—King Joshua, The Michael Son of Nebadon
Indra’s talks with Smigyl had gone much better than he had expected. New treaties had been written and signed, with individual treaties delivered to all the other Overlord heavens in Eden. Indra had to give up lands he wanted to keep, lands that held many valuable resources, but in return Smigyl had to give up one thing Indra desired the most — the large country that adjoined Azakaman to the south, Mecosta.
Acquiring Mecosta gave him the ability to amass his armies and launch a full-scale land assault with no ships required. Few knew of Indra’s phobia of water, and he planned to keep it that way.
Mecosta had plenty of space to build secret factories and military bases far away from population centers. It also had the added bonus of millions of relatively uneducated, but hard-working indigenous peoples that the Nazz could easily subjugate, convert, and manage.
Indra had anticipated his political victory with Smigyl, so he had already set up million’s of wombs into which his Nazz could incarnate — those Material incarnations were given the green light before the ink could dry on the treaty. As of right now, all over Mecosta, millions of healthy, hard-working women with healthy hard-working husbands were pregnant with fanatics completely and utterly loyal to Indra.
Earlier that day, Indra’s beautician covered his brilliant yellow skin with a translucent shade of blue to give him the appearance of green skin, an exact match to Kuko Kiena and Castor Mayhew’s. He dressed in clothing that identified him as a Dek and assumed the name Hister. After clandestinely circling Eden, he landed at the main welcoming area of Elysium, where he presented a royal invitation from Indra himself. Now appearing as a royal visiting dignitary, Ambassador Hukarknar was giving Indra the royal tour.
“Ambassador Hister. Your honor. This is a new display, one not originally part of the initial plans,” Pope Hukarknar said as he gestured toward some rooms off the main hallway leading to The Grand Reception Hall. Indra, of course, already knew that the rooms displayed artifacts and presentations portraying Nazz history.
“We only recently filled in some gaps about Eden’s history. I thought you might like to view it,” Pope Hukarknar said. Indra wondered if his son had recognized him. Indra’s disguise was good. It was not as if the only change in Indra’s appearance was skin color. His beautician had expertly added prosthetics that subtly shifted his face. Still, part of Indra thought his son recognized him, while knowing he would never say anything about it unless Indra confessed to the ruse first.
Hukarknar bowed graciously and gestured. “Please. Have a seat.”
Indra sat. Only recently had Kuko and Castor told him the story of how Kuko had been the Azakamani general who had nuked Castor and his Nazz troops.
As the lights dimmed, Indra scooted to the edge of his chair as the narrator chronicled the historical contexts leading up to the war. After signing numerous treaties stating the Nazz had no intention of invading their beloved neighbors, they used delay tactics to build up their armies and launched their surprise attacks. Of course, the treaties agreed upon had been signed within the Material realm, not the Celestial.
The documentary showed up-close facial images of Indra, Castor Mayhew, and other Nazz leaders incarnated into Eden’s Material realm. Animated visuals showed Castor and his army at the tip of the spear in battle tanks, scorching city after city, country after country.
Next, came Kuko as a fanatical Azakamani commander, stating her name as Madam Reichsmarschall Kuko Kiena, giving her Azakamani name as an alias. To recreate the scene, facial artists had worked with Kuko to create a good approximation of her face and body at the time. On the video whenever they showed Kuko, it was of both her faces side by side. However, when they showed her sitting in the pilot’s seat flying her bomber over Castor Mayhew’s troop embankments, it showed the green-skinned Kuko dressed as a Nazz general.
Hister applauded and cheered when he saw the holographic images of Castor and his army evaporate under a mushroom cloud of nuclear fire. The others in the theater gave him dirty looks, but Hister continued to smile and applaud as city after city evaporated until the Nazz and their allies surrendered to the Azakamani.
Hister stood as the lights came up. “Let this be a lesson to everyone. A Nazz warrior such as Madame General Kuko Kiena is just as deadly irrespective of where she is and what skin she inhabits.”
