Tablet of Destinies

by Traci Harding

  ‘They obviously fear what our association might achieve,’ Adama suggested. ‘Enki confessed to me that Anu himself ordered the creation of my six brothers and seven sisters so that our species might have a chance to advance in the great scheme of evolution.’

  Eve backed up, not fearful, but wary. ‘No slave in Edin has the ability to procreate. The Nefilim have reserved that right for themselves … although, even they are not producing as many offspring as they used to. The Nefilim designed it that way, to control our number and keep us dependent. So it makes no sense that Anu would order the advancement of a race that might ultimately rival his own.’

  ‘Father said that humans were needed to guide the Nefilim home, not in a physical sense but in a spiritual one. Our highly-developed emotions had something to do with it.’ Adama referred back to what Eve had been saying before, and scratched his head. ‘But as Father refuses to teach me otherworldly doctrine, I fail to understand the full implications. I’m kind of hoping Adapa will work it out.’

  ‘Tell me of your brothers,’ Eve implored him on behalf of her sisters, sure that some of them would be curious.

  Eve moved to be seated, while Adama pondered his failure to locate all of his kinsmen. He wondered if it would be more diplomatic to avoid the topic for the present.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Eve marked the concern in his expression.

  Adama looked at her, still undecided as to how to respond, when the look of regard on her face compelled him to be honest. ‘Can you keep a secret from your sisters?’ He seated himself beside her.

  ‘I’ve never had just cause,’ she told him honestly. ‘But my better judgement is open to negotiation.’ She smiled to encourage him to voice his mind.

  Many hours later, Adama and Eve had not budged from the bench in the garden, nor had they wanted for conversation.

  Adama had never known such a delightful encounter. Eve was truly the female personification of himself. Their bodies differed, but their minds, and the thoughts spun therein, were identical.

  During the course of their meeting, they had gone from sitting on opposite ends of the bench to leaning up against each other. Eve’s head had dropped onto Adama’s shoulder as they paused to ponder all they had discussed. He could smell the divine scent of her, and pleasured by his perception, he thanked Eve by planting a kiss upon her head.

  Eve immediately retreated down the bench, before turning to look at him.

  Adama had imagined he would see fear and anger in her face, but her expression was more one of awe and curiosity. ‘I apologise. I didn’t mean to alarm you.’ He defended his rash action, having forgotten himself a moment. ‘I understood it was a gesture of comfort.’

  ‘In the case of a child,’ she specified.

  ‘So, as adults, we are no longer permitted to comfort each other?’ Adama questioned.

  ‘Is that why you did it, to comfort me?’ she asked, in a neutral tone.

  ‘No,’ Adama admittedly openly, as the truth had been working well for him all evening. ‘I did it to thank you … this has been the most enjoyable evening of my life.’ He nearly choked on admitting so much to anyone, let alone someone he’d just met. ‘A shame it has to end, really,’ he added, as Eve had gone quiet and straight-faced, as if assessing him.

  With her eyes fixed on Adama, Eve roused her courage and slid closer to him once more. ‘I wish to thank you also.’ She reached out her hand to steady his face and slowly brought her lips to meet his.

  Gentle, warm and wet, her luscious lips caressed his own, stirring his emotions as nothing had before. Inside his being, energy ran rampant in a spiralling motion, setting his stomach, his heart and his head into a spin.

  As they parted, Eve whispered her confession like a mischievous child. ‘I’ve always wondered what that would feel like.’ Her deep, green eyes sparkled in accord with the smile upon her lips.

  ‘You know the first rule of science is to always repeat the experiment.’ Adama fished for more of the same and was rather surprised when he got it.

  This time their kiss was deeper, longer, and drew their bodies close. The same vortex of energy was set whirling inside Adama’s body, churning his emotions into an excited frenzy.

  ‘Oh my.’ Eve moved away from him to stabilise all the feelings surging through her body.

  ‘If it feels that good when only our mouths are touching, imagine what —’ Adama clammed up mid-sentence. He felt so at ease in Eve’s company, he’d actually forgotten he was addressing a female who might be offended by his next observation.

