Lugh furrowed his brows, still panting.
“That’s not an exaggeration—something about their biology causes their infants’ genes to be influenced by both the environment and living creatures around the pregnant…Anunnaki.”
Lugh finally caught his breath. “’Pregnant Anunnaki?’ I’m sensing their sex isn’t very straight-forward…?”
“Yes. To be honest, I’m not sure their biology is defined in a way that displays any sort of pattern in that area. But that’s not my expertise. One of the people on my team will be able to explain it better. All I know is that when one is pregnant, their developing child’s genes are influenced by any living creature they interact with, as well as the general surrounding environment.”
Lugh shook his head and spoke sarcastically. “Oh good. For a second I thought you were going to make this easy and say the entire galaxy is full of bi-pedal human-like species.”
What is he talking about? That tone of voice humans keep using…it’s like Earth is full of less evolved Loki’s…if that’s even possible. “Two of the other three are more similar to Olympians—or humans—than Anunnaki. But the Huaca, another enemy of Olympia, is the one of the other three that is very different.”
Lugh stood up, signaling that he was ready for another round. “Is it just me or do the Olympians basically hate anyone that isn’t like them?”
“Not exactly—the Anunnaki and Huaca were never friendly with the Olympians, either. There are Aesirian theories that the underlying mechanism of a creature’s biology will give rise to its philosophy and, to some extent, culture.”
“You seem pretty well-versed in all this. I thought you said earlier you weren’t the scientist on this mission?”
“Oh, this isn’t science—this is politics. I’ve picked up a lot of this—mostly from my oldest brother—over the years. I’ve been to enough of his speeches and conferences that I couldn’t forget this stuff if I tried.” Odin’s famous speeches…it was always the case that I’d fight the enemy and he’d celebrate with the public. Vili lunged at Lugh, not as quick as he could, but fast enough to give him a fighting chance. To his pleasant surprise, Lugh dodged his incoming blow and parried by tripping him and moving to the opposite side of the room.
“The Huaca are amphibians, with a long, oval-shaped, and somewhat pliable skull—as if you took a human head and stretched the top up and back. Their heads are covered in growths and sit directly on their boxy torsos, which, in addition to the head, connect to four spindly limbs. Each limb has two joints spaced equally apart. The last third of each limb is prehensile and dotted in a series of tiny suction cups.
“Huaca have some other interesting physiological quirks and distinguishing features—such as more than one set of eyes and a droopy pair of lips—but their biggest weakness is their extremely thin skin. Given the vulnerability of their encasing membrane, their race became masters of defense and deception.” Vili smiled as Lugh naturally fell into a boxing stance.
“The growths you mentioned, do they serve a function?”
“They can be used for a natural form of hibernation or reproduction. Huacan’s have to die in order to reproduce,” Vili said taking a step back and letting Lugh digest the information. “After they die, the nubs on their head—if they aren’t tampered with or destroyed—will start growing into offspring.
“The incubation time is about five years—the longest of any Primordial—which obviously means if they want to continue their civilization they need to protect their dead well.”
“How did they evolve that way? That seems like a huge disadvantage in nature.”
“On its surface it is, but why are human babies among the only creatures on this planet that take nearly a year to learn how to balance and walk? Why are human babies among the only, if not the only, offspring that draw as much attention to themselves as they can with their screams and cries?”
“Those are good questions…”
“It’s because those features are the consequence of an even larger advantage: the human brain. The same logic applies to the Huaca. Their children’s development exacts a heavy toll on their society, but after five years of incubation and five in the real world, Huacan children are essentially self-sufficient. They also retain some of the knowledge from their parents.
“Anyway, they are all but extinct now. There is no known section of the galaxy inhabited, let alone governed, by them and individual ones have only been spotted a few times since the Fracturing—in Olympia anyway. Likely ones that were exiting a long hibernation and awoke to find the galaxy had been turned upside down.”