Hister practically skipped toward The Grand Reception Hall with Ambassador Hukarknar at his side. The main hallway opened into the right side of the hall, about seven-eighths of the distance from the front. He was drawn to the beautifully ornate tiled floor.
Ambassador Hukarknar was no longer at his side. Indra looked over. Hukarknar bowed politely, gave his hand a broad gesture, and said, “And now behold how the Nazz of Elysium stand in reverence to our beloved God, Lord Indra.”
Hister stepped back several paces. At first, he noticed the feet of a large statue just to his right. His eyes ran up the painted statue, impressed at how large it was, standing at least thirty meters in height. From the rank and insignia, the statue was of a Nazz general.
“Why that’s a statue of you, Pope Hukarknar, guarding the entrance,” he mumbled to himself, impressed at the detail. The statue was facing toward the front of the hall with his right arm held up and forward, his palm open and forward in salute. He followed the stony eyes of the statue’s gaze.
Hister gasped. His vision exploded into the grandeur of The Grand Reception Hall. He staggered, then leaned against the wall. He slid to the floor, pushing his legs straight out. Tears filled his eyes.
“Is this truly the way they love me?” he asked to no one. The entire room was one single pyramid, the floor square, designed to sit millions. Enormous statues of his highest-ranked commanders lined the perimeter. All were dressed differently, their costumes reflecting the different uniforms Nazz warriors had worn throughout their many campaigns and incarnations into Eden’s Material realm over the past 54,000 years since Lord Smigyl had first asked Indra to assist in his battles against Ithuriel Astiro and the stubborn Valkyrie-supported Azakamani.
All the statues were painted such that the faces and uniforms looked perfectly authentic. All were saluting with the gestures appropriate to a particular time. The front of The Grand Reception Hall was one of the points of the square. There, facing forward and ninety meters high, were statues of Indra’s bodyguards — Kuko Kiena on the left and Castor Mayhew on the right. Both were dressed in pure black, their only insignia the white death’s head on the left lapel and the subjugator’s twisted red swastika on the right. Castor’s left hand saluted forward and upward, his palm pointing toward the center of the pyramid; Kuko’s right hand saluted in the same way, her palm pointed forward. Their long silver hair flowed down their backs.
Between the twins, standing behind them at the far end of the room, stood a statue of Lord Indra, a full 200 meters high, nude, his brilliant yellow skin illuminated from within. His arms stretched outward in a V-shape, his palms faced upward. Powerful muscles rippled throughout his body. His face was calm, serene; his eyes were closed in surrender and service to his children. Indra snickered to himself when he saw the phallus and testicles — the artists have been overly generous indeed.
His gaze moved up his statue, in an attempt to determine the height. He concluded that the pyramid’s apex must be perfectly clear and that he was looking into the blackness of space. His vision continued along the ceiling and over to the back of The Grand Reception Hall. At the opposite end was another statue, this one kneeling on his right knee and resting on the ball of his left foot, the palm of his right hand resting on his right thigh and the forearm of his left arm resting on his left thigh. This statue was dressed in the same pure black as Castor and Kuko’s statues, wearing the same insignia. The skin was the same brilliant yellow as its brother at the opposite end of the hall. If the kneeling statue were to stand, it looked like it would have also been the same size as its brother. Indra did not pay much attenti
on to the statue as he walked toward it. Rather, he was drawn to what the statue was gazing upon, which at this distance looked like a large, but simple glass half-sphere emerging out of the floor.
As he approached, he saw there were shapes slowly moving within the sphere. The sphere was filled with hundreds of beautiful galaxies. He walked up to the sphere, resting his palm, then his forehead against it, marveling at the beauty. At that point in Eden’s history, astronomers had captured thousands of images of star-clouds, and those images had been reconstructed into moving, three-dimensional forms within the glass sphere.
Indra finally looked up to see who it was looking down on the sphere and for some reason it surprised him to see his own handsome face wearing a complex mixture of stern strength, amused interest, and benefic protection.
“This is truly magnificent,” he heard a voice beside him. Hister was lost in awe at the beauty of the display and assumed Ambassador Hukarknar had spoken.
