The Cross of Mithras Vol. 1: EOD Operation Welcome to Hell

by Douglas Howell

  She then looked at him in a curious manner, and then she asks him, “Are you mad at me? Well… you can get glad, the same way you got mad. I’m outta here old man.”

  She then cleared her throat waiting to be saluted, Wexler then saluted her back, and then she left in a cocky manner.

  Wexler was not that old. Everybody calls him that because he was the first to join Task Force ZH-3C. First came Wexler, then came Vaistll, and finally here comes Ramirez. Most of the other members of Task Force ZH-3C have been with the team for no more than five years. Only a few has been with the team between five to ten years. Wexler, Vaistll and Ramirez will always remember their first mission that they had together. It was Ramirez first mission with the team and as a Project 21 agent. It was a mission that neither one of them will ever forget.

  An old EOD spaceship landed on Mars, at the same facility that Vaistll was at in the mid-part of the 22nd century. What made that ship being there so strange was the fact that that facility was abandoned for more than a century. When Task Force ZH-3C got there, they didn’t know what to expect. It was not like the EOD to do something like that. Or even Project 21 or anyone else for that matter. But over the years Project 21 learned to expect the unexpected when dealing with the EOD. You never know what may turn up when dealing with odd behavior from the EOD.

  When Task Force ZH-3C got there, they learned that it was too easy getting inside both the ship and the facility. (More odd behavior from the EOD) When they got inside the facility they were confronted with the terrible sight of the scars that went on there so very long ago. It was quite disturbing. But what got everybody the most was the smell. The body parts may have been gone, but nobody cleaned up all of that blood. They couldn’t, there was just too much of it.

  With the lights flickering off and on, everybody jumping at shadows, sounds that nobody can identify, it felt like they just enter some type of a haunted horror house of madness. At one point they had to go into a narrow maintenance duct. They all saw some blood in one corner; it was the only blood in the duct. They started to leave but Vaistll just stood there, looking at that blood. She then bent down and pick up an ID card that was covered in blood. She recognized who it was and then she started to cry. It was a maintenance worker that she ran across on that horrific day. He thought that he might be safe in there, so he locked himself in. He was amazed when he saw her; she was the first ET that he saw in his entire life. Vaistll wanted him to come with her, but he said no. He was just being too scared. She said to him that if he comes with her, she will tell him more about her planet. He still said no. So she had to leave him there. Before she left, she took one last look at him, and hoped that he would make it. She always thought that he did and now she knows the truth. Seeing her standing there holding that ID card reminded everybody of the human death toll. And how they can’t let it happen again even if they must die.

  Everybody except for Vaistll was afraid of getting lost. The place was huge; it was design to house between five to ten thousand people, including all of the basic amenities. When Vaistll was there back 2155, there were 8,133 people living there, of which only 5% percent survived. Maintenance like with any other space colony is considered a critical part of the facility. Machines may do most of the work, but humans are still needed. The maintenance facility is so huge that it needs 1,500 workers just to maintain it. 250 workers are considered a skeleton crew, anything less than that is considered suicidal. It’s just a typical space colony.

  When they got to the power plant area that is when they discovered the big mystery. As it turns out, the EOD had nothing to do with it. Instead it was squatters. Apparently, 145 squatters were looking for a ship with its hull still intact. Unlike their engines, the hull of their ship was no good. They found an abandoned EOD ship with a good hull and bad engines. Replacing those engines with their own, they then left to find a place to call their own. So they went to Mars and found that abandoned EOD facility. Vaistll had to ask them if they noticed all of the blood. And they said, ‘Yeah… well… we thought we might be able to clean it all up.’

  Wexler always thought about that incident when he wanted to cheer himself up, but this wasn’t one of those occasions. He was just too mad and angry at what Sanchez said about Vaistll and Ramirez. He had deep profound respect for both of them, and none for Sanchez. The things that she said about them boiled his blood. He didn’t care about how she treated him. After all, at times, he had to deal with officers like her.