Lugh leaned back against the wall. “Ok, so the Huaca are gone, part of the galaxy is governed by the Olympians and another part by the Anunnaki, what about the other two Primordial races?”
“The other two are called the Naga and Pangu. They were considered enemies of one another, but lack the sheer animosity shared between the Olympians and Anunnaki. The Pangu kept to themselves most of the time. They initially fought hard against the Huaca and Naga to establish a comfortable territory for their people in the galaxy and then ceased attacks. Olympia is barely in contact with them and, when they are, it’s usually through some artificial and automated entity.
“The Naga have a very different history. They may have been the first race to evolve a bond with space and, because of that, weren’t particularly liked by any of the other civilizations. They tended to be a little more advanced than everyone else. During the war, they were in serious conflicts with the Pangu and Anunnaki, as well as the Olympians to some extent.
“Around the time the Pangu established their territory, the Naga completely disappeared. We aren’t aware of any records indicating that they have been seen since early on in the war.”
“Is it possible they traveled to another galaxy or are floating through empty space outside of ours?”
“I suppose it’s possible, but there isn’t any evidence of that either. The Naga were always pretty mysterious. They rarely die in the traditional sense. Instead, they evolved in a way that allowed them to merge their bodies with one another—providing the new Naga with only the best parts of both of their ‘parents’. This could occur even if one of the Naga was already dead.”
“That’s…disturbing. Wait, how did they reproduce then? They would go extinct if they continued to merge together to form new offspring.”
“…I don’t know. I’m not sure any Aesir do. Like I said, they’re mysterious.” Enough with lessons on galactic procreation and physiology.
“What do they look like?”
Vili didn’t respond. Instead, he charged Lugh again, but this time caught him off-guard and pinned him to the ground. “You’re pinned by a larger opponent, what do you do?”
* * *
Vili sparred with Lugh late into the night, only resting to watch the one-hour nightly broadcast.
“…Eight people have been found guilty of intentionally providing misinformation to the hotline since its inception and two have been executed, the other six have been sentenced to 10 or more years in prison. COPUOS wants to remind you all that the situation Earth now faces is life or death.”
“Wow. Really goes to show you that the most psychopathic and corrupt humans really do pursue public office. I guess it’s where the most power lies,” Lugh said.
“Or they are just the humans that know how to make tough decisions.”
“You think people should be put to death for pranking a hotline?” Lugh asked incredulously.
“When order needs to be maintained in a time of crisis then yes, if that’s what it takes. I’m not an expert on humans, but all civilizations need to make tough decisions to avoid extinction.”
“I still think that’s too drastic.”
“Moving to an update from earlier today, although we still don’t have additional information about the crafts that appeared from behind the moon, search crews have been dispatched across the Atlantic Ocean to find pieces of the ship that se
emed to explode above Earth’s sky. There is still no news around the object that rapidly sped through the atmosphere and into the ocean…”
“Any idea what that’s about?” Lugh asked Vili.
“We have ships in this system to prevent any Olympians from escaping.”
“Did they let them turn back to Earth?”
“It’s possible they failed to kill them in space, yes. They wouldn’t intentionally ‘let’ an Olympian back on Earth, though.”
“Then why didn’t they pursue the craft?”
“We need to be…careful around the timing and volume of information that is revealed to humans. Ships entering the atmosphere to attack and destroy another vessel may be too much for Earth to handle.” Vili looked back at the black relay box, indicating the conversation was over, but Lugh missed the hint.
“I suppose that makes sense. I wonder how they’ll react to me…what will my family say?” Lugh’s voice trailed off for a few moments, but came back strong. “Vili, if I’m a Descendant then doesn’t that mean everyone in my family is as well?”
“Not necessarily. There are probably some, but it all depends on how different stands of DNA have been passed down through each of your ancestors—”
Lugh finished his sentence for him. “Probably a question for the scientist you brought along?”
