by Jory Smith
Atlanta slowly nodded that she could accept that.
Behind Atlanta, Ares saw a shadowy figure sitting on his throne.
“Now, I want you two to go to bed. I will be there as soon as I am done with business.”
Ares waited till the two goddesses left the room, when he finally spoke. “You’ve got real guts sitting in my chair. I don’t care who you represent. I will send your head back tied in a bow.”
“But I have such bad news for you,” the shade said in a hissing voice. “Zeus is planning something, and we believe it may stop our plans. He needs to be stopped.”
“There is nothing I can do about it with the treaty still in effect,” Ares said. “What is he planning that can defeat my army? Nothing, I tell you. My army outnumbers his 100 to 1. Even if he summons his followers, he is too afraid to let a god to die.”
Ares then leaned back in an arrogant manner. “There have been many chances for him to kill me and he never took them. We will win. No matter what he does, he will fail. Go back to your masters and tell them to finish up on their promise so I can fulfill mine.”
“As you wish, God of War. But be warned. We will not accept failure,” the shade hissed.
The shade started to walk towards the shadows but then stopped. It stood there for a few seconds and reached for its throat. A pile of black liquid started to leak from its neck, and then its head toppled off.
“I told you to respect me,” Ares talked to the dead shade. “Your masters will respect me as well, for I will be the king of all gods,” Ares said arrogantly, holding his battle axe in one hand. He then turned around, summoned slaves to clean the mess and walked towards his chambers.
Chapter 5
As soon as the portal disappeared behind him, Amadi checked his watch and saw that three hours had passed. But when he looked at the clock on his desk, it showed only minutes had actually passed.
So time passes differently between the two places, he muttered to himself. I have to find out why that is. That was something he would have to do another night. Tonight he would have to issue new orders, and it would take even longer if the runners had already left. Amadi sat down at his desk and pulled out a map of Africa.
He yelled for his guards and ordered them to fetch the Sgt. Major and the runners if they have not already left. If they have, they were told to fetch four of the fastest runners here in camp.
As soon as the men left Amadi went back to the map and started plotting out their course.
From where they were bivouacked, they were close to 500 miles east of the Atlantic coast. If they were to make it there in time they would have to cross into Angola. He calculated they would have to march twenty miles a day if he was going to get the five days of rest he wanted. Since he would have to leave at dawn to make that schedule, he came up with a different plan. After a second set of calculations, which left him two days to get his army marching, his army would only have three days for rest. He estimated that they were still going to have to do twenty miles a day. There was no way around that.
This is going to be tough. My army is going to kill me after this forced march, he thought. But with what Zeus said is going to happen, we will have to do it.
“Sir, you asked to see us,” his Sgt. Major said through the cloth door.
“Yes. Are the other camps runners here with you?”
“Yes, they are right behind me,” he said as he walked in with the runners following close behind.
“Men, some new information has come to my attention. We are not going to be heading to Sudan. Instead, we’re marching to the Atlantic coast. We will be crossing through Angola. When we get there, we will be picked up and transported to a place that is going to give us everything we want: money, safety for our families and lots of enemies to fight.”
Amadi then turned his attention to the runners.
“You five are to leave now and let your commanders know there new orders. Tell them as they proceed to the objective, they are to recruit and to do it heavily. We are going to need them for what is about to happen. We need to at least double our numbers.” Amadi then stared down the runners. “Tell your commanders, if I hear about any ethnic cleansing along the way, they will have to answer to me. There is something coming and we will need every human alive. It won’t spare us by race, ethnicity or religion.”
The men repeated their orders and left. He heard them picking up speed as they left the tent and went into the jungle. He then turned his attention to his Sgt. Major.
“Sgt. Major, sit down.”
Amadi got up and walked over to a jug to pour himself a drink. After drinking it, he then poured himself another one and one for the Sgt. Major.
“I know there is a lot on your mind. You have permission to speak.”
“What happened?” the Sgt. Major burst out. “We had come up with a good plan and you just go ahead and change everything. What has caused this?”
“What time do you have right now?”
“I have 0100. Why do you ask?”
Amadi showed his watch to his Sgt. Major. His watch was 3 hours ahead.
“I know you won’t believe me when I say this, but a few minutes after you left, Nyame came to me. He brought me to a different world and told me what was coming. If we don’t do this, we will die. We will still gather your family and the families of all of our soldiers. We will gather more people as well. This is going to be a species cleansing like none other and we need to save as many people as we can.”
“Sir, I left the army when you did. I left for the same reasons you did. I joined up with you because I believe in you. You have your weaknesses. You love war too much.
“But you also do have your strengths,” he continued. “Not once have I seen you sacrifice your men for a pointless battle that wouldn’t advance anything. You think of your men and you take their well-being into account, far better than any officer I have seen.”
The Sgt. Major finished his drink. “You know that once we cross into Angola, we will have to deal with their government and rebel forces. Even though they hate each other, they hate us more.”