  He then thought about who outranked her, and the possibility of what might happen if they got killed. Vaistll, Taylor, and Ramirez, they all outrank her. As for Hayes, he is the same rank as she is. And if Hayes gets killed, then it would be Sanchez that would be in charge.

  “Fuckin’ penny-whore! She better not be responsible for the death of Captain Adnrwal or Lieutenant Commander Ramirez. Aw fuck it. If they get kill… I’ll kill that damn bitch.”

  (7)

  Vaistll and Ramirez were traveling in a robotic car. Both of them were thinking about all that she said. They were heading to some place to eat breakfast. Vaistll then noticed some homeless person. He was drunk and was holding a bottle of Martian Whiskey. Seeing him with that bottle reminded her of something. It reminded her of something that was in the report on her when she first arrived upon the Earth. She didn’t know if Ramirez read the full report or not. Being in the mood of telling him about her past she decided to say something.

  “That reminds me of something.”

  “What?”

  “That homeless person.” She said pointing to him.

  “What about him?” Ramirez said, looking over his left shoulder.

  “He was standing there with a bottle of Martian Whiskey.”

  “So why would that remind of something? And what does it remind you of?”

  “You never read that report on all of the items that I brought from my planet, did you?”

  “Noooo?” Ramirez said in disbelief, as he couldn’t believe what he thought she was fixing to say next. He started to read her to see if she was joking - she was not.

  “When I was being led away to Natas’ palace, right before I came to the Earth, I figured that I was going to die there. I knew him well enough to know that he would probably put me under house arrest until the day that I die.

  He wanted me and that book that I written on him. It’s strange because he never would have cared. After all, he had too much power, and he never cared about anything that anybody ever said about him. He was something like 308 years old. So you can imagine all the things that he must have heard about himself over the years. So why would he cared?”

  “Wouldn’t that make him the equivalent to a 138 year old human?”

  “You got it. Too old for it to be considered normal. I know for a fact that he was somewhere between 31 to 36 years older than I was. Other than black magic, I can’t explain why he was as old as he was. But it wouldn’t surprise me if black magic was the reason.

  The very couple who saved me - when I was deeply traumatized that is - became my closest of friends and they gave me a second chance at life. They never would listen to me when I told them that in all likelihood, Natas planted a spy in their palace. I did try my best… but I couldn’t find out who it was. And that’s how Natas learned about me and that book on him.”

  “What was their name? And, why didn’t they believe you?”

  “His name was Tsk’llk (tsk la-look) and her name was Llyysta (la-la-e-sta). I have no idea why they didn’t believe me. I guess it all depends upon who the spy was. Ever time I try to narrow it down… I came up with nothing. Maybe Natas told the spy to avoid me or something.

  When I was halfway finished with the book that is when I realize that he probably planted that spy. It was strange that he would wait until I finished it before he came after me. But it wasn’t until I got to the Earth and had time to think about it, is when I figured it out. It wasn’t me that he was after… it was both of them.”

  “So w
hat way did he come after you? And how come they couldn’t protect you?”

  “He threatened to use a professional army. One life versus over a thousand. Maybe even tens of thousands. Natas would have most of the people killed or enslaved. So as you can see, they had no other choice. They just couldn’t afford a war with him.

  I never did learn why he hated them so much. They didn’t know either. And when I had to work for Natas, neither he nor his wife, would ever give me a straight forward answer as to why they wanted me to destroy them.” Ramirez had the look of shock when he heard that.

  “If Natas wanted you to destroy them, then why, and how, did you become their friends?”

  She took a deep breath in, let it out, and then said, “I’ll tell you in a little bit.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “I did figure out one thing about Natas hatred for them.”

  “What, he gives new meaning to being an asshole?” That caused Vaistll to laugh a little.

