting the universe so they could try and locate Daniel. The tone of his voice became progressively sombre as he related the events. 'Heddy, you've got nothing to worry about,' she said, drinking the last of her espresso coffee. 'Do you know anybody else in Creation the angels would delay anything for? I don't!' Kassia picked up the coffee cups from the table and walked into the kitchen saying, 'What time are you going back?'

  'I said I would give them a couple of hours to look over the new drone data. We are going to be working all night on this one.'