“I cannot imagine your pride at seeing this.”
Indra looked over absentmindedly. There stood Lord Smigyl. Obviously, he had seen through the Hister disguise. “Had you never seen this?” Smigyl asked.
Indra just shook his head.
“Did you know what to expect?”
Indra shook his head again, immediately dropping his ‘Hister’ persona. “Mr. Otto Speer is our grand-master engineer and architect — he was the primary designer. But it was Kuko who took care of the artistic details. I wanted to be involved. I even became quite irritated with her and told her to let me see the progress. Of course, she refused.”
“She didn’t allow you any input at all?” Smigyl asked.
“Well, I gave her all my ideas. She very politely listened and even asked questions. Then at some point, I guess when my nose became too big, she simply said, ‘My Lord. This is an opportunity for your children to give something back. Please trust us to show you our love and appreciation.’”
“That’s very touching,” Smigyl said. “That Kuko is really something else, isn’t she?”
“Actually, she’s something between indispensible and infuriating,” Indra chuckled, shaking his head.
They started the long walk toward the front of the Hall where the twins and the nude statue of Indra stood. Smigyl scanned the statue and then back to Indra. “I bet there are a lot of happy women in Elysium.”
Indra snickered.
“I saw the presentation where Kuko dropped the nuke on Castor. Did that really happen?” Smigyl asked.
“Like I said, she’s something between indispensible and infuriating.”
Smigyl looked at Indra out of the corner of his eye. “You can’t possibly be serious.”
Indra just nodded. “And she only confessed to Castor when they were standing in the rain waiting for your arrival.”
“Weren’t you furious? I would have been.”
“I enjoyed seeing Kuko’s delight as she beat her brother, watching him and all his plans for glory evaporate under her mushroom cloud. I thought it was the most hysterical thing I’d heard in eons.”
“You see. That’s what I love about you. What a warrior you are. You love war. The Nazz love war. You just don’t seem to care who wins, just so it was a good fight.”
Recently, Indra and Smigyl had returned from Rishikesh where The Children of Luminosity heard their God of Light’s enlightened words for 40 days and 40 nights. Hundreds of thousands of gurus, pundits, and priests in Eden’s Material realm had immediately committed suicide so they could see their God, Smigyl in person in the Celestial realm.
Would my Nazz commit suicide just to hear my enlightened words? Indra wondered. No. Would Jane Shabni, Smigyl’s mistress, argue over battle plans, standing toe-to-toe with him screaming, ‘You’re being stupid. Wake up’? Not bloody likely. Would Nazz women lie on their backs and allow me to walk upon their wombs? No way.
Indra scanned the Reception Hall again. This is a love so deep. I know it’s true. The Nazz worship me and love me from their own hearts. He glanced to the powerful Overlord standing at his side. But when The Children of Luminosity worship and love Smigyl, it’s nothing more than an extension of Smigyl’s own desire to worship and love himself.
“Yes, we enjoy a good fight. That is true,” Indra continued. “However, it’s also true we enjoy building permanent planetary civilizations. There’s something about having perfect order on an entire planet that always makes the Nazz happy. Which is why I’m looking forward to having this new Lanonandek transport craft for our use.”
Indra faced Smigyl, and then pointed between his own and Smigyl’s heart. Indeed, he did love and admire his powerful brother.
“And by that, I really do mean ‘our’,” Indra said. “When we have fabricated enough of them, I will use my transports to set up a system that can shuttle my troops between planets more quickly. In my experience, allowing my Nazz just a couple of lifetimes on a fully established Nazz world makes them doubly motivated and triply strong when resuming the fight against the Valkyrie. This will be very important when your Tower of Light is completed and activated, and you and I are finally able to launch the full-scale offensives to take all of Nebadon.”
Smigyl reached down and took Indra’s hand. Indra had never seen, nor heard of Smigyl ever holding anyone’s hand under any circumstances, unless it was to grab the hand of someone who had failed him, for the purpose of snatching it off. Even more remarkable, Smigyl then pressed Indra’s hand to his lips, kissed it, and held it to his lips.