  “Yeah that would be it. No, what I figure was this: Apollinarians may have the advantage of having all the smarts, but the downside is: if we are not careful, we can develop a psychosis. And that’s what Natas had against both Tsk’llk and Llyysta.”

  “Do you know what type of psychosis he had?”

  “No. And neither did any psychiatrist on Earth. They said that they needed more information on him. So I guess we will never know.

  Natas and his wife used me, manipulated me into doing their damn dirty work. They wanted me to destroy that couple, and in the end… it only destroyed me. I lost everything near and dear to me… my independence… my religion… my reputation… my honor… my… my… sanity.”

  “I am so sorry to hear that.”

  “It was Tsk’llk and Llyysta who saved me. Natas sent me to destroy them… and… and… and on the very day that I was deeply traumatized, I stumble into their camp. They took pity on me and didn’t kill me. I guess they just didn’t know what to do with me. They learned that I was not their enemy Natas was. I was the one who told them that. They wouldn’t believe me if I told them that before. Who would? So I guess when they saw me in that state of mind it helped them to believe me. I wanted to stay with them because I had nowhere to go and nothing to go back to.

  It was Tsk’llk and Llyysta who gave me a reason to live. It was they who inspired me to write that book on Natas. It was they who let me live in their palace. It was they who encouraged me to go on some of those trips to find information on him. And it was they who took me on some of their military campaigns. I didn’t fight in any of them. The very next time that I fought in any military operation is when I joined Project 21. For all that Tsk’llk and Llyysta did for me; I will always be in their debt. They restored my honor, my hope, my reputation, my good name; they gave me back my dignity. Because of all that they did for me I went back to being a pagan.”

  “Hey, what was the name of their fllaistl?”

  “It was Nany’skl (na-knee school). She always stayed at home and took care of the kids. She was one of those strong, wise, mother types of a woman. She was like a mother to me when I needed one the most. And that’s how I treated her...” She smiled and said, “... even though I was older than she was by forty seven years.

  Tsk’llk, Llyysta and Nany’skl forgave me for all that I did to them and their people. Their people came around, before I did, and forgave me as well. Nany’skl tried to get me to let go of, not only the pain, but also of the grief of everything that I did to their people. But letting go was just so hard. How can I forget that evil that I did?

  The three of them were pagan and their people were a mixture of both pagan and monotheists. I guess in some ways it was like ancient Rome. Because I didn’t socialize with the people, I never really got the chance to know if the monotheists would have forgiven me or not. I guess I was afraid of what they might say. Or I was afraid that they might turn out to be like Natas and his wife. Even though deep down inside I knew that not to be true. But at the time, I strongly felt that they would have said that I deserved all that happened to me. I think that each of the denominations of the religion would have agreed with them. But I’m not certain. So all of my life I never had a good rapport with monotheism, just paganism. And that is one reason why I would never practice any monotheist religion. Tsk’llk, Llyysta, and Nany’skl, is the other reason.”

  “Do you practice any of the pagan rituals?”

  “Nope.”

  “How come?”

  “When I did practice that monotheist religion, I had to get used to different rituals. With me being an intellectual, and practicing that religion, it gave me the opportunity to look at those pagan rituals in a rational way. After I went back to being a pagan, I figure that after all that I’ve been through, why bother? You can’t curse what already have been cursed. So what’s the worst thing that could happen to me for not practicing those pagan rituals? Nothing. Because that’s exacting what happened. No… that’s not true. My life got better. First, I got back what I lost. Then I came to the Earth. So why bother practicing them?

  So there I was, in Tsk’llk and Llyysta palace with Natas being his typical ol’ self. With him being nothing more than a damn curse in my life. Trying to take away all of my happiness for God only knows why. He came and threatened my friends with war and total annihilation if they don’t turn me over to his twisted plans, whatever they may be. Upsetting me to the point where I can’t even think straight. Even when it should have been obvious that they were planning to end the struggle with Natas once and for all.