  ‘Indeed,’ she emphasised, and was pleased to surprise him. ‘I must say that I am curious … perhaps you will prove my sisters wrong about the male gender.’

  ‘No … I fear your sisters are right about their encounters, for the Nefilim cannot feel as we do. They can choose to experience what we feel, but I doubt that any Nefilim male, apart from my father, would freely expose himself to human feeling, for with every pleasure we feel there is always pain, and the reverse.’

  ‘It’s so true.’ Eve brushed the tears of joy from her cheeks, feeling she had uncovered a secret treasure in this man, and that she had only discovered the entrance hall to a palace full of jewels.

  ‘Will you see me again?’ Adama felt it was the right moment to broach the subject.

  ‘I would run with you into the wilderness this very second, Adama, if it didn’t mean leaving my sisters.’ Eve was as straightforward with him as she knew how to be. Adama was truly extraordinary and she wanted him in her life.

  Adama’s heart went from pounding in his chest, to pounding in his throat, and he shed his first tear of joy. ‘Then we shall take them with us,’ he stated, in a deadly serious fashion.

  ‘And leave half of them without a mate?’ appealed Eve, shaking her head.

  ‘Then, I will find my brothers.’ Adama stood up, compelled by his conviction. ‘Better still, I shall go to Father and demand that he bring them to the palace for their protection.’

  ‘That could take some organising.’ Eve seemed to be reconsidering their plan, and Adama began to fear that she was having second thoughts. ‘I don’t think I could wait that long to see you again,’ she decided, finally, and then smiled at the look of relief on Adama’s face.

  ‘Well, if we are to escape from Eridu, we should map out an escape route,’ Adama suggested.

  ‘Of course. There’s an exit to the forest in the tunnel.’ Eve frowned. ‘Daytime or night?’

  ‘Night-time, of course.’ His smiled broadened, although he expected her to decline such a date. Such an adventure would leave them all alone, in the middle of the wilderness, in darkness.

  ‘Sounds good,’ she resolved, and noting his astonishment, she asked: ‘Why so amazed, Adama?’

  ‘Aren’t you afraid that I might try and impose myself upon you?’ He accentuated the word ‘impose’ in a humorous fashion.

  ‘Well, what is the point of this whole excursion if you don’t?’ Eve raised her eyebrows, letting him know she saw straight through his ploy, but was disposed towards his intent anyway.

  Adama was lost for words, breath, rational thought! ‘But you must feel unsure after what your sisters —’

  ‘Adama,’ Eve interrupted, shaking her head. ‘I’ll draw my own conclusions. Somehow, I know that you will not hurt me. In fact, I believe just the opposite is possible.’ She breathed deep and taking hold of both his hands, she looked him straight in the eye. ‘I believe that you make me happy.’

  The next morning, Adama breezed into the scriptorium, with not a care in the world and strolling up to Adapa, who was engrossed in study, he kissed his brother’s cheek.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Adapa demanded.

  ‘Is it not wonderful?’ Adama planted a kiss on his brother’s other cheek.

  ‘No, it is not!’ Adapa stood in protest and backed away to avoid being kissed again. ‘It’s like being back with the mutants … they were always licking my face like that.’

 
; ‘A human female did that to me, last night,’ Adama boasted, and Adapa’s interest snowballed, as expected.

  ‘I don’t believe you.’ Adapa smiled, wanting to. ‘You found a female?’

  ‘I found seven.’

  ‘Seven!’ Adapa was shocked beyond belief. ‘Then we have another four brothers somewhere … don’t you think?’

  ‘It seems nice and neat, as our Father would have it.’ Adama nodded surely. ‘I was also informed that the females each derived their essence from one of my brothers. They were not directly derived from the Nefilim’s essence as we males were.’

  ‘To what end, I wonder?’ Adapa dwelt upon the enigma, then his thoughts moved on. ‘I also made progress on my quest last night.’ He lowered his voice suddenly, as if guilt compelled him. ‘I had a rummage through Father’s private library and I came across an old Nefilim brief for the creation of the human species.’

  Adama frowned as his brother moved to fetch his prize find. ‘But why would Father bring such a document into existence?’