Smigyl gently pulled Indra’s hand from his face, lowered his arm, and allowed their hands to rest between them. Still, he did not let go. Smigyl’s eyes filled with tears.
“The thing you did for me on Rishikesh — allowing me to sit in my control module — feeling the Golden Ghee flow — enjoying the Indu Spice — giving me a taste of the joys and powers to come from my Tower of Light — I have no words to describe my gratitude.” Tears fell freely from Smigyl’s eyes.
Indra opened his mouth to speak, but no words came.
“More than anyone,” Smigyl continued, “I know how difficult it can be to work with someone as temperamental as Diagon. Not only did you organize my module’s fabrication, you sent your own Artisans to work under Diagon’s supervision.
“How did…Why did…”
Indra now understood. He squeezed Smigyl’s hand. “Actually, as soon as I made it clear that the project was a gift from me to you, Priest Diagon was extremely cooperative. I didn’t get a single complaint from my Artisans.”
“Well,” Smigyl said, giving Indra’s hand one last squeeze before letting it go. “What you did for me was a great gift of love.”
Smigyl paused. “I’ve had my own worries ever since it became clear that I had no choice but to travel to Salvington to get our plans for The Tower of Light approved. If I may, I would like to share with you my deepest nightmare.”
Indra nodded for Smigyl to continue. “It might be true that The Blind King has set up some sort of trap for me. We have no way of knowing if his spies have finally been successful in penetrating our security on the Solaris of Brihaspati,” Smigyl said. The Solaris of Brihaspati was built upon the moon called Europa, which orbited planet Jupiter in the Urantian theatre.
“If his plans are to take me into custody ahead of a full scale Valkyrie offensive,” Smigyl turned to Indra and nodded gently, a soft, subtle, but clearly appreciative smile grew on his face, “then at least I will take with me one last sweet experience, knowing what could have been, before facing The Lake of Fire.”
Indra understood. He too had wondered the same thing. More than once he, Castor, and Kuko had discussed what they would do if all along, King Joshua’s plans had never included signing off on Smigyl’s Tower of Light. Rather, His plan was to take Smigyl into custody and constrain him on one of the Valkyrie’s prison spheres.
“By my very nature, I think very positively,” Indra began. “And of course, my propensity to gamble and take great risks is famous
. Unfortunately, too many times my gambles have turned out disastrously. Luckily, I have Kuko to do all my worrying for me.” Indra smiled. “Still, under these circumstances, as we stand so close to achieving our goal, I think it is wise for all of us to wonder what The Blind King and his Valkyrie have in store for us. Indeed, there might be secret, unknown plots for our demise.”
Indra and Smigyl both nodded contemplatively.
“There is one more thing, which if you don’t know, you should,” Indra continued. “If the Blind King is actually not as blind as Lakshmi says, and he has in fact seen into what we have been doing in our Ratna harvesting fields, know that I will be honored, and as a brother will proudly stand at your side as we all face The Lake of Fire together.”
Chapter 47
Karolita’s Bold Maneuver to Slay the Valkyrie
How dare you question my authority? I am enlightened.
—Karolita
Oceania
The downpour resumed — this time with the occasional lightning and thunder. Karolita and her minions saw the glow of the fire before they smelled the burning wood. A few steps later, they heard muffled voices. Ahead was a large fire pit covered by a massive tarpaulin. Fifteen individuals stood around the large fire, periodically rotating to warm each side. How dare they have such comforts when I’m so miserable? Karolita thought.
Karolita hid behind a massive tree and opened her purse. Her weapon’s energy capacity read a little less than three-quarters charge. As good as the insulating materials were, it was impossible to prevent some leakage of Celestial energy. Karolita knew she had to kill all of them with a single blast.
The Pharisee weapons masters had taught Karolita how to change the quality of her own breath to the ideal frequency of energy in order to recharge the weapon; however, it took a long time.
Lilith: Eden's Planetary Princess (The Michael Archives Book 1) Page 37