“Exactly.” Once we’re officially allied with Earth I’ll need to teach Lugh military protocol—no interrupting superior officers.
They both continued to watch the television.
*“In recent news, large earthquakes were measured on the coast of Peru. Many locals shot video of an alien craft flying in the vicinity before the earthquakes started. The Peruvian government is still holding strong that they don’t want any of their ancient sites, including the one in Bandurria, excavated and inspected. It seems unlikely the U.N. will allow them to protest much longer.*”
Lugh looked at Vili. “Was that an Olympian too?”
“Probably. Based on earlier reports, my guess is that there are at least two on Earth…” Vili trailed off without taking his eyes off the television, but his vacant stare wasn’t processing the photons jumping out at him. More to himself than Lugh he spoke up again. “The fact that no bodies were found makes me think Sigyn and Loki got away.”
Lugh shot out of his seat. “Did you say ‘Loki?’ Is one of the Aesir with you? The Aesir…” He began to pace. “…does your—this may sound like a stupid question—does your society have a Valhalla, Odin, and Thor?”
A grim calm befell Vili. He breathed deeply and tried to prevent his heart rate from increasing, his body subconsciously preparing for the realization the Aesir missed vital intel. “Yes.”
Lugh furrowed his eyebrows. “Has your society had contact with Earth in the past?”
“No. How do you know those names?”
“They are famous characters—and locations—in Norse legends. Admittedly, the Norse mythos isn’t well preserved and somewhat contradictory, but those few characters are known nonetheless.”
Famous? Odin outshines me on both Earth and Asgard? “What do you know of Odin, Thor, and Loki?”
“Odin is the mightiest god. He is the leader of all Aesir and oversees the slain warriors in Valhalla. Thor is his famously strong son and Loki is an unruly trickster.”
“Odin is my brother—an important politician—but no warrior. He rarely sets foot on Valhalla. Do these fables mention me or Ve, my other brother?”
Lugh responded immediately. “Little is known about Vili and Ve. They are mostly known as Odin’s brothers.” Lugh smiled and shook his head. “Wow, I can’t believe I remembered that.”
Odin’s brothers! Vili pushed off the couch. Will he subsume my legacy wherever I go? “Where do these stories come from?”
“Northern Europe. Including the country we are in now…are you certain your culture has never interfaced with Earth?”
“Yes. I don’t know how to explain our appearance in mythology here, but it’s not from contact. It must have been planted by the Olympians, but I don’t know why.” A sinking sickness of doubt and uneasiness infiltrated Vili’s mind and gut. Why plant stories of the Aesir on Earth?
Vili sat in silence with Lugh until the television broke his concentration.
“…And to wrap up this evening’s broadcast, we have unverified claims that a vessel, similar to the ones seen in Peru, was seen in southern Iceland. Reports just started coming in, so there hasn’t been time to verify the claims or videos yet, but if you have any additional information, do not hesitate to call.”
“How can we hesitate when the punishment for false claims is death?” Lugh said in disbelief.
“The rules laid out by your leaders—extreme or not—appear to have stopped the panic across Earth,” Vili said as he got up from his seat and grabbed his duffle bag. “Stay here.”
“Where are you going?”
“Either my team arrived here early or an Olympian did. Either way, I need to check it out.” Vili didn’t say another word as he strode out of the door, happy to have a distraction while his mind quietly worked out the importance of Lugh’s revelation.
Act II, Chapter 10
Trapped
Location: Angola
Athena was stuck in her escape pod, floating on the waters of the Atlantic. The craft was shaped like a pointed shoe, with the cockpit where the ankle would roughly sit. She wanted to hail Atlas on her comm device, but it, like the Aegis, was destroyed in Earth’s atmosphere. She pushed the clear hatch open and breathed the brackish air. The obsidian sky blanketed the surroundings in darkness, encouraging her fatigue. She had gone days without sleeping or eating. Her stomach ached and her arms were heavy.