Amadi smiled and finished his own drink. “That is why we have to plan this out. We only have one day for planning and then a day to execute. Then we will have a long march.” Showing the map to the Sgt. Major he continued, “This is what I have come up with in order to pull this off.”
The general and his Sgt. Major stayed up the rest of the night discussing strategy. None of them noticed the shadow in the back of the room growing bigger.
Nicolai was abruptly awakened by the change of the guards. The relieved guards performed their last walk about banging their night clubs on the cell doors. He was still lying on the floor.
That was some dream, unless it was real.
He reached down and felt his side and felt his ribs. Testing them softly, he felt no pain. The only pain he did feel was the pain in his back from the stone slab. I guess it was real.
Nicolai heard footsteps coming towards him. He stood up and prepared for whatever was came through the door. As the footsteps came to the door the only thing that opened was the slot where they slid the food in. Instead of food, a piece of paper was slid through.
“Your execution warrant has been signed scum.” The guard said through the door. “Your date is July 30th.”
Then the sound of footsteps started going in the opposite direction. Whistling as the guard walked away, the guard would only stop to shout. “Dead man, we have a dead man here.”
Nicolai picked up the warrant and read what it said:
Nicolai Altukhov,
On behalf of the motherland, you have been charged with murder and sentenced to death. The Sentence will be carried out on July 31st midnight. You will be electrocuted until you have been pronounced dead. May God, the almighty forgive your soul.
Signed
Judge, Turbina Kapitolina Germanovna
Nicolai sat down on his cot and started laughing. Crumpling the paper he tossed i
t on the floor. In 30 days I am either a dead man or a god. I will just have to make sure I stay alive within that time frame. Nicolai got up and started pacing in his small cell. But what am I supposed to do for the next month.
“Guard,” Nicolai called out. When he got confirmation that a guard was out there, he yelled again. “What do you know of Greek mythology?”
“Just the basics, like everyone else. What’s it to you?”
“I want you to get me every book you can on Greek mythology. I will give you seventy thousand rubles for your troubles.”
A moment of silenced passed as Nicolai waited for an answer. When he was about to raise the price the guard answered. “I will see what I can do.”
Nicolai went back to his cot and laid down. To pass the time, his thoughts went back to her.
Terry laid face down on his pillow with the alarm blaring. He didn’t sleep at all last night. Terry had been dealing with the cops all night because someone called in the shot he fired. Terry told the cops he saw an intruder in his house and fired to protect himself. Luckily they believed him. That wasn’t the part that bothered him.
It was what happened before he was returned to his house in the middle of the night. Terry was still trying to get his head around what happened last night.
He had been with Zeus, the king of the gods, and they talked for what seemed like hours. Yet when he was brought back to his house, only a few minutes of time seemed to have passed. What Zeus told him just blew his mind, especially that woman, Aphrodite. She looked just like Jessica except, a bit curvier, in the right places. None of that stood with the image he kept seeing in his head.
No matter what Terry did, his mind always went back to that vision. Deep inside him a feeling stirred that he never felt before. It was anger that he thought wasn’t possible. When the vision went to Jessica, Terry had wanted to reach in and rip Ares’ throat out. He could not allow that to happen.
I am going to have to get her to safety, Terry thought.
Terry got up and got in the shower. He turned it on cold. He could still feel the effects that Aphrodite put on him. After showering and shaving, he nicked himself more than a couple of times because he was rushing through it, and then grabbed his phone to call Jessica.
In mid-motion he stopped. I can’t call her. If I bring this to her, she will leave me for good. Terry sat down and started stroking his chin. I need to prepare for what’s coming. I need to learn all I can about Zeus, Ares, and the other gods.
Terry felt like there was something wrong with what Zeus had told them, like he was lying. Terry always had this ability to tell when people were feeding him crap. He was also an excellent judge of character. Terry knew that Aphrodite was extremely dangerous. There was something dark surrounding her. It made him sick to his stomach.
I wonder who their fathers are, Terry wondered. The Turk has to be Hades’ son. The guy reeked of death. The African has to be Ares’ son. Something still doesn’t add up though. How would Hades and Ares not know about their sons? Why can’t Zeus deal with this himself? Why are we so important?
Terry pondered these questions as he finished getting dressed. He hopped in his car and drove to the library. The first person he saw when he walked in was the librarian sitting behind her desk. She wasn’t the stereotypical librarian. She was young, cute, with a few tattoos showed beneath her clothes. Then she had a smile even he loved. As he came closer they made eye contact, and she asked if he needed any help.
“I would like to know where you keep your books on Greek mythology.”
“Well, we have some in the kids section, some in fiction, and some in non-fiction.” She leaned up closer to him and breathed in. “Is there anything in particular you wanted?” she said, questioning.
“What do you mean non-fiction? Like real stories and stuff?”