  The only printed documents were here in Eridu and had been created purely for Adama’s benefit, since he was not telepathic. Nor could his mind command the psychokinetically operated databases that the Nefilim used for information storage and for communicating over long distances. Adama’s Nefilim kindred also spoke aloud, for his benefit alone.

  ‘It’s a simple document …’ Adapa grabbed for the tiny scroll. He placed the end knobs of the wooden rod around which the scroll was wrapped, onto a device which allowed the reader to turn the knobs and scroll the text. ‘… filled with information we are already aware of. Like, low intelligence, no reproductive prospects and so on and so forth.’ They both nodded in accord as Adapa scrolled down to the relevant text. ‘But this here is very interesting.’ Adapa translated. ‘Humans are not to be given our lifespan and resilience, lest they use up the Orme that keeps the Nefilim ever filled with the light of youth.’

  ‘This is implying the Nefilim are not immortal!’ The implications were staggering, and Adama had to sit down. Why would Enki have wanted his human sons to know this? Why put such knowledge on paper to be discovered?

  ‘What is an Orme?’ Adama queried at last.

  ‘Well, I was rather curious about that myself.’ Adapa took a seat. ‘The only reference I could find to it was in metallurgy.’

  ‘Makes sense,’ said Adama, as ‘Or’ was the name for gold.

  Adapa shuffled through the scrolls on his desk, but unable to locate the text he was seeking, decided to summarise in his own words. ‘Orme is what results from the process of reducing Or to its base elements, its pure substance. This substance is at the heart of the Nefilim’s operations here, as it is the super-conductive agent they use for the planetary shield that protects Nibiru and prevents it from freezing over.’

  ‘But in this text it is implied that it is the Nefilim who need the Orme, not just their planet,’ Adama pointed out, recalling something his father had said, many years ago now.

  The emotional body seems to be something unique to Gaia’s spawn, and is part of you that comes from the ape man of this planet, which supplied part of your essential makeup …

  ‘Yes, it makes sense.’ Adama raised himself, his mind churning.

  ‘What makes sense?’ Adapa thought he must have missed something.

  ‘The Nefilim were spawned on Nibiru, therefore their essence was derived from that planet and must be in sympathy with it.’ Adama was both excited and terrified by his own theorising. ‘As their planet needs aid to prevent it freezing over and dying, perhaps the Nefilim too need the same aid to prevent them from freezing to death? For … they have no emotions to warm them.’ Adama looked to his brother, his speculation at an end; it scared him that it had a ring of truth about it.

  ‘Then perhaps the Nefilim way to immortality will differ from the human way to life eternal?’ Adapa suggested and his brother agreed with a nod.

  ‘My guess is that human emotion is the key to unlocking our immortality.’ Eve came to mind, and the amazing rushes of energy that had gripped his body from head to tail when their lips had met. ‘I’m also willing to bet that our female personifications hold the key to part of this mystery.’

  Adapa shrugged at this assumption. ‘What could our sisters teach us that we cannot find out for ourselves?’

  Adama smiled at his younger brother’s query. ‘She can stir up my emotions without anger, offence or concern being the cause.’

  ‘The getting of knowledge can do the same.’ Adapa disregarded his brother’s view and moved back to his texts.

  Adama shook his head. How could he make the scholar understand? ‘Can just the sight of text excite you beyond rational thought, without you having to read a word?’ Adama was gazing out the open doors now, his eyes lost in the intense blue expanse of the morning sky.

  The absolute wonder and delight in his brother’s tone made Adapa mildly curious. ‘The mere sight of her makes you feel this way?’

  ‘I die a thousand tiny deaths inside, each time I stop and realise I am without her company.’

  ‘Sounds like fun,’ Adapa retorted. ‘I think I shall give it a miss.’ He reached for his quill, feeling he was a far more contented man than his brother was.

  ‘No!’ Adama startled Adapa with his alarmed response. ‘You cannot just give it a miss! Once I find our other four brothers, I intend to take all my kindred far away from Eridu … Eve has already agreed to come with me. In fact,’ Adama calmed to a smile when he thought about it, ‘it was her idea.’