She was grateful she had the foresight to load a map of Earth’s surface to the small, onboard computer in her pod. A few kilometers from the coast of ‘Angola.’ I could swim the rest of the way, but there is no guarantee my ship will stay hidden. Does that even matter at this point? My presence is now known by the Aesir, and the humans undoubtedly saw the dogfight above their atmosphere.
Engaging the thrusters at their lowest output, her craft began to hum and bob on its way to land. Athena mulled over her failure, trying to piece together why the Aesir were on Earth. They sent a message to Earth, warning about our experiments and promising to contact individual humans…
Athena neared the coast, the sound of waves crashing against rock becoming louder. A cliff? She sighed at the idea of having to scale a rock face. The message, why did the Aesir broadcast the message? And the hidden vessels in space—why hide them? Humans already know an alien is on Earth. And why not pursue me as I fell out of the sky?
They have knowledge of what happens over the next year, and they picked the exact time I’d be stationed here to use the Chronos Passages. Maybe my presence is needed on Earth for them to fulfill their mission? Maybe they needed to destroy the results of our experiments on humans? It didn’t appear they attempted to steal the results—they just destroyed them.
What are the facts? One, they’ve stopped me from delivering the completed results of this experiment, as well as details on the current state of human affairs, to the Council; Two, they want the humans to think they’re here to warn them, and maybe protect them; Three, they claim to want to meet with specific humans; Four, they’ve at least partially disabled the Svalinn shield, which allowed humans to confirm they aren’t alone in the universe; Five, they have a large force hiding behind the moon, obviously preventing anyone from leaving Earth, but still not willing to enter Earth’s atmosphere; Six, they are only using Olympian tech, at least from what I’ve seen.
They are taking a large risk in this attack, and they aren’t foolish—they wouldn’t risk going to war with Olympia over something trivial. They’ve used the Chronos Passage, which means they’ve seen the future. I have to assume something in the future prompted them to come back in time. Given they are on Earth, I have to assume whatever event caused them to come back in time is
related to Earth. And they’ve stopped me from delivering the results of this attack to Olympia…so their actions must be related to the outcome of the experiments on Earth. Yes. It has to be related to the results of the experiment. They clearly didn’t want to kill me; otherwise, they would have pursued me after I ejected from my ship.
But why let me live? Why allow me to potentially interfere with what they are doing on Earth…
She reached the cliff face and glanced at the onboard map one more time. Though it displayed updated Earth geography, it didn’t contain the locations of any settlements, and Athena was unaware of any old research sites near her position. She searched her vehicle for food. No rations. Tucked deep in some caves around there may still be equipment used for overnight observations, but that’s a gamble and there certainly won’t be any rations. I need food, which means I need to hunt, forage, or find civilization.
Athena thought back to the message she was transmitting over the aion network before her ship was blown out of the sky. Hopefully, enough of my message got through to Bellum—we need reinforcements or we risk losing this system, and possibly more.
Athena mentally prepared to exit the ship. The climb before her wouldn’t be easy. Her body—working to fight fatigue, hunger, and injuries sustained in her crash—was desperate for chemical sustenance. She was now nearly solely feeding on energy permeating space itself; what was continually expanding the universe was also powering her cells.
Athena understood the profound effect starvation could have on an Olympian. The Primordials’ bodies were nearly unstoppable when they consumed energy from space to augment their already well-fed cells. But without sufficient organic material in their system, they would suffer. Not die, but suffer. The expansion energy of the Universe would keep them alive, even if they were too weak to move. Their bodies’ unyielding stance toward death could be both a blessing and a curse. Children of Olympia all heard the terrifying stories of war heroes that were likely still alive, too weak to kill themselves, but fully conscious and trapped on some distant planet. They would eventually die of old age and the natural decay of all living things, but that could take thousands of years. Those Olympians gave more than their lives for their people; they continually sacrificed their sanity. I’ll find food.
The Gods Who Chose Us Page 22