“Oh no silly,” She said slapping his hand. “By non-fiction I mean professors and grad students who have done research and analysis on the myths. They studied how the religion had its effect on the Greek people or how the Greek myths effect on movies, books, and American culture.” The librarian got up and motioned for him to follow her. “‘Real stories.’ If they are real then I am a good Christian woman,” She said with a grin and a wink.
Terry just nodded and said, “Lead me to what you recommend.”
The librarian led him to where the fiction books were. Before she left, she casually mentioned that if he needed any help, of any kind, to let her know, and she would be glad to help him. Terry grinned and started picking books at random.
This is going to be a long month. Terry thought as he piled his books on a desk. I hope I can find what I am looking for.
As Terry started flipping through books, he didn’t notice the shadow that seemed to be watching him as he read.
General Amadi strolled through the encampment and felt the tension among his men. He could tell the men were ready to mutiny. The meeting with his officers confirmed that suspicion. They were pissed off and wouldn’t listen to reason. Amadi even had to remind them they were talking to a general.
I am lucky that I am even alive. I can’t blame them though. If I was in any of their shoes, I would have mutinied already. I have done it for less.
To ease the murmurs of mutiny, Amadi had ordered a skeleton crew for security. Amadi came upon the area where the civilians were being held. He told them to recruit hard and his men did not fail. They had nearly tripled their numbers. After everything, Amadi hoped what he did was right. The ends justify the means. Amadi thought.
Looking at his watch he noticed the day was getting late and still the transportation had not arrived. They had arrived earlier that morning after marching all night. I wish Zeus would have been more specific on the time
Amadi decided to head back to his command tent. My feet hurt like hell and if the Angolans decide to stop fighting and come for us we are toast.
Amadi was halfway to his tent when he heard gun fire off in the distance. It came from the direction of his tent. Then he saw a group of armed men heading his way. Stopping, Amadi slid his hand to his side arm. This is how it all ends. Well Zeus, if you were real you would come in about now.
As the men got closer, he didn’t recognize any of them. He gripped his pistol and waited for a sign that they were going to attack, but the leader started to speak.
“General, if you can come with us. The Sgt. Major has asked for you,” The soldier said with no emotion.
This has to be some kind of trick. At least they did it right. The men don’t need to see the power struggle going on.
Amadi followed the men as they lead him to his tent. He started feeling nervous as they stepped closer. The guard motioned him to go inside, and as he entered he saw two of his officers dead. In his chair sat the Sgt. Major getting looked over by one of the medics.
“Sorry about the mess, General. Some of your officers thought they could replace you.” He pushed the medic off of him and stood up. “I wish I had some better news as well, but there are two armies heading our way. It seems that the Angolans called a cease fire so that they can kill themselves some Congolese.”
“I wonder what kept them so long,” the general said jokingly. “If it was me, I would have gotten right on our tails, especially since we have been kidnapping their people.”
“I don’t have to remind you how stupid Angolans are. The only reason they are a country is because their neighboring countries can’t even hold onto what they have.”
“So what made these fine gentlemen decide to turn on me now?” Amadi said disgustingly, pointing to the dead men being dragged out of the tent.
“Your officers had it in their minds that they could trade you and the people we took for a safe passage back home. Don’t worry though. Your loyal officers are already getting the men in defensive positions. I just have one question sir, do you know when Nyame is supposed to come and save us?”
“Hey scum bag, two more hours until you’re a dead man,” The guard said
mocking Nicolai through the feed slot.
Nicolai remembered the guard from earlier. It was the same guard who gave him his death warrant. He was also the bailiff from the courtroom as well. He has such a whine in his voice, Nicolai thought. For days, the same guard would come and mock Nicolai. He was getting on Nicolai’s nerve.
“I have your last meal right here. Let’s see what you have; Pelmeni, Blini, some caviar and a bottle of Sibirskaya vodka.” The guard sat down outside of his cell where Nicolai could watch him through the food slot and started eating the food. “This tastes pretty good. You should try it. If only you ordered more because I think I am going to finish this off,” The guard said smugly.
Nicolai sat there watching the guard with his anger raging inside him. With that anger the urge to kill shortly followed.
“Who are you?” Nicolai asked, trying to hold back the anger. “What have I ever done to you?”
“You don’t even know, huh? How many people have you killed? A hundred? More? You may have not remembered them all. There was one who happened to be my brother. I swore I would avenge him. He was an innocent police officer and you killed him for doing his job. That is why I transferred from the courts to the prison. I paid a lot of money to be the one who gets to pull the lever when you fry.” The guard got up and tossed the empty plate into Nicolai’s cell.
Nicolai watched as the guard walked away and swore he would get his revenge on him and on the judge who put him in this situation. He would be the last one to laugh.
Nicolai laid back in his bed. He started questioning if Zeus was even coming. According to Nicolai’s count this was the 30th day. Maybe what I experience was just a hallucination, he wondered. But it couldn’t have been. Nicolai cleared his mind and started to reminisce. The guard was wrong; he did remember killing his brother.