  ‘I will not leave Eridu!’ Adapa backed away from his oldest brother. ‘I have lived outside these palace walls most of my life and I tell you, it’s an existence that I will not go back to.’

  Adama had never seen a defiant side to the sage before. ‘And what of your mate, Adapa? Are you not even curious to meet her?’

  ‘Not if it will risk my position in this household, and risk my access to written knowledge.’ Adapa shook his head decidedly. ‘No, I am not interested.’

  ‘Is knowledge more important than life then?’ Adama was annoyed by the sage’s stance, thinking it illogical.

  ‘Knowledge is life!’ Adapa shot back at his brother, as if he was the one being puerile.

  ‘I know, I’m late.’ Samson entered the room to find his brothers glaring at each other, and he backed up a step as he unconsciously sensed the hostility brewing. ‘I could be later if you like?’ He retreated to the door.

  ‘I’ve located the females,’ Adama advised Samson, his eyes still pinned on Adapa. He pulled a package from the deep pockets of his robe and tossed it in Samson’s direction.

  Samson unfolded the package to find a note wrapped in a scarf. He took a long whiff of the silken fabric and gave the deep sigh of a beast tamed and contented. ‘To whom does this belong?’

  ‘It’s for you, from the female that was fashioned from your essence.’ Adama finally dragged his angry eyes from the sage and gave Samson his attention.

  ‘Great! Now we’ll never hear the end of it.’ Adapa rolled his eyes, knowing that the warrior’s sole purpose in life was to find his mate, and he would certainly take Adama’s side.

  ‘I never smelt this good.’ Samson grinned, and noticing the scribble inside the gift-wrapping, he held it up. ‘Is this anything?’

  Again Adapa rolled his eyes as he stepped forward and snatched the parchment from the warrior. ‘It’s a message.’ His anger dwindled as he looked it over, curious to note that the penmanship was rather good.

  Samson was immediately frustrated by Adapa’s appraisal. ‘Damn, I should have paid more attention to your tuition, Adapa … I never imagined that being able to read could be useful.’

  ‘Well, let this be a lesson to you,’ Adapa lectured, taking a seat. ‘I shall read it to you this once,’ he said, and the warrior was quick to take him up on the offer, promising to concentrate on writing lessons from now on.

  Adama found it quietly amusing that Adapa had volunt
eered to read the missive — perhaps the sage was more curious about the females than he was letting on.

  ‘She says,’ Adapa began to read: ‘On this silk are the tears of joy I shed upon learning that you are safe and well and living in the palace. My greatest fear has been laid to rest, and I live now in excited expectation of our first meeting. Your sister soul, Delilah.’ Adapa was glad he’d finished reading, for a hard lump had formed in his throat.

  Samson gently retrieved the piece of parchment. He, too, had a lump in his throat. ‘Delilah …’ He spoke the name in wonder and awe. ‘She wants to meet me!’ He looked at Adama, preparing to launch into twenty questions, when the door to the scriptorium opened and one of their father’s personal guards entered.

  ‘The Lord Enki has requested to see all of his human sons in his council chambers at once.’

  Adama looked to Adapa to find him just as surprised by the announcement. ‘Father is back?’

  The trio entered Enki’s council chambers to find their four missing brothers in attendance. All were attired very differently. Adama’s request to bring his kindred into the palace had been granted before he’d even had to make it.

  ‘I have just come from a meeting with the Pantheon,’ Enki advised, to speed his mystified sons’ approach. ‘It seems my brother, Enlil, has found out about Adapa.’

  ‘Marduk told him?’ Adama hated to suggest it, but his Nefilim brother was, most likely, the only other Nefilim Lord who knew about the sage.

  ‘I suspect so,’ Enki confirmed, seeming disappointed but not surprised. ‘Enlil has demanded I destroy my second human son.’

  Adapa gasped. He wouldn’t have cared less before Adama had found him, but he’d just started to make something of his life.

  ‘Fear not, Adapa, that is not what is fated for you. But Enlil will demand the same action be taken if he ever finds out about the rest of my perfect human children … and Enlil will find out,’ Enki concluded in a heavy tone, but he went on, unfazed. ‘Still, as I foresaw all of these events a long time ago, I have prepared.’