  My friends tried in vain to reason with me, but I wouldn’t listen. I told them that I would kill anyone who try and take me back to him. Or better yet, run away and disappear forever. So they put me in chains and led me away causing me to feel betrayed.

  Along the way we had to stop at some Iomiyyan city to pick up some supplies for the rest of the trip. The Iomiyyans had several major trading port cities like that of Hong Kong, Singapore or even New York City. And just like New York City, we had people from all over bringing their cultures, their languages, et cetera. We stop at one of those types of port cities, but I don’t know which one. My friends wouldn’t let me come ashore.

  I ask Tsk’llk if somebody could pick up some stuff for me. I asked him to pick up some flower seeds, tree roots, some fish, as well as some meats. Something that would last for the rest of our trip. I also ask if he could pick up a bottle of two different type of whiskey. He agreed.

  One of the items that I had on me was a special container that was made by joining two turtle shells together. The turtle container could keep its contents dry in wet conditions, or even if it was submerge under water. It could also help to keep the fish fresh longer when they are covered in salt. I put all the fish in it because I had no intention of eating them.”

  “Why? Wouldn’t you be hungry later on?”

  “I just wanted to save them for when I finally got to his palace. The way I figured it was that I was probably going to die when I get there. So I wanted to be buried with things that reminded me of home. That’s why I asked for the things that I did. It was the only way that I could have some piece of mind when I got to his palace. Besides... I was going to eat the meats anyway.

  When we finally got to his palace it was dark. I started to feel tightness in my chest. I lost my will and my strength to fight back. I could feel it the air… I could sense it all around me… I knew… I just knew… I knew that it would be the last night that I spend upon my planet. I asked for my stuff and… and… “

  “And what?”

  “Tsk’llk and Llyysta came bringing my stuff to me. I knew that it was a pretty dumb of a thing for them to do. I was 277 years old, Tsk’llk was 243, and Llyysta was 238. Neither one of us seen combat for decades. And I was afraid that Natas might have learned about their weakness. Whenever one of them was in danger, the other one could sense it. They would then rush in to save them. Typically by diving in on the one who was in danger. The problem
was… they would just lie there for several moments. They where just so much in love with each other. So I guess you can imagine what they where saying to each other. Pretty dumb, right?”

  “Yep. That is pretty dumb… especially in the combat zone.”

  “You got it. And they would lie there… laughing. Dumb asses. And I could have killed them on more than one occasion, back when we where enemies. Imagine that.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “Natas and his wife kept on giving me mixed signals about what to do with them. So I didn’t know if I should kill them, captured them, or what. So one day I just got tired of his mixed signals and decided to bring them back to him, even if he told me to kill them.

  When I saw that Tsk’llk and Llyysta were coming to give me my stuff, I was going to ask them ‘Why did they come?’ But at the time, I was just too depressed to say anything… so I didn’t. After they gave me my things, Llyysta did the strangest thing. She gave the guard, who was guarding me, her sword to take with us. That sword meant everything to her. The only way that she would ever give it up, is when somebody pry it out of her cold dead hands. When I was living in their palace, she told me the story of why that sword meant so much to her.

  When she was being trained as a warrior, somebody wanted her trainer arrested for a crime that he didn’t commit. All the children where sent to other trainers. Llyysta and one of her fllustl friends stayed behind. They believed that he was innocent and they wanted to prove it. Both of them decided to keep up on their training. It was the beginner one where it was mostly physical, the learning of weapons, and so on. What made it a lot harder upon them was that they had to survive on their own. And the fact that they didn’t have a trainer. After a few years he came back. He was so impressed by their loyalty that he made both of them a sword. And he continued on with their training. Until his past caught up with him again, and he died from it. Both of them avenged his death. Killing all those who were responsible for his death. And then they went to another trainer, and finished up with their training. And the rest is history. So you can see why that sword meant so much to her.”